I Know It, But I Can’t Hold Back! (1)
Rumors spread faster than the wind.
The fact that Maninbang had pushed into Shaanxi and attacked Mount Hua swept across the world at an astonishing speed.
It was hardly surprising; people of the Jianghu had always been quick to prick up their ears at news like this.
But this rumor spread even faster than usual because Beggars’ Sect had taken one look at the situation, turned white with shock, and sent out calls for help in every direction.
And before that rumor could even fully settle, a new one raced through the land at an even greater speed.
— Mount Hua had defeated Maninbang.
Those who first heard it thought it was complete nonsense.
But when the same report came a second time, then a third, no one dared argue anymore.
And why would they? This was hardly the first time Mount Hua had done something absurd.
“Good heavens, they beat Maninbang?”
“It’s not as if the whole of Maninbang came charging in, is it?”
“What does that matter? It was Maninbang! Maninbang! They sent three great houses, didn’t they? Do you really think Maninbang would send anything less than the men it judged necessary to crush Mount Hua?”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
“Ha! In any case, it’s truly remarkable. It hasn’t even been that long since they made their name at the All-Heaven Martial Tournament, and now this—Maninbang? There isn’t a single day when Mount Hua news doesn’t come flying in.”
Ordinary people focused simply on the fact that Mount Hua had beaten Maninbang.
The very Maninbang that had been rampaging through the Jianghu as one of the Five Hegemons had lost to Mount Hua, a sect that had only just begun to regain its reputation. For gossipmongers, there could be no sweeter morsel.
But those who looked a little deeper saw something else entirely.
Wudang.
The man with the long black beard slowly drew his brush across the paper.
Each time the brush moved smoothly, a chrysanthemum bloomed on the painting, vivid and lifelike as if it were breathing.
But only for a moment.
“They say Mount Hua drove back Maninbang, who had attacked their main peak.”
The man painting the chrysanthemum frowned faintly.
And the tip of the delicately drawn line thickened ever so slightly. That momentary flaw robbed the entire flower of its vitality.
I’m still lacking in cultivation.
Heo Do-jin-in, the Sect Leader of Wudang, set down the brush he was holding and straightened his back.
“...Mount Hua again.”
He frowned as he looked at Heo Gong-jin-in, who sat in proper meditation posture before him.
“Heo Gong.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Would it be too much to say I’m sick of hearing about Mount Hua?”
“...It would not be an exaggeration.”
Heo Do-jin-in gave a low sigh.
“Jealousy over another’s joy is not the manner of a Daoist, but lately I’ve had no choice but to admit that I’m a petty man. Just hearing the word Mount Hua makes my stomach ache.”
Heo Gong-jin-in let out a long breath at that.
Across the whole Jianghu, the place that hated seeing Mount Hua rise the most was naturally Zhongnan. They were destined to trample on one another if either was to stand higher.
The problem was that the place that disliked Mount Hua’s resurgence second most was Wudang.
Unlike the awkward relationship between two sects tied together by Shaanxi’s geography, Mount Hua and Wudang were so similar in so many ways that their coexistence had always been difficult to define.
They were both Daoist sects, and both sword sects. In other words, they were rivals competing to be the number one Daoist sect and the number one sword sect at the same time.
Not long ago, Heo Do-jin-in wouldn’t have cared in the slightest about a place like Mount Hua, but now he could no longer dismiss it as a fallen sect of the past.
“What do you think?”
“About what, Sect Leader?”
“What you’re already thinking.”
Heo Gong-jin-in’s brows drew together slightly.
“I don’t presume to know the Sect Leader’s intent, but I believe this matter cannot end simply as Mount Hua’s affair.”
“...It cannot end with Mount Hua?”
“Please stop testing me when you already know the answer.”
Heo Do-jin-in broke into hearty laughter.
“Forgive me. It’s a bad habit.”
Heo Gong-jin-in sighed and went on.
“Maninbang has pushed into Shaanxi. What happened with Mount Hua during that process does not matter in the least. What matters is that they set foot on Shaanxi soil.”
“Indeed.”
Present-day Central Plains is a world ruled by the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Families, and the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu. Aside from the Outer Five Palaces beyond the Central Plains, there is no force capable of standing beside them.
But until now, each of those powers had rarely clashed with the others. The scars left by the war with the Demonic Sect were so deep that simply tending to one’s own sect had been the limit.
So they guarded their own territories as best they could and did not casually trespass into another’s.
But now Maninbang had broken that unspoken rule and crossed a province to attack another sect.
