Chapter 40: The Scoundrel Tang Se-gi - 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 40: The Scoundrel Tang Se-gi - 2
"Aaaagh! You son of a bitch!!!"
Tang Se-gi screamed at the searing pain blooming in his back.
"You're still screaming, so I guess you're doing just fine."
The man who had stabbed Tang Se-gi’s back approached him, twirling a throwing knife between his fingers.
"Don't come any closer! Stay away! Stay away from me!"
As the man drew near, Tang Se-gi began to thrash in a fit of hysterics.
Ignoring his pleas, the man closed the distance and drove the blade straight into Tang Se-gi’s right shoulder.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Once again, Tang Se-gi let out an unbridled shriek.
When had he ever suffered such a fate? He had been raised like a precious treasure, pampered and spoiled his entire life. To a man who had never been struck a single time since birth, this experience was nothing short of hell.
Tang Se-gi had never felt the need for martial arts. In Sichuan, no one was bold enough to lay a finger on the legitimate son of the Tang Clan. Even if he got into a dispute with a martial artist, the Tang Clan’s warriors were always there to protect him.
Since he saw no point in it, Tang Se-gi had never touched anything beyond the basic techniques required of a direct heir. Other martial artists would have fumed with envy had they known. To him, the tedious and dull world of martial arts held no charm compared to the thrilling delights of wine and women.
But now, for the first time, Tang Se-gi regretted that choice. His body, never properly tempered, was far too fragile to withstand the agony of a cold blade. The wounds burned like fire, and his blood was spilling onto the ground.
"You son of a bitch! Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I told you, I know. You're the world's greatest scoundrel, aren't you?"
"I am Tang Se-gi, the legitimate son of the Poison King Tang Jin-cheol, the Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan!"
"Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"
The man burst into a fit of boisterous laughter. When he finally stopped, he continued.
"Right, your father is the Poison King Tang Jin-cheol. An absolute master who reached the Absolute Realm through poison arts."
"Exactly! If you let me go now, I might just spare your life!"
Of course, Tang Se-gi had no intention of letting the man live. Once he escaped this crisis, he would inform the clan, have the man captured, and then chew him up, bone and all. He couldn't possibly let a piece of filth live after inflicting such indelible humiliation upon a man of his absolute authority.
"Pfft, hahaha! This guy is a real piece of work."
Whether he read Tang Se-gi’s mind or not, the man laughed loudly once more.
"Are you a moron? Do you still not grasp the situation?"
"What?!"
"The Poison King Tang Jin-cheol... he’s a truly terrifying man. A fearsome poisoner who can turn even a Super-Peak master into a handful of toxic sludge in a single move."
It was the truth. The Dragon Poison Technique of Tang Jin-cheol, who had reached the Absolute Realm, possessed power on a different level from ordinary poison arts—enough to poison a Super-Peak master instantly.
He was a pioneer who stood at the absolute pinnacle of poison. An ambitious man who had propelled the Sichuan Tang Clan from the greatest family in Sichuan to the greatest in the Central Plains. An absolute master who had established himself as the strongest in Sichuan, far beyond the confines of the Tang Clan.
That was the Poison King, Tang Jin-cheol. It would be a lie to say the man wasn't afraid of him.
However...
"But you aren't Tang Jin-cheol, are you?"
The person standing before him was not Tang Jin-cheol. The smile on the man's face deepened.
Thuck.
"Aaaaaagh! Fuck!!!"
Thuck.
"Aaaagh! You goddamn bastard!!!"
The man raised his knife and began stabbing Tang Se-gi all over his body. Every time the blade sank into his flesh, Tang Se-gi shrieked and spat out a constant stream of curses.
He wondered what he had done to deserve such agony. Tang Se-gi was filled with questions and a rising, bitter resentment.
"Why are you doing this to me?!"
"Because I can."
Thuck.
This time, the blade pierced his thigh.
"Aaaaaagh!"
He didn't know how long he had been screaming.
"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!"
Tang Se-gi spat out curses, clinging to his pride even as tears and snot ran down his face. The shell of arrogance and ego surrounding him seemed remarkably sturdy.
"This isn't working."
Grip.
The man grabbed Tang Se-gi by the hair and began dragging him along.
