Darkness of the Tang Clan
It took a full two hours to scout the entirety of the Tang Clan's estate. As expected of a renowned noble house, their nighttime security was exceptionally tight.
Even so, none among the sentries possessed the skill to detect Ryeong’s movements. Still, the reason her sweep had taken two hours was simple: the Tang estate was divided into an inner court and an outer court, and the vast majority of critical Clan affairs transpired within the inner compound. Remembering the old adage that the darkest place is right under the lamp, she had painstakingly combed through every inch of the outer compound as well.
Her conclusion was that even if foul play was brewing, it was unlikely to take place in the inner court.
‘The Acting Head might hold absolute authority while the Clan Head is absent, but...’
It was still a rank subordinate to the Clan Head himself. If he intended to orchestrate something underhanded, he would never dare do so in the inner court, where the Clan Head’s loyal eyes watched every shadow. Surely, he would choose the outer grounds. Her intuition had proved entirely correct.
“There you are.”
Ryeong shadowed Dang Cheol-ryeong as he slipped into the outer court. Because he was also a master in the Transcendent Realm, maintaining adequate distance was imperative. Even if she drew closer, he likely would not notice her, but it paid to prepare for the unexpected.
His destination was the ironworks, where all manner of Tang weaponry and gear were crafted and moved. Was he looking to forge something?
Ryeong slipped stealthily into the workshop. With virtually nowhere to hide, she had to press herself flush against the ceiling, digging her fingernails into minute crevices and suppressing her presence with every ounce of focus until she was practically nonexistent.
Unaware of her presence, Dang Cheol-ryeong ventured deeper into the facility. Ryeong hesitated. He was clearly up to something, but she had a foreboding sense that if she pressed any further inside, escaping might prove impossible.
‘The corridor is narrowing.’
It was hardly an ideal environment for covert infiltration. On top of that, there was no guaranteed escape route, meaning any slip-up would inevitably trigger a massive commotion.
Yet her hesitation was fleeting. You never knew the measure of things until you put them to the test. If she uncovered what was being concocted behind the Clan Head’s back, could she not potentially bring Dang Heo-gun over to her side as an ally?
With that resolve in mind, she braced herself for the risk and moved deeper.
‘A hidden mechanism?’
The first complication arose shortly thereafter. Dang Cheol-ryeong vanished into the subterranean depths through a secret passage. More importantly, in the brief instant the mechanism engaged, she caught the faint trace of an aura.
It was unmistakably the power of the Red Cloud Divine Sword.
Having achieved great mastery over Mount Jongnam's martial arts, there was no way Ryeong could mistake the sword’s distinct energy. The Red Cloud Divine Sword was undeniably hidden beneath that passage.
‘Do I just follow him in?’
She could easily discern how the mechanism operated and follow him down. The issue was that once she entered, there would be no turning back. If discovered, she would have to stake her life on a duel to the death.
She did not expect to lose, but Dang Cheol-ryeong dying was a problem in itself. If the Acting Head vanished or turned up dead, where the Tang Clan’s suspicion would fall was blatantly obvious.
‘If Dang Cheol-ryeong has any sense, he’ll have ordered his men to keep a close eye on me and Jin-yeong.’
The tracking incense she had left hadn't dispersed yet, meaning no one had visited Jin-yeong. But if the incense faded while she was beneath the passage, and Dang Cheol-ryeong was discovered as an unnatural corpse the following morning? Anyone would point to Ryeong as the culprit. In other words, the moment she descended beneath that mechanism, she had to be prepared to weather a full Tang Clan death warrant.
She had to be ready, yes.
“Since when did I ever give a damn about that?”
Ryeong had never been one to retreat. Now that the location of the Red Cloud Divine Sword was confirmed, what was there left to hesitate over?
After sweeping the perimeter once more to ensure no one was watching, Ryeong manipulated the mechanism just as Dang Cheol-ryeong had done and slipped through the narrow gap into the subterranean darkness.
Meanwhile, down in the underground chamber, Dang Cheol-ryeong was speaking to someone.
“When will this be finished? I believe I've waited long enough.”
“Soon. No matter how sacred a relic it may be, after siphoning this much internal energy from it, it's bound to run dry.”
“Keep this in mind: the only reason you're still drawing breath is because of this deranged scheme of yours.”
“Naturally.”
Dang Cheol-ryeong was conversing with a masked man dressed in black robes. Beside them, crates of Poison Heavenly Elixirs stood stacked high. They were all spiritual medicines synthesized by drawing upon the internal energy radiated by the Red Cloud Divine Sword. Because the clan's full secret formula had not been utilized, their efficacy was barely a quarter of a genuine Poison Heavenly Elixir. But if produced not in tens, but in hundreds—the value of mass-producing them was more than worth the effort.
“Finish the operation within fifteen days. Otherwise, our agreement is void.”
“Of course.”
