Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1447. What Should I Do? (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Those frozen like blocks of ice in mute disbelief suddenly turned to look at one another. When they saw the shock in each other's eyes, they trembled for a moment.
Teaching martial arts to women.
In some places, this might not be a big deal. But not in Tang Family.
What would happen if Shaolin announced it would admit female monks? What havoc would break out if Emei or Botaam Temple, sects composed only of women, were to accept male disciples?
What Tang Gun-ak had just declared was no different. It meant completely breaking Tang Family laws that had been maintained for hundreds of years, the laws that ancestors had kept ironclad to establish the foundations of Tang Family.
“Ga- Gaju-nim!”
While everyone remained frozen, Tang Sangsu urgently raised his voice.
“Are you saying you intend to teach the women of the family internal strength cultivation techniques and fist arts?”
“Ah....”
Sighs came out here and there at Tang Sangsu's words.
Strictly speaking, Tang Family’s martial arts weren’t limited to poison or hidden weapons. Tang Family certainly has basic internal strength cultivation techniques and fist techniques.
Of course, the previous Tang Family had strict restrictions on teaching fist techniques as well, except to a chosen few. But given their current situation, couldn't those restrictions be relaxed?
Some felt a wave of relief, while others struggled to hide their disappointment.
But then Tang Gun-ak spoke firmly.
“No. I will teach them everything Tang Family has.”
His gaze reached the women of Tang Family.
“If they so desire it.”
A heavy silence followed. It was as if a thunderbolt had struck. The shock that swept through Tang Family was even greater than when Tang Gun-ak had first made his declaration.
“Ga- Gaju-nim....”
“Unacceptable!”
Someone roared furiously.
One of the surviving elders, Tang Pyo, who had been keeping his mouth shut until now because of his guilt.
“That can’t be happening, Gaju-nim! Not passing on poison and hidden weapons to women is a long-standing law of Tang Family!"
Tang Pyo looked around with a distorted face. His fierce gaze made it clear he would not forgive anyone who dared agree with such an absurd idea.
Normally, no matter how much of an elder he was, someone like Tang Pyo would never have openly contradicted Tang Gun-ak's words.
But now, those who met Tang Pyo's gaze couldn't bear to look him in the eye and lowered their heads.
The two words that Tang Pyo carried on his back, ancestors and family law, were just that strong and solid.
Even the women of Tang Family, who had momentarily sparkled the word ‘hope’ in their eyes, had no choice but to turn their heads away.
But only one person, Tang Gun-ak, looked Tang Pyo in the eye.
“Why can’t it be changed?”
“Gaju-nim!”
“Answer me, Elder. Why is it impossible?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
Tang Pyo shouted as though enraged.
“The poison of Tang Family is useless once it’s detoxified. Countless family members have sacrificed their lives to protect those secrets!"
“....”
“And it’s the same with our hidden weapons! Unlike swords, hidden weapons once thrown cannot change its direction! If their trajectories become known, their effectiveness is halved! And aren’t Tang’s hidden weapons always used together with poison! How can such martial arts be entrusted to women?”
His voice trembled with emotion. As if unable to calm his agitation at all, Tang Pyo continued to shout.
"If this is an attempt by Gaju to overstep his authority, exploiting the absence of elders like Tang Wei! I will risk my life to stop this!”
In a way, he was directly challenging the authority of the patriarch. But far from getting angry, Tang Gun-ak calmly asked in return.
“Answer my question first, Elder Tang Pyo.”
"...What do you mean?"
“That’s just talking about the weakness of Tang Family ’s martial arts, not a reason why they cannot learn those martial arts."
For a moment, Tang Pyo stared blankly at Tang Gun-ak as if he had been hit in the back of the head. He was wondering if Tang Gun-ak k had gone mad from the shock of the Poison Vault burning and the smithies collapsing.
“Gaju-nim, they are women.”
"I am aware."
