Chapter 156. Recovery

The fragrance of incense filled the Winter Pavilion.

With each breath, her body grew languid—it was an incense meant to induce sleep.

This was not the same Winter Pavilion where she had first spoken privately with the Four Seasons Hall Lord. The central doors had all been removed, the desk and chairs cleared away. Perhaps the ventilation was needed because of the incense.

In the stripped-down hall, only a golden bed and a small side table remained.

Upon that wide bed lay a solitary young man.

So-hwa sat on a small chair placed before the golden bed—likely where the Divine Physician had sat—beside the table stacked with medical instruments.

She examined Tang Hak's condition.

His hand, resting outside the quilt, was wrapped in clean cloth. The bandaging was loose enough to let the blood flow, yet secure enough to prevent medicine from staining it. There seemed to be little danger of bleeding or infection.

His shoulder and neck had not been bound at all, the wounds left exposed. Seeing them dry and the surrounding skin an even color, she found no signs of necrosis.

The stiffness left her face, and her red lips parted slightly.

A quiet sigh escaped her.

Relief.

She had feared that in this life, she might lose Tang Hak even sooner. She had sworn never to repeat the regressions of the Alliance Leader, but the moment she looked upon Tang Hak, she realized she had no right to make such a vow.

‘If you had died…’

She would have killed Namgung Hyun without hesitation to turn back time.

And then, she would have lived through something even more dreadful than before.

So-hwa laid her hand gently atop the much larger hand of her younger brother.

'Thank you for being alive.'

The Divine Physician had said that to treat him awake would mean unbearable pain, so he must be kept asleep and allowed to recover. And So-hwa understood why the physician had kept Tang Hak under for so long.

It was because of the poison that had sunk into his body. Though he had long built up resistance, the toxins had accumulated too deeply, and his body could no longer endure.

So much poison had been used that even his sleeves were empty—he had spent every last drop of the poison-smoke powder she had smuggled out of Nine Turns Pavilion, meant only for dire moments.

Her brother’s organs were paralyzed, his blood flow distorted, his very flesh saturated with countless poisons. That he still lived was a miracle. From this, So-hwa understood: Tang Hak had fought with the resolve to sacrifice his life.

She understood the peril he had faced and the recklessness that had driven him.

It was all her fault.

The Alliance Leader's warning—one she had refused to accept—rang now in her head.

『Struggle as you like. It will only hasten a more tragic end.』

She turned her gaze to the side table, where the Cold Iron lay. A plate the size of a fist, kept in a wooden case.

Namgung Hyun, who had come to deliver the mold, had been visibly shocked at how easily she had obtained it.

Truly, she had been lucky.

A string of events that could only be called Heaven's favor.

Yet she felt not the slightest joy.

The smoother things seemed to go, the heavier the dread that pressed down upon her.

The words of the seer—that this second life rested wholly in the Divine Physician's palm—felt all too true.

『If you wish to test the Divine Physician's ingenuity, I won't stop you. But I would not advise it.』

Was this life truly racing toward an end more cruel and agonizing than before?

From the moment she had faced Tang Hak that day, So-hwa had lost her reason. And because of that, she was overreaching.

Just because they headed north to the North Sea did not guarantee they would meet the bloodline of the North Sea Ice Palace. Outside, the Blood Sect's members still swarmed everywhere.

Yet she could never sit idle and watch the Blood Demon achieve his will, nor see her Tang Clan sacrificed as a result.

The Blood Demon must die.

The Blood Sect must vanish.

It had to be so.

Better to destroy them first than live each day hounded by this gnawing anxiety—that was more in keeping with her nature.

So-hwa once again reaffirmed her purpose.

Before the Tang Clan could be sacrificed, she would annihilate the Blood Sect.

But again, contradiction arose.

‘What if going to the North Sea itself was a punishment Heaven had decreed upon me...?’

Could this stroke of fortune be nothing but a snare leading to the Tang Clan's destruction?

An endless unease and confusion gnawed at her soul.

She felt herself sinking into a darkness as suffocating as the abyss.

At that very moment—her gaze resting upon the golden bed—a faint moan brushed her ear.

"... Sister."

Her eyes lifted at once.

Tang Hak's eyelids, weighted as if with lead, sank and rose again, a few times in weak repetition.

Closing the wooden case lid, So-hwa leaned closer over the golden bed.

"Are you conscious?"

At the sound of her voice, Tang Hak's eyes snapped into focus.

The lantern's flame quivered in the draft; each flicker drew his pupils tight in instinctive reaction. Seeing their shape still normal, So-hwa exhaled a long breath.

