Chapter 99: Thirty-Six Stratagems, Muddle the Water to Catch the Fish (2)
Chapter 99: Thirty-Six Stratagems, Muddle the Water to Catch the Fish (2)
In the early morning, just as I had finished my meditation and washed my face, I heard the voice of a Martial Alliance maid from beyond the door.
“Young Hero Peng, you have a guest.”
“Ah, please show them in.”
I wondered who would visit so early in the morning, but the person who stepped through the door was someone I knew quite well.
“How have you been, little brother?”
“Sister, you came in person? What about Maehyang Pavilion?”
“It went bankrupt after you left.”
“Excuse me?”
Dan So-hye, the mistress of Maehyang Pavilion and the Chief Manager of the Hao Clan’s Beijing branch, had come to see me herself. Surprisingly, it seemed Maehyang Pavilion had gone out of business.
Wait, that place was doing incredibly well.
“Business isn't always easy, you know.”
“No, that’s just ridiculous. I had a bit of friction with the Grand Eunuch of the Eastern Depot, so I withdrew for a while. I’ll be going back eventually.”
“Then what have you been doing lately?”
“Just, you know… uh… following Big Sister around… and lately, I’ve been helping Big Brother with some work at the Hubei branch…”
Dan So-hye had the expression of a perennial department manager who had been demoted after failing a project. It reminded me of my father (the 21st-century version), and my heart ached a little.
“Well, thanks to that, it feels like I’ve gained a thousand troops and ten thousand horses. What about the matter I asked Brother Baek to look into…?”
“Here. Honestly, how can you jump straight to business with someone who ran all the way from Suzhou to Wuchang without even offering a cup of tea?”
“Oh, come on. Between us?”
“My, little brother, what exactly is 'between us'?”
“Fellow disciples…?”
“That’s right.”
Dan So-hye and I chuckled as we exchanged letters. I gave her a brief summary of what was happening here, and she handed me a letter that Brother Baek Seo-ui had likely prepared.
Soon, a maid entered, placed a tea set on the table, and poured tea for us. I merely nodded while reading the letter and picked up my teacup.
“Uh, you can leave now.”
I felt a bit like a pretentious Beijing aristocrat, but it couldn't be helped. This wasn't something a Martial Alliance maid should overhear. However, the maid took out a third cup, poured tea, and sat down.
“…?”
When I finally looked up from the letter, I saw Murong Cheong sitting there with a prim expression. Looking toward the door, I saw the maid who had been watching us with interest quickly close the door with a strange, excited gasp.
I mean, I was planning to call her anyway.
“Why are you here so early…?”
“That’s my line. This pavilion was rented by the Murong Family. Are you in your right mind, calling a courtesan into the Martial Alliance headquarters first thing in the morning?”
Murong Cheong was dressed up to a startling degree. Every time I met her, she was either dressed shabbily, looking exhausted, or soaked in blood, rain, snow, or lake water. Seeing her all dolled up like this, she actually looked like a proper young lady of a noble family.
Her gaze lingered on Dan So-hye’s hair ornaments for a long moment. Then, she began to adjust her own hair ornaments, trying very unnaturally to act natural.
“Oh my, oh my. What’s this, what’s this?”
Dan So-hye’s eyes sparkled mischievously. My immature senior sister began to giggle, covering her mouth.
“What is it, what is it? I love this kind of atmosphere!”
“You’re starting to resemble Big Sister more and more.”
“Wow, he just insulted his senior and his master’s daughter in one breath… He’s taking us both down at once…”
I looked away from Dan So-hye, who was pretending to be visibly dejected. Murong Cheong was still fiddling with her hair ornaments.
“It’s a good thing you’re here. I was going to call for you anyway.”
“Pardon? Why would you call me for Hao Clan business?”
“Then why did you walk into a place where Hao Clan business is being conducted?”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
I really can’t figure this girl out.
“It’s not just Hao Clan business; it’s Martial Alliance business. Anyway, stop being distracting and read this.”
“Hey, little brother. That’s a secret written by the Hao Clan’s Suzhou Chief Manager himself.”
“In this matter, the Murong Family is an absolutely trustworthy ally. Sister.”
“Oh my, oh my. What’s this?”
“I think I need to ask Brother Baek to reconsider the staff assignments. It seems the selection was poorly made.”
Dan So-hye burst into laughter at my words. Ignoring her, I waited until Murong Cheong finished reading the letter and set it down.
