Chapter 369: The Path Forward (4)
What was inside the box were two hand axes.
Of course, they were not ordinary hand axes.
“They were made with the secret alloy technique of the main clan. They might weigh a little more than normal iron, but even with your clumsy axe swinging, the blades will never get damaged. If you just don’t do anything stupid, you will be able to use them semi-permanently.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes were instantly drenched with ecstasy.
Tang Kwan said bluntly.
“What are you doing? Try lifting them.”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
A polite answer came out without him knowing. The axes were works of art to that extent.
Yeon Ho-jeong lifted one of the two.
‘It’s amazing.’
The length was slightly longer than a regular hand axe. Would the total length be roughly one and a half chi?
The axe blade itself was also wide and long, so much so that the tip of the blade extending straight down almost touched the end of the handle. The length of the blade was also close to one and a half chi.
The width was a little more than a handspan, and the thickness was extremely thick, about two finger joints. With the blade being so large and thick, even if ordinary iron was used, it would have weighed as much as a considerable long blade.
Furthermore, perhaps because the Tang Clan’s secret alloy technique was used, it was thirty percent heavier compared to the same amount of iron. It was called a hand axe, but for an ordinary person, it was a somewhat burdensome weight to hold and swing.
‘How on earth was this made?’
The axe blade, engraved with a bizarre, rippling pattern, was like a work of art in itself. In addition to that, a dynamic dragon shape that seemed ready to pop out at any moment was intaglioed, so it looked even more splendid than the Crazy Dragon Axe.
The colors of the handles were different. One was black, and the one Yeon Ho-jeong was holding was white.
The material was unknown. However, even though it was white, it didn’t seem like it would get dirty easily. Furthermore, the surface was not slippery, so the feeling of gripping it in his hand was just right.
“It is an axe made by a master craftsman counted on one hand even in the main clan. That master craftsman named them the Black and White Twin Dragon Axes.”
The Black Dragon Axe, and the White Dragon Axe.
One might say, do you even attach a name to a mere hand axe? But after seeing this figure, he almost wondered if’Black and White Twin Dragons’ wasn’t rather too simple.
“How is it? Do you like it?”
Yeon Ho-jeong said in a bewitched voice.
“It is the best.”
Tang Kwan let out a chuckle. Even though he had cursed him a lot, calling him rude or a fool, he acknowledged Yeon Ho-jeong.
Since such a guy was making a completely bewitched face, even Tang Kwan couldn’t help but feel good.
“As per your order, a round ring was also added to the end of the handle. Are you planning to hook them to chains and swing them around?”
“Yeees.”
“Use them well. Eighty percent of the casting techniques the main clan has researched until now are concentrated in those two axes. Even if you cherish them more than your own body, it won’t be lacking at all.”
“…”
“Even if your head flies off, do not lose them.”
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Tang Kwan with wavering eyes.
Tang Kwan frowned.
“What is it? That burdensome gaze.”
“…Thank you.”
“You’re being funny. Just when did you ask as if half-threatening me, and now you’re thanking me?”
“I never thought I would receive such wonderful items.”
The corners of Tang Kwan’s mouth went up. For this ill-mannered guy to even say such words, it seemed he really liked them.
Yeon Ho-jeong took a martial salute.
“I have received a great favor. As long as it is not something that goes against morality, I will surely repay this favor no matter what means I use.”
“In the midst of this, you are attaching conditions again. Whether it’s you or your father, you are similar in that aspect.”
“Yes?”
“Forget it. If you like them, quickly take them and get lost.”
“Ah, yes.”
Yeon Ho-jeong hurriedly gathered the Black and White Twin Dragon Axes.
It would be somewhat heavy for an ordinary man, but for Yeon Ho-jeong, it was just the right weight. Since he was a person who wielded a heavy weapon over eighty geun to begin with, if he made up his mind, he would be able to swing them as fast as swinging his bare fists.
‘It’s wonderful.’
Yeon Ho-jeong already felt his heart pounding.
‘The Crazy Dragon Axe would be good in a many-versus-many fight, but in a one-on-one or a chaotic melee, these might be better.’
Of course, he could fight sufficiently well with just the Crazy Dragon Axe.
However, the reason Yeon Ho-jeong asked Tang Kwan for hand axes was because he did not know what missions he would be deployed on in the future. When deployed on operations like stealth or assassination as before, the Black and White Twin Dragon Axes would be much less burdensome and have higher utility than the Crazy Dragon Axe.
‘I received a really good gift.’
His hands were itching, wanting to swing them even right now. Yeon Ho-jeong embraced his pounding heart and stepped out the door.
It was then.
“Wait.”
Yeon Ho-jeong turned around.
Tang Kwan had his hands behind his back and was looking at him.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“Are you not feeling regretful?”
“Yes?”
Yeon Ho-jeong lifted the Black and White Twin Dragon Axes and showed them.
“There’s no way that could be, right? I want to try swinging them even right now.”
“I am not talking about that.”
“…?”
“I mean missing the 1st Martial General. Are you not feeling regretful?”
“Ah.”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
“I am regretful, but what can I do? Since he already ran away, the future is important. Moreover, since the Strategist and the Successor are investigating through various avenues, for now, we just need to fulfill our respective duties from our own positions.”
“That is true, but.”
Tang Kwan’s eyes deepened.
Actually, that was not what he really wanted to ask.
“Do you remember what you told me before?”
“Yes?”
“You knew that I had a hidden move.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes shone.
“That is right.”
“How did you know that?”
Naturally, it was because he saw it during his days as the Dark Emperor.
However, Yeon Ho-jeong could not speak honestly about that part.
