Chapter 352

They’re coming.

The Green Shadow Squad martial artist had blurted out a disjointed sentence.

But insight struck Tang Sadok like a flash of lightning. It gave form to the small unease he had harbored in his heart, and it was the conclusion drawn from all the experience he had accumulated over the years.

The murderer isn’t alone!

The one-armed man who had killed his father and the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun was coming to the Sichuan Tang Clan with his subordinates.

Where the true mastermind was, how many men they had, and how they had been able to move through Sichuan as freely as if it were their own front yard—all of that was irrelevant.

The next moment, a voice like a thunderbolt burst from Tang Sadok’s lips.

“One Origin, Three Divisions, and Five Squads—prepare to meet the enemy!”

Rumble!

The pavilion trembled beneath the enormous shout, laden with powerful internal energy.

The disturbance had occurred in none other than the Family Head’s Hall. The first to react were Tang Sadok’s guards surrounding the pavilion.

“Family Head!”

Bang!

By the time the guards burst inside, smashing through the pavilion doors, the clan members who had heard Tang Sadok’s shout were already spreading his orders throughout the family compound.

Before fifteen minutes had passed, hundreds of Tang Family members, bound together by venomous resolve and resentment, would gather.

And then…

I’ll show you. I’ll show you what the Tang Family’s revenge looks like.

Despite the fury boiling in his chest, Tang Sadok’s eyes had grown as cold as the northern wind and bitter snow.

“Family Head, what in the world is—”

“The men who deserve to die are coming. That is all.”

He waved away the bewildered guards, then fixed his gaze on the Green Shadow Squad martial artist.

The martial uniform, torn to shreds and soaked in blood, bore unmistakable traces of battle.

“What happened? Report everything you saw and heard without leaving anything out.”

Only then did the Green Shadow Squad martial artist catch his breath and speak in an exhausted voice.

“It began when we discovered a suspicious group while searching the area around the Golden Hall.”

“A suspicious group?”

“Yes.”

“The Golden Hall is only half a day from the clan at most. The Beggars’ Sect and the government troops already completed all their inspections. How could—”

Tang Sadok suddenly stopped speaking. His gaze sank.

“…The government troops. It was the government troops.”

The Green Shadow Squad martial artist stared at the Family Head with wide eyes, then nodded.

“Y-yes! They were definitely dressed in the uniforms of government troops.”

“A disguise.”

Tap. Tap.

Tang Sadok drummed his bony fingers against the table.

They had been thoroughly caught off guard.

The Beggars’ Sect and the government troops had confirmed Chengdu’s safety several times already, and it had been only two days since they expanded their search area.

The enemy had entered Chengdu through the gap left when the net loosened.

It couldn’t have been very difficult.

The elite were always deployed to the front lines. Among the Beggars’ Sect and the government troops, those with experience and sharp eyes had already left Chengdu.

Besides, wasn’t this after several thousand government troops had spent nearly ten days roaming around Chengdu? Anyone wearing their uniforms could have blended in naturally.

“How many were there?”

“Perhaps to avoid suspicion, they were moving in several groups. But from what we were able to determine, there seemed to be at least three hundred of them.”

“Three hundred?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion had been listening to the report with an anxious expression. Now he spoke in a triumphant tone.

“Three hundred? That’s all? They must be desperate to die. Isn’t that right, Uncle?”

“…”

“More than three hundred martial artists from our family alone can be deployed immediately. And that isn’t all. Isn’t this exactly why we built an impregnable fortress? They won’t even be able to climb the walls before dying to our poison and hidden weapons.”

Tang Sadok’s closed lips parted.

“Shut up.”

“Pardon?”

“I said shut up.”

“U-Uncle, why are you acting like this? It’s only three hundred. With that many, we could wipe them out in the blink of an eye…”

“Only three hundred?”

The fingers that had been drumming against the table stopped abruptly.

Tang Sadok looked at his only nephew with utter contempt.

“You haven’t forgotten the Gyeongwol Year Bloodbath, have you?”

“…How could I forget?”

The Gyeongwol Year Bloodbath was practically a taboo subject within the Tang Clan.

Fifty years ago, it had been the humiliating day when the Sichuan Tang Clan was forced to abandon the home it had occupied for centuries and flee.

That day, Tang Sadok had lost his only older brother, while the Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion had lost his father before he was even born.

“But things are different now!”

Tang Sadok answered the Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion’s impassioned shout in a cold voice.

“Yes. Exactly what is so different?”

“The Demonic Cult’s army numbered two thousand, while our family had only three hundred martial artists!”

“So far, you’re more or less correct. Go on.”

“Although we were defeated and forced to retreat, the Demonic Cult suffered enormous losses of more than a third of its forces, while our family suffered only a little over a hundred casualties.”

“That is also true. The damage it suffered delayed the Demonic Cult’s conquest of Sichuan. Our family lost its home, but gained even greater fame in exchange.”

“Then why?”

Bang!

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion slammed his fist down, denting the iron table. He stared at his uncle with blazing eyes and continued.

“Why are you afraid of a mere three hundred enemies? Fifty years ago, even the Demonic Cult’s vicious criminals—several times more numerous than this—had to spill countless rivers of blood just to overcome our family!”

His ringing shout shook the air inside the pavilion.

Tang Sadok’s answer to his furious nephew was short and simple.

“So? Is that all?”

“…What?”

“You pathetic fool.”

