The streets of Wuhan were quiet. She had only visited three or four times at most, but it was incomparably more still than before.
Walking side by side with the Heukcheon Amgui, Sohwa lifted her gaze.
A white building towered into view, cleaving the black night sky. Seeing Baekgeumgak, Sohwa recalled Min Hae-rak’s request.
"Come to think of it, did you manage to buy something decent at Baekgeumgak?"
At the sardonic voice, Sohwa’s gaze dropped again.
The Heukcheon Amgui was not even looking at her.
"Yes, I bought a hairpin."
"Did you? Was it not expensive?"
Sohwa’s lips curved softly.
She realized she had never paid for it herself.
The hairpin they said was the most expensive in Baekgeumgak, and even the Blood Cult intelligence that one had to risk one’s life to pass along—she had only received those things.
As they walked quietly, Sohwa noticed that the Heukcheon Amgui was one step ahead of her.
"Do you know the way?"
"I do."
"Have you been to the inn before?"
"The inn next to Honghae Pavilion, is it not?"
When Honghae Pavilion came out of Tang Min’s mouth, Sohwa closed hers. It was unexpected to hear him casually use a pleasure house as a landmark.
Soon she let it go, thinking it was only natural for someone who liked to drink.
The closer they drew to the inn, the quieter the surroundings became.
She could barely sense any human presence.
An eerie air, as if people had fled from something.
Sohwa quietly extended her aura sense. After a while, she felt a faint warmth.
A young man with a travel pack on his back was walking toward them from the opposite side. The passerby blocked their way with a startled face.
"Hey, hey, you must not go this way!"
When Tang Min did not stop, the man waved his arms and cried out louder.
"An apothecary from Yunnan visited that inn, and it seems they took poor care of their goods. The Seven-Treasure Love venom insects they brought all escaped, and it is utter chaos in there."
He waved his hands, as if to drive them back.
"The innkeeper even refunded everyone’s money and drove out all the guests. You understand how serious it is, do you not? All the shops nearby have closed their doors and taken shelter, so do not so much as go near until this is cleaned up."
Sohwa turned her head toward Tang Min. She was worried that his quick temper might lead him to shove an innocent passerby aside.
Unexpectedly, he asked calmly,
"How long has it been since the commotion started?"
"Not long. I am running away just now myself, as you can see."
"Hm. Then it will take quite a while to straighten out."
Tang Min walked over to a tavern along the roadside. It seemed the owner had fled in a hurry, unable to clear away the tables set up outdoors.
He sat at a table with no food on it and tapped the tabletop with his finger. It meant she should sit there as well.
Though she did not understand Tang Min’s intention, Sohwa quietly approached the table.
When she sat facing him, Tang Min turned his head to the passerby.
"We will wait here until things calm down and then go to the inn, so do not worry and go on your way."
"The tavern here is closed. Would it not be better to go to another tavern and have a drink there?"
The young man hemmed and hawed in fluster, even offering to recommend another inn. But Tang Min was not moved in the slightest.
"I like it here. It is nice and quiet. And I have lived long enough that if I am bitten by a snake and die, then I die."
The passerby tried to say one more thing, then let out a sigh.
"......Be careful."
He adjusted his pack and went on his way.
Tang Min reached out to the side and picked up a wine bottle.
The guests must have fled in haste as well, because the wine bottle was still sealed. With practiced ease, he removed the cloth and opened the stopper.
Sohwa stared at Tang Min with a look of exasperation for coveting wine in this situation. He must have felt her cold gaze, but he still took a swig.
She could not understand Tang Min’s leisure when Namgung Jin had been kidnapped. Yet, because there were often reasons behind the Heukcheon Amgui’s eccentricities, she waited for an explanation.
Tok.
Setting the bottle down, Tang Min asked,
"Have you ever heard of the Hao Sect?"
"Yes, I have."
The Hao Sect was one of the great sects of the Central Plains martial world. They were said to be spread throughout the Central Plains, but since they were a cell organization, outsiders found it hard to know who belonged to them.
"The Hao Sect does not involve itself in either orthodox or unorthodox matters if they have nothing to do with them. Whether it is the dark underworld or evil cults, if it does not harm them, they look the other way."
Because the Hao Sect was such a secretive group, they rarely clashed openly with the Martial Alliance. And even if they did move, someone like her would never notice, so Sohwa had paid them no mind.
But since Tang Min suddenly brought up the Hao Sect, she could not just let it pass.
She quietly closed her mouth and listened to him.
"The Hao Sect lives as commoners. If you think of them as ordinary people, it is easier to understand their actions."
He took another swig of wine and spoke in a low voice.
"Now that you have involved yourself in martial affairs, whether you like it or not, you must understand the ways of the Hao Sect."
"......"
"When the Hao Sect steps in, it is an extreme sign that you are either an obstacle or needed. That is why it is good to treat their reactions as signposts."
Sohwa’s slender brows lifted. It felt like he had explained something, but she could not make sense of it. Seeing her expression, Tang Min let out a chuckle.
"Did I not say the Hao Sect lives as commoners? That means if they step in, it is highly likely your actions are affecting the lives of commoners."
Tang Min took his hand off the wine bottle.
