"It's really... you're so confident."
"I told the old man of Yatian, the Tang family doesn't refuse a fight that comes to them. No matter who the opponent is."
"Did we start the fight?"
"You knew that the Hua Family Clinic and the Tang family were close."
"It was the clinic that took the child. And we were the ones who were harmed."
"Are we going to argue about who's right and wrong now?"
Tang Huazong, who was asking with a stare.
Even though he was just sitting, he was exuding a lion-like prayer that would end things in one go with force rather than conversation and compromise.
Yuexiang realized that the world's evaluation of the head of the Tang family was wrong.
The world had said that the Tang family was a beast that had strayed from the pack.
It meant that they could not become a part of the Orthodox Faction alliance and were isolated.
'Wrong. It's not that they strayed from the pack. They were a beast that didn't need a pack in the first place!'
Yuexiang felt her heart pound.
It was admiration for a martial artist who had strong confidence and the power to match it.
"It seems you've already calculated how our sect will react, so tell me. What were you thinking when you started this?"
"If you have the authority to take responsibility for this, sit there."
Yuexiang sat down again.
Tang Huazong turned his head and instructed the people standing far away to bring a teacup.
A member of the Haowu Sect who was assisting Yuexiang brought an empty teacup like a well-behaved child.
Tang Huazong personally lifted the teapot and filled the teacup placed in front of Yuexiang.
"The old man of Yatian joined hands with the Ten Thousand Iron Sect and made a separate pocket. In the process, he touched our main family."
"Are you saying that now...!"
"Do you know why the Six Orthodox Heavens created Tianlian?"
"......?"
"You wouldn't know. Because it's something that the Six Orthodox Heavens, who are said to have reached the heavens, are doing."
"Do you know or not?"
"Just a guess."
"What is it?"
Yuexiang asked, leaning her upper body forward.
If the words of the head of the Tang family were credible, this incident could be passed over as he had said.
"The undying demon, the Immortal Divine Demon! He has fallen. But they suffered enormous damage, so much so that nearly half of the Ten Orthodox Heavens died. It can't be called a victory for the Orthodox Faction. Besides, the Demonic Faction is still the same. Because all of the Seven Demonic Ancestors are still alive. The Orthodox and Demonic factions joined hands to defeat the Immortal Divine Demon, but only the Ten Orthodox Heavens suffered casualties."
It was a story that everyone knew.
Yuexiang also knew it as well as the back of her hand.
But it was the most core story of the Orthodox-Demonic War that had ended three years ago, and everyone guessed that it would be closely related to the reason why the Six Orthodox Heavens had created Tianlian, so she fully understood why the head of the Tang family was bringing up that story first.
"Although the Six Orthodox Heavens defeated the Immortal Divine Demon, they are being resented by the hardliners who are martial artists to the bone just for joining hands with the Seven Demonic Ancestors. That resentment will not subside. As long as peace continues."
"As long as peace continues?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, so to quell that resentment, they will start another Orthodox-Demonic War?"
A sense of disappointment appeared on Yuexiang's face as she asked.
It was because the words of the head of the Tang family were a story that had already come out within the Haowu Sect.
"That's right. But it's highly likely that it will be different from the previous Orthodox-Demonic War."
"How?"
Yuexiang asked indifferently.
She was no longer expecting anything.
"Even if they defeat all of the Seven Demonic Ancestors, the history of having joined hands with them will not be erased. In other words, it means that they cannot regain the support of the hardliners who have once turned their backs. So they have to receive the support of new people."
"New people?"
"Yes."
"Are there such people?"
"The common people."
"What?"
"The ordinary people who are not martial artists.
"......!"
Yuexiang just blinked her eyes, wondering if she had misheard.
For a moment, she even thought that he was teasing her.
But no matter how much she thought about it, it was not a situation for the head of a family to be joking.
"So now..."
"The Six Orthodox Heavens are the same as their sects and families themselves. Their glory is the glory of their sects and families, and their flaws are the flaws of their sects and families."
"So?"
"The resentment of a few dozen, a few hundred hardliners can be easily covered up by the enthusiastic support of tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of common people."
"......!"
Yuexiang blinked her eyes again.
This time, it was because she was surprised.
The words of the head of the Tang family were right.
If tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of common people cheered for the Six Orthodox Heavens and sent enthusiastic applause, the resentment of the hardliners and what not would be dismissed as just the opinion of a minority. Although the martial world was a world of martial artists, it was not a completely different world from the common people.
