Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1421. Is this Sichuan Tang Family? (1)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
A lightning cannon struck Tang Family.
“Where is the Lightning Cannon (뇌격포(雷擊砲))!”
"Th- The Lightning Cannons are forbidden weapons! We cannot release them without Gaju’s order!"
“Are you planning to keep spouting that nonsense after Tang Family manor becomes a sea of flames?! Open it immediately!”
“Y- Yes, understood!”
The door to the tightly closed Forbidden Hidden Weapon Vault (금용암기고(禁用暗器庫)) has opened. The craftsmen of Tang Family dedicate their lives to creating the best hidden weapons.
Even the craftsmen themselves were forbidden to use the hidden weapons against humans because their power was so terrible, but now these hidden weapons revealed themselves to the world of pouring bright light for the first time in decades.
"Open the Heavenly Poison Vault (천독고(天毒庫)) too!"
“E- Elder-nim, the Heavenly Poison Vault…”
"Do you wish to die by my hand?"
Even the vault’s door, which could not be opened without Gaju’s permission, was thrown wide.
Those with blue determination in their eyes rushed into the poison vault without delay, stuffing vials containing the essence of Tang Family into their sleeves.
Tang Byeok nodded heavily at the sight.
There was no one here who could fight properly. Under normal circumstances, standing against Evil Tyrant Alliance would be nothing but a desperate struggle. For any other sect, that is.
'But we are Tang Family.'
They could fight precisely because they were the Tang. Even if a woman with no martial skill wielded them, these weapons could kill even the greatest martial artists in the world. It was because Tang Family had devoted themselves to making such weapons.
"Elders, check if the defensive formations are without any flaw! There must not be even the slightest mistake!"
"Understood!"
The elders who heard Tang Byeok's words rushed to various parts of the manor. To confirm that the deadly formations installed throughout Tang Family manor to guard against external invasion would activate properly.
“All who can fight, step forward! No, even those who cannot fight, step forward! This is a battle to protect Tang Family. If Tang Family does not exist, neither do you. You must protect Tang Family with your lives!"
At Tang Byeok's blood-curdling cry, everyone bearing the Tang surname rushed out.
Even those who had spent their lives in dim chambers managing poisons, those left crippled from years of exposure during research, and even the women of Tang Family who bore the surname Tang but were not recognized as true Tang Family members, soaked their sleeves in poison and held cold hidden weapons in their hands.
And the same was true for the artisans who had never put down their hammers in their lifetime.
"W- What is happening?!"
One young craftsman's question was met with a spat response from the older members.
“The Evil Tyrant Alliance bastards are coming.”
“E- Evil Tyrant Alliance? At a time like this?”
Gaju was gone. Those who can fight are gone. And yet, why would Evil Tyrant Alliance invade at such a time?
"They say Qingcheng and Emei have already fallen. We're next, it seems."
“We…”
The young craftsman's face turned pale.
“T- Then shouldn’t we run? How can we handle these people who even Qingcheng and Emei couldn’t?”
"Where would you run away to?”
“...What?”
One of the elder craftsmen clicked his tongue and said,
"You might survive by running away. But this place will disappear. Tang Family smithy that we've dedicated our entire lives to."
The young artisan turned around with a blank face. The sight of the large smithy entered his eyes.
“Do you think we could rebuild this smithy if it’s destroyed?”
“That’s…”
This smithy contains all of the techniques that other smithies cannot imitate. To rebuild it from scratch?
"...It would be difficult."
"Right."
They can tell because they were craftsmen. How arduous it would be to rebuild this smithy where hundreds of years of techniques developed by Tang Family are all concentrated.
Some they don't even know how they were made. The techniques were lost, but the objects remain and were still in use. Some things, even if they know how to make them, they can no longer obtain the materials.
So how could this smithy ever be rebuilt?
The collapse of this smithy means the collapse of Tang Family. And everything that the ancestors who devoted their lives to this Tang Family smithy have done will turn to ashes in their generation.
Can that be tolerated? Can that be allowed?
“You can run away.”
"Huh?"
"Young ones like you should live. But we’ve lived enough. We can’t just sit and watch this smithy fall. We would rather die."
