If You’re Wronged, Then Get Yourself Resurrected Too (5)
The two of them raced through the Tang Family compound.
“Chung Myung, sir! Hold on a second!”
Dang Soso charged after him, clutching up the hem of her skirt. But Chung Myung didn’t even look back as he sprinted away at full tilt.
“Just let me talk to you for a minute! A minute! I’m telling you, if you just hear me out, you’ll change your mind! I’ll even buy you candied fruit! Stop right there!”
“Who the hell wants your candied fruit!”
Chung Myung ground his teeth as he ran.
This is insane! What the hell is she doing?!
Damn it. He couldn’t exactly crack that brat’s skull open, and this was irritating enough to make him want to die.
“I said stop already! Hey, you—are you listening?!”
Chung Myung dashed straight into the first hall he saw and slammed the door shut behind him.
Then he pressed himself against it and peeked outside, watching for movement.
She stopped.
Even Dang Soso apparently couldn’t come in here.
With a sigh so deep it seemed to sink the floor, Chung Myung turned around.
“……”
“……”
Dang Gun-ak and Chung Myung stared at each other.
“……You’re here.”
“……Yeah.”
A faintly awkward atmosphere began to drift between them.
“Well then…… yes, let’s sit first.”
“Sure.”
Chung Myung sat down across from Dang Gun-ak. Without a word, Dang Gun-ak slid a teapot toward him.
“Will you have some tea?”
“No need. I’m still hot from running.”
“It’s cold.”
“Ah. In that case, sure.”
Chung Myung poured tea into his cup and drank it in one shot.
“Hah.”
Then he set the cup down with a clack and looked at Dang Gun-ak.
“……Well, that’s all fine and good.”
“Hmm?”
“What the hell kind of father tries to marry his daughter off to a Taoist? I mean, sure, blood is thicker than water and all that, but isn’t this a little too blatant?”
“Blatant?”
Veins bulged on Dang Gun-ak’s forehead.
“Huh?”
Seeing that reaction, Chung Myung tilted his head.
“Wasn’t this what the Tang Family Lord ordered?”
“Unless I’ve gone blind, why would I hand my daughter to you?”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere turned strange.
“No, then why is she acting like that?”
“How should I know!”
Dang Gun-ak clutched his thigh.
— I said I’ll handle it myself! Just introduce me! Just introduce us! What, do you want your daughter ending up married off to some old fogey in the back room? If you just shut your eyes and make the introduction, that’s enough!
“Grrrrrrrngh!”
Dang Gun-ak grabbed his head.
Then he glanced at Chung Myung.
Of course, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon was an excellent match. From the Tang Family’s perspective, there could hardly be a better one. Wasn’t Chung Myung the one who had not only secured the position of the next Absolute Master but practically ripped the chair out of the world and hurled it straight onto Mount Hua?
If he’s this strong now, then ten years from now not even my grandfather coming back to life would be enough to stop him.
In all of martial history, there probably wouldn’t be many people his age with this level of power.
And his background was just right too—Mount Hua, a place the Tang Family could easily extend their reach into. From the Tang Family Lord’s point of view, it was enough to make his mouth water.
But……
You expect me to take this bastard as my son-in-law?
Was he not the family head?
As a human being, there was no way he could choose to marry his daughter to Chung Myung.
This’ll never happen while I still have dirt in my eyes!
Fire blazed in Dang Gun-ak’s eyes.
He had cherished his daughter all his life. Wasn’t every father’s final wish to see the child who grew like a flower meet a good person and live happily?
Even with matchmakers showing up countless times, even with the family elders nagging at him endlessly, he had protected his daughter all this time.
And now what? Chung Myung?
As if!
“Don’t even dream of it.”
“No, you’re the one who introduced me!”
“That was because she asked me to do it!”
“……”
Chung Myung stared at Dang Gun-ak with a look of utter disbelief.
“Now that I think about it, that’s unfair. What’s wrong with me, exactly?”
He had no intention whatsoever of doing such a thing, but being looked down on like this naturally made him bristle.
Still, Dang Gun-ak remained unflinching.
“You are a fine warrior.”
“I know that!”
