The Path to Yuhongak
After Tang Cheonwi left, Tang Baek turned to Yeon Jagang, leader of the Black Scale Guard, and asked,
“How do you see it?”
“As I said before, I believe he has decided the time has come to reveal his true self.”
Where Tang Baek had once denied it, he now simply listened.
“Thanks to the Young Master’s wastrel act, those with impure intentions have shown themselves all the more clearly. Perhaps that was his intent all along.”
“That’s exactly what makes it stranger. He would have gained far more by revealing his true face after entering the Ten Thousand Poison Cave.”
The Ten Thousand Poison Cave was the place built for the successor’s closed-door training. It was a place where one spent roughly two to three years. Had he waited only those two or three years more, the gains would have been far greater than now. Even if the enemies came out into the open, the power he would have seized inside the cave would have been enough to set the Tang Clan right at once.
As things stood, he was more likely to hand the enemy a chance to strike back. Half-baked strength only fed power into the enemy’s hands.
“The Young Master’s temperament is exactly like yours, my lord. He simply could not endure it.”
“Like me? I cannot agree. At least I know how to wait for the right moment. That Cheonwi brat has no patience at all. If he takes after anyone, it is Father more than me.”
At the word “Father” from Tang Baek’s lips, Yeon Jagang flinched as if struck by sudden fear. He looked thoroughly uneasy.
“…Will it be all right?”
“What will?”
“Mentioning that man…”
“Do you think a man who has retired into the Poison Forest Valley can overhear our conversation?”
“That is not what I mean… Still, it would be better to be careful.”
There were only two people in the world whom Yeon Jagang, leader of the Black Scale Guard, truly feared. One was his lord, Tang Baek. The other was the previous Clan Lord.
The greatest under heaven of the generation before the Ten Great Masters. One of the legendary masters of the Cheongangyukjwa. The absolute being who held the first seat among the One Emperor, Two Hegemons, and Three Saints. The Killing Emperor, Tang Bi—that was the man Yeon Jagang feared most of all.
“Still afraid, are you?”
“There is not a single person residing in the Poison Forest Valley who does not frighten me.”
At Yeon Jagang’s answer, Tang Baek laughed.
“Haha, I am the same. That is why I cannot even go to pay my respects.”
“…Do you think he is still in good health?”
“Healthier than I am.”
After all, his father the Killing Emperor was the master who had achieved immunity to all poisons, a body no toxin could touch.
“More than that—can you truly not even inquire after his well-being?”
“Do you think I am lying?”
“My lord is unexpectedly a filial son, is he not?”
“The way you put that sounds like an insult.”
“It is high praise, I assure you.”
Conversations between Tang Baek and Yeon Jagang were always like this. They were a pair who could speak with open hearts.
“I will let it pass this time.”
“It has been more than five years since we last saw him.”
“I ought to pay my respects…”
“You cannot find the courage?”
“Will you come with me?”
“I… must decline. I miss Master terribly, but I cannot go when I remember the words he spoke as he left for the Poison Forest Valley.”
Yeon Jagang was a disciple of the Killing Emperor. With Tang Baek he shared the bond of martial brothers.
If you fail to guide my precious eldest grandson onto the proper path, know that every last one of you will die by my hand.
Far from guiding him properly, they had neglected him. The Young Master had grown up on his own. If the previous Clan Lord ever learned of that fact, they were all dead men.
“That is why I cannot go pay my respects to Father.”
“Which is exactly why I urged you to grit your teeth and raise the Young Master to the position of successor.”
“Are you blaming me now?”
“My lord, think carefully. What happens if the Young Master enters the Poison Forest Valley, meets Master, and tells him about us?”
“Mm… That would be troublesome.”
“If the Young Master goes so far as to tell Master how lonely he has been all this time, something terrible will happen. From then on we will not be able to sleep at night. We will have to keep our eyes wide open until dawn.”
Night assassins. And among them, the greatest of all was the Killing Emperor. It was all too common for a man’s head to fly while he slept. The Tang Clan had long been famous for its hidden weapons and poisons, yet after the Killing Emperor it had soared to renown as the strongest assassin force under heaven. It was the Killing Emperor who had built the Tang Clan of today.
“I cannot simply seat a wastrel like Cheonwi as successor without cause.”
“I know full well that you acted coldly in order to protect the Young Master from the traitors.”
“I simply refused to name him successor because he was not ready.”
“Is he not ready enough now?”
“Until he enters the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, we still do not know.”
“Then send him in the moment the Sichuan Martial Gathering ends.”
Tang Baek hesitated. At last he spoke.
“He will not tell Father, will he?”
“That you neglected him, my lord?”
“That we did.”
“Leave me out of it. I would have you remember that I hold no authority in the matter.”
Yeon Jagang hastily pulled his foot free of the trap.
“If Father beats me, you will not escape unscathed either.”
“Surely the lord of the great Sichuan Tang Clan is not planning to drag me under with him?”
Tang Baek merely curled the corner of his mouth and said nothing. At that expression, Yeon Jagang’s face crumpled.
“So this is the price of serving the wrong master.”
Yeon Jagang raised a bitter lament toward the heavens.
Leaving the Clan Lord’s hall, Tang Cheonwi set out. His destination was Yuhongak. He had not gone far, however, before someone caught him.
“You little hellion of a nephew!”
Thud.
A fist crashed down onto Tang Cheonwi’s head.
“Ugh!”
Tang Cheonwi clutched his skull with both hands.
“Ow, Uncle, that hurts.”
The man who had struck him was Tang Ho.
“While I was briefly away in the Poison Forest Valley, you went off on an excursion, I hear.”
“Ah, so that is why you were not in the clan.”