"They will not stir just because a pleasure house goes bankrupt, nor will they spread their Heaven-and-Earth Net just because iron goods from an iron room are stolen. They have their own boundaries and reveal themselves only in very extreme cases."
The Heukcheon Amgui let out a small laugh.
"Today those timid Hao Sect bastards seem to wish that you and I do not die, so it appears the path we are walking is not wrong."
Seeing Tang Min’s gaze shift over her shoulder, Sohwa turned her head.
A tall pavilion facing the Yangtze River came into view.
Across from the inn stood Honghae Pavilion.
Light spilled out through open windows, but no people could be seen.
"Sohwa, you are calm and rational, which is the kind way to put it. The less kind way is that you have a temperament similar to Hae-han’s, so it would be best for you to focus on internal Tang Clan matters."
Her gaze returned to Tang Min.
"You could spend your whole life in Gujeon Pavilion and be fine. If you only concern yourself with the Tang Clan’s profit, you will have no trouble living. The enemies outside will be blocked by those who fight outside, so you need not worry about anything."
"......"
"But if you are going to step outside and involve yourself in the affairs of the martial world, you must walk the proper path."
Sohwa saw Tang Min put a hand into his robe.
"If you follow the proper path, you will never have to face people like the Sagye Hall Lord or the Four-Directions Hall Administrator, who are close to you now, as enemies. If your external reputation is solid enough, then even the heavy-bottomed Martial Alliance bastards will have no choice but to move for you, whether they like you or not."
He took out a coin and placed it on the table.
"If you are going to live outside, you must make as few enemies as possible and leave room for your allies to step in. No matter how exceptional you are, if numerous enemies join forces, it will be hard for you to face them alone."
With a face that showed not the slightest trace of years, he continued his senior’s advice.
"Ah, come to think of it, you must have felt quite a lot about alliances already. You came back from fighting the Blood Cult after joining hands with someone who might tighten a noose around your neck at any moment."
Listening quietly to the elder of her clan, Sohwa opened her mouth for the first time.
"The Northern Sea Ice Palace is not an enemy."
Tang Min snorted.
"Do you know this? Back in my day, the Northern Sea Ice Palace and the Great Desert Sun Palace bastards did not even treat people of the Central Plains as human."
In the days when Tang Min had earned his epithet, wars with Outland were frequent. The Demonic Sect and the Outland Five Palaces had not yet fallen, so what he said was not wrong. She had heard of the arrogance of the Five Palace Lords, even though she had not lived in the same era.
"I do want to believe you made the right choice......."
Tang Min started to say something, then closed his mouth for a moment.
Skipping over many things, he spoke cautiously.
"It is hard to judge whether it was right to restore their lineage in order to eradicate the Blood Cult."
"The Northern Sea Ice Palace will not betray us."
When Sohwa spoke firmly, Tang Min let out a small laugh and stood up.
"Yes, you really are still young."
Sohwa wanted to give him firm assurance, but could not open her mouth.
To explain that the Northern Sea Ice Palace was bound not by alliance but by bloodline, she would have to reveal Geumso’s true identity.
Was it because she had grown up as direct bloodline in a martial aristocratic clan where blood ties were everything? Sohwa could not easily speak.
She had heard the story of a bastard child who spent decades outside and yet seized the position of Clan Head solely because he carried the Clan Head’s blood.
There was no need to go that far back into the past either. Namgung Hyun was such a person right now.
Having received the Cult Leader’s blood, Sohwa could no longer claim she had nothing to do with the Blood Cult.
In fact, from the perspective of a martial aristocratic clan, Tang Sohwa was a successor who could at any time inherit the position of Cult Leader.
When Sohwa’s face darkened, Tang Min stopped his nagging.
"From the Hao Sect’s point of view, it seems a man alone in the inn is tricky to handle, so you go to Honghae Pavilion."
Without answering, she rose and followed behind him.
When they reached Honghae Pavilion, Tang Min told her to go inside and then turned his body toward the inn across the way.
Sohwa watched his back for a moment, then entered Honghae Pavilion.
If the rumors about everyone evacuating to escape vipers and venom insects were true, it made sense that there was no one on the first floor of Honghae Pavilion.
Sohwa climbed up to the fourth floor, where a window stood open.
Clatter.
When she opened the door, a room laid with a drinking table was revealed. It was neatly arranged, and the lamp burned brightly.
She went straight to the window.
Sohwa’s gaze fell to the second floor of the inn. It was the room where she had eavesdropped on the conversation between the Crimson Blood Hall Lord and a drunk.
Because of the light screen, she could barely see even half the window.
Her gaze slid toward the Yangtze River.
She remembered how Min Hae-rak had bothered to take a small boat out on the river to show her who the Blue Blood Hall cultist was.
He had also warned her about this Honghae Pavilion.
Crunch.
At the sound of footsteps behind her, Sohwa turned.
A middle-aged woman stood in the doorway. From her neatly arranged clothes, she did not seem to be a courtesan receiving guests.
She did not ask why Sohwa had come in, nor did she offer any hospitality.
Since the woman only looked at her in silence, Sohwa spoke first.
"I came because I wanted to confirm something."
Sohwa stated the reason she had entered this place.
"I wanted to know if the one trying to separate the Heukcheon Amgui and me is truly from the Hao Sect, or a Blood Cult person who wants to take me."