The elder reached out and grasped a sword that was displayed in the smithy.
Chaeng!
A cold, gleaming light spilled from the blade as it left its sheath. Even at a glance, it was no ordinary treasured sword. The craftsman who stared intently at that sword nodded heavily.
"We must fight. Even if it’s futile, we must fight. That is the duty of those who bear the Tang name."
“....”
"Our ancestors fought the same way to protect this family. Now it’s just our turn.”
The seemingly matter-of-fact statement caused the young craftsman to bite his lips tightly.
"Where would I go anyway?"
“Hmm?”
“I am also a craftsman of Tang Family! And if it comes to swinging a sword, wouldn’t I, just a year younger, wield it better than you elders? Especially when some of you can barely lift anything heavier than a small hammer now."
“Haha. You cheeky brat.”
The young craftsman reached out and seized a bundle of freshly forged flying needles (비침(飛針)).
"We must fight. If it means protecting this smithy, we must fight. This is Tang Family, and this smithy is Tang Family. So where else would a Tang go? A Tang belongs here."
The elder craftsman looked with warm eyes at the young artisan who was firming his resolve.
"Yes. That's how people of Tang Family live."
"Let's go. Is it that way?"
“You go ahead. We’ll follow shortly.”
"Yes!"
As the young craftsman rushed out of the smithy, one of the artisans who had been watching them rose. His steps led to the deepest part of the smithy.
Kaang!
Kaang!
The steady rhythm of a small hammer rang out.
It sounded faint at first, like it might stop at any moment, but gradually it grew loud. The craftsman who headed to the deepest part of the smithy bowed his head to an old man hammering in front of a small furnace.
“Elder Divine Hands.”
Kaang!
His gentle words were swallowed by the hammer's strike.
“Elder Divine Hands.”
He called again, but the hammering did not cease. The craftsman silently watched the old man hammering and opened his mouth once more.
“Grandfather.”
Only then did the rhythm of the hammer slightly weaken.
"We will fight to protect the smithy. You should seek safety, Grandfather…”
Kaang!
The craftsman's mouth closed as the hammer sound grew louder again. A small hammer striking down on the heated mass of metal. It sends red sparks each clash.
The craftsman who had been silently watching the old man slowly nodded.
The old man’s eyes were unfocused. Cloudy and distant, his gaze cast doubt on whether he was even aware of what he was doing.
Where would such a person go if he left this place? Even if his mind were sound, the old man would likely not have left the smithy. Everything he had dedicated his life to was here.
This old man was the very soul of Tang Family. And if that was so, then shouldn't he remain where he truly belonged?
"Do as you will, Grandfather."
The craftsman bowed deeply, then turned away.
Left alone, the old man lifted a piece of iron with his tongs, turned it this way and that, then thrust it back into the furnace. Embers scattered into the air.
The old man, Tang Jo-pyeong, stared blankly at the roaring furnace with his blurry eyes.
- Jo-pyeong-ah.
“....”
- Those damned bastards will die buried under the name I created. Those idiots who don't know what comes first and what comes last. No man who values what he’s made more than his own self will ever walk the right path. If you ever become a true craftsman of Tang Family, you’ll have to change that kind of thinking first. Understand?
'Grandfather.'
Those were the words the Dark Sovereign once spoke to him. While stroking his head with that hand.
Tang Jo-pyeong grabbed the tongs and pulled the heated iron out of the furnace.
'Did I promise to do so?'
He can't remember clearly. All he remembers was that the hand that stroked his head was warm.
So what did Tang Jo-pyeong had done?
Did he indeed uphold what his grandfather had entrusted to him? Or did he himself become the kind of person his grandfather had cursed?
Kaang.
The small hammer strikes the red-hot iron.
Melting, heating, cooling, striking.
The entire process was one of stripping away the impurity, leaving only the purest and most proper ones. What remains was then made stronger by human hands.
That was the craftsman of Tang Family. What he has done throughout his lifetime.
Kaang!
The small hammer strikes the heated iron.
Kaang!
The hammer that had been striking the iron without rest slowly came to a halt. Tang Jo-pyeong, who lowered the hammer with waning strength, raised his blurry gaze.
