Part 1,

Chapter 40. Variables

This was utter madness, something that couldn’t even be responded to.

However, whether it was genuine or not, the Hall Lord continued with a serious expression.

“I’m having trouble deciding which clan would be best.”

… This madman.

This person is truly insane.

At that moment, Haerak rolled his eyes and stared at the owner.

“There’s a Murim Alliance headquarters in Hubei, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“They say the one favored by the current Alliance Leader is the third son of the Zhuge Clan.”

“Yes, the Lord of Four Seasons Hall, Zhuge In-hwi.”

“So the Zhuge Clan is the power behind the scenes.”

Haerak nodded to himself, then fell into silence for a moment, as if considering something.

After a long pause, he spoke again.

“I heard the Clan Head has a daughter.”

“Yes, her name is Zhuge Cheon-yu, and she’s seventeen this year.”

“Her fiancé?”

“He’s the eldest son of the Maju Merchant Group in Hunan. I heard that next year, as the Maju Merchant Group expands its business into Hubei, they’ll hold their wedding at the same time.”

Haerak smiled, seeming to like the sound of that.

“It seems the Clan Head’s preference is money, then. That’s good. After all, there’s no boundary between the black and white paths when money’s involved.”

It seemed Haerak had made up his mind, and he added,

“From tomorrow, I’ll be the illegitimate son of the Anguk Merchant Group. Since my background will be a big flaw, I’ll have to behave properly from now on, and make a lot of money—more than a lot.”

“… If you want to make a lot of money, you can’t close the taverns.”

Haerak sneered and responded to that statement.

“If I were with the Murim Alliance, I would investigate the illegal business areas that suddenly grew, like the brothel districts in Guangdong, in order to find the Blood Sect’s funding sources. It doesn’t make sense for an ordinary person to grow a business like that without the protection of the authorities or powerful forces.”

“…”

“From now on, make your businesses transparent. Don’t make large deals all at once, but do it little by little, slowly. Instead of moving money secretly in the back and getting suspected, move it openly in the front. Do you understand?”

He seemed to understand what Haerak was getting at.

Wasn’t it said that the darkest place is under the lamp? The Hall Lord seemed intent on staying right under the Murim Alliance’s nose and playing with them.

‘Is he crazy?’

After thinking again about Haerak, the owner responded.

“Yes.”

No matter what he thought, the response he could give had already been decided.

“Then get rid of the tavern and gambling dens, and make money in the orthodox way.”

What does ‘orthodox way’ mean?

The question almost slipped out, but the owner managed to swallow it back down.

However, as if reading his thoughts, Haerak answered a question that hadn’t been asked.

“Orthodox way means working to empty the pockets of the wealthy but weak fools.”

Is he reading my mind…?

Strangely enough, he felt like he understood what Haerak meant.

When thinking of the weak with money, merchants came to mind.

Of all the professions in the world, those who handle large sums of money are mostly merchants.

Moreover, being engrossed in trade allows one to travel around different regions without suspicion, so it would be a good opportunity to crack down on the scattered Profound Emptiness Pavilion members across the Central Plains.

Still, there was one part that didn’t make sense.

The idea of becoming a son-in-law of a Murim noble Clan Head was absurd.

It wasn’t hard to marry into a Murim clan. Some of the Profound Emptiness Pavilion members who infiltrated the clans had even married into the core clans.

But becoming the Clan Head’s son-in-law was a different matter.

The position of Clan Head within a clan is absolute.

This was no different than a member of the Murim Alliance saying they would become the Blood Sect’s son-in-law to investigate them.

There was a high risk of being exposed before even gathering any information.

The Profound Emptiness Pavilion member wanted to bang his chest in frustration.

It was pitiful that he was in a position where he couldn’t respond to such madness.

“However, Hall Lord, as I’ve said, the Zhuge Clan’s daughter is already betrothed to someone.”

“Get rid of him.”

“….”

“Make it look like an accident.”

When the owner didn’t answer, the Hall Lord furrowed his brow.

“Oh, is this too hard for you?”

The owner, who had been opening his mouth but couldn’t speak, weakly responded.

“… Leave it to me.”

“Reliable.”

The voice was completely devoid of sincerity.

Still, the owner breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, the task had been assigned. This meant he was considered a useful person for the Blood Sect.

‘For now, I’ll manage to survive.’

First, I’ll make that hound the heir of the Anguk Merchant Group, the Blood Cult’s gold mine, shut down the gambling dens that are laying golden eggs, and assassinate the eldest son of the Merchant Group who dominates Hunan…

The owner looked up at the ceiling with cloudy eyes.

Am I even going to survive this?

It felt like he was about to wither away.

But the future is the future. Worrying about it now is useless. The survival rule for lowly people like him was to focus on the opportunities at hand.

At that moment, as if he had just remembered something, the Hall Lord narrowed his eyes.

“Ah, did they say the Myungcheon Merchant Group in Sichuan is trying to get involved in the imperial trade?”

“Ah! Yes, yes.”

“Bring them to Anguk Merchant Group as well.”

“… Yes?”

“I have a flaw in my background, so I need to rely on my father’s influence.”

Haerak, who had been looking down at the owner with bitter eyes, suddenly tilted his head.

“Why? Is it difficult?”

… Then would it be easy?

Does he think it’s a simple thing to get involved with the imperial court?

A surge of defiance rose, but there was no choice for the remaining member of the Profound Mystery Pavilion.

