The Trap
"I am Hwangbo Gyeong-chan, host of today's provisional meeting."
"I am Hyeok Gi-rin, Great Disciple of the Jeomchang Sect."
"I am Jong-hyeok of the Qingcheng Sect."
"I am Daoist Ja So-jun of the Zhongnan Sect."
"Amitabha. I am Yeo-yul of the Emei Sect."
Hyeok Gi-rin swept her gaze across the faces gathered in the hall and reached a swift conclusion.
So they've all simply sent scouts.
If anyone here carried real weight, it was Hwangbo Gyeong-chan. The position of young clan head of the Hwangbo Clan had yet to be decided, but the ranking among the candidates was already plain enough. Hwangbo Gyeong-chan was widely regarded as the one closest to that seat.
As for the rest, she had never heard their names. They looked like ordinary disciples dispatched on their sects' orders to take the measure of the situation in Sichuan.
"I take it you have all come to Sichuan because of the bandits who have appeared on Mount Jeongnam. Am I correct?"
At Hwangbo Gyeong-chan's question, the disciples of the Nine Great Sects nodded in answer.
"Amitabha. The harm the bandits' wicked deeds have inflicted upon the people is truly great."
On the whole, the disciples of each sect kept their words carefully measured. Hyeok Gi-rin understood their position. In the end they were ordinary disciples with no special voice inside their own sects—nothing like Hwangbo Gyeong-chan, who stood near the seat of young clan head, or herself, whose place as Great Disciple was already secure. They simply lacked the authority to speak for their sects in a semi-official gathering like this, and so could not express clear opinions.
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan nodded as though he had expected precisely that reaction. Watching him, Hyeok Gi-rin felt a faint prickle of suspicion. He was the one who had summoned them all; what, exactly, did he intend to say once they were gathered?
"I myself stopped by the Sichuan Merchants Association while investigating the damage, and there I received a certain tip… which I have been asked to convey."
"A tip? What sort of tip?"
"The Sichuan Merchants Association… ahem. It seems they have been deeply disappointed by the sects currently present in Sichuan."
From the very first words, the atmosphere turned ominous. Everyone present swallowed dryly.
"One could say the Merchants Association has suffered the greatest losses from the present crisis. There are the trading houses that were robbed of their goods outright, of course, but also those who have taken losses because logistics have been blocked, and those whose credit has been damaged simply because the roads are closed."
"The Association appealed to the many sects within Sichuan to suppress the bandits, yet it appears they gained nothing for their trouble. That is why, I am told, they have come to feel profound disappointment toward the sects of Sichuan."
"Mm. A regrettable matter."
"Amitabha."
"Amitabha."
Only Hyeok Gi-rin remained silent. Why were the sects of Sichuan unable to suppress the bandits? Because they could not unite. Every sect that had managed to form any real power in Sichuan was, one way or another, already connected by threads to the five great powers now seated in this room.
The reason the sects of Sichuan cannot join forces is because of us—the Nine Great Sects and the Hwangbo Clan…
As long as they were martial sects, it was only natural that they would struggle for influence or seek to expand their reach. Even if they followed the colors of the Buddhist order or the teachings of the Dao, their roots remained those of murim sects. Hyeok Gi-rin did not deny that truth.
Yet the reason the sects of Sichuan could not come together against an external threat like the present one was that the giant sects gathered here today had projected their influence into the province.
Projecting influence itself is not wrong.
But if they had shaped the ecology of Sichuan as it now stood, the least they could do was refuse to look away.
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan watched the silent Hyeok Gi-rin and gave a slight twitch of his brow.
"And so, it seems the Sichuan Merchants Association has reached a certain decision."
"A decision, you say?"
"They wish to invite one of the sects present here today into Sichuan."
Every eye in the room flew wide.
"Hah… hah. Truly astonishing news."
"Amitabha. Amitabha."
"The concrete terms will of course have to be settled through later negotiation, but I am told they will bear the full cost of land for establishing a branch, all construction expenses, provide assistance with logistics between the branch and the main sect, and even handle promotion for recruiting disciples."
"G-good heavens!"
"Such extraordinary terms!"
Benefits so vast that even the ordinary disciples of the Nine Great Sects could not help gasping. No matter how little they might normally concern themselves with worldly affairs, anyone who had polished only martial arts could still grasp the value of such an offer in an instant.
"Establishing a branch is a major undertaking for any sect. I gathered you all because it seemed necessary to send word to each of your main sects at once and sound out their intentions."
"Indeed. We must contact our main halls without delay!"
"Amitabha! Amitabha!"
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan watched the openly excited disciples, then fixed his gaze on Hyeok Gi-rin, who alone remained strangely calm.
"There is also one matter that must be confirmed before that, which is why I asked you all here."
"And what is that?"
"Through the trading houses that suffered losses, I heard a certain rumor. That the reason the stronghold alliance has settled on Mount Jeongnam is because a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect disposed of a chief of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds…"
"A matter not even worth answering."
Hyeok Gi-rin cut Hwangbo Gyeong-chan off. The entire gathering swallowed dryly under the sudden tension. With a single sentence she overwhelmed his rhetoric, as though she felt neither need to explain nor reason to make excuses—her sheer presence alone was enough.
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan met that frost-edged aura and still managed a nod.
"Of course. How could an incident in which a chief of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds fell to a Jeomchang disciple possibly justify the present crisis? Yet you must also understand the anxiety of the merchants."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Merchants Association finds it burdensome to be drawn into the personal grudges of Hongjuk Gunhyeop Yeo Il-ye, one of the Ten Rising Heroes. In any case, those bandits have risen with that very affair as their pretext, so the merchants cannot help but be uneasy. They have set a condition: if the Jeomchang Sect wishes to enter this competition, that point must be clearly resolved."
So in the end this was where the snare closed. Hyeok Gi-rin's brow furrowed.
"I, too, would like to make a request of the Jeomchang Sect. As a disciple of one of the Nine Great Sects that stand at the head of the orthodox path, you surely understand how grave this matter is. Four strongholds uniting their strength is an unprecedented event, and the safety of every person in Sichuan Province—no, of the entire Sichuan region—hangs upon it."
"State clearly what request you wish to make, Hwangbo Gyeong-chan."
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan felt cold sweat slide down the back of his neck, yet he did not retreat. How could such presence pour from that small, innocent-looking face? Her slight frame seemed to swell fivefold, pressing down upon him—but he had already steeled himself for this the moment he chose to host the meeting.
"Things such as a sect rashly provoking the strongholds by placing personal grudges first, or any action that might sow anxiety throughout the whole of Sichuan."
"Am I to take that as casting doubt upon the Jeomchang Sect's cooperation?"
"I merely wish to make certain. The safety of all Sichuan is at stake, after all."
Hyeok Gi-rin saw through the intent hidden inside Hwangbo Gyeong-chan's words.
Justification.
In the secular world, a sect that moved out of naked greed without proper justification was called unorthodox. Therefore, for any of the Nine Great Sects—classified as the foremost of the orthodox—to act, a just and unmistakable justification had to exist.
No matter that they were of the Nine Great, no matter that various threads already tied them to the sects of Sichuan, Mount Jeongnam where the bandits had settled remained, strictly speaking, the domain of Sichuan's own sects. The bandits had only just taken root; for the Nine Great to intervene in full force so soon would leave their justification far too thin.
Only the Jeomchang Sect possessed a justification that could let them step into this crisis.
The bandits had settled on Mount Jeongnam while openly invoking the name of Yeo Il-ye, a Jeomchang disciple; therefore the sect could claim the right to punish those who had dared sully a disciple's honor.
The justification was still a little short for Jeomchang to act, yet if they forced the issue the gains would be many. First, the renown of having suppressed the bandit alliance. Second, absolute support within Sichuan Province.
It could prove a better choice than competing against the other four sects to become the overlord of Sichuan. No—it was clearly the better choice. Swallowing the prize raw while enduring a little criticism was far more profitable than throwing full strength into an uncertain contest against the Nine Great of Sichuan and the Hwangbo Clan.
Hwangbo Gyeong-chan was checking that very possibility.
He had grasped that if Jeomchang charged ahead there would be no chance left for anyone else, and so he had even discarded his information advantage, borrowing the strength of the other sects to pressure Jeomchang into restraint.
That was the true reason he had created this gathering.
Hyeok Gi-rin turned the situation over in her mind, searching for a way to break it.
And then she understood.
The bandits' confident bearing, as though they trusted some powerful backer. The Merchants Association's astonishing proposal. And the position in which the Jeomchang Sect now found itself. Every thread converged upon a single conclusion.
Junior sister… Yeo Il-ye's actions… have been read.
She realized that every one of these events had been designed by Yeo Il-ye's enemy.
That enemy had already foreseen that Yeo Il-ye would apply for leave from the sect.
That was why they had moved this way. Even if the bandits settled on Mount Jeongnam under the pretext of avenging Mak Yeo-bu—whom Yeo Il-ye had captured—the Jeomchang Sect would be unable to step forward.
Because Yeo Il-ye, once she entered leave, was no longer a disciple of Jeomchang.
Yet now the Jeomchang Sect would have to endure the combined checks of the Hwangbo Clan, the Qingcheng Sect, the Zhongnan Sect, and the Emei Sect.
They would reason that once Yeo Il-ye finished her leave and returned, Jeomchang would gain the justification and might overturn the entire board.
If they discovered that her leave had already been processed, they might even seek her out and detain her.
To them, Yeo Il-ye was a bomb that could blow this enormous opportunity to pieces.
Hyeok Gi-rin squeezed her eyes shut.
Already junior sister Yeo Il-ye and the Jeomchang Sect itself were caught deep inside the trap her enemy had laid.