I’m Looking Forward to That Day (2)
Humming drifted through the air.
Set against the blue-green splendor of Mount Hua, the sound almost seemed peaceful at first glance.
That would have been true, if the one humming hadn’t been Jang Il-so.
As he descended the mountain in apparent high spirits, Ho Gamyeong quietly moved up beside him.
“Alliance Leader.”
“Hmm?”
Jang Il-so turned his pale eyes on him, a glint of amusement in their depths.
“What is it?”
“If I may… may I ask you a few questions?”
“You really do say the strangest things. When have I ever stopped you from asking?”
Of course, he never had.
Jang Il-so was a tyrant of terrifying caliber. By nature he was beyond cruel, a capricious monster impossible to predict, and a shameless piece of human filth who delighted in driving others into despair and laughing as they fell.
And yet there was one thing Jang Il-so never violated: he never blocked a man’s words.
A king does not fall because he commits evil. He falls because he refuses to listen. No matter how vile a king may be, so long as he listens to others, he will never truly be ruined.
That was Jang Il-so’s creed.
A tyrant who did not seal off speech.
It seemed an impossible contradiction, yet Jang Il-so embodied both. And it was precisely this contradiction that had made him what he was now.
“Alliance Leader.”
Ho Gamyeong drew a short breath and went on.
“I simply cannot understand why you came here in person.”
“Hmm?”
Jang Il-so’s lips curled.
“Why? Do you think I’ve wasted my time?”
“How could I ever presume to judge the Alliance Leader’s actions like that?”
“So it does look that way to you, then?”
Even though the question could have sounded rude, Jang Il-so showed not the slightest displeasure. He merely clicked his tongue, as cheerful as ever.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Gamyeong, Gamyeong.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“That is where you go wrong.”
Hands clasped behind his back, he kept walking down the mountain.
“When it comes to schemes and weighing profit, there’s no way I can compete with you. Admirable.”
“……”
“However…”
A broad smile spread across his face as he spoke, like a child who had just found a toy so delightful he could hardly contain himself.
“You miss one very important thing. What’s right in front of your eyes isn’t everything, is it? Hmm? If you want something greater, you have to be willing to absorb losses. And sometimes, to reach far-off gains, you must endure efforts that offer no immediate benefit.”
“……You believe today’s visit will help Maninbang?”
At that, Jang Il-so glanced up toward the summit and let out a derisive look.
“If not, why else would I bother setting foot in that rotten, foul-smelling Taoist temple?”
“……”
“Gamyeong, Gamyeong.”
He laughed softly at Ho Gamyeong.
“What do you think the Heavenly Alliance looks like to the thick-skulled old fools of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families?”
“Well… it must be a thorn in their side.”
“Exactly. Only that much.”
The Heavenly Alliance was formidable enough to be worth notice. But the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families had faced enemies even stronger than that in the past. And every single time, they had come out on top.
They would keep an eye on the Heavenly Alliance, but they would not fear it.
“Do you know what people who fear change do when they first sense it?”
“They try to stop it, don’t they?”
“Wrong.”
Jang Il-so lightly waved a jeweled hand, every finger glittering.
“When those who fear change see something happening right under their noses that they don’t understand, the first thing they do is wait.”
“……”
“They will not move until the nature of that change, and the direction it’s headed, becomes clear.”
“Ah…”
Ho Gamyeong nodded slowly.
Come to think of it, that was exactly how prestigious sects like the Nine Sects and Five Great Families tended to behave.
“Do you know what makes them move?”
“……I do not.”
“Fear.”
“……”
Ho Gamyeong could offer no answer. For just then, a flash of murderous blue light appeared in Jang Il-so’s eyes.
“The fear that if they wait even a little longer, it may become too late to turn back. The fear that they may lose everything they enjoy now. The fear that someone they look down on will trample them and laugh!”
Twisted greed flashed in Jang Il-so’s eyes.
“When that fear takes root, the strong man who once lounged in comfort grows petty, and the merciful one starts hunting for faults. And if that still isn’t enough to solve things…!”
Jang Il-so’s red lips peeled back in a wide grin as his silk-shod foot stamped hard into the ground.
