Simultaneous travel: The group is about to be wiped out

Chapter 113 Tang Sect Expands Business
Entering the room behind the lobby, one sees Tang Bingwen lying on the bed, pale-faced, breathing weakly, on the verge of death.

Meanwhile, Yang Lie and Xu Xin were kneeling in front, already sobbing uncontrollably.

Even the two, who were quite strong, couldn't help but lose their composure in the face of this scene.

Looking at his master on the sickbed, Chen Feng choked up for a moment, his lips trembling slightly as he spoke in a low voice:
"Master..."

In his memory, the master Tang Bingwen before him was undoubtedly a true master. Although strict, he took good care of his disciples.

The title is "Master" rather than "Master". A master only imparts skills, while a master teaches, guides, and resolves doubts. The difference between a master and a master is that the title includes the word "father".

With Chen Feng's keen eyesight, he could tell that his master's death was not due to physical injury, but rather that his vital energy had been completely depleted. In short, his lifespan was nearing its end, and there was nothing that could be done to save him.

Indeed, the double-handed technique can alter the body's structure, but to truly extend a person's lifespan requires reaching an extremely profound level; it is not something that can be done simply.

Increasing lifespan has been a pursuit of many people since ancient times, even for figures like emperors of the ages. If someone with dual skills could easily achieve this, it would be somewhat illogical.

In Chen Feng's view, Feng Baobao's immortality was the result of the combination of the Dual-Hand Technique and the Six Treasures Immortal Thief.

Hearing Chen Feng's call from the side, Tang Bingwen, whose eyelids were slightly drooping, barely opened his eyes, forced a smile onto his face, raised his hand, and gently beckoned, a weak voice sounding out.

"Xiao Feng, you two come along too."

Upon hearing their master's summons, the three gathered around him.

Chen Feng was momentarily stunned and grief-stricken, unable to believe that his master, who had been so skilled and single-handedly fought four elders of the Bihe Ren Sect and killed three of them, was now no different from an ordinary old man.

Then, Tang Bingwen struggled to sit up, leaning against the bedside table behind him, and said in a low voice, "I have lived a pretty good life. In terms of national righteousness, I led the Tang Clan to kill Japanese pirates and destroy the Bihe Ren. I dare not say that I turned the tide or saved the collapsing edifice, but at least I have done my best. I have a clear conscience and have not let down our ancestors. Afterwards, I destroyed the chaotic and uneasy Quanxing, leaving a stable environment for future generations."

"As for the Tang Clan, they have nurtured three of you young people who have mastered the Dan Shi technique. With successors, at least we have done right by the Tang Clan's predecessors."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Bingwen suddenly coughed, and after a few coughs, his eyes became glazed over.

Upon seeing this, the three people beside him were shocked and quickly stepped forward to help their master.

Chen Feng quickly circulated his own Qi, and a red hand appeared beside him, soothing Tang Bingwen's aura.

Feeling the changes in his body, Tang Bingwen couldn't help but smile sincerely: "Not bad, this is the amazing skill you've mastered, truly impressive..."

Looking at Tang Bingwen in front of him, Chen Feng's eyes reddened slightly, and he lowered his head, his voice trembling:

"Your disciple is incompetent. If you were talented enough to fully master this extraordinary skill, it might be possible to allow you to continue living."

Tang Bingwen didn't pay much attention to Chen Feng's words and shook his head.

"For someone of my generation, I've already done quite well. I've lived to the age of 30, and I've done what I needed to do. Even if I could live longer, I wouldn't want to."

"Life is the root of death, and death is the root of life."

"When I was young, I always thought about what the meaning of life is if human life is going to end eventually."

"Only now do I realize that life is not about how long you live, but about how much you do. I ask myself, I have done enough in my life, and continuing to live would feel uneasy."

After saying this, Tang Bingwen fell silent for a long time before finally speaking: "But I also have regrets in my life. One is that benefactor. The first time I tried to assassinate him, he let me go. The second time, he still chose to let me go, only blinding one of my eyes. The third time, I killed him."

"I will remember this matter for the rest of my life. I feel ashamed before this benefactor. And another thing..."

At this point, Tang Bingwen turned to look at Xu Xin beside him, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes: "As for the matter between the two of you, I would not force you unless absolutely necessary."

"But during that period, as the head of the Tang Clan, I had to do it, and I had no choice but to do it. Even so, when I actually made the decision, my heart was breaking."

