Chapter 281: Sa Wang-ryeon-1
Chapter 281: Sa Wang-ryeon-1
Two days after leaving Suzhou.
Seonwoo Jin's group finally arrived at Taizhou, located in the center of Jiangsu Province.
This was precisely where the headquarters of the Four Kings Alliance was situated.
Taizhou was originally not a very large fortress, but when the main sect of the Tongcheonbang, the predecessor to the Four Kings Alliance, relocated here, the city itself was transformed into the Alliance's headquarters.
Thus, everyone living in this Taizhou was affiliated with the Four Kings Alliance.
Not just the people roaming the streets, but also those running small shops, and even the vendors at street stalls—all of them were.
So when the group arrived before the gates of Taizhou, they could see warriors of the Four Kings Alliance, who appeared to be peak-level experts rather than soldiers, guarding the gate.
The one who seemed to be their squad leader, a warrior who likely possessed at least eighty years of internal energy, approached and asked politely.
"What business brings you to the Four Kings Alliance?"
At that question, Seonwoo Jin darted a glance at Seol Pung.
The one who had led the group as their guide until now was undoubtedly Seonwoo Jin.
But from here on, that was no longer possible.
Because from this point forward, the one leading the group should be Seol Pung.
However, Seol Pung, having received Seonwoo Jin's gaze, had not spoken a single word since yesterday and remained silently lost in thought.
The rest of the group, somewhat guessing the complicated feelings inside him, had not spoken to him during that time.
This very moment, with everyone's attention focused on him, was no different.
Seol Pung still maintained his silence.
Then, the group began to look at him with slightly uneasy expressions.
That was when it happened.
Seol Pung let out a deep sigh.
"Huuu."
And then, he finally stepped forward slowly and opened his mouth with a heavy tone.
It was the culmination of a day's silence.
"I am a descendant of the Seol family, the son of Seol Cheonhu... I am called Seol Pung."
Those were weighty words.
It was the moment that Seol Pung, the rightful descendant of the Seol family, finally revealed to his roots in the Four Kings Alliance that he was alive.
At that, the eyes of squad leader Jang, which had initially held a puzzled expression, began to widen more and more.
It seemed the names of the Seol family and Seol Cheonhu had finally surfaced in his mind.
Seol Pung continued speaking.
"As the rightful descendant of the Goe-Seol lineage, I have come to challenge for the candidacy of the next Four Kings."
The Goe-Seol lineage.
That term referred to the descendants of the first Four Kings, Gwae Jaun, encompassing the Gwae family and the Seol family.
Upon hearing Seol Pung's words, squad leader Jang was now wearing an utterly flustered expression as he responded.
"W-Would you wait just a moment? I shall report this to the higher-ups."
Saying so, the place he ran to was not inside the gate, but up above.
And soon, from above the gate, a pigeon flapped its wings noisily and took flight.
Just like the Baek family of Suzhou, the Four Kings Alliance appeared to use a reporting system utilizing messenger pigeons within the fortress.
Given that the entire vast space of Taizhou Fortress was the domain of the Four Kings Alliance, it was a natural course of action.
While waiting for the messenger pigeon to fly away and for a reply to come from the Four Kings Alliance headquarters, Seol Pung looked at his companions and opened his mouth.
"Things might not go well. In the worst-case scenario, the Four Kings could issue an order to kill me, and we could end up facing attacks from the Four Kings Alliance within the enemy's lair. So, if there's a chance to back out, now is the only time."
He was saying that if anyone wanted to leave, they should do so before it was too late.
At those words, Yeon Taejin furrowed her brows sharply and said.
"What? Those hurtful words, what are they? Don't tell me you thought I would abandon Pung and run away? Don't even dream of it! I'll never take a single step away from Pung's side for my whole life!"
When Seol Pung wore an expression that didn't know whether to be moved or troubled by her declaration of never leaving his side for life,
Jeung Chil also spoke with bravado.
