Part 1

Chapter 18. Choice

Clang!

The blade was blocked by a dart. Following it, a rain of small blades tore through the assassin’s clothing.

Tang Hak focused on quickly driving the enemy away. At that moment, one of the hidden weapons grazed the enemy’s shoulder.

“Keugh—”

The torn mask slipped down. With that, the enemy’s head and face were revealed. The assassin who had retreated hid his body among the dense branches. But So-hwa had seen the fluttering red hair.

‘Blood Sect……’

It was said that those who trained in the martial arts of the Blood Sect would have their bodies turn red. The higher one’s level, the redder their hair became, and when one reached mastery, even their pupils would turn blood-colored.

Heat burst like firecrackers, rippling around So-hwa. Internal energy is boiling endlessly. It was different from the internal energy of orthodox sects, which naturally depletes as battles drag on.

The Blood Sect could accumulate internal energy by consuming the lives of others, but the limit was clear. Though they could temporarily wield great power, their blood vessels wouldn’t endure it, leading to eventual death.

Like an insect diving into flames, burning itself up.

Tang Min had often mocked them as bug-like when telling stories about the Blood Sect.

So-hwa’s body froze.

There was only one reason for her shock.

The Blood Sect was a cult that had disappeared decades ago. A group denounced by Murim for drinking human blood.

Only now did she understand the internal energy of these people, boiling like lava.

The blood techniques of the Blood Sect were more sorcery than martial arts. They had gathered their internal energy, ready to throw away their lives.

Just then, a Blood Sect member with a torn mask, his eyebrows and hair tied back, descended from the tree. He briefly scanned Yeon-ah and the old physician standing behind her.

He immediately crouched, like a wild beast about to leap.

So-hwa didn’t give him a chance. She threw a flying dagger at his thigh. But the dagger didn’t lodge in the man’s thigh and merely grazed it.

“Keugh.”

But that was enough.

Tang So-hwa threw another flying dagger while the man hesitated. The Blood Sect member, who had been about to leap at the old physician, quickly twisted his direction. Though the trajectory wasn’t particularly threatening, his reaction showed he flinched at the possibility of being grazed.

Pa-at.

The Blood Sect member charging at So-hwa stumbled upon landing. The poison that had grazed his thigh seemed to numb his leg. Had it struck properly, his flesh would have melted—but the fact that he was still standing showed he wasn’t ordinary.

Seeing his comrade’s distorted movements, one assassin, now sure of the poison, stopped short while rushing at So-hwa.

They were the ones who had come down from the Yeonju Group. Having seen their comrades get poisoned, they had no choice but to react sensitively to So-hwa’s use of poison.

It was a welcome reaction.

Seizing the moment of hesitation, So-hwa flicked her wrist. Three flying daggers filled the spaces between her empty fingers. Her gaze fixed on the red-haired man.

Time was all that was needed.

As long as the confrontation continued, the situation was in her favor.

“Young Lady, please move to the back.”

However, Yeon-ah, unaware of the situation, charged forward.

So-hwa spoke quietly, almost a whisper.

“… Right now, the Young lady Jeom-chil should stay still.”

She needed the enemy to remain unaware of her weakness in order to maintain the standoff. If they mistook her for a martial artist handling deadly poison, they would hesitate and waste time. But Yeon-ah, not understanding this, tried to protect So-hwa.

Whoosh.

The wind that swept across her face made So-hwa instinctively press the flying dagger to her palm. As the wind forcefully pushed her hair back, a sharp cracking sound pierced her eardrums.

Clang.

So-hwa pushed the dagger attached to her palm, deflecting the enemy’s sword, changing the angle of the Blood Sect’s sword. The sword’s blade scraped her cheek and flew away. Drops of blood from the sword’s edge scattered into the air. Before those droplets even fell, the Blood Sect member used the shifted sword path to slide toward So-hwa’s side. So-hwa quickly lowered her hand, gripping the flying dagger, and blocked the incoming sword with it.

Kiiiiiing.

A chilling noise erupted as the small metal piece clashed with the sharp sword.

“Contrary to your appearance, your reaction is fast.”

The Blood Sect member muttered mockingly.

He had reason to say that. Despite having learned martial arts, she couldn’t read his movements. Just like one would instinctively withdraw their hand from fire, her body had reacted to the heat of his sword against her skin.

At that moment, a thin thread of light flowed from his sword.

Whoosh.

The red sword thread instantly devoured the flying dagger.

