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

Part 1

Chapter 23.  Lord of the Four Seasons Hall

With a warm gaze, Zhuge In-hwi teased the frozen atmosphere as he looked at the corpse.

"Is it the Blood Sect?"

A moment of silence passed.

However, unlike the tense Namgung members, Namgung Jin calmly responded.

"Yes. It is."

He wasn't surprised, nor did he offer an excuse. He simply smiled faintly, following Zhuge In-hwi's lead, and spoke in a calm voice.

"Since you seem to have come already knowing, I presume you have many questions."

Namgung Jin called to the person standing by the door.

"Sang-rim. Go to Red Sky Pavilion and tell them to prepare to welcome the Hall Lord."

"Y-Yes, yes!"

The gatekeeper, who had been at a loss, came to his senses at the words and quickly ascended the stairs.

Namgung Jin politely gestured.

"To answer the Hall Lord, our conversation may take some time. Please sit and listen comfortably."

Zhuge In-hwi, who had been gazing at the room with an unreadable expression, turned his head.

"Sa-won, you alone follow me, the rest stay here."

"Hall Lord, I apologize, but with many people, the corpses will decompose due to body heat. There is a limit to maintaining the low temperature, so I ask for your understanding."

The Hall Lord turned his gaze forward again, but Namgung Jin offered a warm smile.

"These words are for your benefit, Hall Lord. You didn't come with the intention of recovering the corpses, did you? As they are old corpses, once decomposition begins, it will be irreversible. That is why I myself have never stayed in this pavilion for long either."

The Young Lord of Namgung was audaciously threatening the Hall Lord of the headquarters.

It seemed he had tampered with the corpses.

To receive them intact, he would have to heed this young man's words.

Zhuge In-hwi asked with an enigmatic smile,

"Then, Young Lord, what do you think is the best course of action for me?"

"I would hope that the members of the Four Seasons Hall would wait outside White Sky Pavilion, but that would be difficult, wouldn't it? How about waiting just outside this door? I will give you the key so that you can enter anytime if you sense anything suspicious."

At those words, Zhuge In-hwi's gaze shifted. And again, it fixed precisely on his uncle standing beside Namgung Jin.

Namgung Mun-seon felt goosebumps rise.

Does he know I have the key?

Ignoring the unsettling feeling, he handed the key he was holding to the Young Lord.

Namgung Jin received the key and politely handed it to the Hall Lord.

Zhuge In-hwi's calm voice broke the silence.

"Sa-won."

A martial artist who seemed to be Sa-won stepped forward and received Namgung Jin's key.

"You stay here as well."

Having accepted Namgung Jin's proposal, the Hall Lord ascended the stairs first, even though Namgung Jin hadn't said where the Red Sky Pavilion was.

Namgung Jin watched the Hall Lord's departing back as he left White Sky Pavilion, then turned his gaze to the coroner. Understanding his intent, the coroner gave a slight nod. It meant to quickly remove the poison and draft a new corpse examination report while he bought them some time.

***

The reception room on the first floor of Red Sky Pavilion.

Though the white silk draped across all sides radiated splendor, it could not conceal the sharp tension in the air.

Zhuge In-hwi turned his head toward the large window beside him and said,

"The weather is warm."

Sunlight, soft and warm, filtered through the thin paper and filled the room.

It looked peaceful at a glance, but Namgung Jin knew that he was seeing something beyond the paper window.

Killing intent and rage drifted in with the sunlight.

It was the internal energy seeping in from the Namgung martial artists assembled around the Red Sky Pavilion.

Namgung Jin considered pretending not to notice and making small talk about the weather, but he knew there was no use trying tricks in front of this man. So he explained the situation.

"Because this pavilion is close to the main gate, a martial force is always stationed here. It's a regular deployment, nothing more. Still, since it makes you uncomfortable, I'll have them step back. Sang-rim."

"Yes!"

The gatekeeper vanished outside the pavilion almost before he was called.

Soon after, the killing intent outside began to ease. But not by much. They had only stepped back by about one jang (10ft).

Zhuge In-hwi smiled as he lifted his teacup.

"It seems they worry a great deal about the Young Lord."

Though it was a smile, the meaning wasn't kind.

It implied they didn't trust their superior.

There was room for an excuse, of course.

It was unprecedented for the Murim Alliance's Hall Lord to directly visit a branch. So, it was inevitable that they would be tense.

Rather than feeling ashamed by their defiance, Namgung Jin smiled openly.

"Yes. I'm still lacking in many ways, so it can't be helped."

Sipping the mildly cooled tea, Namgung Jin added in passing,

"They've worked under the Clan Head for a long time, so their standards are high."

Zhuge In-hwi mulled over those words quietly.

At first, upon hearing of Namgung Jin's actions from Summer Pavilion's report, he considered him arrogant. But now, face to face, it seemed Namgung Jin was not a man who acted on mere whim.

