Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 73

As Tang Yunseol, who was running towards the safe house, threw the dagger in her hand, the Blood Sect members rushed in all at once.

Clang!

Thud!

One of them barely managed to twist his sword and block it, but the other was not so lucky. The flying dagger suddenly dropped and lodged in his abdomen.

The dagger technique, named after the elegant poetic phrase 'White Sand Falling Geese', was difficult to block once it changed its course, so it had to be struck down beforehand when it was shot in a straight line...

However, there were too many rushing in.

Swish!

Swish!

The flashing blades rushed towards the Tang siblings.

"Yiik!"

When Tang Yunqing sprinkled the scattering poison, the ones who were attacking from the left quickly retreated, but the ones aiming for the right rushed in even more fiercely.

At the critical moment, Nangong Zhao flew in and scattered his sword energy.

Thwack!

Thud!

The sword energy, thrown with all his might, lodged in the bodies of two Blood Sect members.

"Hey, you bastard. Your opponents are us!"

Swish!

When Heukgo waved his hand, a steel ball flew. He tried to twist his body to avoid it, but it was so fast that it grazed his left shoulder. If he had been hit properly, he would have suffered a serious injury with a broken bone.

Keuk!

Although the impact felt as if his shoulder blade had been blown away, Nangong Zhao paid no heed and flew his sword energy in succession, and thanks to that, the Tang siblings were able to rush into the safe house.

Then, as Nangong Zhao staggered in, the poison pouch came out of Tang Yunqing's hand.

Thwack!

The poison powder was sprinkled in front of the safe house.

The Blood Sect members clutched their noses and retreated in all directions.

"Do you think you can escape?"

Heukgo gritted his teeth.

He had thought that catching the Tang siblings would be no big deal, but because some brat had interfered, the casualties had reached over ten.

At this rate, even if he completed the mission properly, he would have no choice but to be reprimanded.

Heukgo, his anger exploding, panted and ordered his subordinates, "Set it on fire!"

"No!"

Dongcha stopped him.

"If we set a fire at this time of night, the government troops will come. The Tang family brats might also flock here. They're rats in a trap anyway."

Dongcha waited for the scattering poison powder to clear, as Nangong Zhao had chosen a dead end.

Heukgo screamed at the safe house.

"To attack like a rat and hide, are you really from the Nangong family of the Five Great Families? It seems that while I was away from the Central Plains for a while, the brats of the orthodox sects have forgotten what honor is. And even poison... a brat who values his life so much can't distinguish between a place to interfere and a place not to..."

Heukgo, who had poured out a torrent of curses, looked down at his fist.

A red line was drawn on it from having hastily blocked Nangong Zhao's sword energy.

"I almost got my hand cut off. This bastard, he won't die a peaceful death."

"Heukgo, isn't this place a bit strange?"

Dongcha said, looking around.

"It's not an ordinary house."

When Heukgo looked, it was true.

"It seems to be a place that some brats use as a safe house... did the Nangong family make it?"

"No way. Why would the Nangong family come all the way here to make a safe house? If they were discovered, they would have a difficult relationship with the Tang family... the only place that can have a safe house in Chengdu is the Martial Alliance... is it really the Martial Alliance?"

"The Martial Alliance?"

Heukgo frowned. He remembered that the Cult Leader had ordered them not to reveal their identities openly yet.

"Nangong, you rat bastard, is that brat a member of the Martial Alliance? No wonder he was so strong. What should we do? It'll be a headache if the Martial Alliance brats interfere... I should tell Tang Tian'e to hurry."

"He said he was going to make a move today anyway, so he'll take care of it. We just have to catch the brats here, right?"

Dongcha's decision saved both their lives.

* * *

'The young family head has disappeared? What kind of trick is this?'

After sending Go Hyeonggi to bring Tang Yunqing, Baekji reviewed the current situation.

Baekji had known that the Blood Sect was trying to take over the Tang family after taking over the young family head's body and eliminating Tang Qianhui, but something was strange.

'Does that mean the elders didn't join hands with the young family head? Then is that elder brat planning to take the position of family head? No, then why did the Blood Sect take over the young family head's body? Is that elder brat also a Blood Sect member?'