"Surely you weren't saying that to this hyung-nim, were you, Pung my brother? I, Jeung Chil! Am a man who has never in his life turned away from a brother's dangerous affairs!"
Of course, the entire duration Jeung Chil had ever had brothers in his life was barely a few months.
But no one deliberately pointed that out to shatter his heroic spirit.
Seol Pung, smiling faintly at those words, then looked at Jin So-eun and asked.
"Jin Sojeo, you are a treasured jewel of the orthodox faction's Jin Family Stronghold. Would it not be troublesome for someone like you to get entangled in the affairs of the Four Kings Alliance?"
At that, Jin So-eun shook her head with an awkward smile.
"A treasured jewel, you say. I am absolutely not such a person. And... a martial artist of the Jin Family Stronghold does not turn away from a friend. Lord Seol, surely you wouldn't want to make me a shameful person, would you?"
At that resolute answer, Seol Pung, who exchanged a smile with her as they looked at each other, now turned his gaze toward Seonwoo Jin.
Then Seonwoo Jin grinned and asked.
"Why are you looking at me? Are you going to ask me too if I'm going to leave?"
Seol Pung chuckled and shook his head.
Then he said.
"I entrust this to you once again, Jin my brother."
Seonwoo Jin, grinning at his words, clasped hands firmly with Seol Pung.
Those hands seemed to show the strong trust between the two.
Seonwoo Jin said.
"Leave it to me, hyung-nim. I will definitely make you the next Four Kings."
At his words, Seol Pung let out a hollow laugh.
While he was worrying about whether he might be killed by the Four Kings, Seonwoo Jin was already thinking of nothing but how to make him the next Four Kings.
Words that would have been dismissed as mere lip service if spoken by anyone else, somehow felt like they would truly come to pass when they came from the mouth of this wise brother.
Seol Pung finally replied with a smile.
"Right, I'll trust only you, my brother."
Then Yeon Taejin, who had been watching from the side, grumbled.
"Ah, this wounds my pride. That I, Hawondalgi Yeon Taejin, should have to feel jealousy toward a man. Fine, I'll let it pass since he's a man."
At that moment, Jeung Chil sidled up subtly and placed his own hand on top of the two men's clasped hands, saying.
"I, too, only trust you, maknae."
Jin So-eun was watching the sight of her companions with a delighted smile.
A short while later, the fortress gate opened and a young man walked out.
He was a kindly looking young man dressed in brilliantly shining golden silk robes.
With a smile on his face and a respectful attitude, he bowed his head in greeting to Seol Pung.
"I meet you for the first time. I am called Man Ji-seong, working in the Internal Hall. The Alliance Leader wishes to meet you, Gongja. Would you come inside with me?"
He also politely greeted the gate guard squad leader and then guided the group to the carriage he had arrived in.
Seeing the carriage, Yeon Taejin furrowed her brows slightly and asked.
"We have to ride in a carriage?"
At that, Man Ji-seong bowed his head and answered.
"Since all of Taizhou is the Four Kings Alliance, it would be best to travel by carriage to reach where the Alliance Leader resides. Walking would take far too long, and would not using lightness arts draw unnecessary attention? Please be at ease, I will escort you comfortably."
The carriage was indeed sufficiently comfortable, just as he had said.
Made of ebony wood, the luxurious carriage, which seemed fit for great magnates from the outside alone, had an interior space so vast that even with the six of them, including the man named Man Ji-seong, there was room for several more to ride.
The group inside was able to travel comfortably, sightseeing through the side window.
And the streets of Taizhou, seen through that window, were as bustling as Suzhou, which they had passed through just days before, with countless people passing by energetically.
Jin So-eun admired the streets of Taizhou.
"Wow, it's a place as lively as Suzhou. The streets are clean and there are so many people!"
But Seonwoo Jin, who was looking at the same scene, soon became grim.
