The Ambush Unfolds
“Kuaaak!”
“Aaaagh!”
As the vanguard of the Black Wind Unit and Blood Death Unit collapsed amid screams, hidden weapons rained down from between the houses.
“It’s an ambush!”
“Fall back!”
“Kuaaak!”
The Demonic Cult members, realizing they had walked into a trap, tried to retreat, but more hidden weapons poured into their escape routes.
“Attack!”
The cultists charged toward the houses from which the projectiles flew.
Boom!
One cultist smashed through a wall and swung his sword wildly in all directions.
Shhhk! Shhhk!
Sharp sword qi tore the interior of the house apart. Yet by the time they entered, the house was empty.
Instead…
Whoosh!
A cloud of poisonous smoke filled the room and greeted them.
“Kuhk!”
“Poison…”
The one who managed to speak the word was unlucky. His strong inner force had bought him a few extra seconds of resistance.
Those who screamed died instantly. Those who spoke suffered longer, writhing in agony as the poison took hold.
Even those screams and pain ended quickly.
When the cries faded, an old man rose from the floorboards.
“Heh heh heh! Never thought I’d get to use my Ten Great Golden Poisons so freely.”
Chuckling, the elder moved to the window and began firing hidden weapons coated in the deadly poison.
Pop-pop-pop!
After loosing his volley, he sank back beneath the floor.
The same scene played out across the entire village.
Tang Family experts scattered, hid, and struck with hidden weapons before immediately relocating.
Wherever they struck, poison followed, and any cultist who entered those spaces collapsed, poisoned.
This was the true terror of the Tang Family. They never needed to fight at close range.
They only had to throw hidden weapons, retreat, and leave poison in their wake.
***
Tang Jang, Tang Mi-ryeong, and Tang Pung stood facing the Demonic Cult leaders.
Heaven Opening Blood Demon Oh Jin and Black Wind Demon Ho Jin-ui stared grimly at the village.
“We walked right into their trap.”
The two leaders watched their subordinates die.
At Oh Jin’s muttered words, Tang Pung laughed.
“People fear the Tang Family’s poisons and hidden weapons… but what they should truly fear is our cunning.”
“Cunning?”
“Poison only works when the enemy doesn’t know it’s there. Besides, we’re the Sichuan Tang Family. Our enemies always prepare for poison.”
Tang Pung shook his head with a smile.
“To poison those who are prepared, you need more than poison. You make them think it isn’t poison, then make what isn’t poison into poison. Sometimes the reverse…”
Tang Pung looked at Oh Jin and Ho Jin-ui.
“That’s why we teach our people cunning more than we teach them poison.”
Tang Pung smiled and surveyed the village. Most of the cult experts who had entered were already dead. The few survivors were being hunted down by Tang Family experts.
“That is the result.”
Oh Jin clicked his tongue at Tang Pung’s words.
“That’s why the Cult planned to eliminate the Tang Family first… but you’ve made things troublesome.”
“Troublesome?”
When Tang Pung narrowed his eyes, Oh Jin smiled.
“Well… you’ll find out in a few days.”
Oh Jin then turned to Tang Pung.
“You’re… Tang Pung, aren’t you?”
“You know me?”
“We were taught the names of the Tang Family experts we should watch out for.”
“An expert the Demonic Cult considers worth watching… I’m honored.”
Oh Jin chuckled softly, glanced at Tang Pung, Tang Jang, and Tang Mi-ryeong, then turned to Ho Jin-ui.
“I’ll cover the rear.”
At Oh Jin’s words, Ho Jin-ui paused for a moment before kicking off the ground.
“He’s fleeing?”
Startled by the sudden move, Tang Pung kicked off to pursue, but Oh Jin blocked his path and swung his sword.
Shhhk!
Tang Pung hurriedly retreated from the surging sword qi. Tang Jang stepped in to intercept.
“Go after him.”
At Tang Jang’s shout, Tang Pung tried to give chase.
“Tang Jang and Tang Mi-ryeong must both die!”
Whoosh!
While Tang Pung hesitated at Oh Jin’s words, Oh Jin swallowed a pill from his robe.
Gulp!
Whoosh!
Oh Jin’s face swelled as if about to burst, and a red aura began to radiate from him.
“The Explosive Blood Demonic Beast Pill.”
“The Explosive Blood Demonic Beast Pill!”
Tang Pung muttered in shock. It was the Demonic Cult’s forbidden pill that ignited one’s latent power.
Sword qi began to ripple along Oh Jin’s blade.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sword qi lost its edge and began to burn like flames.
“Gang Qi Materialization?”
It was the realm where Gang Qi manifested as flickering flames.
“Impressive, isn’t it? One pill and I’ve crossed a wall I only dreamed of reaching.”
Oh Jin smiled as he admired the burning qi on his sword.
“Of course, the price is my life, and it will only last as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
Oh Jin raised his sword and assumed a stance.
“Then let me burn my final flame…”
A look of confusion crossed Oh Jin’s face mid-sentence.
Tang Jang, Tang Pung, and Tang Mi-ryeong had all turned and fled.
“What?”
Oh Jin stared in disbelief. He had never imagined that three renowned Tang Family experts would flee without even throwing a single hidden weapon.
And they were not alone. Tang Family experts poured out of houses throughout the village and immediately began retreating.
“Hah!”
Oh Jin felt both absurd and furious. The Sichuan Tang Family’s experts were fleeing in this situation…
And he had taken the pill, prepared to die?
His disbelief turned to rage.
“Chase them!”
“Yes, sir!”
