I Know It, But I Can’t Hold Back! (2)
A middle-aged man who looked remarkably composed.
His hair, neatly swept back, and his carefully trimmed beard made it easy to guess at his temperament.
At first glance, he looked like nothing more than a clean-cut middle-aged scholar.
But that was only the impression of an ordinary commoner.
Anyone who made his living by the sword could not help seeing something different first.
Green robe.
The green garments that covered him from head to toe, and sleeves twice as wide as those of ordinary clothing.
Anyone in the jianghu would have no choice but to think of one name.
Jang Il-so stared at the middle-aged man in silence for a long moment, his eyes glittering with something vicious.
He had walked alone into the great hall of Maninbang, a place feared by all under heaven, and yet he looked as relaxed and unhurried as if he owned the place. That only made Jang Il-so’s nerves itch.
“You just barge in without permission. Don’t you know a thing about manners?”
The answer came at once.
“Of course I know manners….”
The middle-aged man in green glanced casually around the hall.
“But no one tried to stop me. They didn’t even guide me in. I had no choice, did I?”
At that, Jang Il-so glared at the man who had stormed inside with obvious irritation. The one who received his gaze shuddered and bowed his head deeply.
“Tsk.”
The Jang Il-so of usual would never have tolerated such disgrace from one of his subordinates. But right now, he didn’t even feel like blaming him.
“My boys learn their place fast. Unless they’ve got two lives, they wouldn’t dare block the path of the Poison King.”
The man in green.
Tang Gun-ak, the Poison King, smiled lightly.
“To think the Tyrant Lord of the world would recognize me at once. Seems I haven’t wasted my life after all.”
“Tsk.”
Jang Il-so clicked his tongue with a dissatisfied look and studied Tang Gun-ak.
Tang Gun-ak, is it.
He had seemed calm on the outside, but even Jang Il-so was unsettled inside. Who could have imagined that the lord of the Tang Family, with whom he had no connection whatsoever, would walk alone into the very heart of Maninbang?
“Here to give me your head? The head of the Poison King Tang Gun-ak wouldn’t make a bad gift.”
“It wouldn’t be difficult to hand it over, but would Maninbang even be able to handle my head?”
The two men smiled at one another.
Their expressions were gentler than could be believed, yet those watching them did not dare even breathe under the pressure.
It was Jang Il-so who spoke again first.
“So. What is it?”
“I’ve come to warn you, Tyrant Lord.”
“Warn me?”
At the word, Jang Il-so’s eyes curved faintly.
Ho Gamyeong bit down hard on his lip at the sight. He knew that expression well; it appeared when Jang Il-so was thinking of murder.
No.
It would not be difficult to kill the Poison King here. If he chose, then no matter how great a master Tang Gun-ak might be, he would not be able to walk out of Maninbang alive.
But the problem was what came after.
If the Tang Family lost its lord, that would be an entirely different matter from some sect losing its leader. If Tang Gun-ak came to harm here, the Tang Family would surely gather all their strength and march straight on Maninbang.
“A warning… a warning, you say. I don’t think I’ve ever been warned by anyone in my life.”
“Then this will be your first time.”
Jang Il-so gave a quiet laugh.
“The Poison King, Tang Gun-ak. I’ve heard you’re a truly exceptional man, but you’re even more than I expected. Well then, go ahead and say your piece. I should hear it. That way I won’t be curious after I kill you.”
Even after hearing such murderous words, Tang Gun-ak did not so much as twitch.
“Withdraw your hand from Mount Hua.”
“……”
Jang Il-so’s brows twitched slightly.
He had been prepared to sneer at whatever came next, but that answer was too far from what he had expected.
“...Mount Hua?”
“Yes.”
Jang Il-so looked at Tang Gun-ak in bafflement.
“So….”
He scratched lightly at his clean-shaven face, then asked with obvious disbelief.
“The lord of the great Tang Family walks into Maninbang alone, without so much as an escort, just to tell me to stay my hand from Mount Hua?”
“……”
“You’re not here to amuse yourself, are you? Then what—did the illustrious lord of the Tang Family find Maninbang too insignificant to take seriously? Bold enough to put such a warning on his lips?”
