Chapter 146
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Quite Leisurely
Three days was a short time.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Ha Mu-baek found the manor where Gong Mu-hyeok was staying.
Early dawn.
A time when all was quiet around them.
Gong Mu-hyeok had finished all his preparations and was waiting for Ha Mu-baek.
"Let's go."
The two men mounted their horses.
The two horses began walking slowly.
Only Gong Son Mu-oe and Gong Son Hwa-kyeong stood in silence, watching and seeing them off.
Gong So-yu was still deep in sleep.
"I hope everything gets sorted out without too much chaos..."
Gong Son Mu-oe murmured softly, while Gong Son Hwa-kyeong clasped her hands tightly together with a worried look on her face, gazing at her husband's retreating back.
The journey was peaceful.
It was winter, a time when bandits should have been out in force, yet they didn't encounter a single one.
Ha Mu-baek had sensed them with his spiritual perception and avoided the hassle.
There was no point in clashing with them; dealing with the scum would only be a nuisance.
And so, a fairly rugged-looking mountain loomed before the two men.
"The terrain here is quite impressive."
Ha Mu-baek stated exactly what he saw.
"It's not the terrain—it's a mountain rich in excellent ore veins. That's why the Myriad Things Alliance settled here. To blacksmiths, there's no greater treasure than quality ore."
Gong Mu-hyeok spoke with a faint smile playing on his lips.
Considering what awaited them ahead, it wasn't a situation to smile about.
Yet gazing at that mountain, a smile came naturally.
Blacksmiths by birth.
Gong Mu-hyeok as well.
Henan Province, Cheonjung Mountain.
It was the foothills of the mountain where the Myriad Things Alliance was based.
"Above all, Cheonjung Mountain has veins of Millennial Dark Gold Iron. Extremely rare, of course."
Pride colored Gong Mu-hyeok's voice.
"Millennial Dark Gold Iron?"
It was a metal Ha Mu-baek had never heard of.
He thought he had accumulated quite a bit of experience.
"It's only natural you wouldn't know. It's an extremely rare metal known to very few."
"Must be something special."
The path led toward the mountainside of Cheonjung Mountain.
As talk turned to his field of expertise, Gong Mu-hyeok's eyes sparkled.
"It's the finest metal there is. Just a tiny amount is enough to forge a legendary sword with ease. Of course, it's equally difficult to work with."
"All I know is Millennial Cold Iron."
Gong Mu-hyeok nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"That's the norm."
As he replied, Gong Mu-hyeok's eyes sparkled once more, as if he'd made a decision.
"I see. That aside, it probably won't be easy."
Ha Mu-baek gazed at the Myriad Things Alliance, faintly visible high on the mountainside, and spoke.
The news of Ha Mu-baek and Gong Mu-hyeok's arrival reached Gong Do-hyeok immediately.
Cheonjung Mountain was the Myriad Things Alliance's domain.
The moment the two began ascending the mountain, the Alliance was already aware of their presence.
Since it was the leader's return, they merely kept watch.
"And the Elder Council?"
"They're all buried in the Millennial Dark Gold Iron."
Gong Do-hyeok nodded at his subordinate's report.
"All communication lines to them are cut off, right?"
"Blocked since three days ago."
Three days prior.
The time when they first learned Gong Mu-hyeok and Ha Mu-baek were heading to the Myriad Things Alliance.
With the Hao Clan having pulled out, the information came late.
If the Hao Clan had continued the commission, they would have known when he left Wu-chang.
"The rebels?"
Gong Do-hyeok asked.
"All locked in the prison cells."
The subordinate replied with a chilling glint in his eyes.
They had blocked the eyes and ears of the Elder Council and imprisoned all who supported Gong Mu-hyeok.
In just three days, things had been hectic tying up loose ends.
They'd even halted analysis of the Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolt Chain's blueprints.
"Wi Sang-hyeong."
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
Gong Do-hyeok looked at the trusted subordinate who addressed him as leader.
