Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1423. Is this Sichuan Tang Family? (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Tang Wei and all the other Tang Family members could not help but immediately understand why this unquenchable flame had been lit and who had done it.
Suspicion bloomed in everyone's eyes, which soon turned into resentment.
“Why....”
Tang Wei's trembling voice cut through the crackling roar of the flames.
"Why would you do this, Divine Hand? Why...?"
If someone else in Tang Family had done this, no one would have questioned the reason. They would have immediately struck with secret weapons.
But now they couldn't. The person before them was none other than Tang Jo-pyeong. Although he had not been able to overcome the long years and was often not in the right mind, he was nevertheless the greatest elder of Tang Family and the head of the smithy that was the core of Tang Family.
No one in Tang Family dared raise their voice before him, at least not even the former council head and a grand elder, Tang Wei.
“Why? Why!”
When Dang Wae asked desperately, Tang Jo-pyeong merely turned to look at him slowly. Tang Wei’s eyes burned with pain and rage, while Tang Jo-pyeong’s gaze remained calm and detached, met in the air.
Tang Jo-pyeong opened his mouth.
"...I merely burned it."
Udeuk.
Tang Wei bit his lip until it bled.
"Who's asking because they don't know that!! Do you not understand what it is you burned?! Why set fire to the Heavenly Poison Vault and the smithy?! The very heart of Tang Family?! Even using White Furnace Blood!"
“....”
"Why! Why! Why did you do this! No matter how unclear your mind might be, aren't you still Divine Hand! Why!"
It was as if his voice itself bled. Every word dripped with resentment and pain. Tang Family which was his everything was burning. It seemed as if red tears of blood would flow down his eyes at any moment.
But Tang Jo-pyeong's gaze remained just as cold. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking now.
"Divine Hand, just what....”
Other elders tried to speak up on Tang Wei’s behalf, but Tang Jo-pyeong’s calm voice cut through as if to silence them.
"It is not here."
“...Yes?”
“There is nothing left now. Nothing worth to protect nor preserve.”
“....”
"So go. What remains are only pavilions that will rot and decay."
The elders turned to stare blankly at the raging blaze.
Tang Jo-pyeong's words weren’t wrong.
What they had tried to protect here was the facility and source that could produce the poisons and hidden weapons that Tang Family prided itself on throughout the world.
But now that everything would turn to ash, they had no reason to remain attached to this place.
The very reason to risk their life and fight against Evil Tyrant Alliance has disappeared.
“W- What are you all doing?!”
Tang Wei shouted hysterically.
"Extinguish it! I said extinguish that fire right now!"
"G- Grand Elder."
"Why are you just standing there! If you cannot put out the fire, at least retrieve the items inside! Now! I said move!"
Despite his desperate cries, no one moved.
Even if it was true that the fire had been lit with White Furnace Blood, it wasn’t impossible to extinguish it. If it were, White Furnace Blood itself would’ve long since become known as the world’s greatest hidden weapon.
But while extinguishing it wasn’t impossible, it was extremely difficult. To suppress flames of that magnitude would take an age even if everyone here rushed to help.
By then it was clear nothing would remain. And even if they managed to save some of the unburnt furnaces or poisons, it would still be impossible to restore Tang Family to what it once was.
Tang Wei cannot be unaware of this fact either. But he simply could not bring himself to give up.
When the elders did not move, Tang Wei bit his lip hard and cried out.
"Step aside! I'll do it myse....”
But then Tang Jo-pyeong spoke.
“Is that what you’re supposed to do?”
Tang Wei froze. His entire body trembled as he glared at Divine Hand.
"...So you are in your right mind."
He had thought perhaps Tang Jo-pyeong had gone mad and committed this act. But no matter how he looked at it, Tang Jo-pyeong's consciousness was clear.
"...So. Are you satisfied now?"
A searing cry that seemed to have been ground from his very soul erupted from Tang Wei's mouth.
“Now that you’ve turned everything our ancestors protected for centuries into ash, are you finally satisfied?! Are you relieved now that the name Sichuan Tang Family has vanished from the world? Are you pleased to have provided an opportunity for Tang Family members who have lost both honor and ability to barely cling to life?"
“Tang....”
“Inside there!”
Tang Wei's shaking hand violently pointed at the workshops. That thin finger was trembling uncontrollably.
"Everything that Divine Hand Elder dedicated his lifetime to is in there intact! Are you happy now that everything has been reduced to ashes! Divine Hand and I have both lived long enough, so we can just die and be done with it! However, because of your selfishness, the remaining children of our family will live forever under persecution!”
Living in Kangho was no different than carrying countless grudges. It was certain that those who held their breath because Tang Family was strong would bare their teeth the moment Tang Family lost its power.
What Tang Jo-pyeong had done was cast the clan’s future into that vengeful abyss.
“How can you be so indifferent! How can you be so cruel! Is this really for the sake of Tang Family!? If you were truly the grand elder of Tang Family, you would have done whatever it took to protect Tang Family! How could you not understand that?!"
Everyone's faces darkened at Tang Wei's tirade.
Though his words were chaotic, driven by emotion and devoid of decorum, everyone couldn't help but sympathize with the meaning contained within them.
“Why on earth would you do something like this....”
“This.”
