Chapter 87. Platinum Pavilion

So-hwa was a little surprised at the martial artists’ attention toward the Murim Alliance.

It was her first time participating in a Martial Arts Tournament in both her lives, so this lively atmosphere felt unfamiliar.

Voices brimming with excitement ranked participants according to their own preferences.

The passersby were drunk on alcohol and conversation, so they didn’t recognize So-hwa.

Well, only when she moved with the Tang Clan would people identify her as one of them. On her own, she was hard to recognize. Despite being a direct descendant of a prestigious martial arts clan, she wasn’t easily defined as a martial artist.

So-hwa turned into an alley. The path to Platinum Pavilion, adorned with an abundance of colorful lanterns, was paradoxically dark.

And silent.

It felt as if the street noise had been pushed back a jang (about 10.8 feet), as if she had stepped into another world.

So-hwa stood there and looked up at the towering pavilion.

The top floor was hard to see. The uppermost part of the brightly illuminated pavilion blended into the night sky.

At that moment, a light voice came from ahead.

“Unexpected. I didn’t think you’d come looking for me right away.”

When she lowered her head, she saw the Anguk Merchant Group’s young master standing at the doorway. To So-hwa, he was more familiar as a member of the Blood Sect.

“I’d like to talk inside.”

At So-hwa’s words, Haerak casually placed his arm against the doorframe, blocking the way.

“My apologies, but Platinum Pavilion isn’t a place just anyone can enter.”

So-hwa stared at Haerak and asked,

“Am I just anyone?”

“To Min Yeohong, you’re not anyone special.”

Min Yeohong. The name of the Anguk Merchant Group’s young master. The alias of the Blood Sect bastard standing before her.

So-hwa took out a small wooden box secured in her sleeve. Recognizing it, the Blood Sect bastard flinched.

The scent of peonies swept over the surroundings, and the air blazed with heat.

The intense energy quickly subsided, as if he had confirmed his internal energy was intact.

So-hwa let out a soft laugh and placed her hand on the lid of the wooden box.

“The Energy-Scattering Poison hasn’t been administered, and this isn’t the antidote pill.”

Click.

So-hwa opened the box in front of him. Four small pills appeared.

So-hwa added calmly.

“It’s a deworming medicine to expel the Poison gu in your body.”

Flames flared in the Blood Sect bastard’s green-brown eyes. His gaze, gleaming like a golden coin, rose toward So-hwa’s eyes.

He curled his lips and said.

“If you came looking for Haerak, then you’re not just anyone.”

So-hwa furrowed her brows. As he seemed to be teasing her again, she closed her mouth, but Haerak suddenly burst out laughing.

“Haha, ‘Haerak’ isn’t a secret invitation to ‘enjoy together (偕樂),’ it’s just my name. It has no meaning, so relax your expression.”

“Your name is Haerak?”

“Yes.”

A fleeting, indecipherable emotion flickered in his golden eyes.

“That’s a good name. Not like a Blood Sect member at all.”

“Maybe because it wasn’t given by the Blood Sect.”

Haerak replied shortly, then turned around.

As his gaze landed, a heavy door opened.

“Let’s go inside. It’s a place not many people visit, but with so many people around during this time, eyes might follow us.”

Despite Haerak’s words, So-hwa remained relaxed.

Seeing her, Haerak gave a hollow laugh.

“Are you doing this on purpose? To make it obvious that we’re together?”

So-hwa didn’t deny it and replied.

“I thought it would be good if rumors spread that I was continuing the connection with the Anguk Merchant Group’s young master.”

“Surprising. I thought you’d want to keep your distance from me.”

“Looking at your character, whenever you feel like it, you’ll probably come barging into the Murim Alliance headquarters or the Tang Clan’s estate and pretend to know me. I don’t want people to suspect how we suddenly became so close.”

Haerak shut his mouth, as if it were the kind of impulsive revenge he himself might enact.

So-hwa, as if expecting this, calmly added.

“Since I’m in Hubei, it would be good to show that I’m building connections. That way, I won’t have to deal with pointless suspicions later.”

She had already confirmed how quickly people spread rumors and how they enjoyed them during the Alliance of Noble Clans.

The moment she finished speaking, the large gate closed.

As they stepped inside, Haerak tilted his head.

“But what do you mean by ‘pointless suspicions’?”

His voice was full of mockery.

“That’s not a pointless suspicion. A young lady from an orthodox sect secretly meeting a Blood Sect member—that’s not considered proper in your world, is it?”

So-hwa wordlessly put the small box back into her sleeve.

“Ah, are you putting it away again just because I teased you? Give it here. It looks heavy, I’ll carry it.”

The palm-sized box couldn’t possibly be heavy, but Haerak quickly snatched it from her and held it in his hand.

As they passed through the stone garden, a man standing at the entrance blocked their way.

A deep weariness was etched into his face.

He was someone who could speak with his expressions.

‘Are you crazy?’ seemed to echo in the air.

“Are you serious?”