"There's one problem."
Yuexiang, who had been surprised for a long time, found a loophole in the words of the head of the Tang family.
The head of the Tang family just looked at her as if to say 'tell me'.
"How can they receive the cheers and applause of tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of common people? That story was missing."
"It wasn't missing. I just haven't said it yet. The words I've said so far were just to tell that story."
"......!"
Yuexiang, who had widened her eyes, focused her attention on the mouth of the head of the Tang family.
"The Great Purification."
The head of the Tang family said.
Yuexiang did not understand what he meant.
"To clean up the places that are closely related to the lives of the common people."
"What?"
Yuexiang, who was even more confused.
But soon her expression changed sharply as if to say 'don't tell me'.
"The demonic path...?"
"That's right."
"That's ridiculous!"
"There's also a justification. To clean up the things that were the money source of the Demonic Faction, of course, even without a justification, if they clean up all the demonic paths of the world, all the common people of the world will send enthusiastic applause and more."
"......!"
Yuexiang could not say anything.
She could not admit it, nor could she say a counterargument.
Hearing the words of the head of the Tang family, it seemed that it could be so from the position of the Six Orthodox Heavens, and she also wondered if the giants who were said to have reached the heavens with their martial arts would care about such a lowly place.
Yuexiang thought for a long time.
But for her, who was born in the demonic path, to peek into the thoughts of the giants who were the heavens of the Orthodox Faction, it could be truly absurd.
Yuexiang shook her head and stared at the head of the Tang family.
"I don't know. I'll try to talk to the headquarters, but I don't know what kind of judgment they will make..."
"Hmph!"
"Why are you laughing?"
"You're still immature."
"Are you talking about me now?"
"That's right."
"Head of the Tang family!"
Yuexiang shot up from her chair and shouted.
At that, her subordinates who were standing far away slowly approached and prepared to fight.
Although they were baring their teeth at him, Tang Huazong, wondering what he was thinking, just stared at Yuexiang with a smiling face and then, after a long time, twisted his lips and said.
"You shouldn't just be immersed in my words, you should have been wary of me who was saying such things."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If the Haowu Sect makes a problem out of this, I will immediately go to Tianlian. And I will present the words I have said so far to them. And on the day the Orthodox-Demonic War ends, I will wipe out the Haowu Sect first from the very front."
"......!"
A shock like being struck by lightning pierced through Yuexiang's body.
If it were giants of the level of the Six Orthodox Heavens, they might hesitate to directly intervene in the matter of wiping out the demonic factions. But if there was a Tang family that would be their sword, there was no reason to hesitate.
Because it was a matter that could gain the enthusiastic support of tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of common people, as the head of the Tang family had claimed.
'Th-this is a threat. He was threatening me from the beginning!'
Yuexiang could not say anything.
The more she thought about it, the more fear washed over her.
"Go and tell the head of the Haowu Sect. Not to even look at the places where the name of the Tang family reaches. If he ignores my words, he will have to go to war with the Tang family. And that war will continue until one of the Haowu Sect and the Tang family is completely finished."
Tang Huazong got up.
And at the end of those words, he went out of Huayue Tower with his hands behind his back.
Yuexiang could not recover from the shock until Tang Huazong had disappeared.
***
Hua Family Clinic.
The fight with Shen Wuren had been a considerable help to Cho Myung.
Above all, he had a basis to predict to some extent how much his martial arts were.
Although he could not predict the world based on Shen Wuren, he came to know that the later generation disciples of the prestigious families were no match for him. And the prejudice that the descendants of the prestigious families would be different in some way was broken.
The people he had met were no better than Hua Yunhui, except for the fact that they had learned martial arts.
Unlike those two, there was also something that had thrown a question.
After lunch, when Hua Yunhui was sitting in the front yard of Longevity Hall for a while, Cho Myung approached and sat down next to him.
"Big brother Yunhui."
"Yeah?"
"I have something to ask."
"What is it?"
"It's not right to just do whatever you want to anyone, right?"
"That's right."
"But there was a person who said that the weak shouldn't act up, but the strong can. That's wrong, right?"
"Is there such a rotten person? He's a very wicked villain. Who is it? Such a person?"
"There was. Such a person."
Cho Myung told him about the incident with Shen Wuren at the Tang family.
"Did that happen?"
"Yes."
"You've completely flattened the noses of those so-called great people. They must have held a grudge."