“I don’t know what kind of drug Wugensheng gave you two to make you do such a thing. I keep thinking, if I had paid more attention to you two, could this have been avoided? Would Dong Chang have been spared from death? This is the last thing I deeply regret.”

"Xu Xin, I hope you can understand my difficulties..."

Xu Xin and Dong Chang were trained by Tang Bingwen since childhood. Both of them were exceptionally talented, and their nearly twenty-year-long relationship was undoubtedly deep. However, at that time, no matter how reluctant he was or how painful it was, as the head of the Tang Clan, he had to make a choice and show his stance.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xin, who was already grieving, could no longer contain her emotions and completely collapsed, burying her head in the bed and wailing.

“Master, it is all our fault. Dong Chang and I understand your feelings and difficulties. Now, we sincerely repent. We should not have sworn brotherhood with that evil man.”

"We have failed to live up to your teachings, Master..."

Looking at the pained Xu Xin, Tang Bingwen sighed, then turned his gaze to the two people beside him.

"From now on, the Tang Clan will depend on you. The only thing I am grateful for in my life is that I was able to take you two as my disciples. You are both exceptionally talented, steady in character, and have mastered the sect's unique skill, Dan Shi. As for the two of you, your master has nothing more to say. You will make your own decisions regarding the future affairs of the Tang Clan."

"There is only one piece of advice: no matter what, you must always know what you want to do and what you want to pursue."

As he finished speaking, Tang Bingwen seemed to have exhausted all his strength. Without thinking of anything else, he raised his head, stared blankly ahead, and his gaze gradually faded.

"Masters and seniors of the Tang Clan, Tang Bingwen has done his best..."

As the murmuring ended, Tang Bingwen breathed his last...

Tang Bingwen, a respected elder and grandmaster of the supernatural world and the 56th generation leader of the Tang Clan, passed away here.

On that day, the Tang Clan in Shu was all dressed in white, their members grieving and weeping bitterly...

…………

Ten days later, in the main hall of the Tang Clan. After completing all the funeral arrangements, Yang Lie became the new sect leader of the Tang Clan. At the same time, he announced the addition of a vice sect leader position, to be filled by Chen Feng, whose power was second only to Yang Lie.

If anything happens to the sect leader Yang Lie, Chen Feng will be directly promoted to sect leader.

At this moment, in the main hall of the house, four people were sitting cross-legged together.

Yang Lie, Chen Feng, Zhang Wang, Tang Miaoxing.

With the older generation retiring, most of the affairs within the sect are now decided by the four of them.

The Tang Clan is divided into an outer sect and an inner sect. The inner sect disciples are all extraordinary individuals with the surname Tang, represented by Tang Miaoxing. The outer sect disciples are generally composed of disciples with different surnames. Among the younger generation, Zhang Wang is the most prestigious.

As for Chen Feng and Yang Lie, they were in charge of the overall situation and various affairs. Of course, Yang Lie did the most of all of this.

After all, Chen Feng devoted most of his energy to cultivation and rarely had time to participate in sect affairs.

Now that the four of them are sitting together, they naturally want to discuss the future development of the Tang Clan.

As the sect leader, Yang Lie rubbed his forehead, looking extremely haggard, and was the first to speak: "These past few days have really exhausted me. Every day, people from various sects have come to mourn. As the new sect leader, it would be inappropriate if I didn't go, especially since some of them are elders from various sects, and I can't be impolite."

"Chen Feng, you've been idle for quite a few days now, haven't you? You don't even bother to step in and help me out."

Upon hearing Yang Lie mention him, Chen Feng coughed a few times to cover his embarrassment.

"Ahem, Young Master Yang, what you're saying is a bit inappropriate. What do you mean I didn't go? Didn't I go when people from Longhu Mountain came?"

Tang Miaoxin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but twitch her lips and revealed the truth: "Heh, if it weren't for the fact that many people from the Celestial Master's Mansion specifically requested you to be the next Celestial Master, would you have even shown up, given your personality?"

"It's quite moving. I never expected that even the Celestial Master's health couldn't hold up. Even this time, when the sect leader passed away, his disciple had to come in his place."

As time went by, the older generation of various sects and factions gradually began to falter and passed away.

In this era, to live to the age of 18 like Tang Bingwen was already considered quite remarkable.

Their conditions were inferior to those of their descendants. In addition, the chaotic political situation meant they had to fight with other superhumans at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, the Anti-Japanese War and the subsequent decisive battle with the Quanxing were all difficult. Most of the older generation of superhumans suffered from incurable hidden injuries, so their lifespans were naturally limited.

