Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1437: Yes, Remember This. (2)
Previously on Return of the Mount Hua Sect...
“We… we’re alive…?”
Tang Sang-Su, the Tang Family’s commander who had somehow led his household members away, muttered blankly as he stared at the withdrawing Ten Thousand People Clan.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, it was hard to believe.
The Southern Edge Sect vanguard had arrived, and Mount Hua’s Sword Saint appeared soon after, but the number of Ten Thousand People Clan warriors who had stormed this place had been overwhelmingly large. If Jang Ilso had so wished, he could easily have annihilated everyone here.
But unexpectedly, Jang Ilso retreated all too readily. He withdrew so cleanly that one wondered whether it had been necessary to chase after the Sichuan Tang Family at all.
They lived. Yes, they were alive now.
‘How?’
The development was so different from expectations. Even though it was a situation to be thankful for, questions came before relief. But what happened next inevitably answered Tang Sang-su’s doubts.
“Co-commander! Over there! Over there!”
At someone’s shout, he snapped his head up.
“Ah…”
His eyes widened. A group was rushing up, raising a huge dust cloud over the parched earth. The moment he saw a familiar figure at the head, a cry choked with tears burst from Tang Sang-su’s mouth.
“Fa-Family Lord!”
The Poison King, Tang Gunak. He was charging toward them, leading the elite who had briefly left the Tang Family. He was even with Mount Hua’s swordsmen.
“Th-there’s more coming too.”
Tang Sang-Su’s gaze turned north this time. Another group of warriors was approaching there. The Southern Edge Sect vanguard reacted at the sight. They had to be Southern Edge Sect’s swordsmen.
“It must be Southern Edge Sect! Southern Edge Sect!”
Strangely, Mount Hua, the Tang Family, and Southern Edge Sect had arrived at nearly the same time as if on cue.
“Ah…”
Only then did Tang Sang-Su understand why Jang Ilso had withdrawn without hesitation. No matter how many Ten Thousand People Clan warriors he led into Sichuan, he could not have handled all three sects, Mount Hua, Southern Edge Sect, and the Tang Family, at once.
Thud.
Only then did strength drain from Tang Sang-Su’s legs. In any case, they had escaped the dreadful grasp of the Ten Thousand People Clan.
“Commander!”
“Fa-Family Lord! Over here, over here!”
At Tang Gunak’s shout, Tang Sang-Su hurriedly rose and called out. Tang Gunak, having spotted him, surged forward as if folding the earth beneath his feet.
Boom!
Tang Gunak’s expression twisted slightly as he came to a halt.
“Fa-Family Lord.”
He had seen the numerous corpses around them: elders who had sacrificed themselves to stop the Ten Thousand People Clan, craftsmen who had died screaming beneath the Clan’s savage hands.
Even the lucky survivors were in terrible shape. Children wailed as if their breath would leave them, and exhausted women had no strength even to move a finger yet strained to soothe those children.
It was gruesome and miserable.
Annihilation had been avoided, but it was hardly a minor loss. Who could have imagined the Tang Family in such a state?
“I’m sorry, Family Lord.”
Tears burst from Tang Sang-Su’s eyes. If he had been a bit wiser, if his decision had been a bit quicker, those people might not have died. Facing the corpses of those people while standing alive before the Family Head, what could he possibly say?
“My foolishness couldn’t stop my family people from dying! I—because I was foolish, the Tang Family burned, the workshop and Poison Vault collapsed. My decision was late, and we lost everything…!”
Tang Sang-Su burst into sobs, his whole body trembling as he shouted.
“Please kill me, kill me! Family Lord, me…”
Grasp.
At that moment Tang Gunak gripped Tang Sang-su’s shoulder tightly, as if to steady his trembling body.
“Don’t say that.”
“…Family Lord.”
“But people lived, did they not? That’s enough. Not even a hidden poison technique is more important than people.”
“…”
“You’ve all suffered so much.”
At Tang Gunak’s words, Tang Sang-su broke down and collapsed, wailing. Tang Gunak looked down at his back and bit his lip.
“Check the wounded and the exhausted and tend to them! Now!”
“Yes, Family Lord!”
The Tang Family warriors, faces tight with anger, ground their teeth and answered in unison before scattering.
“Hak!”
“Mother! Mother, where are you!”
“Injured, come here! No, I’ll come to you. Just raise your hand!”
Tang Gunak turned his head, watching his subordinates shed their warrior faces and return to being fathers and children. His gaze caught on someone’s back sitting alone ahead.
It was Chung Myung, slumped with not even the strength to move a finger. Tang Gunak let out a deep sigh and approached him.
“Jang Ilso?”
“He’s gone.”
Chung Myung spoke without even looking up.
“He smirked like he was something special, then pulled his butt out without regret.”
Tang Gunak’s heavy brows twitched; he could imagine the expression Jang Ilso had worn. But he quickly erased the emotion and said shortly.
“You’ve suffered.”
“…What do you mean?”
Chung Myung snapped his head around to look at Tang Gunak. The chill in his eyes surprised Tang Gunak, who hardened his expression.
“All those who were going to die are already dead—what suffering are you talking about? Had we arrived a bit earlier, some of them wouldn’t have died.”
“Even if you mean it that way, we those could have come choose not to they would all be dead—yet they live now.”
“If I had been a little stronger.”
