Tang Hae-han set the box down.
Then, almost as if fleeing, he pushed through the central gate and ran toward the west gate that was said to have fallen.
It was because he could not believe the words that the outer wall had collapsed.
“Aaaargh!”
Screams and the sound of metal clashing stabbed into his eardrums. Tang Hae-han stopped in his tracks and lifted his gaze.
Embers were scattering across the bluish-green sky, dyed with dawn light.
Beyond the burned central gate, he could see Tang Clan martial artists and demonic warriors locked in combat. He could also see the piled corpses around them.
A martial artist who was facing two demonic warriors alone was someone he knew. They had never exchanged words, but like most of the warriors, that man had often gone in and out of the Medical Division.
At that moment, the two demonic warriors charged at the Tang Clan martial artist.
Slash.
Two swords pierced into the Tang clan member’s body.
Without realizing it, Tang Hae-han squeezed his eyes shut. When he hurriedly opened them again, the two demonic warriors were already right in front of him.
It was the instant two blades flew toward his abdomen.
“Urk.”
The demonic warrior with a concealed weapon stuck in the nape of his neck flew upward.
Thud. Thud.
Concealed weapons also lodged into the forehead and chest of the demonic warrior charging beside him.
While the two demonic warriors toppled over, a familiar back appeared in front of Tang Hae-han.
“Vice Unit Leader...”
Tang Hae-han called him in a trembling voice.
The Vice Unit Leader spoke coldly.
“If you go to the rear gate, the Red Tiger Unit should be there. They might already have left, but if you get on a horse you can catch up quickly. They say all the horses in the inner compound have been sent to the rear gate, so there should be at least one horse left.”
He poured out advice.
“Even if there is no horse, go out the rear gate at once and run away.”
Even in the midst of this, he was trying to save Tang Hae-han.
Tang Hae-han bit back the surge in his chest and opened his mouth.
“I doubled the concentration of the poison in the moat. Even if it spreads slowly, it has been an hour, so the poison smoke should have formed by now. Then how can that many demonic warriors cross the moat? Are you sure the poison was released properly?”
Tang Hae-han asked like a child throwing a tantrum, unable to understand.
It was as if he wanted to shift the mistake to lessen his guilt.
Perhaps sensing that shameful emotion, a crease formed between the Vice Unit Leader’s brows.
“What do you mean, was the poison released properly?”
No, he did not seem angry, but puzzled.
“I heard you didn’t have time to finish making it. You said you would complete it yourself and do the poison-dosing, so I told you to go back, didn’t I?”
“...What?”
For a moment, neither of them could speak.
It was because they had grasped the situation.
The Vice Unit Leader’s face turned paler than Tang Hae-han’s.
“I left someone called Ran-hee, a woman martial artist, at the main gate to wait for the Sichuan Branch...”
Muttering to himself, the Vice Unit Leader glanced toward the main gate and bit his lip.
It seemed the person suspected of being a spy had been left at the main gate.
“Aaaargh!”
A sharp scream rang out from the west gate. A Black Tiger Unit martial artist who had come as reinforcements was clutching his arm.
As if making up his mind, the Vice Unit Leader made a request of Tang Hae-han.
“If you go to the main gate, you’ll see a woman martial artist named Ran-hee. Tell her to beware the national punishment.”
“Understood.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Vice Unit Leader headed off to block the west gate.
Tang Hae-han also ran toward the main gate.
He repeated to himself in his head what he could do and what he had to do right now.
'Find Ran-hee, stop the spy at the main gate, go back to the Medical Division and evacuate everyone to the rear gate.'
But regrettably, it seemed there was nothing he could do.
As he ran across the path, Tang Hae-han saw the Medical Division burning.
The stench of burning and screams were drifting all the way here.
“Move them quickly!”
“Gyaaah!”
Physicians of the Medical Division were supporting patients and pushing through the flames. In the midst of them, he caught sight of the Medical Division Lord as well.
Crack.
A burnt beam collapsed and fell over the Medical Division Lord who was supporting a patient.
“Division Lord!”
By instinct, Tang Hae-han turned his body toward the Medical Division.
Flash.
At that moment, a flying concealed weapon grazed his shoulder by a hair.
It was someone wearing the Tang Clan martial robe. But he had aimed at Tang Hae-han. As if he knew exactly who Tang Hae-han was.
Bang. Thud.
The concealed weapons flying at him were vicious, yet they did not aim for vital points. Tang Hae-han realized that this spy had something to get out of him.
Instead of going to the Medical Division, Tang Hae-han slipped into the Oral Transmission Pavilion to hide, luring the man.
The Oral Transmission Pavilion was quiet. It seemed all the pavilion members had evacuated, or gone out to move patients to the Medical Division.
Bang.
As a concealed weapon punched through the door, Tang Hae-han swallowed a curse inwardly.
He hurried up the stairs to escape the spy. When he reached the sixth floor, the view outside the window came into his eyes.
Whether they had deliberately set the fires, various parts of the buildings were burning. It was not flame that had simply spread.
'The grain warehouse, the armory, the Medical Division, the secret storehouse...'
The important places of the Tang manor were burning.
Looking at the flames, Tang Hae-han read the situation.
They had no intention of taking Tang Clan people prisoner or leaving them alive.
Extermination.
