Chapter 214
Chapter 214: Eight Trigram Hall (3)
Fourth.
After that single word settled over the Eight Trigram Hall.
No one opened their mouth.
Myo Jin-heo and Eom Bi-ryeong.
Two Trigram Leaders, no less, were currently at Hero Gate?
Why were Formation Tower's Trigram Leaders staying at some never-before-heard newly founded sect?
Considering that Dong Mu-toe had been there as well, that made three of them.
Everyone sat with gravely furrowed expressions, as if some part of their brain had broken down.
Swish
Dong Mu-toe stretched both arms back behind him, sank deep into his chair, and observed the room.
Silence.
This kind of stillness was something he had anticipated, but its density far exceeded his expectations. So when everyone's thinking stops at once, the air can grow this heavy.
And then.
Ssss—
A faint sound came from the Grand Zenith Position's seat, one step higher than the rest.
A teacup was being lifted.
Jin Mu-geuk.
The legendary figure said to be capable of sealing the entire Cloud Ridge mountain range with a single formation—he took a sip of still-warm tea.
He did not set it back down.
He held the cup away from his lips, keeping it in his hand. Whether that meant things weren't yet over, or whether he was savoring what he had just heard.
That was the Grand Zenith Position's only reaction.
Below him, a silence like the eve of a storm continued.
As expected, the first to be unable to endure that silence was ultimately Baek Jang-gyeong.
Boom—!
The table shook.
Baek Jang-gyeong's massive palm had come down on the circular table of the Eight Trigram Hall.
One teacup toppled and rolled, but Baek Jang-gyeong paid it no mind.
"Why are two of our Formation Tower's Trigram Leaders at a place like that!"
His thunderous voice rang through the Eight Trigram Hall.
The two empty seats—the Mountain Formation Division's and Thunder Formation Division's Trigram Leader chairs—stood out with particular brightness to the eye. It wasn't so much the fact of their being empty that was confusing everyone, but the reason behind that emptiness.
"Did you not say they had urgent business?"
The Wind Formation Division Trigram Leader immediately followed up.
"Trigram Leaders Eom and Myo were absent due to urgent matters—what on earth does that have to do with Hero Gate?"
All eyes converged on Dong Mu-toe.
Dong Mu-toe, arms still folded back, tilted his head slightly.
One corner of his mouth curved up in a sly smile.
"Well."
"What do you mean, well!"
"It's certain that they came to Gangdo looking for me, but anything beyond that—I'd have to have seen it myself to know, wouldn't I?"
His fingers walked across the table.
Tap-a-tap-a-tap.
"Well, I can guess, mind you. They came, had a bout, and might be……held up somewhere? Perhaps."
He laughed.
Heh.
As if it were someone else's business entirely.
The veins on Baek Jang-gyeong's temple bulged.
"You dare joke right now—"
"I'm not joking. The fact that they are at Hero Gate is true, and the fact that they came looking for me is also true. And it's not as if it wasn't urgent either, is it? Because 'I,' of all people, was the one who got subdued."
Dong Mu-toe gave one light shrug of his shoulders.
There were no gaps. All of it was the truth, and that was the entirety of it.
But the single line 'they came, had a bout, and might be held up somewhere' had already taken root in everyone's mind.
Dong Mu-toe was defeated?
Two Trigram Leaders are being held at a newly founded sect?
The newly founded sect has the strength to hold two Trigram Leaders?
Even the imagining of it alone was enough to set everyone's calculations in motion.
Click.
Ga Myo-ryeon's abacus sounded.
As if having recovered a composure that had briefly slipped, she began moving the beads one by one with a now completely cold hand.
"Trigram Leader Dong."
"Yes."
"If two Trigram Leaders are currently residing at Hero Gate."
Click.
"No matter how you interpret it, Hero Gate's presence is considerably larger than anyone here has been thinking, is that right?"
At those words, Baek Jang-gyeong's eyes flew wide, but Ga Myo-ryeon paid him no heed.
The abacus sounded once more.
"And certainly, it is a fact that contact with the two Trigram Leaders has been severed from Formation Tower's end……"
Click-click.
