Only He Was Worthy (3)
“…….”
Baek Cheon’s face darkened as he looked at the people gathered along the riverbank.
“……Hey, all of you.”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“……Are you saying the Sect Leader is going too?”
“Seems like it.”
Yoon Jong added to Jo Gul’s answer.
“Well, honestly… it would be a little strange to skip an occasion like this.”
“For one thing, Elder Hyun Young looks like he’s about to see red….”
“……Why?”
“The moment he heard that only Wudang was making a name for itself, he apparently almost flipped over. They said it looked like he was about to grab the Sect Leader by the collar any second.”
“…….”
“Well, I can understand how he feels, to be honest.”
Baek Cheon listened blankly for a moment, then nodded.
No, he could actually understand that much. In fact, lately even his own feelings toward Wudang had been worsening at a frightening pace. If someone had asked him before which sect he hated most, he would have answered Jongnam without the slightest hesitation. But now, he would probably spend a few seconds thinking it over before still answering Jongnam.
Hm? Wasn’t that the same thing?
It was very different. At the very least, it meant he now had to compare Jongnam and Wudang.
In the past, there had been nothing to compare. How could some Wudang possibly be on the same level as Jongnam? To compare them, you’d need something at the level of the Demonic Sect.
“All right, I get that much, but….”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“Then why are those guys standing around like that? Don’t tell me they’re coming with us?”
Baek Cheon’s gaze shifted past the Mount Hua disciples to the bandits and water bandits lined up behind them.
They were all standing there with dazed expressions, as if to say, Why the hell are we even here?
Well, of course they’d be confused. Baek Cheon was confused enough as it was, so how much worse must it be for them?
Yoon Jong sighed before answering.
“I tried to stop them, but… they won’t listen. They say they’re taking everyone.”
“……Why?”
“They say that as for the Green Forest bandits, fine, whatever—but if they leave the water bandits here, they’ll all run away, and they’d sooner die than let that happen.”
“…….”
Ah. Right.
It was true that they couldn’t just let the water bandits roam free. Right now, those men were paying for their crimes through forced labor.
If people committed offenses, someone had to clean up the mess. Unless they were going to kill every last water bandit outright, monitoring the former prisoners so they couldn’t be released and go back to harming common folk was also Mount Hua’s responsibility.
The problem was….
“That doesn’t mean you drag bandits and water bandits along to a gathering of all the great orthodox sects, does it?”
“Apparently it does?”
Baek Cheon couldn’t answer. Slowly, he turned his head.
He spotted Chung Myung, who was enthusiastically kicking the water bandits around.
“You water-bastard idiots can’t even stand in a straight line! The Sect Leader’s right here, and you’re standing there with one leg cocked? What, is it uncomfortable? You want me to show you what really uncomfortable means?”
“N-no! We’re sorry!”
“If you’re sorry, then get hit, you bastards!”
Chung Myung twisted one water bandit’s jaw clean around and glared with both eyes.
At that ferocious sight, the water bandits shrank back, and even the Green Forest bandits hunched their necks and watched Chung Myung nervously.
“…….”
Seeing that crumpled, pathetic posture, Baek Cheon felt an odd sense of kinship and couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He squeezed his eyes shut. In front of that bastard, righteous and unorthodox alike became equal.
“Good. That’s more like it now. We’re ready, Sect Leader!”
Instead of answering, a deep sigh leaked from Hyun Jong’s lips. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he merely shook his head.
I understand, Sect Leader.
We understand too.
Everyone there seemed to know exactly what Hyun Jong had wanted to say. In fact, they even seemed to understand why he hadn’t been able to say it aloud.
Reciting scriptures to a cow’s ear was not what a gentleman did.
“Um….”
Hyun Jong’s shoulders sagged as he looked at the bizarre lineup before him: Daoists, bandits, and water bandits, an absurd combination beyond all reason.
“……Let’s depart.”
“Yes!”
With an, “Hmph,” Hyun Jong turned on his heel and started off without looking back.
Mount Hua, the Green Forest, and even the water bandits from Daegyeong Fort. The group that set off along the river was by no means small.
Mount Hua was, after all, a sect specially suited to running, and the Green Forest bandits were the elite of the Green Forest—used to moving through rough terrain, so their pace was no joke.
The ones suffering were the water bandits.
“K-kuuuugh….”
“I-I’m dying….”
And yet, somehow, not a single man fell behind.
The reason was simple.
If we fall behind, we die.
He’ll really kill us!
Because Chung Myung was following behind them with his hands clasped behind his back.
No, why the hell is he walking at the same speed as us when he’s just strolling with his hands behind his back?
Is that guy human or a ghost?
Whether human or ghost, one thing was certain: anyone who fell behind that bastard would definitely be beaten to death.
“Run faster, you water-bandit trash! You don’t think your crimes disappear just because you dug around in the riverbed a little, do you? Try falling behind. I’ll cut your rice bowl down while I’m at it!”
“Hiiiiiiik!”
As Chung Myung chased the water bandits who were running like their tails were on fire, Baek Cheon gradually closed the distance.
“Chung Myung.”
“What?”
“Was there really any need to rush this much?”
“Hah, Dong-ryong, you really did grow up. Now you’re even worrying about water bandits?”
“That’s not what I mean, you punk! If it’s like you said, we should just show our faces and be done with it. But if we arrive too early for no reason, there’s a chance we’ll end up having to fight.”
“Oh?”
For a moment, Chung Myung’s eyes widened as he stared at Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon suddenly felt vaguely annoyed and snapped back.
“What?”
