Tang He carefully examined them again, his emotions not fluctuating much.
The two looked to be the same age, about twenty-four or five years old, and they knew at least five kinds of knives. The man's sword is a barrier sword, which is harder than his horizontal sword, but more brittle. There were at least a dozen hidden weapons hidden on the woman's body. Her nails were not too long, but they were not short compared to her knife-wielding hands. They must have hidden poisons.
Seeing him staring at his hands, Tang Huailan covered his hands back. The last thing he saw was that her little finger nail was the longest and very sharp. She must have killed someone with it.
"Did you just make some serious joke?"
Although his expression did not change, his eyes were clearly a little mocking.
"We are not joking. We were ordered by the Hall Master to find you."
"Really. It would be more convincing if you asked your partner to put away the plum blossom needles on his cuffs."
Huailan's expression remained unchanged after being named, and he had no intention of taking back the hidden weapon. Qinglan didn't feel embarrassed either. He always smiled just right, like a professional businessman.
"I don't have a family." Tang He continued, "If you are talking about the Tang Clan and have some sense and go home on your own, I will take it for granted that you didn't say that fart today."
"Senior Tang, don't get excited, we are also serving official duties."
"If I refuse, will you confront me with swords in the next moment?"
"I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry if my statement made you think that."
Tang Qinglan stretched out his hands to indicate that he had no intention of attacking.
"Your partner may not think so. At least, if I just mount the horse and leave like this, I'm afraid its hind hamstrings will not be saved."
"..."
Probably because they were right, the two Zuojinmen assassins from the Tang family remained silent.
"It's really unexpected..." Tang He shook his head and said, "The Tang family actually fell to the point of collaborating with the side sect Zuo Hang. It's really sad."
They should have been told this more than once without any particular reaction to it. The sky darkened and the afterglow of the setting sun disappeared, leaving everything around him covered in a thick veil of darkness.
"Won't."
The woman named Huailan spoke again.
"Um?"
"We will not stop you. Your reputation has some weight in the world, and a conflict with you is not our first choice. Our mission is just to spread the word, there is no killing or silencing."
In the dim twilight, he looked at her again.
"But I do feel a little curious... Judging from your age, you probably don't know much about me."
Tang Qinglan answered: "Indeed. We heard about you from the hall master."
"So, what did he say?"
"You are said to be a descendant of the Tang family. Due to some misunderstandings, your parents unfortunately died. Now, the Tang Sect knows that you are living in the world and wandering around. I hope to take you back and give you a good home."
Tang He was silent.
Because of anger.
Misunderstand? What a misunderstanding. You are willing to kill someone just because of a big misunderstanding, and the explanation you gave is just a frivolous invitation without even an apology ten or twenty years later? Home? This group of villains who killed their loved ones and destroyed everything that was beautiful, actually shamelessly said that the devil's cave is their destination?
fart!
He always resented his last name.
But even after his parents died, he did not change his name, he just changed the writing of one word.
After all, this is the only relic left by my father besides the horizontal sword.
If you really erase all of this, let it go, turn the page, and let everything be forgotten in the dust of history. He wouldn't do that, it's not like him. He would rather remember than forget. Remember this burning hatred, remember this indelible scar.
This does not mean that he retains any possibility of establishing contact with the Tang Sect.
Think it all with your knees. They were interested in their own reputation in the world - even though it was not that good, it unexpectedly coincided with this "well-known and upright man" who had a bad reputation - so they wanted to use his name to strengthen their own side. The Tang Sect is full of talents, and it stands to reason that there is no shortage of a "fish that slipped through the net" like him. But I'm afraid it's precisely because they know his true identity and are afraid of his revenge.
The word revenge may not be that appropriate. After all, such a big sect would be afraid of a small onmyoji like you?
So they want to take advantage of this to monitor and control their actions.
"Should I be grateful?"
Tang He asked through gritted teeth, deliberately making them aware of his unhappiness. He got on the horse, tightened the reins, and adjusted the horse's head.
"Calm down your anger. We are just passing on a message. If you are unwilling to follow us back, we can just tell you exactly what we said. But in addition to admonishing you, our mission here is to do one more thing."
"I'm not interested in listening, and don't expect me to cooperate."
"Of course you won't cooperate."
At this time, the taciturn Huailan suddenly stretched out his hand and brought out a slender but strong iron chain. The chain made a circle in the air and was accurately put on the horse's neck. The horse panicked, its pace was chaotic, and it almost threw Tang He off. At this moment, Qinglan reached out to snatch the Hengdao from his waist. Tang He directly pulled out the blade, and with a crisp sound accompanied by a cold light, he instantly broke the chain. This surprised them - it stands to reason that the craftsmanship at that time could not produce such a good knife.
His sword skills are very good, so he needs to change his method. Qinglan turned around to avoid the struggling horse. At some point, a dagger appeared in her hand, she raised it and cut the strap of the scabbard. Tang He reached out to grab it, and Huailan suddenly opened his mouth and pushed a sharp needle out of his mouth.
The needle pierced the back of Tang He's hand, and a thorn protruded from his palm.