"You're saying their intelligence surpasses Formation Tower's, and at minimum, they possess the combat strength to defeat Trigram Leader Dong—is that correct?"
Dong Mu-toe shook his head.
"To be precise, the Guild Master there alone defeated me. As for intelligence, I'm honestly not sure. Whether that person……has exceptional intelligence capabilities, or whether there's a connection to the Great Beggar Sect."
"Haa—. You're saying there might be a connection to the Great Beggar Sect as well?"
"Yes, well."
"Then there's no way to see them as simply a newly founded sect, is there?"
Ga Myo-ryeon's half-lidded eyes turned toward Dong Mu-toe.
Half-open eyes.
The signal of a sharp attack.
"Trigram Leader Dong—but you share the same sect as Trigram Leader Eom, and yet you show not the slightest hint of worry?"
"Whether he subdued those two or received them as honored guests, I'm honestly not sure."
Hff—.
"Normally, a person who wants to negotiate doesn't go around cutting the other party's neck. And at that—"
Dong Mu-toe gave a light twitch of his nose, then parted his lips.
"On the day of their Founding Ceremony, at that."
***
Gangdo.
Hero Gate's Training Grounds.
"—Now, we will have Hero Gate's Guild Master's address."
Jeon Ra-hwa's composed voice spread across the Training Grounds.
Eom Bi-ryeong, seated in the honored guests' section, straightened her back. Her shoulders naturally drawing back was an old habit. A martial artist whose posture improved every time she grew tense.
Her gaze moved toward the platform.
Dong Bong-soo was walking out.
A black Taoist robe. The sword at his waist caught the sunlight and flashed silver. Young. A face younger than most gathered here. The face of someone who had reached a tremendous level of mastery that couldn't be achieved even if one had trained in martial arts from the womb.
Eom Bi-ryeong unconsciously arranged her hands neatly on her knees.
'Kim Rae-won.'
This man had defeated her junior fellow disciple Dong Mu-toe.
This man had faced both herself and Myo Jin-heo simultaneously.
And won.
He had won against two of Formation Tower's Trigram Leaders with an expression of perfect calm, and was now walking up onto the Founding Ceremony platform with that very same face. Where had he hidden that overwhelming presence that had made her entire body tremble a short while ago—from Kim Rae-won as he stood now, not the slightest trace of it could be felt.
Rather, he was warm.
The eyes that swept once over the children lined up at the front of the Training Grounds were soft. The child called Ho-ae was clenching both fists tight at the very front, and beside the children Jeon Ra-hwa stood smiling.
Across at the honored guests' section sat even this place Gangdo's Magistrate, and the branch leader of the Great Beggar Sect's branch, the Ten Thousand Things Known.
And Martial World figures gathered from across Gangdo filled the Training Grounds. The scale was not grand. But every single person's eyes were serious.
She had no way of knowing how remarkable it was in itself—that the two sects that had dominated this place, the Iron God Society and the Seven Star Immortal Assembly, had apparently been swept away single-handedly with ease.
Yet it seemed there was no one present who didn't know that this had completely overturned the board of Gangdo.
'Strange. Becoming the dominant force of an entire region in such a short time clearly means a great deal of blood was spilled……'
And yet every single person gathered here was directing a gaze of goodwill toward that man.
No—beyond that, a considerable number were looking at him with eyes carrying an absolute trust that was almost like worship.
This place—Hero Gate, that is—was giving off an atmosphere as though it were their very shrine.
There was no end to things she couldn't understand, but she kept concentrating in an effort to understand them somehow.
Seated beside that Eom Bi-ryeong, Myo Jin-heo held his fan half-open.
Behind those half-open eyes, a scholar's observation shone.
'I will absolutely find out what kind of being you are.'
As befitting someone who had made that internal declaration, Myo Jin-heo's eyes had no intention of missing even a single movement of Dong Bong-soo. The width of his stride, the direction of his gaze, the interval of each breath drawn, even the depth of his smile.
Dong Bong-soo stood at the center of the platform.