“No, I just thought, wow, Sasuk is finally using that thing between his ears.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
As Baek Cheon’s eyes nearly rolled back and he started to lunge at him, Chung Myung quickly continued before he could.
“That’s true, though.”
“Huh?”
“……But something feels off.”
“……What does?”
“Just… everything.”
After giving that short reply, the corner of Chung Myung’s mouth twisted faintly.
This much was necessary.
Mount Hua was still weak. The Heavenly Alliance was still weak.
Of course, it was true that the Heavenly Alliance had established itself as the only force capable of standing against the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. But being “capable of standing against” did not mean “equal.”
The Heavenly Alliance was still nothing more than a frail power that would be left writhing with a fever if the Nine Sects so much as cleared their throats.
We need the unorthodox bastards.
The Heavenly Alliance was spreading its influence in every direction. And yet there was only one reason the Nine Great Sects had ignored it until now.
Face.
They claimed to be high and noble great sects, so they couldn’t openly interfere with a fellow righteous faction that was trying to walk the path of righteousness.
The reason Chung Myung had been able to beat the hell out of the Nine Sects this whole time was that he understood very well how important face was to them.
“Sasuk.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know when people stop caring about face?”
“……How would I know?”
“When someone tries to steal their rice bowl.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
Instead of answering at once, Chung Myung smirked.
We’re almost at the limit.
Cause and righteousness and all that nonsense are only kept up while your rice bowl is still safe. If the Heavenly Alliance kept growing like this, there would eventually come a day when those bastards would toss all that pretense aside too.
Had they not already learned, the hard way, that the Nine Great Sects did not move by righteousness?
The moment they believed their own meal was being stolen from them, they would try to repeat exactly what they had done to Mount Hua in the past.
They would trample the Heavenly Alliance’s value, tear at the sects that belonged to it, and try to carve out gains for themselves. Just as they had done back then—standing by while Mount Hua was attacked, only to swoop in and take whatever profit they could.
You may have gotten away with it once. You won’t get a second chance, you bastards.
To prevent that, he had to make sure they couldn’t move. If this conflict ended up becoming a straight Heavenly Alliance versus Nine Great Sects showdown, the result was obvious.
We can’t win.
They needed time. Time to make the sects of the Heavenly Alliance stronger, and time to forge their unity even tighter!
So for now, he had to draw the Nine Great Sects’ attention elsewhere. At least while they were still clinging to their cause and their face, unable to let go of those things.
“That part’s right.”
“……What the hell are you going on about now? Say it in a way a human can understand.”
Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed.
“But the way things are flowing is a little strange.”
“Huh?”
“If they’re all gathering at Black Dragon Clan, that means Black Dragon Clan didn’t abandon the Yangtze and retreat.”
“……Well, yeah. They’re not going to gather in some place with nobody around.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“What?”
Chung Myung glared.
“What kind of water bandit has such a thick skull that they’d keep holding out while Shaolin, Wudang, and Namgung are all charging in at once?”
“Qingcheng came too.”
“I’m excluding the riffraff.”
Baek Cheon was dumbfounded. If Qingcheng’s Sect Leader had heard that, he would have blown a gasket and toppled over backward.
Who else in this world would dare call one of the prestigious Nine Great Sects riffraff, other than this bastard?
“If you know how water bandits think, the right move is to run. Those guys aren’t like the orthodox sects. They don’t care about face or any of that crap. Among themselves they may keep up appearances, I guess.”
“……Even so, he’s the head of a sect. Wouldn’t he run while his subordinates were still fighting?”
“That doesn’t exist in the unorthodox schools. The point is, I have to live first if I’m going to have a power base and subordinates. Orthodox sects put the sect first; unorthodox sects put themselves first. That’s why they’re unorthodox.”
“…….”
“But Black Dragon Clan is still holding out.”
Chung Myung scratched his chin, lost in thought.
That means they’ve got something they’re relying on.
This would have to be confirmed with his own eyes. If things were unfolding the way he suspected, he might have to completely revise his plan.
By his reckoning, forcing them to retreat from the Yangtze was already a one-move checkmate. But the fact that they weren’t stepping into that trap meant one of two things.
Either they intended to lose as they were.
Or….
Someone saw something I didn’t.
A smile flickered at the corner of Chung Myung’s mouth as he thought.
This is fun.
Who was it?
He didn’t know. No, he shouldn’t know.
And yet Chung Myung somehow felt as if he did know. He knew exactly who was behind this unpleasant, aggravating turn of events.
That one gaze kept flickering through his mind.
The black, wavering eyes above lips red as blood.
Jang Il-so.
Over two lifetimes, he had met countless people and fought countless others. In terms of experience, no one in Jianghu could even touch Chung Myung’s toes.
And yet even he had never, he swore, faced such an eerie gaze before.
It’s different.
It wasn’t the madness in the eyes of Demonic Sect members.
It wasn’t the endless void that clung to the Heavenly Demon’s eyes, either.
It was….
“Chung Myung! Ahead!”
“Huh?”
Snapped out of his reverie, Chung Myung jerked his head up.
And there, approaching from the front, was a group of martial artists.
Enemies?
No. No, they weren’t.
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes and stared at them. A meaningful light flashed in his gaze.
Neatly arranged martial robes, longswords held in one hand, and the bright taiji emblem sewn over the chest.
“Ha….”
Letting out a soft laugh, Chung Myung shrugged and muttered,
“Well, well… looks like some honored guests have come out to greet us. I’m truly touched.”
Wudang Sect.
Perhaps the very people he least wanted to run into right now were approaching at speed. At their head, Wudang’s Sect Leader, Heo Do-jin-in, sent a cold light from his eyes straight toward Mount Hua.
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