The Return of the Trash
Tang Sanlong was back.
The same Sanlong everyone had assumed was dead had returned with nothing but a splint on one arm, looking healthier and brighter than ever before.
“Is that really Tang Sanlong?”
“How the hell did he survive?”
“Maybe he wasn’t even in Guya-rim. Maybe he was hiding somewhere else this whole time?”
Everyone who saw him return safely started spinning conspiracy theories that he’d never actually gone into exile. But if that had been true, the elders and the branch families would have raised hell immediately. Thanks to the fact that neither group welcomed his return, the ridiculous rumors died down quickly.
“You’ve returned, young master?”
“Oh? Chief Administrator Im came out personally?”
“Yes.”
Im Hak-seon, who managed various affairs for the Tang Clan’s direct line, stared at Sanlong with a less-than-pleased expression.
He was already worried about what kind of trouble this perfectly healthy Sanlong would cause next.
The memories of cleaning up after Sanlong’s various disasters flashed through his mind like a panorama.
‘Should I just quit?’
Watching the chief administrator absentmindedly rubbing the resignation letter he kept in his chest pocket, Sanlong spoke up.
“Can I go see the clan leader right now?”
“That would be difficult at the moment.”
“Why?”
Was he seriously asking?
He looked like a beggar from the Beggars’ Sect.
“The clan leader is busy with official duties. Why don’t you wash up first, visit the Medicine Hall, and then schedule a proper meeting?”
No matter how close the relationship, the leader of the Tang Clan couldn’t be visited on a whim.
In the past, Sanlong would have thrown a tantrum.
But having led a small guild in his previous life, he understood exactly how exhausting and headache-inducing it was to run any organization. He could accept it.
“It must be disappointing, but the reason is…”
“Hmm… I see. Can’t be helped, then.”
He would have acted like a spoiled child before.
Watching Sanlong casually walk past him toward the residence, Im Hak-seon tilted his head slightly in confusion.
He had prepared all sorts of excuses to calm down the inevitable tantrum, but they had all become useless.
“Oh, right. After I wash up and visit the Medicine Hall, I’ll go see my mother. If you have anything to say, come find me there.”
“Understood, young master.”
Once Chief Administrator Im disappeared and the surrounding servants scattered to their tasks, a familiar voice rang out.
“Did you see that? That worm was trembling in front of me…”
“As expected, Gihyo’s Tangga-gwon is the best!”
“At this rate, won’t he end up beating Fifth Young Master too?”
Once again, Tang Gu and Tang Gi were busy flattering Tang Gihyo.
If you listened closely, it was clear they were bragging about beating up someone again.
Still tormenting those weaker than themselves to fill the holes in their pathetic self-esteem.
‘A good beating is the best medicine.’
Bragging about something like that in public? It seemed the lessons from last time hadn’t been enough.
“I’ll completely crush Tang Sanlong for you… uh… uh…?”
Tang Gu, who had boldly declared he would smash Sanlong to pieces for Gihyo, suddenly froze like a statue.
“Uh… uh……”
The moment his eyes met Sanlong’s, Tang Gu could only open and close his mouth like a mute. Sanlong quietly beckoned with his hand.
“Come here.”
At Sanlong’s call, Tang Gu remembered the past.
The Sanlong who used to tremble at the mere sight of his raised hand was now standing there so boldly.
The feeling of being ignored made rage slowly bubble up inside him.
With people watching and Gihyo right beside him, Tang Gu shouted, determined to repay the humiliation from before.
“Tang Sanlong! I’ll pay you back for last ti—urk!”
Thud!
Sanlong, who had closed the distance in an instant, slammed a kick into Tang Gu’s face.
Tang Gu collapsed face-first onto the ground in a pathetic heap, twitching unconscious.
“You bastard! Ack—aaack! My arm! My arm!”
Tang Gi threw a punch from the side, only for it to be caught by Sanlong’s Geumna-su.
“Ugh.”
Thud!
Sanlong had considered breaking it, but he didn’t want to cause a huge incident on his very first day back. Instead, he drove a side kick into the man’s stomach.
“Guh! Blegh!”
Tang Gi proceeded to show everyone what he had eaten for lunch.
Only then did Sanlong quietly turn to face Tang Gihyo.
“D-don’t come near me!”
The moment he saw Sanlong, the eye under his eyepatch began to throb, and phantom pain shot through the arm and leg that had been broken before.
Tang Gihyo unconsciously took a step back.
“Stay away!”
“I told you to stay still.”
“Don’t come near me! Stay away!”
Screaming like he was having a seizure, Tang Gihyo turned and fled without looking back. Watching him run, Sanlong thought back to the past and wondered why he had ever let himself be pushed around by someone like this.
‘The giant, demonic Tang Gihyo I remembered was just an illusion I created myself.’
