Chapter 690: I Don't Care if We Become Enemies!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 690: I Don't Care if We Become Enemies!
"She did nothing wrong. Why should I punish someone who is blameless?"
Sun-woo spoke with a calm, composed expression.
She truly hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, she deserved praise.
Tang Jin-seol, the mistress of the Cheonmu Alliance, was a woman whose position made it no exaggeration to say she belonged to the Alliance now, even if she was a direct-line descendant of the Tang Clan.
And hadn't Yorang effectively blocked her attempt to interfere in the clan’s internal affairs?
Punishment? When he should be giving her a reward? It was preposterous.
"The Head of the Jaegyeong Pavilion did nothing wrong? What on earth are you talking about?"
Tang Jin-seol spoke, her face contorted in disbelief.
Nothing wrong? How can he say something so nonsensical?
She was the one who had been struck. She, the mistress of the Cheonmu Alliance and a direct-line descendant of the Tang Clan. And it had happened right in front of numerous members of the branch families.
How could he possibly say there was no wrongdoing?
"She simply fulfilled her duties as the Head of the Jaegyeong Pavilion to the best of her ability. Why would I punish her for that?"
"Are you saying that using violence against me is part of her duty?"
Tang Jin-seol glared at Sun-woo with sharp, piercing eyes. Her gaze was filled with a murderous intent that felt like it could slice through skin.
"Precisely."
Sun-woo nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"I cannot accept this!" Tang Jin-seol immediately protested. It was utterly incomprehensible to her.
"Was it not you who barged into the Jaegyeong Pavilion and acted like a tyrant?" Sun-woo continued, his gaze infinitely serious.
"Wh-what?! A tyrant!?"
Tang Jin-seol looked at Sun-woo with eyes full of betrayal.
"You went to the Jaegyeong Pavilion, overstepped your authority, and even assaulted the members there. How is that anything but acting like a tyrant?" Sun-woo countered, his eyes narrowing.
"Tyrant? I was merely providing proper guidance to the Jaegyeong Pavilion members who weren't fulfilling their duties!" Tang Jin-seol raised her voice, looking wronged.
"Guidance, you say..."
Sun-woo trailed off, a look of amusement crossing his face.
"By what right do you think you can 'guide' them?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Wh-what did you say?!"
Tang Jin-seol asked back, her expression one of pure bewilderment.
"All authority regarding the Jaegyeong Pavilion belongs to its Head. No matter what mistakes they make, only the Head of the Jaegyeong Pavilion has the right to discipline them. By what authority do you think you can guide or punish them?"
Sun-woo glared at her with a sharp gaze.
Yorang was the one managing the Jaegyeong Pavilion. She held all the rights concerning it. So why was Tang Jin-seol, an out-married member, trying to infringe upon those rights? It made no sense from the start.
"I am a direct-line descendant of the Tang Clan! I am the bloodline that forms the very foundation and framework of this family! I believe I have the right to intervene to that extent!"
Tang Jin-seol glared back at Sun-woo with a venomous look.
"You are wrong. You have no such authority."
Sun-woo spoke firmly.
"I have never given you such authority, nor do I have any intention of ever doing so."
"What!?"
"How dare an outsider try to meddle in the affairs of the Tang Clan!"
Sun-woo raised his voice, his eyes burning with anger. He was disgusted by her attitude of overstepping her authority without a second thought.
"I am of the Tang bloodline!" Tang Jin-seol screamed, her eyes blazing.
"But are you not an out-married member?"
Sun-woo raised his voice further, refusing to back down.
"I may have married out, but the fact that Tang blood flows through my veins is undeniable!"
"No matter what blood flows through you, once you have married out, you are an outsider! How is it that you are the only one who doesn't realize this?"
The two of them locked eyes in a tense standoff for a long moment.
After some time had passed, Tang Jin-seol spoke in a sharp tone.
"Brother, do you intend to lead the Tang Clan to ruin?"
"I should be the one asking you that. Do you want to see the Tang Clan ruined?"
