The Tang Clan never forgot a debt of gratitude or a grudge.
The reason why this saying became famous in the martial arts world was because of their fierce nature.
Long before they were recognized as one of the Five Great Clans, they had always valued grudges and gratitude above all else. Grudges had to be repaid twofold, even threefold, for them to feel at ease, and favors had to be returned until their conscience was satisfied.
This nature of theirs gave rise to the Tang Badges. These badges crafted in gold, silver, and bronze, were given to those who had shown the Tang Clan great favor.
Anyone bearing one of these badges and knocking on the gates of the Tang Clan would be treated as a benefactor. Though the level of hospitality varied depending on the badge, even those holding the lowest bronze badge were said to leave with grand hospitality.
How could this person possibly have the Tang Gold badge?
Bronze and silver badges were occasionally seen. Sometimes, distant branches of the Tang Clan traveling through the martial arts world would receive a favor and offer such badges in return, so they weren’t entirely rare to see.
But the gold badge was a different story. It was awarded only to a select few among the Tang Clan’s direct bloodline and could only be obtained by rendering an immense, indescribable favor.
Given the Tang Clan’s meticulous attention to the worth of grudges and gratitude, even a quick review of their history would reveal fewer than ten people who had ever been given a gold badge.
In short, it was an object so rare that even lifelong members of the Tang Clan might never see one.
“Oh my, still holding your head high, are you?”
When Baek Woo Jin muttered such words nonchalantly, the guards who had been staring at the Tang Gold badge as if mesmerized suddenly snapped back to their senses and bowed deeply.
“W-We pay our respects to the Tang Clan’s benefactor!”
Their bow was so deeply respectful that it bordered on submissive, but to them it was no big deal.
From this moment on, their fates were entirely in the hands of the man before them, and this was no time to let pride get in the way.
“Open the gate.”
“Y-Yes, yes!”
The two guards hastily threw down their spears and rushed to swing the gates wide open.
Standing there was Tang Ho Geun, the captain of the First Division of the White Squadron. He stood crookedly with a sullen expression as he glared their way.
“…Where did you get the Tang Gold Badge?”
In response to his question, Baek Woo Jin shrugged casually and replied,
“Does someone who brings a Tang Gold Badge really need to explain all that?”
The abrupt and casual tone sent a wave of rage through Tang Ho Geun, whose face turned a fiery red. As someone who valued hierarchy above all else, such disrespect was unthinkable to him.
“You insolent wretch! How dare you speak so rudely…!”
Without a word, Baek Woo Jin calmly extended the hand holding the Tang Gold Badge.
“Want to hit me?”
“Grrgh…!”
Tang Ho Geun clenched his teeth and swallowed his anger. As long as Baek Woo Jin held the Tang Gold Badge, there was nothing he could do unless the man caused an issue serious enough to warrant intervention.
The holder of a Tang Gold Badge was to be treated as a benefactor of the clan. This was a law that had been passed down through the Tang Clan for generations.
In a clan that placed the utmost importance on the repayment of debts and grudges, violating that rule would surely spell disaster for their future.
Watching Tang Ho Geun lower his tail in an instant, Baek Woo Jin patted his shoulder in a mock display of generosity and said,
“Don’t worry, I got it through entirely normal means.”
His attitude, as though he was dealing with a mere subordinate, made Tang Ho Geun’s blood boil again, but he barely managed to hold it in.
“I’ll stay in the inn I was originally using. If any letters or messages arrive in my name, bring them to me immediately.”
“Understood!”
The guards shouted in unison. They were now perfectly disciplined in their response.
Baek Woo Jin fixed his gaze on the one standing to the left and, after a moment, casually addressed Tang Ho Geun.
“That one on the left.”
As soon as he had spoken, sweat began to run down the face of the guard in question.
Baek Woo Jin gave him a gentle smile as if to reassure him not to worry. It was a warm, casual smile, and just as the tension filling the guard’s face began to ease—
“This guy has a terrible attitude. He’s not fit to be a Tang Clan warrior, he lacks both discipline and skill.”
“I-Is that so…”
Tang Ho Geun’s eyes gleamed with killing intent as they turned toward the guard, who had already gone pale as a corpse.
You’re done for, you bastard!
Tang Ho Geun needed an outlet, a sacrifice to quell the anger boiling inside him. And now, he had found one.
“Well then, I’ll be off. Good work, everyone!”
Baek Woo Jin, having successfully upheld the vow he made that morning, walked away with a spring in his step.
The Tang Clan was known for never forgetting debts, whether of gratitude or grudge.
Baek Woo Jin was just like them.
***
“He walked in holding the Tang Gold Badge… ?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
The news of someone possessing the Tang Gold Badge and the minor commotion it caused at the main gate was quickly relayed to Tang Yeon Shin without omission.
To think that someone had become the owner of the Tang Gold Badge, which was rare even in the history of the Tang Clan.
“That child must have given it to him.”
“Most likely, yes…”
Among the Tang Clan’s direct descendants who possessed the badge, the only one connected to him was Tang Seon Yeong, leaving no other possibility.
“Where is Seon Yeong now?”
“She is in the meditation chamber.”
“Summon her to the main hall immediately.”
“Yes.”
The Chief Steward bowed his head deeply before he left the room, and soon footsteps could be heard from outside.
“Come in.”
Tang Seon Yeong walked in with steady and calm steps and stood in front of him.
“Sit.”
After sitting gracefully without a word, she met his gaze. Tang Yeon Shin asked without hesitation,
“Did you give him the Tang Gold Badge?”
“Yes.”
His expression twisted slightly.
“Do you regard the Tang Gold Badge as such a trivial thing? Trivial enough to give away just because you like someone?”
Despite the irritation in his tone, she remained calm. Her expression was steady as she shook her head.