With an epiphany that made him feel like he had attained the Dao, Sanlong strolled casually until he arrived at his residence.
It was still far too rundown and poorly maintained to belong to the third young master of the direct line. Still, compared to Guya-rim, this place might as well have been an imperial palace.
“Why do I have to keep cleaning the room of someone who’s supposed to be dead? Sigh.”
Aeng-hwa was grumbling while sweeping with a broom, having already decided Sanlong was dead. She noticed him late.
“…Who are you?”
“Who else? It’s me.”
“Huh?”
Her brain seemed to short-circuit for a moment. After staring at his face several times and hearing that familiar voice, she quickly bowed her head.
“Young master! You’ve returned!”
He had lost weight and looked like a beggar, but to her, it was the same Sanlong she had grown sick of seeing every day.
“Yeah. Unfortunately, I survived. Prepare a nice hot bath and bring me some new clothes.”
“Yes! Right away!”
Perhaps because of what she had just said, Aeng-hwa scurried away like she was fleeing.
Seeing that side of her again after so long actually felt welcoming.
“Should I do some qi circulation before the water’s ready?”
Since he hadn’t fully digested the inner dan of the Thousand-Year Spider yet, Sanlong sat down in the weed-filled training yard and began operating the Shipdok Shingong.
‘Thanks to the Thousand-Year Spider’s inner dan, I’ve almost reached the peak of the Shipdok Shingong. To move on to the Hundred Poisons stage… Hoo… From here on, it’s all about talent and enlightenment.’
Even an average person could quickly reach first-rate.
But reaching first-rate wasn’t the end.
A massive wall called the absolute peak stood in the way.
Some people died without ever crossing that wall in their entire lives, while others reached absolute peak as easily as breathing.
At this stage, talent became incredibly important.
For a moment, the unfairness of talent made him feel bitter, but Sanlong quickly pulled himself together.
‘It’s fine. As long as I don’t give up.’
Even if he never gave up, he might still never cross the first-rate wall in his lifetime. But if he did nothing, he would miss even the smallest opportunities that might appear.
A single moment. A fleeting flash of enlightenment!
To catch even that slender thread, he had to keep working steadily.
“Young master, the bath is ready!”
Leaving behind Aeng-hwa, who was already sweating profusely from carrying the water, Sanlong scrubbed away the accumulated grime.
“Ah~ That feels good~”
With the signature humming of a middle-aged man, he finished washing and put on the neatly prepared silk clothes.
“Oh……”
Swish. Rustle.
Was this what silk felt like?
Even though the direct line’s position within the clan had narrowed, the family still spared no expense on silk clothes for the good-for-nothing in order to maintain the clan’s dignity.
“Hmm. Not bad at all.”
He was admiring his changed appearance in the mirror when—
“Elder brother!”
“Whoa, you scared me!”
It wasn’t Tang Oryong’s visit that startled him, but the sight of his own face reflected in the mirror.
“Ahem. Hm!”
Regretting that he had looked in the mirror the moment he saw his younger brother, Sanlong greeted Oryong warmly.
“You’re back from training?”
“Yes!”
Even though he was sweating and his clothes were a mess, his handsome face somehow made him look radiant.
“Hah!”
The unfairness of it all made him snort without thinking.
Whether he knew what Sanlong was thinking or not, Oryong approached.
“Elder brother! You’ve returned safely. Is your arm alright?”
“The emergency treatment was good. I was planning to head to the Medicine Hall right away.”
“I see. I was really worried!”
“Worried about what?”
While no one else seemed happy about his return, seeing his younger brother genuinely pleased made Sanlong regret how he had treated him in the past.
‘To think I said such harsh things to such a handsome and kind kid! Ugh!’
The sudden rush of emotion passed quickly as Sanlong composed himself and spoke politely.
“It’ll be troublesome if the treatment is delayed any longer, so let’s talk later.”
“Understood, elder brother. You must be tired. I got too excited.”
“It’s fine. Oh, and here. A gift.”
“What is this?”
“Heuk-shi-bong poison.”
The Heuk-shi-bong that only lived in the heart of Guya-rim.
And it was the poison of that very wasp!
Oryong looked slightly moved.
“And this is the poison of a thirty-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa.”
He hadn’t been able to find a hundred-year-old one, but he had somehow managed to locate a thirty-year-old specimen.
It had been quite the struggle to obtain it.
Both Heuk-shi-bong and Eung-hyeol-sa poison…
Oryong’s eyes grew misty, as if he might cry at any moment.
“These are so precious… Please use them for your own cultivation, elder brother!”
“They have no effect on me anymore. It’s a gift, so take good care of them.”
“You’ve already consumed two poisons?”
“That’s right.”
“…Incredible!”
Aeng-hwa, who had been quietly watching, muttered under her breath.
