Let’s Play Until We’re Dead (1)
“...that’s what it means!”
“......”
After hearing the explanation in full, Hyun Jong stared at Chung Myung with an expression that was hard to even describe.
“So, in other words...”
His gaze swept over the people seated before him.
Chung Myung, Baek Cheon, Baek Sang, Yu I-seol, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, Dang Soso, and even Hye Yeon and Im So-byeong.
“You’re going to occupy this island.”
“Yes!”
“And... commit piracy?”
“Aigoo, Sect Leader! I explained it to you already, and you still don’t get it!”
Chung Myung thumped his chest in frustration.
“It’s not piracy. We’re just collecting a proper toll, all right?”
“...Collecting a toll on the river?”
“Yes!”
“And that isn’t piracy?”
“......”
“......”
Chung Myung and Hyun Jong’s gazes tangled in midair.
In that complicated exchange, the first to look away was, of course, Chung Myung.
“Well, if you put it that way, I guess it does sound like that depending on how you look at it...”
Claaang.
“Hiiiiiik!”
“S-Sect Leader, why are you drawing your sword?”
“Aigoo! Calm down first!”
“Let go of me! Don’t you dare let go of me, you bastards!”
The disciples hanging onto Hyun Jong pried him away. His eyes were bloodshot.
“And now I’m hearing that a Mount Hua disciple wants to turn to piracy! I should have hacked that brat to pieces before I had to see this disgrace!”
“Do you even have the skill for that?”
“Hyun Young, whose side are you on, you brat?”
“What’s there to ask? Chung Myung’s side, of course.”
Hyun Jong’s mouth foamed furiously.
He had asked the wrong man. Of course Hyun Young would side with Chung Myung.
Then Hyun Young spoke again in a calmer tone.
“And if you think about it, it isn’t all that wrong.”
“He said he was collecting tolls!”
“That doesn’t make someone a pirate. By that logic, boatmen who ferry passengers and charge money are all pirates, aren’t they?”
“......”
“Then everyone who rows boats on the Yangtze would be a pirate. Wouldn’t that make the Yangtze a lawless hell?”
“...Well, when you put it like that.”
Hyun Jong sat back down. Thinking it over, it didn’t sound all that wrong.
“...No, I said exactly the same thing...”
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
“Words change meaning and force depending on who says them.”
“......”
Chung Myung also understood that it wasn’t exactly wrong, but it still rubbed him the wrong way.
Glancing at his sulky face, Hyun Young gave a snort of laughter and turned back to Hyun Jong.
“If you think about it, it isn’t a bad idea. If the word toll bothers you, then we can simply charge a ferry fee whenever people cross to and from the island. Let the island itself be free to use.”
“Hmm...”
“More importantly, isn’t it true that there’s no guarantee something like this won’t happen again? We can’t keep coming all the way out here every time to fight them off. And Mount Hua needs to provide a safe route for the Eunha Merchant Guild as well. The losses have already been immense.”
“Tch. That’s true, but...”
After thinking for a moment, Hyun Jong nodded at last.
If this had been the old him, he might have recoiled at the suggestion. But now he understood enough about business to know how it worked. That was why he also understood how important this matter was.
“But isn’t it impossible for us to occupy this place permanently? What about training? What about the main sect?”
“Ah, that part’s fine.”
“Hm?”
“The Green Forest will handle it here. I’ve already finished talking with the Green Forest King.”
Hyun Jong blinked blankly, then turned his head. Im So-byeong smiled faintly and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“...The Green Forest?”
“Yes.”
“The Yangtze?”
“They didn’t become bandits because they loved the mountains. They became bandits because they had to survive. If there’s money to be made, what does it matter whether it’s on a mountain or on water?”
Well... that was true enough. And bandit or water bandit, they were thieves either way.
“I understand what Sect Leader is worried about. But the Green Forest is also now following the will of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon and the Heavenly Alliance, and we’re expanding legitimate businesses while harming no commoners and collecting only a proper fee.”
“...Isn’t collecting a fee itself the problem?”
“Instead, we provide protection. Perfect protection, all the way until they cross the mountain. The people who used to be mauled by tigers or robbed by those little mountain bandits welcome it with both hands.”
Welcome it with both hands?
The bandits?
“D-Do the bandits... I mean, the Green Forest fellows... like this?”
“Some of them do grumble from frustration, but what can you do? If you hate the temple, then the monk has to leave.”
“...He didn’t leave because he hated it.”
At the voice that suddenly cut in, everyone turned to Hye Yeon. Having somehow felt needlessly implicated, he blushed crimson in an instant.
“He hated it.”
“Looks like he hated it a lot.”
“No wonder he refused to go back to Shaolin even if it killed him.”
“A-Amitabha! Amitabha!”
“Just say Amida Buddha.”
Clicking his tongue, Chung Myung went on.
