Hey! Grab the Leftover Liquor Over There! (3)
"Elder!"
"I know!"
Beop Gye raised his voice, unlike his usual self.
Shaolin was a sect that always taught its disciples to maintain composure. Beop Gye was no stranger to how important that composure was.
But the sight unfolding before his eyes was more than enough to reduce years of cultivation to nothing in an instant.
Blood sprayed through the air, and screams rang out everywhere.
Those who had been breathing only moments ago collapsed in an instant, turning into cold corpses scattered across the ground.
"Elder! We have to go!"
"Get off the ship!"
Shouting at the top of his lungs, Beop Gye leaped from the deck and landed on shore in one breath.
The thick stench of blood surged into his nostrils. Mixed with it were the acrid smell of gunpowder, the choking dust hanging in the air, and some unknown incense, all tangled together until his head swam.
Not only Beop Gye, but every other Shaolin monk there looked flushed and tense.
"Hurry! We can't let anyone say Shaolin stood by and just watched before going home!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Beop Gye's gesture, the Shaolin monks surged forward at once. The sight of the monks in yellow robes unleashing their movement techniques and sweeping in like a tide inspired awe and terror in equal measure.
But one person remained behind.
Hye Yeon could not join the formation.
He stared at the backs of his senior brothers charging ahead, then shut his eyes tight.
No.
This wasn't right.
At the very least, Shaolin should not have been like this. The Shaolin he knew would never have been this way.
Fighting bravely against an enemy?
That was only natural. But even in such a fight, there had to be a proper meaning to it.
Yet the Shaolin monks now rushing forward so fiercely had no thought of protecting the common people. Their hearts were filled only with the desire not to be outdone by another sect.
Why does this feel so empty?
Hye Yeon bit his lip hard.
One person's face kept rising in his mind.
A person who always shouted that everything came down to profit and pretext, who screamed that he could never stand the sight of another sect making a name for itself.
And yet, in the end, everything he did benefitted everyone.
So different.
Chung Myung spoke of gain but acted righteously, while Shaolin spoke of righteousness but was chasing advantage, was it not?
If Chung Myung had heard that, he would have snorted, of course. But at least in Hye Yeon's eyes, that was how it looked.
That difference made his feet heavy.
Compared to the time he had spent with these people in Shaolin, the time he had stayed at Mount Hua was hardly anything at all. And yet Mount Hua had grown immense within him.
"Amitabha."
Exhaling a long sigh, he turned around.
They had come all this way; there was no way he could still see them now. What lay before him was only the towering cliff and the Qingcheng ships pressing into the valley.
The one who had always run at the front was nowhere to be seen, nor were those who had supported his back.
Don't think about it.
Hye Yeon softly recited the Buddha's name.
Even if this situation pained him, he could not let his senior brothers fight alone.
"Amitabha!"
Forcing away the confusion in his heart, Hye Yeon rushed forward roughly.
"Kuh! Dammit!"
"You filthy bastards! Four of you coming at once? And you call yourselves the orthodox faction?"
"D-don't retreat!"
The course of the battlefield was decided in an instant.
Of course, not every force from each sect had come here. There were still quite a few people left behind in their sects, and since not everyone could get on the ships, some had never even been brought.
But the same was true for the Black Dragon Clan.
Even if all of the eighteenth Yangtze river bandit alliance's forces were gathered here, they still would barely compare to the single sect present. No matter how much the Black Dragon Clan accounted for roughly half of the alliance's total strength, that still wasn't enough to face even one of the sects that had come here.
And now there were four sects fighting together.
From the very start, this had been a battle the Black Dragon Clan had no chance of winning.
Wooooooong!
Fwaaaaaaat!
The magnificent swords of the Namgung Family and the Wudang sword, which carried gravitas within its gentleness, competed as they relentlessly cut down the water bandits.
"Amitabha!"
And Shaolin was indeed worthy of its reputation.
Kwaaaang!
The golden qi wrapped around their fists slammed into the charging enemies, sending them flying and bouncing back.
Shaolin was not merely a sect that used fists. Every Shaolin monk was well-versed in the eighteen disciplines to some degree. And yet they still insisted on fists because there was nothing better for subduing an opponent without killing them.
Thuuuum!
Beop Gye, who had smashed the bandits in front of him, unleashed a lion's roar.
