The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 23
Dang Youxuan swept through the clamorous interior of Qinghua Lou without betraying so much as a flicker of unease.
He catalogued who belonged to the establishment and who was merely a patron or prey.
He marked who wielded Internal Energy and who did not.
Then, keeping his gaze fixed on Jin Youshang, he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“No matter what happens, protect the child.”
“Of course.”
It would be a disaster if they ended up with a hostage on their hands while attempting to dismantle Qinghua Lou.
“How many can you handle?”
“If they’re Martial Practitioners, perhaps one. Otherwise, three or so.”
“Good enough.”
The number had grown since his last accounting, but Dang Youxuan paid it no mind.
In a Joint Attack with an opponent you’d never coordinated with, what mattered was knowing precisely how much you could leave to them without risk.
They would each fight in their own way from their own ground, but neither could afford to leave enemies standing.
“I’ll leave this to you, then.”
“Consider it done.”
Dang Youxuan smiled faintly and drove his heel hard into the ground.
Boom!
In a heartbeat, he materialized before Jin Youshang and swept aside the guard stationed at his shoulder.
Gasp!
The force struck just below the sternum with such violence that the guard crumpled in agony.
Without pause, Dang Youxuan pivoted off the recoil, seized the musician to his left by the collar, and drove his knee upward in a vicious strike to the jaw.
Crack!
Mid-flight, he twisted his body and drew his blade.
Shing.
Though he’d relied exclusively on the Hidden Blade until now, the sword settled into his grip as naturally as if he’d never set it down.
Swoosh!
The Sword Energy that erupted the moment the blade left the sheath engulfed those who’d been laughing just moments before about who would die.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Spare me, spare me!”
Dang Youxuan’s lips curved into a crooked smile at their desperate pleas.
Some died because they couldn’t save themselves, their lips sealed even as desperation clawed at their throats. Others begged for mercy with obscene ease.
“There’s no point sparing any of you — you’re all cut from the same cloth anyway.”
He turned his back on the girls frozen like stone by the sudden violence, twisted his body, and slashed diagonally downward.
Half Moon Shattering Slash from the Zhan Yue Sword Technique!
Slash!
The force he’d poured into the blade radiated outward in a perfect semicircle.
The Sword Energy, broad as a wave and honed to lethal sharpness, consumed all those still struggling to comprehend what was happening and those who’d belatedly drawn their weapons.
“Aaaagghhh!”
“Gahhhhh!”
The relentless arc of Sword Energy swept away an enemy to Seonwu Yun’s right.
“Leave this place and find the Yunlong Merchant Guild. Tell them you fled from those attacking Qinghua Lou — they’ll help you.”
“Yes, yes!”
The girls dropped the Pipas and fabric scraps they’d been holding and fled Qinghua Lou.
Bang! Boom!
Dang Youxuan glanced at Seonwu Yun’s fight, then turned his attention elsewhere.
The small fry were handled.
Now his true opponent stood before him: Jin Youshang.
“You dare desecrate my Qinghua Lou!”
Jin Youshang trembled with rage, his sword clutched tight.
The regular patrons, the ronin who’d made names for themselves in Sichuan, the warriors dispatched by Guo Yue Lou—
All of them had fallen to a single slash.
Jin Youshang stared at the carnage he’d never imagined, his brow furrowed in disbelief.
“What in hell is that thing?”
“Nothing much. Just someone here to kill you.”
Whip!
Dang Youxuan rolled his wrist and shook the blood lightly from his blade.
“Tell me — did you enjoy yourself, exploiting the innocent?”
“What?”
“Did it amuse you? Ranging through Sichuan as though it were your personal domain, buying and selling people, extorting wealth, and murdering anyone who displeased you?”
“That’s nonsense! What’s wrong with taking what’s rightfully mine?”
“Ha. Look here.”
Dang Youxuan laughed softly.
“You speak like that knowing who I am?”
……
No one revealed their identity while on a covert operation.
Jin Youshang treated this as a cardinal rule whether deploying rogue agents or dealing with spies sent from other territories.
Yet Dang Youxuan had disclosed his identity far too easily.
It wasn’t foolishness.
It meant he was confident he could win against Jin Youshang even knowing his true self.
“How dare you strut before Jin Youshang, the Jewel Among Thieves! You’ll pay for your arrogance with your life!”
A blade flashed with terrible brightness, aimed at Dang Youxuan.
Yet Dang Youxuan didn’t flinch. Instead, he curled his lip into a sneering smile.
“You think a single epithet makes you grand? You’re nothing but a lackey of the Guo Yue Lou Master.”
“You wretch!”
Jin Youshang swung his blade with fierce violence.
