Don’t Bow Your Head. (4)
"Huuuuh."
Jang Il-so gave a soft, airy hum and lifted his cup. In his pale eyes, the bright full moon seemed to pour itself in and settle there.
"Late at night, out on the Yangtze River…"
A gentle curve formed on his lips.
"To drink alone with the moon as my companion—how could I not feel the joy of it?"
For a moment, it looked as though the moon might also come to rest upon the surface of his cup.
"…I'm sitting right here too, you know."
"Tsk."
At once, Jang Il-so turned an irritated look toward Ho Gamyeong, who sat across from him.
"You really will never understand beauty, will you."
"I may not understand beauty, but I do understand logic."
"Enough."
Jang Il-so waved a hand dismissively and slowly drained the cup in his grasp. He drank down every last drop, then set the cup on the table with a languid expression.
"Isn't it wonderful?"
Watching Jang Il-so look so pleased, as if he had come out simply to admire the moon, Ho Gamyeong let out a long sigh.
"Of course, Alliance Leader, you may find it enjoyable. I do not."
"Why? Do you have something to worry about?"
"Worry?"
Ho Gamyeong cast a reluctant glance around them. The place they were drinking was none other than the deck of the Black Dragon Ship.
Even if the Black Dragon King was the vice-leader of the Evil Tyrant Alliance and Jang Il-so its leader, the Black Dragon Ship was still practically the symbol of the Water Bandit Sect. To behave here as though it were their own home was no different from storming into another man's inner chamber with muddy boots on.
And I certainly feel it myself.
If the Black Dragon King ever stormed into Maninbang and took a seat on Jang Il-so's throne, Ho Gamyeong himself would be the first to do whatever it took to kill him.
Can that really be called boldness?
And this was on the river, no less.
The Maninbang troops they had brought with them were not even on this ship, but on the others nearby. If the Black Dragon King entertained even the slightest treacherous thought, things could become truly dangerous.
And yet Jang Il-so simply sipped his drink as though none of that had the slightest bearing on him.
"Heh heh heh."
Noticing Ho Gamyeong's anxious glances, Jang Il-so chuckled softly.
"Gamyeong, if you're going to be that timid, it's no good."
"…If my own life were at stake, I wouldn't be afraid of anything. But I'm not a great enough man to gamble with the Alliance Leader's life."
"Gamble, you say…"
Jang Il-so wagged his index finger lightly from side to side.
"No, no. This isn't a gamble. It's calculation."
"…"
"The Black Dragon King is a smarter man than he looks. That means he absolutely won't touch me now."
"Why is that…?"
"If I die, the Evil Tyrant Alliance will lose its head in an instant and split apart. Then who would be left to take the rage of those bald old monks, all of them glaring at this place with bloodshot eyes?"
"Ah…"
Ho Gamyeong nodded slowly.
It was true enough. If Jang Il-so withdrew now, Jiangnan might be one thing, but this stretch of the Yangtze would surely be reduced to scorched earth. The wrath of Shaolin was far too terrifying to ignore.
"The Black Dragon King is probably fretting over whether a stray arrow might kill me. So stop worrying needlessly and drink. It's lonely drinking by myself."
"…You said you were drinking with the moon as your companion."
"You're awfully petty. That's a bad habit."
Jang Il-so snorted and slowly turned his head. The dark silhouette of Maehwado lay spread out before him.
"Pitiable, isn't it?"
"Is that meant to be a revelation?"
Ho Gamyeong slowly raised the cup before him and drank.
Clink.
Setting the cup back on the table, he said blankly, "Compared to what the Alliance Leader has endured, something like that isn't even worthy of being called a crisis."
"It wasn't me who endured it."
"…?"
"It was something you and I endured."
At Jang Il-so's words, a faint smile brushed across Ho Gamyeong's otherwise expressionless face.
People only saw the brilliant side of Jang Il-so.
He became the leader of Maninbang at a young age, then raised that same Maninbang until it stood among the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu. And now, beyond Maninbang itself, he had placed himself at the head of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, uniting all of the world's Sapa forces under his rule.
An utterly dazzling record.
But who could possibly know?
Who knew the road Jang Il-so and Ho Gamyeong had walked to achieve those shining accomplishments?
Times when they had stared death in the face were not even worthy of being called drinking gossip. For them, danger to life was as natural as the night that came with sunset.
Ho Gamyeong picked up the bottle and filled Jang Il-so's empty cup.
"And we'll continue to face them in the future."
"Exactly. Hahahaha!"
Jang Il-so laughed with clear delight and emptied the refilled cup in one shot. Even then, his eyes remained fixed on Maehwado, sunk in darkness.
"Hmm?"
Then Jang Il-so's eyes twitched ever so slightly. Seeing that, Ho Gamyeong's face hardened.
"Is there a problem?"
"No."
But Jang Il-so only shook his head calmly.
"Nothing at all."
His blood-red lips curved in a smile.
"Ready?"
"…Yes."
Namgung Hwang turned to look at Namgung Do-wi with a rigid expression. His son, who should have remained forever childlike in his eyes, was looking straight back at him with the face of a true warrior.
Namgung Hwang gave a firm nod.
It did not matter even if this boy had not been his son. Anyone capable of wearing such an expression was worth entrusting one's life to.
"The elders?"
"They're ready, Patriarch."
The elders standing behind Namgung Do-wi were the same.
They looked haggard and gaunt, so emaciated they might collapse at any moment, but their eyes shone with a fierce, piercing light. So bright, in fact, that one almost worried their gaze might give them away.
