The Tang Clan (3)

“Oh, Patriarch. You came?”

How long had he been here?

Around the boulder, three empty wine bottles were rolling about. It seemed he had drunk only wine, without any side dishes to speak of.

Tang Jin-hyeon climbed onto the boulder.

“I said we should drink together, so why are you drinking miserably by yourself?”

Oh Gyeong frowned.

“I told you it was awkward.”

“What’s so awkward? He’s someone I know.”

“Because he’s someone you know, it’s even more awkward.”

“Have you been entangled with the Seol Clan before?”

Oh Gyeong tapped out his pipe.

“When I was Curtain Master, I once received a commission to assassinate the Seol Patriarch. Ah, of course, not the current Patriarch, but the previous one.”

“I see.”

“I had too many commissions piled up, so I politely refused. But when I recalled that memory, it felt rather uncomfortable to face him.”

“For a man who has lived as long as you have, you are quite like a young maiden in such matters.”

He had expected some joking reply, but unexpectedly, Oh Gyeong’s reaction was matter-of-fact.

“The previous Patriarch was such a good man.”

“Was he?”

“I never saw him in person, but I know that much. Well, that doesn’t mean I feel guilt or anything like that. It’s just a little awkward. If I meet him later, I’ll probably be able to interact with him comfortably.”

If he had lived feeling guilt over this much, he would have had to deny the very life in which he had run an organization called Salmak.

“I will bring a few more bottles of wine.”

“Don’t bother. At my age, even this much is plenty. I feel good with just the right amount of drunkenness.”

Pale smoke scattered this way and that in the river wind.

“You know the Crimson Blood Pavilion kids, don’t you?”

“How could I not?”

“Among assassins, there is no concept of master and disciple. There are only instructors and trainees. If you go deeper, there are only handlers who have thrown away even the qualifications of an instructor.”

“I know.”

“But I was different. Perhaps even though I was called the best, I may have hated the very profession of assassin itself. That is why I created martial arts unlike those of an assassin, and built relationships unlike those of an assassin.”

Tang Jin-hyeon nodded.

“That palm art you showed when facing the Lotus Seven Swords was truly remarkable.”

“Your sword art was the one that was insane, Patriarch.”

“Even so, I think it would be hard to take you on, Old Master Oh. Soul-Severing Thread, poison, that palm art, if you poured all of it out, I’m not confident I could handle it. On top of that, your movement art is faster than mine too.”

“What nonsense. If you get inside close range, I die. How in the world did you create that absurd sword art?”

“Realization.”

“What a convenient explanation.”

“In any case, what’s the name of that palm art? Until now, I have never thought I should learn anyone else’s martial art, but Old Master Oh’s palm art is one I would want to learn.”

Oh Gyeong gave a small laugh.

“I named it Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Palm as I pleased. Around five or six years ago, snow fell heavily, did it not? I completed it then, while watching the falling snow.”

“That’s similar to the North Wind Sword. I created mine while watching falling snow too.”

“Don’t force a sense of kinship. I won’t teach it to you now.”

“Then, well, I’ll have to steal it with my eyes later.”

“Do that. If you find it too difficult while trying to steal it, tell me. I’ll teach you then.”

Tang Jin-hyeon looked at Oh Gyeong with surprise in his eyes.

“You’ll really teach me?”

“I am also a member of the Tang Clan, so what is there I cannot teach? You’re the Patriarch after all.”

“Then I certainly won’t refuse.”

Oh Gyeong tapped out his pipe again. Tang Jin-hyeon thought the man truly smoked that damned tobacco to a sickening degree.

“Returning to what I was saying, I was an oddity in the assassination trade. It isn’t that there had never been someone like me in the past, but I didn’t want to treat the ones I taught as trainees. They were all my disciples.”

“…”

“The Crimson Blood Pavilion Lord, that fellow Gwan Ho, is the same. Among my disciples, who are now all dead and gone, he is the only one confirmed to be alive.”

Oh Gyeong looked at Tang Jin-hyeon.

Tang Jin-hyeon spoke calmly.

“Let us take them in.”

“Will that be all right?”

“What wouldn’t be all right?”

