Where the Hell Do You Think This Is? (5)
“Hmm.”
Jang Il-so wore a faint smile as he looked at the four leaders walking toward him.
This was Mount Hua.
And right now, he was standing face-to-face with the leaders of four sects that had come to oversee the world, while behind them trailed the elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang, along with the Five Great Families that ruled the world.
For anyone who defined themselves as belonging to the evil side, it was the sort of situation that ought to have made the backs of their knees go weak.
But not a trace of anxiety could be seen on Jang Il-so’s face—no, not even the slightest hint of discomfort.
As though this were the front yard of Maninbang, his expression and his gestures overflowed with ease.
Watching him, a flicker of interest appeared in Hyun Jong’s eyes.
The corners of his lips twitched slightly. It was an expression that made it difficult to tell what he was thinking. Then, slowly, Hyun Jong spoke.
“You are……”
“……”
His voice was calm, but the strength drained at once from Hyun Sang’s body, as though he would not have listened even if anyone had tried to stop him.
“There are too many eyes on us.”
“...Un Geom.”
Hyun Sang’s gaze moved from Un Geom’s face to the empty sleeve hanging at his side.
Because of those Maninbang bastards, Un Geom had lost an arm and nearly died. If things had gone even a little differently, he would not be standing here now.
And yet here was Un Geom, the very one holding Hyun Sang back.
His insides felt as though they were burning black. Hyun Sang bit down hard on his lip and glared at Jang Il-so.
Of course, Hyun Sang was not the only one who was openly hostile toward Jang Il-so.
Every Mount Hua disciple had their hand on the hilt at their waist, staring him down. If given the order, they looked ready to sprint forward immediately and cut Jang Il-so’s throat.
The killing intent pouring out in a single wave from Mount Hua’s disciples was enough to make the onlookers blanch. Yet Jang Il-so, who was taking all of that pressure head-on, only responded with boredom.
“How strange.”
He tilted his head, looking genuinely puzzled, and clicked his tongue.
“If anything, it was we of Maninbang who suffered losses in the war with Mount Hua. Because of that, Maninbang was humiliated to the point where we could hardly show our faces, while Mount Hua has been riding high ever since on the reputation it earned from that whole affair……”
He shook his head back and forth.
“I truly don’t understand what you’re so unhappy about. With people being this petty, can you really even call yourselves a sect? Hmm.”
Hyun Jong slowly drew in a breath.
Every word Jang Il-so spoke was disrupting his composure. But right now, he did not stand here merely as Mount Hua’s sect leader. He was the leader of the Heavenly Alliance.
So……
Hyun Jong brought both hands together in a formal salute and extended them slightly forward.
“I greet the Lord of Maninbang.”
Jang Il-so returned the gesture.
“A pleasure.”
After the brief exchange of greetings, Hyun Jong wore a benevolent smile and asked, “From Maninbang to here is truly a great distance. What brought you all the way to Mount Hua?”
Jang Il-so’s lips twisted in a sly curve.
“Isn’t the reason obvious?”
“……”
“I came, naturally, to congratulate you on the opening of the Heavenly Alliance.”
“...Congratulate?”
Jang Il-so gave a broad nod.
“I may not be a great man, but I do pride myself on not being petty. When something this momentous is happening in the world, how could I fail to offer my congratulations?”
“……”
“Bring them out!”
“Yes!”
No sooner had Jang Il-so spoken than the Maninbang warriors standing guard behind him brought something forward.
Crates?
There were three of them, and all of them looked enormous. The onlookers could not hide their curiosity, stretching their necks little by little as they focused their gazes.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The crates, large enough to hold a person and then some, were set down with heavy thuds.
“Open them.”
“Yes!”
At the order, the Maninbang disciples tore open the lids of the crates.
“Oh!”
“Ooooh!”
At once, gasps and cries burst from the mouths of the onlookers.
Treasure.
The first thing to catch their eyes was the trove of riches packed into the crate on the far left.
Blinding gold ingots and brilliant gemstones of every color filled the massive container to the brim. The amount was so staggering that even the elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang, men who prided themselves on having seen their share of wealth, could not conceal their shock.
“The next one.”
“Yes!”
Before the impact of what they had seen could even fade, the second crate was opened. A faint series of suppressed gasps rippled through the crowd.
Hiss!
“T-that……”
It was filled to the top with precious swords, each one sharp enough that no one needed to draw them to know it.
...Divine weapons!
Good heavens, so many of them.
So this is what they meant when they said Maninbang’s wealth could pierce the sky and cover the earth……
In terms of sheer monetary value, the treasure in the first crate might have been worth more. But to martial artists, a precious sword was something whose value could not be measured in silver and gold. Besides, no amount of money could simply buy one if none were available.
And yet he had brought so many of them, stuffed into a crate that big……
Swish.
The Maninbang disciple standing before the crate lifted the sword on top and casually drew it a little from its scabbard. The instant the blade’s form was revealed, admiration finally broke from everyone’s lips.
It was obvious at a glance that it was no ordinary blade.
The onlookers swallowed dryly and turned their eyes to the third crate. The first two had been so outrageous that they could not help wondering what on earth might be inside the last one.
Jang Il-so, as though determined not to disappoint their expectations, said with confident ease, “Open it.”
“Yes!”
The lid of the crate was yanked up roughly. At once, an indescribably clear fragrance drove into the noses of the onlookers. Just that much was enough for everyone to realize what was inside.