He swept one glance across the room, then slowly opened his mouth.
"As Hero Gate formally opens its doors for the first time, I would like to say a word on this occasion."
His voice spread across the Training Grounds.
It was a plain voice, yet not light. Not artificially raised in volume, not imitating authority—simply a clear voice.
"You all know well what kind of place Gangdo is."
Several people nodded.
"It was a lawless land."
Dong Bong-soo paused a beat.
"The weak were robbed, and the strong did the robbing. At night, blades flew; at dawn, corpses lay scattered. The authorities hid behind their walls, and Martial World figures looked out only for their own interests."
Eom Bi-ryeong kept her eyes wide open and focused in silence. Because she was curious about each and every word this man chose.
"This is not a problem unique to Gangdo."
Dong Bong-soo's gaze swept slowly over the crowd.
"It is a landscape found everywhere in this Central Plains. It simply feels closer to you because this is your home ground."
The tone was composed. There was no anger, no earnestness. The manner of one speaking as if the world simply was as it was.
'Strange.'
Myo Jin-heo's half-open eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
There was no anger. No righteous indignation. Usually, martial artists who invoked Chivalry at occasions like this spoke with the fuel of outrage at injustice burning in their chest, using that as their driving force.
This man had none of that.
It was simply low and flat, as if discussing the weather.
And yet the words carried weight.
"Hero Gate was founded to put an end to that lawlessness."
Dong Bong-soo said.
"However."
Another pause.
"I have no intention of putting forward some grand ideology."
Eom Bi-ryeong's brow shifted ever so slightly.
"Chivalry is not something grand."
Dong Bong-soo's voice came down a notch. It was a natural change. It didn't appear calculated. At least, that was how it felt to Eom Bi-ryeong.
"It is involving yourself in someone else's business."
Concise.
"It is being unable to tolerate injustice when you see it."
Brief.
"That is all."
Myo Jin-heo's fan gave a slight flutter.
'A man of tremendous martial prowess speaks unremarkable words.'
A scholar's instinct whispered. That is calculated simplicity. Or simplicity springing from genuine sincerity. One of the two—but whichever it was, the result was the same. It embeds itself in the heart of the listener.
"However."
Dong Bong-soo's gaze swept the crowd once more.
"I intend to walk the path of the Middle Path."
Eom Bi-ryeong's lips shifted ever so slightly.
Middle Path.
"The path of judging right and wrong for oneself, belonging to neither the Orthodox Path nor the Evil Path."
Dong Bong-soo took one step forward.
"In the Martial World there are those called Orthodox yet devoid of righteousness."
A faint murmur stirred among the crowd.
"And there are those called Evil who nonetheless carry their own Way."
Dong Bong-soo gave a light laugh.
"Labels, epithets, plaques—none of that matters. Actions matter. What one does must come before what one calls oneself."
Eom Bi-ryeong's hand clenched on her knee.
A path belonging to neither Orthodox nor Evil.
In some ways, it resembled the path of Formation Tower. Except that while Formation Tower divided sides by money, this man intended to divide sides by right and wrong.
'Is it naivety, or arrogance?'
Eom Bi-ryeong had not yet rendered a verdict.
But this man's eyes were neither naive nor arrogant. They simply held conviction.
She recalled the moment she had first clashed with Dong Bong-soo. She had poured out her full ten-tenths of power, but there was no contest. No—even saying there was no contest isn't precise. This man had not contested her. He had suppressed her. Precisely and composedly, like an adult gripping a child's wrist.
And that man was now uttering 'obvious words.'
Protect what is good and eliminate what is evil.
Predictable.
But when a man who has the power to carry out what is predictable speaks those predictable words, they are no longer predictable words—they become a declaration.
"And so."
Dong Bong-soo slowly raised both arms.
The sight of it, reflected in Eom Bi-ryeong's eyes—though he was simply standing on the small Training Grounds of a newly founded sect—for some reason he looked like a person standing on a far larger stage.
'Not a Guild Master.'
The thought came to Eom Bi-ryeong suddenly.
'A commander.'