Something didn't add up.

When Baekji felt a stinging gaze and turned, the elder was looking at him with brilliant eyes.

His gaze was unusual.

'What is it? Does that old man know me? Did he notice that I've undergone rejuvenation?'

Since Tang Qianhui had found out, he thought that the elder might also know, and he was feeling uneasy, but the elder sent a telepathic message.

―Could it be... you are the Alliance Leader's disciple?

"...?"

Aha!

Baekji, seeing the elder's sparkling eyes, thought he knew what he was thinking.

Go Hyeonggi had said it.

―He is a person who came from the Alliance.

A young person who could order the chief investigator around and whom the law enforcement hall head, Go Hyeonggi, addressed with respect.

If he was the disciple of the Alliance Leader, who was over ninety, his martial arts generation would be on the level of the Shaolin abbot.

'Did the Alliance Leader raise a disciple?'

He had not heard such a thing from Quan Bai. He had only heard that he had been in seclusion since the calamity of the Blood Sect.

It didn't matter either way.

If that old man was mistaken, he could just play along for a while.

"Shall we talk quietly?"

Baekji went to a corner of the Yusimjae and gestured for the elder to come. In the few steps he took, the grandmaster of cunning's calculations were finished.

The elder hesitated for a moment and then told the surrounding elders and warriors to step back and approached Baekji.

"No one knows about my identity, right?"

"Umm. That's right."

"It would be better if the elder also kept his mouth shut."

"..."

A ray of light flashed in the elder's eyes.

Baekji read the desire for honor and power in that light.

"What do you want?"

"Keum... at this age, what would I want? Just... to protect the safety of the family and the justice of the martial world..."

"Do you want to enter the Alliance's council of elders?"

Hearing the words 'justice of the martial world', Baekji, who had a feeling, asked openly, and a strong light flashed in the elder's eyes again.

'It's certain. This person covets power.'

Baekji had heard about the Martial Alliance's organization from Quan Bai. The council of elders was a place where the masters of the great sects and the great families gathered.

A Martial Alliance elder who controlled the Central Plains enjoyed tremendous power and honor that could not be compared to the elder of the Tang family.

In reality, the elder had been trying to become a Martial Alliance elder for a long time. But because of the family head, Tang Qianhui's restraint, saying that he had to build up the family's internal strength, which had been weakened by the Blood Sect, it had been repeatedly thwarted.

'If that brat hadn't interfered, I would have already entered the council of elders. If the Tang family produces an elder, isn't that a joyous occasion for the family?'

Although Tang Qianhui had only stopped him because he was worried that the elder's excessive desire for honor and power would cause trouble in the Alliance, the elder thought that the family head had done so to keep him in check.

"There's a reason I came to the Tang family."

Of course there was.

It was to ask them to be the backer of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect.

"But coincidentally, the family head was attacked. Let's sort this out first."

The elder, who had been convinced that Baekji was the Alliance Leader's disciple, treated him politely.

"That's right. That's why I have stepped forward myself... although it is shameful to reveal the family's shame to an outsider... Tang Qianhui was originally not qualified to be the family head. Since he was attacked and seriously injured, we must correct it now."

"What do you mean? Do you want to be the family head?"

"No way. No."

The elder shook his head in denial, then looked around once and then bowed his head and said in a low voice, "The legitimate heir of the family who should have originally inherited the position of family head is here in Chengdu."

"Oh. Really? That's great."

Baekji grabbed the elder's hand as if it were a relief. The elder flinched at the action that was outside the norms of the martial world and was about to withdraw his hand, but stopped.

Baekji's hand was warm.

"Then hurry and bring him. The Blood Sect is on the move, and we can't leave the position of family head empty for even a moment."

"The Blood Sect? Did you say the Blood Sect?"

"The Blood Sect members are running wild here and there in Sichuan right now. Perhaps the one who harmed the family head was also a Blood Sect member."

The elder smiled with satisfaction.

As Tang Tian'e had said, he could blame the family head's attack on the Blood Sect.

'Although he is the Alliance Leader's disciple, he is still inexperienced.'

The elder had met Tang Tian'e three months ago.

