It May Have Already Begun (1)
“Anyway, the point is!”
Chung Myung said in a tone so certain it practically left no room for argument.
“We don’t need to worry about Shaolin right now. Those bastards are probably too busy dealing with the Yangtze mess to think straight. And even if they somehow manage to clean that up, it’s not like they’ll suddenly have the spare hands to come after us. As long as Saperyeon is still right there with both eyes open, those guys can’t do a damn thing.”
Yoon Jong subtly turned his head and looked at Baek Cheon.
“What is he doing?”
“Hmm. To put it simply…”
Baek Cheon answered with a faint smile.
“He flew off the handle and shot his mouth off without thinking, but now that he’s calmed down he realizes he might’ve screwed something up. Of course, he’d rather die than admit he was wrong, so he’s doing his absolute best to dress the whole thing up as a brilliant move.”
“That’s impressively concise.”
At times like this, the words of an authority figure(?) were certainly useful.
“No, I’m not dressing anything up! It really is like that!”
“……I see.”
“No, I’m saying I’m not making things up just because I’m the sect leader!”
“Yes…… yes, I understand.”
“I swear, I’m going crazy. Hey, beggar old man! Say something!”
“Ahem.”
Hong Dae-gwang, who had been chewing on a fried pancake in the corner the entire time, quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and spoke up.
“Well…… his motives do look a little questionable, but the Mount Hua Sword Hero isn’t exactly wrong.”
“Oh?”
By then, Hyun Jong, who had aged at least three years in spirit, slowly turned toward Hong Dae-gwang. His ears pricked up, which meant he had apparently decided the man’s words were worth hearing.
Seeing that, Chung Myung muttered that his own words were even worse than those of a beggar, but of course that never made it to Hyun Jong’s ears.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“Hahaha, Sect Leader, you really do say the funniest things.”
Hong Dae-gwang replied with a broad grin.
“Lies are only possible when the situation itself is believable. How could I possibly have imagined that the Sect Leader and the Mount Hua Sword Hero would charge straight at Shaolin’s abbot like that to his face? It’s such an impossible scenario that I wouldn’t even know how to make something up about it. Hahahahaha.”
“Kh, ahem!”
“Ehehem!”
Hyun Jong and Chung Myung both coughed at the same time.
The other Mount Hua disciples nodded in agreement, as if Hong Dae-gwang had articulated what they were all thinking.
“It is a rare situation.”
“Indeed. Very rare.”
“I’d say there’s no precedent for it, wouldn’t you?”
“Quiet!”
“Be quiet!”
The oldest and youngest of the sect were teaming up to bully the others, and somehow it still didn’t feel strange. That was Mount Hua for you.
“So, to summarize…”
Hyun Jong asked Chung Myung in a solemn voice.
“For the moment, Shaolin can’t do anything because of the situation in the Yangtze and because of Saperyeon’s existence. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“There’s no need to drag out a bunch of reasons. If the situation were that easy to handle, do you really think that old stone-faced bastard would’ve come running all the way to Shaanxi in a panic?”
“……So it wasn’t a lie when he said they needed our help.”
“In a way, yeah. Either way, whatever ill feelings they’ve got, there isn’t much they can do right now. They’ll be too busy just trying to deal with the fight breaking out in the Yangtze.”
Chung Myung snickered.
“So we just need to sit back, watch those bastards beat each other bloody, and eat fried pancakes.”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong nodded with a grave expression.
It was deeply troubling that Shaolin had effectively drifted into enemy territory, but at least the chance of immediate trouble was low. That was a relief.
Yet once one worry loosened its grip, another, temporarily set aside, raised its head.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
“Is there no way to prevent war?”
“Hmmmm.”
Chung Myung studied Hyun Jong quietly with a strange look in his eyes. Hyun Jong seemed to sense what he was about to say and quickly shook his head.
“I’m not saying we should intervene ourselves. I’m only asking out of curiosity.”
“Right. In that case, sure.”
After a moment of silence as if he were thinking it over carefully, Chung Myung shook his head.
“Depending on how Jang Il-so moves, the fighting could become a full-scale war or just a local clash, but either way, there’s no stopping the battle in the Yangtze.”
“……Wouldn’t it still be possible if the Namgung Family withdrew now? As you said, couldn’t the Abbot persuade the Namgung Patriarch?”
“Sect Leader.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know why a madman is called a madman?”
Just as Chung Myung began to smirk and elaborate, Hyun Jong looked at him quietly and nodded.
“I see. It means he doesn’t listen.”
“…….”
“Yes, yes. I understand what you’re saying.”
“……How do you know that? I haven’t even explained it properly yet.”
“Ahem. Well…… I just know.”
It was certainly nice that he could understand without needing an explanation, but being stared at so intently through the whole process somehow made Chung Myung feel weirdly uncomfortable.
“Anyway…… yes. He won’t listen.”
Chung Myung nodded reluctantly.
“If the Abbot had enough virtue to rein in the Namgung Patriarch, none of this would’ve happened in the first place.”
Jo Gul asked with interest,
“Is that because the Abbot isn’t good enough, or because that Namgung Patriarch is just too damn reckless?”
“Hmm. Tough question…… maybe fifty-fifty? No, wait. Let’s say the big bald idiot is more at fault.”
He wasn’t saying that because he had any personal grudge against Beop Jeong.
He was only imagining what would have happened if the man in charge of this mess had been Chung Mun instead.
Obviously.
Without question, he would have dragged Namgung Hwang over with a smiling, “Heh heh heh. Patriarch, if you’d just come over here for a moment,” and then smothered him in beautiful admonitions and soaring righteousness until the man was moved to tears.
