Chapter 81. Hwaji

“They say Namgung is leaving today.”

So-hwa, eyes still on the book, asked Han-won.

“He didn’t leave any message?”

“No.”

Not expecting much, So-hwa accepted Han-won’s deflated reply without much reaction.

Han-won hesitated, then added,

“Uh… the atmosphere was really intense. It wasn’t like they sealed off someone else’s residence—they shut down Namgung’s place so tight not even an ant could come out. He probably had something to say, but couldn’t because of the tension.”

So-hwa quietly nodded.

Namgung Hyun had likely been harassed more than just once or twice, but this time, the Clan Head had reacted strongly.

Maybe he was worried about word getting out, or perhaps he intended to discipline the unruly Namgung clan members—either way, Namgung had cut off all interactions and remained confined to their residence for three whole days.

To be fair, they had crossed a line.

Even combing through all her memories of her previous life, there had been no one bold enough to enter a Forbidden Zone during the Alliance of Noble Clans.

Whatever had provoked the Namgung martial artists, it was unlikely they were blameless. So-hwa saw it as getting what they deserved and had waited three days for Namgung Hyun.

She wanted to leave a good impression, but Namgung Hyun didn’t come to see her even on the day of his departure.

So-hwa was disappointed, but decided to let him go like this. There would be more chances to meet Namgung Hyun, and she planned to win his favor then.

So-hwa packed her books into a box and left the study.

“I’ll carry that.”

“It’s fine.”

So-hwa declined Han-won’s help and headed to Nine Turns Pavilion.

Now that the Alliance of Noble Clans was over, the guest pavilions were gradually being vacated. After being closed for over ten days, Nine Turns Pavilion finally opened its doors.

So-hwa headed there the moment it reopened.

Now that she had secured the host body, she could begin her experiment. Starting today, she planned to create the antidote she had envisioned.

Thump.

So-hwa, walking along the wall, came to a stop. A familiar scent wafted through the gate.

“What is it?”

So-hwa handed the wooden box she was holding to Han-won.

“Hold this for a moment.”

“Ah, yes.”

Tang So-hwa turned and stepped out through the inner courtyard’s gate.

As expected, someone familiar stood at the entrance.

Before Namgung Hyun could spot her, So-hwa changed her expression with a slight smile.

“Young master.”

Namgung Hyun, who had been staring at the wall, turned his head.

“I thought you’d already left. What brings you here?”

So-hwa stopped a few steps short of him, keeping her distance.

Something about the air felt different.

But perhaps it was just her imagination—Namgung Hyun slowly smiled.

“It’s been a while.”

His voice was soft.

“I was supposed to leave right away, but I insisted on stopping by to see you. I don’t have much time.”

“Oh, had I known you were waiting, I would have come out immediately… You should have sent word.”

She said it with a hint of regret. Namgung Hyun gave a short smile and held out a silk envelope he had been carrying.

“What is this?”

Namgung Hyun responded not with an answer, but with a cryptic remark.

“The young lady said this: When the heart moves with reason, that is companionship; but when it moves without reason, that is fate.”

It didn’t seem to be a question, so So-hwa didn’t respond.

Namgung Hyun looked straight at her. Something flickered in his light brown eyes, but it vanished beneath his lowered lids.

“I don’t believe in connections bestowed by heaven, like fate. If life were decided by someone else’s whim, what could be more sorrowful than that?”

His voice, fainter than a sorrowful face, pierced So-hwa’s ears.

“But if you believe in such fate… then I will try to create it.”

The words were arrogant, yet spoken so gently they didn’t sound that way. It felt more like a vow whispered to himself.

Namgung Hyun placed the silk envelope into So-hwa’s hand. Then, with a clear smile, he stepped back.

“Wait for me. I’ll create a fate where you live your best life on your best day. You won’t regret it.”

So-hwa said nothing.

Though she knew she needed to leave a good impression on him, all she could do was watch as Namgung Hyun clasped his fists in salute and disappeared.

Namgung Hyun’s farewell was nothing like the words he had left in her previous life.

[They say coincidences pile up and become fate.]

In her past life, Namgung Hyun had spoken of fate while invoking coincidence.

[I like the coincidences that accumulate between you and me. Next time, I’ll bring an even better one.]

It had been such a frivolous thing to hear, and yet she remembered it clearly even now, after all this time.

Recalling the past, So-hwa let out a dry laugh.

‘…You say you don’t believe in fate?’

Though she had been lied to, it didn’t feel like she had been deceived.

As soon as she returned to the inner courtyard, So-hwa opened the envelope Namgung Hyun had given her. Inside was a piece of paper.

The hwaji she had given Namgung Hyun had returned to her hands. Soaked with black ink.

So-hwa read the characters drawn in calligraphy as if they were part of a painting.

The year and month of her birth. Followed by an imprecise date and an unverifiable time.

These had been strung together in a formula.

A date calculated through complex divination techniques was written there.

Namgung Hyun had once said he would find the most auspicious moment of her life. She had thought it a joke, but he had truly calculated that day.

“…”

She couldn’t understand it.

She had sought out the hwaji because it had been a cherished possession Namgung Hyun had held onto even at the moment of his death.

It had been kept blank, too precious to use, until the year Yeon-ah died—when a date had been written on it.

She had thought it was madness, a sign of his broken spirit from the loss of his beloved. That he had been so heartbroken, he ruined the precious paper.

So-hwa read Namgung Hyun’s letter again.

To win his heart, she had painstakingly acquired the hwaji, practiced calligraphy that didn’t suit her, and studied astronomy and calendar systems she had no interest in.

The effort was admirable, but still, she couldn’t quite comprehend it. That he had already given so much of his heart.

