At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong’s face flushed red.
“What will you do?”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Dang Myeong said, “I will take you to the main house.”
Then Dang Myeong looked at the Use Sword Master.
“Return to the Wiji Clan. If you wish to receive Wiji Cheong back, the Clan Lord may personally visit the main house.”
“That is…….”
“Clan Lord Wiji will make the decision himself.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, the Use Sword Master looked at him, then opened his mouth.
“You will become enemies of our main house.”
At the Use Sword Master’s words, Dang Myeong smiled and rose from his seat.
“Does the Wiji Clan not already regard our main house as an enemy?”
At Dang Myeong’s words, the Use Sword Master paused for a moment, then gave a Cupped-Fist Salute and said, “Man Song must remain beside the Eldest Young Master.”
“Do so.”
The Use Sword Master sent a voice transmission to Wiji Cheong.
[I will contact the main house. Please take care of yourself.]
It meant he should not cause an accident in a fit of rage. At that, Wiji Cheong bit his lip and nodded.
After also sending Man Song a voice transmission asking him to look after Wiji Cheong, the Use Sword Master turned and vanished.
Watching him go, Dang Myeong looked at the people gathered around and said, “Unintentionally, a small matter caused inconvenience to all of you. I apologize.”
When Dang Myeong gave a Cupped-Fist Salute and bowed his head slightly, the people smiled, returned the salute, and bowed their heads.
“Not at all. Not at all.”
“Hahaha! Of course. Who would have any complaints about the Tang Clan carrying out its affairs? Besides…… to look down on the Tang Clan on Sichuan soil is to look down on all of us people of Sichuan, so we, too, support the Tang Clan’s actions.”
“Hahaha! That is right. Exactly!”
At the people’s support, Dang Myeong bowed his head slightly, then said to Master Wang,
“Then, as we discussed earlier, please prepare everything three days from now.”
“Understood. I will bring the people early in the morning.”
After speaking with Master Wang, Dang Myeong began moving with his people.
And behind them, Wiji Cheong followed with a stiff face together with Man Song.
***
Behind Dang Myeong as he returned to the Tang Clan with Wiji Cheong, carts followed in a long line.
Looking surprised at the dozens of carts, Wiji Cheong murmured, “Why are there so many carts?”
At Wiji Cheong’s murmur, Dang Myeong glanced at him and said, “You know the main house’s circumstances, do you not?”
“……I do.”
“That is why we need many things.”
As he spoke, Dang Myeong walked toward the carts and said, “You come too.”
“Me too?”
When Dang Myeong headed toward the carts, Wiji Cheong narrowed his eyes and looked at him, then followed behind.
The carts were piled with food ingredients such as rice, wheat, and meat, as well as bolts of cloth.
“There is an enormous amount.”
“There are more than two thousand people at the main house right now.”
“Two thousand? The Sichuan Tang Clan has that many people?”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Man Song quietly sent a voice transmission.
[The Tang Clan has around seven hundred people, and the rest are people who work for the Tang Clan.]
At Man Song’s voice transmission, Wiji Cheong went, Ah, then said, “It must cost a great deal of money to employ that many people.”
“The main house is not a clan short on money.”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“Treasure your family members.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When you see the current state of the main house, you will understand what I mean.”
Dang Myeong started walking again and continued speaking.
“Being a Young Lord is not merely about bearing the power of one’s noble clan. If something happens…… it is a position in which one must lead the clan and protect the lives of hundreds of family members.”
“Why…… are you saying that to me?”
At Wiji Cheong’s question, Dang Myeong looked at the sky for a moment.
“Call it a final consideration.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
When Wiji Cheong narrowed his eyes and shouted, the faces of Man Song and the Tang Clan martial artists twisted.
“Young Lord…….”
As Man Song tried to restrain Wiji Cheong, Dang Myeong shook his head.
“Earlier, I stood as the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan, but right now…… let us call this a private conversation with Wiji Cheong.”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“So long as he does not cross the line…….”
“Hmph!”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong snorted.
Looking at Wiji Cheong, Dang Myeong moved toward the clan estate.
***
Wiji Cheong was startled when he arrived at the Sichuan Tang Clan. There truly were countless people gathered there.