Medicinal elixirs!
All of that……
Swallowing dryly became an unavoidable reflex.
These were treasures of unimaginable worth. If the Maninbang warriors had not been surrounding the crate, some of them might already have run toward it. In the eyes of the crowd, undisguised greed gleamed wetly. Their hearts had already begun hammering of their own accord.
“A gift in celebration of the Heavenly Alliance’s opening.”
Jang Il-so looked at Hyun Jong with a smile full of easy composure.
But Hyun Jong, looking at the wealth Jang Il-so had displayed, let out a low sigh as though troubled.
“I am grateful for Lord’s intentions, but for a gift of opening, this seems rather excessive.”
“Excessive?”
Jang Il-so twisted his lips as though he had heard something amusing.
“Alliance Leader. I am Jang Il-so.”
“……”
“A gift of this level is by no means excessive for me. If anything, it isn’t enough to express what I feel about the Heavenly Alliance.”
How Hyun Jong took that remark did not matter much. What mattered most was that the scene had struck the onlookers with tremendous force.
“And besides……”
Jang Il-so smiled thinly and looked past Hyun Jong toward the elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang, along with the Five Great Families standing behind him.
“Congratulation spoken only with the mouth isn’t true congratulation. If you truly mean to celebrate, then you should offer something until it hurts to part with it. Isn’t that only natural?”
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
As Jang Il-so finished speaking, the lids of the crates closed once more in sequence. The Maninbang disciples pushed the sealed crates right up before Hyun Jong.
“Well? Can you feel it now? How sincere I am in celebrating the Heavenly Alliance’s opening?”
Hyun Jong looked at Jang Il-so in silence.
At that unwavering gaze, Jang Il-so burst into laughter. Then he spoke softly.
“Tell me, Alliance Leader. Isn’t it amusing?”
“……”
“Maninbang suffered great losses because of Mount Hua, and yet we’ve still come all this way bearing gifts. But the sect leader of Mount Hua, who in truth gained great benefit because of Maninbang, cannot forget a private grudge and ends up rejecting his guest.”
At Jang Il-so’s words, the faces of Mount Hua’s disciples twisted into ugly masks.
“And after all that, can you still truly say you’ll embrace the sects under you as the leader of the Heavenly Alliance?”
“You bastard!”
Unable to hold back his boiling rage, Chung Myung shouted. Normally, Baek Cheon would have been the first to step in and stop him, but this time even he remained silent. No—he too was gripping his sword, his body exuding a chilling killing intent unlike anything he had shown before.
The curve of Jang Il-so’s mouth widened even further.
It was naked mockery.
Arrogance beyond measure. Though he claimed he had come to offer congratulations, every word he spoke, every movement he made, was nothing but ridicule and scorn.
The reason such shameless behavior looked almost justified was because this man was Jang Il-so.
...He’s big.
Baek Cheon bit down on his lip. From a while ago, it had felt as though his entire body were being pressed down.
He did not know how cruel that man was, nor how strong. But he could feel the overwhelming pressure of an existence he had never once experienced before. Jang Il-so was crushing the many people gathered here simply by standing there.
It was an utterly crushing presence.
...So that’s the Paegun.
Up to now, there had been plenty of people whose names and reputations had been enough to make Mount Hua’s disciples shrink back. But Jang Il-so was the first who made it hard to breathe merely through his presence alone.
With presence alone, even the Bishop of the Demonic Sect wouldn’t be his match……
His hand trembled. Baek Cheon slightly shifted his gaze and looked at Chung Myung’s back, standing just one step ahead.
His back did not move in the slightest.
What was Chung Myung thinking right now?
Then Jang Il-so spoke again.
“I came to see just how great Mount Hua and the Heavenly Alliance were, but all I’ve found is disappointment. Hah, the interest has worn off.”
He let his eyes drift over the silent figures around him, sending only brief, wary glances their way. None of them had the nerve to meet Jang Il-so’s gaze directly.
“I’m leaving.”
With a snort, Jang Il-so turned to go.
But just then—
“A congratulation……”
“……”
At the quiet voice that caught him from behind, Jang Il-so stopped and, without turning his body, merely tipped his head back to look over his shoulder at Hyun Jong.
“As you said, it cannot simply be spoken with the mouth.”
“Oh?”
His tone was utterly calm, carrying not the slightest emotional ripple.
He was the sect leader of Mount Hua, yes, but until recently he had been little more than the leader of a third-rate sect. The fact that such a man was looking him straight in the eye like this piqued Jang Il-so’s interest.
“So I would like to ask you something.”
“……”
“Paegun, what is it you wish to see?”
Hyun Jong’s eyes, deep as a still lake, and Jang Il-so’s, burning like a field fire, tangled in the air.
“...Not bad.”
Jang Il-so gave a broad nod.
Then he turned fully toward Hyun Jong and opened both arms as if in delight. The ornaments hanging from his body clinked softly against one another.
“You asked me what I want?”
“That is correct.”
“Hmm. What I want, is it……”
A meaningful smile formed at the corners of Jang Il-so’s mouth.
“How about this?”
“...?”
“What if our Maninbang……”
His red lips, almost seductive in their color, parted slightly.
“What if we said we wanted to become brothers of the Heavenly Alliance? What would the Alliance Leader do then?”
A sinister chill, as though a razor had been set against the throat, settled over Mount Hua in a suffocating silence.