Drag, drag.
"Let go! Let go of me!! You vermin, how dare you lay a hand on my hair!"
Tang Se-gi shrieked and struggled as he was dragged by his scalp, but the man paid him no mind and hauled him straight into the Guan Yu Shrine.
Thud.
He threw Tang Se-gi onto the dirt floor.
"Once they realize I'm missing, the Tang Clan's warriors will come for you!!!" Tang Se-gi glared at the man and shouted.
"That's fine. It'll be over before then."
"What?!"
"Tang Se-gi, do you really think you can last until morning?"
The man looked down at him with a questioning gaze. The moment Tang Se-gi saw those eyes, he was overcome by a sensation he had never truly known: pure terror. This man was serious.
"Don't come near me! Stay away!"
He screamed and tried to scramble backward, but the man quickly caught him and struck his acupoints.
The first thing the man did after paralyzing Tang Se-gi was to rip out his fingernails by the roots.
Crunch. Snap. Rip.
Tang Se-gi’s eyes rolled back in agony as all ten fingernails were torn out raw, but because his acupoints were struck, he couldn't even let out a sound. His hands became a bloody mess, and his vision blurred.
Next were the toenails. The man stripped off his shoes and tore out every single toenail.
Crunch. Snap.
Soon, his hands and feet were drenched in blood. Tang Se-gi was consumed by a boiling rage. What had he done wrong to suffer like this? His hands and feet hurt so much, and he missed his mother.
Resentment toward his guards flared up. The legitimate heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan was being treated like this—where were they and what were they doing? He vowed over and over that if he survived, he would have their heads first.
It was then, as Tang Se-gi poured out his resentment in the midst of his pain, that the man lifted Tang Se-gi’s blood-stained hand.
"How many people did you torment with these filthy hands?"
Slice.
He severed the tendon in Tang Se-gi’s left wrist.
'Aaaaaaaaagh!'
Tang Se-gi felt excruciating pain, but he couldn't even scream. No matter how hard he tried to shout, his mouth and vocal cords wouldn't move.
"How many people did you trample with these goddamn feet?"
Slice.
Squirt.
This time, the man severed the tendon in his right ankle. After roughly staunching the spurting blood, he tossed the knife aside.
Clang.
The man leaned in and whispered into Tang Se-gi’s ear.
"I'm going to release your acupoints now. But if you start acting out again, I'll cut every remaining tendon in your body."
At the man's chilling threat, Tang Se-gi could only blink his eyes rapidly.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The man tapped a few spots on Tang Se-gi’s body, releasing the paralysis.
"............"
Tang Se-gi’s rage nearly made him burst out with curses, but he barely managed to hold them back, waiting for the man to speak. He was terrified of losing his remaining tendons.
"Good choice. Being half-crippled is better than being a total vegetable, right?"
The man mocked him, and Tang Se-gi felt a murderous intent surging within him. But he forced himself to calm down. His top priority was to cooperate as much as possible and get out of here. Once he was free, he would use every ounce of the Tang Clan’s power to tear this man limb from limb.
The man crouched down in front of the seated Tang Se-gi and met his eyes.
"Talk."
"About what?"
"Everything."
"??!?!"
"Tell me everything about yourself. If you tell me everything, I'll let you go."
The man's smile widened.
"What kind of—!!"
"I'm not joking. Tell me everything you've ever done. From the moment you were born until now. Every single detail, without leaving anything out."
The man looked at Tang Se-gi with a dead-serious expression. Faced with that intense gaze, Tang Se-gi opened his mouth and began to recount his life story.
"I was born... the Poison King's... direct line... at age six... basic techniques... at age twelve..."
It took nearly two hours for Tang Se-gi’s story to conclude. The man listened intently, scribbling something down as he spoke.
"Again."
"What?!"
"Recite everything you just said, exactly as you said it."
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"I need to verify if what you said is the truth. So, say it again."
Tang Se-gi felt his blood boil at the man's words. But having no other choice, he had to open his mouth again.
"I was born... the Poison King's... direct line... at age five... basic techniques... at age twelve..."
As the man listened to the life story again, he interrupted.
"Wrong."
"What is?!"
"You said you started your basic techniques at age six before."
"I just got confused!"
