The Eldest Daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan Protects the Family

Chapter 266

A hollow laugh escaped the Blood Demon."Were you planning to die together?"

So-hwa, who had been staring blankly at the Blood Demon, spoke words whose meaning was unclear.

"Your greatest mistake was failing to kill me."

The Blood Demon burst into loud laughter.

"No. Sparing you was the best thing I've done in the past few years."

Suddenly, the Blood Demon twisted his body.

Kwaaaang!

The metal that had been descending onto his back scattered in all directions. And someone who had been frozen in midair glared at him while blood spilled from their mouth.

"Cough."

Tang Ji-ha, his abdomen pierced through, was hanging from the Blood Demon's arm. He tried to pull back, but could not break free because of the hand gripping him.

The Blood Demon tilted his head grotesquely and stared at So-hwa.

Even without him speaking, she understood what had just happened.

The Blood Demon's hand was on Tang Ji-ha's lower abdomen—where the lower dantian would be.

He could have absorbed the Tang Clan Head's internal energy sufficiently without even touching him, yet the Blood Demon moved so directly, purely to show her.

Whoosh.

At that moment, a blade curved as it flew in, narrowly avoiding the Clan Head.

It seemed aimed at severing the Blood Demon's arm, but he was faster.

Without even looking, the Blood Demon moved his arm and took the hidden weapon into the Clan Head's body.

Whoosh.

Fortunately, the hidden weapon retreated swiftly before it could touch the Clan Head's body.

Because the Clan Head had moved so recklessly, those outside could not push any further.

If the battle had been over, any elder could have temporarily stabilized the Clan Head's internal injuries. After that, if he had been escorted to the Divine Physician, the Clan Head could have survived.

However, the battle was still ongoing, and provoking the Blood Demon—only to have the Clan Head's upper and lower body separated—would have been irreversible.

A fleeting opening appeared, and the Blood Demon did not miss it.

So-hwa fixed her eyes on the scene unfolding before her.

Others might have thought it a standoff, but to her eyes, the Blood Demon was forming meridians.

He had already been poisoned by the newly ignited poison smoke.

The energy that had formed a small sphere in the Blood Demon's middle dantian began to stretch out like threads.

The energy tracing the meridians spread widely as it completed a full circulation.

The purpose was clearly revealed on his smiling face.

Having obtained a new energy, he would test it on the bodies of the Tang Clan members.

No one knew who the first subject would be.

So-hwa's jaw muscles twitched sharply.

The energy passed through the Blood Demon's meridians and filled the lower dantian.

He opened his acupoints and drew several strands of energy into the newly connected meridians.

Watching this, So-hwa spoke.

“Did I not say that I contain your blood? But those words, conversely, sounded to me like your blood is of the same nature as mine.”

At the incomprehensible words, the Blood Demon let out a hollow chuckle, and So-hwa added,

"Which is why you will die by my hand today."

It was such nonsense that the Blood Demon did not take it seriously.

He thought it a ploy to draw his attention and save the Tang Clan Head.

So-hwa wanted to bluff further to hold his gaze, but her stiffened body could not put on any act. So she spoke the truth instead.

A voice that failed to conceal fear, anxiety, and revulsion reached the Blood Demon.

“How do you think I detoxified your Gu poison?”

When she spoke of the matter that had grated on his nerves, the Blood Demon reacted.

So-hwa brought up the secret.

"Didn't you believe you stood above everyone else? That superior blood erases inferior blood and dominates the host's will?"

So-hwa let out a sneer.

"But do you remember? The day we first met at Jin Yin Mountain, you tried to put your blood into me, yet you couldn't dominate me."

"Yes. That day feels impossibly distant now."

When the Blood Demon spoke mockingly, So-hwa continued coldly.

"So I thought—by your own logic—that perhaps I possessed even more superior blood."

"Haha, what an arrogant thought."

Rather than anger, the Blood Demon laughed it off.

She understood why he reacted that way.

He, too, must have been curious about So-hwa's blood. Superiority and inferiority—he would have been the first to consider it, even before So-hwa did.

Yet just as he had failed to influence So-hwa that day, So-hwa's blood had also failed to influence him.

Thus, the Blood Demon must have concluded that it was not a matter of superiority.

He likely dismissed it as her blood simply being too saturated with his own to react.

So-hwa prodded him again with words she knew he despised.

