Namgung Jin secretly diverted that parasitic poison from headquarters and gave it to himself. However, judging by Zhuge Inhwi’s attitude, he seemed to know that Namgung Jin had hidden the poison.“...Administrator, did you also see that poison?”“Yes. I personally went to the Anhui Branch to retrieve the corpse. The Young Clan Head tried to conceal it, but because the parasite was as small as dust, it was impossible to remove it perfectly. I merely covered for him and watched to confirm what he intended to do.”“...”“But Young Lady Tang seems to know that poison well.”Sohwa did not deny it. Since things were thus, it would make speaking easier, so she continued about the parasitic poison.“If you examined the corpse, you must also have noticed something strange. The Blood Cultists with red hair had no parasite, yet the Blood Cultist they were pursuing did, did he not?”“That’s right.”“In the Blood Cult, there are cultists who learned the Blood Demon’s Blood Art, and there are the Outland bloodlines whom the Blood Demon forcibly subjugated.”Watching the Administrator focus, Tang Sohwa spoke slowly.“I did not meet every Outland bloodline, as my time in the Blood Demon’s Geumeunsan was short, but the Outland bloodlines had no particular will toward the Blood Cult, and they did not revere the Blood Demon. The Cult’s believers also called them unbelievers and looked down on them.”Sohwa stated, without addition or subtraction, the things she had seen.“Even so, the reason the bloodlines called unbelievers followed the Blood Demon was either because their martial arts were weak and they had no choice, or because they bore the Blood Demon’s parasitic poison in their bodies.”“Then that Blood Cultist who carried the parasite that day was also of the Outland bloodline?”Sohwa nodded.“A descendant of the Lord of the Ice Palace.”She recalled what she had heard in the Blood Demon’s archive: that one of the descendants of the Ice Palace Lord dispatched to the Central Plains had perfected the Ice Art.Her red lips, which had been closed, parted.“They say among the Ice Palace Lord’s descendants, there is one who perfected the Ice Art of the Northern Sea Ice Palace. He gathered his bloodline and fled to the Northern Sea. And although the Blood Demon pursued them, they have successfully kept themselves hidden for over three years.”The eyebrows of Zhuge Inhwi, who had maintained an expressionless face throughout, rose ever so slightly. As if gauging his feeling, Sohwa counterasked.“Isn’t it strange? It is the Northern Sea Ice Palace of the Outland Five Palaces. The one who perfected that formidable Ice Art did not seek the Blood Demon’s recognition to grow power within the Cult, nor did he flee alone to live in comfort. He chose the difficult path of gathering his bloodline and fleeing to the Northern Sea.”Her gaze sank to the desk. On the table, which held the hue of the red sunset, rested Zhuge Inhwi’s hand.Watching the fingers begin to tap, she stated her conclusion.“I suspect his goal is to reclaim the Northern Sea Ice Palace.”Sohwa’s voice lowered. Returning to the starting point, she spoke slowly, as if to emphasize.“If the descendant of the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord regains his roots, it will stir the other Outland bloodlines.”The first bloodline to defy the Blood Demon’s control.A brief silence fell.Zhuge Inhwi had simply continued to listen without showing much reaction. But his fingers had stopped moving and were still.“Do you think they can reclaim the Northern Sea Ice Palace, Young Lady?”“Yes, I believe there is a possibility. They were born with bodies the Blood Demon painstakingly refined. It’s not certain, but the martial attainment of the one said to have perfected the Ice Art will be the equal of the last palace lord.”What’s more, the last palace lord had failed to protect his own bloodline, yet this man had protected them—and was still protecting them.The descendants of the palace lord whom she had met on Mount Emei were unlike the Blood Cult scum. They had sought to protect the old and the young. Upon hearing that they had died in Anhui, even the Divine Physician fasted for over a month, such was the trust they had from that kindly troupe.Sohwa believed the Northern Sea Ice Palace would become a turning point. The restoration of the Outland Five Palaces who knew the righteous path. If they reclaimed the Northern Sea Ice Palace, they might receive the awe of Outland in a manner different from the former palace lords.If those who recovered the pride of their bloodline received recognition under heaven, then turmoil would be inevitable in the hearts of the unbelievers within the Blood Cult.She even believed that the scapegrace-like descendant of the Great Desert Sun Palace would come to harbor the desire to reclaim his bloodline’s pride.After a silence marked by an unreadable expression, Zhuge Inhwi spoke.