A Farewell Gift
The wide, spotless room felt almost too tidy for its purpose. Books were neatly arranged on one side, while stacks of paper covered in dense handwriting sat in careful piles atop a pristine desk.
“Hmm.”
A boy stood before the bed instead of lying on it, his face locked in deep, serious thought.
“Hmmm…”
The fifteen-year-old with an adorable face had adopted an unusually grave expression.
“Alright. I’ll give him this.”
After long deliberation, the boy made his choice. A single well-sharpened throwing blade and a small cylinder packed with slender hidden weapons.
“He’ll be leaving soon, right?”
Creak.
At that moment, someone opened the door without knocking and stepped inside. The boy knew there was only one person in the world who would enter like that.
“Sister, could you at least say something before you barge in?”
The beautiful girl who looked remarkably like the boy crossed her arms with a sullen face.
“Oh? Getting cocky now that you’ve grown a bit?”
“Sigh… No, I’m not.”
Knowing that arguing would only earn him more grief, the boy gave up and began gathering the items to leave the room.
“Where do you think you’re going? Your big sister came all this way to see you! Hey! Tang Oryong!”
Tang Oryong, the youngest direct descendant of the Tang Clan and widely regarded as the most talented among his siblings at fifteen years old, ignored her completely.
The girl calling after him was Tang Saryeong, his sixteen-year-old older sister and the fourth direct descendant of the clan, who was exactly one year his senior.
Yet Tang Oryong brushed her off cleanly.
“Where are you going?! Today’s the day of the!”
“I’m not even part of that group. Why are you trying to drag me along?”
“You’ll be sixteen next year. It’s about time you started making connections. Do you think the is just some casual gathering? It’s where all the rising stars of Sichuan Province come together. Even our older sister said she’s attending this time.”
How many so-called ... could there possibly be across this vast continent?
A gathering of Sichuan’s young talents. Tang Oryong had zero interest in such things.
He’d rather spend that time training in martial arts.
It’s basically just a knockoff of the Nine Dragons and Eight Phoenixes anyway.
Nine Dragons and Eight Phoenixes.
A collective term for the seventeen most outstanding young male and female masters representing the current Murim world. Most gatherings of rising stars were essentially watered-down versions of that elite circle.
Sigh…
The ...
The name sounded grand, but in reality it was nothing more than the children of Sichuan’s wealthy and powerful families getting together to network and build friendships.
Of course, one could argue that building connections was important for a direct descendant of a prestigious clan like the Tangs, but for Tang Oryong, it simply wasn’t a priority.
“Haaa…”
Tang Saryeong was growing increasingly frustrated. She knew she should introduce her little brother to the right people, but he kept acting like this.
If he only realizes how important this is later, it’ll be too late. He needs to start building relationships now.
He still seemed too young to understand just how crucial personal connections were in the Jianghu.
That was exactly why Tang Saryeong was so determined to drag her brother to this meeting.
“Where are you going?”
“I have somewhere to be.”
“Hmm.”
Why was Tang Oryong suddenly in such a hurry?
After a moment of thought, she recalled something one of the maids had mentioned a few days ago.
“You… you’re not going to see off that third brother of ours, are you?”
Tang Oryong didn’t bother denying it.
“Yes, I am. And technically, he’s your older brother too, Sister. Please watch how you refer to him.”
“Ha! That’s ridiculous.”
Did he really not understand that spending time networking at the would be far more beneficial than seeing off someone like Tang Sanlong?
And calling him “older brother”? That pathetic excuse of a human who was drowning in inferiority, too weak to even pick a fight with the children of minor clans, and who only ever bullied powerless servants and commoners while wasting his days at gambling dens and brothels?
For a brief moment, Tang Saryeong felt like her entire sense of common sense had been insulted.
She’d rather call a random beggar on the street “older brother” than refer to Tang Sanlong that way.
Who knows? That beggar might actually turn out to be a master from the Beggars’ Sect.
“Haaa……”
A deep sigh rose from the very bottom of Tang Saryeong’s dantian.
“Get a grip.”
It wasn’t as if her memories with Sanlong were entirely bad. There had been times when the three of them played together happily.
But after witnessing her younger siblings’ exceptional talent, the way Sanlong had grown jealous, wallowed in self-pity, and started spewing insults and throwing tantrums had killed any affection she once held for him long ago.
Everyone in the family had already given up on him. The only one who still refused to let go was Tang Oryong, and that fact frustrated her to no end.
“Haa~ Little brother… Hey! Tang Oryong!”
While she was lost in thought, Tang Oryong had already disappeared into the distance.
“Haaah! Chuhon Shimpyo!”
