Master of the Land of Luoyang
Luoyang Sword House, Third Young Master's camp.
Military Strategy Department.
Jegal Dae-gunsa raised his white fan to hide his startled expression and spoke.
"...Remarkable."
His gaze turned to Namgung Hyeok-cheon, who was savoring the fragrance of his tea.
"To make the Huashan Sect and the Wudang Sect issue a declaration of alliance in so short a time..."
He put the question to Namgung Hyeok-cheon.
"Just when did you begin laying the groundwork?"
It was a question Sama Dae-gunsa had wanted to ask as well; he too sharpened his eyes and opened his mouth.
"The Military Strategy Department never caught so much as a hint of it."
All this while, just as Namgung Hyeok-cheon had kept the left and right Grand Military Advisors in check, the left and right Grand Military Advisors had been watching Namgung Hyeok-cheon's every move with equal vigilance.
"No matter how formidable the Military Strategy Department's intelligence network may be, there was no way you could have known."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon smiled from behind his teacup.
"I was not the one who made contact with them."
"Then..."
Men of the left and right Grand Military Advisors' caliber grasped the situation from that alone.
"...So the main house of the Namgung Clan has been in contact with them."
"Indeed."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon nodded calmly.
"...As both Grand Military Advisors well know, until now I have restricted the introduction of outside forces for the sake of this Sword House."
For the sake of the Sword House—or so he said. In truth, it was not for the Sword House. There was no one present who did not know that he had simply feared the erosion of his own influence.
"...Yes."
"The more external power is added, the more chaos will grip this Sword House."
But having already decided to join hands, there was no need to dig into that particular truth.
"However, now that I have come to recognize the danger posed by the Eldest Young Master."
He set his teacup down with a sharp click.
"I no longer have the luxury of being choosy about my methods."
The intervention of Huashan and Wudang would be a tremendous shock in itself. But they were only the beginning. They would by no means be the last force to intervene in the succession struggle of the Sword House.
Namgung Hyeok-cheon bared his teeth.
"To remove that man from this board, I will mobilize every means available."
The first move had been seized by the Eldest Young Master. But victory—could never be conceded.
...Even if the rise of outside forces tears this Sword House into four pieces and five fragments.
It no longer mattered. If he could not obtain all of the Luoyang Sword House, then better—to devour even a shredded fragment of it.
"...In any case."
Jegal Dae-gunsa fluttered his white fan.
"When the Eldest Young Master demonstrated the martial arts of the Grand Elder and elevated Elder Paeng past the wall that had blocked him, we read his aim from that moment."
Sama Dae-gunsa nodded.
"We surmised that by one means or another he intended to shake the New Wulin Alliance and cull its core members."
"But with this."
A twisted smile played at the corner of Namgung Hyeok-cheon's mouth.
"They too will once more properly recognize which camp holds the advantage."
"Indeed."
The left and right Grand Military Advisors smiled.
"Those who have already betrayed us will also be greatly shaken."
At that moment—
"Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon."
A subordinate entered and respectfully presented a note to Namgung Hyeok-cheon.
As Namgung Hyeok-cheon smiled in satisfaction, Sama Dae-gunsa narrowed his eyes and immediately deduced the contents of the note on the spot.
"The Emei Sect?"
"Indeed."
At that answer, Jegal Dae-gunsa nodded and spoke.
"With this, we have prevented even the Gongdong Sect from defecting to the other side."
Luoyang Sword House, Wongak-jeong.
Grand Banquet Hall.
"Huashan and Wudang..."
"The Third Young Master's side seems to have steeled its resolve."
The honored guests were in an uproar like a storm-tossed sea.
"They mean to avoid being defeated without even fully mobilizing their strength, as the Second Young Master's side was."
Truly, the left and right Grand Military Advisors—the Namgung Clan is formidable as well. Talk of that sort flowed from every corner.
"...The Luoyang Sword House is, if one were to compare it to go, the tengen—the center of the board."
"From the perspective of Huashan and Wudang, who have fallen behind the times, by actively backing the Third Young Master they mean to reclaim the glory of those days from within this Sword House."
Some clicked their tongues in awe.
"Just imagining how long they have been sharpening their blades... it makes one's flesh crawl. Haha."
While exchanging such conversation, the guests' gazes kept darting sidelong toward the figures present who had once been under the former Third Young Master's command.
"From the beginning, my decision did not take political advantage or disadvantage into consideration."
The first to react was the Sect Leader of Jongnam.
"Our Jongnam has no regrets whatsoever regarding the decision to offer our swords to the Eldest Young Master."
His expression was firm and his tone calm, but with those final words he closed his eyes, making clear that he would answer no further questions from those around him.
"He claims to have a clear conscience, but he is anxious."
"How could he not be?"
At that, the assembly whispered among themselves again as they watched him, and those who raised their voices the loudest were—naturally—the now-arrogant loyalists of the Third Young Master's faction.
"He made a decision that could sever the very lifeline of the great Jongnam Sect, and he made it alone."
"This is why we warned against rash decisions..."
"Tsk, tsk."
They raised their voices even higher, as if deliberately wanting to be heard.
"He should have followed the example of the Great Master of the Gongdong Sect."
The Great Master of the Gongdong Sect still kept his lips tightly sealed, but from his demeanor those watching could sense that he felt a certain relief.
"If only he had waited a little longer..."
"Our Third Young Master's side has now taken another step closer to the true New Wulin Alliance."