As the Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion’s eyes wavered, Tang Sadok let out a sigh.

“The Gyeongwol Year Bloodbath is a humiliating part of our history that must never be forgotten. But it is also a memory of how our family proved its strength to the world.”

“Y-yes. That is why martial artists throughout the world still praise our family’s martial might and righteous spirit.”

“Ha… hahahaha!”

Ignorance had become a disease at this point. Looking at his nephew, who still failed to understand, Tang Sadok gave a hollow laugh.

“Yes. The entire world knows that fact. Do you think they don’t?”

“……!”

“After the Great Faction War, our family built an impregnable fortress that no one could overcome. We increased the number of our clan members and armed them thoroughly. Is there anyone under heaven who doesn’t know this? I’m asking whether there is anyone who doesn’t know the strength and determination our family displayed during the Gyeongwol Year Bloodbath!”

Under the storm and thunder crashing down on him, the Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion’s face had turned pale.

Only now did he understand that the three hundred enemies invading the Sichuan Tang Clan were not men anyone could dismiss as only three hundred.

By contrast, the old and experienced Family Head’s judgment was swift and decisive.

“Sound the Tang War Drum.”

A stir passed through the guards, who had been frozen like stone at the Family Head’s command.

“Y-you mean the Tang War Drum?”

“Give poison and hidden weapons to everyone, regardless of age or sex. Retired elders, craftsmen who have never learned martial arts, and women are no exception. Our family will commit every last ounce of its strength to this battle.”

“A-as you command!”

The guards’ complexions changed at the blade-sharp command, and they hurried into motion.

A short while later, when the Tang War Drum’s thunder rolled throughout the Sichuan Tang Clan, everyone would know.

Their family stood on the brink of destruction.

And the person who felt the greatest sense of danger among them all was Tang Sadok.

This is dangerous.

The experience and instincts he had accumulated while leading the family whispered to him.

Perhaps a mountain of corpses and sea of blood greater than the one on that day in Gyeongwol awaited the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Then, the sound announcing the beginning of everything rang out.

Boom. Boom. Boom!

The majestic sound made anyone who heard it feel their heart pound violently. The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion muttered,

“So this is the Tang Clan drum…”

The Tang Clan drum had last sounded before he was born. It was the first time he had ever heard it, and he could not hide his agitation when—

“They’ve taken the first move.”

“U-Uncle?”

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion hurriedly turned his head and saw Tang Sadok’s eyes, sunk into bottomless depths.

At the same time, several gray-flecked figures entered the pavilion with swift movement techniques.

“Family Head!”

“It’s the enemy! They’re coming while beating a war drum!”

“They’re attacking us, yet they’re beating a war drum. What incredible bastards. Truly incredible.”

Tang Sadok let out a hearty laugh.

The ten people staring at him were filled with disbelief.

“This is no time to laugh!”

“Family Head, please give us your orders!”

They varied in appearance. Among them were a young man who looked to be in his thirties, a graying middle-aged man, and an old man around Tang Sadok’s age.

But regardless of age, each of them had proven their martial strength among the hundreds of members of the clan.

That was why Tang Sadok had given them another name.

“The Tang Clan’s Ten Wonders. You arrived right on time. I was just waiting for you.”

“Family Head, what in the world is going on? We should be attacking them immediately—”

“Well, you can ask that friend over there for the details.”

The gazes of the Tang Clan’s Ten Wonders followed Tang Sadok’s.

The Green Shadow Squad martial artist swallowed nervously under the scrutiny of so many powerful figures.

“I-I’ll tell you anything I know!”

“That is welcome news. Then let this old man ask you…”

Tang Sadok continued in a gentle voice.

“Weren’t you one-armed?”

“……!”

“……!”

At that moment, it was as if time had stopped.

The majestic sound of the Tang War Drum, which had finally begun to thunder. The frantic movements and shouts of the clan members.

Unlike the time outside, which continued to flow unchanged, everything inside the pavilion had come to a complete halt.

Amid the silence and shock, only one person moved backward through time.

Crack. Crrrck.

Bones lengthened and shortened. Muscles swelled.

As the blood-soaked uniform tore apart, the two characters meaning Tang Family, embroidered across his chest, split in half.

The Green Shadow Squad martial artist slowly rose to his feet.

He was no longer a young man in his twenties. And he was no longer a member of the Green Shadow Squad.

“You have sharp eyes. The Poison King raised his son well.”

The middle-aged man smiled faintly and rubbed his left arm. The color of his skin differed subtly around the elbow, as if the arm had been removed and attached again.

“And to answer your question… I honestly don’t know either. Let’s just conveniently call it demonic martial arts.”

A green light flickered in Tang Sadok’s eyes as he stared at the middle-aged man.

“So it was you. You were the one who harmed my father.”

“Poison King Tang Taesang. He lived up to his reputation. I was honestly impressed. I lost one arm then, too.”

The middle-aged man clenched and opened his left fist, deliberately furrowing his brow.

“The sensation isn’t quite what it used to be. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to return to the way I was…”

“Do not worry. This old man will personally cut off your head and make sure you never have to think about it again.”

“We’ll lend a hand as well.”

Rumble!

The enormous qi pressure flowing from Tang Sadok and the Tang Clan’s Ten Wonders shook the pavilion.

Yet even in the face of deadly poison capable of killing a person with a single breath, the middle-aged man— the Western Heaven Demon Lord—smiled calmly.

“If you can, by all means.”

Roar!