The Tang Family's smithy.
His everything, where there was no place untouched by his hand.
Tang Jo-pyeong, who had been silently watching the smithy, picked up the hammer again.
Kaang!
The rhythmic sound of the hammer. Yet strangely, the hammer sound that seems like it might stop at any moment echoed softly, and softer still.
“All members of Tang Family are preparing for a final stand, following the former Council Head’s orders.”
Tang Wei gave a slow nod. Then Tang Byeok glanced at Tang Wei and opened his mouth.
"Council Head. After you conclude this matter, reinstatement won't be difficult. Even if Gaju is against it, the entire family will support you."
Tang Wei had lost his martial arts. Under normal circumstances, reclaiming his former position would be impossible. But this situation was far from normal. If Tang Wei could lead the remaining members to fend off Evil Tyrant Alliance, the fact that he had lost his martial prowess would no longer matter in the slightest.
In that case, even reinstating the Council of Elder wouldn’t be out of reach…
"Council Head."
“...Yes?”
Tang Byeok looks at him as Tang Wei's voice suddenly flies in.
“Don’t call me Council Head. I’m not Council Head.”
“...Yes, Grand Elder."
“If by some stroke of luck we manage to repel them, I’ll just return quietly to the back room of Tang Family.”
Tang Byeok’s eyes widened.
"W- What are you saying? Grand Elder! Grand Elder is saving Tang Family!"
"Do you think I'm doing this for the sake of that trivial power?"
An icy blue intent flickered across Tang Wei's face.
"Power? It matters. But what's more important is Tang Family itself. Even power only holds meaning because it comes from Tang Family. The reason I disapproved of Gaju was simply because I did not believe him fit to lead our family. It wasn’t because I sought to fulfill personal ambitions.”
“Grand Elder…”
"Protecting this Tang Family, even at the cost of my life, even at the cost of everyone else's lives. That's all I'm trying to do. What comes afterward is not for an old man like me. Now, even if I find it unsatisfactory, I have no choice but to acknowledge it."
Tang Wei closed his eyes slightly.
He still did not particularly like Tang Gun-ak. No, it would be more accurate to say he regarded him as an enemy. But the feud between them was trivial. Before the name of the Sichuan Tang Family, none of it mattered.
"We must protect it. We must protect it somehow. Because I am a Tang. That is the duty and conviction of one who has lived his entire life with the surname Tang.”
“...I understand your intention, Grand Elder.”
It was at that moment.
“Elder! A message from Gaju!”
“What?”
Tang Byeok sharply turned his head.
"I- It was addressed to General Chief, but—"
“Bring it here! Now!”
“Yes! Here!”
The man who rushed inside pulled out a jade-green letter from his robe and handed it over.
"Hand it over."
Tang Wei stopped Tang Byeok from reaching for it and took the letter himself. He tore the seal and unfolded the paper inside. After reading it, Tang Wei slowly shook his head.
“May I ask what it says?”
At Tang Byeok’s question, Tang Wei smirked and showed him the letter.
"He tells us to abandon the family manor and flee."
“...Yes?”
Tang Byeok looked at Tang Wei as if dumbfounded.
"Gaju is still soft-hearted. This is why I cannot put my mind at ease."
Tang Wei held the letter over the lamp. The lit letter slowly burned and smoldered.
"And to even tell us to send word to the Sahae Trading Guild... I wonder who Gaju thinks he is."
Shaking his head, Tang Wei gently released the burning letter. The paper containing Gaju's orders instantly turned to ash and disappeared.
“The enemy will arrive soon. Get everything ready. It’s going to be a long day.”
“Understood, Grand Elder.”
As Tang Byeok bowed and left, Tang Wei coughed violently and sat down on the bed.
'...Tang Family.'
He would not let Tang Family fall.
Even if he had to be remembered as a failure, he would be a failure of Tang Family. That was the final resolve of Tang Wei, who had dedicated his entire life to this Sichuan Tang Family.
'Ancestors, please watch over us.'
Until his last breath, he would remain a man of the Tang. That would never change.
|Note
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