Protest and Welcome
Luoyang Sword House.
The Supreme Operations Council.
Through a hole in the ceiling, the light of the setting sun poured down and fell upon Namgung Hyeok-cheon, the greatest backer of the Third Young Master.
"What in the world is the Supreme Operations Council thinking?!"
It was the sunset after a brief shower of rain, and the light that spilled through was so crystalline and beautiful it defied description. To Namgung Hyeok-cheon in that moment, however, it was nothing more than a blinding glare that limited his vision.
"To remove the shackles from the Hyeongsan Bukryu and set them free to move as they please!"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon leveled a fierce protest at the Supreme Councilors, who never revealed their true faces.
"How can the Supreme Operations Council of this House possibly hand down decisions so blatantly skewed in the Eldest Young Master's favor?!"
"We merely held the Hyeongsan Bukryu to reasonable account for the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering arena construction site incident."
A Supreme Councilor's distorted voice echoed through the hollow chamber.
"Elder Namgung is surely aware of just how severe a punishment expulsion and withdrawal measures are, is he not?"
"One must look at the results, the results…!"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon fired back at once.
"In the end the Hyeongsan Bukryu faced no restrictions whatsoever and simply followed the Eldest Young Master north! If that is not partiality, then what is?!"
His logic was solid, and there was force in his oratory. In the Elder Council Hall it would have carried well enough. But the ones he faced now were the Supreme Councilors of the Luoyang Sword House.
"In the first place, was it not your side—the Third Young Master's faction—that pinned the responsibility for the disturbance at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering construction site on the Hyeongsan Bukryu?"
The moment a female Supreme Councilor opened fire, the others laid down supporting fire with practiced ease.
"Exactly so. The elders of the Third Young Master's faction pointed to the Hyeongsan Bukryu—who were then still their own people—as the root of the problem."
"Once the Hyeongsan Bukryu took a heavy blow from that inexplicable entity called Amcheonjonja, you decided to use them as a sacrificial pawn."
"This Supreme Operations Council respected the findings of the Third Young Master's internal investigation, and as a result held the Hyeongsan Bukryu responsible."
"Elder Namgung."
The female Supreme Councilor took up the thread once more.
"Are you asking this Supreme Operations Council to reopen the investigation into that incident?"
"…Of course not."
Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon clenched his teeth.
"Then the ones who ought to have taken responsibility have taken it. There is no problem whatsoever."
"So what objection, exactly, is Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon trying to raise?"
For every word he spoke, they answered with dozens. There were nine Supreme Councilors; even one line apiece made nine. Every time he attended the Supreme Operations Council he felt it—he wanted to smash the skull of whoever had devised this system.
"Then what of the maidservant corps of Wongak-jeong?"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon swung the muzzle of his argument in a new direction.
"They headed north without obtaining any authorization whatsoever! They did not even try to conceal it—they went fully armed, with military supplies prepared!"
At once one of the Supreme Councilors countered.
"The maidservant corps was never registered as an 'armed force' of this House to begin with, and therefore authorization does not apply."
For a moment Namgung Hyeok-cheon's words failed him.
"Th-the maidservant corps is not an armed force…?"
"That is correct."
"Does that make any sense?!"
He shouted, veins standing out in fury.
"A group that equips armored carriages and even repeating crossbows—every last one of them a martial artist—how can they not be an armed force?!"
"Insofar as the maidservant corps has not registered as an armed force, it also receives none of the support that other armed forces enjoy."
One of the Supreme Councilors answered in a voice that did not so much as waver.
"There is no procedural issue."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon roared.
"This is deskbound bureaucracy!"
"That is an unavoidable matter."
The female Supreme Councilor cut in.
"Under the laws of this House, armed forces are registered by a notification system. So long as they have not filed notification, they are not an armed force of this House."
"That is absurd…!"
"Is it?"
The female Supreme Councilor's tone sharpened.
