Chapter 172

Chapter 172
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Chapter 172: Evil Sect Upheaval

The bloodbath without precedent erupted when the Divine Cult, Radiant Cult, and Blood Cult—known collectively as the three great evil sects—unleashed chaos across the realm. It was amid this turmoil that Baek Yang-hui first crossed paths with the Tang clan’s young lord.

“You are Baek Yang-hui, are you not?”

“I am indeed, Young Lord Tang.”

“What a privilege to meet the renowned Best Sword Among Wanderers. Word travels fast that you left service after calling out your employer’s arrogance.”

“Even those who wander the world do not sell their very lives for gold. A man of honor such as yourself, Young Lord, would never stoop so low—so there is no cause for concern on that account.”

“Is that so? Hahaha!”

Their bond began as nothing more than employer and hired hand, yet they grew remarkably close in a very short time. The Tang young lord lived fully up to his fearsome reputation for mastery of deadly poisons: he showed no mercy in battle, and ruled those under his command with an iron grip. Baek Yang-hui, a roving swordsman born into a third-rate martial family, never hesitated to speak plainly and call out his superior’s follies when he saw them.

Most unexpectedly, they found they shared a common dream.

“You seek to raise your family’s standing to that of a recognized clan? You have set yourself a most difficult path.”

“How can that compare with your own ambition, Young Lord? It is not merely any clan you aim for, but a place among the Five Great Clans under heaven.”

Both men cherished the same hope: to restore their families to greatness.

“Venturing to the very front lines to refine and elevate your family’s martial arts? You possess true courage, Young Master Baek.”

“Coming from the young lord of the Tang Clan, who himself rushes headlong into the vanguard… that praise leaves me quite embarrassed.”

They were driven by identical, desperate resolve: to risk their lives on the battlefield and perfect their family’s techniques, so that their shared vision might become reality.

“You are truly extraordinary. If only you had been born heir to a great and ancient house… so much would be different.”

“I have thought the very same thing myself.”

“…There are moments like this, though, when one cannot help but feel fortune has dealt one a cruel hand. Haha.”

Baek Yang-hui and the Tang young lord held each other in profound esteem—for their integrity, their natural gifts, and the unshakable convictions that guided them. It was only natural that they soon swore a solemn oath of brotherhood.

“Hui, my younger brother… this Tang heir has but one wish: to break free of the fate that heaven has laid upon us.”

They confided in one another, laying bare the heavy burdens each carried. In doing so, Baek Yang-hui came to understand the true nature of the Tang Clan. It began with simple herb gatherers and healers, and in time its people mastered poisons and hidden weapons alike. They had once received aid from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans, yet every gift came fastened with chains.

“Brother Tang, what sort of place is the Tang Clan, truly?”

“Haha—your questions regarding my family are piling up, are they not?”

“Well, once the Baek Clan attains full clan standing, we shall need to build all manner of foundations. Gathering information now seems only prudent.”

“The Tang Clan… it is a wonderful place. Filled with good people, bound together as one.”

He spoke warmly and at length of his homeland, his voice soft with affection. Then he met Baek Yang-hui’s gaze directly.

“Hui, my brother—shall we enter into a pact?”

“What kind of pact?”

“A simple one.”

Baek Yang-hui nodded, and the Tang young lord broke into a broad, beaming smile.

“Hahaha! How shall we name it? The Tang-Baek Oath, after our surnames! Tang comes first, you see, for I am the elder brother!”

Even should the Tang Clan grow to tower over all others, none would dispute that the Tang name should lead. Small gestures such as these made him feel every bit like a true elder brother.

“Tang-Baek or Baek-Tang—does it truly make so great a difference?”

“I am heartened you see it that way. Then we are bound by this oath?”

“Putting it thus makes one feel somewhat bashful, does it not?”

“Indeed it does! A day such as this calls for celebration and wine—there can be no exceptions. Wait here but a moment!”

The Tang young lord hurried away, laughing heartily. As he watched him go, Baek Yang-hui reflected: one of the Tang Clan’s most cherished precepts was ‘repay kindness twofold, repay injury tenfold.’ It was only right, then, that he return kindness received in equal measure.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Earlier, as they traveled, when he had asked for further details about the Tang Clan, the young lord had described his father as a man of gentle warmth, overflowing with righteousness. He had spoken of how—despite being only a sixth cousin once removed—he had been named young lord ahead of the clan lord’s own sons, and welcomed with open arms.

‘Brother Tang… something does not ring true here.’

A man of such warmth and uprightness would not begin a meeting by serving poison. And if he poisoned every guest who crossed his threshold, one might call that impartiality—yet proposing marriage out of nowhere? Not merely marriage, either: demanding that Baek Yang-hui become a resident son-in-law.

‘No one acts without reason.’

The Baek and Tang Clans shared a fundamental trait. Where the Baek Clan stood for unyielding righteousness, the Tang Clan simply refused to bend. More precisely, both resisted all outside coercion.

‘This is another test.’

In the martial world, it was customary for seniors to test the mettle of those younger than themselves—and such tests were never limited to martial skill alone. Baek Yang-hui smiled, and spoke his refusal clearly.

“I must decline, Clan Lord.”

Tang Seong regarded him in silence. His gaze was impassive and sharp as a blade, yet Baek Yang-hui did not flinch. Having seen through the ruse, he could take control of the situation by speaking it aloud…

“I do not wish it either, Father!”

The shout that might have split the very floorboards came from where it was most expected. She was not the clan lord’s daughter, yet as the Tang young lord’s sister—and the woman destined to wed the future clan leader—she was a prime candidate for a political marriage.

