Chapter 251. A Joke

Light streamed in through the window, illuminating the interior. Still, it was far from enough to brighten the entire floor, leaving parts of it shrouded in dimness.

Tang So-hwa leaned Haerak against the edge of the water trough and pulled all the cloths aside.

Chwa-ak.

As she turned back toward Haerak, So-hwa noticed bloodstains etched into the floor.

The scattered droplets around the trough trailed off where a pile of clothes lay stacked beside it. They were the servant’s clothes the Blood Demon had been wearing.

“…….”

So-hwa quickly grasped the situation.

It seemed the Blood Demon had not escaped unscathed either. With no presence of mind to tend to himself, he must have wiped off the blood, thrown on whatever clothes he could grab, fled, and sought sleep.

So-hwa stared at the sand dunes beyond the window.

The desert, having erased everything that happened the night before, lay in perfect tranquility.

Listening to the peaceful sound of the wind, So-hwa gathered water and the servant’s clothes.

Sarak.

After removing the Main Blood Hall Lord’s upper garments, So-hwa wiped away the hardened blood with a cloth soaked in water. She then packed the wounds thickly with salve, as if filling the holes, brought fresh cloth, and pressed it over them.

Then, her wrist was seized. The grip was fierce—astonishingly so, considering how little strength he should have had left.

So-hwa looked down with displeasure at the face of the one holding her.

The shadow cast by his long lashes slowly shortened. Min Haerak opened his eyes and asked,

“Weren’t you supposed to be a smart person?”

It was clearly not meant as praise, the words flowing out in a hoarse voice.

“Do you not know you shouldn’t have come here?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

“Are you saying that because you don’t know what the Blood Demon wants from you?”

She replied in an even tone.

“Considering what the Blood Demon has demanded of me so far, this isn’t a bad option.”

Haerak’s eyes narrowed, his face plainly saying he had no idea what she was talking about.

The moment his grip on her wrist loosened, So-hwa stood up. As she moved to head downstairs, Haerak spoke urgently.

“Don’t wander around recklessly. This place is—”

“I could poison you and leave, but you don’t look well, so stay still.”

“…….”

“And I’ve already finished talking with the Blood Demon. I’m going to find clothes you can wear, so it won’t take long. It’d be better if you sort out your internal injuries in the meantime.”

Just as So-hwa was about to leave, she stopped.

Behind her, warmth suddenly flowed, as though Haerak had forcibly gathered his remaining internal energy.

So-hwa turned, her expression turning cold. The basket beside him was open, and Haerak had something like a smoking pipe clenched between his lips.

“Your wounds haven’t healed, and your internal injuries don’t look light, so do not smoke. If it strains your lungs, breathing will become difficult, and then it’ll be hard to circulate internal energy, won’t it?”

Rather than setting the pipe down, Haerak scoffed.

“You’re the first person who’s ever lectured me about internal energy circulation.”

Smoke began to rise from the dried leaves packed into the pipe.

Without a word, So-hwa stepped closer and picked up the wet cloth from the floor.

Chwa-ak.

She slapped it over Haerak’s face and the tobacco at the same time, snuffing out the smoke.

Haerak removed the cloth and frowned.

“What kind of person lets their hands move before their mouth?”

“I spoke first. You just didn’t listen.”

So-hwa replied calmly, without anger.

“I’ll find you something to change into, so wash yourself in the meantime.”

“I don’t feel like moving my hands first either, so listen to me.”

Setting down the soaked pipe, Haerak spoke in a cold voice.

“Don’t go out.”

“The Blood Demon has entered midday sleep, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Haerak’s lips twisted oddly.

“That old geezer is still sleeping?”

Since it wasn’t something to laugh about, So-hwa raised her eyes without realizing it. Haerak, as if explaining, continued.

“Didn’t you say so? To hide for just one hour before losing consciousness. Seeing as he does, it seems the Blood Demon also falls asleep when he reaches the brink of death. So, I did my best to create that one hour he needs to recover.”

So-hwa was a little surprised that Haerak had inferred the Blood Demon’s weakness through her own.

No—she was more surprised by the audacity of trying to put the Blood Demon to sleep at all.

“If he’s still sleeping, he must’ve taken a fairly lethal blow. Just a little more strength, and the day I cut off that bastard’s head will come.”

A note of pride crept into his once-cold expression. It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction—he had driven someone who had ruled as an absolute for ages to the brink of death.

