Four Ounces Deflects a Thousand Pounds (1)
Four Ounces Deflects a Thousand Pounds (1)
"They say Shaanxi has been noisy lately. Even the Mount Hua Sect has stepped in to crack down on martial artists running wild."
I frowned at the mention of the Mount Hua Sect—the vicious bastards who'd tried to kill me without a trace, leaving no one the wiser. That Gwak Ryong fellow who'd listened so seriously to my story back then was probably sneering at my success on the inside, too. Seeing my expression, Zhuge Yeong-yu added:
"Of course, 'running wild' is just what they call it. It's about cleaning up the factions that rose up in rebellion against Venerable Geumbok."
Hearing that, a question arose. Was the Mount Hua Sect cleaning up Venerable Geumbok's mess? Just what kind of man was Venerable Geumbok?
"Does Venerable Geumbok have ties with the Mount Hua Sect as well?"
At my question, Yeong-yu shook his head. He crossed his legs, clasped his hands together, and spoke with a languid expression.
"The Mount Hua Sect does not like Venerable Geumbok. But they secretly welcome his efforts to weaken the government's power and expand the martial world's influence. So Mount Hua intervenes in its own way. They stand back with arms folded, stroking their beards and pretending to know nothing—then when things seem to be going wrong, they coldly cut it all away in the name of maintaining the martial world's balance."
"Even more troublesome bastards to deal with."
Venerable Geumbok was cunning, but he wasn't a martial artist. The power a non-martial artist built by leaning on a sect's prestige was nothing but a house of cards. Once a single thing started going wrong, he couldn't control it on his own, and it would collapse in an instant.
But the Mount Hua Sect was different. They were cunning, and they actually had martial might as well. Zhuge Yeong-yu spoke.
"They want the government's position weakened. But it's troublesome for them if local sects run wild of their own accord before then. Still, there's nothing to worry about. With people on all sides smearing Venerable Geumbok's face right now, Jong Yuseop won't dare even bring up the marriage."
Though I couldn't tell from Chengdu, it seemed rumors were spreading openly everywhere that Venerable Geumbok was past his prime, what with things going wrong again and again. Because of this, even though the Mount Hua Sect was stepping in to consolidate the regions, there were still sects trying to expand their own influence on their own—just in case.
Zhuge Yeong-yu spoke of that chaos as if it were someone else's business, and added:
"Now, if the great hero handles his part well, we can tie the Taiji Sect down as well."
"Don't worry."
He slid his cup forward. The sound of the cup's base scraping against the table rang out especially loud. A customer sitting at the next table glanced at us and then went back to talking with his companions. Zhuge Yeong-yu's eyes gleamed.
"I'll be waiting."
******
"Did you hear about Shaanxi? About that rich man called Venerable Geumbok who's working with the Zhongnan Sect."
When the disciples started talking about the Zhongnan Sect, Hong Ye found herself unconsciously pricking up her ears. With letters from the Zhongnan Sect having abruptly stopped, rumors like this were the only source of news Hong Ye had.
"Venerable Geumbok? You mean that man who's not even a martial artist but has a foot in the Murim Alliance?"
Hong Ye had heard plenty about Venerable Geumbok and knew all about him. She knew that the Jong Yuseop who sent her letters followed that Venerable Geumbok and handled matters for him. But Jong Yuseop was a direct disciple of the Zhongnan Sect, and so Hong Ye had continued exchanging letters with Jong Yuseop and arranging the marriage talks.
"I heard it from a friend who lives in Shaanxi, and apparently the mood isn't good. The business foundation they built through the sect is getting a bit shaky, or something. The guys they'd been dealing with—they say they're seizing everything for themselves and openly rebelling?"
"What. Does that mean Venerable Geumbok is finally ruined?"
"They say even when a rich family falls, they can still live for three years on what they've saved. Even if they fall that badly, would the Zhongnan Sect be one of the Nine Sects One Gang for nothing? They'll take losses but hang on stubbornly and rebuild. But given the current trend, they won't be able to expand their business any further."
But among the rumors she heard, there was no good news. It was all just stories that Venerable Geumbok was in trouble, or that the Zhongnan Sect had no capacity to undertake anything else. Whenever such talk came up, she would unconsciously turn to face the wall and fix her expression.
A sharp expression must not show.
Because she had no connection whatsoever to the Zhongnan Sect.
But she couldn't help the anxiety that bloomed inside her.
It was because the elders, whenever they were bored, still brought up the question of whether she was qualified to inherit the main line. By now, they no longer made an issue of her Southern Barbarian birth. They made an issue of her talent being mediocre.
They said her talent was far too ordinary for her to become the promising rising star who would represent the Taiji Sect in the future. Having trained since the age of five, she had now entered the middle stage of first-rate. The realm she had reached through sixteen years of training was being rapidly caught up to by some clever junior brothers and sisters who had entered the Taiji Sect, as if climbing stairs, in just a few years.
A junior martial brother who had reached second-rate had grasped the threads of enlightenment and entered meditation in just two years.
Another junior martial sister was growing so fast that the Taiji Sect elders used the word 'exceptional' to describe her.
But ever since she had reached first-rate, she simply could not break through the wall to the next realm.
As if trapped in a dead-end alley, she could not advance.
The elders therefore argued that someone other than her should be put forward.
Hong Ye knew what their ulterior motives were.
They weren't truly worried about Hong Ye's talent or the Taiji Sect's future.
It was simply that they didn't want to see a person of Southern Barbarian blood go out as the Taiji Sect's representative at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
That was why Hong Ye wanted to shut their mouths. If it had to be gossip, so be it; if it had to be a worldly marriage, so be it—she wanted to raise her own value and create justification.
"Ah."
Hong Ye fixed her expression.
It was time to meet the Zhuge family's guest.
*******
"Do you have some worry on your mind?"
Hong Ye nearly scowled at the question Docheol tossed out. An unpleasant sensation, like a sore spot being prodded, crawled up her spine, and her reason barely managed to control the impulse. She answered Docheol with a calm expression.
"I do not understand what you mean."
"You look anxious."
At those words, Hong Ye unconsciously touched her face. Her lips and eyebrows. She checked them one by one, but there was nothing wrong. No emotion showed on her expression.
"Was there a problem with my expression?"
"A person doesn't speak only through their expression. You look anxious."
At those words, Hong Ye stepped back for a moment. She took a deep breath. Then she shook her head and spoke. Whenever her inner thoughts were occasionally seen through, this was how she responded.
"There is no problem whatsoever. Are we not in the middle of training now? Let us refrain from idle chatter."
Docheol did not back down.
"We are temporarily in a master-disciple relationship, are we not? A master's worries are naturally a disciple's worries as well. What is troubling you? Though my sect is small, I am still a sect leader. If there is anything I can help with, I will aid you in any way I can."
Hong Ye frowned at his words. Docheol looked slightly surprised that she could make such an expression.
"That is an impertinent remark. It is not something you can help with, so do not concern yourself. Simply practice the Taijiquan stances as usual, and that will suffice."
Having said that, Hong Ye gathered her clothes. After putting on her outer garment over her martial arts uniform, she walked out of the training room first. Left alone, Docheol stared at her retreating figure.
Hong Ye disliked Docheol.
It wasn't the people of the Taiji Sect—she disliked that he took an interest in her.
She disliked that it was, of all people, an arrogant man like him who took an interest in her.
*******
Silently, Docheol practiced the stances, his eyes closed. Faint threads seemed visible, yet he could not quite grasp them. It felt as though he could move without obstruction if only he could summon a single mental image, but his cultivation was still insufficient.
Docheol paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and lowered his arms.
He was not anxious in the slightest right now. Everything was proceeding exactly as he wished. Rather, Docheol, standing at the center of events, was more serene than anyone.
That Hong Ye would be anxious was already as predictable as the sea. If a direct disciple was actively seeking a political marriage, it meant her position within the sect was unstable. Because her position was unstable, she was secretly attempting such acts to raise her own value.
Having to raise her value immediately meant many enemies within, and with many enemies within, she ultimately had no choice but to lean on the outside.
Now that the marriage path to the Zhongnan Sect—on which she had staked everything—was blocked, there was only one thing she could attempt.
A sect generously backed by the Zhuge family, practically no different from a subordinate sect of the Zhuge family, rumored to be enjoying the greatest prosperity in Shaanxi these days.
A sect led by a sect leader of similar age to her, who commanded many disciples and was currently learning Taijiquan at the Taiji Sect.
A sect that, though it could not dramatically raise her standing like the Zhongnan Sect, would allow her to find temporary stability internally, merely through the fact that the Zhuge family's influence reached it.
It was none other than the Crimson Ring Sect.
"Hoo...."
Docheol reviewed the Taijiquan stances once more, imagining himself grabbing Hong Ye's ass.