At the word Demonic Sect, Sohwa’s face hardened.
How could she ever forget.
The day the Demonic Sect became known to the world was the day all tragedies began.
When Sohwa fell silent, the cultist took it that she knew and continued speaking.
“Not only the Outland Five Palaces but the Demonic Sect as well has continued its line. If you have been to the Northern Sea, you will know what I mean.”
It meant the Blood Demon had sent the framework of the Demonic Sect to Sichuan.
Just as when he had annihilated the Tang Clan, back then.
Sohwa curled the hand inside her sleeve into a fist.
It was a move twenty years ahead of time.
After learning that the Blood Demon was reluctant to reveal himself in the Central Plains, she had naturally assumed he would move efficiently.
She had expected that if he sent an armed force to the Central Plains, they would strike Hubei, where she was, and had not even considered that they might go to Sichuan.
Her blood-drained hand tingled.
Sohwa loosened her fingers, but still could not calm her unease.
“You said you came from Sichuan. Did you encounter the Demonic Sect’s framework?”
When she put the word “framework” into her mouth, the cultist flinched.
“Rather than saying I encountered it...”
“Do you know when they crossed over into Sichuan?”
“It has been about two days.”
“Two days?”
“Yes, I came straight across the Passage after hearing the story at Mount Emei, so if you calculate it exactly, it has been a little less than two days.”
One might have asked how she had encountered the Demonic Sect’s framework at Mount Emei, or where the Passage in Sichuan was, but Sohwa was not curious about such things.
“Is everything you just said entirely true?”
It was because she had no room to think about anything else.
“Yes, of course it’s true. Why would I lie about something like this.”
The woman answered.
Staring at her, Sohwa made a demand.
“Then, give testimony.”
“Excuse me?”
“Help me go to Sichuan at once.”
The woman frowned as if to say, what was that supposed to mean, but Tang Sohwa was not someone who kindly explained her thoughts.
She removed a small stone pillar that had been fixed to the window frame and spoke in a low voice.
“Han-won.”
Feeling a sudden killing intent, the cultist quickly twisted her body toward the window.
Bang.
However, as she flung the window open as if to smash it and leaped out, she was immediately smashed into the ground.
“Why did you bother calling the slow one first.”
Tang Min, who had jumped down from the second-floor window, sealed the woman’s acupoints.
Han-won, standing by the window, scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Glancing at Sohwa, Tang Min asked,
“Are you going to kill her?”
“You absolutely must not kill her.”
“Then why that face. What did she say for you to be making a face like you just saw a thousand-year enemy?”
One might have dismissed it as nonsense, but Tang Sohwa ran her hand down her own face.
Seeing Sohwa shaken by his teasing words, Tang Min lowered his voice.
“What is it.”
“If what that cultist said is true, the Blood Demon’s armed force has arrived at Tang manor right now.”
“What?”
Han-won’s head snapped up as well.
“We have to verify the truth as quickly as possible and go to the Tang Clan.”
As if even the time it would take to explain was too precious, Sohwa cut off her words and instead gave an order to Han-won.
“Go to Sagye Hall at once and ask the Hall Administrator to interrogate her. And...”
She swallowed the rest. Because she was rattled, she had nearly blurted out Namgung without thinking.
Sohwa turned her head toward Tang Min.
“The Sagye Hall Administrator is skilled at discerning lies, so we have to have the cultist confront him.”
“Is discerning lies what matters? Even if the Hall Administrator says the cultist is lying, how are we supposed to feel safe staying here.”
“The Hall Administrator has to determine that the Blood Demon’s armed force has attacked Sichuan for us to receive support.”
Sohwa cut across Tang Min’s words and added,
“We don’t have time. While Han-won is taking the cultist to Sagye °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Hall, Supreme Elder, please tell Father about this.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I am going to make antidote to take to the Tang Clan.”
When Sohwa said that, Tang Min immediately shut his mouth. It was because he did not want any information about the antidote to be leaked. Knowing what the ingredient was, this was the only reaction that could come out.
As if afraid someone might overhear, Tang Min waved his hand and unnecessarily shouted at Han-won,
“Don’t just stand there gaping, hurry up and take her!”