Sun-woo glared back at her with equally sharp eyes.
"I only want to set the Tang Clan on the right path!"
"The Tang Clan is already on the right path. There is no need for your interference!"
"A mere branch family member acted as if they were equal to a direct-line descendant! They dared to talk back to me and rebuke me! When the hierarchy has become this shambolic, how can you say the Tang Clan is on the right path? It's absurd!"
"What is wrong with rebuking someone for doing something incorrect?"
"What!?"
"As an outsider, you overstepped your authority. How can you say their response was wrong?"
Sun-woo’s voice grew cold, like the Bitter Cold Northern Wind.
"In fact, they were quite considerate of you. No one stopped you when you barged into the Jaegyeong Pavilion as an outsider, and no one intervened even when you assaulted a member. You were treated with more than enough consideration, so how can you complain about a lack of hierarchy?"
"Brother!"
Tang Jin-seol’s face turned beet red as she screamed. She was filled with an uncontrollable rage.
"Are you saying you're willing to cross me right now?"
She glared at Sun-woo with eyes as sharp as blades.
"Are you the one who wants to cross me?"
Vrooooooom.
"Crossing me is no different from crossing the Cheonmu Alliance."
Tang Jin-seol glared venomously at Sun-woo.
"You should know better than anyone what it means to be at odds with the Cheonmu Alliance."
To be at odds with the Cheonmu Alliance meant giving up all the benefits they had gained from them until now. Furthermore, it meant shifting from an alliance to a competitive relationship. It meant becoming enemies.
That was why Tang Jin-seol could be so venomous. Most sects feared making an enemy of the Cheonmu Alliance.
"Can you handle it? Being at odds with the Tang Clan?"
Sun-woo threw the question back at her. He was asking if she was prepared to face the consequences of making an enemy of her own family.
"I truly don't understand."
Tang Jin-seol spoke with a look of genuine confusion.
"What on earth are you relying on to be this stubborn, Brother?"
Even if the Cheonmu Alliance's reputation had been tarnished because of Jang Sun-woo, it was still the greatest single power in the Murim. In terms of sheer scale, it was more than three times the size of the Tang Clan, and its martial might was correspondingly immense. Its financial resources were also vast, matching its size.
How could he be so overtly hostile toward such an organization? Unless he had the Imperial Palace backing him, it should have been impossible.
"I rely on myself. And I rely on the Tang Clan."
Sun-woo spoke with a dignified expression.
"Do you really think a crippled Tang Clan can stand against the Cheonmu Alliance?"
"Why not?"
"How arrogant."
"Someone once said that if you can back up your words, it's not arrogance—it's confidence."
"You can't back it up. If you become an enemy of the Cheonmu Alliance, the Tang Clan will fall."
"Shall we put that to the test?"
Sun-woo met her gaze with an incredibly serious look.
"..............."
Tang Jin-seol stared at Sun-woo in silence, as if in a battle of wills. Sun-woo did not look away. He felt no need to.
After another long silence, Tang Jin-seol finally spoke.
"I don't understand. All you had to do was restore my damaged pride, and this would have ended quietly. Why are you being so stubborn?"
"I cannot punish my own people just to satisfy the pride of someone who was clearly in the wrong."
"If you just bowed your head once, this would all be over."
"I cannot bow, not even that once."
Sun-woo shook his head.
"It's like you've become a different person."
Tang Jin-seol glared at Sun-woo with suspicious eyes.
"I thought you were a man who pursued practical interests, someone who would know how to make a better choice."
"And what would that 'better' choice be?"
"Enduring it just this once for the stability of the clan..."
"Just this once! Just this one time! One last time! It's always 'just once'! It might be convenient for a moment, but that 'one time' will become the poison and the dagger that leads the clan to its destruction!"
Sun-woo roared, his anger erupting like a volcano.
"If I were to take your side after you overstepped your authority, instead of the Head of the Jaegyeong Pavilion! If I were to force her to apologize! What member of this family would ever respect the clan or feel a sense of belonging!? If I punish someone for doing their duty, who would ever take pride in their work or fulfill their responsibilities!?"
