What Did You Just Say? (10)
“Hmm.”
A thin, savage smile spread across Jang Il-so’s lips. A letter lay in his hand.
“The Demonic Sect, huh….”
Jang Il-so slowly closed his eyes, as if he needed time to gather his thoughts. Under ordinary circumstances, Ho Ga-myeong would never have interrupted that silence.
But right now, Ho Ga-myeong keenly understood that his patience did not run very deep. In the end, he could not hold himself back and spoke up cautiously.
“Alliance Leader….”
Jang Il-so opened his eyes at a leisurely pace. They were far darker than usual.
“So it’s the Demonic Sect.”
Jang Il-so let out a dry laugh.
“People always say the world’s full of variables, but this one really caught me off guard.”
The ornaments draped over his body gave a faint jingle. Slowly lifting a hand, Jang Il-so sank back into thought and lightly grasped his own face.
A thick sense of disgust wrapped itself around him from head to toe.
With a single variable called the Demonic Sect, it felt as though every plan he had laid out was being tangled up and dragged apart. His tongue moved slowly over his lips. Jang Il-so’s eyes glinted with a vicious, unnatural light.
“...For now, Black Ghost Fort is supposed to handle the response.”
“It’ll fail.”
At that flat, certain tone, Ho Ga-myeong flinched.
“Man Geum-dae-bu is the sort of man who believes everything can be calculated. If a calculation fails, he’ll think the information was lacking or the analysis was insufficient. Of course, most of the time he’d be right….”
Jang Il-so said it in a voice so cold it seemed to shed killing intent.
“This time, he’s wrong.”
“....”
“There are definitely things in this world that don’t obey common sense. The Demonic Sect is one of them, however rare such people are.”
Jang Il-so shook his head.
He did not know the Demonic Sect all that well himself. But there was one thing he knew for certain: you could not hold a conversation with fanatics. The world they looked at and the world seen by those who lived for themselves were completely different.
“There’s no way people living in different worlds can talk to each other. Man Geum-dae-bu did something stupid.”
“Then….”
“The variable that’s appeared is the worst possible one, and the first response is just as bad….”
Jang Il-so twisted the corner of his mouth in a crooked, self-mocking smile.
“What a sorry state we’re in.”
He slowly rose from his chair.
For a moment he simply stared at the riverbank as if sorting through his thoughts, then a cold voice slipped from his lips.
“Ga-myeong.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“Tell the ones across the river that the Demonic Sect has appeared.”
“...Will that be all right? They’ll surely try to exploit this situation.”
“Of course they will.”
Jang Il-so did not believe in righteousness or any such nonsense. Those were merely convenient words invented by the fortunate to justify what they had done.
Of course, those bastards seemed to believe their own made-up words….
“It doesn’t matter. We’re already knee-deep in the mud. If that’s the case, we should at least drag the others into the same mud. I won’t tolerate the sight of some fool standing there in clean clothes, watching us from a comfortable distance.”
“.... I’ll see to it.”
Crk, crk!
Jang Il-so’s rings scraped together harshly.
“Clear away the liquor.”
“Yes.”
“Tell everyone not to come near me for a while.”
Ho Ga-myeong nodded hard.
Jang Il-so said nothing more, his gaze fixed on the riverbank. After watching that back for a moment, Ho Ga-myeong quietly, swiftly withdrew.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...The Demonic Sect?”
Beop Jeong’s mouth fell open as if he had momentarily forgotten how to speak. His eyes trembled violently.
The instant the words Demonic Sect were spoken, the atmosphere in the room froze more chillingly than the far north itself. To them, those two words alone were heavy enough to make the tongue ache.
“...Did you say the Demonic Sect?”
“Yes, Abbot! It seems the Demonic Sect has begun to stir in the Hangzhou area!”
“Stir?”
Cold sweat beaded on Beop Jeong’s forehead.
The stirrings of the Demonic Sect. Before those words, even Beop Jeong had no choice but to groan inwardly.
What in the world is this absurd timing?
Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible. The Demonic Sect had always been that way.
Their movements always came without warning. They would lie low as if they did not exist at all, only to rise all at once in a single instant.
Hadn’t the war a hundred years ago broken out exactly that way?
Chewing bitterly on his lip, Beop Jeong glared at Beopgye.
“How did you get this information?”
“...It was delivered to us by the Evil Tyrant Alliance.”
At Beopgye’s answer, Beop Jeong’s face twisted. Jong Ri-hyeong asked the question Beop Jeong had not been able to.
“And you’re sure that information is reliable?”
“...What do you mean, Sect Leader?”
“If the source is the Evil Tyrant Alliance, we can hardly trust it without suspicion, can we? That Jang Il-so has tormented us with all manner of schemes. There’s no proof this information isn’t just one more of his tricks.”
Beopgye nodded as if that made sense.
“We haven’t verified it yet. But given the nature of the information they sent, I thought we should report it before attempting verification.”
At that, Jong Ri-hyeong nodded as well. Indeed, anything involving the Demonic Sect was not the sort of matter one could drag out.
Beop Jeong spoke in a grave voice.
“Beopgye.”
“Yes!”
“Inform Beggars’ Sect of this situation and tell them we must confirm the truth as quickly as possible.”
“Yes!”
“This is a matter of urgency. We must find out the facts by any means necessary, whatever the sacrifice.”
“I’ll keep it in mind!”
Beopgye ran out of the room. Watching his retreating back, Beop Jeong could not suppress a low groan.
The Demonic Sect….
Why did their name have to surface at a time like this?
“Abbot….”
