Young Clan Leader
Hearing that Seomun Hwi had awakened, Dang Hyeongeuk and the others hurried to his bedside.
Ak Seo-ah, who had not known the true extent of his condition, had followed with a great sigh of relief.
"...The young clan leader of the Seomun Clan pays his respects to the heads of both clans."
Seeing him greet them without even the strength to sit up, she only then realized—belatedly—that the injuries he had suffered were likely far beyond anything she had imagined at worst.
As she stood there in a daze, staring at Seomun Hwi’s gaunt face, Dang Hyeongeuk came to sit beside him.
"How is your body? Are you in any pain?"
Seomun Hwi forced the corners of his mouth upward, though he knew very well that he could not truly answer yes or no to that.
"As long as I’m still breathing, I suppose I’m not doing too badly."
Understanding his mood, Dang Hyeongeuk gave him a faint smile of his own.
Then, with a bitter expression, he nodded and carefully took Seomun Hwi’s wrist to feel his pulse, sending a thread of energy through him to examine his condition from within.
"Hmm..."
At the low murmur that escaped Dang Hyeongeuk, a shadow also fell across Seomun Hwi’s face.
"...I’m fine, so please speak plainly."
Cheongwol had already guessed what would come out of Dang Hyeongeuk’s mouth, and she tightened her grip on one of Seomun Hwi’s hands, thinking of the blow he was about to receive.
"As you likely already know, outwardly there is no major issue. It will take some time, but you should be able to move about soon enough."
After drawing a breath, he went on.
"The problem lies within. Because you forced the jinwon qi beyond its limits, your meridians and acupoints have suffered considerable damage. Fortunately, your dantian did not shatter, so using internal energy should not be a problem, but..."
A heavy sigh slipped from Dang Hyeongeuk’s lips.
"The pathways from your wrist to the tips of your fingers have all been severed."
"So you mean..."
Seomun Hwi bit his lower lip before he knew it.
"It will be... difficult to take up the sword again."
"..."
The world seemed to go dim, and his breathing turned ragged.
Cold sweat ran over his entire body, and he could not force a single word past his throat.
He had braced himself, had steeled his heart for some kind of outcome, but had he ever truly believed it would be like this?
What he now had to accept was not the sort of thing one could prepare for.
"I’m sorry."
No consolation would reach Seomun Hwi in his current state, yet Dang Hyeongeuk still lowered his head.
As the leader of the Sichuan Tang Clan, but even more as one martial artist to another, he could understand the weight of that loss.
Seeing that, Dang Gangjin and Dang Sohye also bowed their heads.
Everything a martial artist had spent his life building had been reduced to nothing but foam on the water.
And not just any martial artist, either, but the young clan leader of one of the six great families—the very pillars of the orthodox faction.
The pain Seomun Hwi would have to endure from this point on.
And the further strife within the orthodox martial world that this would unleash.
With all of it churning through his mind, Hong Chilsong could only look up at the ceiling and let out a long, weary sigh.
...It’s over. The Namgung Clan and the Seomun Clan will split apart, and the Tang Clan will not be able to avoid responsibility either. Alliance Leader, so this is the sky you were hoping for, in the end.
Just as everyone sank into despair so deep it seemed they might never climb back out,
"I cannot say for certain, but I do have a way."
Ak Seo-ah drew every eye in the room.
"A way?"
When Dang Hyeongeuk asked, she carefully took from her robes an object a little larger than a palm.
It was the clan leader’s token of the Shandong Ak Family, the one she had proudly displayed before the entrance to the Tang Clan.
"Brother. Please take this token and go to the place I tell you."
---
Though the sun still hung high overhead, laughter from women was already spilling out of the pleasure house.
"Young master. May this girl pour you a cup?"
One courtesan cooed in a sweet, drawling voice, only for another to cut in at once.
"This time it’s my turn to pour for you. I trust you haven’t forgotten."
Then the man burst out laughing and clamped a firm hand around the waists of both women.
"I’ll be spending the night with the two of you, so there’s no need to fidget already. Come now, pour as much as you like."
As the wine bottle tilted, another courtesan, empty-handed, slowly let her fingers trail over his body.
His solid chest and thick arms were pleasing enough, but what truly made her pulse quicken was something else entirely.
"Why are you staring like that?"
At the heated look in her eyes, the man asked with eyes half-curved in amusement.
There was an easy air about him, as though he already knew the answer, but it was not the least bit infuriating.
"Because Young Master is simply too beautiful."
Did she know he had heard variations of that line so many times he had long since grown tired of it?
He felt nothing in particular, but the man still lowered his head slowly until their eyes met.
"Do you truly think so?"
"Yes. You’re more beautiful than any woman I’ve ever seen."
The courtesan steadied her trembling and gave a small nod.
How could a man’s beauty be so exquisite?
A hand as lovely as his face lightly swept her hair back behind her ear.
