Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: The Tang Clan's Vow
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The Tang Clan of Sichuan was located in Tang Gat'a, near the provincial capital.
Tang Gat'a. A clan village where all those bearing the Tang surname gathered.
Unlike other martial families, the Tang Clan had formed a settlement on nearly the scale of a city, comprised solely of people sharing the same surname.
The reason was simple.
"Gun, do you know why our Tang Clan is a family that became a sect?"
Fights were frequent in Sichuan territory. Though Sichuan itself was righteous faction territory, to the right lay Guizhou, which had long been unorthodox territory, while southern barbarians from beyond the borders eyed it covetously from below, and to the west, the desert was teeming with all manner of sinister demonic cults.
In short, Sichuan had been a battlefield for centuries where martial artists from rival factions vied for power.
And the origins of the Tang Clan lay with pharmacists and physicians who had no choice but to wield poison after suffering sacrifices at the hands of those martial artists.
It wasn't a lineage started by a single founding ancestor bearing the Tang surname.
"Our forebears made a promise. To unite under the Tang name and never repeat the mistakes of the past."
They weren't one bloodline. Yet they were kin sharing the same surname.
Thus, the Tang Clan. Thus, the Tang Sect.
Tang Gun recalled his childhood days frolicking in Tang Gat'a.
Other clans distinguished between inner and outer courtyards, separating direct and branch lineages.
But the Tang Clan was different.
All who bore the Tang surname were one.
With multiple origins, there was no divide between direct and branch lines, and so everyone with the Tang name regarded each other as family.
Thus, Tang Gat'a was the Tang Clan itself.
"Gun, you've been selected as the next Young Clan Leader."
The position of Tang Clan Leader wasn't passed down by blood.
It went to the most outstanding among those bearing the Tang surname, who would then inherit the clan leadership.
Thus, Tang Gun's father was not the clan leader.
"The Clan Leader wishes to see you. Go to him."
On the first day after proving his talent and earning the Young Clan Leader position, then meeting the Tang Clan Leader.
Tang Seong, the clan leader and his paternal cousin once removed, had seated Tang Gun on his knee and spoken these words.
"Gun, we who bear the Tang surname all share one long-cherished wish."
"What is it, Uncle? Ah, no, Clan Leader."
"To escape our limitations and heavenly punishment."
The clan leader instilled in the young Young Clan Leader the mindset he must hold as heir and the aspiration he must pursue.
Independence from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
To never forget the origins of the Tang kin and expand influence so that none suffer as they had.
"Gun, our Tang Clan unusually appoints a Young Clan Leader at a young age and passes on leadership early. Do you know why?"
"The Clan Leader is given a task. To devote everything to surpassing the limits of our foundational martial arts."
The Tang Clan was among the top ten martial families in the world.
Yet the level of their inherited martial arts wasn't particularly high.
"The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans never permitted us supreme arts. We've refined and advanced what we received, but we haven't broken through the limits."
By the standard of inherited martial arts alone, the Tang Clan shouldn't have been able to maintain its current status.
No past clan leader had ever reached the Super Peak realm.
Yet they held the position of Sichuan's foremost martial family thanks to their specialty in poison and hidden weapons.
"For our Tang Clan to advance further, we must tear down the foundations we received from others and forge our own."
In other words, each successive clan leader inherited the task of innovating new martial arts.
But creating peerless new arts was no easy feat.
Especially when the foundation was poison and hidden weapon techniques, making the difficulty even greater.
"Once you mature and can stand in for the clan leadership, I will enter secluded cultivation."
Seclusion without promise of ten or twenty years.
To escape the shackles strangling the clan.
The Tang Clan Leader was one who sacrificed everything for the Tang kin.
"So I ask you, Gun. Do you have the confidence to take on the clan leader's burden? If you hesitate, I'll rescind your appointment as Young Clan Leader."
Even at his young age then, Tang Gun had answered resolutely.
"I'll devote everything to our kin, Clan Leader!"
And today.
The spar with the Namgung Clan Young Clan Leader.
Tang Gun had felt a helplessness bordering on despair.
