Sichuan Tang Clan (5)
Sichuan Tang Clan (5)
"Just who are you?"
"Did I not say? I am Docheol. Docheol, Sect Leader of the Crimson Ring Sect."
Tang Yeong-hwan finally seemed willing to talk to me. But he still couldn't hide the wariness in his eyes, and he glared at me with one hand resting on his waist. I sat in a chair placed outside the hut, feigning composure, but I kept my legs tensed, ready to bolt at any moment.
Even after my self-introduction, Tang Yeong-hwan did not avert his gaze as he spoke.
"How dare a sect I've never heard of or seen speak of the Tang Clan's affairs. Impudent whelp."
He was old and decrepit, his body full of openings since he hadn't properly learned martial arts. But the fighting spirit blazing from his eyes was so fierce it made even me stiffen. Without letting it show on my face, I tilted my head askew and said,
"What happened to Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter?"
Tang Yeong-hwan's body flinched. It was a reaction as if someone had stabbed him in the side. He blinked and stared at me for a moment, then lowered the hand from his waist and said,
"What is your purpose? Are you scheming to blackmail the Tang Clan and extort some money?"
I laughed at Tang Yeong-hwan's words. Blackmail the Tang Clan? It was a laughable notion.
"Do you truly think so? Blackmail the Tang Clan? I am not such a base man. I know the rough details. Tang Ui-gyeong, a mere snake-catcher, had some conflict with the Tang Clan, and as a result, Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter was taken away and Tang Ui-gyeong's family was massacred. Does it seem like I gathered all this information and tracked you down just to blackmail you?"
Tang Yeong-hwan blinked and looked at me. He furrowed his brow and asked,
"Then what is your intention in coming here?"
The words 'I'm afraid the Tang Clan will poison me when I become powerful later, so I plan to seize their weakness and topple them first' rose to my throat, but no matter how I thought about it, it was too ugly a motive, so I shook my head. For this kind of problem, there were far more impressive motives.
"To avenge the grievances of the wronged, and to rescue the innocent."
Now, if that wasn't a motive worthy of a great hero. Even as I spoke the words myself, I felt a proud twitch at the corner of my mouth, and Tang Yeong-hwan's face trembled at my words. After hesitating and pondering for a moment, Tang Yeong-hwan asked me again,
"...Is that the only reason?"
"That is all."
I nodded and continued.
"It started by chance. I happened to stop at a village and heard a rumor that a snake-catcher's family had all died from snake venom. As it was such a horrific story, I sought out their grave to at least perform a ritual, but neither the house nor the grave was properly maintained, and the name of the Tang Clan was written on the gravestone. So I thought it strange. No matter that he wasn't from the main family, a man of the Tang Clan died from snake venom? And his grave was left neglected? So I asked around the area, gathered scraps of information, and conducted my own investigation."
I tapped the table with my finger. To gain Tang Yeong-hwan's cooperation, I had to properly explain why I wanted to know. If I simply said I was curious, Tang Yeong-hwan would never readily answer.
"But the more I dug, the stranger it got. Coincidentally, Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter and the Tang Clan main family's daughter were of similar age, and when I calculated the ages of the clan head's siblings, there was no room for a daughter to have been born in between."
Conceal the truth, appeal to justice and chivalry enough to shake Tang Yeong-hwan's heart. For whatever reason, Tang Yeong-hwan was a man who had turned his back on his clan and fled into the mountains. Judging by his reaction earlier, it was clear he was entangled in the Tang Ui-gyeong incident.
"Moreover, the investigation at the time of the Tang Ui-gyeong incident was handled by the Tang Clan, and the conclusion of death by snake venom was also issued by the Tang Clan. At this point, I couldn't help but suspect. Was the Tang Ui-gyeong incident fabricated by the Tang Clan? Did they drive an innocent man to his death and take his daughter?"
Arm myself with righteous heroism, and prick the bastard's conscience. Package myself so that if he knew the truth, he would have no choice but to reveal it.
"Once I knew this much of the story, I could no longer stay still. What is the Tang Clan? Are they not a colossal clan that dominates Sichuan? I wanted to know their truth. What exactly happened that day?"
I looked Tang Yeong-hwan straight in the eye. And I said to him,
"I was somehow able to find out that the Tang Clan was behind the incident and that Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter was taken to the Tang Clan, but I couldn't learn what happened between them. That's why I came here. Why did Tang Ui-gyeong's family have to die? And, is the 'younger sister' currently at the Tang Clan truly Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter?"
A deep shadow fell over Tang Yeong-hwan's face. It was the dark face characteristic of someone who had lived with a heavy burden on his heart for a long time. Tang Yeong-hwan covered his face and let out a sigh as he spoke.
"If you find out, what will you do? If your suspicions are true, what exactly will you do?"
