“......”

The silence between father and daughter lasted longer than expected.

The warmly brewed tea had long since gone cold. Even the fragrance of tea that had filled the room was gradually fading away.

How much more time passed like that?

“You’ve come rather late.”

Tang Gwan spoke in his characteristically stubborn voice.

“It’s already been several days since you returned to the Alliance. Was it really that troublesome to come greet your father?”

Tang Sang-a answered in an even voice.

“I belong to the Demon-Sweeping Corps. Naturally, I had to return to the Demon-Sweeping Corps, and I also had to deal with the matters that had been postponed in the meantime.”

“Before you are a soldier of the Demon-Sweeping Corps, you are a member of the Tang Clan.”

“You were prepared to hand me over to Commander Mo Yong without the Tang name.”

“......”

“I had already half given up the Tang surname. Are you saying I misunderstood?”

Tang Gwan’s cheek twitched.

“Then have you made up your mind to marry Commander Mo Yong?”

“Not yet.”

Bang!

The table shook, and a teacup overturned.

The sound of tea dripping onto the floor created a strangely uncomfortable feeling.

“I turned a blind eye to your recklessness because you were my child and because you bore the Tang name. But if you truly mean to abandon the Tang surname, then from that moment on, I will no longer treat you as my child either.”

“You already said all that before the campaign.”

“What?!”

“I’m telling you clearly: you were the one who tried to cast out your daughter while prattling on about the history of the family.”

“......!”

“The one who should be hurt and angry is me, so why do you keep getting angry instead? You don’t actually think I’m some soulless doll, do you?”

“......If you were a doll.”

Tang Gwan growled.

“If you had truly been a speechless doll, I never would have asked you to understand my choice.”

“I understand it. But the disappointment and the anger are mine to bear.”

“You—!”

“Father.”

Tang Sang-a said with a smile,

“Don’t be angry at me.”

“......”

“This is all something you brought on yourself. A person has to take responsibility for the things he does. I’m sure that’s what I was taught when I was little. By none other than you.”

Tang Gwan’s fist tightened.

Tang Sang-a continued,

“I was the one who came here intending to be angry, but with you acting like this, it’s taking the wind out of me.”

“......Get out.”

“Take responsibility first.”

“For what responsibility?!”

“I should have been the one getting angry, but instead you were the one who drove a knife into my chest. You should take responsibility for that.”

Tang Gwan felt dumbfounded.

“Are you threatening me right now with such ridiculous nonsense?!”

“If you don’t want to take responsibility, then how about a request?”

“What?!”

“If you still think of me as a Tang, would you grant me just one request?”

“Quiet! I no longer consider you my child, so get out of here this instant—!”

“There’s someone I rely on quite a bit as a person. Ah, don’t misunderstand. There are no feelings of love involved.”

“......?!”

“Would you meet that person once?”

Tang Gwan glared at Tang Sang-a without a word.

Tang Sang-a took a letter from her robes and set it on the table.

“It’s my last request as your daughter. I hope you’ll grant it.”

“......”

“I won’t be coming to see you again. Please take care of yourself.”

With that, Tang Sang-a rose from her seat.

There was not the slightest hesitation in the way she turned away. Watching his daughter’s cold, almost merciless steps, Tang Gwan thought to himself—

Their relationship was stained by hatred and resentment, but Tang Sang-a truly was Tang Clan blood after all. Not just anyone could show that kind of viciously firm resolve.

Before Tang Sang-a stepped out the door, Tang Gwan spoke.

“If you intend to cast off the Tang surname, that also means giving up every Tang Clan martial art you have learned.”

“......”

“I trust you understand what I mean.”

“Clan Lord.”

She called him Clan Lord, not father. Tang Gwan felt his face grow hot.

Tang Sang-a smiled faintly.

“I already offered up my life before the campaign.”

“......!”

“If you wish to take it back, then by all means do so. I’ll be waiting.”

Thud!

The door closed.

Tang Gwan glared at the door with fury-filled eyes, then finally let out a sigh.

“You’re better than I am. The whole world points at this father of yours and calls him cruel, but I think you’re even crueler than me.”

After a long while of bitter self-mockery, Tang Gwan’s eyes suddenly shifted toward the letter on the table.

He stared at it for a long moment, then stretched out his hand.

*****

Whooooosh.

The knife-like winter wind, sharpened after scraping past tree after tree, brushed his collar.

Before long, sunset had spread across the far side of the sky. Winter was winter after all; compared to summer, the sun clearly sank much earlier.

Tang Gwan’s face was red as he looked up at the blood-colored sky.

Red.

It was a rather beautiful view. Though it was a forest not well known even within the Alliance of the Martial World, it was unexpectedly scenic.

Of course, Tang Gwan was in no state to admire the scenery peacefully. His conversation with his daughter earlier had left his heart unsettled even now.

I was the one who threw her away first...?

Bloodshot veins rose in Tang Gwan’s eyes.

Throw her away? Don’t phrase it like that. Only a man can become the master of the main house. No matter how skilled you become, you can never become Clan Lord.

His daughter’s face came to mind.

That daughter who always walked around smiling, while carrying a deeper emptiness than anyone beneath that smile.

Father was wrong. Preserving the traditions of the family isn’t stubborn foolishness. Tradition has meaning simply by being tradition itself.

If it was for tradition—if it meant the family could shine upon a solid foundation—then he would cling to stubbornness or obstinacy alike. And to those who clicked their tongues at him for it, he would pour deadly poison straight into their mouths.

I was not wrong!

