The Calm Before the Storm (1)
Namgung Jin, young master of the Namgung Family, slammed the report down and snarled.
"The Wind-Flower Sword Nun, Master Hyejeong; Scholar Seongja; the Four-Sun Sword Unit of the Jeomchang Sect; Radiant Seongja of the Kongtong Sect; and…"
A grinding sound of teeth followed.
"…even the Dragon King of the Kunlun Sect, True Man Yong Sang."
The elders of the Family Head's Hall, who had been watching their young master with darkening faces, each added a word.
"Heavens above. It seems the Nine Sects and One Gang have made up their minds in earnest."
"Those lowborn dogs of the Sichuan Dang Family have no shame at all. To drag the Nine Sects into a quarrel among the Nine Great Noble Families…"
They conveniently ignored the fact that it was the Namgung Family who had first cut ties with the Zhuge Family and taken the Wudang Sect's hand in order to face Shaolin. For a while they simply fumed, cursing the Dang Family's pettiness.
"Well, they must have known they could never stand against our house in a direct confrontation."
Yes—they must have feared the great name of the Namgung Family. That was the self-consolation they offered themselves, yet it did nothing to change how serious the situation had become.
The entry of the Kunlun Sect, in particular, cut deep.
"…The others I can accept, but for the Dragon King to involve himself in something like this…"
The Dragon King, True Man Yong Sang.
He was counted among the Ten Great Masters of the realm, and even the world itself was divided on how to measure his strength. Small wonder: forty years ago he had already been named one of those same Ten Great Masters alongside Shaolin's Thousand-Handed Living Buddha, Master Hyeondeok. No one could say whether the years had withered him or whether he had polished his arts to still greater heights.
Some of the elders looked grim under the weight of that name, but Namgung Jin forced himself to keep his composure.
"Decades ago the Dragon King was gravely wounded holding back the Heavenly Demon's assault that nearly erased the Kunlun Sect. He barely escaped with his life and has lived in seclusion ever since. Merely recovering from those injuries would have been trial enough—he will never defeat the Family Head.
"If Kunlun had truly meant to stand with the Dang Family and face us properly, they would never have sent their ultimate weapon with only a handful of disciples. They would have marched their main force as well."
"Then what is the situation now?"
"Posturing, most likely. They want us to flinch at the Dragon King's reputation and back down. If the Family Head does not break his closed-door cultivation and come out… things could grow a little difficult."
Had the Dragon King not appeared, the Sword King's renown alone would have been enough to scatter the rest of that rabble. However loudly the name of the Wind-Flower Sword Nun might ring through the murim, a mere First Sword of Sichuan could never threaten a man who bore the title of First Swordsman under Heaven—his own father.
But a Dragon King… if Father did not step forward, they were in trouble.
Perhaps even if Father did step forward…
Namgung Jin shook his head.
No one knew better than he the obsession his father held for the sword. Whoever the opponent, even if the Heavenly Demon himself returned, no one could defeat the Sword King Namgung Hyeok. He hypnotized himself with the thought and spoke.
"First we must prepare for a decisive battle. How has the Wudang Sect responded?"
"They said they would help once they learned Shaolin was moving… yet they have been playing the usual push-and-pull, demanding we show appropriate sincerity…"
"Those so-called Taoists and their vulgar haggling…"
Namgung Jin clicked his tongue.
"Nothing for it. We will have to circulate our own circulars to anyone willing to aid us.
"It would be preferable to seek help from the Nine Great Noble Families rather than the Nine Great Sects."
"…True enough, but…"
The elders exchanged glances until one of them took the plunge.
"Gathering the strength of the Nine Great Families is… rather awkward at the moment, is it not?"
"…Mm."
It was true.
Looking at the Namgung Family's present circumstances, once one set aside their own house and their principal enemy the Sichuan Dang Family, the picture was bleak.
Hebei Peng Family: perpetual rivals for the number-one seat among the Nine Great Families. Not open enemies, yet the competitive edge between them ran deep; owing them a favor now would leave a sour taste.
Sima Family: while the Zhuge and Namgung houses had been close, the Sima Family—long at odds with the Zhuge—had naturally drifted away. Worse, they were now in-laws of the Sichuan Dang. Enemies.
