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

Chapter 271

So-hwa followed Namgung Hyun out in silence.Namgung Hyun stopped on the stone pavement in front of the pavilion and wrote characters on the ground.

It was a formation, mixed with characters she could not recognize. After writing for a long while, Namgung Hyun withdrew his brush.

Then he raised his head and looked up at So-hwa.

The wound on her hand had not yet healed.

Without moving, he stared fixedly at the back of her hand.

After a brief moment that felt like an eternity, her hand began to change. The torn flesh drew itself together, closing cleanly on its own.

Only then did Namgung Hyun lower his head again and move the brush.

Ssshk.

As a single character was completed, the formation that had been bathed in moonlight was swallowed by darkness.

The round shadow shattered, its edges turning sharp. Buried among the dense shadows of trees, So-hwa lifted her head.

It was a forest not far from the pavilion.

She did not run straight toward the pavilion.

Thunder roared in the sky, and light flashed.

Kwaang!

Whenever lightning struck, a human silhouette appeared between the storm clouds.

The Alliance Leader was moving through the air, as if flying, stepping on empty space.

Trying to escape this place, the Blood Demon poured blood from his entire body as he evaded the Alliance Leader. However, the Alliance Leader did not allow him to flee.

Kwaang!

Like a dragon swimming through the clouds, the Alliance Leader strangled the Blood Demon.

He rose from below and severed the Blood Demon's thigh, then suddenly appeared in front of him and pierced his abdomen.

Kuung!

When the Blood Demon fell, unable to endure it any longer, the Alliance Leader's figure also vanished.

Only then did So-hwa run in the direction where they had fallen.

In front of the pavilion stood countless martial artists. They, too, could only watch, unable to dare interfere in the battle between the Alliance Leader and the Blood Demon.

She saw the Alliance Leader standing on the ground. As expected, his body was not intact either.

With a large hole torn below his chest, the Alliance Leader raised his sword.

Chwaak!

"KEEUK....!"

With a dying scream, the Blood Demon's head flew off.

After cutting off his breath, the Alliance Leader tilted forward as if about to collapse.

Thud.

Striking the ground with his sword, he used the recoil to force himself upright.

He looked vacant, like a walking corpse.

Staggering, the Alliance Leader struck the Blood Demon's torso again. Then he stabbed his sword into the body once more.

As if dismembering him, the Alliance Leader butchered the Blood Demon. It was behavior unbefitting the normally calm Alliance Leader.

Thud. Thud.

Watching the silent dismemberment of the corpse, no one could speak.

A warmth approaching from behind covered Tang So-hwa's vision.  

With her sight blocked, her other senses grew sharper.

The humid night breeze and the scent of blood grew stronger.

In contrast, the heat and cold emanating from the Blood Demon's body receded. The energy trapped within him completely dispersed, and even the Alliance Leader's heat faded away.

Not long after, the sound of the Alliance Leader collapsing was heard.

"Alliance Leader!"

Someone who had been watching ran forward. So-hwa lowered the arm of the Main Blood Hall Lord to see who it was.

The Sword Saint cradled the fallen Alliance Leader's head and began to perform a futile action.

The Sword Saint's clear internal energy penetrated the Alliance Leader's body, but it could not circulate even half a meridian before leaking out.

"I'll carry him."

The Tang Clan Head sat in front of him and lifted the Alliance Leader's arm onto his shoulder, as if intending to take him to the Divine Physician. However, the Alliance Leader shook his head.

"The Divine Physician is no god, it is a... futile effort.”"

"Why are you saying such nonsense at a time like this?"

The Black Sky Demon snapped as he approached, trying to lift the Alliance Leader instead. Even so, Tang Min vaguely knew it was pointless. His expression was grim.

When Tang Min supported his back, the Alliance Leader pushed his hand away.

“Now, don't be stubborn. If you have the strength to argue while dying...”

"I kept my promise."

Tang Min closed his mouth and stared at the Alliance Leader.

Wrinkles formed on his face, stained with blood. Faintly smiling, the Alliance Leader added, as if exhaling his final breath,

"It took quite a while, but......."

The Alliance Leader's ink-dark eyes drifted to So-hwa. After holding her in his gaze, he continued,

"Now, you and I...... can leave without regret, can we not?"

At those words, Tang Min's expression hardened coldly.

However, the Alliance Leader could not explain why he said that. Closing his heavy eyelids, the master of the Alliance stopped breathing.

At that moment, rain poured down from the sky.

Shaaaa.

The torrential water washed clean the blood-soaked Alliance Leader, like hands gently cleansing the body of a beloved one.

The Alliance Leader's face, etched with years, and his silver hair were etched into everyone's eyes.

Cheong-ga’s final appearance was so clear and light that pitying his death felt like an insult.

His face looked refreshed, as if all regrets and lingering attachments had been washed away.

Recognizing that the commotion had ended, the Tang Clan's retainers flooded into the forest.