“Yang-hui is a fine younger brother, yet he always carries himself so proudly! We could never live together in peace!”

Baek Yang-hui stared, utterly taken aback. That was how she saw him? He could not let such a misunderstanding stand.

“I feel the very same! To spend a lifetime beside someone who might slip poison into one’s food after a quarrel? No, thank you!”

“Ha? Then it is just as well! We are of one mind!”

Tang Seong brought an abrupt end to the glowering contest between Baek Yang-hui and Tang Yeon.

“Enough, the pair of you. It was never anything more than a jest.”

“A jest? Father, what sort of—!”

“Yeon-ah, that is quite enough! We shall speak of this later!”

“Ouch! Brother, you hurt my lips!”

“Just come along!”

The Tang young lord gently pulled his sister’s pouting face along and led her away.

“You must forgive her. We have spoiled her, always telling her how lovely she is.”

“…I understand.”

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least our own Yeon-yeon back home is nothing like that, he thought. Truly.

“Now then—just as the rumors say. When did you realize?”

“If I must answer… from the very start.”

“Ho.”

Tang Seong’s eyes flashed with keen interest.

“Tell me everything.”

“Where shall I begin?”

“With what you noticed.”

“Then allow me to offer you proper greeting.”

He stood and glanced toward his companion. “Stand and follow my lead.”

Baek Heon-so rose beside him, and together they bowed formally.

“Baek Yang-hui of the Baek Clan pays his respects to the elders of the Tang Clan.”

“Baek Heon-so of the Baek Clan pays his respects to the Tang elders.”

Tang Seong raised a hand, and the shadows behind him shifted.

‘So it was never a wall at all—it was a folding screen.’ He had assumed they were listening from another room just beyond a thin partition, yet it had all been one single space all along.

“How did you know?”

“My senses are unusually acute.”

“You did not merely notice—you were aware from the very first moment.”

Tang Seong marveled inwardly at the faint, knowing smile Baek Yang-hui offered in return. ‘A prodigy truly is a prodigy. No ordinary man could do this.’

He grew serious, his expression hardening. “Why remain silent? Did you find it so entertaining to watch us play the part of the monkey and the palm?”

“Immensely so.”

Far from appearing intimidated, Baek Yang-hui smiled again. Tang Seong’s own lips twitched upward in an answering smile as he turned to those standing behind him.

“This has been most illuminating. What say you all?”

“I am satisfied.”

“The young man has spirit.”

All were in agreement. Their expectations had been met.

‘The Tang Clan favors those who dare to stand apart.’

The clan began with simple herb gatherers and healers who lost their loved ones to violence. Weak from the start, yet refusing to be crushed beneath the boot of the powerful, they had banded together and forged the Tang Clan. Every part of the encounter had been a test: the sudden display of hostility, the comparison of bluntness to fiery spice, the proposal of marriage… and finally, turning serious to ask whether they had been amused.

“A martial artist must have spirit!”

“Observing your temperaments, I can well imagine the ethos of the Baek Clan.”

“They speak of unyielding righteousness, and it is no empty boast—they truly do not bend.”

Tang Seong smiled fully at last, bringing one fist into the palm of his other hand. “Forgive our discourtesy, young masters. We of the Tang people have a peculiar habit.”

“None taken. Such trials are part of the martial world, are they not?”

“We are grateful you see it so. Welcome to the Tang Clan!”

His demeanor shifted entirely, now warm and genuine. It was easy to understand why the young lord spoke so highly of his family. Yet—

“I would ask for an apology rather than a welcome.”

The festive atmosphere died instantly, as though a bucket of ice water had been cast over the room.

“Repeat that.”

“I asked for an apology for your discourtesy—not hospitality.”

The air grew so cold that even Baek Heon-so glanced about in unease, yet Baek Yang-hui continued unflinching. “To the great hero Tang Seong, the Poison King of Sichuan, we are indeed juniors in the martial world. From that perspective, your conduct was not entirely without cause.”

He paused, then added: “But to Clan Lord Tang Seong, we are also representatives of the Baek Clan.”

Juniors in the martial world… and envoys of an alliance. Depending on how one looked at it, what had happened was either rude—or entirely acceptable.

‘To the Tang Clan, the Baek Clan must seem like a fortunate find.’

Was that not the truth? A third-rate family seeking to establish a branch far from home, offering even part of their ancestral lands as a gesture. That was all the Baek Clan had been, at the very beginning.

‘They are grateful we changed their minds with that story…’

Since then, the Tang Clan had done much in return. They had joined the conflict in the Gangseo underworld as though it were their own struggle. Favors had been exchanged; debts repaid. Now came the final test: proving their worth as true equals.

‘This is yet another trial.’

The Tang Clan might not be numbered among the Five Great Clans, yet it stood among the ten most powerful under heaven. To stand as true partners, the Baek Clan had to show they were worthy.

‘In truth, we are not yet their equals.’

Though called the foremost martial family of Gangseo, they remained small beside the Tang Clan. Any other great house would have quietly absorbed them or reduced them to vassalage.

‘But the Tang Clan did not. They showed us trust.’

Over the years, they had given generous support and honored every term of their agreement. And now they wished to see what the Baek Clan offered in return.

“Speaking as representative of the Baek Clan, I ask again: apologize for your discourtesy.”

The silence deepened, freezing the very air. Tang Seong rose slowly to his feet. And then—

“I, Tang Seong, Clan Lord of the Tang Clan, offer my sincere apology to the representatives of the Baek Clan.”

A look of unmistakeable delight lit his face—he had found exactly what he was looking for.