They’ll Handle It Themselves (2)
The Evil Tyrant Alliance’s forces began moving deeper into the island. Lee Ja-yang’s face stiffened as he watched.
"Senior Brother."
"……"
"If this keeps up, aren’t we basically screwed?"
Cold sweat beaded on Lee Ja-yang’s forehead.
From the beginning, the plan they had made wasn’t all that complicated.
Once the Evil Tyrant Alliance landed on the shore and headed toward Oji Mountain, where the Hainan Sect was based, leaving their ships behind, they would watch the situation for a while, then seize the boats and head inland.
It was as simple as could be, and yet also as certain as anything could be.
Why? Because the reason was simple.
From the Evil Tyrant Alliance’s point of view, they would never have imagined that the Hainan Sect, which survived by using Hainan as its base, would abandon its home mountain and march straight into Jiangnan.
It was a lunatic plan they themselves in the Hainan Sect had never once even considered, so there was no way the Evil Tyrant Alliance would have factored it in.
Deciding to do it would be horribly difficult, but once they had made up their minds, it was a plan that was hard to fail.
And yet…
"Those bastards… they’re guarding the boats? Did they figure us out?"
Gwak Hwan-so answered in a tense voice.
"……They probably haven’t exposed the plan. If they had, they wouldn’t leave only that many men behind. They’d seal off the shore and search for us instead."
Lee Ja-yang nodded. Gwak Hwan-so’s words made sense. But still…
Even so, isn’t the plan already off track?
Just looking at the Ghost Spear Brigade guarding the boats made his heart feel as though it were weighted with lead. Judging by their dress, they were surely from the Myriad Man Sect. If the Myriad Man Sect’s men were left behind in those numbers to hold the line, then there was no way their plan to seize the boats in one swift move would succeed.
What should we do?
Beads of sweat ran down the bridge of Lee Ja-yang’s nose.
Among the Hainan disciples, he was known as a sort of brain box, but even so, he couldn’t come up with a proper solution in this situation.
Of course, if they committed Hainan’s full strength, defeating those men wouldn’t be difficult. No matter what anyone said, Hainan was one of the Ten Great Sects, a powerful orthodox faction.
But that still didn’t mean the battle would end instantly.
After all, the opponents were the Myriad Man Sect’s men—the vanguard of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, weren’t they?
If they delayed even a little, the main force that had left the shore might notice what was happening and come back. If that happened…
Then it’s over.
Even if they fought while taking advantage of the terrain, victory would be hard to expect. It was obvious enough what would happen if the Myriad Man Sect caught them in a pincer attack on this open shoreline.
"For now, I think all we can do is wait as long as possible, Senior Brother."
"Wait?"
"Yes. We have no choice but to wait until the Myriad Man Sect’s main force goes deep enough into the island. Then, even if they realize we’re attacking the men left behind, it’ll take time for reinforcements to arrive."
They would have to use that opening to wipe those men out as quickly as possible.
"……The damage will be worse, though."
"Do you have another way?"
A sigh slipped from Gwak Hwan-so’s mouth.
The reason he had wanted to seize the boats quickly in the first place was that having the Myriad Man Sect’s main force venture deep into the island was hardly a welcome development either.
Their current target was Oji Mountain, where the Hainan Sect’s main compound stood. But people lived along the road to Oji Mountain.
For Gwak Hwan-so, who had heard firsthand exactly what those Sapa bastards had done in Shaanxi while Mount Hua was absent, there was no way he wanted the Evil Tyrant Alliance getting anywhere near the common people.
Is there really no other choice?
But Lee Ja-yang’s words weren’t wrong either. If they rushed things clumsily, got trapped on this island, or were wiped out in a pincer attack, the damage would only grow worse.
What about the Sect Leader?
Gwak Hwan-so turned his head and looked toward the opposite peak. On the other side, where Geum Yang-baek had split off with a portion of the troops to lie in ambush, there was no clear reaction either. He was probably just as confused.
"……And that’s how it’ll be anyway."
"Hm?"
"The attack signal is supposed to come from the Heavenly Friends Alliance. Even if it were us, the Heavenly Friends Alliance has no reason to take risks worrying about the common people of Hainan, does it?"