After finishing that topic, Yang Lie glanced at the three people in front of him and began to get to the main point.

"Tell me, should we change the rules of the sect, or should we keep everything the same? And what about the rules regarding disciples' cultivation? Do they need to be revised?"

These are arguably the most important issues for the Tang Clan right now. Disciples are the foundation, and the rules of the sect, such as accepting missions, are the guarantee for the Tang Clan's survival.

After all, people in the Tang Clan have no time to earn money except for cultivation. They usually rely on the savings of previous generations and the rewards earned by disciples for carrying out missions.

The targets of the assassination missions are mainly members of the Quanxing sect, those without a sect or faction, or lone individuals, and even ordinary people.

There are very few, if any, missions to kill disciples of the major righteous sects. After all, if you were to kill important disciples of the righteous sects, would the major sects behind them be willing to do so?

If they were to give up easily when faced with a sect that could take the lives of its disciples at any moment, the Tang Sect would probably have been classified as a demonic sect long ago and placed at the same table as the Quanxing Sect.

Putting aside other things, let's take the Celestial Master's Mansion as an example. If Tian Jinzhong is killed, do you think Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Jingqing will directly attack the Tang Clan?

At this point, no amount of friendship matters anymore. They went straight to the Tang Clan, demanding an explanation. You might say that the Tang Clan's rules have always been like this, but guess what? Do you think the Celestial Master's Mansion's thunder magic follows any rules?
Although the propaganda claims that money can buy murder, the Tang Clan is not stupid and will not kill just anyone. They have some tacit understandings with various sects; otherwise, so many people would not have volunteered to help the Tang Clan during their battle with the Bihe Ninja.

Normally, the four of them wouldn't know until they took over, and once they did, they discovered that the Tang Clan was facing difficulties in every aspect of its operation.

Faced with these questions, Tang Miaoxing pondered for a moment and spoke first: "Change is definitely necessary. After all, times have changed, and some rules are no longer suitable for the present era. Especially now that the Quanxing people have been almost wiped out and the continent has been unified, the previous mission restrictions must be changed."

Zhang Wang, who was always rather impatient, couldn't help but speak up: "Change? How to change? How to make changes? We can't just talk the talk but walk the walk, can we?"

Upon hearing this, the others immediately fell silent, their expressions turning serious.

Yang Lie let out a soft breath, his brows furrowed, and shook his head helplessly, saying, "As you all know, the country is now unified, and the people from above have already spoken. What they want is peace. If we are willing, they would be very happy for the superhumans to integrate into the world of ordinary people."

"If they are unwilling, we are also prohibited from using any means to arbitrarily interfere in the lives of ordinary people. Once discovered, we will be severely punished. Moreover, I heard that the higher-ups have begun to establish an organization to control the scattered superhumans. I think it's called something like 'All-Knowing'?"

After these words, there was another moment of silence.

Indeed, facing the overwhelming odds, the Tang Clan is in the most difficult position among all the sects of supernatural beings, since their methods are all designed for killing, and once they can no longer kill...

Yang Lie was secretly worried, then focused his gaze on Chen Feng, who had been silent all along, and said, "Stop being silent, hurry up and tell me, what do you think?"

Faced with Yang Lie's question, Chen Feng, who had been deep in thought, came back to his senses, touched his chin, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he held up a finger.

"Well, I personally think that the future development of the Tang Sect can be considered from two aspects."

"The first thing is to expand our business, not just focus on domestic business. It's clear that killing is not an option domestically, but it's different abroad. As far as I know, mercenary organizations are rampant overseas, and killing happens all the time. Since killing anyone is the same, we might as well go abroad and kill. We can make money and train our disciples at the same time."

"Moreover, it's easier to make money from foreigners, which is perfect for the future development of our Tang Clan."

Upon hearing this, the three men's eyes lit up. This was indeed a good idea. Yang Lie couldn't help but ask again, "Then what's the second idea?"

Chen Feng paused, then added, "The second thing is simply to change the form of the Tang Clan. You know, once the world is at peace, assassination sects will have no way to exist openly."

"Therefore, we can package it as a martial arts school, recruit people, train them uniformly, differentiate them, teach those without talent some fist and foot skills, and after careful observation of those with talent, bring them into the school as true disciples, train them, and then use them for killing practice."

The new disciples of the Tang Clan consist of two groups: those recruited from outside the sect and those with the surname Tang who have been trained within the mountain.

(End of this chapter)