The Path Forward (2)
"So, has that bastard finally woken up?"
Dang Gwan snorted.
"Pathetic. Swinging around a mountain-sized axe must have worn his body down to the bone. Should we brew him some tonic or something?"
His tone was quite aggressive, but that was simply how Dang Gwan spoke.
Moreover, they had fought together as comrades for a common cause, so he felt even closer to them than before. Yeon Wi answered with a smile.
"They say the wounds of the heart run deeper than any injury to the body."
Dang Gwan's face twisted in disbelief.
"That punk suffered a wound to the heart? What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?"
In Dang Gwan's eyes, Yeon Hojeong was the greatest butcher under the heavens, a rare personality disaster who didn't know the first thing about respecting his elders. He was a worthless bastard who didn't share a single redeeming quality with his father, a man revered as a great hero.
Of course, his martial prowess was outstanding, his mind was sharp, and his senses were keen, but that was as far as it went. Even as empty flattery, Dang Gwan could never call Yeon Hojeong kind.
And to possess that level of audacity, one needed a heart of steel. He would sooner believe that Mount Tai had collapsed than accept that Yeon Hojeong had suffered a wound to the heart.
Yeon Wi clicked his tongue.
"I didn't mean that the boy himself said so. It's just that the matters he stirred up have grown beyond his control."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"For some time now, Hojeong has been running himself ragged. He had to keep an eye on the Three Sects while simultaneously checking the Moyong family head. When a man has too many things to worry about, he grows weary. He has apparently accumulated quite a bit of hidden fatigue."
Dang Gwan let out a derisive laugh.
"That's even more ridiculous. That punk knows his own limits better than anyone. If it was something he couldn't handle, he never would have touched it in the first place."
If Yeon Hojeong were listening to this conversation right now, he would have felt incredibly embarrassed.
"That is also true."
"There isn't some grand reason behind his collapse. It's simply a lack of mental fortitude and physical stamina."
Though the assessment was overly definitive, it wasn't entirely wrong.
It was difficult to say where the line between mental strength and something else lay, but when it came to the kind of mental fortitude people commonly spoke of, Yeon Hojeong could easily claim to be the greatest under the heavens without shame.
The problem was that his body simply could not keep up with his spirit.
The mind rules the body? That was only half the truth. While such cases did exist, when the gap between mind and body grew as extreme as it had with Yeon Hojeong, collapse was inevitable.
Considering everything Yeon Hojeong had done up until now, it was actually a miracle that his accumulated fatigue had only erupted at this moment.
Dang Gwan scoffed.
"In any case, we did benefit from that punk this time. If he hadn't properly identified their movements, those Shinwha Sect bastards—or whatever the hell they're called—might have seized control of the Henan Province military and administrative offices, throwing the entire Central Plains into chaos."
"You are correct."
In the Central Plains, Henan Province sat at the very center of the continent.
In the game of baduk, it was the heavenly center. And if that center fell into enemy hands, the odds of winning the overall match would plummet. Since they hadn't even begun a proper fight yet, the situation could have become far more dire. While a good response might have isolated the enemy, one wrong move could have sent the entire Central Plains spiraling into the abyss.
In a sense, Yeon Hojeong had single-handedly saved the entire Central Plains with this one operation alone.
This was why Dang Gwan had come to acknowledge him.
"The question is whether those bastards were only lurking within the Henan government offices..."
Yeon Wi shook his head.
"They likely didn't touch other regions. The forces they dispatched to Henan were simply too overwhelming for that."
"Mm, that makes sense."
They had only been able to lead this war to victory because they had launched a secret preemptive strike against the Shinwha Sect, dismantling them one by one.
Had they not noticed in advance, the Martial Alliance would have been completely isolated by that horde of supreme experts and the power of the government offices. With Shaolin Temple also located in Henan Province, the damage would have been even greater.
Thanks to the superiority in martial prowess, experience, and intelligence of the deployed experts, they had secured victory with minimal losses. Had things gone even slightly wrong, half or more of those experts might have crossed the three paths of the afterlife.
It was truly a brilliant victory.
"Even so, we cannot let our guard down. We are not only fighting the Shinwha Sect and those damned bastards."
"True. But before that, there is one more thing we must pay attention to."
"Hm?"
"If the Shinwha Sect has infiltrated other places with their experts, that would be truly terrifying."
Dang Gwan tilted his head.
"Didn't you just say there was no possibility of them infiltrating other regions?"
"The region is not the issue."
"Then what is?"
"The imperial palace."
"...!"
Dang Gwan's face hardened instantly.
That's right. He had forgotten about that.
Yeon Wi's expression grew similarly stiff.
"Using the Alliance's experts, intelligence network, and connections, we were able to drive out the Shinwha Sect experts lurking in the government offices. But the imperial palace is different."
"......"
"It is indeed different."
Even Dang Gwan, whose pride was second to none, could not hide his tension at the mere mention of the imperial palace.
The imperial palace was the heart and head of the empire.
A person might survive the loss of an arm. But no one could live without a head or a heart.
What if the Shinwha Sect had seized control of the imperial palace?
"Such a thing will not happen."
A calm voice drifted in through the window.
Dang Gwan openly frowned, while Yeon Wi remained relatively composed. He had already known that "he" was coming.
Yeon Wi spoke.
"Though we fought as comrades, he is clearly an outsider. Not only eavesdropping on others' conversations but suddenly inserting oneself into them is hardly proper behavior."
"May I come in?"
It was a non-answer. Dang Gwan spoke in a mocking tone.
"If you want your skin to melt right off your bones, then by all means, go ahead."
It was an open threat to use poison.
The fact that it wasn't an empty threat made it all the more frightening. When the patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Family spoke, his words carried undeniable weight.
