Chapter 375

Even visiting the sick had a proper order.

When word spread that Tang Sadok—the Family Head and elder of the clan—had awakened, the members of the Tang household dropped everything and came running.

But not all hundred-plus people could see him.

“Benefactor, when can we see Grandpa Tang?”

“I don’t know. The people ahead of us have been in there for a while, so they should be coming out soon.”

“Oh, I see.”

Cheongpung nodded at my answer.

Wait. Cheongpung?

“What are you doing here? When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

He had slipped into the conversation so naturally that I hadn’t even noticed him. But why had this guy come here?

As though he had read my thoughts, Cheongpung pointed to his chest.

“Mimi said she wanted to see him.”

“……?”

What the hell did I just hear?

Now they could even communicate. Was this bastard from Slytherin instead of Huashan?

At my suspicious gaze, Cheongpung tilted his head.

“Why are you suddenly staring at my forehead? Is there something on it?”

“I was just checking whether you had a lightning-shaped scar.”

“What?”

“It’s a thing.”

The moment the words left my mouth—

Clunk.

The tightly shut door of the medical ward opened, and more than ten people emerged.

They were among the few remaining direct descendants of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Tang Horyong, whom I had met before, was among them.

“Hoo……”

He looked up at the sky with bloodshot eyes, then walked toward us.

“The Family Head wishes to see you.”

“We’ve been waiting.”

Jin Wikyung nodded and led the way. Cheongpung and I followed him into the medical ward.

Who knew how long we walked through the pervasive smell of medicinal decoctions? At last, a physician with his nose and mouth covered by white cloth led us into a treatment room, where we came face-to-face with several familiar faces.

“Cough. You’ve come.”

One glance was enough to tell that Tang Sadok, laboring through a faint cough, was in serious condition.

His limbs were broken, and his internal injuries had left his qi unstable.

He tried to sit up, but the Divine Physician, who had exchanged nods with us, stopped him.

“Family Head, didn’t I tell you not to move?”

“This old man is a sinner. I committed a crime deserving of death, so it is only right that I ask for punishment.”

Pale-faced, Tang Sadok shook his head, stared straight at me, and continued.

“I will make no pathetic excuses. The Western Heaven Demon Lord went to the underground prison because I told him about it.”

I crossed my arms at a slant.

“Ah. That explains it.”

“……?”

“Why?”

Tang Sadok asked, looking bewildered.

“Ah, you knew?”

“Of course I didn’t know at first. There was too much going on at the time. But later, when I thought about it carefully, I started wondering how that bastard, the Western Heaven Demon Lord, had known the location of the Myriad Poison Ring.”

Only a handful of people knew its location in the first place.

Cheongpung might look as light as a flower petal, but he was as solid as a tree root. That left Tang Sadok as the only person who could have revealed it.

“Why did you do it?”

“He said he would preserve our family line if I told him where the Myriad Poison Ring was.”

“And you believed him?”

“This old man was foolish. My judgment was clouded for a moment, and I did something I never should have done.”

“At least you know that.”

Tang Sadok’s eyes trembled as he looked at me.

“Surely heaven spared this old man so that I might apologize to all of you and receive my punishment.”

“What punishment do you want, then?”

The cold voice that suddenly rang out belonged to Jin Wikyung, who had been listening in silence.

“Are you the Lesser Family Head of the Jin Family of Taiyuan?”

“Yes. I am also the older brother who raised my two younger brothers as though they were my own children.”

Unconcealed anger clung heavily to Jin Wikyung’s deeply sunken eyes.

“It was something no one who walks the righteous path should ever have done.”

“I know. No—I understand. That is why I ask to be punished.”

“What would you do if I told you to take your own life?”

“……!”

Everyone, myself included, looked at Jin Wikyung in surprise.

Everyone except Tang Sadok.

With an utterly calm expression, he spoke.

“I abandoned righteousness, but because all of you risked your lives to fight for us, my family line will endure. If this worthless old man’s life can serve as an apology, I will gladly give it.”

After a brief silence, Jin Wikyung sighed.

“Hoo……”

He regarded Tang Sadok with a complicated look, then turned to me.

“What will you do?”

“……About what? His suicide?”

“Whatever you wish.”

Having the hilt of a knife suddenly thrust into my hand made my heart feel strangely taut.

Especially when the life hanging from the other end belonged to the Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Would you look at how suddenly the mood turned cold.

Of course, this wasn’t something I could laugh off. I wasn’t some fair-minded, magnanimous Great Hero of benevolence and righteousness. To be honest, when I realized the full truth of what had happened, anger had quietly welled up inside me.

After all, everyone’s lives had been on the line at the time—not just mine.

But……

“That’s enough. I don’t want to take it that far.”

That was right. On the other hand, I could understand Tang Sadok’s position.

If, as the head of a family, I had to weigh outsiders I’d met only a few times against blood relatives I was duty-bound to protect with my life, I probably would’ve made the same choice.

Besides, I owed him.

Tang Sadok’s help had played a major role in allowing Jeok Cheongang to wake up.

There may have been some sort of deal involved, but Tang Sadok had still lent us a sacred artifact whose existence he hadn’t revealed even to his own blood relatives.

“So let’s call it even. We’ll let it slide. No, that’s going too far—let’s say the Sichuan Tang Clan owes us a huge debt over this.”

When I finished, Cheongpung and the Divine Physician spoke up.

“It was definitely Grandpa Tang’s fault that Benefactor was put in danger, but… I’ll follow Benefactor’s wishes too.”

