The Red Blood Hall Lord did not resist this time and answered obediently.“It is something necessary for handling the mind. Exposure to Oseoksan allows one to temporarily alter memory.”“The Martial Alliance bastards aren’t fools. Isn’t it dangerous to meddle with memory half-heartedly?”“It wasn’t intended for long use. I was only going to employ it briefly during the martial arts tournament.”“The martial tournament? Why?”“Because I needed Han Cheol.”“Han Cheol? Ah, right, the prize at the Martial Alliance’s tournament was Han Cheol.”Hae-rak let out a small laugh.“Were you planning to fix the match? What were you going to use Han Cheol for?”The Red Blood Hall Lord hesitated before opening his mouth.“...I was thinking of creating a new passage.”At those words, Hae-rak’s smile grew faintly curious.A passage — it referred to a space imbued with sorcery, allowing one to cross distance.Hae-rak’s gaze slid down to the human-skin mask lying on the floor. It was the face of the original owner of Qinghai Pavilion. Slowly, his eyes lifted.“You killed the sorcerer left in Guangdong with your own hand. What exactly are you planning to make?”The Blood Demon cherished the unbelievers who handled sorcery. Some were so favored they were not even fed to dokgo. Yet if this one had slain a sorcerer, then his loyalty had twisted terribly out of shape.He adored the Blood Demon while despising unbelievers, and the gap between those feelings often led him to mistakes.The Red Blood Hall Lord looked up with a displeased face.“I didn’t kill him. He simply collapsed and died on his own.”“That’s the same thing. How much did you frighten him?”Hae-rak let out a laugh, as if something dawned on him.“Ah, so that’s why you lured me here. You wanted to make it look like I was the one who killed him.”“......”“But things went awry. Tsk, tsk, Pyowol — this is what happens when fools try to use their heads. Remember it next time.”Speaking words that were neither insult nor consolation, Hae-rak patted Pyowol’s shoulder.“So then, how are you planning to make this passage? Did you bring in another sorcerer from elsewhere?”The Red Blood Hall Lord didn’t deny it. But neither could his silence be taken as affirmation.After a long hesitation, his eyes fell on his severed arm twitching before him, and he shut his eyes tight.“...Yes, there is another sorcerer.”“Oh? Who?”“The Namgung Clan Head’s illegitimate son.”“Ah, you mean that sorcerer’s son? I heard he lost his power after mixing with Namgung blood.”“No. He merely kept his mouth shut all this time.”To the Blood Demon, the structure of a great clan ruled entirely by its Clan Head was a most appealing hierarchy.He had once sent a beloved unbeliever to beget a direct descendant, hoping to seize such a clan easily.But there was one thing the Blood Demon overlooked.Receiving the Clan Head’s blood did not guarantee the clan’s authority.To become Clan Head, not only bloodline but also standing mattered.Those lowborn bastards of the direct line, whose mothers were of humble origin, were either suppressed and killed young or treated worse than branch members.The Blood Demon realized his mistake only then.Just as the orthodox sects regarded the Blood Cult as absolute evil, he himself had unconsciously deemed the orthodox absolute good.Yet they too were human, capable of greed and cruelty for their desires.Afterward, the Blood Demon no longer coveted direct bloodlines; instead, he planted countless blades within those clans.Recalling the old story darkened Hae-rak’s face.The Red Blood Hall Lord cut short his thoughts.“That man Namgung Hyun came to Geumeunsan.”Namgung’s illegitimate child — one the Blood Demon had abandoned long ago.There was no way the boy could have known where the passage lay.It could only mean he had created a new one himself to seek the Blood Demon.Guessing the omitted tale, Hae-rak laughed hollowly.“So the brat inherited a sorcerer’s power.”“Yes. He said he learned the symbols of sorcery from his mother.”The Red Blood Hall Lord swallowed the rest of his words, but when he saw Hae-rak crushing the bead fragments underfoot, he spoke again.“He also knows how to design new sorceries.”“The old man must have swooned. Even now he dies for any sorcerer, and now someone who can design new ones has fallen into his hands.”Though the insult to the Blood Demon grated on him, the Red Blood Hall Lord endured.“In any case... the Blood Demon ordered him to expand the passage and sent me with him to the Central Plains.”“To serve that Namgung brat?”Clenching his teeth, the Red Blood Hall Lord replied,“...To assist him.”Hae-rak smiled and patted the Red Blood Hall Lord’s shoulder with his palm.The fact that it was his own hand irritated Pyowol greatly.He couldn’t restore his arm until this madman left, yet the man showed no sign of returning.In truth, Hae-rak needed time to think.He could not yet foresee what was about to change.There were already passages in the Central Plains that sorcerers had designed.But their range was limited — barely connecting cities, like from Hubei to Shaanxi, or Shaanxi to Sichuan.To reach Geumeunsan, one had to travel to the nearest node — Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, or Shaanxi — and move through from there.But Anhui.Crossing that many times the usual distance — no wonder the Blood Demon had lost his mind with joy and handed Pyowol over to the boy.The brat had likely written the spell on the ground or burned it into paper.Hae-rak had once seen a sorcerer try to flee by drawing runes in his own blood.Judging by his demand for Han Cheol, the Blood Demon must have intended to make an unfading inscription, like those carved in caves — something that could be used forever.'Hmm. If he plans to use Han Cheol instead of a cave, maybe he wants to carry the passage itself. Perhaps he intends to start roaming in earnest.'Hae-rak erased the swarm of questions from his mind, leaving only one.“But why did that Namgung brat suddenly reveal his power?”The Red Blood Hall Lord snorted.“He says he wants to become Clan Head of the Namgung.”