"After today, you will be the Myriad Things Alliance's Vice Leader."
"I shall serve with utmost loyalty, Alliance Leader."
In the grand hall, just the two of them.
Wi Sang-hyeong prostrated himself before Gong Do-hyeok.
Myriad Things Alliance.
True to its name, it began as a union of numerous blacksmith clans.
Those who gathered at Cheonjung Mountain for its rich ore veins formed an alliance to protect their safety and interests.
Before long, it had grown into one of the Eight New Sects.
In the process, it had hardened into what was essentially a single sect, belying its name as a mere alliance.
The leader position had always been held by the Gong Clan, and the Elder Council by certain other families across generations.
Clans that had been weeded out in the process still harbored ambitions.
One such was the Wi Clan.
Wi Clan head, Wi Sang-hyeong.
Meeting Gong Do-hyeok and becoming his confidant was a foregone conclusion.
The younger brother toppling the elder to become leader.
That alone would shatter the old order, allowing new powers to rise.
The Wi Clan would claim the top spot among them.
Second only to the leader.
The position of Vice Leader.
Wi Sang-hyeong had seen through Gong Do-hyeok's ambitions before Gong Do-hyeok himself.
The moment he sensed them, he pledged loyalty, staking everything on a once-in-a-lifetime gamble.
A all-or-nothing bet with his clan and himself as the wager.
That day was today.
"Preparations?"
"Just seal off the Elder Council's workshops, and we're done."
The Elder Council.
Old monsters who worshipped the Alliance's traditions.
They were the leader's allies come what may.
Until Gong Do-hyeok claimed the leader's seat—they were merely enemies.
As Vice Leader to whom the elder brother had delegated much, they showed him respect.
But if his brother returned and exposed his deeds, the Elders would side with the brother and brand him a traitor.
Then those he had painstakingly won over would obviously flock to his brother's side.
Only three-tenths of the Alliance's forces had sworn true loyalty to him.
'I am a rebel, after all. Defying the natural order, no less.'
Gong Do-hyeok chuckled.
"How far have they come?"
"At this rate, they'll reach the main gate in about half a shichen."
"Quite leisurely. Heh."
Laughter escaped him.
His brother was surely coming to punish him.
Yet advancing at a pace like he was sightseeing Cheonjung Mountain.
Did he feel so secure with that monster by his side?
"The Guard Unit?"
The leader's Guard Unit.
In truth, it was Gong Do-hyeok's Guard Unit.
He had turned the roughly hundred-strong unit completely into his own limbs.
With the biggest obstacle—the unit leader—having left with his brother for Wu-chang, winning over the rest had been easy.
In fact, many in the Myriad Things Alliance harbored deep grudges.
The Alliance had stagnated like stagnant water.
That stagnation had planted seeds of resentment in those who felt defeated by it.
Gong Do-hyeok had merely nurtured his ambition for leadership seeing his weak brother's frailty.
But the Alliance's reality aided him.
Many desired change.
Three-tenths of the members wanted change. No small number.
Even if the rest were content, the dissatisfied were plentiful.
The most surprised by this was Gong Do-hyeok himself.
When he met the Three Leaders.
Shared his resolve.
And moved to act.
His subordinate Wi Sang-hyeong, who first bared his heart to him.
That day, Wi Sang-hyeong became Gong Do-hyeok's confidant.
Surpassing all who had already lined up behind Gong Do-hyeok.
And his feats were brilliant.
As if prepared in advance, he swayed those who wanted change to their side.
Thus, Gong Do-hyeok built his faction.
Opponents were either persuaded and absorbed... or eliminated if not.
In that way, he placed seven-tenths under him. Two-tenths imprisoned as rebels, and one-tenth—the Elders' eyes and ears—blocked.
So his brother couldn't do anything even upon return.
The final piece was the secret weapon: the Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolt Chain.
That monstrous weapon's explosion hadn't killed the monster.
