The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 65

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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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Chapter 65
On the platform where the Orthodox Faction’s leaders sat.
All those watching the martial match could not contain their amazement.
“Truly remarkable. It exceeds what we heard.”
“A sword art whose paths cannot be discerned—I myself nearly lost sight of the movements in an instant.”
“This child will become something great indeed.”
The days of underestimating Dang Youxuan’s abilities were behind them now.
Currently, his martial prowess had no equal among those of his generation.
Even accounting for differences in school ranking, the gap would hold true.
“Heh heh. My congratulations, Patriarch.”
“Thank you.”
Though Dang Gangheon answered with composure, his palms had begun to sweat.
‘When did he learn something like that?’
Among the sword arts of the Dang Clan that he knew, few pursued the subtlety of illusion.
He had heard only once of a sword art that departed from ordinary sword paths.
That was said to be the sword art of the Poison Master—the Dang Clan’s finest and Supreme Master Under Heaven.
‘Could it be that Youxuan has……’
It was a leap.
Yet in one corner of his heart, hope bloomed that it might be so.
The duties of a patriarch and the anxieties of a parent, doubt and expectation, appeared in turns, leaving his mind turbulent.
If Dang Youxuan possessed genius, the Dang Clan would reclaim its former glory.
But in that case, Dang Youxuan would spend his life bound to the clan.
For all expectations would turn toward him.
‘I only hope that boy does not suffer, and that he may do as he wishes.’
Before Dang Gangheon could settle his thoughts, Beopgye smiled faintly and spoke.
“It seems the Dang Clan’s return to former glory will not be distant.”
It seemed a trifling compliment, but there was an edge to the words.
It was a warning not to grow too complacent from Dang Youxuan’s exploits.
Yet Dang Gangheon had mastered the art of turning away barbed remarks.
That was what it meant to have lived as a patriarch.
“I am grateful for such encouragement. It will be of great benefit to the harmony of the Orthodox Faction.”
“Mm.”
Though bound by the same Orthodox Faction, it was common knowledge even to a three-year-old that the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families were not on good terms.
So why had he gone out of his way to speak of support and harmony?
‘He’s just rubbing salt in the wound.’
Myungjin, the first to grasp the intention, chuckled quietly.
But that laughter soon faded.
Dang Youxuan’s performance—its ripples would surely topple the existing order.
‘When I return to Huashan, I’ll need to speak with the elders again.’
The currents of the Martial World were unmistakably shifting.
* * *
“Well, there’s no opening even for a counterattack.”
Hae Muyoung raised both hands to face height.
“This is my defeat.”
“The victory goes to Dang Youxuan of the Sichuan Dang Family!”
At Won So’s declaration, the crowd that had been held in stunned silence exhaled the breath they had been holding.
“A sword art that breaks sword paths?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it…… What sword technique is that?”
“Could it be a secret transmission of the Dang Clan?”
“No way. The Dang Clan lost their secret transmission and fell from the seat of supreme family.”
“Tsk tsk. Your news travels slowly indeed. That man there—he’s the one who recovered the Dang Clan’s lost secret transmission.”
“What? Then is it really……!”
“This Yongbong Gathering will be difficult to predict, won’t it?”
This match would only raise expectations for the Dang Clan and Dang Youxuan higher still.
And those expectations would shine even brighter when Dang Youxuan claimed the championship.
Yet Dang Youxuan’s attention lay elsewhere.
‘Why is he so at ease?’
Even if the goal were solely Dang Youxuan, the optimal strategy would have been to either drag out the match or secure victory to gather more information.
Yet Hae Muyoung had accepted defeat immediately.
‘As if he never believed he could win from the start.’
Something felt wrong.
Dang Youxuan kept his eyes fixed on Hae Muyoung even as he bent to retrieve the poison needles and hidden blades.
When he picked up the last remaining blade, Hae Muyoung drew closer.
“That was an excellent match.”
……
“I learned much.”
“I learned much.”
Just before Dang Youxuan passed him, Hae Muyoung spoke in a low murmur.
“Let’s meet again, Poison Master.”
Hae Muyoung watched without waiting for a response as Dang Youxuan returned to the seat reserved in the farthest corner.
It was natural enough—he came from a minor sect with no nickname to his name and no reputation—yet something stuck in his throat.
The moment Dang Youxuan turned to head back to his seat, he caught Hae Muyoung exchanging a glance with someone.
‘Who?’
Dang Youxuan’s gaze followed the direction of Hae Muyoung’s look.
At its end lay the spectators’ gallery.
But no one there stood out in particular.
‘So that’s where his contact is.’
Which meant the moment the preliminary rounds finished their third set, information would be passed along—or they’d leave together.
‘That won’t do.’
Whether his own secrets or another’s, he had no intention of letting them slip away so easily.
“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll be retiring early tonight—exhausted, you understand.”
Dang San grasped his meaning at once and smiled thinly.
“Quite right. You’ll retire early, worn out from exertion.”
