Smoke boiled up from the moat surrounding the Tang manor. Because of the poison smoke that endlessly poured out, the demonic warriors could not approach.
However, not everyone was vulnerable to the Tang Clan’s poisons.
A few demonic warriors simply leapt over the moat and entered inside the outer wall of the Tang manor. They just did not live to set foot on the ground.
The formation lines engraved into the outer wall reacted to those who vaulted over it and fired dozens of concealed weapons. When the demonic warrior, riddled like a beehive, fell into the open space inside the outer wall, the Tang clansmen cleared away the corpse.
The Tang manor’s defense system was operating flawlessly.
They had enough poison smoke to pour into the moat and enough concealed weapons to load into the formations that they could easily hold out like this for four days.
But on the second day, a problem arose.
“Focus!”
At the Medical Division Lord’s roar, Tang Hae-han quickly took his hands away. The flesh of the patient whose wound he had been pressing to stop the blood had sunken inward.
The Medical Division Lord pressed a cloth soaked in medicine over it and wiped away the blood. They had just cut away flesh that was starting to rot black, so the area around the wound was stained red.
“Huuuuh.”
A groan leaked out of the martial artist’s mouth. They had given him medicine so he would not feel pain, but the agony of slicing living flesh seemed hard to endure.
In the meantime, another martial artist entered the Medical Division.
“Please step aside for a moment.”
The Divine Physician’s urgent voice came.
“I’m sorry.”
Tang Hae-han quickly backed away.
The Divine Physician, who had gone to see another patient in that brief time, threaded a needle as thin as a fish bone. Then he immediately drove the needle into living flesh.
“Aaaah!”
The martial artist squeezed his eyes shut. The Divine Physician paid it no mind and, at an extremely fast speed, stitched up the gaping wound. It was astonishing that an old man could have such strength; he pulled the parted flesh together so tightly that it fit perfectly.
“Wrap the wound quickly. You have to bind it tight so the flesh doesn’t split again.”
Leaving that order to the young physician following him, the Divine Physician went to check another patient.
They had already forcibly cut away rotten flesh from more than ten people. Considering that the first patient had come in only half an hour ago, it was by no means a small number.
Moreover, every one of them was in critical condition to the point that even the Medical Division Lord had to personally intervene.
“What are you thinking!”
When the Medical Division healer found their path blocked by Tang Hae-han and began to mill about in confusion, the Medical Division Lord shouted sharply.
“You’re just getting in the way—go back to the Oral Transmission Pavilion!”
Instead of saying he would pull himself together, Tang Hae-han walked out of the Medical Division. No one stopped him. There was no room to.
Tang Hae-han had come to the Medical Division to get medicinal ingredients for antidotes, but he did not return to the Oral Transmission Pavilion. As though he had made up his mind, he ran off somewhere else.
They had definitely poured poison into the moat.
It was a poison smoke that made it impossible for the average person to approach within a day. In fact, it had helped them defend the fortress for two days.
'Then why are our casualties suddenly appearing?'
Something was wrong.
Tang Hae-han ran toward the outer wall that encircled the Tang manor like a fortress wall.
Reaching the dark open ground in front of the high outer wall, he stopped in his tracks.
This was where the Black Tiger Unit that guarded the main gate should have been.
Yet when he opened the inner gate, what he faced was endless darkness.
It was at that moment.
Creeeak.
A heavy sound of a door opening came from ahead.
Relying on moonlight for vision, it was hard to make out the scene beyond the open gate. Soon, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he made out the bridge over the moat.
Someone was running fast across that bridge.
Just as Tang Hae-han reflexively went to throw a feathered needle from his sleeve—
Bang. Crash.
The assassin flew backward and slammed hard into the outer wall. Dozens of concealed weapons had flown down from the roof over the main gate.
Thud.
The gate closed, and a Black Tiger Unit warrior who had been clinging to the roof dropped down and bound the man.
