Just Call It a Whim (3)
"What exactly is the Family Head thinking?"
At the blunt accusation, Tang Gun-ak’s expression hardened slightly.
These damned old men.
The Tang Family was a sect bound by blood.
Sometimes that made it something special, different from every other sect. Because it was built entirely around kinship, its bonds were stronger than anything outsiders could match.
But that did not mean it was all good.
A sect centered on blood relations meant, in the end, that the older members held more weight.
In an ordinary sect, those who had stepped back from the front lines would devote themselves to perfecting their own martial arts. But here, under the names of elders and family, they poked their noses into everything.
Just like now.
The Tang Family elders who had withdrawn from active affairs held the title of Retired Elders and stood in a position to advise the Family Head. The place where they gathered was the Tang Family’s Elder Council.
In the past, that council had been nothing more than an advisory body for the Tang Family’s Family Head. But as the years passed, it had quietly grown until it possessed equal influence with the Family Head—no, even greater.
No matter how absolute a Family Head’s authority might be within the clan, there were limits to how much power one could wield against one’s uncles and grand-uncles.
"An alliance with Mount Hua? Not Wudang, not Zhongnan, but Mount Hua? What on earth are you thinking, Family Head!"
Seeing one of the elders shout so, Tang Gun-ak frowned.
At least they were using honorifics.
But could that really be called honorifics?
Just as Tang Gun-ak was about to snap back, a low voice drifted through the chamber and pressed down the rising tension.
"Calm yourselves first and listen to what the Family Head has to say."
"But, Council Leader!"
"Do my words not reach you?"
"…My apologies."
Tang Oe, the leader of the Elder Council, swept his gaze over the room and then looked at Tang Gun-ak.
"Family Head. Now, would you care to explain yourself? What are you thinking?"
His voice was relaxed, almost lazy, but that ease only made the chill beneath it sharper.
Tang Gun-ak steadied his own voice. He made sure not a trace of hostility leaked through.
"Mount Hua is a sect worth allying with."
Tang Oe smiled faintly as he looked at Tang Gun-ak, then spoke slowly.
"How strange."
By then, the coldness in his eyes had turned glacial.
"Your judgment is not so clouded that I would expect such an assessment, Family Head. Has Mount Hua somehow regained its former fame without my knowledge? Or perhaps…"
Tang Oe’s voice curled into mockery.
"The Tang Family has fallen so low without my noticing?"
Even knowing it was a deliberate insult, Tang Gun-ak kept his tone flat.
"As I said, I have seen Mount Hua’s potential."
The two men’s eyes met in the air.
One was Tang Gun-ak, the Tang Family’s head.
The other was Tang Oe, leader of the Elder Council that represented the Tang Family’s elders.
The two men who held the greatest authority in the Tang Family stared at each other, the weight between them heavy enough to suffocate.
"Mount Hua aside."
"…"
"I hear you have stripped Tang Pae of the position of Young Lord."
Tang Gun-ak had expected that subject to come up as well, and he gave a small nod.
"Was that decision made by you alone?"
Tang Gun-ak looked at Tang Oe without answering. Then he nodded calmly.
"It was."
"You alone decided such a grave matter?"
"Would you be satisfied if I restored Tang Pae to the position of Young Lord?"
At that sharp reply, Tang Oe let out a thin smile.
"Family Head. Everything I say is out of concern for the Tang Family’s future. It is not as if we are doing this to line our own pockets, is it?"
Tang Gun-ak bit his lip slightly.
Power-mad old bastards.
If these men truly lived for the Tang Family, then he would have given them the respect they deserved.
But the Elder Council had long since rotted.
Those who had lost all hope of extending the Tang Family’s reach beyond Sichuan were now obsessed only with dividing the clan’s power among themselves, even if it meant limiting the Family Head’s authority.
"First, let us hear your reasons. Why did you remove Tang Pae?"
"He wasn’t suited for it."
"Not suited?"
"Yes."
Tang Gun-ak spoke firmly.
