Monster (1)
"Frankly, I have no reason to decline. But however wicked they may be, are they not your family, Elder? Out of respect for you, I refrained from raising such a dreadful matter. So what on earth could have changed your mind?"
At Docheol's question, Tang Yeong-hwan's lips quivered. His eyes shook violently as he fought to compose himself. Finally, he let out a breath and spoke.
"...It happened a few days ago."
******
It was a day when the family had gathered for a meal. Tang Yeong-ju had seated Tang Yeong-hwan at the head of the table, and they took their places and ate with his sons. For Tang Yeong-hwan, who had betrayed the family, these mealtimes were uncomfortable; he wished for them to end quickly.
"Elder Brother, it seems the time has come to inform you as well."
That day was even more uncomfortable for Tang Yeong-hwan. Tang Yeong-ju's family, who had been whispering among themselves as they ate, suddenly brought the matter up with broad grins. Without the faintest idea what was happening, Tang Yeong-hwan's eyes grew round as he waited for Tang Yeong-ju's next words.
"Man-woo. Bring it here."
"Yes, Father."
At Tang Yeong-ju's command, Tang Man-woo rose as if he had been waiting, and after rustling about in a small inner room, produced some documents. Upon closer inspection, there were complicated papers and what appeared to be maps among them. Tang Yeong-hwan frowned and spoke.
"What is all this?"
"Elder Brother, now that the plan has reached its final stages, I am informing you as well. Since you've had a change of heart and returned, I am showing you trust in my own way."
The word 'trust' carries an absurd weight. The 'trust' that came out of Tang Yeong-ju's mouth did so all the more. Tang Yeong-hwan's chest was crushed by a sense of unease equal to that weight. What on earth did those maps contain? And what on earth did those documents contain?
"If you're talking about that Poison Human plan, haven't I already heard all the details?"
When Tang Yeong-hwan tried to turn away and refuse, desperately ignoring reality, Tang Yeong-ju simply smiled and ignored him.
"No, Elder Brother. I have not yet spoken to you in detail about what comes after the Poison Human is completed. How could the Tang Clan's hundred-year grand plan end with just one Poison Human? As the saying goes, the more, the better—both soldiers and weapons are best in abundance. Now that we are nearing the completion of the perfect Poison Human, shouldn't we spur on the next plan?"
"Is that map the next plan, then? What on earth is it?"
Tang Yeong-hwan studied the map. Yet even as a Sichuan native, he could not recognize the location. The Sichuan region is rugged and treacherous by nature; apart from the area around Chengdu, shaped like a bird's nest, it was mostly rough terrain. If something were hidden among those ridgelines, there would be no way to discover who had built it or what it was.
What Tang Yeong-ju was secretly building on the edge of the Sichuan mountain range was a massive prison. Amid the barren mountains where neither grass nor trees grew, he was constructing an enormous prison of stone and wood, capable of holding hundreds of people.
"...What on earth is this prison?"
Tang Yeong-hwan's voice was trembling. He was already gauging the purpose of this prison. But he wished its purpose was something else. Tang Yeong-ju smiled as he spoke.
"Now that we've roughly grasped the method for creating Poison Humans, we'll mass-produce Poison Humans here."
Tang Yeong-hwan had to take a deep breath. If he let his emotions flare, the trust he had built so far, and the plan itself, would all collapse. A complete stranger was striving to save a child fallen to the bottom of hell—how could he let such a trivial emotion sway him and ruin everything?
"...Wasn't the Poison Human only possible because it was a child with particularly strong poison resistance? I don't quite understand this talk of mass production. How can you mass-produce them by the hundreds like that?"
"That is why my eldest is learning the method of creating the Jiangshi from the Jinju Eon Family. Who are the Jinju Eon Family? Do they not understand the human body better than anyone? I made some inquiries, and recently the Jinju Eon Family succeeded in creating a Jiangshi with strong poison resistance. So now, we no longer need to cajole and coax them to take medicine as we do with the current Poison Human. From the start, we'll confine them in cells as Jiangshi, spray them with poison, and mass-produce Poison Humans."
