Chapter 29 – The Clear-Eyed Young Master

Chapter 29 – The Clear-Eyed Young Master

“…Does that mean harming my son is not the end?”

“If we cannot find the culprit, this is only the beginning. After all, the original purpose itself was not to assassinate the Young Clan Leader. Since they failed to find what they wanted, they will soon attack whoever they judge to have that item again.”

“How on earth could such a thing…”

Murong Seol-ju placed his hand against the doorway with a sorrowful expression.

“Has the misunderstanding been cleared up?”

Looking at Tang San-ho, who was staring back at him with a clear face, he suddenly felt a wave of shame.

How on earth could this young child possess such insight?

‘I thought the room was in a mess because he had struggled with the culprit. To think that finding the item was the purpose from the very beginning…’

Furthermore, he even possessed the boldness to fearlessly visit the person who had threatened him to clear up the misunderstanding. Was he not a truly remarkable child?

“But… what is the item the culprit is looking for?”

San-ho asked inquisitively.

Murong Seol-ju corrected his thought of keeping quiet about what he suspected. He was someone who had discovered the clue that he himself had missed. Moreover, it was also an undeniable fact that if a member of the Tang Clan had intended to harm someone, they would not have left such traces.

In his current situation, there were not many people he could trust and reach out to.

His son Murong Hwan was likely being encroached upon by poison at this very moment.

Having no more time to delay, Murong Seol-ju spoke in a low voice.

“…Can you keep a secret?”

“Mmm… Honestly?”

Depending on the situation. Watching Tang San-ho, who cocked a single eyebrow, Murong Seol-ju sighed softly as if giving up.

“…Just as I had left Shenyang to participate in the assembly and arrived in Shanxi, a martial artist in Wutai told me an interesting story.”

Tang San-ho listened to his story.

“The story was that somewhere in Shanxi, there was a secluded expert of sublime martial power who was writing a martial arts book containing divine arts in Xinjiang, which is famous for paper, brushes, and ink. He also told me that the secret manual would be given to anyone who defeated him in a duel.”

“A secret manual of divine arts?”

Naturally, a secret manual of divine arts in the Jianghu was something any martial artist would covet. The number of martial artists who would willingly engage in a life-and-death duel to obtain such a martial arts manual was also countless. Because of its value, which was worth a thousand gold pieces, the Murong Clan could not simply ignore the rumor.

“That is correct. Although I thought it was just one of the common groundless rumors of the Jianghu… Xinjiang happened to be on the way to Sichuan, and since I also intended to obtain paper, brushes, and ink to gift to the Tang Clan, I decided to seek out the secluded expert of the rumors as well.”

“………”

At Tang San-ho's gaze, which seemed to ask how he had found the secluded expert, Murong Seol-ju added the method.

“As the Young Master also knows, is Murong not a family that inherited the bloodline of royalty from long ago? Therefore, we have many connections that have continued since then, so obtaining information from them was not a difficult task.”

“Then did you find him?”

“…Find him I did, at least the secluded pavilion where he resided. However… he was no longer there, and only the martial arts books he had written were left behind.”

“Don't tell me…”

“Yes. Do they not say, 'taking a roundabout way to reach the capital'? Since our original purpose was the secret manual containing the divine arts, I brought those books with me to Sichuan. My son was holding onto those books, but I took them last night to verify their contents.”

“The item the culprit was looking for… It is certain.”

There was a reason they could not find it even after turning the entire room upside down.

It was because those secret manuals had been moved to the room where the Murong Family Head was staying a day prior.

“However… although there were a few divine arts known to have already been lost, most of them were manuals with incomplete contents. Some parts were missing, and some parts had not yet been written.”

“Was there nothing strange about the pavilion?”

“Mmm. Well, if there was something strange… Ah, right. There was no trace of anyone having stayed in the pavilion. It was as if they had cleared away their presence while being chased by something.”

Something was strange.

…They erased traces of human presence but left the secret manuals behind?

And incomplete manuals at that?

Then why was the culprit trying so hard to find those secret manuals?

Tang San-ho lowered his gaze and fell into thought for a moment.

“How many people know of the existence of those secret manuals?”

“Only those who went to the pavilion together know. My son and I, three martial artists of the Museong Squad and their Squad Leader, and finally, the Chief Steward.”

“Excluding the Family Head and the Young Clan Leader, that leaves five people.”

Murong Seol-ju's face hardened instantly.

“…Young Master. They are all people who bear the surname of Murong. They have served me for at least ten years as well. They are not the kind of people to do such a thing, so watch your words.”

At the voice that muttered in a low tone, Tang San-ho narrowed his brow for a moment.

“Mmm…”

And then, he soon shrugged his shoulders and spoke nonchalantly.

“There is nothing we can do. Then, since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I will be on my way. I hope you find it successfully.”

“…W-What? …Young Master, is this not a matter directly linked to the security of the Tang Clan! How can you watch our family's business like a fire across the river? An assassin from the outside might have broken in.”

At the quick giving up, Murong Seol-ju raised his voice in bewilderment, but.

“I wonder… As you know, several complex and demanding mechanism formations are installed in the Tang Clan Territory. Therefore, if a culprit had broken in from the outside, they would already be dead, or at least there would have been a great commotion. Yet, the lack of even such traces means…”

Tang San-ho, who had paused for a moment, shifted his gaze and looked clearly into Murong Seol-ju's eyes.

“It must mean it is the work of an insider. Furthermore, someone who already knows about the secret manual.”

“…Young Master!”

“But if you do not think so, I have nothing more to say.”

The clan village of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the Tang Clan Territory.