"You think yourself a god, but you're nothing more than a human like the rest of us. Contrary to your belief, perhaps because you're not such an extraordinary being, erasing your will wasn't difficult."

Kwaaaang.

The Blood Demon's hand clamped around So-hwa's throat.

The explosive burst of energy tore her clothes and split her flesh.

As So-hwa held the Blood Demon in her gaze, she curled her hand into a fist.

More than the pain of her own skin tearing, what struck her harder was the sight of the Tang Clan martial artists—who had rushed to save the Clan Head and her—being shredded by the shockwave.

Tang Hak crashed to the ground, coughing up blood as he struggled to rise.

Yet So-hwa acted as though she saw none of it.

“I said I remember you trying to feed me your blood.”

She wanted to sound fine, but with her throat being crushed, only a tiny sound escaped.

"Even when your wound and mine touched, you couldn't dominate me, and I couldn't kill you either."

Breathing became difficult, and So-hwa grabbed the Blood Demon's arm. Even so, he did not loosen his grip.

"But erasing your blood when it's lodged in another person's body was possible......"

The Blood Demon’s arm, burst by his own energy waves, was drenched in blood. So-hwa’s bloodied hand slid down over it.

From her fingertips, hanging limp toward the ground, a dark crimson mixture of So-hwa’s and the Blood Demon’s blood dripped.

"So...... I became curious."

Drip. Drip.

A faint voice, nearly drowned out by the sound of falling blood, tickled the Blood Demon's eardrums.

"If the variable that day was that you had a body that couldn't die......"

Mustering her last strength, So-hwa grabbed his arm again. Digging her nails into his gaping wound, she squeezed her eyes shut in pain.

"......then if you become someone who can die, wouldn't it be possible to erase your blood, just like with other hosts?"

The Blood Demon understood the Gu poison of blood better than anyone. It was only natural—he had created the Gu technique himself.

Thus, he could keenly sense the changes occurring in his body.

His gaze dropped to his own arm.

Around the wound where So-hwa's nails were embedded, veins bulged out like a spiderweb.

The Blood Demon noticed a purple hue mixing into the color of the veins.

His terrified gaze snapped upward as So-hwa, eyes shut tight as if her breath were about to give out, spoke.

"Die......"

Understanding that word, the Blood Demon clenched her throat with all his might. The sound of bones cracking rang out.

Tang So-hwa's airway was severed before she could finish the word, yet the Blood Demon could not release his grip and continued to exert force.

The Blood Demon had never seen the world beyond his own death. Thus, he could not be certain that death would erase his will.

That unknown future made him uneasy.

Kwaaaang!

Engulfed by raging flames, the Blood Demon let go of Tang So-hwa and retreated. Or rather, it was not by his own will—his arm had been severed.

Ta-at!

The Main Blood Hall Lord snatched So-hwa, immediately hurled the severed arm into the fire, and fled the pavilion.

The Blood Demon, his face pale, tried to follow the Main Blood Hall Lord but stopped. It was because something had seized his heart.

"Keheok!"

His breath caught, and his vision swam.

Though accustomed to pain, the Blood Demon could not hide the panic on his face as he pressed a hand to his chest.

Knowing what this pain signified, he felt fear for the first time.

Shlick.

His roughly torn robe fell open, exposing bare skin. From his upper dantian, a writhing black line was growing darker. Soon, blood poured from his eyes and mouth.

"KRAAAGH!"

The Blood Demon, rampaging, clawed at his body with his remaining hand and screamed.

Pa-at!

At that moment, the leader of the White Tiger Unit vanished with the falling Tang Clan Head in his arms. At the same time, the leaders of the Three Tiger Units charged at the Blood Demon.

Puk! Puuuk!

The Blood Demon could not block the barrage of hidden weapons. No—he could not spare them any attention.

Clutching his own throat, then scratching at his body, he writhed in agony.

"UAAAAAAAGH!"

He collapsed to the ground, leaving the metal shards embedded all over his body. He did not even bother worrying about fatal wounds.

The Blood Demon stubbornly refused to die.

Neither the internal energy shredding his organs nor the blades mincing his flesh could yet sever his breath.

He continued to feel horrific pain. Burning alive felt like it would have been easier.

An appalling agony followed, as if each blood vessel were being gnawed away by insects one by one.

Puuuk!

At that moment, a hidden weapon lodged itself into one of the Blood Demon's eyes.