"To care only for sentient beings is not the only path of the Buddhist disciple! To eliminate the Mara and open the road for sentient beings is also the role of the Buddhist disciple! Do not let mercy linger in your fingertips!"
"Yes, sir!"
The blue, white, and yellow forces devoured the black water bandits of the Black Dragon Clan like a pack of ravenous beasts.
Where's the Black Dragon King?
Where is the enemy leader?
At this point, how many bandits they had dealt with no longer seemed like it would count as a notable achievement. So then there was only one thing left: who would bring down the Black Dragon King, the leader of the Water Bandit Sect?
"Push in!"
"Cut them down!"
The Black Dragon King would naturally be inside that hall. Then the outcome would be decided by who broke through first and reached the inside.
I'll be first!
Namgung Hwang's eyes blazed.
The Black Dragon King was certainly a peerless master, a man who wielded overwhelming fame even among the countless evil bastards of the demonic path.
But he was still Namgung Hwang, the Emperor Sword.
There was no way he would lose to the Black Dragon King.
But the problem was that far too many others thought the same. He had yielded the vanguard willingly, but Heo Do-jin-in and Beop Gye had no intention of yielding the Black Dragon King to anyone either.
I didn't come all this way just to cook the rice and feed the dog.
If they cut off the Black Dragon King's head, it was obvious that the Namgung Family's achievement in breaking through and leading the charge would lose its shine, was it not?
Kwaaaang!
The sword qi Namgung Hwang swung burst like a bomb and swept through the front ranks.
"Family Head! Save your strength!"
"We'll break the path!"
Namgung Do-wi surged forward. Watching him, Namgung Hwang clenched his teeth.
He was impatient, of course, but the Black Dragon King was no easy opponent. If he wasted too much inner energy here, there was a chance he would face the worst possible outcome and lose to the Black Dragon King.
Suppressing his urgency, Namgung Hwang looked to the side.
Wooooooong!
Heo Do-jin-in, with white and black inner energy winding around his sword tip, wielded his blade smoothly.
It was a truly strange sight.
Gentleness and speed were concepts that should never coexist. And yet, within that sword, the two clearly did.
The blade had seemed to move slowly, almost lazily, but in an instant it slipped into the enemy's opening and sliced through a vital point.
Heo Do!
Fighting spirit surged in Namgung Hwang's chest.
One was the head of the Namgung Family, called the world's greatest clan. The other was the Sect Leader of Wudang, called the world's greatest daoist sect.
At the same time, the two sects were rivals for the title of the world's greatest sword sect.
And yet, despite such a deep and complicated relationship, the two men had never once crossed swords with each other.
They were not so hostile that they would wager their lives in a duel, and they had too much to lose to settle things with a half-hearted spar.
The moment Namgung Hwang's gaze sharpened, Heo Do-jin-in naturally turned his head and looked back at him.
Reading the ease in that gaze, Namgung Hwang's mouth hardened.
You saw my sword and still think you can take it easy?
Namgung Hwang tightened his grip on his blade.
"Fine. Let's see how long that ease lasts."
His fighting spirit reaching its peak, Namgung Hwang pushed forward first.
"Family Head!"
"You must conserve your strength!"
"Get out of my way!"
Kwaaaang!
With another swing of his sword blasting the bandits apart, Namgung Hwang roared like thunder.
"Why the hell should I save my inner energy when I'm dealing with some nobody like the Black Dragon King? I am Namgung Hwang, the Emperor Sword!"
If someone else had said that, it would have been nothing but arrogance. But Namgung Hwang's sword had more than enough right to back it up.
Kwaaaang!
Once again, the bandits were blown away as if turned into pulp by Namgung Hwang's blade. The momentum of the Changgung-geomdae guarding his flanks rose even higher, as if it would pierce the heavens.
"Follow the Family Head!"
"Don't let the Family Head's feet stop!"
Sect and family.
There might be strengths and weaknesses to each, but loyalty to the head and the cohesion among each other were clear advantages of a family. The power of a blood-tied clan was on full display here.
Kwaaaang!
"Hmph!"
Watching Namgung Hwang charge forward with a sudden shift in momentum, Heo Do-jin-in frowned.
He's like a boar that got hit by an arrow.
That was not how a sword should be used.
And yet...
Heo Do-jin-in lightly brushed his own face. Even at his age, it seemed the feeling of fighting spirit was still alive in his heart. His heart was pounding to prove it.
