Chapter 104: Gold, Silver, and Bronze

“Come out, Dog-Beating Dragon!”

“How dare you sneak into the Clan Head’s quarters like a coward!”

The enraged shouts shook Jeongak Hall.

Hearing news that an intruder was here, the martial artists of the Tang Clan gathered like storm clouds.

Worked up in a frenzy, they surrounded Jeongak Hall so tightly that there was no escape.

For nearly ten years, no one had thrown the Tang Clan into such an uproar, so their faces went beyond astonishment to burning indignation as they shouted for the intruder to appear.

Yet the one who stepped forth in answer to their cries was none other than the Tang Clan’s Clan Head, Tang Yangcheon.

“Gal(喝)──!!”

Kugugung–

A thunderous roar shook the heavens and earth.

The deep bellow of a Fire Realm master shook the entire Tang Clan as if an earthquake had struck.

Martial artists stumbled and staggered backward in fright.

“C-Clan Head Tang Yangcheon?!”

“H-how… how are you standing…?”

The Tang Clan martial artists widened their eyes in disbelief.

Gone was the image of the frail and weakened Clan Head.

Instead, Tang Yangcheon stood tall, radiating even fiercer qi than before.

“Oh, so this is what they call the ‘Shouting Gal’ of a Fire Realm master.”

I muttered in astonishment.

With a single word, he had snatched the souls of hundreds of martial artists.

“…What is the meaning of this?”

“Didn’t Young Clan Master Tang Ak clearly say the illness was severe…?”

“He was supposed to have only days left… that’s why we had to decide…”

Confused, the martial artists floundered helplessly.

Tang Yangcheon clicked his tongue as he looked at them.

“Tch, how witless you are.”

Instead of saying more, he suddenly unleashed a blazing thread of Sword Qi and slashed downward.

The streak of light, nearly three meters long, split solid marble and stone like tofu, cutting the ground clean in two.

At that terrifying display of power, the noisy Tang Clan martial artists instantly shut their mouths and prostrated themselves.

“I will deal with your sins later. Disperse.”

“Yes, sir!!”

Leaving behind only the unconscious Tang Ak, hundreds of martial artists scattered like dust.

The front courtyard of Jeongak Hall fell into silence.

Just when it seemed things had calmed, Tang Yangcheon’s sharp gaze turned toward us.

“So tell me, just now—what is your relationship with Yeo-hye?”

“……”

I thought that setting had been scrapped long ago.

When I looked at Tang Yeo-hye with eyes that said, ‘What are you going to do about this?’, she quickly averted her gaze.

It seemed the mess she created was going to fall on me to clean up.

Once the commotion subsided and silence returned—

Tang Yeo-hye was summoned to the Clan Head’s Room for a private meeting with her father.

Tang Yangcheon had called her to hear everything that had happened until now.

“I-It was just something I said.”

Unable to stand the silence, Tang Yeo-hye spoke first, her voice betraying her guilt.

Tang Yangcheon set down his teacup and nodded, as if unsurprised.

“Yes, it’s not as if you would easily find a lover.”

The way he spoke, as though her past behavior alone was more than enough reason to believe it, made Tang Yeo-hye feel oddly stung.

“Anyway, tell me everything that happened. What have you been through?”

At his question, Tang Yeo-hye began recounting her long and winding tale one step at a time.

How she fled Beijing after being isolated by the clan.

How she met a boy named Dan Mujin and together destroyed the Blood Boar.

Her encounter with the Soul-Stealing Demon Lord.

The Blood Cult’s sudden assault on the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

Her journey south to Nanman in search of the Poison Spring.

And finally—how Dan Mujin had thrown himself before the venomous fangs of the Human-faced Spider to save her.

The more Tang Yangcheon listened, the stranger his expression became.

‘Could it be… this girl actually…?’

He had thought his daughter only ever expressed herself through rage.

But now, whenever she spoke of Dan Mujin, he saw expressions and tones in her voice that he had never once seen before.

