Monopolizing Fortunes (188)
Monopolizing Fortunes (188)
"That won't happen. There's no way I'd step into something that dangerous."
"Right? It's really not dangerous?"
"I told you it isn't."
Only then did Yang Su-pan relax and pour himself a drink with an easy mind. The fight unfolded fiercely.
Every time the two weapons clashed, Jang Un-sik seemed to be pushed back, but that was only because Oh Chung-wang's weapon was a stupidly large blade.
Jang Un-sik deflected Oh Chung-wang's force and aimed for openings with change and speed. Namgung Seol-rin burst out in admiration while watching the two fight.
"He's more impressive than I'd heard."
Won Dae-yeon spoke.
"They say the Chivalrous Sword spent a long time in closed training, and he's certainly improved. Oh Chung-wang doesn't seem to have been idle in the Revenge Society either."
Even though they were a full fifteen jang away, broken stones and branches flew at them from the shock the two were producing.
As the fight passed two ke, an advantage slowly began to show. Two ke of fighting with everything they had was as exhausting as running the Lightness Art at full power all day.
Oh Chung-wang, who wielded a heavy weapon backed by raw strength, pressed the attack, and the Chivalrous Sword, who had been absorbing it all with his whole body, began to be pushed back.
Oh Chung-wang had more minor wounds, but in the end what mattered was one decisive blow.
Oh Chung-wang's blade drove into the Chivalrous Sword's chest two ke later. There were murmurs praising the Chivalrous Sword for fighting Oh Chung-wang for half a shichen, but such words were useless once he became a corpse.
The people now left were Won Jung-bang and Won Jin-u, Byeon Jung-man and Wang Jo-hyeong. The two people most responsible for the Won Merchant Company's destruction, and the two people with the greatest grudges, were the ones remaining.
At that point Do Tong-dal stepped forward.
"How about putting off the four of you fighting for a little while?"
Everyone looked at Do Tong-dal with puzzled expressions.
"Since it's the most important fight, wouldn't it be best to have it last?"
Do Tong-dal was the one overseeing today's fights, and since he hadn't favored either side so far, no one voiced any complaint.
"The four of you can rest a bit more, and the survivors can start fighting again from the beginning."
As it happened, exactly ten people remained on each side, so the numbers even matched.
Won Dae-yeon muttered.
"I don't see why Do Hall Master is going out of his way to do that. Whoever wins, it doesn't matter to us, does it?"
"Right."
Namgung Seol-rin didn't like this fight dragging on. So she was curious why Do Tong-dal, who wanted to see the end as quickly as possible, was doing this.
In any case, Do Tong-dal's suggestion was accepted, and the fighting began again from the bottom.
In truth, up to the Blood Spirit Three Swords, the fights were of little significance. That was because the gap in martial skill between them and those above was considerable.
Fortunately, the Blood Spirit Three Swords all survived, though they did receive minor wounds.
Now the fights of the real masters remained. From the Mount Hua and Jongnam side came the Mount Hua Mad Sword, and from the Revenge Society came Oh Chung-wang.
It was a showdown between a mad sword and a great blade. As the two were walking out into the arena, Do Tong-dal called the Blood Spirit Three Swords over.
"Your fight is over now."
"What? But..."
"Just know that it is."
"We can keep fighting."
At the Ice Sword's protest, Do Tong-dal pointed at the remaining Mount Hua Sect masters.
"Name me even one person among them you could beat."
The Blood Spirit Three Swords had no choice but to shut their mouths. Even if they took pride in their martial arts, those five were a wall far too high for them to climb.
"Everyone fighting here is nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard to me, but you three are not."
"Hall Master..."
"Stop making that face like a touched puppy and get far away from here."
The Fire Sword asked.
"But will the Society Leader permit it?"
"There's no need for the Society Leader's permission."
"That's right. You're the Hall Master."
After the Blood Spirit Three Swords bowed politely and withdrew, Do Tong-dal turned his gaze back to the fight.
Only after seeing that did Won Dae-yeon's group understand why Do Tong-dal had deliberately chosen such a complicated method.
"It was to protect the Blood Spirit Three Swords."
"Well, there's no way Tong-dal would let his own people go off and die."
"Anyway, that really is a spectacular fight."
The fight between the two, leaping this way and that while clashing blade and sword, was fierce. Neither of them had made it onto the list of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven, but if you were to name the top thirty, they were masters who could easily claim a place.
Even if it was hard to tell who was superior, there was no fight that did not end. In the end, victory went to the Mount Hua Mad Sword, who cleanly cut his opponent's throat.
The saying that glory was nothing but wounds was made for the Mount Hua Mad Sword. Blood gushed out between the fingers of the hand he was clutching to his side.
He had pressed his pressure points to stop the bleeding, but it only slightly reduced the flow. While the Mount Hua Mad Sword roughly wrapped a bandage around himself, the next fight continued.
In a way, it was a cruel fight. Even as someone lay dying, someone else had to be pushed forward to fight.
The next fight, between the Jongnam Twin Fiends and the Mind-Reading Asura Palm Eum Ju-cheon and the Silent Grandmaster Jeok Jong-yeon, unexpectedly ended in victory for the two from the Revenge Society.
It had been a narrow margin, and the victors were not unharmed either. Excluding the Blood Spirit Three Swords, the only ones left who could properly fight were the Won Jung-bang father and son, Byeon Jung-man, and Wang Jo-hyeong.
Now it truly was the final fight. Won Jin-u was about to step forward when Won Jung-bang moved first.
"I will fight first."
"Father."
"What does it matter who goes first?"
Indeed, it didn't. Won Jin-u stepped back as Won Jung-bang wished. On the other side, Wang Jo-hyeong, the Sect Leader of the Jongnam Sect, drew his sword.
Unlike Byeon Jung-man, who was publicly acknowledged as one of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven, Wang Jo-hyeong had not made that list. But depending on who you asked, some said Wang Jo-hyeong could be included among them.
So it was not an easy fight for Won Jung-bang either. Won Jung-bang started to say something to Won Jin-u, then soon moved his steps toward the center of the clearing.
Seeing that expression laden with all kinds of emotion, Do Tong-dal sighed.
"In the end, the Society Leader has made his decision."
Namgung Seol-rin asked.
"What decision?"
"Watch and you'll see."
"Tch! Would it kill you to tell me?"
Won Jung-bang asked Wang Jo-hyeong, who stood five jang away.
"Do you have anything to say about what happened that day eighteen years ago?"
Wang Jo-hyeong wore a complicated expression before opening his mouth.
"I made my decision, and even if the same situation arose now, I would make the same choice."
Won Jung-bang wore a bitter smile.
"Good. You coming out like that makes the moment I kill you all the more satisfying."
"You're dreaming an impossible dream. You seem to have learned some martial arts somewhere, but the Sect Leader of the Jongnam Sect is not someone you can look down on."
"I'll show you how empty that false reputation is."
That was the end of the talk. If it had been Do Tong-dal, he would have hurled a bucketful of curses, but these were dignified people.
Do Tong-dal moved to Yang Su-pan's side. Yang Su-pan, knowing the importance of this fight, had set down his cup and was standing.
"Did you come all the way here because you wanted to see me?"
"I don't want to be delivering the news of Censor Yang's death to the imperial palace."
"What do you mean by that?"
The reason became clear as soon as the fight between Won Jung-bang and Wang Jo-hyeong began. The moment the two swords clashed, the surface of the ground burst apart as if explosives had gone off.
Everyone had trained in martial arts, so they could protect themselves from the flying stones, but if Do Tong-dal hadn't blocked them, Yang Su-pan might have ended up with a hole in his head.
"Damn it all! I'm going to die just watching a fight!"
Yang Su-pan quickly hid behind Do Tong-dal. Still, he wanted to watch the fight, so he poked his head out over Do Tong-dal's shoulder.
Do Tong-dal already knew Wang Jung-bang's martial arts from experience. So he did not doubt Won Jung-bang's victory.
But Wang Jo-hyeong's martial arts showed Do Tong-dal yet another realm. Many people talked about the depth of the Nine Great Sects, and it was not just empty talk.
The two figures moving through the flying dust were visible only as blurred afterimages. To Yang Su-pan's eyes, it would look like nothing more than a whirlwind of rising dirt.
If you wanted to use the phrase "an earth-shaking fight," you could point to the duel between those two.
"Who's winning?"
"I can't tell who has the upper hand yet."
"Then who do you want to win?"
"The Society Leader has to win."
"Why?"
"Because if he doesn't, I might have to fight."
"What does that... eek!"
When Do Tong-dal blocked a stone flying at his face, the startled Yang Su-pan shrank back like a turtle pulling in its neck.