“Mount Hua is not one of the Nine Sects.”
“True. But that doesn’t make this any less dangerous.”
Heo Gong-jin-in shook his head. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
“Sect Leader. Wudang, too, is trying to expand its lay disciples beyond Hubei and into other provinces, is it not?”
That was true.
And then it had collided with Mount Hua and suffered a bitter setback at the Sword Tomb.
“The other sects are the same. It means this is no longer an age where anyone can be satisfied with what they already have.”
“Hmm.”
“This move by Maninbang will become the starting point.”
Heo Do-jin-in’s brow furrowed at those words.
The Jianghu had always repeated the same history. Like the moon waxing and waning, when a sect grew powerful, it desired more. Conflict between sects deepened, and eventually war spread across the entire Jianghu.
After exhausting their strength in that way, there would be a brief period of calm, only for clashes to begin again. Over and over.
The thing that had broken that cycle was the fierce war with the Demonic Sect.
The Demonic Sect had been so powerful it drained every reserve of strength the orthodox world possessed, and the sects that spent themselves stopping it no longer dared to provoke one another.
That was how a hundred years of peace had been maintained.
But now even that momentum is dying out.
A trace of worry flickered across Heo Do-jin-in’s face.
“The situation is terrible.”
At last, the thoughts he usually kept buried began to surface.
“The patience of the Nine Sects, the Five Great Families, and the Five Hegemons has reached its limit. No matter how hard one tries to stop it, someone will provoke a clash and start a war.”
“Yes.”
“But that isn’t the only problem.”
Heo Do-jin-in narrowed his eyes.
“It seems Shaolin’s abbot is in trouble.”
“Shaolin, you say?”
“Yes. It appears he hasn’t found the slightest clue for resolving the matter in the Northern Sea.”
“...…”
At the mention of the Northern Sea, Heo Gong-jin-in’s face hardened.
The Northern Sea.
The place where traces of the Demonic Sect had been discovered.
“Originally, anything involving the Demonic Sect should have the entire Jianghu rising to its feet. The problem is that there is no one in the present Jianghu who can gather the sects and issue commands.”
“Wasn’t that supposed to be Shaolin’s role?”
“Indeed. Under normal circumstances, it would have been. But Beop Jeong was too greedy. If the martial tournament Shaolin hosted this time had gone according to plan, by now Shaolin would have been able to command the entire martial world with a single finger. But...”
A slight smile appeared on Heo Do-jin-in’s face.
“Mount Hua ruined everything.”
“...Yes.”
At this All-Heaven Martial Tournament, Shaolin had suffered a complete and utter humiliation. It would almost have been better if every Shaolin contestant had been eliminated in the preliminaries.
In the Jianghu, skill mattered, but face mattered too.
With Shaolin’s dignity thrown into the dirt, no matter how much help they sought, the response would have been lukewarm at best.
“The sects are beginning to stir, the matter of the Demonic Sect—the first priority—has dragged on hopelessly, and now an entirely unexpected rising power is making its name known throughout the world. Heo Gong. Do you know what such an age is called?”
“...I’m not sure.”
“A turbulent age.”
Heo Do-jin-in’s gaze sank into darkness.
“The moon waxes and wanes, and when peace endures too long, a turbulent age comes.”
“...A turbulent age.”
Even Heo Gong-jin-in’s face was shadowed by tense darkness.
“The way to survive a turbulent age is to keep yourself firmly guarded. For now, restrain yourself and gather information from the outside. Something new is surely stirring somewhere.”
“Understood, Sect Leader.”
“And...”
“Yes?”
“Increase the surveillance on Mount Hua.”
“...Mount Hua?”
“Yes.”
At those words, Heo Gong-jin-in’s expression turned faintly strange.
“Sect Leader, forgive me, but...”
“Hm?”
“I know Mount Hua is riding high. I know they have the finest young prodigy in the world and that they even drove back Maninbang. But even so, Mount Hua is...”
“Do you know what always appears in a turbulent age?”
Heo Do-jin-in cut him off as though he already knew what Heo Gong-jin-in wanted to say.
“...I don’t.”
“Heroes.”
Heo Gong-jin-in stiffened.
“Mount Hua drove back Maninbang. Do you know what that means? It means a Mount Hua with hardly any First-Generation Disciples at all defeated Maninbang’s martial force with only Second- and Third-Generation Disciples.”
“But even that much is something Wudang could easily...”
“Those children had never experienced real combat, and they drove back Maninbang. That experience would have sharpened their martial prowess even further, and surely filled them with confidence that they would not lose to anyone.”