“I too understand the history of the Tang Clan contained within the Tang Gold Badge.”
Her gaze which had been lowered lifted to meet Tang Yeon Shin’s eyes directly.
“I can assure you, I didn’t give away the Tang Gold Badge recklessly.”
“Ha.”
Her unwavering response left Tang Yeon Shin momentarily taken aback.
“Did you owe him your life or something?”
“Yes. Young Master Baek saved my life once.”
“What?”
Tang Seon Yeong explained the entire story. The events during a team mission when she followed to help him, only to encounter the White Tiger and narrowly escape death.
Tang Yeon Shin listened silently until she finished recounting the tale, then asked,
“But wasn’t it ultimately a situation you got into while trying to help him?”
At his light attempt to twist her words, Tang Seon Yeong raised her gaze sharply and replied,
“The Tang Clan does not forget debts or grudges.”
“……”
No matter how it started, the fact remained that he had saved her life. When she pointed out that the Tang Clan must never forget such a debt, Tang Yeon Shin pressed his lips together and said nothing more.
“Fine, I understand. You may leave now.”
Tang Seon Yeong rose from her seat without hesitation.
“Please allow me to visit my benefactor briefly. If the one who handed over the Tang Gold Badge doesn’t even show their face, could there be anything ruder?”
Everything she said made sense, even if he hated to admit it. Tang Yeon Shin pressed a finger to his throbbing temple and waved his hand in resignation.
“Do as you wish.”
“Then, I’ll excuse myself.”
Tang Seon Yeong maintained her elegant demeanor to the very end, and bowed gracefully before leaving the Main Hall. She walked leisurely down the corridor.
One step, then another.
The farther she got from the hall, the faster her pace became. The face that had been full of composure and refinement now showed nothing but urgency.
By the time she reached her destination, she was nearly running. Without a word, she slid open the paper door to the guest room.
Inside, Baek Woo Jin with his face flushed from drinking sat with a faint smile directed her way.
“What brings you he—ugh.”
Before he could finish, she rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around him with her entire body.
Through the fullness of her chest pressing against his face, he could hear the sound of her heart pounding fiercely, like a galloping horse across an open plain.
But that wasn’t all. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably as if she was terrified of something.
“Calm down.”
Rather than asking what was wrong, Baek Woo Jin focused on soothing her first.
He stroked her exposed back gently, trying to provide a sense of reassurance.
His touch seemed to have some effect, and as time passed, she gradually began to regain her composure.
When she finally pulled away from his embrace, her expression still carried traces of anguish, but at least the trembling had stopped.
“I think… you were right.”
“Right about what?”
She swallowed hard and nodded slightly.
“The thought that… my father… might not actually be my father.”
Baek Woo Jin’s words from the day they had gone to the laboratory together came rushing back. He had suggested that Tang Yeon Shin might be under some form of control, addicted to a drug, or perhaps even replaced by someone else. It had seemed like a far-fetched possibility then, but now it didn’t feel so impossible.
At the time, she dismissed it as impossible, merely a slim possibility not worth considering.
“Before coming here, I visited the clan head. As expected, he asked about the Tang Gold Badge.”
This had been coordinated in advance.
Since it was a real event, there was no reason for anyone to find fault with it.
“But then, my father… said something strange.”
He had remarked that since she left to assist Baek Woo Jin anyway, there was no need to give him the Tang Gold Badge.
The moment she heard those words, she felt as if she had been hit by something heavy. A wave of shock washed over her.
“I mentioned it before, didn’t I? That my father… started to change ever since I became a test subject.”
She placed her trembling hand over her other hand and continued speaking.
“When I was about five years old, someone with a Silver Token came to visit. That person was… a Dark Practitioner.”
A Dark Practitioner.
It was a term used to describe villains who killed indiscriminately, be they commoners or warriors, if they simply didn’t like the look of them.
“That caused quite a commotion. Even though he had a silver badge, there was a heated debate about whether we should treat a dark practitioner as a guest, especially one with such a huge bounty on his head.”
It was an incredibly difficult situation. The Dark Practitioner, who was caught in the middle of a fierce battle, had unexpectedly ended up saving the members of the Tang clan by killing everyone who was attacking them.
Whatever the circumstances were, he had effectively saved the clan members’ lives. In return, they handed him the highest-ranking Silver Token they had.
And that Dark Practitioner showed up many years later.
“The Dark Practitioner was ultimately accepted as a guest. Among those who strongly insisted that he should be treated as such was my father.”
At the time, he had lost most of his drive. Even though he was spending his days aimlessly shut away in the clan head’s quarters, he still firmly believed in settling debts, whether they be gratitude or grudge.
“…Back then, though it was rare, he would occasionally stop by the place where I stayed. I asked him once, why we had to treat the Dark Practitioner as a benefactor. Do you know what my father said then?”
“‘Even if we end up killing him ourselves later, we must first repay the debt of gratitude.’”
Tang Seon Yeong’s eyes seemed hazy. As if she was chasing the past.
“At that moment, for the first time… my father, who had always looked so lifeless, showed a clear determination in his eyes.”
Returning from the past to the present, she fixed her gaze on Baek Woo Jin.
“Maybe I’m just imagining things. Over time, it’s possible his thoughts naturally changed.”
This perspective seemed more reasonable. He had spent over a decade living without purpose. People say even mountains and rivers change in ten years, so it wouldn’t be strange if his thoughts about debts of gratitude had shifted and evolved countless times during that period.
“But still… my feelings keep telling me.”
She finished her words while looking at Baek Woo Jin with sad eyes.
“Maybe… maybe the person I just met isn’t my father at all.”
The possibility that the father she had known for over a decade might not be the real one but an imposter forced her into a profound sadness that consumed her entirely.
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