Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1447

“…What a mess.”

Tang Soso looked at the chaotic Dang family estate with a grim expression.

“Why are they doing that, Soso?”

“Well… Ugh.”

She started to say something, but shook her head. Then, she said with a sigh:

“The Dang family is more complicated than it looks. Life here is full of rules and limits.”

“Well, so do other sects…”

“The Dang family is different. Before coming to Mount Hua, my dream was to escape from the Dang family and live freely, so isn’t that saying it all?”

“…I guess so.”

“Right. You were going to marry Chung Myung, weren’t you?”

“Do you want to die? Why are you bringing that up now?”

“…I’m sorry.”

That alone was enough to understand roughly. From the start, Tang Soso was the type to fight to change anything that was unreasonable. The Dang family’s laws must have been so strict that such a person had to live quietly suppressed.

Years of holding it in… it’s all exploding now.

Worry crossed Tang Soso’s eyes as she looked at Tang Gunak. She was worried whether Tang Gunak would be able to handle this situation smoothly, no matter how capable he was.

‘Father…’

Meanwhile, Tang Gunak was looking around with a look of dismay.

“Why is that our fault in the first place?”

The person who was screaming with a vein popping out of his neck was Dang Yeon-hong, a man known for his seriousness among the artisans in charge of the workshop.

Tang Gunak didn’t talk much, but he trusted Dang Yeon-hong a lot.

“Isn’t it your fault?” Dang Yeon-hong snapped. “You can’t even use what we make right! You come back complaining, even though we give you exactly what you ask for!”

Dang Ja-ho’s eyes flashed blue.

“Are you saying we’re not skilled enough to use your workshop’s weapons?”

Dang Yeon-hong shrugged.

“Well… if you want to put it like that, yeah.”

“Huh?”

Dang Ja-ho stared, like he couldn’t believe his ears. He glared at Dang Yeon-hong.

“So, the workshop people are amazing, right? Everything good about the Dang family is because of them. And we’re just too dumb to even use what they make?”

“Brother, calm down a little.”

“How can I calm down? What else is that if not disrespecting us?”

Then, one of the people who had been listening quietly snorted.

“The workshop’s words are a bit excessive, but it’s not entirely wrong to say that you can’t use what they make properly. Every time, you ask for something more toxic, but you just throw the poison that was made for you carelessly. How delicate is poison!”

“What?”

“We give you poison that should last a month. But you use it all in one fight! Then you say you had to throw it because you were in a hurry? If that’s not being clumsy, what is?”

Dang Ja-ho’s eyes were bloodshot with anger.

“Do you think we have nothing to say? We take those crude things out and risk our lives to earn money, but what have you done? You take those poisons and rare minerals that are more expensive than gold and waste them all under the pretext of research! If we kept that money, the Dang family would be twice as rich!”

“Watch your mouth! Waste them! Do you even know what research is!”

“Why do I need to know that! Isn’t it true as a result! It’s the same with this incident! If it weren’t for us, would you have been able to make those great poisons and hidden weapons? I’ve been watching you guys!”

“Brother! Your words are too harsh!”

The fight, which seemed to have subsided for a moment, was reignited, and shouts rang out from here and there.

Tang Gunak pressed his throbbing forehead as he watched them baring their teeth at each other.

‘Was it this bad?’

He knew there would be discord. Since the roles they each played were extremely different, it was natural for them to harbor ill feelings towards each other.

But Tang Gunak had never imagined it would be this intense.

At first, they hesitated to speak, watching his mood. But as they opened their mouths one by one and the floodgates began to open, they are now pouring out fierce accusations at each other as if they had completely forgotten the existence of the family head.

The artisans, who had been suppressed by the power of the martial artists, were spewing out their anger.

And the women of the Dang family were watching the scene of the Dang family men arguing with each other with cold eyes.

‘It must have been festering inside.’

A hollow laugh escaped.

Although he had never said it out loud, Tang Gunak had pride in the Dang family he controlled. He was confident in the Dang family, which had escaped from the rotting swamp called the Council of Elders and had begun to exert influence not only in Sichuan but throughout the Central Plains.

But now he had no choice but to admit it. That the Dang family he knew was not everything. Perhaps even he, the head of the Dang family, was only looking at the shell of the Dang family.

‘It’s a wonder how we’ve managed to endure in this state.’

The Dang family had been maintaining the same system for hundreds of years. Even as the times changed and the world changed, only the Dang family did not change.

And the side effects were festering inside instead of being revealed on the outside. So that those who used the same Dang family name would inwardly keep each other at a distance.

If the Myriad Man Clan had not attacked the Dang family, Tang Gunak might have lived his whole life without knowing this fact.

He could have lived his whole life proud of the Dang family. He saw it as a strong castle. But it was built on weak ground. He never knew it was starting to fall apart.

Tang Gunak suddenly looked at one person. Chung Myung, who was looking at him from afar with a strange expression.

There are things that you can’t know unless you lose them, and Tang Gunak was keenly aware of what that meant.

“Stop arguing! We need to go to Shanxi, get more money, and buy more poison right away. What’s a Dang family without poison?”