He keenly felt the collar and restraints binding the Tang kin.
'For the clan's future, for a better tomorrow... we must obtain new transcendent martial arts. No matter what!'
Then, Baek Yang-hui's voice reached Tang Gun's ears.
"The Sword King Tomb. It's in Gyesu, isn't it?"
* * * "The Sword King Tomb. It's in Gyesu, isn't it?"
Seeing Jin Geum-bo startle in surprise, a chuckle escaped me.
'Didn't expect me to know, huh?'
Well, it was normal not to know.
Even I, Baek Yang-hui, wouldn't have figured it out without memories from my previous life.
"......"
Jin Geum-bo didn't make the mistake of blurting out something like "How did you know?"
His body trembled roughly, but he kept silent, staring at me.
To make him open up, I'd need to reveal a bit more.
"Where should I start? Right, the reason Merchant Jin wanted to include me in the escort. Let's guess from there."
"......"
"The Tang Clan's puppet, the Baek Clan Manor. And among them, the most renowned sword deviant. You needed that name, didn't you?"
The Tang Clan and Baek Clan Manor were allies on nearly equal footing...
But to an outsider, the Baek Clan would look like a front the Tang Clan had propped up for expansion into Jiangxi.
Especially since they'd even ceded part of their estate for a branch hall, making it seem like mutual protection on the surface.
This was also part of what I'd aimed for.
"The Tang Clan's puppet, Baek Clan Manor. Among them, those renowned enough for nicknames number three."
Clan Leader Baek Mu-ryang. One Man One Sword Gu-ak.
And the sword deviant Baek Yang-hui.
"Merchant Jin likely knew the Namgung Clan Young Clan Leader was interested in the Tang Clan's recent movements."
Whether he'd heard it directly or figured it out himself didn't matter.
What mattered was...
"You planned to use me—more precisely, the Tang Clan—to divert attention."
In other words, Jin Geum-bo and the Jin Clan had reason to divert the Namgung gaze.
"That's why you were pleased when Brother Tang and Sister Tang joined the escort."
There was no pretext to invite Tang clansmen directly, so you'd tried drawing eyes with the Baek public heir, but the Tang Young Clan Leader walked right in. How convenient.
"Up to here, am I right?"
"......No. I just......"
"Then explain. When presented with two routes, why choose Hefei? From what happened earlier, your choice wasn't rational."
I recalled Jin Geum-bo's attitude during his talk with Namgung Cheon-hu.
"You probably achieved your minor goal. You didn't end up dragged along by the Namgung Young Clan Leader, after all. Right?"
"......"
He was like a mute who'd eaten honey.
How to pry open that heavy mouth?
"I looked into the Jin Clan Manor. About five years ago, you liquidated assets at a loss and settled in Gyesu."
"We merely relocated."
......Getting frustrating.
Time to stab straight.
"Do you want it stolen by the Namgung Young Clan Leader?"
"Young Hero Baek, you're barking up the wrong tree. I truly have no connection to the Sword King Tomb."
"The Sword King Tomb bloodbath orchestrated by the Blood Slaughter Union. Your Taiyuan Jin Clan fell to near annihilation because of it. Thereafter, the Jin Clan's long-cherished wish became finding the Sword King Tomb."
"I won't deny it. Our Jin Clan Manor's roots lie with survivors of the Taiyuan Jin Clan. But the Sword King Tomb? How could chasing such a fanciful legend be a family's aspiration?"
Too shallow a thrust?
Then deeper.
"Gyesu Baek Su Mountain."
Jin Geum-bo's body froze rigid.
"H-how did you......?"
He'd asked reflexively and hurriedly covered his mouth.
Too late.
Aah, feels good to get that off my chest.
"Here's your choice. Will you speak frankly, or part ways here? Ah, I'll still escort you to Gyesu."
"......"
Half a ke, one ke, then a full shichen.
After long deliberation, Jin Geum-bo sighed.
His face looked a decade older in moments.
"Young Hero Baek... you're truly beyond the rumors. If I'd known, I wouldn't have made the request."
