Borrowing the Tiger's Might
Ouyang Qiangang turned to face the people gathered in the great hall and spoke.
"Before we discuss how to deal with the Thousand Seas Gang, there is something I must say."
Every eye in the hall turned toward him.
"As I reflected on the situation in Poyang and the scenes of the sacrificial rites that the Thousand Seas Gang Lord, the Blood Spirit Human Demon, conducted on Blood Island, there were certain things I simply could not make sense of."
Du Jeong-gwang and Du Wi-pyeong had already heard Du Jin-seong's account of the horrific sight at the altar, so they listened with grave attention.
Ouyang Qiangang furrowed his brow slightly and continued.
"First — why did the Thousand Seas Gang demand a toll so excessive that the families of Poyang could never possibly accept it? Are they such fools that they failed to anticipate the enormous backlash from all ten great families of Poyang?"
"...!"
At his observation, Du Wi-pyeong's face stiffened.
Blinded by rage, he had never once considered that angle.
"That is not all."
Ouyang Qiangang's voice grew even colder.
"Why did they abduct people, and then commit such atrocities against the precious hostages they had taken? The dead were beyond counting. Even common sense dictates that merchandise worth trading should not be killed."
His words settled over the hall in a heavy silence.
The three generations of the Du clan felt a chill run down their spines as they realized they might have been dancing in the very palm of the Thousand Seas Gang's hand all along.
Ouyang Qiangang looked at them all with eyes that burned with intensity.
"I believe the Thousand Seas Gang never had any intention of negotiating in the first place. Their true objective was neither money nor a display of power... it was something else entirely."
Du Jeong-gwang asked in a grave voice.
"If it was not the toll, then what do you think they were after, Grand Young Master?"
All eyes in the hall turned to Ouyang Qiangang at the weighty question.
But instead of answering, he pivoted the conversation in a completely different direction.
"Whatever their purpose, one thing is certain. The Thousand Seas Gang cannot be left as it is. And we must not be the ones who deal with them."
"What do you mean by that?"
Even Du Jin-seong, as brilliant as he was, could not grasp his intent and pressed him with questions.
"If not the families of Poyang, then who on earth could possibly deal with them?"
"The Yangtze River Waterway Alliance."
The people were thrown into confusion by the utterly unexpected name that left Ouyang Qiangang's lips.
Ju Pyo asked with a frozen expression.
"Do you mean to say... that you believe the Waterway Alliance knowingly tolerated the existence of the Thousand Seas Gang and turned a blind eye to their crimes?"
"I believe it is possible they went beyond tolerating them and actively supported them. Otherwise, there is no explaining how the masters of the Yangtze's waterways could allow pirates to run rampant in their own front yard."
"Gah!"
The startled eyes of the three generations of the Du clan went round.
Du Jin-seong swallowed dryly and asked.
"If the relationship between the Waterway Alliance and the Thousand Seas Gang is as you suspect, Grand Young Master, then surely they would never move against them."
"Then we make it so they have no choice."
"Have you already devised a method?"
A chill smile crept across Ouyang Qiangang's lips.
"I have."
"Then please, tell us what it is."
Ouyang Qiangang turned to Ju Pyo.
"Elder Ju, what do you know of the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance?"
Ju Pyo answered with a furrowed brow.
"They claim to protect the Yangtze's waterways for the sake of smooth commerce, but at their core they are a pack of bandits bound together purely for profit. Which is why they hate losing money more than they hate dying."
Ouyang Qiangang nodded and turned to Du Jeong-gwang.
"Is there a merchant power large enough to threaten the Waterway Alliance's sphere of business, one that the ten great families of Poyang could trust and trade with?"
Du Jeong-gwang thought for a moment before answering.
"A merchant force that could make the Alliance feel threatened... though they are weak inland, the only one is the Four Seas Merchant Union, a member of the Great Merchant Alliance of the four great opulent houses. They have always been looking for a chance to break through the Waterway Alliance's blockade and expand their business inland."
Having heard the words of the two venerable experts, a smile formed on Ouyang Qiangang's lips.
"The answer was already contained within your words, elders."
He continued in a calm, measured tone.
