We’re the Ones Who Aren’t Beside Them (4)
The slowly approaching boat touched the riverbank.
Watching Jang Il-so standing on the deck, Yoon Jong felt it all over again.
What an uncanny man. No matter what kind of conversation you were having, no matter what situation you were trapped in, the moment that bastard appeared, everything changed.
It had been the same when he had first seen him in Mount Hua, when he had met him at the foot of Daesan, when he had encountered him at Black Dragon Fort and on Plum Blossom Island.
Yoon Jong had thought it was only because they always ran into him in dramatic circumstances that the feeling had taken hold of him. But in this moment, he understood it clearly. Jang Il-so was the kind of man who could change the atmosphere around him by existing alone.
Amid the strange silence, heavy and tense as if it might burst at any moment, Jang Il-so slowly raised a hand.
The hand hidden beneath his wide, gaudy sleeve came into view, and the rainbow-colored rings on his fingers dazzled Yoon Jong’s eyes.
“This is….”
Covering his mouth with one hand, Jang Il-so arched his brows wide.
“Was this not the proper moment for me to intrude?”
It wasn’t exactly an odd thing to say.
And yet that was precisely what made it feel so wrong. For those words to come out of Jang Il-so’s mouth was as unsettling as a monk cursing Buddha.
Jang Il-so disembarked from the skiff and strolled toward them at an unhurried pace.
Splish.
The sound of his feet stepping through the shallow water seemed to crawl straight into everyone’s ears.
He stopped at a respectful distance, gave Hyun Jong a light formal bow, and spoke.
“If you’re in the middle of discussing something private… I could always withdraw for a while and return later. I do have that much tact, you know.”
A mocking smile drifted over his lips.
Baek Cheon, unable to help himself, almost snapped back at once, but Cheong Myeong’s calm voice was faster.
“If you had any tact, you wouldn’t have shoved your pale face in here all by yourself.”
“Hmm?”
Cheong Myeong bared his teeth in a sneer.
“Or what? Are you so sick of that neck of yours that you’re dying to have it separated from the rest of your body?”
“Ahaha.”
Jang Il-so gave a short laugh.
“Don’t be so angry, dear. We’re already rather familiar with each other, aren’t we?”
Ogeom ground his teeth. But Cheong Myeong didn’t even change expression, only replied with a chill in his voice.
“Sorry, but try to understand my side, too. Just having to breathe the same air as scum like you makes my stomach turn.”
“Now that’s a little hurtful.”
“So cut the crap and say what you came to say.”
Jang Il-so’s smile deepened. Under that bewitching air of his, everyone’s lips tightened without them even realizing it.
Set against the dark night, Jang Il-so’s solitary red presence was overwhelming. More intense than any appearance they had ever seen from him before.
“You know the situation, yes?”
“Thanks to someone kind enough to explain it to me.”
At Cheong Myeong’s words, Jang Il-so shrugged with exaggerated elegance.
“That one is quite the headache.”
Cheong Myeong remained silent, but Baek Cheon apparently couldn’t hold back the rage boiling in him any longer.
“You strutted around acting so superior, and yet you couldn’t even handle the Demonic Sect? So the Evil Tyrant Alliance amounts to nothing after all.”
Ogeom looked back at Baek Cheon in astonishment. Their anger toward Jang Il-so might have differed in degree, but none of them had dared to spit out such open mockery.
Yet Baek Cheon didn’t seem to be pressed down by Jang Il-so’s presence at all.
No, maybe he had been pressed down and was fighting back because of it. Baek Cheon had always been that kind of man.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Jang Il-so looked at Baek Cheon with clear displeasure, then shifted his gaze back to Cheong Myeong.
“The children of Mount Hua have terrible manners. Their elders are speaking, and they keep butting in. Shouldn’t you give them a proper scolding?”
“Seems you don’t know much.”
“Hmm?”
“In Mount Hua, we’re taught to show manners only to people worth respecting.”
“…….”
“I’d rather be polite to a passing dog than to you.”
