Chapter 14
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Tang Clan's Misfortune (4)
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“Welcome, swordsman from the countryside.”
The one who appeared at the sound of the whistle was a handsome man with delicate features. The youth, with his androgynous beauty, was dressed in the purple martial uniform that symbolized the Tang Clan.
Despite my caution, no other warriors were in sight.
“Who are you?”
“I am Tang Jin-seong, the Young Master. The next head of the clan.”
Tang Jin-seong's voice was weak as he spoke. With his dark, lifeless lips and skin so pale his veins stood out, he was clearly in poor health.
I caught my breath and sheathed my sword.
“I have punished a member of the Tang Clan for disrespecting my school. I've come to hold you accountable for raising your kin so poorly.”
“You must be referring to Jin-wi from the branch family. I've heard the gist of the story from Gye-seong.”
“Then this should be quick.”
“Yes. In that case, would you care to come inside?”
Tang Jin-seong guided me into the pavilion with a peculiar smile.
Just then, Jeok-sam spoke up.
“Instructor, the Tang Clan is a master of poisons and hidden weapons. That place is literally a dragon's lair and a tiger's den.”
“A dragon's lair and a tiger's den... In that case, I am the disciple of the Divine Sword.”
I scoffed and followed Tang Jin-seong.
As we entered the pavilion, I spotted a few figures with their faces covered by cloth.
But there was an eerie lack of presence, hardly what one would expect from the main stronghold of the Sichuan Tang Clan, who once commanded the martial world.
“It's quite empty, isn't it? The Tang Clan has been this way for a hundred years now.”
“Is it an illness, or a poison?”
“Who knows? Whether it's from practicing too many poison arts or some disease, not even the great Tang Clan has been able to figure it out.”
Tang Jin-seong mocked his own family's story as if it belonged to another, without a hint of reservation.
Following his lead, I arrived in an antique room.
A portrait of some unknown figure hung on the wall, and the room was filled with furniture that must have been crafted by a master artisan.
However, having weathered the long years, they were worn and cracked in many places.
“A hundred years... The perfect amount of time for a clan to fall to ruin.”
“You're right about that. Please wait a moment. I will bring my father, the one in charge.”
Tang Jin-seong left with a bitter smile.
Jeok-sam looked around the room before taking a seat.
“Instructor, this is all getting very strange, isn't it?”
“They say a dead Zhuge Liang can chase away a living Sima Yi. Is there any need to fear the empty shell of the Tang Clan?”
“Heeh~ So, does that make us Sima Yi?”
“My point is that we don't need to be Sima Yi. What is there to fear in the name of a clan that has already fallen?”
I spread my energy to probe the inside of the main house.
The Tang Clan's interior was so desolate it was hard to believe it was the manor of a great clan.
This atmosphere was the complete opposite of the bustling Tang Clan town.
“So the main family is surviving by relying on its branches.”
“In any case, since the Tang Clan is dying out, we won't have to risk our lives.”
“Hmm... I wonder. Is that really the case?”
Even in decline, they were not to be underestimated. Although the main family was in a state of great ruin, the Tang Clan was once a house that commanded the world.
On top of that, I could sense the presence of warriors holding their breath nearby.
The place was desolate, yet this guest room alone was teeming with the scent of people.
“Don't get any funny ideas. Just focus on what we came here to do.”
“Do you know what I was thinking?”
“You were having some audacious thoughts, weren't you? For example.”
Jeok-sam was worldly and intelligent, and his talent for martial arts far surpassed Nam Gyeong's.
And because of that talent, Jeok-sam had put down his sword after only three months.
The brilliant Jeok-sam had foreseen the results he could achieve with a lifetime of training, and he was not satisfied with them.
“Something like taking over the Tang Clan as it is.”
“...Wouldn't that make the Grandmaster's name known to the world more quickly?”
“As an infamous one, yes.”
My master is a kind and gentle person. I didn't want to tarnish his name over something unnecessary.
And in response to my opinion, Jeok-sam replied without a hint of disappointment.
“Then we'll have to devise another method.”
“Yes. A moderate and peaceful one, if possible.”
“...”
Jeok-sam narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
* * *
“Father, he's finally here. The Sword of Completion that Hwa Wol-lyeong of the Jegal Clan spoke of.”
In a mobile chair crafted with Tang Clan technology, sat an old man drooling uncontrollably.
The old man's name was Tang Ju-seong. He was the current head of the Sichuan Tang Clan and the leader of the main family.
But several years ago, he had lost consciousness and become unable to do anything on his own.
