Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Just Entrust It to Me
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A massive explosion rocked the Wind Erosion Pavilion.
Screeech!
Tang Hosan's Poisonous Eagle Hands slashed roughly across my palm.
Blood sprayed from the gash.
The fountain of blood, tainted with poison, had turned sticky.
Even flecks of ice were mixed in.
"Young Master!"
"Young Master Unhwi!!"
Tang Gon and Gui Je-gal cried out in alarm.
In their eyes, it looked like I'd taken a serious wound.
But Tang Hosan himself wore a dissatisfied expression.
And for good reason—the flashy display aside, it was nothing more than a light scrape on the skin.
Of course, even that was enough to cause poisoning if the Thousand Poison Hands' toxin seeped in.
But right then, the Yin Resonance of my Middle Dantian activated.
The Kidneys, linked to the Yin Resonance, regulated the blood flow.
This allowed me to artificially reduce the blood volume, preventing the poison from spreading.
Then the Black Dragon Energy sealed the wound, froze the toxin solid, and expelled it outward.
That was why so much blood had sprayed despite the minor cut.
The explanation was complicated, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.
I took two steps back and directed the lingering spirits.
'Spread out.'
"By your command!"
"By your command!!"
The spirits that had been hovering around me until now surged forward all at once.
They possessed the blood spraying through the air and scattered in every direction.
The blood mist expanded with a whoosh, engulfing Tang Hosan, and amid the obscured vision, globs of frozen blood—or blood bullets—shot out like gunfire.
Pew pew pew pew—
"Hmph!"
Tang Hosan snorted dismissively and pulled his arm inward, flicking his robe sleeve.
With each flap of the sleeve, the blood bullets bounced away harmlessly and shattered.
But in that time, I closed the distance first and went for close quarters.
Wild Storm Dance
Rising Wind Kick
Screeeeech!
The kick technique shot upward like a sharp blade.
Not just the speed—the power behind it was no joke, producing a clear whoosh through the air.
The inner energy from the Poison Dragon Heart Technique, the sorcery from the Ghost King Claw Technique, and the pure Yin energy of the Black Dragon Energy blended together, multiplying the force several times over.
It was valor—raw power.
I had originally been the Ghost King who commanded supernatural strength.
So it was no surprise that I wielded the "power" aspect of it.
Tang Hosan seemed slightly startled, as if he hadn't expected me—who had only kept my distance until now—to close in so aggressively for a counterattack.
But there was no escaping it now.
The black gale had already reached him.
Boom!
The Rising Wind Kick aimed at his head was blocked by his forearm and halted.
"Isn't this enough?"
"...Not to my liking."
His tone was still negative, but it was easy to read between the lines that it was actually approval.
It meant I'd sufficiently demonstrated the Demonic Cult's level.
Whoosh—
I withdrew the Rising Wind Kick and opened the distance again.
Tang Hosan had already retracted his Thousand Poison Hands and clasped his arms behind his back.
Swoosh!
A lonely breeze blew between the two of us, as if nothing had happened.
It carried the sticky poison and sweltering heat.
"Ahh......!"
Thud!
Gui Je-gal collapsed in place, his face half-dazed.
The Wind Erosion Pavilion was already beyond salvage—a chaotic battlefield turned hellscape.
Tang Gon averted his gaze from Gui Je-gal's vacant stare.
He probably didn't want to get dragged into the cleanup.
Still, he alternated tense glances between me and Tang Hosan.
"You declared that the plan we Branch Leader, and Gui Je-gal here, had staked everything on would fail. So you must have a countermeasure for that?"
Tang Hosan's sharp gaze pierced me.
I nodded.
"Of course."
"Then let me ask. You cut down the White Bone Net Master and even took the North Wind Ghost's head to lure the Demonic Cult into our own backyard. But now that plan has hit a snag. By now, they've likely realized we've caught on to their scheme. How do you intend to salvage this?"
I couldn't help but look incredulous.
"When I said I'd go cut off the White Bone Net Master's head, the one who approved it was none other than the Branch Leader himself."
