Inside the dark room.

Relying on a single candle as he drank, Tang Gwan’s face lay under deep shadows.

“...Bitter.”

There were already five or six empty bottles rolling across the table.

Depending on the nature of one’s cultivated internal force, ordinary masters of the Inner Qi arts did not get drunk easily. True Qi constantly protected the internal organs and ceaselessly eliminated impurities.

And once one broke through the Wall of Martial Arts, even the fine meridians were opened, allowing True Qi to circulate with unhindered flow. Unless one deliberately blocked the path of that True Qi, it was almost safe to say drunkenness would never come.

Much less for Tang Gwan, a master of poison who had touched and consumed thousands of poisons. Even if he suppressed his True Qi, a few bottles of strong liquor should not have been enough to make him drunk.

Then why?

For some reason, Tang Gwan felt drunk for the first time in twenty years.

“Stop wallowing.”

Tang Gwan twisted his mouth into a crooked smile.

That sharp smile floating across his shadowed face looked as chilling as the edge of a dagger.

“I never had such great expectations in the first place. The only thing worth trusting has always been myself. There’s nothing to hope for from anyone, and nothing to be disappointed by.”

That was what he said, but Tang Gwan knew it too. Ever since entering the Alliance of the Martial World, he had changed a great deal from the man he once was in Sichuan, when he had ruled like a king.

He simply did not want to admit it. The changes in himself, and the reality that he was no longer the center.

Pour.

Even the scent rising from the cup being filled was hard for him to make out now.

Tang Gwan closed his eyes.

“What exactly is the problem...?”

He was letting out something close to a sigh, with a bitter smile on his lips, when suddenly he sensed a presence.

...?!

Tang Gwan’s eyes sharpened instantly.

Pussss.

Circulating his internal force, he expelled the fumes of alcohol in an instant. He had thought he had absorbed it all, but clearly there had been a reason he had actually begun to feel drunk.

A master.

And not just any master. An astonishing one stood beyond the door.

A steady, restrained presence. Because the visitor was not revealing himself, there was no overwhelming pressure, but that only felt like the composure of a lion with its claws hidden.

Since when?

It seemed the drink had dulled his senses.

Tang Gwan shouted sharply, “Who is it?!”

Then a grave voice came from outside the door.

“It’s me. Yeon Wi.”

At once, Tang Gwan’s eyes deepened.

Yeon Wi?!

Surprising.

It was not as though he had ever paid especially close attention, but they had met time and again in the Service Council. That meant there had been many chances to gauge the other man’s martial level.

But the Yeon Wi he had faced in the council and the Yeon Wi beyond the door now felt like heaven and earth apart.

He advanced this much in that short a time?!

Or had he been concealing his strength all along?

Tang Gwan stared at the door for a moment, then turned his head away.

“I’ll overlook the rudeness of showing up without notice. Now leave—”

He was about to tell him to get out when he flinched.

I believe I have shown you more than enough respect. In some ways, more than the two gentlemen sitting here. That is not because I fear you, but because I know your temperament.

It was as if Mo Yonggun’s voice rang in his ear.

Tang Gwan’s face twisted badly.

“...Go back.”

At the same time, Yeon Wi’s voice came from outside.

“I felt like having a drink, so I came. I have no official business. If you have the time, let’s share a cup.”

“I said go.”

“I brought liquor with a fine aroma.”

“......”

“If you truly want to be alone, then fine. I’ll come back another time.”

Tang Gwan stared blankly out the window, then let out a long sigh.

“If it doesn’t suit my taste, I’ll throw you out on the spot.”

A short while later, the two men sat facing each other across the table.

“You deceived me.”

“Does the liquor not suit your taste?”

Tang Gwan frowned.

“Do you call that a serious question? You bring in cheap white liquor that even a butcher in the marketplace wouldn’t drink, and you call it fragrant?”

Yeon Wi answered blandly, “Even if it were a fine aromatic liquor, would a thing like that register to the senses of Clan Lord Tang, whose body has been tempered by deadly poison?”

“......”

“I put a fair amount of thought into choosing it. It was the strongest liquor I had ever tasted.”

In its own way, that was true.

Tang Gwan’s mouth curled upward.

“A fine excuse.”

“Let me pour you a cup.”

Yeon Wi filled Tang Gwan’s cup.

Tang Gwan watched him quietly, then asked in a rough voice, “So what is your purpose?”

“I already told you. It’s not official business. I simply wanted to share a drink.”

“And you expect me to believe that lie?”

“It isn’t a lie.”

“It isn’t a lie? You expect me to believe that?”

“Why is there any reason not to?”

“A man comes to me at a moment this convenient and asks to share a drink, and I’m supposed to trust him at once? Don’t you think that’s a little too transparent?”

Yeon Wi filled his own cup with an impassive face.

Unlike Tang Gwan, the shadows lay across the right side of Yeon Wi’s face, giving him the grave, antique air of a masterpiece painted in bold strokes.

“If you truly thought that, then you’ve misjudged me badly. Very badly.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what kind of people you’ve been dealing with all this time, but I’m not the sort who speaks honeyed words with a hidden blade.”

Tang Gwan let out a short laugh.

“So a paragon has arrived. Fine then. If this is not official business, and you did not come to win me over, then what exactly did you come for?”

“To keep you company.”

“Khahahaha!”

Tang Gwan burst into wild laughter.

“Keep me company? And what profit do you gain from being my companion?”

“I’ll come to know you better.”

“...!”

That answer had not even crossed his mind.

Tang Gwan fixed him with cold eyes and drained his cup.

“If you have nothing to say, then get out.”

“Your daughter was deeply upset.”

“...What?”

Yeon Wi’s voice remained utterly flat.