It had been a masterstroke that the Divine Physician had traveled with them to Hubei. The Yeonju Group specializes in internal injuries. Even the knowledge she had gained from him was enough to put her mind at ease—and the thought that he would remain at Tang Hak's side calmed her all the more.

Suddenly, Tang Hak tried to rise. So-hwa quickly pressed a hand to his shoulder.

"Slowly. You've been lying too long—rising too quickly is dangerous."

Supporting him by the shoulder, she helped him sit up at a measured pace.

She filled a cup of water from the side table and offered it to him.

"You've lost much fluid. Wet your throat first. I'll fetch the Divine Physician at once."

But Tang Hak did not take the cup. He only stared fixedly at her. Then, all at once, he pulled her into a desperate embrace.

The movement was so sudden, she heard the threads of his stitches snap.

Blood welled beneath the broken seams, and So-hwa's expression hardened. Not with panic, but with anger. Yet still, she could not speak.

"... Never again..."

The words were barely more than a whisper—so faint she feared they might be smothered altogether.

"Never again... don't ever do that again. If you do... I won't forgive you, sister."

The words came out weak, no stronger than the crawl of an ant.

It wasn't even a proper threat.

Yet So-hwa could not bring herself to answer.

The arms around her waist tightened with growing strength.

Tang Hak's voice cracked as he continued.

"I... I've grasped the formula of recall."

"I heard."

His broad back heaved as he spoke, his hulking frame trembling with sobs unbefitting the heir of a noble clan.

"Soon... I'll master Ten Thousand Blossoms and Rainfall Blade as well."

So-hwa said nothing. But flustered by her silence, Tang Hak hurriedly rambled on.

"Not... not immediately, but I'll begin training at once, and I'll master it quickly—well, perhaps not that quickly, but still, in no time at all I'll be proficient with it, and it won't take so very long to become second nature... though perhaps not that short a time, but still—"

So-hwa let slip a small, helpless laugh.

She lowered the hand that had been hovering awkwardly and patted his shoulder.

"Have confidence. You're already progressing more than fast enough."

After a pause, Tang Hak spoke again—this time in a tone that carried a different weight, words he truly wanted to say.

"I... can protect you now. So please, never again do anything reckless on your own."

As though to force her answer, he tightened his embrace, clutching her as if to bar her from leaving.

So-hwa shifted the hand resting on his shoulder.

Tang Hak flinched, thinking she meant to push him away. But instead, her hand rose to his head.

Silently, she stroked his hair.

Then her words, quiet but edged like blood, fell.

"Don't speak like that before the Grand Elder. He's already struggling to restrain his excitement—say such things and he'll drag you up Emei Mountain for training before your wounds have even closed."

Tang Hak jolted hard at that.

So-hwa stifled a laugh and brushed the back of his neck, where the Divine Physician's treatment had so carefully mended him.

But then she felt dampness.

When she drew her hand back, her palm was stained with blood.

Seeing fresh blood trickling from wounds that had only just begun to heal, So-hwa let out a heavy sigh.

"Your shoulder wound has reopened."

For a martial artist, a shoulder injury was a grave wound.

"It's fine. I didn't even feel it hurt."

At those words, So-hwa's expression hardened.

"... You don't feel pain? No sensation at all?"

She shoved Tang Hak back and pressed firmly against the torn wound.

"Argh!"

His scream tore out instantly. Only then did So-hwa exhale in relief. She had feared something had gone wrong—but it seemed that was not the case.

"If it hurts, then that's a good sign."

"Of course it hurts! Sister, you worked in the Medical Hall for so long—how can you not see these injuries?"

Tang Hak glared at her with eyes full of grievance, but as always, his complaints were ignored.

So-hwa forced the cup of water into his hand and rose to her feet.

"Drink. I'll fetch the Divine Physician."

"Already?"

He looked up at her with clear dissatisfaction, but So-hwa's reply was firm.

"You've regained consciousness. It's time we return to the Tang Clan."

"...."

Tang Hak fell silent.

On his sister's face—so long shadowed—there lingered the faintest trace of a smile.

Anyone else would call it expressionless, but Tang Hak could tell the difference. Just as one who gazes long enough at the night sky can discern when it shades from indigo to greenish-blue, he could read the subtle changes in his sister's still face.

As he watched her retreating back, his eyes narrowed.

Clearly, thoughts of some touching family reunion had no place in his sister's mind.

Tang Hak nodded with grave seriousness.

"This time, my sister is definitely not one of those Blood Sect bastards."

It was truly his sister, Tang So-hwa.

‘I've gotten her back.’

Feeling overwhelmed, Tang Hak wiped his eyes, struggling to steady his quivering heart.

He closed his eyes and offered a deep, wordless thanks to the heavens for allowing him to regain his sister.