They did not covet the Tang Clan’s assets, they were destroying everything. Then there was no way they would leave people alive.
Just then, he saw bundles of torches moving toward the inner compound.
They were moving at great speed. As if tracking someone, there was no hesitation in their direction.
They were heading for the rear gate.
It was the gate through which Yehwa and Yuhwa had escaped.
Without realizing it, Tang Hae-han thrust his head out the window.
“No!”
A group of demonic warriors using lightness skills moved in an instant and went out beyond the rear gate. Worse still, in the distance, he saw more than twenty martial artists running toward them. They were absolutely not wearing Tang Clan clothing. The direction they were running was also toward the rear gate.
Bang.
When a concealed weapon embedded itself in the window frame, Tang Hae-han pulled back.
He ran up to the eighth floor and poured the Eight Ultimate Poisons from his sleeve into boxes as fast as he could.
Splash.
The box that fell into the pond bobbed to the surface.
“Damn it, don’t tell me that’s the Eight Ultimate Poisons?”
The spy who had chased him up went pale as he asked.
As expected, this bastard’s goal was the Eight Ultimate Poisons.
When the man approached, Tang Hae-han threw himself into the pond.
Splash.
Cutting through the water and rising up, Tang Hae-han grabbed the box and dragged it out.
Clatter.
He opened the poison bottles and poured them into the pond, then threw all the pills into the water as well.
“What are you doing!”
The spy, who had been about to leap down after him, only stuck his head out and screamed.
“Stop! Aaagh! Stop that!”
If the demonic warriors were going to seize them, he would rather destroy everything.
That kind of dreadful thing—killing Tang Clan people with Tang Clan poisons—must never be allowed to happen. Even if he died, that was the one thing he could not leave alone.
“Cough.”
Tang Hae-han spat blood. In his desperation, he shoved the remaining detoxification medicine into his mouth, but it was difficult to block the power of the Eight Ultimate Poisons.
Blood streamed from his eyes and nose as Tang Hae-han poured all of the extreme poisons into the pond, rendering them useless.
He no longer heard the spy’s shouts.
It seemed the man was coming down himself to stop him.
Tang Hae-han looked at the Oral Transmission Pavilion and bit his lip. Then he stood up and took down the lantern hanging by the entrance.
Crack.
The crumpled paper lantern caught fire. Holding the flames in his hand, Tang Hae-han took a deep breath.
“Hoo.”
With a trembling hand, he threw the fire into the pond.
Whoosh.
When the surface of the pond caught fire, a red inferno surged up high like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
It was only a matter of time before the fire spread to the buildings.
Bang.
At the sound that pierced his eardrums, Tang Hae-han turned around.
Perhaps having seen the flames rising from the Oral Transmission Pavilion, the spies were converging this way.
The Tang Clan’s poison storehouse, which could be used as a weapon straight away, was disappearing before their eyes, so it was only natural they would be greatly shaken. Sensing them drawing close, Tang Hae-han muttered under his breath.
“There is not a single thing here for you.”
He spat blood once more and drew throwing daggers from his sleeve.
Amidst the flames and smoke devouring the Medical Division, more than a few dozen figures emerged. There was no way there were that many spies, so demonic warriors had to be mixed in. Judging by the outline of the long swords coming closer, that suspicion did not seem wrong.
He had no way of knowing how many demonic warriors had crossed over while he had been making useless detoxification pills.
The thing those bastards who had sold out his comrades and butchered innocent physicians shared in common was a cruelty that committed slaughter without a shred of hesitation.
It was the same on this side.
Flash.
Tang Hae-han threw all the concealed weapons he had, luring them with the smoke.
Once he killed them, he planned to go into the Oral Transmission Pavilion and destroy all the poisons.
If the Tang Clan was going to fall, that was what Tang Hae-han had to do until his final moment.
Prepared to die, Tang Hae-han’s hands trembled finely.
With reddened eyes, he glared at them and waited for them to come closer.
“Come.”
It was in that moment.
Ssshhh.
As if black clouds had spread over the sky, his field of vision darkened. In the instant he wondered if his sight had failed, black drops poured down like rain.
Slaaash.
Dozens of pieces of metal tore through the air, and each time, blood sprayed up toward the sky.
Then throwing daggers cut through the blood droplets between them, and with that movement, the blood flew even higher, blocking out the sky.
It was a sight as if red rain were falling from a black sky.
Tang Hae-han’s chest swelled and sank repeatedly in excitement.
Amidst the carpet of corpses that covered the ground, the figure of a man standing tall came into view. Heukcheon Amgui looked at him and scolded him.
“You crazy fool. Know your place. Who do you think you are, trying to fight to the death! You should be running yourself half to death!”
“Heuu... Grand Elder...”
Tang Hae-han’s strength left him and he collapsed to the ground. For the first time, that hateful voice sounded welcome.
Through the crushed roar and noise, the sound of calm footsteps cut in. A cool touch took his wrist.
When he lifted his head, Tang Sohwa was looking down at him with an expressionless face.
“It really must be my time to die.”
“......”
“A day has come when even your ghost-like face feels welcome...”
Murmuring as if joking, Tang Hae-han collapsed into Sohwa’s arms.
She stroked his back.
Her hand, whose emotion he could not read, was trembling ever so slightly.