“Clan Head?”“So he claims.”“Why?”“I don’t understand either. Considering what he could demand in exchange for the passage, one martial clan in Anhui is utterly trivial.”Clan Head.For the Blood Demon, that would not be difficult.Yet since he had not granted it immediately, it seemed he still didn’t trust the boy.To confirm the thought, Hae-rak asked,“Then why didn’t the old man just topple Namgung and hand it to him?”“He said he would decide after seeing the boy’s ability.”When the Red Blood Hall Lord gave an evasive answer, Hae-rak stared fixedly at him.Reluctantly, Pyowol continued.“If he creates two passages connecting the Central Plains and the outer lands, the Blood Demon promised to kill the Namgung Little Clan Head for him.”Hae-rak’s expression froze.Whether the Namgung Little Clan Head lived or died didn’t matter — what bothered him was the location of those outer connections.“Where will they lead?”“To the Northern Sea Branch and the Great Desert Branch.”Those were the sites of the Northern Sea Ice Palace and the Great Desert Sun Palace.After they had fallen in the war with the Blood Cult, crazed men from the faraway Central Plains had come, claiming to protect the survivors.Calling themselves members of the Martial Alliance, they built branches there — residing not in humble quarters but in the vast palaces themselves.In short, they seized them without lifting a finger.Truly shameless.Yet it wasn’t truly the Martial Alliance’s will.The Alliance never recognized them.Though decades had passed since those “branches” were founded beyond the frontier, the Alliance had never once exchanged with them.The Blood Demon had been pleased at the sight, even secretly helping them settle.The Northern Sea Branch and Great Desert Branch were Blood Cult lands.The Central Plains fools thought they were protecting survivors, but in truth, they lived only because the Blood Demon allowed it.Thanks to that, he easily obtained all the martial arts and knowledge they carried.And now the Blood Demon sought to connect those outer lands fully.“...What, did he think of something clever?”At that, the Red Blood Hall Lord gave a thin smile.“How could the likes of us grasp his will?”“So you were going to rig the tournament and hand Han Cheol to the boy?”Hae-rak looked down at him with pity.“You’re doing your babysitter’s job well.”“......”“But find Han Cheol by another means.”“Haven’t I already said? It’s the Blood Demon’s command. He told me to test the boy with Han Cheol, yet I don’t know how to obtain it.”“Hmm? Don’t know? That sounds odd...”When Hae-rak narrowed his eyes, the Red Blood Hall Lord smiled and spoke frankly.“If you procure it, I’ll stop interfering in Hubei.”“No.”“I’ll say it again, this is what the Blood Demon—”“Pyowol.”Hae-rak let out a deep sigh.“I only now learn that you came to the Central Plains.”“The Blood Demon planned to make a passage, that some insolent sorcerer went to him without even reporting to me — all this I’m hearing for the first time, from you.”The Red Blood Hall Lord fell silent.“If what you say is true, then everything you’ve just told me is something I should never have known.”He flinched.“The old man, in his senility, entrusted the task to you — but if, within months, I come to know of his secret dealings with the sorcerer, even helping that brat become Clan Head—”“—how furious do you think the old man will be, knowing I found out?”Hae-rak suddenly grabbed Pyowol’s severed hand and waved it right before his nose.Flap, flap.“You must not know how unpleasant it feels to be toyed with by someone else’s hand.”The muscles in the Red Blood Hall Lord’s jaw twitched. He clenched so hard that a grinding noise came from between his teeth.But to a madman, such a thing was no threat at all.Hae-rak smiled.“I’m saying this for your sake. For now, lie low and keep your head down. In the Central Plains, all you can do is flaunt your incompetence before the old man. If that doesn’t suit you, then go back to Geumeunsan.”Saying so, Hae-rak rose to his feet.“I’ll hold on to this arm. Depending on how you behave, I’ll either deliver it to the old man or burn it myself.”The Red Blood Hall Lord bit his tongue. The taste of blood filled his mouth.But he could not let it be known that he had lost to an unbeliever even after receiving a divine object.For his own sake — and for that person’s.To hide his distorted expression, he slammed his forehead into the floor again.“I will follow your will, Lord of the Crimson Blood.”“Will you?”“Yes.”“Ah, why do I still not feel convinced?”“……”“Now I see why the old man wanted to test that Namgung brat. Even if he finds talent, he must see for himself if the man is worth trusting before using him or casting him aside.”Crunch.The sound of Pyowol grinding his teeth rang out again.Hae-rak swallowed a laugh and spoke.“Gather up everyone who came over with you, and all your subordinates in Guangdong, and submit a full report of every move you’ve made.”“Yes.”“By the hour of the Rat.”“……”Naming an impossible deadline, Hae-rak frowned.“Don’t want to do it?”“I want to...”“Good. Then do it properly.”Without waiting for an answer, the Lord of the Crimson Blood vanished.Bang!The wooden floor splintered under Pyowol’s claws.Bang. Bang. Bang.Unable to contain his rage, he struck the ground again and again.When at last he calmed himself, he let out a long breath of relief.‘...At least not everything was exposed.’Perhaps stirred by Namgung Hyun’s visit, the Blood Demon had decided to reclaim the blades he had once scattered.Among the trials the Blood Demon had given Namgung Hyun was the Tang Clan Head’s eldest daughter.To avoid discovery, the Red Blood Hall Lord knew he would have to retreat for now.After all, it was a test. The boy would have to handle it himself.Yes. Only then would he be worthy to receive the Blood Demon’s hand.Forcing the thought as comfort, Pyowol focused on restoring his arm.But on the day the cult’s hierarchy shifted, an unexpected crack began to form in the Blood Demon’s plan.

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