Was it because the house was so old and shabby that it seemed like a ghost might cry out? Yet the shout that rang out was far too full of life for that.
In the small training yard of the rundown house where the Tang Clan’s third young master supposedly lived, a shirtless Tang Sanlong was vigorously throwing stones.
Jiggle!
Every time he moved, his belly fat jiggled along with him. It was strangely captivating in the worst possible way.
That swaying gut contrasted sharply with his scrawny limbs and his thunderous battle cry.
Aeng-hwa couldn’t help but think the sight was truly bizarre.
“Do you really have to shout the technique name out loud every time?”
She had held back as long as she could before finally asking. As a maid from a martial family, it was a perfectly logical question.
“Of course. It makes it hit harder.”
The completely illogical answer made Aeng-hwa’s face twist in disgust.
“…Right. Just hurry up and leave for Guya-rim already.”
Does she have some kind of illness that forces her to blurt out whatever she’s thinking?
Leaving the muttering maid behind, Tang Sanlong finally realized the time had come.
One week…
That was the grace period he had been given before being sent to Guya-rim.
During that time, he had frequently visited his mother to comfort her, and spent the rest of his hours devoted to training.
Time really flies.
And today was the day he would finally enter Guya-rim.
Chuhon Shimpyo, Odok Shingong, Dokryong-bo…
He had trained in the Chuhon Shimpyo and Odok Shingong, and had also practiced the Tang Clan’s basic footwork technique, Dokryong-bo, for the sake of survival.
It was a movement art specialized in creating distance and evasion. In a place as dangerous as Guya-rim, it was practically mandatory after mastering the Odok Shingong.
The name sounds impressive, but it’s really just a footwork technique for running backward while maintaining distance. It’s perfect for me.
Throwing hidden weapons and throwing blades while fleeing backward—what could be more fitting for a cowardly long-range dealer?
I’ve more or less grasped the Chuhon Shimpyo now.
Truthfully, he had modified it to match his own mediocre talent. He had removed the parts that were simply too difficult to understand or execute.
He had changed it until it fit the description of “crude” that his father had used, yet even after stripping away so much, the power of the Chuhon Shimpyo remained intact.
“Huu…”
Having finished all his mental preparations for Guya-rim, Tang Sanlong turned to Aeng-hwa.
“Did you draw the bath?”
“I filled it with cold water.”
Is she trying to feed me to something? Well… in this shabby house without even a proper well, filling a bathtub must have been difficult enough.
“Good… Load my luggage onto the carriage in advance. I’ll wash up and stop by somewhere before I leave.”
“Understood.”
Aeng-hwa pulled out a small bundle from the room.
“That’s all?”
“You’re being punished. This is already a blessing. At least you’ll be able to eat like a human being for the first week.”
The bundle was quite modest. A few books and some wall-breaking pills were all it contained.
“Hmm.”
Looking at the wall-breaking pills he had only ever seen in books in his previous life, Tang Sanlong felt a complicated mix of emotions.
They were dark, round, and gave off a musty smell. They looked exactly like dung balls rolled by a dung beetle.
I’m going there of my own will, but now that the day has actually arrived, it feels incredibly unpleasant.
“I also packed the books you asked for.”
Aeng-hwa looked at him with an expression that seemed to ask, Don’t you even know that much as a direct descendant?
At least this time she had kept her real thoughts inside her head.
“Then put that in the carriage. I’ll wash up and take care of one last thing before I go.”
After wiping away his sweat with cold water, Tang Sanlong put on his worn-out clothes.
There was no point wearing silk robes when he was heading to Guya-rim anyway.
He walked the familiar path until his steps came to a stop in front of the training grounds of Tanggidae.
“Hah! Hup!”
“Hah!”
“Yaaah!”
Even though it was nearly lunchtime, the sounds of Tanggidae members training could still be heard beyond the wall.
Tang Sanlong walked past the training grounds and continued a little farther.
These bastards… They should be around here somewhere.
While some were training diligently, there were always those who slacked off.
“Is your eye okay?”
“I heard that Tang Sanlong bastard is being sent to Guya-rim.”
“I should’ve made both his eyes the same before he left!”
And the leader of these slackers was none other than Tang Gihyo, the one with whom Tang Sanlong shared a particularly vicious grudge.
The reason they tormented me was because I supposedly damaged the Tang Clan’s reputation by bullying servants and hanging around gambling dens and brothels?
But if you looked at Eon Jungmi or Tang Gihyo, they were far worse when it came to abusing servants.
In fact, they had thrown their weight around even more violently precisely because they were the wife and son of the Inryong-dan leader.