“They are unpolished fellows. That fellow Gwan Ho had outstanding talent, but he was born physically weak. I hear he’s ill even now. Perhaps because of that, the management of the assassins under him isn’t especially good.”

“As I said before, our clan is full of lacking people. And that is only natural. There is no one in the world who isn’t lacking.”

“Is that so?”

“I have even accepted a white woman from the Western Regions and a Kunlun Nu, people others find uncomfortable. I truly hold no personal prejudice against them, but people of the world are different.”

“They would be.”

“That is why I will keep them by my side all the more. Because they are all the same people as anyone else. I will train them openly and properly, and make them into martial artists who stand proudly and do their part.”

Oh Gyeong smiled.

“Thank you for accepting them without hesitation.”

“Of course, they cannot remain as they are. This clan is not an assassin organization, but a martial household. They will have to be trained again from the beginning.”

“Stripping out their old habits won’t be easy. Still, if we temper them well, I think something can be done.”

“From what I saw, they had only learned poison arts, hidden-weapon arts, and techniques for killing people.”

“That is what assassins are.”

“It’s fine for them to use poison. But not now.”

Tang Jin-hyeon comfortably leaned his upper body back.

“If what they have learned all their lives is killing methods, then let us first focus on refining their hidden-weapon arts professionally. If we teach them Old Master Oh’s Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Palm on top of that, along with a few fist arts I know, they will be useful even in the short term.”

It was an unsparing investment. The very fact that the Patriarch himself was offering up martial arts he knew showed his sincere will to accept them as clan members.

Oh Gyeong was grateful to Tang Jin-hyeon. They were former assassins, and even an assassin organization that had entered the retinue of his betraying older brother, yet Tang Jin-hyeon accepted them without caring about that, so how could one not call this remarkable?

“First, let us meet this man called Gwan Ho.”

“Yes, I will call him tomorrow.”

“Let us do that.”

With those words, the conversation stopped for a while.

The two looked at the moon in silence. The hour of the Ox had passed, and they were now entering the hour of the Tiger, but the moon was still clear and beautiful.

How much time had passed like that?

“Patriarch.”

“Speak.”

“Do you plan to put the clan in order for the time being?”

“I should.”

“What do you plan to do once the clan is fully in order?”

Tang Jin-hyeon knew the time had come.

The time had come to speak seriously about his goal, a goal he might achieve in a short time, or, if luck was bad, might fail to achieve even after spending his entire life.

“I will go to the Heavenly Will Alliance.”

“…I see.”

Tang Jin-hyeon realized it. The moment he mentioned the Heavenly Will Alliance, Oh Gyeong’s breathing had faltered ever so slightly.

“Is collapsing the Heavenly Will Alliance your dream, Patriarch?”

“It’s not that my goal can only be achieved if it collapses. But collapsing it would be the easiest method.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Oh Gyeong closed his eyes.

“Even if you suddenly go to the Heavenly Will Alliance, there’ll be nothing you can do, will there? Well, your martial arts are so remarkable that if you catch the eyes of the higher-ups, you may be able to enter central headquarters, but there is a high chance you’ll be tossed around here and there.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be entering as Patriarch Tang.”

“Mm?”

A cold killing intent appeared on Tang Jin-hyeon’s face.

“There is one fellow I have my eye on. To be careful, Branch Leader Mun Jung is investigating him in greater detail.”

“…”

“Once the investigation is finished, it begins then.”

It seemed he had already prepared the method for entering the Heavenly Will Alliance in advance. Oh Gyeong realized that Tang Jin-hyeon was far more meticulous than he had thought.

“When that time comes, can you take me with you as well?”

“…”

“Well, if it’s difficult, you don’t have to.”

“It is not a matter of whether it is difficult. I am merely curious about the reason.”

He said to Oh Gyeong something he had not even told Han Cheol-sang yet. Oh Gyeong had also received the Patriarch’s sincerity, and he thought it was time to become truly honest.

“I have a lifelong enemy.”

“…”

“And that enemy holds a high position in the Heavenly Will Alliance.”

“Can you not kill him by assassination?”

“I cannot.”

