Chapter 144. Intentional Confinement

As soon as they arrived at the Tang Clan residence, someone rushed over.

“You..!”

Tang Hae-han shouted with a flushed face, then shut his mouth.

He had run out in agitation, but the pressure of the Clan Head and the Black Sky Demon standing before him was too fierce for him to approach further.

Tang Hae-han swallowed his anger and spoke in a low voice.

“We’ll talk later. For now, just know—you’re dead to me.”

So-hwa did not move.

Someone had already told her she was as good as dead. Compared to Tang Min, Tang Hae-han’s threat was nothing more than a rabbit swinging its tiny forepaws.

When Tang Hae-han withdrew, the clan members all bowed in greeting to the Clan Head. The Clan Head received the greeting and gave a short command.

“Prepare to return to Sichuan at once.”

“Yes.”

Without objections, they immediately set to work.

Before crossing the gate, the Clan Head turned back.

A chilling gaze fell on Tang So-hwa. Then, an even colder voice pierced her eardrums.

“You will follow me.”

“Clan Head, wait just a moment. I’ll grab my stick first, so don’t start without me.”

The Clan Head refused the Black Sky Demon, who was itching to act.

“There is no time. I will finish this conversation within a short while, and the rest will be heard on the road back to Sichuan.”

“You’re not just making excuses because you’re worried I might lay a hand on your daughter, are you?”

The Black Sky Demon frowned, but the Clan Head did not take the jest.

“Right now, the Alliance Leader is announcing our return to the other clans and sects, which is why I have not said more. But soon, he may insist that So-hwa be locked in the dungeon.”

At those words, Tang Min closed his mouth. Much had been left unsaid, but he understood the meaning.

Since the Alliance members would not be lenient toward the one who caused this uproar, it was very likely they would suggest interrogation until proof acceptable to them could be found.

Seeing that even the Black Sky Demon, who usually nitpicked at every word from the Clan Head, did not sneer this time, the mood at the headquarters must have been graver than expected.

The Clan Head went straight to his quarters.

Tang Min, lacking tact, tried to follow, but with no time to argue, the Tang Clan Head simply closed the door.

Someone must have set up a barrier, as outside sounds vanished.

Cutting through the heavy atmosphere, the Clan Head spoke in a deep voice.

“Speak.”

He commanded while still standing, not even taking a seat.

So-hwa was less concerned with the terrifying tone of the Clan Head’s voice than with his soiled garments.

That sight brought back memories of the past.

It overlapped with the humiliation of the Tang Clan Head, who had once bowed his pride when visiting Namgung.

So-hwa pressed down the surge in her chest and answered.

“What do you want me to tell you?”

“Don’t stall for time.”

A voice colder than a snowstorm asked again.

“What is happening?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

“Tang So-hwa.”

The Clan Head swallowed and spoke again.

“I will take the Tang Clan members and leave the headquarters. If the Blood Sect members left behind in Wuhan are hunting you, we may be ambushed as soon as we leave this place.”

“……”

“Tell me before I make the worst choice and drive everyone to their deaths.”

The Clan Head, his anger gone, let out a long breath as he looked at his daughter, who was only half his size.

“What in the world is happening?”

So-hwa’s sealed lips slowly parted.

Hesitating, she spoke as if testing the two pillars of the Tang Clan.

“The Blood Demon needs me.”

“Blood Demon?”

The Clan Head’s brow twisted.

“A Blood Demon. Didn’t you just return after confirming there was no Blood Demon on Dabeishan Mountains?”

He was genuinely angry. He was greatly disappointed that his daughter would joke at a time like this.

Tang Min also scolded So-hwa with his eyes.

So-hwa, seeing the two elders’ fixed gazes upon her, resigned herself.

As expected, the Alliance Leader had erased the existence of the Blood Demon.

In the end, it seemed he had reached a compromise with that demon.

It was probably not because the Alliance Leader had become particularly evil that he had made such a choice.

To a Taoist who had lost his way, this life must have been a hell.

To one living in hell, the Blood Demon was no longer an enemy.

So-hwa recalled the empty wooden box the Alliance Leader had thrown. The Blood Demon seemed to have been affected as if it had taken the medicine she had left in the Black Pavilion.

‘Reckless fool. Did he not think what hidden side effects it may bear?’

Perhaps he had waited so long that he would take such risks.

So-hwa understood why the Blood Demon had followed them to the Central Plains.

‘It seems the pill had an effect on him.’

Now So-hwa was no longer someone the Blood Demon needed. She had become the very objective he must obtain.

Because she was a person who could give him the Blood Jade infinitely.

So-hwa lifted her lowered gaze and stared at the Clan Head.

Tang Ji-ha’s suspicion had not been wrong.

If they left now, the Blood Sect would ambush them. If they stayed at the headquarters, the Alliance Leader would smuggle her away and hand her to the Blood Demon — she was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

If she had to choose, the latter was better.

At least the Alliance Leader would have promised the Blood Demon peace.

Riding the fake peace rather than letting the Tang Clan forces be annihilated would be many times wiser, hoping for a chance to strike back.

Blinking slowly, So-hwa retracted her words.

“I was tired and misspoke. I meant the Blood Sect, not the Blood Demon.”

She told the story that Tang Ji-ha could believe.

“The Blood Sect was angry that I revealed the Blood Sect’s activity and targeted me. In the process, they learned about my constitution.”

Tang Ji-ha’s brow darkened—he had always feared that.

“They’re the sort who like to capture people for experiments; they’ve been curious about my body for months.”

She mixed truth and lies as she testified.

“The Alliance Leader knew this and tried to lure the Blood Sect. That’s also why I scattered tracking incense and followed the Blood Sect. I didn’t tell you because I was worried you’d worry, which was shortsighted of me.”

“Clan Head.”

