Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1422. Is this Sichuan Tang Family? (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
"All the hidden weapons needed for the battle have been prepared.”
"Grand Elder! We've completed checking the Illusionary Poison Maze Formation installed at the main gate. It is functioning normally without any problems!”
“The forbidden hidden weapon has been completed! They await the elders' use!"
Reports came pouring in from all sides as people rushed to Tang Wei with updates.
“All collateral lines residing at the outer Tang Family manor have been summoned into the main family grounds. Except for a few we couldn’t contact, every last one is gathering now!”
It was literally an all-out war that one might doubt ever existed throughout the history of the Sichuan Tang Family. Not only the direct descendants living within the main family grounds, but even the collateral branches from the outer manor were all prepared to risk their lives.
Yes. This was what could be called Tang Family. Who knows how powerful that Jang Ilso may be, but at least they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“The enemies?”
"There's still time before their arrival."
"Hmm."
The distance from Emei to here spans four hundred li. For an ordinary person, it would take at least four full days of running to reach.
So even if they were Evil Tyrant Alliance, they couldn't just arrive just by making up his mind. At least they would have time until the sun set today.
"Check all situations once more. And…”
Tang Wei issued a firm command.
"Release poisons and hidden weapons to the women of the family as well."
"G- Grand Elder! That's..."
The elders stiffened in shock.
This was Tang Family. But not everyone here bore the Tang name.
There were those who belonged to the family yet had not been granted the Tang surname. Women who married into Tang Family, despite being rightful members of the Sichuan Tang Family, were not allowed to touch hidden weapons and poisons.
Not because it was dangerous. The Sichuan Tang Family was a prestigious sect, a dominant force in Sichuan. Thus, the women who married into it were also inevitably from distinguished and powerful families.
For centuries, the fear that they might leak Tang Family’s secrets back to their birth families had kept them barred from these arts. This had become like a tradition.
And this wasn’t just a rule for women who married into the family. Even daughters born with the Tang surname were forbidden from touching the poisons and hidden weapons classified as ‘secret techniques’. This was a law they had maintained with absolute thoroughness.
But now, Tang Wei himself says that the rule should be overturned. He, who had been the most rigid and conservative within the faily.
“...B- But to outsiders..."
Seeing the elder who was mumbling as if he couldn't possibly obey that order, Tang Wei asked coldly.
"Who is an outsider?"
Tang Wei glared at the elders and said.
“Everyone here has stepped forward, ready to lay down their lives to protect Tang Family. Where are the outsiders among such people? Are you saying they're outsiders just because they don't bear the Tang surname?"
At those words, all the elders closed their mouths.
Of course, Tang Wei's inner thoughts might be different. A lifetime of rigid way of thinking doesn’t change overnight. But even so, no one could argue against his words at the current situation.
“I will bear the sin of breaking tradition. You were only following my orders. So hand them out. We cannot ask them to fight without giving them the means to do so."
"Understood, Grand Elder. We understand your intention."
He will take full responsibility. That alone was enough. As long as Tang Wei personally claimed accountability, Tang Gun-ak would not punish the others.
"Hurry! The fate of our family hangs in the balance. Double-check everything! If there’s anything unfinished, complete it no matter what! Time is of the essence!"
"Understood!"
As the elders rushed off with grim expressions, Tang Wei suddenly staggered for a moment.
“Kuhagh!”
He covered his mouth and coughed several times. His body shook violently. His dry hands were trembling.
“This....”
It wasn’t that he had a specific illness. His body had simply grown far too weak. A martial artist whose Dantian has been destroyed often becomes frailer than even an ordinary person. And Tang Wei was far too old to endure that change.
Truthfully, just standing here was already a struggle. Yet he forced his back straight.
If he still had his martial arts, he would have fought these invading Evil Sects without hesitation. But now, he had neither the internal strength to spread poison nor the strength to hurl hidden weapons.
And yet... he was still a man of the Tang.
Tang Wei gazed silently at Tang Family's pavilions. After a long moment, a murmur escaped his lips.
“How ridiculous…”
Once, he considered these pavilions despicable.
These are things that could have been his but ultimately never became his. His life was a journey to bring these cursed things back into his embrace.
He had been denied by his father, lived in the shadow of his younger brother, and now even his nephew had judged him. It was none other than this family that gave him a life full of pain.
And yet, he still wants to protect this place to the very end. Terrible as it might have been, this was his life. All of him has seeped into this place.
He might have been a failure. If so, at least he will die as a failure of Tang Family. If Tang Family ceased to exist, then wouldn’t that make him truly a man of nothing?
'We’re all the same.'
It was Tang Family’s existence that gave meaning to everyone here. If Tang Family disappears, not only these people, but also the blood and sweat of all those who made the name Sichuan Tang Family resound throughout the world will disappear together.
Therefore!
'I will protect it. Even if it means sacrificing everything.'
Tang Wei bit down hard on his lip and barked out an order in a hoarse, ringing voice.
"Bring more hidden weapons! Do not hold back!"
“Yes, Grand Elder!”
“Tang Byeok!”
"Yes!"
“In Gaju’s office, there’s a poison vault behind it! Retrieve the poisons stored inside!”
"G- Grand Elder. But that vault cannot be opened without the key that Gaju holds..."
“Break it!”
"...Are you truly serious?"
When Tang Byeok asked in a pale-faced daze, Tang Wei glared at him with ice-cold eyes.
"Do I look like I'm joking right now?"
“....”
"If you won’t go, then I will."
"N- No, Grand Elder! I’ll carry out your orders!"
Tang Byeok bit down hard on his lip. There was no way that Tang Byeok, who had lost his martial arts prowess, could break the vault. So if someone had to do it, it had to be Tang Byeok.
