If you place a frog in a pot of cold water, and gradually raise the water’s temperature, the frog will not jump out. It will just remain inside the pot, and die.
That’s exactly how the Tang family collapsed.
The Tang family, Qingcheng sect and Emei sect, who chose to close their gates through a wrong momentary choice, gradually pressed and tightened the Tang family. Their work to dismantle the Tang family was very meticulous and took place over a long period of time.
By the time the Tang family realized that fact, it was already after the windfall.
The visions of poisoning and yakjangsul, which were the foundations of the Tang family, were lost, and many of their craftsmen died.
The hidden weapons of the Tang family were fatal.
The hidden weapons, which were fired with a principle that ordinary people could not even imagine, was a target of caution for martial artists.
Even in the Tang family, craftsmen who made hidden weapons were specially managed. They were so important that information about them was thoroughly blocked and protected.
But one day, a major incident occurred where the said craftsmen were slaughtered.
While a blast furnace for molten iron was being installed, an unknown explosion suddenly occurred. The craftsmen present at the site were then all dried up.
It was later revealed that the incident was a work done by the Emei sect to prevent the installation of a new blast furnace.
They thought that the addition of the furnace would increase the Tang family’s productivity, but the result was fatal enough to shake the foundation of the Tang family.”
This incident accelerated the downfall of the Tang family.
As they lost their vision and human assets that had been handed down for hundreds of years, the Tang family members lost their strength, and Qingcheng sect and Emei sect did not leave the Tang family alone.
With fatal wounds, the Tang family was soon devoured and ended up collapsing.
People now believed that the Tang family’s vision had been lost.
The same was true of the descendants of the collateral family, who could be said to be the side branches of the Tang family. These were the people who use the surname of the Tang clan, but have never been able to inherit the vision of the clan.
Among them, there were those with great ambition.
Dang Cheol-san was one of them.
He was a collateral of the Tang family.
Although he uses the Tang family surname, he and his family have long been separated from them. It could be said that their bloodline has no ties to the Tang family at all.
When his ancestors left the Tang family a long time ago, they settled in Jiangsu Province. They built a large workshop and merchant group on their own, but they always felt they were lacking.
They wanted to recreate the old Tang family products in Jiangsu Province. However, no matter how hard they tried, they could not revive the Tang family’s vision.
At that time, they had heard rumors of a young artisan who had just appeared in Chengdu. His craftsmanship reached a great level, and all the weapons he made were sold at the highest prices.
As soon as Dang Cheol-san heard the rumors about the young artisan, he became greedy.
He thought that the young artisan must have inherited the vision of the Tang family. And he realized that if the artisan grew up, he could cause a huge blow to the workshop they were running.
Although Chengdu was far away, the fame of the great artisan spread even beyond Chengdu.
Dang Cheol-san decided to steal the vision before the young artisan had the opportunity to grow bigger. Even if he couldn’t take away the Tang family’s vision, he planned to kill the artisan to prevent him from sprouting.
“So, the one who commissioned the Hundred Wraith Union was a person named Dang Cheol-san.”
“That’s right.”
“He’s still a blood relative who shares the same Tang surname with me. Is it because it’s already been a long time ago, now he has nothing to do with it?”
Tang Sochu smiled bitterly.
Pyo-wol watched him from the side without saying a word.
Baekrok revealed everything. He initially pretended that he didn’t know anything about the client, but he eventually spilled the truth.
If there was an exception, it was about the Hundred Wraith Union. He was obviously an assassin belonging to the Hundred Wraith Union, but he knew very little about them.
This is because the Hundred Wraith Union was completely in the form of a point organization.1
Only the Top Ten knew everything about the Hundred Wraith Union, while the rest of the assassins were operating in a subordinate form.
When a quest comes into the Hundred Wraith Union, the assassins are given missions according to their abilities, location, and level of danger.
Baekrok was also given a mission like that.
There would have been no problem if he had just accepted the request for the prosecution of Tang Sochu, but he ended up also accepting other requests on his way to the distant Sichuan Province.
Because of that, Yu Gi-cheon managed to get on his tail.
Everything ended up happening this way because of his greed.
Tang Sochu asked,
“Then what happens now? Will the Hundred Wraith Union give up on the quest because Baekrok has failed?”
“They will never give up.”
An assassin group lives on trust.
If an assassin gives up because they failed a mission, their integrity will go down. No client would be willing to hire a group of assassins who cannot be trusted.
In particular, the Hundred Wraith Union would be more sensitive to issues like trust, since they can be considered as the best assassin group in the Jianghu.
If Baekrok’s failure is known, the Hundred Wraith Union will surely send another assassin to complete the quest.
“The good news is that there is still a lot of time before they know of Baekrok’s death.”
Baekrok thoroughly erased his traces using the Xuanwu Merchant Group. While it made it difficult for Pyo-wol and Yu Gi-cheon to find him, it was the same with the Hundred Wraith Union.
The Hundred Wraith Union thoroughly maintained a point structure of organization.
The Hundred Wraith Union would not know of his whereabouts until Baekrok reported it himself. In particular, someone like Baekrok who erases his trails would be difficult to find.
The usual time it takes for an assassin to complete one mission could be as short as a month or as long as a year. In particular, it was not at all unusual for a request from a remote area like Sichuan to take more than a year.
“If the Hundred Wraith Union doesn’t receive a report that the quest has been completed even after a year has passed, they will become suspicious. And they would most likely send a new assassin.”
“So my life is being extended by a year.”
Tang Sochu laughed bitterly.
It was Pyo-wol who knew the physiology of the assassins better than anyone else.
What Tang Sochu said would be correct. Then he had only one year left.
He was well aware of the notoriety of the Hundred Wraith Union. They were the best assassin group in Jianghu. They never failed in accomplishing their commission.
No target has ever survived.
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At least that’s what it has been known so far.
Not unless the client cancels the request, the Hundred Wraith Union will continue to pursue Tang Sochu.
Tang Sochu grumbled.
“How could my life be so hard? I can’t believe I ended up being the Hundred Wraith Union’s target after I can finally make a living. Sheesh!”
“Don’t worry.”
Pyo-wol patted Tang Sochu’s shoulder.
He never intended to let Tang Sochu die.
“What are you going to do?”
“You’ll see.”
After saying those words, Pyo-wol kept his mouth shut.
Tang Sochu looked at Pyo-wol’s face silently.
Pyo-wol’s face shone brightly with the light coming from the burning workshop. He exuded a dizzying sensuality and was more beautiful than a woman.
In the eyes of Tang Sochu, the figure of Pyo-wol looked like a reaper.
* * *
Tang Sochu moved to Red Villa.
He made his own workshop on one side of the Red Villa.
The walls were built using specially manufactured bricks, and the roof was covered with hand-made iron tiles.
The workshop which was created in this way ended up being completely cut off from the outside. Noise and heat were prevented from leaking outside.
Tang Sochu connected the vent to an underground waterway, allowing heat and noise to escape.
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