Return to the Tang Clan
Tang Myung stared at the letter with a hardened expression. Tang Jang turned to Tang Pung.
“What should we do?”
At Tang Jang’s question, Tang Pung clicked his tongue softly.
“Have you forgotten what the Family Head said? He granted the Young Family Head full authority over this matter.”
Tang Jang swallowed and looked at Tang Myung.
“I know you will make the decision. But you can still hear our opinions.”
“That is correct.”
Tang Myung steadied his breathing and looked at the three of them. After a moment, Tang Pung sighed and spoke.
“We must return to the main family.”
“The encirclement is thick. Would it not be better to head to the Qingcheng Sect instead of returning?”
“That is what they want. But if the Demonic Cult is determined, the main family will not last long without us.”
Tang Pung met Tang Myung’s eyes.
“And the Qingcheng and Emei Sects will not move.”
Tang Pung’s long experience allowed him to read the ways of the martial world with precision.
“I agree.”
“We must return to the Tang Family.”
Tang Pung continued while holding Tang Myung’s gaze.
“The final decision is yours. What will you do?”
Tang Myung looked at Tang Jang and Tang Mi-ryeong. Both nodded.
After a brief moment of thought, Tang Myung spoke.
“Is the Milyeong Unit here?”
“……”
No answer came. Tang Myung spoke again.
“The main family is in absolute crisis. I have no right to command the Milyeong Unit, but the Family Head has given me authority to handle the current situation. Therefore… show yourselves.”
At his words, two figures emerged from the quiet forest.
Tang Myung addressed the two masked agents in black night clothes.
“Is there a secret passage into the main family?”
After a short silence, one of the black-clad men nodded.
“There are three underground passages.”
“Three? Where are they located?”
The two agents glanced at each other. Even within the Milyeong Unit, this information was highly classified.
“I know it is secret. But the family is in danger right now.”
“We understand. Our concern lies elsewhere.”
“What is it?”
“The Family Head and the unit leaders know of the underground passages. Yet no order has come to use them. That means they have judged the passages cannot be used.”
Tang Pung nodded at the agent’s words.
“He is right.”
Tang Myung looked at the agents.
“Is there another way in?”
“There is not.”
Tang Myung gazed up at the sky for a moment.
‘Sending out the Visa Unit and Pyeonbok Unit to defeat the enemy was not the answer.’
The goal had been to keep both units inside the Tang Family, yet they could not enter.
‘Then we must strike the Demonic Cult forces surrounding the main family first? No… there are more Demonic Cultists encircling the family than the two units combined.’
Tang Myung spoke, his mind in turmoil.
“We return to the main family.”
“Wise.”
“Young Family Head, you chose well.”
“Even in death, we stand with our kin.”
Tang Myung took a steadying breath.
“We are not going to die. We are going to save the family and survive together.”
He turned to the two Milyeong Unit agents.
“How many Milyeong Unit members are outside the family?”
“Currently eight.”
“Contact them. Confirm routes we can use to enter, and find paths that will keep us hidden from the enemy while we approach.”
“Understood!”
One agent vanished immediately. The remaining agent removed his mask after a moment.
Swish!
“Tang Song?”
“You were with the Milyeong Unit?”
Tang Song clasped his hands in salute.
“Standing beside the Young Family Head in Milyeong Unit attire risked leaking information. From now on, I will serve openly as a family retainer.”
Tang Song reversed his black night clothes and put them back on, revealing ordinary Tang Family attire.
“I will guide you along a safe route.”
Tang Song kicked off the ground, and the Tang Family warriors followed.
***
The group had taken position in the mountains, where the Sichuan Tang Family could be seen in the distance.
“Where did such a large army come from?”
“It makes no sense. No one in Sichuan knew the Demonic Cult could mobilize this many people.”
Tang Pung looked at Tang Song. The latter sighed and lowered his head.
“They evaded both the Milyeong Unit and the Beggar Clan’s information network.”
Tang Pung let out a long breath.
“This is not a failure of our network. The Demonic Cult prepared with extreme thoroughness.”
Tang Pung murmured while surveying the scene below, then turned to Tang Myung.
“Write a letter. We are waiting at Cheoncho Mountain. Awaiting instructions.”
Tang Myung wrote on a small piece of paper and tied it to the Poison Eagle’s leg.
When he gestured in one direction, the bird tilted its head briefly before flying the way he indicated.
The eagle flew low behind the mountains to avoid detection before heading toward the Tang Family.
Tang Myung watched the sky. Far above the family estate, the Poison Eagle appeared as a tiny black dot before descending.
His gaze shifted to Tang Family Town.
In normal times, the town would be bustling with life.
Tang Family Town, home to those who lived under the family’s protection…
Now it was engulfed in flames. Yet no screams could be heard.
The townspeople had already been evacuated in preparation for a Demonic Cult attack.
The traps surrounding Tang Clan Castle had been activated, but the Demonic Cultists were burning everything rather than dismantling them.