"This affair will be recorded as a case study of how dangerous it is when the head of an organization makes a decision swayed by emotion."
The gazes of the Third Young Master's loyalists shifted to the former Sect Leader of Diancang.
"How about it, Sect Leader?"
"Feeling a bit of crisis?"
Given the former Sect Leader of Diancang's usual frivolous nature, he should have been the most agitated of all right now. And yet, for some reason, the former Sect Leader of Diancang simply stood still, showing no particular reaction at all.
"Huashan and Wudang have joined the New Wulin Alliance!"
When he first heard that news, the former Sect Leader of Diancang had felt cold sweat soak him down to his undergarments. Even if the names of Huashan and Wudang no longer carried the weight they once had, unlike the other sects that had become subordinate branches of the Luoyang Sword House or sealed their gates, they were ones who had steadily built their power independently in the new era.
...Did I reveal that I stood with the Eldest Young Master too early?!
If he had not revealed his betrayal at this gathering today—
I could have gauged the atmosphere and the situation a little longer, and done my calculations...!
His gaze reflexively sought out the figure of the Eldest Young Master. And amid the astonished assembly, the Eldest Young Master was clearly smiling silently in that very moment.
And the instant he saw that expression, the former Sect Leader of Diancang—as if caught in some wicked sorcery—felt every agitation in his heart vanish, and his mind settle calm all the way to its depths.
"Hoho."
The old man's laugh rang out right after the Third Young Master's loyalists sensed something strange in the expression of the former Sect Leader of Diancang.
"Forgive my lateness, Eldest Young Master."
How many people on the streets of Luoyang could speak so freely to the Eldest Young Master at this point?
"Who is that...?"
"That voice sounds familiar somehow...?"
The gazes of the assembly naturally turned toward the entrance of the Grand Banquet Hall, from which the voice had come.
"Not at all, Elder."
Having answered thus, Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon went in person to receive the old man. At the sight of the gaunt old man seated in a wheeled chair, the assembly recoiled in shock.
"That man...?!"
"The head of the Gong Clan among the Sixteen Imperial Families—Elder Gong Ryang?!"
None present dared speak the word aloud, but in everyone's mind the same single term for that figure rose unbidden.
The Old Demon...!
They remembered clearly the merciless storm of blood that Gong Ryang had unleashed upon Luoyang only a few months ago.
"Allow me to introduce him to you all."
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon presented Gong Ryang to the assembly.
"Elder Gong Ryang, who has newly been designated for the post of Governor of Luoyang."
At those words of introduction, the figures in the assembly were struck as if by lightning.
"Governor of Luoyang?!"
"Elder Gong Ryang has been designated as the new Governor of Luoyang?!"
But their astonishment did not end there.
"Hoho. That this old man, who lives from day to day, could come to bear such a heavy responsibility..."
Gong Ryang gathered both hands and bowed in greeting to Yeon So-hyeon standing beside him.
"Is entirely because this Eldest Young Master personally recommended me to His Majesty the Emperor."
A heavy shock rippled through the assembly.
"That His Majesty the Emperor has selected for the post of Governor of Luoyang Elder Gong Ryang, famous for his close friendship with the Eldest Young Master—that means...!"
"...So the relationship between the Eldest Young Master and His Majesty the Emperor, which had only been the subject of rampant speculation, was true?"
"If that is so..."
One of the honored guests among the assembly murmured as if struck by a sudden thought.
"Does that not mean this land of Luoyang is already the Eldest Young Master's?"
While the Third Young Master was making the bold move of drawing in outside forces, the Eldest Young Master had already firmly planted his banner upon the land of Luoyang.
"I have good news to convey to you honored guests, taking advantage of this occasion."
When Gong Ryang's mouth opened, everyone fell silent and strained to hear the old man's soft, measured voice.
"Here, the Eldest Young Master of the Sword House has succeeded in dramatically transforming, in a short time, the Valley of Sin—one of the Five Evils long synonymous with poverty."
Gong Ryang placed a hand upon his own chest.
"This Gong Ryang was deeply moved by the Eldest Young Master's heart that thinks of the starving people, and by his bottomless ability that finally revived the Valley of Sin which everyone had given up on. And so..."
Gong Ryang took the Eldest Young Master's hand and raised it together with his own.
"This official, having assumed the post of Governor of Luoyang, has agreed to cooperate closely with this Eldest Young Master here."
As he did so, he smiled brightly.
"We have agreed to promote a grand enterprise to completely regenerate the remaining four slums of the Five Evils that still remain in Luoyang."
Including the loyalists of the Third Young Master's side, everyone gathered in that place could not fail to understand what those words meant. It was an opportunity.
"This is a national project."
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon added words that drove a stake through their speculation.
"Naturally an enormous budget will be invested, but even that will not be enough. Therefore..."
Gong Ryang took up the words.
"The path of investment is wide open. However."
The Old Demon's gaze swept across the assembly and then stopped in one place.
"It is not open to everyone."
Looking at the Great Master of the Gongdong Sect, Gong Ryang wore a meaningful smile.
"This enterprise will not only bring monetary profit. For those who have not yet managed to establish any particular foothold in Luoyang, it will be a tremendous opportunity."
The Eldest Young Master smiled toward the Sect Leader of Jongnam, who had already sworn loyalty to him.
"Sect Leader."
"Yes...!"
"This is the first recompense I can give for the reconstruction of Jongnam."