Part 1,

Chapter 28. Tang Hae-han

Tang So-hwa touched her face.

The stiffness in her cheek suggested the expression she was making. It was likely the same expression Tang Min often teased her for, a poisonous look.

So-hwa blew air into her mouth and relaxed her stiff cheek. At that moment, Tang Hae-han seemed disgusted, as though he had seen something he shouldn’t.

“What is it, are you crazy? Why are you making that face?”

Tang Hae-han, as though he couldn’t stand it, pushed aside the book he had been reading and pulled out a new sheet of paper. He then beckoned her with his hand.

“Come here and write down everything you’ve eaten from last evening until now. No, write down everything you’ve eaten for the past week.”

It was a question about what she had eaten incorrectly.

He wasn’t being sarcastic; he was being serious.

Tang Hae-han was that kind of person.

In his mind, the plan must have been something like, “What could have affected her mind? How should it be consumed for the most effective results? I need to find out within three days.”

As though to prove So-hwa’s thoughts, Tang Hae-han asked in a serious voice.

“I see in the ledger that you exported some ginseng. Did you eat it?”

“I didn’t eat it.”

“Okay. I heard a rumor that you boiled it for the chickens.”

He spoke with a neutral face, but there was a venomous tone in Tang Hae-han’s voice.

“You don’t need to lie to me, So-hwa. I might be able to help, so be honest.”

“What help?”

So-hwa furrowed her brows at the unexpected words.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to make, but I know more about the properties of the ingredients than you do, so I can be of help.”

Tang Hae-han picked up a small book from the corner of the desk.

As soon as he opened the pages, he began to read what he had written.

“Water lily, Chinese yam, calamus…”

“Did you write down everything I took out?”

So-hwa wasn’t the only one with a sense of rivalry. Tang Hae-han had secretly been watching the ingredients she took out, just like now.

So-hwa asked with a sharp voice, but Tang Hae-han nodded calmly.

“Does it make sense that you’re boiling herbs to cure a beast? I was trying to figure out what your real intentions were.”

“…”

There was nothing to rebut.

Even So-hwa herself found it unimaginable that she would boil herbs to save a beast.

Without realizing it, So-hwa spoke defensively.

“Hak-ah asked me to do this.”

Tang Hae-han lifted his head and looked at So-hwa. As he lowered his gaze again, the corner of his mouth subtly tilted.

It was an expression of disbelief.

Irritation began to rise.

“What would I gain by lying to my older brother?”

“Alright. I understand.”

However, it seemed completely non-threatening.

Tang Hae-han’s voice trembled, as though trying to hold back a sneer.

Tang So-hwa glared at him with cold eyes and said,

“You don’t believe me.”

“So-hwa, I’m three years older than you.”

“You don’t believe me, older brother.”

“…Don’t you think the problem is ‘you’?”

Tang Hae-han looked at So-hwa with clouded eyes. Then, in a voice full of a sigh, as if trying to calm his impolite younger sister, he spoke.

“So-hwa, failure is not something to be ashamed of. The vision of the Tang Clan, which our ancestors completed, was also found through numerous failures, leading to the perfect formula. Failure is a valuable experience that becomes the foundation of success…”

“Seems like your ears are blocked. I said I didn’t.”

“Okay, okay.”

He nodded and placed his hands on the desk.

With his fingers interlocked, he looked at So-hwa calmly and asked,

“So, what are you making?”

It was Tang Hae-han, after all.

Just a few words from him made her chest feel tight, and heat rose to her Baihui acupoint. This man was certainly Tang Hae-han.

Although he had only outwardly become younger, the young man in front of me was still as frustrating as a brick wall.

It took seven days for feelings of longing for Hak-ah to subside, but Tang Hae-han, that fool, had kicked that longing away in less than half a moment.

So-hwa glared at Tang Hae-han with narrowed eyes.

Tang Hae-han, seemingly familiar with the gaze, briefly smiled and then spoke.

“Well, you don’t have to tell me.”

So-hwa, who was about to say something sarcastic, closed her mouth at Tang Hae-han’s next words.

“I’m always on your side.”

“….”

“I heard recently that you were called to the Clear Night Pavilion and scolded by the Elders. Yeah, they said you were under probation and couldn’t leave the estate. How frustrating that must be. I’ll be here for a while, so if you’re frustrated, feel free to come and pick a fight.”

