Bring That Bastard Before Me Right Now!
“Hmm...”
I had ended up receiving a counter-proposal instead. Coming out with this all of a sudden?
I had been ready to smash down the platform holding the rare treasures and trigger the trap, bracing for the worst-case scenario where a fight might break out over Black Cat and those treasures. The sudden offer made me freeze.
What did Black Cat think of me?
I knew there was a certain amount of goodwill there. Spending time together had let me read Black Cat just as well. What Black Cat loved were interesting spectacles and intriguing incidents.
Today’s experience must have left quite the impression.
The proposal Black Cat had made was one I had wanted myself.
At the same time, it went a step further. All I had hoped for was that Black Cat would join me on opportunity hunts once or twice. What Black Cat was asking for now was clearly something more long-term.
“Does that mean even if one of us stops being a Sichuan Nangin, we’ll still stick together and explore opportunities?”
Black Cat nodded twice without a word. Separate from the previous comrades, it was a clear declaration of intent to hang out with me personally.
“Hmm...”
My suspicions about Black Cat still hadn’t been fully cleared away.
Yet watching Black Cat so genuinely delighted today, those doubts felt like they were diluting as well.
Black Cat had been as happy as a child at an amusement park. Of course they would want to lock in a promise to go opportunity hunting together again next time.
And it wasn’t only that.
Black Cat had definitely wanted to stay with me today. They had even tried to yield the bomb, and though they had shoved me forward, they had still meant to go together. Curiosity alone might have sent them charging ahead, yet they had waited for me.
In the end they had even yielded the rare treasures.
Was all of that an act? I didn’t think so. No matter how I turned it over, the goodwill Black Cat had shown me since that day felt real.
After thinking it through, I reached a decision.
I held out my hand toward Black Cat, who had been waiting patiently for my thoughts to settle.
“Hmm?”
“You grab the hand like this and shake it.”
Right. In the end I had decided to uncurl from my shell and step outside, hadn’t I? If I needed Black Cat, then managing that goodwill was enough. Sharing fun, enjoyable experiences—if that was what Black Cat wanted, I could provide it.
Shaking hands with Black Cat, I said:
“Contract sealed.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol, head of the Tang Family, had been enjoying life lately.
Rumors that Tang Do-gyeong had declared he was severing ties, rumors that he had become a Sichuan Nangin, even rumors that he had been swindled by some con artist—when those last ones hit, his blood pressure had spiked so hard he nearly grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.
Yet the Tang Do-gyeong who had been summoned back to the Tang Family Estate had shaken off every old grudge and become a new man.
Simply a new man?
He had even returned carrying a brand-new martial art: the Tang Family Fierce Tiger Hidden Dragon Combat Method.
There was some commotion involving the Sichuan Nangin, sure, but for results like this, that level of noise was a bargain.
A hidden-weapon technique worthy of the orthodox path. The phrase was a complete contradiction, yet the Fierce Tiger Hidden Dragon Combat Method could only be described that way.
A hidden-weapon art steeped in the spirit of the orthodox sects...
Strictly speaking it sat somewhere between hidden weapons and fist techniques, but Tang Gwang-ryeol—and nearly everyone else in the Tang Family—had been struck hardest by the hidden-weapon portion of the method.
Not concealing the weapons in sleeves or shadows, but hiding them inside dazzling, dynamic movement!
The psychological blind spot created by the mere possibility that a fist might not be holding a weapon at all—the razor edge that stabbed into that empty space!
And every motion of the hidden-weapon art was woven openly into the fist techniques, carrying the very bearing of the orthodox path.
Tang Gwang-ryeol often imagined the day the Fierce Tiger Hidden Dragon Combat Method created by Tang Do-gyeong would be unveiled to the world. Just the thought made his old heart pound hard enough to shame his years.
Yes, that boy always had a different spark even as a child. They called him a late bloomer. The longer the wandering, the more it all became blood and flesh that enlarged his vessel.
Tang Do-gyeong had been forbidden from leaving the Tang Family Estate for the next three years and sentenced to teach the clan’s children at the academy during that time. He had also become the first name called for any family matter that required Super-Peak Realm experts.