“I just felt like it would be so.”
“Are you trying to gloss over it vaguely?”
“Even if you don’t say it, isn’t it normal to have one or two martial arts that haven’t been shown externally when one becomes the head of a clan?”
“…”
“My father is like that, and so is Murong Jun. Especially in this fight against Beon Jak, my father brought out a hidden move he had kept concealed all along.”
Tang Kwan also remembered that.
‘It was tremendous.’
Yeon Wi’s final strike that left a terrible wound on Beon Jak’s upper body.
It wasn’t that he showed a remarkably dazzling technique, nor did he use a unique weapon. Yeon Wi’s final strike literally maximized the sword force itself.
That was why it was an even greater strike. It required time to deploy the martial art, and after unleashing that strike, he briefly fell into a state of combat incapability, but if it hit, it contained a terrifying power capable of sending anyone on the path to the netherworld.
Should it be called a strike truly fitting of Yeon Wi? Yeon Wi’s Absolute One Sword, which was reminiscent of a lightning bolt, was bitterly simple yet showed the ideal utopia of the Sword Way that a sword practitioner ought to pursue.
‘To think he was hiding such power.’
Perhaps he didn’t hide it to hide it. Yeon Wi’s personality itself was not adept at hiding things.
He just hadn’t needed to show it until now.
‘Come to think of it, Clan Head Yeon’s martial arts have always been like that. Being the most orthodox among the orthodox, following the Middle Way without a single inch of deviation, and not reaching out to wicked things. It is extremely frustrating in some aspects, but with the steadfastness of pushing through with his own beliefs to the end, he is showing an aspect as a swordsman capable of opposing anyone.’
When he first had a deep conversation with Yeon Wi, Tang Kwan instinctively felt that Yeon Wi was a completely different person from the people he had known so far.
That was why he kept speaking sarcastically, and was busy testing him several times. His instincts grasped the character of the person named Yeon Wi, but his head could not easily accept that such a person could exist in the world.
As time passed like that, Tang Kwan came to completely acknowledge the person named Yeon Wi.
There was no way not to acknowledge him. Yeon Wi did not lie, risked his life to resolve the given situation, and despite sitting in such a position, always knew how to treat others sincerely.
A person who eats with a blade could not hear sounds of being a saintly gentleman, but at least in this Jianghu Murim world, a saintly gentleman like Yeon Wi would be hard to appear again.
That was why Tang Kwan liked Yeon Wi. Not because he walked a kind and right path, but because he was a person with the guts to keep his own beliefs to the end while respecting others.
If Yeon Wi had tried to coax him with sweet-sounding words or treated him while rubbing his palms together, he absolutely would not have acknowledged him.
‘And.’
Tang Kwan observed Yeon Ho-jeong.
‘From such a father, this kind of son came out.’
Even as empty words, Yeon Ho-jeong was a guy who had no resemblances to Yeon Wi. At least outwardly, that was the case.
But now Tang Kwan could also see it. No, he could know.
No matter what anyone said, Yeon Ho-jeong was Yeon Wi’s child.
Yeon Wi, the chivalrous hero of a generation who trained in orthodox sword techniques, valued norms, and considered morality the highest value.
Yeon Ho-jeong, the number one rising star under heaven who refined his own unique martial arts, and showed unconventional words and actions and outstanding brainpower without being bound by norms and morality.
Like this, the two people were completely different, but there was a surprisingly similar part.
‘When this father and son show sincerity, they do not do impure thoughts or worries at all.’
He had thought Yeon Wi was originally that kind of person, but he didn’t know Yeon Ho-jeong would also show such an aspect.
That was the reason why Tang Kwan came to acknowledge not only Yeon Wi but also Yeon Ho-jeong.
“But why do you ask that?”
Tang Kwan, who was staring fixedly at Yeon Ho-jeong, asked as if throwing it out.
“Do you trust me?”
It was an unexpected question.
Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.
“It is a unique question.”
“Answer. Do you trust me?”
“I trust you. To a certain extent.”
Tang Kwan chuckled.
“It means you do not trust me completely.”
“I do not know why you ask such a question, but it’s because I am a guy with a severe paranoia. I cannot become a saintly gentleman like my father.”
“A matter of course. Even if you accumulate cultivation for a thousand years, you will not reach your father’s feet.”
“I know. That’s why I am living while acknowledging it myself.”
“There is nothing more important than knowing how to grasp one’s own subject. Seeing such a thing, you are definitely not an ordinary guy either.”
“I will take it as a compliment. But why such a question suddenly?”
Tang Kwan gazed at Yeon Ho-jeong wordlessly for a moment.
‘This guy does not know. It’s not that he doesn’t acknowledge it, he doesn’t know.’
He looked at Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.
Those clear and deep eyes with distinct black and white.
‘This guy is undoubtedly the eldest son of Clan Head Yeon. This guy… me…’
Tang Kwan closed his eyes.
‘What a foolishly stupid guy. After fighting so fiercely like our heads would break, does he trust me.’
Because they fought while risking their lives together? That was not it. Yeon Ho-jeong was not such an easy guy.
He went to fight together because he already trusted him. That was a small but big difference.
Tang Kwan opened his eyes.
“You said you would repay the favor?”
“Yes?”
“You said you would repay the favor of handing over those axes within a line that does not go against morality.”
“That is so.”
Tang Kwan nodded.
“Follow me.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes shone. It was because he felt like he knew what Tang Kwan wanted.
“My physical condition is not the best.”
“Since I have no intention of taking your life, follow me without complaints.”
Yeon Ho-jeong grinned.
“Yes, as you wish.”