"I understand that the Third Young Master's side once operated Tan-nang—formerly of the Murim Alliance—as an irregular organization without registering them with this House."
"……!"
Tan-nang was the organization that had been dismantled a few months earlier during the fighting around the Valley of Sin, shattered by the vast labyrinth of Luoyang's underground aqueducts and the exploits of Tal-myeong-gwi-geom. In their Murim Alliance days they had been an armed force that resolved various problems in the shadows by illegal means.
"I am told the Third Young Master's side is still operating similar groups without notification even now."
The other Supreme Councilors drove the point home.
"Does the Third Young Master's side intend to voluntarily report every one of those irregular groups?"
"Or are you hoping the Supreme Operations Council will conduct a full investigation into the actual state of armed-force operations?"
"…Kh!"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon swallowed the bitter taste rising in his throat. It felt like charging a wall of iron barehanded.
Inferiority in numbers.
Inferiority in authority.
Inferiority in information.
In every respect, anyone who stood in this place was bound to be at a disadvantage. The time when the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had shaken the Supreme Operations Council had been an extreme exception. This was the true face of the Supreme Operations Council.
"…I concede that this elder failed to present precise grounds. Even so."
He could not simply withdraw empty-handed.
"It is a fact that the Supreme Operations Council has of late been handing down decisions that, in their results, favor the Eldest Young Master with partiality."
Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon raised high the documents he held in his hand.
"This is a petition of signatures from a majority of this House's elders, who raise the same issue as this elder."
It meant that the protest was not his private, one-sided claim.
"By House law, the Supreme Operations Council is obligated to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding this challenge from the Elder Council, and—"
"That will be enough."
A heavy voice. It belonged to the Chairman of the Supreme Operations Council, who had kept silent until then.
Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon swallowed dryly and asked him,
"Will the Chairman answer in person?"
"There is nothing to answer."
"What do you mean…?"
At the Chairman's curt manner, Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon's face twisted.
"The Supreme Operations Council has not handed down any partial decisions favoring the Eldest Young Master."
"Chairman!"
Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon roughly shook the sheaf of signatures in his hand.
"For the Supreme Operations Council itself to judge that is not—"
The Chairman cut him off.
"If there has been any partiality, it has been toward the Third Young Master's side, not the Eldest Young Master's."
"What are you—"
"The New Murim Alliance. And the Terror King."
"……."
"Of late the Third Young Master's side has been forming alliances with outside forces without the slightest hesitation. Military alliances, no less."
"Th-that is not a military alliance—it is merely—"
"Spare me the nonsense."
"……."
At any other time he would never have tolerated such abusive language. Yet the open anger in the Chairman's voice now carried a force that sealed Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon's mouth.
"You should be grateful that this Supreme Operations Council is looking the other way and remaining silent about the acts of war you intend to wage in the north."
"……."
"Enough. I will permit no further rebuttal."
The Chairman struck the gavel.
"I declare this session closed."
It was an order of expulsion directed at Namgung Hyeok-cheon.
At that same hour.
The north. Shenyang.
Near the approach to the South Gate.
With the sun sinking and heavy clouds settling low, the landscape of Shenyang carried an oppressively weighty air that was almost unpleasant.
"…There are not even soldiers guarding the gates?"
Gam Woo-hyeon, a direct disciple of Mount Hua and the middle-aged man who led the vanguard, frowned as he surveyed the surroundings.
"With the Moyong Family—the core of this region—locked in civil war, it is not a strange situation."
Deputy Leader Mae Ok reined in her horse beside him and likewise kept watch on every side.
"But I never expected the chaos to be this complete…."
Even in the brief time they paused their mounts to speak, countless commoners were hurriedly fleeing the city.
"Mother…!"
Amid the loud wailing of a child who had lost its mother's hand,
"Hurry…!"
"If we walk through the night we can reach the next city…!"