"Then I shall come in."
Chzzzzzt.
An ominous killing intent radiated from Dang Gwan's body.
Yeon Wi raised a hand slightly to calm him.
"Since you've come all this way, come up. It seems you have something to say."
"Very well."
A moment later, Moyong Gun, who had passed through the first and second floors, entered the room.
Dang Gwan spoke in an icy voice.
"Should I thank you for not jumping in through the window?"
Moyong Gun smiled.
"This is not my own residence. I could hardly come and go through the window as I please."
"Well said. This is my residence, and I don't want to see your face. Now that you've shown it, I'd appreciate it if you left."
"You may regret not listening to what I have to say."
Unexpectedly, Dang Gwan nodded.
"That may be true. But the problem is that I'm in a particularly foul mood right now."
"......"
"I'll regret it later, so just get lost. I have no desire to end my life as a handful of poison."
Moyong Gun's eyes deepened.
"What a shame."
"What is?"
"If you and I had maintained a good relationship all this time, we would have made quite the formidable combination by now."
The corner of Dang Gwan's mouth curled up.
"I'm tired of listening to this. If you don't leave before I count to three, I'll melt you where you stand."
At that moment, Yeon Wi spoke up.
"Tang Family Head. Let's hear what he has to say first."
"Stay out of this, Yeon Family Head. My ears feel clogged just from hearing that man's voice."
Yeon Wi looked at Moyong Gun and said, "The Moyong Family Head I know is as intelligent as his immense ambition is great. He isn't the type to pick pointless fights, so let's at least listen to what he has to say."
Moyong Gun let out a small laugh.
"If the Yeon Family Head hadn't spoken up, the mood would have turned sour from the very beginning. You truly are remarkable."
"You flatter me."
Dang Gwan, who had been silently watching the two, stood up from his seat.
"I'll lend you the room. Buy me a drink later."
"Tang Family Head."
"When you leave, tell the servants to clean this room thoroughly. My nose is sensitive, and I can't sleep in a place that reeks of decay."
Yeon Wi was taken aback. Dang Gwan genuinely looked ready to walk out.
Then Moyong Gun spoke.
"It would be better if the Tang Family Head stayed as well."
"How noisy."
"This concerns the Alliance Leader election."
Dang Gwan froze. At the same time, Yeon Wi's eyes sharpened like blades.
Moyong Gun's smile faded.
"May I sit?"
"......"
"No answer? Shall I speak while standing, then?"
Yeon Wi looked at Dang Gwan.
With a soft sigh, Dang Gwan returned to his seat and sat down with a heavy thud.
"I'll listen while seated, so speak while standing. There are no extra chairs."
"That doesn't matter."
Moyong Gun crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
Yeon Wi spoke in a rather sharp voice.
"You said this concerns the Alliance Leader election?"
"That's right."
"......"
"The moment one battle ends, you already intend to bare your hidden claws?"
It was an unusually aggressive tone for Yeon Wi.
He couldn't help it. He was the one who had believed Moyong Gun's killing intent toward the Shinwha Sect was genuine.
In other words, now was not the time to discuss the position of Alliance Leader. Yet here Moyong Gun was, openly bringing it up. Yeon Wi had every reason to be on edge.
Moyong Gun shook his head.
"That's not it. No, it's the opposite."
"The opposite?"
"Let's postpone the Alliance Leader selection until next year."
"...!!"
They had never expected such words.
Yeon Wi and Dang Gwan exchanged glances. In that moment, both realized the other was just as shocked as they were.
Dang Gwan spoke first.
"I'd like an explanation."
"It's simple. As the Yeon Family Head said, we have enemies we must fight. I have no desire to waste time on things like the next Alliance Leader or elections."
"...!"
"That doesn't mean we can seat someone unqualified in the position. Thankfully, the Martial Alliance is maintaining itself well. No, it's not just maintaining itself—it's growing."
"......"
"For now, it's fine to leave things as they are. My opinion is that the next Alliance Leader election can be held after we've crushed those bastards to a certain extent."
"Do you intend to propose this at the Bonggong Assembly?"
"Yes."
"......"
"That is why I came. I want your support."
Dang Gwan, who had been glaring at Moyong Gun, spoke in a cold voice.
"Why should we postpone the election because of that? It would be better to elect a capable person as leader and prepare properly for the fight against the Three Sects."
"A fair point. But you've missed one thing."
"What?"
"The reason we didn't reveal the enemy's identity at the Bonggong Assembly was the possibility of spies having infiltrated."
Moyong Gun spoke in an aggressive tone.
"Are you willing to take that risk, Tang Family Head?"
"Hmm."
"Of course, we would need to investigate every single member. But as you both know, they are the leaders of the Nine Great Schools and the Six Great Families. Even if we investigated them thoroughly, it would take forever. And you want to hold an Alliance Leader election on top of that? I think that's completely unreasonable."
It wasn't a wrong assessment.
Yeon Wi asked, "Even if we postpone the election until next year, couldn't you simply scheme behind the scenes?"
Moyong Gun smiled bitterly.
"You don't trust me."
"Correct."
"......"
"Well, I expected as much. That's why I've brought a separate proposal."
"What is it?"
"Merger of armies."
"Merger?"
"I will use my influence to combine two of the Yu Army units into one. And I will ensure that the commander of that unit is not the Tangma Army Commander, but the Myeolsa Army Commander."
"...!!"
"The Tangma Army Commander will serve under the Myeolsa Army Commander. In other words, the life and death of the Tangma Army Commander will rest in the Myeolsa Army Commander's hands. And the Tangma Army Commander is my younger brother, whom I only managed to reclaim after ten long years."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Moyong Gun's eyes blazed with intensity.
"If you believe I am plotting something, then cut off Woo's head."