Sword energy cascaded relentlessly, yet without true continuity—appearing neat at first glance but crude upon closer inspection.
In short, it was sloppy.
It was so sloppy that one would never believe this came from a man who, had he received proper training, might have reached Peak Master Rank.
“You’ve never received proper sword instruction, have you?”
“Unlike you, born surrounded by manuals and living in luxury, I grew up on the streets with no fixed form!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Blade met blade.
Through successive collisions, neither gave ground.
“Having no fixed form isn’t the same as never having learned one.”
And that was surely Guo Hua’s intention.
To keep him beneath her heel, she needed him weaker in martial prowess.
Cut down the promising sapling before it bears fruit.
But Jin Youshang, unaware of this, lashed out when his pride was pricked.
“What do you know! Do you know what it’s like to eat dirt when there’s no food, to hold a stick when you’re denied learning, to grip a blade just to survive?”
“Perhaps not.”
But he wanted to ask this man the same.
Have you ever lived a moment where even sleep was a luxury?
Have you ever endured a hell where closing your eyes brings the dead crawling toward you, and opening them means the living try to kill you?
Just as one person knows nothing of scraping grass roots to barely eat in poverty, another doesn’t understand living in a place where death itself is rest, yet cannot die—so what meaning is there in debating whose suffering was greater?
“Even if you don’t know, clinging only to your own position is no different from locking yourself in a cage.”
Dang Youxuan tilted his brow sharply.
“Yet you haven’t only imprisoned yourself—you force this cage upon others.”
Then he lowered his blade deliberately, making sure his expression was clear.
“Pitiful. You don’t even understand what you’re doing wrong.”
The moment his pride was touched, Jin Youshang’s face twisted grotesquely.
“Dang Youxuan! I won’t spare you!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Blade energy tore across from both sides.
Dang Youxuan twisted his body and drew his blade horizontally.
Zhan Yue Sword Technique—Full Moon Slaughter Slash!
Teal-green sword energy radiated outward in a perfect circle, sweeping through Jin Youshang’s attack and passing beyond.
The moment his assault crumbled, Jin Youshang forgot all technique and swung wildly.
Blinded by rage, he looked no longer like a martial practitioner.
“I’m wrong? Who says such a thing!”
“I do. I who know how Qinghua Lou treats those with talent.”
“Securing talents is my right as Lou Master. I’m proud of what I’ve done!”
“You’re proud of buying and selling people?”
Dang Youxuan drove his blade into the ground as he spoke.
“A foolish question. I’m not selling—I’m allocating them to suitable places. Shouldn’t they be grateful to me? For a man like myself to put them where they can be properly used—”
Crack!
A fist drove deep into the mouth opened wide by his own arrogance.
Teeth shattered, the jawbone cracked, and the skin around his mouth tore raw.
“I…?”
Jin Youshang stared dumbly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
The fist’s owner was not Dang Youxuan.
It was Seonwu Yun.
“Shut your mouth!”
Only Dang Youxuan knew when Seonwu Yun had drawn close and which moment he’d chosen to strike.
That’s why he’d batted the attack downward.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
A crackling sound erupted.
Fire bloomed between his fingers, and Jin Youshang’s skin burned.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
A horrible scream tore through the air.
Seonwu Yun’s fury was far from spent; he drove punch after punch into Jin Youshang’s face.
Despite the considerable difference in build, Jin Youshang couldn’t mount a proper defense, held by the scruff of the neck.
Thud! Thud!
Charred by the Fire Technique, grotesquely swollen, blood smeared everywhere—his face had become unrecognizable before Seonwu Yun finally rose to his feet.
Dang Youxuan waited for Seonwu Yun to calm, then asked quietly.
“Is it finished?”
“…Yes.”
As Dang Youxuan bent to check Jin Youshang’s condition, Seonwu Yun released his grip on the neck.
Thump.
The body fell limp, not even a breath escaping from it.
“He’s dead.”
“So it would seem.”
“And now we’re dead men too.”
“I don’t see why you’d think that.”
“It’s because you don’t know the Guo Yue Lou, sir. Yue Lan Yao Xi torments anyone who touches what belongs to her.”
“Tch. This is precisely why people ought to talk things through.”
Dang Youxuan clicked his tongue and picked up a clean cloth, draping it over Jeong So-hui’s head.
Once they brought her to the Yunlong Merchant Guild, the Dang Clan would see to her protection.
“First, we ensure the safety of the innocent.”
Dang Youxuan jerked his chin toward the window—a gesture for them to follow.
“Now let’s have ourselves a proper conversation.”
Sichuan Dang Clan: A Genius Reborn
Author |
Lee Il-young
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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7F Gwangsung Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260615052
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
The contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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