Raising the Banner of Jangpung
Cheongu returned to Deungmyeong Manor and headed straight for the warehouse.
Inside waited a young tiger who had watched his family die before his eyes and was left with nothing but rage.
"You bastard! Do you think you'll get away with this?!"
Hwangbo Taesan bared his teeth in threat. Cheongu only looked bored.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Worry about yourself."
"Shut your mouth! If you don't free me this instant, I'll tear you limb from limb!"
Cheongu looked down at Hwangbo Taesan, who could not even stand for the chains that bound him.
"You're laboring under a serious misunderstanding. We need you, yes—but we don't necessarily need you alive."
"What?"
"I'm saying it wouldn't matter if I killed you. All we need is a little time."
"You dare look down on the great Hwangbo Clan? Do you think you'll walk away from this unharmed? If you believe this is the full measure of our strength, you're sorely mistaken."
"How pathetic."
"What did you say?"
"The Hwangbo Clan has already cast you aside, yet you still cling to them. It's almost pitiful."
"Silence! How dare you claim the clan abandoned me!"
"It's been ten days since we took you. Not a single word from the clan. You know what that means, don't you?"
Hwangbo Taesan's lips trembled faintly.
"The clan is preparing something."
"Are you stupid, or just pretending to be?"
Hwangbo Taesan's eyes blazed at the insult. Cheongu regarded him with open disdain.
"The clan head is dead. The designated heir is a hostage. In that situation they have to wage open war against our manor. So what's the very first thing they do?"
Hwangbo Taesan stayed silent. Cheongu did not.
"They choose a new decision-maker. And conveniently, there's already someone ready to sit in that seat."
Cheongu watched fresh fury twist across Hwangbo Taesan's face.
"Hwangbo Taejin. Second son of the Hwangbo Clan. The little brother you fought so viciously for the succession."
"He is of Hwangbo blood. He will punish you without fail."
"I've been ready for that from the start, so it doesn't bother me. But what about you? Seems like he's planning to punish you right along with us."
"Shut up!"
"You already know. Your brother isn't coming to rescue you. Why would he free you only to hand over the clan head's seat? For him to become head of the Hwangbo Clan, you have to die right here."
Cheongu had received one particular piece of intelligence through Haomun.
"I hear the succession struggle was ferocious. Hwangbo Taejin lost to you, flew into a rage, and went into closed-door training. That training is over now, thanks to all this."
Cheongu watched the captive's eyebrows quiver.
"That's exactly your role. Your brother is carefully planning how best to make certain you die. And that alone gives us all the time we need."
"You insolent—"
"If you want to die cursing, go ahead. Personally, I'd be trying to seize one last chance."
"You snake-tongued bastard! Do you think I'll fall for your words?"
"Then don't."
Cheongu turned away without a shred of lingering attachment.
"Get out of my sight! Do you think I would ever trust the man who murdered my father and my household?"
Cheongu knew that perfectly well, so he felt no need to rush.
He has to spit all that out before he can look at the next emotion.
Today he had come only to take the abuse.
Face reality. You need that too, desperately.
Cheongu left the warehouse, already planning for tomorrow.
Ja Gangcheon looked up at the towering mountain.
"So this is Mount Tai."
Mount Tai of Shandong Province.
Famous as the foremost of the Central Plains' Five Great Mountains, it was celebrated for its beauty. The newly enthroned emperor himself performed sacrificial rites here; the mountain held deep religious significance as well.
Arriving at Shandong's greatest holy site, Ja Gangcheon joined the throngs of sightseers and wandered the mountain.
"Should've brought Cheongu. It's boring alone."
He muttered to himself, then glanced sideways.
"Ah. Sorry. Not alone after all."
"It is fine."
Mi-ho spoke only when necessary, no matter whose company she kept. That meant she was walking beside Ja Gangcheon right now for a clear purpose.
"Hmm. I didn't know a person could make things this uncomfortable."
"I will put more distance between us."
