Roar
There was no need to ask how the demonstration had gone.
Forgetting all dignity, Dang Un-sang swept Hwiyeom into a crushing embrace.
"You did it! Yes! I knew you would! Hahahahaha!!"
The direct-line kin clustered around Hwiyeom, laughter blooming among them like spring flowers.
By contrast, the branch families—including the entire Elder Council—stood in grim silence, faces dark.
It looked exactly like the aftermath of a match that had cleanly separated winners from losers.
"Elder Hong…"
When Elder Jang Gil-yeong turned with unsteady eyes, Elder Hong Ilgon squeezed his own shut.
We've been completely outplayed.
He had believed the revival of the Hidden Weapon School was an impossible task. Restoring a lost martial art, reconstructing a vanished technique from oral tradition, memory, and pure imagination, was never simple. Weapons might at least be copied by shape, but internal energy arts—where the meridians through which true qi must flow remain unknown—were a realm beyond even imagination. If such a thing were possible, the world would already be crawling with eccentric geniuses who had invented their own peerless divine arts and risen to the heights of the murim.
And yet the boy had abandoned the Dobansamyang-gwiwon-singong, twisted the principles of the Nokryong Singong instead, and produced a substitute method no one had anticipated…!
The signal flare for the Hidden Weapon School's revival had been fired by a route no one foresaw.
These were hidden weapons so lethal that even an ordinary person with no martial training could shred plate armor like wet rags. What would happen when warriors of the Dang Family, properly trained in the Green Dragon Divine Art, began to use them?
Even if the old, wondrous subtlety of hidden-weapon techniques had vanished, simply hurling such devices into an enemy formation would solve the problem. The reason hidden weapons once required miraculous skill and poison was to compensate for their inherent lack of killing power. A single throwing star or needle could kill only with toxin or exquisite technique. With this kind of destructive force, technique became irrelevant.
I have to move immediately.
Concealing the murderous intent rising inside him, Hong Ilgon approached Family Head Dang Un-sang and offered a deep cupped-fist salute.
"I congratulate you, Family Head, on finding the key that will unlock our long-cherished wish. It seems the day is not far when the Dang Family will break its long silence and stretch its limbs once more."
At Hong Ilgon's congratulations, Dang Un-sang's brow twitched.
Hwiyeom, too, wore a faint smile.
Even though his guts must be twisting and he must be half-mad with crisis, he still comes out like that. The chair of the Elder Council Representative clearly wasn't won at a go-stop table. The man has real political sense.
Dang Un-sang looked as if he wanted to say something else, then swallowed it. A warm smile spread across his face as he draped an arm around Hwiyeom's shoulders.
"My thanks, Elder Hong. Our young master has truly rendered great service. Would you not agree?"
"How could I not? Truly magnificent, Young Master. My congratulations."
When their own leader bowed his head before the Family Head and the Young Master, the branch elders' faces turned as bleak as a nation that had just lost its sovereignty. The Family Head turned and met each of their eyes in turn; the elders hastily raised cupped fists and echoed the greeting.
"Our congratulations!"
"Hear me, all of you."
Dang Un-sang's voice rang with the full authority of the Family Head.
"From this day forward, I entrust every authority concerning the restoration of the Hidden Weapon School and the development of new hidden weapons to the Young Master. Effective today, I place the Cheol-u-jeon—the Hall of Iron Rain—under the Young Master's command. Young Master, devote your full strength to fulfilling our family's long-cherished enterprise."
The elders' complexions changed at once; they erupted in opposition.
"Family Head! That must not be!"
"The Hall of Iron Rain has been a direct institution of the Family Head for generations. Though the Young Master has indeed achieved a great feat, this is a personnel decision that upends the laws and order of the family!"
"The Young Master's talent may reach the heavens, yet he is still only fourteen! To entrust a vital organ of the family to one who has not even come of age is excessive!"
"This will inevitably wound the pride of the master craftsmen and warriors of the Hall of Iron Rain and sap their will. We beg you to reverse this decision!"
"Please reverse it!"
With only the Innovation Hall, Hwiyeom had already produced results of this magnitude. The elders thrashing in desperate resistance knew that if he formally seized the Hall of Iron Rain as well, there would be no limit to how wildly he might run. Dang Un-sang paid them no heed whatever.
"Listen well! From of old, our Sichuan Dang Family has always lent its ear to the counsel of you elders. We did so because we respected and trusted your wisdom and experience. Yet sometimes what the experience and wisdom of the aged cannot conceive, the flashing inspiration and fiery drive of the young can achieve—and the Young Master has proven this over the past seven years."
Power filled Dang Un-sang's voice; his gaze carried the austere majesty of a drawn sword. A Family Head's command, founded upon proven achievement, was more overwhelming than the roar of a tiger.
"Reflect upon these past seven years. When the family was drowning in debt, what did the Elder Council do? Led by Elder Gong Duchan, you pushed the branch family's money-houses to lend us still more at low interest. That was drinking seawater to quench thirst; the family's finances never improved, and we only endured more pain. What did the Young Master do? From kitchen grease and beehives he created Tangga Manneung-go, cosmetics, and Hogol-go, and opened a breathing space in our ledgers.
"When fine hidden weapons demanded vast quantities of iron, what did the Elder Council do? Through Elder Ma Jeonggu's connections with his original house, you purchased iron in bulk. The result: the Dang Family grew poorer while Elder Ma's original house grew richer. What did the Young Master do? He built crucible furnaces, built reverberatory furnaces, monopolized Sichuan's coal mines, and made iron pour from the Dang Family's blast furnaces like spring water. Then he turned the enterprise into a state project and tore the Dang Family free of debt's yoke once and for all!