“Hmm. That sounds as if you’re saying I’m less than a dog.”
“You caught on quickly.”
Jang Il-so laughed, the corners of his mouth lifting high. For a moment, Baek Cheon’s hand tightened unconsciously around his sword.
But Jang Il-so simply shrugged, as if it didn’t matter in the least.
“The lofty righteous sects truly do hurl their insults with such dignity. To think you’d hold me in such high regard.”
“…….”
“I’m honestly rather moved.”
“You sure do love hearing yourself talk.”
The smiles on their faces grew even thicker. Yet their eyes remained razor-sharp, each one stabbing at the other like blades.
“Couldn’t even handle the Demonic Sect….”
Jang Il-so repeated Baek Cheon’s words, then gave an exaggerated sigh and lowered his eyes.
“Well… that isn’t entirely wrong. Because it’s true. But….”
His cold gaze swept over Cheong Myeong, then beyond him to Baek Cheon.
“You should understand this: when I fail to deal with the Demonic Sect, it won’t only be us who burn to death. That fire will… consume all of Central Plains. Across the Yangtze, into Henan. And then Shaanxi.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and get to the point. What do you want?”
At Cheong Myeong’s question, the smile on Jang Il-so’s lips turned ominously deeper.
“I don’t need much. One sword will do.”
“A sword?”
Jang Il-so nodded slowly.
“It’s hard to explain, but it seems my own sword doesn’t work very well on those bastards.”
Cheong Myeong’s expression hardened slightly.
“Then there’s nothing to be done, is there? No matter if it’s unfamiliar and dangerous, you just have to borrow the sword that cuts well. The one to drive straight into the throat of that priest or whatever the hell he is….”
Jang Il-so looked at Cheong Myeong with eyes curved sweetly shut.
“A blade that’s sharp beyond measure.”
Cheong Myeong’s face was now utterly cold.
From the start, he had expected Jang Il-so to come seeking help.
Because he’s Sapa.
A normal member of the Demonic Sect might be manageable. But if the priest Jang Il-so spoke of had truly appeared—if he was the “real” priest Cheong Myeong knew—then the bastards of the Evil Tyrant Alliance would never be able to take him down.
Because demonic arts that surpassed their level would tear Sapa to pieces.
If righteousness was what symbolized the Orthodox sects, and desire what symbolized Sapa, then what symbolized the Demonic Path was none other than malice.
Not malice toward Sapa, but malice toward humanity.
Even Cheong Myeong found the principle difficult to fully grasp, but in any case, demonic arts suppressed ordinary martial arts and made them unable to display their true power.
Their past selves had learned that fact through countless pitched battles.
But….
He figured it out only from deduction, without ever fighting one directly….
He didn’t want to admit it, but Jang Il-so really was a terrifying bastard.
And yet what was more frightening might not be the brain that pieced all that together, but the decisiveness that sent him across this river with not a single shred of doubt in his own judgment.
“A sharp blade, huh….”
Lost in thought, Cheong Myeong bared his teeth.
“I don’t know whether some stupid Sapa bastard would understand this, but a famous sword demands worth from the one who wields it, too.”
“Hmm?”
“A bastard like you doesn’t have the right to hold a famous sword.”
“Well now. Do I?”
Jang Il-so snickered. Then, in an instant, the amusement vanished from his face.
“Enough with the petty metaphors, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
“…….”
“I need you to cut down that madman. The longer we drag this out, the worse the situation becomes. The faster the decision, the better.”
“You think I’d ever join hands with someone like you?”
“No. No, of course not, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
Jang Il-so shook his head.
“This isn’t about joining hands. You’ll deal with the priest your way, and I’ll deal with him my way.”
“…….”
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? That you owe me your life once?”
Cheong Myeong ground his teeth softly. Jang Il-so’s shoulders shook as if he were holding back laughter.
“Why? Planning to pretend a debt owed to some insignificant Sapa bastard never existed?”
Cheong Myeong glared at Jang Il-so with cold eyes.
“And if I do?”