“Anyway, there’s nothing bad about it. We’re not the ones camping here indefinitely, and the Green Forest will manage the place. In return, we can escort Eunha Merchant Guild caravans safely across the river and take half the toll charged to the merchants passing through.”
Ah. Fifty-fifty?
That was a very fair split indeed. Fifty-fifty.
Come to think of it, Mount Hua wasn’t even doing anything... Right, fifty-fifty...
Just then, Hyun Sang, who had been silently observing, spoke up.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes.”
“I understand why you’ve gone to all this trouble. But I’m uneasy. This is the Yangtze River. You’ve already brought down two water bandit forts, and now if you seize this place and settle in, do you think the Water Bandit Sect will just sit still?”
“Ah, that?”
“On the way here, I saw you installing artillery around the island and on the new bridge. But the Yangtze River Water Bandit Sect is not some easy opponent that can be held off with a few cannons. Don’t tell me you’re underestimating them just because you broke a couple of forts.”
“Come on. Of course not.”
Chung Myung waved a hand dismissively.
If that Black Dragon King truly went mad and brought every water fort under him, this island would fall in less than half a day. To stop that, they would need the full main force of either the Green Forest or Mount Hua stationed here.
But that was impossible.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Hm?”
“The Black Dragon King won’t be able to attack here.”
“...Why not?”
“Because pretty soon, this place won’t even matter all that much.”
“Hm?”
Chung Myung’s lips curled.
“If this had been the old days, he’d already have attacked. But right now, the Black Dragon King can’t move.”
“Why? Is something wrong with the Black Dragon King?”
“No. It’s not that something’s wrong with him. It’s that something’s about to happen.”
“...I have no idea what you mean.”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Chung Myung’s smile widened.
“If I’m right, things are about to start blowing up any second now. So just wait a little.”
Hyun Jong stared at him with a face full of confusion.
“You’ve already arranged something?”
“I did arrange something, and even if I hadn’t, it would still turn out that way. There are other bastards out there besides me who know how to work a board.”
“Who exactly?”
“Even I don’t know for sure. But...”
Chung Myung thought for a moment, then grinned.
“When someone lays out the board this openly, how could I possibly refuse? Let’s play until we’re dead.”
His mouth wore an easy smile, but his eyes were dark.
On the surface, there was nothing that looked like a scheme. But Chung Myung’s instincts had not missed the strange artificiality running beneath these events.
Whenever he got that feeling on a battlefield, there was usually a perfectly prepared trap waiting in front of him.
And there were only three ways to deal with such a trap.
The first was not to go.
The second was to break through by force.
And the last was...
To make things so much bigger than the trap can handle that the other side chokes on it.
If someone had opened a river route, then all he had to do was ride that current.
Except this time, he would make sure to take real profit home. Not money. Something worthwhile.
Chung Myung’s gaze passed over Hyun Jong and drifted toward some far, unseen place. No one could tell what he was looking at, only that it must have been very distant indeed.
Hyun Jong let out a quiet sigh.
I don’t understand.
He already knew that this child’s thoughts could outstrip his own, so he had no choice but to trust him. Still, what worried him was whether this would only place yet another burden on Chung Myung’s shoulders.
“Very well. I understand your plan for now. Then we simply leave this place to the Green Forest and return to Mount Hua?”
“Right. That’s true, but...”
“Hm?”
“I’ve actually been waiting for you to come. You brought a lot of disciples with you, didn’t you?”
“Th-That’s...”
Clap!
Chung Myung clapped his hands and smiled like a child.
“Then let’s start right away. There’s just one simple little thing we need to do.”
“A simple thing?”
Somehow, that made Hyun Jong feel even more uneasy than before.
A large vessel sailed into the dock.
Shortly after, a thick hemp rope was thrown from the ship and firmly tied between vessel and land. A broad wooden gangplank was laid across the gap, and one person after another began to disembark.
Yet strangely, every face coming off the ship looked utterly miserable.
“This goddamn...”
One merchant who had stepped off the vessel lost his temper, flung the bundle in his hands to the ground, and glared in fury.
Normally a bundle like that would have to be guarded like a sacred treasure because it was filled with valuables, but the man hurled it down without the slightest hesitation and let out a rage-filled shout.
“Again! Again! This goddamn thing!”
Other merchants waiting to board the vessel approached him and asked with sympathetic faces,
“...You were robbed again?”
“Goddamn it! They took everything except my underpants! Those... damn bastards, what are we supposed to live on now?”
“Which water fort was it?”
“Hell if I know! These bastards don’t even say where they’re from anymore! They just come in on a small boat and strip us of anything worth money!”
“Tch.”
“This is insane.”
Deep worry settled over the merchants’ faces.
That water bandits roamed the Yangtze was nothing new, but the way they had been rampaging lately was anything but normal.
In the past, if you paid the toll, they might not strip you of everything you owned and all your cargo. But now, those bastards who didn’t even reveal which fort they were from were shaking people down until not a single coin remained.
As it kept happening, merchants grew afraid to board any vessel traveling the Yangtze at all.
