The morning storm passed, and Tang Do-gyeong summoned all the outcasts to demonstrate the martial arts and reveal the past events.
Tang Do-gyeong fully unveiled the entire “Mighty Tiger Fist” technique to the Sacheon Outcasts.
[[I understood the first seven stances of [Mighty Tiger Fist].]]
[I have learned the first stance [Martial Arts: Guardian’s Call].]
[I have learned the second stance [Martial Arts: Mighty Tiger Charge].]
[I have learned the third stance [Martial Arts: Calm Down Seven Strikes].]
[I have learned the fourth stance [Martial Arts: Reversal of Fate].]
[I have learned the fifth stance [Martial Arts: Eight Strikes of the First Rush].]
[I have learned the sixth stance [Martial Arts: Hohugeogta].]
I worked hard at this too. Honestly, while I’d say this Mighty Tiger Fist wasn’t really a peak martial art in various respects, compared to what I could learn now, it was leagues above, so it was right to acquire it even if it was a stretch.
Since I had already learned the first stance [Martial Arts: Twin Tiger Paws] beforehand, I could say I understood all seven stances of the Mighty Tiger Fist.
“This Tang Mo is just lacking; the Mighty Tiger Fist is merely a deficient martial art with only the first seven stances. However, I hope it helps the outcasts on their paths.”
The outcasts showed their gratitude by demonstrating the stances. Seeing Tang Do-gyeong sharing warm conversations with the outcasts, I let out a sigh. Honestly, I still didn’t understand Tang Do-gyeong’s choice even now…
“Senpai.”
“Oh, why is it so troubling?”
“Don’t you want to know about Tang Do-gyeong’s personal life?”
I turned my head toward the Black Cat. By now, the puffed rice was cleared away, and she looked a bit more serious.
“Do you know something?”
“Just the information you seek.”
I looked at the Black Cat for a moment and then shook my head. I suspected she had her own connections to the underground scene. Being a peak expert or close to it, she would obviously have some pull.
Having information on Tang Do-gyeong wouldn’t be strange.
Listening to the Black Cat wasn’t a bad choice, but I still shook my head.
“We should confirm this. Let’s go listen.”
*
In the alley of the So-yo Inn, I had the Black Cat release her energy.
Yesterday, one peak expert from the Tang Clan appeared to be spying, then Tang Do-gi showed up in the alley. His complexion was dark, clearly worried about Tang Do-gyeong.
“You really have some nerve. Who knew the innkeeper would come out with the party at that time?”
Tang Do-gi seemed to remember me when we met with Yu Sa-yeon.
He was hiding his face with a black scarf, but if they were experts, they could easily discern body shape and the habits I had picked up.
Tang Do-gi didn’t seem to guess my intentions in coming to meet him.
“I came to ask you a few questions.”
“Hah… you really are brazen.”
A murderous glint flashed in Tang Do-gi’s eyes.
“If you hadn’t caused a ruckus in front of Hwang Gold Clan…! No… no, it’s not that… Ugh… it’s just that things happen as they do.”
Tang Do-gi waved his hand without saying anything more. Was that a cue for me to speak?
“If the severance happens, what will the Tang Clan think of Brother Tang?”
“I don’t know. I…! How can I predict an unprecedented event in Tang Clan’s history? I can only do my utmost to prevent any punishment.”
Is it really unprecedented in Tang Clan’s history? Severance itself is a big deal, but the crime seems light, so I don’t know what will happen.
“I hope this isn’t a rude question, but may I ask why Brother Tang bears such resentment toward the clan?”
“Haha, that is indeed a rude question. Why do you think you can come to me and do this?”
“Knowing the cause is essential for finding the cure, right? If I want to change Brother Tang’s heart, I must first understand the cause.”
I didn’t know Tang Do-gyeong’s personal life.
However, I was aware of Tang Do-gyeong’s characteristics, stats, and his martial arts list. I also knew his combat patterns like the back of my hand.
The Tang Do-gyeong I knew would never choose severance.
That’s why I was confused.
To resolve this confusion, I needed to know more about the person named Tang Do-gyeong. To narrow the gap between the choice he made and the information I had about him.
“…This story must never be disclosed to outsiders.”
The Black Cat and I nodded. Spreading tales of the Tang Clan would yield no benefit for us. And besides, the Black Cat already knew about it anyway.
“Do you know about the direct line, branch line, and martial arts system of the Tang Clan?”
“Yes.”
In regular families, the bloodline of the family head is the direct line. The rest become the branch bloodlines.
However, the Tang Clan is different.
There are simply too many people with the Tang surname to be trapped in such a vertical structure. Therefore, the Tang Clan elects its direct members.
Although the Tang Clan is made solely of members with the Tang surname, its organizational structure is closer to that of a sect than a traditional clan. They form a sect called Tang Moon, gathering only those with talent in martial arts from among thousands of Tang members.
In a typical clan, external members are accepted to fill out their ranks, but the Tang Clan, with sufficient members of its own clan, doesn’t need to do that.
