The Disappearance of the Tang Family
Clang! Clang!
Inside the shaking carriage, Tang Myung lay unconscious.
Gradually, he began to open his eyes.
Hmm…
Feeling as though he had slept very comfortably, Tang Myung slowly opened his eyes.
Once his eyes were open, he blinked blankly for a moment before sitting up abruptly.
Why…?
Tang Myung hastily looked around and rose to his feet.
Luckily, his body was completely unharmed.
His inner energy flowed smoothly as well, so there was no issue with his martial skills.
Clang!
The carriage window opened, and Tang Hong’s face appeared.
Have… have you regained your consciousness, Young Master?
Uncle? What exactly happened? Why am I here?
Tang Myung looked around as he asked.
Inside the carriage?
As Tang Myung scanned his surroundings, Tang Hong stared at him for a moment before speaking.
Please step outside. There is much to discuss.
Clang!
As the carriage window closed, Tang Myung opened the carriage door.
Even though it was a moving carriage, Tang Myung used the Qigong method and leaped up with a light hop.
Tap!
Gripping the carriage roof lightly and twisting his body, Tang Myung stepped down onto the driver’s seat.
On the driver’s seat was Tang Hong, dressed in ordinary coachman attire, driving the carriage.
Seeing this, Tang Myung looked around.
They were heading toward some unknown road.
Where exactly are we?
We passed Guan-nak yesterday.
Guan-nak? That’s south of Mount Emei, isn’t it? Wait, why are we here? What happened to the main family? Why are only you and I here?
Watching Tang Myung’s surprised question, Tang Hong paused before answering.
The main family has been annihilated.
Tang Myung’s mouth fell wide open.
Annihilated? The main family?
Ahh! Yes, that’s right. The main family… has been annihilated.
Then why am I here? Why me?
It was the Family Head’s order.
Tang Hong sighed and continued.
On that day… the Family Head used the underground tunnel to escort Young Master and me out.
And I have been using the carriage to transport Young Master, moving like this.
Why?
It was the Family Head’s order. Escort Young Master while hiding your identity and head to Yunnan.
Then how did you know the main family was annihilated?
I heard the news from a village we visited today. The Demonic Cult attacked, and the Tang Family was annihilated.
Seeing Tang Hong’s face filled with grief, Tang Myung bit his lip.
Lifting his eyes to Tang Myung, Tang Hong pulled out a letter from his bosom and handed it over.
When Young Master wakes up, deliver this to him.
As Tang Myung received the letter, he felt the round metal inside.
Opening the letter and tilting it into his palm caused the Bicheon Ring to fall out.
Bicheon Ring.
Watching Tang Myung caress the ring for a moment, Tang Hong was astonished.
Tang Myung could already guess why he was here.
‘Father… entrusted me with the future.’
Knowing he would have difficulty overcoming this crisis, Tang Cheon-deuk had sent him away.
Opening the letter, Tang Myung began to read.
Listen.
Because the sudden situation was unexpected, you must have been greatly shocked.
However, upon hearing your words, I realize there is no way to overcome this crisis at the moment.
The best method would be to use the underground tunnel as in your previous life to evacuate the family members… but as you said, that would not be a way to protect the family.
Therefore, I intend to hide the family members.
By the time you see this letter, most of the family members will already be hiding in the underground tunnel.
And as time passes, the family members will scatter from the capital to various regions in the Central Plains.
I have entrusted this matter to the Five Great Unit Leaders.
What differs from your previous life is… that you are in Yunnan, not the underground tunnel…
‘Yunnan?’
Tang Myung tilted his head at the word Yunnan.
Why suddenly Yunnan?
But he soon continued reading the letter.
…that is all.
I will tell you about the questions Tang Song and Tang Jang had.
The Samyang Divine Art has been the exclusive internal force technique of the Family Head of the main family for generations.
There was an elder who was your great-grandmother, Tang Mi-mi.
Madam Tang Mi-mi was a genius of martial arts and, regarding medicine and poison pills, a true genius that no one in the Tang Family could match.
Before she turned thirty, she was already called the greatest expert of the main family.
However, since she was a woman’s body, she could not become Family Head and could not learn the Samyang Divine Art.
But Madam wished to learn the Samyang Divine Art.
The reason was simple.
Although she was already the greatest expert in the Tang Family without learning the Samyang Divine Art, she believed she could make her martial skills even stronger if she learned it.
She thought that would be the path to making the Tang Family even stronger.
However, the Samyang Divine Art is the Family Head’s martial technique.
It was a martial art that could not be learned or even seen by anyone who was not the Family Head.
In the end, Madam secretly stole and learned the Samyang Divine Art.
And she improved the current Samyang Divine Art.
However, she was eventually discovered by the family.
Madam’s Samyang Divine Art was superior to the original and an extremely excellent martial art with unique characteristics depending on the person.
However… because she had violated the rules, she was eventually expelled from the family.
At that time, Madam said the Samyang Divine Art would become the foundation of the martial arts she created.
In the future… I will not forgive those who come to me for absolution until they have sought my forgiveness for their wrongs.
Go to Madam in Yunnan.
If she is still alive, her martial prowess will be the greatest under heaven, allowing her to overcome the main family’s crisis.
If she has already passed away, we must retrieve her successors or the remaining legacies.
This is the best choice to overcome the main family’s crisis… and if you do, you must never return.
And… never lightly value your own life.
Father is proud of you, and I am sorry for burdening you with such a heavy task.
I love you, my son.
A region name from Yunnan was written with the letter.
