CLS-Chapter 408

Chapter 408:

“Look.”

Wei Yan-ho gazed at Tang Jin with a blank expression.

“Why are you telling me to look at someone who’s dying? You have strange hobbies.”

“He’s not dead though?”

“He’s almost dead.”

Wei Yan-ho frowned as he looked at Tang Jin, who had withered away like dried wood.

“His innate qi has been completely shattered, so how can a person survive? This person is like a completely burned kindling. He’s only alive because his martial arts were so strong, but there’s no way to heal him.”

Wei Jeong-han’s face contorted.

“That severe?”

“If there had been a way, they would have already treated him. This is the Tang Family, after all. Even if I don’t know much about Jianghu, I know that the Tang Family’s medical arts are as famous as their poison arts. But this person is beyond hope. Even if So-ah came, it would be the same.”

“Hmm…”

Wei Jeong-han let out a sigh.

He had thought that maybe someone like Wei Yan-ho might have some way, but it seemed that was just wishful thinking.

“…Damn it.”

There were two reasons he had specifically dragged Wei Yan-ho all the way here.

One was the hope that somehow they could save the dying person, and the other was the urgency of needing to restore this person’s consciousness to hear testimony about what had happened.

But both of those hopes had been shattered simultaneously.

“…I never knew Qi Deviation could be this terrifying.”

“Qi Deviation?”

“Yes, Qi Deviation.”

Wei Yan-ho frowned.

“This isn’t Qi Deviation.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho spoke matter-of-factly.

“It’s not Qi Deviation.”

Wei Jeong-han’s eyes wavered.

Both he and Tang Cheon-gun had reached similar conclusions. But they hadn’t been as certain as Wei Yan-ho seemed to be.

“Why not?”

“Qi Deviation is, simply put, taking the wrong path. Qi that should flow to where it needs to go doesn’t flow properly and enters a different path instead.”

“That’s right.”

“Then the qi with nowhere to go knocks around here and there, trying to return to its proper path. But from behind, qi continues to flow. Eventually, the qi trying to return and the qi that’s flowing collide with each other. That’s Qi Deviation.”

“Hmm, quite a fresh way of expressing it.”

“Depending on the severity of that collision, the stagnant qi might flow again, or remain blocked, or collide so violently that the surrounding area bursts and becomes permanently damaged.”

Wei Jeong-han nodded greatly.

“Right. But what does that have to do with this?”

“There’s no qi.”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t you understand? These people have all withered away. Their bodies weren’t ruined by qi colliding with qi – all the qi inside their bodies has been drained out. Even if this person recovers, he won’t be able to regain his former Internal Energy.”

Wei Jeong-han’s face became impossibly rigid.

‘As I thought.’

He could identify the source of that sense of unease – no, it should be called déjà vu – that he had felt.

He had heard this story before.

No, it was a situation he had witnessed with his own eyes several times.

Humans withered away like dried wood without a trace of vitality, martial arts that could never be recovered, naturally dying as time passed…

“Father?”

“Hmm…”

Wei Jeong-han shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Are they all like this?”

“…It seems so.”

Wei Yan-ho’s face hardened slightly.

“That’s strange. This doesn’t seem like something that could happen naturally. There are many cases of things going wrong while learning martial arts, but withering away like this, as if all the qi inside the body had been sucked out, wouldn’t normally happen. And multiple people showing the same symptoms?”

“My thoughts are the same as yours. This isn’t simply a problem that arose while learning martial arts. Something… this might sound strange, but it feels like there’s some kind of conspiracy.”

“Even if you say conspiracy…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head.

“Is there anywhere that would benefit from destroying the Sichuan Tang Family?”

“Oh ho, you… you can think like that too? You actually use your head. I thought you just carried it around for decoration.”

“You have to be quick on the uptake to be able to slack off.”

“…Damn brat.”

Wei Jeong-han shook his head and said,

“The problem is there are too many places that would benefit.”

“What?”

“Even though the Sichuan Tang Family has lost some power recently because of a certain someone, they’re still treated like the Grim Reaper in Sichuan. Their influence in Sichuan and Jianghu is enormous.”

“Influence?”

“That’s right, influence. And the actual interests they hold are no joke either. Probably the interests the Sichuan Tang Family controls in Sichuan alone would exceed a thousand gold.”

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his cheek.

In that case, it wouldn’t be strange at all if someone wanted to bring down the Sichuan Tang Family.

“Do all prestigious families hold such interests?”

“That’s right. Tavern operating rights, rentals… some places even run weapon shops.”

“Wow, they do more than I thought.”

“It’s natural. At least sects like the Nine Sects can maintain their livelihood by receiving goods from those who enter the sect, but families don’t accept disciples from outside, so they need sources of income.”

“Then why doesn’t our family do such things?”

“…”

“All we have is land for tenant farming. Why didn’t we do such things long ago?”

“It’s not that we didn’t do them. We did them all.”

“What?”

“…We just lost everything.”

“…”

Wei Yan-ho silently wiped the corner of his eyes.

Guangdong Wei Family, Guangdong Wei Family…

The Guangdong Wei Family truly was a pitiful place.

“Anyway, I understand. This seems to have left our hands now.”

“What will you do?”

“I have to make a report. Since I brought evidence, I should ask the Lord what should be done.”

“Didn’t you say you had some idea?”

Wei Yan-ho asked casually. From his perspective, Wei Jeong-han seemed to have noticed something.