“...What?”
Tang Jo-pyeong slowly looked around. He saw the appearance of Tang Family where he had lived his whole life. There was no place that his hands had not touched, from the small pavilion to the ground he was standing on.
Tang Family was everything to him. In that regard, he was no different from Tang Wei. But…
“Is this Sichuan Tang Family?”
Tang Wei bit his lip. What kind of nonsense was this now? Had he lost his mind again at this moment?
“Answer me.”
“Elder-nim!”
“I asked if this is Sichuan Tang Family!”
Tang Jo-Pyeong's roar erupted like thunder. The incomprehensibly intense force behind it made Tang Wei flinch. Tang Jo-pyeong's eyes were filled with venom.
"You fools! Merely pavilions, merely lumps of poison! Merely pathetic weapons forged by kneading chunks of iron!"
“...Elder?”
"Is that Tang Family?! Is that what you call the Sichuan Tang Family?! Answer me!"
“....”
“If there's no poison, it's not Tang Family? If there are no hidden weapons, it’s not Tang Family? You idiots who don’t even know what comes first and what comes last!”
Tang Jo-Pyeong violently hurled the hammer in his hand to the ground.
Clang!
The small hammer bounced off the ground with a clatter and dropped again with a dull thump.
As the noise subsided, Tang Family was instantly enveloped in silence.
How many things has that little hammer, thrown without a care, created? That hammer was the pride of Tang Jo-pyeong and the pride of Tang Family.
But now, Tang Jo-pyeong has thrown away that hammer.
“You’re willing to risk your life to protect these lumps of iron?”
“Elder!”
"As long as the people remain!"
Tang Jo-pyeong's anger surged. The frail old man seemed to spit sparks like a furnace.
"As long as the people remain, such things can be remade as many times as needed! As long as the people remain!"
“....”
“Even if we never again taste the same glory, what does it matter! If Tang Family must sacrifice every last life just to remain the 'Tang Family,' then it’s better off dead!"
“You...!”
Tang Wei’s body convulsed. His intensity was so extreme that the startled Tang Byeok unconsciously grabbed Tang Wei's arm, afraid that he might rush at Tang Jo-pyeong right then and there.
Tang Jo-pyeong, who had been staring at Tang Wei, slowly looked around and spoke.
"Go."
“....”
"There’s nothing left here to protect. If there’s anything worth saving now, it’s just one thing, your lives.”
“...Divine Hand Elder.”
“So go. Time is of the essence. Leave before the enemy arrives."
After finishing his speech, Tang Jo-pyeong turned away. As he did, Tang Wei’s anguished scream chased after him.
“You think you’ll be able to face the ancestors after death! What do you think they will say to you! You’ll go down in history as the greatest traitor Tang Family has ever known! No, all the descendants of Tang Family will spit on your grave and curse your name! Divine Hand! No, Tang Jo-Pyeong!"
Tang Jo-pyeong simply headed toward the burning smithy without saying a word.
'All spit and curse at me, you say…’
A faint smile formed at the edge of his lips, lit by the reflection of the flames.
‘Then that’s a relief.’
At least it meant there would be descendants of Tang Family left to curse him. That alone was enough. From the beginning, what he had tried to protect was the future descendants, so if they lived on, then he had succeeded.
"Elder…"
At that moment, the craftsmen of the smithy who had been watching from afar approached him. Unlike before, there was distance in their eyes and they hesitated. Tang Jo-pyeong glanced at them and said indifferently.
"You too should go."
“....”
"And you, Elder...?"
Tang Jo-pyeong gazed quietly at the burning smithy. The smithy was reduced to ashes by the fire he had started.
"I will remain here."
The craftsman was about to say something at his words, but then shook his head.
And for good reason. The path to flee Evil Tyrant Alliance would be grueling. Tang Jo-pyeong no longer had the strength to walk such a path.
“...Please take care of yourself.”
The craftsmen bowed their heads deeply toward Tang Jo-pyeong.
They could not fully agree with what he had done, yet they paid their respects with sincerity. It was the final tribute to a man who had guarded Tang Family as a craftsman.
Tang Jo-Pyeong, having received their bows, walked toward the heart of the inferno without another word. The smithy burned fiercer by the second.
This was the place he had lived for more than a hundred years. Where he had breathed and protecting all his life.
'Grandfather Dark Sovereign.'
Tears blurred his vision. The pride of having kept his grandfather’s dying wishes and the pain of having burned everything he had ever built with his own hands washed over him at once.
'Was this enough?'
Perhaps, as Tang Wei said, Tang Jo-Pyeong had severed the soul of Tang Family. Perhaps those who remained would forever live in torment, bearing the name of the Tang yet no longer truly being part of it.
But was he right? Was there truly no other way? Was this the best course?
He couldn't know. Perhaps he would never know until the moment of his death.
But one thing he was certain of.
'Grandfather.'
It appeared vividly. The touch of Tang Bo gently stroked his young head with a soft smile. That hand was exceedingly warm and comforting.
If Tang Bo were here now, he surely would have patted his head again.
- You did well.
A single tear traced the wrinkles of Tang Jo-Pyeong’s wrinkled face.
Now a white-haired old man, he smiled as brightly as the child he had been that day.
|Note
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