“Then blood will be spilled.”
That voice.
Each syllable, ground out one by one, cut into Ho Gamyeong’s ears with a chilling edge.
His whole body shivered with a sudden thrill of fear and tension, and he swallowed hard. But by then, Jang Il-so had already returned to his usual languid tone.
“Well, not quite like that right away.”
“……”
“I simply gave them a kick in the backside. Told them that if they kept acting so comfortably, the Heavenly Alliance might swallow them whole.”
Ho Gamyeong, who had been silent all this time, let doubt flicker across his face.
“But even so, will that really make them…”
He could not bring himself to finish the sentence. From his perspective, it was difficult to believe that such a move could truly stir the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families, but saying so outright would have been the same as questioning Jang Il-so, and he could not force the words out.
Jang Il-so seemed to understand his hesitation and explained further.
“Gamyeong.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“When a person changes his standing, the things he sees change as well.”
“……”
“Why should they fear the Heavenly Alliance?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. They may have formed an alliance of four powerful sects, but compared to the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families, the Heavenly Alliance is still lacking, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. You’re right. But consider this.”
Jang Il-so smiled with deep meaning.
“Suppose another sect joins that Heavenly Alliance. For instance… say, the Green Forest.”
“Yes.”
“Then does the Nine Sects change at all?”
“……”
“Or suppose Qingcheng, Mount Emei, or even Kunlun from the western regions joins the Heavenly Alliance?”
As Ho Gamyeong pictured it in his mind, he fell silent.
“The Nine Sects are the Nine Sects. That’s right—they’re only the Nine Sects. Even a thousand years from now, they won’t be any different. Ten sects. That’s an absolute law no one can break anymore.”
“……Yes.”
“But the Heavenly Alliance is different. The Heavenly Alliance can grow as much as it wants…”
Jang Il-so’s face twisted.
“There is no limit to that expansion. A sect that was once part of the Nine Sects! A sect that is now one of the Five Great Families! Even a sect from the outer territories. Hell, even those who once belonged to the evil factions can become members of the Heavenly Alliance!”
“……”
“What does the fact that the Green Forest was there mean to them? What does it mean that I personally went there?”
Ho Gamyeong’s face hardened. It was only then that he truly felt the depth of Jang Il-so’s terror.
In truth, Jang Il-so had done nothing at all.
He had merely given a gift, made an impossible proposal, said a few words, and left. It was nothing.
And yet…
Would those who heard about this situation really think the same?
Would people who believed every event must have a reason ever assume that Jang Il-so had visited Mount Hua without any particular purpose?
No. They would never think that.
Originally, no one would have even imagined the Heavenly Alliance joining hands with Jang Il-so, but once this happened, the story changed.
What they had once believed impossible even if the heavens and earth were overturned was now reduced to something that carried at least a one-in-a-thousand, a one-in-ten-thousand chance of happening.
And once that possibility existed, could they truly ignore it cleanly?
“Anxiety that comes crashing down before your eyes and pins a man in place is, in truth, not that great. Once he escapes the situation, he feels relief.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“The real anxiety that torments people is something else. It’s that faint, creeping irritation that starts to tickle the soles of your feet just as you lie down in your soft, warm bedding, with no reason at all to be afraid, and try to fall asleep.”
“……”
“And when that irritation slowly grows, that is when a person finally comes to know fear.”
Jang Il-so had planted a tiny crack among them simply by appearing at Mount Hua in person.
Besides, the Heavenly Alliance and the Nine Sects were never on particularly good terms to begin with.
It didn’t matter whether he had created that crack or merely stirred up what had been hidden. Once exposed, the fissure would now widen all on its own.
“Well, they might try to ignore it. But… no matter what else they choose to overlook, they won’t be able to pretend they never saw the Green Forest King there. That will mean the Heavenly Alliance may even be willing to join hands with the evil factions.”
Ho Gamyeong looked at Jang Il-so with fresh admiration.
“You knew Im So-byeong was there?”
“Oh, of course not.”
“……Pardon?”
Jang Il-so answered with a bored expression.