The elder, who had been close to Tang Tian'e's maternal family, was a person who had taken the lead and had opposed his expulsion in the past.

When Tang Tian'e had said that he would eliminate Tang Qianhui and his son and daughter for his reinstatement, he had hesitated for a moment, but had eventually accepted.

The price that Tang Tian'e had offered was too great.

The 'Ten Thousand Flowers Rain' technique and the 'Shadowless Poison' manufacturing method, which only the direct descendants of the Tang family could learn, and even a recommendation to be a Martial Alliance elder.

He, who had been reduced to a back-room old man due to Tang Qianhui's checks, could not miss the opportunity to wield power as a Martial Alliance elder.

"What is the family head's condition?"

The elder asked. Tang Qianhui was an intelligent person, and the executive department followed him with loyalty. If he did not die or become a cripple, he could be struck back at any time.

"You should consider him half-dead. Even if he survives, he won't be able to keep his position as family head. His arm... was cut off. He must have lost all his martial arts too."

"Umm. For the family head to become like that. As expected... it seems that the providence of heaven cannot be defied."

"It doesn't matter to me who becomes the family head. I just have to take the person who will become an elder from the Tang family."

The elder's eyes widened.

"An elder? You mean a Martial Alliance elder?"

"Shh! What if a Blood Sect member hears? A Martial Alliance elder is their top priority for elimination."

"Ah..."

The elder's heart pounded. For his long-cherished wish to be resolved all at once.

He became impatient.

"I will go and bring the legitimate heir of the family myself."

"What's the legitimate heir's name?"

"Tang Tian'e. He is the eldest son of the previous family head and the legitimate heir born of the official wife. The current family head is the offspring of a maid, so their statuses cannot be compared."

"Yes. That's right. It's right for the eldest son to inherit the position of family head. Hurry and bring him."

The elder left the Yusimjae with hurried steps and said to the elders, "Follow me. We have to go and bring the new family head."

The elders, as if they had already made a tacit agreement, immediately followed the elder.

Since Tang Qianhui had become a cripple, there was no reason to pressure the Yusimjae.

In the bustling courtyard of the Yusimjae, only a few people, including the heads of the inner and outer halls and the head of the medicine hall, remained.

"Head of the medicine hall!"

The head of the medicine hall was confused when he found out that the medicine boy who had followed Wu Qingshu was actually a high-ranking official of the Alliance and an absolute master.

Baekji approached the head of the medicine hall and said quietly, "Go and bring Wu Qingshu. It seems the family head has been hit by the blood poison."

The head of the medicine hall came to his senses.

Wu Qingshu was in the process of detoxifying the 'life and death grass', which was an ingredient for the blood poison.

"I understand."

The head of the medicine hall hurriedly went out.

The heads of the inner and outer halls were suspicious of Baekji.

He had whispered with the elder and had even sent the head of the medicine hall somewhere.

In the meantime, the head of the inner hall said to the inner hall warriors, "You must guard the Yusimjae like an iron wall."

He was about to enter the Yusimjae with the head of the outer hall.

But Baekji blocked them.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The head of the inner hall, who was displeased that Baekji, although a high-ranking official from the Alliance, was controlling the affairs of the Tang family, said bluntly.

Although he was an absolute master, he looked ready to use his hands if necessary.

"Come in with the head of the medicine hall in a little while. I have something to look into first."

"What do you mean? This is the Tang family's affair. As the head of the inner hall, I should..."

Just then, Lady Jeonghwa's voice was heard from inside.

"Do as he says."

The head of the inner hall retreated with a displeased expression.

As Baekji was entering the Yusimjae, he said to the third and fourth shadows who were guarding the door, "Don't let anyone in."

Lady Jeonghwa was sitting next to Tang Qianhui's bed, and she was putting her hand on his abdomen and blowing ki into his dantian.

Sweat was forming on her forehead.

Tang Qianhui's condition did not look good.

Baekji sighed lightly and said, "It seems it really is the blood poison... for the Poison King to have not been able to completely solve it even after cutting off his arm."

Baekji, who had experienced the powder of the 'life and death grass', looked down at his palm.

'I have to quickly fix my habit of eating medicinal herbs.'

(End of Chapter)