“...…”
“Do not underestimate Mount Hua. It is no easy sect. Wudang may not be surpassed by them in this generation, but if this continues, someday in the future Mount Hua’s name may ring louder than Wudang’s.”
“...I will keep that in mind.”
Heo Gong-jin-in lowered his head slightly.
But his face still showed nothing so much as incomprehension.
Of course.
Anyone who had never once seen Wudang fall behind Mount Hua would never understand Heo Do-jin-in’s concern now.
But Heo Do-jin-in knew.
There had once been an age when Wudang had to bow its head before Mount Hua.
I will never let that humiliation repeat itself.
The fist resting on Heo Do-jin-in’s knee clenched tightly.
“The reason surveillance is needed for Mount Hua is not merely to keep watch over them.”
“Then why, Sect Leader?”
“Do you think Maninbang will simply sit still?”
“Ah...”
Only then did Heo Gong nod heavily.
Paegun Jang Il-so, the leader of Maninbang, was infamous for his violent, vicious temperament. There was no way he would swallow such a humiliating defeat and simply pull back.
“Maninbang has many reasons that make it difficult for them to move carelessly right now. But human beings sometimes throw caution aside and rush to extremes. If Jang Il-so were to lead all of Maninbang and march into Shaanxi...”
Heo Do-jin-in’s eyes sank heavily.
“It would be like a powder keg exploding in the middle of an otherwise quiet Jianghu.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So...”
The man’s eyes glittered with a wicked light.
Even though no wind blew, the pure white robe wrapped around his body billowed faintly.
His narrow, almost androgynous face and red lips made anyone who looked at him feel even more afraid.
Jingle.
The rings adorning all ten of his fingers clinked together, producing a clear but chilling sound.
“They’re all dead?”
“...Not all of them, but...”
“Most of them are dead?”
“Yes.”
Jang Il-so, who had been lying sideways on the bed, slowly pushed himself upright. Then he hooked one leg over the side of the bed and rested his chin on his hand.
“Gamyeong.”
“Yes.”
Ho Gamyeong, the military strategist of Maninbang, immediately lowered his head.
“I sent out three great houses. And even the Black Claw Unit. I sent more men than was strictly necessary because I wanted those Mount Hua bastards wiped out completely. And yet... you’re telling me that instead of killing them all, you got beaten to death by them?”
“...”
Ho Gamyeong could not even summon the courage to answer. He only bowed his head lower.
“Where did it all go wrong? Hmm?”
“...Mount Hua’s strength was greater than we anticipated.”
“Yes. Of course it was. Naturally. Do you think I’m making this noise because I don’t know something that obvious?”
His voice was gentle and sweet beyond measure.
And that very lack of anger made Ho Gamyeong’s neck run cold.
“How amusing. So very amusing. The people of the world must be laughing at Maninbang and at me right now, aren’t they? Saying that a toothless tiger that couldn’t even handle a tiny sect overreached itself and ended up losing its claws as well. Hahaha. Isn’t it funny? A tiger with its claws ripped out.”
The laughter that had been flowing for a while suddenly cut off. Jang Il-so’s eyes flashed a ghastly blue for an instant.
“Gather the fighters. We’re going to Mount Hua.”
“Le, Leader! We can’t move right now—!”
BOOM!
Ho Gamyeong’s body flew through the air and slammed into the hall wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and slid weakly down to the floor.
“You don’t know order, do you? You don’t know order at all. Hmm? I’ve told you time and again, haven’t I? You must look at the profit farther ahead, not the profit right in front of your nose.”
“Cough...”
Ho Gamyeong struggled to his knees again and pressed his head to the floor.
“Those who call themselves evil must not be laughed at. They may be hated and pointed at, but the fingers that point at them must tremble with fear. Do you understand?”
“...I will keep it in mind.”
“Gather the fighters. I’ll go to Mount Hua myself.”
The hem of his white robe swept violently through the air. Jang Il-so was just about to take a step when—
“Le, Leader!”
Someone burst through the hall doors with a frantic face. One of the great house heads.
A flicker of irritation crossed Jang Il-so’s face.
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
“A, a guest! A guest has arrived.”
“Mm?”
Momentarily distracted from his irritation by the unexpected news, Jang Il-so tilted his head.
A guest?
Was there anyone who would come here? Anyone important enough to make one of the great house heads look so pale?
As though answering Jang Il-so’s question, someone strode heavily into the hall.
And when Jang Il-so recognized that face, his brows furrowed before he could stop himself.