"I'm not worried about that. When I fought them, they were no match for me. I'm just worried that they might harm you, big brother."
"That won't happen. If they are the children of such prestigious families, they may hold a grudge against you, the person involved, but they won't go so far as to use their hands on me, who is one step away."
"Then that's a relief."
"It's not a relieved face. What are you really curious about?"
Cho Myung looked at Hua Yunhui with an embarrassed face.
Perhaps because he was his big brother, he immediately noticed that he had a separate worry.
It was good that there was such a big brother Yunhui, and he also worried if he could become like big brother Yunhui.
"Those big brothers are all from the Orthodox Faction, right?"
"That's right."
"But if they treat the weak like that, what's the difference between them and the people of the Demonic Faction?"
Cho Myung asked his question that he had been thinking about for several days.
Hua Yunhui looked at Cho Myung and then chuckled.
"Our Myung is all grown up. To be asking such a thing already."
It's not just words.
Cho Myung's actual age is now eight. Nevertheless, to be questioning what the distinction between the Orthodox and Demonic factions is just with their rotten behavior means that he has grown that much mentally.
Hua Yunhui also knew that Cho Myung had already grown a lot mentally. Because Cho Myung's words and actions, who had returned after three years, had changed that much. Nevertheless, when he saw this appearance, he was also worried, but on the other hand, he was also proud and pleased.
'It seems I have to see him as a younger brother who is one or two years younger, not an eight-year-old kid anymore.'
Hua Yunhui patted Cho Myung's shoulder once.
"Do you think all the Orthodox Faction is just and all the Demonic Faction is rotten?"
"No?"
"You're so hungry that you're about to die, and a passing person from the Demonic Faction shared his food with you. Then did he do a rotten thing? Or did he do the right thing?"
"A just thing."
"Let's say you ended up getting beaten up by those big brothers who ignored you because you had some power. Then aren't they rotten villains?"
"That's right."
"But those big brothers are from the Orthodox Faction, and the person from the Demonic Faction who gave you food is just from the Demonic Faction."
"......?"
"The distinction between the Orthodox and Demonic factions is clear. The just people are the Orthodox Faction, and the bad villains are the Demonic Faction. But there are also guys in the Orthodox Faction who hide their bad hearts, and there are also people among the Demonic Faction who were somehow driven to the Demonic Faction but are fundamentally just."
"Ah!"
"And the actions of those big brothers were rotten. But is it okay to say that they are villains, people of the Demonic Faction, just with that?"
"No?"
"Yeah, no. I don't think so."
"Why?"
"Because they haven't decided on their own path yet, that is to say, they are still growing. To put it simply, because they haven't become adults yet."
"......"
"You know the person named Xue Gongdao, right?"
"Yes."
"I realized it when I saw that person at the Tang family. That I and that person are still growing and will have to grow more in the future."
Hua Yunhui had seen Xue Gongdao again after hearing what he had said to Tang Xiulian.
When he had come to the Hua Family Clinic before, his words, actions, and even his expression had seemed full of arrogance, but this time, he looked a little different. Rather than being arrogant, he seemed to be close to confident.
- I want to be close to the Tang family. I want all the Orthodox Faction members of Sichuan, not to mention Chengdu, to become one. I don't know for what reason our upper generation is living so distantly, but let's not do that. In the end, it's us, the people from Sichuan, who have to protect the land of Sichuan.
In his appearance as he spoke to Tang Xiulian, his sincerity was visible. It was a completely different appearance from three years ago.
"It's not that those big brothers have no fault. It's that you, me, and those big brothers are all at a time when we have to grow, and we can have wrong thoughts and rotten actions. So although they have to pay a price that matches the gravity of their mistake, I think it's a hasty judgment to say that they are villains, people of the Demonic Faction, just with that."
Cho Myung, who was nodding as if he understood a little and as if he sympathized a little.
"I'm sorry if you were expecting some plausible and wise advice, but this is all I can say. A person cannot always act correctly. They just keep trying to make wise judgments and actions."
Hua Yunhui got up from his seat.
"And you're the disciple of the Fighting Demon! Did Old Man Ban ever cling to the distinction between the Orthodox and Demonic factions? Did he ever say such a thing even once?"
Hua Yunhui threw such a question to Cho Myung and left.
Cho Myung, who was staring at the disappearing Hua Yunhui with blank eyes, got up after a long time, brushing off his buttocks.
'That's right. My master never said such a thing. And I am the disciple of such a master.'
(End of Chapter)