Sun-woo glared at Tang Jin-seol with eyes burning with passion.
"You say bowing to you is the better choice? You are wrong. For the Tang Clan, bowing now would be the worst possible choice! To its members, the clan must be an eternal ally and a sturdy shield! If the clan turns its back on them when they truly need it, who would ever sacrifice themselves for the family?"
"............."
Tang Jin-seol fell silent at Sun-woo’s explosive reaction. Seeing the usually cold and composed Tang Jin-cheol erupt in such fury, she didn't dare speak recklessly.
"You asked if it's okay to be at odds with the Cheonmu Alliance? I'll give you your answer. I don't care if we become enemies! I don't care if we become foes! If an alliance requires us to strip away the pride of the Tang Clan and be raised like cattle, then breaking it is a hundred, a thousand times better!"
Sun-woo raised his voice, emitting a tremendous spirit.
".............."
Overwhelmed by Sun-woo’s momentum, Tang Jin-seol remained speechless. She wanted to argue, but the words wouldn't come out.
"From now on, you are forbidden from roaming freely through the Tang Clan. Furthermore, you will be treated strictly as an outsider, not a direct-line descendant. You may receive the hospitality due to a guest, but you will never be treated as you were before!"
Sun-woo declared with a firm expression.
"You won't be able to go anywhere without an escort, and you must act only as a guest! You brought this upon yourself, and I have no intention of retracting these words. Bear that in mind!"
".............."
"If you have a complaint, feel free to send a letter to the Cheonmu Alliance at any time! I am prepared to scrap our alliance with them this very moment!"
Sun-woo glared at her with eyes as cold as ice. His gaze was filled with absolute resolve.
".........You will regret this."
Tang Jin-seol glared venomously at Sun-woo as she spoke.
"I have no regrets regarding my decisions."
Sun-woo stared back with a dignified expression.
Tang Jin-seol gave him one last stinging glare before turning around.
Click, clack, click, clack.
She began to walk away without a moment's hesitation. Sun-woo simply watched her retreating back.
Creeeeeak.
Slam!
She exited the office, slamming the door violently behind her.
"Tsk, what a nasty temper."
Sun-woo clicked his tongue and cursed her. Taking her anger out on a door seemed pathetic to him.
*
"Aaaaaaaah!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the room. Tang Jin-seol had begun to explode in uncontrollable rage.
She swung her fist at the table in front of her.
Crack!
The table legs gave way, and it collapsed completely.
Boom!
Next, she stomped her foot onto the marble floor. The floor shattered, and marble fragments flew in every direction.
Thud! Thud!
Then she began to pound on the walls with her fists.
Cr-crack! Cr-crack!
Fine lines and fissures began to spread across the walls. The entire room was becoming a shambles.
Yet, her anger remained unquenched. Tang Jin-seol continued to rage and storm until the massive fury rising from deep within her finally began to subside.
After some time...
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Tang Jin-seol stopped her destruction, breathing heavily. The rage that had been strangling her chest had finally calmed down somewhat.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Just then, someone began to knock on her door.
"Who is it!" Tang Jin-seol answered in a venomous voice.
"It's me."
A familiar voice drifted in.
"Come in."
Tang Jin-seol spoke coldly.
Creeeeeeak.
The door opened, and a man in familiar attire appeared. He was a giant of a man, seven feet tall, with muscles like solid rock covering his entire body.
It was the Fist King, Eon Jung-gi.
"Finished with your tantrum?"
Eon Jung-gi entered the room with a smirk. Seeing the vixen raging like a madwoman was quite entertaining to him.
"Welcome, Clan Head Eon."
Tang Jin-seol greeted him in a calm tone.
"Forget the greetings. Just tell me why you called."
Eon Jung-gi got straight to the point. He had come to her room because of her sudden summons.
"There is something I need you to do."
Tang Jin-seol spoke, her eyes glinting like a viper's. She began to exude an aura as dangerous as a venomous snake.