I'll See Plenty of Blood
How on earth had Tang Cheonwi known to come here?
"Wasn't the plan to kill Tang Cheonwi at the Sichuan Gathering?"
"Perhaps it failed."
"And that's how Mandokchong was exposed as well?"
"If they want to live, they have to pay a fitting price. Mandokchong is more than enough to make Tang Cheonwi's eyes light up."
"Those useless bastards."
Tang Jongui's face twisted with displeasure. They had nearly finished deciphering Mandokchong's mechanisms and formations. And of all times, this was when they had dragged Tang Cheonwi here.
"It may not be such a bad situation."
"If we're careless, they could discover that we're plotting something else entirely."
Even the slightest crack in the plan would put them in danger. Yet this man claimed it was fine.
"What kind of place is Mandokchong? It is a labyrinth packed with mechanisms and formations. Wherever treasure lies, danger follows, does it not?"
Wang Song, the unit captain of Yuhongak, smiled slyly. He stressed that Mandokchong was a place of peril. Tang Jongui understood the implication and nodded.
"You could ease the pavilion master's worries."
"Whatever the three clan lords could not finish, Your Lordship need only complete."
"Bring him Tang Cheonwi's and Tang Yuhyeon's heads along with Mandokchong's treasures, and the pavilion master will be pleased."
And that was not all.
"We also have the Blue Lotus Flower of the Jegal Clan, Jegal Rin—the family's precious jewel. Nothing could be better."
"If the successor, the Earth Dragon, dies in Mandokchong as well, relations between the Tang Clan and the Jegal Clan will shatter completely."
Would such a perfect opportunity ever come again? It would not.
Just then, a group appeared.
"We greet the lord."
It was Tang Sangrip, who had served as Tang Cheong's aide.
"I heard from the pavilion master. You were assigned the mission to assassinate Tang Cheonwi?"
"If the three clan lords failed, we were to finish the job."
"You didn't expect Tang Cheonwi to come to Mandokchong."
"The Black Scale Guard was with him, so we could only watch from a distance…"
"It's fine. We'll just bury Tang Cheonwi inside Mandokchong."
Tang Jongui resolved to wipe out Tang Cheonwi's entire party right here. There was one thing he did not know.
Tang Cheonwi was thinking the exact same thing.
A rumor spread through the murim.
The clan lords who had attended the Sichuan Gathering had tried to kill the Tang Clan's young master. Inns and wine houses across Sichuan were packed to bursting because of it.
"So what happened?"
"Are the three clan lords unharmed?"
"Knowing the Tang Clan's nature, they must be ready to seize and kill them at any moment…"
Everyone drinking in the inn shared the same thought. With a clan like the Sichuan Tang, packed with nothing but venomous snakes, those three lords would never have been left alone.
"Don't be startled, any of you."
"Here—take this cup and tell us the story."
A middle-aged man poured wine so the storyteller could wet his throat.
"Ahem. Much obliged."
"Well? What became of them?"
"The young master forgave the three clan lords."
The listeners' eyes went wide. The Tang Clan young master they knew was a tyrant—a good-for-nothing who swaggered on the strength of his family name alone. And he had spared men who tried to assassinate him?
"Come now, don't lie to us."
"I've heard the Tang young master will kill even a servant if his mood sours."
"Would a man like that ever forgive those three?"
"That rumor has to be wrong."
Not one of them believed the storyteller. Tang Cheonwi's reputation among the people was simply that abysmal.
Then a martial artist in the corner raised his voice.
"Every word is true. I was there."
"You mean the story is real?"
"Not a single falsehood in it."
He described the scene with far more vivid detail than the storyteller had, as if he had truly stood in that place. Listening to him, the crowd's expressions shifted.
"Well, I'll be…"
"Who would have thought the Tang young master was such a man of magnanimity."
"Even after the three lords used the assembled heroes to pressure him, he still granted them forgiveness."
"You really can't trust rumors."
They began to look at Tang Cheonwi in a new light.
"What's more, the fact that he possessed power overwhelming enough to crush those three is a real shock."
"He's only fifteen now, isn't he?"
"At that age, suppressing three Peak masters with nothing but his aura… As expected of Sichuan Tang blood."
In an instant the inn filled with nothing but praise.
"I suspected as much already. The young master of the greatest clan under heaven could never truly be a tyrant and a wastrel."
"Even Yong Sahyeok, the young master of the Demonic Cult, reached Transcendence at that age, didn't he? Surely the Tang young master has stepped into Transcendence as well."
This was, after all, the Sichuan Tang Clan—the family that stood proudly as the greatest under heaven, surpassing even the Five Great Clans. As a single power, it had long since overtaken the Demonic Cult itself. There was no way its young master could be weaker than the Demonic Cult's heir.
"That makes sense."
"Perhaps the Tang Clan has been deliberately hiding their young master behind the mask of a tyrant."
"Then everything falls into place."
"The Tang Clan has been deceiving the world."
Once again, the martial artists found themselves stunned by the Sichuan Tang Clan's power.
"More importantly—have you heard the other rumor?"
"There's another one?"
"They say Mandokchong has been discovered in the ruined temple at Gamnak."
The martial artist's words hit the room like a thunderclap.
"What!?"
"Mandokchong—you mean the tomb where the Tang Clan's founding ancestor, the Ten Thousand Poisons Progenitor, is said to rest?"
"Martial artists who heard the news are already heading for Gamnak."
"Heavens!"
"I hear the Tang young master and the three clan lords went to Mandokchong as well."