Just then—

Crunch. Crunch.

From far away came the sound of footsteps treading over snow.

He’s here.

Tang Gwan turned around.

What kind of bastard is he, exactly—

At that moment, Tang Gwan’s eyes widened.

“You?!”

“To start with you, how harsh.”

The young man, Yeon Hojeong, smiled calmly.

“Have you been well?”

“......Don’t tell me it was you who asked my daughter to arrange this meeting.”

“That’s right.”

Fssssss.

A ghastly dark green radiance burst from Tang Gwan’s body.

Enraged to the extreme, Tang Gwan finally revealed without restraint the terrifying power he had kept pressed down all this time.

Chiiiiiiik!

Everything within a radius of five zhang around where he stood began melting at a frightening speed.

It wasn’t just the snow. Even the frozen surface of the ground had turned slick and rotten.

Admiration rose on Yeon Hojeong’s face.

“As expected, an impressive poison art. It seems even more toxic than before.”

“A worthless brat like you dared use my daughter to summon me?”

“My life’s a little tiring too, having to use even a sensible daughter just to meet someone like you.”

“What?!”

“That’s enough. Isn’t it better when good things stay good? Put away that bizarre energy of yours and let’s just talk.”

“You wretch!”

“Or...”

Flash!

Killing Intent flared in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

“Do you need filthy curses to start flying out of this young brat’s mouth again before you calm down?”

“......!”

“I still haven’t forgotten what happened at the Crimson Demon Banquet. Of course, I agreed to bury that matter, but the feelings remain. You can call me narrow-minded if you want.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled brightly.

“Don’t force rough words out of a younger man’s mouth. You came all this way, so hear what you came to hear before you leave.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Hm?”

“I did come because of my daughter’s request, but if I had known the one I was to meet was you, I never would have come. In other words, you stole the time of the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan of Sichuan.”

Shrrk.

The poison qi that had been spreading in all directions was instantly drawn back into his body.

It was astonishingly fast. Releasing that much power in a single burst was impressive enough, but pulling back that released energy in a single moment was not something possible without extraordinary enlightenment.

As expected of the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan of Sichuan. He truly possessed the strength worthy of standing as the head of one of the Six Great Clans.

“Whether this was worth my coming here is something only I will judge. If, by any chance, this is not important enough, then even if I end up locked in the Brain Prison for it, I’ll turn you into a handful of bloody water.”

There was sincerity in his voice. It wasn’t like before, when he had been full of pride or blinded by rage.

Quiet, lethal Killing Intent. Tang Gwan truly meant to kill Yeon Hojeong.

Interesting.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

I was going to shake him up first with nonsense before moving in, but it seems he’s already as shaken as he can get.

He thought he knew why. The conversation with Tang Sang-a had probably left his mind in turmoil.

“I doubt someone at your level can kill me.”

“Would you like to find out?”

“Sure, finding out sounds good. But I’m a busy man too, so let’s get to the main point first.”

Before Tang Gwan could answer, Yeon Hojeong continued.

“What is it you want? The Alliance Leader seat?”

“......?!”

“Let’s hear the answer to that first.”

Tang Gwan’s expression changed instantly.

No matter how furious he was, there were words a man could ignore and words he could not.

With next year’s election already making the Service Lords watch one another nervously, it was a volatile enough time as it was. And in the middle of all that, this brat suddenly asked if he wanted the position of Alliance Leader?

“......What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

“It’s not like I don’t know you’ve got greed for power. I know what Mo Yonggun wants, but I don’t know what position it is that you want.” 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“......!”

“Go on. Is the seat of Alliance Leader what you want?”

“I knew you were an insolent brat from before, but you truly go beyond imagination.”

“Well, since you’re the leader of a pack of stubborn fools who think the Tang Clan of Sichuan is the greatest under heaven, I suppose there’s no way you’d have any interest in the office of Alliance Leader. Let’s move to the next question.”

“You mad bastard! Are you really that desperate to die?!”

“You can never leave the Alliance of the Martial World.”

“What?”

“You already knew that Mo Yonggun had begun laying groundwork to smear Venerable Gonggong, didn’t you?”

“......?!”

Tang Gwan’s gaze changed instantly.

Yeon Hojeong saw through that change like a ghost.

He didn’t know?

Even if this truly was Mo Yonggun’s doing, Tang Gwan might not know about it.

More precisely, Yeon Hojeong had judged it as a fifty-fifty chance. Tang Gwan’s temperament was sharp enough that there was no real need to take the risk of informing him.

At the same time, if Tang Gwan helped, the work could proceed much more smoothly. That was why he had thought the odds were ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ evenly split.

It might not be Mo Yonggun’s work. But the odds are high that it is. In that case...

The corner of Yeon Hojeong’s mouth lifted.

“So Mo Yonggun didn’t tell you after all. Then it seems my thinking was right.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Mo Yonggun won’t let you go. The reason is simple—you have no interest in the seat of Alliance Leader, but you do want to become the real power behind it.”

“......!”

“Do you think you formed an alliance with Mo Yonggun? Ridiculous. Maybe you think you’ll be able to control Mo Yonggun as you please, but in reality it’s the exact opposite.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a faint snort.

“Do you know that he’s carefully grooming you right now as a card to use and discard?”

“......!!”

“When we expose this little scheme to smear Venerable Gonggong, who do you think Mo Yonggun will point to as the culprit?”

Tang Gwan’s eyes wavered.

In a gloomy voice, Yeon Hojeong said,

“To Mo Yonggun, you’re nothing more than a single playing piece too.”