"I was taught that if the innocent are persecuted, I must save them by any means necessary. I simply do as I was taught."
As if struck hard on the head, Tang Yeong-hwan wore a dazed expression. He blinked and observed me, then suddenly cast his gaze toward the empty valley. Though it was quite late, mist hung between the valleys, and our shadows faintly shimmered within it as if reflected in a mirror.
"Ah..."
Uttering a single cry of lament, Tang Yeong-hwan's body shook. What had he seen in those shadows? As if facing a reproachful superior, he averted his eyes from the shadows in the mist, trembling as he faced me again.
Tang Yeong-hwan's face contorted further. It was a reaction completely different from what I had expected, so I could only blink in surprise. He frowned as if about to cry, writhed, then buried his head between his knees. I could hear the sound of his breath whistling through his fingers, and I saw his face flush bright red.
He twisted his body as if wringing it out, writhing in anguish,
"Aah...!"
at last he let out a sigh. It was a reaction as if he were standing before the dead.
"Aaah...!"
It seemed like something born of regret, and also like anger directed at himself.
I sat in my chair and waited for what he would say.
In the silence, Tang Yeong-hwan heaved his shoulders and vomited out his self-loathing and rage at random.
I silently stared at the shadows in the mist.
I saw nothing.
After a long while of huddling like a hedgehog, Tang Yeong-hwan finally raised his head.
His eyes were red and swollen, and the tracks of his tears remained plain.
Tang Yeong-hwan's eyes held me. His lips quivered slightly as he spoke.
"...I've shown you a shameful display."
What change had occurred in Tang Yeong-hwan's heart? He wiped his tears and evened out his breathing. Then he put on a composed expression again.
And then, the words I had wanted to know burst from his lips.
"The child who is now in the Tang Clan is indeed Tang Ui-gyeong's offspring."
It was as I expected. They had smuggled Tang Ui-gyeong's child away and were raising her themselves.
Then why had they done such a thing? That was the crucial point.
"Why did the Tang Clan do such a thing?"
Tang Yeong-hwan hesitated. His lips writhed for a moment as he held back his words, then finally, as if making up his mind, he nodded to himself and spoke.
"The clan head wanted to create a Poison Human."
"Poison Human?"
When I heard the words Poison Human, a grotesque monster with its entire body dyed purple came to mind. Just imagining it was enough to feel a sense of revulsion, its bizarre impression coupled with an unmistakable strength. Tang Yeong-hwan looked at my expression, let out a sigh, and continued.
"It is a human who, from a young age, has had poison injected into their body, possessing Ten Thousand Poison Immunity themselves while exuding a terrible Poison Aura. The clan head believed that if he could perfectly master the method of creating one, the Tang Clan could dominate the world under heaven."
"And that's why you took Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter?"
"Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter had a strong innate resistance to poison. It was only natural, in a way, since her father Tang Ui-gyeong was a man who would be sick for only a short while after being bitten by a snake before getting back up. So the clan head wanted to take Tang Ui-gyeong's daughter and experiment."
"But Tang Ui-gyeong refused."
"Even when offered a great sum of money, even when told they would raise her well in the main family, he refused to the very end, saying he would let his daughter live a life unrelated to poison. Unable to bear this any longer, the clan head made a decision. Using the Tang Clan's poison, he killed both Tang Ui-gyeong and his wife and took the daughter."
"It seems the Tang Clan hasn't quite reached the realm of dominating the world under heaven, though."
I couldn't know how the Poison Human experiment was proceeding. But it seemed they hadn't obtained very good results. The Tang Clan's name was still lofty only for its sinister reputation, while the words Poison Human were nowhere to be found.
Tang Yeong-hwan furrowed his brow as he spoke.
"I do not know what results that experiment has yielded. However, it is certain that the child is still suffering in the Tang Clan's underground even now."
Tang Yeong-hwan's hands trembled uncontrollably. His face was contorted with rage and stained with self-loathing.
"I once saw the plan the clan head had put forward. That... is not something humans should do to other humans. You feed them poison, inject it, and push a human being to the extreme limits. Based on that pain, you gradually raise their threshold, until at some point they reach a realm where they feel no pain from poison and their body becomes one with it."
Tang Yeong-hwan's pupils dilated. He hugged himself tightly and broke out in a cold sweat. He was trembling like a little girl.
"I abandoned a young child in such a place and ran away. I was simply terrified."
Tang Yeong-hwan's hand grabbed onto me. His hand was as pale as his face.
"While another exerts every effort to save a stranger, I simply ran away because I was scared."
I firmly held Tang Yeong-hwan's hand and said in a gentle voice,
"How can any person be without fault, perfect? It is not too late. Even now, let us save the innocent child together."
Tang Yeong-hwan's voice trembled. He asked me,
"What can I help you with?"