There Was One Madman
“Hey, so what happened, huhhhh!”
“…….”
Hong Dae-gwang stared at Chung Myung with a completely dazed face.
I really am insane.
Why on earth had he missed this lunatic so badly? This demon of a man who destroyed every shred of peace just by existing? Him?
“Hey…… Mount Hua Divine Dragon……. no, Mount Hua Sword Hero.”
“What?”
“Information isn’t something that…… huh? You can’t just ask for it and have it sitting right there waiting for you, huh? It doesn’t work like that.”
“What the hell are you talking about? If the Beggars’ Sect doesn’t have information, then what are we supposed to do?”
“That’s not what I’m saying…… I’m saying the information exists, but it doesn’t just happen to be there exactly when you want it…….”
“Nooooo!”
Hong Dae-gwang squeezed his eyes shut.
“Honestly, these damn beggars are useless, useless! If a bunch of hopeless bums can’t even do their begging properly and can’t spit out information when they’re supposed to, then what the hell are they even eating for!”
“……I appreciate the concern, but…….”
Though really, did you need to worry about that?
Whether he knew Hong Dae-gwang’s feelings or not, Chung Myung kept mercilessly badgering and harassing him without pause.
“So what happened?”
Hong Dae-gwang lifted his face toward the ceiling, looking like he’d transcended the mortal realm.
He had a lot he wanted to say. If the one yelling at him right now had been anyone else, Hong Dae-gwang would have worn a bright smile and said, “Young brother, the information requested from the main branch has to travel here by carrier pigeon, so it takes a bit of time. I can’t fly there myself like a bird, and rushing me won’t make it arrive any faster, so please wait patiently. It won’t take long.”
Yes. He could say that.
And if he did, anyone who understood the Beggars’ Sect’s dignity would nod in agreement, or at least feel guilty for having the nerve to badger a branch leader without thinking.
A person with common sense, that was.
Unfortunately, the one in front of him was Chung Myung. A man who treated the Beggars’ Sect’s dignity like dog bones lying on the roadside. A man with no common sense and no logic whatsoever.
If he said something like that, Chung Myung would just erupt with, “You incompetent beggar bastards! If you’re gonna be that damn slow, maybe you should just starve to death already!”
“Hic…….”
Or maybe he’d just lose to his own temper and pitch himself backward.
Watching Chung Myung’s face grow hotter and hotter, Hong Dae-gwang felt the hair on his body stand on end.
It felt like watching a fire spreading toward a powder keg. The instant that flame touched the oil barrel, it would go boom.
That face?
No, this very branch hall.
Please! Please! Hurry the hell up, you bird-brained bastard!
Since they had requested it with the highest urgency, the Beggars’ Sect’s Thousand-Mile Azure Pigeon was probably flapping its wings to the bone right about now with the letter tied to its leg.
Whether this branch hall would be destroyed or not depended entirely on the speed of those wingbeats.
“Grrr……!”
At last Chung Myung’s eyes started to roll back, and Hong Dae-gwang was genuinely wondering if he should run for his life without looking back when—at that knife-edge moment—
Tweeteeeeeeet!
“It’s hereeee!”
Hong Dae-gwang shot to his feet at the sound.
Even seeing his dead grandfather’s face again would not have made him this happy. To be fair, Hong Dae-gwang didn’t even know what his grandfather looked like—let alone his father—but let that slide!
“Where?”
“There! It’s coming in there!”
At that instant, through the wide-open window, a pigeon with blue-tinted wings streaked inside at breakneck speed.
“Got it!”
Hong Dae-gwang reached out and caught the Thousand-Mile Azure Pigeon in his hand, then hurriedly opened the tiny tube tied to its ankle.
Chung Myung snatched the rolled-up letter the moment it came out.
“Let’s see!”
His eyes raced across the page so fast they seemed to move left and right in a blur.
“What does it say?”
“Well……”
After finishing the letter, Chung Myung raised his head and looked at Hong Dae-gwang. His expression was strangely—unexplainably—off.
“Beggars’ uncle.”
“Yeah?”
“……Looks like your side is screwed.”
“……What? W-what are you talking about?”
“No. I thought…… there wouldn’t be one…….”
Chung Myung laughed hollowly, then scratched the back of his head.
“But there is, huh. One crazy bastard.”
“Huh?”
