Chapter 1421: Is This The Sichuan Tang Family? (1)

A bolt of fire struck the Tang Family.

“Where are the thunder cannons!”

“Th-the thunder cannons are forbidden armaments, aren’t they? They can’t be taken out without the family lord’s order!”

“Do you plan to keep spouting that when the Tang Family becomes a sea of fire? Open them at once!”

“Ah, understood!”

The sealed doors of the Forbidden Armory opened. Craftsmen of the Tang Family who had devoted their lives to creating the finest hidden weapons.

Even those craftsmen had forbidden some devices because their power was too terrible; after decades those hidden weapons now revealed themselves to a world flooded with light.

“Open the Heavenly Poison Vault as well!”

“E-Elder. The Heavenly Poison Vault is…”

“Do you want to die by my hand?”

The door to the poison vault, the most important poison repository in the Tang Family, which could not be opened without the family lord’s permission, was flung wide.

People whose eyes burned with icy resolve rushed into the vault without hesitation and stuffed vials containing the Tang Family’s potions into their sleeves.

Tang Byeok watched and nodded gravely.

There is no one here capable of fighting properly now. In such circumstances, facing the Four Sects Alliance would be nothing but a futile struggle if this were an ordinary sect.

‘But we are the Tang Family.’

They could fight because they were the Tang Family. Weapons capable of killing unrivaled masters, even if wielded by women unfamiliar with martial arts. The Tang Family had dedicated itself to crafting such arms.

“Elders, check that the formations have no faults! Not an inch of error is allowed!”

“Understood!”

On Tang Byeok’s command, the Elders ran through the clan, checking that the defensive formations throughout the Tang Family would activate properly against invaders.

“All who can fight, step forward! No—those who cannot fight, come as well! This is a battle to defend the Tang Family. If the Tang Family ceases to exist, neither will you exist. Use your lives to protect the Tang Family!”

At Tang Byeok’s hoarse cry, everyone bearing the Tang surname rushed out.

Those who had spent their lives in dark rooms tending poisons, those whose gait was warped by the side effects of research, and even women surnamed Tang who had never been acknowledged as true Tang Family members—each wetted their sleeves with poison and gripped the cold hidden weapons.

The same was true for craftsmen who had never put down their hammers.

“W-what on earth is going on?”

An older man spat out the answer to a young craftsman’s question.

“The Four Sects Alliance is attacking.”

“T-the Four Sects Alliance? At a time like this?”

There is no family lord. There are no fighters. And of all times, the Four Sects Alliance attacks now?

“Qingcheng and Emei have already been struck. Next is our turn.”

“Us…”

The young craftsman’s face drained of color.

“T-then shouldn’t we flee? How can we possibly handle those who even Qingcheng and Emei couldn’t?”

“Where would we run to?”

“…What?”

One of the elders clicked his tongue and spoke.

“You might live if you run. But this place will be gone—the workshops of the Tang Family we’ve devoted our lives to.”

The young craftsman turned blankly to look back. The vast workshop came into view.

“Do you think we can rebuild this workshop once it’s destroyed?”

“That…”

This workshop contains all the Tang Family techniques that no other workshop can imitate. Rebuild it from the ground up?

“…It would be difficult.”

“Indeed.”

As craftsmen they understood how arduous it would be to rebuild a workshop that condensed centuries of Tang Family craftsmanship.

Some things they didn’t even know how to recreate. The techniques might survive, and relics remain in use, but some materials can no longer be obtained.

How could they possibly rebuild this workshop?

If this workshop falls, the Tang Family falls. The legacy of their ancestors who devoted their lives to these workshops would be reduced to ashes.

Can they accept that? Allow it to happen?

“You may flee.”

“What?”

“Young ones like you should live. But we’ve lived our lives. We cannot watch these workshops be destroyed with open eyes. We’d rather die.”

An elder reached out and grabbed a sword that hung as decoration in the workshop.

Clang!

A sharp gleam spilled from the drawn blade. It was clearly no ordinary sword. The craftsman who stared at it nodded gravely.

“We must fight. Even if it’s in vain, we must fight. That is the duty of those with the Tang surname.”

“…”

“Our ancestors fought like that to protect the Tang Family. Now it’s our turn.”

The young craftsman bit his lip at those seemingly matter-of-fact words.

“Where would I go?”

“Hmm?”

“I am a Tang Family craftsman too! And even swinging a sword, wouldn’t a younger man like me do better than the elders? They’re down to using only small hammers now.”

“Haha. Such a fellow.”

The young craftsman reached out and grabbed the bundle of finished flying needles he had just made.

“We must fight. If it’s to protect this workshop, we must fight. This is the Tang Family—this workshop is the Tang Family. Where would a Tang person go? A Tang person must be with the Tang Family.”

The older craftsmen looked warmly at the young man whose resolve hardened.

“Yes. That’s how a Tang Family person lives.”

“Shall we go? That way?”

“You go first. We’ll follow soon.”

“Yes!”

As the young craftsmen poured out of the workshop, one craftsman who had watched them rose and walked toward the deepest part of the workshop.

Clang!

Clang!

The steady ringing of small hammers.

What had sounded faint as if about to stop grew louder. The craftsman bowed his head to an old man hammering at a small forge in the innermost workshop.

“Divine Hand, elder.”

Clang!

The softly spoken name was swallowed by the hammer’s blows.

“Divine Hand, elder.”