Moreover, the fact that the Tang Clan’s main martial arts are hidden weapons and poison techniques adds to the uniqueness. To use hidden weapons and poison techniques, one must constantly produce poisons and hidden weapons. The more poison and hidden weapons one consumes, the more individual power one can showcase.
Only those qualified to use the genuine Tang Clan’s secret hidden weapons or secret poisons and who are specialized in learning hidden weapons and poison techniques are considered the direct line.
Branch members, on the other hand, are regular martial artists permitted to learn the Tang Clan’s martial arts, but they can’t use the Tang Clan’s hidden weapons or secret poison techniques.
The “Wu-ki” refers to those holding the Tang surname but not practicing martial arts.
Even so, they are vital members of the Tang Clan, collecting materials for making poisons, merchants buying various materials, artisans mastering techniques to produce hidden weapons, and pharmacists combining poisons or medicinals.
Unlike a standard sect only dealing with martial arts, the Tang Clan is comprehensive, which is why they refer to themselves as the Tang Clan rather than the Tang Sect.
“Dividing the direct and branch lines considers both talent and the characteristics inherent in the differences between the two. Those with talents suitable for the Tang Clan’s secret techniques become direct members, while those who are born with general martial qualities are classified as branch lines.”
“The problem… yes, the problem likely started when the war against the Sacheon Outcast Faction broke out.”
Tang Do-gi let out a sigh.
“The quantity of hidden weapons that the Tang Clan can produce is limited, so to increase our strength in the war against the Outcast Faction, we had no choice but to significantly increase the branch lines. After the war, the Tang Clan’s territory expanded greatly. We were so overwhelmed that we even had to cede territory to other sects. But does power merely stay under occupation?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Various disturbances continued to arise. That’s why the branch lines worked hard. The direct lines could handle the situation, but where it came down to hidden weapons and poison being their specialties, they found it difficult to engage in atypical disturbances to explicitly use specific hidden weapons or release poison, so the branch lines had to step in.”
“As time passed and stability returned, everyone began to associate the name of established experts with the branch lines. Tang Do-gyeong’s father, the direct line member Tang Moon-gi, was also one of those branch lines. Among the branch lines, several excelled, yet Moon-gi was unparalleled.”
“After the war with the Outcast Faction, Sacheon underwent numerous transformations. Sacheon Outcasts, Sacheon City, Nangya Sword, Jongnam Sect’s sealed gate… Amidst all the other rumors shaking Sacheon, our Tang Clan was no different, simply that it didn’t spill out of the Tang Clan.”
“And that opportunity was the direct challenge indication by Tang Moon-gi.”
Tang Do-gi didn’t explicitly emphasize it, but I understood perfectly. Tang Moon-gi’s challenge was probably an incident representing the grievances of the branch lines.
“Now that the Outcast Faction in Sacheon has been entirely eradicated, the direct lines have little reason to step forward, while those struggling in the newly expanded Tang territory are the branch lines…”
“Moon-gi proclaimed that the times have changed. Even if he himself is a proficient user in handling the techniques, he still asked to be recognized as a direct line member, saying that as long as the qualifications were met, he should receive acknowledgment and demanded a martial arts match with them.”
“And lost.”
“Haha, indeed.”
I can’t know how strong Moon-gi was. However, there’s no way he could win in an earnest martial arts match against a true direct line member.
What makes the martial arts representing the sect or clan stand out? Because they are the strongest. If Hwasan’s Plum Blossom Sword Technique is weaker than the Plum Blossom Alliance’s, why would Hwasan become a sword faction instead of the martial arts faction? It’s the same for the Tang Clan.
Plus, hidden weapons have a peculiar trait.
They become stronger as you spend resources on them. The artisans, fully nurtured through Tang Clan’s resources, produce hidden weapons at most once a week or one a month. Are those hidden weapons weak? No, the Tang Clan can only produce one a week because they bear that value.
Even if I were an extraordinary talent from the Tang Clan, the depth of what the Tang Clan’s techniques can achieve would still fall short compared to hidden weapons. No matter how exceptional one’s talent, it absolutely crumbles before the gap in martial arts and the sheer destructive force of resources.
“It was a painful defeat for Moon-gi. Hahaha… where do you think the temperament of Tang Do-gyeong came from? It was all inherited from Moon-gi. After losing to the direct line, Moon-gi broke the spirit of martial arts and returned to the Wu-ki… and Tang Do-gyeong… must have been greatly shocked by the sight of his father.”
“Was that how it was?”
“Moon-gi’s challenge became a turning point for the Tang Clan. It became the occasion for narrowing the distance between the direct and branch lines and enabling the branch lines’ efforts and voices to be heard within the leadership. However, Tang Do-gyeong stopped training his prominent hidden weapons techniques and suddenly turned toward the sword technique.”
After that, he became the Fighting Dog Tang Do-gyeong we know today.
“Will it help?”
“Yes, thank you for your words.”
The young Tang Do-gyeong, bursting into the path of swordsmanship, seeking to restore his father’s honor. But as he grew, his father’s incident merely became [a past matter]. As the distance between the direct and branch lines narrowed, the grievances of the branch were likely quelled, and Tang Do-gyeong would have indeed become a thorn in the Tang Clan’s side.