“He really took his time, didn't he? I thought we'd meet him soon, since we live in the same Sichuan province.”
“Ugh... uh...”
Incoherent sounds trickled from Tang Ju-seong's open mouth.
Tang Jin-seong wiped the drool from his father's mouth and said.
“You know how that quiet Lady Hwa becomes so talkative whenever her junior brother comes up? How he already has no match under heaven with the sword, how no one can even draw their blade before him...”
“Uh... uh...”
“Yes, yes. Thanks to our incompetent branch family, he came here himself, Father. Thanks to him, we might finally be able to escape the confines of this wretched Tang Clan town. All thanks to that fool, Jin-wi.”
Tang Jin-seong couldn't be more grateful to the insignificant Tang Jin-wi.
Hwa Wol-lyeong, whom he had met at a gathering of the Five Great Clans, had told him. She said that because of her 'little junior brother', no one was learning the sword at the martial arts schools anymore.
‘Everyone wants to boast about their own people, to make them seem grander...’
But there was no way the daughter-in-law of the Jegal Clan would be so tactless.
Everyone else had laughed and let Hwa Wol-lyeong's boasts about her junior brother go in one ear and out the other, but Tang Jin-seong had paid close attention to her words.
Hwa Wol-lyeong, who had married into the Jegal Clan, had seen the swordsmanship of the Namgung and Murong Clans, yet she never stopped praising her junior brother.
“They say there's a Sword of Completion in the countryside where Lady Hwa used to live, Father.”
A master of the sword who can split the heavens and cleave mountains.
And Tang Jin-seong hoped that this man's sword, which could cut through anything, could also sever the Tang Clan's long-standing curse.
And so, Tang Jin-seong, accompanying his father, went to the reception room where Jin Je-yong was waiting.
When he entered, he found Jeok-sam on the floor, holding both of his ears.
“A sound mind in a sound body. That's what my master always used to say.”
“Ah, y-yes, he did say that... Instructor, my elbows really hurt.”
“Yes, and my heart hurts too.”
Jin Je-yong sat in a chair, watching Jeok-sam. But contrary to his words, a smile played on his lips.
Tang Jin-seong couldn't understand what was happening.
‘Seriously, who barges into a place and starts dishing out punishment drills?’
It seemed Lady Hwa's junior brother possessed an extraordinary mind, even before considering his martial skill.
Jin Je-yong shouted at Jeok-sam.
“Alright, now lift your legs!”
“Aargh! The right one or the left one?”
“Hm? Both of them, of course.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
Jeok-sam retorted with a look of disbelief.
He was currently in a push-up position on his elbows, holding his ears with his hands.
“What if I can do it?”
“Well, of course *you* can do it, Instructor...”
Just as Jin Je-yong was about to say something to the grumbling Jeok-sam, Tang Jin-seong came to his rescue.
“What... is this situation?”
“I'm helping my disciple with his training.”
“I'm receiving a punishment drill from my instructor.”
Jin Je-yong and Jeok-sam answered at the same time.
Tang Jin-seong let out a deep sigh and introduced Tang Ju-seong.
“Hoo... This is my father, Clan Head Tang Ju-seong.”
And so, Tang Jin-seong, accompanying his father, went to the reception room where Jin Je-yong was waiting.
* * *
“This is my father, Clan Head Tang Ju-seong.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Elder Tang.”
I clasped my fist in salute to Tang Ju-seong.
My master always stressed the importance of courtesy. Even if Tang Ju-seong was a wreck who had lost his mind, I had to treat him with respect.
“My father cannot speak, but he can hear.”
“I see. Then there should be no problem discussing the matter of your clan member insulting our school.”
I treated Tang Ju-seong and Tang Jin-seong with the same unwavering demeanor.
But that didn't mean I was about to grovel.
Tang Jin-seong swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“Instructor Jin, have you ever heard the story of the Tang Clan's Misfortune?”
“This is the first I'm hearing of it.”
“As I mentioned before, the Tang Clan is falling apart. At the hands of none other than the branch families. So...”
Tang Jin-seong began to speak with a desperate look on his face.
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
“No, before we get into any trivial stories, shouldn't an apology come first?”
I smiled gently and got straight to the point.
‘To save Nam Gyeong, I need to make the issue of responsibility clear.’
I didn't know what circumstances the Tang Clan was facing, but for Nam Gyeong's sake, I had to settle the matter with Tang Jin-wi first.
At my words, Tang Jin-seong's eyes widened before his fine brows furrowed.
“Instructor Jin, you killed a member of our clan. How do you explain this crime?”
