Chapter 75 – Abyss

Chapter 75 – Abyss

San-ho's body swayed.

It was because he had already lost a lot of blood.

He barely held onto his fading consciousness and asked calmly.

"Am I the only one who doesn't understand this situation?"

At that, Tae-oh, who had cast a brief glance at him, slowly rose from his seat.

"……Since Lord Mua wishes it, I shall withdraw for today."

"You crazy bastard. You set fire to someone else's house, and now you're trying to sneak away?"

At those absurd words, San-ho let out a hollow laugh and blocked his way. Straightening his swaying body, he extended the tip of his sword forward once more.

"……"

Standing silently before the tip of the blade, Tae-oh grit his teeth.

Strength naturally flowed into the hand gripping the sword hilt.

'It would be better to kill him here…'

He was someone who would surely become an obstacle someday.

His growth, which defied common sense, was one thing, but his incomprehensible actions were even more so. Just what on earth had he done that not only the Chief Stronghold Leader of the Waterway Forts but also Mua chose this child, who was not his master?

Although he had failed to return with him, if he killed this child now… could his will change? A deep desire filled his heart.

It was at the very moment Tae-oh, having made up his mind, was about to draw his sword.

A vivid gaze turned toward him.

"……"

Even without looking back, he knew the owner of the gaze was Mua.

An intent that could never be ignored reached him.

Biting his lips repeatedly, Tae-oh's hand fell away from the sword hilt.

"Lord Mua. I will visit you again."

Bowing his head in respect, Tae-oh leaped lightly over the wall. Grit-ing his teeth at the figure that vanished before he could even grab him, San-ho turned to pursue him.

"Not yet."

A small, tender voice held San-ho back.

"What?"

"If you chase him now, you will surely die."

"………"

Red drops of blood were dripping from San-ho's neck, flank, and shoulder. His body, which had already reached its limit, was in a state where it wouldn't be strange if he collapsed right away.

Laboring to steady his increasingly ragged breath, San-ho spoke.

"Then, are you telling me to just let him run away like that? I can't let him go like this."

"You will meet again soon."

"Right now…"

Before he could even finish speaking, San-ho's body swayed once more.

His vision kept blurring, and it was now difficult to even correct his unstable posture.

Exhaling a low breath at the situation he did not want to admit, San-ho said.

"How can I believe those words?"

"Because I saw it."

Mua took a stride forward and met his eyes.

The two eyes they shared peered into him like a mirror.

A gaze that penetrated deep inside.

"……"

It was a very bizarre sensation.

It felt as though everything from the deepest abyss to the emotions and secrets he wanted to hide was laid bare without reserve. It was a mysterious and distant sensation of peering through raw life itself.

After staring at him for a long time, Mua slowly spoke.

"You were born from very far away. The time you spent wandering in search of your place was longer than now. Your will is strong enough to turn back life, but because you were lonely and alone, you do not know how to lean on others."

"……!!!"

Hearing those words, San-ho's heart sank.

He was definitely speaking with knowledge.

It was not a probe disguised as ignorance.

His eyes, filled with shock, widened. Just how on earth did he…

"Nevertheless, since you have more love, how could it not be tender?"

"You……"

"Yet, it is strange. I cannot see the path you will walk."

Smiling faintly, Mua looked around him with eyes full of curiosity.

It was at that moment.

Rumble.

The sound of a pavilion collapsing was heard from a short distance away. Fortunately, the flames did not seem to have spread further. The unextinguished fire demon was burning the pavilion, but it had subsided compared to before.

The black smoke and the water vapor created by pouring water tangled together, completely filling the sky.

Amidst the acrid smoke flowing like clouds.

Mua spoke once again.

"Even among the unseen things, only one is clear. You are a good person. You saved the child with a small act of goodwill. I know you looked after them willingly without expecting anything in return and cherished them that much."

"………"

"Therefore, I shall also give you a small hand."

Mua's gaze turned in the direction where the smoke was rising.

"Look for the one born in the Golden Hall (Geumdang) thirty-seven years ago."

"Could it be that person is……"

San-ho asked back, his eyes widening. Mua nodded without replying to the voice suppressing anger.

Even without asking further, he could tell who Mua was referring to. The one who dared to sneak into the Tang Clan's Ten Thousand Poisons Abyss and steal the Firewood Exhausted, Fire Extinguished (Sinjinhwamyeol) poison. The one who did not stop there but released poison into the stream of Mount Yeongju, and furthermore, conspired in this fire along with the culprits.

A traitor with the surname Tang.

Thinking of the rat that must be within the walls of the family, he grit his teeth before he knew it. What did they want, and just for what did they turn their back on their own flesh and blood to harm people?

At that moment, Mua murmured softly at the sound coming from afar.

"Oh dear. Time is up."

"…Where are you going?"

"In a single body, there is naturally only one place for a soul. Since I have not yet fully settled in, protect the child. The child choosing you must also be fate."

"Who was that guy from earlier?"

At San-ho's sharp question, Mua looked back at him.

"You already know. Who he is."

It was a statement whose meaning could not be fathomed.

At the unresolved questions, San-ho hurriedly pressed on.

"What? What does that mean? Wait, I still……"

Cough! Before he could finish his words, San-ho coughed up red blood.

It was at that moment.

The sound of footsteps running toward the annex was heard approaching closely.

"See you again."

With those final words, Mua showed a faint smile and closed his eyes.

The moment the child's body lost balance and was about to fall to the floor, San-ho caught the child.

"……"

The child was closing his eyes with an incomparably peaceful face.

Just in case, he placed his hand under the nose and felt a steady breath.

The child was sound asleep.

"Young Master! Are you inside?"

"We are coming in!"