“Whether it is good fortune or not, headquarters has already sent people to the Northern Sea to seek an exchange.”“Yes, I am aware.”Because the prices of elixirs imbued with yin energy, including Binggeukjicho, had soared to the heavens, headquarters had dispatched people to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) request exchange with the Northern Sea Branch.“If the Four-Directions Hall joins, it shouldn’t be so dangerous for you, so I will not stop you from departing for the Northern Sea. In about a week, the Hall Lord will arrive in the Northern Sea.”Saying so, Zhuge Inhwi searched inside his robe. But perhaps he had left the item behind, for he let out a small sigh.“I was in such haste I left the token; I’ll bring it to you later. It’s the token shown when Sagye Hall requests cooperation from the Four-Directions Hall, so the Hall Lord will assist you, Young Lady Tang.”“...Has the Hall Lord of the Four-Directions Hall gone to the Northern Sea?”At those words, Sohwa grew tense. The Hall Lord of the Four-Directions Hall was a woman Sohwa also knew.An elder of the Pang family and a veteran warrior of headquarters. Pang Shihyeon had ties with her father and had once been in a romantic relationship with the former Clan Head Namgung An.In her previous life, when Sohwa was framed for poisoning Yeon-a and imprisoned in the Namgung dungeon, the Hall Lord of the Four-Directions Hall had come under the pretext of headquarters’ mediation to rescue her.Calling upon the ties of the Five Great Families, she had coaxed Namgung Hyun and, by the pressure of a headquarters audit, forced him to release Sohwa himself.Sohwa recalled Pang Shihyeon as they had faced each other then. Even in old age, the Hall Lord had maintained a clear aura and noble bearing. She had also been the one to deliver Tang Ji-ha’s birthday gift to Sohwa.Handing over a green silk robe, Pang Shihyeon had comforted her to wait just a little longer, saying the Tang Clan was working to take her back. Though the hope she left turned into deep despair, Pang Shihyeon remained a good impression.After the Tang Clan’s annihilation, even when Namgung Hyun punished Sohwa as he blamed her for Yeon-a’s death, Pang Shihyeon had checked him in the name of headquarters.The only person of headquarters who did not turn away from the last direct line of the fallen Tang Clan.Pang Shihyeon now should be merely in her middle years. Would it be right to draw into this matter the Hall Lord of the Four-Directions Hall, who would be even more righteous and bold than then?Even in the age when she might have retired to rest, she had troubled even the Clan Head of Namgung.'...If she senses something suspicious, she will try to confine me regardless of being a direct line of the Tang Clan.'Now, Sohwa had to make the bloodline of the Northern Sea Ice Palace come to her on their own. With the Martial Alliance’s forces at her side, it would be impossible.After deliberation, Tang Sohwa shook her head.“I do not wish to ask the Hall Lord of the Four-Directions Hall for help.”“In that case, I cannot stand by and let you go to the Northern Sea alone.”Zhuge Inhwi delivered his conclusion without emotion.“Your martial attainment is not outstanding, Young Lady Tang. If you step into the rivers and lakes, it is at a paltry level. Moreover, at present you possess vast knowledge regarding the Blood Cult, and I need you. Of course, if what you say is true, the matter of the Northern Sea Ice Palace seems important, but since I see no chance of victory for you, I will look for another method.”“Does the other method look like it has a chance of victory to you?”Unwittingly, Sohwa let out a dry laugh.“You are someone who knows everything, Administrator, so you must have perceived it: the Alliance Leader made a deal with the Blood Demon. For me, this place is more dangerous than the Northern Sea.”“...”“There is not much time left, and within that time, I cannot find a perfect method.”When Zhuge Inhwi could not answer, Sohwa took a step back.“However, I agree that I have no chance if I go alone. It will be impossible for me to move silently by myself and face unforeseen accidents.”She accepted the Administrator’s concern without resistance.“There is someone who will leave with me. A warrior whose attainment is excellent, yet whose name is not famed as far as Outland—someone who can move in secret.”“Are you saying you will take your own guard as escort?”“No. I have no intention of dragging the Tang Clan into this matter.”She replied evenly.“There is someone who was disgracefully expelled from headquarters. If he disappears for a time, people will think he hid himself out of shame, so it will be less of a burden for him as well.”Zhuge Inhwi spoke, sounding somewhat incredulous.