The Eldest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan Protects Her Family

Chapter 27: The Ninefold Pavilion

 
The resurgence of the Blood Cult had sent ripples of shock and fear through the martial world. The Tang Clan was no exception. However, their concern wasn't solely focused on the Blood Cult. Their attention was elsewhere.

“Truly a Divine Physician? A disciple of the Yeonjudan?”
“Yes, I tell you!” The young physicians, their eyes wide with disbelief, exclaimed, “The Yeonjudan still exists? After all these years?”
“Not the Divine Physician herself, but her disciple. They say she inherited all her skills.”

One of the physicians scoffed, his face falling. “So, a charlatan, then.”
“Well, Young Master Tang Hak brought her back, and he’s… easily fooled.”
“Oh, Young Master Tang Hak brought her back?”

The excited chatter died down, replaced by a wave of skepticism. A physician, who had been quietly organizing herbs, spoke up. “Young Master Tang Hak wasn't alone. I heard Elder Tang Min and…” He glanced around cautiously, then lowered his voice. “Miss Tang Sohwa also went with him.”
Silence.
“…Miss Sohwa?” All eyes turned towards the window, their gazes fixed on a nine-story pavilion standing at the boundary between the inner and outer courtyards. Though most of the medical pavilion buildings were located in the outer courtyard, that particular pavilion stood within the inner courtyard.

Known as the Ninefold Pavilion, it was secretly referred to as the Poison Pavilion. Only sixteen members of the Tang Clan, out of the hundreds residing within the estate, were granted access. It housed not only the clan's secret poison manuals and ingredients but also experimental toxins currently under development. The Ninefold Pavilion was as large as all the other medical pavilion buildings combined, and an identical pavilion was currently under construction beside it. Rumor had it that Miss Tang Sohwa needed more space to store her newly developed poisons.
The physicians exchanged glances, their eyes filled with pity. This supposed Divine Physician had better be the real deal. If she was a fraud, she wouldn't die peacefully.
As they contemplated the unfortunate fate of the unknown physician, another physician entered, clicking his tongue. “No, it’s true, I tell you. The forging room is in an uproar, crafting tools based on the Divine Physician’s designs. I snuck a peek. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen. True works of art, not ordinary medical instruments.”

Though the usual response would be skepticism, questioning how one could determine the authenticity of a Divine Physician simply by looking at tools, the physicians were too excited to be rational.
They abandoned their tasks and crowded around the newcomer. “What? What do they look like?”
“The blades are thinner than paper, and the scissors have a strange design. I don’t even know how they work.”

“Ooh… I’m curious.” They licked their lips, their curiosity piqued.
The physician gestured towards the door. “I saw them unpacking earlier. Want to go take a look? They seem approachable. I’m sure they’ll show us if we ask.”
The young physicians exchanged glances, then, as if on cue, rushed out the door.

The arrival of the Divine Physician’s disciple had sent a wave of excitement through the Tang Clan.

* * *
 
Though other clans also maintained medical pavilions, none were as extensive as the Sichuan Tang Clan’s.
The Tang Clan’s medical pavilion was unique in that it housed a massive, dedicated pavilion for the study of poisons. Perhaps finding the term “Poison Pavilion” too blunt, their ancestors had cleverly disguised it within the medical pavilion. This unnamed Poison Pavilion, however, was larger than all the other medical buildings combined.
Sohwa stopped before the Ninefold Pavilion. The first and second floors served as storage for medicinal herbs and poisonous ingredients. The third floor was dedicated to research and development, where new poisons were concocted. And the remaining six floors housed the finished products and their corresponding manuals, the higher the floor, the more potent and dangerous the poison. The Tang Clan’s infamous Eight Great Poisons were stored on the eighth floor.

Sohwa entered the vault on the ninth floor. It contained only a handful of manuals. The requirements for entry were exceedingly stringent: discovering a way to overcome the “Poison-Impervious Body.”
The human body was like a canvas. The size of the canvas determined the scale of the painting, while the material determined the vibrancy of the colors, whether they shone brightly or faded into a dull, muted hue. A small amount of poison could kill a child, while an adult might simply suffer a few days of discomfort. And for martial artists, the difference was even more pronounced. A poison that could instantly kill an ordinary warrior might have no effect on a master.
Some highly skilled martial artists possessed bodies impervious to poison, their internal energy and physical conditioning creating a natural defense. Some could even absorb poison, converting it into internal energy.

Masters of the martial world were… not entirely human.
And the purpose of the Poison Pavilion, of the Ninefold Pavilion, was to develop poisons that could overcome these inhuman defenses.
Sohwa pulled out the manuals one by one and began reading. The three volumes contained only records of her ancestors’ failed attempts, offering no solutions to the problem of the Poison-Impervious Body. As she suspected, a poison capable of overcoming such defenses didn’t exist yet.

