Part 1

Chapter 38. The Master of Blood Sacrifice

Tang Hak, lifting his head, spoke in a gloomy voice.

“I’m finished now. The good days are over.”

So-hwa asked in a stiff voice,

“What do you mean by that?”

Tang Hak covered his eyes with both hands. Through his fingers, a tear-soaked voice flowed out.

“Hic, the Grand Elder said he would personally teach me martial arts.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Tang Hak’s sobbing voice rose over the silence.

“He left a book, saying I should practice external martial arts in preparation for when he returns and starts my training. But look at this! Is this a posture a person can even do? Ugh!”

Just as Tang Hak was about to open the book he had pulled from his sleeve, Ye-hwa picked up a nearby embroidery basket and threw it.

“Elder Brother! That’s the book Grand Elder gave to you as a Young Lord for training! How can you show it to someone else!”

“Even a child knows that…”

So-hwa swallowed her words, but couldn’t hide her look of disdain.

Long ago, Tang Min had risen to the position of Young Lord to learn the martial arts that were taught only to the Clan Head and the Young Lord. After completing his training, he voluntarily stepped down from the position of Young Lord, and all the members of the Tang Clan had clapped and rejoiced.

That’s how strictly the clan’s unique martial art was passed down.

Even the stubborn Tang Min held back his temper and endured in the position of Young Lord just to learn the Rain of Ten Thousand Heavenly Blossoms.

But for Tang Hak to try to spread it to his sisters as soon as Tang Min started teaching him……

It was fortunate that Tang Min wasn’t around.

Had Tang Min known this, it wouldn’t have ended with just a few slaps.

Only then did Tang Hak come to his senses, looking pale, and put the book back into his sleeve.

“You all didn’t see anything. Elder Sister, you didn’t see anything either.”

“I didn’t see it.”

“Yeah. I didn’t see it.”

“I’ll say I didn’t see it.”

Tang Hak, relieved, began to sink back into his melancholy.

“Aah, I’m finished now. I have to live with this unease from now on.”

“Still, isn’t it better than learning from Father?”

“You’re right. Physical pain is better than mental anguish.”

Tang Hak nodded at the twins’ comfort and gathered himself.

“Yeah. It’s better than learning from Father.”

“Right. Father looking at you like you’re a bug is the scariest thing in the world.”

As Ye-hwa added this, Tang Hak frowned.

“Ye-hwa, how can you call Father a bug!”

“No, Elder Brother. Ye-hwa said you’re a bug.”

A soft voice carefully corrected the intended target.

“Yu-hwa isn’t confused, so why are you, Elder Brother? Yu-hwa, I’m sorry for comparing you to him until now.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Tang Hak squinted his eyes at the unexpected reconciliation of the twins.

“You’re not making fun of me, are you?”

“We’re not, Elder Brother. I teased Yu-hwa earlier, and I’m apologizing for that. I called him a half-wit like you.”

“Why are you saying that where Elder Brother can hear? You could have said it quietly when we went back.

Yu-hwa got angry, and Ye-hwa shrugged.

“Talking directly to someone’s face is better than talking behind their back. Mother said so.”

“What are you talking about? Mother said, ‘If you can’t say something to someone’s face, you shouldn’t say it behind their back.’”

“No, are you guys calling me a half-wit…?”

“Don’t mind it, Elder Brother. Ye-hwa thinks anyone nicer than her is a half-wit.”

“It’s not because you’re nicer than me…… Elder Sister? Why are you smiling?”

It was strange that the Elder Sister, who should be stopping the fight, remained quiet. But oddly, she was smiling.

Not a sarcastic smile, but a gentle one…… the kind that their mother, the Madam, often wore.

Looking at the three siblings who had become as stiff as stones, So-hwa opened her mouth.

“Just.”

A deep breath carried her true feelings.

“Because I’m happy…”

The three of them fell silent.

The siblings, thinking it was a sharp irony, exchanged glances and began to reflect.

But So-hwa was being sincere.

In the past, Tang Hak had also been personally taught the clan’s unique martial art by Tang Min. The timing was about the same. Whether it was talent or not, Tang Hak had grown explosively during those few years.

It was all something she knew, and things were flowing exactly as they had in the past.

But she hadn’t known that Tang Hak was afraid of being taught by Tang Min.

At that time, Tang Hak no longer came to his sisters’ quarters to chatter.

So-hwa turned her head and looked at the red cloth.

The unfinished design filled her eyes.

‘Maybe a little…’

So-hwa thought that a small change in the future might not be a bad thing.

***

Guangdong’s coast.

It was night, yet the lanterns along the coast illuminated the surroundings as brightly as daylight.

The lively music that raised one’s heartbeat and the beautiful voice of a courtesan drowned out the sound of the waves. Even those intoxicated by pleasure raised their voices as if unwilling to lose.

It was a chaotic scene.

Since it was a place where merchants traveling across the continent passed through, those who had successfully completed their business would spend money as if competing with each other every night.

As those holding gold in their hands gathered, vast amounts of capital poured into the streets. The surprising thing was that all the pavilions in this area were owned by a single person.

Half of the people envied the joy of the owner, who was collecting all this wealth, while the other half worried and pitied, thinking that the black-clad men would be lurking, targeting the owner’s life.

However, both of these thoughts were wrong.