"I judged him unfit to shoulder the heavy responsibility of becoming the Tang Family’s Family Head. If that is so, then it is better for him to step down from the position of Young Lord as soon as possible. That would also be better for Tang Pae himself."
"Then who do you intend to raise as the new Young Lord?"
"One of his younger brothers, I suppose."
Tang Oe’s eyes narrowed.
Arrogant to the skies.
He had once been placed in the position of Young Lord himself, only to step down when the previous generation judged that his younger brother was more fit for the role. That younger brother had been Tang Gun-ak’s father.
Whether by coincidence or design, Tang Gun-ak’s words were striking Tang Oe where it hurt.
"Isn’t Tang Pae capable enough to fill that role?"
Tang Gun-ak shook his head firmly.
"No."
"…Tang Pae is…"
"Yes. If this had been the past, I would not have spoken of his limits or removed him from the Young Lord’s seat. But!"
Tang Gun-ak’s voice sharpened as if he were grinding the words between his teeth.
"Once I have seen someone who makes me unable to settle for Tang Pae, there can be no compromise."
"You mean the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"Correct."
Tang Oe regarded Tang Gun-ak with interest now, his gaze glittering strangely.
"So you mean to prioritize the Young Lord’s ability above all else. Is that right?"
"Exactly."
"Then…"
Tang Oe’s smile deepened slightly.
"It doesn’t necessarily have to be your own child, does it?"
Tang Gun-ak’s eye twitched.
This was a highly sensitive matter. Tang Oe had clearly chosen the spot and struck it on purpose. But if Tang Gun-ak denied it now, he would be contradicting his own words.
"Any capable child who bears the Tang surname could become Young Lord."
Tang Oe nodded slowly.
"I am truly astonished by the Family Head’s broad mind. With that one statement, you have proven that all of this does not arise from some petty desire."
Tang Oe appeared to be supporting Tang Gun-ak.
But Tang Gun-ak understood perfectly well that this did not mean Tang Oe was truly on his side.
"Then, if a child of the Tang Family should appear who surpasses the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, you would have no objection to raising that child as Young Lord, would you?"
Tang Gun-ak merely looked at Tang Oe, who was now laying his intentions bare without the slightest attempt at concealment.
"I hear there is a boy named Chung Myung staying with the Tang Family right now, and that he is known as the greatest prodigy of the current age."
"…Yes."
"Then there could be no better benchmark than him. What do you think? Why not have the children spar with that boy and raise whichever one wins to the position of Young Lord?"
Tang Gun-ak gave a short, humorless laugh.
For his usual self, it would have been unthinkable to laugh like that in front of the elders of the family.
But right now, he simply could not help it.
"Family Head?"
"It seems the Council Leader is making a rather enormous mistake."
Tang Gun-ak said in a voice sharpened with scorn.
"There is no child in the Tang Family who can defeat the Mount Hua Divine Dragon."
At those words, Tang Oe’s lips curved into a thin smile.
"I’ve heard very well that you were humiliated by that child, Family Head."
"…"
"Do not assume that what you know is all there is. The children of the Tang Family are not weak."
Tang Gun-ak answered coldly.
"There is no need to beat around the bush. Just say what you mean."
At that icy retort, Tang Oe frowned slightly.
"If the Family Head says so, then this old man will speak plainly as well. How about this? Let us pit that Chung Myung boy against Tang Hak."
"…Tang Hak?"
"Indeed. If Tang Hak wins, then surely he will have proven himself worthy of the Young Lord’s seat, will he not?"
Tang Gun-ak’s mouth twisted ever so slightly.
"You seem determined to make Tang Hak the Young Lord. You said you wouldn’t give him special treatment just because he’s your grandson, and yet?"
"I am merely looking at ability."
"Do you truly think that child’s ability can surpass the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"Would it do for the Tang Family’s head to have so little faith in his own people?"
Their barbed words flew back and forth between them.
"Very well. But."
