Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 75

The long, long night passed, and dawn broke.

The elder returned with Tang Tian'e and summoned the executive department and key personnel to the family head's hall.

Baekji also entered the family head's hall with the two heads of the inner and outer halls.

All the key personnel of the Tang family were gathered in the spacious main hall.

The elder, seeing Baekji, cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, ahem... a person who came from the Alliance cannot enter this place. Only the people of the Tang family can attend here."

"What are you talking about? The Honored One of the Household can't be absent from an important place where the Tang family head is being decided."

"Honored One of the Household?"

When Baekji took out the appointment letter and shook it, the elder saw that it was indeed stamped with the seal of the Poison King, Tang Qianhui.

'Didn't he say he came to invite a Martial Alliance elder?'

The elder looked at Baekji.

Baekji stealthily averted his gaze and pretended not to see.

"I-is this... for real?"

When the elder asked the heads of the inner and outer halls, the two hall heads nodded at the same time and said.

They had already coordinated their stories with Baekji before coming.

"It is true that the family head appointed him."

Since the heads of the inner and outer halls guaranteed it, the elder had no choice.

"Actually, I came for another matter, but the Poison King asked me. So I said I would do it, but he said that since it was a matter of the Tang family, I had to take on the role of the Honored One of the Household."

"To have to secretly appoint an Honored One of the Household, what on earth is that matter?"

"If I reveal it carelessly, would it be an important matter? I can't say it now."

Baekji answered shamelessly and then went to a corner of the main hall and sat down with a thud.

The elder did not press the matter further. Since Baekji had told him to bring Tang Tian'e, he thought that he would not interfere.

Moreover, his thoughts had reached the point where Baekji's purpose for coming was to select a Martial Alliance elder. There was no need to make him uncomfortable.

In any case, the council of elders just had to make a decision.

Of course, they had to go through the formality of gathering opinions.

The elder went up to the head seat and said, "As you all know, a big incident happened last night. An assassin entered and the family head was seriously injured, and the young family head is missing. According to the investigation of the council of elders, it is highly likely that it was the work of the Blood Sect."

"..."

Everyone listened to the elder's words with a grave face. The events that had happened last night were roughly known.

"Is there any conclusive evidence that it was the work of the Blood Sect?"

When someone asked, the elder shook his head.

"Not yet. We would know if the family head regained consciousness..."

"How is the Family Head's condition?"

"Lady Jeonghwa is by his side, but... even if he recovers, it seems it will be difficult for him to take care of the family's affairs. I heard he lost an arm."

For the Tang family, a family of hidden weapons, to be missing one arm was fatal. How could he unfold the family head's unique martial art, the 'Ten Thousand Flowers Rain', with one arm?

The elder sighed and said, "Fortunately, the previous young family head is here in Chengdu."

"The previous young family head?"

"Are you talking about the former young family head, Tang Tian'e?"

Here and there, sounds of surprise were heard.

Although the previous family head had kicked out Tang Tian'e, he could not bring himself to reveal the fact that he was a lecher who had raped a young lady. Since he had hushed it up and covered it for the honor of the Tang family, not many knew about Tang Tian'e's atrocities.

"Isn't Tang Tian'e a person who was removed from the family register? Why are you mentioning such a person?"

"That's..."

The elder said, "Because he is the legitimate heir of the previous family head. Although he was framed and fell out of favor for a while, the previous family head did not forget his eldest son until the day he died. Isn't that why he left a will saying to accept Tang Tian'e if he returned?"

The elder took out a document from his bosom.

Although the elder, who knew the previous family head's handwriting, had forged it himself, there was no one to question its authenticity.

"Hmph! Framed! Tang Tian'e's crime was clearly revealed at the time. He was caught trying to rape and kill a young lady on the spot! Who would believe it if you say he was framed! Even if the previous family head forgave him, drawn by the affection of blood, the position of family head is out of the question!"

