There's No Choice But to Believe It (5)
It wasn’t exactly an act of intimidation.
The many men who now occupied Maehwado were mostly pirates from the Water Bandit Fleet, but even they had already lost their momentum. By contrast, the Mount Hua and Tang Family disciples who had driven into their ranks were pressing down on Jang Il-so from around Hyun Jong with stern, unyielding force.
In other words, if anyone was being surrounded here, it was Jang Il-so.
And yet, the moment Hyun Jong faced him, he felt as though his own body had been swept up in a typhoon.
It was the same sensation he had once felt at the Heavenly Friends Alliance founding ceremony in the past.
But what he felt now was even greater, more violent—so much so that he could not help questioning whether it was truly his place to stand toe-to-toe with Jang Il-so at all.
The Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Friends Alliance. And the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.
Those titles certainly gave him the right to meet the Evil Tyrant Alliance’s leader in private. But as a martial artist, Hyun Jong was far too small to stand against Jang Il-so directly.
So he had remained silent.
Even when Jang Il-so entered Maehwado alone and began negotiating not with him, but with Cheong Myeong, Hyun Jong had merely kept quiet. It had seemed the proper thing to do.
But Cheong Myeong had pushed that Jang Il-so right in front of him, as if the one who had to face him was Hyun Jong.
That brat Cheong Myeong has always told the disciples the same thing.
Those who held swords in their hands had to understand the weight of that sword. They must never forget that what they held was a weapon meant to take a person’s life.
That obvious truth stabbed Hyun Jong anew now.
Cheong Myeong had said it himself: he was Mount Hua’s sword.
If he was a sword, then he would be a sword of extraordinary sharpness—one the world had never seen the like of. Then Hyun Jong, who held that sword in his hand, had to understand its weight as well.
That meant…
Hyun Jong glanced at Cheong Myeong. The boy was still looking at him with an unwavering gaze.
He means I, too, have to become worthy of holding that sword.
That probably wasn’t Cheong Myeong’s intent. But at the very least, Hyun Jong felt it that way. It was a burden he had been carrying all along.
Mount Hua was no longer the sect it had once been.
For a man who had merely endured and somehow ended up in the undeserved position of Mount Hua’s Sect Leader, what he had now needed was naturally something greater than the past.
Can I bear it?
These sharp swords?
It wasn’t only Cheong Myeong. There was Baek Cheon’s sword, Yu I-seol’s sword, Yoon Jong and Jo Geol’s swords too… Did he truly possess the ability to wield all of Mount Hua’s swords properly?
There was nothing more frightening in the world than a blade wielded blindly. To hold a sword that did not suit one’s measure was perhaps a curse, for both the one who held it and the sword itself.
Before he could answer any of those questions, Jang Il-so spoke.
“Would it be more correct to call you Alliance Lord? Or perhaps…”
“Sect Leader is enough.”
Hyun Jong drew a line.
There was the Tang Family here. The moment he was addressed as Alliance Lord, Hyun Jong’s choice would be binding on the Tang Family as well. That was not what he wanted.
But at that, the corner of Jang Il-so’s mouth curved into a faint smile.
“Humility is a fine thing.”
“…”
“Unless it’s cowardice.”
Hyun Jong quietly closed his eyes.
If it had been Beop Jeong standing here, he might have felt insulted. If it had been Namgung Hwang, he would have exploded in anger, and even Dang Gun-ak, who did not easily reveal emotion, would have let killing intent seep out.
But absurdly enough, Hyun Jong felt no anger at all. He had experienced too much to feel humiliated by a single line from Jang Il-so, and the gap between them was simply too vast. That was precisely why he could remain calm.
“My capacity is not that great.”
At that steady answer, Jang Il-so lifted an eyebrow slightly, as though he had never expected it.
He stared at Hyun Jong in silence for a long moment, then slowly nodded.
“...Very well, Sect Leader.”
No trace of hostility could be seen on Jang Il-so’s smiling face.
Some might call it hypocrisy; others would be wary of the hidden malice beneath that smile. But Hyun Jong accepted it exactly as it was.
Jang Il-so was the sort of man who did not even register Hyun Jong’s existence. A man like that had no need to show him hostility in the first place.
Hyun Jong was used to it.
Back before Cheong Myeong had come, when he had been the Sect Leader of Mount Hua in name only, people always smiled at him. Human malice begins with a threat, after all. And human beings were equally capable of becoming endlessly gentle toward someone who posed no threat at all.
So… Hyun Jong found that smile both appropriate and painful.
“As the leader of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, I formally request the Sect Leader of Mount Hua’s mercy. Please spare the Evil Tyrant Alliance’s deputy leader, the Black Dragon King, who is currently under Mount Hua’s control.”
At Jang Il-so’s words, Hyun Jong let out a low breath.
When he thought about it, it wasn’t wrong.
The Black Dragon King had indeed been subdued. But the rest of the Water Bandit Fleet’s power remained largely intact. If the Black Dragon King lost his life, they would likely obey Jang Il-so’s orders first.
Ordinarily, there would be confusion in the transfer of command…
But if the opponent is Jang Il-so, that probably won’t happen.
With his title as the leader of the Evil Tyrant Alliance and his reputation as the Tyrant Lord, Jang Il-so was effectively a symbol of the unorthodox world itself. If he were the one commanding the Water Bandit Fleet instead of the Black Dragon King, their morale might even rise.
