Chapter 340
Chapter 340
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 90
>Chapter Title: The Culprit (6)
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The head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, Tang In-hae, could not hide his bewilderment.
He had believed that, given their utterly opposing positions, they would fight to the death with only one surviving.
So why had this man, known as the Tang Clan's guardian, appeared alongside the one mentioned in the Sacred Fire Command's prophecy?
Unable to comprehend the situation at all, Tang In-hae's mind fell into chaos.
What in the world had happened?
It was right then, as he puzzled over it.
"Foolish to take your eyes off this old man!"
He flinched.
Startled by the shout, Tang In-hae turned his gaze.
In that instant, Gu Yang-so, the Pal Poison Snake Palm wielder, launched his dual palms infused with tremendous poison qi, like a toad waiting for its prey.
'Toad Poison Art secret technique: Eight Poisons Dominance!'
Whoosh!
'Damn it!'
Tang In-hae's pupils shook as he lost the initiative in that split second of distraction.
If he didn't handle this carefully here, he might lose his life not to the one from the prophecy, but to this old hag.
Whoosh!
It was understandable to panic, but Tang In-hae kept his composure in the situation and shot his body backward to create some distance.
Of course, Gu Yang-so had no intention of letting him escape and immediately pursued.
'Impressive.'
Despite the flawless poison palms and their momentum, which lasted only an instant, Tang In-hae inwardly couldn't help but admire it.
Naturally, her power had risen compared to before, and he could feel with his body that her techniques had become even more refined and her internal energy stronger.
However, he realized this technique had been crafted specifically to target him.
Realizing it was a move honed for this very moment, using all their previous clashes as stepping stones, he had no choice but to acknowledge it.
'It was created solely to thoroughly subdue me.'
If it had been him just a few months ago, he wouldn't have had any way to block this technique.
But after several real battles, he had nearly perfected it.
'Formless Poison Art. Nine Losses Blind Grievance!'
Hummm!
Tang In-hae's entire body shimmered like a heat haze as he halted his retreat and boldly propelled himself forward.
The basis of poison arts is to assimilate poison into the body and emit it along with qi.
Thus, the power and momentum of poison arts vary depending on how strong and abundant the assimilated poison is.
'Old man Gu Yang. In this match, I can't lose.'
No one in the Tang Clan's history had ever assimilated Formless Poison into a poison art.
Yet, over three generations, he had systematized a method to assimilate Formless Poison and completed the Formless Poison Art on that foundation.
It was regrettable that not much Formless Poison remained, but he was confident this Formless Poison Art was invincible.
'Old man, this ends it!'
Seeing the light of assured victory in Tang In-hae's eyes, Gu Yang-so steeled her resolve.
From the moment the poison qi's color turned colorless, she had suspected Tang In-hae might now wield Formless Poison, so she was already prepared to stake her life.
'It doesn't matter. This was accounted for anyway. Even if I fall to Formless Poison, in this duel, this old man wins.'
Yield flesh to take bone.
There was a saying like that.
Gu Yang-so intended to offer her own life to seize victory in this final duel.
To remain the pinnacle of poison arts in her era.
That was her last wish.
Whoosh!
The two poison art masters were moments from clashing.
It was right then.
Thud!
In the instant before they collided, someone wedged between them.
It was Mok Kyung-un.
'What?'
'Young Master Mok?'
Mok Kyung-un grabbed Gu Yang-so's wrist as she unleashed her Toad Poison Art dual palms and flung her upward.
Crack!
"Huhk!"
Even though it was a secret technique, caught off guard by the sudden intrusion with superior internal energy, Gu Yang-so's body soared five張 high.
Thud!
At the same time, Mok Kyung-un's palm clashed with Clan Head Tang In-hae's.
Tang In-hae's face twisted in fury as he was sent flying backward.
Just like Gu Yang-so, inferior in internal energy, the moment their palms met, a backlash surged from within.
Skrrrt!
Tang In-hae slid back over ten paces before finally stopping.
It was just a single clash, but his five viscera and six bowels churned as if blood would surge up any moment.
'A monstrous bastard.'
Tang In-hae inwardly clicked his tongue.
He knew she had just fought the Yu Clan member who could be called the Tang Clan's guardian.
Her true qi must have been greatly depleted, yet she still had this much energy left.