When the head of the inner hall retorted loudly, the elder smiled as if he had expected it and said, "It has been revealed that it was a frame-up."

"A frame-up? It happened decades ago...? To say it's a frame-up now."

"I will explain that."

A middle-aged man with a dignified look entered the main hall with a calm voice.

"Tang Tian'e?"

"Young family head!"

The people who recognized him murmured.

Tang Tian'e was tall and handsome. With a gentle smile covering his face, the people's antipathy subsided.

"Bring him!"

When Tang Tian'e spoke, a Tang family warrior brought a person.

He was a middle-aged man with a shabby appearance, and his eyes were cloudy. As if afraid of this place, he kept looking around and hunched his shoulders.

"At that time, I heard a woman's scream and, wondering what was going on, rushed into a private house. But when I saw this brat escaping through the window, I threw a hidden weapon. I was about to chase him, but seeing that the woman's condition was more urgent, I was treating her when the people of the house rushed in. At that time, the people, seeing me with the woman's blood on me, accused me of being the culprit, but there was no way to explain."

"I-is that true?"

"At that time, I was young and hot-blooded and made many mistakes. That's why no matter what excuse I made, it didn't work. The humiliation of being removed from the family register was something I brought upon myself..."

Tang Tian'e said in a tone full of regret.

"...However, with the sole determination to reveal the truth, I have been tracking the real culprit until now."

Tang Tian'e pointed at the trembling middle-aged man and said, "This is the culprit."

"Is there any evidence that this person is the real culprit? He could have been bought to give false testimony!"

When the head of the inner hall retorted, Tang Tian'e smiled calmly and said, "Examine his shoulder. There will be a scar from the hidden weapon I threw."

The head of the inner hall roughly pulled at the middle-aged man's upper garment.

There was indeed a mark on his shoulder from being hit by a 'Tang character mark'. It was clearly a fairly old wound.

The 'Tang character mark' was a high-class hidden weapon used by the direct descendants of the family head.

'Is it true?'

The head of the inner hall was also confused.

"Did I really do it? If I had committed such a heinous crime, I would have died on the spot. Tell me the truth."

Although the head of the inner hall had threatened that he would die if he was the culprit, neither the elder nor Tang Tian'e stopped him.

The middle-aged man trembled and answered, "I-I have committed a crime worthy of death. I, I... she was a woman I had loved for a long time... she was going to marry someone else, abandoning me... but I didn't intend to kill her. Please, please forgive me."

The middle-aged man, while speaking, collapsed and hit his head on the floor. His appearance did not seem to be a lie.

Then, Tang Tian'e sighed deeply and said, "I have wandered the world looking for this person. I caught him after decades and returned to Chengdu, but the parties involved at that time had all disappeared."

The family of the raped woman had left Chengdu and had gone somewhere. When the previous family head had given them a huge amount of consolation money, they had taken the money and had gone to a distant province.

"Then you should have come to the main family and explained it long ago! Why did you come only today?"

"Listen."

Tang Tian'e said with a sad expression, "I was going to hand this person over to the authorities, but since it was a matter from decades ago and it had not been reported to the authorities at the time, I did not know how to ask for punishment. But since he was the only one who could clear my name, I could not kill him either."

Tang Tian'e explained his situation in detail.

"I wanted to return to the family and reveal the truth. But what would have happened if I had? I was the legitimate heir of the family and the previous young family head. In a way, the legitimate line of the family head. The moment I revealed the truth!"

"..."

"Thinking about the repercussions that would occur in the Tang family, I could not help but hesitate. Since Tianhui was fulfilling his duties as the family head, I was afraid that if I appeared and demanded my reinstatement, I would be suspected of aiming for the position of family head."

It was a plausible story.

"For a long time, while tracking this person, I have emptied my mind. I have hesitated until now because I did not want to see the Tang family fall into turmoil. However, since I wanted to clear my name, I did secretly convey the situation to the elder of the council of elders a while ago..."

