Chapter 41: The Scoundrel Tang Se-gi - Part 3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 41: The Scoundrel Tang Se-gi - Part 3
Tang Se-gi.
The names people called him were many and varied.
A dog born of a tiger, a scoundrel, a worthless bastard, a man cursed by heaven, the disgrace of the Tang Clan—despite being only twenty, he had already amassed a staggering amount of infamy.
And to think, he was the legitimate son of a prestigious family.
Even from the Tang Clan’s perspective, Tang Se-gi was a source of profound embarrassment. At a time when they were looking beyond being the greatest power in Sichuan to become the greatest in the Central Plains, he was a stain among stains, dragging the clan’s honor through the mud with endless scandals.
Originally, he was the late-born child of the Poison King, Tang Jin-cheol. He grew up showered in the affection of both his father and the Great Matriarch, Un Ga-ryeo.
Because of the significant age gap between him and his grown siblings, even those who were sensitive about succession issues could offer him affection without feeling threatened. Furthermore, the Elders and Council members welcomed him warmly, pleased to see a new addition to the direct bloodline after so long.
As a result, Tang Se-gi grew up basking in the love of everyone in the family.
But as the saying goes, a spoiled child becomes a beast.
Raised with excessive indulgence, Tang Se-gi’s personality began to twist in the wrong direction. Eventually, he grew into a scoundrel without equal under heaven. The educational philosophy of giving him whatever he reached for and stroking his head instead of scolding him when he did wrong had turned him into a piece of arrogant trash.
Tang Se-gi committed acts so foul and shameful that eventually, even the people of his own clan turned their backs on him.
The warm gaze Tang Jin-cheol once held for him had long since turned into a piercingly cold, ruthless stare. The affectionate looks from the clan members had long ago soured into expressions of contempt.
No one was on his side anymore, except for his mother, the Great Matriarch Un Ga-ryeo.
Well aware of this, Tang Se-gi spent even more time wandering outside and causing trouble, falling into a vicious cycle that only worsened his reputation.
Then, one day, after getting heavily intoxicated at Geumhwa Pavilion, he was discovered the next morning lying naked on the main road.
Countless people witnessed him snoring away, his face flushed red from drink. The Tang Clan tasted a bitter, public humiliation.
The legitimate son of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the overlords of the region, found naked in the street.
Naturally, the authority of the prestigious clan plummeted. The rumor spread like wildfire, eventually reaching the ears of the Clan Head, Tang Jin-cheol.
Usually a man of unwavering composure, he flew into a rage and ordered Tang Se-gi to be placed under house arrest. It was a punishment far more severe than the mere probations he had used to sweep previous incidents under the rug.
*
Inside the Clan Head’s office.
Tang Jin-cheol, a middle-aged man with a cold, stern impression, sat at his desk, looking across at his visitor.
Standing before him was a beautiful middle-aged woman with sharp, piercing eyes. She was the Great Matriarch, Un Ga-ryeo.
"Clan Head, have you lost your mind?"
She raised her voice, clearly incensed.
"What do you mean?"
Tang Jin-cheol replied with a profoundly indifferent tone. He had expected her to come. He had also expected this outburst.
"House arrest! What great sin has that child committed that you would impose such a horrific punishment on him?"
"The boy has brought shame upon the Tang Clan with his insolent behavior. He should consider himself lucky it ended with mere house arrest."
He was right. If Tang Se-gi hadn't been the son of his primary wife, he would have been exiled from the clan or beheaded to restore their honor.
"Is a mere thing like honor more precious than your own child? Are you truly such a cold-blooded man?"
The Great Matriarch began to appeal to him with tears in her eyes.
Tang Jin-cheol felt a headache coming on. Whenever she lost an argument through logic, she inevitably resorted to tears. Usually, she was a clever woman, calm and capable of sound judgment, but when it came to her youngest son, Tang Se-gi, she blocked her eyes and ears to everything else and became utterly unreasonable.
"Madam, it is called house arrest, but it is practically a vacation. He isn't being exiled to some far-off land. He will have everything he needs, so what is there to complain about?"
Tang Jin-cheol spoke to her as if coaxing a child.
As he said, even though Tang Se-gi was under house arrest, he wasn't suffering any great disadvantage or pain. He was fed on time, he could practice martial arts in the private training ground, and he could sleep as much as he wanted. Aside from not being able to go outside, it could hardly be called a severe punishment.
"There is no freedom! Freedom! At an age when he should be traveling the vast world, he is forced to do nothing but breathe in that cramped house!"
"Then are you saying I should leave a man who disgraced the clan's name to roam free? Without any punishment? Everyone would laugh at the Tang Clan!"
"Who in the world would dare laugh at the Sichuan Tang Clan? And even if they did, couldn't we just gouge out their eyes and mince their flesh?"
Tang Jin-cheol scowled at her words. This was the height of absurdity. She also came from a famous martial family; she knew exactly how important a clan's honor was, yet she was being willfully ignorant.
A clan's honor was directly tied to its prosperity. The higher the prestige, the higher the trust, and the more people would seek them out.
Tang Jin-cheol felt a surge of irritation. In the past, she was the woman he loved more than anyone, but since Tang Se-gi’s delinquent behavior began, their relationship had grown distant. Though they had once been so close they conceived a child late in life, it had been a long time since they had shared a bed. Every time he saw this obsessive side of her, his affection withered further.
It was precisely because she raised him with such indulgence that Tang Se-gi’s manners had become so atrocious.
"The matter has already been decided through the Clan Meeting. There will be no reversal. You should also refrain from filling Gia’s head with nonsense."
Tang Jin-cheol cut her off firmly. There would be no end to it if he kept listening.
"You are truly a heartless man! Fine. I am leaving."
Hearing his words, Un Ga-ryeo turned and stormed out of the office in tears.
Slam!
"I won't see you out."
The sound of the door slamming suggested she was beyond furious.
"Sigh."
Once she was gone, Tang Jin-cheol let out a deep sigh. They say nothing goes as planned like one's own children, and that sentiment hit home. His martial arts, his clan—everything else was thriving.
But Tang Se-gi was the one thing he couldn't control. Because he was a late-born child, he had given him more love and attention, but that love had turned into a poison that ruined the boy.
By the time he realized it, it was already too late. He didn't believe for a second that Tang Se-gi would change now. How could one change a personality formed since childhood? He only hoped the boy wouldn't cause an even greater disaster.
"Gia, make sure I never have to abandon you."
Tang Jin-cheol’s sighs echoed repeatedly in the empty office.
*
Leaving the office, the Great Matriarch was seething with indignation. Nothing was to her liking.
A young man can make mistakes while having a bit of fun. How can he be so fixated on such a small thing?
She was also dissatisfied with her husband’s attitude. How could he have so little affection for his own child? Her heart ached and tears welled up at the thought of that poor boy just breathing in that cramped house.
If only they coaxed him and embraced him, he was a child who would eventually come to his senses and become a pillar of the clan. Wasn't he acting out even more because of these harsh measures?
She resented her husband for treating his own son’s affairs like a stranger’s, and she resented the Elders and Council members who had demanded punishment in the name of honor.
Since Tang Se-gi began to go astray, her relationship with her husband had also suffered. Though she was still in her prime, her husband’s indifference sparked a rebelliousness in her, which manifested as a fierce defense of Tang Se-gi. That vicious cycle had driven the couple further apart.
The Great Matriarch’s eyes reddened.
My poor baby, how heartbroken he must be.
He must be devastated. After all, so many people had seen him lying naked on the street. She felt a surge of pity and sorrow for him. Of course, it was all his own doing, but to her, Tang Se-gi was merely a victim who had been punished for the sake of the clan’s honor.
She hurried her steps toward Tang Se-gi’s quarters. She couldn't just sit still. She was worried about her heartbroken youngest son.
*
Sharp eyes and a cold impression.
A man who was the spitting image of a young Tang Jin-cheol lay on the bed. This was Tang Se-gi, the man sentenced to house arrest for disgracing the clan.
Despite receiving a sentence of house arrest rather than his usual probation, Tang Se-gi’s expression was remarkably bright.
Whistle~
He was even relaxed enough to whistle. What was going on?
‘I’ve made it inside the Tang Clan without being caught.’
In truth, the man lying on the bed was Sun-woo, who had used the Zhu-Rong Art to transform into Tang Se-gi’s likeness. He had killed the real Tang Se-gi and taken his place to infiltrate the clan and steal the Poison Essence, the legendary treasure of the Tang family.
When he first arrived in Chengdu, Sun-woo had been at a loss. Thanks to cutting back on sleep and traveling day and night, he had arrived relatively quickly, but once he got there, no viable plan came to mind.
No matter how much of a master he was—at the Upper Stage of the Super-Peak Realm and on the verge of the Transcendent Realm—sneaking into the Sichuan Tang Clan, which vied for the title of the greatest in the Central Plains, was a daunting task. Although they didn't quite match the Cheonmu Alliance, the strongest single power, the Six Great Clans possessed a strength that even a Transcendent Realm master could not ignore.
And among them, the Sichuan Tang Clan stood in a league of its own. It was impossible to infiltrate a place teeming with Super-Peak masters, including the Transcendent master Tang Jin-cheol, without making a sound.
Furthermore, the Poison Essence would surely be hidden in a very secret location. How could an outsider like Sun-woo possibly know where it was?
While sitting and pondering, he happened to witness a man causing a scene on the main road. The man was drunk and was throwing punches at anyone passing by. His targets were random—children, adults, it didn't matter—and many people lay bleeding around him.
Judging by his attire and appearance, he seemed to be the scion of a prominent family. Not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, Sun-woo simply watched. Since Chengdu was the Tang Clan’s territory, he figured martial artists would soon arrive to subdue the man.
Sure enough, a few moments later, three or four martial artists dressed in green appeared before the man. Sun-woo expected to see the man eating dirt shortly, but contrary to his expectations, the man began to thrash the green-clad warriors instead.
"!?"
Confused, Sun-woo asked a man standing next to him.
"Who is that man, that even the Tang Clan’s own warriors grovel before him?"
The man made a grave expression and put a finger to his lips.
"Shh, keep your voice down. They might hear you."
He remained silent until the brawling man and the Tang warriors disappeared. Only when they were out of sight did he speak.
"Seeing as you don't know him, you must be a traveler from elsewhere."
"Yes, that's right. I only arrived in Chengdu yesterday. But who is that man? How can he act so arrogantly?"
"The man punching people in the street is the Tang Clan’s scoundrel, Tang Se-gi."
"A scoundrel?"
"Indeed. People call him a ruffian or a piece of trash. He’s a vile human being who drinks from midday, harasses women, and beats passersby as if it were a daily chore."
"And they just leave him be?"
"He’s the youngest son of the Clan Head, so no one can touch him, no matter what he does. You’d best be careful of Tang Se-gi while you’re in Chengdu. He doesn't even let fellow martial artists off the hook."
Sun-woo was genuinely surprised by the man’s words. He never imagined that the drunkard acting like a thug in broad daylight was the youngest son of the Poison King, Tang Jin-cheol.
Usually, prestigious Orthodox clans emphasized character education because they revered chivalry, yet here was this unexpected scoundrel.
‘A scoundrel youngest son...’
Sun-woo chewed over the words "scoundrel" and "youngest son" in his mind. They felt strangely familiar.
Flash.
In an instant, a spark ignited, and countless plans began to form in Sun-woo’s head.
‘That’s it!’
Sun-woo felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. He could finally see a glimmer of hope for saving Ok-ryeong.