Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Should We Introduce Ourselves?
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Should we introduce ourselves?
It was said in the Art of War that if you know your enemy and know yourself, you will win every battle.
From another angle, it meant you had to make an effort to learn about your opponent in order to win, while hiding yourself as much as possible.
That was why Heuk Do-san's demand to reveal their identities wasn't a light matter.
But in this situation, it was also an undeniable fact that he had to reveal who he was to learn about the enemy.
The monk from the righteous faction spoke first.
"Amitabha. This humble monk is Hyeon-gak, one of the Shaolin Temple's eighteen great disciples."
Gasp!
Heuk Do-san's legs twitched.
'The great master Hyeon-gak?'
The martial world was home to thousands of large and small sects. Among them, the people of the jianghu revered the nine mountain sects and one secular gang as the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
The Shaolin Temple held the highest seat among them, the North Star of the martial world.
Only then did Heuk Do-san realize the meaning of the two scars on the monk's shaved head. They were the mark of the eighteen experts who guarded the Buddhist teachings of Shaolin—the 18 Arhats.
Even before mentioning the 18 Arhats, Hyeon-gak was already a fairly famous master.
It was said that Shaolin staff arts contained everything about the staff: they began with the Shaolin Staff Method and ended with it.
Hyeon-gak was the current inheritor of that Shaolin Staff Method. With just a staff in hand, he transformed into a peak expert.
During the Righteous-Demonic Great War, he had led a subjugation force of three hundred in northern Shandong Province, and rumor had it he alone had beaten over a hundred Demonic Cultists with his staff.
'The great master Hyeon-gak is that young?'
"I'm Dang Yak-ran, thirteenth-generation heir of the Tang Clan of Sichuan."
The woman from the righteous faction said.
Tang Clan of Sichuan.
A martial clan rooted in the Tang family estates of Sichuan Province, famed for controlling poisons and all manner of hidden weapons.
Having made their name with poison arts, their people were vicious to match. Once they took a grudge, they would pursue vengeance across generations if need be.
Even without that tenacious nature, the Tang clan's poison users were plenty dangerous.
You never knew when or how they'd administer a deadly toxin. No wonder the saying went: if you meet a poison user from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, don't get within a zhang.
Dang Yak-ran was the only daughter of Clan Head Poison King Dang Se-gi, his childless heiress with no brothers.
Her known sobriquet in the jianghu was Autumn Wasp.
It was said that when the beautiful woman with her slender waist drew her hidden weapons, she resembled an autumn wasp swollen with venom.
'Damn it.'
Heuk Do-san felt a twinge of panic.
He had guessed they possessed extraordinary backgrounds, but a Shaolin 18 Arhat monk and the daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan?
From their glances, even the Demonic Cultists seemed thrown off.
They seemed especially wary of Dang Yak-ran. What if she still had hidden weapons coated in deadly poison tucked in her bosom?
"So, a Shaolin monk and the fair lady of the Tang Clan of Sichuan."
Heuk Do-san said, striving for calm. But inside, he mentally reviewed every word he'd said to them over the past few days.
He hoped he hadn't said anything that might breed resentment. He didn't care about Hyeon-gak, but he absolutely could not afford a slip-up with that woman Dang Yak-ran.
The pale-faced man spoke.
"I'm Gong Cheon-ak."
His introduction was curt, as if his name alone sufficed without any flourishes. And he was right.
The group commonly called the Demonic Cult in this era was precisely the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The Heavenly Demon referred to the demon king of the Sixth Heaven and his minions, as described in Buddhist scriptures.
As the name implied, the cultists of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had no qualms calling themselves the Demonic Cult.
This was because their concept of 'demon' didn't mean the evil spirits ordinary folk imagined.
They viewed 'demon' as the unknown Daoist law from beyond the world, the heaven beyond heaven.
Thus, their martial arts often strayed from convention. To the righteous folk who practiced ancient Buddhist, Daoist orthodox arts, or other pure techniques, they appeared as sinister arts that destroyed human nature.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's cult leader, the Heavenly Demon himself, had twelve direct disciples under him.
Ranked by order of initiation, they were called First Star Lord, Second Star Lord, Third Star Lord, and so on. Gong Cheon-ak was the seventh.
Being seventh didn't mean seventh in martial prowess. The Seventh Star Lord was one of the top three among the twelve direct disciples.
But his explosive temper and habit of killing subordinates on whims kept anyone from gathering under him.
In short, he was the epitome of brute simplicity. At the appearance of this heavyweight Gong Cheon-ak, Heuk Do-san swallowed dryly.
'This is insane. How did I end up in the same boat as these monsters?'
The thought of living alongside such a beast already darkened his vision. If he'd known, he wouldn't have suggested introductions at all.
"I'm Yeom Jin-sang."
The bald thug introduced himself. But Heuk Do-san had never heard the name.
Hyeon-gak and Dang Yak-ran from the righteous side seemed the same. Even ally Gong Cheon-ak tilted his head.
He asked,
"What's your affiliation?"
"I was with the Blood Wolf Corps."
"Blood Wolf Corps? I know them well. But I've never heard of someone with such a provocative look like you."
"I'll work harder from now on."
Yeom Jin-sang scratched his bald head. No wonder he hadn't stood out despite that face. In a word, he was a low-rank demonic rabble who looked the part of a fiend but had boarded by accident.
"I'm Bing-seol."
Finally, the woman from the Demonic Cult side introduced herself. The name Ice and Snow suited her clear, translucent skin, he thought.
But neither Heuk Do-san nor the righteous folk had ever heard the name Bing-seol.
'She must have a hidden identity.'
Heuk Do-san swept his gaze over the group.
"Introductions are about done. As you all know, we're in the same boat for life or death now. There's that saying about Wu and Yue sharing a boat, and even if we fight, if there's a threat to our common safety, we band together like last night. No objections, right?"
Everyone nodded faintly. The storm last night had driven home the need to join hands, if only temporarily.
Heuk Do-san's words continued.
"With that in mind, let's tackle our shared problems one by one. Water's solved, next are food and sleep..."
Dang Yak-ran perked up and asked,
"You're going to catch fish for us too?"
Is this girl crazy?
Heuk Do-san looked at Dang Yak-ran with a sour expression.
"You catch it. Why should I?"
"We have nothing."
"I don't either."
"What about the fish we ate earlier?"
"They were trapped in the cabin. Swept in by last night's waves, I guess."
"So unless another typhoon hits, no more fish swimming into the cabin."
"Even a typhoon wouldn't bring that kind of luck easily."
"So you're saying we won't get food?"
"Old sailing ships always have barnacles growing on the hull. Get a long pole, scrape them off, and fish will swarm to eat the scraps. Then one person ties a rope around their waist, goes down, and spears them with a harpoon. Make the harpoon by tying my sword to the pole."
"Have you ever caught fish that way?"
"No."
"So it might not work."
"Could be."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"What do you want me to do?"
Dang Yak-ran looked lukewarm. Then she glanced at the leftover fish bones Heuk Do-san had eaten and swallowed hard.
"Fine. Give it a try at least."
"But there's one prerequisite. This requires one person tied and going down, and someone on deck holding the rope and moving with the fish's direction. In other words, impossible in this tense standoff."
Heuk Do-san tossed out the words and watched their faces.
He could see their minds whirring.
Monsters who'd made names in the Righteous-Demonic Great War, dangling from a rope to catch fish? Absurd. All to fill their stomachs.
'But what can you do? That's your reality.'
After a long pause, Hyeon-gak replied.
"Fine. How do we do it?"
"We'll split into morning and afternoon shifts. Righteous side mornings, Demonic side afternoons. And half the fish each catches goes to me."
"What do you do?"
Gong Cheon-ak asked.
"I taught you how to catch them."
"That's it?"
"I'll make the harpoons too."
"So you just sit and eat?"