His already-blurring vision grew even more muddled.

Covering his remaining eye, the Blood Demon lowered his head and discovered someone lying on the ground.

Namgung Hyun was staring back at him with bloodshot eyes.

In that instant, a chill ran down the Blood Demon's spine.

As though the heavens themselves had granted him a chance, rapture made his body tremble.

Ta-at.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Blood Demon charged at the sorcerer. It was astonishing that he still had such strength left.

His tenacious will to live drove the chaotic energies toward his fingertips, as if to protect their master.

Just as his sharpened nails were about to release their energy on the man, a thunderous explosion rang out.

Kwaaaang!

The Blood Demon was completely blinded by the burst of white light.

"Khheuh......."

An incomprehensible sound spilled from his lips. It should have been laughter, yet bubbling through a mouth full of blood, it turned into something grotesque.

Soon, the Blood Demon sensed that something was wrong.

His vision was gradually returning.

Just as a person accustomed to darkness momentarily loses sight when exposed to sudden light, his vision, now adjusted to the light, began to show the surrounding scene.

The flames had vanished. More than half of the pavilion had been split and blown backward, and the flames had been swept away by that storm.

Before the wicked sinister could reach his second son, the Emperor's Sword Form severed the path of the Blood Demon.

Kugugugung.

The remaining part of the pavilion lost its balance and toppled backward. As a result, the Blood Demon's body tilted. Yet having reached his limit, he could not move.

In the past, it would not have posed the slightest threat, but now he clung desperately to keep from being dragged out through the open window.

Jururuk.

But strength no longer answered his body. Unable to hold on, he rolled toward the window, spilling blood as he went.

Rolling along the floor after losing an arm, he looked like a single writhing larva—an appearance unimaginable for the Blood Demon.

After Namgung An rescued his second son before the Blood Demon could tear into him, the others hurried to act as well.

Ta-at.

The Tang Clan's Grand Elder seized the Blood Demon by the hair, leapt, and escaped through the window.

Kuuuuung.

The remaining pavilion crashed to the ground and shattered into pieces.

The Blood Demon barely survived.

However, it could not be called fortunate.

His body was thrown onto a dark green meadow soaked with the blood of Tang Clan members.

Bang.

That slight impact made the Blood Demon writhe in agony.

"Khheuh......."

He could not even scream properly. His throat, burned by smoke, had yet to recover.

The sensations of pain overlapped within his wound-riddled body.

The Gu poison, minutely gnawing even at his capillaries, was felt most intensely. It was horrific. It was a pain he was experiencing for the first time.

He almost wished the man standing right before him would hurry and end his life.

The Black Sky Demon, who had always taken the lead in Tang Clan affairs, grabbed the Blood Demon by the hair and lifted him up.

Yet the Black Sky Demon did nothing.

Neither the Tang Clan martial artists surrounding him nor the martial artists of other sects stepped forward.

The bustling sounds of tending to those in critical condition mixed with a quiet hostility.

The Blood Demon wanted to confirm the scene with his own eyes. But with his vision overlapping in layers, he could not properly grasp what was happening.

Nor could he tell what the insolent Tang Clan man was waiting for.

Then, a small voice was heard.

『I've heard a lot about you.』

The heavy sky began to pour rain.

Shwaaaah.

Yet even the sound of the downpour could not wash away the chill of that voice.

『That the Blood Sect's Gu poison is your blood, and that it was So-hwa's blood that stripped your blood away.』

The Blood Demon was startled that the man knew this.

Had Tang So-hwa spoken openly about her blood herself?

『So-hwa said your Gu poison inflicts truly horrific pain on its host. That it turns itself into tiny insects, blocks the host's blood vessels, and drives them into intense agony until the very moment of death.』

The Blood Demon's bloodshot eyes rolled to the side. Tang Min, receiving that gaze, spoke aloud.

"I'm known throughout the Central Plains for my mercy, but I have none to spare for you. So do your best to feel every last bit of that pain as you go."

The words, mixed with the sound of rain, bored into the Blood Demon's eardrums.

Though the words were no incantation, his body began to writhe.

“KUAAAAAAAAAAAAH...!”

It was a scream so crude it was unimaginable coming from one once regarded as an absolute being.

Yet merely hearing it sent chills down the spine.

Those watching could not even begin to imagine what kind of agony the host was enduring.