“Hmm?”
Tilting his head, Jang Il-so heard Cheong Myeong speak with complete composure.
“What if I say I’ve got no debt to repay to any Sapa bastard? What then—are you going to kneel down and beg?”
“Kneel? Hahahahahahahahaha!”
Suddenly, Jang Il-so burst into wild laughter.
His laughter, infused with internal energy, boomed across the Yangtze like thunder. Ogeom staggered as if struck by the force that had poured over them.
“Kneel? Kneel, you say? Me? This Jang Il-so? Hahahahahahaha!”
Jang Il-so laughed as though he might actually cry. His extravagant ornaments rattled and chimed noisily. It was a strangely chilling sight.
After laughing for a long while as if the very idea were absurd, Jang Il-so looked steadily at Cheong Myeong. A mad glint lived in his eyes. His slightly reddened gaze shone with a lurid light between his bloodless white skin.
“So. You want me, Jang Il-so, to kneel and beg?”
“…….”
“Then I will.”
Cheong Myeong’s face stiffened. But Jang Il-so only smiled more leisurely, more deeply.
“If that is what you want, then I should give it to you.”
Step.
Jang Il-so took one step toward Cheong Myeong.
“Kneeling down.”
Another step.
“Lowering my head and pressing it into the ground.”
The distance between Cheong Myeong and Jang Il-so shrank until they seemed almost close enough to touch.
“And if that still isn’t enough….”
Then, drawing close enough that he was practically breathing on Cheong Myeong, Jang Il-so whispered in a voice thick with a strange heat,
“I’ll even lick your shoes and beg. Please help me. Please. Please. Please.”
Baek Cheon, who had been staring at the whole spectacle as if bewitched, took an unconscious step back.
A shiver raced over his entire body.
He understood in his head that all of it was just Jang Il-so’s trademark exaggeration. But understanding it and accepting it were not the same thing. Merely hearing that voice felt like a cold snake was slithering over his skin.
What in the world is that bastard…?
Step.
With one final step, Jang Il-so came closer and looked down at Cheong Myeong’s face.
“If that is what you want, I can do it however many times you like. Is that enough?”
In that instant.
Cheong Myeong reached out, seized Jang Il-so by the collar, and yanked him downward. Jang Il-so’s body bent, bringing their eye levels into alignment.
Staring into Jang Il-so’s close-up eyes, Cheong Myeong growled,
“Listen up, you goddamn son of a bitch.”
“…….”
“I don’t give a damn about debts. Even if you hadn’t asked, I was going to come of my own accord. So make this crystal clear in your head. I’m not moving for you, and Mount Hua isn’t moving for your sake either.”
Thud!
Cheong Myeong shoved Jang Il-so in the chest. Rocking back and retreating two or three steps, Jang Il-so let out a faint laugh.
“Of course you wouldn’t.”
“Just get your preparations in order. You’re going to have a hard time if you want to deal with us.”
“Of course….”
Jang Il-so, who had been about to nod with a sneer, suddenly froze. Then he looked at Cheong Myeong with questioning eyes.
“Us?”
“Yeah, us.”
“…….”
“You said you needed a sword, didn’t you? The sword to cut the priest’s throat.”
“……I did.”
“These guys….”
Cheong Myeong jerked his chin toward the people standing behind him.
“Are that sword.”
The words pierced Baek Cheon’s ears with startling clarity. Before he realized it, his fist had clenched tight.
“……They don’t exactly look very sharp to me.”
“You can look forward to it.”
Cheong Myeong bared his teeth in a grin.
“I forged them myself. They’re sharp enough to cut not only the priest’s throat, but yours someday, too.”
“……Now that really does sound promising.”
Jang Il-so looked at Ogeom with renewed interest. Wearing that strange smile, one whose meaning was impossible to guess, he soon turned his body slowly, as though the business was done.
“We depart at dawn.”
“…….”
“Then… let’s meet again, shall we? You righteous brats.”
As slowly as he had come, Jang Il-so began walking away from them.