Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: A Family-Like Clan (5)
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Dang Yeoncheon wouldn't leave a witness alive. If his condition were normal, that might be different, but right now, there was no way to defend against him.
The distance was cleverly chosen, too.
It was far enough that Dang Yeoncheon wouldn't notice unless he was paying close attention. Yet close enough that the slightest sound would alert him. They were clearly blocking noise just right.
"H-hey, run? You're gonna die like this."
"...Please save me."
"Blood ties, huh? Here!"
"What's this for?"
"Proof I saved you. If you back out later, I'll be the only one screwed."
He handed Dang Yijun a document he'd prepared in advance.
Dang Yijun read it over.
-The undersigned hereby agrees to have rescued Dang Yeonwoo from assassins dispatched by Dang Yeoncheon.
The phrasing was devilishly clever.
Assassins from Dang Yeoncheon—it outright admitted to fratricide. But the situation was spiraling out of control. Dang Yeonwoo could die any moment. Anyone could see he was in dire straits.
And the only counterforce was right there, tempting him with this seal. It was a document exposing the Tang Clan's dirty laundry. Break the promise, and the entire continent would condemn them.
"What would the Beggars' Gang do if they knew? We're both orthodox sects—think Hong Moo-gae would turn a blind eye?"
Gasp!
Dang Yijun knew Hong Moo-gae's iron principles well. Would he really overlook a breach of justice? Their relations with the Tang Clan were lukewarm at best. Treatment of the Beggars' Gang in the holy city wasn't exactly welcoming. If they grabbed this as leverage, it wouldn't end well.
Dang Yijun was cornered on all sides. Escaping the devil's whisper was impossible.
"Fine, I'll do it!"
"Your foot."
"...Understood."
His precious foot—one he'd never even shown to a woman.
Humiliating.
"Stamp theirs too while you're at it."
"...(Crunch)."
Hey, you bastard!
He barely reined in the curse with sheer willpower. In his life, Dang Yijun had never met a more loathsome bastard. He wasn't one to hold grudges, but this guy made him want to beat him to death.
With proof secured, Mujin crept toward Dang Yeoncheon's back. He moved as silently as a stray cat hopping onto a stove first. Softly, stealthily closing in.
Whack!
He smashed the back of his head.
Dang Yeoncheon, enraged by Dang Yeonwoo's unyielding resistance despite his wounds, had no guard up against an attacker from behind.
Thud!
His head struck hard, Dang Yeoncheon toppled flat like a dead tree in a north wind. He didn't get up, so no one could call him Iron Plank Bridge anymore.
Twitch twitch!
His legs spasmed grotesquely from the brain-rattling blow, and he blacked out, unable to hold onto consciousness.
Huff, huff!
Rescued from certain death, Dang Yeonwoo caught his breath and looked at his savior.
Ah!
It was the guy who'd run off earlier. Surviving was lucky enough, but he'd come back to save his life too.
"You okay?"
"I owe you my life."
"No reason needed for one person to save another. Don't worry about it."
"I was taught to repay favors."
"Heal up first."
Dang Yeonwoo's condition was a mess. His qi reserves were depleted; left alone, even recovery might not restore him fully.
Stagger!
Mujin supported Dang Yeonwoo as he tried to stand and collapsed.
"One request. Don't kill him."
"Even after he tried to kill you?"
"He's my brother."
"You're a pushover."
"I want to judge him myself."
It didn't seem like a desperate ploy to save his brother. Poison edged into his formerly kind eyes. Mujin felt proud, rehabilitating another pushover.
"Let's move."
"Sorry for the trouble."
It wasn't just for treatment. Cleaning up traces here was a hassle. That was grunt work.
Step, step!
Dang Yijun and the Green Robe Squad stared blankly at the direction Mujin vanished, their eyes hollow.
"Chase them?"
"Then what?"
"...!"
Even sorting this mess was overwhelming. Reporting it would cause chaos in the clan. But they couldn't not report it. Hiding it wouldn't work, and it was out of Dang Yijun's hands now.
Haaa!
Dang Yijun's sigh captured their reality perfectly. The Green Robe Squad had never seen their always-righteous, confident leader so haggard.
The innkeeper, who had cleaned the room assuming they'd left, smacked his lips in regret. He'd taken payment for ten days upfront—a profitable deal—and planned to take new guests. Their return felt like a loss. Especially since the Tang Clan was looking for them.
Entering the room, Mujin checked Dang Yeonwoo's state.
"Using martial arts under a seal? You're not right in the head."
"It was my best option."
"Discriminating against blondes? Pathetic small-timers. Ah, sorry for badmouthing your clan."
"It's fine."
Dang Yeonwoo looked at Mujin anew. No one had ever spoken to him so casually about his appearance. He was treated as a person, not a freak. Strangers usually recoiled, calling him a blond ghost.
And no one spoke of the Tang Clan that way before.
He was awed by this man's magnanimity and breadth.
"Thank you again for saving me."
"Open up."
"Pardon?"
"Azure Spirit Oil."
"...Pardon?"
Stunned, Dang Yeonwoo gaped—and gasped at the droplet's effect in his mouth. No joke; it was the real deal. As a Tang Clan member, he'd memorized tomes on spirit beasts, herbs, fruits, and pills.