A long procession of refugees stretched on, carrying only the essentials bundled tight. Black smoke rising here and there through the streets made Shenyang's ominous atmosphere even more unsettled.
"…At this rate."
Deputy Leader Mae Ok took up the words of Vanguard Leader Gam Woo-hyeon as he clicked his tongue.
"At this rate, even our plan to secure information on the ground will be difficult."
Grabbing a few refugees and questioning them would only add to the confusion with every scrap of wild rumor.
"Leader, the disciple sent on reconnaissance has returned…!"
The Mount Hua Vanguard had gone so far as to select disciples of northern origin for their scouting work.
"We failed to make contact with any local private intelligence groups. Most of the office doors stood empty and firmly shut, and those who remained had fortified the buildings and refused all contact."
Yet there had been little to gain.
"Gunfire, explosions, and the clash of metal are said to have continued without cease throughout the city since morning."
Worse still, corpses of unknown affiliation were said to have been left lying about in various parts of the streets. Shenyang's situation was even more chaotic than they had anticipated.
"And word from inside the Moyong Family?"
"Uncertain."
This time Deputy Leader Mae Ok asked,
"Was there no talk of which side is winning?"
The disciple shook his head.
"The problem is rather that there are too many contradictory claims."
"…I suppose that stands to reason."
After a moment of collecting his thoughts, Vanguard Leader Gam Woo-hyeon spoke.
"…Then is there no route to the Moyong Family's main estate that avoids going through Shenyang?"
"…Regrettably, no."
The disciple of local origin shook his head.
"As you know, the Moyong Family is a house of an entirely different caliber from ordinary martial clans."
Another disciple of the same origin added explanation.
"The Moyong Family's main estate is little different from a vast fortress built for war. The only comparable example would be the main estate of the Luoyang Sword House."
"…Damn it. Is there no way?"
Vanguard Leader Gam Woo-hyeon's gaze turned toward the great road that ran from the gate into the city. To his eyes just then, that broad avenue looked like the gaping maw of a monster.
"Senior Brother—no. Leader."
Deputy Leader Mae Ok spoke in a grave tone.
"I formally request once more that we reconsider entry."
"Hell…."
Even as he spat the curse, this time Gam Woo-hyeon did not cut her off at once.
"……."
"……."
The disciples who had ridden up so boldly likewise could not ease their tension in the face of Shenyang's ominous air.
"…Then what is the alternative?"
"We secure a temporary camp near the gate and have our vanguard assess the situation ourselves."
Gam Woo-hyeon ground his teeth.
"And the Wudang vanguard?"
"…If necessary, we will have to join hands with them."
Deputy Leader Mae Ok shook her head.
"Looking at the state of this place, this is no time for pride. If we squabble over credit we may lose our lives."
"……."
As Vanguard Leader Gam Woo-hyeon trembled with barely contained frustration yet seemed to be persuaded, Deputy Leader Mae Ok pressed on.
"We must grasp the movements of the rebel forces and make contact with them before we act."
They would be large in scale and their bases would stand in conspicuous places, so it would not be a difficult task—that was her reasoning.
"…Haa."
Gam Woo-hyeon let out a deep breath and slowly nodded. However strong his pride, he was no fool.
"No choice, then."
They had to avoid plunging blindly into a city where no one knew what enemies might be waiting, or how.
"First we secure the South Gate and make it our base, then—"
No one saw the shadow that lay low atop the gate then give a small twitch.
But.
BANG—!
A single gunshot, loud enough to tear the ears, could not go unheard.
Thud!
With a sound like a watermelon splitting, the local-born disciple crumpled, blood pouring from a face blown open—and the sight seemed to unfold with unnatural slowness.
"Sniper from the rear!"
Vanguard Leader Gam Woo-hyeon, his face spattered with the disciple's blood, screamed the warning.
"Everyone, get off the main road!"
"Cover! Take cover!"
That was the first welcome extended to the Mount Hua Vanguard upon their visit to Shenyang.