Tang Yeong-hwan saw the past in Tang Yeong-ju's figure. The fuzzy memories snapped into sharp focus. The image of Tang Yeong-ju proudly shouting when he first unveiled the Poison Human. Tang Ui-gyeong's shattered house, the young child bound in chains. Those horrific memories were being reborn before his eyes in an even more brutal and vicious form.
Tang Yeong-hwan's head spun. He could not believe that these people, wearing human masks, were scheming such horrors. The Tang Clan's original role was assassination and poison-making, so they were said to be filthy and insidious from birth. Yet even so, he believed there were lines that should not be crossed as a human being.
"...If that many people go missing in Sichuan, suspicion will surely arise. What do you plan to do about that?"
Despite the sharp criticism, Tang Yeong-ju's expression was one of pleasure.
"I am utterly delighted that you pay such attention, Elder Brother. But Elder Brother, how could I not have thought of that as well? We'll fill them all with barbarians. Would the imperial household even bat an eye if a few southern barbarians went missing?"
Tang Man-ho chimed in.
"I've decided to go to the southern barbarians myself. I'll make the excuse of gathering poisons and stay there as the resident, procuring the people."
The third son, Tang Man-woo, said with a laugh.
"And once the Poison Humans are properly prepared, we'll announce the dawn of the Tang Clan's era, starting with the conquest of Sichuan. Truly, going home in silken robes—no, in this case, we should call it going home in poisoned robes. When that time comes, who would dare look down on us? Everyone under heaven will bow their heads and tremble at the mere mention of the Tang Clan's name."
It was a horrific plan.
It was not a problem that would end simply by freeing the Poison Human now. Hundreds more innocents would suffer, and in the end, a storm of blood would sweep across the world. If the Tang Clan suddenly rose up to devour the world, how could the world not resist? If they led an army of Poison Humans to suppress them, how much blood would flow?
He was afraid.
Tang Yeong-hwan was afraid.
The future these people would create, and the karma of his own life—having done nothing but run away until things reached this state—was utterly terrifying.
And in one corner of his mind, the days he had lived doing nothing but regret rose up.
He had fled from the power struggle, sought to forget everything and simply live with his family, feeling the transience of life. But his daughter died of an endemic disease, and his wife, unable to endure for more than a few years, also passed away. Only then, unable to understand what he had been running for, trembling with emptiness, he fled deeper and deeper into the mountains.
It was a life of nothing but running away.
Could everything truly end by saving a single Poison Human?
Could he really be satisfied with that?
Could he at last say with confidence that he had not run away?
No.
If he did this, it would be no different from the past, when he was crushed by Tang Yeong-ju and fled.
When he raised his head, Tang Yeong-ju was speaking with a bright smile. He patted Tang Yeong-hwan on the shoulder, as if encouraging a cowed man.
"Elder Brother, you have suffered much all this time. You need not feel too much shame for having no part in this great cause. Who am I? I will always treat you with the highest regard. Now we unite as one under the name of the Tang Clan."
Tang Yeong-hwan shut his mouth. Tang Yeong-ju looked at his sons and spoke. His eyes were ablaze with fervor, and his hands trembled violently from excessive excitement.
"I could never understand why our ancestors left only a single direct line to lead the main family and cast out everyone else as collateral branches. Even when you, Elder Brother, left the family, I could not understand. So in my generation, I intend to sever this cruel fate. If the house is too small, we expand it; if they worry the family's order will be thrown into chaos, we simply create a greater order ourselves, and that's it!"
His sons shouted out in even more excited voices.
"That's right, Father! I hate being separated from my brothers too!"
"Truly wise words! We are changing history!"
It was no longer a problem that could be resolved with words.
For the sake of the world's stability, an extreme choice was necessary.
The world's stability, and his own family.
Which choice was truly the righteous cause?
Suddenly, he thought that when the Poison Human was first captured and brought in, he should have staked his life and freed her back then.
He thought he should have raised his voice and said no, instead of running away.
Would things have been different if he had?
Would the Tang Clan be different now?
The karma accumulated over ten years of running away drove Tang Yeong-hwan into a corner in the heaviest and most brutal way.
Amid the festive atmosphere of cheers and clinking cups,
Tang Yeong-hwan shut his eyes tight.