Of course, the truth would’ve been hellish nagging and a very obvious threat to shut up or get hit, but the result would still have been the same.
Even in the past, Chung Mun often settled trouble with a gentle one-on-one conversation whenever a problem arose. Of course, for some reason, he always made sure to have Chung Myung sitting right beside him when he did it.
As he kept provoking a poor soul who was already dead tired, pushing and prodding just enough to make him irritated……
Wait. Hold on.
Anyway.
Namgung Hwang, or whatever his name was, would’ve been nothing more than a mad dog before Beop Jeong, but put him in front of Chung Mun and he’d have been an obedient puppy. That was simply how the world worked: everything was relative.
So from Chung Myung’s perspective, there was no reason not to hold Beop Jeong responsible for this mess. Incompetence itself was not a crime, but incompetence in a position of responsibility certainly was.
“So in the end, war will happen.”
“Yes. That’s the most likely outcome.”
“Then for now……”
Hyun Jong’s expression turned faintly complicated.
“Even if our relationship with Shaolin has worsened, wouldn’t it be better if the Orthodox sects gained the upper hand? If Saperyeon takes control, the suffering of those who live along the Yangtze will be unbearable.”
“Hmm. The thing is……”
“What? Do you disagree?”
“No. It’s not that I disagree……”
Chung Myung scratched at his cheek with one finger.
“What Sect Leader said isn’t wrong. It’s just that I don’t think it’ll go that way.”
“……Why do you think so? Isn’t Namgung in the vanguard right now? After sharpening their blades for the past three years, they crushed the Water Bandit Sect in one shot. Wouldn’t it make sense for that momentum to keep carrying them forward?”
“If the Namgung Family had stopped at the northern bank of the river, maybe. But those crazy bastards got on boats and sailed straight into the island, didn’t they?”
“…….”
“That means they’re going to fight in enemy territory. I’ve been through mountain warfare, river warfare, and even air warfare, so I know……”
“……When exactly?”
Just as Jo Gul was about to object, Baek Cheon answered with a subtle look, rubbing his chin lightly with the tip of a finger.
“No, if you think about it, that’s not entirely wrong. That bastard has wiped out bandits in the mountains, bandits in the water, and fought Jang Il-so while falling off a cliff.”
“……Come to think of it, yeah.”
Damn it, these idiots know nothing.
I did all that a hundred years ago, okay? Mountain warfare, river warfare, air warfare, subterranean warfare, underwater warfare……!
“Fighting people who’ve trained for water combat is surprisingly difficult, you know?”
“But when we fought in the Yangtze before, that didn’t seem to be much of an issue.”
“That’s because those guys weren’t really planning to fight in the water.”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong wore an expression that said he half understood and half didn’t.
Even so, it was difficult for Chung Myung to explain the subtle difference in words. It wasn’t that important anyway.
“You’ll understand if you watch. Besides, I don’t really have any bad feelings toward the Namgung Family either, so if it were up to me, I’d rather they win……”
Yoon Jong whispered quietly to Baek Cheon,
“If a man who claims he doesn’t bear them any ill will was ready to kick the young patriarch in the balls and turn him into a eunuch, just how rotten is his personality?”
“……Just let it go. It’s Chung Myung.”
But those bastards?
Chung Myung shot the Five Swords a sharp glare.
“Tch. Anyway…… the real problem isn’t whether war breaks out.”
“Hmm? Then what are you talking about?”
“……The problem is how the war is fought.”
“If the Namgung Family simply loses, there’s no major issue……”
Chung Myung’s expression turned odd.
“But if that’s not how it goes, then things could get very serious.”
“…….”
“No, maybe……”
The corners of Chung Myung’s mouth twisted.
“It may have already started. The Black Dragon King isn’t the kind of man who’d sit around and take his time.”
* * *
Deep darkness had fallen over the Yangtze.
“Hmm.”
At the riverbank, a man stood staring toward the middle of the water. Though he was looking across the broad expanse of the river, bright lights glowed there as if a line of large flower boats were floating in formation.
The place people called Maehwado.
The Namgung Family, having occupied Plum Blossom Island, had lit the night as brightly as day in preparation for a possible surprise attack.
“Foolish bastard.”
On the opposite bank stood a massive man.
The Black Dragon King looked toward Maehwado with a broad smile.
“Namgung Hwang, the Emperor Sword. He may have some skill, but for a man leading an entire family, he’s terribly simple and stupid. To think he’d dare stand against me on the Yangtze.”
During the previous tragedy on the Yangtze, there had been nothing he could do. Back then, the ones he had to face were not just the Namgung Family.
If the Namgung Family, Shaolin, Wudang, and Qingcheng, along with Mount Hua and the Green Forest, had all been pressing in at once, then even if the Black Dragon King himself had turned into a dragon king in truth, it would have been impossible to stop them completely.
But now, the only force invading the Yangtze was the Namgung Family.
“It seems the experience from that time gave them a little too much confidence.”
It was gratifying, and yet because it also meant they were looking down on him, it annoyed him too.
But that filthy feeling would become deliciously pleasant once the river turned red with their blood.
“We should teach them just how frightening the river can be. Begin.”
“Yes, Black Dragon King!”
The instant his words fell, a group hidden in the darkness behind him emerged.
“Make them understand, clearly and deeply, the terror of not having their feet touch solid ground.”
At his order, the water bandits said nothing as they quietly dove into the river.
“Stupid bastards.”
The Black Dragon King stroked his long beard.
“The Namgung Family will do nicely. Now then…… Alliance Leader. You’ll need to pay a rather expensive price for this.”
His eerie laughter drifted softly over the silent Yangtze.