"Who was the one silently bailing water from the cabin while you lot were at each other's throats? I was gonna bring it up, but from today, we rotate that too."
"I'm the Seventh Star Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!"
"I know. Just said it."
"This hand that commanded a hundred thousand cultists is supposed to scoop bilgewater?"
"Don't! Then you get no fish either."
"......!"
Gong Cheon-ak flinched in shock.
He wanted to smash everything, fish and all, but he had to eat to live, so he swallowed his rising fury.
"I'll bail water. And catch fish."
Hyeon-gak said.
"Of course."
"But on one condition. You Demonic side go first."
"That's a problem."
Gong Cheon-ak cut in.
"As originally said, we do afternoons. You do mornings."
"We'll do afternoons."
"Decision's made. No takebacks."
"Who decided when?"
"It came out that way from the start."
"That was just a proposal."
"Why nitpick something so trivial?"
"If it's trivial, why are you getting so worked up?"
"You damn bald bastard! You think I don't know you're planning to dump us in the sea while we work!"
Gong Cheon-ak shot to his feet in a rage. Hyeon-gak sprang up too, shouting,
"Finally showing your black heart. I remember every trap and scheme you fiends cooked up during the Righteous-Demonic Great War, you vile demonic scum!"
"Wait!"
Dang Yak-ran shrieked.
As Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak fumed, she hurriedly continued.
"Why not work together instead? One from our side, one from yours, team up. Do it mornings, then different pairs afternoons."
"Isn't that more dangerous?"
Bing-seol muttered like to herself.
She spoke, then dropped her head under the burdensome stares.
Dang Yak-ran boldly asked,
"You have something to say?"
Bing-seol glanced at Gong Cheon-ak, hesitated, then cautiously spoke.
"We think we're just floating still on the vast sea, but the ship is drifting at a decent speed. Probably the currents—about as fast as a person walking briskly. It'd feel faster in the water."
"What are you getting at?"
"If the person on deck lets go of the rope..."
If the deck person released the rope, the one below plunged into the sea. While they flailed in shock, the ship would speed away.
No matter how well one swam, they couldn't catch a drifting ship.
Unless they had mastered the lightness skill of skimming water like lily pads.
That's when the real trouble began. The deck person would team up with allies to kill or dump the rest.
Why not promise a truce while fishing?
After ten years as mortal enemies, trusting each other wasn't easy.
Better to dump all enemies overboard, seize the ship, then fish in peace.
No need to share fish, plus claim the enemies' eyes as bonus. And sleep soundly at night.
The perfect solution to all immediate problems at once.
Could they resist such temptation?
That's what Bing-seol was pointing out.
"So what do we do?"
"I just spoke of human nature."
"So Demonic Cultists only have base instincts, no good ones?"
"Doubt isn't base. It's a natural feeling from the instinct to protect yourself. You wouldn't want to tie the rope and go down either, right?"
"......!"
"See? It's bad to call others base when you won't do it yourself. Fix that habit."
"You old hag, what'd you say?"
Unable to endure, Dang Yak-ran shot up.
"You wench! Watch your mouth!"
Gong Cheon-ak pointed at Dang Yak-ran like stabbing, and yelled.
"You shut it, you demonic scum!"
Hyeon-gak hurled abuse at Gong Cheon-ak.
From there, it was pandemonium.
"You sons of bitches!"
"Quit yapping and come at me!"
"Old hag, get up if you're not just sitting!"
"Wench, shut your trap!"
"You shut it, you freak!"
"Everyone, shut the hell up!"
The final thunderous roar came from Heuk Do-san. At his lion's roar that made the air thrum, they flinched and halted their bickering.
"Forget the damn fish!"
Heuk Do-san spat and flopped down.
What harmony could he discuss with those lunatics? Better to nap coolly through the day, then scrape some barnacles off the side and roast them for dinner.
'Ah, damn fools.'
Then from the Demonic side, Yeom Jin-sang timidly raised a hand.
"......Um."
"What now?"
"How do we piss?"