You Started This Fight (5)
At last, even Dangga had landed on Maehwado.
Beop Jeong, who had been staring with wide-open eyes, felt his fingertips tremble.
This is... what in the world is going on?
That was madness. Crossing a river by using wooden planks as stepping stones?
Easy to say!
It was a route that could be cut off at any moment. If the Yangtze River Water Bandits had reacted just a little faster and smashed the planks at the front and rear once those people reached the center of the river, Mount Hua and Dangga would have been stranded on those flimsy boards—less reliable than a single leaf boat.
What kind of slaughter would have followed after that?
That could not be called strategy. Anything that could not even be discussed after the fact was not worth the name.
A desperate stand at least inflicted proper damage on the enemy before being annihilated. But that? The slightest mistake would mean failing to wound the enemy at all and simply tumbling into hell.
And yet...
“Why in the world is that working!”
Beop Jeong’s voice burst out, mixing shock, anger, and bitter humiliation.
This made no sense. Why was that recklessly foolish method not paying the price?
It felt like watching people who had strapped oil to their backs and leaped into a pit of hellfire calmly walk through the flames unharmed.
Ordinarily, the ones clicking their tongues at that sight would be the ones in the right, but once things had come to this, would not the people who had watched it all unfold be made into fools and idiots instead?
Shaolin was exactly in that position now.
No matter how many times he thought it over, his judgment had been correct. Throwing oneself into the Yangtze River, which the Water Bandits and Manin Sect defended, was no different from suicide.
But what did that matter now?
Even if the odds of reaching Maehwado safely by that method had been no better than a camel passing through the eye of a needle, the fact remained that Heavenly Friends Alliance had actually succeeded. That meant Shaolin, who had hesitated here until now, would simply be reduced to a fool.
“You...!”
Beop Jeong could not swallow his anger. He clenched his fist and glared across the river.
Those who only saw the surface would say Mount Hua and Dangga had caught the Evil Tyrant Alliance off guard and pulled off a gamble, but that was not what was really happening.
There was only one reason all of this had come to pass.
“Jang... Il-so...”
Beop Jeong ground his teeth.
Jang Il-so, that devil when it came to schemes and manipulation, could not possibly have missed what Beop Jeong had noticed. If it had been the old him, he would surely have waited patiently until Mount Hua and Dangga had reached the middle of the river, then smashed the planks front and back to trap them.
But Jang Il-so had done nothing at all.
No, that was not even enough to say it.
The Manin Sect’s ships were stationed on the far side of Maehwado—on the Jiangnan side—surrounding Maehwado from beyond the river, in a place Mount Hua and Dangga could never possibly reach.
On the surface, it looked as though they were encircling Maehwado and pressuring the Namgung Clan, but in reality they had stepped back from everything happening on the Yangtze and were merely watching from the sidelines.
As if they were hoping Mount Hua and Dangga would safely rescue Namgung and return.
“Jang Il-so! That son of a bitch!”
Beop Jeong’s mouth spilled out a howl of pure misery.
The malice of it made his whole body tremble. What was even worse was that no one in the world would believe what he was seeing now.
Who would believe him?
Even if he spoke with complete truth and shouted until his voice gave out that this had all been Jang Il-so’s scheme, no one would listen.
At most, they would laugh at him as a cornered Shaolin making a desperate fuss.
This place was a cliff’s edge. There was nowhere left to retreat.
“Abbot...”
Beop Jeong turned back with a hardened expression. Jong Ri-hyeong, who had been watching the situation with him, asked in a stifled voice,
“...Shouldn’t we do something?”
“...”
“...If we had simply not come, it would have been one thing, but if we just stand here watching and go back, the condemnation of the entire world will fall on us. Shouldn’t we do something, even now?”
But do what? What exactly were they supposed to do?
Follow the path Mount Hua and Dangga had forced open and then try to take credit? Were the Nine Great Sects meant to scramble after Heavenly Friends Alliance just to look as if they were keeping up?
As Jong Ri-hyeong studied Beop Jeong’s face, he added with growing impatience,
“Of course, I know this is a difficult decision. But rather than just standing here and watching, doing anything at all would be...”
“Wait.”
“Abbot!”
“I said wait!”
For a moment, Jong Ri-hyeong stared at him in disbelief. Open disappointment toward Beop Jeong was plain in his eyes.
But Beop Jeong only bit his lip.
No.
He could not go.
It was hard to explain. No, even if he tried, someone like Jong Ri-hyeong would never understand.
What would happen if they jumped into that river now?
That vile, despicable Jang Il-so would leave Mount Hua and Dangga alone and focus all his venom on Shaolin.
So that when Mount Hua and Dangga accomplished the same thing with little difficulty, the world would hear that Shaolin had suffered massive losses merely for trying to follow behind them.
Beop Jeong could see it.
The poisonous, vicious trap Jang Il-so had laid across the Yangtze.
Damn it.
If only Jao-gae were here, he would understand why Beop Jeong could not move and speak in his defense!
Unfortunately, that Jao-gae had attached himself to Mount Hua of all places. He was probably somewhere among those advancing with such astonishing speed, witnessing with his own eyes everything Mount Hua had achieved.
“Ugh...”
It felt as though his heart was burning alive.
It was almost as if everything that had happened on this Yangtze had been arranged for the sole purpose of trapping Shaolin.
“Then at least return home.”