Her face softened. She laughed, pouted, and even looked proud when speaking of him defeating the Blood Boar and countless masters, as if boasting, ‘Isn’t my little brother amazing?’

And so, watching his daughter all the while, Tang Yangcheon’s eyes gradually narrowed.

“So tell me, daughter—do you think it’s right to give that youth the Tang Clan’s Gold Token?”

The Tang Clan had a tradition of bestowing a Gratitude Token upon those who had saved a family member.

Among them, the Gold Token could only be granted by the Clan Head himself, and only when the entire clan owed a great debt of gratitude.

At present, only one Gold Token had ever been issued into the martial world.

For more than ten years, the Sichuan Tang Clan had been unrivaled and untroubled.

“Ah… would that not be allowed?”

Clearly, she very much wanted to give him the Gold Token. She fidgeted nervously, an expression wholly uncharacteristic for her, and asked again.

“Heh, to think I would live to see this day.”

Tang Yangcheon chuckled wryly, draining his teacup.

So this was what it felt like for fathers everywhere, watching their daughters drift away.

And to feel it because of that girl—once called Wild Dog for beating up her peers every day.

“That young man, Dan Mujin—his cultivation, you say it has reached the Peak?”

“Yes. At first he seemed to be only Second-Rate, but every time I saw him, his realm had grown higher.”

A strange immunity to poison, a Peak-level achievement despite lacking a proper sect background, and the thick-skinned temperament to handle Tang Yeo-hye’s fiery personality without flinching.

If the clan was going to reward him with treasures and even a Gold Token anyway, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to bring him fully into the family.

At least then, the one being given so much wouldn’t be a stranger, but family.

“You too, daughter—you’ve reached a marriageable age.”

“……”

Tang Yeo-hye’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Knowing his daughter’s difficult nature, Tang Yangcheon had never once raised the topic before.

“It might not be so bad for you to find yourself a true husband.”

His words carried more meaning than one.

Confused, Tang Yeo-hye’s eyes darted about as she tried to puzzle out his intent.

Tang Yangcheon only smiled softly at her.

“The Gold Token shall be granted. Do your best with it.”

“……!”

After more than ten years, the Tang Clan’s golden Gratitude Token would once again be issued.

Perhaps it was only then that she truly understood what that meant. Her ears burned red.

“I-I’ll… I’ll try my best.”

The woman who had always been so bold and overbearing now stammered like a bashful maiden.

***

“The revolution has been accomplished.”

That was the first thing I blurted out when I returned to the shabby inn near the Tang Clan.

“I had a hunch when I saw the whole of Sichuan buzzing like a beehive, Boss.”

Ilhong exclaimed, saying she never imagined I would storm through the front gate like that.

“You saw, right? That’s just how great I am.”

Anyway, Tang Ak had been ousted, and Clan Head Tang Yangcheon had risen again.

The succession issue was resolved, and it seemed the long first request of my Troubleshooter office had finally reached its conclusion.

To that end, I had attended several Tang Clan meetings to testify about Tang Ak’s atrocities.

Every time, the Tang Clan’s Clan Head had looked at me with a meaningful gaze that left me feeling uneasy.

Normally, as one of Sichuan’s richest and most influential men, I should have been the one trying to approach him for connections.

But those sticky, lingering eyes from a middle-aged man? That wasn’t my taste. I bolted from the Tang Clan as quickly as I could.

“I can still remember it clearly.”

Those predator’s eyes, like a beast hunting its prey.

I hugged my arms tight and shuddered.

“Hey, Dan Mujin.”

Just then, Tang Yeo-hye returned to our lodging with Neung Sam.

She had packed something onto Neung Sam’s back, clearly things meant for us.

“But Noona, what’s with the outfit all of a sudden?”

Instead of her usual martial uniform, she was dressed in elegant silk robes with a faintly feminine style, and even wore delicate makeup.

“D-does it look good?”

“No.”

“……!”