Han-won immediately picked the cultist up and vaulted over the wall. Tang Min also soon disappeared toward the Clan Head’s room.
The moment Sohwa felt their presences recede, she left the building.
***
Night had set in fully, but the Sagye Hall Administrator had not been able to return to his quarters.
Even with the scope limited to Hubei, it was not easy to fully grasp the distribution channels of all five minerals, and quietly inquiring after those showing symptoms of Oseoksan intoxication was difficult as well.
To make matters worse, the improved antidote from the Medical Division still could not strip away the effects of brainwashing after Oseoksan, and even the extension of the time one could resist the fumes was slight.
Checking the report from the Lower Hall, Zhuge Inhwi felt fatigue.
He still had a great deal left to do.
Once he finished examining the stack of reports, he had to go check on the Alliance Leader’s condition.
More than half of the Alliance members who had been brainwashed by Oseoksan had regained their senses. Seeing that they recovered their memories around the same time, it was now about time for the Alliance Leader to wake as well. Assuming, of course, that he had not been poisoned by Oseoksan in the past.
But the Alliance Leader was quiet.
There was no reaction coming from the Alliance Leader’s quarters, so the Sagye Hall Administrator was deeply troubled.
Because there were still a few sects remaining at headquarters, the Hall Administrator was putting off checking on the Alliance Leader.
He could not cause a commotion at a time when outsiders were present. They had no way of knowing what effect it might have on the Alliance Leader.
If it were to become known that he had once been poisoned by Oseoksan...
The Sagye Hall Administrator let out a sigh without realizing it.
He found himself thinking it was fortunate that Tang Sohwa had said she would not share the antidote to the Blood Cult’s poison. For that, all they needed to do was confirm the quantity. If there were improvements to be made, Tang Sohwa would handle them on her own, and since even the Blood Demon did not know the production method, he did not need to manage the ingredients.
After Tang Sohwa’s public demonstration, many sects had returned to their own headquarters. It was an understandable reaction. There might be people in their own sects who had suffered from the Blood Cult’s poison, so they would want to clear the confusion in their own headquarters as quickly as possible.
Since Sagye Hall’s goal was to spread the antidote widely, Zhuge Inhwi had not stopped them from leaving. Rather, he had sent them off with plenty of antidote.
'I just have to replenish only what’s lacking. I should ask Young Lady Tang for about twenty more jars...'
The Sagye Hall Administrator, pressed for time, suddenly pulled back the hand he had placed on the paper.
He felt a presence rapidly drawing near. Its speed was no ordinary thing.
Rising from his seat, Zhuge Inhwi left the Lower Hall.
When he walked toward the main gate, the one standing watch recognized him and greeted him.
The Hall Administrator did not return the greeting and gave an order in a flat voice.
“Open the gate.”
“Yes!”
Creak.
The closed gate of Sagye Hall swung open. However, strangely, the Hall Administrator did not step forward. He only stood there, staring straight ahead.
The Sagye Hall disciple watched, gauging his mood, and stayed still.
It was then.
The disciple also felt an enormous momentum and turned his head toward the outside of the gate.
A young warrior was running toward Sagye Hall, carrying an old woman in his arms.
The woman’s body was rigid. It seemed her acupoints had been sealed.
Uneasy, the disciple hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should close the gate.
But it was a pointless concern.
“What is the matter?”
The Sagye Hall Administrator called out to the approaching warrior.
Though the distance was still great, the warrior apparently heard him and answered,
“I am Han-won of the Tang Clan. I have come at the order of Young Lady Tang Sohwa to make a request of the Sagye Hall Administrator.”
By the time his answer ended, Han-won had reached the gate.
He dropped to one knee, lowering his body. It was a posture of presenting the woman to the Hall Administrator.
“I was asked to request that you interrogate this person.”
“Who is she?”
At the Administrator’s question, Han-won unconsciously lifted his eyes toward the gatekeeper. Feeling that reaction, Zhuge Inhwi’s eyebrow slowly rose.
“Is she a cultist of the Blood Cult?”
“Yes.”
Han-won hesitated, then answered.