"……"
Lee Ja-yang clicked his tongue briefly, his expression faintly angry.
"Those damn Myriad Man Sect bastards will go ahead and cause as much trouble as they can, and only then will they come out and say it’s time to fight. Because that’s the rational thing to do."
Gwak Hwan-so let out a sigh.
What Lee Ja-yang was saying didn’t make sense from beginning to end. Lee Ja-yang clearly understood that, in this situation, waiting as long as possible was the best option. And yet the reason he was so full of resentment was simple.
Was his home nearby?
The village where Lee Ja-yang had lived before joining Hainan lay along the road from the shore toward Oji Mountain. If the Myriad Man Sect advanced in a straight line toward Oji Mountain, there was no way around passing through the village where Lee Ja-yang had once lived.
And there, his family lived.
His head could argue for reason and sacrifice, for the greater good over the lesser, but his heart apparently refused to cooperate.
Then again, who could stay calm when their silence might lead to their own family being harmed?
"Ja-yang…"
"Don’t worry about it."
Lee Ja-yang cut him off coldly, his voice faintly sharp.
"I’m not an idiot who doesn’t know what matters first. I know perfectly well that because they’re my family, they shouldn’t get any special treatment compared to the other common people of Hainan."
"……"
"So don’t worry. I’m not going to act like some asshole and charge out because I can’t hold myself back and ruin everything."
When he finished speaking, Lee Ja-yang bit his lip hard.
Gwak Hwan-so couldn’t say anything to him. All he could do was grip his junior brother’s trembling shoulder tightly.
"Bear with it."
"……I know."
How could he not want to rush out this very moment?
But he had to endure it. If he didn’t, more people could wind up losing their lives.
"Honestly, it’s a relief that the Heavenly Friends Alliance took command. If the Sect Leader were in charge, I might’ve already run straight to him by now."
Lee Ja-yang forced a laugh as he spoke. But the smile only made him seem more pitiful. Gwak Hwan-so lowered his head slightly.
It was then.
"No, wait a second, Senior Brother. Is this really okay?"
"……Hm? What is it?"
Another disciple who had been with them spoke up, looking flustered.
"Aren’t we just wasting time?"
"Hm?"
"Did you forget? We drilled holes all through that boat. It’s floating now, sure, but it’s going to sink soon!"
The moment Lee Ja-yang and Gwak Hwan-so heard that, their faces went pale in an instant.
They had been so tense that they’d completely forgotten.
"W-we drilled holes in it because we thought it was better than just smashing the whole boat, but… if we keep stalling, it’ll give us away. Then…"
Lee Ja-yang and Gwak Hwan-so looked at each other with grim faces.
Dammit.
If they’d known this would happen, they should’ve just smashed the boats like they were told! Why the hell had they been so stubborn?
"H-Hua Mountain? Does Hua Mountain know about this?"
"……I don’t know. No, even if they do, they probably don’t know exactly when the boat will sink. We’re the ones who drilled the holes and prepared this."
"Aren’t we supposed to tell them, then?"
"How? We can’t show ourselves right now! They’re right over there in front of us!"
"This is bad…"
"I-I caused trouble for nothing…"
Lee Ja-yang, sensing instinctively that things had gone terribly wrong, stared desperately toward the front with wavering eyes.
And then, at that very moment—
"……Huh?"
Lee Ja-yang’s mouth slowly fell open.
"T-that… that thing… that?"
"Hm?"
Gwak Hwan-so looked at him in confusion. Lee Ja-yang’s face had gone ghastly pale, as if he’d just come face to face with a ghost.
"What is it?"
"T-that… what the…? That insane… that insane bastard?"
"Insane bastard?"
If there was an insane bastard here… could it be?
Gwak Hwan-so whipped his gaze toward the direction Lee Ja-yang was staring.
"……Him."
And at that moment, Gwak Hwan-so’s eyes widened to twice their usual size.
On the downhill path leading to the shore, a man was trudging down the slope, his drawn sword casually slung over one shoulder.
"H-Hua Mountain… Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"W-what the hell is that crazy bastard doing?"
Their jaws dropped.
Cheong Myeong’s expression, for his part, remained as indifferent as ever.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
"Tch."
Hu Meng, the deputy commander of the Myriad Man Sect’s Ghost Spear Brigade, twisted his face and clicked his tongue.