It was clear that the Grand Elder had no intention of looking back. No, perhaps he had no plans to survive this battle at all.
If the Grand Elder had steeled himself with such great resolve, he too couldn't back away.
“Use whatever you can. As long as the poison vault and the forges remain, no matter what losses we suffer, the family will rise again. Remember! The poison vault and the furnace must be protected by any means necessary!"
"Yes!"
Right at the moment Tang Wei was instilling his firm resolve in everyone.
"F- Fire! Fiiiiiiiire!"
A scream tore through the air from behind them. Tang Wei quickly turned his head and scanned his surroundings.
Fire!
'N- No, could they already...?'
Was Evil Tyrant Alliance already infiltrating Tang Family? That should be impossible!
“Is it the enemy?”
"I- I don't know! Suddenly flames..."
Now even Tang Wei could see it clearly. What had looked like a small flicker atop a pavilion was now bursting into a massive flame.
That absolutely could not be a natural fire.
“Confirm if it’s an enemy attack! Quickly!”
"Understood!"
Several panicked elders rushed to inspect the formations. As Tang Wei stood trembling with anxiety, a report soon came back that eased his heart just a little.
"I- It doesn’t seem to be an attack! There’s no sign of intrusion!"
“Ah....”
Tang Wei’s legs nearly gave out, but he forced himself to stand straight.
If that's the case, then it seems that fire broke out during the process of releasing incendiary weapons. It was rare but not unheard of. Of course, it would have been best if it hadn’t happened, but it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle.
“Tsk. At a time like this.”
Tang Wei clicked his tongue in annoyance and shouted.
"Quickly extinguish the flames!"
"Yes, Grand Elder."
As Tang Wei was about to turn his head, thinking this was no time to dwell on minor matters, he suddenly stopped.
'No....'
Those flames...
"Whe- Where is it?"
"Yes?"
"The fire! Where has the fire broken out!"
Tang Wei suddenly shouted as if possessed. The elders blinking at his words instantly turned pale.
"T- The Yang Pavilion (양각(陽閣))…! It’s the Yang Pavilion!"
"What are you doing! Go at once! Extinguish the fire! Huurryyyyyyyy!"
"Yes!"
Yang Pavilion. A deceptively gentle name for a place that was anything but warm.
It was where Tang Family produces their secret poisons based on countless poisons and venomous substances from across the world. That was why the workshop containing all the poisons and venomous substances Tang Family has collected over the years is located in Yang Pavilion. It was literally the heart of Tang Family.
And it was precisely there that the fire had broken out.
“This...!”
Unable to leave it to subordinates alone, Tang Wei sprinted forward with all his might. Even though his body was already struggling to run, he couldn't just stand by and watch when the Yang Pavilion was on fire.
'A fire can be extinguished, that's all. The fire...'
He tried to calm his mind as he ran, but the scene that greeted him at the Yang Pavilion was far more devastating than he had imagined.
Tang Family elders were rushing to extinguish the fire, but it showed no signs of being controlled.
"G- Grand Elder! The fire won't go out!"
“Wha- What?”
Tang Wei’s face turned deathly pale. And at that very moment.
"Fire! The, the smithy is on fire too!"
"The Heavenly Poison Vault is burning! We need more people! This isn't an ordinary fire!"
Flames rose all across Tang Family manor.
Yang Pavilion, where the chamber for researching Tang Family poisons were located; the smithy where the White Furnace that Tang Family must protect with their lives was kept; and the Heavenly Poison Vault that stored the secret arts created by those two.
Flames simultaneously rose in places that could be said to be the very heart of the Sichuan Tang Family.
“P- Put it out.”
In such a truly horrific situation, even the great Tang Wei lost color in his face and half lost his senses.
"PUT IT OUTTTTT! DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO EXTINGUISH THOSE FLAMES! HURRYYYYYYY!"
His shrill scream burst out.
His Sichuan Tang Family, the Sichuan Tang Family he was prepared to guard with his life, was burning at this very moment. Even though the blades of Evil Tyrant Alliance hadn't even reached them yet.
"It w- won't go out! Damn it! This fire won't go out!"
"We must collapse the building immediately!"
“Have you lost your mind?! If we collapse the Heavenly Poison Vault, all the poisonous substances will die! You madman!"
“Then what do you suggest? The fire isn’t going out! Are you going to let it burn everything!”
Even Tang Family elders, who had lived their entire lives as disciplined martial artists maintaining dignity and wisdom, completely lost their composure in this moment. Harsh words flew back and forth.
“The fire… won’t go out?”
A dazed whisper escaped Tang Wei’s lips.
Even with trained martial artists trying to suppress it, the fire wouldn’t go out. This could only mean it was no ordinary flame.
Tang Wei knew.
There was only one substance in this world that could create such flames.
“White... Furnace Blood (로혈(白爐血)).”
The White Furnace Blood's flames must never be extinguished. Even after its use was fulfilled, the embers must be preserved.
The eternal white furnace that never extinguishes. It was the symbol and soul of Tang Family.
That was why Tang Family ancestors scoured the world and created an oil that could produce an unquenchable fire.
As long as the fire of the White Furnace doesn't die out, Tang Family won't disappear either. Hence it was named White Furnace Blood. This oil was the blood of the White Furnace, the blood of Tang Family. So scarce it cannot even be used as a hidden weapon, permitted to be held only by the family's finest craftsmen.
“Why....”
The furnace burning Tang Family suddenly turned white. Witnessing this scene, a heartrending scream erupted from Tang Wei's mouth.
"WHY! WHYYYYY! WHYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Amidst the raging flames, an old man holding a hammer slowly emerged.
The Divine Hand of Tang Jo-pyeong.
The eyes that were always dull and unfocused now shone with a piercing and cold blue light.
|Note
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