As Sohwa stepped into the Medical Division, Tang Hae-han shot to his feet as if he had been waiting.“You!”He tried to sound somewhat solemn, but Tang Sohwa walked right past him.“...Wow, you’re going to ignore me that openly?”Tang Hae-han trailed after Sohwa as she rummaged through the herb drawers. The room was small; there was no need to move much.It would have looked ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) more imposing to speak from where he stood, but Hae-han hurried over, thrust his face toward Tang Sohwa, and snapped.“I was going to ask if you’re all right, but that feeling’s completely gone!”“I’m fine.”“I said I wasn’t going to ask!”Tang Sohwa gave no response and took out two baskets.“But other people aren’t fine.”Hae-han forgot he’d been about to flare up and asked, grave.“Is there someone hurt besides Hak? Who!”“Everyone.”Tang Sohwa divided herbs between the two baskets.One was packed full of herbs, while the other had less than half that amount.“They’ll have a severe case of wasting—essence and qi-blood damaged so they feel fatigue—but they won’t show it. They’re people who think making a show of pain is a disaster, so it’s nothing new.”“Wasting?”Sohwa answered while rifling the herb chest.“They must have gone into a swamp; they were covered in slime... Hand me the ligusticum over there.”Hae-han obediently pulled out the herb drawer and clicked his tongue.“Yeah, I saw it too. Only the Grand Elder was somewhat clean; the rest were caked in muck. That black mud with green mold stuck to it stank so bad—I thought some grass-stuffed animal had taken a dump from above.”Sohwa nodded.“It wasn’t mold; it was a toxic algal bloom, so it reeked. Seeing them all right after slathering that toxin all over themselves, none of them are normal.”“Algal bloom? How dangerous is it?”“Do you remember the record about the southern elephant corps that drank rotten pond water and was annihilated?”“Ah, I think I do.”“If it’s the same toxin as the algal bloom in that pond, a person would die instantly even from a trace amount. The elephant corps was wiped out.”“Instantly?”Hae-han knit his brow.“I don’t know if it’s the same toxicity as the southern pond, but if they don’t remove the toxin quickly, even a sturdy body’s liver will suffer. It’s already been a long time; once they hit the limit, they’ll start feeling chronic fatigue.”Hae-han’s gaze slid to the decoction pot. Come to think of it, all the herbs were good for wasting.Shaking his head in a different kind of admiration, he let out a small sigh.“The Clan Head and the Grand Elder had a murderous air about them, and in the middle of that you came back thinking of this? Amazing, really... Your nerve is the greatest in the Central Plains—no, on the continent.”Tang Sohwa did not answer. Yet though she moved with composure, her heart seemed urgent.Hae-han sighed, set a fire under the decoction pot, and, before Sohwa even asked, took out cloth pouches to help with the prep.“Then why are you splitting the herbs?”“The Clan Head won’t take it if I say I made the medicine. He’s very angry.”Sohwa put separately measured herbs into the cloth pouch Hae-han handed over.“As soon as he returns he’ll bathe, so give him a medicinal bath. Say it the way you were thinking—if you say it’s medicine good for fatigue, he’ll like it.”“So you’re not completely without social sense. You do know the Clan Head is angry?”Instead of answering, Sohwa moved and pulled out two jars of salve from a drawer.“What? Did someone get lacerations?”“No, I’m sending it to the Namgung.”“The Namgung?”Hae-han’s voice dropped sharply. Whether exasperated or not, he snatched the salve.“Do you know what sort of rumors are going around outside right now? They’re saying you’re toying with the Namgung brothers.”“Really?”Sohwa knew such nonsense was circulating, but she frowned as if hearing it for the first time.Perhaps encouraged, Hae-han raised his voice further.“They’re spouting drivel as if you’d become the vixen of the world; I thought I’d heard everything in my life. Don’t empower those rumors—sit tight and behave.”It seemed Hae-han, too, found that rumor distasteful.‘Good. I was wondering how to get that person sent out of headquarters.’Feigning agreement with Hae-han’s words, Tang Sohwa nodded.“Then please go in my stead, Brother.”“Me?”“The salve is just a pretext. Tell Young Hero Namgung Hyun I have something to say and ask him to come here.”“What are you going to say?”“No. I’ll just go myself.”When Sohwa took out new salve jars, Hae-han snatched those too.“Ah, fine. I’ll go!”In a disgruntled tone, Hae-han asked,“So I should tell Young Hero Namgung Hyun to come, right?”“Mm.”“Then I’ll go to the Namgung. In the meantime, stay here quietly.”Casting a suspicious look at Sohwa, Hae-han left the room.Sohwa, on the other hand, looked at him with trusting eyes and went back to sorting the baskets.Seeing how fierce his glare was, it seemed he would move just as she had thought.Sohwa knew Hae-han well.In the Tang Clan, he was the one most like her.He had no interest outside the affairs of Gujeong Pavilion and clung frighteningly to those he was attached to. Even that his chosen target was a member of the Tang Clan was exactly the same.Having heard people jabbering about some “vixen” and mocking Tang direct lineage, he would have found that rumor hard to endure.He would surely go to the Namgung, pick a useless fight of wills, and try to put her rumors in order.However, while Hae-han would act hostile toward Namgung Jin, he would show at least minimal courtesy to Namgung Hyun.Hae-han was a man who prepared even for the one-in-a-thousand.He believed the world would collapse if plans were not kept, and, anxious that plans might go awry, he always kept several alternatives ready.The Little Clan Head, Namgung Jin, was someone who would never become the Tang Clan’s son-in-law, but Namgung Hyun was not.Since Namgung Hyun might later become a member of the Tang Clan, he would be careful not to cut the man’s face.If, by bad luck, Namgung Hyun did become the Tang Clan’s son-in-law, the Tang Clan’s face might be damaged; there was no way he would take that risk.