At my immediate reply, she raised her fist—then lowered it again with a deep breath.

Clearly, upon reaching Peak Realm, she had learned a little patience.

“Noona, you suit the cute look better than the mature one.”

“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting…?”

The mature look just made her seem like a kid borrowing her mother’s clothes and makeup.

Still, when I wrapped it up as a compliment, she seemed faintly pleased, fidgeting a little.

Thump.

“Young Master, this is what Clan Head Tang Yangcheon has prepared as compensation for the poison of the Human-faced Spider.”

It was no small chest.

Even with the lid cracked open, a dazzling glow of gold and silver spilled forth.

“Heheh, well, I did almost die for it.”

It seemed worth the money.

And as if that weren’t enough, Tang Yeo-hye took out a gleaming golden token from her robes.

“This is the Tang Clan’s Gold Token. In over a decade, only one has ever been issued to the world. Consider it an honor.”

Once again, she carved her name into the Gold Token with her nail before handing it to me.

The token was fairly large, yet her fingernail carved through it smoothly, proof that it was pure gold.

“Just in case you’re thinking it—if you try to cash it in, you’re dead.”

Like with the Silver Token, she warned me not to make such a foolish mistake, since its value far surpassed that of ordinary gold.

“With this, you’ve collected Gold, Silver, and Bronze, Boss.”

“Yeah, guess I racked up some achievements.”

How had I even gotten so entangled with the Tang Clan?

Well, it was all thanks to Tang Yeo-hye standing in front of me.

“So, what can I do with all these, Noona?”

She glanced at me.

“You once said you wanted wealth and fame, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course. Who wouldn’t?”

Of course, in my case, I also had the ticking clock of having to wander the world and accumulate good karma.

“If you’ve collected all three Tokens, you could probably ask to marry into the Tang Clan as a son-in-law, and they might actually agree…”

She trailed off faintly.

So that was the way to seize wealth and fame?

Becoming their son-in-law would indeed make the Tang Clan’s power and riches his as well.

But for me, bound to travel and perform deeds of righteousness, it wasn’t exactly an option.

“Ahh… can’t I just trade them for money instead?”

“I literally just told you, idiot.”

She lightly kicked my shin with her slim leg.

But just like before, it didn’t hurt at all—she must have held back.

Had she finally graduated from anger-management issues to managing anger well?

“You said you wouldn’t hit me anymore!”

“That’s because you keep saying things like that…!”

She huffed angrily, but swallowed her temper down.

Seeing the once-wild beast restrain her claws gave me a weird sense of pride.

In the end, Dan Mujin decided he would think about the Gold, Silver, and Bronze rewards later and left the Tang Clan behind.

Tang Yeo-hye stood there, blankly watching his back as he waved and departed without a hint of hesitation.

“Hey, Neung Sam.”

“Yes, Young Mistress.”

Placing her hand over her chest, she spoke with a bewildered expression.

“Now that he’s just gone off like that… this place feels strange.”

Confused by the new emotions spreading through her, Tang Yeo-hye felt a lock unfastening somewhere in her heart.

“Could it be… do I actually like him?”

She asked while pointing to the youth who had seeped into her thoughts.

Neung Sam, listening quietly, gave her a dumbfounded look.

“Wait… you only just realized that?”

Letting out a long sigh as if he couldn’t believe it, Tang Yeo-hye responded by kicking his shin again.

“Argh!”

This time she hadn’t held back, and Neung Sam hopped around clutching his leg.

To show her heart so honestly, only to be met with such a pitiful look—how could she not be angry?

“Ugh… so, what are you planning to do with that feeling, Young Mistress?”

“…It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one feeling this. I’ll make sure he’s pulled in, too.”

She didn’t know where this emotion would lead, but the people of the Tang Clan always saw things through to the end.

“Heheh, then this Neung Sam will support you with all my strength, Young Mistress.”

So the day had finally come for his Young Mistress, too.

Grinning, Neung Sam rubbed his sore shin.

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