The dagger that was blocking the enemy’s sword transformed into a weapon, cutting into its owner’s flesh.

Her palm grew hot. The poison on the flying dagger had begun seeping into her skin. The man twisted his mouth as he watched her hand burn with dark smoke emanating from the blade.

But So-hwa’s expression remained calm. The poison would be neutralized before it could be absorbed into her body.

“Young Lady!”

Yeon-ah, unaware of So-hwa’s constitution, rushed forward, pale with fear. She charged at the Blood Sect member. In response, the Blood Sect member momentarily pulled back. However, Yeon-ah’s reckless movements created several openings, which the swordsman quickly exploited, stabbing through the gaps she left.

“Ugh!”

Yeon-ah’s forearm was deeply cut. It was pure luck that her neck wasn’t severed due to her quick reaction.

So-hwa hesitated for a moment, about to throw the flying dagger, then opened and closed her hand. New flesh had already begun to grow, but the sensation was still numb. Desperately trying to restore feeling, she squeezed her hand tight once again when another sword strike lunged at her.

Whoosh.

So-hwa hurled the flying dagger at the oncoming swordsman. However, her dull hand sent the dagger off course. The dagger veered away, and before she knew it, the tip of the enemy’s sword was hurtling straight toward her.

It was an unavoidable, perfect sword path.

But curiously, the sword that had been flying in a straight line suddenly buried itself into the ground.

Boom!

So-hwa, facing the sword, instinctively closed her eyes. The explosion of light, like stars bursting apart, filled her vision. When she quickly opened her eyes again, the afterimage of the light left the world around her blurry.

In the pale world, only the sound of wind cutting through the air gently tickled her ears twice.

Thud.

She heard someone collapse, and the sharp scent of blood rushed toward her.

As her sight slowly returned, it was abruptly swallowed by darkness. A massive shadow loomed over her.

Light and darkness. Her eyes, overwhelmed by such extreme stimuli, couldn’t process anything for a moment. Yet, So-hwa felt she knew who had appeared before her.

As her vision slowly rose, the figure of a martial artist came into view.

Long hair that reached his waist. A blue martial robe was tightly secured beneath his black cloak.

The man casually flicked the blood from his sword with a slight motion.

The spreading heat and the clear scent hinted at his martial prowess. No, it was obvious. He had taken down two Blood Sect members in one move.

“Young Lord!”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t kill them.”

The man answered calmly, surveying his surroundings before turning his body.

In both past and present lives, she had never seen this person, but there was no mistaking who he was.

The Young Lord of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Jin.

The words of Ye-hwa describing Namgung Jin came to mind.

Smooth, polished skin like white jade. His dark eyebrows and high nose created deep shadows in contrast.

He had a clear, refreshing impression, like a painting full of moisture, but his afterimage was deeply etched in her mind, almost like a sculpture.

She had thought it was an exaggeration, but after facing Namgung Jin, So-hwa understood why Ye-hwa had described him that way. She hadn’t doubted Ye-hwa’s words. Namgung An, the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan, and Namgung Hyun, who had once been her husband, were both famous for their beauty, so she had assumed the deceased Young Lord would also be handsome.

However, contrary to her vague guess, Namgung Jin was completely different from them. His face was nothing like theirs. A striking presence that erased the influence of his father, who was famous for his beauty, and his half-brother. His features were similar, but there was no delicate air about him. It might be due to the imposing aura that came from his towering physique.

At that moment, the atmosphere was engulfed by a rising heat.

“Don’t kill them! Don’t let a single one escape, capture them!”

The harsh voice imbued with internal energy penetrated her eardrums, resonating loudly.

Namgung’s martial artists quickly responded to the middle-aged man’s command.

In an instant, the atmosphere shifted. Namgung’s martial artists, who outnumbered them, surrounded the Blood Sect members, trapping them, and they could no longer escape.

Namgung Jin glanced around briefly, then a smile curved his lips. As the corner of Namgung Jin’s mouth lifted, So-hwa’s brow also rose slowly.

She couldn’t understand why he was smiling.

Namgung Jin approached her, still smiling.

Without a word, he lowered his gaze and retrieved a cloth from his waist. He carefully wrapped something that had fallen to the ground in the cloth.

It was the flying dagger.

When So-hwa saw her flying dagger in Namgung Jin’s hand, she lifted her gaze. Now standing tall, Namgung Jin returned the blade to So-hwa, still smiling.

“May I ask why the young lady of the Tang Clan is here?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep