Chapter 42: I Became the Scoundrel Young Master of the Tang Clan-1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: I Became the Scoundrel Young Master of the Tang Clan-1
What is a scoundrel?
The word's etymology traces back to the butchers who used to behead death row inmates, but nowadays, it is used to describe someone with a violent and fierce temperament—a wastrel.
This "scoundrel" archetype holds a peculiar charm in fiction. It serves as a narrative device that grants a protagonist the justification to act with utter disregard for others.
The cliché of a protagonist possessing the body of a talentless but ill-mannered loser, then using that scoundrel persona to wreak havoc, is as common as dirt. Yet, it remains a popular trope for a reason.
In particular, people who are habitually considerate and self-sacrificing—those who yield to others even when they know they’ll lose out—often harbor a deep-seated, unspoken resentment.
For them, watching a scoundrel bypass all the tedious complexities of social etiquette to act exactly as they please, never suffering a loss while punishing selfish and cunning people, provides a tremendous sense of "cider"—that refreshing burst of catharsis.
Usually, these characters are the youngest sons of a family, warped by excessive affection. Tang Se-gi was exactly that kind of person.
Watching the quintessential scoundrel Tang Se-gi, Sun-woo was reminded of the trope, and it gave him an idea of how to infiltrate the Tang Clan.
The plan was to use the Zhu-Rong Art to transform into Tang Se-gi.
Sun-woo had previously considered using the Zhu-Rong Art to disguise himself as a servant. However, he had nearly given up on that idea because a mere servant would have a snowball's chance in hell of locating the Poison Essence.
On the other hand, transforming into a prominent member of the Tang Clan was too risky. There were too many variables—from complex interpersonal relationships to martial arts proficiency and official duties. He couldn't afford to attempt it blindly.
He had racked his brain over various schemes, but none seemed quite right.
Then, the scoundrel Tang Se-gi appeared before him.
In most cases, a scoundrel is treated as the black sheep of the family, and their relationships with their kin are usually strained. Furthermore, since they prefer wine and women over martial arts training, their skills are bound to be pathetic. Their social circle likely consists of nothing but shallow "drinking buddies," and because they are untrustworthy, they wouldn't hold any significant position within the clan.
In other words, he was the perfect target to impersonate.
Sun-woo planned to kidnap and imprison Tang Se-gi, then take his place to steal the Poison Essence.
While killing him would have been the easiest path, Sun-woo was still a modern man at heart. Unlike the martial artist Jang Sam, the idea of murdering someone for his own convenience was difficult to stomach.
Thus, having finalized his kidnapping plan, Sun-woo began stalking Tang Se-gi, monitoring his movements and waiting for an opportunity. Even a scoundrel had personal guards, so he needed to find a window of time when Se-gi was alone.
The man’s daily routine was a continuous loop of typical scoundrel behavior: harassing women, binge drinking, and picking fights with random passersby.
While Sun-woo was biding his time, a disaster occurred.
Tang Se-gi, who had been making lewd advances toward a married woman on the street, suddenly began dragging her away.
There were plenty of people around, but far from intervening, they all averted their eyes and hurried away, terrified of making eye contact. Even his personal guards merely frowned, offering no restraint whatsoever.
It was then that Sun-woo woke up from his delusion.
Tang Se-gi wasn't some "lovable rogue" cliché from a novel. He was a genuine, unadulterated piece of human trash.
In novels, the scoundrel is usually the one the protagonist is destined to possess, so they rarely cross the line into true depravity. They might stop at sexual harassment or an attempted assault that gets thwarted. Sometimes, they are given a tragic backstory, suggesting their behavior is a calculated act to deceive others.
If the character the protagonist is supposed to inhabit commits an unforgivable crime, the story falls apart.
Because of this, Sun-woo had been watching Tang Se-gi with a degree of detachment. He had subconsciously confused the man with the scoundrels he had read about in books.
The woman, broken by the threat that her child would be killed, was dragged away by Tang Se-gi and raped in a secluded spot.
The woman’s screams and the child’s sobbing pierced Sun-woo’s ears, and his blood began to boil. Seeing this hideous act felt like looking at Lee Jae-won all over again.
Sun-woo had a history of using the kind-hearted Ok-ryeong and leaving her with a fatal wound. That had been his mistake—viewing her not as a person, but as a character in a novel. Because he saw her that way, he thought it was okay to use her, and he ended up hurting her.
Sun-woo, who had been fully intent on using Ok-ryeong to survive, had his entire perspective shifted after he started living with her.
She breathed. She laughed brightly. She thought, and she acted.
She was a human being.
Upon realizing that, Sun-woo had been consumed by a searing regret. Without even knowing it, he had fallen in love with her.
After she collapsed, Sun-woo made a vow: he would never love another character in this novel again. He had realized for the first time how heavy the burden of being responsible for someone else truly was.
He didn't want to feel that regret ever again.
To survive the hands of Lee Jae-won, the strongest being in this world, he might have to use and torment countless people in the future. If he allowed himself to feel affection or pity every time, he wouldn't survive.
He had made that vow, yet his heart and mind refused to align.
Was she not just a defenseless woman who knew no martial arts? Was her child not watching the whole thing?
Sun-woo was just a reader who liked novels, an ordinary citizen, but he knew the difference between right and wrong. This was undeniably evil, and he wanted to stop it with every fiber of his being.
But he couldn't step forward.
Though he desperately wanted to rush out and wring Tang Se-gi’s neck, acting on emotion now would lead to an irreversible disaster. Even if he defeated the guards and saved the woman, he would incur the wrath of the Tang Clan. An emotional choice could lead to the deaths of both the woman and the child.
Sun-woo clenched his fists so hard that blood began to seep from his knuckles.
'Tang Se-gi...'
A murderous rage toward the man blossomed within him.
In the end, unable to bear the shame, the woman bit her tongue and committed suicide. Tang Se-gi simply pulled up his pants and left the scene. He even kicked the crying child away for good measure.
Once Tang Se-gi was gone, Sun-woo rushed to the child and checked his pulse. But the child, still so young, had been unable to withstand the kick of a martial artist like Tang Se-gi. He was already dead.
The small, delicate hand was already turning cold.
Sun-woo stood up without a word. Swallowing his rage in silence, he began to tail Tang Se-gi once more.
How much time had passed?
As Tang Se-gi walked down the main road, a constable and several guards approached him. It seemed the dead woman’s husband had reported the crime. The grief-stricken man pointed a finger at Tang Se-gi, but all he received in return was a beating from the guards.
It was the very definition of injustice.
Despite having brutally destroyed a family, Tang Se-gi showed neither remorse nor fear of punishment. He simply headed up to Geumhwa Pavilion to drink. He summoned his cronies and began drinking as if there were no tomorrow.
And then, the opportunity arrived.
The guards, watching him get dead drunk, began to leave. Since it was his routine to drink until he passed out and wake up the next day, they decided to head out and return in the morning.
This was the only time of day he was vulnerable.
However, if he stayed holed up inside Geumhwa Pavilion, Sun-woo couldn't make his move.
Sun-woo began to pray inwardly. He prayed that this piece of shit would get some crazy idea and step outside.
'Please come out. Please.'
According to the theory of the Yin-Yang Demon, he possessed something called "plot armor." He had dismissed it as nonsense at the time, but now that he was desperate, it was the first thing that came to mind.
'Please, please, please let me kill this bastard!'
It was then.
Step, step.
Tang Se-gi began to stagger out of Geumhwa Pavilion.
'Yes!'
Sun-woo followed him stealthily, watching the situation unfold. Fortunately, the drunkard headed toward an abandoned Guan Yu Shrine on the outskirts of town. Sun-woo seized the moment. The guards were gone, and there was no one else around.
Sun-woo ambushed Tang Se-gi while he was in the middle of taking a piss. He personally used a knife to "correct" the foul-mouthed habits the scoundrel was so proud of.
First, he pulled out all of the man's fingernails and toenails to instill absolute terror. Then, he severed the tendons in one wrist and one ankle.
After that, everything went smoothly.
Tang Se-gi became extremely cooperative, and Sun-woo extracted the information he needed with satisfaction. Even after obtaining a wealth of intel, his anger wasn't appeased.
'This bastard needs to suffer more.'
Sun-woo continued to squeeze him for information, demanding he recount his entire life story. Terrified of dying, Tang Se-gi spilled every secret he could remember, but Sun-woo wasn't satisfied. To "verify" the information, he made the man repeat everything he had just said.
Human memory isn't perfect; Tang Se-gi’s second account had inconsistencies. Every time a discrepancy appeared, Sun-woo's blade went to work without mercy.
He started with the remaining tendons, then moved on to the fingers, toes, nose, both ears, both eyes, and finally the phallus the man had wielded so recklessly. He carved into him relentlessly.
Tang Se-gi, who had initially begged for his life, eventually began to plead for death. But Sun-woo had no intention of granting that mercy yet, continuing to torment his mind by slicing away bits of his flesh.
Only when there was nothing left to mutilate did Sun-woo finally stop.
"Why... are you... doing this... to me...?" Tang Se-gi managed to ask as the carving ceased.
"Why did you do that to them?"
"...Them...?"
"The countless people you've killed."
"I am... of the direct line... of the Sichuan Tang Clan... I am allowed..."
"Same here."
Thuck.
Sun-woo drove his blade into Tang Se-gi’s forehead.
"I'm allowed, too."
Whoosh!
After killing Tang Se-gi, Sun-woo summoned Samadhi True Fire. His first act was to burn Tang Se-gi’s face until it was unrecognizable. The acrid smell of burning human skin filled the shrine as thick smoke rose.
"Cough, cough... Even this bastard's burning flesh smells disgusting."
After a few coughs, Sun-woo set the entire shrine ablaze and stepped outside. He watched the burning building from a distance.
Everything was ready.
Sun-woo activated the Zhu-Rong Art and began to alter his bone structure and facial features. Since he had to physically shift his bones and stretch or contract his muscles, it took more time and trial-and-error than he had expected.
Only after several attempts at reconstructing his face did he manage to look exactly like Tang Se-gi. Then, he adjusted his vocal cords to mimic the man's voice as closely as possible.
After that, Sun-woo stripped off his clothes and lay down to sleep on the main road. Since he didn't know the way into the Tang Clan manor anyway, he figured he’d let them find him. Besides, for a scoundrel like Tang Se-gi, passing out drunk on the street was perfectly in character.
The plan worked perfectly. Sun-woo was picked up by the late-arriving guards and carried across the threshold of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Subsequently, he was sentenced to house arrest as punishment for tarnishing the clan's reputation, which brought him to his current situation.
Initially, Sun-woo had been so pleased with his successful infiltration that he had been whistling and grinning to himself. The house arrest was an unexpected stroke of luck.
Even though he looked like Tang Se-gi, he would surely be suspected if he didn't act exactly like him. But house arrest provided the perfect excuse to stay confined within the manor. It was like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.
'Now, where should I start looking?'
Just as Sun-woo was lost in thought again...
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on his door echoed through the room.
"Who is it?"
"It's your mother, Gia. Open the door."
The visitor was none other than the Great Matriarch, Un Ga-ryeo.
'What do I do? What do I do?'
Why would she visit someone under house arrest? Her sudden appearance threw Sun-woo into a panic.
Sun-woo quickly unlocked the door he had bolted and opened it.
As the door swung open, the Great Matriarch, Un Ga-ryeo, was revealed.
At first glance, her beauty was so radiant it was hard to believe she was a middle-aged woman. She had sharp but beautiful eyes, a straight nose, glowing red lips, and a face with exquisite lines. While her slightly fierce gaze was a minor flaw, she was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen, with the exception of Ok-ryeong.
If Ok-ryeong possessed a youthful, fresh beauty, the woman before him—who looked to be in her mid-thirties—exuded an aura of maturity, elegance, and sensuality honed by years of experience.
Furthermore, her figure was incredibly voluptuous. Even though her clothes weren't skin-tight, her large breasts asserted their presence boldly. Her hips, perhaps because she had borne children, were wide and ample, instantly capturing Sun-woo’s gaze.
'...Holy shit!'
While Sun-woo was inwardly marveling to the point of cursing...
Flump.
She rushed forward and pulled Sun-woo into a tight embrace.
"How hard it must have been for you... Don't worry about anything now. Your mother will take care of everything."
She spoke tenderly through a cascade of tears, but Sun-woo couldn't hear a word she said.
He was too busy feeling the distinct sensation of her massive tits pressed against his chest.
'This... this is dangerous!!'
Sun-woo felt a profound sense of crisis.