I Have Won This War (4)
Man-geum Daebu, who had descended to the base of the cliff, stared straight at Jang Il-so.
Tyrant Lord…
The reason he had accepted Jang Il-so’s proposal came down to two things.
First was a sense of crisis.
If things went on like this, he truly might be picked off one by one before he could even raise a hand, just as Jang Il-so had warned. Power that swelled too far inevitably turned outward, and the best target for that outward-facing force was none other than Sapa.
And the second was…
I figured I could put him out front, use him, and toss him aside without losing anything.
That much was now certain.
His second calculation had been completely off.
He had been arrogant enough to think he understood Jang Il-so fairly well, but the real Jang Il-so was not someone he could ever contain within his calculations. From the moment he had come to seek them out until this very instant, not a single current had slipped out of Jang Il-so’s grasp.
Was I the one being used as a pawn, then?
A chill ran down his spine.
In this war, which had burned like lava, the ones who feared Jang Il-so most were perhaps not the orthodox bastards at all, but the Sapa fighters who had fought under him.
If even Man-geum Daebu felt his heart tighten like that, then what must the others have felt?
“In any case….”
Man-geum Daebu hid his true thoughts and spoke with deliberate calm.
“It was a profitable deal.”
“Profitable?”
Heukryongwang’s face twisted as he listened.
“That’s your side of it. Janggang took nothing but losses! Above all, the Black Dragon Clan being cut in half is damage that can’t be repaired!”
Baring a murderous glare, Heukryongwang fixed Jang Il-so with a hard stare.
“Jang Il-so! You promised this would bring Janggang benefits! Were you playing me for a fool?”
“You say you were played for a fool… tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Cheonmyeon Susa clicked his tongue.
“I knew you were ignorant, but I didn’t know you were rude too. Watch your mouth, Heukryongwang. The Four Hegemons Alliance has only just begun. It would do none of us any good if the alliance leader’s dignity were dragged through the mud.”
“Shut up, you rat bastard! Were you in on this with Jang Il-so, too, and helping him scam me?”
As Heukryongwang exploded in fury, Cheonmyeon Susa’s eyes turned ice-cold in an instant.
“Heh heh.”
But then Jang Il-so let out a low laugh and spoke in a soft voice.
“There’s no need to be so angry. I did bring Janggang a definite benefit.”
“...Benefit? You call that a benefit?”
“For the next three years, no one will dare stop you if you do anything in Janggang.”
Heukryongwang narrowed his eyes, slightly suspicious.
“But the government….”
“The government can’t handle the Water Bandits on its own either. Whenever they’ve moved against them, they’ve always had the support of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families. If those factions can’t move, then the government will have no choice but to turn a blind eye.”
“Hmm.”
“And if that happens, isn’t repairing this amount of damage nothing at all? In fact, the Water Bandit Sect will only grow stronger.”
Heukryongwang stared at Jang Il-so for a long moment without speaking, then gave a loud, performative cough.
“That’s not wrong, alliance leader?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll let this one pass.”
As Heukryongwang stepped back with some reluctance, Cheonmyeon Susa smiled faintly and asked, “Will those bastards really keep their promise, alliance leader?”
“They have no choice but to. No, they will keep it.”
Jang Il-so’s lips curled.
“There’s nothing more amusing than people shackled to principle and reputation. Don’t trouble yourself over it.”
“Hmm. Then I’ll trust the alliance leader.”
Man-geum Daebu also spoke.
“Then the important thing now is to stabilize the Four Hegemons Alliance as quickly as possible.”
“That’s right.”
“...In that case, we’ll return by this road, clean up our sect, and prepare a new structure.”
“You should.”
“But there is one thing that bothers me.”
Tilting his head slightly, Man-geum Daebu asked in a low voice. His eyes were dark.
“If you had mobilized the Blood Cult as well, wiping those people out there wouldn’t have been difficult. And if it was Shaolin, Wudang, and Namgung, surely the loss would have been worth it?”
“Worth it….”
Jang Il-so’s lips lifted.
“What I want isn’t to win a battle. I want to win the war. My enemy is… no, our enemy isn’t Shaolin or Wudang. It’s the whole of the Central Plains.”
