Chapter 188. Passage for a Precious Guest

Namgung Jin leaped from building to building like an acrobat, moving toward the center of the island.

Catching sight of the thick smoke blanketing the ground, he couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

‘She’s completely out of her mind.’

The image of the woman who had boldly ridden a horse straight into enemy territory crossed his mind. No one could even be sure what was inside there.

Namgung Jin intended to quickly break through the passage and enter the Ice Palace.

The Four Directions Hall Lord had suggested waiting in the central passage to avoid crossing paths with Tang So-hwa, but his thoughts differed.

Inside the Ice Palace were Blood Sect members who had ignored orders and slacked off just to drink human blood.

‘This time, she might really die a pointless death…….’

Was it because the Tang Clan Head had kept her hidden and raised her so preciously? She had no idea what the rogue Blood Sect members who defied authority were capable of.

Nothing was more dangerous than an uncontrollable piece of trash.

With a hardened expression, Namgung Jin quickened his pace.

He decided that this time, he would settle things properly—so such recklessness would never happen again.

Tak.

After running for a while, Namgung Jin came to a halt. The buildings had ended.

Before him spread a vast sea of clouds and mist.

The road connecting the Ice Palace and the island’s entrance. It was a single path.

Gazing at the smoke, Namgung Jin descended to the ground.

Listening to the sound of water, he began to walk along the single path.

Splash.

After Tang So-hwa’s departure, Bai Woon-Hyun had examined a map and speculated about the location of the passage.

[When the Han Clan first built the waterway, they tried to remove the single path.]

Since the single path cut through the middle of the island, it inevitably blocked the flow of water.

The Han Clan had wanted to remove the single path to keep the waterway from being severed, but the Ice Palace disciples—who then lived outside the palace—had fiercely opposed it. So the path had remained.

Instead, they compromised by building a conduit beneath the single path for the water to pass through.

Splash.

The sound of running water grew clearer as he moved through the fog.

By now, the smoke was so thick that he could barely see his surroundings.

Following the sound toward the far left end, Namgung Jin inspected beneath the single path. Steam and hot water gushed out through a steel mesh.

After the Ice Palace’s downfall, the Han Clan had covered the waterways with iron nets, claiming it was to remove the stench from the hot springs.

The Han Clan were the only ones who could enter there safely. Anyone else who tampered with it risked death from the fumes, so people avoided going near it.

Bai Woon-Hyun had guessed that the conduit beneath the single path might actually be the passage.

Namgung Jin reached into his robe. Between his long fingers, he retrieved a single pill.

It was one he had secretly taken when Tang So-hwa had freely handled poison without hesitation.

Tang So-hwa had called the Second Seat’s curse sulfur poisoning and said the strange antidote she’d created also worked against it.

Namgung Jin placed the pill in his mouth and chewed with a grim face.

Reckless as he was, he trusted Tang So-hwa enough to secretly steal and take an antidote made by the Tang Clan of Sichuan.

Unaware of what that feeling meant, he only thought about finishing his task quickly and confronting Tang So-hwa back at the Ice Palace.

Namgung Jin drew his sword.

Kwaang!

With a short strike, the blade shattered the joint of the metal mesh.

He tore it off completely and stepped into the conduit.

Splash.

Wading through knee-deep hot water, Namgung Jin pulled out a fire striker.

Fwoosh.

The light brightened, revealing the stonework around him. The waterway resembled a stone cave, lined tightly with massive marble blocks.

Cautiously examining the walls, Namgung Jin suddenly stopped.

There was a different-colored mineral embedded between the stone slabs.

Tracing the wall, he approached it. Unlike the others, this mineral was unnaturally smooth.

‘Metal?’

As he brought the light closer, the engraved letters cast shadows and revealed themselves. He placed his hand on the inscription and released his internal energy.

Ssshhhhh.

A swirl of white mist stirred, then drew inward toward him.

At the moment, his energy returned through his fingertips—

Pah!

A burst of light erupted beside him, forming a space.

“Heh…….”

A passage.

Namgung Jin immediately swung his sword, slashing at the formation.

Kwaang!

But the metal didn’t even scratch.

“……Cold Iron?”

He gathered his internal energy again and swung his sword once more.

White light burst violently along the sword path like lightning striking down.

Kwaang. Kwaang. Kwaang.

He unleashed his full strength.

After a long while, Namgung Jin stared at the Cold Iron with a hollow expression. The formation hadn’t been broken—there wasn’t even a hairline crack.

Setting his sword upright again, he took several steps back.

Chwak!

A massive steel spear crashed down where he had been standing. Namgung Jin turned his head toward the entrance.

Through the smoke, a red light flickered—it looked like a torch. Shadows moved around it.

Dozens of figures stood at the entrance.

But none of them stepped inside.

They only stood there, laughing from afar—as if mocking Namgung Jin.

“There’s no need to waste your strength.”

The voice came from the entrance, its owner resting a hand against the wall.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t expect intruders? Everything’s been prepared in advance.”

The faintly amused voice echoed down the conduit.

Namgung Jin’s gaze flicked upward. Tiny specks of stone dust were falling from above.

He sensed that something was wrong—but couldn’t bring himself to retreat.

The thought that he had to destroy the passage bound his feet in place.

“It seems the Central Plains fools divided their forces to tamper with the passages, but unlucky you—you entered through the Han Clan’s passage. Haha, the Han Clan’s passage is different from the rest. The gate prepared for a precious guest must, after all, be more special, wouldn’t you agree?”

Crack—

Namgung Jin twisted his body to the side, but it was already too late.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

Bricks rained down, forming a prison around him in an instant.

When he tried to move in the opposite direction, more bricks crashed down to block his path.