Zhuge Family: until recently their most reliable ally, yet the Namgung had cast them aside to take Wudang's hand. Naturally the Zhuge would not welcome any outstretched palm. Clever as they were, they might still be bought with the right price, so they could be counted as hostile neutrals at best.
Moyong Family: relations were not bad, yet a clan buried in the backwater northeastern province of Liaoning was unlikely to throw itself into central-plains affairs. Without a substantial carrot, any circular would simply be ignored.
Beijing Yang Family: as the Emperor's confidants who controlled the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they could not meddle freely in murim business. Anything beyond Beijing was effectively closed to them and had to be written off.
In the end, even if circulars went out, the only houses that might actually send help were the Hwangbo Family and the Jinju Eon Family.
But those two, even combined, only barely matched the Hebei Peng. Pulling them in alone would hardly solve the problem.
"…No choice, then."
Namgung Jin compromised at once.
"In that case, let us pull in the Nine Sects and One Gang ourselves."
"Is that even possible?"
"We are not proposing the orthodox factions split into camps and wage all-out war. We merely want to match the pack the other side has already dragged in. If we bring in a reasonable number of the Nine Sects, the Martial Alliance would have to be mad to let it escalate into open war.
"They will tell the parties to settle it themselves.
"Steering the whole affair into a one-on-one between our house and the Dang Family is the superior strategy."
"Ah, as expected of the young master—truly wise."
The broad direction was set.
Invitations from the Namgung Family went out to the Jinju Eon Family, the Hwangbo Family, and, among the sects that had not yet joined the other side, the Huashan Sect, the Zhongnan Sect, and the Beggars' Gang.
Sichuan Dang Family + Shaolin, Kunlun, Emei, Kongtong, Jeomchang, Qingcheng, Sima Family.
Versus
Namgung Family + Wudang, Huashan, Zhongnan, Beggars' Gang, Hwangbo Family, Jinju Eon Family.
Roughly eight against eight.
Believing the Zhuge Family would still refrain from direct involvement, the Namgung calculated that arranging the board this way would prevent all-out war and leave them free to expect a clean one-on-one with the Sichuan Dang. That calculation…
"What? The Dang Family isn't coming to the Namgung estate—they're heading for Beijing?"
…began to flow in a direction Namgung Jin had never predicted.
That the Bashu Orthodox Alliance—centered on the Sichuan Dang Clan—was marching not on the Namgung Family but on Beijing was news even their own companions had not expected.
"…Were we not going to Anhui Province?"
"Ah, we are—but we need to stop in Beijing first."
"Why Beijing? Ah—do you mean to win over the Hebei Peng Family, the Namgung's old rivals?"
"No. We are not even going there to fight the Namgung Family…"
"…I beg your pardon?"
Daoist Ilyeon of the Jeomchang Sect looked around with a blank expression at Hwiyeom's utterly casual reply.
Five of the Nine Sects and One Gang, plus three of the Nine Great Noble Families. Even if someone had announced they were marching off to wage total war against the Demonic Alliance, one might have nodded along. And now he was saying they were not going to fight?
Naturally another thought crept into Daoist Ilyeon's mind.
"Uh… then, what—are you going to the Namgung Family to surrender?"
Eyes rolled. There was no need to tag along if the Dang Family meant to crawl to the Namgung in surrender. What kind of disgraceful spectacle would that be? Should they cut ties on the spot? The same wavering pupils appeared not only in Daoist Ilyeon; Scholar Seongja of the Qingcheng Sect and Radiant Seongja of the Kongtong Sect were also staring at Hwiyeom with looks that said, Surely I misheard that?
Only the Dragon King of Kunlun wore an expression of mild disinterest, while Master Hyejeong of Emei alone regarded Hwiyeom with absolute trust, as if to say their young master surely had a plan.
Hwiyeom smiled.
"I am neither going to the Namgung Family to surrender nor marching to war against them.
"Have we not already announced it far and wide through the Sichuan Daily?
"I am simply going to clarify the truth of certain unfortunate recent incidents and to clear up the misunderstandings with the Namgung Family."
"……"
"Do you truly believe I would gather the precious personages of every sect merely to strike the Namgung Family and split the central plains with some great blood catastrophe?"