As torches gathered from all sides, the area in front of the study grew brighter.

Red light tinged the raindrops.

The beaded crimson droplets made her vision swim.

Realizing something, So-hwa turned her head to look behind her.

The sorcerer who had not yet emerged from the forest was looking at her.

"Elder sister!"

Tang Ye-hwa's voice rang out from afar.

Soon, So-hwa noticed that the raindrops were gathering more slowly on her brows.

When she lowered her gaze, she saw Tang Yu-hwa standing on tiptoe, holding an umbrella over her head.

Meanwhile, Min Haerak's warmth, which had moved farther away, could be felt from within the forest.

Not wanting to lose, Tang Ye-hwa also rose onto her heels and held the umbrella over So-hwa.

"Idiot, this side is getting soaked!"

As the wooden umbrella ribs met, the thin curtain added by the rain moved away, and her vision cleared.

After briefly looking over her and the twins with an unreadable expression, Namgung Hyun turned around and disappeared into the forest.

Hidden by the rain, she could not understand the emotions that had crossed his face.

She could only contemplate the emotions left behind within herself.

The one she had thought she could never forgive for life now looked like a different person.

Shaaaa.

The resentment was washed away.

Like rainwater seeping into her skin, she felt that the young sorcerer's final life had begun.

"Grand Elder, I'll carry him."

At Tang Hak's voice, So-hwa turned her gaze back to the front of the study.

Tang Min was recovering the Alliance Leader's body. Ignoring the Young Lord's words, he carefully lifted the Alliance Leader into his arms. Tang Hak fidgeted, then snatched the umbrella brought by a maidservant and held it over Tang Min.

The Tang Clan Head summoned the leader of the Four Tiger Unit and issued orders.

The four leaders, prostrated on the ground, vanished in an instant.

Then the angry shout of the Namgung Clan Head pierced through the heavy rain.

"We must find every piece of the Blood Demon's corpse! We don't know what dark arts he may use, so not a single fragment can be lost!"

The Namgung martial artists moved busily. The Wudang Sect Leader also urged his disciples.

"You search the surroundings thoroughly as well."

The martial artists of Namgung and Wudang, who had rushed over, searched for fragments of the Blood Demon's body.

As the Murim Alliance spread out widely, the lingering heat around the forest subsided.

The Main Blood Hall martial artists who had been watching seemed to withdraw, avoiding the Murim Alliance's gaze.

Min Haerak, too, seemed to have chased after Namgung Hyun, as his presence could no longer be felt.

"Elder Sister."

Tang Yu-hwa tugged at her arm with a pale face.

Tang Ye-hwa, grabbing her other arm, exclaimed in surprise,

"Why is your body so cold? Hurry and go change your clothes first. Ah, right! You know......."

Suddenly, Tang Ye-hwa glanced around and lowered her voice.

"I think Brother Hae-han talked behind your back to Father. I can't say who I heard it from, but he told the Chief Steward...... no, no, someone else, to find out what medicines went into the Nine Turns Pavilion, whether you personally requested anything, and where they were purchased, and to report back. He said he'd call both you and that Namgung young martial artist to the study tomorrow. I tried to tell you as soon as I overheard it, so I went looking for you...... Elder sister? Where are you going?"

Rapidly whispering, Ye-hwa followed after So-hwa in a panic.

"Anyway, the atmosphere right now is really bad, isn't it? We slipped out secretly because we were worried you'd get scolded by Father for no reason. No, I'm talking about something important—why do you keep going somewhere?"

Though she scolded her in a voice as small as an ant's crawl, So-hwa did not reply.

She bent down in the grass in front of the pavilion. A small jar rose into her hand.

"......."

It was the Blood Sect's Gu poison antidote she had left at the headquarters.

So-hwa raised her head.

Between the blades of grass, she saw several more jars bearing the seal of the headquarters.

In the end, the Alliance Leader had achieved his will.

After repeating countless lives, at the moment he finally gave up, he killed the Blood Demon.

It was the victory of one who had fought alone for a long, long time.

Quietly, So-hwa slipped the white jar into her sleeve.

She asked Tang Ye-hwa, who was relentlessly scolding her,

"Do you know where Brother Hae-han is right now?"

"Yeah. He probably went to the Medical Hall. Just in case, he said he was moving the patients. It'll take at least one shijin to move them all, so he should still be there."

Nodding slightly, So-hwa finally started walking.

"Elder sister! You're getting soaked in the rain!"

As Tang Ye-hwa raised her voice and followed, Tang Yu-hwa pressed her umbrella into So-hwa's hand and moved to her twin sister's side.

Understanding, Tang Ye-hwa lowered the umbrella and shared it with Tang Yu-hwa.

"Idiot. Come closer this way, your shoulder's getting soaked."

"You're getting soaked too......."

Soft footsteps followed behind her.

Listening to that peaceful sound, So-hwa acknowledged that a miracle she had thought impossible had come to pass.