Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: What Happened at the Righteous Path Alliance
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After a three-day journey, we finally arrived at the gates of the Righteous Path Alliance.
“We’re here!”
“Phew, damn it.”
A sigh of relief escaped me, my mind finally at ease.
I informed the Cheong Clan Lord, who was waiting to enter the Alliance, that I would be leaving.
“This is as far as I go.”
“…Leaving already?”
“I’ve been away from Hanzhong for too long.”
“I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“Farewell, then.”
However, my plan to finish the escort mission and head straight back was thwarted by a certain individual.
“You can’t just come all this way and leave!”
It was Jin Gung, the Plum Blossom Sword Prodigy, the genius of the Righteous Path Alliance whom I had fought so fiercely in the Ace Showdown.
Well, not that it mattered. I won, after all.
Somehow, he knew I had arrived and came running, covered in dirt.
“A bit familiar, aren't we…”
He clapped a hand on my shoulder, acting overly friendly.
“Those who fight with all their heart are friends.”
Friends? Give me a break.
The guy was physically ten years older than me, too.
“By that logic, does that mean I’m close enough with the Ten Sect Elders of the Ten Demon Alliance to drink and play dominoes with them?”
“My friend, you have a good sense of humor. Hahaha.”
He patted my shoulder.
“Come inside. My master has been wanting to see you as well.”
“Ahem.”
Hearing the Cheong Clan Lord’s cough, Jin Gung, who had been acting so familiar, politely cupped his fist in salute.
“Please forgive my rudeness. I was excited to see an old friend. I am Jin Gung of the Mount Hua Sect.”
“I’ve only heard rumors of the Plum Blossom Sword Prodigy. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Cheong Chu-san of the Cheong Clan.”
“It is an honor to meet the Medicine King of the realm.”
“It is merely an empty title.”
“Please, come in. I will send word to my master.”
“I would be grateful if you did.”
While the two were exchanging greetings, I tried to slip away, but Jin Gung somehow noticed and grabbed my arm.
“You’re coming with me.”
“I’ll come next time. I’m too busy today.”
When I refused firmly, Jin Gung immediately sent a mental message.
[People have been talking ever since you dismantled the lay-disciple sects in Hanzhong. If you don’t deal with this quickly, it will certainly become a problem later.]
“…Ah, hell. Fine, let’s go.”
“A wise choice.”
In the end, I stepped inside the Righteous Path Alliance.
* * *
The interior of the Righteous Path Alliance was unchanged from my last visit.
To put it nicely, it was historic. To be blunt, it was a row of dozens of large, dilapidated halls.
In the center was the large training ground where the Ace Showdown between the young talents of Nine Dragons Fortress and the Righteous Path Alliance had been held.
‘Feels like the number of people has gone down.’
It felt like at least half the resident members were gone compared to when I came as an envoy.
“When is this guy going to get here?”
I mean, if you’re going to hold up a busy person, you should at least be quick about it.
As I was grumbling and sipping my tea, I spotted a few Taoists walking by.
“Never seen him before.”
“Should we go talk to him?”
“We don’t know who he is. If our martial uncle catches us, we’ll be in for it.”
“We can just say hello and come back.”
They looked young, probably third-generation disciples of the Wudang Sect.
How did I know they were from Wudang? They had yin-yang symbols on their chests.
‘Tsk, tsk.’
Seeing how scrawny they were, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
I pitied them.
A life bound to a Taoist or Buddhist sect is usually like that.
Trapped in the mountains at an age when you need nutrients the most, you train in martial arts while eating meals full of greens, let alone any meat.
Once you get a bit older and become decent at martial arts, you’re ordered by your sect to risk your life in battle.
After about twenty years of that, only a few are left standing. That’s the system that produces the next generation of sect leaders and elders.
I shook my head again.
‘Thank god I didn’t become a Taoist.’
As I was blankly watching the Wudang kids and thinking such thoughts, I saw Jin Gung running over from a distance.
“My apologies. The conversation went on longer than expected.”
“As long as you know. Anyway, it seems past lunchtime. Aren't you going to feed me?”
“The warriors of the Righteous Path Alliance do not eat lunch.”
“…”
Jin Gung replied as if my question was completely out of the blue.
“I’m just asking, but… do you get a monthly salary?”
“Hmm? A salary… you mean money received each month?”
“…Yes.”
“The Alliance feeds and houses us. Why would we need a salary?”