An already settled past event being constantly rummaged through would be how the leadership viewed Tang Do-gyeong.
I wondered how Tang Do-gyeong perceived it. What thoughts did he harbor, watching the Tang Clan unify over the years?
Was the young man, devoted to developing hidden weapon techniques to achieve the hopes he held as a child, an ignorant child unaware of the clan’s intentions? Or was he a grand person who had made firm resolutions from a young age?
Is it the revised Tang Clan that is wrong? Or is it Tang Do-gyeong’s unyielding nature that is at fault?
It was difficult indeed.
Tang Do-gi returned to the inn where he was staying, and watching his back, I fell deep into thought.
“Senpai.”
“…What?”
“From your perspective, hasn’t this matter ended ideally?”
The Black Cat’s comment hit the nail on the head.
“Now that Tang Do-gyeong declared severance, the little rumors about you will likely all dissipate, so from your stance, things seem to have worked out well, and you won’t need to take action anymore, right?”
“…What.”
What was my initial reason for wanting to get Tang Do-gyeong out of the Outcast Inn as soon as possible? Because rumors spread that he frequented the inn to challenge me at gambling, his fame value would soar day by day.
And now, I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.
Tang Do-gyeong’s bets no longer matter. What matters is that he declared severance from the Tang Clan. Strolling into the Outcast Inn was now his own right as an outcast. The rumors about him visiting the Inn for gambling would dwindle.
Now, Blood Jade Plaque’s whereabouts and the gambling surrounding it wouldn’t be of any importance.
Once a rumor spreads, it can’t be helped, but for a while, the news circulating will be about Tang Do-gyeong’s declaration of severance, not my bets concerning Blood Jade Plaque.
So, regardless of whether Tang Do-gyeong gets severed a week later or not, I won’t lose anything.
In general, severance in the martial world is akin to expulsion in other factions, and it usually involves disfiguring oneself to never again wield the martial arts learned from the sect or clan. Even under mild circumstances, closing one’s Dantians is common.
Of course, considering that most cases of severance involve committing crimes that are beyond redemption, it could be that there’s no real sin that Tang Do-gyeong could face, and it’s possible he’d only lose his surname.
Even if he faced a severe punishment and became a broken person, living whatever life he ends up with would be a path he chose himself, and it wouldn’t relate to me.
“Martial Arts.”
However, there is a reason to intervene with Tang Do-gyeong.
The decisions of Tang Do-gyeong, whom I’ve observed in the martial world, contrast greatly with the reality of him as a practitioner now.
The realization that Tang Do-gyeong obtained grants him a new trait.
This trait is [Familial Affection].
When he performs activities with other colleagues who share the Tang surname, his stats increase, or when valued colleagues are in danger, he sometimes throws hidden weapons to save them.
Since Tang Do-gyeong awakens such traits upon gaining realization, I presumed that deep inside, there must be sentiments tied to family. Thus, when confronted with intense opposition against family, he would inevitably bend to give in.
“What’s that?”
“You’ve learned martial arts, haven’t you?”
So, I resolved to bring realization to Tang Do-gyeong and see for myself. What is realization? Just how far can the powers of realization change someone? Can the Tang Do-gyeong who chose severance merely through understanding a few phrases open his eyes to the affection for family?
Since I couldn’t proclaim that I would grant realization to Tang Do-gyeong, I thought I’d use martial arts as an excuse.
“Hmph~”
I had to remain silent in front of the Black Cat, who chuckled at what I knew was a flimsy excuse.
“Well, shall we go with that?”
I decided to grant realization to Tang Do-gyeong.
However, there was no way I intended to give him a Gratitude Plaque.
A Gratitude Plaque holds significance only when handed in front of people. Since it’s almost a blank check, I must disclose it in advance to handle things smoothly.
If suspicions arise that I granted realization during this incident, then there’d be no going back.
Thus, I needed to create circumstances and environments to avoid it seeming like I handed it to him.
With the cooperation of the Outcast Inn and the help of Yu Sa-yeon, I felt conveying realization wouldn’t be an impossibility.
So, I dubbed this plan the “Tang Do-gyeong’s Realization Stealth Operation.”
“Why pretend otherwise? Just say you find Tang Do-gyeong likable and go.”
“Hah.”
The Black Cat’s misunderstanding was absurd, so I could only scoff. I was simply curious if realization could truly change someone, even in the current situation.
Thoughts of Tang Do-gyeong, who had retreated cleanly amidst the commotion, floated in my memory.
I would never be distracted by his heroic side or feel captivated by Tang Do-gyeong learning his self-created Mighty Tiger Fist, sensing the passion wound inside.
Or perhaps overhearing Tang Do-gyeong’s inner motives through the conversation with Tang Do-gi encouraged me to support him.
I might even think of him every time he feels exhausted or when he’s lost, thinking back on the respect he gave me when I was praised for my distribution.
“Hee~ So there’s genuinely no affection~.”
Taking my pure curiosity of granting realization to Tang Do-gyeong, under Black Cat’s mockery, I headed for the Outcast Inn.