Haerak, as if used to the attitude, ignored him and said only what he wanted to say.

“We’ll be going to the bedchamber. Let no one in.”

“…The bedchamber?”

“It’s not what you’re thinking, so don’t get any strange ideas.”

“No, I wasn’t thinking that. I was just impressed by your courage to enter a private quarters alone with a woman who came with poisons dangling from her sleeve. Didn’t you almost lose all the internal energy you painstakingly cultivated due to Energy-Scattering Poison, with your notoriously thin patience?”

Haerak’s gaze quietly swept over him.

Only then did the Blood Sect member stop his taunts.

Though he seemed like a subordinate, he didn’t act like one.

So-hwa thought to herself that the structure of the Blood Sect was even more messed up than she had imagined.

Even this time, Haerak didn’t particularly scold his subordinate, and the subordinate didn’t apologize.

So-hwa gave up on expecting normal behavior and followed the two of them up into the Platinum Pavilion.

As rumored, Platinum Pavilion had valuable-looking items placed everywhere.

But it wasn’t just jewelry. There were also well-worn, cherished weapons and old ancient books, perhaps left in someone’s care.

The higher they went, the more bizarre it became.

Strange animals and plants confined in cages, and colossal paintings adorning the walls, were visible. So-hwa understood why the pavilion was so tall. To store wide paintings and even strange living creatures, they needed a large space.

As they climbed all the stairs, the view suddenly darkened.

Unlike the exhibition rooms, Haerak’s bedchamber was a pitch-dark room with not even a single candle lit.

“I’d like it if you lit a candle.”

“No.”

Haerak refused.

“Lighting a candle here is a signal for gathering.”

Suddenly, he tilted the corners of his mouth.

“If you’re curious about the true form of the Hubei Blood Sect, I can light it.”

With him saying that, there was no choice.

Fortunately, the windows on all sides were open, and the combined light from below and the moon made it possible to distinguish objects.

So-hwa nodded.

“Fine, even if a mistake is made, you’ll be the one dying, not me, so this much is fine.”

“…I can light one candle.”

Haerak gestured and lit a candle next to his bed.

Strangely, there were no chairs in the room. The wide window ledge and high bed seemed to serve as seating.

Only the owner’s spot was elevated, implying that anyone entering this room was of lower status.

She had expected it, but it was clear that this Blood Sect bastard held a high position within the Blood Sect.

So-hwa quietly looked around the room, then gathered the necessary items and brought them to the bed. As she placed a clean cloth and a water bottle containing drinking water on it, Haerak shrewdly approached and sat on the bed.

“Which one should I take?”

So-hwa sat beside him and spoke.

“The first and third ones are deworming medicine, and the second and fourth ones are antidotes for the two pills.”

“Antidote?”

“To remove the effect immediately if something goes wrong.”

“Why are there two? The two pills in the odd positions look different just by their color.”

“The first pill cleanses all impurities in your blood vessels, and the second pill is to lure the Poison gu spread throughout your body into your stomach.”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ve only imagined it; I’ve never given it to anyone.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. Even if it fails, it’s fine.”

“…No, it’s not fine for me.”

“Since there is no Poison gu in my body, I couldn’t confirm the effect of extracting it. However, when I took both the pill and the antidote together, the antidote successfully neutralized the pill’s effects. If something goes wrong, the effects can be immediately reversed, so you won’t die.”

Probably.

So-hwa swallowed those words.

Haerak let out a sigh while looking at So-hwa with a troubled expression.

“If you hadn’t proven yourself, I would’ve dismissed you as a mere quack.”

“There’s no quack in this world who can prove their own abilities.”

“I know, but what you’re saying now sounds like a swindler.”

“A swindler is someone who makes false promises. I’m telling you if it won’t work, it won’t.”

So-hwa looked down at the pills and then looked up at Haerak.

“Though I can’t guarantee it’ll succeed on the first try, I won’t give up on you.”

“…”

“Even if I fail today, I’ll observe how your body reacts and come back with a new formula. So, as long as you don’t give up, I’ll eventually make the deworming medicine, and you’ll find your freedom.”

She neither leaned forward nor gestured.

It seemed there was no intent to coerce.

She just sat upright and met Haerak’s gaze, signaling she would wait for his decision.

Strangely, she was a woman who gave off a sense of trustworthiness.

Haerak recalled a common line from reports about the Tang Clan’s young lady.

A strange woman with the appearance of a young girl but the mind of an old person. Those who faced her felt as if they had reverted to childhood.

It wasn’t unpleasant.

Somehow, it felt reassuring. Like the sturdy fence of a guardian, something that protected him. A faint memory of his early days.

Haerak curled his lips and took out the third pill.

“I’ve tried cleansing my blood vessels before, but I only ended up wasting elixirs and nearly died.”

He sniffed the pill and frowned.

“Judging by the smell, you must’ve used your own blood. Since it’s a medicine only you can make, I’ll take this one.”

So-hwa nodded.

It meant “do as you like.”

Haerak immediately put the small pill into his mouth.

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