Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1425. Is this Sichuan Tang Family? (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Jeok Ho turned his gaze from the Four Seas Merchant Guild back to Jang Ilso’s retreating figure. He couldn’t even guess what he was thinking about that back.
“Ryeonju-nim.”
"Hm?"
“May I ask why you let them go?”
The Jang Ilso that Jeok Ho knows does not fear shedding blood. No, perhaps he should be called someone more unhesitant than anyone in the world when it came to spilling blood.
Jang Ilso's reluctance to harm commoners wasn't due to some grand principle. It's simply because there's no gain in harming them.
If there was something to gain, Jang Ilso was the kind of person who could trample anyone without the slightest hesitation, be they commoners or imperial royalty.
That was why this puzzled him.
Just burning down the Sahae Merchant Guild would be enough to cause suffering to the disciples of Mount Hua. Of course, it wouldn’t be some great pain, but it wouldn’t take much effort to massacre them either.
"If it’s a matter of saving time, I could handle it myself."
“A reason, you ask...”
Jeok Ho cautiously brought it up, but Jang Ilso muttered to himself as if he hadn’t even heard. Then, a strange smile curled on his lips.
"Do I need a reason?"
"...Huh?"
“Then let’s just say it was a mere whim.”
A complicated expression flickered across Jeok Ho's face. It was an answer that was hard to understand. But Jeok Ho asked no further.
Jang Ilso asked as if it was unexpected.
“Why don’t you ask again? You clearly don’t understand?”
“I’ve already received Ryeonju-nim answer.”
It would be disloyal to ask Ryeonju for an answer that he could accept. The answer alone was enough. Jeok Ho believed that was his duty.
Glancing sideways at Jeok Ho, Jang Ilso twisted his red lips.
“I am aware you don’t like Gamyeong.”
Jeok Ho's face stiffened slightly. It felt too out of the blue. Why bring this up here and now?
“That’s exactly why I keep Gamyeong by my side. If he had been here, he would’ve stopped me from playing around with them. And he would have made sure not a single hair on their heads was harmed."
"...Why?"
He doesn't question Jang Ilso. But if the subject is Ho Gamyeong, it was different. Jeok Ho's face contorted slightly with displeasure.
Seeing that, Jang Ilso chuckled with amusement.
"If there were an enemy of your mother, what would you do?"
"Tear them apart. By any means necessary."
“What a filial child. Tsk, how boring.”
Jang Ilso shook his head and continued speaking.
“Fine. Then if someone were holding your mother hostage, what would you do?”
Jeok Ho couldn’t answer right away.
The enemy of his mother must die. But how should one deal with someone holding his mother hostage?
The more one values one's mother, the less they can do. At the very least, acting recklessly becomes impossible.
"That’s why Gamyeong would have spared them."
“....”
“It’s especially meaningful to those guys Mount Hua. As long as that merchant guild is in our grasp, they won't be able to move carelessly. Do you understand? Bearing grudges is petty. What matters is whether something has use."
Jeok Ho bit his lip. It was true.
Qingcheng and Emei have already fallen. And now Tang Family and Jeomchang will be dealt with. That meant all of Sichuan would soon be in Evil Tyrant Alliance’s grip.
Everything that exists in Sichuan would become the property of Evil Tyrant Alliance. Rather than kill them off needlessly, it was far better to use them as pieces.
He only saw the present, but Ho Gamyeong would have seen the future.
These words were an exceedingly painful criticism to Jeok Ho.
"...Then, wouldn't it be better to send some troops even now to prevent them from escaping?"
"Leave them be."
Once again, Jeok Ho could only look at Jang Ilso with questioning eyes.
“Tsk, tsk. You don't understand what people say. I merely told you what Gamyeong would have done."
"Then... what about Ryeonju-nim?"
“I told you. It’s just a simple whim.”
“....”
“I just felt like it. Is that not allowed?”
Jeok Ho let out a faint laugh. Now he understood. What a mistake he had made.
Jang Ilso was Jang Ilso, and one should never dare to comprehend his thoughts and actions. From the beginning, this person cannot be interpreted through the thinking of common people.
Jang Ilso smiled gently.
“What matters right now isn’t that sort of thing, is it.”
“Your words are correct.”
What mattered to them now, of course, was the Sichuan Tang Family.
A cold glint seeped into Jang Ilso’s eyes.
"If there's a sight you wish to see, you'll see it at Tang Family."
At the very least, it won’t be found here.
Neither whims nor the luxury called mercy.
❀ ❀ ❀
Before him stood a massive gate.
Sichuan Tang Family. (사천당가(四川當家))
The calligraphy on the enormous signboard was truly like a dragon soaring and a phoenix dancing. After staring at that gate for some time, Jang Ilso’s gaze slowly shifted to the side.
The main gate was engraved with a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar pattern.
'Plum blossoms?'
A plum blossom symbol on the gate of the Sichuan Tang Family. It felt terribly out of place.
But the strange light in Jang Ilso’s eyes wasn’t due to the dissonance of the design.
"Is this... Sichuan Tang family? This quiet place?"
A small scoff escaped Jang Ilso’s lips.