'It's genuine!'
No time to gawk. He had to absorb the elixir's energy to heal.
"I'll guide your qi."
Ah!
Mujin cleared blocked meridians and smoothed qi flow. Even in meditation, Dang Yeonwoo was overwhelmed by this unprecedented boon and aid. It was alien to him, shunned even in his own clan.
-Hooked another one.
'Gotta have a heart like mine.'
-As if I don't see your black intentions!
'The Tang Clan deserves it.'
Mujin didn't want a purely naive Dang Yeonwoo. In chaotic times, a saintly ruler proved incompetence; a capable tyrant was better.
-Never knew the Blond Reaper was such a softie.
'Too nice, got used and killed.'
When the Tang Clan faced crisis, Dang Yeonwoo rose alone against the Demonic Cult of the Demon God. His sacrifice saved them from annihilation. But jealousy from that idiot brother led to his pathetic end.
-Shared plight, huh.
'Shut it.'
Truth be told, Mujin was no different. Fighting on the frontlines against the Demonic Cult earned him no thanks—only rejection and betrayal.
Mujin had shown Dang Yeonwoo the trials ahead early. Before reaching the holy city, he'd tipped off the Beggars' Gang about Dang Yeonwoo training in martial arts. Naturally, they'd inform his brothers, Dang Jinwoong and Dang Jincheol.
'Didn't expect an immediate hit squad.'
-Dang Yeoncheon's birth mother is from the Zhuge Clan.
They clashed with the Zhuge Clan constantly. Too many "coincidences" made it enmity.
'Zhuge Clan at best.'
-Indeed.
Mujin or the Demon King—neither cared for the Zhuge Clan. Schemers had innate limits.
Vmmm!
Through mystic arts, Dang Yeonwoo's Ten Thousand Poisons Art surged. Sealed inner energy and poison fused with the gold seal meridian technique, advancing him further.
"How's it feel, kid?"
"I won't lose!"
Genius recognizes genius. It ignited Cheol-ho's fighting spirit. Ages apart, but Cheol-ho's face outshone Dang Yeonwoo's.
Narung and Yukchil grimaced.
'All monsters!'
'So unfair!'
Setting Mujin aside, Cheol-ho and Dang Yeonwoo were hidden prodigies. Fate drew them to Mujin.
'Some weird charm?'
Why flock to him?
To Narung and Yukchil, it was an unsolvable mystery.
The middle-aged man receiving the Green Robe Leader's report.
His gaze oppressed the room. The current Tang Clan head, Venomous Ghost King Dang Myeonghu.
Around Dang Myeonghu, the chief steward and elders sat across the table.
Dang Yijun's report exposed the clan's shame. Leaked outside, it'd invite scorn.
"Foolish boy."
Dang Myeonghu immediately confined Dang Yeoncheon and banned him from going out. Punishment for the unforgivable act—and failing to clean it up.
"Did you know, Clan Head? That Yeonwoo was training in martial arts?"
"He's my son. What's wrong with him learning martial arts?"
The question came from Elder Jeong Imun of the Demonic Sword, close to the vice heir. It implied the head had permitted Yeonwoo's secret training.
Even so, Dang Yeonwoo's prowess stunned them.
He repelled assassins and matched Dang Yeoncheon despite the seal. His talent was heaven-sent, already beyond measure.
It could upend the succession.
But his maternal lineage's innate limits were real. Overcoming birth stigma wasn't easy.
"What do you think, Chief Steward?"
"Too contrived. The timing of the rumors and the Heavenly Fortune Fist's trouble is suspicious."
"Toying with our main house, eh."
"Likely. Still, the vice heir's choice is regrettable."
Chief Steward Baek Ungil analyzed causes over blood feud. As steward, he cut to the core.
Yet even if Heavenly Fortune Fist schemed, the vice heir started it. Denying the assassination attempt was hard.
"Know his intent?"
"No clue how, but he wants Young Master Yeonwoo."
The room chilled at Baek's words.
Choosing Dang Yeonwoo over the Tang Clan wounded pride. It mocked them for overlooking a gem in their midst.
Worse, Dang Yeonwoo might follow him now. Saved from death, the justification overflowed.
"We can't let another sect steal our own!"
"Sitting idle makes us the continent's laughingstock!"
When his value was unproven, they'd have let him go. Now, he had potential to solidify them as top clan.
If he shone elsewhere, mockery would intensify.
"Grab back the kid we discarded?"
"Parent-child bonds are heaven's law. And we can't forgive Heavenly Fortune Fist mocking our house!"
Recognizing his worth, they couldn't lose him. Even without succession, he'd serve as the clan's weapon. Duty of Tang blood.
'Even now, can't cut him loose?'
Dang Myeonghu regretted it but couldn't ignore the elders. His decisions reached his father through them. The old man still rejected his grandson, despite long seclusion.
"Fetch Heavenly Fortune Fist and my son."
"Yes, Clan Head."
To resolve this, Dang Myeonghu summoned the Poison Dragon Squad, the clan's strongest force. Heavenly Fortune Fist's power exceeded expectations, but not against them.
Soon, a warrior entered—the inner courtyard guard.
"What is it?"
"Heavenly Fortune Fist is here."