Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1421

“Wait,” Tang Sang-soo said, his voice shaking. “What did you just say?”

“I repeat the report!” The man on the floor yelled. His face went pale.

“The current Lord of the Slaughtering Blades Alliance, Jang Il-so, has burned down Qingcheng and Emei with the full force of the Slaughtering Blades Alliance! The next target appears to be the Tang family!”

“Ja, Jang Il-so?” Tang Sang-soo felt the blood rush from his face. He went white as paper.

“Why, why would the Fallen Tyrant suddenly appear in Sichuan!”

No one answered. Everyone knew why Jang Il-so was in Sichuan. It was not a mistake.

“W-where are they now?”

“According to information from the Beggars’ Sect, they seem to be currently ascending Mount Emei! We have dispatched scouts, so accurate information will arrive soon!”

Tang Sang-soo momentarily lost strength. His legs felt weak, but he made himself stand up straight.

What am I supposed to do? He was the chief manager of this Sichuan Tang family. With the family head and young master absent, he had a duty to protect the family members and assets of the Sichuan Tang family remaining here. But the burden felt too heavy and overwhelming.

The Slaughtering Blades Alliance, and Jang Il-so. They were not people that he, a mere chief manager, could dare to face.

“Has there been any contact from the family head? Did the Beggars’ Sect bring any messages from the family head with them?”

“T-there was no such message…”

The tips of Tang Sang-soo’s fingers trembled.

It certainly wasn’t a short distance from Emei to here. But if the opponent was the Slaughtering Blades Alliance, they could arrive in as little as half a day.

I must run away! The thought that first came to his mind was all too clear.

There were no people here who could be called a military force. Those in charge of the Tang family’s military strength had almost all gone to the Yangtze River with the family head.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no people left who could fight, but it was impossible to stand against the Slaughtering Blades Alliance and protect the Tang family with them alone.

How could those remaining here possibly cope with the Slaughtering Blades Alliance, which had turned even Qingcheng and Emei, who had been preserving their full strength, into ashes?

“Immediately inform all the family members! We must abandon the estate and run aw—”

“Chief Manager.”

At that moment, someone called Tang Sang-soo in a low voice. Tang Sang-soo, turning towards the source of the sound, flinched for a moment.

An old man with a cold aura, who had not been here until a moment ago, had somehow appeared and was staring intently at him.

Tang Sang-soo lowered his head.

“Greetings, Elder.”

Cold sweat began to break out.

It wasn’t that he was facing an enemy. How could he call the Tang family’s elders enemies? But they were not on friendly terms either.

The Council of Elders… The elders had been completely pushed out of the power struggle with the family head, lost their power within the family, and fallen from grace. But one of those elders had now suddenly appeared.

“I have heard the situation.”

“Yes? Ah… Yes! Elder. We must run away from the enemies right now! If we are not careful…”

“Be calm.”

“…Yes?” The flustered Tang Sang-soo blinked. Tang Byuk, an elder of the Tang family, clicked his tongue and stared at him.

“Can the Chief Manager take responsibility?”

Tang Sang-soo blankly stared at Tang Byuk. Responsibility? Was this a situation to be discussing responsibility?

“What do you mean by that…”

“No matter how much the family head has entrusted the family’s affairs to the Chief Manager, that wouldn’t have been a measure that considered even the current situation. Isn’t that so?”

“…That, that is true, but…” It wasn’t wrong.

If Tang Gun-ak had considered even the slightest possibility of such an event occurring, he would never have entrusted all authority to Tang Sang-soo, the chief manager. He would have at least left behind Tang Pae, the young master, to prepare for the situation.

Tang Byuk rebuked him again with cold eyes.

“If you know, then hand over that authority to a suitable person. The current situation is not at a level that the Chief Manager can handle.”

Tang Sang-soo swallowed hard.

“I, I understand what you mean. I certainly admit that the current situation is too much for me. But Elder, a suitable person? Are you saying that there is someone within the family who is suitable to handle this situation?”

