“...”
A worry about Gu Yangtian.
To be precise, it was a worry over whether to follow Gu Yangtian, who would be returning to Shanxi tomorrow.
Under normal circumstances, she would have followed him without question.
But with her family in such a state, she was a direct descendant; surely she could not move recklessly.
Then it was of no concern.
“Follow him.”
“But….”
Even at Tang Zhuyi’s words, Tang Xiaolie seemed unable to make up her mind easily.
“Rather, it is better to go. Who knows, Young Master Gu’s side may be of more help to you than this place.”
“...”
“And since you are going anyway, try to win him over a bit. You may be my sister, but yours is a face that wouldn’t lose to anyone, no matter where you went.”
“Brother…!”
Tang Xiaolie shrieked at Tang Zhuyi’s jest.
Who knew how she would compare to the women beside him.
In truth, Tang Xiaolie was quite pretty.
It was simply that, rather than mature like the women around Gu Yangtian, she was on the cute side.
And.
‘If things go well and our relationship improves, it would truly be a golden union.’
No matter how much the Tang Clan crumbled.
If her husband and brother-in-law were the future Number One Under Heaven, they would not be outdone anywhere.
In Tang Zhuyi’s mind, Gu Yangtian was already the future Number One Under Heaven.
Tang Xiaolie looked at such a Tang Zhuyi with a dumbfounded expression.
“How can you crack jokes even in this situation…?”
“Is it not a situation where one may?”
“Really….”
“Anyway, do not worry too much.”
Leaving those words with a smile, Tang Zhuyi rose.
“It doesn’t look like there is more to say, and the night has grown late, so I shall take my leave.”
“…Thank you, Brother.”
It was gratitude for him coming to see her even at this late hour.
Tang Xiaolie thought that Tang Zhuyi must be the most exhausted of all right now.
The Tang Clan currently belonged to the Poison King.
But afterward, Tang Zhuyi would be the one to manage it; she could only imagine how much he worried, watching the Tang Clan shake.
At that gratitude filled with such emotion, Tang Zhuyi smirked.
“Yes.”
Indeed, it seemed his sister had definitely grown up.
That was what pained him most at the moment.
Thud.
And so the door closed.
The instant Tang Zhuyi’s presence vanished, Tang Xiaolie lay her body upon the bedding.
“…Sigh….”
A sigh escaped her lips.
She was afraid of what lay ahead, but the worries Tang Zhuyi had left behind weighed far heavier.
‘…Young Master.’
At the dinner table during the day.
There, Gu Yangtian had expressed his intention to return to Shanxi tomorrow.
It was natural.
From the start, Gu Yangtian had been a guest, and with the matter of the Tang Clan having erupted, he could not stay long.
At this, the expressions of the other companions were calm.
It was also natural. It seemed they intended to follow him wherever he went.
If that were the case.
‘What about me?’
What was she to do?
Tang Xiaolie had not yet given herself an answer.
Under normal circumstances, she would have said she would follow him.
But with her family in such a state, she could not do so.
No matter how much Tang Zhuyi said it was fine.
Because she knew that all too well, Tang Xiaolie’s night was so troubled.
In the gap where worry repeated, Gu Yangtian’s voice brushed past Tang Xiaolie’s ear.
—I think I could die for you.
“...”
A voice that had just passed puberty, still carrying a hint of youth.
At that calm yet faintly tender tone, Tang Xiaolie’s ears turned red.
“…Ugh….”
He was a truly bad person.
Without even properly doing anything for her, he stirred a person’s heart like this.
Of course, it was not as if she, who had followed him around captivated by his face of her own accord, had any right to say that.
‘…If you are going to do that, don’t look at some distant place.’
If she had one complaint about Gu Yangtian.
It was that he stirred the hearts of everyone around him, including her, yet he himself was not looking there.
‘Always….’
He always looked further away.
His eyes were like that.
Though his body was here, his eyes were looking only at some distant place.
As if this was not where he belonged, eyes that could always leave their side.
Tang Xiaolie was always afraid of that.
Recently, he had seemed to barely look their way.
But Gu Yangtian, who sometimes gazed at distant places, was nothing but unsettling.
Those eyes staring at an unknown place were cold enough to sting.
Because of that, Tang Xiaolie did not want to leave.
‘While I am not here.’
That he might disappear.
Such a feeling was likely the same for the others, not just her.
The reason they did not speak of it.
They did not want Gu Yangtian to know they thought that way.
Because they knew he looked at them with such difficulty.
They did not want to burden him.
“…It’s hard….”
Thinking so, she hated her powerless self.
She had to be helpful.
If he looked to a distant place, and if he wished to go to a distant place, she had to train her strength so she could go with him.
She should have done so, clearly.
‘…What do I do.’
Now that the Tang Clan had become unpredictable.
What value remained for her?
She had thought she at least retained the value of being a daughter of the Tang Clan.
Now even that was fading.