Hong Dae-gwang could only stare blankly at Chung Myung, completely unable to make sense of any of it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Jiujiang.
Near Maehwado, now completely controlled by the Water Bandit Sect, a desolate tension hung in the air.
The lively streets that had always bustled with life were nowhere to be seen. It was hard to find a single soul on the roads, and even the taverns and inns that had once flung open their doors to lure customers now had their windows sealed tight.
Those who had gathered quietly in the small tavern at the city’s far edge, built alongside Maehwado, could only hold their breath as they watched the water bandits passing by outside.
“……Are we really just supposed to live like this?”
A man who had glimpsed the backs of the passing bandits through a crack in the window let out a deep sigh and lamented.
“Honestly, it’s not that big a problem, is it? The water bandits aren’t even hurting anyone.”
“It’s not that there isn’t a big problem, it’s that one hasn’t happened yet, you idiot.”
As if insulted by the foolish words, one of the merchants struck his chest and spoke up.
“When a tiger is full, doesn’t it just ignore the people walking past it? Those water bandit bastards may be quiet now, but how are we supposed to know what they’ll do when the mood strikes?”
“That may be true, but…….”
Worry clouded the merchants’ faces.
It was true that several days had passed since the Water Bandit Sect seized Maehwado, and yet no one had come forward claiming they’d been harmed by them.
And yet that did not make it possible to look at the water bandits—the very people they had feared all their lives—with ease. Especially not for merchants whose livelihood depended on traveling the Yangtze River.
“We’ll just have to endure it somehow. Even before, when we traveled by boat and met bandits, didn’t we pay a toll? If you think of it the same way…….”
“How is that the same? Meeting them for a brief moment once every few weeks or months is one thing. But how are we supposed to live with those bastards every single day?”
“…….”
“And back then, we only had to pay for the goods we were carrying. But now they’re saying they’ll tax the stuff sitting in the warehouse too. Damn it, business is already bad enough. If we have to pay the money those bastards demand on top of that, what are we supposed to live on?”
A collective sigh rose from the merchants’ mouths.
When Mount Hua had occupied Maehwado, they had merely charged rent for the warehouses they provided to those who needed them; they had not levied fees on every item stored there. So in effect, the only money merchants paid to use Maehwado was the toll for transporting goods by ship.
Of course, there had been costs for using various facilities, but that was true anywhere in the world.
But once those water bandit bastards took control of Maehwado, they immediately doubled the toll and declared they would also impose taxes on any cargo waiting on the island.
So what was called “double” in name effectively became three or four times the cost.
“Are we really just supposed to keep swallowing this?”
“Hey. Did you hear about the East Sea Merchant Guild that set out from Maehwado yesterday and took to the river?”
“The East Sea Merchant Guild? Ah, right. They did, didn’t they? What about them?”
“……They say they all died.”
“What?! What do you mean?”
“Looks like those damned bastards are using their heads. They’re apparently sinking every merchant vessel trying to cross the river outside Maehwado. In other words, if you don’t want to die, use Maehwado.”
“……Good heavens.”
Everyone fell silent, as if frozen in place.
In the past, even if someone met water bandits while crossing the river, it was rare for anyone to be hurt. Usually, a toll settled the matter.
But if those dog-like bastards played it this way, nobody would dare set foot on the river.
Of course, the Yangtze was so wide that you weren’t guaranteed to run into bandits. If you were unlucky, the odds of meeting them might only be one in ten.
But what sort of reckless fool would stake his entire fortune and his life on a one-in-ten chance?
“……Looks like we’re really going to get squeezed dry now.”
“Those were the good days, when Mount Hua was here.”
As the saying went, you don’t know what you had until it’s gone, and the merchants were painfully realizing just how much Mount Hua had protected them while occupying Maehwado.
“Why are we looking for people who aren’t here? So then? Any word from the Nine Great Sects yet? They let these bastards take over here, and they still haven’t shown even the tip of their noses?”
The merchants’ only remaining hope was for the Nine Great Sects to take this place back. Failing that, it would also be fine if they simply cleared the Yangtze of those bandits once more.
“……From what I hear, there’s still no movement.”
“Still?”
One of the merchants couldn’t contain his anger and raised his voice.
“Surely those Nine Sects bastards aren’t planning to just hand this place over to the water bandits, are they?”