‘It was the same back then.’
Even in his previous life, the Demonic Cult experts had fired flaming arrows to set Tang Family Town ablaze. They had burned the area in front of the castle for an entire day to clear the traps before launching their assault.
Tang Jang spoke while watching the burning town.
“The Demonic Cult will not enter until Tang Family Town is completely burned.”
“They will not… The smoke itself is poisonous.”
Tang Jang stared at the town for a moment.
“Once the fire dies, how long can the main family hold?”
Tang Myung answered the anxious murmur.
“About one day.”
“One day? Are you not underestimating them?”
“The main family is large and vast. Even with poison and hidden weapons deployed as traps, the experts we have left cannot defend every point.”
Tang Myung looked toward Tang Clan Castle. Memories of that day surfaced like a mirage.
Demonic Cult experts had poured in from every direction. With two units gone, the remaining three martial units could not cover so many fronts.
When the outer defenses fell, Tang Myung had fought through a blood-soaked path with the Bicheon Unit to request reinforcements.
He shook his head, dispelling the vision, then looked at the others.
“We will set traps.”
“Traps?”
“They burned the town because they feared the Tang Family’s poison and traps. So we will place the very traps they dread throughout the area.”
Tang Myung drew the terrain around the Sichuan Tang Family on the ground and marked several circles.
“We will create traps outside to lure them in. We will shape the battlefield to our advantage using the family’s methods.”
“But to deal with so many Demonic Cult experts, the traps will need to be large… Can we manage that with the poison and hidden weapons we have?”
Tang Myung nodded at Tang Mi-ryeong’s question.
“Our goal is simply to show them that traps exist around Tang Clan Castle. Large-scale traps are unnecessary. Even small amounts of poison and hidden weapons causing minor damage will suffice. The Demonic Cult experts fighting us will then fight while constantly wary of the family’s poison and traps.”
“Oh?”
Tang Pung looked at Tang Myung.
“A shadow cast by a candle always appears larger.”
“Exactly. By making small traps seem larger, we can force them to stay on guard. That alone will help the main family.”
“A fine idea. Where shall we place them?”
“I believe you should decide the locations, Elder. Your experience surpasses mine.”
Tang Pung nodded and rose, slowly surveying the surroundings.
“We will encircle the main family in four directions and place nine-palace formations within.”
“Will that not require too many traps?”
“Small traps are more useful than large ones. We will win through quantity.”
Tang Pung looked at Tang Myung.
“You will command the Visa Unit, I will take the Pyeonbok Unit, and…”
His expression hardened slightly as he regarded the elders and Tang Family experts behind them.
The warriors had not escaped unscathed on the journey here.
The Visa Unit and Pyeonbok Unit had suffered losses, and some of the elders who had been lying in ambush had fallen.
Only slightly more than half the original number remained.
They had annihilated two Demonic Cult martial units in exchange, a great victory. Yet so many family members had died.
There was no joy in the triumph.
The Tang Family experts’ faces mirrored Tang Pung’s sorrow and pain.
Just this morning they had laughed and exchanged greetings with family members who were now gone.
Tang Myung spoke to the grieving warriors.
“Today we lost many brothers and elders.”
The experts looked at him. Even the youngest among them was at least ten years older than Tang Myung.
Those who had completed their training in the family’s martial units were all his seniors.
“Now we must move so that no more brothers or family members are lost. So that no other families feel the sorrow and pain we feel now… we must act.”
“Huu!”
“Grhh! Yes, we must move.”
The warriors either exhaled heavily or clenched their teeth at Tang Myung’s words.
They did not want others to suffer as they did.
“Let us go.”
Whoosh!
Tang Myung kicked off the ground, and the experts followed.
***
Tang Myung watched the surroundings from atop a tree.
Around him, Tang Family experts were quietly setting traps.
The traps were simple: strings that would launch hidden weapons or spray poison when touched, or bushes that would release poison into the air when disturbed.
They were designed to be made quickly and easily.
When a Tang Family expert signaled that a trap was complete, Tang Myung and Tang Jang moved away.
As they continued placing traps while moving through the forest, a small cry reached Tang Myung’s ears.
Peep!
At the Poison Eagle’s cry, Tang Myung realized the danger.
“This is bad. The Poison Eagle is coming to us.”
Even an intelligent spiritual beast, the Poison Eagle was still an eagle. It was following the scent from the pouch Tang Myung carried.
The Demonic Cultists would see it too.
Tang Myung turned to Tang Jang.
“Keep setting the traps. I will lead the Poison Eagle away.”
Whoosh!
Tang Myung launched himself forward without waiting for a reply.
Whoosh!
“Peep!”
The eagle’s cry grew closer as Tang Myung flew through the air.
Tang Jang bit his lip.
“They will come soon. Withdraw.”
At his command, the Tang Family experts glanced in the direction Tang Myung had gone before quickly retreating.