"Family Head, did you call for me?"

While exchanging pleasantries, Gongsun Seung and Danya arrived at the medical room of the Poison Research Hall.

"How is the Elder's condition?"

"I'm fine, Gongsun Family Head."

"Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness."

Gongsun Seung's first action was to check No Gwanyeong's condition.

His expression wasn't bright.

For a teenage boy, accepting the fact of death before his eyes and that someone was injured because of him wasn't easy.

Moreover, the guilt would be considerable.

Still, what was fortunate was that Gongsun Seung was enduring it well.

The sight of No Gwanyeong and Gongsun Seung sitting beside him, holding his hand tightly, looked just like grandfather and grandson.

Family.

It didn't necessarily require sharing blood.

If they lived in the same house, worried about each other, and cared for one another more than themselves, wasn't that family?

"Well, did you get some sleep?"

"Yes?"

"You kept going in and out, didn't you? Once every half hour."

"Ah..."

At the words of Jang Il-seok, the director of the Poison Research Hall, Gongsun Seung scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.

His heart must have been heavy.

He probably couldn't sleep from guilt.

Watching the subdued atmosphere, Cheonyeong sighed and flicked Gongsun Seung's head.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?"

"Because you deserve it."

"Yes?"

"Won't the director take good care of him? There are even Hyeon Gal clan warriors to help with the corpse poison. Why are you interfering?"

"That's..."

"You fool! You won't grow at this rate."

"Yes?"

"At your age, you need to eat well, exercise hard, and sleep well to grow. Not by being a tiny runt. You're picky with food too, aren't you?"

"Tiny runt, what, what did you say?"

"You're fifteen years old this year. Fifteen! When will you ever grow? Huh?"

"Ugh! Stop it!"

As Cheonyeong pressed down on his head with his flicking hand, Gongsun Seung irritably brushed it away.

"This is where you complain? You're picky with food too? You do everything that prevents growth."

"Who's fault is it that I'm not growing?!"

"What?"

"Since you brought it up, why couldn't I sleep?"

"Uh..."

"Why can't I exercise?"

"Ah, that's..."

Cheonyeong, feeling somewhat guilty, scratched his cheek and avoided eye contact.

"It's all because of the Family Head!"

"That's not entirely..."

"You entrusted all the family's financial matters to a fifteen-year-old, and then what? You say I should sleep well? Do you know how many days I've collapsed asleep at my desk from exhaustion? I even asked Great Blacksmith Danya to make a simple bed in my office!"

As Gongsun Seung raised his voice, Danya nodded.

"Ah, yes."

"That's not something to brush over with 'ah, yes'! What did you say earlier? Picky eating? Whose fault is that?"

"..."

"The Family Head's! You keep pulling away the Inner Hall Master, who should be sharing duties with me! There's no time to eat! I have to work while holding a spoon!"

As Gongsun Seung's anger gradually intensified, Cheonyeong could only shrink his shoulders without a word.

He gave a full measure and received a full measure back.

What could he say when it was true...

"The Family Head was wrong."

"The Family Head is always wrong."

Danya and Jang Il-seok nodded, siding with Gongsun Seung.

"So the Family Head is that kind of person? I'll remember. Hehehehe!"

No Gwanyeong added his words.

These people really took lightly the understanding of a family head.

But after Gongsun Seung vented his frustration, his expression returned to normal, and the subdued atmosphere came alive again with laughter.

"Right! Did you bring that?"

"What?"

At Cheonyeong's attempt to change the subject, Gongsun Seung answered with a sharp tone.

Gongsun Seung also knew.

That Cheonyeong had brought up the topic for his sake.

Still, the height comment was too much.

Not growing was something he had always worried about, so he almost got genuinely angry.

"Your grandfather's keepsake."

"Oh right! I brought it since it seemed like that's why you called me before the assembly. The height thing can wait."

Gongsun Seung grumbled like a teenager, pouting, and pulled out a necklace from his pocket.

The child was stubborn.

