Poison. The possibility that he might be an Orthodox martial artist.

It was only that much information, but she had not brushed it off.

No wonder—there were too many suspicious points in the movements of a clan renowned across the Central Plains for poison.

For that reason, Seolhwa had been running a background check on the Tang Clan through the Beggar’s (Network) from before.

Yet neither the Grand Clan Lord Tang Sangcheon, nor the current Clan Lord Tang Munryong, nor even the clan’s headache Tang Gajin had any point of contact with the Great Blood Cult whatsoever.

Lately, Tang Gajin’s whereabouts had gone missing, so she had been looking into him.

Never would I have thought it was Tang Hojin.

A person she had not anticipated at all.

Tang Hojin was a man who had shown no distinction whatsoever within the clan or to the outside world until Tang Gajin went into confinement.

Only after Tang Gajin entered confinement did he act as a son of the Tang Clan and as a member of the Demon-Slaying Corps.

I didn’t sense the slightest hint during the last mission, either.

Truly, not even a little.

I should have realized when Tang Sangcheon suspected me of being the Shadowless Demon God.

If you think about it, those were things Tang Sangcheon had no way of knowing.

That the Shadowless Demon God injured an arm in the fight with the Blood Lord—

That was information no one could know except those who had been in that battle.

Tang Hojin...

What on earth is this bastard...?

Then, does that mean everything this young lord of the Tang Clan showed at the Martial Alliance was all an act?

If Tang Hojin truly is this Blood Lord, then the Kunlun side is in danger.

TAK— TADADAK—

The moment suspicion struck that Tang Hojin might be this Blood Lord, Seolhwa headed straight for the Beggar’s (Network).

Tang Hojin’s presumed location at present: Kunlun Mountain.

Yu Gang’s letter also said that as soon as Tang Hojin and Miss Geum arrived, they would begin sweeping fiends, so by now Tang Hojin would be at Kunlun.

I have to warn them as fast as possible...!

Fiends were the Third Blood Lord’s force, but as for this Blood Lord, he would not simply sit by and watch the Blood Cult’s power weaken.

If it’s this Blood Lord, he might even leave the fiends to die.

Even if she herself were this Blood Lord, she would not miss this chance to weaken the Martial Alliance’s strength by any means.

Please, don’t let me be too late...

It was then.

WHOOSH—

“!”

Seolhwa, who had been running without pause, stopped and looked up at the sky.

Snow-Hawk...!

Come to think of it, since receiving the letter from Yu Gang she had not sent a reply yet, so Snow-Hawk had remained by Seolhwa’s side all along.

Gazing briefly at Snow-Hawk circling above her head, Seolhwa sprinted straight toward an open field with few trees and brush.

****

WHOOSH—

While clearing out a wolf pack and tidying up to burn the fiend carcasses, Yu Gang lifted his gaze at a familiar presence.

Snow-Hawk?

There were bird-type fiends in the Fiends’ Forest.

A well-trained Snow-Hawk would never approach on its own.

But something felt off.

The presence just now had definitely been Snow-Hawk.

“Master.”

“Go check.”

Ouyang Do, who had also sensed Snow-Hawk’s presence, granted Yu Gang leave to go.

Even if Yu Gang stepped away for a moment, Kunlun Sect disciples were here, so there was no problem.

After bowing to Ouyang Do, Yu Gang slipped straight out through the thick brush.

WHIIIIISH—

That way.

Snow-Hawk’s presence was speeding away.

It was clear she was being chased by something.

TAK—

Focusing every nerve so as not to lose Snow-Hawk’s trail, Yu Gang tore swiftly through the trees.

Running like that, he found himself farther from the party than he’d expected.

Snow-Hawk was flying back along the way they had come cleaning up fiends—namely, out of the Fiends’ Forest.

SCREEEEE—

“!”

A little farther on, he saw a flock of black birds beating their wings in a rage up in the air.

It was the boundary where a formation divided the outside from the Fiends’ Forest.

Confirming the direction where the birds were gathered, Yu Gang slipped through the formation and was startled.

“Snow-Hawk!”

Snow-Hawk had fallen to the ground and was bleeding.

When Yu Gang ran up and gathered Snow-Hawk into his arms, her wings quivered, trembling, in his embrace.

Yu Gang hastily checked Snow-Hawk’s condition.

Fortunately, aside from a slight tear in the wing joint, there didn’t seem to be any serious injury.

“Why, why....”

She had to have known it was a dangerous place, so why had Snow-Hawk gone into the Fiends’ Forest at all?

As Yu Gang stroked the trembling Snow-Hawk, he discovered a slip of paper tied to her leg.

Because of this?

To deliver this letter?

Holding Snow-Hawk to his chest, Yu Gang untied the cord from her leg.

As his eyes ran down the words written on the slip, his expression hardened rapidly.

****

Please go to Tang Clan. If possible, I would prefer you go yourself.

The look on Tang Sangcheon’s face when he said that had not been his usual.

