Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1424

The Clan Head, Tang Jo-pyeong, and all the other Tang Clan members understood at once. They saw the tall, hungry flames and knew why this fire, that seemed impossible to put out, had started, and who had done it.

At first, confusion flickered in their eyes, like small sparks. Then, quickly, it changed to anger.

“Why… …”

Tang Wei’s trembling voice cut through the sound of the flames devouring the trees.

“Why would you do this? Divine Lord… … Why?”

If someone else within the Tang Clan had done this, no one would have questioned the reason. They would have attacked him with throwing knives right away.

But they couldn’t do that now. The person before them was none other than Tang Jo-pyeong. Although he often wasn’t in his right mind due to the long years, he was, after all, the Tang Clan’s greatest elder and the head of the core workshop.

There was no one in the Tang Clan who could raise their voice in front of him, not even Tang Wei, the former head of the Council of Elders and the Great Elder.

“Why? Why!”

As Tang Wei asked desperately, Tang Jo-pyeong slowly turned to look at him. Tang Wei’s eyes, filled with resentment, met Tang Jo-pyeong’s indifferent, cool gaze in the air.

Tang Jo-pyeong opened his mouth.

“… …Just burned it.”

Tang Wei bit his lip until it bled.

“Who doesn’t know that! Do you know what you’ve burned! Why did you set fire to the Poisonous Insect Cave and the workshop! The place that is everything to the Tang Clan! Even using the White Dew Blood!”

“…”

“Why! Why! Why would you do this! Even if you’re not in your right mind, aren’t you the Divine Lord! Why!”

Tang Wei’s voice was full of pain and anger. The Tang Clan, which was everything to him, was burning. His eyes were bloodshot and wet, like he was about to cry blood at any moment.

But Tang Jo-pyeong’s eyes remained cool. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking.

“Divine Lord, what on earth… …”

Before Tang Wei could say anything, Tang Jo-pyeong’s calm voice flowed out, as if to shut their mouths.

“It’s not here.”

“… …Yes?”

“It’s not here anymore. Nothing to protect, nothing to preserve.”

“…”

“So go. All that remains is a rotting pavilion.”

The elders turned their heads and stared blankly at the burning flames.

Tang Jo-pyeong was right.

What they were trying to protect here was the facility where the Tang Clan manufactured the poisons and hidden weapons that they boasted to the world, and its source.

But now that the place was about to turn to ashes, there was no reason to cling to it any longer.

The very reason to fight the Four Evil Alliances with their lives on the line had disappeared.

“What, what are you doing?”

Tang Wei shouted hysterically.

“Put it out! Put out the fire right now!”

“Grea- Great Elder.”

“What are you just watching for! If you can’t put out the fire, take out the things inside! Now! Move it!”

Tang Wei desperately struggled, but no one moved.

It was certainly possible to extinguish a fire created with White Dew Blood. If that were impossible, White Dew Blood itself would have made a name for itself in the world as the best hidden weapon.

But even if it was possible to put out the fire, it would be extremely difficult. To suppress such a large fire, everyone here would have to rush in, and it would take ages.

By then, nothing would be left. And even if they managed to bring out the unlit furnaces and poisons, it would be absolutely impossible to rebuild the Tang Clan with just that.

Tang Wei couldn’t possibly be unaware of that fact. But he couldn’t give up.

When the elders didn’t move, Tang Wei, who had been biting his lip, shouted.

“Get out of the way! I’ll do it myself… …”

But then Tang Jo-pyeong opened his mouth.

“Is *that* what you should be doing?”

At that moment, Tang Wei, who had paused, trembled and glared at Tang Jo-pyeong.

“… …You’re in your right mind.”

He wondered if Tang Jo-pyeong had lost his mind and committed this act. But no matter how he looked at it, Tang Jo-pyeong’s consciousness was clear.

“… …So, are you satisfied now?”

A piercing cry, as if tearing out his soul, burst from Tang Wei’s mouth.

“Are you satisfied now that you’ve turned everything the ancestors have protected for hundreds of years into ashes? Are you relieved now that you’ve made the name of the Sichuan Tang Clan disappear from the world? Are you happy to have given the Tang Clan, who have lost their honor and skills, a chance to barely survive?”

“Tang… …”

“In there!”

Tang Wei’s hand pointed fiercely at the workshop. His dry fingertips were trembling.

“Everything that the Divine Lord has devoted his life to is in there! Are you happy to turn all of that into ashes! The Divine Lord and I have lived enough, so we can just die! But thanks to your recklessness, the remaining children of the Tang Clan will live in persecution for the rest of their lives!”

Living in the fighting world means making many enemies. People were afraid of the Tang Clan because they were strong. Now that the Tang Clan is weak, those enemies will show their true, mean faces.

Tang Jo-pyeong had now pushed the descendants of the family into a circle of hate.

“How can you be so indifferent! How can you be so cruel! Is this really for the Tang Clan? If you are truly a great elder of the Tang Clan, you should have protected the Tang Clan by any means! Why don’t you know that!”

Everyone’s face darkened at Tang Wei’s outburst.

He was swept away by emotion and shot out words without forgetting etiquette, but when they thought about the meaning contained within, they couldn’t help but sympathize.

“Why on earth would you do this… …”

“This place.”

“… …Yes?”