"And that is not all. When the Young Master built waterworks and sewers, when he founded money-houses, when he saved the Emei Sect from cholera—and thereby announced to all of Sichuan that the Sichuan Dang Family still lived, bringing us enormous profit and renown—what were you elders, with all your seasoned wisdom and experience, doing? You were absorbed solely in finding fault with the Young Master!!"
Hong Ilgon squeezed his eyes shut. The presence pouring from Dang Un-sang's body was almost unbearable. Though the Family Head was not even circulating his internal energy, sheer presence alone crushed the elders flat. It was the roar of a dragon that had long crouched motionless at the bottom of a lake, now catching wind and rain and ascending the heavens.
With eyes gone cold, Dang Un-sang glared at the elders.
"And on the very day the first green shoot of hope appears for the revival of the Hidden Weapon School—our family's long-cherished wish—you seek to trample that shoot underfoot."
"…"
"Because you fear your own seats may grow precarious, because you fear the branch families may lose still more power, you offer nothing but opposition for opposition's sake against the work of the direct line."
He spat the next words as though chewing them.
"I no longer feel any reason to honor you simply because you are old and supposedly wise."
"Family Head!"
"It is a misunderstanding, Family Head!"
"We truly only worried for the laws of the family…!"
The terrified elders cried out, but Dang Un-sang did not so much as blink.
"A misunderstanding? Then speak. Is there anyone among you who can present a better plan to revive the Hidden Weapon School than the one the Young Master has brought?"
"…!"
"Anyone at all—even one person! Show me a better plan, a better record of achievement than what Hwiyeom has brought, and I will continue to honor the Elder Council as the family's elders, just as before."
Not a single elder of the Council opened his mouth. Of course not. In truth, they were a faction that hoped the Hidden Weapon School would never be revived. The longer the direct line of the Dang Family remained obsessed with that revival and poured its strength into it, the greater the power and wealth of the branch families grew—like a colony of poisonous mushrooms fattening themselves as parasites upon the ancient tree called the Dang Family. That was the true nature of the elders and the branch families they led.
When no one offered even an excuse, murderous light entered Dang Un-sang's eyes.
"You… parasites…!"
Drrrrrrrr…
As his rage rose, internal energy boiled up of its own accord. Grains of sand and pebbles on the ground began to tremble and leap. The direct-line kin withdrew with uneasy murmurs; the elders' faces blanched white and their bodies shook. At that moment Hong Ilgon stepped forward one pace.
"Family Head. This Hong dares, staking his life, to speak a single word."
"…Speak."
"Most of what the Family Head has said is true. We have spent shameful years. Far from aiding the family's management as befits the title of elder, we admit we wasted time searching for reasons for failure."
"…"
The unexpectedly clean admission made Dang Un-sang's brow furrow; he could not read Hong Ilgon's intent. Hong Ilgon continued in a voice as calm as still water.
"Yet to believe that all of it was done to hobble the family is excessive. A fool may fail to grasp a sage's thoughts and thus act foolishly, yet even a fool does his own best. We worried that the Young Master's plans were radical, unprecedented, and ruinously expensive. Now that they have succeeded so splendidly, the Family Head scolds us for incompetence—but had even one of the Young Master's grand designs failed, the Dang Family would have suffered catastrophic loss."
"…"
Dang Un-sang's presence abated a fraction. Setting emotion and mutual positions aside, the words were true. Of course they were true without being right. Hong Ilgon had used precisely such pretexts to restrain Hwiyeom, Dang Un-sang, and the Family Head's Office, and to seize the household's initiative. Yet because every word was factually correct, refutation was difficult. Even while admitting defeat, Hong Ilgon was protecting the elders.
"And though it is a fault that the elders failed to lead the family's revival, it is also an undeniable truth that without the help of the elders and the merchant houses, money-houses, and medicine shops under the branch families they lead, this family would never have endured until this day. To condemn them for it is as improper as casting aside a faithful wife who tended you through hard times."
"…So the Elder Council bears no responsibility at all?"
Suspecting a ploy to evade all blame, Dang Un-sang fixed Hong Ilgon with eyes full of killing intent. Hong Ilgon regarded him quietly for a moment, then bowed his head deeply.
"…All of this is the result of the Elder Council's incompetence, and that incompetence is the fruit of my own incapacity and lack of virtue as its representative. This Hong Ilgon therefore proposes to step down from the seat of Council Chairman and take responsibility for what has gone before. Please grant your acceptance."
"…"
When Hong Ilgon played the resignation card, Dang Un-sang's expression grew even stranger. He simply could not fathom the man's aim. It was true that Hong Ilgon's resignation would make further pursuit of the Elder Council more difficult, yet what benefit did Hong Ilgon himself gain by saving the Council? Though they were spoken of collectively as the branch families, in the end they were strangers bound only by the name of the Sichuan Dang Family. The other elders might feel gratitude and be moved that Hong Ilgon's sacrifice had carried them past the crisis, but Hong Ilgon himself seemed to gain nothing. That suspicion alone made Dang Un-sang forget even his anger.
"…Very well. I shall continue to watch the Elder Council's conduct with close attention. Even now, let the elders revive the will of the aged horse and devote their remaining strength to the family."
"We thank the Family Head for his generous judgment."
Hong Ilgon bent deeply at the waist and offered his gratitude to Dang Un-sang.
…Something feels off…
Watching Hong Ilgon's retreating back as he finished his farewell and withdrew, Hwiyeom whispered softly to Ye-eun beside him.
"Tell Minjeongwon to keep a close watch on Hong Ilgon. I don't know what he may be plotting."
"Yes."