He murmured as if letting out a groan.
"Every last one of them is a martial artist."
At his words, Jin So-eun's eyes went wide as she asked in return.
"Excuse me?"
To her question, Seonwoo Jin scanned the street with a sharp gaze and spoke again.
"All those people filling the streets are martial artists. What's more, most of them are first-rate or above. It's even harder to find anyone below second-rate."
"Whaaat?!"
The party listened to his words and stared out at the street with astonished expressions.
And then they too could recognize the truth of Seonwoo Jin's statement.
Everyone who filled the street was a martial artist.
It could not be anything but astonishing.
Seonwoo Jin glanced at the man called Man Ji-seong, who sat across from them with a faint smile, and thought.
'If the entire city is like this, it might actually be a fiercer dragon's den and tiger's lair than the frontline crawling with demons. Truly, this is the Four Kings Alliance.'
And the man called Man Ji-seong sitting across from them seemed to be no pushover himself.
Rather than a martial artist, he seemed more like a seasoned merchant, kindly answering only the questions the party asked with an ever-present smile on his face.
Also, based on a rough assessment, his skill level appeared to be around the initial stage of peak-level.
'At around thirty years of age, martial prowess at the initial stage of peak-level is by no means weak, but here in the Four Kings Alliance, peak-level warriors are as common as gate guards. However...'
What Seonwoo Jin took note of was the fact that his surname was "Man."
It was because he shared the same surname as Man Seong-guk, the Commerce King who served as the general manager of the current Four Kings Alliance.
Man Seong-guk, the family head of the Jin-gang Man Clan, one of the Four Kings and Thirteen Clans, was a man called the greatest merchant in the world—a man who wielded far greater influence over the world as a merchant than as a martial artist.
He was also the man who ousted the Yangju Dong Clan, who had served as the Four Kings Alliance's general manager for generations, and secured the second-in-command position for the Jin-gang Man Clan.
'If this Man Ji-seong is from that Jin-gang Man Clan, then of course his status cannot be explained by mere peak-level entry martial prowess. And...'
The timing of the Jin-gang Man Clan pushing out the Yangju Dong Clan to take the second-in-command position in the Four Kings Alliance coincided almost exactly with the events some twenty years ago, when the current Four Kings, Goe Gal-hyeon, killed Seol Pung's father Seol Cheon-hu and ascended to the seat of the Four Kings.
So it seemed correct to assume that the Jin-gang Man Clan was also connected to that incident in some way.
'And if that's true, there's no way their gaze toward Brother Pung could be all that favorable. Their mutual connection would likely be weighted toward a grudge.'
And it was probably not only the Jin-gang Man Clan that shared such a relationship.
After all, those who were close aides to the current Four Kings, Goe Gal-hyeon, were likely the very people who had killed Seol Cheon-hu at the time and installed Goe Gal-hyeon as the current Four Kings.
Which meant that from now on, Seol Pung had to establish his position among those very people as a candidate for the next Four Kings.
It was a moment that made it understandable why the trail of Seol Pung—who had succeeded in becoming a candidate in his past life—had been cut short after that point.
A short while later, the carriage came to a halt before the main compound of the Four Kings Alliance.
And the party of Seonwoo Jin, disembarking from the carriage, could behold enormous buildings of a scale they had never once seen before.
"Whoaaaa."
"Heavens, is this the imperial palace?"
The largest estate Seonwoo Jin had ever seen was the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Even then, Seonwoo Jin recalled being immensely impressed as he compared its massive scale to the Seon-woo clan home.
Yet even that Sichuan Tang Clan, placed before this Four Kings Alliance, would likely appear to be nothing more than some mediocre third-rate sect.
Jeung Chil spoke with a daunted expression.
"Every single building is like a royal fortress. And why on earth did they not build any walls?"
He was right.
Red-tiled buildings, each possessing the scale of another giant sect's main hall, were laid out regularly in a long spread.
