Chapter 161: We made a mistake…! (7)

There was nobody starting to start something or speaking nonsense. This mood was one where he would not need to waste his time with useless fights.

Cale recalled that one time he went to the Roan Castle and made the nobles shut their mouths.

"It's been a while since I've had a mood like this."

He subconsciously said that thought out loud.

Of course, Cale didn't notice how the complexions of the martial artists oddly changed as he said that, and approached Elder Ho.

"Elder-nim."

"Y, yes sir!"

Cale nonchalantly asked the extremely tense Elder Ho.

"Who is the leader of the Tang Clan?"

"!"

'The time has come!'

Elder Ho's body became extremely tense.

Whether it was rebellion or uselessness…

Young master Kim was asking the Tang Clan as well as all of the Orthodox faction members in Sichuan. He was someone who was qualified to get an answer to that question.

He was a member of the Imperial family and someone that their merciless Emperor doted upon.

'I should have noticed it from the beginning after seeing that Chief Eunuch Wi was with him.'

The Eastern Depot was famous for being even more insidious and brutal than the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were showing their respects to young master Kim without being able to even stop bowing at him.

Young master Kim Hae-il…

He was someone who had more influence in the Imperial family than Elder Ho had expected.

'It can't be helped.'

Elder Ho turned toward the group from the Tang Clan. Before he could say anything…

"Young master-nim. My name is Tang Yu and I am the matriarch of the Tang Clan."

A woman who seemed to be in her fifties stepped forward.

Poison Empress Tang Yu.

She was wearing a green attire and her skin was slightly green as well.

Her pitch black hair even seemed to look green at times.

'Mm.'

Cale flinched a bit after seeing Tang Yu step forward.

'They called her the living poison dagger?'

The foundations of the Tang Clan's martial arts, poison and hidden weapons.

Tang Yu was extremely well-versed in both aspects, and although it was not at the level of the Pinnacle Demon, she had almost as much poison on her body as well.

People believed that Tang Yu would be an even greater poison expert than the Pinnacle Demon once she reached the Pinnacle Demon's age.

'Mm… Martial artists really are vicious.'

This world was one where a person could not put their guard down because there were all sorts of odd martial arts.

'Did I act out too much?'

Cale's face subconsciously stiffened, thinking that he might have acted too relaxed once he arrived in Sichuan.

He subconsciously looked around.

'I should have brought Ron with me!

If I brought our vicious old man whose viciousness is incomparable to Tang Yu or the Pinnacle Demon! Whether it is poison, assassination, or daggers! I wouldn't have to worry about anything!'

He suddenly felt disappointed.

'If On or Hong were here in such a situation!'

They would at least detect poison well in place of Ron.

'…Wait a minute.'

He suddenly had a thought.

'If this goes well-'

He looked toward the Tang Clan beyond the shoulders of the martial artists. He saw their signboard.

The Sichuan Tang Clan.

His eyes clouded over while looking at that name.

The people who were looking at him while holding their breaths gulped.

This was especially true for Elder Ho, who was completely pale.

'M, my goodness-'

The Tang matriarch had greeted him and young master Kim looked down with a nonchalant gaze and then his face stiffened.

He then looked around before quietly observing the Tang Clan's signboard.

Anybody would be able to tell that he was thinking!

'Whether to erase the Sichuan Tang Clan name or leave it alone. I'm certain that is what he is debating!'

However, Elder Ho could not sneer at that contemplation.

'Young master Kim-nim has the strength to do that.'

The government could easily destroy a couple sects or clans if they wanted to do so.

However, there were almost no instances of the government openly destroying a sect or clan until now.

'If they make the wrong move the entire Martial Arts world might point their blades at the government.'

Fearing the government and finding them to be difficult was different from pointing their blades at the government.

The Triumvirate… Despite pointing their weapons at each other, they were all tied together as the Martial Arts world.

If they felt that the government was pressuring and trying to suppress the Martial Arts world, a faint feeling of solidarity would form to make them avoid the government and hide themselves.

This was the reason that the government did not dare to mess with a sect or clan.

They simply did things to scare them.

'But the situation is different now.'

Young master Kim was using 'rebellion' as a reason and the Blood Cult was going against moral laws with their jiangshis and living jiangshis.

Furthermore, the Imperial family and the Triumvirate were currently sharing a common goal centered around young master Kim.