Still.
"Don't get excited."
He spoke quietly. His voice clearly reached the ears of the Wudang disciples following behind him.
"When the opportunity comes, seize it in one breath. Do not lose your composure!"
The Wudang disciples, who had felt impatience as the Namgung Family surged ahead, managed to steady themselves at his words. Then they drew a short breath and pressed into the bandits with even firmer stances.
Beop Jeong. This is your mistake.
If only Namgung Hwang or Byeok Hyeon had been here, Beop Gye would have been able to lead Shaolin well enough. But as long as he was here, there would be no room for Shaolin to shine.
"Push through!"
As Namgung and Wudang raised their momentum at the same time, the bandits' defensive line, barely holding together, finally collapsed.
"N-no way..."
"We can't hold any longer!"
Heo Do-jin-in and Namgung Hwang did not miss the opening.
"Get out of the way, you bastards!"
The moment Namgung Hwang forced his way through the gap, Heo Do-jin-in leaped up like a bird of prey, clearing the bandits' heads and flying into the hall.
"T-that!"
Namgung Hwang's eyes flashed.
"Taaaap!"
Crushing the bandits in a single sweep, Namgung Hwang chased after Heo Do-jin-in like a starving tiger.
"Damn it all!"
Kwaaaang!
Smashing the hall's doors in one blow, Namgung Hwang swept his gaze left and right, blazing with fury.
Where are you?
Before his mind could even catch up, his body moved first. He immediately sprinted like a beam of light and burst through the broken inner doors at the center of the hall.
"Black Dragon King!"
The feet of the fiercely charging Namgung Hwang came to a sudden halt.
What he saw was a large inner chamber, and at its center a luxurious, imposing chair—and, in front of it, Heo Do-jin-in, staring at the chair with a hardened face.
"Where is the Black Dragon King?"
"...He isn't here."
"W-what?"
For the first time, Namgung Hwang's face twisted with confusion.
This was the heart of the eighteenth Yangtze river bandit alliance. No matter how much the Black Dragon King had swallowed the Water Bandit Sect with his own martial prowess, if he lost the Black Dragon Clan he could never rise again.
So how could it make any sense that the Black Dragon King, the very man who should have been defending the Black Dragon Clan above all others, wasn't here?
Beop Gye, who had arrived a beat later, frowned at the two men staring blankly at each other.
"You're saying the Black Dragon King isn't here?"
"...It seems so, sir."
"How could this be..."
Beop Gye, too, seemed unable to continue, stunned.
"You said the Black Dragon King wasn't here?"
As the same question kept being repeated, irritation crept onto Heo Do-jin-in's face. He turned, ready to snap at them, and then suddenly his eyes flew wide open when he saw the face of the one who had asked the last question.
"Wasn't Qingcheng supposed to take the upper side?"
Byeok Hyeon being here meant the Qingcheng disciples had entered as well.
"Why are you here? Why!"
"W-well, even if you put it that way... didn't you originally say we'd take care of the bandits on the river and support those guarding the upper side? When everyone silently entered the hall, I naturally thought the plan had changed."
"You..."
Panic flickered across Heo Do-jin-in's face.
What shameless lying!
No matter how you looked at it, they had been consumed by their desire for merit and ignored the plan, following him all the way inside. But now was not the time to pick at that.
"What about the retreat route?"
"It was easy enough to break through, so I didn't think we'd need a retreat route..."
But Heo Do-jin-in's face had gone cold as iron.
"Then... you mean everyone is inside this place right now? In this jar?"
Only after the word jar was spoken did the color drain slightly from the faces of the other sect leaders.
"No way..."
"N-no! That can't be! The Black Dragon Clan is in here too! They're not just the arms and legs of some Water Bandit Sect—they're the head, the heart, the very core! Who would set a trap by giving away their own heart?"
"...The Black Dragon King wouldn't be able to do that."
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Ah."
At last, Beop Gye seemed to understand Heo Do-jin-in's words and let out a small gasp. His face had gone pale.
"A t-trap..."
And just then—
"UHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
A tremendous peal of laughter, as if it would tear their eardrums apart, exploded from above them.
The huge laugh, carrying terrifying inner energy, struck the surrounding cliffs and rang out as though it would continue forever.
It was the moment when everyone finally, fully, instinctively realized that something had gone terribly wrong.