“You started the fight, not me. Anyway, enough of that, where did you hear about the Clear Night Pavilion?”

“Mm? Who wouldn’t know? There was quite a commotion. But then again, I suppose no one would have told you that.”

Tang Hae-han nodded as if he had come to a realization.

“Isn’t it fortunate that the Nine Turns Pavilion is in the inner courtyard? The only humans you usually talk to are the Young Lord and me, and thanks to me, you even get to hear news like this.”

So-hwa frowned at his words.

“Who says the only people I talk to are you and Hak-ah?”

Tang Hae-han’s eyes widened.

“Oh? Is there someone else?”

He wasn’t mocking her; he was genuinely asking.

Did you even have friends?

After a long silence, Tang So-hwa finally spoke.

“Ye-hwa, Yu-hwa, and also Grand Elder Tang Min.”

“….”

Tang Hae-han looked at her in silence.

His black eyes were full of pity.

Tang Hae-han, who had been looking at his cousin with warm eyes, cleared his throat.

“It’s alright, So-hwa. Yeah, that’s enough. For someone like you who has so much, it’s not good to have too many people around you. Don’t worry. You’re doing well.”

It sounded like comfort, but strangely, it made me feel bad.

Tang So-hwa’s eyebrows sharply rose, but Tang Hae-han didn’t see it, as he lowered his gaze back to the paper.

He simply added one more sentence.

“Anyway, if something happens, let me know. I’m one of the few who are on your side.”

With that short sentence, Tang Hae-han said no more.

He picked up the brush he had set down and returned to his task.

Tang Hae-han leaned forward as he moved the ink stone. The shadow of his face, a young man just past his twenties, now loomed over him.

As Tang Hae-han’s dark face filled my view, my own gaze darkened.

After the battle, she had come to Sichuan to recover the bodies.

Fortunately, Namgung Hyun, who was out of his mind after the death of his cherished lover, hadn’t been able to stop So-hwa from going to Sichuan.

The once noble Tang Clan estate had been reduced to ruin.

Especially the Nine Turns Pavilion, which had been completely burned to the ground, leaving only blackened bones behind. Someone had clearly set the fire with intention.

Tang Hae-han had neutralized all the poisons that had been stored and burned the records.

As a result, his body, left behind in the pavilion, was horrific.

It must have been hard to even breathe, but this insane man seemed to have taken the antidotes and neutralized all the poisons.

He had mixed everything up so thoroughly that it was impossible to identify the components, and anything that couldn’t be mixed was burned.

Naturally, all the consequences of this fell back on him.

His body had no intact parts.

Some areas had melted to the point that there were no bone fragments left.

The remaining parts were burned black, losing all color and infested with insects, with holes eaten through them.

Only a piece of cloth, indicating his high status, remained to show his identity.

The Head of the Medical Hall, Tang Hae-han.

There was no need to collect Tang Hae-han’s body. No, it was impossible.

He had died the most painful death.

Unable to even commit suicide, he had eliminated all the records while his body melted and burned, preventing any leaks

Tang Hae-han must have trusted her and made that choice. So-hwa’s mind held all the medical and poisonous techniques of the Tang Clan.

She had never once felt guilty about death, but facing the pure trust of young Tang Hae-han, her heart felt heavy as if a stone had been placed on it.

So-hwa remembered how much Tang Hae-han had valued the Nine Turns Pavilion.

He had burned the Nine Turns Pavilion, which he had dedicated his entire life to, with his own hands. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what his heart must have felt.

However, unlike Tang Hae-han, she had ended her life without pain.

Tang Hae-han believed that she would revive the Tang Clan, but So-hwa could not do that.

She didn’t have the courage to endure the pain of melting bones and burning flesh, like Tang Hae-han had.

Rather than leaving behind direct descendants with Namgung Hyun, she chose to die alongside him and his family.

Tang Hae-han’s unwavering spirit made her past choices seem shameful.

Eventually, So-hwa turned her head and erased the lingering image of Tang Hae-han from her mind.

She saw the Medical Hall roof bathed in the sunset and the peaceful Tang Clan estate beyond it.

It still didn’t feel real.

That this peace would lead to such a horrific tragedy.

Her dry eyes held the images of everything she had loved.