Cheonyeong looked at the necklace Gongsun Seung placed on the table.

A gold string, and a circular pendant hanging from it.

At the center of the pendant was a yellowish jewel, and around it was delicately decorated with silver vine patterns. The craftsman's skill had reached such mastery that the vines and their leaves seemed as if they might move.

"Hmm, this object gives off a mysterious feeling."

"Yes."

The necklace placed on the table was not merely a metal craft piece.

If his suspicion was correct, Jinkagu must have been searching for this necklace. If so, the necklace would very likely be connected to the Samyang Divine Art.

What kind of connection exactly...

Could it be a clue to finding the Samyang?

"Hmm, remarkable craftsmanship."

Danya, examining the necklace, exclaimed repeatedly, his eyes sparkling.

The curiosity unique to a blacksmith.

Craftsmanship and blacksmithing.

Though they handled different things, the basic principle of creating and decorating something was the same.

"Great Blacksmith, would you examine this?"

"Me? But it seems like a precious object... If my rough hands damage this precious thing."

Danya shook his head.

But that wasn't his decision to make.

Whatever secrets might be hidden within, the owner of the object was Gongsun Seung, wasn't it? Moreover, it was a keepsake left by his grandfather.

"Seung, what do you think?"

At Cheonyeong's question, Gongsun Seung thought for a moment.

"You think this is related to them, don't you, Family Head?"

"I do."

"Understood. Then please have Great Blacksmith Danya examine it."

"It might break. We might even need to disassemble it. Since it's a keepsake your grandfather left, think carefully before answering."

"They are people who tried to kill me twice."

That was true.

Jinkagu had already targeted Gongsun Seung's life twice.

Once at the Gongsun Family in Dongting Lake.

And again not long ago.

"It's just my thought, but I believe my grandfather would want this too. If it's the Family Head, you'll use it correctly, won't you?"

"..."

"I'm fine with it. Even if my grandfather were alive, he would tell me to expose those who targeted my life. Even if the necklace breaks."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Because the Family Head at least doesn't deceive or exploit those you consider family."

"I'm even more grateful that you think that way."

"Of course... though I do have a terrible personality that tends toward personal attacks."

Gongsun Seung muttered while glaring.

Kind but narrow-minded.

He would surely hold onto this and complain about it whenever he felt slightly upset in the future.

But what could be done?

It was all karma, the responsibility of a family head.

"Hmm, this is amber."

"Amber?"

Danya, examining the necklace, pointed to the jewel embedded at the center of the pendant.

"According to legend, when a tiger dies and its spirit returns to earth and becomes stone, it becomes such a jewel."

At those words, Cheonyeong listened intently and nodded.

No matter how many carts of books he had read, how could he possibly know all the knowledge in the world?

He was ignorant about jewels and crafts.

In such matters, Danya was far superior to him, so it was better to entrust it to him.

"Family Head."

"Why?"

"The reason you asked me to examine this must have some purpose, right?"

"It does."

"Could you tell me what you wish to learn?"

At Danya's question, Cheonyeong spoke without hesitation.

What did it matter if he knew his intentions?

He was already a member of the Tang Family, his family.

"A clue."

"A clue?"

"Yes, I think this might be a clue to finding something. Whether it's an object, a location, or perhaps a person."

"Hmm. So there's nothing certain."

"Right, so it doesn't matter what. Since Gongsun Family Head has already permitted it, find that clue even if you have to break it."

"Understood. Then, Gongsun Family Head."

Danya looked at Gongsun Seung.

"Yes."

"May I take this necklace? The Family Head said it's fine to break it, but this doesn't seem like something to handle carelessly. If I break it hastily, the clues left on the necklace's exterior might disappear. Breaking it should be the last resort."

"I understand. You need time, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll ask for your help. But Great Blacksmith Danya."

"Thank you. Since it's a keepsake from your grandfather, I'll examine it as carefully and meticulously as possible."

"Yes."

Having received permission once more from Gongsun Seung, Danya carefully placed the necklace in his pocket.