Tears suddenly welled up in Tang Tian'e's eyes.

"But for Tianhui to have been struck down by an assassin's surprise attack. It is a truly regrettable matter. If only I had been by his side..."

It was a truly detestable act.

Tang Tian'e wiped his tears and looked around, and his eyes met Baekji's.

"...?"

'Why is that brat here?'

Although Tang Tian'e was puzzled that Baekji was at a meeting of the people of the Tang family, he pretended not to know.

But Baekji read the puzzlement that had flashed in Tang Tian'e's eyes.

'Ho-oh? So you were disguised as Tang Yunlong!'

Tang Tian'e did not know him. And most of the people in this place probably did not know him either. It was only natural, as he had been away from the family for a long time.

But he had looked around and had only shown a puzzled look at him.

Tang Tian'e had seen Tang Qianhui and Baekji together when he had been Tang Yunlong.

'He must have been puzzled that a mere medicine boy from the outside was at a meeting of the Tang family.'

He remembered that among the various techniques of the Blood Sect that he had heard from Quan Bai, there was the 'soul exchange grand law'.

If what the young family head had been possessed by was not the 'soul exchange grand law' but the 'soul exchange, all of this would be explained.

The 'soul exchange’ was easier to perform and cost less than the 'soul exchange grand law'.

Instead, one could not completely take over the body.

Baekji, wanting to tap Tang Tian'e's 'brain protection point', endured it and continued to watch the situation.

The people of the Tang family were taken in by Tang Tian'e's tears.

The unfortunate legitimate heir who had been framed and kicked out. Such a person had caught the culprit and had had a chance to reveal the truth, but had hidden himself so as not to cause confusion in the family.

Wasn't it a magnanimous act worthy of a family head?

A feeling of sympathy and admiration for Tang Tian'e's miserable situation arose.

"You brat! Is what you say true!"

The head of the inner hall grabbed the middle-aged man's collar, but the people frowned.

Even though it was obvious that he would die if he confessed, he had told the truth, but to continue to press him was unsightly.

"Head of the inner hall, stop. I will tell the rest of the story."

The elder stopped the head of the inner hall and said, "After receiving Tian'e's message, I also could not help but be troubled. A more suitable person than the current family head has appeared. To be frank, isn't it a fact that everyone knows that the Tang family has been in decline since the Poison King became the family head?"

"What are you talking about? The Tang family is in decline! That's ridiculous!"

Although the head of the inner hall retorted, the elder waved his hand and stopped him.

"Hasn't Tianhui, under the pretext of internal stability, practically closed the gates? The territory of the Tang family has continued to shrink, and in the end, haven't we even given up our commercial rights to paltry sects like the White Mountain Sect and the Five Dragons Sect?"

The elder continued to raise his voice.

"The position of the Tang family in Sichuan has been shrinking day by day. In the end, hasn't even this misfortune of being hit by an assassin of the Blood Sect happened? It can be said that what happened to Tianhui was something he brought upon himself. But Tian'e! Even after catching the real culprit who had framed him, he restrained himself for the safety of the Tang family... and his martial arts...!"

The elder was now calling the family head by his name. Although it was grating to the ears of some, they could not argue.

The tide had now turned to the council of elders and Tang Tian'e.

The elder pointed at Tang Tian'e and said, "He has reached the 'true realm'. He is a master who surpasses me, the elder."

"I am ashamed. It is something I was able to achieve because I had nothing to do but train. Please do not say such things anymore."

Tang Tian'e waved his hand modestly and showed humility. At the words that Tang Tian'e was in the 'true realm', exclamations flowed from here and there.

If he was a master of the 'true realm', he could aim for the top ten masters in the future.

For the Tang family to produce one of the top ten masters?

That was a joyous occasion for the family.

Tang Tian'e just smiled calmly, as if it were no big deal.

Baekji inwardly nodded his head and admired.

'These two brats, their hands and feet are really in sync!'

(End of Chapter)