Oh Jin and the surviving cult experts gave pursuit. Fewer than twenty remained.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Oh Jin and his men raced after the Tang Family experts.
Then…
Shhhk!
“Kuaaak!”
One Tang Family expert caught by Oh Jin was sliced cleanly in two.
One expert had fallen, but those ahead did not stop.
Some glanced back, yet none turned around.
“Hmph!”
With a snort, Oh Jin drew deeper on his power and swung at the rearmost figure.
Or tried to.
Clang-clang-clang!
Hidden weapons shattered against Oh Jin’s sword.
Whoosh!
Oh Jin looked toward the source. Tang Mi-ryeong sat on Tang Jang’s shoulders, hurling hidden weapons backward.
And she was not the only one.
Every member of the Pyeonbok Unit ran while the one behind threw hidden weapons.
“These bastards!”
Oh Jin cursed and poured more power into his movement technique.
Pop-pop-pop! Clang-clang-clang!
Daggers, blood darts, and needles rained toward Oh Jin, but every one was deflected by his sword.
Clang-clang-clang!
The hidden weapons themselves posed no threat. The real problem was that blocking them prevented him from giving his full attention to pursuit.
Whoosh!
Oh Jin snatched a dagger aimed at his chest and squeezed.
Crack!
The dagger shattered in his hand like glass. Watching the fragments scatter, Oh Jin resumed the chase.
As the Tang Family experts left the village, Tang Mi-ryeong hurled another dagger at Oh Jin.
Whoosh!
Oh Jin raised his sword to deflect the incoming blade, then noticed something strange.
A faint flame flickered along the dagger.
‘An explosive hidden weapon?’
Oh Jin wrapped his body in inner force and charged forward. Even if the dagger exploded, he intended to endure the fragments and escape the blast radius.
After all, his life was already forfeit… there was no reason to dodge.
Boom!
The dagger detonated, sending flames in all directions.
As Oh Jin pushed his inner force higher, he saw something impossible.
The flames that burst in midair spread outward. It looked as though a festival of fire had erupted in the sky.
Then…
KABOOM!
A violent explosion followed, and a wave of flame swept across the area.
“Kuaaak!”
“Aaaagh!”
The surviving cultists screamed as they were torn apart, but their cries were drowned out by the roar of the blast.
***
Tang Myung and the Tang Family experts stood before the ruined village. Tang Myung glanced at one spot.
There lay Oh Jin, sword stabbed into the ground, already dead.
“A Gang Qi Materialization expert…”
At Tang Myung’s murmur, Tang Jang sighed.
“If we had fought him head-on, the damage would have been severe.”
Tang Myung nodded.
“Thank you for following my orders and retreating.”
“The Family Head instructed us to obey your command.”
“Still, thank you.”
Even against a Gang Qi Materialization expert, Tang Jang would have fought to the death. A martial artist’s pride would never allow them to show their back.
Tang Pung and Tang Mi-ryeong felt the same. Yet at Tang Myung’s order, they had retreated without hesitation.
For Tang Myung, who had decided to do anything for the family, it was the obvious choice. Besides, the enemy had taken a pill that would soon kill him. There was no need to engage.
After ordering the retreat, Tang Myung had the experts scatter a fine powder called Fire Powder.
Fire Powder was not poison, but when ignited, even the smallest spark would cause it to burn violently.
They had lured the enemy with hidden weapons, then detonated the powder at the right moment. The resulting explosions sent the Tang Family’s own hidden weapons flying and detonating, sweeping the area and claiming every cult expert’s life.
“We return.”
At Tang Myung’s words, Tang Mi-ryeong spoke.
“What about the hidden weapons?”
She looked at the village. Countless weapons they had used lay scattered throughout.
The Tang Family never left their hidden weapons behind.
“We don’t have time to recover them.”
“Then?”
“We’ll burn the village.”
“Burn it?”
“I’m sorry to the villagers, but once the war ends, the family will help them rebuild.”
Tang Myung looked at the experts, signaling the discussion was over.
“Set the fires.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Tang Myung’s command, the experts moved through the village, setting fires everywhere.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the entire village began to burn, Tang Myung exhaled softly.
‘At least… one thing has changed.’
In the original timeline, the Visa Unit and Pyeonbok Unit would have been annihilated. The cultists would have surrounded the Sichuan Tang Family.
But now the Visa Unit, Pyeonbok Unit, Tang Jang, and Tang Mi-ryeong had all survived.
With these forces and two Peak experts, the Tang Family could establish a defensive line and hold.
Smiling faintly, Tang Myung led the experts back toward Chengdu.
But he had smiled too soon. The Tang Family’s crisis was far from over.
***
Whoosh-whoosh!
As Tang Myung raced back to Chengdu, he suddenly looked skyward and pulled a scent pouch from his robe, shaking it.
A hawk plummeted from the sky.
“It’s a Poison Eagle.”
The eagle, trained since childhood, landed on Tang Myung’s shoulder.
He quickly retrieved the message tied to its leg and read it.
The Demonic Cult has surrounded us.
Return is impossible.
Proceed to the Qingcheng Sect.
Tang Myung’s face hardened as he finished reading.
“Damn…”
At his grim expression, Tang Jang and Tang Pung leaned in to read the message. Their faces darkened as well.
“The family has already been surrounded?”
“We must return at once.”
Tang Myung’s face twisted at their words.
‘Nothing… has changed.’
In fact, things had grown worse. Tang Pung, who should have been at the family, was here, along with additional Tang Family experts who had come to assist.
The very experts needed to form the family’s defensive line were now absent.