“That is correct.”

“Who is it…” Tang Byuk frowned.

“You are being unnecessarily suspicious. I am certainly not referring to myself. It would be difficult with just my abilities. Who else is there besides the Lord of the Council of Elders who can decide the fate of the family in the current situation?”

Tang Sang-soo’s face changed several times in a short moment.

Tang Oei, the Lord of the Council of Elders. No, the former Lord of the Council of Elders, Tang Oei. Now that the Council of Elders had been dissolved, he could not use that title, but in the past, he had wielded as much influence within the Tang family as Tang Gun-ak, the family head… No, even more.

If he had not been defeated in the martial arts contest with Cheong-myeong and completely lost power, he would still be manipulating the family to this day.

“But, but the Lord of the Council of Elders has been stripped of all positions and…”

“Are you discussing such things in the current situation?”

“Then? Is the Chief Manager confident that he can handle all the consequences that will arise from his decisions? Even if you make a wrong judgment and push the Sichuan Tang family into an irreversible abyss?”

Tang Sang-soo’s hands trembled.

He couldn’t handle it. It was too great a burden for Tang Sang-soo, who was only the chief manager, not really from the main family. He knew he wasn’t truly in charge.

“What will you do?”

But handing over the decision-making power to Tang Oei was also impossible. In the first place, wasn’t Tang Oei a criminal of the Tang family who had been stripped of all authority and imprisoned by Tang Gun-ak’s orders? How could he hand over this heavy authority to such a person again?

“Chief Manager!”

“Right or wrong doesn’t matter now. Power is what matters. Do you have it?”

Tang Sang-soo’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“The courage you must show now is to know your own shortcomings and step down. Don’t commit any more sins against the Tang family!”

“…The Lord…” In the end, Tang Sang-soo’s head fell powerlessly.

“I will meet the Lord.”

Only then did Tang Byuk nod with a resolute face.

“That’s what you should do.”

Tang Sang-soo closed his eyes tightly with a miserable feeling, forcibly turning away from his wavering heart, unable to do either this or that.

It’s for the Tang family. Everything was just for the Tang family.

“Hmm.”

Deep inside the Tang family estate, in a room filled with shadows, sat Tang Ooi. He was an old man now, but his eyes still held a strange, sharp light as he looked at the people before him.

Tang Sangsu’s throat went dry. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the sudden fear that gripped him.

Tang Sangsu thought it was strange. Tang Ooi was just an old man now. He had no martial arts skills anymore. Tang Sangsu had trained hard, even if he felt his skills were not perfect. He should not be afraid.

Especially because the old man was a convicted criminal. He was only allowed to stay in the back because of the family head’s permission.

Yet, Tang Sangsu could not meet Tang Ooi’s gaze.

He remembered Tang Ooi’s immense power as the former head of the Elder Council. He remembered the dreadful schemes Tang Ooi used to control even the formidable Tang Gun-ak. These memories weighed heavily on Tang Sangsu.

Tang Sangsu quickly looked up, then lowered his gaze again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Usually, a martial artist who lost their skills became a shadow of who they once were, or at least lost their energy.

But Tang Ooi’s eyes seemed as sharp as ever. In fact, they blazed with a sharp light.

“So…”

“Yes, Former Head.”

Tang Ooi’s wrinkled face twitched. “I am not the Head anymore. Call me Great Elder now.”

“…Yes, Great Elder. Jang Il-so of the Evil Spear Sect is about to attack the Tang family estate with his followers. We need to lead the family to safety and escape as soon as possible…”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Tang Ooi clicked his tongue softly. Tang Sangsu flinched and stopped talking.

“Abandoning the family… Does he even know what that means?”

“…Yes?”

Tang Ooi said calmly, “The Tang family does not abandon its home. We would rather die than turn our backs.”

“But we can’t possibly fight them alone!”