After only frowning for a moment, he still grabbed the scabbard that had almost fallen and sent the horizontal sword back. The free hand tightened the reins, and the horse immediately distanced itself from them. It would be okay to run away like this, but this has never been his style. He knew that the two men were not chasing them, so he turned around and looked through the darkness with a cold glance.
"Are you ready to return to life?"
"It's true."
They were far apart, but the night was close enough that their words would not be completely swallowed up by the environment.
"Then please give me a message by the way."
"But it doesn't matter."
"Fuck you."
After that, he left.
Tang Qinglan looked over with some regret. Tang He's figure had disappeared, and only the messy sound of horse hooves still echoed in her ears.
"……hiss."
"What’s wrong with you?"
Qinglan turned around and ran over with concern. It stands to reason that Huailan had no contact with Tang He, but at this moment she bared her teeth, as if she had been seriously injured. Qinglan was very confused and watched as she stretched out a hand. Her fingers were stiff and twisted, and her teeth and claws were spread out, like a strange tree branch.
"Oh shit……"
Huailan took out the barrier knife from Qinglan's waist, slowly lifted it up from bottom to top, and paused in the air. She gently picked it up, and her twisted left hand finally relaxed. At that moment, Qinglan seemed to hear a sound similar to the breaking of strings, vaguely present.
"What's wrong?"
Huailan threw the knife into his hand and moved his wrist carefully. Qinglan stepped forward and looked, under the dim moonlight, there was another circle of red blood on her slender left wrist.
"If it had been used to chop just now, I'm afraid this knife would have broken. If we meet again, be careful."
And Tang He could give them similar evaluations.
The horse ran very fast and had not yet recovered from its fright. He was lucky. The embroidery needle was so thin that it happened to avoid the blood vessels and tendons in his palm and passed between the bones. On the bumpy horseback, he dug his teeth into the back of his right hand and jerked out the needle. After the brief sting, he did not throw away the needle, but held it in his hand and looked at it carefully.
The ones that can be put in the mouth are usually non-toxic, which is why he dares to pick them with his teeth. If he does it directly, he is afraid that the horse will make him penetrate more. However, it is not ruled out that some crazy people would put poison-soaked needles in their mouths and rinse their mouths with the antidote beforehand. He tested it with the tip of his tongue before pulling it out. There was no numbness, which was okay.
The tugging sensation in their fingertips disappeared, perhaps they found the "spider thread" and broke it. What a pity. It seems that although the girl is young, she has seen the world and knows the properties of this kind of silk thread. Otherwise, he would still be able to make her lose one of her hands, so it would not be a loss.
They will not give up. Tang He can feel it from the rumors and personal experience of "stalking" over the years. He didn't know much about his father, and what his mother told him during her lifetime was very limited. He did some research on his own later. It's also possible that the Tang Sect discovered the trace while he was investigating - but since he didn't change his name, he naturally didn't plan to be sneaky. Why do you need to be secretive when asking about your own family affairs?
But despite this, Tang He didn't get much news. He only knew that Tang Yi was not his father's real name, but there was no way to know the real name. It seemed that even the Tang Sect had crossed out the name. He is the master of the hall, and in terms of rank, he may be on equal footing with that Tang Huansheng. Tang Sect disciples have an internal disciple competition every three or four years, and all the disciples of the elders will participate. The winner will get a fine knife with exquisite workmanship, and my father will get it.
My mother has the bloodline of the Tengu Clan contract, but she has no qualifications of her own. She just told him about her father, his grandfather, when he was young. My mother is a foreigner, but my father only loves her and doesn't like the girl who pulls red strings for the interests of the sect. So he took his mother and flew away - with him in her mother's belly.
It is said that my mother’s family also strongly opposed it at that time. Even her grandfather was so angry that he wanted to cut off relations with her. The old man should be no longer in the world now. If given the chance, he still wanted to tell him that his mother still missed him, respected him, and loved him.
As for his father, he had no way of knowing.
Although he didn't like the Tang Sect, he even had the right to hate him, but the fact about Tang Yu really had nothing to do with the Tang Sect.
Rather, this is what made him become an Onmyoji.
For a long time, he had been hiding in Tibet with Yaomei. In order to survive, he needs money to support himself and his sister. It started out as a petty theft, but after being discovered, he was severely beaten, and later he was completely unaware of the crime. But he didn't let Tang Yu do this. He only said that his money came from work, and when he was beaten, he said it was a work injury. He didn't want her to be like him.
Just like yourself, kill people.
It is not easy to feed one mouth with plenty. He never wanted her to be poorly fed or poorly dressed. The first time he drugged a young master's quilt according to the "agreement" was to buy Tang Yu a new dress. She always wore her own small clothes, the colors were too dark and earthy, and she was bullied and humiliated as a child from a poor family - even though it was true.
He couldn't stand it.
Sometimes others would go back on their word and refuse to pay. Naturally, he could not take the risk of telling the truth and could only break his teeth and swallow it. Over time, he learned to judge who kept his word and who was prone to change his mind. He slowly learned how to deal with people and what kind of people he dealt with, but he would never teach it to Tang Yu.
Wrapped in warm lies, she grew up safely.
Every step he takes steps on the boundary between black and white, until gray engulfs him bit by bit.