"To my eyes, you are quite lovely as well."
"...Young Master..."
Just as the man drew her into his arms and she flushed red, ready to throw herself against his chest, the door, which had been shut tight, flew open with a crash.
"All of you, leave."
Wondering what had happened, she turned to look—only to see an old man with white hair glaring at them, his face set in a savage scowl.
But the courtesans made no move to leave. Instead, they clung to the man and pressed their trembling bodies against him.
"How are we supposed to move when you’re pouring out such a murderous aura?"
The man casually waved a hand through the air, and only then were the women able to break free of whatever had been weighing them down.
"I’m sorry, but today doesn’t seem to be the day. When Grandfather shows up like that, there’s nothing I can do. Still."
The man’s lips brushed lightly against the two women’s cheeks in turn before parting again.
"I’d be grateful if you’d be satisfied with that much."
As he said that, he gently rubbed down their backs, and warmth spread through the courtesans’ bodies.
"Now, off you go."
They nodded and rose to their feet, but even as they left, the women kept glancing back with lingering regret.
-Thud
At last, when only the two of them remained in the room, the old man frowned and thrust his teacup forward.
"Pour me a drink, will you."
At such shamelessness, the man let out a wry laugh and reached for the wine bottle.
"If you were going to drink, you should’ve kept them here instead of sending them away. They were rather good girls."
"I only wanted a single cup to settle my nerves."
"So someone’s been giving Grandfather a headache, then?"
"Yes. That brat of a fellow never does what he’s told."
Once the cup was full, the old man drank it down at once without hesitation.
It must have been an expensive vintage, for its fragrance spread through his mouth, then went down his throat without the slightest resistance.
"Want another?"
"No need."
"If you don’t want it, fine. So, what is it? Did Father send a letter?"
As the man set the bottle down, the old man took from his robes a letter sealed with black cord and handed it over.
"I’d rather it were that."
At those words, the man’s face—so careless and smiling only a moment ago, like the Flower-Flower Young Master himself—hardened in an instant.
Unless something was terribly urgent, black cord would not be used.
After channeling his inner energy to seal the room with qi barriers, he asked, "...Is it about the Lotus Sect?"
"Yes and no."
At the ambiguous answer, the man narrowed his eyes and opened the letter.
After a brief silence, the wine bottle tilted again.
"What do you think, Left Protector?"
The cup had been filled to the point of overflowing, but the old man did not even glance at it.
"Whether it is true or not does not matter. I can simply go to Sichuan myself and confirm it."
"...So there’s no other choice, then."
He lifted the cup to his lips, then paused, as though something had just occurred to him, and looked back at the old man.
"Still, did that man, Im Yuguang, even have a child?"
"As far as I know, no. However, I do have a rough guess as to who the child named in the letter might be."
"...Speak."
The old man hesitated briefly, then lowered his gaze to the cup and said,
"On the day the tragedy struck the Namgung Clan. They never found the child’s body, did they?"
"..."
Since he understood exactly what the old man was implying, the man gave no reply and only drained his cup.
It was the same wine he had been steadily emptying, and yet now its taste was nothing but unbearable bitterness filling his mouth.
"Did Father know as well?"
"The first person to tell me was the clan leader."
"...What did he say? He must have said something."
"Under no circumstances should the former clan leader’s words be disobeyed. Burn the manual, and cripple the learned one by severing the sinews and tendons of all four limbs. The Namgung Clan will already know this."
The man’s gaze collided with the old man’s in midair.
"The young clan leader must not hesitate; fulfill your duty. And if the Namgung Clan tries to interfere..."
"Enough."
The man slammed down his cup hard, cutting him off.
"I’ll see for myself what to do and make my judgment then."
"You mean to defy the clan leader’s wishes?"
A murderous aura far more terrifying than the one that had previously crushed the courtesans rolled off the old man in waves, but the man only smiled thinly.
"When have you ever seen me obey that man? Besides, you should choose your side carefully. I’m already on the verge of reaching eighty percent mastery of the Black Thunder Divine Art."
At once, the surging aura vanished, and the old man’s face broke into a bright smile.
"Is that really true?"
His chest tightened, but if he admitted now that it was a lie, he might end up camping in the mountains all the way to Sichuan instead of staying in a proper pleasure house.
"When have I ever lied about something like this?"
"Hmm..."
Though he still seemed doubtful, that was not the issue that mattered now, so the old man set it aside for the time being.
"Understood. Then I’d best begin preparing to leave."
"You’re leaving right away?"
"Yes. By coincidence, I recently heard that a child I once knew a little is looking for me there."
"Left Protector?"
Why on earth would anyone from the orthodox faction be looking for him, a member of the unorthodox side?
When the man looked at him with questioning eyes, the old man rose from his seat and picked up a bottle of wine that had not yet been opened.
"Not the Left Protector, then. Probably the person they seek is someone called Faith."