Tang Myung chewed his lip while reading the letter for a moment.
‘He entrusted me with the future of the family.’
Tang Myung sighed, looked at the letter, and checked the inside of the envelope.
The texture of the envelope suggested there was another letter inside.
Upon unfolding the second letter, Tang Cheon-deuk’s arrangements were written.
Where the family members would hide and how to find them were detailed.
Tang Myung read the letter several times, memorizing it, then raised his inner energy.
Whoosh!
The heat energy from the palm fire burned the letter.
Young Master, what does it say?
Upon Tang Hong’s question, Tang Myung explained.
The main family is gone, but most of the family members have escaped.
Ah! That’s truly fortunate.
Good news.
Tears welled up in Tang Hong’s eyes as he spoke.
Because the family members of the main family were alive, he felt relieved.
Seeing Tang Hong’s expression, Tang Myung gave a small smile.
This was why he liked Tang Hong.
After all, if he had been in the same situation, he would have shed tears too.
Because the family members he thought were dead were alive.
You damn troublemaker!
Watching Tang Hong grind his teeth, saying he would not let go of the troublemaker who spread the rumor that the Tang Family had been annihilated, Tang Myung shook his head.
The main family was annihilated.
What? You say the family members escaped?
Only the family members escaped… but Father and the elders… were all captured.
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Hong’s face hardened.
And… tears began to stream down his eyes.
Looking at Tang Hong, Tang Myung looked ahead.
First, we head to Yunnan.
Isn’t that what the Family Head ordered? To take Young Master to Yunnan.
Tang Hong suddenly looked at Tang Myung.
But where exactly in Yunnan?
The Heavenly Grant Forest.
The Heavenly Grant Forest? It sounds like a dangerous place.
I don’t know much about it either.
Then why are we going there?
Tang Hong looked back as he spoke.
Would you like to go back?
Tang Hong hesitated for a moment before answering.
The family members are worrying me.
If I were there by their side, I could be of help to them…
At Tang Hong’s words, Tang Myung nodded.
We are going to Yunnan to protect the family members.
So… although it is painful for your heart, we must go to Yunnan now.
This is the path for the main family.
What is in Yunnan?
The main family says a supreme expert is hiding there.
A supreme expert? Who is that?
Curiosity appeared on Tang Hong’s face.
Since the Tang Family does not create branch families, unless someone dies in an accident outside, everyone stays at the main family and ages and dies there.
But a supreme expert is in Yunnan?
Do you know the name Tang Mi-mi?
Tang Mi-mi… I don’t really know.
To me, she is my great-grandmother, so to Uncle Tang Hong, she would be my grandmother.
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Hong searched his memory for a moment but soon shook his head.
I have never heard of her.
Hmm, I see.
It was a bit strange that even though he was young, he didn’t know about someone in the Tang Family’s history who had secretly learned the Samyang Divine Art and was then expelled.
Even so, if no one knew…
‘The elders must have hidden this fact.
After all, since such a thing happened in the family, there was no reason to tell anyone.’
Thinking this, Tang Myung stepped down from the carriage and spoke.
We will abandon the carriage and move by horse from now on.
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Hong moved the carriage to the forest behind the road and let the horses loose.
He then took the luggage out of the carriage and loaded it onto the horses’ backs.
Having finished preparations, Tang Hong brought a large stone.
Tang Hong, holding the stone, struck the wheel several times with great force.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crunch!
Then the wheels broke with a grinding sound.
Why are you doing this?
At Tang Myung’s question, Tang Hong explained.
If a perfectly good carriage is abandoned, people will think something is strange.
But if the wheels are broken, travelers on the road will think the carriage was left behind.
Ah…
Seeing Tang Myung thinking deeply like that, Tang Hong laughed and said.
I was just a small trick in case we are being followed.
What kind of trick is that?
This is wisdom that comes from experience.
Wisdom… yes, I guess so.
Tang Hong laughed, then suddenly sighed and threw the stone far away.
It was because the thought of the Family Head and the elders dying had come to mind.
Looking at Tang Hong, Tang Myung picked up soil and grass from the broken wheels and spread them around before mounting the horse.
Let’s go.
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Hong nodded and mounted the horse.
Then the two began to gallop south on horseback.
***
Upon entering Yunnan, Tang Myung and Tang Hong soon encountered dense forests.
Having passed Sichuan Province and entered Yunnan, Tang Hong’s face was gloomy.
As they came through the border, he had occasionally checked information through his intelligence organization… but that news made him unable to feel anything but sorrow.
He had heard that the elders and the Family Head had died and the Tang Family had been reduced to ruins.
Since then, Tang Hong had been depressed.
He knew through Tang Cheon-deuk’s letter that most family members had survived, but the sacrifice of the Family Head and the elders was a painful matter for his heart.
Looking at Tang Hong for a moment, Tang Myung spoke.
Since it was for the main family, the elders probably closed their eyes in peace.
That is right.
Tang Hong sighed and looked north.
I wonder if the people of the main family are doing well…
Don’t worry.
I sent letters to Jeong Myeong and Zhuge Mun.
They will definitely help.
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Hong asked with a worried face.
But can we really trust the two of them?
This is a matter involving the fate of the main family.
At Tang Hong’s question, Tang Myung smiled.
He is someone who can die for me instead.
Do you truly believe that?
At Tang Hong’s question, Tang Myung looked into the air.
The image of Jeong Myeong, who had been killed by him, came to mind.
Jeong Myeong, whose neck had been cut off with an apology and whose limbs had been torn apart…
I cannot help but believe it.