“But you’re not a good person, are you?”
“……”
How many times in either his past life or this one had he heard words so impossible to refute?
Even Chung Myung, who could talk his way around anything once he opened his mouth, had no answer for that one.
“Uh…… well. I mean…… uh……”
Fair enough.
Damn, that was sharp.
“A father doesn’t marry his daughter off to a good warrior. He wants to marry her off to a good person. My position as the Tang Family Lord only means I can’t openly stand in the way.”
“Sounds like an impossible combination.”
“It is.”
Dang Gun-ak shrugged.
“That’s why I believe you and Mount Hua will be my breakthrough. Have you prepared everything?”
“Of course.”
“Then let us speak properly. What is it you want from the Tang Family?”
Chung Myung hadn’t come here just to dodge Dang Soso. Meeting with Dang Gun-ak and negotiating today had already been decided.
Chung Myung wiped the smile off his face and looked at Dang Gun-ak.
“I think we should call in my uncle.”
“That would make this a more serious discussion, yes…….”
Dang Gun-ak’s lips curled faintly.
“But it would also make it harder to show what’s really on your mind.”
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung nodded as he studied Dang Gun-ak.
Interesting old man.
He seemed utterly practical, yet clung to principle; cold enough to sacrifice even family, yet still possessed of warmth.
He’s not like Tang Bo.
Come to think of it, a man burdened with the heavy duty of leading the Tang Family could never be as free as Tang Bo. Tang Bo had only ended up as the Tang Family’s Supreme Elder because his martial talent was monstrous; under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been strange at all if the family had cast him out.
“Fine, whatever. First—”
Chung Myung watched Dang Gun-ak quietly before speaking.
“Let’s be precise here. Does the Tang Family want an alliance with Mount Hua?”
“What I want is not Mount Hua, but you.”
“But I’m inseparable from Mount Hua.”
“I know that. I only want you to understand that fact. If I can have you, then I can make an alliance with Mount Hua as well.”
Dang Gun-ak smiled.
“Supporting Mount Hua is no great difficulty either. Do not forget that this means the Tang Family regards you very highly.”
Chung Myung smiled back at him.
“So you’re going to support Mount Hua just because of me.”
“A generous offer. But one that’s worth it.”
“Hahaha. You really are the family head.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That you’re good at lying.”
“……”
Dang Gun-ak’s face hardened slightly.
“……What do you mean by that?”
“Ah, don’t look at me like that. I’m not saying the Sichuan Tang Family has some shady ulterior motive in wanting to ally with Mount Hua. But this self-important attitude, like you’re doing us some grand favor, is pretty irritating.”
“Hm.”
Dang Gun-ak looked at Chung Myung in silence.
“You’re still young, so it seems you don’t fully grasp the situation. Your martial ability is outstanding, yes, but that’s still just potential for now. A tiger cub does not necessarily become a tiger.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Of course Chung Myung was a different case, but from Dang Gun-ak’s perspective, that was the only reasonable conclusion.
“Taking that into account, Mount Hua can’t negotiate with the Tang Family as an equal. Even if you become the Absolute Master, that will remain true. You alone cannot make Mount Hua stand on equal footing with other sects.”
“Naturally, that would be a fair assessment.”
“Then why should I regard you as equals? For what reason?”
Chung Myung snorted softly.
“Why do you have to be like this, Tang Family Lord? Negotiation isn’t something done between equals. It’s something done between people who need something.”
“……Hmm?”
“Mount Hua doesn’t want the Tang Family. The Tang Family wants Mount Hua.”
Dang Gun-ak narrowed his brow.
What exactly was this boy basing such a claim on?
Chung Myung met his gaze, then rose from his seat. He strode over to the wall and tore down the massive map of Sichuan hanging there.
“Hmm?”
He brought the map back and spread it over the table, then pointed at the Sichuan Tang Family with a finger.
“This is the Tang Family.”
“I do have eyes, you know.”
“Below it is Mount Ami.”
“……”
“The upper side is Qingcheng. To the right, there’s Wudang. Above that is Zhongnan. And of course, down below there’s Emei too, but let’s ignore that. It wouldn’t really change anything if Emei were there.”
