The Eldest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan Protects Her Family

The Blood Demon waved at Sohwa with a puzzled look in his eyes.
“Come closer. No.”
He suddenly seized her hand and drove his nail into the back of it.
Snap.
A streak of bright scarlet spurted and wet the skin. The Blood Demon stared at her hand as if confirming something.
After a moment, seeing the wound begin to knit, he burst out laughing.
“I had heard your body resembles mine, but you’re faster than I thought.”
His black-red lips stretched long.
“Yes. At times, out of nowhere, the blood grew thick in the next generation—or the one after.”
He tugged on her arm.
“Let’s see how much you’ve inherited.”
His voice held a tremor of excitement.
Enough to blanch any sense of repulsion.
At his gesture, a guard standing by the entrance glided swiftly to his side. The Blood Demon brought the back of Sohwa’s hand to the man’s mouth.
“Drink.”
Far from being startled or confused, the man understood the Blood Demon’s intent; he bit his own tongue and, with a tongue drenched in blood, licked Sohwa’s blood.
Smoothing back his hair, the Blood Demon asked in a now-composed voice,
“Geumso’s child.”
“……”
“What do you want this one to do?”
Sohwa did not open her mouth.
Hae-rak’s earlier words rose up unbidden.
'Dokgo. And will.'
He had said that if one defied the master’s will, the dokgo would surge to the heart and kill the host.
She looked down at the pool of her own blood and the Blood Demon’s blood on the floor.
There was something to be gained by coming here.
She had learned that the Blood Demon’s blood was the dokgo.
Now he wanted to confirm whether her blood would become dokgo like his.
Whatever the principle was, a host who drank the Blood Demon’s blood would seem to follow the Blood Demon’s will.
Only, she couldn’t understand why his blood did not take in her.
'He must be doing this because he, too, is curious.'
Sohwa slowly raised her gaze.
She saw the Blood Demon’s guard. Whatever was asked, he would move as the Blood Demon wished; his face showed nothing.
Sohwa held no will toward the guard.
It wasn’t pity for him. She simply didn’t want to give the Blood Demon an answer.
'At least not now.'
She let the man go from her thoughts.
She met the Blood Demon’s eyes.
“Why should I want anything from him?”
At once a hot sensation spread along her nape. Blood ran down her neck and soaked her collar.
“Your speech is short. Mind your manners.”
At some point, the Blue Blood Hall Lord had pressed himself to Sohwa’s back and warned her.
A small blade pressed at her nape.
Sohwa slowly raised her hand—and gently wrapped her fingers around the Blue Blood Hall Lord’s hand.
Thunk.
The blade that had been cutting her skin sank deep toward her collarbone.
“Y-you insane—!”
When Sohwa applied strength in return, the Blue Blood Hall Lord, flustered, broke his grip.
“This girl is out of her mind! There’s no need to spare your precious time on her now. Give me a few days—no, half a day—and I’ll train her to obey!”
The Blood Demon said nothing, his gaze fixed only on Tang Sohwa.

Even with a blade in her neck, Tang Sohwa kept her eyes on him. She did not so much as glance back, and made the blade withdraw.
That caught the Blood Demon’s interest.
He even liked the face without a smile, without expression.
At times the weak Tang clan face showed through, which he did not like, but having inherited Geumso’s mold, it was a face worth using.
Tilting the line of his lips, he gave her another chance.
“Anything at all—direct your will at this one.”
Ignoring the Blue Blood Hall Lord, he coaxed her as if only Tang Sohwa existed in the room.
“It’s not hard. Tell him not to leave the room, or order him to drive a blade into his heart and die—whatever it is, speak it aloud.”
Since the Blood Demon had returned the floor to Sohwa, the Blue Blood Hall Lord quietly withdrew. The Blood Demon desired conversation; he could not interfere.
Of course, that did not mean he forgave that impudent woman. Once they left the room, he planned to “educate” her at a suitable time.
If she had any sense, she would grow polite—but the Tang woman replied in a level voice, neither high nor low.
“I still don’t see why I should have any will at all.”
Silence fell.
The Blue Blood Hall Lord let killing intent leak; this time the Blood Demon also showed displeasure.
“Do you think you have a choice?”
A faint laugh escaped him.
“Look around you. You are in my chamber now. Even if, by luck, you left this room, do you think you could leave this pavilion—no, leave Geumeunsan?”
“If I displease you, then kill me.”
“If I’m going to kill you, I should make you feel it’s better to die first.”
There was no way his words were idle, and yet Sohwa let out a thin, derisive laugh as if she’d heard mere bluster.
A deep crease formed between the Blood Demon’s brows.
“Why do you laugh?”
Tang Sohwa provoked him instead.
“Whether you kill me, or make me suffer worse than death, I will never regard you as anything more than an insect. So do not dare command me.”
Calm-eyed, she stared at him.
Strangely, it did not sound like empty talk. The voice came out like a grind, heavy with a deep grievance.
“And think about why you sought me.”
She hid her emotion and added,
“If I have what you want, imagine how I regard you—now.”