And…… it was a massive construction site.
“Did you…… tear everything up?”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Dang Myeong said, “Do you know nothing about the main house’s battle?”
“I know, but…… there is nothing left of the way it used to look.”
Until the incident happened, Wiji Cheong and Dang Myeong had been close. Since Dang Myeong was a talent counted among the finest rising stars of the Five Great Clans, Wiji Cheong had followed him around.
Wiji Cheong had often come and gone from the Tang Clan as well. So he knew what the Tang Clan used to look like.
But the Tang Clan he saw now was completely different from before.
No, there was nothing at all of the Tang Clan that remained in his memories.
“Follow me.”
Dang Myeong took Wiji Cheong and Man Song with him and began walking. As Wiji Cheong followed behind Dang Myeong, he kept looking around.
Around them, Tang Clan experts had stripped off their upper garments and were moving heavy materials and lifting them onto buildings.
“Why are Tang Clan experts doing labor?”
“They are building their own home. They cannot rely only on the hands of others.”
Dang Myeong looked around as he continued speaking.
“Besides, martial artists are strong, so the construction schedule becomes faster.”
“Still, how can martial artists do such work?”
“The family members have no place to avoid the rain and wind.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong looked at the fine buildings over there.
“Are there not buildings there?”
“Do you remember Tang Clan Tower?”
“I remember.”
“When we returned here…… the first people to come back to us were the people of Tang Clan Tower. There is still much left to build if we are to make houses for them to live in as well.”
“You are even making houses for those workers?”
At the word workers, Dang Myeong narrowed his eyes.
“They are not workers. They are all family members of the Tang Clan. Even if their surnames differ and they work for wages…… they are our family members who did not leave us and returned.”
“You…….”
Looking at Wiji Cheong, who could not quite speak, Dang Myeong took out a jade vial from his robe and held it out.
“It is an antidote.”
“Antidote? Surely not. Have I been poisoned?”
Looking at Wiji Cheong in surprise, Dang Myeong shook his head.
“I am not so weak that I would need to use poison on you.”
Then Dang Myeong moved on, and Wiji Cheong looked at him doubtfully before first opening the jade vial.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
After smelling it, surprise appeared on Wiji Cheong’s face.
“A Hundred Antidote Pill?”
“Does the Hundred Antidote Pill not detoxify most of the Tang Clan’s poisons?”
At Man Song’s words, Wiji Cheong shook his head.
“It does not detoxify them. It blocks them.”
“Pardon?”
“If you take it after being poisoned, it is useless, but if you take it before being poisoned, it prevents you from being poisoned. I received one from Dang Myeong in the past as well…… This is an antidote the Tang Clan forbids from being leaked outside.”
Naturally so. There was no reason to leak an antidote that blocked the Tang Clan’s poison. If one ate this antidote, the Tang Clan’s poisons would not work, so why would they leak it?
“Why would he give such an antidote to you, Young Lord?”
When Man Song asked in confusion, Wiji Cheong looked at Dang Myeong walking ahead.
Then, for now, he hurriedly followed behind him.
As he passed through Tang Clan Tower, which was under construction, while following Dang Myeong, Wiji Cheong’s face hardened.
The burned buildings of the Sichuan Tang Clan were beginning to come into view.
“The Tang Clan…….”
“Did you not know?”
“I knew…… but I did not think it was to this extent…….”
“It was to this extent…… which is why the Wiji Clan tried to provoke the main house. Because you thought the main house had fallen.”
“That…….”
Wiji Cheong hesitated for a moment. Dang Myeong glanced at Wiji Cheong and said, “Did you take the Hundred Antidote Pill?”
“Not yet…….”
“Take it. We are going inside.”
“Inside the Tang Clan?”
When Dang Myeong passed through the burned gate of the Tang Clan and went inside, Wiji Cheong hesitated for a moment, then swallowed the Hundred Antidote Pill.
GULP!
“Will you enter? Rumor says deadly poison has spread through that place.”
“If he meant to kill me, he would not be bringing me inside.”
At Wiji Cheong’s words, Man Song looked at him, then held out his hand.