Oh Gyeong answered firmly, then hesitated for a moment before saying one more thing.

“Even if I could, I do not want to dispose of him through assassination.”

“Why is that?”

“To me, he is my enemy, my goal as a martial artist, and the one and only existence who can prove that my life was not worthless.”

“…”

“When I am sufficiently prepared someday, I intend to meet him while prepared for death. But he is not someone who would easily meet me just because I ask him to.”

Tang Jin-hyeon nodded.

“You mean to first blend into the Heavenly Will Alliance together with me.”

“You saw it correctly. For now, he is someone I cannot even see from afar, let alone approach.”

“Good. Let us put the clan in order and make it able to run on its own. After that, we’ll go to the Heavenly Will Alliance together.”

From Tang Jin-hyeon’s position, the fact that a master like Oh Gyeong would not remain in the clan would be a great burden. Oh Gyeong also knew that, which was why he was being cautious.

Fortunately, Tang Jin-hyeon agreed, and naturally, Oh Gyeong’s expression became much brighter.

“But who is it? The formidable enemy of your life, Old Master Oh.”

“…You must know the Ten Armies of Upright Judgment.”

“Of course.”

They were the law-enforcement forces of the Heavenly Will Alliance, units admired by all of Kangho, and at the same time, the strongest organizations that all feared.

It was said that every captain of the Ten Armies possessed skill beyond the Sect Leaders of the Nine Sects, and that three among them were masters comparable to even the Ten Venerables Under Heaven, the strongest figures in Kangho.

What was unique was their hierarchy.

The strongest of the Ten Armies was the First Army, followed by the Second and Third Armies, while the difference in strength from the Fourth Army to the Tenth Army wasn’t large. In other words, except for the First, Second, and Third Armies, the remaining units had a horizontal relationship.

Naturally, the three masters comparable to the Ten Venerables Under Heaven were the captains of the First, Second, and Third Armies.

“The Commander-General of the Ten Armies of Upright Judgment, and the one who leads the First Army of Upright Judgment, the strongest law-enforcement organization of the current age.”

“!”

“That man is my goal.”

Tang Jin-hyeon’s face hardened on its own.

“Sword Demon Cheol Yeong-gi.”

One of the strongest swordsmen of the current age, and unlike the captains of the Second and Third Armies, a master clearly judged to approach the Ten Venerables.

The legendary master who had blocked the movement to elevate him as the Eleventh Venerable by choosing to remain the head of the Ten Armies of Upright Judgment was none other than Sword Demon Cheol Yeong-gi.

“It seems our clan really is destined to prosper.”

“What do you mean?”

“A master who has sharpened himself against the Sword Demon of all under heaven has entered our clan. If this is not a sign that things will go well, then what is?”

Oh Gyeong gave a small laugh.

“Taking me in may be what casts signs of ruin over the clan. One wrong move, and everyone might be swept away.”

“When that happens, we can just deny you were one of ours.”

Of course, there was no way that would work. It was a joke offered despite knowing that.

“In any case, good. Let us go together. In exchange, we must build the clan well enough that nothing will go wrong even if the two of us are absent. Naturally, Old Master Oh’s help is essential.”

“Of course we must. Of course.”

“If we consider entering the Alliance together with Old Master Oh, the most urgent matter is Steward Han’s martial arts.”

Oh Gyeong nodded.

“That won’t be too difficult. I don’t know whether he knows it himself, but if he is guided well, he will cross the wall in no time.”

“From now on, the Crimson Blood Pavilion will be the Crimson Blood Unit, and the Unit Leader will be Gwan Ho. I don’t know what illness he is suffering from, but before we leave, we must treat his condition as well.”

“We must.”

“Let’s work through each thing carefully like that. If possible, we must finish putting the clan in order within half a year, one year at the latest.”

“I will make every effort to ensure that.”

Oh Gyeong, who had been looking at Tang Jin-hyeon with a smile, turned his gaze back to the sky.

“Patriarch.”

“Speak.”

“Thank you.”

“What is there to thank me for?”

Tang Jin-hyeon lay down on the spot.

“Let us rest only until tomorrow, and from the day after, run like madmen.”