Swallowing his sorrow, the owner lowered his head.

“No, I will prepare quickly.”

Rising to his feet, Haerak moved his fingers.

Having finished his calculations, he gave a faint smile.

“I’ll be heading to Hubei tomorrow. It’ll take about half a month to arrive at Anguk Merchant Group because I have some things to do.”

“Ah, yes.”

“If it’s not prepared by the time I arrive, you can stop everything you’re doing. And…”

The madman smiled a chilling smile.

As if to prove the owner’s unease, the Hall Lord parted his red lips and added his last words.

“At that time, you will see me again.”

The member of Profound Mystery Pavilion slammed his body onto the floor.

“I will do my best so you don’t have to go through any trouble! All preparations will be finished before you arrive! Please believe me!

The faint smell of blood rose from the wooden floor. He pressed himself flat, smearing the blood with the bridge of his nose.

Tense, he waited for a response, but there was nothing but silence.

Slowly, the owner raised his head, feeling weak as he collapsed backward.

By the time he did, the Hall Lord had vanished without a trace.

“N-now is not the time for this!”

The owner sprang to his feet and rushed outside. He didn’t even glance at the corpse lying at the entrance as he hurried up to his study.

Seated at the desk, the member of Profound Mystery Pavilion quickly reviewed what the Hall Lord had said.

The Central Plains is now under the jurisdiction of the Main Blood Hall.

And the Hall Lord had now given him a chance. A chance to be absorbed into the Main Blood Hall.

He hadn’t wasted time all this while.

Now, he needed to show the information network and connections of the Profound Mystery Pavilion.

The owner sharpened his resolve, determined to seize the opportunity that could determine his survival.

***

The Murim Alliance members had gathered their strength, so I thought we would be able to find them, but I never imagined things would go this smoothly.

Across the Central Plains, the bases of the Blood Sect were discovered.

However, was it because they were found too easily?

Even when we located them, we couldn’t gather any information about the Blood Sect.

There were no sect members to interrogate.

The sect members fought until their death, and if they sensed capture, they would take their own lives.

A few members of the Murim Alliance’s pursuit team lost their lives in the confrontations, but considering the number of Blood Sect corpses found, it was hard to call it a significant loss.

We also captured spies within each sect and clan.

In the Tang Clan alone, more than thirty Blood Sect members were discovered.

Because of this, the Murim Alliance believed they were making smooth progress in locating the Blood Sect.

Some Murim Alliance members even started to think they had found them all and wanted to withdraw from the pursuit team.

Perhaps even Namgung Jin had let out a sigh of relief as he began his long-delayed closed-door training.

Days passed with tension easing and peace slowly returning.

But only So-hwa couldn’t loosen her grip on the tension.

Plop.

A drop of blood fell into a white jar.

The blood slowly spread in the black liquid.

But there was no change.

So-hwa picked up a small brush and made a note.

『35 years old, male, no reaction – Blood extraction time, 3 days』

There were about ten white jars on the table, each filled with black liquid.

The poison So-hwa had received from Namgung Jin.

So-hwa had succeeded in multiplying the poison.

However, she struggled to understand the nature of these poisons.

She had tried adding animal flesh, insects, wood pieces, and plants, but the poison did not react.

The only thing that caused a reaction from the poison was one thing.

So-hwa picked up the blue vial next to her and poured the blood inside it into the jar.

Bubble bubble.

The moment the blood fell, the poison began to react wildly, as it frantically consumed the blood.

Watching the tumultuous black waves, So-hwa again picked up the brush.

『18 years old, female, reaction – Blood extraction time, 3 days』

These poisons only reacted to her blood.

At first, So-hwa thought the poisons reacted to blood in general when she saw them respond to her own. However, it wasn’t the case. She had tried various kinds of blood, from chicken blood to other animals and human blood, but there was no reaction. Even the blood of the Blood Sect members found in the Tang Clan didn’t cause any response.

So-hwa wondered if time was the problem.

After all, unlike the blood she had directly poured, the other blood had been exposed to air for at least half a quarter of an hour before being used. So, she decided to match the blood extraction time and conducted the experiment again, just as she had done now.

And the result was always the same.

No matter how long the blood was exposed to the outside air, the poison always seemed to find her blood with uncanny precision.

‘What’s different about my blood?’

The only thing she could think of was the Body Immune to All Poisons.

However, even that didn’t make a difference.

Among those closest to her, only Tang Min possessed the Body Immune to All Poisons, yet these stubborn poisons didn’t react to his blood either.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a gust of wind from outside made So-hwa lift her head.

A long shadow fell across the window where the moonlight had settled.

It wasn’t Hak or the twins.

The air was filled with the scent of blood carried by the breeze.

So-hwa quickly closed all the jars and covered them with cloth before walking to the window and opening it.

At that moment, Han-won dropped down from the eaves.

“……This is the inner courtyard.”

“There’s no wall that the Black Tiger Unit cannot cross.”

Though it was meant as a reproach. Han-won seemed to treat them as a question, as he quickly provided an answer.

So-hwa’s gaze slowly drifted down to Han-won’s upper body.

Is that bloodstains?

His black outfit was splattered with something dark.

He gathered himself before speaking again.

“I have come urgently to deliver a message. And it’s something no one else should hear, so I came to your quarters at this hour.”

Without saying anything, So-hwa nodded her head, and Han-won immediately began speaking.

“Yun-jin… seems to have been attacked by the Blood Sect.”

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