“Then why ask me to interrogate her. That much is something Young Lady Tang could do as well.”
No, she would probably do it better.
Tang Sohwa seemed the type to keep her opponent’s lifespan neatly attached while inflicting endless pain without letting them die. And she would feel no guilt whatsoever.
Of course, the Sagye Hall Administrator did not bother to say such things out loud.
But perhaps sensing the Administrator’s displeased expression, Han-won answered at once.
“You said that you knew how to discern lies, Administrator.”
Zhuge Inhwi let out a silent, bitter laugh.
It did not seem they were trying to extract information from the cultist, but rather wanted to confirm whether the information they had already obtained was true.
'Have they already heard everything they wanted to hear?'
His Silent Script could sense the subtle qi of a person. Noticing the minute unrest of someone telling a lie was an easy task.
“Bring her in.”
The Hall Administrator permitted Han-won to enter.
Only then did Han-won rise and follow the Sagye Hall Administrator. Han-won did not know it, but the Administrator was heading toward the East Pavilion. It was where they interrogated criminals.
Creak.
Once the door closed, the Hall Administrator asked,
“What did she say that you came to check it at such a late hour?”
Han-won instinctively sensed that a formation had been set up within the building. No sound from outside could be heard, and the Administrator was asking about something sensitive.
Han-won answered without addition or omission.
“She said the Blood Cult has sent an armed force to the Tang Clan.”
“An armed force?”
“Yes, right now all the Tang Clan’s main forces are here in Hubei, so if what she says is true, there is no time. I apologize for coming at such a late hour, but the situation is urgent.”
Without a word, Zhuge Inhwi released the woman’s acupoints.
“Haa.”
No sooner did the woman’s body loosen than she tried to bolt. But before she could even take a step, she was subdued by Han-won.
“Regretting it now is useless.”
Zhuge Inhwi opened his mouth as if to console her.
“In the end, you came in because there was something you wanted to obtain, didn’t you? You took the risk, and fortunately it seems you obtained what you wanted, so be satisfied with having become free.”
Speaking in a gentle tone, Zhuge Inhwi gestured toward a chair.
“Sit.”
“......”
Perhaps accepting that she could not escape, the cultist sat where the Sagye Hall Administrator indicated.
In a calm voice, Zhuge Inhwi asked,
“Is it true that the Blood Demon has sent an armed force to Sichuan?”
“Yes.”
The cultist answered obediently.
Because the answer came out too quickly, it was all the more suspicious.
However, the Sagye Hall Administrator did not yet weigh its truth and instead asked another question.
“Do you know what their forces are like?”
“If you mean their numbers, there are about three to four hundred. If you mean their level, I don’t know what standard to measure them by.”
“Are they of a level that, as the Blood Demon intends, they could annihilate the Tang Clan?”
“Yes.”
“If there were support from headquarters, could we drive them out without difficulty?”
“Well...”
The woman cautiously added,
“I suppose it would depend on how much support headquarters can provide. But if you pull forces out of headquarters now, wouldn’t that in itself become a problem? Hubei must be the most dangerous place in the Central Plains.”
At the woman’s words, Zhuge Inhwi inwardly nodded.
He, too, had thought that if the Blood Demon moved, he would strike headquarters.
But for reasons unknown, the man had sent his armed force to Sichuan. He might be able to annihilate a single sect and make an example of it, but it was not that good a move.
Because all the sects of the Central Plains, frightened, might band together and drive them out. Just as, back then, the five palace lords of Outland had joined forces for the first time.
Soon Zhuge Inhwi realized something.
Even then, the Outland alliance had not been able to defeat the Blood Demon.
Listening quietly to the woman’s words, Zhuge Inhwi rose from his seat.
“You stay here and keep an eye on her.”
Leaving the cultist in Han-won’s care, the Sagye Hall Administrator left the East Pavilion.
At the door, he ran into the Lower Hall Lord, who had been waiting for him.
“Administrator, what is going on?”
It seemed the Lower Hall Lord had sensed the disturbance and rushed over.
To the lord, who was waiting for his words, Zhuge Inhwi said,
“Call all the heads of the sects still remaining at headquarters to the Spring Pavilion.”