“How many times has this happened now? How many!”
“What in the world are the officials doing? Why are they just letting those bastards run wild?”
“When have the officials ever done anything properly? I’ll bet they’re taking money from the water bandits!”
“Shh! Keep your voice down, man!”
“What part of that was wrong?”
The agitated crowd began to stop choosing their words carefully.
“Goddamn it, I’m out here traveling far from home just to scrape together a living, and if they’re going to strip me bare like this, how the hell am I supposed to feed my wife and kids? I might as well bite a knife and die! The whole river is occupied by those water bandits! The officials and the Nine Sects don’t care at all!”
“Hold on. It’s not true that everyone doesn’t care.”
“What?”
“Have you not heard? Mount Hua!”
“Mount Hua?”
“The Mount Hua Sect of the Heavenly Alliance smashed Daegyeong Fort. And in the process, they even wiped out another newly formed water fort while they were at it.”
“M-Mount Hua? Why Mount Hua?”
“What reason does Mount Hua ever need when it comes to righteousness? Wasn’t it Mount Hua that charged into the mountains last time when those bandits were going wild, destroyed Dae-byeol Bandit Band, and raided their stockpiles to relieve the common people?”
“...That’s right.”
“And this time too, they heard that the water bandits had seized commoners, flew into righteous fury, and rushed all the way here!”
“W-What in the world... Is that true?”
“Come on! As a merchant, how can you be this slow on the news? You know that Uncle Cheon, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“That uncle was captured by water bandits and rescued by Mount Hua’s people. He’s been telling that story a dozen times a day ever since. I’m getting holes bored straight through my ears.”
“If it’s Uncle Cheon, he’s not the kind to make things up.”
“Exactly! The Nine Sects may just stand around and watch, but the Heavenly Alliance isn’t like that.”
“Good heavens, there are still sects with that kind of righteousness...”
“And it seems the Mount Hua Sect Leader has made a decision this time.”
“A decision?”
“They say Mount Hua is going to occupy one place along the Yangtze and launch boats so merchants and anyone else crossing the river can do so without trouble.”
“Is... is that true?”
“I’m telling you it is. And it’s not even that far from here. So even if you can’t travel along the river, crossing it won’t be a problem, will it?”
“That alone would be a huge relief! But will the Water Bandit Sect just sit there and watch?”
“And what if they don’t sit still? The Heavenly Alliance includes Mount Hua, the Sichuan Tang Family, and two of the outlying four great sects! It’s not a place the Water Bandit Sect can just do anything to.”
“...When you put it like that, it makes sense.”
Those having the conversation found themselves newly appreciating the sheer power of the Heavenly Alliance.
From their perspective, the most terrifying thing in the world was the Water Bandit Sect. Even the famed Nine Sects could not casually lay hands on them, so with no way through, fear only grew stronger.
And now that same Water Bandit Sect was being held in check by Mount Hua, which had even set up camp in its own backyard.
“Has the Heavenly Alliance become this powerful?”
“I’m thinking of changing my suppliers this time.”
“Your suppliers?”
“Think about it. If the Yangtze is blocked this badly, of course the merchant houses will suffer. But if Mount Hua steps in and clears a route, then the merchant houses connected to the Heavenly Alliance will be able to pass through without trouble.”
“...That’s true.”
“So which side do you think will do better in the future? It’s painfully obvious.”
“Come on... but the Nine Sects still...”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. What kind of merchant are you? If you wait around like that and the Heavenly Alliance overtakes the Nine Sects, not even a single bean crumb will fall into your hands! You have to move early and look ahead if you want to make serious money.”
“......”
“Anyway, that’s what I’m doing, so you’d better go check it out as fast as you can. I hear Mount Hua will finish the route and start toll operations within ten days.”
The merchants blinked and turned their wheels, each of them calculating furiously.
Is that really true?
If it is...
Some were simply shocked. Some were simply impressed.
But a few especially quick-witted people felt the world changing beneath their feet.
Mount Hua of Shaanxi—no, the Heavenly Alliance that Mount Hua belonged to—was now beginning to extend its influence all the way to the Yangtze. It might be a small change for now, but no one could yet guess how huge the consequences would be in the future.
“I hope Mount Hua succeeds.”
“Why?”
“Whether they came for profit or righteousness, Mount Hua is the only one who stepped up when we were in trouble, isn’t it? Those damned Nine Sects bastards only run their mouths about righteousness, but when it comes time to do something, they do nothing at all!”
“Exactly!”
“That’s right, damn them!”
“I hope they all go to hell!”
Among those who had staked their lives on the Yangtze, admiration for the Heavenly Alliance and Mount Hua and disappointment in the Nine Sects spread wider and wider.
And as that happened, word of the matter spread rapidly, soon reaching Shaolin and Wudang as well.
What had begun with a small punitive expedition swelled at astonishing speed.
Like a spark landing in a forest already dried to tinder.