"Dammit."
Everything about this was irritating.
They had raced all the way here from that distant Yangtze River, and now that they’d finally reached Hainan, they were stuck standing guard over some damn boats. If he’d been in a good mood about that, then the world would’ve turned upside down.
"Why the hell did it have to be us?"
"If you had something to say, why didn’t you say it when the military adviser was here?"
"Dammit. What would I even say to a man who wouldn’t bleed a single drop even if you stabbed him with a needle?"
Hu Meng glared irritably at the boats behind him.
"That’s the problem with that military adviser, see? Who’d even want these boats? If you’re so worried, leave a few men behind, that’s all. Does it even make sense to pull out an entire detachment just to guard some boats?"
"Hush. You’re too loud."
"If the Alliance Lord were here, he wouldn’t waste a thought on something this trivial. That’s why I hate moving around with the military adviser."
This time, the others around him didn’t say anything either.
"Still, losing the boats isn’t exactly good for us, is it?"
"You should make sense when you speak. Where do you think Hainan is? It’s an island! Boats are scattered all over the place on an island. So what if we lose a few? We can just get more."
"The military adviser must have some plan."
"Dammit."
Hu Meng spat out another harsh curse and grumbled on.
"We came all the way to Hainan, and I thought I might finally get a taste of some blood, but it looks like all I’ll do is sightsee on this damned island and go back."
"Considering you came here with the military adviser, you wouldn’t have been able to properly enjoy yourself even if you’d gone up with the others."
Hu Meng let out a long, annoyed sigh.
Hm?
Then his eyes suddenly narrowed slightly.
Across the wide grassland touching the shore, at the edge of the thick brush, someone was trudging toward them.
"What’s that?"
"……Probably some Hainan bastard. Looks like he’s coming to take a boat or something."
"That idiot’s just rushing himself toward death. Since we’ve got nothing better to do, maybe we should play with that one…"
Hu Meng licked his lips as though he’d found a pleasant surprise and rolled up his sleeves, but then he abruptly fell silent.
Hm?
The outfit of the person trudging toward them looked oddly familiar.
Is that… a martial uniform?
It was clearly different from the clothes worn by ordinary commoners—a practical martial uniform built for movement. And black at that.
Up to this point, there was nothing particularly strange. Black martial uniforms were among the most favored garments for martial artists in the Central Plains. Besides, Hainan was a fairly large island; there was nothing odd about a wandering loner who didn’t belong to the Hainan Sect being here, was there?
The problem came next.
"……That."
"Yes?"
"That—could that be plum blossom embroidery?"
At Hu Meng’s question, everyone’s heads snapped around. Their eyes fixed on the chest of the person trudging toward them.
"……It looks like it, doesn’t it?"
"Y-yes. It’s plum blossoms."
"Plum blossoms?"
There were countless sects under heaven, but there was only one whose symbol was black martial clothing and plum blossom embroidery.
"H-Hua Mountain?"
But why on earth would Hua Mountain’s uniform appear in a place like this?
"D-deputy commander!"
"Hm?"
"That, that man… that! H-he’s the one! That’s him!"
"The one, you say?"
"H-Hua Mountain…"
"Hm?"
"The Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
The four words Mount Hua Divine Dragon pierced straight through the hearts of the men stationed on the shore.
Merely hearing those words was enough to make the muscles in their bodies, which had been loose and unguarded until then, snap tight as if they’d already entered battle.
"The Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"Yes! It’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon! I remember him clearly!"
"W-what is that bastard doing here…?"
But before they could make sense of the situation, the man was already closer than they were ready for. Cheong Myeong arrived at the very edge of their defenses, where they had not even finished setting up their guard, and stopped walking. Then he opened his mouth toward the Ghost Spear Brigade, who were watching him with tense, wary eyes.
"Hey. You lot. You know how to scream?"
"……What?"
Someone blurted out the question before he could stop himself, startled by the absurdity of it. Cheong Myeong answered in an unhurried voice.
"Try screaming properly."
The sword slung over his shoulder slowly slid down.
"So the bastards who went ahead can hear it nice and clear."
Cheong Myeong’s blade, bathed in the hot sunlight, flashed with a chilling glint.