“You mean the story about the bastard who insulted my school and tormented my disciple for years? If you want an explanation, I'll have to give it to you with my sword.”
Nam Gyeong's letter detailed the treatment he had received after joining the Righteous Alliance.
“Let me tell you, I'm exercising a great deal of restraint by not drawing my sword right now.”
The thought that my disciple had contemplated such an extreme choice made my blood run cold.
Tang Jin-seong bit his lip hard and then bowed his head.
“It seems I'll have to get another report from Geum Gye-seong for the full details. I can't just listen to one side of the story.”
“My master once told me about the Tang Clan. He said they were a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who thought they were clever, always trying to manipulate situations to their own advantage.”
I didn't know what Tang Jin-seong wanted, but his reason for bringing the crippled clan head was obvious.
He intended to seize the initiative by playing on my sympathy for him attending to his invalid father, and by using the fact that the young master of the great Sichuan Tang Clan had bowed his head.
Of course, it didn't work on me in the slightest.
“If you explain your circumstances, there's no reason I can't help. But before that, an apology for insulting our school comes first.”
“Even though I wasn't the one who insulted you?”
“If a dog you raised barks at or bites someone, what should its owner do?”
“...Do you want an apology from the Tang Clan that badly?”
Tang Jin-seong didn't back down an inch as he continued.
If you want something, you should know when to bow your head, but these people, with their damned pride, wouldn't take the easy path even when it was offered.
“I will not speak with my mouth any longer. From now on, I will speak with my sword.”
“Do you really think you can draw your sword inside the Tang Clan's home and survive?”
“Yes. Easily.”
I replied, drawing my sword.
I could feel presences from the walls, ceiling, and floor of the reception room. Warriors, suppressing their breath with the Art of Breath Suppression, were watching our every move.
“Unlike my master, or Sam-i, I'm not good with words. But I am eloquent.”
“What does that mean...”
I swung my sword, dragging the hidden warriors out.
The ceiling collapsed and the walls cracked as Tang Clan warriors came pouring out.
There were fifteen of them.
I subdued them by striking their paralyzing points with my sword.
Seeing his warriors fall like corpses, Tang Jin-seong revealed his killing intent.
“You... you just used lethal force here?”
“The reason Tang Clan members have short lives isn't a side effect of their poison arts, nor is it some unknown genetic disease.”
“You bastard...”
I looked at Tang Jin-seong, who held thin iron needles between his fingers, and spoke.
“It's because of your arrogance. The Tang Clan is not as strong as you think it is.”
Unable to restrain himself, Tang Jin-seong threw his hidden weapons.
The weapons shot out like lightning in all directions, some ricocheting off the floor and ceiling to assail me from every angle.
To an ordinary person, it might have been an astonishing display of weapon throwing, but he had picked the wrong opponent.
“My master taught me to be wary of two things: poison and hidden weapons.”
I infused my sword with energy. The blade shuddered.
I slashed the empty air with my sword. A wind erupted from the torn space, and the incoming weapons, unable to withstand the gale, were flung away.
“So I spent about three days learning countermeasures from my master. What I learned then was that a hidden weapon, once it leaves the hand, inevitably loses its power.”
“You say a weapon infused with internal energy lacks power? Are you saying my internal energy is insufficient?!”
Tang Jin-seong flared up with a needless sense of inferiority.
When it came to internal energy, Tang Jin-seong, who had feasted on elixirs from a prestigious family, would surely have more. In comparison, I only had a little over thirty years' worth.
“You lack understanding. Internal energy isn't the only kind of power, is it?”
“You cur!”
Enraged, Tang Jin-seong scattered a black powder from his sleeve.
The poison rode the wind toward me. Not a single grain drifted toward Tang Ju-seong or Jeok-sam.
‘He seems to have lost his temper, but he's still composed?’
Scattering poison powder only at a desired target was no easy feat. The Tang Clan's Art of Poison was renowned throughout the martial world.
I cut the poison powder with my sword. I would be fine, but a careless response could have gravely injured Sam-i.
‘Gather the poison with the sword.’
Following the principles of the Absorption Art, I drew the poison powder toward me.
Like moths to a flame, the poison Tang Jin-seong had scattered clung to my sword.
‘And then...’
I turned my gaze to Tang Jin-seong.
You reap what you sow.
I swung my sword, mimicking his Art of Poison.
The movement of my fingers and wrist flowed into the sword.
The poison gathered into a sphere at the tip of my blade and shot toward Tang Jin-seong.
“What is this!”
Tang Jin-seong's eyes flew wide as he screamed.