"You'll think the opposite soon enough."
"I hope so. I'll speak frankly. Yes. Our Jin Clan Manor's aspiration... was indeed finding the Sword King Tomb."
Jin Geum-bo's tale continued for a while.
Dozens of years ago, the Taiyuan Jin Clan had been duped by false info from the Blood Slaughter Union and fallen to near ruin.
The survivors grew obsessed with the Sword King Tomb, the very cause of their downfall.
They believed it was the only way to reclaim past glory.
"The Sword King Tomb bloodbath was pure fabrication... but there wasn't zero true information about it back then."
"Makes sense. Plausible lies always mix in some truth."
I recalled what I'd gotten from Yeo Un-hyeok before setting out on escort duty.
He too knew the sliver of truth amid the lies.
Though probably different from what the Jin Clan had.
'No need to lay this out yet.'
"Young Hero. Can I trust you?"
Trustworthy?
In the jianghu of Do-san Sword Forest, what a futile question.
Still, one thing I could say.
"How much does the Namgung Clan Young Clan Leader know? Or rather, how is he involved?"
"......Our Jin Clan Manor has a lead on the Sword King Tomb, and he found out. About three years ago, the Young Clan Leader appeared and promised support."
"And you accepted?"
"He promised to handle the excavation if we found it, and share the spoils fairly. Our situation was dire then; it felt like a lifeline from the heavens."
A scoff escaped involuntarily.
Share fairly? With the Namgung lot?
Those who fancied themselves the heavens? As if.
"You've realized it, then."
"......Yes."
I gleaned one fact from Jin Geum-bo's demeanor.
'They've gotten quite close to the Sword King Tomb.'
No wonder the anxiety. The fear.
Of handing the entire clan aspiration to the Namgung Clan.
"Young Hero. Let me ask one too. How did you know it's on Baek Su Mountain? Even we only suspect."
Oh, that?
A guess.
More precisely, inferred from the Namgung Clan's announcement and movements in my past life.
But can't say that honestly.
"I'll just say you're not the only ones seeking the Sword King Tomb."
"......I see. Of course."
Jin Geum-bo sighed again and continued.
"Our Jin Clan... doesn't desire much. Just... just to fulfill the family aspiration."
The Jin Clan's circumstances.
The Baek Clan's circumstances.
The Tang Clan's circumstances.
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and looked at Tang Gun.
"Brother Tang."
"Speak, Brother Hui."
"Looks like we've got a way to backstab the Namgung Clan. Merchant Jin, one more question."
"Ask away."
The Namgung Clan that promised support to the Jin Clan Manor. Surely they'd investigated the Sword King Tomb too.
Hence approaching the Jin Clan Manor for info.
"The Namgung Clan has leads on the Sword King Tomb too, right?"
"Yes. Word is... they obtained part of the Sword King Tomb map. That was the decisive reason we accepted their support."
"Have you seen this map?"
"They didn't share it. But its existence is certain."
"And you handed over the Jin Clan's leads to the Namgung Clan?"
"......We had no choice for their support."
"Not blaming you."
The full story was coming into view.
The Namgung Clan, holders of part of the Sword King Tomb map.
The Jin Clan Manor, with another lead.
And the Baek Clan Manor and Tang Clan.
"Merchant Jin. Tell me."
Sudden words, but Jin Geum-bo grasped the intent.
"......"
Jin Geum-bo recalled events during the escort.
The one-sided provocation against Jeongwolmun, turning a minor incident anyone could overlook into major gain—the Baek public heir.
Witnessing a mountain village plundered by bandits and wiping out an entire bandit stronghold out of righteous compassion.
He could've taken all the loot as rightful spoils for his efforts, yet shared half with the commoners out of merciful compassion.
'......At the very least. Far better than the Namgung Clan.'
Two choices. No, for Jin Geum-bo, only one path.
"Help us. No, please help, Young Hero."
"Turning a blind eye to one who seeks aid isn't righteous."
I grinned, lifting the corner of my mouth.
"Then, will you share the leads your Jin Clan holds?"