The Road to Wudang (4)
“I won’t interfere, so handle it yourselves.”
“Wait a moment!”
If they’re going to fight, why cause a scene in the inn? I seriously considered whether smashing all their heads would let me sleep in peace as I gently roused my dormant mana core.
Ready to fight at any moment.
Yet both groups only glared at each other with murderous intent; neither seemed eager to actually clash. Neither side had drawn their swords.
“Could you reconsider?”
“I don’t see any reason to get involved in whatever’s about to happen in this city.”
“We’ll offer a generous reward—”
“Is there a reason you must recruit me?”
“...Throughout history, wars between established martial forces have often been decided by the battles of top experts. Even if one side tries to overwhelm with numbers, the actual count of martial artists each faction can field isn’t vastly different.”
Startled, I turned to look at Mok Gyeong, who had appeared beside me and was radiating a sharp aura. Her appearance was slightly disheveled, perhaps because she had just woken from the sudden commotion.
Bathed in moonlight, Mok Gyeong looked strangely alluring.
...I must have been in the military too long; my eyes are rotting.
I need to pluck them out soon—
“I see.”
“...Since it isn’t an army, group battles are less effective. Even if they form a combined formation, such formations were originally meant to face a single powerful opponent. In a chaotic melee, you never know when you’ll be attacked from behind, so their practicality is questionable.”
“...That’s certainly true.”
“Th-that’s exactly why. So please—”
“It’s odd that two families would go to such lengths just to recruit a single Peak expert.”
Though I had openly needled them, neither side reacted strongly; both merely sighed. They didn’t like the situation either, but felt they had no choice.
“Sir Wi is no ordinary Peak expert. How many people can even call a Peak expert ‘ordinary’?”
“Is that so?”
I was starting to grasp the outline. Recruiting me meant recruiting Mok Gyeong and Hye-ryeong as well.
The most important thing in war is justification. If they could claim they had brought the Hainan Sword Sect—an arm of the Nine Great Sects—onto their side, people would think, “The Nine Great Sects are supporting them, so they must be the more righteous faction.” That was why they wanted me.
My own reputation had apparently reached even this small city, so they found the idea tempting.
But I saw no need to get involved.
It wasn’t my fault,
I wasn’t entangled like last time,
And even if I did join, the only gain would be money—yet if things went badly, the losses would outweigh any profit.
Since war was something beyond my control, there was no reason to participate unless absolutely necessary.
“Since it’s come to this, resolve it yourselves. I have no intention of joining this war.”
“Can’t you reconsider? If I fail to recruit you, I’ll die!”
“Nothing’s more dangerous than walking into mortal peril for someone else’s sake.”
I’m not crawling into the jaws of death just so you can live.
When the warrior from the Gu family began bowing deeply and begging, the Kang family’s side also started pleading with me in earnest.
“Unlike those Gu family bastards, I can promise you a definite reward! Rare elixirs and enough money to live in luxury for life! If necessary, a deep connection with our family...”
“Nooooo!”
Startled, I turned.
“Hye-ryeong, didn’t anyone teach you not to shout at dawn?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Hye-ryeong, first...”
I gently pulled Hye-ryeong behind me and hid her.
You can’t come out dressed like that.
“...Absolutely not!” “I get it, so be quiet. You’ll wake the entire inn.”
“They probably already woke up when you smashed the door.”
“...Did I?”
Anyway, I needed to end this annoying situation quickly and go back to sleep. What a nuisance.
“Haa... Let’s not do this here. Come downstairs and talk. What’s the point of making such a racket while everyone’s trying to sleep?”
“The one who shouted was that little—”
“We’re going down.”
Don’t blame others.
I cut off the warrior who looked like a wronged Shih Tzu and closed the door.
“I’ll change and come down. Wait a moment. Hye-ryeong, stay up here.”
“I want to go too.”
“Put some proper clothes on first.”
“...Hehe.”
Your collarbone is showing because you didn’t fasten your clothes properly.
This isn’t as free as Hainan Island; in the Central Plains, even showing your ankles makes people gasp. Walking around like that would cause an uproar.