“What?”
Are you telling me you're doing unpaid labor?
In that moment, the title of the worst sweatshop of the era passed from Nine Dragons Fortress to the Righteous Path Alliance.
‘They’re even worse than the Ten Demon Alliance.’
I had no idea what they were spending the tax money on.
“Why are you making that face? You’re looking at me like I’m a thief…”
“You’re mistaken.”
“I don’t think so…”
“You are mistaken.”
“Alright.”
A moment later, I followed him into a small guest room inside the hall, where he brought out some cheap green tea and dried-out crackers.
“…”
“We keep these prepared for guests. You said you were hungry. Go on, eat.”
Given his proud demeanor, I felt obliged as a guest to chew on a cracker.
Crunch.
It was incredibly hard. I wondered if I needed to coat my teeth with a protective aura as I asked,
“So, who’s complaining?”
“Who do you think?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? The ones receiving ‘repayment’ from the lay-disciple sects.”
“Correct. It’s shameful, but there are a few in my Mount Hua Sect as well.”
“But I dealt with them justly, according to the law…”
“The world doesn’t always work that way, which is why we’re in this situation.”
“Anyway, it’s always the old geezers who are the problem. This is why even Taoist sects should pay a monthly salary. You should reflect on this.”
“Even if you tell me…”
“Tsk, tsk.”
To be honest, it was a problem I had anticipated to some extent.
Even if lay disciples couldn’t learn a sect’s ultimate techniques, it was still one person teaching another.
As they taught, attachments would form, and they might subtly impart a signature technique or a variation of it.
Just like how Adept Hyeon Yang taught Gongson Jeok-san.
Naturally, the grateful lay disciple, upon achieving success later in life, would provide regular repayment.
You could call it a harmful side effect of the ‘king, teacher, and father are one’ mentality.
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped me, but just sitting around wouldn’t solve anything.
‘I can’t afford to make enemies of them already.’
After all, if the Ten Demon Alliance invaded Hanzhong, our ally, the Righteous Path Alliance, had to help.
Trusting in that, Nine Dragons Fortress even went ahead and selected its own contractors.
“I understand. Please compile a list and give it to me. I’ll invite them to Hanzhong.”
“Invite them?”
“I’ll shower them with gifts. So much so that they’ll have no choice but to feel good about the War King Gate.”
“…This is quite embarrassing.”
“It’s fine.”
*Because I’m just going to take it all back anyway.*
There were many ways.
I could take them to a gambling den and let them lose their money, get them addicted to the finest food and wine at the Moon Scent Pavilion until they went broke, or simply steal it when they were passed out drunk.
‘The last one’s the best option.’
Planning the perfect crime, I stood up from my seat.
“Our business is finished, so I’ll be on my way.”
“Where are you going?”
“Where do you think? Home. I’m already late.”
“My master requested that you join him for dinner to discuss the matter in Hunan Province as well.”
“Seriously?”
Nothing ever went my way in the Righteous Path Alliance.
* * *
A few hours later.
As the sun began to set, Jin Gung and I entered the Alliance Lord’s residence.
The Cheong Clan Lord was also there, and judging by his more relaxed expression, it seemed their discussion had gone well.
“Gwahahaha, it’s been a long time!”
“This humble junior of the martial world, Jin Mujeon, greets the Alliance Lord.”
“You should visit more often. I might forget your face.”
“When I have the time.”
*Though I probably won’t find the time to come to the Righteous Path Alliance.*
“Hmph.”
He introduced his past connection with me to the Cheong Clan Lord.
“This boy’s adoptive grandfather and I were close friends. Thanks to that, I’ve known him since he was very young. I never thought that grimy little brat would become so successful, though. Gwahahaha.”
“Is that so? You share quite a bond.”
“Indeed. A very deep bond.”
“…”
Watching the Alliance Lord beat his own drum, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
“Here, have a seat. You must be hungry, let’s eat first.”
For the leader of a major alliance, the food spread on the table was completely devoid of anything greasy.
It was just a few seasoned vegetable dishes, some herbs, a bland soup, and warm rice.
Still, I could tell it was prepared with care, so it was edible.
It even reminded me of my days in the Black Dragon Hall.
Only after we finished the meal and drank the tea personally brewed by the Alliance Lord did we get to the main topic.
“I heard you convinced Nine Dragons Fortress.”
“Yes.”
“I also heard that they decided to dispatch a very small force just to save face.”