“....”
“Do you know why people fear ghosts?”
“...Because they’re difficult to deal with?”
“No.”
Jang Il-so shook his head.
“Because they know what ghosts are.”
“....”
“A child who doesn’t know ghosts aren’t afraid, even if one appears before them. But an adult who has been told over and over what that thing is, and why it should be feared, will naturally fear it.”
Man-geum Daebu’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Before long, the whole world will fear me, and the name of the Four Hegemons Alliance with me. Once that happens, everything will become a little easier.”
Man-geum Daebu shook his head.
It had been the same when he came here. That man gave the impression he was telling you everything, and in the end, he told you nothing at all.
But there was one thing that was certain.
“Making the Four Hegemons Alliance was the right decision.”
“Hah.”
Jang Il-so gave a small laugh.
“If you think that, then don’t cling to the name of Black Ghost Fort. I’ll be abandoning the name of Maninbang, too.”
“...Understood. Then we’ll meet again soon. There will be a great deal to discuss.”
With that, as if his business was finished, Man-geum Daebu turned away.
Heukryongwang followed with a satisfied smile, and Cheonmyeon Susa, left until the end, looked at Jang Il-so and chuckled.
“So your trouble has begun, alliance leader.”
“I’ll have to endure it.”
“I’ll be counting on you from here on. Just know that I don’t doubt your ability, alliance leader.”
“Naturally.”
“Heh heh heh. This should be fun. Very fun.”
Cheonmyeon Susa drifted off with a wicked smile. Once everyone had gone, the murderous blue glare Jang Il-so had been suppressing finally spilled from his eyes.
“...A bunch of crafty snakes.”
Behind Jang Il-so, a white carriage drawn by eight horses had already been prepared. Ho Gamyeong, who had been waiting quietly at the back of the carriage, stepped forward with a cloth in hand to receive him.
“You’ve truly suffered, sect master—no, alliance leader.”
“What a mess I am. What an embarrassment. Ngh.”
Jang Il-so groaned. Ho Gamyeong smiled bitterly and offered him the damp cloth.
“I should have brought the maids with me.”
“It’s not like I don’t have hands. Forget it.”
Taking the cloth, Jang Il-so wiped the blood from his body.
“Everything has gone just as the alliance leader planned.”
“This is only the beginning.”
Jang Il-so answered dismissively, swapping out the cloth several times while he wiped down his upper body. Ho Gamyeong fetched a pure-white robe from inside the carriage and draped it over him. Once Jang Il-so had tidied his clothes, he frowned at his broken ornaments.
“Tsk.”
With a creak of snapping force, he tore every damaged ornament right off his body without the slightest hesitation, then swept his loosened hair back and sighed.
“There was no way those snake bastards would follow me so obediently. We put out the immediate fire, so now they’ll start trying to swallow the Four Hegemons Alliance whole.”
“I’m sure they will.”
“Exactly. That’s how Sapa works. These are the kind of bastards who’d draw their swords over the bean sitting right in front of them instead of the great feast far away. They’re even more troublesome than the orthodox lot.”
If Jang Il-so had completely settled things with Shaolin and Wudang here, what would have happened next was obvious.
They would have turned their attention from the remaining orthodox factions to Jang Il-so himself. From behind the scenes, they would have formed alliances, fought over how to destroy Jang Il-so and Maninbang, and carved up Gangnam between them in a filthy brawl.
History had proven that countless times over in Sapa.
“But… you can’t do that anymore.”
Jang Il-so’s lips curled slyly. A wicked smile bloomed across his face.
“The Four Hegemons Alliance must not possess power in its own right. Only the Four Hegemons Alliance ruled by me should have any meaning. What I gained in this war wasn’t some worthless treaty. It was the spread of my name, Jang Il-so, across the world.”
He slowly traced a finger over his own lips.
“Fame is nothing but useless trash that isn’t worth a single coin, but at times, it can become a force greater than any violence.”
Ho Gamyeong, watching him, felt a flicker of admiration.
When had Jang Il-so been painting this picture?