In such a situation, the Imperial family pressuring and destroying a sect or clan of the Orthodox faction would be seen by the Unorthodox faction and Demon Cult not as an attack on the Martial Arts world but a chance to increase their own strength.

'I need to stop that from happening!'

Elder Ho looked toward the Tang matriarch.

'Make the right judgment!'

Did his desperate prayer work?

Tang Yu bowed her head.

"We did not notice that the Blood Cult has laid down its roots in Sichuan. Although I am lacking, as someone versed in the martial arts, as someone with strength, I should have helped the government maintain the peace of the Central Plains. However, I was only focused on looking forward and had no idea about what was happening in my own hometown. As a citizen of the Emperor born and raised in Sichuan, this hurts me deeply."

'Good!'

Elder Ho clapped internally.

The Tang matriarch chose that they had been useless.

She also spoke in a way to make sure that she placed the Tang Clan beneath the government.

'One more!'

This was the first time that Elder Ho was cheering for the Tang matriarch in his life.

"Furthermore, I wish to apologize for the Tang Clan's slip of the tongue. My deepest apologies, young master-nim."

'Yes, this was great!'

The Tang matriarch was admitting that Tang Ho's words had been nonsensical and apologizing. Furthermore, she did not just blame Tang Ho but said that it was the mistake of the Tang Clan.

She was saying that the punishment for that slip of the tongue would be faced by the entire Tang Clan.

This symbolized the will of the entire Tang Clan.

Elder Ho finally realized that the stiff looks on the faces of the Tang Clan's elders were not because they were scared but because they were ready to accept any and all punishment.

Furthermore, the reason Tang Ho's face was so pale and he was shaking was because the weight of the incident he caused was putting a lot of pressure on him.

'Tang Ho is going to be cast out.'

Matriarch Tang Yu was even colder toward her own flesh and blood.

'All that is left now is young master Kim-nim's decision.'

Elder Ho looked toward young master Kim.

Young master Kim, who had been looking at the signboard, was now looking down at Tang Yu.

"I will see how things go from here."

That was all young master Kim said. He then looked around.

The members of the Emei Sect and the Qingcheng Sect lowered their heads once they made eye contact.

Young master Kim slightly nodded his head as if he was satisfied. He then looked at Tang Yu, who had a slightly brighter look on her face, as he spoke.

"I wish to get some rest."

"I will escort you to your lodging right away, young master-nim."

Elder Ho was relieved as he watched.

'Young master Kim-nim let it go easier than I expected!'

He would see how things go from here.

Those words were scary, but wasn't he saying that he would ignore this mistake if they do a good job from here on?

That alone was enough to be relieved.

The people gathered split to either side to make a path for Cale as he followed behind Tang Yu.

"Young master Kim-nim, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The Qingcheng Sect leader stood next to Cale and greeted him.

"Nice to meet you, young master-nim. My name is So Seon and I am the First Elder of the Emei Sect. Our Sect leader is currently unavailable but should be here tomorrow to make her introduction to you."

The Emei Sect leader was currently not in Sichuan, making First Elder So Seon come as the representative to greet Cale.

The mood became a bit lighter.

Elder Ho was relieved to see young master Kim accepting their greetings without any issues.

'He really is someone who likes peaceful resolutions.'

It was at that moment.

Just as he was about to go past the open gates of the Tang Clan, young master Kim stopped walking and raised his head.

He then looked at the signboard and calmly commented.

"I can feel it after looking at this signboard. I can feel the long history of the Sichuan Tang Clan."

The smile disappeared a bit from his face as he continued to speak.

"I hope that this signboard can continue to stay here for a long time."

Elder Ho gulped.

Although the words that were said were good… Within those words-

'Work hard if you don't want to see this signboard destroyed.'

That was probably the meaning behind those words.

The atmosphere became tense almost instantly.

"Thank you for your kind words, young master-nim."

Tang Yu calmly received young master Kim's words but Elder Ho felt as if the green tint on her face was turning blue.

The Qingcheng Sect leader and the First Elder of the Emei Sect stopped talking.

– Human, I'm hungry!

Cale listened to Raon, who was saying that he was hungry, potentially because he was quite shocked by that Dragon tomb they discovered earlier, and started to speak.

"Would it be possible to eat first to satiate my hunger?"

"Yes, young master-nim. Of course."

