I’m Looking Forward to That Day (5)
"Hmm."
Palace Lord Maeng So of the Southern Border Beast Palace sat with his arms folded, his face stiff as he slipped into thought for a while. At length, he let the silence hang no longer and said in a clear voice, "This is my first time seeing that man."
Every eye in the room turned to him.
"Everyone has their own way of reading people, I suppose, but when I first see someone, I tend to think of an animal with a similar feel."
Tang Gun-ak recalled a conversation he had once shared with Chung Myung and the others, then looked at Maeng So with obvious interest. "You did say that when you first saw me, you thought of a black panther, did you not?"
"I did. Ah, and a huge serpent came to mind as well."
"Oh?"
Maeng So flicked a glance at Tang Gun-ak and went on. "People usually think of snakes as dangerous because they carry venom, but a small snake bares its fangs even if you only step near it, while a giant serpent rarely shows hostility toward a person. Tap it or even lift it, and it just slithers away as if you're a nuisance."
Something strange flickered in Hyun Jong's eyes as he watched Tang Gun-ak with a calculating look.
"That same indifferent serpent, though, when it comes time to hunt, is so swift it snatches its prey in a blur, impossible to compare with any other beast, and swallows it whole. Then, once it has eaten its fill, it grows languid and can go months without hunting."
Tang Gun-ak laughed, amused. "As expected, you're still the same. Then what did you see when you looked at the Alliance Leader?"
"A large bison. The leader of the herd."
That required no further explanation.
Tang Gun-ak, who thought Maeng So's method of judgment had a certain logic to it, suddenly furrowed his brow. "Did you not say before that Mount Hua Divine Dragon was like a serpent?"
"...A vicious weasel."
"..."
At a description that seemed to have somehow dropped in rank from before, Tang Gun-ak gave a bitter smile. "Well, that too has some merit..."
"A weasel. A vicious weasel. A huge one. An enormous... house-sized weasel."
"..."
"Its claws are coated in poison, and it roars with malice all year round..."
"That's enough."
He felt he no longer needed to hear any more.
At least one thing was undeniable: weasels, unlike how they looked, were incredibly ferocious creatures.
Then Maeng So's laughter turned a little bitter.
"But when I looked at Tyrant Lord this time..."
Everyone in the room waited for what came next. They were all intensely curious what sort of creature Maeng So had associated with Jang Il-so.
"...nothing came to mind. That is why I fear that man."
Tang Gun-ak's expression stiffened at the unexpected answer.
Maeng So's body was like a mountain. Those words sounded too weak to come from his mouth.
Yet Tang Gun-ak and Hyun Jong already knew, at least roughly, what kind of man Maeng So was.
He was brutally honest, the sort of person who would never hide his own weakness behind empty bluster. Besides, though his enormous frame made him seem simple, he was actually incredibly coolheaded and shrewd.
"Jang Il-so is, in one sense, like a savage tiger; in another, a cunning fox. Like a venomous snake full of poison, and at times like a giant elephant basking in the hot sun."
Maeng So's face twisted slightly.
"At once like a peacock dressed in gaudy finery, and like a crocodile hiding beneath the water, waiting for its prey..."
At that point, Chung Myung, who had been listening seriously, leaned toward Im So-byeong and asked, "What's a crocodile?"
"...You want to ask me that now?"
"You don't know?"
"I do."
"Then why's it over?"
"..."
Im So-byeong's heart hurt more than his face now. Just as he was about to protest loudly, Hyun Jong shot him a sharp glare and then turned on Chung Myung with eyes like daggers. Chung Myung flinched, hunched his neck, and quickly changed the subject.
"Still, that's a little odd."
"What is?"
"You said nothing came to mind. But the way you're talking, it sounds like too many things came to mind."
Maeng So shook his head. "A part can be visible. But none of it matched any beast I knew. What stood out was something no beast could ever possess."
"And what was that?"
"Desire."
Those who heard Maeng So's answer nodded with grave faces.
"Of course, beasts are not without greed. They may hunt too much at times, or toy with the weak, and because they know no law or Dao, they can be cruel in their own way."
"That's harsh."
"It's true."