“Why is it impossible?”

Tang Sangsu looked up quickly.

The idea seemed so strange that he thought Tang Ooi was just being stubborn on purpose.

But Tang Ooi’s eyes were still calm and sharp.

“Why? Do you think this old man is losing his mind?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

“Chief Manager, do you know why the Tang family does not retreat?”

“Well… isn’t it because we are Tang family members?”

“That’s like a child talking. No, that’s wrong.”

“Yes?”

Tang Ooi said calmly, “The Tang family cannot retreat. To retreat means everything ends. Everything.”

“…”

“Other sects can rebuild if their people survive and keep their martial arts skills. They might even become better than before. But not us. Do you know why?”

Tang Sangsu was about to say he didn’t know, but he couldn’t.

The answer came to him as soon as he heard the question.

“The White… Furnace…”

“That’s right.”

Cold sweat ran down his back.

The White Furnace is the only furnace the Tang family has. It holds all the techniques the Tang family has learned over hundreds of years.

This means that once the White Furnace is destroyed, it can’t be recreated, no matter what.

“Do you understand what it means to lose the White Furnace?”

“…”

Without the White Furnace, they can’t make the best hidden weapons, which use all of the Tang family’s skills.

“It’s not just the White Furnace. It’s hard to create a new Blue Furnace, let alone the White Furnace.”

Tang Ooi paused and shook his head.

“And the White Furnace is not the most important thing. If we leave, the Tang family’s Poison Repository will burn. We will lose all the poisons that the Tang family has created and collected since our founder. Even the poisonous materials that the family has searched for around the world will turn to ashes. Do you understand what that means?”

They cannot give up.

If the people survive, the name of the Sichuan Tang family will still exist. But that Tang family will never be the same.

How can a Tang family without poison and hidden weapons be a Tang family?

What does it mean for those who can fight to survive? What happens when there are no hidden weapons to throw, no poison to spread?

Who would fear a Tang family martial artist who can’t use poison or hidden weapons?

Martial arts skills are stored in a person’s body and don’t disappear. The formulas just need to be remembered so they can be written down again.

But burned poison can’t be found again, and the precious poisonous materials found around the world can’t be easily replaced.

It might take hundreds of years for the Tang family to make the same poison again.

Maybe they will never be as good as they are now.

Tang Ooi clicked his tongue at Tang Sangsu’s confused face.

“Do you understand now? Why we cannot retreat. Why our ancestors did not retreat. Why they protected this place even if it meant death.”

“But, Great Elder, they avoided the Heavenly Demon in the past…”

“The Demonic Cult didn’t care about buildings. It was strange that they even bothered to burn down Mount Hua. Do you think the Tyrant Blade will leave a Tang family without people alone?”

…Of course not. Jang Il-so would destroy everything so the Tang family could never be known again.

“Do you understand? Our ancestors knew this, so they made this Sichuan Tang family into a fortress. They dug traps and set up strong defenses so no one would dare to enter! They knew that the Tang family would be finished the moment they retreated.”

Tang Sangsu bit his lip tightly.

“So, you’re saying we should end the Tang family’s name just to save a few lives? Can someone with the Tang surname say that?”

A chilling aura came from Tang Ooi’s eyes as he glared at Tang Sangsu.

Tang Sangsu could only be silent under that disapproving look.

“Gather the family.”

“Great Elder…”

“Gather everyone with the Tang surname. No matter who we fight, the Tang family will not retreat. We will fight until the last person dies, until the last roof tile burns. Of course…”

Tang Ooi stood up.

“That includes me.”

Those words hit Tang Sangsu hard. Even an old man who had lost his martial arts skills was ready to fight to the end. How could he even think about retreating?

Tang Sangsu clenched his fist and finally nodded.

“I will gather the family.”

“Hurry.”

“Yes.”

Tang Sangsu bit his lip tightly.

Yes, this is all for the Tang family. So, it can never be wrong.

…Never.