The fierce fight between the man seeking revenge and the man trying to bury his evil deeds did not end easily. Even so, there was no one who would grow bored watching that fight.
Since everyone had trained in martial arts, they would all be imagining themselves as one of those two, fighting that duel.
Do Tong-dal inwardly shook his head. If he had stood in the place of either Won Jung-bang or Wang Jo-hyeong, he would not have lasted a single ke.
It was a fight that made real the saying that the path of martial arts has no end. Do Tong-dal tried to tell himself, "Would I ever run into masters like that, aside from today?" but an inexplicable sense of defeat was unavoidable.
And then, the fight that had continued in a deadlock as if it would never end suddenly tilted sharply in Won Jung-bang's favor.
It was a difference in Internal Energy. Wang Jo-hyeong had supposedly consumed the Man-nyeon Hasuo and the Three-Leaf Nine-Branch Herb, but he still could not match Won Jung-bang's profound Internal Energy.
So even though he squeezed out every last drop of Internal Energy, he ultimately could not avoid rapid exhaustion.
Like a leaning stone pagoda that collapses helplessly once it reaches a certain angle, so it was with Wang Jo-hyeong.
Won Jung-bang's sword cut wounds all over Wang Jo-hyeong's body. Won Jung-bang's sword pierced into the mouth of the flailing Wang Jo-hyeong.
"Grrrk—!"
A groan urging death crawled up Wang Jo-hyeong's throat. When the sword was pulled out, Wang Jo-hyeong's corpse collapsed limply.
Won Jung-bang, who had been staring at Wang Jo-hyeong growing cold in the pool of blood, let out a deep breath only after a long while.
His breath was ragged as if his chest would burst, but Won Jung-bang struggled to hide his exhaustion. Won Jung-bang wiped the blood from his sword on Wang Jo-hyeong's clothes, but there was no one to protest.
Won Jung-bang's gaze turned to the last remaining opponent, Byeon Jung-man. Unexpectedly, Byeon Jung-man's demeanor was calm. Won Jung-bang was the same, but Byeon Jung-man also had a talent for hiding his inner thoughts.
Won Jung-bang was about to turn away when Byeon Jung-man spoke.
"Stay there and watch your son die."
"I wonder. Will something like that happen?"
Won Jung-bang walked over to Won Jin-u, whose expression was rigid. Won Jin-u's hands were soaked with sweat ahead of the final duel. Won Jung-bang spoke to Won Jin-u, who was secretly wiping the sweat from his palms on his pants.
"Steel your heart."
Won Jin-u took that to mean he should fight with a firm heart.
"Understood."
It was just as Won Jung-bang and Won Jin-u were about to pass each other. Suddenly, Won Jung-bang pressed Won Jin-u's pressure points.
"Ah... Father..."
"How could a father watch his child die before his eyes?"
Won Jung-bang caught the collapsing Won Jin-u and laid him down at the edge of the clearing. His gaze turned to Do Tong-dal.
"Is this acceptable?"
"It goes against the rules."
"Are you telling me to watch my child die before my eyes?"
Do Tong-dal let out a long sigh.
"If you thought it would come to this, you shouldn't have brought the Young Society Leader in the first place."
Won Jung-bang smiled bitterly.
"How am I supposed to break this boy's stubbornness?"
Won Jin-u, too, could not have sent his father alone to a place that could become his grave.
"Since the Society Leader has broken his promise, I will make one demand from this side as well."
"What is it?"
"The thirty-year sealing of the two sects. Please make that as if it never happened."
"Why?"
"Because that much is needed for the other side to accept it."
Won Jung-bang's deliberation was not long.
"Fine."
The sealing of Mount Hua and Jongnam could not be more important than his son's life. Do Tong-dal went over to Byeon Jung-man and spoke with him about something.
The conversation was not very long. Do Tong-dal's threats were always effective, and if it meant exchanging Won Jin-u's life for a thirty-year sealing, it was by no means a bad deal.
After all, Byeon Jung-man would be confident that he could eliminate Won Jin-u at any time.
And so the deal was struck.
"Do Hall Master, I entrust my son to you. Help him lead the Revenge Society well."
"I'll think about it."
Won Jung-bang was satisfied with that answer. The two men stood in the center of the clearing, five jang apart.
A single breath of wind carried the thick smell of blood around them beyond the forest.
"So we end up facing each other like this after all."
Byeon Jung-man said nothing to Won Jung-bang's monologue. Won Jung-bang was nothing more than a remnant of the past.
* * *