One Chance Only
Tang Ildo’s head was spinning.
In the end, the Young Master had gone and caused a major incident.
I told him not to make things too big, and he goes and flips the entire board.
A chill crawled over his skin. Being with the Young Master felt like standing on the edge of a blade.
He’s going to make an enemy of the entire Cheongang Clan.
Even within Sichuan, the Cheongang Clan was the wealthiest house. As a hub of trade, the revenue they raked in was staggering—and the tribute they paid the Tang Clan was just as enormous.
If he were swallowing the Cheongang Clan whole, that would be one thing. Half-assing it like this will only create a massive headache.
What was he thinking? Tang Ildo could not begin to fathom the Young Master’s intentions.
Maybe I should just give up on understanding him. At this rate I might go bald young, like Yeomjukjinin.
His attempt to understand Tang Cheonwi had veered off into the absurd. Tang Ildo was no ordinary man either—to be fretting over hair loss at a time like this.
Then—
“Khahahaha!”
Gang Goui’s booming laughter rang out across the hall. The great laugh cut off at once, and he spoke with a frigid face.
“Fine. I’ll stake my neck. But in return, you’ll put your own life on the line as well.”
He threw Tang Cheonwi’s threat straight back at him.
“I will uncover the culprit no matter what.”
Dan Seung and Yu Miryeong sneered through sound transmission.
That punk is the Tang Clan’s young master? Just a typical thug who relies on his background.
Hohoho. No wonder the Tang Clan is crumbling.
The bastard used poison himself and now he’s trying to pin it on someone else. Tsk tsk.
They hadn’t even used the poison they possessed, yet he was stepping forward to catch the culprit. Was he insane?
I guess that kind of nonsense flies in the Tang Clan.
This isn’t the Tang Clan—it’s the Cheongang Clan. Heh heh.
When the two finished their private exchange, Tang Cheonwi called for Tang Ildo.
“Ildo. Subdue that goat-bearded man and bring him here.”
It was Hwang Yeop, vice-captain of the Cheongpa Unit.
“As you command.”
Tang Ildo vanished in an instant. He appeared before Hwang Yeop and subdued him in a single motion.
Seeing it as Tang Clan tyranny, the gathered martial artists shouted.
“What is the meaning of this!”
“Just because you’re the Tang Clan’s young master, you think you can act this recklessly!”
“Do we look like straw men to you?”
“If you don’t stop at once, we’ll spread what we’ve witnessed across the entire martial world!”
Tang Cheonwi paid their warnings no mind. Tang Ildo brought the subdued Hwang Yeop before him.
“Search his robes.”
Tang Ildo rummaged through Hwang Yeop’s clothes and produced a cloth bundle. Inside were several small pills.
“They’re Blue Origin Pills.”
“Are Blue Origin Pills such common antidotes?”
It made sense for the clan lords to possess them—they paid the Tang Clan a great deal of money, after all.
“They’re rarer than Mixed Blood Scattered Powder. It’s impossible for him to have this many.”
High-grade antidotes like Blue Origin Pills were rarely distributed even within the Tang Clan. If too many antidotes circulated, the clan’s poisons might lose their edge. That was why the family strictly limited their quantity.
“Someone from the family must have smuggled them out without the Clan Lord’s knowledge.”
“Who could steal medicine without Father knowing?”
“……There’s only one place.”
“Yuhongak, right?”
“Yes. Yuhongak undertakes external missions so often that they can keep various antidotes and poisons on hand.”
“Now that we’ve found the antidote, we need to find the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder next, don’t we?”
Tang Cheonwi’s smile deepened.
Who carried the antidote. Who carried the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder. He already knew everything.
It had been the first time he was wronged like this—framed even for trying to kill his own brother. He could endure anything else, but not that. So after the incident he had dug into the matter and learned the truth: the Cheongang Clan had orchestrated it all.
“Bring Gang Unso.”
“Will Cheongmyeongsu just stand by?”
“We’ll make him stand by.”
“Is the Young Master taking care of that?”
“Why would I?”
Tang Cheonwi wore a mischievous look—as if to say, Why should I do the hard work when you’re here?
Tang Ildo heaved a deep sigh.
“Haah. I should’ve just stayed training at the Tang Clan.”
“You said you wanted to come.”
“Yes, yes. I twisted my own fate.”
Tang Ildo’s figure vanished from the spot.
The three formerly leisurely clan lords grew urgent. Gang Goui spoke to the other two.
This bastard’s behavior is suspicious. It seems he knows we have the antidote and the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder.
Dan Seung’s face hardened.
Could we have fallen into a Tang Clan trap?
A small crack opened in their ranks.
Sister Tang Cheong has helped us since long ago. There’s no way she’d suddenly abandon us.
I trust the Lord of Yuhongak as well. But has our power grown a little beyond her expectations?
Combined, the three factions rivaled the Tang Clan.
I’m merely suggesting we consider every possibility.
Even if that sister abandons us, it wouldn’t be now.
Gang Goui agreed with Yu Miryeong.
Lord Yu is right. The most rational explanation is that the Black Scale Guard sensed something strange.
Damn it. I had a bad feeling ever since I heard the Black Scale Guard was coming. In the end, they’re interfering.
It’s just one person. One person alone can’t solve anything.
Even if the Black Scale Guard gathered only the Tang Clan’s greatest talents, they themselves were lords of entire clans. Could the three of them together fail to handle a single Black Scale Guard?
You said you left the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder with Young Master Unso. We have to stop them at once.
Gang Goui nodded. Then he poured inner energy into his voice and roared.
“Stop!”
He kicked off the ground and chased after Tang Ildo. Dan Seung glared at Tang Cheonwi to draw his attention.