At that instant, a voice laced with cold mockery cut in.
It was a voice so chilling that it hardly seemed possible it had come from someone speaking to the Abbot of Shaolin.
Beop Jeong turned on reflex, and saw Hye Bang watching him with a faint sneer on his lips.
“If you’re only going to stand there and watch, why do you even need to remain here?”
“...Hye Bang.”
“Or are we supposed to stand here and learn from it? Mount Hua’s heroic performance? Or perhaps the sight of Hye Yeon, dressed in black robes, rescuing Namgung? Must we wear Mount Hua’s black robes instead of Shaolin’s yellow vestments in order to act according to our hearts?”
“Shut your mouth, you brat!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Beopgye barked at him.
But even his voice had lost a little of its force. It was as if he already knew that no matter how sternly he tried to lay blame, his words would never carry any weight.
Hye Bang looked steadily at Beop Jeong and Beopgye before speaking.
“An elder once told me this.”
His eyes had sunk colder than ever before.
“The path is not limited to pursuing one’s own Buddhism. A true Buddhist must know how to lead suffering sentient beings to the Way, even if it means burning his own body to ash. To stand afar and watch their suffering is hypocrisy, and it is sin.”
For a moment, Beopgye fell silent.
“Who, then, is committing sin now?”
“Y-you...”
“Yes.”
Hye Bang said expressionlessly,
“Slandering a senior of the sect is no light offense. I will enter the Hall of Repentance and reflect on myself.”
With that, he turned away without the slightest hesitation, as if he could not bear to watch this disgrace any longer.
“Y-you brat! Stop right there!”
But Hye Bang did not stop.
In fact, several Shaolin monks who had been watching him with mounting contempt glanced at Beopgye, then turned away to follow Hye Bang.
Hye Bang and the dozens of Shaolin monks with him walked away from the Yangtze without looking back.
“Th-those...”
Beopgye, completely dumbfounded, bit down hard on his lip as he watched them go.
No matter how much they disagreed with the Abbot, how could they do something like this? Was it really acceptable for a Shaolin disciple to defy the Abbot’s orders and act as he pleased?
As the keeper of Shaolin’s disciplinary hall, this was something he could never overlook.
But...
Crack.
Even with his fist clenched until it hurt, he could not bring himself to stop those leaving. All he could do was squeeze his eyes shut.
What could he possibly say?
These children were too pure and too clean for the cruel Jianghu, where survival meant protecting oneself. He could not tell them to learn how to wallow in the mud.
He understood both Beop Jeong and the others. That was why he could do nothing but remain silent.
“Abbot.”
Then Jong Ri-hyeong spoke in a frosty voice.
“Will you truly just stand there and watch?”
“And if I do!”
In that instant, Beop Jeong’s voice burst out like a spasm. It was a sharp, irritated tone so unlike him that it was almost unrecognizable.
“If that’s what you think, then why doesn’t Kongtong do something? Or can Kongtong not decide anything unless it uses Shaolin as a shield?”
Jong Ri-hyeong bit his lip until it nearly split.
He glared at Beop Jeong with a face twisted by humiliation and anger, then slowly nodded.
“...I understand the Abbot’s meaning.”
And then he turned sharply and walked away from Beop Jeong.
Gritting his teeth so hard that blood might as well have been drawn, Beop Jeong’s shoulders shook violently.
Jang Il-so, and... Mount Hua Divine Dragon!
He glared murderously at Maehwado and the ships drifting leisurely on the river beyond it.
I will never forget this humiliation.
“Hmph.”
Standing on a large flower boat, Jang Il-so quietly smiled as he looked across the river.
“Doesn’t the Abbot seem terribly angry?”
Ho Ga-myeong replied with a face openly filled with mockery.
“Even so, he won’t be able to do anything. Once someone has stopped in his tracks, he always finds some reason to justify it. Without even realizing he’s fighting himself.”
“You’re right. Still...”
Jang Il-so stroked his chin with a subtle expression.
“It is a pity. If you’ve pushed them this far, they should be diving in out of sheer rage. That cowardly old raccoon is far too cautious.”
“Shall I provoke him a little more?”
“Leave him. There’s no need to point out reality to an idiot who doesn’t realize his own caution is tightening the noose around his neck.”
Jang Il-so snickered and looked over the river.
Those who overestimate their own brilliance can never admit they are wrong. Instead, they simply think the whole world has failed to recognize how right they are. Men like that are far easier to handle than fools.
The fact that Shaolin could not move from that spot would haunt them for years to come. That alone meant the purpose of everything that had happened on this Yangtze had been more than achieved.
“Then all that remains is...”
Jang Il-so’s gaze slowly shifted toward Maehwado.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
From one of the boats advancing toward Maehwado, breaking free of the Water Bandits’ control, a black streak shot upward. Like a black meteor, it flew straight toward the island and landed as if burying itself in its earth.
A laugh escaped Jang Il-so’s lips. To think someone had crossed a distance of more than twenty jang in a single leap...
“That’s why guessing things about him is pointless.”
With a broad smile, he watched the one who had reached Maehwado.
Cheong Myeong, gripping his sword reversed in his hand, sprinting in a straight line toward the very front of the battlefield.
“Now this is the climax.”
Jang Il-so narrowed his long eyes and slowly ran his tongue across his red lips.
He looked exactly like a venomous snake staring at a mouthwatering meal.