Maeng So was calm. The Beast Palace had long treated animals as friends, but that did not mean they worshipped them.
"But no beast can covet things the way humans do. From Jang Il-so, I felt a greed so vast I could not even guess its scale. It was strange, almost unnatural. I've never seen anyone who fit the words 'incarnation of greed' so perfectly."
Everyone nodded in agreement. They had only faced him for a short time, but one thing was certain: Jang Il-so was no ordinary man.
"Incarnation of greed..."
Tang Gun-ak stroked his chin. His face held no obvious expression, but the slight furrow between his brows said enough about his complex mood.
"I have met Jang Il-so once before. It was the first time I truly spoke with him, though..."
As Tang Gun-ak began, a low murmur escaped him.
"What I find most troublesome about Jang Il-so is that he cannot be predicted."
"...Predicted, you say?"
"Yes."
Tang Gun-ak slowly closed his eyes as he recalled both the Jang Il-so he had met at the Maninbang and the man who had stepped foot into Mount Hua this time.
"Everyone has a tendency. If you understand that tendency, then when something happens, you can predict how that person will move."
"Mm... yes."
"But Jang Il-so makes that impossible."
Tang Gun-ak opened his eyes, dark and heavy, and looked around the room. "I felt it when I met him before, and I felt it again when he came to Mount Hua this time... Jang Il-so's actions cannot be predicted. In other words, no one can know what he'll do now that he has left Mount Hua."
"..."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
It truly was vexing.
All sorts of tangled emotions swept through the hearts of those gathered here, but the most immediate of them was undoubtedly that very vexation.
There was something about Jang Il-so that scraped at people's nerves. Something large enough that even the heads of the various factions could not simply ignore it.
"First, we need to confirm exactly what he is after. And then we must figure out why he has only now begun to move in earnest."
Once Tang Gun-ak finished speaking, every gaze in the room turned to Im So-byeong. He was the only one who could answer that question to some extent.
Im So-byeong rubbed his face slowly.
Thanks to his diligent acupoint massage, his face had recovered much of its shape; when he had entered the room, he had looked like a swollen steamed bun, but now he at least resembled a human being again.
"Why now..."
After musing for a moment, Im So-byeong shook his head.
"I think there is a difference in perspective here."
"May I ask what you mean by that?"
"Mm..."
Im So-byeong seemed to deliberate over his words for a moment before looking at everyone. "As all of you know, there has been a long-standing conflict between the Maninbang and the Green Forest."
"Indeed."
"But that was only the relationship visible on the surface. Neither the Maninbang nor the Green Forest ever truly intended to devour the other completely. The Green Forest simply needed an outside enemy to keep its internal discipline in check, and the Maninbang needed an opponent to challenge."
"Why is that?"
Im So-byeong explained in a composed voice. "Imagine the Maninbang destroying and absorbing the Green Forest. What would happen then?"
"The balance among the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu would break."
"And then who would move?"
Hyun Jong, who had been listening quietly, narrowed his eyes. "The Nine Sects and One Gang, and the Five Great Families."
"Yes. Exactly."
No one could fully fathom or predict Jang Il-so, but Im So-byeong could at least make a guess as to why he had acted in this way.
"A calm lake ripples even if a single pebble falls into it. The worlds of the righteous and the unorthodox may be different, but the Maninbang has become too large and too strong to continue living without becoming entangled with others. If it expands any further, it would inevitably offend those eyes."
"And then... the Heavenly Alliance appears?"
"Yes."
Im So-byeong's eyes darkened slightly.
"Of everyone in the world, the one most delighted by the founding of the Heavenly Alliance is probably none other than Jang Il-so. If you set fire to a quiet forest, it will be impossible not to notice. But if you set fire to a forest already ablaze, who would even care?"
"..."
"Hero or great hero, it makes no difference—such figures are born in turbulent times. Put another way..."
Im So-byeong cut it off with icy eyes. "A great hero who is not born in turbulent times can only rot away in a peaceful world. That is a blessing for ordinary commoners, but for someone like Jang Il-so, it must be a true nightmare."
"Hmph."
A low scoff brushed past Im So-byeong's ear. It was Chung Myung.