“Does that poison fly on its own and knock people down just by making it? Hidden weapons are strong even without poison! But poison alone can’t do anything! We need to fix the workshop first!”

“Poison and workshop, don’t you know that it’s nothing without us? You idiots…!”

“What? Say it again!”

Just as shouts were about to be exchanged once again, Tang Gunak’s powerful voice strongly pierced their ears.

“Stop!”

Those who heard the roar closed their mouths at once. Even in this situation, no matter how excited they were, the authority of the head of the Sichuan Dang family was still alive.

We are gathered here to have a conversation, not to blame each other.

“…Yes, Clan Head,” someone mumbled.

“Sorry. I got a bit too angry just now…”

Tang Gunak watched them step back, their faces tight with held-back anger. He sighed quietly.

“I know everyone is feeling very angry and upset with each other.”

“Clan Head…” the Chief Steward began hesitantly.

The Chief Steward opened his mouth, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

“I… I’m sorry. At a time like this… we should all be calmer.”

“No,” Tang Gunak said, shaking his head.

“It’s because things are like this that we must talk. If we don’t do it now, we might never get another chance.”

Maybe this isn’t the best moment to meet. But Tang Gunak felt this talk was very important. If they calmed down and started hiding what they really felt again, they would lose their chance to speak honestly.

“So, don’t hide anything. Say what you really feel. Tell me what the problems are. And…”

Tang Gunak looked at everyone closely.

“What needs to change so the Dang Clan can survive as the Dang Clan in Sichuan?”

The eyes of the Dang Clan members flickered slightly.

Actually, Tang Gunak wasn’t being especially humble, and he wasn’t asking for anything new. But still, they could all feel it. Clan Head Tang Gunak was speaking honestly from his heart.

At that moment, Tang Gunak’s gaze turned towards the women of the Dang Clan, who were seated to one side.

“And the same goes for you.”

The women of the Dang Clan didn’t speak. They just looked at each other, their faces unreadable.

“I know this won’t be easy. But I can only give you this chance. It’s up to you if you take it.”

Anxiety flickered in the eyes of the Dang Clan women.

They had spoken up many times before. Sometimes they just complained a little, sometimes they fought back strongly. But no one had ever listened, no matter what.

Should they repeat it, knowing that? Should they try to change something that hadn’t changed in hundreds of years?

No, there was no point. Maybe they would pretend to listen now, but the Dang Clan would just go back to the way it always was. And they would have to give this same life to their daughters.

Tang Gunak, noticing the strangely cold gazes of the Dang Clan women, let out a long sigh and began to speak.

“To be honest, it won’t be easy to make the Dang Clan strong again.”

These words were very sad to hear. But the clan members waited to hear what Tang Gunak would say next, without looking upset.

“No, maybe it *is* possible. If I give up my life, if you give up your lives, if we all give up everything… maybe in the future, people will respect the Dang Clan again.”

Tang Gunak suddenly looked up at the sky. It was bright, but he couldn’t see the stars anymore, the stars he used to watch.

“But… what is it all for?”

“…”

“The Dang Clan is here to keep Dang Clan people and their children safe. If we all die just to protect our clan’s name and wealth, what’s the point?”

“…Clan Head,” someone said quietly.

“What I want to talk about now is not how to make the Dang Clan powerful again, like it was in the past.”

Tang Gunak looked at everyone, his eyes firm.

“It’s about how the Dang Clan can stop making the same mistakes. How can we become the kind of clan our ancestors first dreamed of, where everyone can be happy?”

Tang Gunak spoke slowly, each word carefully chosen. He shook his head. “I can’t do this by myself. No one can.”

His voice was softer than usual, and it sounded very honest.

“So, please, speak. I’m asking you.” Tang Gunak looked at the women again, his eyes pleading.

After a short silence, Dang So-bo quietly stood up. Everyone looked at her, confused.

“So-bo?”

Dang So-bo walked a few steps forward and sat down again. It was only a few steps, just moving a little closer.

But those few steps were very important. The women of the Dang Clan looked at Dang So-bo, then they all stood up together and walked forward.

Dang So-bo hesitated and opened her mouth.

“Then…”

“Speak.”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“Could… could we maybe learn to fight too? Instead of just marrying rich men, could we go to Mount Hua and learn from the Hua masters?”

When they heard this, the young women of the Dang Clan opened their eyes wide. They already knew what their future was probably going to be, so they listened very carefully to the answer.

“…Is that what you want?”

“No… No, Clan Head. We know what we must do for the clan. We’ve learned it since we were children. While normal people work hard in the fields and go hungry, we live well, so we know we have duties.”

“…”

“Still… I just wanted to ask once. If it’s really okay to do that.”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“If that’s what you want, if it will make you a little happier, then I will let you do it. But I have a slightly different idea.”

Dang So-bo’s face fell. She had been hopeful, but now she looked disappointed.

His next words would show what Tang Gunak really meant. In the end, maybe nothing would change. It would probably be the same as always…

“Rather than learning the martial arts of Hua, how about learning the martial arts of the Dang Clan?”

“…Yes?”

“If you want, you can also stay in the Dang Clan and not get married. Starting now.”

This was like saying he was going to break the rules the Sichuan Dang Clan had followed for hundreds of years.