Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Remnants
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On her way to Chengdu in Sichuan, Dang Yeon-hwa recalled the past.
After losing the contest for the family headship to Dang Baek-ho, she had fled the Tang Clan. The shock was so great that she wandered aimlessly for several years.
But her wandering was not eternal. She eventually gathered herself, built a thatched hut deep in a shaded mountain, and began a life of seclusion.
Several years passed like that. Then, she met Gam Pa-pa.
The two of them had been waiting for the right moment ever since.
Living in seclusion, Dang Yeon-hwa knew the time was near. But it wasn't the Martial Alliance that had acted, nor was it the Alliance Leader who had defeated Dang Baek-ho... What?
What was this? The last disciple of the Divine Doctor of Sichuan had disposed of the Poison King?
'You have to be kidding me.'
Dang Yeon-hwa had heard from Paeng Ri-hyeok the series of events that led to the current situation. Paeng Ri-hyeok explained it in considerable detail, but Dang Yeon-hwa found his explanation hard to believe.
However, considering the message came from Gam Pa-pa, it couldn't be a lie.
But still, even so...
'It's impossible.'
The idea of the Divine Doctor's hidden disciple defeating Dang Baek-ho was absurd.
"We'll know when we get there..."
Dang Yeon-hwa muttered in a low voice as she used her lightness technique to dash across the treetops, but Paeng Ri-hyeok insisted on replying.
"Yes... Well, I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet either."
"..."
Matching Paeng Ri-hyeok's pace, Dang Yeon-hwa realized they wouldn't reach Chengdu until the next morning. But she didn't rush; instead, she delved deeper into her past.
The Sichuan Tang Clan was a renowned family among renowned families, hiding martial arts manuals that were hundreds of years old.
It was a bastion of poison and hidden weapon arts, a place where descendants of a noble bloodline gathered. But beneath its splendid exterior, shadows always lurked.
Power struggles and various conspiracies were those shadows... and Dang Yeon-hwa, too, had fallen victim to Dang Baek-ho, who was the very embodiment of the clan's darkness.
* * *
-30 years ago.
Beneath a blue sky, Dang Yeon-hwa stood on a hill where a fierce wind blew. She was steeling her resolve before the impending contest. Her eyes were determined, filled with a sense of justice.
"I will definitely secure the position of Family Head. For the honor of the Sichuan Tang Clan, I cannot let a despicable man like him take over."
At the time, if it wasn't her, Dang Baek-ho would inherit the position. Knowing full well what kind of person he was, her resolve was firm.
Meanwhile, Dang Baek-ho smiled from the shadows, preparing a sinister plot to bring about her downfall. A cold calculation hid in his eyes, and a vile trick was ready in his hands.
"No matter how strong you are, I will be the one who survives in the end."
His words were as soft as a whisper, but a sharp blade was hidden within them.
And so, their contest began.
The two had achieved similar results in all the previous tests. The final contest was, as expected, a martial duel to test their skills against each other.
Dang Yeon-hwa unleashed her full martial prowess, trying to overwhelm her opponent. Her flying daggers were as sharp as the wind, her movements elegant yet powerful.
Had they fought fairly, Dang Baek-ho would have been no match for Dang Yeon-hwa.
But Dang Baek-ho countered with a despicable strategy. The day before, he had already spread a colorless, odorless poison mist throughout the dueling grounds.
Then, he used a formation to conceal the poison mist. A formation designed so that only those fighting on the dueling grounds would inhale it.
He had bribed the officials managing the grounds that day and given them an antidote. Of course, Dang Baek-ho had taken the antidote himself as well.
Most of the spectators were people Dang Baek-ho had bought off, so they easily turned a blind eye to his foul play.
Thus, a poison mist so fine that no one could detect it lingered on the dueling grounds, slowly but surely beginning to seep into Dang Yeon-hwa.
Eventually, affected by the potent poison, Dang Yeon-hwa began to lose ground to Dang Baek-ho.
That day, Dang Baek-ho spoke with a voice full of scorn.
"Here, your flying dagger arts are useless against me."
Even now, Dang Yeon-hwa could feel his mocking laughter echoing in her ears.
She fought back relentlessly that day, but strangely, she could feel her strength draining away.
Finally, at the last moment, Dang Baek-ho made his decisive move. His sword flew toward Dang Yeon-hwa's chest, and she desperately twisted her body to block the attack.
But at that moment, the Seven Poisons Life-Stealing Needle Cylinder burst out from Dang Baek-ho's sleeve. Dang Yeon-hwa desperately dodged and parried, but one of the countless poison needles grazed her shoulder, leaving a deep wound.
Normally, she would never have been hit by such a poison needle, but the poison mist had hampered her.
And so, Dang Yeon-hwa fell.
Overcome with joy, Dang Baek-ho shouted.
"I am the Young Family Head!"
So many poisons had been mixed that she couldn't get up. That day, Dang Baek-ho's laughter echoed from the very heart of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Dang Yeon-hwa knelt before Dang Baek-ho, accepting defeat in her pain.
That is, until she learned the truth.
A short time later, she heard the truth of that day from one of the duel officials Dang Baek-ho had bribed.
Whether it was a simple whim or a pang of conscience, she never knew, but Dang Yeon-hwa was able to hear the truth.
