Chapter 1426: So This Needle Is A Failure? (Part 1)

The hammer continued to strike the iron on the anvil, seemingly oblivious to the events unfolding around it.

Clang!

With each strike of the small hammer, sparks flew from the red-hot iron in all directions.

Watching intently, Tang Jopyeong, who had been striking the iron for a long time, used tongs to lift the hot iron and pushed it into the fiery furnace emitting high temperatures.

His face, illuminated by the flames engulfing the iron, flickered with shadows. Jang Ilso, who had been silently observing Tang Jopyeong, finally spoke, his crimson lips parting.

"Old man."

A chilling voice, laden with coldness, enveloped the old man.

"Where did the other Tang Family members go?"

It was a voice that no one could ignore. No one could remain nonchalant at a venomous snake tightening its coil around their body. However, Tang Jopyeong did not show any significant reaction to Jang Ilso's words. He simply kept his gaze fixed on the furnace as if he were deaf to the world.

Jang Ilso's gaze turned sharp. However, before he could do anything, Tang Jopyeong, with indifferent gestures, pulled out the iron that had been heating and began striking it again.

Clang! Clang!

With each strike of the hammer on the heated iron, an inexplicable and mysterious force flowed.

"Hmm."

At this point, Jang Ilso laughed, as if finding Tang Jopyeong intriguing.

"It's been a while since I've been ignored like this."

Instantly, the blood drained from the faces of the surrounding Jang Ilso. The guards who had been escorting Jang Ilso could keenly sense the twisted anger in his slow speech.

One of the Honggyeons hurriedly stepped forward.

"This old man is..."

"Step aside."

However, Jang Ilso coldly intervened, blocking their way. The Honggyeons intending to step forward reluctantly retreated.

With a swift motion, Jang Ilso slowly approached Tang Jopyeong. Standing within arm's reach, he looked down at the small and frail old man. The latter's transparent eyes showed no emotion.

It wasn't worth wasting time on such an old man.

Regardless of what this old man did, it was irrelevant. It would be easy to kill him with a swing of his hand and then pursue those who had escaped. Jang Ilso knew this better than anyone. Yet, his pause here was driven by simple curiosity. Yes, that was all.

"What are you making?"

Once again, there was no immediate answer.

Jang Ilso chuckled. Clear murderous intent emerged in his neatly curved eyes.

But at that moment, a murmuring voice escaped from Tang Jopyeong's lips, head unturned.

"Needle." 

"Hmm?"

"I am making a needle."

It was more of a monologue than an answer. Jang Ilso slightly furrowed his brows.

A needle... in this situation?

Clang!

Tang Jopyeong struck the iron again. In Jang Ilso's gaze, fixed intently on him, an inscrutable light flickered endlessly.

"Everything you dedicated my life to has crumbled..."

A mocking voice resounded.

"All that you had created by dedicating your soul to has turned into ashes. Still, there is nothing else you can do. So, even at the end of life, you repeat the same actions."

Jang Ilso raised the corner of his mouth.

"If that's the life of an artisan... it's just pitiful."

Clang!

The sound of Tang Jopyeong's hammer became a bit more intense. Jang Ilso twisted his lips a little more and chuckled. The sound of the iron being pushed into the furnace echoed.

"How about it?"

"..."

"Do you think a remarkable weapon will be born?"

It was not a simple question but a knife that pierced the soul.

"Is the weapon being forged great enough that it can compensate for such a dreadful end? Enough to give one solace that one's miserable life was not meaningless?"

"..."

"Reality is cruel. The tale of an artisan dedicating their soul to create a masterful weapon in their final moments is nothing but a fairy tale. In reality, it's just pounding on poorly forged iron, creating nothing but useless trash."

Tang Jopyeong, glancing at Jang Ilso with an inexplicable look, pulled the needle out of the furnace again and placed it on the anvil.

Jang Ilso asked.

"How does it feel when everything you've ever had is died? How does it feel to cling to useless endeavors?"

His stomach twisted. Those who have lost everything often act boldly in their final moments. In truth, they never desired such things from the beginning.

Having witnessed countless idiots act as if they had been liberated in their last moments, Jang Ilso couldn't stand the sight. He preferred those who cried and clung desperately; they were honest. Those who ascribed false meaning to the meaningless, claiming they wanted what they never desired, were worse than dirt.

"Answer me. Does this needle hold value as the last possession of your life? If your life is so trivial..."

A voice that seemed to grip the soul and wring it.

"Do you really need to cling to it? Hmm?"

Beneath his wide sleeves, Jang Ilso's hand twitched, suggesting he had no intention of merely threatening with words.

However, even though Tang Jopyeong knew that Jang Ilso could end his life at any moment, he seemed indifferent, meticulously examining the iron from all angles.

Clang!

Tang Jopyeong's hammering resumed. Sparks flew like an old man's soul scattering with each strike.

The iron on the anvil gradually took the shape of the needle, and Tang Jopyeong carefully inspected the iron he gripped with tongs before thrusting it into the furnace.

Tang Jopyeong, looking at Jang Ilso with an inexplicable gaze, pulled the needle out again and placed it on the anvil.

