Journey to Sichuan - 3
Dang Geoho stepped out before us with the brazen air of a man who had just pulled off a successful usurpation, as if he were Grand Prince Suyang after seizing the throne.
In contrast, the masked figures—clearly burdened by plenty they wished to hide—began tightening their circle around us in silence, like voiceless extras from a tokusatsu show whose language packs had been ripped out.
I would have preferred their skill levels to match those of disposable extras too. But judging by the confidence blazing on Dang Geoho’s face and the sheer oppressive weight radiating from the masked men, they were nowhere near extra-tier.
So they were aiming for a war of attrition all along.
No wonder the damage had seemed surprisingly light for the scale of the incident.
The warriors of the Sichuan Dang Clan were cash-type murim men at their core. Just like office workers whose bank balances were their HP, their confidence fluctuated with how many poisons and hidden weapons they still had on hand.
Whatever the quality of the bandits those two had driven into a death trap, the sheer quantity had been high enough that the Medical Pavilion warriors must have burned through a mountain of toxins and projectiles.
The stock of stored hidden weapons is… not going to be enough.
I glanced over at the Medical Pavilion fighters just in case. Exactly as expected. Several of them kept flicking their eyes between their empty weapon pouches and the surrounding masked men, unable to hide their dismay.
They should have treated consumables like the precious things they are and rationed carefully. Instead they spent like it was someone else’s money.
One of these days I needed to make the Dang Clan warriors experience life in a mid-sized sect—no, a small-to-medium enterprise of a sect. Then every time a fight broke out they would hear things like this:
— You used high-grade hidden weapons in the last scrap, didn’t you? Low-grade would have been plenty against mountain bandits.
— I’m sorry.
— It’s fine, it’s fine. When you burn through the expensive stuff, the rest of us just use the recycled ones. Keep up the good work. This is the perfect chance to yank out our sect’s very foundation and see what’s underneath.
That was the kind of warm, encouraging culture they needed.
While I was busy imagining how I would inject some much-needed tension into the loose Dang Clan, Dang Geoho began walking slowly toward us.
“Hwarin. Have you been well?”
He addressed her with a smile like a fatherly snake.
“Stand down. A criminal has the gall to show his face so shamelessly.”
“I came only to greet long-missed faces, yet you treat me so coldly.”
Does this bastard have zero social awareness? No one here is happy to see you. His shamelessness was on the level of a guy who ghosts a friend group for three years, then shows up handing out wedding invitations while saying “Long time no see, great to catch up!”
“These days even masked men come to greet people, I see. A few of them I can guess simply by the shape of their eyes. Why wrap yourselves up so tightly?”
Every time Uigakju’s gaze lingered on the purple hair escaping from under several of the masks, those figures’ shoulders gave a visible twitch.
“Haha. They are simply shy by nature—please understand. Still, they came to help me in my work. I would be grateful if you did not look at them with such frightening eyes.”
“So you needed to drag out every problem child of the clan who fits your circle just to cover up your crimes?”
Did he bring the entire Dokin club? It did not look like purple hair was the only trait among them.
“Crimes? What crimes of mine do you speak of?”
Child abuse, fraud, attempted contract murder, violation of toxic substance control laws, forbidden human experimentation… the list was long.
“Your shamelessness has crossed every line.”
Uigakju, apparently at a loss for words, let open hostility blaze in his eyes as he glared at Dang Geoho. The other man merely snorted at him.
“Did my experiments kill Hwarin? No. On the contrary, she is on the very brink of becoming a completed Dokin. Only one final step remains. Once that step is taken, I will be able to proudly show the finished Poison Human to the entire clan. So step aside.”
What an utterly ridiculous bastard. Did he think Hwarin was a graduation project he had left in storage?
“I realized long ago that your heart is as cunning as a viper’s, but now you no longer even bother to hide your wickedness!”
“Words are wasted on you. Hwarin. You must have suffered greatly under a man with whom conversation is impossible. Come with me and I will make you a perfect Dokin.”
Apparently finished listening to Uigakju, Dang Geoho cast him one contemptuous glance and then turned a tender expression on Hwarin.
“What the hell is this fraud saying?”
That’s my girl. When she shot him a look of pure disbelief, Dang Geoho’s face flickered as though he had actually taken a hit.
“Haha. In the short time since I last saw you, Hwarin, your tongue has grown quite rough.”
As far as I knew, it had always been rough.
“Cut the bullshit. Stop that disgusting mask play already. It’s making me want to puke.”
“To misread the sincerity with which I cherish you so thoroughly… it wounds me. That man must have filled your ears with sweet lies to seduce you. But Hwarin, no matter what you have heard, you are already a half-Dokin. If you return to the clan in that body, there will be no end to the monsters who will do anything to research you.”