“Both of you… are weird.”
Whether it was Sanlong giving poison as a gift or Oryong being moved by it, to Aeng-hwa they both just looked abnormal.
Clan Leader’s Hall.
As usual, the place was packed with elders and branch family members whining for this and that. If their demands weren’t met, they would oppose whatever the clan leader did. It was a hall that always echoed with complaints.
Yet today, only a chilly silence filled the air.
“Have you found anything regarding the assassin?”
“My apologies. The traces were erased perfectly.”
At the Amryong-dae leader’s report, Clan Leader Tang Munseong leaned back in his chair.
“Is the Tang Clan’s Biyeop-dan incompetent? Or is the opponent simply that skilled?”
The Biyeop-dan was the Tang Clan’s intelligence organization.
The fact that even they had found nothing about the assassin genuinely intrigued Tang Munseong.
Tang Gaemun spoke up.
“If someone dares to touch the Tang Clan, it may be the work of the Hyeolbi-jong.”
“Hyeolbi-jong… Yes, if it’s them, they would certainly accept a request against our clan.”
The Hyeolbi-jong, known as the largest and most secretive assassination organization among the murim’s killers.
If not them, there was virtually no other group that would accept a request to assassinate a direct descendant of the Tang Clan.
Watching the two of them, Tang Chiyeol spoke bluntly.
“It’s definitely something Eon Jungmi sent.”
“Tang Chiyeol.”
Tang Munseong raised a hand to cut him off.
He knew it too, but without clear evidence, such words would only create unnecessary trouble.
Tang Chiyeol was capable in many ways, but he always spoke too directly and ended up making situations worse.
“Do not mention this matter again. Amryong-dae leader, select a separate team to investigate both the Hyeolbi-jong and Eon Jungmi.”
“Understood.”
“That aside, I’ve brought some rather interesting news.”
Tang Munseong looked at the sullen-faced Tang Chiyeol and continued.
“Sanlong caught the Thousand-Year Spider?”
“Yes.”
“Not you?”
“I gave him a little help, but it was Third Young Master who killed it. I also helped him absorb the inner dan properly.”
Even though Tang Chiyeol was a martial artist and the inner dan was tempting, he had no desire to steal something someone had risked their life to obtain.
‘I’m curious, though.’
He wondered how much Tang Sanlong would grow after consuming that inner dan.
‘He was already impressive after just stepping into second-rate. What if he grows even more? This should be fun.’
Watching him, Tang Munseong took a sip of his cooled tea.
“It was fortunate I sent you as his watcher. If it had been anyone else…”
They probably would have killed Sanlong and taken the inner dan.
An inner dan was that tempting to martial artists.
Of course, Tang Chiyeol had a slightly different thought.
‘Would that Third Young Master really have died so obediently?’
It would be fortunate if the opponent didn’t end up as the victim instead.
“Haha. Then has Sanlong reached the great completion of the Shipdok Shingong?”
“Yes. He has essentially achieved great completion. Though I don’t know when he will break through that final wall.”
“True. There are those who never cross it in their entire lives.”
Even so, Tang Munseong nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Could you tell me the details of that story?”
“Well……”
Tang Chiyeol calmly recounted how Sanlong had slain the Thousand-Year Spider.
Throughout the entire story, Tang Munseong wore a satisfied smile.
“Hahaha!”
For the first time in a while, Tang Munseong felt the heavy frustration caused by the elders and branch families melt away.
“Sanlong has definitely changed. He’s changed.”
“I now understand that the rumors I heard about Third Young Master at the Murim Alliance were quite different from reality.”
At Tang Chiyeol’s words, Tang Munseong spoke seriously.
“At the time, those rumors were true.”
No matter how much he was his own son, facts were facts.
“I see.”
“Haha.”
Regardless of what had happened, seeing his child change for the better was a happy thing for any parent.
“Should we give Sanlong a task as well?”
“Third Young Master has not yet completed his time at Tanggidae.”
“The second half of the fifth year at Tanggidae is mostly about carrying out clan missions anyway. Find something suitable to assign him.”
“Understood.”
“That boy must be overjoyed.”
Remembering how Sanlong used to throw tantrums asking why he wasn’t given clan missions, Tang Munseong smiled warmly.
Little did he know that the Sanlong who had regained his past-life memories simply wanted to train, play, and live comfortably.
“Third Young Master will be delighted!”
“You think so?”
“That Third Young Master?”
They were clearly dreaming different dreams.
Tang Chiyeol couldn’t imagine Sanlong being happy about it at all.
But his words didn’t reach Tang Munseong or Tang Gaemun.
“Hahaha!”
And so, completely unaware of Sanlong’s true feelings, Tang Munseong burst into hearty laughter, convinced his son would be thrilled.