The Poisoned Dragon's Blade
BOOM!
With the earth-shaking blast, Tang Hong slammed his palms into the ground and pushed off with all his strength.
“Young Master!”
As Tang Hong charged forward, Yu Ji-cheong and the other top experts from the Yu Ji Sect rushed straight toward Tang Myung.
Tang Hong waved both hands rapidly in front of him.
Huaaa!
The dust and soil kicked up by Tang Hong’s inner energy exploded outward. Through the haze, Tang Myung and the Vice Family Head stood locked in combat, their fists and palms clashing violently.
“Young Master!”
Tang Myung’s words were cut short as he bit his lower lip hard enough for a trickle of blood to well up.
Shuk!
Tang Hong hurled a dagger. Tang Myung gave the tiniest shake of his head, halting the weapon mid-air. The young man’s gaze shifted to the Vice Family Head still standing before him.
The Vice Family Head was bleeding from his seven orifices. The combined power of the Heavenly Origin Pill and Tang Myung’s inner energy had completely shattered his internal organs in the Triple Yang Refinement realm.
“Krruk!”
Tang Myung watched the frothing blood spill from the Vice Family Head’s mouth and spoke in a cold, low voice.
“You were willing to risk your life for the Black Death Cult?”
“Kukuk!”
The Vice Family Head laughed bitterly, bubbles of blood and phlegm bursting from his lips, and replied with a wet gurgling sound.
“The Black Death Cult’s sense of brotherhood is meaningless. We move for our own interests.”
“Then why did you attack with such suicidal ferocity?”
“…”
The Vice Family Head glared at Tang Myung with pure hatred in his eyes.
“As expected… you truly can’t remember.”
“What?”
“To someone like me from the Tang Family’s perspective, I’m nothing but an ant. Kukuk! It’s only this much resentment that I’ll die without even landing a single blow on the Tang Family…”
Slurp!
The Vice Family Head collapsed without another word. Tang Myung stared down at the fallen man, a shiver running down his spine.
He had considered the Black Death Kill King far more dangerous. Sacrificing his own arm to deploy the Silver Dragon of the Heavens had sent an icy chill through him.
An assassin willing to throw away his own limb to wield those silver threads…
He was truly ruthless.
Tang Myung’s gaze moved to the Black Death Kill King, still slumped against a tree.
The assassin had been subdued by the Tang Family experts and lay unconscious on the ground.
Tang Myung reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pill, swallowing it whole.
“Young Master, are you all right?”
“Aside from the Heavenly Origin Pill’s energy being completely depleted, I’m fine.”
“You’ve used up all the energy from the Heavenly Origin Pill?”
Tang Myung glanced at the dead Vice Family Head, then turned and looked back into the forest. The sounds of fierce fighting still echoed through the trees.
“Kukuk! All the Tang Family experts who entered the forest will die here.”
At Black Death Kill King’s bitter laugh, Tang Myung glanced at him sharply.
“You think so?”
“Kukuk! Only over a hundred of the experts who joined this operation!”
Despite the pain of his severed legs, Black Death Kill King still sent deadly glares toward Tang Myung. The young man grabbed his wrist with iron strength.
Chwaaa!
The silver threads wrapped around the Vice Family Head’s blade snapped taut. In a flash, the dagger was ripped free from the ground and launched straight at the Black Death Kill King.
Thud!
The dagger struck the assassin’s face dead center. His mouth moved as if to speak, then went slack.
Huaaa!
Sharp inner energy flashed along the silver threads, slicing through the blade in an instant and recovering the weapon with a ringing sound.
Shrrk!
Tang Myung recovered the dagger with a sharp whistle, rubbed his wrist a few times, and looked at Yu Ji-cheong, who was staring blankly at him.
“You all right?”
“Huh? Ah… of course, haha!”
Yu Ji-cheong laughed loudly, then noticed the two corpses. His expression darkened.
“You should have questioned us about our reasons for the attack.”