The man in black turned toward the passage, carrying two crates of the elixirs with him. The reason the Tang Clan had retained possession of the Red Cloud Divine Sword until now was precisely to supply these elixirs—or more accurately, to mass-produce them, an enterprise that yielded immense profit for the clan.
“Until our next meeting. Let us hope the Clan Head does not return anytime soon.”
As he vanished with those parting words, an emblem stitched in white could be seen faintly upon his back. It was a single character:
Cult.
A single glyph marking him as a member of the Demon Blood Divine Cult.
“I certainly didn't expect you to be colluding with the Demon Blood Divine Cult, Acting Head.”
“You wretched wench...!”
There was no longer any need to hide, and Ryeong stepped out from the shadows. Since her current body was unsuited to ending the fight with a lethal surprise strike anyway, she intended to draw his killing intent into the open. True to expectation, the moment Dang Cheol-ryeong caught sight of her, venomous qi surged from his form.
“Did you see all of that?”
“Naturally.”
“However, this is the Tang Clan. Who would ever believe your word?”
“Then why not simply let me leave with the Red Cloud Divine Sword?”
“Absurd. Now that you've seen this, I have no intention of letting you leave alive.”
Tsing!
Dang Cheol-ryeong launched an ambush with a blast of finger force. But Ryeong was already enveloped in protective astral qi.
He had anticipated as much. Since she had inherited the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven, he was certain she was at least a master of the Super-Peak Realm. Moreover, he hadn't sensed her tailing him, which meant her cultivation had to be at or beyond the Transcendent Realm.
Yet his judgment was a step too slow. Relying on her protective qi to deflect the finger force, she extended her hand and pulled the Red Cloud Divine Sword to her grasp with telekinetic qi manipulation.
Rumble!
The boundless internal energy within the Red Cloud Divine Sword rushed into Ryeong’s body. Dang Cheol-ryeong’s brow twitched violently. Now that the sacred relic of Mount Jongnam had returned to a Jongnam swordsman, triumphing through internal energy or pure swordsmanship was off the table.
The only weapon left to him was poison.
“I had hoped not to resort to this, but you leave me no choice.”
Sssss!
A noxious purple miasma billowed from Dang Cheol-ryeong’s frame. The toxic energy derived from his Monarch Poison Arts seeped through every pore, staining his entire body a ghastly shade of violet.
The flesh dissolves into venom; the human form becomes a living vessel of pestilence.
“It will be somewhat excruciating. Especially for someone without natural immunity to venom.”
“...”
Dang Cheol-ryeong curled a corner of his lips into a sneer. Unless one had attained the state of Complete Poison Immunity, merely standing in the vicinity of a transformed Poison Human meant instantaneous death. It was only natural that Ryeong could not even reply; the chamber was already saturated with suffocating miasma.
In his mind's eye, he envisioned her collapsing helplessly without offering the slightest resistance. Even so, he did not withdraw his toxic qi. He intended to maintain the miasma for half an incense stick's time to ensure not a single trace of her corpse remained.
When the time elapsed, Dang Cheol-ryeong dispelled the transformation. As the purple fog gradually cleared, he fully expected to see nothing left behind except the Red Cloud Divine Sword lying alone upon the stone floor.
Yet.
“Y-You wretched wench! What kind of sorcery did you use?!”
Where the poison mist parted stood Ryeong, gripping the sword in both hands with an expression of utter indifference. Her eyes were hollow and fathomless—as though she were someone who did not belong to this mortal world.
A sudden chill ran down Dang Cheol-ryeong’s spine. He stood facing what appeared to be a person, yet he felt as if he were staring into the face of something that was not human at all.
Her body possessed no inherent resistance to venom. He had deduced that long before and deliberately deployed an art as monstrous as the Poison Human Transformation. He had even resolved to see the mass-produced elixirs ruined in the process, knowing he could simply forge more with the divine sword. Yet an impossible variable stood before him: a human being completely unaffected by the venom of a Poison Human.
“Answer me! What—”
“You talk too much.”
At Ryeong’s flat utterance, Dang Cheol-ryeong froze solid. If his ears were not playing tricks on him, that voice had belonged to a man.
He realized it on pure instinct: the person standing before him was not Ryeong. Something else had possessed her body. And that presence was the sole reason the lethal miasma had failed to touch her.
‘Dangerous.’
This was an entity that defied comprehension. Until now, the Clan Head was the only person who had ever remained unfazed by the Poison Human Transformation—and that was only because the Clan Head’s mastery of poison arts surpassed his own, not because he possessed some mystical means to disregard the venom entirely.
‘I have to run. Right now.’
The instant Dang Cheol-ryeong sensed the fatal peril and pivoted to flee—
Swish!
The sharp sound of something slicing through the air rang out.
Slash!
“Kgh... Grrk...”
His body split cleanly in two.
The one who had executed this gruesome slaughter without a flicker of hesitation was Ryeong—or rather, the entity who had temporarily possessed her vessel to converse with her.
“To think the Tang Clan in this era has rotted to such an extent. Truly regrettable.”
It was Hyeok.