The urgent voices of martial artists were heard from outside.

He tried to reply, but no sound came out.

He tried to hold onto his increasingly fading consciousness, but it was beyond his power.

In his blurred vision, he saw the feet of the martial artists holding torches.

'I shouldn't sleep yet…'

The sky soared and the ground drew near.

Holding the child in his arms, San-ho collapsed onto the dirt floor where his blood pooled.

Feeling the scream-like voices of the martial artists fade farther away, San-ho slowly closed his eyes.

It was a face as serene as if he had fallen asleep.

***

Evil deeds travel a thousand miles.

It did not take long for the news that a fire of unknown origin had broken out in the Sichuan Tang Clan to spread throughout the Central Plains. The first to arrive in Sichuan upon hearing the news was Tae Ju-ha, the Chief Stronghold Leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Forts.

Standing in front of the main gate of the Sichuan Tang Clan, he spoke in a low voice.

"I must see the Family Head right now."

"The Lord said he will not receive any guests right now—"

"Tsk!"

Lightly pushing aside the warrior blocking the entrance, Tae Ju-ha strode inside. As he passed straight through two walls like that, Tae Ju-ha suddenly halted his steps. Then, clicking his tongue briefly, he turned around and went back to the main gate.

"My thinking was short-sighted. Send word to the Family Head."

"……"

Crossing his arms nonchalantly, he stood in front of the giant wooden gate and waited for a reply to return.

How much time had passed since then?

Accompanied by the servant who brought the Family Head's reply, Tae Ju-ha retraced his steps through the walls he had passed before. Passing through the Outer Castle and then the wall of the Inner Castle, it was a fairly long distance to the Family Head's Hall nestled deep inside.

"Family Head, I have brought the guest."

Entering the Family Head's Hall along with the servant's brief greeting, Tae Ju-ha frowned at the sight of the messy interior.

"Tsk, what on earth is this mess?"

"………"

The room laid bare Tang Hwa-seon's inner state as it was.

Shards of broken vases rolled around here and there, and torn books and papers lay tangled in a heap in the corner. The top of the desk, which had swept everything onto the floor, looked the most orderly.

A gaze tangled with anger, despair, and sharp vengeance turned toward Tae Ju-ha.

"……For what business did you come all the way here?"

"I came because I feared you would be like this. From the look of it, you haven't found those bastards yet."

At Tae Ju-ha's words, Tang Hwa-seon's jaw tightened. Suppressing his anger with grit teeth, he asked in a low voice.

"What is it you wish to say?"

Tae Ju-ha hesitated for a moment at the sharp question.

Scratching the back of his head as he chose his words for a moment, he offered a brief apology and spoke.

"Ah, I even handed that kid the Plaque of Gratitude to use in times like this, so why aren't you using it? Do I have to come all the way here and beg to repay the debt?"

"………"

"No matter how much things like the Black Path or the White Path don't mean anything in matters like this, there are bound to be information networks that orthodox martial artists don't know about. So, I will catch those bastards and bring them back."

As soon as those words ended, Tang Hwa-seon shook his head.

"I cannot allow that."

"I heard the damage to the Tang Clan is quite large. I will catch all of them and bring them before you, so do not worry and focus on the recovery, Family Head."

Clenching his fists until the veins seemed to burst, Tang Hwa-seon spoke in a voice laced with poison. The cool and eerie pressure was enough to make even Tae Ju-ha swallow hard.

"No, that is not it. I must catch and kill all of them with my own hands to…… satisfy my wrath. I cannot borrow another's hand to punish those who dared to touch the Tang Clan."

Tang Hwa-seon's voice was calm, but the meaning contained within carried a vivid killing intent that was chilling. Tae Ju-ha, who understood that heart only too well, let out a short breath.

"I will bring them back alive so that you can do so, so just give me your permission, Family Head."

"……"

At the request for permission, Tang Hwa-seon remained silent for a moment.

The Chief Stronghold Leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Forts and the Fist Demon, one of the Ten Venerables of the Martial World.

A high-level martial artist who knew not how to bow his head to others.

There was no way Tang Hwa-seon did not know that such a man was asking crudely but carefully. If he truly wanted only revenge, would he have bothered to stop by Sichuan and seek his permission? Standing at the main gate and keeping his place as a guest while waiting for the Family Head's reply was also behavior that did not suit him.

"'It is only natural to receive help in matters that are difficult to resolve.' So that child said."

"……"

With a nod of his head, stories that Tang Hwa-seon had not anticipated flowed from Tae Ju-ha's mouth.

"Since that child saved my life, I must naturally repay the debt. Leaving aside the boundary between orthodox and unorthodox, is that not the path of a human being? If I cannot help even after knowing that my life-saving benefactor has been attacked, then this body has no value in living any longer."

"……"

Only now did Tang Hwa-seon understand why the Chief Stronghold Leader stepped forward to shield San-ho, and fell into deep thought for a moment.

He had already sent three squads under the Leader of the Martial Hidden Hall to investigate. The Young Clan Leader Tang Hae-soo also pursued the traces of the culprits with them.

But not a single piece of news had returned.

Just what kind of bastards were they that not even a trace could be found?

For what purpose did they dare to set fire to the Tang Clan and seek out the annex to kill his son? The questions for which he could not find answers were stagnant and rotting away.

The fire demon that swallowed the Tang Clan threatened to swallow even Tang Hwa-seon as well.

Had about the time it took to drink a cup of tea passed?

Raising his head after debating in the heavy silence, Tang Hwa-seon spoke.

"I will send the Red Shadow Squad and the Flying Thunder Squad (Birai Squad), so please search together."

"I shall do as you wish."

Nodding his head, Tae Ju-ha's eyes glinted ominously.