It was so quiet that it was still.
Of course, the Sichuan Tang Family would have always been quiet anywhere. And it wasn’t like those welcoming Jang Ilso would come out screaming in hostility. Even if they were prepared to fight, it would be normal to hide their breath and lie in wait for him.
But this quietude didn't stem from a grave resolve. This was... the stillness that came when no one was present.
Besides....
"Rye- Ryeonju-nim. Smoke..."
Jang Ilso let out a hollow laugh.
Beyond the massive gate, black smoke was rising from various corners of the Sichuan Tang Family manor. As if a storm of war had already swept through it once.
Another enemy? How could that be possible?
On their way to the Sichuan Tang Family, they hadn’t encountered a single hostile force in Tangjia. That alone was enough to give a sense of what might have happened here.
Jang Ilso’s expression twisted slightly.
'Sichuan Tang Family....'
He had assumed that, given their nature, Tang Family would never abandon their territory, but was his judgment wrong?
"Well, we’ll have to check either way."
Jang Ilso jerked his chin forward.
“Open.”
"Yes!"
Kwang!
The main gate that had long protected the historic Sichuan Tang Family was shattered into pieces.
At the sight finally revealed, everyone could only wear expressions of astonishment.
The inside of the manor was devoid of even a single ant. And the pavilions that should have gloriously filled the interior were half-burned and collapsing. It looked as if they would soon be reduced to ash.
“...This is....”
If someone were to see only this scene, they would never believe this place was the renowned Sichuan Tang Family what known throughout Jungwon.
“Hmm.”
While the others struggled for words, Jang Ilso shook his head in disbelief.
“Should I say I’ve been had? To think those lofty Tang Family would tuck their tails and run.”
“....”
"And even setting fire to their own home at that. How anticlimactic."
Jang Ilso chuckled as if genuinely amused. But none of the others dared or could even bring themselves to laugh.
Who could have imagined Tang Family would do something like this?
“This is ridiculous....”
Jeok Ho bit his lips.
Other sects might have done this. But not Tang Family. By their very nature, wasn’t Tang Family a place that could not abandon their estate?
“Search the place!”
A loud voice burst out of Jeok Ho's mouth.
"It might be a deception. They couldn't have abandoned their poisons and smithy and fled. Check where they set the fires and see if any are in hiding! Now!”
"Understood!"
All the disciples except Jang Ilso’s personal Red Hounds guards immediately scattered in all directions.
“Tsk.”
Jang Ilso clicked his tongue.
‘Strange.’
Of course, he was no god. So there was nothing particularly strange about his predictions missing the mark.
But this situation was different. A strange sense of discomfort was churning through Jang Ilso's stomach.
'I don't understand.'
The Sichuan Tang Family acting contrary to his expectations by setting fire to their own home and fleeing? That could happen.
What disturbed Jang Ilso was the sense of 'urgency' visible in the scene before his eyes.
If they had truly resolved to abandon this place, they would have set the fires more thoroughly. They would not have wanted to leave a single thing behind for Evil Tyrant Alliance.
Then what explained the confusion evident throughout these pavilions?
Was it not more like the traces left by people who hadn’t meant to leave but had been forced out?
"Th- There is nothing!"
“All the places that seemed to be their poison storage are completely burned! Every kind of toxin inside has gone up in flames!”
"The, the weapons in the armory are all charred and unusable. It really seems they set fire to the warehouses themselves."
Panicked voices came shouting in from every direction.
Jeok Ho’s face twisted with frustration. But Jang Ilso only smiled. The moment he was about to issue the order to stop this pointless fuss.
“Rye- Ryeonju-nim, there...!”
Jang Ilso's eyes narrowed.
“S- Someone’s there!”
The subordinate delivering the report wore a complicated expression, as if even he had no idea how to explain the situation. Jang Ilso took a step forward.
"Let's take a look."
Kaang!
It wasn't a loud sound.
Kaang!
But the sound spread far and wide beyond the quiet smithy. Feeble as if about to break at any moment, yet firm and far-reaching.
Kaang!
A smithy half-reduced to ash by fire. In the center of the smithy which looked like it would collapse at any moment, an old man was swinging a hammer. In front of a tiny furnace that seemed like an extension of his own body.
The hammer soared into the air suddenly fell back down, came crashing onto the glowing iron atop the anvil.
Kaang!
The old man, gripping the metal with tongs, lifted it close to his face and inspected it carefully. With eyes seemingly hazy yet clear, stifling yet profound.
Kaang!
The old man struck with his hammer again.
As if drawn by the sound, members of Myriad Man Manor began to gather around him one by one, but the old man didn’t so much as glance their way. As if only he and the furnace existed in the world.
It was a strange sight.
It was a sight that made the elites of Myriad Man Manor, who might not be the strongest in the world but could undoubtedly be described as the most vicious, not take action despite having an old man before them who was clearly an enemy.
They too seemed unsure how to deal with the situation and just watched the old man hammer away from a distance.
And then, Jang Ilso opened his mouth while looking at the old man, Tang Jo-pyeong.
"What... is this nonsense?"
His face twisted, as if a crack had formed across it.
|Note
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