So-hwa hesitated briefly, unsure whether to speak. But Haerak noticed her hesitation first.

“……What’s with that look? If you have something to say, say it.”

In the end, So-hwa told him honestly.

“The Blood Demon is human. It makes no sense for a human to live for hundreds of years. No matter how strong one is, the fact is that it’s impossible. Since the Blood Demon is one who faces death every day, he must sleep from time to time. Therefore…… the time he is awake itself will be different from that of an ordinary human.”

“What, so you’re saying that old geezer is just sleeping because it’s time to sleep?”

Haerak snapped irritably, but So-hwa continued, unfazed.

“I haven’t lived as long as the Blood Demon, nor am I as strong, so I can’t be certain. But unless it’s immediately after a clash, that’s the more likely case right now. So don’t gauge his condition by his sleep.”

Given how recklessly the Main Blood Hall Lord tended to act, she was worried he might misunderstand the situation and throw himself at the Blood Demon.

So-hwa had never revealed her secrets to anyone, yet before the Main Blood Hall Lord in front of her, she found herself saying far more than usual.

“…….”

A remark Haerak had once made surfaced in her mind, telling her to try trusting the people around her. It was as if the words echoed in her ear.

At that moment, though she didn’t know the exact reason, So-hwa felt she vaguely understood why she had forced herself across into the Great Desert.

“Tsk tsk, you’re making that strange face again.”

“……You call it a strange face every time you see me.”

“I don’t want to repeat myself either, but you keep making that expression now and then. Why does the frequency increase every time I see you?”

He looked at her with puzzled eyes, then shook his head. Rising, Haerak walked toward the pool of water.

“Enough. I’ll be done in half a quarter-hour, so don’t go out.”

Watching him step into the water fully clothed, So-hwa said,

“I’ll give you a full quarter-hour, so wash properly.”

He didn’t answer, simply submerging himself roughly. After sweeping his long, blood-matted hair back, he seemed to decide it was clean enough and rose again.

So-hwa watched him, then spoke.

“I have no intention of mixing bodies with someone who smells of blood.”

Kwang..

Haerak, who had been about to step out, slipped and fell heavily. There was no cause for concern.

This was someone who tried to smoke calmly despite having holes all over his body—something like that wouldn’t trouble him.

Furthermore, Haerak’s body, as it emerged from the water, had already healed significantly. It wasn’t completely treated, but there was no longer anywhere bleeding, and with the bloodstains washed away by the water, he looked passably clean.

It seemed he had checked his meridians in the water; residual heat lingered in his body. Steam rose faintly where sunlight touched his skin.

So-hwa took in the sight, unconsciously clasping her hands. The cold iron hidden in her sleeve brushed against her fingertips.

Lowering her gaze, So-hwa fell silent, lost in thought. As she turned her back toward the door again, Haerak approached.

“Hey, I told you not to go out.”

Chwa-ak.

So-hwa pulled the cloth, covering the entrance. It didn’t seem she was trying to leave after all.

Unable to understand her actions, Haerak alternated his gaze between the cloth and her, then asked,

“Why are you closing that?”

She replied calmly.

“I don’t plan on making a vessel where the Blood Demon can see.”

“Oh? Have you started enjoying teasing me now?”

“Why do you think I’m teasing you?”

So-hwa turned to face Haerak. His expression was unshaken. Shaking his head, he said,

“I know well enough that you’re not someone who would make the Blood Demon’s vessel.”

“Is there a reason not to make one?”

“Damn it, this is driving me crazy. Why are you doing this?”

Haerak finally snapped.

“If the Blood Demon doesn’t touch the Tang Clan of Sichuan, I have no reason to further stop him from coming to the Central Plains. And if the Blood Demon lets me stay in the Solar Palace instead of taking me to Jin Yin Mountain, isn’t that a better ending than being confined in Jin Yin Mountain?”

“I know you’re not someone who would hand your child over to the Blood Demon as feed.”

“There’s no reason not to, is there?”

Her voice was so calm that it sounded all the more grotesque.

“In exchange for creating and handing over something I’ve never seen or possessed, I can protect everything precious that I already have.”

Thus, it sounded sincere.

The expression vanished from Min Haerak’s face.

It wasn’t something one should say to someone who had lived their entire life as a vessel.

So-hwa couldn’t tell whether the heat brushing her skin came from the sunlight streaming through the window or from the internal energy flowing off the martial artist standing before her.

Haerak took one more step closer.

“Do you expect me to play along with your joke?”

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