“The reason was revenge against the Tang Family.”
“True, but…”
Yu Ji-cheong clicked his tongue, then looked at the Black Death Kill King’s body.
“The Black Death Kill King…”
“You know him?”
“He’s well-known within the Wulin, even among the Tang Family.”
Yu Ji-cheong turned back to Tang Myung.
“You’ve grown stronger.”
The Black Death Kill King had been a Peak expert with a formidable reputation in the Black Death Cult. Yet this man had died at Tang Myung’s hands despite fighting alongside him.
Something he himself couldn’t have done.
“Not yet… far from enough.”
Tang Myung stared at the Black Death Kill King’s corpse, then turned to the dead Vice Family Head. Yu Ji-cheong followed his gaze and asked.
“What grudge do you have with the Tang Family?”
Yu Ji-cheong looked at the Vice Family Head’s body, then at Tang Myung.
“After what he said earlier, it doesn’t seem like a simple grudge.”
At Yu Ji-cheong’s question, Tang Myung replied calmly.
“One of them—son, parent, friend, or lover—died because of the Tang Family.”
“Revenge, then?”
“If not for revenge, he wouldn’t have attacked so fiercely.”
“Aren’t you curious about the exact circumstances?”
Tang Myung was silent for a moment before speaking.
“They kidnapped two of Tang Cheon-deuk’s younger sisters and turned them into playthings.”
“What?”
“They raided merchants passing through Qingdao and slaughtered everyone, not just taking the goods.”
“What do you mean?”
Yu Ji-cheong looked confused, so Tang Myung continued.
“They forcibly seized farmland from the farmers in Qingdao. When the landless farmers couldn’t endure the injustice, three of them took their own lives.”
Tang Myung glanced at the Black Death Kill King.
“This is all the Black Death Cult did. They only killed people who didn’t deserve to live.”
He looked back at the dead Vice Family Head.
“Whether they had a grudge against the Tang Family or not, whether they were wronged or not… it doesn’t matter. If the Tang Family truly had enmity with these men, then they did what they had to do.”
Yu Ji-cheong swallowed hard.
“Couldn’t the Tang Family’s mistakes have caused this?”
Yu Ji-cheong regretted his words the moment he said them. A slip of the tongue.
“You can’t deny that, can you?”
Tang Myung looked up at the sky, then at Yu Ji-cheong.
“There are always bad people in the world. But…”
He turned to Yu Ji-cheong directly.
“The Tang Family will handle its own mistakes.”
“…”
Yu Ji-cheong felt like slapping himself. The Tang Family alone should take responsibility for its own mistakes.
“That’s true. But isn’t the same true for other sects? Shaolin and Wudang deal with their own wayward disciples internally—kill them or imprison them. The Tang Family does the same.”
“That’s true.”
Yu Ji-cheong nodded thoughtfully. Most sects would capture their own rogue disciples and deal with them quietly.
There were reasons—maintaining reputation, preventing the spread of martial arts secrets to rival sects. But the Tang Family spoke plainly about it.
“Uncle Hong, I’ll start circulation and meditation.”
“Understood.”
Once Tang Hong and the Tang Family experts formed a protective circle around them, Tang Myung sat in lotus position and began circulating and meditating.
The Yu Ji Sect experts also took up positions around Tang Myung and began guarding him with utmost vigilance.
***
When Tang Myung opened his eyes after finishing circulation and meditation, it was already the hour of the rat, dawn breaking.
As he stood up, Tang Jang approached.
“How is the Heavenly Origin Pill?”
“I’ll need to take it for a few more days.”
Tang Jang nodded, understanding the answer.
“I heard the story. You fought against two Peak experts?”
“Nothing is as effective as actual combat.”
“True, but it was dangerous.”
Concern etched on Tang Jang’s face made Tang Myung wave it away with a chuckle.
“Uncle Hong was beside me. I thought the worst wouldn’t happen.”