Officially, Dang Youxuan would not set foot outside the Guest Hall.
That way, his movements would go unobserved.
‘Run if you can manage it.’
Unfortunately, in his experience, no one who caught his eye had ever managed to escape.
Not a single soul, in all this time.
* * *
Hae Muyoung—or rather, Ham Young of the Jeokhaebang—walked along a deserted mountain path.
He retrieved a messenger pigeon he’d tethered beneath a large tree and bound the message scroll to its leg.
The moment he released it, the pigeon beat its wings powerfully and took flight.
‘The objective is achieved. Now I can return.’
Ham Young was just stretching when—
Flap-flap!
The messenger pigeon, which had been flying steadily, plummeted from the sky in an instant.
“What the—!”
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Before he could even process what was happening, his face slammed into a tree trunk.
The direct impact shattered his nose.
While the blow to his head left him dazed, someone pressed an acupoint, freezing his body in place.
‘Who’s using Acupoint Sealing—!’
Ham Young’s mouth hung open stupidly as his eyes rolled in their sockets.
Then the figure gripping his hair yanked his head backward.
“Ah—!”
The moment Ham Young saw who it was, the color drained from his face.
“You said we’d meet again soon. I didn’t think it would be quite this quick.”
It was Dang Youxuan—impossible to be here, yet unmistakably him, launching this attack.
‘How is he here? I was told he was in the Guest Hall?’
“And you believed the Dang Clan’s word entirely. How refreshingly naive.”
……!
The way Dang Youxuan spoke—as though reading his thoughts—drained all courage from Ham Young’s eyes, replacing it with pure terror.
Dang Youxuan stared at him coldly, then ripped open his collar with a sharp gesture.
“So now you see what Evil Faction you belong to?”
Dang Youxuan’s mouth twisted into a chilling smile.
“The Inhwa. I see you bloodlines stemming from the Yeompaabang think yourselves quite clever.”
He’d been exposed.
Exposure of one’s true identity or mission was normally grounds for suicide.
But with his Acupoint Sealing locked, he couldn’t even use poison.
‘I need to get him to release the seal, at least.’
Then I can either counterattack or end this properly.
“You still don’t understand.”
Crash!
Dang Youxuan slammed the man’s head against a tree.
“Do you still not grasp what position you’re in?”
Dang Youxuan forced two fingers into Ham Young’s mouth.
He skillfully extracted a small pellet hidden behind the molars.
Lethal poison issued by Jeokhaebang as contingency for failed missions.
Crunch.
He applied pressure and crushed the pellet between his fingers.
“If you want to die cleanly, I’d suggest not biting your tongue. Though if you’re curious about Dang Clan interrogation methods, I won’t stop you.”
Dang Youxuan smiled coldly and released the Acupoint Seal.
Ham Young coughed violently, blood mixed in with his breath, gasping in pain.
Though the windpipe remained clear, the impact against the tree had been severe enough to leave him struggling for air.
“Agh! Kuh, wheeze—!”
In that moment, Dang Youxuan removed the paper tied to the bird’s leg.
“Well. Quite detailed, aren’t we? These junior operatives and even I—seems we’ve become quite the threat.”
“Huuuh…….”
Ham Young stared at Dang Youxuan instead of answering, catching his breath.
“That’s not it.”
Crash!
Dang Youxuan seized Ham Young’s hair and drove his head against the tree once more.
The left cheek scraped against rough bark, drawing blood.
As he pressed the head into the wood, the man gritted his teeth, suppressing a cry.
Dang Youxuan spoke in his characteristic tone—emotionless and glacial.
“If you want to live, you’d do well to conduct yourself properly.”
Knowing he wouldn’t be spared, Ham Young choked out a shout through the pain.
“Krrgh! Even if you kill me, the Director will recognize you!”
“Yes. Go ahead and have him recognize me. I’m curious to see that bastard’s face too.”
Revenge? The Evil Faction he knew cared for little beyond their own vengeance.
The Director of Jeokhaebang, who sent subordinates rather than making direct visits, would never risk defying the Orthodox Faction just for one man’s sake.
“In all my years, I’ve never met someone so audacious standing before me.”
A man with nerve and some intelligence wouldn’t miscalculate so badly.
Especially not a calculation that determined his own survival.
Dang Youxuan drew a poison needle from his robes and drove it into Ham Young’s neck.
“Kagh! How—how could you use Lethal Poison—!”
The poison he’d just administered was Controlled Poison, its potency carefully modulated.
Lethal poison that couldn’t be brought into the Yongbong Gathering.
“Both he and this one—they all underestimate Dang Clan far too much.”
Dang Youxuan released Ham Young’s hair and let out a small sigh.
Thud.
The convulsing body collapsed to the ground.
“Go on ahead and wait. If your master comes looking for me, I’ll follow soon after.”
Sichuan Dang Family: Genius Who Turned Over a New Leaf
Author |
Lee Il-young
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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© Samyang C&C — The contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of 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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