Tang Gun-ak let scorn creep into his voice as he snapped,
"A wager requires stakes, and a challenge demands a price. How about adding one more condition?"
"A wager?"
"Yes."
Tang Gun-ak spoke firmly.
"If Tang Hak wins the sparring match against the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, I will grant the Elder Council the authority to appoint the Young Lord."
"What?"
Tang Oe’s eyes widened slightly.
That meant that if Tang Hak won, the Elder Council could make anyone they pleased the Young Lord, not necessarily Tang Hak. The Young Lord would eventually become the next Family Head; in other words, Tang Gun-ak was handing them the right to appoint his successor.
"However, if the Mount Hua Divine Dragon wins, then until the day I step down from the Family Head’s seat, the Elder Council will not interfere in my decisions."
"Hmm."
"What do you think? Do you truly have the confidence to accept this wager?"
The matter had become so enormous that the elders who had been listening in silence began whispering among themselves.
"How can he make such a private matter of something this serious…"
"This is dangerous. Dangerous for both sides."
But Tang Oe seemed to be thinking a little differently.
"Very well."
"Hah! Council Leader!"
Despite the objections around him, Tang Oe did not waver in the least. Tang Gun-ak looked at him quietly, then nodded.
"Then let that stand. We shall have the sparring match tomorrow."
"So be it."
Tang Gun-ak gave a slight bow and turned on his heel, leaving the grand hall. As soon as he was gone, the elders of the Elder Council began to stir uneasily.
"Is this all right? If something goes wrong…!"
"If something goes wrong?"
"…"
"You mean if Tang Hak loses to the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"…That is not what I meant."
"You pathetic lot."
Tang Oe shook his head as though thoroughly displeased.
"Opportunities are not given to us. We make them. If not now, then when else would we ever have another chance to cut down the Family Head’s power?"
"That may be so, but…"
Tang Oe swept his gaze across the room.
Useless fools.
They were all red-eyed with greed, thinking only of the small gains that might fall into their laps right now. Men like that could never plan anything truly great.
It was troubling, bringing such people along for this—but…
There’s no helping it.
No opportunity ever came fully formed and perfect.
Had that not been the lesson he learned only at the very end of his life?
If one wanted to accomplish great things, one had to throw everything into even the most imperfect-looking chance and leap.
This is my last chance to make my grandson the Family Head.
Tang Oe had no intention of letting this opportunity slip through his fingers. If his grandson could rise to the seat of Young Lord and eventually inherit the position of Family Head, only then would Tang Oe be able to close his eyes in peace.
"But will Tang Hak really be able to handle the Mount Hua Divine Dragon? That boy didn’t earn the title of greatest prodigy of the current age for nothing."
"Do not worry. I am not looking down on that Mount Hua Divine Dragon. Even if the Family Head showed restraint in the match, that boy was still the one who defeated him. There can be no room for carelessness."
"Then how…?"
"First, that Mount Hua Divine Dragon has already suffered serious injuries in his spar with the Family Head. Those wounds cannot possibly have healed yet."
"Hmm. That is true enough."
"Second, the only thing that boy faced was the Tang Family’s hidden weapons. That means he has never truly experienced the Tang Family’s real strength."
The elders nodded.
The Tang Family’s real strength.
There was no one who did not understand what that meant.
"And last!"
Tang Oe swept his gaze over everyone with a cold, ominous look.
"If necessary, we make the outcome happen by any means. Is that not the Tang Family’s way?"
"…"
"I’d be quite pleased if that child were still able to stand once the duel is over. It would make for a fine spectacle."
At the meaning beneath Tang Oe’s words, the elders exchanged glances.
A little guilt.
And a little embarrassment.
But those emotions, which surfaced only for a fleeting moment, were soon smothered beneath a slow, creeping hunger.
"Do not worry. That Mount Hua Divine Dragon will not be walking out of the Tang Family on his own two feet."
A vile smile slid across Tang Oe’s mouth.
I bear no personal grudge against you, but if you happened to visit the Tang Family at this exact time, then consider it your misfortune.