Creating a martial art had apparently brought him enlightenment as well; his realm had deepened further, and he had founded a technique that would leave its mark on Tang Family history. One might have expected him to grow arrogant, yet these days he was even mending ties with the blood relatives he had once neglected. Admirable, truly admirable.
The remaining shortfall in his hidden-weapon skill would be fixed with training soon enough.
“But you know... tsk tsk...”
Under the clan head’s disapproving gaze, Fengying Corps Leader Tang Cheosu bowed his head deeply and cursed inwardly.
What am I supposed to do when things just happen...?
“When blood relatives are building camaraderie, a little gambling can happen, and goods changing hands at the gambling table is only natural. Are we really going to pick at the flaws of a boy who already carries enough wounds over something so minor?”
“I am deeply sorry.”
Through the Fengying Corps Leader, Tang Gwang-ryeol had been receiving reports that Tang Do-gyeong had lately been sweeping every gambling table he could find. Something about it still sat wrong with him.
“Didn’t you yourself gamble a bit in your younger days?”
Tang Cheosu gave an embarrassed cough. There might be direct-line members who did not enjoy gambling, but there were none who did not know how. During eye-technique or pupil training one inevitably practiced reading dice or matching Golpae tiles, so a certain amount of gambling skill came naturally.
Inside the Tang Family Estate it was fairly common to wager one’s own hidden weapons or poisons. Direct-line members often clashed over the distribution or turn order of weapons and toxins; gambling made a decent mediation tool—peaceful, yet still incorporating the hand skill, eye techniques, and pupil arts that formed the foundation of hidden-weapon mastery.
Even so, losing too heavily is bound to sour feelings.
It looked necessary to put a little pressure on Tang Do-gyeong so he would not keep cleaning out every table.
Gwang-ryeol pulled a hidden-weapon case from under the desk and held it out.
“Military funds. Before gambling causes a fight between Do-gyeong and the other children, go put a lid on his momentum.”
“As you command!”
The clan head clicked his tongue at the Fengying Corps Leader, who was already grinning at the thought of legally inserting himself into the gambling tables. Still, with even the small cracks Tang Do-gyeong might cause now neatly sealed, the Tang Family would remain peaceful.
He let himself relax with that thought.
Until the next day, when he saw the Fengying Corps Leader planting his forehead on the floor of the clan head’s hall.
“...What is this.”
“I am sorry, Clan Head. I was cleaned out.”
In the end Tang Gwang-ryeol had no choice but to summon Tang Do-gyeong himself.
“I pay my respects to the Clan Head.”
“Heh heh...”
Tang Gwang-ryeol let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Tang Do-gyeong. The hidden-weapon case tucked into his belt was the very one given to the Fengying Corps Leader the day before, and both belt and shoulder sash were packed full of every kind of hidden weapon imaginable.
Ten-Coin Explosive Throwing Blades, Crow-Feather Needles, Soul-Severing Butterfly Darts, Heavenly King Crushing Javelins—every rare hidden weapon the Tang Family possessed hung from Tang Do-gyeong like ornaments!
“Do-gyeong, what is the story with all those weapons?”
“Ah, these? Now that I have begun to devote myself to hidden-weapon techniques, I found myself wanting to try the clan’s secret weapons. I could not simply be issued them, and I heard that direct-line blood relatives wager weapons through gambling.”
“Heh heh heh heh...”
“So I won one, then another, and somehow ended up like this.”
Looking at Tang Do-gyeong’s bright, sunny smile, Tang Gwang-ryeol slapped his own forehead and laughed.
“Hahahahaha!!”
Right—I had briefly forgotten what kind of child this one is!
Tang Do-gyeong had zero sense of tact!
He was supposed to win a little and walk away, not scoop every last hidden weapon the Tang Family owned into his own arms!
Just because the rebellious streak toward the family had been corrected, Tang Gwang-ryeol had treated every other flaw as if it had vanished too. No matter how much he had changed, Tang Do-gyeong was still Tang Do-gyeong.
This could not simply be overlooked. Even if wagering weapons and poisons had become something of a Tang Family tradition, one person vacuuming up every direct-line member’s arsenal was absurd.
The fact that the direct line was cleaned out by Do-gyeong—whose eye techniques, pupil arts, and hand skill with hidden weapons are still immature—is itself a problem.