"First, we gather the outrageous toll demands the Thousand Seas Gang proposed and the testimonies of the survivors from Blood Island, and send them to the Waterway Alliance. We demand that they deal with it, since such things are happening within the Alliance's own domain."
Du Wi-pyeong asked with a worried voice.
"But Grand Young Master, what if the Waterway Alliance ignores our demand and instead turns all of Poyang against us? We could end up with an enemy far more terrifying than the Thousand Seas Gang."
"They won't be able to."
Ouyang Qiangang's eyes flashed.
"Once a negotiation with the Alliance is arranged, the two manor lords need only say this to them: 'If the Waterway Alliance cannot restore order on Poyang Lake, then every family of Poyang will entrust the protection of all our future waterway ventures to the Four Seas Merchant Union.'"
"Ah...!"
"So long as a potential rival in the waterway trade — the Four Seas Merchant Union — is watching, any attack on Poyang without justification would hand them grounds to turn the entire Great Merchant Alliance against them. This is not a battle of strength. It is a battle of justification and profit."
In that moment, everyone in the great hall felt a shiver run through them.
Ouyang Qiangang was drawing up a grand board on which even the titanic powers of the murim would be moved like pieces on a game table, all for the sake of Poyang's stability.
Several days passed.
On the second floor of the Great Achievement Inn, in the heart of Poyang, sat its most luxurious guest chamber.
Du Wi-pyeong and Du Jin-seong sat with tense expressions, and behind them by the window stood a young man of unremarkable appearance in his mid-twenties, standing impassively like an escort warrior.
The young man was, of course, Ouyang Qiangang, wearing a mask of human skin.
Du Wi-pyeong swallowed dryly and spoke.
"It is truly a stroke of fortune, Grand Young Master, that the second disciple of the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance's leader happens to be in Wuchang, Hubei. Otherwise, arranging a meeting like this would have taken well over a month."
Ouyang Qiangang nodded in agreement.
"I feel the same. We would have had to travel all the way to Sanxia, where the Alliance's general headquarters stands, bearing a formal letter — so yes, it would certainly have taken that long."
He added in a low voice.
"Manor Lord, someone is approaching this room. It appears to be the second disciple of the Alliance leader and his party."
Du Wi-pyeong's eyes widened at those words.
Ouyang Qiangang had sensed their presence before even he — a First-rate expert — had detected anything at all.
I never saw him strike down the Thousand Seas Gang Lord myself, but from what Seong-ah told me, and from what I've just witnessed, the Grand Young Master's martial arts must have already risen into the ranks of a Peak master...
A short while later, there came a knock at the chamber door, and two men entered, escorted by a young maidservant.
The man leading them was a handsome young man in his mid-twenties, dressed in a silk robe.
Embroidered in silver thread across the river-blue silk was a dragon ascending into the heavens, and his face was brimming with pride and arrogance.
This was none other than Yeon Cheolrim, the second disciple of the Water Dragon King, leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance — the man they had arranged to meet today.
Behind him stood a middle-aged warrior with a ferocious face, radiating a sharp killing intent from his entire body like a shadow at his master's back.
The moment Ouyang Qiangang laid eyes on Yeon Cheolrim, an involuntary frown creased his brow.
Those eyes... those eyebrows... I've definitely seen them somewhere before...
Puzzled by the strangely familiar face, he issued a command to Akasha.
'Akasha, cross-reference the facial data of that young man who just entered against everyone I've ever met.'
Understood, Doctor. Cross-referencing data... Upper facial region — specifically the eyes, eyebrows, and skeletal structure of the glabella... This individual's data is a 100 percent match with the masked man you fought in the underground stone chamber beneath Sand Rock Peak on Dayangsan Island.
"...!"
Ouyang Qiangang felt as though the blood in his entire body had turned to ice.
The owner of that dreadful raid — the man who had tried to steal even the legacy of the Returning Water Divine Shield that he had won at the cost of a desperate escape from those hunting his very life — was none other than the arrogant young man standing before him now.
His heart boiled with fury, but he concealed every trace of it with flawless control.
Right now, he was not Ouyang Qiangang. He was merely an escort warrior of the father and son of the Du clan.