Soon, the corners of her eyes grew cold, and her clouded mind sharpened.

Now was not the time to be consumed by meaningless guilt.

In this life, Tang Hae-han would no longer need to protect the Nine Turns Pavilion. No outsider would be able to set foot in it.

‘Although some have already set foot inside…’

They would soon pay the price, so there was no need to worry.

***

“How is it? Does it feel like your body is rising to the heavens?”

“Ugh, shut up!”

Han-won reached out and pushed his comrades’ faces away.

However, his comrades didn’t retreat and continued to sit on Han-won’s bed, nagging him.

“Come on, just tell us. Does your inner energy really increase explosively?”

“If I knew I’d get this Yeonju Pill, I should’ve gone myself!”

“That’s what I’m saying! Of all times to leave when we were out at the branch…”

The members of the Black Tiger Unit muttered with regret.

“……Hey, can’t you see I almost died?”

Han-won frowned and spoke, but his comrades calmly looked him up and down.

“You’re fine, though.”

“Our Han-won courage has weakened a lot. You had the Divine Physician Physcian by your side, what’s there to worry about with some measly poison?”

“……Never mind you bastards.”

To say such things to a comrade who had just survived a life-or-death situation upon returning.

Han-won sighed and lay back down on the bed.

“Ugh, I’m so jealous! I’m going to die of jealousy!”

Ignoring his endlessly chattering comrades, Han-won focused on his dantian.

But something felt strange.

‘It’s supposed to be an elixir, why can’t I feel anything?’

He felt a bit lighter, but there was no internal energy activation.

He had heard all sorts of rumors about elixirs, how internal energy would explode, how it would travel through the Ren and Du meridians, but was all of that an exaggeration?

Han-won messed with the back of his head in frustration.

‘Damn it, how would I know unless I’d eaten something like that?’

He had been lucky enough to get the elixir, but he couldn’t feel any changes—maybe it was only those who had experienced it before that could tell the difference.

But since he was too embarrassed to tell his comrades that he didn’t feel anything, Han-won responded irritably, avoiding the question.

“Hey, hey, what’s changed?”

“This bastard is already distancing himself from us? Are you going to be the greatest martial artist in the Central Plains now? Huh?”

“Ugh, shut up!”

Han-won kicked at the comrades sitting on his bed.

At that moment, a low voice suppressed the noisy commotion.

“The Yeonju pill is not a true elixir. It doesn’t make your internal energy explode, nor does it alter your bones and flesh.”

Yun-jin, who had been adjusting his sleeves while sitting on the bed, interrupted the noise.

Then the noisy comrades opened their eyes wide.

***

Part 2

“Huh? Really?”

“You’re saying Yeonju pill isn’t an elixir? That’s nonsense! Where did you even hear that?”

Yun-jin let out a faint sneer at the gazes pouring onto him.

“The Divine Physician said it directly, so go ask him and confirm it yourself.”

A silence fell over the room like cold water had been splashed.

Han-won, who had quietly turned his body, looked at Yun-jin and asked,

“It wasn’t originally supposed to accumulate inner energy?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why is it called an elixir?”

Yun-jin gave a dry chuckle.

“Have you ever seen a dragon fly in the sky?”

“…What the hell are you talking about?”

When Han-won frowned at the sudden words, Yun-jin glanced at the ointment jar on the nightstand. On the jar was a picture of a dragon flying through clouds.

“Even though they’ve never seen one, people believe dragons soar through the sky, don’t they?”

“Well…”

Han-won shut his mouth with a displeased look.

Their comrades, understanding Yun-jin’s words, muttered in disappointed voices.

“Ugh, what the heck. It’s nothing special.”

“Right? We were envious for nothing.”

…Who told them to be envious in the first place.

The eyes, once full of envy, quickly turned into disappointment.

That didn’t feel good either.

Just then, one comrade stood up and mumbled as he returned to his bed.

“I heard the Young Lady distributed the elixir, so I thought some unparalleled immortal had descended upon the world, but I guess it was nothing special, so she gave it away. Well, the Young Lady knew the Divine Physician was there from the start, didn’t she? She must’ve already known what Yeonju pill was.”

At those words, Yun-jin’s lips curved faintly.

“Right. So stop making a fuss.”

At that moment, someone cut Yun-jin off.

“It’s not that it’s nothing special.”

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