As Tang Hae-han struggled to understand what had just happened, a low voice sounded from behind him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Vice Unit Leader!”
The Black Tiger Unit Vice Unit Leader approached with an angry face, but Tang Hae-han, if anything, was the one who grew more furious.
“What is all this right now? I clearly told you to stay as far away from the moat as possible, didn’t I? Even if you take antidotes, if you’re constantly exposed to poison smoke, it can still be dangerous!”
Tang Hae-han pointed at the gate and practically jumped.
“And yet you’re opening the gate! No, putting poisoning aside, how can you be using such a dangerous tactic?”
This insane Vice Unit Leader was luring demonic warriors inside and hunting them.
Was he trying to take them alive and interrogate them? No, Tang Hae-han had no idea what his intention was.
Had the Tang Clan’s poisons blocking their approach left him bored enough to develop a fatal lack of danger awareness?
Though it was etiquette for non-combatant Tang clansmen not to interfere in the tactics of the combat units, Tang Hae-han could not help but get angry at this bizarre behavior.
The Tang Clan was in no position to be taking things lightly right now—how could they perform such a reckless act as opening the fortress gate first?
Watching the agitated Tang Hae-han, the Vice Unit Leader spoke in a calm voice.
“As you can see, it seems the moat’s poison no longer affects them. They’ve already come right up to the edge of the moat. Still, they don’t recklessly vault the wall because they fear the formations on the outer wall, so if we draw them in little by little and eliminate them, we can reduce their numbers considerably before dawn.”
“Wait a moment. They’ve come right up to the edge of the moat, but they’re not trying to climb the wall?”
Tang Hae-han reacted sharply to those words.
“It seems they’ve judged that avoiding the rain of concealed weapons at night is difficult.”
“T-then are you saying that once the sun rises, they’ll all come over the wall?”
“Even now, as soon as we open the gate, a few of them can’t hold back and cross the moat, can’t they? It’s only a guess, but seeing how fearlessly they charge into such an obvious trap, once their field of vision opens up, they’ll move even more boldly.”
Even though anyone could hear that the situation was dire, the Vice Unit Leader remained composed.
Rather than finding him frustrating, Tang Hae-han assumed the Vice Unit Leader had some other plan.
“If we manage to hold out until sunrise, do things become more favorable for us as well?”
“The Grand Madam has requested support from her maiden family. They say support is coming through the rear gate, so if we draw them to the main gate, we can at least buy time for the Grand Madam and the inner compound’s direct line to escape.”
“...Escape?”
That did not sound like a positive countermeasure.
Tang Hae-han frowned, but the Vice Unit Leader remained even.
“On top of that, they say the Sichuan Branch’s support has nearly arrived as well, so we’ll probably be able to block those bastards front and back and slaughter them.”
The Vice Unit Leader seemed to view the situation positively: he could evacuate the inner compound’s direct line he had to protect, and the gathered enemies could be hemmed in by a joint attack.
Yet for the moat, the source of the Tang Clan’s defensive strength, to no longer be functioning, and to still be able to speak of the situation as favorable?
Unable to sympathize with the Vice Unit Leader’s thinking, Tang Hae-han raised his voice.
“If the moat’s poison no longer works, you should have informed the Oral Transmission Pavilion! We could change the poison poured into the moat, or we could coat the concealed weapons loaded into the wall formations with poison. I’ll check it now.”
“I already informed the Oral Transmission Pavilion Master.”
“When?”
“Half an hour ago, perhaps.”
Tang Hae-han flinched.
That was more than enough time for new poison to be introduced into the moat.
And yet there was still no effect?
'Have they all developed resistance in just two days, or have they somehow gained a Poison-Impervious Body?'
Thinking that was impossible, Tang Hae-han spoke in a grave voice.
“...There may be a problem with the water channel that sends poison into the moat.”
“We don’t have the manpower right now to send anyone to inspect the moat.”
“Then please tell one of the other combat units.”