"Quiet. Answer the question."
Look at him shifting the blame.
Talk about a narrow-minded guy.
This was a test.
To see if my judgment was truly reliable.
"Even so, they'll come."
"On what basis?"
"Because they're the Demonic Cult."
"!"
"If anything, won't they go even wilder with excitement? They're insidious, but their instincts run so hot that the more they're obstructed, the more they lose their minds—that's the nature of demonic folk, isn't it?"
'...Hrm, ahem!'
'Young Cult Leader, ahem! What you're saying is—'
'What's that? Got a problem?'
'No, not at all!'
They must think I'm spitting in my own face right now.
Tang Hosan's expression remained inscrutable.
But I didn't miss the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Seems you're not entirely full of hot air after all. Fine, assuming they do invade our backyard, what's your follow-up plan?"
"Very simple."
"Simple?"
"Yes."
I flashed a grin at Tang Hosan, whose eyes had narrowed slightly.
"You just need to entrust full authority over this operation to me."
"!!!"
* * *
After Unhwi left.
Tang Hosan sat alone in the Wind Erosion Pavilion, lost in thought.
And then.
Pfft!
He let out an involuntary chuckle.
"Full authority, huh."
The response was so absurdly baseless as a "plan" that it was laughable.
But he couldn't dismiss it outright.
Unhwi had proven his claims with real skill.
He unclasped his arms behind his back and stared down at his right hand.
A small bruise and angry red blotches marred the back of his hand.
Signs of poisoning.
He had once been hailed as the strongest in the Sichuan Tang Clan—save for the Hidden Lord—before becoming the Nine Dragons Branch Leader and former Wild Storm Corps Commander.
He prided himself on mastery not just in hidden weapons and fisticuffs, but in poison arts as well.
For someone like him to be poisoned.
On one hand, as a father, he felt proud of his son for advancing the family's cursed poison techniques to this degree—techniques he'd quietly dismissed.
On the other, he was irked by the sight of that brat brazenly standing tall against him, the Branch Leader, and scraping at his nerves.
'I think the kids these days call this "Gen Z" or something. Anyway.'
Tang Hosan circulated his energy to neutralize the poison.
Psssh!
Gray smoke rose from his pores, and the dark red spots faded along with it.
"What do you make of this, Je-gal?"
He turned toward Gui Je-gal, who was still dazed in place.
Tang Gon shot his hand up and cut in.
"What about my opinion! Why not ask my opinion!"
"Yours is predictable."
"You don't know th—"
"Should I pull Hui out of the plan then?"
"Absolutely not! After that performance, how could you even say that!"
"See?"
"...What!?"
Tang Gon flinched in surprise.
The words had slipped out reflexively.
Tang Hosan shook his head.
"You're head over heels for Hui, aren't you."
"Hahaha! W-well, it's for the future of the bran—"
"Do you know how you look to me these days?"
"...No clue."
"A potential traitor."
"How dare you say that!! If you doubt my loyalty, I'll be deeply hurt, my lord!?"
Tang Hosan hopped in place.
"No. You'd flip to Hui's side the moment he sweet-talks you."
......I'm wronged!"
"Look how long that silence lingered before you denied it."
......
Tang Gon couldn't muster a proper rebuttal.
Lately, he'd been increasingly aware that he was one of Unhwi's people.
It started with the thought that no one else in the Nine Dragons Branch Family matched his potential.
But now, it was Unhwi's raw charisma pulling him in.
In the end, Tang Gon scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"...My apologies."
"What for? You've always sung praises of the Wild Storm Corps, and now the true Wild Storm seems to be with Hui."
......
"And you're not wrong. I'm the Nine Dragons Branch Leader now, not the Wild Storm Corps Commander."
Tang Gon pressed his lips tight.
—Not the Wild Storm Corps Commander, but the Nine Dragons Branch Leader.
He knew full well how heavy those words carried.
The Wild Storm Corps had always charged the front lines.