Namgung Hwang let out a short breath.
"Do-wi."
"Yes, Patriarch."
"I know you've made up your mind, but I have one last thing to tell you."
"Yes."
"Don't look back."
Namgung Do-wi clenched his fist tightly.
"What you carry on your shoulders is the lives of the Namgung family on this island. Compared to that, our lives are nothing."
"…I understand."
After speaking, Namgung Hwang nodded. Then he simply looked at Namgung Do-wi, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve.
"…"
Having seared his son's face into his memory one last time, Namgung Hwang turned around without the slightest lingering regret.
"Namgung Myeong."
"P-Patriarch."
"I leave this place to you."
Namgung Myeong gritted his teeth. A hard, unyielding light soon settled in his face as well.
"Yes. Leave it to me."
"Good."
Without looking back, Namgung Hwang said in a powerful voice, "Move."
"Yes!"
"Approach without being detected if at all possible."
There were exactly seven of them: Namgung Hwang, Namgung Do-wi, and five elders who were, in truth, the very core of Namgung.
They began to slip silently into the Yangtze, black as ink.
Not a single splash sounded as they dove beneath the surface and slowly approached the ship.
Namgung Do-wi followed just behind Namgung Hwang, moving as carefully as he could while paddling through the water.
While swimming through the dark water where he could barely even see ahead, a fleeting, foolish hope pierced Namgung Do-wi's chest. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could slip beneath the ship without being discovered and reach land on the other side.
But wind is only wind, and hope is usually something that breaks.
Before they had even gone halfway to the ship, something shot upward from the riverbed.
"Kuh!"
White bubbles burst from Namgung Hwang's mouth.
Those insane river bandits had been stuck to the bottom of the river, watching for anyone who might pass.
Out on the surface, there was no way such men could have sensed Namgung Hwang's presence. But this was underwater. In other words, there was no cover here at all, nothing to hide behind.
Even Namgung Hwang could not escape their eyes.
Rumble!
Something huge thundered through the water in rapid succession, and dozens of long harpoons whirled toward them.
Namgung Hwang gritted his teeth and drew his sword.
BOOOOOOM!
The once-calm surface of the Yangtze immediately erupted in a towering spray of water.
"What is that!"
"A sneak attack! Those rats are in the water!"
"Crossbow unit!"
The quiet Yangtze was instantly filled with shouts and curses.
Bang!
The Black Dragon King burst out of the cabin like a bolt of lightning.
"What is it!"
"It looks like they're trying to escape."
"What?"
The Black Dragon King jerked his head around and looked toward Maehwado. Narrowing his eyes, he could still clearly see those who were suffering in the island's center.
What is this?
Most of their targets were still on Maehwado.
Then?
"Namgung Hwang!"
The Black Dragon King roared and charged across the deck.
At last, Namgung Hwang, the Emperor Sword, burst up through the water and came clearly into view.
"Wahahahahaha! You rat bastard! So even you want to live, do you?"
With a booming laugh, the Black Dragon King flung a hand through the air.
"Fire! Turn that coward into a hedgehog!"
The water bandits swarmed to one side of the deck, making the ship lurch sharply to one side. Packed shoulder to shoulder in such tight ranks that they nearly touched, they all raised their bows and aimed at Namgung Hwang.
"Fiiiiiire!"
Whoosh!
Arrows loaded with dense inner force flew at once. Launched not only from the Black Dragon Ship but from dozens of other vessels as well, they poured down over Namgung Hwang's head like a torrential storm.
If this had been daytime instead of night, the arrows alone would have cast a massive shadow over the Yangtze.
"Black Dragon Waaaaang!"
But at that moment—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The enormous sword qi unleashed by Namgung Hwang blazed like a sun rising through the river and lit the entire area. The rain of arrows crashed into the sword qi surging skyward, then ricocheted in all directions.
It was a terrifying display of sword energy that made even those watching shiver.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
But even after seeing that, the Black Dragon King only threw his head back and laughed.
"Rip him apart! Teach him exactly what it means to set foot in the Yangtze!"
The water bandits dropped their bows as if throwing them aside and leapt into the river all at once. There were so many of them that the froth rising where they struck the water seemed for an instant to bleach the river white.
Chaaash!
At such appalling speed, the mass of men cut through the current and rushed toward the seven of them, Namgung Hwang among them.
Out of the water, and now into it as well.
It looked as though hundreds of sharks had gone charging after a tiger that had fallen into the river.
"Patriarch!"
"I know!"
Namgung Hwang shouted with all his might.
"Elders, hold back anyone approaching underwater! I'll take care of what comes above the surface!"
He gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly that every knuckle turned white.
I will get Do-wi out alive!
An intensity of resolve unlike anything he had ever known surged in his eyes.
"Come! Dogs of the Water Bandit Sect! I'll show you how the Namgung Patriarch dies!"
Roaring like a wounded tiger, Namgung Hwang's sword slammed the water's surface and hurled it skyward with overwhelming force.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Great ripples spread across the Yangtze. The waves heaved upward and violently rocked the ships floating upon the river.
And then, in that instant—
Fwaaaaat!
Water bandits flung themselves up from the surface like dolphins and hurled harpoons toward Namgung Hwang and Namgung Do-wi.
"Do-wi!"
"Yes!"
Taat!
Namgung Do-wi stepped on Namgung Hwang's shoulder and leapt into the air like a startled bird. His sword stitched a pale line through the darkness.
The dark sky.
The jet-black Yangtze.
And between them, that white line seemed almost heartbreakingly small.