When Mi-ho actually began to move away, Ja Gangcheon shook his head.
"Turns out there are people who know even less about the world than I do."
"This is simply how I live."
"I'll grant you that. But have you ever considered how that personality and those habits affect the people working with you?"
"I see no reason to manage the lord's moods as well."
The sharp reply drew a dry observation from Ja Gangcheon.
"I feel sorry for Yeonhui."
"That is too far."
"I make an effort to learn from Cheongu. You don't seem interested in learning anything from Yeonhui."
Mi-ho found herself without an answer.
"Yeonhui works at every relationship she has. Why don't you learn that from her? You say you respect her, but your actions say otherwise."
Watching her silence, Ja Gangcheon decided to stop offering advice.
"Let's just work. I have no desire to put effort into someone who won't put in any of her own."
Ja Gangcheon descended Mount Tai.
"This is Tai'an, right?"
"Yes."
The reason Mi-ho accompanied him was precisely to guide him through Tai'an, a place he had never visited.
Mount Tai was as broad as it was tall, touching several towns. To the north it bordered Jinan, capital of Shandong Province; to the south lay Tai'an.
"The Beautiful Lodge is this way. We are to gather in the rear courtyard's private pavilion."
"The Beautiful Lodge is Haomun property, isn't it?"
Even though the fact was obvious, Mi-ho did not answer.
Ja Gangcheon chose not to press and simply followed her lead.
The Beautiful Lodge proved far larger than expected. Lunch hour had long passed, yet the place still thronged with customers, and many attendants moved about busily.
So this is what Haomun really looks like.
In Gyounam he had only ever seen their black market; he had never witnessed Haomun's true face.
They passed without challenge through a door an attendant opened for them, entered the rear courtyard, and stepped into a private annex built for high-ranking guests.
The moment the door opened, Ak Pungjin recognized Ja Gangcheon first and shot to his feet.
"I pay my respects to my benefactor."
At his lead, everyone else offered their greetings.
There were six of them in all—men who had long maintained ties with Ak Pungjin.
"I am Lee Han-jin. I once ran Jungshan Pharmacy. The Hwangbo Clan seized it, and now I operate a small herb shop in the countryside."
Only twenty years earlier, Jungshan Pharmacy had ranked among the five largest medicinal houses in all of Shandong.
"I am Gil Jeong-man. I used to run Jinan Cloth Shop. Now I manage a small salt flat with a few of my old caravan hands."
"I am Baek Seo-u, former master of the Iseong Merchant Guild. The Hwangbo Clan took everything. All I have left is a little sawmill that makes wooden furniture."
"Seok O-chil of Eight-Star Ironworks. There was a time people called me a master metallurgist of Shandong. These days I forge farm tools."
Every man carried a story. Every business they had lost now belonged to the Hwangbo Clan.
"The men you see here are the ones who have held on for the sake of revenge. Far more simply gave up and left."
Haomun was already tracking down those who had gone. Anyone still willing would be brought into the fight.
"I am Jin Hyeon-pil. I once ran the Jin-geuk Martial Hall."
"Don't tell me the Hwangbo Clan went after martial halls too?"
"My grandfather was a descendant of the Jin-geuk Il-in Sect. He abandoned the single-lineage tradition and founded a martial hall. By my generation we were expanding rapidly. The Hwangbo Clan disliked that. They accused us of stealing their martial arts and forced the hall to close."
In short, they had cut down a rising threat before it could grow.
"There must be people who know the techniques of the Jin-geuk Il-in Sect."
"The problem is that the Hwangbo Clan's foundational footwork, the Great Stability Step, and the Jin-geuk Il-in Sect's Half-Mountain Step share certain similarities. In my judgment the resemblance is understandable—basic enough. The Hwangbo Clan made an issue of it all the same."
Having mastered many arts himself, Ja Gangcheon knew that foundational techniques often resembled one another.
"Inside Shandong Province they can do whatever they please. Truth never mattered to begin with."
Ja Gangcheon nodded in agreement.