Tang Min cut So-hwa off in a low voice.

“Wait a moment. I really must go fetch my stick.”

He glared at So-hwa with enraged eyes and said.

“How dare you lie to the Clan Head. Who do you think you’re deceiving!”

The Clan Head said nothing. He had the same thought as the Black Sky Demon.

Rage and killing intent intertwined, filling the closed room.

Under normal circumstances, she would have fainted, but So-hwa’s expression did not change.

On the contrary, she raised her lowered eyes and met the two martial artists’ gazes.

“If you don’t believe me, what should I do?”

“What?”

“Tell me what you want to believe. I will answer that it is true.”

Tang Min was left speechless.

Clearly, So-hwa was lying. Yet when asked why he thought it was a lie, he had no answer.

Once he accepted the Alliance Leader’s claim that So-hwa had been terrified, her suspicious behavior began to make sense.

Fortunately, Tang Ji-ha pointed out her weak spot.

“When you disappeared, the Alliance Leader did not try to save you. And you say the Alliance Leader used you to lure the Blood Sect?”

“The Alliance Leader’s goal was not to protect me; he might not have intended to rescue me.”

“Do you know the Alliance Leader’s purpose?”

So-hwa began to answer, then let out an involuntary bitter laugh.

She composed herself and answered plainly.

“What he wants is peace in the Central Plains.”

The eldest daughter reported in a steady voice.

“And I don’t care about peace in the Central Plains. I have no intention of fighting the Blood Sect for peace. I only opposed them because they targeted and tried to harm me.”

“You opposed them? The Blood Sect?”

Tang Min quickly rolled his eyes up and down. A slight body without ambition in martial arts was visible. Though she had trained external skills, her physique was poor in the eyes of top martial artists.

“You expect us to believe you stepped forward to fight the Blood Sect?”

“Yes.”

“Haha.”

Tang Min’s blatant scoff met So-hwa’s calm reply.

“Because I want to live.”

“……”

“I will not hand my life over to the Blood Sect willingly. Unless I can make them regret targeting me.”

This was sincere.

She wanted to survive on her own.

So that she would not repeat the dreadful life of surviving only by owing others their lives.

“Of course, it is also true that I was reckless and arrogant. Because of that, I made the Clan Head and the Grand Elder step forward and wasted the Tang Clan’s precious strength. And the Young Lord…”

Her calm voice wavered for a moment.

“I harmed the Young Lord… so I will accept whatever punishment is given.”

This, too, was sincere.

Thus, the Grand Elder and the Clan Head were left unsettled.

It seemed true, yet also seemed false.

Unable to make a clear decision, the Clan Head’s mind grew tangled.

Surely the authorities of other clans and sects would try to hold So-hwa responsible for this uproar.

Whether she was connected to the Blood Sect or not did not matter to them.

Even if they believed she was merely a victim abducted by the Blood Sect, they would still demand she take responsibility.

Forcing a debt upon the Tang Clan would bring them benefit in some form.

If only Tang So-hwa had been one of the Tang Clan members, the worry would have been less. But she was the direct descendant of the Clan Head. Since he could not simply hand her over to the dungeon, the Alliance members would demand much from the Tang Clan.

Tang Ji-ha let out an unconscious sigh.

Naturally, he could not allow those men’s greed to force So-hwa into the dungeon.

‘But truly…’

If Blood Sect members like that were targeting So-hwa, they could not leave the headquarters.

Here, the headquarters would serve as a wall to block enemies outside.

Caught in contradiction, Tang Ji-ha rubbed his weary face.

Noticing his worry, So-hwa’s expression darkened as well.

Just then, the Clan Head, sensing something, dispelled the barrier.

“Clan Head, someone has come from the Four Seasons Hall.”

A clan member outside announced the arrival of a visitor.

The muscles of his jaw twitched violently.

‘Has the headquarters already made its decision?’

It seemed there was no longer even time to hesitate.

The Clan Head answered in a low voice.

“Tell them this is no time to receive guests; I will go to them myself later.”

The Clan Head tried to stall meaninglessly, but the clan member spoke in a troubled tone.

“Forgive me, Clan Head, but they did not request an audience with you. They only asked me to deliver a message.”

“A message?”

“Yes, they said once the Young Lord regains consciousness, he will be inspected over and then returned to his quarters…”

The Clan Head did not even wait to hear the rest before bursting the door open.

“What?”

“They said they do not know the full circumstances either, only that the Young Lord will, for the time being, receive treatment at the Four Seasons Hall from the Divine Physician and the headquarters’ physicians, so there is no need to worry… that was the message.”

Even with the barrier gone, a heavier silence fell.

The Alliance Leader had taken the Tang Clan’s Young Lord as a hostage.

The Clan Head left the room without a word. Tang Min, knowing where he was going, neither asked nor stopped him. Instead, with a face hardened in coldness, he followed the Clan Head.

Seeing the Clan Head and the Grand Elder going to the Alliance Leader, the clan member was at a loss.

He did not know whether he should go and try to stop them or continue packing as ordered. In his hesitation, his eyes drifted to the Clan Head’s quarters. His brows furrowed.

Though she always had little expression, Tang So-hwa’s face was utterly devoid of feeling.

Cold as if staring at a corpse, lacking not only warmth but even the faintest vitality.

She looked down the corridor where the Clan Head had departed, then closed her eyes as if deep in thought. When her long lashes lifted again, her face had shifted subtly—like one who had come to a decision.

“There’s no need to pack the luggage. Don’t bother coming in.”

She added as she passed by the clan member.

“Heat up the bathwater. When he returns, he will want to bathe first.”

“Y-yes.”

The clan member nodded awkwardly.

He saw Tang So-hwa heading toward the Medical Hall, then moved in the opposite direction to fetch water.

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