‘…Is it because he’s young that he opens his heart so easily?’

So-hwa’s gaze darkened.

‘No, he couldn’t be the type to be so emotional.’

Perhaps he hadn’t liked the hwaji or the calligraphy as much as she had thought.

Thinking that way brought her some comfort.

Unable to understand Namgung Hyun’s actions, So-hwa walked toward the Nine Turns Pavilion, turning over his words in her mind.

‘To create fate.’

Namgung Hyun wasn’t one to speak lightly. He was someone who feigned humility, always lowering himself.

Time. Fate.

Those extravagant words he had left behind stirred doubt in her mind.

‘Could it be… that the reason I came back to the past is somehow connected to him?’

A question with no clear answer,  and no way to verify it.

At that moment, Han-won, who had spotted her, approached and asked,

“You’ve already finished talking?”

So-hwa let out a constrained breath and slipped the hwaji back into the envelope.

“Yes.”

As she reached out to take the box she had entrusted to him, Han-won turned his body away.

“No, I’ll carry it.”

“You can’t enter the Nine Turns Pavilion anyway, so there’s no need to follow me.”

“I’ll be escorting you there regardless, so I’ll carry it to the entrance.”

Stubborn as ever, Han-won followed her all the way to the Nine Turns Pavilion. Thanks to that, So-hwa was able to gather her thoughts a little.

Soon, someone came to mind—someone who might be able to help her answer these questions.

She would have to meet that Blood Sect bastard anyway to get him to take the pill, so depending on how things played out, she would ask him.

What exactly is Namgung Hyun?

Having found a method, So-hwa entered the Nine Turns Pavilion carrying the formula she had devised for him.

***

After selecting the medicinal ingredients, So-hwa placed some in the steamer to be steamed, while those that needed to be ground raw were thoroughly washed and left by the window. While the materials were being prepared, she brought out a small bowl and placed her own blood in it.

So-hwa planned to create two types of pills first, then adjust them based on the host’s reaction.

One to purge all impurities from the body, and another to lure out the Poison gu using her blood.

She gathered the prepared ingredients and mixed them. After about one sichen (two hours), she had a lump of dough about the size of a fist. So-hwa shaped it into appropriate sizes and placed it into a wooden box.

“What are you doing?”

Startled by Tang Hae-han suddenly sticking his head in, So-hwa flinched.

“Why so jumpy? What are you making?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Is this the item the Grand Elder asked for?”

“No.”

So-hwa shut the box.

Tang Hae-han silently looked at her.

“What?”

“You used to ask me all sorts of things, and now you’re making it all on your own just fine.”

“I’ve been doing it alone for years now.”

So-hwa realized he was dragging the conversation. He was eyeing the discarded ingredients with interest.

“Don’t go snooping through what I threw away. Go do your job, brother.”

When she blocked his view, Tang Hae-han sighed.

“Unfortunately, my job is to fetch you. The Medical Hall Master is calling.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. Said it was urgent.”

So-hwa quickly tidied up and followed him to the Medical Hall.

Inside the Hall Master’s room were not only the Hall Master but also the Divine Physician.

That was when So-hwa realized why she had been summoned—it must be to discuss Five Minerals Powder.

Tang Hae-han, quick on the uptake, must have sensed it wasn’t a place for him, as he excused himself.

“I’ll be heading out now.”

“Very well. Good work.”

With the Hall Master’s permission, Tang Hae-han left the room, and So-hwa asked,

“What did you call me for?”

The answer came from the Divine Physician.

“We called this meeting to talk about the Five Minerals Powder. Do you remember I mentioned before that the Namgung Clan Head’s symptoms resembled a reaction to Five Minerals Powder?”

Come to think of it, when she was treating Namgung Hyun, the Divine Physician had remarked that the Namgung Clan Head’s condition was similar to Five Minerals Powder poisoning.

When So-hwa remained silent, the Divine Physician added in a concerned tone:

“According to the Namgung Clan Head, he says his senses feel dulled, as if trapped in clouds, and occasionally, he experiences memory loss.”

The Hall Master’s expression grew serious at those words.

“Memory loss?”

“Yes. He said his memories disappear. At first, the duration was short enough to question whether it had even happened, but it gradually increased—to the point that he once lost his memory for a whole gak (30 minutes). He said he had gone in to bathe, and when he came to his senses, he was lying on his bed.”

“The symptoms don’t seem consistent. Do you mean the condition progressively worsened, or that the duration of memory loss fluctuated depending on his physical state?”

“That’s a bit unclear. He did say it gradually worsened. On the day he left Anhui, he lost thirty minutes of memory. But while he stayed at the Tang Clan, his condition improved, and he didn’t show any of the mentioned symptoms. His pulse even returned to normal, and his body became healthier.”

The Hall Master stroked his beard and tilted his head thoughtfully.

“If it were merely an effect of ingestion, the body should have developed resistance over time and shown weaker responses. But since the symptoms actually worsened, it might be a case of poisoning.”

The Divine Physician nodded, seemingly of the same opinion.

“Yes. Given that he recovered after coming to the Tang Clan, it seems the symptoms disappeared after he stopped taking Five Minerals Powder.”

A brief silence followed.

It suggested that someone in the Namgung Clan had been deliberately feeding the Clan Head Five Minerals Powder.

It was not something they could easily report to the Namgung Clan Head.

Tap tap.

The sound of the Hall Master tapping the table echoed through the room. After some deliberation, he spoke with resolve.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Straightening his posture, he looked at the Divine Physician and Tang So-hwa.

“For now, I’ll try taking Five Minerals Powder myself.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep