Monopolizing Fortunes (98)
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Monopolizing Fortunes (98)
No word came to mind to define his relationship with Do Tong-dal. Just because the man was friends with Namgung Cheol-hyeon did not mean he could be friends with him. Nor was he exactly an enemy, but he could not call their relationship friendly either.
Hwangbo Jeong-uk asked Do Tong-dal.
"Did you truly come all this way to strike at the Fuyang underworld?"
"That doesn't seem like the Young Clan Head's business."
"The Sect Leader of the Seonui Sect here is someone with deep ties to our Hwangbo Clan. The Hwangbo Clan cannot pretend not to see Sect Leader Jeong in distress."
"Are you saying you'll fight me on behalf of the Seonui Sect?"
"I do not wish for it, but if Do Tong-dal keeps behaving so outrageously, I will have no choice but to fight."
Do Tong-dal stared blankly at Hwangbo Jeong-uk, then asked.
"You don't really know the inside story of this matter, do you?"
Jeong Jong-un hastily stepped in.
"What inside story could there possibly be! The Hangzhou underworld came to strike the Fuyang underworld and caused countless casualties—that is all there is to it!"
The reason Jeong Jong-un stepped forward so confidently was that the relationship between Hwangbo Jeong-uk and Do Tong-dal did not look particularly good.
"The Young Clan Head has personally come to punish your insolence, so kneel at once!"
Do Tong-dal asked Hwangbo Jeong-uk.
"Should I kneel?"
"Even if I told you to kneel, would you?"
"You're not going to make me kneel, so why did the Young Clan Head come here?"
"Had I known Do Tong-dal was here, I would not have come."
"But here we are. What do you intend to do now?"
Hwangbo Jeong-uk disliked Do Tong-dal, a gangster who did not act like a gangster. What he especially disliked was the fact that Namgung Seol-rin liked Do Tong-dal.
He was not a moth that threw itself blindly into fire out of jealousy, but this time there was a plausible tinder in the Seonui Sect.
So there was ample reason to strike sparks against Do Tong-dal.
"No matter how much of a friend of Cheol-hyeon's Do Tong-dal may be, I cannot overlook this insolence. So unless you return to Hangzhou, you will have to face me."
There was no better way to know an opponent than a fight. Hwangbo Jeong-uk wanted to know exactly what kind of man this gangster named Do Tong-dal was.
Do Tong-dal rose from his seat and said.
"To punish the insolent, you'll side with those who are even more insolent. How utterly stupid."
Jeong Jong-un flared up in his place.
"Stu—stupid! How dare that bastard say such a thing to...!"
Hwangbo Jeong-uk raised a hand and silenced Jeong Jong-un.
"Let us see if your martial arts are as strong as your tongue."
Hwangbo Jeong-uk set his feet shoulder-width apart and let his shoulders drop. Since he had no intention of fighting to the death, he did not bother to draw a weapon.
For Do Tong-dal, this was a fight he could avoid. If Hwangbo Jeong-uk knew the full story of this matter, there was no way he would side with the Seonui Sect.
But a single bout was simpler than reciting all that at length. Of course, he was also confident he would win.
"Coordinator Do."
Won Dae-yeon suddenly called out.
"Yes?"
"Shall I fight?"
"Why?"
"Because that seems better."
"You'd use a cow-slaughtering knife to kill a chicken?"
"I can take him down without hurting him. Can you?"
"I'd have to try to find out."
"There's no need to make an enemy of the Hwangbo Clan for nothing, is there? It's not that the Hwangbo Clan scares me, but who avoids shit because they're afraid of it?"
Hwangbo Jeong-uk, who had been listening, could not hold back and stomped his foot.
Boom!
The wooden floor shattered and splinters flew in every direction.
"Comparing our Hwangbo Clan to shit! Who dares insult the Hwangbo Clan with such reckless talk!"
Do Tong-dal looked at the broken floor and muttered, "Am I going to have to pay for that too?"
Won Dae-yeon clicked his tongue.
"Calling that an insult. You're a clueless brat who's never suffered a single loss in his life."
Do Tong-dal whispered to Won Dae-yeon.
"He did compare them to shit, so it was an insult. Won Dae-yeon has lived his whole life dishing out so much worse that this doesn't even register as an insult to you."
"I thought since you make those kinds of comparisons so often, it was just how you normally talk."