“I have already forgotten the matter. But if I have one wish as a physician, it is that the Family Head recover as soon as possible. After all, there are still surviving members of his household.”

Jin Wikyung spoke last. Unlike before, there was no anger left in him.

No—perhaps he had known what my answer would be from the very beginning.

“So that is their decision. What do you think, Family Head?”

“……!”

Tang Sadok’s eyes trembled with emotion as he looked at us.

After a short silence, a hoarse voice slipped between his lips.

“This old man—and the Sichuan Tang Clan—owe all of you a great debt of gratitude.”

The instant Tang Sadok bowed his head with genuine sincerity—

System

Confessing one’s sins is difficult, but there is something that requires even greater courage. That is forgiveness.

Hidden Quest: Apology and Forgiveness successfully completed!

Level 115 Tang Sadok expresses his deep gratitude for your kindness. He and the Sichuan Tang Clan will never forget the kindness and assistance you showed them today, and the people of the Sichuan Tang Clan will remember you as their Benefactor!

Title Acquired: Benefactor of the Tang Clan

You have gained a tremendous amount of EXP and Fame as a reward for completing the Hidden Quest!

Level Up!

What was this? A Hidden Quest, all of a sudden?

As I stood there dumbfounded by the System notification that had suddenly rung out, something cold brushed between my legs.

Sssrik. Sssriririk.

“Mimi, you little……”

At the sight of Mimi and Tang Sadok reunited after so long, I remembered something I had momentarily forgotten.

“Ah, now that I think about it, the Myriad Poison Ring. Thankfully, I’ve been keeping it safe all this time……”

“Is that so?”

Tang Sadok cut in before I could finish.

“Then continue to keep it.”

“Yes, then I’ll keep—what?”

“I am entrusting our family’s sacred artifact to you. It is a token of gratitude for our Benefactor, so please do not refuse.”

System

According to the owner’s wishes, Myriad Poison Ring has been transferred to you!

A new item is now bound to you!

Currently bound items: White Flame, Myriad Poison Ring, ???

You have a bound item that has not yet been named. Please give it a new name.

What kind of day was today?

I was getting downright nervous, wondering what kind of shitty things were about to happen for them to be giving so much away like this.

At the sight of me opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish, Tang Sadok smiled faintly.

“If any of you desire something, speak. I will grant anything within our family’s power.”

The Divine Physician smiled along with him.

“If there is something I desire, it is simply for the patients to recover as soon as possible.”

“Good heavens.”

That was certainly an answer worthy of the Divine Physician. No, should I be calling him Dongbong now?

But one thing was certain: he, too, was another Divine Physician.

“What do you want?”

Cheongpung jumped at the sudden question.

“M-Me?”

Tang Sadok nodded, and Cheongpung answered while fidgeting with his hands and feet.

“Well, I… Let me think. Um. Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeees. I don’t think there’s anything.”

“……”

“……”

Hey, you idiot. Take your eyes off Mimi-chan and talk.

I wanted to bring him a mirror and show him his own face. His eyes brimmed with aching longing and desire for Mimi-chan.

At this rate, he’s going to stare a hole through the snake’s hide.

Just then, Tang Sadok spoke.

“This creature is an old friend of mine. For the past several decades, she has been the only one with whom this old man could share the joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure he could reveal to no one else.”

Cheongpung looked at Tang Sadok with pity.

“So you don’t have any other friends, Grandpa Tang.”

“I never made any. Being the Family Head of the Tang Clan was that kind of position.”

“So you have no friends.”

“It wasn’t that I had none. I could have made them, but……”

“You didn’t have a single friend. How pitiful.”

“……”

The Divine Physician hurriedly grabbed Tang Sadok by the shoulders.

“Family Head, calm down. You’re breathing too quickly!”

“Huuk, hoo-oo.”

“Take deep, slow breaths. Come on, follow me. One, two……”

“Huooooo……”

A little while later, after narrowly escaping a hypertensive crisis, Tang Sadok looked at Cheongpung and spoke again.

“But as for Mimi, perhaps you……”

Cheongpung covered his mouth with both hands.

“No, Grandpa Tang. I can’t take away your only friend.”

“……I haven’t said I’m entrusting her to you yet.”

“Oh. Oh!”

Tang Sadok let out a deep sigh. It had only been for a moment, but he had undoubtedly wondered whether he could entrust Mimi-chan to someone like that.

“Yes, just as you guessed. Since we do not know what path our family will take from here on, I wish to entrust Mimi to you. Temporarily, of course.”

“Yaaay!”

“Did you hear the last part? Temporarily.”

“Yaaay!”

I’ll bet Hyuk Mujin’s right wrist that he didn’t.

Now Mimi’s temporary guardian, Cheongpung was beside himself with joy.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her!”

“From what I saw last time, Mimi does seem fond of you, but she is temperamental by nature and extremely wary of strangers, so……”

“Mimi. Do Whirlwind, then spin round and round and say hello!”

Sssriririk!

“Holy shit.”

He busted out a new trick right here.

Jin Wikyung, half stunned by the sight he was seeing for the first time in his life, muttered in a dazed voice.

“It seems you have nothing to worry about, Family Head.”

An earthquake shook Tang Sadok’s eyes.

Tang Sadok asked Jin Wikyung to stay behind for a private conversation, while Cheongpung and I left the room first.

No, one person had just been added.

“Young Hero Jin. Could you spare this old man a little of your time?”

“Me?”

The Divine Physician nodded with a gentle smile.

“There is something I very much wish to ask of you before you leave.”