Besides, there was no way that Jang Il-so had failed to prepare for this situation in advance.
So in the end, to escape this island, they would have to deal with the Water Bandit remnants and the Myriad Man Sect, which had thus far remained motionless, at the same time.
And they had lost all their footholds now, had they not?
Hyun Jong’s gaze unconsciously drifted across the river.
If Shaolin on the riverbank moved to help, this might still be a fight worth taking…
But that, too, is hard to hope for.
Hyun Jong’s instincts told him Shaolin would not move.
If they had intended to cooperate, they should have done so before matters reached this point, when Mount Hua first charged onto the island. Having missed the timing, they would only watch from the sidelines now.
“If we let the Black Dragon King go, you’re saying you’ll send us back to Jiangbei safely?”
“Of course.”
Jang Il-so replied with a soft smile.
There was no need to question whether those words were true.
Not because Hyun Jong trusted Jang Il-so. If anything, Hyun Jong was probably one of the people in this world who trusted him least.
But precisely for that reason, it was believable.
Big liars do not lie about small things. Those who seek to deceive the world are often, in day-to-day matters, surprisingly truthful.
For Hyun Jong, the Black Dragon King’s life was no trivial matter. But for Jang Il-so, it would not be big enough to be worth damaging the world’s trust in him over.
“What will you do?”
Jang Il-so pressed him lightly.
“Will you let the Black Dragon King go and return peacefully, or…”
His fingernail slowly dragged across his own lip, as though he were scratching at it.
“Shall I…”
The moment his nail left his lip, a chilling voice slipped from Jang Il-so’s mouth.
“Shall I kill you all here?”
It was a clear threat. A pressure cold enough to make one’s spine freeze.
Hyun Jong forced down the beating of his heart.
Should he behead the Black Dragon King and glare at Jang Il-so in order to uphold righteousness?
Or should he leave them alive and retreat for the sake of Mount Hua, the Tang Family, and Namgung’s safety?
It was a dilemma no one in the world could easily resolve.
But…
Hyun Jong looked at the Mount Hua disciples. Every single one of them was watching him with eyes full of trust.
Whatever he said, they would simply believe and follow. And even if the price of that choice was their deaths, they would gladly accept it.
The one who stood to represent Mount Hua had to accept those eyes as natural. To do that, he had to become an immense man indeed.
But…
A faint smile formed at Hyun Jong’s mouth.
I am a small man.
Once he admitted that, his heart oddly became lighter. He was not someone who could become the magnificent figure those eyes wanted him to be.
And because of that, he could tell. He might not know what choice Mount Hua’s Sect Leader ought to make, but he knew all too well what choice Hyun Jong himself had to make.
Hyun Jong looked at Cheong Myeong one last time.
Is this all right?
Understanding the intent in that gaze, Cheong Myeong let a small smile rise to his lips. It was as if he were saying that was enough.
At last, Hyun Jong drew a small breath and looked at Jang Il-so.
No matter how much resolve he gathered, Jang Il-so was still an overwhelming existence.
But Hyun Jong did not need to be greater than Jang Il-so.
“Fine…”
Jang Il-so tilted his head slightly.
“Have you made your decision, Sect Leader?”
Still meeting that gentle smile, Hyun Jong opened his mouth with calm composure.
“Alliance Lord.”
“Speak.”
“Mount Hua…”
He paused briefly, then said with certainty,
“will not accept your proposal.”
At that moment, Jang Il-so froze completely.
As though he had forgotten even how to breathe, as though he had turned to ice, his motionless gaze would not leave Hyun Jong.
But only for a moment. Soon, his face twisted horribly. It was a truly dramatic change.
“What did you just say?”
Throwing off his courtesy like a robe too splendid to wear, Jang Il-so growled. The Mount Hua swordsmen guarding Hyun Jong all stepped forward at once.
The negotiation had broken down.
A dreadful killing intent rose on Jang Il-so’s face.
And then—
“But…”
Hyun Jong continued in the same calm voice.
“We will release the Black Dragon King.”
Jang Il-so stared at him intensely, unable to grasp his meaning at once.
“Remember this.”
“...Remember what?”
“Mount Hua does not negotiate with the Evil Tyrant Alliance.”
“...”
“And the reason we are releasing the Black Dragon King anyway is because that was our plan from the very beginning.”
“Your plan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Hyun Jong slowly turned his gaze, and at the end of it stood Namgung Dowi, his hand gripping his sword so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.
“Because this revenge is not Mount Hua’s.”
“...”
“Mount Hua came here at Namgung’s request. Not to enhance our reputation, and not to shake the entire world of the martial realm. We simply could not ignore one man’s plea.”
Jang Il-so looked at Hyun Jong blankly, as though he had been struck in the back of the head. It was likely the first time in his life that such an expression had appeared on his face.
“So the revenge against the Black Dragon King should be carried out in Namgung’s name. Mount Hua has no right to steal that opportunity.”
“...”
“So we will release the Black Dragon King. And Tyrant Lord, you should return as well. This is not a place for you and us to act.”
“Ha… ha ha…”
For an instant, Jang Il-so’s face twisted grotesquely. He looked like he was laughing, and grieving, and raging all at once.
Staring at Hyun Jong as if he had seen a ghost, Jang Il-so slowly turned his head.
Cheong Myeong.
He was smiling brightly at Jang Il-so.