When he gathered the leaders of the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu?
When Mount Hua invaded Janggang?
Or when the Green Forest uprising broke out?
No. That wasn’t it.
At the very least, he must have seen this by the time he faced the sect leader of the Tang Clan.
That was why he would have stopped Ho Gamyeong when he tried to deal with the Mount Hua Divine Dragon.
This wasn’t merely seeing one step ahead. Jang Il-so was someone who placed the world on the palm of his hand and toyed with it.
“From here on, we’ll have to fight a grueling war for a while. Stripping the strange beasts from the mouths of those snake bastards won’t be easy.”
“But the alliance leader will surely accomplish it.”
“Tsk tsk. Gamyeong, Gamyeong. You really do overestimate me. I already have a headache.”
Shaking his head, Jang Il-so climbed into the carriage. Ho Gamyeong followed him in, shut the door, then produced a bottle of wine he had prepared in advance and respectfully offered it to him.
“I had it ready.”
“Did I ever tell you this is why I like you?”
Jang Il-so smiled brightly.
“The road ahead is still long, but today we can at least raise a toast. Wouldn’t you say so?”
“Of course, alliance leader.”
“Hahahaha!”
Just as Jang Il-so was about to pour the wine into a cup—
“Hmm?”
Ho Gamyeong turned toward the carriage door. There was a commotion outside.
What’s going on?
The battle should have already ended.
As Jang Il-so’s brow faintly furrowed, Ho Gamyeong immediately said, “I’ll go and take a loo—”
But before he could even rise from his seat—
Kwadeudug!
Something sharp suddenly stabbed through the carriage wall.
At that instant, cold sweat burst all over Ho Gamyeong’s body.
A sword so sharp it seemed it could cut with its mere killing intent stopped a fraction of an inch from his face as he half-rose in alarm.
“....”
If that sword had come in even one inch farther, he would no longer be among the living.
“Tsk.”
Jang Il-so clicked his tongue as he blocked the sword that had thrust through the carriage wall.
“So impatient.”
With a sigh, he stood up, taking two bottles of wine with him.
He opened the door and stepped out of the carriage. Maninbang warriors had gathered around it to protect the vehicle, and beyond them stood a single man.
“Move.”
The Maninbang swordsmen, who had seemed ready to rush the man at any moment, turned in surprise toward Jang Il-so.
“I said move.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Maninbang fighters hurriedly scattered left and right, clearing a path. Jang Il-so stepped down from the carriage and pulled out the sword that had been embedded there.
“...Is this sword a parting gift?”
“Bring it back. It’s expensive.”
“Tsk. You had me hopeful for a moment.”
With a look of feigned regret, Jang Il-so tossed the sword in his hand to the man. Catching the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, which was tied with green tassels, Chung Myung slid the blade back into its scabbard and stared at Jang Il-so.
Jang Il-so gave a light sigh.
“And this carriage was expensive too….”
“Come to Shaanxi and I’ll buy you a new one.”
“And you’ll give me your head in exchange?”
“Wouldn’t you have to accept that much?”
“Hahahahaha.”
This time, Jang Il-so tossed one of the wine bottles at Chung Myung. Chung Myung caught it and, without a word, brought it to his mouth and tilted it back.
Glug. Glug. Glug.
Watching Chung Myung drink without the slightest hesitation, Jang Il-so smiled.
“Now that’s a drink with flavor.”
Then he began drinking straight from the bottle himself.
Ho Gamyeong watched the scene in a daze.
Chung Myung had charged straight into the formation formed by Maninbang swordsmen, hurled his blade at the carriage Jang Il-so was in, and now Jang Il-so was casually offering him wine.
He simply could not understand the world these two inhabited.
The two men lowered their bottles and faced each other.
A ghostly smile hung at the corner of Jang Il-so’s mouth. Baring his teeth like a beast threatening its prey, he murmured,
“So….”
There was killing intent and hostility boiling in that low, growling voice.
“I went to the trouble of sparing your life, and you still came looking for me again. Don’t tell me you came to beg me to kill you.”
Then a dense killing desire rose in Chung Myung’s eyes.