Night In Sichuan

Boom! Babababang! Bam!

All sorts of explosive sounds echoed continuously, shaking the entire brothel.

It was truly an exchange of blows at an incredible speed.

Tang Mu-jun's various hidden weapons flew through the air.

He pressured all the spaces where Yeo Un-hwi should have been with his hidden weapons.

Simultaneously, Tang Mu-jun's heavy-handed martial arts techniques were added at rapid speed, making it appear at first glance as if Tang Mu-jun was one-sidedly pushing Yeo Un-hwi back.

But the reality was completely different.

'How can this be.'

Tang Mu-jun's eyes were trembling violently.

The masked opponent was avoiding, blocking, and deflecting all of his attacks by the narrowest of margins.

If it had been just a few instances of luck, then Tang Mu-jun would indeed be dominating this fight.

But the opponent had already gone dozens of exchanges without suffering even a scratch from Tang Mu-jun's attacks.

Moreover, no matter how unpredictable an attack Tang Mu-jun launched, they were all negated by the narrowest of margins.

In other words, while Tang Mu-jun's attacks might look like lightning to others' eyes, they appeared very slow to this man.

As that thought occurred to him, Tang Mu-jun felt a chill run down his spine.

Right now, his opponent was going easy on him.

On me, Tang Mu-jun, hailed as the greatest prodigy in the history of the Sichuan Tang Family.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before in his life.

People called it bewilderment.

In truth, Tang Mu-jun had noticed that his brother Tang Gu-hwi was planning something tonight.

So he had been observing the situation from a distance away from Cheonghwaru.

But then,

'What is that?'

Suddenly, an enormous energy was felt from the top floor of Cheonghwaru.

An immense power unlike anything he had ever felt before.

But Tang Mu-jun could sense that within it was an incredibly pure energy.

So Tang Mu-jun judged that the person who had appeared where his brother was must be a great master from a previous generation who had long since left the martial world. And from the Righteous Faction at that.

It made no sense otherwise.

But what was this?

The unidentified master in the mask possessed cruel techniques that contradicted the pure energy he emanated.

Even he, from the Sichuan Tang Family known for their vicious techniques, had to marvel at the brutality.

Moreover, though his face was hidden, the opponent was clearly young.

Anyone could tell that much.

Or perhaps he was a master who had undergone rejuvenation.

That might make more sense.

It would explain this overwhelming strength.

'An opponent I cannot defeat.'

But soon, a smile unconsciously spread across Tang Mu-jun's face.

Facing an opponent so strong it bewildered him gave him a different feeling.

The joy of being able to unleash his full power.

In that moment, the look in Tang Mu-jun's eyes changed.

"Huuuup!"

Taking a deep breath, Tang Mu-jun's movements became twice as fast as before.

Babababababang!

At incredible speed, Tang Mu-jun circled around Yeo Un-hwi, unleashing countless hidden weapons from his fingertips.

Boom boom boom boom! Bam!

The force and speed with which he fired the hidden weapons was completely different from before.

As Yeo Un-hwi quickly retreated, Tang Mu-jun closed the distance in an instant and threw a punch.

Just as Yeo Un-hwi thought he had dodged, an upward kick came at a completely different rhythm, forcing his head back.

'Did it hit? No, it doesn't feel like it...'

There was no sensation of contact on his foot.

Yeo Un-hwi's tilted head returned to its original position.

A small smile played on his lips.

'He even avoided that.'

He couldn't even take away the slightest bit of composure.

Whoosh.

Tang Mu-jun soon stepped back.

He quietly observed Yeo Un-hwi.

He could not win. Not right now. Not against this man.

Whether his opponent had been going easy on him or toying with him, Tang Mu-jun felt his defeat keenly.

'Tang Mu-jun...'

Yeo Un-hwi already knew of him as well.

Hailed as the greatest prodigy in the history of the Sichuan Tang Family, his name was widely known throughout the martial world even before Yeo Un-hwi's regression.

Above all, he was renowned for his exceptional sense of chivalry.

At the time, Yeo Un-hwi as the Blood Demon had scoffed at the mere mention of chivalry.

How could he not? To him, the Righteous Faction was no different from the Evil Faction.

So words like righteousness, chivalry, and honor only filled him with rage when he heard them.

Because he had never once seen anyone truly uphold those ideals.

But Tang Mu-jun was different.

In his past life, Tang Mu-jun had not become the Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Family.

The Family Head was Tang Gu-hwi.

Afterwards, Tang Mu-jun left the Sichuan Tang Family and used all his money to run a small village for orphans, the elderly, and the poor.

By chance, Yeo Un-hwi remembered receiving help from him once.

Without even knowing Yeo Un-hwi's identity, Tang Mu-jun had offered him food.

Though Yeo Un-hwi shook his head and refused, Tang Mu-jun wasn't offended at all and, wondering if Yeo Un-hwi was worried about poison, ate some of the food in front of him to prove it was safe.

Then he brought a fresh portion, set it down, and withdrew, telling Yeo Un-hwi to eat comfortably.

The stronger one's hostility grows, the more clearly acts of kindness stand out in memory.

That day was one of the few when the Blood Demon Yeo Un-hwi had eaten comfortably and slept peacefully.

And now to meet Tang Mu-jun here like this.

Of course, he had thought they might meet someday.

But to encounter him at a moment like this.

It truly gave him mixed feelings.

And above all, he was amazed. By that talent.

Tang Mu-jun had broken through and grown during their brief fight just now.

In that short moment.

It was hard to imagine how strong he might become.

While Yeo Un-hwi was marveling at Tang Mu-jun, conversely, Tang Mu-jun was acutely feeling his defeat.