That was why the decision to depart for Sichuan was made on the spot.

The Tang Sangcheon Namgoong Mucheon knew was a man stiff-necked to the point that he would never bow his head to anyone.

His pride in the Tang Clan vastly exceeded that of the current Clan Lord Tang Munryong, and by the same measure he hated to lose to other clans and sects.

When Namgoong Mucheon was young, he had once visited the Tang Clan with his father, and seen a then-young Tang Sangcheon.

The way his gaze bore down on him had been so overwhelming that his hiccups wouldn’t stop, and people even misunderstood that the Tang Clan had used poison.

And yet that man—

Sword Emperor. ...It’s all my fault. All because of my greed. So... do not hold the main house to account.

—to say something that weak.

It was clear something had happened at the Tang Clan.

So Namgoong Mucheon led the White Tiger Division, and after days without rest, arrived at the Tang Clan in Sichuan.

“...Alliance Lord. The smell of blood.”

“I know.”

A bleak chill hung over the Tang Clan’s front gate.

Sometimes a warrior’s intuition is more accurate than seeing with one’s own eyes.

Namgoong Mucheon slowly closed his eyes.

I’m already too late.

A firmly shut gate of the Tang Clan contrasted with the bustling street that pretended nothing was amiss.

Since ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ it was a clan that normally kept its gates tightly closed, perhaps no one had noticed any change yet, but the skilled warriors of Namgoong Mucheon and the White Tiger Division had already sensed it.

This thick stench of blood, and the absence of any sign of life beyond the gate.

“Open it.”

Division Lord Moryong Songbaek of the White Tiger Division and two subordinates dismounted.

Moryong Songbaek’s face stiffened as he approached the gate.

It’s open.

From up close, the gate stood just barely ajar—so little you wouldn’t see it from a distance.

When he put his hand on it and gave a light push, the door opened weakly with a CREEEAK—

Moryong Songbaek glanced back at Namgoong Mucheon and nodded.

Presently, the two warriors who had followed forced the gate wide enough for only Namgoong Mucheon and the strike troop to pass.

CREEEEEEAK—

After Namgoong Mucheon and the White Tiger Division stepped in, the gate swung back and shut with a THUD.

“You stay here.”

“Yes.”

Leaving the White Tiger Division behind him, Namgoong Mucheon dismounted and strode into the Tang Clan compound.

The deeper he went, the thicker the reek of blood became.

SQUELCH—

As heavy as the blood-scent grew, corpses lay strewn here and there.

Judging by their clothing, they were all Tang Clan servants and workers.

Strange.

For so many to have died that the entire compound was saturated with blood-scent, the number of dead was too few to be the whole of the Tang Clan.

He had not yet checked the inner quarters, but ordinarily the number of people living in the outer quarters was several times that of the inner quarters.

Outside the gate, people seemed unaware anything had happened in the Tang Clan.

Which meant the people inside the gate had neither fled nor raised any commotion.

Moreover—

The manner of killing is odd.

None of the dead bore external wounds from blades or any other weapon.

It meant every last one had died of poison.

CREEAK—

Namgoong Mucheon passed through the outer quarters and entered the inner quarters.

He had expected it, but the inner quarters were a wreck as well.

As in the outer quarters, the dead lay scattered in places, but again, their number was not many.

“...”

Upon stepping into the inner quarters, Namgoong Mucheon lowered his gaze.

A presence was felt from deeper within the inner quarters.

If memory served, that was the direction of the main hall of the Tang Clan.

Following that presence to the courtyard of the main hall, Namgoong Mucheon could not help but halt where he stood.

Before the main hall of the Tang Clan in Sichuan—

A dozen or so people lay facedown, dead.

The cause of death was poisoning, for all.

The same reason as the ones strewn through the outer and inner quarters.

And before them, with the main hall at his back, a man knelt with his head bowed.

Sitting slack, his chest soaked with blood, was the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan in Sichuan, Tang Munryong.

Namgoong Mucheon approached Tang Munryong, who still had breath left.

Perhaps sensing a presence, he raised his head with a tremble of effort.

“...”

Tang Munryong’s eyes as he looked at Namgoong Mucheon were hollow.

Who knew how many times he had coughed blood—around his mouth was drenched with thick, dark, sticky blood.

“...You... have... come....”

As he spoke, blood trickled down from his lips.

His meridians were already in disarray and his body in tatters.

Namgoong Mucheon knew at a glance he could not be saved.

After drawing a slow breath, Namgoong Mucheon went down on one knee before him.

“Clan Lord Tang, what in the world has happened? Who did this?”

Tang Munryong let out a powerless laugh.

“Are there... many dead...?”

“...I don’t know the exact number of your clan, but it looks to be about half.”

“...Is... that so.... In the end... so many kept faith... with the main house....”

As he said it, Tang Munryong looked at once a little glad, and a little sad.

Namgoong Mucheon looked at the dozen corpses sprawled behind him.

All were direct blood of the Tang Clan in Sichuan.