He called again, but the hammering did not stop. The craftsman watched the old man and spoke again.

“Grandfather.”

Only then did the hammer’s blows soften slightly.

“We will fight to protect the workshop. Grandfather, you should withdraw your body…”

Clang!

The hammer’s blows rose again and the craftsman fell silent—the small hammer striking the heated metal, sending up red sparks.

The craftsman watching the old man quietly nodded slowly.

The old man’s eyes lacked focus. Their blur made one doubt whether he even knew what he was doing.

Where would such a man go? Even if his mind were clear, he would not leave the workshop—everything he had devoted his life to was here.

This old man was the very soul of the Tang Family. Shouldn’t he be where he rightfully belongs?

“Do as you wish, grandfather.”

The deeply bowing craftsman turned away.

After the craftsman left, the lone old man turned the iron he had lifted with tongs and shoved it into the forge. Sparks flew up into the air.

The old man’s blurred eyes—Tang Jo-Pyeong’s—stared vacantly at the blazing forge.

“…”

‘Grandfather.’

Words the Dark Saint once said to him, while stroking his head.

Tang Jo-Pyeong gripped the tongs and pulled the heated iron from the forge.

‘Did I promise I would?’

He couldn’t recall clearly. The only memory was that the hand that stroked his head had been warm.

So what did Tang Jo-Pyeong do?

Had he upheld his grandfather’s admonitions? Or had he become the very sort his grandfather despised?

Clang.

The small hammer struck the glowing iron.

Melt, heat, cool, strike.

All those processes eliminate the extraneous, leaving only the pure and proper; what remains is then made even stronger by human hands.

That is the Tang Family craftsman. What he has done his whole life.

Clang!

The small hammer strikes the heated iron.

Clang!

The hammer that had been striking without pause slowly lowered. Tang Jo-Pyeong, lowering the hammer weakly, raised his blurry gaze.

The Tang Family workshop.

Everything of his bore the imprint of his hands.

Tang Jo-Pyeong, who had silently guarded the workshop, took up the hammer again.

Clang!

The regular hammering echoed—yet strangely it felt as if it might stop at any moment, softly and repeatedly.

“All Tang Family members are preparing to resist the forces under the orders of the elder.”

Tang Wei nodded slowly. Tang Byeok glanced at him and spoke.

“Former lord, once you finish this, restoration of your original position won’t be impossible. Even if the family lord opposes, the entire clan will support you.”

Tang Wei had lost martial authority. Normally, regaining his former position would be impossible. But the situation was different. If Tang Wei could lead the remaining people to repel the Four Sects Alliance, his loss of authority would be irrelevant.

Then reestablishing the Council of Elders would not be just a dream…

“Former lord.”

“…Yes?”

Tang Wei’s sudden voice made Tang Byeok look at him.

“Do not call me Former lord. I am not the former lord.”

“…Yes, Great Elder.”

“If by luck we can repel them, I will retreat again to the Tang Family’s inner rooms.”

Tang Byeok opened his eyes wide.

“W-what do you mean? Great Elder! You are saving the Tang Family.”

“Do you think I am doing this for mere power?”

A sharp expression passed over Tang Wei’s face.

“Power? It’s important. But more important is the Tang Family. Even that power comes from the Tang Family. My dislike of the family lord was only because I thought he wasn’t fit to lead the Tang Family, not to satisfy my own desire.”

“Great Elder…”

“To /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ protect the Tang Family even at the cost of my life, even at the cost of others’ lives. That’s all I intend. The rest is not for an old man like me. Even if I doubt them, I must accept it now.”

Tang Wei closed his eyes slightly.

He still did not like Tang Gunak—indeed, he might regard him more as an enemy. But such personal relations were trivial; before the name Sichuan Tang Family, they meant nothing.

“We must protect it. We must protect it somehow. I am a Tang person. That is the duty and belief of one who has lived with the Tang surname all his life.”

“…I understand what you mean, Great Elder.”

It was at that moment.

“Elder! A dispatch from the Family Lord!”

“What?”

Tang Byeok snapped his head around.

“It’s addressed to the general first… but this…”

“Bring it here! At once!”

“Yes! Here!”

The runner burst in and produced a green-lettered dispatch from his bosom.

“Give it here.”

Tang Wei stopped Tang Byeok from reaching, grabbed the dispatch himself, tore the seal, and as he read the paper his head slowly shook.

“May I ask what it says?”

Tang Wei chuckled and showed the dispatch to Tang Byeok.

“The family head orders you to abandon the family house and flee.”

“…What?”

Tang Byeok looked at Tang Wei in disbelief.

“The family lord is still weak. This is why I cannot rest easy.”

Tang Wei held the dispatch over a lamp. The paper caught fire and burned away blackly and slowly.

“To send word to the Four Seas Merchant Guild in the meantime… What does the family head think he is?”

Shaking his head, Tang Wei gently put the burning dispatch down. The paper bearing the family lord’s order turned to ash in an instant.

“The enemies will arrive soon, so finish preparations. Today will be a long day.”

“Understood, Great Elder.”

As Tang Byeok bowed and left, Tang Wei coughed and sat on the edge of his bed.

‘…Tang Family.’

He would not let the Tang Family fall.

Even if he remained a failure, he would be the Tang Family’s failure. That was Tang Wei’s final resolve after a lifetime spent for the Sichuan Tang Family.

‘Ancestors, watch over us.’

He would be a Tang Family member until his dying moment. That would never change.