Jang Il-so, who had been smiling crookedly the entire time, suddenly hardened his expression and sprang up from his seat.
At the same moment, a storm-like aura burst from his body. It was a sinister, terrifying energy, like a massive serpent raising its sleek body and flicking its tongue.
Yet Tang Gun-ak, facing that pressure head-on, still looked utterly unmoved.
“First, calm yourself.”
“Is it necessary?”
“I said calm yourself.”
Tang Gun-ak faced Jang Il-so with an unreadable expression.
Guh.
Under the presence of those two giants colliding, the people in the hall groaned as though a massive boulder had come crashing down on them.
Then Jang Il-so, who had been glaring at Tang Gun-ak with eyes glittering with killing intent, suddenly let out a sigh and sat back down. The aura that had been pouring out of him vanished as if it had never been there at all.
“If you say anything boring, I’ll cut your head off.”
Tang Gun-ak gave a slight nod.
“This is not my own will, but the will of the Tang Family. If Maninbang lays hands on Mount Hua again, then from that moment on, you will not be facing Mount Hua, but the Sichuan Tang Family.”
“...What does the Tang Family have to do with Mount Hua?”
“The Tang Family formed an alliance with Mount Hua long ago. It is only natural that we fight together.”
“Ha…. Hahahat? Haha?”
Jang Il-so laughed in disbelief for a moment before asking,
“So the Tang Family will fight Maninbang in place of some tiny sect? Has the Tang Family gone mad, or does Maninbang look that soft?”
“Neither, of course.”
“Then what? Ah, have I been taking the Sichuan Tang Family too lightly? Is it a house that can handle Maninbang with ease?”
As Jang Il-so sneered, Tang Gun-ak’s mouth curved into a strange smile.
“If the Sichuan Tang Family alone is not enough, then how about the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?”
That brought a visible freeze to Jang Il-so’s face.
“...What did you just say?”
“The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace also regards Mount Hua as a close friend, so they will not turn away from their difficulties. What do you say, Tyrant Lord? Do you have the will to face Mount Hua, the Tang Family, and the Beast Palace all at once?”
The smile vanished from Jang Il-so’s face. His long eyes narrowed to slits.
There was a delicate tension between the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families. They all claimed to be righteous, but in truth they were like water and oil.
And yet Mount Hua, one of the Nine Sects, had allied with the Tang Family, one of the Five Great Families? And now even the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, one of those outer powers the Central Plains instinctively ground their teeth at?
If anyone else had said this, he would have cut off their head for talking nonsense.
But this was not a man who spoke nonsense. It was none other than the Poison King Tang Gun-ak.
“So….”
Jang Il-so studied Tang Gun-ak carefully with a strange look in his eyes.
“Mount Hua, the Tang Family, and even the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace are on the same boat, and you want me to know my place and tuck my tail between my legs?”
“That is a rather crude interpretation.”
“Interesting. Very interesting. Only someone who doesn’t take Jang Il-so for a common thug would dare make such a proposal. Hahahahahat. Very interesting indeed.”
As if his urge to kill had eased, Jang Il-so laughed and licked his lips with his tongue. An incomprehensible light flashed blue through his eyes.
But Tang Gun-ak simply looked back at him without the slightest reaction.
How much time passed?
After that perilous standoff, stretched taut like a drawn string, Jang Il-so finally lifted the corners of his mouth.
Then he shrugged and spoke.
“Fine. I’ll do as you say.”
That unexpected response made Ho Gamyeong stare at him in shock.
The Tyrant Lord Jang Il-so.
He was a man who hated losing more than anything. He was not someone who would retreat just because the Tang Family’s lord had come at him like this.
Hadn’t he been ready just moments ago to slap down the one trying to dissuade him and force his own will through?
And now he was backing down like this?
What on earth is he thinking?
Ho Gamyeong stared in confusion, but Jang Il-so only kept his face bright with a radiant smile and said gently to Tang Gun-ak,
“Instead, you’ll have to compensate me appropriately. You understand what I mean, yes?”
“What do you want?”
“As expected, I do like how fast you are.”
Jang Il-so sprang to his feet and walked toward Tang Gun-ak. For masters of this level to close the distance between them was an extremely dangerous thing, yet Tang Gun-ak did not try to stop him.