He had known, of course, yet he pretended otherwise. Had Uncle Tang Ho been present, the man would have opposed the journey as too dangerous.
“Any injuries?”
“As you can see, I am unharmed.”
Tang Ho glanced at Tang Ildo standing nearby.
“At least my elder brother the Clan Lord attached a Black Scale Guard to you. Haa. Thank the heavens for that.”
Uncle Tang Ho had always been this way. He had always cherished Cheonwi and Yuhyeon.
“Uncle.”
“What.”
Tang Ho answered gruffly.
“I do not think this is the time to be worrying about me.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Do you intend to die a lonely old bachelor? Rather than fretting over me, you ought to find a partner—”
Thud!
His uncle’s fist crashed onto his head once more.
“You hellion of a nephew! Driving a spike straight into this uncle’s heart!”
“Urgh!”
“Because of the Poison Blood Pond I could not keep an eye on you, but now that the work is finished I shall discipline you thoroughly today.”
Tang Ho rolled up his sleeves. Tang Ildo watched the Young Master and Tang Ho bicker back and forth.
Was the Young Master’s personality always like this? What, then, of that cruel nature I witnessed?
He was thoroughly confused. Which face was the Young Master’s true self?
I will have to watch him more carefully.
While Tang Ildo wrestled with his confusion, the scuffle between Tang Ho and Tang Cheonwi came to an end.
“Are you heading to see Yuhyeon now?”
“No. I am going to Yuhongak.”
“Why Yuhongak?”
“I have business with Aunt Cheong.”
Tang Ho’s gaze fell upon the man hanging from Tang Ildo’s hand. Sharp as ever, he understood at once.
“You were attacked during the excursion.”
“Something like that.”
“Then this uncle will accompany you. I will thrash them in your stead.”
Fire blazed in Tang Ho’s eyes. However fierce the competition among blood kin, for an aunt to send assassins to kill her young nephew was going too far.
“If you come along, Uncle, the matter will only grow larger. I intend to settle it myself, so do not worry.”
“Do you even know Cheong’s temperament when you say that?”
“Yes. Is my little aunt not a sharp-tongued woman with immense pride?”
“She will take it as a blow to her pride. Will you be all right?”
“You worry more than Father does.”
“Strife between blood kin spills more blood than you think.”
“I have no intention of spilling blood just yet.”
Tang Ho shook his head.
“That is what worries me more. Perhaps it would be better for both you and Cheong if blood were spilled now… but you are still no match for your little aunt.”
Tang Ildo disagreed with that assessment.
Lord of the Poison Blood Pavilion, the Young Master is far more ruthless than you imagine. If anything, it is the Lord of Yuhongak we should be worrying about.
He wanted nothing more than to shout the words aloud.
“Is this not simply another burden a Young Master of the Tang Clan must bear?”
Tang Ho studied Tang Cheonwi for a long moment, then finally nodded.
“I cannot get used to you acting so mature.”
“You will have quite a few things to get used to from now on.”
At the confident ring of Tang Cheonwi’s voice, Tang Ho threw back his head and laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Indeed. A Young Master of the Tang Clan ought to be bold without restraint. This uncle will place his faith in his tyrant of a nephew.”
Tang Ho clapped him on the shoulder a few times and strode into the Black Dragon Hall. The moment he disappeared completely, Tang Ildo asked cautiously,
“Um… Young Master, are you close with the Lord of the Poison Blood Pavilion?”
“He is the one who has cherished Yuhyeon and me the most. Why do you ask?”
“Do you… know anything about him?”
Tang Ildo clearly wanted to say something. He was probing Tang Cheonwi.
“He commands Salpungyeong, does he not?”
Salpungyeong. The unit formed of the Tang Clan’s most elite assassins. It could be called the superior force above Yuhongak itself. When Salpungyeong moved, even a great sect could not last a single day. That was how formidable a martial force Salpungyeong was.
“That much is common knowledge throughout the Tang Clan.”
“And he is also the son Grandfather cherishes most.”
“Most people know that as well.”
Tang Ildo’s mouth itched, yet he held his tongue. Sensing it, Tang Cheonwi at last spoke the answer the man wanted. A sound transmission slid into Tang Ildo’s ear.
Is it the words “Silver River Water Sword” you want to hear?
H-how do you know that title?!
It is Uncle Tang Ho’s hidden identity.
Silver River Water Sword, Tang Ho. The sword that guards the silver river of the heavens. It also meant an impregnable wall. The Guardian Sword of the Tang Clan. Tang Ho stood as one of the two greatest masters of the clan, equal to Tang Baek himself.
I knew it! You knew even that! Is there anything you do not know?
It was a pure question from Tang Ildo.
Probably not. Whatever you know, I already know it all.
Merciful heavens. Everyone is being deceived by the Young Master. Even the Clan Lord and the Silver River Water Sword himself have yet to notice the Young Master’s true nature… There will be chaos ahead, that much is certain.
The more he heard, the more astonishing the tale became. Tang Ildo could not collect himself. Hwancheonjihwan understood him perfectly.
My feelings are exactly the same as yours, friend. I cannot make sense of this brat either.
Tang Ildo’s reaction brought the ring a measure of comfort. Meanwhile they had arrived at the main gate of Yuhongak. The moment the Young Master appeared, the warrior standing guard asked with arrogant insolence,
“Is that not the Young Master? What business brings you here?”
Tang Ildo nearly had a heart attack.
Who the hell does that madman think he is putting on airs in front of? There are many ways to commit suicide, I suppose.
He could roughly foresee what was about to happen. And sure enough—Tang Cheonwi thrust his arm straight forward without a word of warning. The energy that erupted from that arm was unmistakably a poison palm.