“Bullshit. He promised to protect me.”
“Do you truly believe Uigakju is some great figure? The freaks of the Dang Clan will be falling over themselves to slit open your belly.”
“Child. Do not be deceived by the viper’s tongue. I will protect you under my own name.”
Uigakju moved to shield Hwarin from Dang Geoho’s view, his voice ringing with resolve.
“Hwarin. Did I not clearly promise you? Once you become a Dokin, the clan will treat you as direct blood. No—once the Dang Clan’s long-cherished wish is complete, the Sichuan Dang Clan will be you, and you will be the Sichuan Dang Clan itself.”
“Do not listen.”
“I wasn’t planning to. Dang Geoho. Why the hell would I believe a single word that comes out of a scammer’s mouth?”
Exactly. You should never believe the words of a fraud who opens his mouth only to lie.
No—better to rephrase that. Without a clear subject it might get mistaken for an insult aimed at some innocent, pure-hearted person. Let us correct it to: you should never believe the words of a person who opens his mouth only to spit lies that bring harm.
“Tch… Uigakju! Quietly hand Dang Hwarin over to me. Do so, and I will withdraw from this place without further bloodshed and take the completed girl back to the Dang Clan.”
Apparently realizing he could no longer fool Hwarin as easily as before, Dang Geoho switched to negotiating with Uigakju.
“You bring outsiders into this and still expect me to believe that?”
“I merely sought help because the situation had grown difficult. I remain a man of the Sichuan Dang Clan. Everything I do is for the sake of the Sichuan Dang Clan—so yield, Uigakju.”
He pulled out the filthiest excuse of all. Why do people who commit the ugliest crimes always claim they did it for some greater cause?
“For the Sichuan Dang Clan? Once the world learns of the filthy greed that drove your actions, every martial artist under heaven will point their fingers at us in scorn! How dare that filthy mouth of yours claim anything is for the Sichuan Dang Clan!”
At Uigakju’s scathing rebuke, Dang Geoho’s face twisted exactly like a man forced to listen to the lecture he hated most.
“That same old line—‘the world will point fingers.’ ‘The Dang Clan must walk the righteous path.’ Are you not tired of repeating the same words every day? Tell me—why must we, the overlords of Sichuan, live while constantly watching others’ faces?”
“What?”
“Why should we care about those disgusting orthodox faction bastards? When times are hard they wag their tails and say they need the Dang Clan’s poisons and hidden weapons. When peace returns they call us dangerous monsters. Does that never sicken you, Uigakju?”
“Any man of the orthodox path must endure such things.”
“Why must we endure them? If we can only raise Dokin, that humiliation vanishes. Our Sichuan Dang Clan will live as the foremost great clan under heaven, bowing to no one.”
“The foremost great clan? You madman! You chase an empty dream!”
“I never expected your understanding. Uigakju. Decide. Hand over only Dang Hwarin, and no one else need become a corpse today.”
In other words: if you don’t want a dog’s death, give us Dang Hwarin.
Uigakju looked shaken by the offer. His gaze swept over his own men and then Dang Hwarin before finally stopping on me.
He tried to keep his face blank, but the conflict in his eyes as he looked at me was plain to see.
Don’t tell me you’re hesitating because of me right now.
He had pretended not to believe the whole illegitimate-son story to the end, yet now a bit of certainty seemed to have settled in.
There was no way to know exactly how strong the enemy was. What was certain: many of our people were already wounded, and poisons and hidden weapons were running low. One wrong move and total annihilation was on the table.
Risk everyone’s lives to protect Dang Hwarin—or abandon her and protect the bastard who might become the clan leader’s only son. That was the scale he was weighing. Of course he was conflicted. But there was something Uigakju did not know.
Hwarin’s Dokin experiment is going to fail.
Even a body reinforced by the power of a Yeokcheonja was not perfect. The mottled stains still left on her skin were proof enough. If she was handed over now, she would meet the same ending as the original story—only the degree of suffering might differ.
And I was not the Dang Clan Leader’s bastard son. From the very beginning, Uigakju had been weighing the wrong counterweight.
“Uigakju! Bow your head for the clan for this one day. Then we will become the foremost great clan under heaven, before whom all people bow!”
Dang Geoho pressed for an answer. If Hwarin was handed over to him now, I would be thrown alone into the tiger’s den—and I would lose the true heroine she had the chance to become.
It would be the worst possible ending for me.
So what should I do now?
“Having all people bow does not make one the foremost great clan under heaven.”
Obviously I had to cut off one of the choices myself.