At my scolding, Hye-ryeong smiled awkwardly.
“I’ll come down a little later.”
“I’ll go with you right away.”
When did you get fully armed?
Considering she always finished preparing before me, she must have done so while I was talking with the warriors.
I should get dressed properly too.
I wanted to at least wash my face, but since uninvited guests were waiting, I settled for throwing on some clothes and heading down.
I put on the robe I had tossed aside and turned around.
“How disappointing...”
“What’s disappointing?”
“Hehe...”
“Mok Gyeong. Let’s go down.”
“...Yes.”
I needed to settle this quickly and leave the city. Sighing, I opened the door.
“Good heavens...”
The innkeeper’s sigh, having rushed out at dawn, filled the dining hall. The warriors from both families, aware they had caused trouble, coughed awkwardly and looked away—it was quite a sight.
“First, let’s hear what happened. You said the young masters were murdered. What do you mean?”
“These bastards killed our young master!”
“What nonsense! You people—!”
“Calm down first. From what I hear, it sounds like both sides were assassinated. Did they really die without anyone noticing?”
“When the young master didn’t return long past his usual time, we went looking for Young Master Gu and found him dead alongside Kang Un-gi and Yang Pae-gu! That bastard must have tried to kill our young master and got counterattacked!”
“What are you saying! That’s what we should be saying!”
At this rate, blades would really be drawn.
I infused aura into the table and struck it twice to draw everyone’s attention, then asked,
“Whoa, whoa, settle down. You all seem too worked up to think straight. Where are the escort warriors?”
“They were also found dead nearby.”
“Any survivors?”
“There’s one, but he’s on the verge of death.”
So the only witness is dying today or tomorrow, meaning little information. But something about this stinks.
“Let’s calm down and think with cool heads. Did Young Master Kang see a physician?”
“Of course we tried. But the physician had vanished without a trace. We already found it suspicious that he had ties to the Gu family despite his skill, but to think he’d do something like this...!”
“We know nothing!”
“Hah! Look at these shameless bastards!”
“I don’t know why I have to play judge when I’m not even Judge Bao... Anyway, were they really on such bad terms? Bad enough to try killing each other in an alley?”
“Well...”
I turned my gaze to the innkeeper, who had cautiously tried to join the conversation. He was sweating nervously in the tense atmosphere, but his face showed he desperately wanted this resolved.
“Innkeeper, do you have something to say?”
I asked as gently as possible so he wouldn’t be frightened.
“Recently, both young masters were courting the same woman. Perhaps...”
“It could be the result of a love triangle?”
Given how they’d drawn blades in the inn without hesitation, fighting wasn’t surprising... but killing each other over it still felt off.
Neither of them struck me as the type to recklessly try to murder the other. People with the resolve to kill are different from the start.
“It’s true they had a war of nerves over a woman named Myeong-hui...”
“So the innkeeper’s words are at least partially true.”
There was circumstantial evidence, at least. Whether they actually killed each other in a fight was another matter...
“Whatever the reason... You want to recruit me because of the war between your two families, correct?”
“Yes. If you help us, the family head has promised a great reward...”
“The family heads must be blinded by rage right now.”
From their perspective, their sons had returned dead.
They’d be furious, rationality gone, unable to share the same sky with the other side. Of course they’d be like that.
“So, when are you fighting?”
“Pardon?”
The man who seemed to be the leader of the Kang family warriors stared at me blankly.
Can’t read the situation?
“Both sides look like they’ve lost all reason... Aren’t you on the verge of clashing right now?”
“Th-that’s correct.”
“Aigoo...”
The innkeeper’s sigh echoed through the inn.
...Yeah, that’s how it goes.
When war breaks out, it’s not the soldiers who suffer—it’s ordinary citizens.
“For now, let’s try negotiating.”
“Does that mean you’ll side with us?!”
“No, with our Kang family!” “I never said I’d only side with one faction.”
“What?”
Amid the wide-eyed fools, I grinned.
“Let’s do the math together.”