The Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons
Gang Goui’s eyes bulged wide open.
“Y-You… how!?”
That had been the sole reason he could resign himself to death.
So long as he possessed the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons—one of the Three Great Treasures of the martial world—his son could rebuild the clan even if he himself perished.
He had been ready to die willingly for that chance.
Yet Tang Cheonwi knew the secret that only he and his eldest son had shared.
“You found it by chance while searching for Mandokchong. I know.”
“……!?”
“By order of the Lady of Yuhongak—my youngest aunt—you were secretly hunting for Mandokchong. Along the way you stumbled upon the abandoned temple in Ganluo.”
Every word from Tang Cheonwi made Gang Goui’s eyelids twitch.
The young man spoke as if he had watched it all unfold, every detail precise.
“There you obtained the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons, and realized the temple was the entrance into Mandokchong itself.”
That was where it had all begun.
The moment more and more people began to harbor traitorous thoughts toward the Tang Clan.
The Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons.
A chart marking the resting places of countless divine and demonic weapons.
Because the Cheongang Clan had sought those weapons and placed them in the hands of rebels, the once-unstoppable Tang Yuhyeon had died.
“Am I wrong, Clan Head Gang?”
“Have you… been watching me all this time?”
“Did you truly believe the Great Sichuan Tang Clan would remain completely in the dark?”
The expression on Tang Cheonwi’s face plunged Gang Goui into despair.
He had placed all his hopes on the map.
Now there was none left.
If the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons was taken, any chance for the Cheongang Clan’s revival would vanish forever. For a clan already branded by the Tang, only annihilation remained.
“Damn it all!”
Gang Goui slammed his fist into the floor, his face a mask of utter hopelessness.
Then, in that moment of broken spirit, Tang Cheonwi spoke.
“I have a proposal. Hand the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons over to me, and enter Mandokchong together. How does that sound?”
The offer was outrageous.
To walk into a treasure-laden tomb with the very man who had just tried to kill him?
Was the boy mad?
“……What are you scheming?”
“Mutual benefit, nothing more. I become the magnanimous young master who spared a criminal and walked away with treasure besides. You, by helping me, atone for your sins.”
Gang Goui’s mind raced.
He concluded that Tang Cheonwi wished to rehabilitate his reputation.
Even if he is the Black Dragon Emperor, elevating a young master with such a foul name as heir will not be easy.
Even if he forced his way onto the seat of succession, how many would truly follow him? Anyone hungry for that position would first want to cleanse his public image.
“Are you… truly offering the Cheongang Clan a chance?”
Gang Goui’s speech shifted at once—from blunt speech to half-respectful address. It was nothing less than surrender.
“If that were not the case, I would already have taken your head.”
“I shall follow the young master’s will.”
“A wise decision. How much better for both of us to profit without unnecessary exhaustion?”
Tang Cheonwi clapped his hands once.
Clap!
In that instant the Tyrant Blood Poison Qi vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. In a single breath it was reined back into his body.
More than that—the warriors who had been paralyzed by the poison could suddenly move again.
“Wha—!?”
“My body… it moves!”
“……Good heavens.”
They looked up in astonishment and met Tang Cheonwi’s gaze—then immediately dropped their heads to the side. None dared meet his eyes straight on.
“We… were foolish to misunderstand.”
“Who could have guessed the three clan heads would try to assassinate the young master?”
“……Ahem. It seems this is no place for the likes of me.”
Embarrassed, they hurried away. Most had heard nothing of the Three Great Treasures; Tang Cheonwi’s earlier qi barrier had seen to that. Yet he had lowered the barrier midway, and a few had pieced the truth together.
The Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons! And they even found the tomb of the Absolute of Ten Thousand Poisons, a man nearly equal to the greatest under heaven!
If I can claim even one of those treasures… it’s worth risking my life.
That treasure is mine.
Tang Cheonwi read their greed as clearly as print. The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile that suggested he had taught them the secret on purpose.
The Sichuan Assembly dissolved without further ceremony.
In its place, Tang Cheonwi set out for the abandoned temple of Ganluo with the three clans. The Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons rested in his hand—offered by Gang Goui at the front of the column as a token of surrender.
The thing that destroyed the Tang Clan sits in my palm.
He wanted nothing more than to burn it to ash then and there. Because of this map his brother had died.
While he brooded, Tang Ildo called out.
“Young Master.”
“What.”
The reply was openly annoyed.
“Why are you acting like that?”
“Like what?”
“What evidence? That letter had nothing written on it at all.”
“It worked out fine, didn’t it?”
“I mean—what if I hadn’t even brought a blank scrap of paper? What then?”
The letter Tang Ildo had produced was a fake. Tang Cheonwi had simply spoken from memories of his previous life.
This bastard really is a gambler. A madman who stakes his entire life on a single bet.
Hwancheonjihwan howled in exasperation. Heaven itself must be watching over the boy.
“If not for my heaven-sent improvisation, you’d have been utterly humiliated.”
Exactly! Without you this fool would have been finished. Same for me, same for me.
Glad to have found an ally, Hwancheonjihwan enthusiastically agreed with every word Tang Ildo said—until that ally was promptly stolen away.
“I trusted you’d at least bring a scrap of paper.”
Tang Ildo’s face went blank with stupidity.
“You’re going to be the next commander of the Black Scale Guard. Would I let a blood relative of the Tang Clan be publicly disgraced?”
He clapped the younger man on the shoulder. Tang Ildo, far from displeased, grinned sheepishly.