Her expression had changed to one I had seen before—the look she wore in the misty Qingxian County when she first learned that the Jinzhou Eon Family had joined hands with the Jongri Family.
“Is this information certain?”
“For now.”
“…What do you want from me?”
“Information from inside the Martial Alliance.”
I spread the letter Murong Cheong had put down onto the tea table.
In Baek Seo-ui’s neat handwriting, short sentences were written. It confirmed what I had suspected but hadn't been sure of.
“From now on, we plan to cross names off the list of suspects one by one.”
To summarize what is currently happening in the Martial Alliance:
There is a faction protecting the Jinzhou Eon Family, and someone among them joined hands with the Chongqing Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance to transport the Ghost Gate practitioners.
And that ‘someone’ is an individual or a group belonging to the Jiangnan Merchant Guild or the Jiangnan White Forest Association.
“They must be a big shot influential enough to exert considerable power even within the Martial Alliance.”
To identify who the opponent is with this much information, we need to look at the conclusion first.
“The most suspicious ones are those who refused to designate the Jinzhou Eon Family as public enemies during the assembly Brother Murong personally petitioned a few days ago.”
“The Zhuge Family, the Shangguan Family, the Huangfu Family, and the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Right. Let’s summarize their reasons for opposition.”
I took a brush and paper from the desk and began to write.
First, the Zhuge Family.
“They claimed we must closely examine the circumstances before and after the incident.”
“From the perspective of the Chief Strategist’s office, it’s understandable. Until then, the Jinzhou Eon Family had served as the front line blocking the Dragon Slaying Alliance. Designating someone as a public enemy isn't something that happens easily.”
True, she was right.
To explain it simply, being designated as a public enemy by the Orthodox Martial Alliance carries a weight similar to a decree of excommunication from the medieval Papacy—specifically, from an era when papal power was at its peak.
Once designated as a public enemy, it is extremely difficult to be reinstated. Usually, because the faction is wiped out.
It makes sense. What are they going to do, offer a sincere apology to the ruins of an exterminated family? Once a sect is uprooted by such a designation, that’s the end of it. The blood and grudges accumulated in the process are immeasurable.
Furthermore, the opponent was the Fist King, one of the Four Great Orthodox Masters. He wasn't someone you could just say ‘Oops, my bad’ to if the designation turned out to be a mistake.
From the perspective of the Zhuge Family and the Chief Strategist, they had to approach this very cautiously.
Next.
The Huangfu Family.
“The Huangfu Family has a poor relationship with the Shandong Yue Family. Those two families are too close to each other. Like the Jongnam Sect and the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Right, 'befriend the distant and attack the near.' There’s no reason to doubt the rivalry between the two families.”
“And if the Jinzhou Eon Family falls, the biggest beneficiary is the Shandong Yue Family, located at the northernmost tip of Shandong.”
“Which means it’s also understandable that the Huangfu Family wants to prevent the fall of the Jinzhou Eon Family.”
No business owner happily congratulates a competitor whose business suddenly skyrockets after their own has been struggling.
Unlike the Zhuge Family’s case, this was a very secular reason, but that made it an even more powerful motivator.
Especially since the background that allowed Eon Do-cheon to grow into one of the Four Great Orthodox Masters was the support of the Martial Alliance, and that level of support was now being shifted to the Shandong Yue Family.
Now, the Shangguan Family.
“The Shangguan Family is linked to the Jinzhou Eon Family through marriage in the previous generation. Eon Hyeong-sik’s mother was the daughter of the Shangguan Family Head. They have plenty of reason to protect the Jinzhou Eon Family.”
“Because they are the orthodox sect that would take the biggest hit if the Jinzhou Eon Family defects to the Black Path Demonic Alliance.”
“And the Shangguan Family Head can’t help but worry about his daughter’s safety.”
Being a martial public enemy isn't like a government charge of high treason; they don't usually exterminate nine or ten generations of a family.
However, the direct parties involved will certainly die, and the family's dependents are often crippled by having their dantians destroyed or their meridians severed. It’s also a given that the family estate will be burned to the ground.
From the Shangguan Family Head’s perspective, his daughter was about to become a widow with severe disabilities in an instant. As a father, he had more than enough reason to oppose.
“The Mount Hua Sect isn't even worth mentioning. They have no connection to Jiangnan, and the only reason they opposed was because the Jongnam Sect supported it.”
“It’s a miracle to me that the Martial Alliance still manages to maintain its union.”