The Lord understood why the Alliance Leader had sent him.

Not to punish Namgung's mistake, but likely to uncover the hidden truth.

The Young Lord before him had something peculiar about him.

Though still young, he was composed for his age.

And yet, if he had made such a reckless choice, there had to be a reason.

Zhuge In-hwi quietly observed the mood that drifted between the scent of tea.

Namgung Jin tried not to let himself be shaken.

There was no use trying to hide anything anyway. It was said Zhuge In-hwi could read everything about a person.

The current Clan Head of the Zhuge Clan had, peculiarly, replaced the Young Lord every year. Had it been any other noble clan, people would have criticized the Clan Head's temper as violent—but no one dared criticize the Zhuge Clan Head.

One could only guess that there must be some meaning behind it.

But what could be more futile than trying to read the mind of the sly Clan Head of the Zhuge Clan? Especially for a young swordsman—it was even more meaningless.

The sun must have emerged again from behind the clouds, as the sunlight streaming through the window grew stronger.

The eyes of the Hall Lord, soaked in white sunlight, shimmered with a soft sky-blue hue.

He had an appearance that exuded an air of mystery.

But Namgung Jin had rarely seen a martial artist with such delicate features.

This year, Zhuge Cheon-hwi had ascended as the Young Lord, but the one who had held that position the most under the Clan Head's caprice was the third son, Zhuge In-hwi.

It was said that, while studying the clan's secret techniques in his youth, he suffered from an internal energy deviation and lost his sight. But at the same time, he seemed to have realized something, as he was said to have attained a peculiar eye technique.

Though he could see nothing, it was said he could see everything—a paradoxical vision that those who hadn't experienced it themselves found hard to understand.

Namgung Jin's gaze dropped from Zhuge In-hwi's eyes to his shoulders.

'I heard he cuts his hair short because the movement of his hair bothers his sensitive nature.'

The hair resting just above his shoulders was smooth, without a single strand out of place.

A cautious man who didn't allow others to touch him wouldn't have let anyone else near his head with a blade, so he must have cut it himself.

Looking at the perfectly symmetrical cut, Namgung Jin could guess what kind of perception the man possessed.

At that moment, the Hall Lord's blue-gray eyes, which had been gazing straight ahead, slid slightly to the side.

Once again, their eyes met precisely.

It made one wonder—was he really blind?

Perhaps reading that discomfort, Zhuge In-hwi's lips curled faintly.

"I heard the Young Lord personally went to Sichuan and captured the Blood Sect. Is that true?"

"Yes. It is."

Namgung Jin didn't deny it. Rather, to avoid giving the impression that he was hiding something, he elaborated further.

"There were nine Blood Sect members. It seems they overused their internal energy, as they vomited blood and died as soon as we arrived at the branch. We were caught off guard as well. We had also captured five more martial artists they were pursuing, so we tried to interrogate them..."

Namgung Jin trailed off, then resumed.

"Perhaps because their injuries were already severe, they died within three days without even being tortured."

"So, you're saying they died on their own."

At those words, Namgung Jin's face stiffened.

"Do you mean to say you believe we killed them, Hall Lord?"

The Hall Lord shook his head.

"I know that there is no lie in your words, Young Lord. But it is still strange, is it not? You captured as many as fourteen witnesses, yet couldn't obtain a single piece of information."

A sigh tinged the Hall Lord's voice.

"According to the report, Tang Clan's Black Sky Demon fought what appeared to be their leader, and he looked very dangerous."

Fatigue suddenly crept across Zhuge In-hwi's previously calm face.

"The Black Sky Demon himself claimed to have killed the leader, but he went down to take care of his family members and couldn't recover the body. However, the elders of the Emei Sect followed the path the Black Sky Demon took and said they saw nothing—not even a body. So the only ones we could rely on were the ones captured by Namgung. Since they might know something about the one who escaped."

"We also find it regrettable."

The Hall Lord smiled faintly at Namgung Jin's interjection.

"As I said earlier, I believe there is no falsehood in your words."

He let out a long breath.

"But that is just my opinion. I'm not sure if the other branches will believe the Young Lord's words."

"What do you mean?"

"A report was submitted to Summer Pavilion. It claims that Namgung deliberately concealed the Blood Sect's resurgence, secretly came to Sichuan, and stole the Blood Sect members from the Tang Clan, who were attempting to capture them."

Namgung Jin's brow twitched before he even realized it.

The wording was cunning—it sounded almost as if Namgung had helped the Blood Sect escape.

The atmosphere shifted.

Sensing Namgung Jin's silence and the ripple of his internal energy, the Hall Lord slowly blinked.

As if to confirm something, he opened his mouth once more.

"They also say that, even when the Blood Sect tried to kill a direct descendant of the Tang Clan, you merely stood by and watched. Is that true as well?"