High walls reminiscent of city walls, intricately installed mechanism formations, and gatekeepers demanding strict identification. It was a secret place of the Tang Clan that had maintained security through various other hidden methods.

Thus, there was practically no one in the Jianghu who did not know what would happen to anyone who tried to secretly infiltrate the closed-off Tang Clan Territory.

Yet, a culprit had infiltrated such a Tang Clan Territory.

Moreover, a culprit who possessed precise information that allowed them to find and enter the room of the Young Clan Leader who had the secret manual.

In other words, the culprit was among the five people Tang San-ho mentioned.

As it became harder to deny that fact, Murong Seol-ju grabbed Tang San-ho, who was trying to turn back, and spoke.

“I made a mistake. It is not that I did not believe the Young Master's words…”

“Was it not because you suspected me that you sent martial artists to my annex?”

“…Y-Young Master, I apologize for losing my reason for a moment back then and committing such rudeness. Is the Tang Clan not the only one Murong can trust right now? So please appease your mind and…”

At that, Tang San-ho looked up at Murong Seol-ju and lightly placed his hand over his left chest.

“On top of that, you treated me as if I were a spy sowing discord, so my fragile heart has been wounded and I do not think it can ever be appeased…”

“…?”

Suddenly?

Fragile?

…You, who pointed out my retainers as suspects without a hint of tension while facing me, the Family Head of the Murong Clan?

The situation was reversed in an instant. Extremely flustered, Murong Seol-ju let out a dry breath.

It was at that moment.

A voice arguing noisily was heard from outside the door of the Guest Pavilion.

—Step aside immediately. Whom do you dare block right now!

—L-Lord Tang. I apologize, but I must inform the Family Head…

—If you make me stop my steps once more, I will personally show you a glimpse of hell.

The Family Head and Young Clan Leader of the Sichuan Tang Clan had come to the Murong Clan's Guest Pavilion.

There was only one reason.

‘…Damn it, there is no way the Tang Clan Head would overlook the fact that martial artists from another family visited the Young Master…!’

Murong Seol-ju looked outside anxiously.

There was no time.

If he could not persuade Tang San-ho right now, the Murong martial artists standing before the Tang Clan Head were about to have their heads roll on the floor immediately.

In the worst-case scenario, it could even lead to a war between the families.

“Tell me what the Young Master wants. As long as I can catch the culprit who harmed my son, I will grant whatever it is.”

“Mmm…”

Tang San-ho did not even seem to hide that he had an ulterior motive, but Murong Seol-ju was in no position to pick and choose right now.

As he promised to grant anything, Tang San-ho seemed to ponder for a moment, but soon squinted his eyes and smiled, saying, ‘I will tell you the things I want after catching the culprit.’

The ‘things’ he wanted…

Somehow it was an ominous combination of words, but he was in no state of mind to notice that either.

Having obtained Murong's promise as he wished, Tang San-ho went to the railing of the Guest Pavilion and poked his head out.

“Brother, Father!”

“San-ho!”

“You came to pick me up, right? I was scared…”

“…?!”

‘What on earth is this guy doing?’

Murong Seol-ju, who had been feeling relieved, turned pale and widened his eyes at San-ho's attitude, which was different from what they had agreed on just now.

“Young Master, what in the world…!”

Wink.

San-ho blinked one eye with a beaming smile.

***

Murong Seol-ju, Tang Hwa-seon, and Tang Hae-soo gathered in the reception room.

“Lord Tang…”

“You surely know what it means to send martial artists bearing swords to a direct descendant of the Tang Clan within the Tang Clan Territory.”

“…I was extremely agitated and made a great mistake. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Murong Seol-ju calmly explained the situation he had sorted out with Tang San-ho.

However, because he had committed an act that a guest should never do, Tang Hwa-seon's voice was heavily sunken.

“……”

“……Mmm.”

At that moment, Tang Hwa-seon, who had been coldly frozen, let out a short groan and lightly placed his hand over Murong Seol-ju's trembling hand as he spoke.

“However, how could I not know the position of a father watching his sick child? Let us discuss this matter later, and where is the Young Clan Leader of Murong right now?”

At those words, Murong Seol-ju's eyes widened in emotion.

“Hwan is currently being examined by the family physicians who came with us from Liaoning. However… they say his poisoned state is as precarious as a fish swimming in a cooking pot, and that he needs a matching antidote.”

“Then it would be best to show the Young Clan Leader's condition to the elders of the Tang Clan's Medical Hall and the Leader of the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall. Since they are experts in poisons, you need not worry.”

“…Lord Tang. Murong will never forget this kindness.”

Having reassured Murong Seol-ju, Tang Hwa-seon looked at his son San-ho sitting opposite him and asked.

“But… is the reason you arranged a separate meeting like this because you have a plan to catch the culprit?”

“Yes.”

“If a culprit is roaming around the Tang Clan Territory, bad rumors will circulate not only for Murong but also for the Tang Clan. Speak.”

“The culprit likely thinks that the Murong Family Head suspects me as the real culprit right now. They would think so even more if they saw the reaction I showed when Father and Brother arrived.”

“And?”

“We must not clear up the misunderstanding so they continue to think that way. We must make the culprit feel at ease. Because if they realize they are suspected, they might go into hiding.”

“…Wait, that means…”

“Yes. I will make the culprit launch another attack.”

“………”

To think he said he had a way to catch the culprit, yet it was to make them attack again.

At the shocking method that surpassed all imagination, not only Murong Seol-ju but also the calm Tang Hwa-seon and Tang Hae-soo ended up with their mouths agape.

San-ho beamed, his clear eyes shining.

“The three of you just need to watch.”

San-ho, whom no one knew which way he would bounce next, leaped up once again.