“Old man, are you going in too? It could be dangerous.”
“I have served the Eldest Young Master all my life.”
At Man Song’s words, Wiji Cheong looked at him, then took out a Hundred Antidote Pill and held it out. After the two of them took the antidote, they followed behind Dang Myeong.
As Wiji Cheong followed Dang Myeong, he felt a slight…… fear while looking at the devastated Tang Clan buildings.
The Tang Clan he knew was a strong and dangerous clan. He was afraid of the Demonic Cult that had broken such a Tang Clan to this extent.
“What…… happened back then?”
“You must have heard at least the rumors.”
“I heard them, but…… it would be different hearing it from you.”
“That day…….”
Dang Myeong told him what had happened that day.
“Ah…….”
As Wiji Cheong listened to that story with a surprised expression, Dang Myeong moved on.
When Dang Myeong moved, Wiji Cheong hesitated, then followed behind him.
And standing at the place where the Flying Heaven Pavilion had been, Dang Myeong said, “This is where Father and the elders passed away.”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong.
“The reason I brought you here…….”
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong, then sighed and looked at the great hole where the Flying Heaven Pavilion had stood.
“Is because Father…… was fond of you.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong stopped short. Then he looked at the hole.
After looking at the hole for a moment, Wiji Cheong let out a small sigh.
Wiji Cheong had often come to the Sichuan Tang Clan. Shanxi Province and Sichuan Province were far apart, but he had still visited from time to time.
Whenever he did, Dang Cheondeuk had welcomed Wiji Cheong gladly. At times, he had even watched over his martial arts a few times.
Thinking about it, stepping forward after seeing the Sichuan Tang Clan’s misfortune like this…… was not something a human being should do.
But soon, Wiji Cheong hurriedly shook his head.
‘It was for the clan. I stepped forward for the sake of the clan.’
Entering the Five Great Clans was the Wiji Clan’s aspiration. And he, too, burned with that aspiration.
Looking at Wiji Cheong as he stared at the hole, Dang Myeong spoke.
Wiji Cheong looked at Dang Myeong. Receiving that gaze, Dang Myeong said, “In truth, I disliked you.”
“Me?”
“You seemed small as a person. Looking down on waiters in inns, boasting about your money…… You were not the kind of person I liked.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong’s face hardened.
“Then why did you travel with me?”
After entering the martial world, Dang Myeong had met Wiji Cheong between Sichuan Province and Shanxi Province and wandered the martial world with him.
Because they were the same age, they had experienced their first foray into the martial world together and gone on chivalrous journeys together as well.
“Father once spoke to me about you.”
“About me?”
“Cheong is a child with much greed and strong conceit.”
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong’s face hardened. It was not a pleasant thing to hear.
“But his nature is good. If Cheong faces hardship, become someone he can lean on. Then Cheong, too, when you are suffering…….”
Dang Myeong paused for a moment and looked at Wiji Cheong.
“Will stand by your side.”
Flinch!
At Dang Myeong’s words, Wiji Cheong’s face stiffened.
“Pay your respects. Father liked you.”
“You brought me here…… to pay my respects?”
“Though you did not come for a good reason, Father will be pleased that you came.”
Wiji Cheong hesitated for a moment, then sighed and turned away.
“Now…… does not seem to be the time.”
Wiji Cheong was ashamed. He had betrayed his friend and stepped forward to insult him for the sake of his clan’s prestige…….
Dang Myeong looked at Wiji Cheong briefly, then looked at the hole where the Flying Heaven Pavilion had stood.
‘I do not even want to associate with him…… but I have a plan. Please watch over me.’
In truth…… Dang Cheondeuk had disliked Wiji Cheong. He had said Wiji Cheong was petty, and that being together with him would be harmful to Dang Myeong…….
Dang Myeong had changed those words. He had said that his father had liked Wiji Cheong…….
At those words, the past events in Wiji Cheong’s mind were beautified. The times Dang Cheondeuk had beaten Wiji Cheong became lessons…… and cold gazes became warm eyes…….
Wiji Cheong had beautified the past in which he had been scolded like that. Because he had been told that a dead man had liked him…….