After meeting his gaze for a moment, the Use Sword Master looked at Dang Myeong.
“What do you wish us to do?”
“I will escort Wiji Cheong to the main house under guard.”
“Do you think that is possible?”
“Is there a reason it would not be?”
“Would I suffice as that reason?”
As the Use Sword Master spoke coldly and held out his hand, the sword in Wiji Cheong’s hand spun through the air and was drawn into his grasp.
It was the Void Grasp technique, moving an object from a distance with inner power.
At that sight, the faces of the Tang Clan experts hardened. It was remarkable skill.
“Do you think Great Hero Use Sword Master alone can stop the main house from carrying out its will?”
Along with the sudden voice, Dang Miryeong appeared in the open space.
TAP!
Dang Miryeong gave Dang Myeong a Cupped-Fist Salute and bowed her head.
“Unit Commander of the Flat Bat Unit, returned.”
At Dang Miryeong’s words, Dang Myeong looked at her for a moment, then turned his head toward the Use Sword Master.
“If it is Great Hero Use Sword Master alone, I do think it is possible.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, the Use Sword Master looked coldly at Dang Miryeong.
“I have heard that Unit Commander Dang of the Flat Bat Unit possesses peerless hidden weapon arts in the martial world. May I learn a move from you?”
At the Use Sword Master’s words, Dang Miryeong smiled.
“I have also heard plenty of the fame of the Wiji Clan’s Five Great Protectors. I ask for a move of instruction. However…….”
Dang Miryeong smiled and raised her hand.
SLITHER!
Before anyone knew it, several daggers were spread like a fan in Dang Miryeong’s hand.
“If we exchange hands here, I think the commoners may be harmed. If you do not mind, may we move elsewhere?”
Dang Miryeong’s hidden weapons would be aimed at the Use Sword Master, but if he dodged or deflected them, they would fly into the surroundings. That was what she meant.
At Dang Miryeong’s words, the Use Sword Master looked at Dang Myeong. At that gaze, Dang Myeong nodded.
“Nothing will happen until Great Hero Use Sword Master returns.”
“If I defeat Heroine Dang, you will let us go, correct?”
“I will.”
“Very well.”
WHOOSH!
The Use Sword Master kicked off the ground and rushed away, kicking off nearby buildings. Dang Miryeong bowed her head to Dang Myeong.
“I will return.”
“You must…… win.”
“I do not think I will lose.”
WHOOSH!
With those words, a searing heat could be felt from Dang Miryeong’s body.
‘You learned…… the Three Yang Divine Art.’
At that, Dang Myeong nodded.
WHOOSH!
When Dang Miryeong kicked off the ground and vanished, Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong. Beside Wiji Cheong, the old man who had been with the Use Sword Master stood as he took Gold Wound Medicine from his robe and applied it to his wounds.
At that, Dang Myeong looked at Master Wang.
“I am sorry, but could you bring a table and chairs outside?”
“Understood.”
As the waiters hurriedly placed a table and chairs outside, Dang Myeong sat in a chair.
TAP!
Dang Myeong seated himself and looked at Wiji Cheong.
“It must hurt, so sit.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong said with a hardened face, “What are you thinking? Are you truly trying to start a war?”
“War?”
Dang Myeong laughed.
“A clan like the Wiji Clan? With our Tang Clan?”
“What? Do you think our Wiji Clan would lose to a Tang Clan whose Clan Lord is dead and whose elders were massacred?”
At Wiji Cheong’s shout, Dang Myeong shook his head.
“You would not lose…… The Wiji Clan members who came to the Tang Clan would be annihilated.”
“You bastard, do you think that makes sense just because you have a mouth to speak with?”
“You should be using your brain, not your mouth. The main house…… is the Sichuan Tang Clan of poison and hidden weapons.”
“What does that…….”
“In a spar or duel, even when we use hidden weapons, we do not use lethal ones. Naturally, we do not use poison either. But in war?”
Dang Myeong glared coldly at Wiji Cheong.
“Is there any reason the main house should not use poisons and hidden weapons with great killing power?”
“That is…… cowardly.”