However,
'Ha!'
As he barely calmed his insides, the corner of Tang In-hae's mouth twitched.
An unexpected stroke of luck had occurred.
The palm strike that should have hit old man Gu Yang-so had been taken by that guy instead.
He felt like cheering inwardly.
'Hahaha. Foolish fool.'
He didn't know why he had intervened midway, but having taken Formless Poison with his bare body meant it was over.
His grandfather, the Flower Thousand Poison Hand Tang Yeon-jong, had told him that even a supreme master at the peak of internal energy cultivation could not survive Formless Poison poisoning.
Formless Poison was the epitome of poison itself.
No matter how high a peerless master had reached, proper exposure to this poison made detoxification impossible.
The only variable was that it was the first time someone who had surpassed the wall of walls and entered the grandmaster realm had been hit by Formless Poison, so it was hard to gauge how long he could endure.
Thud!
Just then, Gu Yang-so, who had soared into the air, landed on the ground.
Gu Yang-so, upon landing, looked troubled and protested to Mok Kyung-un in a complaining tone.
"Young Master Mok. Doesn't this violate our agreement?"
The one promise he had received from Mok Kyung-un was simple.
To let him duel the Tang Clan Head Tang In-hae one last time, without anyone's interference.
Yet Mok Kyung-un, with whom he had made the promise, had intervened midway—something he had never anticipated.
To him, Mok Kyung-un shrugged and said,
"Well, what agreement did I break?"
"No. You intervened in the middle of the duel..."
"If I hadn't intervened, you surely would have lost your life."
"It's a duel, Young Master!"
"Have you already forgotten the price you agreed to pay me? What was that price again?"
"That is..."
Gu Yang-so couldn't finish his words.
Thanks to Mok Kyung-un, he had lost face but become a dead man, escaping the organization's scrutiny.
Since he himself was now "dead," his family members no longer faced threats to their lives.
Because of this, Gu Yang-so had sworn that if he could fulfill just one wish, he would dedicate the rest of his life to Mok Kyung-un.
"Throwing away your life before paying the price is a violation."
"..."
Faced with Mok Kyung-un's words, Gu Yang-so had no reply.
A peerless grandmaster of Mok Kyung-un's caliber would never fail to read his Yield Flesh Take Bone maneuver.
That's why he had intervened.
Naturally, Gu Yang-so's gaze turned to Mok Kyung-un's hand.
He hadn't seen clearly, but while dismantling his secret technique, he seemed to have clashed with Tang In-hae as well.
'...No way he clashed directly, right?'
He believed the one who stepped in to save him wouldn't do something so reckless.
Every poison had an antidote, but Formless Poison was the exception.
Young Master Mok had some knowledge of poisons, so he must have noticed that Tang In-hae had assimilated Formless Poison into his poison art.
It was then.
"May I call you Young Master Yu?"
Clan Head Tang In-hae, arms crossed and observing like a spectator, called out to Yu Mu-jin.
Yu Mu-jin opened his mouth.
"I'm Yu Mu-jin. Call me whatever is comfortable."
"Pleased to meet you, Young Master Mu-jin. As you see, given the circumstances, I apologize for not greeting you properly."
"No need to mind that."
"Thank you for understanding. Since the situation is urgent, I'll get to the point. If I'm not mistaken, the Yu Clan has protected our clan like a shadow for generations, hasn't it? Isn't that right?"
"...Let's say that's so."
Tang In-hae inwardly grew puzzled at the somewhat displeased tone.
Why was he responding so lukewarmly?
No matter what he did, the Yu Clan had the duty to protect him and the Tang Clan according to their ancestors' precepts, or so he believed.
Finding it odd, Tang In-hae continued.
"But why are you with this beast threatening our clan? Just to be sure, you're not abandoning the duty your Yu Clan ancestors upheld, are you?"
At those words, Yu Mu-jin snorted.
"Duty..."
"Young Master?"
"It seems the Clan Head is under some misconception."
"Misconception? What do you mean?"
"It feels unpleasant hearing you talk as if the Yu Clan are subordinates of the Tang Clan. It seems you're treating the connection with our ancestral wife and her precepts as some lord-vassal relationship."
He flinched!