To snort while the Green Forest King was speaking was rude enough on its own, even allowing for the relationship between the two. But...
"...People who don't even know what turbulent times are."
Those who felt the darkness in the following sneer no longer thought to blame him for the rudeness.
"Cough."
Im So-byeong, who had been momentarily dazed, cleared his throat and went on. "If Jang Il-so has a purpose, then there can only be one. He wants to fan the flames higher. And drive the world into chaos. To create a world in which he, and the Maninbang, can run wild as they please."
"..."
"As for the means, I can't quite guess."
"Hmm."
Tang Gun-ak nodded slowly. "The existence of the Heavenly Alliance... and the fact that he revealed himself to the Heavenly Alliance in person—he must have judged that it would help intensify the chaos."
"Yes. At least, that is my assessment."
"Chaos. Chaos, you say..."
It made sense. No—more than that, it was probably almost certainly right. The greatest concern had been that they could not find any clear purpose for Jang Il-so's visit to Mount Hua, but if his aim was simply to stir disorder, then his actions became far easier to understand.
"Then..."
"Yes."
Im So-byeong answered before Tang Gun-ak even finished the thought.
"He'll do something more. Without fail."
"..."
"He will intensify the chaos even further and then try to use it as the basis for whatever he intends to do. If we're talking about Jang Il-so, that is."
"Hmm."
Tang Gun-ak nodded with a dark expression, then glanced at Chung Myung.
Strange.
Normally, by this point in the conversation, Chung Myung would have already shouted several times. Yet for some reason, he had remained unusually quiet and hadn't offered any real opinion.
Anyone else might have assumed he was holding his tongue because of the people gathered here, but since when had Chung Myung been that considerate?
"Mount Hua Divine Dragon."
"Yes?"
"What do you think?"
"Hmmm."
At Tang Gun-ak's gentle prompt, Chung Myung answered lazily, arms folded. "Well, I get that this Jang Il-so guy or whatever isn't some ordinary bastard..."
"Mm?"
"But do we really need to worry about him that much?"
"..."
"The answer's already in the conversation we just had. That bastard needs the Heavenly Alliance, doesn't he?"
"What?"
"He needs chaos. That means the Nine Sects or the Five Great Families have to be in a position where they can't devote all their strength to the unorthodox side, right?"
"...That would seem to be the case."
"Then that bastard won't interfere with the Heavenly Alliance, at least not for a while. From his point of view, the bigger the Heavenly Alliance gets, the easier it is for him to achieve his goal. So that's that."
"..."
For a moment, Tang Gun-ak felt a little deflated as he stared blankly at Chung Myung.
This young daoist always hit the heart of the matter so casually when he spoke. The kind of heart that was difficult to see through, wrapped in vague fog.
Im So-byeong looked at Chung Myung and asked, "Is that all?"
"Huh?"
There was a peculiar glint in his eyes.
"Sometimes I think Mount Hua Divine Dragon hides what he truly wants to say. Are you really not worried because Jang Il-so doesn't seem like a problem for the time being?"
"..."
"Or is there something else that truly bothers you?"
Chung Myung let out a sigh.
He wasn't the only one thinking that way. Under the press of those questioning looks, Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"Well, I guess it's about time I said it."
He looked around at everyone once and then opened his mouth.
"The Heavenly Demon is going to come."
His expression, his tone, even his voice—everything was far too calm. He sounded as though he were stating an already settled fact, without the slightest wavering.
That was precisely why it felt so chilling.
"...The Heavenly Demon?"
Tang Gun-ak stared at him, a little dazed.
"What did you just say...?"
"It's still only my guess, but I'm almost certain. The Heavenly Demon will definitely return."
Tang Gun-ak, a man who did not even grow excited over ordinary matters, went instantly pale. Maeng So's hands also began to tremble.
It seemed to show clearly just how much the name Heavenly Demon still remained a scar in the hearts of those in the Jianghu.
Chung Myung spoke quietly, almost as though muttering to himself.
"When that time comes, we'll know."
"..."
"What real chaos is. What true turbulent times are. And..."
The shadow over his face deepened even further.
"What real terror is."