“It’s not certain. And…”

Wei Jeong-han trailed off.

If what he was thinking was true, the impact of this incident would be extraordinary. So it was better to be careful with his words before becoming certain.

Even if it was his own son.

Wei Yan-ho also seemed to realize that Wei Jeong-han was reluctant to speak.

“You don’t have to tell me. But…”

“Hmm?”

Wei Jeong-han looked at Wei Yan-ho with renewed eyes. It wasn’t common for Wei Yan-ho to trail off like that. Especially with such a serious expression.

“I hope that suspicion of yours isn’t the kind of thing I’m thinking of.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Wei Yan-ho glanced around briefly.

“Certainly, as Father said, there must be countless people who want to bring down the Sichuan Tang Family. If what you’re saying is true.”

“That’s right.”

“But the reason it hasn’t been accomplished until now is because they lacked the ability, isn’t it?”

“That would be so.”

“…Conversely, it means that people capable of accomplishing what was impossible until now have appeared.”

Wei Jeong-han closed his mouth.

Because he understood what Wei Yan-ho was trying to say.

“If they can do it to the Sichuan Tang Family, they could cause the same thing to happen to other places too. If the current situation was deliberately caused by someone…”

Wei Jeong-han raised his head to look at the sky.

Wei Yan-ho was right. If someone had intentionally caused the current situation, it wouldn’t be only the Sichuan Tang Family exposed to those evil claws.

“I need to send word to the Righteous Martial Alliance as soon as possible.”

At that moment, a quiet voice was heard from behind them.

“Of course, I have no objection to that fact.”

Wei Yan-ho and Wei Jeong-han’s heads turned back.

“Have you come?”

Wei Jeong-han cupped his fists.

Tang Yong-min was looking at them with a disgruntled expression.

“Is the investigation going well?”

“Of course.”

Wei Jeong-han’s posture was respectful. But it wasn’t servile. That attitude irritated Tang Yong-min.

‘A mere family head from some backwater place, getting cocky because of his son!’

There was no need to compare the status of the Guangdong Wei Family and the Sichuan Tang Family. No matter how much Wei Jeong-han was the head of the Guangdong Wei Family, he couldn’t be equal to him, an elder of the Sichuan Tang Family.

But Wei Jeong-han’s current attitude was definitely not one for addressing a superior.

Normally, Tang Yong-min would never have tolerated this.

But right now, Tang Yong-min was exercising maximum patience. No, he had no choice but to exercise it.

Right behind Wei Jeong-han, who was maintaining a reasonably respectful attitude, Wei Yan-ho was sticking his chin up to the sky and maintaining an attitude of ‘So what are you going to do about it?’

If it had been any other young punk, he would have immediately been shouted at…

‘If I open my mouth to shout at him, I’ll get a fist stuffed in it.’

That bastard was hopeless.

What made Wei Yan-ho scary wasn’t because he was strong. No matter how strong Wei Yan-ho was, Tang Yong-min had dealt with countless strong people due to the nature of his position. Among them, there were plenty who surpassed Wei Yan-ho in reputation or ability.

But they had something called face.

People become cautious when they have something to lose. No matter how strong they are, they can’t act however they please.

It’s thanks to that that Jianghu is maintained…

‘That bastard has no such thing as face.’

And he seemed to have no thoughts either.

If other strong people were like majestically flowing rivers, Wei Yan-ho was like a sudden gust of wind. Unpredictable and difficult to handle properly.

If you clumsily try to control him and get caught up in the gust, you’ll suffer all kinds of humiliation. Tang Yong-min had no desire whatsoever to end up like Tang Pyeong.

Tang Pyeong’s nose, which had been hit by Wei Yan-ho, still hadn’t returned to its proper place.

“Kheuheum.”

Tang Yong-min cleared his throat loudly to dispel the awkwardness, completely ignored Wei Yan-ho, and fixed his gaze on Wei Jeong-han.

“Sending word to the Righteous Martial Alliance is fine. That’s why the Family Head invited you here in the first place. But you’ll have to show us the contents of that message first.”

“Are you saying you’ll censor it?”

Wei Jeong-han’s face hardened slightly. But from Tang Yong-min’s position, it was natural.

“If the Family Head had let an investigation team into our main house, would you say it didn’t matter if everything they saw and heard leaked to the outside?”

“Hmm…”

Wei Jeong-han let out a thoughtful sound.

The other side wasn’t being unreasonable. If positions were reversed, he too would be concerned about the same thing.

“I understand what you’re saying. But due to the nature of this investigation, I cannot show you that content.”

“Then it’s impossible.”

“However!”

Wei Jeong-han opened his eyes wide and said,

“I stake my family and my name that I will not write anything unrelated. Only the contents of this incident and the investigation I conducted will be included.”

“Look here, Family Head Wei.”

A slight sneer appeared on Tang Yong-min’s face.

“In other places, Family Head Wei’s title of Righteous Hero Sword and the name Guangdong Wei Family might have meaning, but this is the Tang Family. Here, things like your titles aren’t worth a penny.”

Wei Jeong-han’s face hardened rigidly.

This was severe disrespect.

Just as Wei Jeong-han was about to open his mouth, an indifferent voice came from behind him.

“Then what about my name?”

“…”

Looking at the flustered Tang Yong-min, Wei Yan-ho asked once more.

“What will you do if I stake my name?”

The troublemaker was starting to cause trouble.