“N-no, surely not. This place is in the north.”
“Then why haven’t they shown even the tip of their noses until now?”
“That’s…….”
The merchants exchanged uneasy glances.
“Had they not already been frightened by the Four Hegemons Alliance and backed off once before? What guarantee do we have they won’t do it again?”
“Come on, no way! Even if they are, they’re still righteous sects…….”
“Righteous sects? If you’re going to talk about righteous sects, you should’ve done it three years ago! Isn’t it true the Nine Sects bowed their heads to the water bandits because their lives mattered too much?”
“…….”
“Could it be that this time too…….”
“Don’t say such ridiculous nonsense and ruin the mood! Things were bad then, weren’t they? If the Nine Sects really got serious, those water bandits—hell, even that Black Dragon King—would lose their heads in no time…….”
Crash!
Just then, the tavern door flew open so violently it seemed about to shatter, and a man in blue clothes slowly walked inside.
“…….”
The distinctive, skin-tight blue uniform of the water bandits, along with a face that carried a murderous air.
The tavern fell dead silent.
“Hmm.”
The man swept the room with cold eyes. The merchants caught in that gaze froze so completely they could hardly breathe.
The bandit opened his mouth.
“I just heard someone here say…….”
His cruel-looking eyes flashed viciously.
“Something about the Nine Sects?”
“T-that…….”
“The Black Dragon King losing his head?”
All the color drained from the merchants’ faces in an instant. Who better than they knew just how cruel these water bandits could be if they chose to be?
“This is why you can’t show useless kindness. The Black Dragon King went to such lengths to be considerate, and you repay his grace by running your mouths like that?”
Anger flickered across the man’s twisted face.
“Looks like I’m going to have to kill a few of you as an example to set you straight.”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…….”
“It was a misunderstanding!”
The merchants hurriedly waved their hands and tried to explain, but the man didn’t even pretend to listen. He jerked his chin toward them.
“Drag them out.”
“Yes!”
As the water bandits swarmed in, the merchants went pale and screamed.
“I-it’s a misunderstanding! Sir! Sir!”
“Please spare us!”
“H-hic! I, I……!”
The merchants seized by the bandits pleaded through tears, but the hands tightening around them were merciless.
“Drag them out and butcher them all. The crime of insulting the Black Dragon King cannot be repaid with their lives alone!”
The shouting man clicked his tongue.
Then, as he left the tavern, he muttered under his breath.
“I don’t know why the Black Dragon King shows mercy to trash like that. It would be enough to just kill them all and take everything. Merchant scum, righteous sect scum—same difference.”
“Kill them all and take everything?”
Just then, a booming voice came from behind him.
Annoyance flickered across the man’s face. He clicked his tongue and turned around. Some other fool with no fear of death…….
Crack!
But at that exact moment, a rough hand clamped around the man’s neck.
“Kek!”
Choked by the sudden pressure, the man’s tongue lolled out. It was an enormous force, as if his throat might be crushed and burst any second.
His face quickly turning dark red, he hurriedly looked at the hand gripping his neck.
The moment he saw who it was with his own eyes, indescribable shock filled the water bandit’s gaze.
White robes, with hard black hair sharply contrasting them.
Those eyes were tiger-like, and the broad, bold face brought to mind a lion.
But what drew the eye even more was the two characters Azure Heaven embroidered across the right side of his chest in bold, dragonlike brushstrokes.
“Na, Nam…… kek! Namgung…….”
BOOOOOOM!
The man, still gripping the bandit by the throat, slammed him into the floor in one motion. A sound so violent it seemed impossible for a human body striking the ground had just exploded through the tavern. The water bandit who had been bullying the merchants only moments earlier was now rolling around as a bloody pulp.
Water Bandit Sect.
The one who had dealt with a bandit in a single breath.
On seeing that face, voices of despair and shock spilled from the water bandits’ mouths.
How could they forget that face?
The name that, three years ago, had stood toe-to-toe with their leader, the Black Dragon King.
“T-the Emperor…… Emperor Sword!”
“You…….”
A massive roar burst from the mouth of Namgung Hwang, the Emperor Sword.
“You maggot-like bandits! You dare set foot on the northern lands before my eyes? I’ll kill every last one of you!”
It was the moment the lion of Anhui, crouched for three long years, finally let out a roar to the heavens.