While a storm raged within him, Du Wi-pyeong and Du Jin-seong had risen from their seats and were performing a formal cupped-fist salute toward Yeon Cheolrim.
"I am Du Wi-pyeong, master of the Du Clan Manor of Poyang, and this is my son, Du Jin-seong."
But the young man — Yeon Cheolrim — offered no salute in return, merely tilting his head with a careless flick as he replied.
"I am Yeon Cheolrim."
With those words, he dropped heavily into the seat of honor and crossed his legs. Then, looking at Du Wi-pyeong across from him with an expression of utter boredom, he spoke.
"Get to the point. I'm a busy man."
At that insolent attitude, Du Jin-seong's face flushed red.
At nineteen, he was still unpracticed in the art of mastering his emotions.
Du Wi-pyeong forced his expression under control and began explaining Poyang's tragic circumstances and the depredations of the Thousand Seas Gang.
Yeon Cheolrim listened to his desperate account with indifference, picking at his fingernails or gazing out the window.
It was the attitude of a man watching a fire from across the river — a story that had nothing whatsoever to do with him.
When Du Wi-pyeong finished speaking, he said in a pleading tone.
"Young Master Yeon, I beg you — look with compassion upon Poyang's plight, and on behalf of the Alliance, subdue that pack of wicked pirates."
Yeon Cheolrim answered with a yawn.
"The affairs of Poyang Lake are for Poyang to handle. Why should the strength of our parent alliance be spent resolving a disaster born of your own incompetence? Whether you pay the Thousand Seas Gang their toll or fight them, that is your affair."
At that heartless reply, Du Wi-pyeong drew a deep breath and spoke.
"If the Alliance will not aid us, then all ten great families of Poyang will have no choice but to join hands and entrust the protection of our businesses to the Four Seas Merchant Union."
In that instant, the boredom and arrogance vanished entirely from Yeon Cheolrim's face.
Clack!
He slammed his teacup down with a sharp crack, and his eyes — now incomparably colder and sharper than before — bored into Du Wi-pyeong.
"What... did you just say?"
The air in the guest chamber froze over like a sheet of ice.
His voice was low, but no one present failed to feel the seething fury coiled within it.
"Are you threatening me? You — a mere manor lord of Poyang — dare to threaten our Yangtze River Waterway Alliance?"
Du Wi-pyeong bowed his head.
"Could the families of Poyang possibly threaten the Waterway Alliance? We are merely begging for your mercy."
Though it was a performance rehearsed in advance, his desperation was no lie.
Yeon Cheolrim's tightly knitted eyes grew troubled.
If every family of Poyang truly turns to the Four Seas Merchant Union, Master will never forgive me. The waterways of this region are clearly under my responsibility.
As Yeon Cheolrim sank into tangled thoughts, Akasha's voice sounded in Ouyang Qiangang's mind.
Doctor, Yeon Cheolrim's reaction is remarkably interesting. The moment the words "Four Seas Merchant Union" were mentioned, his heart rate and stress hormone levels rose sharply.
'Really?'
The subject is clearly agitated. This strongly suggests that he occupies a position within a higher power structure — one that would hold him personally accountable for this situation.
'So he was delegated responsibility for this region by the Alliance leader, and if anything goes wrong, the blame falls squarely on Yeon Cheolrim?'
The probability of that is 98 percent.
Yeon Cheolrim composed himself and spoke with an icy expression.
"Fine. Those filthy pirates... I will see to it that not a single ant survives."
He shot Du Wi-pyeong a look glinting with menace.
"In return, the name Four Seas Merchant Union must never again pass through anyone's lips. Do you understand?"
"...You have my word."
Du Wi-pyeong answered with impeccable courtesy.
Rising from his seat, Yeon Cheolrim swept Du Wi-pyeong once over with a contemptuous gaze and left the chamber.
And the following evening, every soul in Poyang witnessed it.
In the direction of Blood Island, a colossal blaze that seemed to swallow the very sky lit up the darkness all night long — a magnificent, terrible spectacle.
Thus did the Thousand Seas Gang, the scourge of Poyang, vanish from the face of the map in the space of a single night.