‘That is how it actually went.’In her previous life, Hae-han cursed to her face that he did not like Namgung Hyun, yet in front of others he tried to uphold Namgung Hyun’s face.‘Namgung Jin doesn’t know Hae-han, so seeing that, he’ll find it strange.’Because of her letter, the Little Clan Head had gone to Baekgeumgak. But it seemed he had met Namgung Hyun there.With his head already a mess, if the Tang Clan treated her coldly and looked after Namgung Hyun, Namgung Jin would grow suspicious of Tang Sohwa.‘With that temperament, he won’t be able to resist his curiosity; he’ll find a way to come to me.’What was more, the Little Clan Head had been to headquarters before, so infiltrating the Tang quarters would not be difficult. The guest pavilions all looked the same.Sohwa pushed aside the cloth pouches she had made for the medicinal bath and tidied the desk. It had been kept very clean to begin with, so there was not much to straighten.Work done, she sat before the decoction pot to catch her breath for a moment.Fweee.Watching the wisps of steam curl up, other thoughts began to come.“...How do they all endure so well.”When she had been carried on Tang Min’s back, she had sensed the toxin. Even with momentary contact, she had felt an itch, yet Tang Min had not scratched his skin.The others were the same. Even Zhuge Inhwi—who had been outright steeped in the algal bloom—looked fine.Despite those formidable martial artists accompanying him, the Alliance Leader had not tried to face the Blood Demon.‘...Just how strong is that thing that he’d make such a paltry choice?’Separate from her loathing of the Alliance Leader, he was a prophet.He had faced the Blood Demon before her and fought innumerable battles; she could not wave away his reaction.Sohwa rubbed a tired face.That Alliance Leader had taken Tang Hak hostage.He feared the Clan Head might take her and return to Sichuan.She could guess what sort of deal the Alliance Leader and the Blood Demon had made.‘As Father predicted, I may soon be thrown in the dungeon.’This time, the Blood Demon might spirit her away perfectly.Time was flowing with the Alliance Leader and the Blood Demon of one mind.It was nothing to be greatly afraid of.‘If the Blood Demon has gained a prophet, then I, too, need only obtain a new power.’It was the plan she had formed when trapped in the Blood Demon’s pavilion to begin with; rather, now that she could communicate with the outside, it was easier to carry out.Only the timetable had moved up a little.‘I must go to the Northern Sea before the Alliance Leader makes his move.’With that thought, her hands grew cold for no reason. Bringing together two bloodless hands, Sohwa recovered her sense of reality.The blood-kin of the Northern Sea Ice Palace were said to have stripped off the Blood Demon’s blood and fled, so that person would know how to remove the Blood Demon’s dokgo.Whether that person would be favorable to her, she did not know, but it seemed there would be a chance to speak.The one said to have mastered the Ice Art of the Northern Sea Ice Palace had not sought to build fame but had rescued his own blood-kin and fled.Did that not mean he had the will to rebuild the Northern Sea Ice Palace?Then, if he learned she held the records, he would try to meet her.That one chance would be enough.Sohwa slowly unclasped her hands and straightened her posture.Absurdly, thanks to the Blood Demon she had obtained one very easy and very difficult method to go to the Northern Sea.Namgung Hyun.Until now, Tang Sohwa had tried to find out why Namgung Hyun had come to the Tang Clan, and what information he had obtained at the Hall of Reports.Paradoxically, thanks to the Blood Demon, she had achieved that result with little effort.Now that she knew Namgung Hyun was a sorcerer favored by the gods, a different desire arose.A thought that she wanted to use the power of Namgung Hyun’s sorcery in place of the Blood Demon.Regrettably, she could not subjugate him by force as the Blood Demon had.To use him, she had to draw out cooperation and nothing else.She could not be certain that Namgung Hyun would acknowledge his identity and make a passage for her.‘It is still worth testing.’And in case she succeeded, she needed to secure in advance the items she would use in the Northern Sea.Originally, she had meant to ask Hae-rak, but given the way things had turned out, she needed someone else to procure the items.‘I’m sorry to Namgung Jin, but...’Since the Little Clan Head had not attended the Duel Tournament, he would not draw much suspicion even if he did not return with the Clan Head and the Namgung. And he could also move quietly to help her.Since Han-won had been to Geumeunsan, spiriting him out posed great risk. If things went wrong, the Tang Clan being suspected was a problem, and the Blood Cult targeting Han-won and striking was also a problem.No matter how she thought of it, Namgung Jin was the right fit.Even if he drew suspicion, it would be shared with the Namgung, which eased the mind; the Namgung Little Clan Head was someone it was burdensome to attack in the middle of Hubei; and the Little Clan Head’s own martial ability was not low.Sohwa thought of one way to get Namgung Jin expelled from headquarters.‘...He will dislike it very much, but it is the only way to have him forcibly cast out.’Wouldn’t life be price enough to compensate a ruined honor?In her previous life, Namgung Jin had been ambushed at Daebyeol Mountain this year; if she took him to the Northern Sea, he would not die.In any case, Sohwa alone would have found it difficult to lure out the Northern Sea blood-kin.‘They said even the Blood Demon could not find them, so it must be enticement, not pursuit.’She soon erased the Namgung brothers from her mind and, thinking over ways to lure the blood-kin who would be in the Northern Sea, waited for the decoction to come to a boil.

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