“Please, allow me to finish. This is not about ignoring the women of the family. I’m only saying that they will one day leave the clan!"
“....”
"Who can guarantee that those who become part of another family will guard our secrets for life? Women? Did you mean women? Is Tang Family law directed only at women? It's the same for men! You also know that those who learn Tang Family's martial arts cannot abandon the Tang surname as long as they live!"
Can't give up the Tang surname.
It may sound obvious, but it carries weight in Tang Family. When someone who has learned the family's secret techniques becomes hostile to Tang Family or refuses to belong to it, Tang Family mobilizes all its power to execute them. That was how Tang Family had preserved its secrets for centuries.
Tang Gun-ak took a deep breath and continued.
“Of course, I understand full well how important it is to protect our secret art. But if that method has become outdated and meaningless, it is also the duty of descendants to find new methods."
“...What are you saying?"
"I will give them the opportunity to learn our martial arts. Whether it be poison or anything else!”
“Gaju....”
“But!”
Tang Gun-ak looked at Tang Pyo with resolute eyes and declared firmly.
" Tang Family’s laws will apply equally to women who learn the martial arts. They cannot marry outside and must become ghosts of Tang Family."
"Wha- What nonsense... Are you saying you'll keep them in Tang Family for their entire lives?"
“And why not?”
Tang Gun-ak shrugged.
“There are already plenty of sects in the martial world composed entirely of women who train for life. There's no reason why Tang Family women cannot choose the path that those women have chosen. I’m not forcing this life upon them. I’m merely opening the path for those who wish to walk it."
Tang Pyo’s face flushed red.
No matter how frantically he racked his brain, he couldn’t find a counterargument. The only reason women were barred from learning Tang Family’s martial arts was to prevent leaks. But if they were to live their entire lives in Tang Family alongside its men, wouldn’t the risk of leakage disappear?
"But that is not the method determined by our ancestors!"
Tang Gun-ak’s face hardened at Tang Pyo's shout.
“Members of Tang Family! Those who bear the Tang name have all sacrificed themselves to protect this family! So who are you, Gaju-nim, to deny and change the methods that Tang Family ancestors have deliberated on for so long?"
“....”
“Are you saying you are greater than all previous patriarchs and greater than all the ancestors of Tang Family? That is arrogance and tyranny!”
At that moment, Tang Gun-ak glared at Tang Pyo with an extremely cold gaze.
"Did you not hear my words?"
"Gaju!"
"I've already spoken. What value is there in fame and power bought with the sacrifice of their lives?"
“Ga- Gaju, you....”
"The ancestors were merely human, not infallible!"
“Wh- What are you saying....”
Tang Pyo was too shocked to even finish his sentence. Tang Gun-ak spoke with a voice that didn't waver in the slightest.
“If changing the family means denying them, then so be it. If I must become the greatest patriarch to change the family, then I will!"
"Gaju!"
“Listen until the end!”
Tang Gun-ak shouted. His voice was unusually agitated, but perhaps because of that, each word he uttered seemed to pierce the hearts of everyone.
"I cannot abandon our family's glory. That is why I became the patriarch."
“....”
"But the position of patriarch must be the parent of all family members. I will not take the sacrifice of family members for granted."
Tang Gun-ak looked at everyone as if engraving each person in his eyes.
“It’s not only about the women. Those who manufacture the poisons, those who forge the hidden weapons, those who belong to the Tang yet are scorned because they do not bear the Tang surname, and even outsiders who must live as if they don't exist despite clearly being a pillar of the Tang family!"
“....”
"As things stand, it's impossible to embrace them all and restore Tang Family's glory It would be impossible for anyone, not just me. In that case, there’s only one path left!”
Tang Gun-ak, biting on his lips, declared.
“Tang Family must change.”
Tang Pyo asked again as if in a trance.
“Does that mean Gaju have the ability to do that?”
“....”
"Answer me. Are you saying you have the ability to embrace those all and make Tang Family a better place? Something no previous patriarch has ever done?"