The spaces between those buildings alternated with massive training grounds or estate gardens lush enough to be forests, and through the center, a great waterway ran in a straight line.
What was more, people could observe all of this quite naturally.
It was because there were no walls surrounding the buildings.
One could tell where the domain of the Four Kings Alliance's main compound began only because there were warriors standing guard; otherwise, the place blended seamlessly into the surrounding structures.
Man Ji-seong, who was guiding them, smiled gently and explained.
"The city walls of Taizhou are the Four Kings Alliance's walls. As are all the martial artists who dwell within Taizhou. Thus the first Four Kings said there was no need to erect separate barriers here."
The walls of Taizhou and every resident of Taizhou being the Four Kings Alliance's wall...
They were words that stirred a curious, profound feeling.
Suddenly, the images of the countless martial artists they had seen on the streets earlier surfaced in the party's minds.
Indeed, they thought, this was a colossal power worthy of numbering among the three greatest in the world.
Listening to Man Ji-seong's words, the party followed the central waterway for a long while.
And at last, the majestic sight of the Four Kings Alliance headquarters was before their eyes.
It was a building beneath an enormous red-tiled roof with a plaque reading "Hall of the Four Kings" written in a bold and powerful script.
Jeung Chil, who had been staring at that enormous scale as if entranced for a moment, asked Man Ji-seong.
"Is that place larger than the imperial palace? I've never been to the imperial palace, so I cannot compare."
At that, Man Ji-seong smiled faintly and answered.
"I too have never been to the imperial palace, so I would not know. But is it not the one who dwells within that matters more than the size of the building?"
At that composed answer, the party could say nothing more.
For it was unlikely he had said such a thing because he might have rated the ineffectual emperor above the Four Kings.
A being more exalted than the emperor.
Man Ji-seong was speaking of the Four Kings in such terms.
The party was immediately guided into the Hall of the Four Kings.
And as they stood before the enormous doors of the great hall within, Seonwoo Jin could feel a certain sensation.
'This presence...'
Without realizing it, he swallowed hard.
He could feel it instinctively.
That there was a monster lurking behind those doors.
An overwhelming presence, distinctly palpable even from behind the doors, sent a prickling jolt through Seonwoo Jin's senses.
Man Ji-seong called out toward the door.
"Man Ji-seong, Third Dang-ju of the Internal Hall, has escorted Seol Pung-gongja and his party!"
Then, after a moment, the massive doors let out a heavy groan as they slowly opened.
Ku-gu-gu-gung!
The party of Seonwoo Jin walked inside through the opened doors.
And as they passed through, they were able to confirm that no one was standing near the doors.
Thus, it seemed the doors had not opened because someone had personally pushed them.
Yeon Taejin asked in a whisper, her eyes wide with shock.
"Those doors, then...?"
Seonwoo Jin answered, swallowing hard.
"It appears to be telekinesis."
"...What?!"
Yeon Taejin stared at Seonwoo Jin with an utterly incredulous gaze.
It was a look that asked if that could possibly be true.
But Seonwoo Jin, Jeung Chil, and Jin So-eun—who had recently witnessed the telekinesis of the South Sea Saintess, Si Seo-u firsthand—knew that it was entirely possible.
They gazed at the middle-aged man seated at the deepest part of the great hall, his chin resting in his hand as he sat upon a towering dragon throne with a bored expression.
A man who exuded an overwhelming presence merely by existing in the same space, as though one had come face to face with the demon king of hell.
That man was the Four Kings, Goe Gal-hyeon.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"You say you are a descendant of the Seol family?"
His eyes fixed on Seol Pung, emitting an intense light at odds with his bored expression.
At that, Seol Pung answered.
"Yes. I am called Seol Pung, son of Seol Cheon-hu and... Dong Ah-yeon."
The moment those words were spoken, a fierce light flared in the eyes of the Four Kings.