"Ahem! Hm-hm!"
"Of course—I believed in you all along, young master! Hahaha!"
"Who ever said otherwise?"
For all that, the round little eyes that had been staring at him a moment earlier had looked rather sincere, but Hwiyeom politely ignored the fact.
"Then for what purpose do we go to Beijing, Almsgiver?"
Master Beopjeong, the Vajra Divine Monk and Master of Shaolin's Arhat Hall—who had joined them when they stopped at the temple—tilted his head.
He had volunteered as a mediator, yet he had brought enough force to perform mediation of a rather physical sort if things went sideways: three full contingents of the Eighteen Arhats, enough to field three of the Small Arhat Formations. Since Shaolin's ultimate weapon was the Hundred-and-Eight Arhat Formation built from six of those arrays, he had brought fully one-third of that power.
It was a roster that clearly displayed Shaolin's irritation at having collided head-on with the Namgung Family over interests along the Yangtze and at the Namgung's subsequent petty sniping. And now, even with that force, they were heading for Beijing?
From Shaolin's perspective the situation could easily bruise their pride.
Yet Hwiyeom only smiled.
"This humble one is a man of the murim, yes—but at heart I am far closer to the political and commercial worlds."
"So I am aware."
"And while the way of a martial artist is to clash weapons and measure will, the way of a politician is different, and the way of a merchant different still."
"Politicians and merchants. So the young master means to go to Beijing in search of power he can wield from those two standpoints?"
"Exactly so."
"Specifically?"
"The art of war teaches that the highest victory is to win without fighting. I intend to lay a board in Beijing such that, the moment we arrive at the Namgung estate, they will have no choice but to submit and come to the negotiating table of their own accord."
"…Did you not just say you meant only to clear up misunderstandings with the Namgung…?"
Someone tilted his head; the rest of the company shot him looks that clearly said, Read the room!
Master Beopjeong's questions continued.
"Is such a thing even possible? I do not distrust the young master, yet the other side is the great Wudang Sect and the Namgung Family. No matter how heavy the pressure from the Beijing court, they will not fold so easily…"
"Master of the Arhat Hall."
Hwiyeom regarded the monk with oddly lukewarm eyes.
"A place like the Arhat Hall, which shoulders a sect's martial power, decides whether that sect survives. In a sense it is the most vital organ of all. Yet equally vital is the place that handles the money—Shaolin's own Bodhisattva Hall, for instance."
"True enough. Finance is a complicated and tiresome business. But why raise it?"
"Do you know what a man who handles money finds most terrifying and dreadful of all?"
Hwiyeom smiled gently. For an instant Master Beopjeong felt that those gently curved eyes were not smiling in the slightest.
This is the feeling I get only when facing the blackest demonic lords… how…?
Suppressing the chill, the monk listened as Hwiyeom spoke in a tone that somehow carried a personal grudge.
"A tax audit. It makes your teeth grind and your blood run cold. And a tax audit conducted with the deliberate intent to tear everything apart—well, the words 'just kill me already' come out of their own accord."
"Ah… is that so?"
"Yes. And from a politician's standpoint—the sort of work the Abbot himself or the elder monks of the Prajna Hall might perform in Shaolin—"
"Ah, yes."
"Do you know what those people fear most?"
"…Surely the appearance of some great villain like the Heavenly Demon?"
"No. There is something more terrifying than the Heavenly Demon."
"…And what is that?"
"A state audit."
"A state… what?"
"Ah—the name would be different here. In other words… a search and seizure by the Privy Council or the Eastern Depot, and a review under the Great Gyeong Code by the Censorate."
"?"
"Just be patient a little longer."
Hwiyeom grinned brightly. For some reason Gol Jun-sang, traveling with them, began to tremble like a puppy stricken with palsy, letting out a strangled Hiiik…!
"The young master of the Namgung Family will end up on his knees begging us to spare him."
There would be negotiations, of course.
As long as he had no intention of ripping the Namgung Family out by the roots, he was prepared to toss them a suitable share of profit and settle into a symbiotic relationship.
But first they would have to pay the price for daring to touch the Dang Family first.
No need to fight them on the same level.
And a few months later—
Hwiyeom received the highest praise from Emperor Sungui.
"Have you gone mad?"