“Let us wait a little longer.”
Beop Jeong cut in before the other could continue.
“No matter how Beggars’ Sect has failed to secure proper information from Jiangnan for the past three years, if this claim that the Demonic Sect has stirred in Hangzhou is true, it will be confirmed soon enough. There are countless beggars in Hangzhou.”
“That is true.”
“Once we verify the facts, it won’t be too late to decide on our response.”
Jong Ri-hyeong slowly nodded. He did his best to keep his face calm, but his heart was pounding uselessly in his chest. Ever since he had heard the words Demonic Sect, he had been unable to settle himself no matter how hard he tried.
“However, Abbot.”
Then Paeng Yeop, who had been silent in the back, spoke up.
“If by some chance the stirrings of the Demonic Sect are truly real, what do you intend to do then?”
Beop Jeong lifted his head and looked at Paeng Yeop. Before he could answer, Jong Ri-hyeong spoke for him.
“What do you mean, what would we do? What in the world are you—”
“We already learned a hundred years ago, to the bone, that the Demonic Sect is not something any single faction can handle.”
“....”
“A hundred years ago, every righteous and unrighteous sect alike joined forces to face the Demonic Sect. Which means that if the Demonic Sect has truly stirred again, we may have to join hands with the Evil Tyrant Alliance.”
“...That—”
Only then, as if he had finally grasped the meaning, did the color drain from Jong Ri-hyeong’s face.
Join hands with the Evil Tyrant Alliance.
If there was a foe like the Demonic Sect, perhaps there was no choice. But still, revulsion surged up first, sharp and sickening. To join with the Evil Tyrant Alliance would be to erase everything they had done in Jiangnan and hurl the very justifications they had claimed as a righteous sect into the cesspit.
“If the Demonic Sect has appeared in Hangzhou, then we must cross that river. Are you truly saying you intend to do that, Abbot?”
Beop Jeong slowly closed his eyes.
After a long silence, he finally opened them again and spoke.
“First, let us confirm the facts. Then we will discuss countermeasures.”
“Abbot, this is….”
“Clan Lord.”
Beop Jeong looked directly at Paeng Yeop.
“This is not something that can be concluded on assumptions. Loose talk is the surest way to invite disaster, so I ask that the Clan Lord remain calm as well.”
“...Understood.”
With Paeng Yeop’s despondent voice, heavy silence settled over the room.
In the silence so thick that his fingertips tingled, Beop Jeong softly recited the Buddha’s name.
Yet his eyes, unlike those of a true believer, had sunk into a darkness that was all too real.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...What?”
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong’s eyes flew wide open.
Jo Geol, who had delivered the message, quickly scanned the surroundings once more. Only after confirming that no one else was near enough to overhear did he hurry on in a low whisper.
“I definitely heard it, Sasuk. The bastards from the Evil Tyrant Alliance said exactly that to Sect Leader.”
“...You heard it correctly?”
“This isn’t something to joke about.”
Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lip.
Damn it, what in the world….
No matter how much of a fool Jo Geol might be, even he would not make a joke out of the Demonic Sect’s name. Not if he was a disciple of Mount Hua—especially not if he had lived through the Demonic Sect in the Northern Sea.
The Demonic Sect.
Why the hell was that suddenly turning up now?
His fingertips began to tremble of their own accord. The Demonic Sect bastards he had faced in the Northern Sea, especially that so-called bishop, were still etched vividly into his mind.
Just thinking of it made the countless wounds he had taken then ache all over again.
“Then… what happens now? Sasuk?”
Even Yoon Jong, who always maintained his calm, could no longer hide his confusion.
“....”
How the hell was Baek Cheon supposed to know?
One thing, however, was certain.
“Where is that bastard now?”
“Bastard…?”
“Cheong Myeong.”
Yoon Jong visibly flinched.
What if Cheong Myeong heard this?
No.
The mere mention of the Demonic Sect changes Cheong Myeong into someone else entirely. If that bastard heard the word, there was no need to guess what would happen. He might well grab a sword and storm off immediately.
“He went out to train with the Namgung Clan just now.”
Baek Cheon glared at Jo Geol.
“Did you tell anyone else?”
“N-no, Sasuk. I came straight here.”
Baek Cheon nodded with a heavy expression.
“Then keep your mouths shut. Nothing’s confirmed yet. There’s no harm in telling him once everything is certain.”
“Yes.”
“...If he hears the Demonic Sect has stirred, who knows what sort of hell that bastard will raise. So first, make sure it doesn’t reach Cheong Myeong’s ears—no, make sure it reaches him as late as possible.”
“Yes, Sa—”
Just then.
“What did you just say?”
“....”
Every one of them froze at once.
The voice they absolutely did not want to hear at this very moment rang out from behind them.
Ah….
The blood drained from Baek Cheon’s face in an instant.
“Sasuk.”
Baek Cheon looked up at the sky for a moment and let out a tiny sigh. But there was no hiding from this forever. Drawing in a breath, he slowly turned around.
“...Cheong Myeong. I mean—”
Cheong Myeong’s expression, which had been blank until now, began to shift slowly. It was a face he rarely ever showed them. Like some fiendish monster, Cheong Myeong let a thick, suffocating killing intent seep out around him. It was enough to make it hard to breathe.
That wasn’t the kind of killing intent meant to threaten them. It was the kind that burst out when he could not control the emotion that had flared up inside him.
“Just now….”
From between Cheong Myeong’s lips came a rough, grating voice, as though metal were being scraped together.
“What the hell did you just say?”
Baek Cheon shut his eyes tight.