Cale smiled with satisfaction at Tang Yu's quick response.

The people around them felt fear after hearing the person who created this tense atmosphere calmly saying and looking at if he was hungry.

They had learned that this person's planning was beyond anything they could imagine.

'This should be enough, right?'

Cale was feeling satisfied as he walked behind Tang Yu.

'I let things go and even praised their signboard.'

The Tang Clan should look favorably toward me, right?

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

'I'll need to find an opportunity to get some poison from them later.'

The Tang Clan was said to have a lot of different poisons thanks to their long history.

The members learned poison arts starting from their childhood, so all of their poisons were well-organized from the weakest poisons to the strongest.

Cale had a thought as soon as he recalled that fact.

'I was debating what to get as a souvenir-

Let's give Hong some poison from the Tang Clan!'

Cale had chosen the souvenir for Hong.

'Since he likes tasting poison, he'll get to taste a lot of different poisons and get stronger as well.'

It was killing two birds with one stone.

Furthermore, the poison in the Central Plains was not available in the Roan Kingdom.

Basically, Hong gaining these poisons would give him an extremely useful weapon.

Hong was quite bad at fighting compared to Raon or On.

Of course, he was very strong when he was with On, but, potentially because of his young age, he was lacking in many aspects.

'Good.'

It would be great for Hong to have more weapons to protect himself thanks to this.

'I'll have to get some poison off the Pinnacle Demon later too.'

Poison from the Unorthodox faction. Poison from the Orthodox faction.

His plan was to have both.

Both sides would probably revolt if he asked for something too strong, so he should be fine as long as he asked for the decent strength poisons that Hong would find useful.

'I should be able to just ask the matriarch later for some decent-strength poisons, right?'

Cale smiled gently and elegantly toward Tang Yu.

While he was doing that, they debated if it was a poison that was making Tang Yu turn so blue.

Later, as Cale finished a peaceful dinner and was having tea with the Tang matriarch…

When it was just the two of them…

"Matriarch-nim."

"Yes, young master-nim."

"Could you please share some poison with me?"

Clack.

The teacup in Tang Yu's hand slightly shook.

"I just need a few decent poisons."

Cale smiled and spoke peacefully as if it was no big deal.

"Would that be too difficult?"

He could see Tang Yu shake her head no without any hesitation.

"Of course not. As much, yes, umm, we can share as much as you want, young master-nim."

She then immediately stood up.

"Young master-nim, I have some matters to attend to so I must make my leave now."

"Yes, ma'am. I was able to relax well thanks to you today."

"…Please rest well, young master-nim."

Cale couldn't help but smile with satisfaction after seeing Tang Yu agree much easier than he had expected.

Tang Yu left young master Kim's lodging extremely quickly and headed toward the Matriarch's residence.

She then immediately gathered the Elders and the heads of each internal organization.

She waited for them to gather at her residence and bit down on her lips.

"Fuck! He just wants some decent poisons?"

Young master Kim was at the Nature Realm. Most poisons were probably useless against him.

She could not fathom how strong a poison he called decent should be.

'I knew that he was not just going to let things go that easily!'

Tang Yu clenched her eyes shut.

That night…

The light remained on in the meeting room within the matriarch's residence.

The leaders of the Tang Clan stayed up all night vigorously debating.

What kind of poison would young master Kim find to be satisfactory?

How much of it would they need to give him?

Once dawn arrived…

Tang Yu spoke while looking as if she had aged quite a bit over night.

"…Let's hand over numbers 1, 7, and 8 of the Nine Kings."

The Nine Kings were called the treasures of the Tang Clan.

They were nine different poisons.

These precious treasures of the clan… They decided to give a portion of three of them to young master Kim.

* * *

"The Tang matriarch wants to see me at dinner time?"

"Yes, Cale-nim."

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han and looked at the staircase heading to the basement.

Ron approached him.

"Young master-nim, we got rid of all of the slate boards and found a frozen lake."

The tomb made of a Dragon's Tear.

The story was true.

Cale looked to his side.

"I'm ready!"

Raon puffed up his chubby stomach.

Cale nodded his head and opened his mouth.

"Let's go."

He then took a step onto the stairs.

– Sniff sniff. The smell is even better now!

He listened to the Sky Eating Water's excited voice as he walked.

—

Translator's Comments

Go Scooby-Doo!

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]