“I’m not a god. How would I know where that fellow might be?”
“……Then?”
“It didn’t matter whether he was there or not. I’d already sent someone to Mount Hua to show his face in place of that fool. I just changed my words once I spotted the real one.”
“……”
“I do feel a little sorry for the fellow. He looked like he’d chewed on something bitter. Hahaha!”
Jang Il-so spread both arms extravagantly, the richly embroidered sleeves fluttering wide.
“Did you see the mood there?”
“……Yes.”
“Change inspires anticipation. But it also inspires fear.”
“……”
“I simply gave those people, who had been foolishly excited without understanding a thing, a friendly shove back into reality. I told them personally that from this point on, unpredictable things would begin happening everywhere. The fools standing there won’t be able to enjoy the Heavenly Alliance as much anymore.”
“……”
“The Nine Sects! The Five Great Families! Everyone gathered there! Even the idiots stuffing their faces without knowing anything! They’ll all come to understand one thing—that the peace they’ve enjoyed until now will never continue unchanged! And once that happens, the unease they carry will breed suspicion, and that suspicion will call blood to the surface.”
Ho Gamyeong’s body trembled.
“We’re only…”
Jang Il-so lowered the arms he had spread so grandly and smiled brightly, as though he had said nothing at all.
“All we have to do is profit from a world in chaos. Understand, Gamyeong?”
“……Yes, Alliance Leader.”
Of course, Ho Gamyeong could not fully grasp how far Jang Il-so’s plans extended, or what else he concealed beneath them.
In any case, Ho Gamyeong was not supposed to understand everything Jang Il-so thought, and Jang Il-so should not understand everything Ho Gamyeong thought either. The moment the two of them shared the exact same mind, one of them would lose all value.
“But one concern does remain…”
“Hmm?”
“Can Mount Hua really play its part?”
“……”
Even Jang Il-so did not answer that right away.
“That’s why I came to see for myself.”
“……Pardon?”
“In the end, a force is just a gathering of people. To plan only with your head and never lay eyes on the people who make up that force is foolish. I don’t believe anything I haven’t seen with my own eyes.”
Jang Il-so muttered almost to himself, then let out a very low laugh.
“Mount Hua… yes, Mount Hua. Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
He rolled up his sleeves. The instant he spoke that title, gooseflesh raced up his arms again.
“If I hadn’t come, I might have made a mistake. Yes, something like that must be seen with your own eyes. If you don’t see it, you’ll never know—never—what kind of beast it is!”
Ho Gamyeong stared at Jang Il-so, somewhat dazed. A sinister light had crept into his face, one Ho Gamyeong had never seen there before.
He had served Jang Il-so for many years, but even he had never once seen that expression on his master’s face.
What in the world…
Mount Hua Divine Dragon.
Their reputation may have shaken the world, but in the end he was still just a young Taoist. Compared to Jang Il-so, even calling him a pup would be generous.
And yet what had Jang Il-so seen in Mount Hua Divine Dragon to react like this? Ho Gamyeong could not even begin to guess.
“You asked whether Mount Hua can do what it’s meant to do.”
“……Yes.”
“I wonder. I don’t know either. Whether they’ll do only what they’re supposed to…”
Jang Il-so gazed at Mount Hua’s distant peaks, his eyes flashing with quiet, ominous amusement. Then he could not contain the laughter leaking out of him and said in a bright, excited voice,
“Or whether they’ll end up shoving the whole world into a sea of fire!”
“……”
“Hahahahahahaha! This should be worth watching.”
Ho Gamyeong, now standing still, stared after Jang Il-so’s back as he moved forward. Then, before he realized it, he too looked up toward the peaks of Mount Hua that Jang Il-so had been watching.
He could not fully divine what was in Jang Il-so’s heart, but one thing was certain.
No sect in the world, no man in the world, had ever survived after making Jang Il-so their enemy.
It was almost as though he could already see Mount Hua’s halls engulfed in flames, burning bright before collapsing into heaps of ash.
What can you do?
Of course, this was not their fault. Their only mistake was having the misfortune of facing someone far, far too terrible.
Because Jang Il-so was that kind of man.