“Do you think Young Clan Head Namgung Jin will help you, Young Lady Tang?”“Yes.”Though Zhuge Inhwi maintained a skeptical air, Sohwa was firm.“There will be no need to persuade him until both our throats are sore as I did with you, Administrator.”Watching Zhuge Inhwi’s already hazy eyes grow even hazier, Tang Sohwa added,“Because that is what close friends do—they are the first to show trust.”“Were the two of you close friends?”“As far as I know, yes.”“It could be only your own thought, Young Lady Tang.”“...”She could not understand why people assumed, as a matter of course, that she would have no close friends. Looking on the bright side, it meant the atmosphere had softened enough for him to point it out.It meant the conversation was drawing to a close.As if to prove it, the Administrator drew something from his breast. Something wrapped in red cloth was set upon the table.“However, I cannot deny that you have many good ties.”Unwrapping the cloth, Zhuge Inhwi said,“The Seal of Yeon-a wishes to deliver the Han Cheol to you. Thus, I have just come from confirming the intention to transfer it with the Head of Wudang.”The revealed Han Cheol gave off a gentle light.“Is this truly the item you need in order to go to the Northern Sea?”Tang Sohwa nodded.“I don’t know what you intend to do, but Han Cheol cannot be handled by an ordinary iron workshop. Are you aware of that?”“I am aware.”“Then how do you intend to use it?”Sohwa had asked Baekgeumgak to procure an iron workshop, but she could not answer. When she did not reply, Zhuge Inhwi spoke again.“I’m not trying to press you. I intend to help you use the iron workshop of headquarters.”“I appreciate the favor, but that won’t do. If I use headquarters’ iron workshop, the Alliance Leader and others will learn of it.”“There is no need to worry about that.”In a calm voice, the Administrator of Sagye Hall cut through Sohwa’s suspicion. But he did not tell her why.Perhaps it was a method he could not reveal; the Administrator changed the subject. It was something that had nothing to do with Han Cheol.“The Young Clan Head will probably wake in three days.”Even so, Sohwa could not help being drawn into that topic.“He still hasn’t woken? Is his condition very serious?”The Administrator shook his head.“No. He is being kept asleep deliberately. The Divine Physician said that when he wakes, the pain will be severe, so it is better to treat him while he sleeps. He said he will awaken his consciousness and treat him in three days.”Since she trusted the Divine Physician, Tang Sohwa did not ask further. Her sharp momentum settled back to calm.“Therefore, when the Alliance Leader ordered me to find your dark secrets, Young Lady Tang, I said it would take three days.”“...”“When the Young Clan Head wakes, I intend to send him straight to the Tang residence. It will aid the Tang Clan’s honor, so before headquarters’ gates open and everyone departs, we must make noise about Young Clan Head Tang Hak’s achievements.”“Honor?”“Aren’t you aggrieved, Young Lady Tang? You are risking your life to protect the Central Plains, yet people are chattering as they please about treating you like a Blood Cult spy, whether to confine you in the dungeon or not.”Sohwa, having no interest in her own rumors, likewise paid no mind to the reactions of other sects. From the start, she had no intention of protecting the Central Plains, so there was nothing to feel aggrieved about.When Tang Sohwa remained silent, Zhuge Inhwi let out a sigh.“You say you have found a way to make a Passage and flee to the Northern Sea, but if you suddenly disappear amid people tying you to the Blood Cult, you will bear disgrace. It will be a stigma that cannot even be compared with Young Clan Head Namgung Jin’s. The Tang Clan, too, will fall under suspicion as spies for the Blood Cult.”The honor of the Tang Clan was a matter of concern. Because her father had forced his way out of headquarters, it was hard to expect the trust of other sects.Thus, she lent an ear to the Administrator. He likely had a good method, being a man of greater seniority than she.“Is there a way to leave without arousing suspicion?”The Administrator gave a short answer.“Try trusting me.”Just as Sohwa was about to ask a question, the warmth receded like the ebbing tide.“Prepare the criminal form within three days.”As the Administrator rose from his seat, the sound barrier lifted, and noise seeped in from outside.Leaving out any explanation of how he intended to help, the Administrator gave her a smile. Words attached with the awareness that now that the sound barrier had lifted, she could no longer speak further about the Northern Sea.In short, it was not a proposal but an order.Swallowing a multitude of questions, Sohwa watched the Administrator’s back as he left without waiting to be seen out.

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