It was the face of one who leads an army on the battlefield. Behind the warm smile, there was something that didn't waver. She didn't yet know what it was.
Dong Bong-soo's warm eyes swept the crowd one final time.
The children. Jeon Ra-hwa. The Martial World figures. Yo Han-myeong. Bae Dal-pae. Eom Bi-ryeong. Myo Jin-heo.
Everyone's gaze was gathered on Dong Bong-soo.
"Hero Gate will walk the path it ought to walk."
Dong Bong-soo said.
"It will preserve what is good, protect Chivalry and righteousness, punish what is evil, and root out Evil Demons and Heretics. Whatever that may be, however enormous the force—"
His voice crossed the Training Grounds, composed yet clear.
"In this Central Plains, we will wield this sword until they are annihilated."
Dong Bong-soo's declaration-of-war-like words fell upon the Training Grounds.
A brief silence.
And then.
Applause erupted.
The children first. Ho-ae brought both hands together with force, and the children beside her followed. Next came the Gangdo Martial World figures, then Yo Han-myeong, then Bae Dal-pae.
The Training Grounds filled with the sound of applause.
Myo Jin-heo's half-open eyes opened completely.
'The path it ought to walk.'
Ought to is right. Protecting what is good and eliminating what is evil.
Words so correct that everyone had forgotten them—perhaps words already extinct even at the root in this Central Plains.
But.
'……Is he sincere?'
Was there, in this Martial World, one who could actually carry this out in reality?
Unknown, for now.
Myo Jin-heo half-closed his eyes again. He closed his fan.
But what needed to be acknowledged had to be acknowledged. This man's words carried weight. Not the weight of martial prowess—the weight that draws people in. Whatever the true nature of that weight, sincere or otherwise, the result was the same.
People moved.
Were not all of those filling the Training Grounds clapping their hands?
Even Eom Bi-ryeong was clapping.
Myo Jin-heo quietly lifted the corners of his mouth and joined in the round of applause.
Without even realizing it.
With each slap of his palms together, he had the feeling that a preconception he had been carrying since some point was shattering away one piece at a time. Over the lingering image of the monstrous martial artist who had defeated Dong Mu-toe and both himself and Eom Bi-ryeong, the man now on that platform was overlaid.
A young Guild Master of a newly founded sect, speaking of Chivalry.
'If it's this person.'
Eom Bi-ryeong's lips moved. No sound yet, but.
'They might be someone Formation Tower could genuinely join hands with……'
Even after that.
The applause continued for quite a long while.
***
Formation Tower's Eight Trigram Hall.
The back-and-forth debate had been continuing for more than one full hour.
Dong Mu-toe spent most of that time leaning back in his chair, letting his fingers walk the table. He had already thrown everything there was to throw. Now was the time to wait until the seeds put down their own roots. Once you throw a stone into a pond, the ripples spreading is the water's work, not the stone's.
Tap-a-tap-a-tap.
Before long, however, he sensed the Trigram Leaders' debate slowly exhausting itself.
The argument of standing, the argument of profit, the argument of procedure—all of them were ultimately circling the same spot in the face of the unknown variable called Hero Gate. We don't know. Therefore we cannot judge. Therefore we must verify.
There could only be one conclusion.
And in Formation Tower, there was only one person who could voice that 'one' conclusion aloud.
Ssss—
From the Grand Zenith Position's seat, one step higher, came the faint sound of a teacup being set down.
A very light sound.
The instant it sounded, the entire Eight Trigram Hall fell quiet. As if all the discussion up until this moment had been nothing but a prelude.
"We shall have to verify."
Jin Mu-geuk's voice was low. Not weighted with force, not deliberate in authority—simply the natural single murmur of an old man.
Dong Mu-toe's finger-walking stopped.
'Done.'
The very instant Dong Mu-toe inwardly cried out in triumph.
"Grand Zenith Position, when you say verify……?"
As Baek Jang-gyeong immediately leaned his body forward, Jin Mu-geuk answered.
"Let us meet him. Whether that one comes to us, or we go to him."
It was precisely at the moment Dong Bong-soo finished his address.