Silence settled.
Only one person in the room understood her words.
The Blood Demon’s lips slowly slanted.
“So—you saw the end?”
No wrath remained; only excitement filled his voice.
“How was it—that end?”
“If I had seen the end I wanted, would I be here?”
“Ha-ha.”
He laughed, broad and bold.
He understood that Tang Sohwa harbored a grudge against him.
Erasing the Tang Clan in the future was one plan among many. To be exact, it was removing obstacles—and the Tang Clan was one of them.
Smiling as she followed his smile, Tang Sohwa said,
“Don’t laugh like that.”
Taking one step closer, she spoke in a tone meant to incite,
“Whatever you imagine, nothing will go as you intend.”
Her fingers brushed the poison pellet hidden in her sleeve.
Sohwa planned to shove it into his mouth when he raised his voice at her.
But the moment she gripped the pellet, the Blood Demon turned his head toward the door.
“Blood Demon.”
Beyond the door, the honin’s shadow fell.
And an unexpected name sounded.
“The Main Blood Hall Lord requests audience.”
The Blood Demon’s eyelids drooped slowly. His gaze alone sent a chill down the spine.
He was not so much angry at the Main Blood Hall Lord as he was irritated at having his time interrupted.
Sensing it, the honin quietly added,
“The Main Blood Hall Lord has brought the Red Blood Hall Lord’s arm.”
The report was in a dry voice, and sounded calm at a glance.
But perhaps because it was hard to believe, no one opened their mouth.
Even the Blood Demon fell silent for a moment.
He parted his black-red lips to ask,
“Right hand or left?”
“The left.”
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
He sighed, self-mocking.
“In the meantime, our hound has grown much. It seems a small bracelet can no longer choke his neck.”
Sohwa couldn’t make sense of that exchange.
But she realized something serious had happened. The Blue Blood Hall Lord’s shadow at her side was trembling.
The Blood Demon’s attention, which had been fixed on her, tilted that way.
Strangely, he did not look displeased.
His figure vanished in an instant. Ascending to the golden dais, he clapped his hands.
“Admit the Main Blood Hall Lord. I must see with my own eyes how much he’s grown in three years.”
“Yes.”
When the Blood Demon gave leave, the honin vanished.
Before long, the door opened.
Hae-rak stood in the doorway.
His gaze slid this way for a moment.
But only for a moment.
“Main Blood Hall Lord. It has been a while.”
At the Blood Demon’s voice, Hae-rak’s gaze was drawn back to the center. He did not step in; at the threshold he went to his knees.
Sohwa found it strange.
The Blue Blood Hall Lord had entered and knelt before the Blood Demon. But the Main Blood Hall Lord offered his salute outside the door.
Also, the Blue Blood Hall Lord had climbed the stairs honestly and so, even with the Blood Demon’s permission, took a long time to reach the chamber—whereas the Main Blood Hall Lord had come up the moment permission was granted.
She’d heard he had used a wager in Geumeunsan instead of being thrown in the dungeon, so his speed she understood.
Unlike the Blue Blood Hall Lord, who had climbed step by step, Hae-rak must have used lightness skill or some body art without caring.
Which made it all the stranger: flouting the rules like that, and yet kneeling outside the door with such punctilious etiquette.
Was that also a restriction?
'Had he once intruded into the Blood Demon’s chamber?'
Speculating about the Blood Demon’s relationship with Hae-rak, Sohwa focused on their exchange.
“Come inside.”
Smiling, the Blood Demon gave leave, and Hae-rak rose and entered. Again he stopped at the center of the floor and went to his knees—the very spot where the Blue Blood Hall Lord had paid respects.
Now closer, Sohwa could take in Hae-rak’s expression. He was submitting, yet his eyes were still insolent.
Waggling someone’s arm, Hae-rak sneered.
“I rushed a long road out of concern for your discernment, Blood Demon. To think you’d grant a precious artifact to the likes of this. I feared you were chewing shoes to stave off hunger, not knowing the difference between leather and jerky.”
“Ha-ha, madman.”
“Better mad than senile.”
In that instant, Sohwa felt the pressure on her body vanish.
Before she knew it, the Blue Blood Hall Lord was pressing his foot on the back of Hae-rak’s neck.
“Cheong-il, you’re a man with no dignity.”
Still bent forward, Hae-rak sighed.
“How can you be so rash before the father of the cult? The Blood Demon hasn’t said a word, and yet you move without manners and # Nоvеlight # interrupt the talk.”
“Watch your mouth.”
Apparently used to Hae-rak’s sneers, the Blue Blood Hall Lord warned him without agitation.
Staring at the Blue Blood Hall Lord’s foot, Hae-rak looked up at the Blood Demon. The corner of his mouth slanted crookedly.
“Shall we verify it now?”
Placing the Red Blood Hall Lord’s arm he had brought on the floor, Hae-rak said,
“You must be curious whether I truly cut off the Red Blood Hall Lord’s arm. Shall I show you how Pyowol cut it off?”