Tang In-hae, struck by Yu Mu-jin's barbed words, waved his hands as if realizing his mistake and said,
"Misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding. That wasn't my intent at all. I was just bewildered seeing you fight the beast targeting our clan and then stand together, so I asked out of concern. If it upset you, I, the Clan Head, apologize like this."
Clap!
Tang In-hae clasped his hands in a formal greeting pose to appease Yu Mu-jin.
Though that man had been exposed to Formless Poison, they were still outnumbered, so he absolutely needed to bring him to his side.
Then Yu Mu-jin spoke.
"You were bewildered because we're together... Speaking of which, I have something I'd like to ask the Tang Clan Head."
"What is it? Ask away."
"Is there any reason I must interfere in the Tang Clan's internal strife?"
'!?'
Tang In-hae's brow furrowed at Yu Mu-jin's words.
Now the mystery of why they had come here together was solved.
It seemed this monstrous guy had dueled Yu Mu-jin, the match not ending easily, and deceived him with sweet words.
Tang In-hae carefully broached the topic.
"Tang Clan's internal strife? Misunderstanding. How can it be internal when that one isn't even part of our clan?"
"Not part of the Tang Clan? Hmm. From what I heard, the one who raised him is from a Tang branch family..."
"That one can no longer be called a branch. How can we consider someone who joined a heretical cult inciting social chaos as part of the main clan?"
"Heretical cult inciting social chaos?"
"Young Master must have heard of the Hundred Flowers Church. They teach bizarre doctrines to innocent commoners and lead them astray."
"Hundred Flowers Church? Ah."
"See? You know of it too, Young Master. Strictly speaking, that one was raised by someone who fell into this Hundred Flowers Church heresy, kidnapping unrelated people over prophecies and such."
"Kidnapped... you say?"
"Yes. A member of a heretical group with not a drop of Tang blood—what motives he has I don't know—but he targeted our clan maliciously. How could this be internal strife?"
Would this be enough to pull Yu Mu-jin back to his side?
At least, knowing of his ties to the persecuted Hundred Flowers Church, any Central Plains man would feel some aversion.
But Yu Mu-jin tilted his head and said,
"Clan Head."
"Has the misunderstanding cleared up a bit?"
"It's strange. For someone who joined the Hundred Flowers Church and is no longer Tang Clan, why do you know so much about him in detail?"
'!?'
"You haven't even been told who raised him, yet you're pinpointing a specific person with certainty?"
"..."
Tang In-hae's words failed him for a moment.
What?
His intent was to inform Yu Mu-jin of that man's and Sea Whale Medicine Sage Zhang Mun-no's ties to the Hundred Flowers Church, planting aversion.
But Yu Mu-jin showed no interest in the Hundred Flowers Church.
"Young Master. That's not the point. This is about the Hundred Flowers Church..."
"Whether Hundred Flowers Church or whatever, there are more than one or two things that don't add up."
'No, this guy?'
Tang In-hae's mind grew complicated at Yu Mu-jin's tone and eyes full of doubt.
It was a reaction completely opposite to what he intended.
Unlike his expectation that aversion to the Hundred Flowers Church would bring him back, suspicion toward himself had only grown.
Why focus on other inconsistencies instead of the Hundred Flowers Church?
'I need to stay calm.'
Believing that crumbling here would make the situation irreparable, Tang In-hae tried to calmly resolve it.
"Young Master Mu-jin. I know what you're getting at. Some of what I said may not convince you fully. But I can explain everything, so for now..."
"Ah, really? Then how will you explain this?"
"What is it? I'll explain anything, so speak."
Yu Mu-jin stared sharply at him and spoke in a meaningful tone.
"While I was risking my life to protect the Tang Clan, why was the so-called Clan Head trying to sneak away alone?"
'!!!!!!'
At that question, Tang In-hae's expression hardened like stone.
Anything else, he could explain—but not this.
Surrounded on all sides with no songs of Chu, he realized he had no more choices left.
'...Damn it.'
The only way to escape this place was to exhaust all remaining Formless Poison for one final...
Boom!
It was right then.
Someone grabbed the back of Tang In-hae's head and slammed his face into the ground.
The force was so great that not just his face, but his entire head buried into the floor.
The one pressing down on his twitching occiput was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
"I'll take it from here."
[Chapter 90: The Culprit (6)] End