She, too, had dedicated her life to this pursuit in her past life, managing to create only a single such poison. Though it had a minor drawback: no one else could use it.
Closing the last manual, she looked up at the empty bookshelf. She had to decide how to record her knowledge in this life. Or rather, if she should record it at all. She had perfected the poison in her previous life while at the Namgung estate, but it had never made its way into the Ninefold Pavilion, disappearing with her.
The purpose of this pavilion was to overcome the Poison-Impervious Body, a condition not exclusive to martial artists. Some individuals possessed a natural immunity to poison from birth. The Ninefold Pavilion considered such individuals Poison-Impervious as well.

And there was a third type of Poison-Impervious Body.
Tang Sohwa was immune to poison, but not because of potent internal energy or a natural immunity. Her body didn’t simply ignore poison. It reacted with extreme sensitivity.
Sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing. Though categorized as the five senses, her sensitivity wasn't about heightened sensory perception. Her senses were ordinary, her sight and hearing even inferior to Tang Hak’s.

Her body reacted not to sensory input, but to threats, like an animal with a highly developed survival instinct, her senses honed to detect any danger to her life. The surging internal energy of an approaching warrior, the subtle scent of poison…
Her body sensed these threats, reacting instinctively, like a creature stripped bare, its nerves exposed.
Each poison triggered a different reaction within her body. A paralytic agent would cause a tightening in her muscles, followed by a burning sensation, a wave of heat as her body fought back. A blood poison would cause her mucous membranes to swell and expand, her blood vessels knitting themselves back together.

By observing these reactions, she could identify the type of poison and its composition. This ability had allowed her to easily create antidotes, earning her the title Mandokhaesa in her past life.
‘…A useless title.’ She placed the manuals back on the shelf, lost in thought. She had intended to recreate the poisons she had developed in her past life, filling the empty shelves of the Ninefold Pavilion. But the Poison-Impervious Body antidote wasn't among them. Though testing it on someone with a Poison-Impervious Body would be ideal, the fact that it had even affected her, someone resistant to the Tang Clan's Eight Great Poisons, meant it was potent enough to be stored on the ninth floor.
However, there was a traitor within the Tang Clan, someone with access to the poisons and antidotes. Was it wise to reveal the existence of such a powerful poison before identifying the traitor?

It wasn't about fearing the enemy acquiring the antidote. A poison capable of overcoming the Poison-Impervious Body… If the Tang Clan’s possession of such a weapon became known, they could become enemies of the entire martial world. To turn those powerful masters against them would be a path to self-destruction.
She decided to keep its formula a secret for now and descended to the lower floors. She intended to examine the records stored within the Ninefold Pavilion, to confirm whether her memories were accurate, whether anything had changed. The altered timeline might have affected the contents as well.
‘I need to do this while my memories are still fresh.’

She had entered the Ninefold Pavilion before dawn, and yet, after examining only two floors, the sky outside was already tinged with the colors of sunset. The records on those two floors contained no new poisons she was unfamiliar with.
Deciding to continue her investigation the following day, she descended the stairs. As she passed the research labs on the third floor, her gaze fell upon the entry log hanging beside the door. She stopped, her eyes fixed on a single name.
Tang Hae-han. Her cousin, the youngest member admitted to the Ninefold Pavilion before her.

She examined the log. Her name and his were intertwined, alternating entries. He spent as much time in the Ninefold Pavilion as she did.
A faint smile touched her lips as she saw the smudged ink, a testament to their youthful rivalry. She had been so determined to have more entries in the log than him, visiting the pavilion even when she had no real reason to, simply to read the records and add her name.
She placed the log back on its hook and entered the lab, searching for him.

The windows were always kept open to ventilate the fumes, filling the room with a warm breeze and soft sunlight. The air was thick with the earthy scent of dried herbs.
Despite her adult mind, being in this familiar space brought back a flood of childhood memories.
Tang Sohwa walked deeper into the lab, her footsteps echoing softly against the stone floor, brushing past the hanging pouches of dried herbs.

She saw a figure at the end of the hallway, seated at a desk, his back to her.
Though he must have sensed her presence, Tang Hae-han continued writing, the rhythmic scratching of his brush against the paper a soothing sound. Sohwa watched him in silence.
His slender fingers, pale and delicate, guided the ink-laden brush across the paper, the characters neat and precise, reflecting his personality: meticulous and unassuming.

As if finally noticing the silence, he spoke, without looking up. “I heard you were summoned to the Cleansing Sky Pavilion.”
When she didn’t respond, he finally looked up, his brow furrowing. “…What happened to your face?”