In truth, Tang Hae-han knew the Tang Clan’s forces were lacking.
The Black Tiger Unit and Red Tiger Unit were blocking the main and rear gates, while the other combat units guarded the west gate, east gate, middle gate, and inner compound.
They had scattered their meager forces across the vast Tang manor, so they were absolutely short on martial artists. In reality, with the moat no longer functioning as it should, the number of injured from demonic warriors vaulting the walls here and there was increasing.
The Vice Unit Leader dismissed Tang Hae-han’s words as if they needed no further explanation.
“The Oral Transmission Pavilion has things to do as well. Go back now.”
“No, still...!”
“You’re in the way. Go back.”
At the stern voice, Tang Hae-han could not add another word and went back inside.
Keeping his mouth shut, Tang Hae-han headed for the Oral Transmission Pavilion.
The demonic warrior who had been outside the gate had crossed the bridge over the moat at tremendous speed.
'...That makes no sense. The poison we first poured into the moat was an extreme poison stored on the seventh floor. If the Oral Transmission Pavilion Master received ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the Black Tiger Unit’s report, he would surely have poured an even harsher extreme poison, and yet they’re unaffected?'
And if someone was reckless enough to come through the poison smoke and enter the enemy’s camp, no matter how dark the area was, would they really be afraid of a rain of concealed weapons?
He ran into the Oral Transmission Pavilion Master, who was coming down the stairs.
“I told you to go to the Medical Division for ingredients and yet you’ve come back empty-handed, why?”
“Pavilion Master, did you perhaps change the poison you dosed the moat with?”
“Mm? How did you know that?”
“I heard it outside on the way here. What poison did you change it to?”
“Since we can no longer change the antidotes we’ve already distributed, I used a poison of similar nature. The poisoning is somewhat faster, but since the antidote’s components are similar, those standing guard will be fine.”
The Oral Transmission Pavilion Master assumed Tang Hae-han was about to argue about the work of making antidotes and answered him that way. But the usually talkative Tang Hae-han did not argue with the Pavilion Master.
Avoiding the Master’s eyes, he quietly gathered various tools and slipped back outside. He headed toward where the reservoirs that sent poison into the moat were located.
Reaching the reservoirs, Tang Hae-han stopped walking. Water had overflowed around the pipes that connected the reservoirs to the outer wall.
He raised the jar holding the fireflies high.
His dark field of vision brightened a little.
Yet there was not a single person standing guard nearby.
'What in the world is going on...'
Though he felt fear, Tang Hae-han did not run away; he climbed up onto the outer wall.
Carefully, he stuck his head out over the edge. When the fireflies’ light reached the dark moat, the surface of the water gradually took shape.
“...!”
Tang Hae-han’s eyes went wide in shock.
He could see a black shape beneath the surface.
Climbing down from the outer wall, Tang Hae-han pushed the pipe connected to the reservoir aside. Then, in the wall buried beneath the ground, a small hole was revealed.
Seeing that no water flowed in even when the pipe was moved, he was certain the hole was blocked.
Tang Hae-han thrust the stick he had brought into the hole.
Thump.
The end hit something. It felt soft, like packed earth, yet somewhat firmer than that.
Using all his strength, Tang Hae-han pushed at it. When something was forced out, water gushed inward.
Rooooar.
Tang Hae-han quickly pushed the pipe back into place to block the hole again.
Now all he had to do was refill the reservoirs with fresh poison solution.
Splash.
But instead of returning to the Oral Transmission Pavilion to fetch poison, Tang Hae-han climbed back up the outer wall.
This time, he even boldly extended the firefly jar outside and examined the moat closely.
“Gasp...!”
He hastily clapped a hand over his mouth. Yet he could do nothing about the trembling of his body.
The black object that had blocked the hole floated up to the surface.
Tang Hae-han’s face turned pale.
Spread over the hole, the twisted ends of a demonic warrior’s clothes were sprawled out.