"I told you I wasn't joking. Did it look like a game to you?"
The man picked up the knife he had thrown on the floor and immediately sliced the tendon in Tang Se-gi’s right wrist.
Squelch.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
"Every time there's a contradiction in what you say, I'll cut something off. Speak carefully."
After roughly stopping the bleeding again, the man asked once more.
"Again."
Tang Se-gi wept from the agony of his severed tendons. But the man before him showed no sign of patience. Tang Se-gi began to speak. He knew that if he made even one mistake, he would be carved into pieces.
"I was born... the Poison King's... direct line... at age five... basic techniques... at age twelve... at age eighteen..."
"Wrong. The woman you raped when you were eighteen wasn't a Kang, she was a Yeom."
Slice.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Every time Tang Se-gi’s answer was wrong, the man swung his blade without mercy. Tang Se-gi’s body began to fall apart.
"Again."
Slice.
"Again."
Slice.
The Guan Yu Shrine was filled with nothing but the man's dry, monotonous voice and Tang Se-gi’s screams.
It wasn't until four hours of torture had passed that the man finally stopped his brutal work. There was simply nowhere left to cut.
Tang Se-gi was a wretched sight. There wasn't a single patch of healthy skin from head to toe. Both his ears had been sliced off, blood streamed from his empty eye sockets, and his nose was nowhere to be seen.
The tendons in all four limbs had been severed, and his fingers and toes had all been removed. His skin, peeled away like he was being filleted, revealed raw red flesh. His phallus, which had been slowly scraped away with the knife, was mutilated beyond recognition.
"Ah... ah... ah..."
The pain was so vivid and overwhelming that Tang Se-gi couldn't even form words. He had long since forgotten about revenge. His desire for vengeance had turned into a desperate wish to live, and that wish had finally turned into a plea for death.
"Why... are you... doing this... to me...?"
"Why did you do it to them?"
"...Them...?"
"The countless people you killed."
"I am... the direct heir... of the Sichuan Tang Clan... I'm allowed to..."
"Same here."
Thuck.
The man's knife drove straight into Tang Se-gi’s forehead.
"I'm allowed to, too."
As the blade sank into his brain, Tang Se-gi died instantly. The scoundrel Tang Se-gi, the direct heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan who had used his absolute power to stain all of Sichuan with his infamy, drew his last breath in a lonely, abandoned shrine after enduring horrific torture.
Once Tang Se-gi was dead, the man burned his internal energy to conjure a flame in his hand. It was the Samadhi True Fire. He pressed the flame against Tang Se-gi’s face and began to sear it.
Acrid smoke and the distinct, foul stench of burning flesh began to fill the shrine.
"Cough, cough. Even this guy's burning flesh smells disgusting."
Tang Se-gi’s face was charred beyond recognition. After inspecting the face, the man gave a satisfied smile and touched the flame to the wall.
Whoosh.
Perhaps because the frame was made of old wood, the shrine caught fire easily. The flames spread rapidly, soon swallowing the entire structure.
Step, step.
The man who had set the fire walked calmly outside. He stood a short distance away, staring blankly at the burning shrine.
Crack, snap, pop.
Suddenly, the man's bones began to twist and shift. He grew slightly shorter, and his hands and feet became smaller. His eyes turned sharper, and his nose became more defined.
Crr-ack.
Before long, the man had transformed into a youth who radiated a razor-sharp aura.
It was Tang Se-gi. The man had taken on the appearance of the Tang Se-gi who had just died under torture.
'Preparations are complete.'
The man, now looking exactly like Tang Se-gi, left the area, leaving the Guan Yu Shrine to continue burning.
That day, the charred body of an unidentified man was discovered in Chengdu, Sichuan. It was assumed that the man had sought shelter from the cold in the abandoned shrine and met with an accident while trying to start a fire.
The fire had been so intense that his entire body was blackened, and his face in particular was burned so badly that his identity could not be determined. Normally, the local magistrate was supposed to provide a funeral and burial for unidentified bodies, but the magistrate, loath to waste money, ordered the body to be dumped in a field. The man's corpse became food for wild animals.
And within a few months, a strange rumor began to circulate.
A rumor that the scoundrel of the Sichuan Tang Clan had turned over a new leaf.