Watching him, Cheonyeong fell into thought.

For now, he was moving the martial world through the Beggar Gang to corner Jinkagu.

But he knew.

The moment his branch organizations were attacked, Jin Gu-myeong would have severed all connections to the organization and gone into hiding.

The Beggar Gang could never find them.

Even in his previous life, Chui Seon, Jang Myeong-seon, who had tried to track his tail, took over a decade just to find him.

And even then, he hadn't found the organization's main body.

They were cunning.

Careful and secretive.

They wouldn't move now.

But when the Beggar Gang grew tired of fruitless investigations, they would quietly reappear in the martial world.

They would surely come to find him and the Tang Family.

Because he had already lost Jin I-seon and Jin Il-hak.

The existence of Upper Heavenly Ghosts was very important.

They weren't assassins that could be trained anytime, but the very people who trained assassins.

And the Samyang Divine Art.

If it was Jin Gu-myeong as Cheonyeong knew him, even now, hidden in darkness away from the Beggar Gang's and the martial world's eyes, he would be moving to find it.

He didn't know why.

But he had already experienced it.

The end of his previous life.

When he accidentally learned that he had obtained and was practicing the Samyang Divine Art, Jin Gu-myeong had stopped all movements of Jinkagu and pursued him.

He had deployed all assassins and even moved personally.

Due to that pursuit, countless people died, and despite many forces in the martial world discovering the traces and intervening, he pursued Cheonyeong to the very end.

He didn't give up until the moment Cheonyeong died.

He didn't know the reason for such persistence.

But now he would find out.

Why they had pursued the Samyang Divine Art so obsessively that they had to abandon the organization itself called Jinkagu.

And now he would attack first.

He would complete his revenge by taking the lives of all those in Jinkagu who had pursued the Samyang.

"Danya."

"Yes, Family Head."

"I know you'll handle it, and it will take considerable time, but I hope you find it as quickly as possible."

"Hmm... I'll do my best, Family Head."

Danya nodded with a stern expression.

He had no choice but to ask like this.

"You're doing this again."

"Huh?"

Gongsun Seung, standing nearby, made a sullen expression and glared at Cheonyeong.

"Really, such a bad habit."

"What is?"

"When you say it like that, what is Great Blacksmith Danya supposed to do?"

"..."

"He has his own work too, and he's already short on spare time. Won't he be pulling all-nighters?"

"Ah... that's..."

"Just trust him and leave it to him. He'll do well on his own. Why do you have to burden him like that?"

At Gongsun Seung's words full of resentment, Cheonyeong's eyes twitched.

This kid... the family head has his reasons for everything.

But he couldn't bring himself to nag at someone who had already handed over his keepsake.

"Right! Do you know the purpose of today's family meeting?"

"How would I know when you haven't even told me?"

"A genius is... you should figure it out by intuition."

"Huh! How is a genius a psychic?"

"Anyway, after this family meeting ends, you'll have a lot to do."

"There's more? What?"

Gongsun Seung's face crumpled, and Cheonyeong smiled and said.

"The wedding of the Vice Family Head and the Inner Hall Master."

"...Ah!"

It was something that couldn't be postponed any longer.

Moreover, since it would be the Tang Family's first wedding, he planned to make it grand.

But then.

"You thought well. I was actually going to mention it."

"Yes?"

Jang Il-seok, the director of the Poison Research Hall, spoke with a smile.

"Actually, after you returned, I checked the pulse of the Inner Hall Master to confirm the health of the household members."

"...?"

"The spleen pulse is vibrant and beating strongly. Hehehehe!"

"Why is that?"

Cheonyeong, not understanding the medical terminology, tilted his head.

"It's the fetal pulse. The Inner Hall Master seems to be with child. Hehehehe!"

At Jang Il-seok's loud laughter, Cheonyeong froze like stone.

P-pregnant? She's pregnant?

When on earth did these two...

Oh! Really! No wonder she kept going to the watermill!

Did they really cause trouble?

The Tang Family's Departure from the World