“Heh heh… do I really look fit to be the next Black Scale commander?”
“You think I drag you around for no reason?”
“So the Young Master had a plan all along.”
As if he had already been promoted, Tang Ildo began carrying himself with solemn dignity. Tang Cheonwi simply shook his head. Such a simple creature.
“But why did you spare them?”
It was the question on everyone’s mind. Given Tang Cheonwi’s nature, he should have slaughtered every last person involved in the assassination attempt.
“I have a reputation to consider too.”
“Pardon? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Had the Young Master not once asked whether anyone truly believed he cared about reputation? What fresh nonsense was this?
“If I butcher every one of them in front of the crowd, the Tang Clan will be pointed at and whispered about. The Tang Clan must never be whispered about.”
“Since when has the Young Master thought about such things?”
“What?”
“N-nothing. Still… doesn’t it leave a bad taste, letting men who targeted you live?”
Tang Cheonwi wore the expression of a man hearing something for the first time.
“Who said I was letting them live?”
“It was a lie?”
“Did the words ‘forgive’ or ‘spare’ ever leave my mouth?”
“N… no.”
“Exactly.”
“Then when will you deal with them?”
“We’re already on the way.”
Tang Ildo flinched. A chill ran down the back of his neck; cold sweat beaded along his spine. It had never occurred to him that the abandoned temple—Mandokchong itself—would be the execution ground.
Mandokchong will be packed with lethal mechanisms and formations. They can simply ‘die while searching for treasure.’ A perfect excuse.
Goosebumps rose on his arms. Just what kind of mind did the Young Master possess? At fifteen he was already terrifying.
I should have been suspicious the moment he decided to keep the clan heads alive.
“What’s your job?”
“Shall I spread the word that we’re entering Mandokchong?”
“Obviously. If no one knows, who will believe my version of events?”
“I’ll activate the emergency network at once.”
The emergency network—the Black Scale Guard’s secret communication chain. Tang Ildo drew a tiny flute from his robes, no larger than a thumb.
A silent whistle sounded that only he and Tang Cheonwi could hear.
No—one more living thing heard it.
A hawk sliced down through the sky: the White Hawk that served as the Black Scale Guard’s companion. Tang Ildo wrote a few characters on a scrap of paper, released the bird, and it vanished in a streak of white.
What will happen inside Mandokchong this time? I’m looking forward to it.
The same thought crossed the minds of the Jegal nephew and the others. From the moment Tang Cheonwi had spared the three clan heads, they had understood: he had already chosen Mandokchong as their graves.
Three days later they reached the abandoned temple of Ganluo.
“We have arrived.”
Gang Goui pushed open the temple doors. The Cheongang Clan martial artists inside started in shock.
“C-Clan Head!”
“This is the young master of the Tang Clan. Pay your respects.”
“What?”
Their eyes darted about in confusion. The Cheongang Clan had been lining up behind the Lady of Yuhongak, not the young master. The sudden appearance of Tang Cheonwi left them completely lost.
The youth who was the spitting image of Gang Goui—Gang Unje—whispered urgently.
“Why suddenly call him the young master?”
“That is how it is now. I will explain later—first, bow.”
Forced by his father’s words, Gang Unje inclined his head a fraction.
“I am Gang Unje.”
The arrogant manner made Gang Goui blanch.
“Show proper respect!”
Even under the thunder of his father’s voice, Gang Unje refused to bow deeper. The father explained the new situation of the Cheongang Clan. Far from chastened, the son only smiled.
Heh heh. Do not worry. We no longer need to bend our backs to the Tang Clan.
What do you mean?
Using the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons, I obtained the Azure Light Sword inside Mandokchong.
Gang Goui’s eyes flew open.
The sword of the Azure Light Sword Emperor was sealed here?
The Azure Light Sword Emperor had been the founder of the Cheongang Clan—owner of one of the Ten Great Heavenly Weapons, master of the Azure Light Sword itself.
With the Azure Light Sword, all of Sichuan will soon belong to our Cheongang Clan.
In a heartbeat Gang Goui’s gaze changed. The man who had been spared now plotted betrayal once more, ungrateful to the last.
Tang Cheonwi, of course, missed none of it.
Truly, people are treacherous.
A single spark of hope and they immediately turn their hearts. Men who could never be allowed to live—men who would betray again even after receiving mercy.
Unlike his son, however, Gang Goui continued the performance.
“My deepest apologies, Young Master. My son is still immature…”
“It is fine. One day he will understand his place.”
Tang Cheonwi ignored Gang Unje and walked inside. Dust-covered Buddha statues stood in the gloom; beneath one of them, light leaked upward from below. The entrance to Mandokchong.
“So this is the place.”
He spoke as though seeing it for the first time, though he already knew every stone.
“Shall we enter at once?”
At Gang Goui’s question Tang Cheonwi simply nodded.
“Any reason to delay? Let us go.”
“We shall lead the way.”
Gang Goui stepped forward first, as if atoning. Dan Seung and Yu Miryeong likewise scrambled to earn favor.
“I will not be outdone.”
“Hmph. I will not let the two of you monopolize the young master’s good opinion.”
The Cheongang, Danjuk, and Cheongpung Clans entered first. Tang Cheonwi’s party followed.
Once everyone who had been inside the abandoned temple had vanished, a short while later a cluster of shadows dropped silently to the ground.
“What in the world is going on here?”
Tang Jongui—great master of Yuhongak and husband of Tang Cheong—stared in bewilderment at the empty temple he had been tasked to watch.