On top of that, Tang Gihyo visited brothels far more frequently than Sanlong ever had, and he had even pinned several of his own scandals on Sanlong.
What a dirty world.
And yet, simply because of his superior talent and a bit of effort, he had been able to completely overpower Sanlong. It made Sanlong realize the unfairness of the world all over again.
“Just say the word. I’ll go crush him right now.”
“Should I gouge out both his eyes with my Sadokjo?”
And then there were Tang Gu and Tang Gi, the pathetic lackeys who stuck to Tang Gihyo hoping to leech off him, constantly kissing up to their leader.
I’ve been waiting for this day.
The reason Tang Sanlong had come here before leaving for Guya-rim was simple.
While I’m suffering in Guya-rim, you three can enjoy a nice, long rest.
With pure and sincere intentions of letting them rest, Tang Sanlong rummaged through his sleeve and pulled something out.
It was a smooth stone he had prepared in advance at home. He had deliberately chosen the roundest ones possible so they wouldn’t get stuck.
If I put internal energy into it, their heads might actually explode…
Gripping the stone, Tang Sanlong infused it with the principles of the Chuhon Shimpyo and threw it.
“Just say the word! I’ll go right now and gouge out that bastard’s— Urk!”
Crack!
The stone struck the head of Tang Gu, who had been squatting like a dog taking a shit. Blood sprayed as his head snapped backward.
“What the— Urk!”
Another stone embedded itself in Tang Gi’s face.
Seeing his two followers suddenly ambushed, Tang Gihyo tried to stand up, but pain exploded across his face before he could.
“Keurgh!”
Even though it had been a surprise attack, Tang Gihyo had managed to brace himself and defend. He immediately identified his attacker.
“Tang Sanlong!”
“Nice to see you again?”
The moment he remembered how Eon Jungmi had schemed to poison his mother, Tang Sanlong felt his body slowly heating up.
Since you touched my mother, I’ll touch your precious son.
Before leaving for Guya-rim, Tang Sanlong had decided to give Eon Jungmi a present.
“You son of a— Last time I let my guard down— Urk!”
Tang Sanlong was ruthlessly targeting Tang Gihyo’s weakness—his still-adjusting single eye.
Starting with a surprise attack and then relentlessly exploiting that weakness, Tang Gihyo couldn’t even put up a proper fight before he started getting beaten black and blue.
This was exactly why surprise attacks from assassins were so terrifying.
Even though Tang Gihyo’s internal energy was far superior to Sanlong’s, because the fight had begun with an ambush and kept rolling like a storm, he couldn’t regain his composure and was forced to take hit after hit.
Of course, if Tang Gihyo had trained diligently, this situation might never have happened. But he had relied solely on his talent and neglected his training.
And now the results were on full display.
“Lower your hands or you’ll lose some teeth.”
Slap! Thud! Bam!
Slaps, punches, kicks—Tang Sanlong didn’t discriminate as he beat Tang Gihyo senseless.
Naturally, Tang Gihyo had no intention of simply taking the beating.
“Aaaargh! You fucking bastard! I’ll kill you!”
A punch infused with internal energy!
But because he was missing one eye, his sense of distance was off, and the punch missed completely.
Tang Sanlong used that opening to twist his body slightly.
“You’re putting internal energy into it when you’re trying to kill me?”
He had been kindly beating the man without using internal energy, yet the counterattack came loaded with power.
How truly despicable.
“Internal Energy Liver Strike!”
“Keurgh!”
Have you ever experienced your entire body vibrating as your muscles contract violently and your breath gets completely cut off?
Tang Gihyo was experiencing that bizarre sensation for the first time today.
“Kek!”
His body instinctively curled forward.
As he began to collapse, Tang Sanlong caught his arm as carefully as if handling a sacred relic.
“K…keuk… what…”
Seeing that Tang Gihyo couldn’t even speak properly, Tang Sanlong carefully tucked the man’s arm under his own armpit.
“This is going to hurt a lot. Bite down on this.”
“Ugegegegek!”
He personally removed Tang Gihyo’s shoe and shoved it into his mouth.
Tang Gihyo wanted to spit it out, but it filled his entire mouth, making it impossible.
“Lalala~”
Tang Sanlong slowly began applying pressure with the hand gripping Tang Gihyo’s arm.
As the crushing force gradually increased, pure terror flooded Tang Gihyo’s eyes.
He shook his head desperately, but Tang Sanlong simply smiled brightly.
“Mmmph!”
“Alright. One at a time.”
“Mmmmmmmph!!”
Crunch! Crack!
The sounds of twisting muscle and snapping bone filled the alleyway.