The owner did not rejoice while collecting the wealth, and the black-clad men, who had eagerly targeted him, mysteriously vanished without a trace.

The latter was understandable. With so much money, the owner was likely to have hired capable mercenaries, wasn’t he?

But when someone praised the owner’s wealth, the owner would show signs of discomfort, which was something that could not be understood.

And today, another puzzling event occurred.

A pavilion along the coast caught people’s attention.

It was the only pavilion without a light, and its darkness stood out distinctly.

Today was the day a trade ship returning from the Western Regions would arrive. Trade with the Western Regions was overseen by the Imperial family. As the group representing the Imperial family’s trade, entertainment for the accompanying imperial officials was inevitable.

In other words, it was a day when a huge amount of money would be spent.

Yet, the door to the Blue Sea Pavilion, filled with top-tier courtesans, was closed. It was truly a foolish decision.

People whispered that the owner had recently been infatuated with a courtesan named Eunhyang from the Blue Sea Pavilion and wondered if Eunhyang had closed the door because she didn’t want to entertain guests.

But that wasn’t the reason.

“Under no circumstances should anyone be allowed inside! If someone tries to enter, kill them! Understand?”

“Yes!”

Thirty guards responded loudly. Their massive builds and sharp presence showed that they were no ordinary martial artists. Yet, the owner, instead of feeling reassured, could not hide his anxiety and entered the pavilion.

Unable to endure his anxiety, he hastily fluttered the expensive silk around and rushed forward. The man, called the owner, had a pale face as he repeatedly scanned his surroundings and hurriedly pulled out a key.

Creak.

With trembling hands, he finally opened the door, revealing a large storage room. The floor was messy with dark stains, either blood or some other mark.

The owner paid no attention to it and quickly opened the windows. As the moonlight gently entered, he pushed the stacked boxes aside to make space.

“Hah.”

The man wiped his face, drenched in sweat, with his sleeve and walked over to the desk to grab a brush. Standing in the center of the room, he took a deep breath before biting his arm.

Thud, thud.

Blood spurted in all directions. Without hesitation, the man dipped the brush in the blood and began writing on the floor.

Interestingly, the characters he wrote were mixed with symbols that were not Chinese characters. As the incomprehensible phrase took shape, black smoke began to rise from the letters. It was as though the words were dancing.

The man gripped his trembling wrist and carefully filled the floor with the characters.

Finally, when the last character was written, he let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.

“Hah, it’s done. It’s done!”

The exhausted man put down the brush and leaned against the box.

However, something was wrong.

He moved his wrinkled eyelids and slowly opened his eyes.

He was still in the secret room of Blue Sea Pavilion.

“It can’t be…”

The owner sat up straight and began to check the characters one by one.

At that moment, a chilling voice tickled his eardrums.

“Oh, so this is how it’s done.”

The owner stiffened and slowly raised his head.

A black figure, erasing one of the characters, entered his line of sight.

The man, sitting on the box with his chin resting on his hand, was looking at the characters drawn on the floor.

The owner, unable to ask anything, looked at the man’s face with trembling eyes.

The black hair, neatly tied up in a topknot.

A smooth jawline like glazed porcelain.

Eyes with a mysterious mix of green and gold, like a field bathed in sunlight.

Only one person from the Blood Sect had such golden eyes.

At that moment, the man, who had been staring at the floor, lifted his eyes and gazed at the owner.

His light brown eyes shone with a golden gleam as they met the light from the lantern.

The owner, who had turned pale, collapsed to the floor.

“I-I humbly greet the Hall Lord!”

It was Haerak, the Lord of the Main Blood Hall. The Blood Demon’s hound has come to the Central Plains.

It was unclear when it happened, but the Hall Lord had been watching him without killing him.

It meant that the Hall Lord had no intention of killing him, or at least not in a nice way.

The owner fervently prayed.

‘Just kill me quickly.’

The hound, whom even the Blood Demon couldn’t tame.

Knowing his fate, he had become reckless, making many enemies within the Blood Sect. For someone like him, the Hall Lord was far more terrifying.

The Hall Lord was a young man, barely out of his teens, but paradoxically, that young man had already ascended to the position of Hall Lord. Without any allies.

Even the Blood Demon allowed the Hall Lord’s reckless temperament. Who would dare criticize him for killing a lowly subordinate?

No matter how much the Blood Demon valued the sorcerers within the sect, the rules didn’t apply to this mad dog.

Creek.

The sound of wood rubbing together reached the owner’s ears, causing him to raise his head slightly.

The Hall Lord had opened the box beside him. Inside were gold ingots. Upon seeing them, Haerak smiled brightly.

“You’ve gathered quite a lot.”

“Yes, yes…”

“You know, I like those who work diligently.”

The kind tone in the Hall Lord’s voice made the owner flinch.

In his eyes, there was no gaze for the gold, but rather the glint of a white garment.

He had thirty guards standing at the entrance, yet there wasn’t a speck of dust or a drop of blood on the Hall Lord’s clothes.

Haerak, still checking the gold ingots, suddenly let out a dry laugh.

“But if a lowly Profound Mystery Pavilion bastard can gather this much money, just how much money does that old geezer have?”

The owner broke out in cold sweat.

Old geezer.

Given the context, it was likely referring to the Blood Demon.

It was well-known that the Hall Lord wasn’t in his right mind, but he was even crazier than the rumors suggested.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep