Yellow Dragon Castle (11)
Yellow Dragon Castle (11)
"Did you hear about the Eight Trigrams Association's end?"
"Ah, I heard. Hwang Ryong-seong got caught embezzling the Beggars' Sect's union fees and fell from power, and while they were debating whether to elect a new chairman, an internal conflict broke out, right? I heard that second-ranked Gyeong Hwi and third-ranked Mu Song fought each other with blades, each claiming they'd be chairman, and everyone on the scene ended up dead."
"And Hwang Ryong-seong, who witnessed it right before his eyes, collapsed and died from qi deviation—a farce if ever there was one. In the end, wealth and glory are but a Nanke Dream. A beggar of the Beggars' Sect aimed to be king of the martial world, but in the end, it was nothing more than a fleeting dream."
Rumors of Hwang Ryong-seong's death and the Eight Trigrams Association's downfall spread from the brothel like a plague. People divided into those who mocked Hwang Ryong-seong for embezzling the Beggars' Sect's money while indulging in wealth and glory, and those who lamented, contrasting his grand ambition with his fleeting death.
And the Beggars' Sect Leader, Chu Wang Pae, gazed down at his son's corpse and kept his silence.
The young man from the Murim Alliance looked at Hwang Ryong-seong's body, covered with a straw mat. He had been about to write Hwang Ryong-seong's name in front of the corpse, but he paused and looked at Chu Wang Pae.
"Elder. What name should I write?"
Chu Wang Pae remained frozen, like a man who could not hear.
"Uh, Elder?"
He had been silently staring down at the corpse, and only after the young man addressed him once more did he raise his head. The young man asked Chu Wang Pae carefully.
"That, what name should I write in front of the body?"
Chu Wang Pae looked at the emaciated arm visible beyond the straw mat. The sturdy hand he used to boast of—with martial arts improving by leaps and bounds—was nowhere to be found; it looked as if skin had been plastered over bare bone. Chu Wang Pae had never wanted his son to end up like this. He knew his methods had been wrong.
But still, he had wanted his son, at least, to live a different life.
"Are there different seeds for princes, dukes, and ministers?"
Chu Wang Pae asked. The young man merely tilted his head at Chu Wang Pae's question, wearing a troubled expression. Chu Wang Pae hadn't expected an answer from the man, either. He rubbed his wooden staff and continued.
"Write the name as Hwang Ryong-seong."
And Chu Wang Pae turned and walked out. Amid the grief of losing his son and the sight of the crumbling Beggars' Sect, his eyes darkened to pitch black.
******
Just as the law-enforcers were returning home bearing the shocking news, rumors began to spread through the Beggars' Sect branches across the country.
'The Sect Leader is skimming union fees to bankroll his own son's nouveau riche games. We did not join the Beggars' Sect to feed another man's son. Even if we live lives scraping dirt from the ground and crawling on the floor, who would live like dogs just to fatten another man's belly?'
The rumor, composed of provocative and inflammatory language, spread with an organized stealth that even the Beggars' Sect itself could not have foreseen. So swift was the news that the rumors had already spread before the law-enforcers even reached their districts. The moment the law-enforcers arrived, their close associates raised indignant voices demanding independence from the Beggars' Sect.
"Elder brother! Is that rumor true? That the Sect Leader bastard was skimming union fees to stuff his son's belly!"
"Last time, when I said my baby was sick and asked for some money to go to the doctor! And then the one who flatly refused, saying there was no money to spend, wasn't that the Sect Leader! Is it really true? Did he really do that?"
"No, where did you even hear that rumor?"
The Beggars' Sect's strength lay in the secrecy of rumors. If someone wished to spread a rumor maliciously, beggars who barely knew each other's faces would spread it, and sourceless whispers would drift like ghosts throughout the land.
But for that very reason, it was impossible for the Beggars' Sect to police rumors leaking from within. Especially when, as in this case, organizational force was added to a rumor backed by undeniable evidence—the giant organization called the Beggars' Sect naturally fell into internal strife, its very size becoming a weakness.
There was no one to control the rumors, and no way to trace their source. Yet the rumor, which contained facts that could not be denied, stirred up the law-enforcers of each region with a clear purpose.
Independence from the Beggars' Sect Leader.
And the formation of their own power bases.
"We, the Heilongjiang River Beggars' Sect followers! Shall sever all ties with the Sect Leader! And live self-sufficiently among ourselves! Where is the guarantee that those who embezzled money once won't do it again! Furthermore! How will you compensate the hearts of those who trusted and followed the Sect Leader and sent him their respect!"
"The Jilin Province Beggars' Sect followers declare severance from the Sect Leader! From now on, the Jilin Beggars' Sect followers will move according to the will of me! Law-enforcer Yong-gu of Jilin! And I, Yong-gu, pledge to serve the powerless and hungry who have gathered in Jilin!"
Beggars though they were, those who rose to the position of law-enforcer in the Beggars' Sect possessed both ambition and resourcefulness. Those who had established themselves in the outskirts were the first to rise in revolt and rally the Beggars' Sect followers.
"The Shandong Province Beggars' Sect followers will sever ties with the Sect Leader! We are sickened by his appalling corruption! We have no intention of serving him as Sect Leader any longer!"
"The Yunnan Province Beggars' Sect followers will cut ties with the Beggars' Sect! Chu Wang Pae, you filthy bastard! You gobbled up all the union fees by yourself! You must really be bursting at the belly! May your belly burst and may you die!"
Following them, those with no ties to the Beggars' Sect elders declared severance one after another. As this repeated, the organizations revolting against the Sect Leader soon outnumbered those loyal to him. Once this happened, even organizations that had maintained close relations with the elders solely for the sake of career advancement began to revolt against the Sect Leader in order to manage their own districts. In some cases, law-enforcers who defended the elders and the Sect Leader were beaten by indignant local beggars and driven out.
The history of the Beggars' Sect, which commanded the world under the name of the Nine Sects One Gang, was long, but it did not take a long time for its scale to shrink. When at last the majority of the Beggars' Sect organizations declared that they would cut ties with the Sect Leader, a few beggars who had been busily moving around each region vanished from sight.
******
"I'd say we've dealt a very heavy blow to the Beggars' Sect at this point."
Docheol raised a toast to the Hao Sect Leader, who sat before him. The Hao Sect Leader, looking down at his cup, did not react even as he listened to Docheol's self-praise. He sat in a proper kneeling posture, silently hanging his head. Docheol understood his taciturn disposition.
"How is it?"
So Docheol posed the question. When he pushed the cup of liquor forward, its surface rippled. At the sound of the cup sliding, the Hao Sect Leader raised his head.
"What do you mean, how is it?"
He asked. His inner thoughts could not be read, but the liquor in the cup was still trembling. The reflections of the two men in the cup swayed back and forth like phantoms.
"Did you not see my skill? I'm asking what you think."
The Hao Sect Leader did not answer. But by his failure to affirm anything, Docheol could tell what kind of emotions he was feeling. In the end, Docheol had succeeded in tearing the Beggars' Sect apart using his three-inch tongue and the means at his disposal. It was an accomplishment that even statesmen and martial world masters had failed to achieve.
No matter how favorable the timing, using the blade that falls into one's hand well is the true measure of a person's capability. Docheol knew the moment to use his power, and he was a man who knew in which direction to apply it. That very Docheol asked the Hao Sect Leader.
"Wouldn't you like to see more interesting things?"
"...More interesting things. What are you referring to?"
The Hao Sect Leader asked in return. Though the question was put forth feigning ignorance, he knew what Docheol was trying to say. But he could not put it into words. As with all people in the world, voicing a great dream aloud is more difficult than dreaming it.
But Docheol, with his cup in hand, said this.
"Number One Under Heaven."
His achievement in martial arts was still nowhere near sufficient, and those called geniuses were many in the world. But Docheol's confident demeanor made those critical problems seem like nothing. Docheol swirled his cup and gave a wink.
"How about it? Isn't that a more interesting spectacle?"
The years he had lived at rock bottom, killing his desires after becoming the Hao Sect Leader, had been long. But even if his time in the shadows had been long, what reason was there for that dream to fade into nothing? On one side of his face, concealed by the human skin mask, the desire for advancement and the wish to make a name for himself boiled furiously.
"Will it be possible?"
"Are there different seeds for princes, dukes, and ministers?"
It was a foolish question answered by a wise saying. The Hao Sect Leader looked at his cup for a moment. Docheol was still waiting, his cup raised. The Hao Sect Leader picked up his cup and toasted with Docheol.
Tak.
The sound of the two cups clinking rang out softly.
"Do not disappoint me."
Docheol laughed.
*******
"Great Hero Yeong-yu?"
After that day, even amidst his busy schedule, Yeong-yu frequently stared blankly into empty space. He would draw the shape of a large rod in the air, gauge its size, then stand the object between his legs or repeatedly open his mouth.
He would look at the size reaching up past his navel, shake his head from side to side while squeezing his legs together, or sigh deeply and clutch his head. Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Je Gang simply found it puzzling to see Yeong-yu fidgeting restlessly, utterly unaware that he had even entered.
"Great Hero Yeong-yu. What are you doing?"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Yeong-yu screamed like a man who had just encountered an assassin, sprang into the air, and tumbled off his chair. Je Gang tilted his head, trying to understand his behavior, while Yeong-yu, having barely risen from the floor, shook his head and said.
"Ah, it was nothing."