That the Fengying Corps Leader Tang Cheosu had been left penniless was proof that Tang Do-gyeong’s gambling skill was anything but ordinary.
“Heh heh. Do-gyeong, I called you because I wanted to enjoy a round of gambling with you myself.”
Having to face a serious gambling match against a boy young enough to be his son... Tang Gwang-ryeol felt the headache that had vanished for a while come roaring back as he gestured to the Fengying Corps Leader. The man who had been planting his head on the floor all day flew over like the wind, laid out the gambling tools in front of them, and stepped back.
“Haha. I really ought to thank Ya-hyung. If I had known the Clan Head and the direct line enjoyed gambling this much, I would have learned more seriously.”
“Heh heh. Is that ‘Ya-hyung’ the fellow who took the Blood Jade from you?”
“Hahahaha! Yes, that’s right. Compared to Ya-hyung I’m a firefly in front of the full moon, but I’ve been making use of the techniques I somehow managed to pick up.”
So that bastard is the root of it.
Tang Gwang-ryeol filed the name “Ya-hyung” away in his mind and set Golpae tiles on the board.
“Heh heh. With every hidden weapon of the Tang Family concentrated in one person’s hands, I as clan head could not simply stand by and watch.”
“Ah, I am sorry, Clan Head. I have caused you worry.”
Watching Tang Do-gyeong finally put on a look of realization, Tang Gwang-ryeol laughed genially. People could not be perfect, after all. The rebellious attitude toward the family had already been corrected; a little lack of tact was nothing.
“Because I first learned gambling that way, I ended up giving it my all without realizing. Harmony is important, so knowing how to lose moderately would have been important too.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol’s expression turned subtle. Why did this feel so wrong? It had turned into the picture of an authority figure forcing a much younger rising talent into a courtesy gambling match.
“Heh heh, Do-gyeong, that is not what I meant. I called you because your gambling skill is excellent and I truly wanted to test myself against you once. I also wanted to tell you not to go all the way to the bitter end with the other children—just enjoy it in moderation.”
“Yes. I will heed the Clan Head’s words.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol looked with satisfaction at Tang Do-gyeong offering a respectful fist-and-palm salute. The same boy who used to cause trouble outside and show not the slightest sign of reflection, who barely listened when spoken to, was now behaving so properly that his anger melted away on its own.
“Good~ A man needs competitive spirit. Putting your full strength into everything is manly and good! I too will set aside the position of clan head for a moment and face you man to man!”
Tang Gwang-ryeol chuckled and picked up the Golpae. Since the boy seemed to understand, he would surely gamble in moderation from now on. All that remained was to reclaim the weapons Tang Do-gyeong currently held through gambling and return them to their original owners in due course.
“Yes, Clan Head!”
The difference in power was obvious. Martial realm, eye techniques, pupil arts, hand skill... and gambling experience on top of it. Tang Gwang-ryeol was the head of the Tang Family. To climb to that seat he had polished hidden-weapon techniques and poison arts, and he had crossed countless fierce gambling tables in order to obtain weapons and toxins!
It will serve as a proper lesson for Do-gyeong as well.
Tang Gwang-ryeol thought as much while taking out a hidden-weapon ledger.
The two men’s gambling began and continued.
Watching them, the Fengying Corps Leader finally spoke to Tang Do-gyeong.
“Do-gyeong, the hour has grown late. How about we end the session for today?”
“Ah, you’re right. Hahaha! I seem to have gotten too absorbed in the match with the Clan Head.”
“Heh heh, that can happen. It is late—hurry inside and rest.”
“Yes, Clan Head. I would like to clear the table now, if that is all right.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol nodded wordlessly. Tang Do-gyeong gathered the gambling tools, handed them to the Fengying Corps Leader, then strode out with countless “hidden-weapon ledgers” tucked under his arm.
After Tang Do-gyeong—who had shaken even Tang Gwang-ryeol’s soul clean—left, a heavy silence settled between the two remaining men in the clan head’s hall.
“...Wow.”
“Yes?”
“That Ya-hyung or whatever that Nangin bastard is—drag him here right this instant!!!”
Tang Gwang-ryeol’s roar shook the entire clan head’s hall.