Martial artists shot up from their seats. They left payment on the tables and rushed outside, moving as one.
"You should have led with that!"
"Honestly, what a frustrating man."
"Instead of sitting here talking, you should hurry to Mandokchong yourself."
"I was planning to leave as soon as I finished this bowl of noodles anyway."
The once-crowded inn emptied in no time. Everyone had set out for Gamnak, where Mandokchong lay. Last of all, the storyteller and the martial artist who claimed to have been with the Cheongang Clan walked out. The two of them split down separate paths and vanished without a trace.
Martial artists from the surrounding regions poured into the ruined temple at Gamnak. What they discovered was that there was not just one entrance. All five ruined temples served as gateways into Mandokchong.
"The treasure is mine!"
"Don't be ridiculous. As if I'd let trash like you take it."
Steel rang against steel without pause. Blinded by greed, the martial artists attacked the moment their eyes met.
They don't even know this is a fake Mandokchong. Tch.
Tang Cheonwi's party advanced relatively unhindered, guided by Gang Goui around the other martial artists.
"Hyungnim, do you think this is really the Progenitor's tomb?"
At his younger brother's question, Tang Cheonwi answered through voice transmission.
It's a fake.
I thought so. The air around us is just thick and sticky—there's no Tang Clan energy flowing through it at all.
Can you read that thick, sticky energy?
Tang Yuhyeon nodded. He analyzed and dismantled the energy saturating the air. Watching him, Hwancheonjihwan swallowed a quiet sound of admiration.
Your little brother is a monster nearly on your level. He's reading the energy in here with ease.
Just as Hwancheonjihwan had said, Tang Yuhyeon answered.
This is blood qi! The kind of energy that hangs around the Demonic Cult's blood-users is drifting through the air.
Correct. This is a Mandokchong built by the Demonic Cult.
It was a trap the Demonic Cult had constructed to lure martial artists. A poisonous tomb was more than enough to draw every eye. They had prepared a great bloodbath here. But once the Tang Clan completely seized control of the Sichuan region, they abandoned the place and fled. After centuries of neglect, Yuhongak and the Cheongang Clan had found it.
Huk! Isn't this a dangerous place?
It is. If you're buried here, it's over.
Then we should get out right away!
Don't panic.
Fake or not, treasures identical to the real ones had been hidden here.
We need to obtain the Blood-Healing Needle before we leave.
Th-the Blood-Healing Needle—you mean the legendary needle used by the Tang Clan's fifth progenitor? But you said this is a fake tomb.
To deceive your enemies, you have to make it look real.
The Demonic Cult had staked everything on this place. They had intended to begin the orthodox sects' downfall right here. But thanks to the overwhelming Tang Clan, they never even got to use it and fled instead.
As expected… the Demonic Cult is a terrifying organization.
The treasures they had hidden in Mandokchong were the Azure Light Sword, the Blood-Healing Needle, and the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons. In the original timeline, Yuhongak had found the Blood-Healing Needle and escaped with it.
A fork in the path will appear soon. I'll secure the Blood-Healing Needle and get out. You and Ildo will evacuate the martial artists.
Do you know where the Blood-Healing Needle is?
Hyung has the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons, remember?
Ah… Then can't I stay with you, hyungnim?
If you follow me, who's going to persuade the martial artists?
…Jegal Gwang hyungnim is here, and… Rin noona too.
Gamnak is Tang Clan territory. If a bloodbath erupts here, the Tang Clan will bear the full weight of the consequences. You understand what I'm saying?
Do not hand off the Tang Clan's duty to another family. Tang Yuhyeon reluctantly nodded.
I'll do as you say, hyungnim.
See you outside.
Please take care of yourself.
Tang Cheonwi finished the transmission with his brother and looked at Tang Ildo.
Ildo. From the next path onward, guard Yuhyeon.
What? We're not going together?
He explained the situation to Tang Ildo—that the fork would split them apart, and that the Cheongang Clan would obtain the Azure Light Sword and betray them again.
Should I just kill them?
I'll handle it. You take Yuhyeon to the martial artists.
You're going to act alone?
I can't let Yuhyeon see anything ugly.
A great deal of blood would flow. Tang Cheonwi did not want his younger brother to witness his cruelty.
You truly treasure the second young master.
Stop talking nonsense. If so much as a scratch lands on Yuhyeon, you're dead.
The moment the words ended, a fork of many branching paths appeared before them. Gang Goui spoke with a troubled look.
"From here on, even we don't know the layout… What will you do, Young Master?"
"We'll each go our separate ways."
A faint smile touched the corner of Gang Goui's mouth—a look that said everything was going according to plan. But in a flash the smile vanished as if it had never been.
"I'll assign the search teams."
"As you wish."
"Yuhyeon takes the first passage. The Jegal Clan takes the second. I'll take the middle path."
"Then we'll enter starting from the sixth passage, in order."
The Cheongang Clan was assigned the sixth passage. The Danjuk Clan took the seventh. The Cheongpung Clan took the eighth. Gang Goui stepped forward first.
"If we find treasure, we'll send a signal."
"We'll wait for good news."
Before departing, Gang Unje—heir of the Cheongang Clan—left a meaningful remark.
"I'll live up to your expectations."
Tang Cheonwi paid no mind to Gang Unje's arrogance.
"Come on, everyone. Move quickly."
Tang Yuhyeon and the Jegal siblings disappeared one after another down their assigned paths. Alone now, Tang Cheonwi's eyes turned cold as a northern blizzard.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a great deal of blood."
He intended to dispose of every last thing that stood in his way.