With that monster at his brother's side, even with his faction, if they lacked justification and power, it was a losing battle.
He needed greater power to eliminate the monster.
"Seal the Elder Council's workshops."
Gong Do-hyeok's order rang out.
Now it began.
A do-or-die struggle for the Myriad Things Alliance's leadership.
Baek Ri-pyeong stared at the letter before him.
A letter he'd already read once.
He read it again.
It wouldn't change no matter how many times.
His eyes were conflicted.
No, eyes filled with anger.
The letter's contents had made him so.
It was filled with lengthy explanations.
But summed up simply:
'Come back now.'
Mid-term withdrawal from the Fierce Dragon Corps wasn't hard.
If you wished to leave, you could.
One condition.
Return all wages received thus far.
If you couldn't repay the wages, withdrawal was impossible.
Yet every year, a fair number left without repaying.
Unauthorized desertion.
By rights, they should be hunted down relentlessly, but the Dragon Training Pavilion didn't.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul's policy.
If word got out, riffraff would swarm for the Corps' hefty pay, but strangely, it never happened.
The deserters lived quietly.
Having deserted the Dragon Training Pavilion's Fierce Dragon Corps after pocketing a fortune in wages.
Not something to brag about.
What if rumors spread and the Pavilion came looking?
The deserters stayed silent for that reason.
Enclosed with the letter was a bill of exchange.
Exactly matching the total wages Baek Ri-pyeong had received.
The letter mentioned the bill too.
'Pay it back later?'
A scoff escaped him.
As expected of a sect leader.
The sect leader's command.
Return to Zhongnan Sect.
As a proud disciple of Zhongnan, he should obey the sect leader's order.
That was what Baek Ri-pyeong upon entering the Corps would have thought.
Now was different.
'Must I go?'
Conflict.
Life in the current Fierce Dragon Corps was so satisfying that Baek Ri-pyeong hesitated.
He pocketed the letter and stood.
He roamed the Dragon Training Pavilion searching. But no luck.
Of all times.
An instructor impossible to find when a disciple needed him.
No one to consult.
In the end, Baek Ri-pyeong could only recall his grandfather's words.
'Zhongnan's pride is standing tall before the name Zhongnan.'
Mid-term withdrawal went against Zhongnan's pride. Fleeing without fulfilling promises.
Yet Baek Ri-pyeong couldn't act as his heart dictated.
It was a letter, but an order.
Defying the sect leader's command.
That could lead to expulsion.
Baek Ri-pyeong skipped training and agonized all day.
His conclusion:
'No choice but to go back...'
He couldn't risk expulsion.
What trials awaited in Zhongnan, he didn't know.
Even knowing, he had to go.
He couldn't abandon the name Zhongnan.
It was his roots.
"It won't be easy from here on."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly, eyeing the massive main gate before them.
"I'm prepared for that."
Gong Mu-hyeok replied with resolute determination.
"Your brother seems quite capable. The entire Myriad Things Alliance is brimming with hostility."
Gong Mu-hyeok smiled wryly at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"With my weak body buried in research, I couldn't tend to the Alliance. My brother handled all major and minor affairs, so perhaps it's only natural."
Words tinged with self-reproach.
"That won't justify rebellion."
Ha Mu-baek's voice had turned icy cold.
The main gate stood open.
But no guards in sight.
Instead, hostile auras surged around the gate.
Killing intent piercing the heavens.
From subordinates facing their leader, no less.
A situation that chilled Ha Mu-baek's voice.
"Just follow behind me. No matter what happens, don't be startled. Not a hair on your head will be harmed."
Gong Mu-hyeok nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words and dismounted.
Ha Mu-baek leaped from his horse and positioned himself in front of Gong Mu-hyeok.
He strode straight toward the Myriad Things Alliance's main gate.
Glancing briefly at the plaque reading 'Myriad Things Alliance', he stepped beyond the gate.