Tang Jo-pyeong slowly looked around. He saw the Tang Clan’s appearance, where he had lived his entire life. There was no place, not even a small pavilion or the floor he was standing on, that his hands had not touched.

The Tang Clan was everything to him. Tang Jo-pyeong was no different from Tang Wei in that respect. But… ….

“Is this the Sichuan Tang Clan?”

Tang Wei bit his lip. What nonsense was this all of a sudden? Had he lost his mind again now?

“Answer me.”

“Elder!”

“I’m asking if this is the Sichuan Tang Clan!”

At that moment, a rough shout burst from Tang Jo-pyeong’s mouth. Tang Wei flinched for a moment at the incomprehensibly fierce force. A venomous look appeared in Tang Jo-pyeong’s eyes.

“You fools! At best, a pavilion, at best, a lump of poison! At best, a ridiculous weapon made by kneading lumps of iron!”

“… …Elder?”

“Is that the Tang Clan! Is that really the Sichuan Tang Clan! Answer me!”

“… …”

“If there’s no poison, it’s not the Tang Clan! If there are no hidden weapons, it’s not the Tang Clan? You morons who don’t even know what comes first and what comes later!”

At that moment, Tang Jo-pyeong roughly threw down the hammer he was holding in his hand.

Clang!

The small hammer that had been thrown to the floor bounced up and then fell back to the floor.

As the noise subsided, the Tang Clan was instantly enveloped in silence.

How much had that small, helplessly discarded hammer created? That hammer was Tang Jo-pyeong’s pride and the Tang Clan’s pride.

But now Tang Jo-pyeong had thrown away that hammer.

“Are you risking your lives to protect this piece of iron?”

“Elder!”

“If there are people!”

Tang Jo-pyeong’s anger surged. The body of the old man seemed like a small furnace spewing out red flames.

“If there are people, we can make as many of these as we want! If there are people!”

“… …”

“Even if we can’t enjoy the same glory as now, what does it matter! If all of our lives have to be thrown away for the Tang Clan to remain the Tang Clan, it’s better for that Tang Clan to disappear!”

“This… …!”

Tang Wei’s body convulsed. The momentum was so violent that Tang Bi, in a panic, grabbed Tang Wei’s arm without realizing it. It was because Tang Wei looked like he was about to rush at Tang Jo-pyeong at any moment.

Tang Jo-pyeong, who had been staring intently at Tang Wei, slowly looked around and said.

“Go.”

“… …”

“Now, there’s nothing for you to protect. If there’s anything to protect, it’s only your lives.”

“… …Divine Lord.”

“So go. Time is of the essence. Leave before the enemy arrives.”

After finishing speaking, Tang Jo-pyeong turned his body. Tang Wei’s desperate shout poured out towards his back.

“Do you think you can face the ancestors in death like that? What do you think they’ll say to you! You will remain in the history of the Tang Clan as an unparalleled sinner! No, everyone who has the blood of the Tang Clan will spit on your grave and curse you! Divine Lord! No, Tang Jo-pyeong!”

Tang Jo-pyeong simply headed towards the burning workshop without a word.

‘Everyone will spit and curse… ….’

A small smile appeared on his lips along with the firelight.

‘Then that would be a relief.’

At least that meant there would be descendants of the Tang Clan left to curse him. That was enough. In the first place, what he was trying to protect was the descendants, so he had accomplished everything.

“Elder… …”

At that time, the artisans of the workshop, who had been watching from afar, approached him. Unlike before, there was a sense of distance and awkwardness in their eyes. Tang Jo-pyeong glanced at them and said indifferently.

“You guys go too.”

“… …”

“What about you, Elder… …?”

Tang Jo-pyeong stared intently at the burning workshop. The workshop was turning to ashes from the fire he had set.

“I will remain here.”

At his words, the artisan tried to say something but soon shook his head.

That was because the road to escape from the Four Evil Alliances would be very difficult. Tang Jo-pyeong no longer had the stamina to go that road.

“… …Please take care of yourself.”

The artisans bowed deeply to Tang Jo-pyeong.

They couldn’t all agree with what he had done, but they still paid their respects with all their hearts. That was the last courtesy to the artisan who had protected the Tang Clan.

Tang Jo-pyeong, who had received the artisans’ respect, walked to one side of the burning workshop without answering. The workshop was burning more and more fiercely.

The place where he had lived for over a hundred years. The place where he had breathed and protected.

‘Grandfather Dark Lord.’

Tears welled up in his eyes. The pride of having kept the promise that his grandfather had left behind and the pain of having burned everything he had with his own hands came at the same time.

‘Was this enough?’

Perhaps, as Tang Wei had said, Tang Jo-pyeong had severed the soul of the Tang Clan. Perhaps they would have to live in pain forever as beings who were Tang Clan but not Tang Clan.

Even so, was it right? Was there really no other way? Was it the best?

He didn’t know. He probably wouldn’t know until the moment he died.

But he could be sure of one thing.

‘Grandfather.’

It comes to mind clearly. Tang Bo’s hand, which gently smiled and stroked his young head. That hand was more than warm and cozy.

Perhaps if Tang Bo was here now, he would have stroked his head once again.

– Well done.

A stream of tears flowed down Tang Jo-pyeong’s wrinkled eyes.

The man, who had become an old man with white hair, smiled brightly like the child of that day.