“Understood. But the Young Master’s body isn’t just his own. The Tang Family… must never suffer two such losses.”
He didn’t need to say what “two” referred to. Tang Myung understood perfectly.
“I will remember.”
Tang Jang nodded, but Tang Myung’s gaze slid sideways to Tang Hong, whose cheeks were puffed out in indignation.
Tang Jang had given him a light warning, but Tang Hong had clearly been scolded harshly.
“How are the casualties?”
“Two severely injured, three lightly wounded.”
“Severe?”
“They took the full brunt of the Tiger-Tiger Eagle-Eagle palm attack.”
“How serious is the injury?”
“Their internal energy is severely damaged, making movement difficult.”
Tang Myung examined the wounded Tang Family experts. Several of them looked at him apologetically.
“Young Master… I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. First, take care of your own bodies.”
“Please leave us behind.”
Tang Myung smiled and took the hands of the injured experts.
“The Tang Family does not abandon its own. We will return… not again.”
The surrounding experts all nodded in agreement.
Tang Myung looked around.
“I’ll cut down trees and make stretchers.”
Tang Hong immediately gathered the escort team and began chopping trees, binding them with cloth to create makeshift litters.
The severely injured experts were carefully placed on the stretchers and set off northward once more.
They moved with utmost caution, using light body techniques to avoid jolting the wounded as much as possible.
Every hour, they stopped to check on the patients and administer pills.
Tang Jang carefully helped the two most critical patients sit up, placing both hands on their backs to assist with circulation and meditation.
Yu Ji-cheong watched this and turned to Tang Myung.
“There’s a village a short distance west from here. Wouldn’t it be better to have them treated by a doctor from the medical society?”
“Most of the Tang Family’s people have better skills than the village doctors.”
“But we lack medicinal herbs, don’t we?”
“Don’t worry. We can gather whatever we need from the mountains.”
Tang Myung spoke, then checked on the severely injured before moving to the lightly wounded. He sprinkled medicine on their wounds, changed their bandages, and said,
“Rest a while. I’ll be back soon.”
He lightly shook his body. A light shower of silver threads fell to the ground.
Yu Ji-cheong, who had been watching, saw him loosen the seals on the black-clothed figures and then turned to the Yu Ji experts.
“You all, start circulation and meditation. I’ll take guard duty alongside the Tang Young Master.”
At Yu Ji-cheong’s command, the Yu Ji experts sat down and began meditating.
Standing guard beside Tang Myung, Yu Ji-cheong scanned the surroundings with sharp, alert eyes.
“The Tang Family… has grown even stronger.”
“Because I’ve unlocked the Hidden Weapons technique,” Tang Myung replied, glancing at him.
“You didn’t use hidden weapons before.”
“I did.”
Tang Myung brushed the cloth pouch on his waist. The hidden weapons inside slid smoothly into his hand.
“When we went to the Wulin with you before, we used these larger kinds of hidden weapons.”
“True.”
“These are not meant for killing. They’re meant to be dodged.”
“Dodged?”
“When you try to avoid hidden weapons, you create openings.”
Tang Myung slid the dagger back into the pouch, then opened his hand again. Small silver needles and a jade-leaf blade now rested in his palm.
“These are the real hidden weapons the Tang Family uses. Hard to see, even harder to dodge.”
He flicked the jade-leaf blade lightly in the air. Despite being made of metal, it seemed to dance and flutter as if alive.
Tang Myung sheathed the blade, then turned to Yu Ji-cheong, who was staring at his waist pouch in astonishment.
“How many hidden weapons are stored in that pouch?”
“One hundred and eight.”
“One hundred and eight?”
Yu Ji-cheong’s eyes widened in shock. Tang Myung nodded calmly.
“Stay away from the Tang Family.”
“Why would I want to be your enemy?”
Yu Ji-cheong’s awkward smile made Tang Myung nod.
Without a word, he continued scanning the surroundings. Yu Ji-cheong clicked his tongue and joined him in guarding the area.