Coming right up beside him, Jang Il-so draped an arm over Tang Gun-ak’s shoulder and tugged him close.
“I hear you’ve been making a tidy profit from the tea trade lately, so how about sending some tea over to Guangxi Province too? I’ve got no real outlet there, you see. Hmm?”
The same Jang Il-so who had been threatening to kill Tang Gun-ak moments earlier was now acting like an old friend of decades, all easy smiles and familiarity.
It was such a sudden change that anyone would have been flustered, but Tang Gun-ak answered with complete composure.
“That would not be a difficult thing.”
“Good!”
After giving Tang Gun-ak’s shoulder a firm pat, Jang Il-so turned, his long robe flaring out behind him.
“A banquet! Since we have a guest, we ought to have a drink!”
“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. I’m not so free as that.”
“Tsk. No fun.”
Jang Il-so climbed the steps, opened a chest beside the couch, and took out a chilled bottle of liquor before tossing it to Tang Gun-ak.
“Then drink on your way back. It’s baijiu from Guizhou Province. I don’t know if it suits a noble palate, but it’s not bad to my taste.”
Tang Gun-ak caught the bottle he had thrown and nodded.
“I’ll gratefully accept the gift.”
As if he had said everything he came to say, he turned without a shred of lingering attachment. But then Jang Il-so’s voice stopped him from behind.
“One more thing.”
His steps halted.
“What is there in Mount Hua?”
“……”
Tang Gun-ak only turned his head slightly to glance at Jang Il-so.
“A friend.”
“……”
With that brief answer, he left the great hall with measured, precise steps.
A short silence fell.
“Hmm.”
Jang Il-so took the slender-necked bottle from the chest, opened it, and began to pour the liquor down his throat.
The clear stream of spilled alcohol ran down the corner of his mouth.
Ho Gamyeong quietly watched his lord for a moment, then shook his head as if he could not make sense of him.
“My lord.”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t grasp what you intend. Even if tea trade in Yunnan brings enormous profit….”
“Tea?”
“Yes. This is a matter of Maninbang’s dignity….”
“Hahahahahahahat!”
Jang Il-so slapped his knee and burst into laughter.
“So even Gamyeong has grown dull, to be talking about tea!”
“...Pardon?”
Jang Il-so cut off the laughter in an instant and flicked his tongue like a serpent.
“Tea and the like don’t matter one bit. That was only an excuse!”
“……”
“Gamyeong.”
“Yes.”
“Are you afraid of the Tang Family?”
“How could I be?”
“Then are you afraid of those barbaric brutes in the Beast Palace?”
“The only person who can make me feel fear is you, my lord.”
“Exactly. So am I.”
“Then why….”
“Map!”
Jang Il-so slammed down the bottle in his hand and roared.
“The map! Unroll the map! Now!”
The guards rushed over at once, carrying in the rolled-up map from one side of the hall and spreading it out in a rush.
“Brush.”
“Yes.”
Ho Gamyeong personally dipped the prepared brush in ink and brought it to Jang Il-so.
“Let’s see! Let’s see, now!”
Jang Il-so paced quickly before the map, looking almost giddy, before beginning to mark dots on it.
“Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi!”
After placing dots on Kunming, Chengdu, and Mount Hua, Jang Il-so tilted his head, as though something still did not satisfy him. Then, with an “Ah!” he moved the brush again.
“Right. Xi'an too, Xi'an.”
He marked Xi'an as well, then drew lines linking the four points. Soon, a wild, manic smile spread across his face.
“Hahahahat. They really do look like a bunch of lunatics!”
“...My lord?”
“Gamyeong.”
“Yes.”
“Look at this. These lunatics are doing something very interesting.”
What entered Ho Gamyeong’s eyes was a line stretching across the western side of the Central Plains.
“Look. To the west, there is only Kunlun at best, and in the same region there are also Mount Qingcheng, Emei, and Zhongnan. But Kunlun has always been a place that keeps to itself and never influences the world. Zhongnan? Zhongnan has closed its gates and handed Xi'an’s influence over to Mount Hua, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Mount Qingcheng stays put in Yunnan, and Emei has no real strength to speak of. Which means….”