Tang Mu-jun's gaze turned to his fallen brother, then back to the masked man.

Soon, he let out a deep sigh and slowly opened his mouth.

"Isn't this enough now?"

"My revenge isn't over yet."

"How far do you intend to take this revenge?"

"Until he feels the greatest pain in the world."

"Then stop here."

"Hm?"

"My brother has already suffered great injury at your hands. It will likely take a long time for him to recover his martial arts. Quite a long time, in fact."

Tang Mu-jun continued.

At an age worthy of being called a Rising Star, even a brief stagnation could cause one to fall far behind one's peers.

In that sense, the extent of Tang Gu-hwi's injuries would bring him serious setbacks.

For someone with Tang Gu-hwi's arrogant personality, becoming completely obsolete would be a great torment.

That was the first point.

"Moreover, whatever dirty deeds my brother and those villains were plotting here will surely come to light."

If that happens, the Family Head Poison Rain Tang Jin-woo, who has been in closed-door training, will have no choice but to intervene.

Then Tang Gu-hwi will be stripped of his position as Young Master and everything else, receiving severe punishment.

In truth, Tang Mu-jun had repeatedly sought out Tang Gu-hwi to warn him, hoping desperately that such a situation would never come to pass.

That was the best Tang Mu-jun could do for his brother as a younger sibling.

But Tang Gu-hwi pushed Tang Mu-jun away and rejected him.

And so it had all come to this.

Having been defeated himself, Tang Mu-jun could only pray that the masked master would accept his proposal.

"Alright. I'll do as you say."

After seeming to consider for a moment, Yeo Un-hwi nodded.

At that, Tang Mu-jun's face brightened.

Yeo Un-hwi had also judged that it would be better for Tang Gu-hwi to live miserably, receiving punishment for his lifelong crimes, rather than killing him outright.

However,

"But you know."

Yeo Un-hwi looked at Tang Mu-jun.

"It's all good except for one thing that doesn't sit right with me."

"What do you mean..."

Ignoring Tang Mu-jun's puzzled expression, Yeo Un-hwi turned to look at the fallen Tang Gu-hwi.

"The possibility of recovering his martial arts."

"I'll follow everything else you said, but I'll do this my way."

"W-Wait!"

But before Tang Mu-jun could cry out, Yeo Un-hwi had already moved in front of the fallen Tang Gu-hwi in an instant, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up.

Then he placed his hand near Tang Gu-hwi's dantian and applied force.

Crack, crunch.

A horrific sound was heard.

It was the sound of Tang Gu-hwi's dantian shattering completely into pieces.

"Urgh... Aaaaargh!"

The pain of having one's dantian destroyed was the moment of despair and worst agony that martial artists feared most.

Tang Gu-hwi, who had been unconscious, regained consciousness from the pain that surpassed even that, and screamed again.

Tang Mu-jun quickly approached Tang Gu-hwi, who was trembling all over with tears and saliva smeared across his face, and struck his acupoints to make him faint once more.

If he hadn't, Tang Gu-hwi might have died from the pain.

"Did you... really have to go this far?"

Tang Mu-jun looked at Yeo Un-hwi with reproachful eyes.

"This is already being very lenient. I originally planned to tear him limb from limb in an even more horrific way."

"What grudge could he possibly have incurred to deserve this?"

"A grudge beyond what you can imagine, and then some."

Yeo Un-hwi answered while looking at Tang Mu-jun without the slightest hesitation.

"Do you think I'm being excessive?"

"I do. Extremely so."

"Then let me ask you one thing."

"Go ahead."

"Where were you and what were you doing while that brother of yours was causing all sorts of problems?"

"What do you mean? Of course I tried to stop him."

"You tried to stop him. Within the limits you thought appropriate. And when it didn't work, you just gave up, thinking there was nothing more you could do."

"Meanwhile, your brother left home and beat up everyone he saw. I heard he cut the leg tendons of an innocent man today. Did you know about that?"

"That's..."

"You probably consider yourself on the side of good when it comes to the standards of good and evil. But what you've done is mere hypocrisy. Without any real intention of stopping that madman from harming more people, you just worried about ruining relationships or bringing shame to your family, while standing by as people who never learned martial arts died and shed tears of blood."

Yeo Un-hwi didn't want to lash out at Tang Mu-jun like this.

But he had asked for an answer, and Yeo Un-hwi was telling him the reality.

"You still don't understand anything. You're just emotionally imitating righteousness. To me, you're still nothing but a bystander."

That's why he wanted Tang Mu-jun to realize and change more quickly.

It seems you'll become the Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Family in this life.

A different picture will be painted from my past life.

Because you have enough potential to make that happen.

Tang Mu-jun was at a loss for words, standing there blankly.

He wanted to cry out that it wasn't true, but the words wouldn't come.

He even felt as if his innermost thoughts had been exposed.

'What have I...'

Yeo Un-hwi quietly observed Tang Mu-jun in that state.

What kind of life will you lead in this lifetime?

Yeo Un-hwi found himself somewhat curious.

Suddenly, he sensed a commotion outside.

It seemed a crowd had gathered for various reasons.

It was time to withdraw.

"I'll be taking my leave now."

"W-Wait."

In an instant, the masked man vanished.

Tang Mu-jun looked around frantically.

To think there was someone who could elude even his eyes so completely.

It was almost laughable.

"Just what..."

Tang Mu-jun's gaze turned to the unconscious Tang Gu-hwi.

"What kind of monster have you made an enemy of, brother?"

Tang Mu-jun simply stared blankly at the night sky.

The moon shone brightly over the darkened Sichuan.