Kwaang!

“It reacts to movement, so I’d advise you not to move.”

The voice was light, almost teasing.

Unable to contain his fury, Namgung Jin shouted,

“The sin of a madman like the Blood Demon is great, but yours, as his accomplice, is far greater. Do you even understand that?”

“How could I? Never heard such nonsense before.”

The Han Clan Heads’ tone was openly mocking.

Namgung Jin did not yield and instead preached sternly,

“It is not right for the strong to oppress the weak. Still, one might excuse it as part of the natural order—the law of survival. But you are different. You cling to power to crush the weak by proxy. Your crime is heavier still: you have defied even the natural order just to commit evil, piling sin upon sin. That karma will never be light.”

“Haha, even your insults sound refined. Now I see why everyone covets and envies the Heavenly Ten Swords.”

Namgung Jin fell silent.

The Han Clan retainer had recognized him.

It was unsettling—frightening even—that a northern noble from the Ice Palace knew so much about the Central Plains.

“……How much do you know about the Central Plains?”

“More than you think. I’ll have to go there myself one day, after all. Ah—”

The northern noble stretched his words with a smirk.

“Did you, by chance, enter the island with help from the Ice Palace’s bloodline?”

When Namgung Jin didn’t answer, the man chuckled quietly.

“Hahaha… Foolish people. They don’t even know who killed their own bloodline.”

Namgung Jin tensed at those words.

Strictly speaking, he hadn’t killed them, but their deaths were indeed tied to him.

Without another word, Namgung Jin turned away and slashed his sword toward the Cold Iron. The strike, filled with internal energy, smashed against the wall.

Kwaang!

Yet the Cold Iron remained unscathed.

He shifted his stance, channeling greater energy into his sword. The moment his qinggong changed, boulders dropped from the ceiling.

It was as if the floor itself was sensing and reacting to movement.

‘Is there a formation beneath the water that detects motion?’

Namgung Jin leapt onto one of the fallen rocks and unleashed a series of sword strikes from above.

Bang! Kwaang! Bang!

But the Cold Iron didn’t budge. Instead, the nearby stone walls collapsed.

Splash! Splash!

Chunks of marble and debris plunged into the water. In response, the ceiling’s bricks came crashing down toward the floor.

At this rate, the Cold Iron would soon be buried behind the fallen stone.

Namgung Jin had no choice but to move toward the front stone wall.

In truth, he could have used the passage hidden within his robe to cross back to the Central Plains at any time. But if he fled without destroying the one before him, just as they had said, the Blood Sect’s precious one might cross over.

Namgung Jin himself didn’t believe in the existence of the Blood Demon, yet others did—and because of that, he couldn’t bring himself to run away.

If he left without destroying the passage, the others would live in fear. He had to do everything he could while he still had the strength.

Kwaang. Kwaang. Kwaang.

But despite his desperate will, the formation would not break.

Trapped within the snare, Namgung Jin swung his sword with frantic strength, trying to drown out his rising panic—but there was no end in sight.

Kwaang!

Then, a spear shot toward him.

He deflected it with his sword, but more spears and arrows came flying in succession, forcing him to take cover.

He ducked behind a wall of bricks.

Boom!

No sooner had he crouched down than another slab of stone crashed from the ceiling.

He narrowly leapt upward to avoid it—but that left him exposed again to the spears and arrows being hurled from the entrance.

Namgung Jin checked the ceiling. The debris had already triggered most of the traps, leaving the area above the Cold Iron clear.

He dashed toward the Cold Iron and hid behind a massive block of stone.

Retracting his sword, Namgung Jin drew a dagger from his robe.

‘Just ten more tries……’

Unwilling to give up, the Namgung swordsman gripped the dagger and prepared to press it against the passage.

“[Young Lord.]”

A short mental transmission pierced his ear.

“[To the ceiling.]”

Feeling an overwhelming surge of force approaching, Namgung Jin’s eyes widened. Without a moment’s hesitation, he sprang upward and clung to the ceiling.

KWA-A-A-AANG!

Like a dam bursting, a tremendous blast of wind and water flooded into the conduit. Even clinging to the ceiling, he was instantly drenched.

“Kuh, cough!”

Namgung Jin immediately looked down.

The massive stone walls that had imprisoned him were now shattered and scattered, the steam clearing to reveal a bright, open view. He saw the debris rolling down to the feet of the Han Clan Head—and turned his gaze the other way.

A woman stood there, having steadied her stance, a giant saber resting against her shoulder.

When she began to step inside, Namgung Jin shouted,

“Don’t move! The trap reacts to movement. The ceiling stones will fall! There’s a formation beneath the water that senses motion!”

But the Four Directions Hall Lord didn’t stop—perhaps she couldn’t hear him—and strode right in.

Crack…!

The vibration spread through the ceiling.

Namgung Jin let go and tried to rush toward her.

Kwaang!

A massive block of stone fell toward the Hall Lord’s head.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAANG!

The boulder—taller than a man—split into dozens of pieces.

The Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader had sliced through the rock as easily as cutting soft tofu.

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

Pebble-sized fragments rained down like hail, but even those were swept away by a light flick of the Hall Lord’s hand.

While the Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader and a few swordsmen shattered the remaining stones, dozens of Four Directions Hall members charged toward the northern nobles.

The nobles at the entrance loosed arrows and hurled spears—but it was useless.

The Han Clan’s northern martial artists were swiftly overwhelmed by the Four Directions Hall.

Amid the chaos, a dry cough sounded right beside Namgung Jin’s ear.

“Ahem.”

Before he even realized it, Peng Sihyeon had appeared next to him, glancing around before speaking quietly.

“……Tell your father I arrived in time.”

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