“Where is there cowardice in war? Also…… why would we make hidden weapons and poisons if we were not going to use them? Do you take us for fools?”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong and said, “The reason the main house did not use poison and hidden weapons against fellow martial artists was not because it feared the eyes of the world. It was because…… we could win easily enough without using poison and hidden weapons.”
Dang Myeong looked over Wiji Cheong’s body and said, “Just like now, with you.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong’s face twisted. Dang Myeong was a member of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
And in the spar just now, Dang Myeong had defeated him without using hidden weapons or poison.
If he had used poison or hidden weapons, then Wiji Cheong would have…….
Looking at Wiji Cheong’s stiffened face, Dang Myeong said, “If you want war, then whenever you wish…….”
Dang Myeong gazed steadily at Wiji Cheong.
“Come.”
At the word come, Wiji Cheong swallowed. He sensed that Dang Myeong’s words were real.
“Y-You are overflowing with confidence.”
“It is not confidence. It is because I can do it.”
While they spoke, Master Wang brought a teapot and teacups and placed them in front of them.
“Thank you.”
Dang Myeong poured tea into his teacup and set the teapot in front of Wiji Cheong. At the sight of him seeming to say that Wiji Cheong could pour his own, Wiji Cheong bit his lip and turned his head sharply away.
Dang Myeong watched Wiji Cheong with cold eyes, then glanced aside.
Where his gaze landed stood the old man who had come with Wiji Cheong.
“Great Hero Man, it has been a long time.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, the old man gave a Cupped-Fist Salute and bowed his head.
“I have nothing to say, meeting you like this.”
“Our positions are different, so it cannot be helped.”
The old man was Iron Sword Scholar Man Song, one of the elders of the Wiji Clan.
If Dang Myeong had Dang Hong, then it could be said that Wiji Cheong had Man Song.
Man Song, too, was a martial artist who had guarded Wiji Cheong since he was young.
Since Dang Myeong and Wiji Cheong had often spent time together, Dang Myeong and Man Song were also familiar with one another’s faces.
After greeting Dang Myeong, Man Song glanced back at Dang Hong, who stood behind him.
At Man Song’s gaze, Dang Hong looked at him with regretful eyes, then gave a small Cupped-Fist Salute and bowed his head.
Dang Hong was angry at the current situation, yet also somewhat frustrated.
Since both he and Man Song were in the position of serving Young Lords, they had met often and drunk together often as well.
As people who served masters, they had shared their frustrations and spent nights talking…… yet now, he had met that very Man Song as an enemy.
Dang Myeong took a sip of tea. Watching him, Wiji Cheong subtly gave Man Song a look.
It seemed he was saying something through voice transmission. At that, Man Song looked at Dang Myeong.
“Do you truly intend to wage war?”
“If you say you wish to…….”
“Is there a need to escalate matters so far? Moreover, the young master has already lost and has been wounded.”
At Man Song’s words, Dang Myeong looked at him and said, “Great Hero Man, do you know me?”
They had met several times, and during their travels, they had spent a long time together. And yet he asked whether Man Song knew him?
“……I do.”
“No, you do not know me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are speaking respectfully to me, are you not?”
“That is because…… the Tang Clan…….”
Man Song’s face hardened as he spoke. He once again realized what Wiji Cheong’s shouted words meant.
“I will put it simply. Let us say someone stood in front of the Wiji Clan and said, ‘Kill Great Hero Wiji Danil.’ Would I survive?”
At the mention of Wiji Danil, Clan Lord of the Wiji Clan, the faces of Man Song and Wiji Cheong hardened.
There was no need to think about it. If a commoner said such a thing in front of the Wiji Clan, he would be torn limb from limb without even a rat or bird knowing.
“Hmph! The Use Sword Master will defeat her and return. ”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Dang Myeong smiled.
“No, he cannot win.”
“Ridiculous. The Use Sword Master’s martial arts are the greatest among the Five Great Protectors. ”
“He still cannot win. The weight they carry is different.”
“What nonsense is that?”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“Protector Sword Master is fighting while carrying your reputation and the Wiji Clan’s reputation.”
“Is that not the same for Heroine Dang Miryeong?”
Dang Myeong shook his head.
“Our Unit Commander…… is fighting with the Tang Clan’s future and survival at stake.”
“Future and survival?”