"Do all of you here wish to join the fight against the Hwangbo Clan?"
"Yes! We do!"
Beginning with Jin Hyeon-pil of the former Jin-geuk Martial Hall, every face set into grim resolve.
"We have waited for this day alone."
"I endured those wretched years for today."
"Good. But I want to make certain you understand the reality. Let me confirm it once more."
Ja Gangcheon glanced at Mi-ho beside him.
"Tell them about the Hwangbo Clan's military strength."
"I will begin with the scale of the clan itself. Direct bloodline members number roughly one hundred fifty. Collateral kin approach one thousand. Men and women alike have trained in martial arts to a certain standard. The warriors who follow them number five thousand. That is five thousand who will take up blades and fight. Administrative staff who keep the clan running are estimated at around ten thousand."
The figures were enough to choke the breath in a man's throat.
This was what it meant to dominate an entire region.
"Even the local authorities classify the Hwangbo Clan as a dangerous level of power."
When the explanation ended, Ja Gangcheon looked at the darkened faces before him.
"Still want to go through with it? If anyone wants to walk away right now, I won't blame them."
He offered the chance. No one took it.
"We already knew. Hearing the numbers spoken aloud changes nothing."
These were men who understood the Hwangbo Clan better than anyone.
"All right. Then I'll tell you what I need from you. Before long the Hwangbo Clan will send elite warriors to Deungmyeong Manor. My people and I will handle them there. What I need from you is to strike the clan's most vulnerable points."
"Will that truly help?"
"It will be more than enough. Trust me."
In the truly decisive battles they could never have been of use. Ak Pungjin and Jin Hyeon-pil possessed real skill, but if even those two were pulled away, the others would be far too exposed.
"Now let's go steal the Hwangbo Clan's time."
They finished speaking and left the private room.
Outside the lodge they moved toward the southern edge of Tai'an.
They arrived at a broad thoroughfare thronged with carriages. Here stood the main headquarters of the most renowned escort agency in Shandong Province.
The Shandong Escort Agency.
"Those filthy bastards…"
The moment Ak Pungjin saw the agency's signboard and its towering banners, his whole body began to shake.
"This is where Jangpung Express once stood. They planted their flag on the corpses of my people."
Nothing revealed the Hwangbo Clan's ruthlessness more clearly than this place.
Raising the Shandong Escort Agency on the very ground where Jangpung Express had stood was a deliberate warning to everyone else.
"All right. From here on, we take it back one piece at a time."
Ja Gangcheon deliberately yielded the lead.
Ak Pungjin drew his spear and strode toward the main gate of the Shandong Escort Agency without hesitation.
The men of an escort agency were never going to watch an armed stranger approach in silence.
"Halt!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
At the gatekeepers' shouts, more escorts rushed out from within and barred Ak Pungjin's path. Not one of them could stop him.
"Ak Pungjin, master of Jangpung Express, has come to reclaim what is mine!"
The name alone sent hands flying to weapons.
Ak Pungjin's spear was faster.
Swoosh—!
The spearpoint that split the air opened the chests of three men at once.
"Gah!"
"Aaagh!"
"We're under attack!"
Screams erupted. Chaos swept the compound.
In that same moment, one figure moved faster than anyone else.
Two strides, then a leap. The silhouette kicked off the wall and in an instant snatched the banner hanging above the central hall of the escort agency.
He tore it to shreds, cast the rags to the ground, and raised a different banner in its place—
the banner of Jangpung Express, marked with a single spear.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Someone bellowed at the sight of the changed flag.
It was Hwangbo Cheol, master of the Shandong Escort Agency.
White beard wrapping chin and nose and falling all the way to his belly, the old man roared with a voice that shook the air.
"Do you know where you are, you thugs?! Get down here at once!"
"Fine."
As ordered, Ja Gangcheon launched himself from the rooftop and landed in the courtyard of the escort agency.
Of course he did not simply land gently.
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath the inner force he poured into the descent.