“She pretends otherwise on the outside, but she is very worried about you.”

“......”

“As you know, your daughter is acquainted with my son. Thanks to that, we were able to have a meal together yesterday.”

BANG!

The table shook.

Terrifying Killing Intent poured from Tang Gwan’s eyes.

“Get out. Right now.”

“You intend to keep responding like that?”

“I said get out!”

“Do you want to lose your daughter that badly?”

“Quiet! There is a limit to meddling! A third party does not interfere in another man’s family affairs!”

“It’s unsightly enough when that kind of bluster is shown to others. Don’t show off your pride in front of your child.”

“Rgh!”

“And did you just call this meddling?”

Yeon Wi’s eyes turned cold.

“That’s right. This is meddling, and it is advice as well. But you should not be getting angry at me.”

“What?!”

“If it concerns your child, then even the advice of a butcher in the marketplace should be heard. Even before the counsel of the lowest person in the world, you should open your ears wide.”

“...!”

“That is how much effort the matter of children demands. If you keep your ears shut and do nothing but shout, like this, you may spend the rest of your life without ever seeing your child’s face again.”

Tang Gwan’s cheek trembled.

Amazingly, he could no longer shout at Yeon Wi.

Considering his temperament, this was more than enough reason for him to act on the spot. But he did not recklessly unleash his poison arts either.

Watching Tang Gwan, Yeon Wi finally understood.

This man is colder-headed than I thought.

If he truly exploded, he was the kind of man who could become more vicious than anyone.

But the line before that explosion came was much deeper than expected. He looked utterly unrestrained, yet at the very least, he instinctively knew which was better between the worst outcome and the second worst.

And.

Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.

He does love his daughter, in his own way.

Of course, that way was badly twisted and deeply overbearing.

But the important thing was that he still regarded her as his child. That was what truly mattered.

The heart that values the other person. If that heart was real, then no matter how difficult the process might be, the relationship could still be repaired.

“I, too, have done many wrongs by my children.”

“......”

“I raised them too harshly. Until a few years ago, my second son could barely even speak to me, and my eldest had gone astray and done little but drink himself senseless.”

“......”

“Do you think that was the children’s fault? No. When children turn out that way, it is the parents’ fault. If the parents do not hold them properly, the children break.”

Tang Gwan’s brow twitched.

Yeon Wi emptied his cup and said, “I was fortunate. Both my sons grew well on their own, even without much help from their parents. So I thought to myself that perhaps I was the luckiest man in the world when it came to children. That is separate from the guilt I feel toward them.”

“......”

“But looking at this, you seem rather fortunate too.”

Yeon Wi leaned forward.

Without realizing it, Tang Gwan leaned back against his chair.

“Clan Lord Tang.”

“......”

“I did not come here because your relationship with Mo Yonggun has gone wrong. Nor did I come to win you over because of it.”

“......”

“I once went right up to the brink of irreparable ruin, then repaired that relationship thanks to my children. So I know this. Give it a little more time, and you too will reach a point beyond repair, just as I once did.”

Tang Gwan’s lips twitched.

“So what? Do you want to be treated like some senior who has been through it first?”

Yeon Wi shook his head.

“Your daughter is my son’s friend. What brought me here was the concern of a father who has children.”

“Don’t pretend to be noble.”

“I’ve never thought of myself as noble.”

“You came because of me and Sang-a? Don’t make me laugh. You expect me to believe you came to an enemy just to tell him to take proper care of his child—”

“What you need to take proper care of is that pride of yours that only ever shows itself in useless places.”

“...!”

Yeon Wi stood up.

“By now, we’re not even enemies anymore, are we?”

“You flatter yourself.”

“You cannot even become an enemy, not in your current state.”

It was a remark meant to strike at his pride. Tang Gwan looked up at Yeon Wi with bloodshot eyes.

Yeon Wi gazed at him quietly, then smiled for an instant.

“There is one thing I want to ask.”

“......”

“Did you ask Mo Yonggun where the Pure-Shade Poison came from?”

Tang Gwan did not answer.

Yeon Wi nodded.

“I thought not. The source of the Pure-Shade Poison was never what mattered to you. No... to be more precise, you had already guessed who made the Pure-Shade Poison on that handkerchief.”

“...Get out.”

“In other words, didn’t you also allow my eldest son to persuade you because, deep down, you wanted to sever ties with Mo Yonggun?”

“......”

Tang Gwan turned his head toward his cup.

Yeon Wi watched him quietly, then cupped his fist in his palm.

“I know you wanted to be alone. My words were somewhat harsh, but they were words I truly ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ wanted to say. I committed a grave discourtesy.”

“So long as you know it.”

“I’ll make up for today’s discourtesy with a fine fragrant liquor next time. Give me word, and I’ll clear my schedule.”

Yeon Wi left the room.

Tang Gwan stared blankly at his cup, then poured more white liquor into it.

When he downed the full cup in one swallow, his throat suddenly felt raw.

“Father and daughter alike... both with daggers on their tongues.”

Tang Gwan lifted the white liquor bottle itself and drank straight from it.

Heat rose from beneath his solar plexus and spread across his face.

“...Bitter.”

*****

“What are you doing?”

“Hm?”

Yeon Hojeong, sitting alone in a chair and gazing out the window, turned his head to look at Mookbi.

“What? When did you get here?”

“Just now. I was on my way back from training. The light was on, so...”

“I just had something to think about.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“You worked hard today too.”

Mookbi gave a small nod as well.

“You worked hard too. Get some rest.”

“Right.”

Once Mookbi left, Yeon Hojeong raised his eyes to the sky outside the window again.

The glittering starlight was beautiful.

“...It’s time.”