“…”
“If Mount Hua had been a bit stronger, these people wouldn’t have died. If I’d judged more wisely, been a bit colder.”
Tang Gunak unconsciously closed his eyes tightly.
It was Tang Gunak who felt the most pained at the deaths of his household. But it seemed Chung Myung bore an even greater sense of responsibility. Tang Gunak opened his eyes and spoke.
“You…”
At that moment, a ripping shout tore through the air.
“Fa-Family Lord! Over here—Elder Tang Wei!”
Tang Gunak’s head snapped around. The one who shouted was a Tang Pae, checking whether any elders had survived.
Tang Gunak slammed his foot into the ground and bolted there. He seized Tang Wei from the Tang Pae’s arms as if snatching him up.
“How is he?”
There was no answer. Tang Gunak bit his lip slightly. No, an answer wasn’t needed—the moment he touched Tang Wei’s body, he had felt it.
“Elder…”
Tang Gunak looked down at Tang Wei. The elder’s dantian had been destroyed, he was poisoned, and both arms were cut off. Even if Great Immortal Dara came, he could not be saved.
Tang Wei’s unfocused eyes flickered. He seemed to recognize Tang Gunak and flinched, his lips faintly moving. Understanding the meaning of that motion, Tang Gunak bit his lip again.
“Yes.”
Tang Gunak took saliva from his chest and pressed it into Tang Wei’s body. This would restore some strength for a moment, but Tang Wei would meet death sooner than expected, like a candle flaring brighter just before it dies.
“Fa-Family Lord…”
“Yes. Speak, Great elder.”
Tang Gunak had not liked Tang Wei. In fact, he’d once hated him. But in this moment, what use were those old feelings? They melted away like snow. How could he hold the same hatred for an old man who had been reduced to this trying to protect his family?
“…I’m sorry.”
The first words that came from Tang Wei, whose face had regained some color, were those. Tang Gunak’s face hardened at the unexpected apology.
“G-great elder…”
“I… I was too foolish…”
Tang Gunak’s hand, gripping the thin body of Tang Wei, trembled. Tang Wei’s face was soaked in desolate regret.
“I was foolish… I leave the Family Lord with such a great… burden.”
“Don’t say that! Great elder, I…”
A milky tear collected in Tang Wei’s eyes.
“Fa-Family Lord.”
Tang Gunak tightened his grip on Tang Wei’s hand.
“I’m listening.”
“The Tang Family… the Tang Family has lost too much… It will be hard to be as before. It cannot become what it was. So, Family Lord…”
“Yes.”
“Ignore formalities… follow the Family Lord’s will. That is what is best for the family.”
“Great elder…”
“In the end… it would have come to this…”
Tang Wei, looking at Tang Gunak, turned his gaze with difficulty. He saw the family members looking on with worry. They too must have been exhausted, yet they still worried about him.
‘The Tang Family is here.’
The true Tang Family was not inside the guarded pavilion.
Suddenly, Tang Gunak saw a man walking toward him. Not familiar in the usual sense, but impossible to forget.
‘Mount Hua’s Sword Saint…’
He ought to have hated him. But he did not.
Instead, in this moment he felt glad—the man was standing by Tang Gunak’s side. The words he had said stayed clearly in his memory.
Someone like him was precisely what the Tang Family needed now.
“Family Lord… please… take care of them… of them…”
“G-great elder!”
Tang Wei’s head slowly drooped. His whole body went limp. Now only rapid cooling remained.
Tang Gunak looked down at Tang Wei and closed his eyes. His solid shoulders trembled faintly.
But only for a moment. After carefully laying Tang Wei on the ground, Tang Gunak straightened up. He was the Tang Family’s Family Lord. He had neither the right to drown in grief nor the luxury to suffer.
“…Gather the elders’ bodies.”
“Yes, Family Lord.”
A Tang Pae nodded, voice faint with sobs.
They were not merely elders.
The Tang Family was connected by blood. Those who died here were someone’s fathers, someone’s grandfathers, someone’s irreplaceable brothers, someone’s pillars.
“Family Lord…”
Hyun Jong approached Tang Gunak cautiously, unsure how to offer comfort. Tang Gunak merely shook his head in silence.
“It is not just a time for sorrow, Alliance Leader.”
“…”
“Rather, it is something to be glad about. You have reunited those we thought we’d never see again. It’s all thanks to you, Alliance Leader. Thank you, as Family Lord of the Sichuan Tang Family.”
“Don’t say that. I feel sorry towards this.”
Tang Gunak bowed deeply to Hyun Jong and slowly turned his body.
His gaze fell on those who had arrived a while ago but had not yet spoken.
“Besides, we should first thank them over there.”
Hyun Jong followed Tang Gunak’s gaze and nodded gravely.
Southern Edge Sect.
If they hadn’t arrived before the Heavenly Friends Alliance, the survivors would have been less than half of what they were now.
Tang Gunak approached where Southern Edge Sect’s swordsmen were arrayed. A man standing at their center stepped forward as if to greet him.
The Worldly Sword, Jong Ri-Gok.
He was the sect leader of Southern Edge Sect, the very man entangled in a bitter feud with Mount Hua.
“Tang Gunak of the Sichuan Tang Family pays respects to the sect leader.”
“Jong Ri-Gok of Southern Edge Sect pays respects to the Family Head of the Great Sichuan Tang Family.”
The two men bowed deeply to each other. At the same time, a subtle tension began to ripple outward.