Tang Gun-ak, facing Tang Pyo, finally shook his head.
“No. I do not possess such capability.”
"You see...!"
"But Tang Family possesses it. That's why I've gathered you all. What one cannot do alone, many can achieve together."
“....”
"This applies to everyone."
Tang Gun-ak resolutely exclaimed.
"It is meaningless to simply discuss complaints about each other. Scrambling for a bit more power within a suffocating constraint is nothing more than carving away our own flesh. What you should truly be fighting against is not each other! It's the inflexible laws of Tang Family."
Tang Family people stared at Tang Gun-ak with dazed faces. Countless thoughts rose and faded across their faces. They intuitively understood. Perhaps at this moment, they were witnessing something even more monumental than their family manor's burning.
"Think. Think and suggest. How you can do what you've wanted to do. What needs to be changed. And what I need to change for you."
“....”
"If it's just my intention, then it's overstepping my authority. But if it's everyone's thinking!"
Now everyone was staring at Tang Gun-ak as if entranced.
“Then that is the will of Tang Family.”
Tang Family members bit their lips. It was because of the surge of indescribable passion in a corner of their hearts.
Tang Pyo could intuitively sense just by looking at their expressions that he could no longer go against the tide. He let out a low groan, then finally spoke in a subdued voice.
“...You must remember this, Gaju.”
Tang Gun-ak turned icy eyes toward him.
"The world isn't so forgiving. Everything has its reason. Our ancestors had theirs when they established Tang Family's laws. If what you are trying to do now fails, you will be remembered as the one who cut off Tang Family's history with your own hands."
A curse veiled as concern. But the man who received that curse, Tang Gun-ak, only smiled faintly.
"Elder, you don't understand what a patriarch is."
“...Yes?”
The green robe veiling Tang Gun-ak's body fluttered in the blowing wind.
“Anyone without the resolve to shoulder such a burden has no right to be the patriarch of Tang.”
Tang Pyo's lips trembled as if to retort, but he bowed his head deeply in the end. Tang Gun-ak, who had been staring at such him, looked around at everyone before sayung.
“Speak.”
“....”
"Nothing changes if you stay silent! Voice your thoughts!"
Tang Gun-ak's gaze turned toward Tang Pae.
“Sogaju!”
"Yes."
“Speak!”
Tang Pae studied Tang Gun-ak with somber eyes before answering carefully:
"Gaju-nim. Even if we gather all our thoughts together, can we surpass the wisdom of our ancestors?"
“Yes.”
“Why do you believe so?”
“You state the obvious. Your question already contains the answer, does it not?”
“...What?”
Tang Gun-ak smiled faintly.
“What has shaped us into who we are now is none other than the teachings and efforts of our ancestors.”
“....”
"There's no way that what we decide could be wrong. Our ancestors must have taught us in a way that enables us to overcome even this crisis. Each of our concerns, each of our thoughts, contains the intentions of our ancestors. In the end, our will is the will of our ancestors."
From afar, Chung Myung clenched his fists. His lips parted involuntarily.
"To inherit is..."
"To inherit means precisely this! Do not doubt yourself!”
Tang Gun-ak finished the sentence for him.
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
- Hyung-nim. In the end, I am a Tang.
Those words spoken with a smile seemed to echo again in Chung Myung's ears.
Those who gained courage from Tang Gun-ak’s words began to speak one by one.
As the gathering grew lively, Chung Myung glanced at Tang Soso who had her eyes brimming with tears, and shrugged.
"Well, would we make some rice?"
“...Sahyunh?”
“That’s gonna be long.”
Chung Myung glanced at Tang Gun-ak surrounded by everyone and smiled.
"Because that's what moving forward is."
Just as Chung Myung said, the gathering that had begun did not end for a long time.
When Tang Gun-ak stood up after the long discussion and faced Hyun Jong, the morning sun that had risen was about to hang beyond the western mountains.
|Note
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