"Among countless irons, gather the purest one."

"..."

"Melt it in a brutally searing furnace."

Clang!

"Strike it hundreds, thousands of times."

Clang!

"Until it attains the most perfect form and strength. It twists, breaks, bends countless times..."

Clang!

With a strong blow, Tang Jopyeong put the needle into the water bucket.

Sizzling!

"Immerse it in filthy quenching liquid."

Pure white steam rose vigorously from the water, embracing the heated needle.

"Only after being split and split again, tearing off its flesh until the very end, only then... will it become a master weapon."

For a moment, Jang Ilso's gaze strangely calmed.

Tang Jopyeong's voice contained a peculiar resonance. It carried a weight that even Jang Ilso found hard to dismiss.

"I have done such things throughout my life. Creating stronger, sharper, more remarkable weapons, crafting excellent weapons, breaking and remelting them if they didn't meet the standards."

Tang Jopyeong took the needle from the bucket and placed it back on the anvil.

With its coarse texture and uneven surface, even though it hadn't been polished yet, it couldn't be called a master weapon.

Despite being made from an old furnace and the worn-out arms of an aged craftsman, it was still a sword crafted by the master of the Tang family in his final moments. However, its appearance was so pitiful that it defied belief.

Tang Jopyeong, meticulously examining the inferior needle, seemed to imply that it could become a one-of-a-kind master weapon.

Kwak!

Tang Jopyeong tightly grasped the needle, which had not yet cooled, in his hand.

Sizzle!

Freshly torn flesh and flowing blood stained the needle. However, the old man seemed oblivious to the pain, merely staring at the needle indifferently.

"Is this needle a failure then?"

Tang Jopyeong slowly lowered the hammer.

Leaving the needle, which seemed to require countless more strikes, untouched. Leaving behind an inferior needle.

Yet, as Tang Jopyeong lowered the hammer, there seemed to be no regret in his touch.

Turning the needle slowly in his hand, inspecting every detail with a composed gaze, Tang Jopyeong nodded slowly.

Then, he extended the needle he held in his hand towards none other than Jang Ilso.

A moment of silence passed. Jang Ilso was about to speak in response to the elderly man's actions, but the indifferent voice of Tang Jopyeong preempted him.

"Take it."

In an instant, a clear expression of 'bewilderment' appeared on Jang Ilso's face. Alternating between the offered needle and Tang Jopyeong, the corners of his eyes twitched subtly.

"...What are you doing?"

Even if the old man's life was fading away, as long as he bore the Tang family name, it was impossible not to recognize the person standing in front of him.

Yet, this old man was extending the needle he had crafted in his final moments to Jang Ilso. Surely, he wasn't pleading for his life by offering it.

As if answering Jang Ilso's question, Tang Jopyeong spoke.

"There's no predetermined owner for iron. The one who holds it is the owner. You're just here right now."

Jang Ilso looked at the rugged needle as if in disbelief.

"This needle might end up stuck in the throat of a Tang, you know?"

Even at that remark, Tang Jopyeong didn't retract the offered needle.

He just continued to gaze at Jang Ilso with indifference. Gradually, Jang Ilso's face lost any semblance of expression. In that silent moment, Jang Ilso slowly reached out and grasped the proffered needle.

Squish.

The still-warm heat was transmitted. Tang Jopyeong's blood, dried on the surface of the needle, stained Jang Ilso's hands a deep red.

Gripping the chaotic and disheveled needle, Jang Ilso raised his head. It was in preparation to sever Tang Jopyeong's throat with a single stroke.

However...

"This old man..."

Jang Ilso's face contorted.

Tang Jopyeong's head was hanging down. At that time, the old man's breath had already ceased.

Pathetic.

Even the hammer he had put down for the last time, the frail and twisted body, and the worn-out furnace – all were simply pathetic.

However, even Jang Ilso couldn't laugh at the young, confident, and pathetic smile on Tang Jopyeong's lips.

As the fire in the furnace went out, Tang Jopyeong's body gradually cooled. Jang Ilso, who silently watched the master craftsman of the Tang family draw his last breath, turned away, his robes fluttering.

"What a waste of time."

A cold voice echoed.

"There's no one here. Chase after them. They haven't gone far."

"Yes, Ryeonju-nim!"

The bystanders, including the Myriad Man Manor members and the Honggyeon, scattered in all directions, silently disappearing. They would likely soon discover the traces of those who had escaped.

Tap.

Jang Ilso, who was about to walk away without hesitation, paused as a sound brushed past his ears. It was the sound of the furnace dying down. A peculiar expression flickered across Jang Ilso's face.

"Hmm."

Thud!

Jang Ilso swung his hand. As internal energy poured out, the workshop collapsed on Tang Jopyeong's lifeless body, covering it.

Kwoooong!

Staring coldly at the fallen workshop, Jang Ilso roughly shoved the blood-stained needle he held into his arms.

"Debts are detestable, you know."

Leaving behind words that no one would hear, he turned around and walked away. The workshop had now completely crumbled.

On the debris of the workshop, abandoned by everyone as it lost its meaning, a worn and small hammer stood crookedly. As it were the gravestone of someone who had finally found peace.