She immediately confronted Dang Baek-ho, but he had already consolidated his power and was prepared to slander her.
In the end, she was cast out of the Tang Clan, consumed by grief and anger. Flames blazed in her eyes, and a fire raged within her.
Dang Baek-ho sneered at the sight of her, but deep down, he felt a flicker of unease.
"There's no need for two such strong individuals in the family. Just casting her out isn't enough. I have to kill her."
However, Dang Yeon-hwa managed to escape Dang Baek-ho's grasp and had been biding her time, waiting for a future opportunity.
Dang Yeon-hwa finished her recollection and spoke.
"After all those years of waiting and preparing..."
I don't know who you are, but you dare to steal my lifelong ambition?
Let's see your face.
* * *
Mu-heun and his companions had won every battle, and now they looked back at the path they had forged. At the decimated Tang Clan.
Inhaling the acrid smoke of the flames,
Mu-heun repeated a single question to himself.
'What is war?'
Only the light of a waxing gibbous moon, not yet full, illuminated the deep darkness of the Chengdu night. The Sichuan Tang Clan, which had commanded the city like an emperor, now revealed its gruesome state amidst the devastation of a single night's war.
The place that once reigned as a prestigious family of the martial world was now a ruin, filled with burnt debris and the scars of war.
The main gate was horribly shattered along with its collapsed pillars, and the once-beautiful garden pond was stained with blood.
The debris floating on its surface was a stark testament to the tragedy that had unfolded here.
Stepping inside, scattered corpses met the eye. The warriors of the Tang Clan lay strewn beside collapsed walls, the final fate of those who fought to protect the clan's authority.
The Tang Clan, which had dominated Sichuan.
This was the final scene left by the warriors who had once swaggered with the clan's power at their backs.
Some still clutched their swords, their faces etched with the agony of death.
Amidst the clamor of battle, Mu-heun had heard their last cries, and they seemed to still echo in his ears.
"Do you bastards think you'll get away with this!"
The cry now felt like a dream that had scattered into the void. Mu-heun murmured a reply to those who could no longer hear.
"And did you think you would get away with the things you did?"
The light filtering through the broken walls was faint. It seemed to illuminate the family's past, but it could not hide the horror of the present.
The deeply gouged earth bore the raw scars of battle.
The ground was cracked alongside fallen pillars, blood seeping from within. This was no longer a seat of overflowing wealth and power, but a land filled with despair brought by judgment.
In the kitchens, dishes lay in disarray, and only ashes remained where flames had once blazed.
Those who had lived ordinary, day-to-day lives there had either fled or were in hiding, not dead. But the martial artists, they had stepped forward to fight and now lay about as corpses.
All that remained of the warriors were their traces. As members of the Tang Clan, they had thrown daggers, mastered poison arts, fought countless battles, and profited from killing and harming others...
Within the confines of their own lives, they too seemed to have lived earnestly and fiercely.
But now, only cold corpses remained.
The items left in each room contained fragments of their lives. Martial arts manuals, weapons for battle, and objects that might have reminded them of their precious families were scattered everywhere.
They would have taken the profits gained from harming others outside the Tang Clan and given them to the people they cherished.
Those items would now never find their owners, buried in the silent darkness.
Such is the way of the martial path.
If you kill, you take responsibility with your own death.
The Sichuan Tang Clan of today had lost its past glory, becoming a tragic scene filled with the scars of war.
Here, where everything had collapsed, only Mu-heun and his companions watched the swaying remnants of the Tang Clan as the wind blew.
The wind seemed to mourn the family's tragedy, as if to announce that the Tang Clan of old no longer existed here.
The war Mu-heun had started had brought the Tang Clan to ruin, and those who fought in it now existed only in memory.
Their greed and despicable methods would no longer spread poison in the world; they would remain only in these ruins, disappearing deep into the earth.
Furthermore, this scene would remain in the annals of history as the end of a Tang Clan that had welcomed a corrupt lord, a symbol of divine punishment.
Mu-heun examined the remains where Dang Baek-ho had been incinerated. But Dang Baek-ho's ashes were already mixed with the debris of the pavilion that had been his office, making them indistinguishable.
"He turned to ash along with his own office."
Dang Baek-ho's office was the place where all his vile schemes were contained. It was from there that his despicable deeds and conspiracies began, and countless victims were born.
The office pavilion ultimately met its end along with Dang Baek-ho.
Mu-heun decided to get rid of all the burnt remains.
Though he would have to consult with Dang Yeon-hwa...
The underground cavern also had to be destroyed.
Mu-heun looked back at his companions.
He felt grateful to all of them—the Light-Splitting Immortal Gu Pae-seon, his childhood friend; Pa-sun and Un-pyo, who followed him with unwavering loyalty; and Seol Ha-ryeong and Gu Yang-baek, whom he had met through the assembly.
However, it was not over yet, so he opened his mouth.
"It's not over yet. Please search for any remaining warriors, and simply subdue the innocent servants and workers."
Mu-heun said.
"As you command!"
Everyone except Gu Pae-seon answered, their shouts echoing through the empty estate of Dang Baek-ho.
The entire party placed their absolute trust in Mu-heun, the man who had defeated the Poison King. Gu Pae-seon, however, merely nodded silently and walked on.