Hwangbo Jeong-uk's anger surged to the top of his head. They were standing right in front of him, casually joking around.
Shing—.
Hwangbo Jeong-uk slowly drew his sword.
"Even if I open my killing intent today, I will not let this pass."
Won Dae-yeon said to Do Tong-dal.
"He's even drawn his sword. No matter how good you are, it'll be hard to finish this without blood."
"This is all because of you, Won Dae-yeon. Why did you compare the Hwangbo Clan to shit and provoke that clueless brat?"
Hwangbo Jeong-uk shouted in a burst of anger.
"You're just the same! Are you going to fight or not!"
Won Dae-yeon grabbed Do Tong-dal's arm, sat him down in a chair, and stepped forward himself. Do Tong-dal silently decided to follow Won Dae-yeon's wishes.
"I met you once in the past. You were about this big. I think you had a younger sister too."
"You've met me before?"
"I think it was thirteen or fourteen years ago. Could be longer. Your father bragged quite a bit about how bright you were and how good your frame was. Shall we see how much that bright, well-built child has grown?"
Hwangbo Jeong-uk's anger deflated in an instant.
"You knew my father?"
"We weren't deeply acquainted. We just met a few times in passing, and... Ah! We did have a brief sparring match."
The position of Clan Head of the Hwangbo Clan was by no means a light one in the martial world. Because of that, he almost never sparred with outsiders.
If the Hwangbo Clan Head sparred with someone, it meant that person was recognized in the martial world for both martial prowess and reputation.
"May I ask your esteemed name?"
"What would you do with it? Does that sword of yours have some wondrous skill for avoiding the names of the martial world?"
"It is to avoid committing the impiety of pointing my sword at a friend of my father's."
"You should have thought of that before you drew your sword. When a martial artist draws a blade, it is a resolution to stake his life from that moment on. So fight hard. I don't know if your sword has a skill for avoiding names, but my sword does not choose its opponents."
He said sword, but Hwangbo Jeong-uk could not see Won Dae-yeon's sword. No—Won Dae-yeon himself seemed to be the sword.
At first only a chill aura reached him, but soon the chill turned to a sting, and before long it pricked at Hwangbo Jeong-uk like needles burrowing into his skin.
Hwangbo Jeong-uk could barely withstand the sheer force of the presence radiating from him.
'A master like this... is an underworld gangster?'
The claims that he had seen him as a child and sparred with the Hwangbo Clan Head were absolutely not nonsense.
For Hwangbo Jeong-uk, it was truly a dilemma. Even without the saying that masters recognize masters, the man before him was a supreme master beyond his ability to handle.
On top of that, the man had ties to his father, so fighting him at all was a discourtesy. Picking a fight without grasping the full situation had been a mistake.
But then Won Dae-yeon's gaze, which had been fixed on him, shifted toward the entrance. Thanks to that, the net of needles binding Hwangbo Jeong-uk loosened slightly.
Hwangbo Jeong-uk also turned his head toward the entrance, following Won Dae-yeon's gaze. A person was standing there.
An old man with a black beard, draped in a red long robe, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring blankly at Won Dae-yeon.
"Rumors of the martial world really can't be trusted. I heard you were dead."
Won Dae-yeon answered the old man's words.
"Indeed. I heard that the Alliance Leader of the Northern Unorthodox Alliance, though he belongs to the unorthodox faction, acts fairly and keeps his promises no matter what. But I suppose rumors of the martial world really can't be trusted."
"We meet for the first time in ten years, and you start picking a fight right away."
"You made a fool of my family. Did you expect kindness?"
"Family?"
Hwangmi Dal's gaze turned to Do Tong-dal.
"Is that brat your family? Did you take him in as an adopted son or something?"
"We're in the same underworld, so we're family. He's also my lifesaver."
A look of surprise crossed Hwangmi Dal's face.
"The famed Life-Stealing Twin Swordsman Won Dae-yeon became an underworld gangster?"
"Why don't you give it a try yourself, Alliance Leader? My life has never been this comfortable."
"Looking at your face, it seems that way. Anyway..."
Hwangmi Dal said to Do Tong-dal.
"Aren't you going to greet me?"
Do Tong-dal grumbled.
"Good grief, what a greeting-obsessed old man. We agreed not to see each other again."