A whirlwind demon of the battlefield, forever surging forward.
The Nine Dragons Branch Family, by contrast, lurked in the rearmost shadows.
They spoke of the future, but no one—not even themselves—knew if they'd charge the front lines again.
Yet Tang Gon, then and now, yearned for the front lines over this rear-guard life.
He was the type who craved standing on the battlefield, heaving ragged breaths.
The thrill, terror, morale, ecstasy, and joy of combat made him feel alive—which was why he was inevitably drawn to Unhwi.
Unhwi always stood at the vanguard.
Clashing with Namgung Sanyoung.
Slaying the White Bone Net Master.
Felling the North Wind Ghost.
He advanced without a backward glance, evoking the old glory of the Wild Storm Corps.
.
.
In the Wild Storm Corps' final battle—so faded in memory now—even Tang Gon and the others had to snap their weapons.
They could no longer stand at the front.
It wasn't by choice.
A single defeat had brought humiliation and a binding oath of restraint.
Resentful, many members left Tang Hosan's side, and he gathered the remnants to form today's Nine Dragons Branch Family.
At that gathering, he declared to his former comrades—now retainers:
'I promise you. Someday... someday, I'll get us back on that field. Follow me until then.'
That promise was why the Nine Dragons Branch Family chose silence unlike the disbanded Wild Storm Corps—and established the Wind Erosion Pavilion.
To bide their time for that "day."
And now... that "day" was approaching.
The world didn't know.
They thought the Hidden Lord's visit was just a test to form a special task force.
But it wasn't.
The task force was the stepping stone to rebirth a new Wild Storm Corps.
It was the Nine Dragons Branch Family's roar to the world: we will rise again, no longer silent.
A declaration of war to those watching from afar.
"...Seems you've changed your mind, my lord."
While Tang Gon stayed silent, Gui Je-gal had pulled himself together and stood.
But his face looked a decade older.
"My mind?"
"Yes. Just one question, my lord. What are your thoughts on Young Master Unhwi as heir?"
A completely unexpected topic.
Tang Hosan's eyes widened.
"Why bring up succession here?"
"Because it's necessary."
"Why?"
"If you still don't fully trust Young Master Unhwi, don't give him any position at all."
Gui Je-gal continued.
"As the saying goes: '疑人莫用, 用人勿疑'—don't use those you doubt, and don't doubt those you use."
"'If you suspect, don't employ; if you employ, don't suspect'?"
"There's also '危莫危於任疑'—nothing is more perilous than entrusting duties to those you doubt."
A line from the Book of Master Yellow Stone, given to Liu Bang's strategist Zhang Liang by Master Yellow Stone, who helped found the Han Dynasty.
"If you doubt the source of Young Master Unhwi's intel, let him handle it alone. We'll trust our own preparations and fend off the Demonic Cult's ambush."
"True."
"But if you choose to trust him, don't stop at delegating authority—give him unconditional faith."
"And that means making him heir?"
Tang Hosan's gaze deepened.
Gui Je-gal bowed deeply.
"Yes. Announce him as successor before the Hidden Lord arrives and back him fully—"
"Then all the merits from this will be his."
"Exactly."
Tang Gon had called Unhwi peerless, and Gui Je-gal saw in him the makings of a ruler to forge the world's greatest generation.
Both men—who had once been his right and left arms in crafting the Wild Storm Corps' glory—held Unhwi in high regard.
Two men who hadn't agreed once since the Corps' disbandment now shared the same view for the first time.
No wonder it stirred ambition.
For Unhwi.
"Even without the Grand Lady's original sin, Lady Guijin shows no interest in succession, and Young Master Yuchang lacks the vessel for it. No one else fits the role but Young Master Unhwi."
Unhwi's name was already stirring a whirlwind.
What if they fanned those winds to blanket the entire Sichuan martial world?
It would be a spectacle.
That gale would become a Wild Storm.
After long deliberation, Tang Hosan finally nodded.
"Very well. We'll do it that way."
Gui Je-gal and Tang Gon's faces lit up.