“…Ugh….”
She wiped her eyes.
Tears had flowed on their own.
Because she found herself ugly and repulsive.
‘…Even in this situation. Am I thinking of such things?’
That in a situation where her father and brother were so distressed, she was thinking of the Tang Clan’s fallen value.
How filthy.
“Huu….”
Should she have held his hand back then?
If she had held the hand that said it would make her stronger.
Would things have been this painful?
The shallow emotion rising in Tang Xiaolie’s heart was regret.
Anger at her incompetence seeped in as well.
She wanted to be buried in the darkness like this.
That was the only thought rising in her now.
And so.
Drip—
Just as her emotions began to gradually twist.
Hup.
“…!”
Tang Xiaolie, who had been wiping her tears, suddenly sat up.
She threw off the blanket and quickly moved to press her back against the wall.
“...”
Woooom.
Then she breathed in and spread out her qi sense.
“…Sss….”
She forcibly suppressed her breath, which threatened to grow ragged.
Her spine was covered in goosebumps.
‘What is it?’
The surroundings were quiet.
Given the hour, it was natural for it to be quiet, but.
‘…Too… quiet.’
The silence was strangely thick.
The moment she felt it, Tang Xiaolie’s instincts were speaking.
They said it was dangerous.
Srrk.
Before she knew it, a dagger was clutched in Tang Xiaolie’s fingertips.
It was something she always carried on her person.
Sweat flowed.
She wished the current sensation were a mistake, but.
Tang Xiaolie was certain it was not.
“…Who are you…?”
Words spat into the empty air.
The moment Tang Xiaolie let those words slip.
Huwook—!
The lamp upon the table went out, and.
“One shichen.”
“…!”
The voice came not from the front, but directly to Tang Xiaolie’s left.
Shhiek—! She immediately swung the dagger in the direction of the sound, but.
Tak—!
Tang Xiaolie’s wrist was caught by someone before she could properly execute the attack.
And immediately after.
Kwak—!
“Kkugh!”
A hand reached out and covered Tang Xiaolie’s mouth.
“Kku… kkugh!”
She thrashed with all her might, but it did not budge in the slightest.
Who was before her?
She could not see well.
Only enough to roughly make out the figure.
The presumed man was wearing a half-mask.
Because of that, his presence did not register clearly.
“Exactly one shichen. That is the time it took for you to sense my aura.”
“…Kkugh….”
“Fortunately, your senses do not seem poor. I had expected it would take at least two shichen.”
What was he saying?
Tang Xiaolie could not understand the man’s words.
An assassin? If an assassin, which faction had sent him?
“If there is something regrettable, it is that what you should have done was not head to a dead end, but rather break through toward the entrance.”
Speaking so, the strength in his grip loosened at the same time.
It was barely enough that she could open her mouth.
“…Who are you?”
The voice flowing from Tang Xiaolie trembled greatly.
In a situation where the Tang Clan’s guards were deployed all around, yet he had entered her room without issue.
With this alone, Tang Xiaolie could gauge her opponent’s realm.
She could not win.
It was a hopeless situation.
Looking at such a Tang Xiaolie, the man continued.
“Even while asking, your eyes did not die. That, too, is a passing mark.”
It was an incomprehensible statement.
A passing mark?
Glancing at the man, Tang Xiaolie’s eyes were scanning the surroundings.
How could she escape?
Caught as she was, there was no way.
Even so, she had to find a breakthrough.
Srrk.
Was it by chance?
It seemed the grip on the hand holding the dagger had loosened slightly.
Should she pull her hand free and counterattack?
The thought arose, but she held it in.
Because she felt something cold.
She still had to bide her time.
Hiding such intent, Tang Xiaolie bought time.
“…Do you want something from me?”
“There is….”
The moment the man tried to speak, Tang Xiaolie put strength into her hand.
Tuk—!
Fortunately.
Her hand had slipped out nicely.
She had to counterattack like this.
‘Where?’
The neck, or the hand covering her mouth?
A fleeting dilemma flashed by.
That was the problem.
Huwook—!
“…!”
The arm holding the dagger moved on its own.
For some reason, the tip of the dagger Tang Xiaolie held was touching her own neck.
“Plan until the end and execute. With that hesitation just now, you died.”
“H-hiek… hck….”
Had even that been a test?
Tang Xiaolie was exhaling shallow breaths before death.
Another way? Was there no other way?
‘I must live.’
She could not die like this.
She had to find a way.
Looking at such a Tang Xiaolie, the man’s eyes narrowed.
“Not bad.”
Having spoken so, the man suddenly released the arm he held and stepped back.
Thud—!
Tang Xiaolie, freed from restraint, fell forward and gasped for breath.
“H-haak… hck… khhck….”
Tang Xiaolie, gasping roughly, raised her head.
When she barely raised her head to look, the man was sitting on the table, looking down at her.
She looked at him and asked.
“Who… who are you….”
Who on earth was he?