At the Alliance Lord’s words, I glared at the Cheong Clan Lord.
Seriously, you’re supposed to hide things like that to have some leverage.
What was I supposed to do if he just told them everything…?
It seemed that, as a former loudmouth myself, I’d have to teach the Cheong Clan Lord a thing or two about the psychology of persuasion.
“…That’s right.”
“So, in your opinion, what level of force would be appropriate for our Righteous Path Alliance to dispatch?”
“So you are planning on sending troops after all.”
“Because Nine Dragons Fortress decided to dispatch their forces.”
In truth, this was what I had been aiming for when I went to Nine Dragons Fortress.
I wanted to prick the pride of the Righteous Path Alliance, the self-proclaimed guardians of the martial world.
I nodded and proposed the forces needed to defend Hunan.
“Do you know what sets Nine Dragons Fortress, the Righteous Path Alliance, and the Martial Emperor Fortress apart from the Ten Demon Alliance or the Lion Alliance?”
“You’re not talking about ideology, I assume…”
“It’s that you pursue a small, elite force. As proof, while the Ten Demon Alliance has ten thousand demonic followers and the Lion Alliance has seven thousand, the number of people in the Righteous Path Alliance is just over a thousand. Nine Dragons Fortress barely exceeds two thousand.”
“That’s only judging by the surface. If you include the lay-disciple sects…”
“The branch families of Nine Dragons Fortress, connected by blood, didn’t show their faces at all during the last war.”
“…The lay-disciple sects won’t step up? Isn’t that a bit too cynical?”
“The times have made them that way.”
“Is that why you crushed the lay-disciple sects of Mount Hua and Wudang in Hanzhong?”
“I simply enforced the law justly. And I was merciful enough not to kill them in the process.”
“Mujeon.”
My words must have sounded harsh, as Jin Gung called out to me.
Clap.
“We must listen to the opinions of an outsider to see our Alliance objectively, wouldn’t you agree?”
The Alliance Lord raised a hand to stop him.
“Continue.”
“The important thing is to leverage the advantage of having a small, elite force.”
“And that advantage is?”
“What else? Mobility.”
I looked around as I continued.
“Dispatch a force composed of the experts from each sect. Then you can defeat most enemies immediately, and even in the worst-case scenario, you can pull back. You’ll be able to avoid the loss of strength that the Righteous Path Alliance is so worried about.”
“If they pull back just because the situation is bad, then there’s no point in dispatching them, is there?”
“If the situation gets that bad, it means the Lion Alliance has drawn its sword. At that point, Hunan Province should be considered lost. However, if the Righteous Path Alliance and the Martial Emperor Fortress dispatch forces following Nine Dragons Fortress, the Lion Alliance won’t be so quick to draw their swords.”
You could think of it like the UN Peacekeeping Forces.
“I see. That makes sense…”
The Alliance Lord nodded gravely, then continued.
“It can’t be helped. I will follow your suggestion.”
“Yes.”
“Jin Gung, you will select a hundred of our remaining members to escort the Cheong Clan Lord. You will be their leader.”
“Yes, sir.”
If the Plum Blossom Sword Prodigy, Jin Gung, was leading them personally, that was more than enough.
The one leading the forces from Nine Dragons Fortress was Dan Un, so their synergy would surely be excellent.
With a conclusion reached, the Cheong Clan Lord’s expression brightened considerably.
Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with a question that had popped into my head during my conversation with the Alliance Lord.
The Alliance’s interior, where the number of resident members had been halved.
The members’ clothing and the Alliance Lord’s meals, which suggested fiscal austerity.
And finally, their passive attitude toward dispatching forces.
Didn’t it all look like they were preparing for war?
Unable to contain my curiosity, I finally spoke up.
“But there is one thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I was told the banner of the Righteous Path Alliance stands for the peace of the realm.”
“That is correct.”
“Then why are you being so cautious?”
“…So you noticed.”
“Because all the circumstances I’ve seen since coming here point to it.”
He replied in a heavy voice.
“Your guess is likely correct. We, the Righteous Path Alliance, have been preparing for the coming blood calamity.”
“…That’s hard to believe. If that were true, shouldn’t some intelligence have come in by now?”
The Alliance Lord pointed a finger to the sky and answered.
“The heavens themselves have foretold it. How could a mere mortal know beforehand?”
“You’re kidding me.”
All this was because of a horoscope?