It’s hard to say this is just because the Mount Hua Sect is petty. The Jongnam Sect also opposes anything Mount Hua supports on principle. You can just think of the relationship between those two sects as something like the relationship between Korea and Japan.
They’re both clearly on the same side of the 'Free World Blue Team,' but they hate each other because of history and tradition, yet they still maintain exchanges. Exactly like that.
“Now, do you see what the problem is?”
“I see…”
All of them have alibis. Even Sherlock Holmes would have declared a temporary retirement and gone to do drugs in this situation. Everyone had a legitimate reason to oppose.
Because of that, every single one of them is extremely suspicious.
The Zhuge Family says, ‘Let’s verify the situation further.’ But the victim has already brought clear evidence. Even the bloody incident in Qingxian County was personally verified by the Beggar Immortal, and the facts themselves were deeply investigated by the local authorities.
Of course, because the region belongs to Hebei, the government’s stance was based on information from the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and at first, a smokescreen was created claiming it was the work of the White Lotus Cult.
Furthermore, the Beggars' Sect is inherently a bit weak when it comes to 'precise intelligence.' They are a group that collects broad, widespread information.
In other words, they are very suspicious, but it’s difficult to call them out on it.
The Huangfu Family goes without saying.
No matter how important it is to keep the Shandong Yue Family in check, it cannot be more important than the Jinzhou Eon Family falling to the Black Path. If we weigh the gravity of the situation, it would almost be more rational to assume the Huangfu Family itself has joined the Black Path along with the Jinzhou Eon Family.
As for the Shangguan Family, does it even need more explanation? They’re linked by marriage? Then aren't they just on the same team?
“Then what do we do? We can’t exactly go and ask them directly, can we?”
“Common sense says it’s a bit difficult to ask if they’ve suddenly joined hands with the Black Path.”
“In the first place, isn't the logic that 'they joined hands with the Black Path' also applicable to Lady Murong and our Brother Peng?”
As Dan So-hye said, it’s tricky to push the narrative of 'joining hands with the Black Path.' The Murong Family is currently allied with me. I’ve even been openly introduced as a 'guest of the Murong Family.'
And if the opponent is truly innocent, such an approach could backfire. In this fierce world of orthodox politics, if an innocent party decides to grit their teeth and raise hell, there’s no stopping them.
“I… I don’t know why it has come to this.”
Murong Cheong said sadly, her eyes downcast.
“Aren't we the victims? Uncle Cheon Ju-eun was caught in the Eon Family’s scheme and suffered that terrible torture. And yet, and yet… Eon Do-cheon tried to kill us twice. This, this is just too unfair.”
“I understand.”
“What should we do? What on earth can we do about this…?”
“I have a method.”
At my words, Murong Cheong looked up at me. I met her eyes and nodded with a highly reliable expression.
“Until the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering begins.”
Everyone on this list.
No, every single accomplished master who has come to this assembly.
“Let’s go and poke them one by one.”
“Pardon? But that’s—”
“You don’t have to do it. You don’t even need to argue or interrogate them. It’s hard to believe, but surprisingly, my very existence is a magnet for trouble.”
Why haven't I stepped a single foot out of the guest house? It’s because the place is crawling with countless 'fellow orthodox martial artists' who want to tear my flesh apart.
I am a direct descendant of the Hebei Peng Family, and being a direct descendant of the Peng Family in Wuchang is a position where you can get into a fight just by breathing.
It’s basically an extreme bullying environment. As I’ve said before, I don't have many friends.
So now, I will reveal myself and provoke them.
In the Thirty-Six Stratagems, there is a tactic called 'Muddle the Water to Catch the Fish.' It means that to find fish hiding in the water, the fastest way is to disturb the pond.
Therefore.
If we filter out those who can't help but jump at me.
It is certain that the villains will be among them.
“But won't that be too dangerous? There’s no way there aren't those among them plotting evil schemes.”
“This is something the Martial Alliance Leader himself has authorized.”
That night, the Martial Alliance Leader guaranteed me one thing.
If I helped with this matter, no matter what happened, no matter what commotion I caused, he would ensure I returned to the land of Hebei alive.
And also.
“It’s something my grandfather would love.”
I smiled, pointing to three flags neatly folded in a corner of the room.
The Hebei Dragon Slaying Alliance flag, the Black Path Demonic Alliance flag, and the Hebei Peng Family flag. Even I thought those three flags were drawn artistically.
“Starting today, let’s go greet all the rising stars belonging to the Jiangnan White Forest Association.”
Accept the new recruit, Orthodox Martial Alliance.