Ho Gamyeong finished the thought for him.
“If Mount Hua, the Tang Family, and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace really have joined forces, then the western half of the Central Plains has fallen completely under their influence.”
“Exactly!”
Jang Il-so snatched up the map as though he might tear it in two.
“Power is legitimacy and strength! And it requires money to take shape! They are making enormous profits from the tea trade, and they have the power of the Tang Family and the Beast Palace. And Mount Hua too… hah. Yes! Mount Hua has strength as well. We bled to prove that much ourselves.”
“...That is true.”
“Then all that remains is legitimacy. What do you think happens when they have that one thing?”
“...Are you saying they would become the rulers of western Central Plains?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Gamyeong, Gamyeong.”
Jang Il-so waved a hand lazily.
“You’re only looking at what’s near. You should be looking farther away, hmm?”
“I apologize.”
“Look here, Gamyeong. The ones at the center of that place are the old Nine Sects, the true power of the Five Great Families, and finally the powers beyond the borders.”
“……”
“People like dividing the world up. Once they start classifying things into convenient groups and calling them by those names, even the people being labeled eventually come to think those boundaries are natural. That’s the order of the jianghu now, isn’t it?”
“Like how those despicable Green Forest bastards and the great Maninbang are both called one of the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu.”
“Exactly, exactly. We may hate it, but the world sees it that way, so there’s nothing to be done. But these lunatics are now breaking the mold that has defined the jianghu for hundreds of years. Look. The Nine Sects, the Five Great Families, and the powers beyond the borders are all being tied together, aren’t they?”
“...Indeed….”
“They’ve overturned the old order that defined the jianghu and allied with one another. Hahahahaha. This is completely new! If I had to call it something… hmm, yes! I’d call it the Western Alliance.”
Jang Il-so quickly licked his lips with his tongue.
“Good. This is interesting. Once this coalition becomes clearer, the jianghu will become a place entirely different from the one we know now. That means a new wind could blow.”
“……”
Ho Gamyeong swallowed dryly. There was something wickedly brilliant blazing in Jang Il-so’s eyes.
“I don’t know who drew this picture, but it certainly makes sense. And it was done by a truly mad bastard. I can smell blood. Maybe the next war will be fought between east and west.”
“But does that give Maninbang any reason to leave Mount Hua alone?”
“Who do you think put this together?”
“……”
There was uncontainable excitement in Jang Il-so’s voice.
“Those worthless barbarian fools? No, no. Then the Sichuan Tang Family, stuck in their province and too heavy-assed to budge? Absolutely not!”
He slammed the map down hard and struck Mount Hua with his palm, then crushed it in his grasp as though he meant to wrinkle it to pieces.
“These bastards, these bastards! The center of the Western Alliance is Mount Hua itself. If Mount Hua falls, the Western Alliance collapses.”
“...Is there some reason that should not happen?”
“Isn’t it fun?”
“...Pardon?”
A chill seeped from Jang Il-so’s smiling face.
“Where there is the smell of blood, there is always the smell of money as well. It’s a good board. A very good board.”
Ho Gamyeong still did not fully understand what Jang Il-so was saying.
But Jang Il-so seemed to have no intention of explaining further. He chuckled to himself and turned back toward the couch.
Now the matter of face doesn’t matter.
Face was only necessary in times of peace. In an age of chaos, no one cared about appearances.
What mattered in turbulent times was power.
If the wheel turns too slowly, you just make it spin faster. Chaos is the world we enjoy most.
Scenting the faint smell of blood in the wind drifting into the great hall, Jang Il-so smiled brighter than ever.
“Mount Hua. Mount Hua, is it? Yes. You’ll have to stay a little longer. We can’t put out the spark that will burn the world just yet. Hahahahat!”
A sharp laugh echoed through the hall.
Ho Gamyeong, knowing full well that whenever Jang Il-so wore that smile something was bound to happen, lowered his head and broke into a cold sweat.
“Let’s play. Joyfully! Excitingly! Hahahahahahat!”
Jang Il-so’s eyes, as though he had lost interest in everything in the world and sunk only into indulgence, began to shine with the same sinister brilliance they had held in the days when he first earned the name Tyrant Lord.