Dang Gun-ak looked at Chung Myung with a completely different expression now.
The childishness had vanished from his face.
It was the face of a martial artist.
The face befitting a man who led the mighty Tang Family of Sichuan.
“Now you’re serious?”
But Chung Myung, instead of flinching, received that pressure with complete ease.
There’s no way a man who leads the Tang Family could be a fool.
He didn’t think everything Dang Gun-ak had shown since entering the Tang Family had been an act. Like Tang Bo, Dang Gun-ak might simply be the kind of person whose nature was light despite everything.
But the seat of the Tang Family Lord was not one that could be occupied by someone who was easy to move.
What Dang Gun-ak wanted was obvious.
Thorough practicality.
If there had been nothing to gain, then even if he had thought well of Chung Myung, he would never have shown this much boundless goodwill.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Isn’t it a bit strange?”
“What is?”
“You’re surrounded on all sides. And by the righteous sects too, sects that are as strong as the Tang Family, if not stronger. Add in all the beggars spread across Sichuan, and, well…….”
Chung Myung shivered as he looked at the map.
“I can’t even breathe.”
“……”
Dang Gun-ak regained a sliver of composure.
“You seem to be mistaken about something. My family and the righteous sects aren’t on such bad terms. In fact, we could even be called comrades-in-arms.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“Until the Demonic Sect is defeated, anyway.”
In an instant, a sharp blue light flashed through Dang Gun-ak’s eyes.
Chung Myung noticed it carefully and continued.
“When there’s a common enemy, everyone bands together. But what happens once that enemy disappears? Those who were united will split apart over interests, and they’ll have no choice but to look for new enemies. Even if the people they split from were companions they’d fought beside all this time.”
“……You.”
“The other noble families don’t have such a huge problem. The Namgung, the Peng, the Moyong—those powerful families are all in the east. They can help one another. But the Tang Family alone?”
“……We’re in the west.”
“Yes. And all the routes linking you to the other families are already occupied by the righteous sects. In other words, no matter how you dress it up as the Five Great Noble Families or whatever, the Tang Family is still going to end up alone. Isn’t that right?”
Dang Gun-ak did not answer.
Whether that was because Chung Myung had accurately pierced his inner thoughts or because he was too stunned by this absurd interpretation to respond was impossible to tell, but he remained silent for a while.
Only after some time passed did he let out a heavy sigh.
“Continue.”
“The Tang Family is surrounded.”
“……”
“Calling someone the hegemon of a province sounds excellent. But that also means once they step outside that province, they’re nothing. In the end, people who become the rulers of a region all turn their eyes here.”
Chung Myung pointed to the center of the Central Plains.
“Am I wrong?”
“……”
“Even if I am, it doesn’t matter. The fact remains that being hemmed in and pressured by the righteous sects on all sides is not a shape the Tang Family would want. That’s why the Tang Family needs friends. Friends who can check those bastards. And look what do you know—right here.”
Chung Myung’s finger moved across the map.
The place he pointed to was Shaanxi.
Behind Zhongnan and Wudang.
“Mount Hua is there.”
“……”
“Heh. What a coincidence. Why, I wonder, is Mount Hua there? It’s in just the right position to keep Wudang and Zhongnan in check. How oddly convenient.”
At Chung Myung’s flippant tone, Dang Gun-ak’s face stiffened.
Just how much does this brat know?
Seeing the expression on Dang Gun-ak’s face, Chung Myung smiled faintly.
“Ah, don’t be so tense. It’s not some earth-shattering story or anything.”
“May I ask one thing?”
“Yes.”
“When did you start thinking this way?”
“Hmm. Probably…….”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“Around when you heard we’d reached Sichuan?”
“……”
Only then could Dang Gun-ak realize one thing.
I’ve had this boy all wrong.
He wasn’t just some idiot with a lot of strength.
He was a serpent. A sly, old serpent.
And perhaps today, right here, that serpent’s tail would wrap around Dang Gun-ak’s neck.
Dang Gun-ak felt a chill run down his spine at the sensation that he was standing in the palm of Chung Myung’s hand.