“Yes, future and survival. She is showing a future in which any clan that targets the main house will be broken to pieces if it dares attack us. So…… our Unit Commander will absolutely not lose.”
Dang Myeong smiled and looked to one side.
“And she has not lost.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong looked anxiously in the direction he was looking.
And Wiji Cheong’s face twisted.
Dang Miryeong was flying toward them in the lead, and the Use Sword Master was following behind her…… but blood was flowing here and there across the Use Sword Master’s body.
Anyone could tell who had won and who had lost.
“Did she not use poison like a coward?”
“Why is poison cowardly?”
“Because it is poison.”
“If you think that…… then call it cowardly when you drop dead.”
GRIND!
Seeing Wiji Cheong bite his lip, Dang Myeong rose from his seat. Dang Miryeong gave a Cupped-Fist Salute and bowed her head.
“I have returned.”
“You worked hard.”
Then Dang Myeong looked at the Use Sword Master, who soon landed beside them. The Use Sword Master could not speak to Wiji Cheong and only gave a Cupped-Fist Salute with his head bowed.
At that sight, Wiji Cheong bit his lip. Then he looked sharply at Dang Myeong.
“Kill me.”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Dang Myeong looked at him and said, “Think carefully. If I kill you, it means war with the Wiji Clan.”
“Do you think I fear war?”
Then Wiji Cheong let out a sneer.
“And you were the one who said we would go to war. Why? Are you afraid now?”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Dang Myeong looked at him, and in an instant his hand moved.
SLAP!
“Kgh!”
At the touch of Dang Myeong’s hand striking his cheek, Wiji Cheong glared at him with enraged eyes.
And the Use Sword Master and Man Song also gripped their swords with furious faces.
SLITHER! SLITHER!
Then the Tang Clan experts aimed hidden weapons at the two of them. But the two men tensed as if they would draw their swords at any moment if Wiji Cheong gave the order.
“S-Stop.”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, the two bit their lips and glared at Dang Myeong. Looking at Wiji Cheong, Dang Myeong opened his mouth.
“I…… fear war.”
“Of course you do. If you fight my clan, the Sichuan Tang Clan will be annihilated.”
As Wiji Cheong spoke with a triumphant face, Dang Myeong looked at him and said, “No. That is not it.”
Dang Myeong shook his head.
“If the main house and the Wiji Clan go to war, the main house will win unconditionally. And the Wiji Clan members who enter Sichuan will be annihilated.”
“Bullshit.”
“There is something all of you misunderstand.”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“It is war. It is a fight that ends only when one side dies. If so…… is there any reason for the main house to hesitate in using poison?”
“That is…….”
When Wiji Cheong could not speak, Dang Myeong said, “I told you. Because it is a spar and a duel, the main house does not use poison. But once we judge that we must kill, the main house will not hesitate to use poison.”
Dang Myeong looked at the Use Sword Master.
“Great Hero Use Sword Master, you tell me. If the main house uses poison, can the Wiji Clan defeat us? No, can it survive?”
At Dang Myeong’s words, the Use Sword Master said with a hardened face, “If poison is…… used in that way, you will receive the condemnation of your fellow martial artists.”
“It is war. It is a matter of life and death. What does the martial world’s condemnation matter? Tell me.”
At Dang Myeong’s sharp question, the Use Sword Master hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
“Our main house…… would lose.”
Looking at the Use Sword Master, who said lose instead of annihilated, Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“If you say you will wage war, then we will. But I fear war. The reason is…… because I know that by my choice, the family members of the main house will shed blood.”
Dang Myeong quietly looked at Wiji Cheong.
“That is why I struck you. Seeing you decide a matter that bears the blood of family members out of nothing but pride and rage made you seem pathetic, and it angered me.”
“That is the same for you. You, too, are making this happen because of pride.”
“If I were the Young Lord, your rudeness would have been something I could forgive with a smile…….”
Dang Myeong pointed at Wiji Cheong’s wounds.
“With this much. But I am the Clan Lord. And the Clan Lord of the Sichuan Tang Clan, which is going through a crisis.”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“That is why I must shed blood to protect the pride of the main house.”
What protected the Sichuan Tang Clan now was pride. If that pride collapsed, the Tang Clan people would lose hope.
That was why Dang Myeong was doing this. To protect the Tang Clan.