Who was he to appear like this and drive her into a corner?
Her head did not work properly in such a sudden situation.
Facing such a Tang Xiaolie, the man spoke.
“I am darkness.”
At the uttered voice, Tang Xiaolie broke out in a drop of sweat.
“And you, too, must become darkness.”
“…What do you….”
At the incomprehensible words, Tang Xiaolie’s eyes wavered.
Darkness?
Though she tried to ask again at the incomprehensible words.
“…!!”
She soon had to close her mouth.
Because a smile had appeared on the face of the man who had been looking at her expressionlessly until just moments ago.
Lips curling up as if enjoying something, yet eyes chilled coldly.
At that horrifying sight, Tang Xiaolie could not open her mouth.
“Exactly three years.”
Tang Xiaolie likely did not know.
“Within three years, I shall make you into a monster.”
That this day’s meeting.
Would one day make Tang Xiaolie called the Dark Empress.
******************
As a day passed and the sun began to rise.
Leaving the dawn fog behind, sunlight gradually illuminated the Tang Clan.
It was still early for people to wake.
Yet even in that gap, many people were busily moving.
—Where should I put this?
—Ask the Murong young lady about that!
Several carriages of different colors.
Within them, countless people could be seen loading luggage.
The reason so many were moving was because they had begun preparations to leave the Tang Clan from dawn.
They had to prepare now to depart by high noon.
The luggage was not much, but because of the distance, they had to move busily.
Yeah, and that was why they were already busy to death.
“…What did you say?”
I had to furrow my brows deeply at the words I heard.
“What did you… what did you just say?”
Before me stood Shen Yi.
Shen Yi himself was not particularly the problem.
The problem was the old man standing beside him.
Dressed neatly in blue martial robes.
White hair tied up tightly.
A man with a tall stature and blue eyes, exotic between his crinkled wrinkles.
A figure one could predict had been quite handsome in his youth.
I knew that old man well.
Of course I knew him well.
He was the old man who had been beaten to a bloody pulp by my father just a few days ago.
The old man’s identity was the Three Venerables, known as the Heaven Beyond Heaven of the Central Plains.
And the figure called the de facto master of the Nangong Family.
Celestial Venerable Nangong Juetian.
He who had appeared out of nowhere after a few days spoke to me.
“I wish to take refuge with the Gu family.”
“...”
At the Celestial Venerable’s words, I pressed my fingers to my brow.
Looks like this year was a run of terrible luck after all.
As several carriages were parked and people bustled about.
I had to twist my expression into a scowl at the Celestial Venerable’s words.
“Where did you say you want to take refuge…?”
I was sure he had said the Gu family.
The Gu family…?
‘…Where else is there a Gu family?’
I thought hard, but no other Gu family came to mind.
It wasn’t like there weren’t any if I looked for them but….
I couldn’t not know that the Gu family the Celestial Venerable spoke of was only one.
“Elder.”
“Speak.”
“Why the hell… no, what do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
I barely stopped the curse from slipping out.
Impressive. You’ve grown a lot. In the old days, I would’ve sworn right away.
I tried to choose my words carefully and maintain courtesy.
“With a perfectly fine house left behind, where do you mean to go?”
Who was the Celestial Venerable before me?
One who had left the Three Venerables and left behind the Sword King, the Nangong Family Head, and was called the de facto master.
To put it more extremely, he was a man who could play king in the Nangong Family.
Yet he said he wished to take refuge with the Gu family.
Moreover.
‘…After getting thrashed by Father a few days ago?’
The Celestial Venerable had been shattered by my father just a few days ago.
Though I still remembered the sight of the Celestial Venerable burning, wrapped in flames.
‘Fortunately, his body looks fine.’
Unlike how he had been burning.
The Celestial Venerable was in a clean state without even a trace of it.
Rather….
‘He seems to have become clearer somehow?’
The dark, stuffy something felt in his impression had vanished, and.
He felt clear and refreshed.
Should I say he felt refreshed? What should I call it.
‘It’s the same feeling I got from Father or the Hegemon Venerable.’
A subtle sensation felt separately from presence.
The important thing was that it was an aura not originally felt from the Celestial Venerable.
Looking at such a Celestial Venerable, I examined Shen Yi beside him.
Shen Yi was looking at me with a rather troubled expression, rare to see.
And it seemed to contain some apology as well.
‘What the hell.’
Shen Yi was heading to the Gu family due to the promise with Baek Maseok and me, so that was that, but.
What about the Celestial Venerable.
‘Is he really just cursed with bad luck this year?’
Having met all the Three Venerables, whom one could hardly see in a lifetime.
And it seemed all of them would now have a history of taking refuge with the Gu family.
If it were anyone else, they could call it quite a miraculous stroke of enormous fortune, but….
‘…Like hell it is.’
From my perspective, it just looked like a pile of bad luck.
I wanted to refuse outright, but.
“I would like to ask the reason first.”