“How vicious! Are you trying to make it look as if the Cheongang Clan staged this whole farce themselves!”
“That kind of nonsense might work in the Tang Clan, but it won’t fly here in the Cheongang Clan.”
Yu Miryeong joined the scolding. As the two clan lords berated him, the martial artists pointed fingers as well.
“Tsk tsk! A dog’s habits never change.”
“That bastard is single-handedly shaming the Tang Clan.”
“If we don’t cut him down, the Tang Clan will collapse before long.”
“Let’s take this chance to properly point out the Tang Clan’s problems.”
People who wouldn’t dare say a word to the Tang Clan alone now found courage in numbers—and in having a side to join.
“Brother…… The situation isn’t good. Maybe I should step in and calm them down……”
“Hyeon-ah.”
Tang Cheonwi called his brother affectionately.
“Do you know why Father only sent you, me, and the Black Scale Guard?”
“I don’t know.”
“Father doesn’t see Cheongang, Danjuk, and Cheongpung as independent clans.”
There was something people didn’t know. Why had the so-called tyrannical Tang Clan allowed other houses to exist in the Sichuan region at all?
“Doesn’t it seem strange? Father or Grandfather would have absorbed these three clans, yet they left them alone.”
“I’ve been thinking that part was strange too. Do you know the reason, Brother?”
“I do.”
Tang Cheonwi looked at Dan Seung and Yu Miryeong in turn.
“Because of blood ties.”
“What?”
“They’re branch lines of branch lines. We left them alone because they aren’t independent clans—they’re vassal houses of the Great Sichuan Tang Clan.”
Blood so distant they could be called strangers. He had learned this as well while digging into them. It was something one would naturally hear upon becoming the Tang Clan’s lord.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“That’s why he only sent the three of us. To test their loyalty—and to see whether we are legitimate children.”
Every single day was a test from Father. If a child died during the test, Father would rather blame the dead child. That was the Tang Clan’s way—to treat those of Tang blood, especially children granted legitimacy, even more coldly. This Sichuan Gathering was nothing more than another test.
“You’ll learn of it naturally once you become clan lord, but it won’t hurt to hear it in advance.”
Tang Yuhyeon started.
“B-Brother, please don’t say strange things. You’re the one who should inherit the position of clan lord.”
Tang Cheonwi rested a hand on his brother’s head.
“We’ll talk later. Ildo’s back.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Tang Ildo returned, carrying an unconscious Gang Unso.
“Whew. I almost ended up with a palm print on my back.”
Tang Ildo made a fuss. In the meantime Gang Goui appeared, breathing heavily. Dan Seung sent him a sound transmission.
You couldn’t stop him?
He’s no ordinary fellow. Just keeping up was hard enough.
He shouldn’t know the location of the quarters. How did he shake off Clan Lord Gang?
That bastard knows the geography of this place inside and out.
What!?
The Black Scale Guard—terrifying people.
Gang Goui was extremely wary of Tang Ildo.
So what do we do now? Young Master Unso has the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder on him, doesn’t he?
What else is there but to deny everything? The martial artists are on our side, after all.
The atmosphere remained the same. No—it had grown even more hostile. Now they looked ready to roll up their sleeves and fight alongside them.
What’s a punk like him going to do when we deny it?
But they did not know. Tang Cheonwi was no easy opponent.
“Found it!”
Tang Ildo found the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder inside a money pouch stuffed with coins. He handed the pouch to Tang Cheonwi.
“Clan Lord Gang. Where did you obtain this Mixed Blood Scattered Powder?”
Gang Goui put on a calm face and played dumb.
“Young Master, why force things like this? Do you think I don’t know you had your Black Scale Guard plant the Mixed Blood Scattered Powder on my son?”
“You get one chance. Speak the truth without making a complete fool of yourself, and I’ll spare your life.”
As Tang Cheonwi continued to act arrogantly, the martial artists shouted.
“How can one so young be so vicious?”
“Aren’t you ashamed to be of Tang Clan blood!”
“We can’t forgive this anymore either.”
“Admit your wrongdoing at once!”
The martial artists drew their weapons. Even with the Jegal Clan present, they were merely watching—and that emboldened them further as they pressed in.
“See? Everyone says it’s the Young Master’s fault. It would be best for all if you simply admit it.”
At last, when Tang Yuhyeon could take no more and was about to step forward, Tang Cheonwi caught his arm.
“Just watch quietly. This big brother will properly show you what happens when you oppress the Tang Clan—especially those of us with legitimate bloodlines.”
Tang Cheonwi slowly circulated his Tyrant Blood Poison Qi.
At this, Tang Ildo shook his head. Thinking it dangerous, he shielded Tang Yuhyeon and spoke.
“Hey, this isn’t right. We found the evidence, so we can just pressure them with this. We can end it amicably—why go this far?”
An ominous haze began to rise from Tang Cheonwi’s body. It was the manifestation of qi. That was no ordinary energy. It was poison qi—the deadly poison energy emitted by a poison master.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen. If you do this, it’ll be a disaster that’s hard to clean up.”
At Tang Ildo’s persuasion, Tang Cheonwi finally opened his mouth.
“I reasoned with them enough, and I showed the evidence. But they threw a tantrum. Then there’s only one method left, isn’t there?”
“Since you’ve started talking, you should see it through to the end. Coercion isn’t a good method. And look at all these martial artists here. Your reputation will only get worse, Young Master.”
“Do I look like someone who cares about reputation?”
When Tang Cheonwi gave a rotten smile, Tang Ildo heaved a deep sigh.
“I really wish you would care about reputation.”
In the end, Tang Ildo’s persuasion failed. He offered his condolences to the three clan lords.
“I pray for the repose of the deceased.”
As if it had been waiting, the ominous energy began to swirl violently around them.