"Since when are the ties between people something that can be forced by human effort?"
"This meeting seems purely like human effort. There's no way the Alliance Leader just happened to come here and just happened to run into me."
"You're a terribly argumentative fellow."
"Only with unwelcome guests."
Hwangmi Dal stared blankly at Do Tong-dal for a moment, then took a seat across from him.
"It seems you and I need to start over from the beginning. Before that..."
Hwangmi Dal's gaze swept the surroundings.
"What's going on here right now?"
"An underworld turf fight."
"That young fellow over there looks like he belongs to the Hwangbo Clan."
"He's the Young Clan Head of the Hwangbo Clan."
Hwangbo Jeong-uk, who had been pointed at by Hwangmi Dal, flinched. The current situation did not feel real at all.
The opponent he had nearly fought was, astonishingly, Life-Stealing Twin Swordsman Won Dae-yeon. Having drawn his sword against an absolute master whom even the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven found troublesome, he was nothing more than a newborn pup that did not know to fear a tiger.
And on top of that, Hwangmi Dal, the Alliance Leader of the Northern Unorthodox Alliance!
'What the hell is that bastard Do Tong-dal? How does he have ties to the Alliance Leader of the Northern Unorthodox Alliance?'
No matter how much he was the Young Clan Head of the Hwangbo Clan, before the Alliance Leader of the Northern Unorthodox Alliance, he was nothing but a whelp.
So Hwangbo Jeong-uk, who had been pointed at by Hwangmi Dal, bowed his head.
"My name is Hwangbo Jeong-uk."
"I see. Seeing as you were about to have a bout with Life-Stealing Twin Swordsman, you must be quite confident in your martial arts. Even your father would not dare challenge him recklessly."
"N-no, that's not..."
Had he known his opponent was Life-Stealing Twin Swordsman Won Dae-yeon, he would rather have died on the spot than drawn his sword.
Hwangbo Jeong-uk quickly sheathed his sword and bowed deeply toward Won Dae-yeon.
"This ignorant junior failed to recognize you and committed a grave discourtesy. I beg your generous forgiveness."
Won Dae-yeon glared at Hwangmi Dal.
"Tch! The old man just had to show up now and spoil the fun."
"What fun is there in playing with a child? Having a drink with me is far more entertaining. Come sit over here."
Won Dae-yeon came and sat where Hwangmi Dal patted with his palm. Do Tong-dal asked Hwangbo Jeong-uk, who was standing awkwardly.
"How about we postpone our business until next time?"
"Hmph! Ah... I suppose that would be for the best."
As Do Tong-dal stared blankly at him, Hwangbo Jeong-uk stood there awkwardly for a moment, then left the dining hall with the words, "Then I'll be going."
He had walked out on his own two feet, but in truth he had been driven out. He did not have the standing to dare sit with Won Dae-yeon or Hwangmi Dal.
No matter how much he was the Young Clan Head of the Hwangbo Clan, compared to those two, both his reputation in the martial world and his position were at the very bottom.
But their attitude toward Do Tong-dal was different.
'What kind of bastard is that Do Tong-dal?'
Do Tong-dal, the object of Hwangbo Jeong-uk's jealousy, simply found Hwangmi Dal endlessly annoying.
"I thought we agreed not to see each other again?"
At Do Tong-dal's words, Hwangmi Dal put on a surprised expression.
"Did I say it that definitively?"
"The wording may have been a little different, but the meaning was about the same."
"My memory is a bit different. Didn't we go back and forth about the Makya Blade, and then you got angry and just left?"
"That means don't run into each other again."
"Are you sulking because I didn't give you the Makya Blade?"
"No. I didn't want the two of you to fall out over a mere sword."
This time Hwangmi Dal flared up.
"The Makya Blade is not a mere sword! It's a legendary blade, like an extension of my very self! The Makya Blade isn't called the greatest blade of all time for nothing!"
"I get it, so you keep that fine sword, Alliance Leader, and just leave me alone."
"Hmph! I'd like that too, but Su-ran says she'll run away from home if I don't give you the Makya Blade."
"A grown young woman running away from home is a good thing. There's a high chance she'll bring back a groom when she returns."
Hwangmi Dal looked at Do Tong-dal with narrowed, sleepy eyes.
"The problem is, it's obvious who that groom would be."
* * *