I can’t even laugh. (6)
“Ryeonju.”
Ho Gamyeong cautiously handed a liquor bottle to Jang Ilso. Jang Ilso chuckled and accepted the bottle. He was already mounted on a horse that Ho Gamyeong had somehow procured.
“That’s why I can never seem to get rid of you.”
“Then I suppose I should find even more exquisite liquor for my own safety.”
“Enough. You always have a way with words.”
Jang Ilso glanced back. They were already far from the battlefield. He decided he could afford a small indulgence and brought the bottle slowly to his lips.
Ho Gamyeong, watching him with calm eyes, spoke up.
“Congratulations.”
“Congratulations?”
“This victory will be remembered for a long time.”
It wasn’t just a platitude. This battle would undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of Gangho. It was the first time the Evil Sect had delivered a devastating blow to the Just Sect.
The name Jang Ilso would go down in history as the one who ended the rule of Gupailbang and established the reign of Sapaeryeon. Whether it was a glorious or disgraceful history, it didn’t matter.
“No need to make a fuss.”
But Jang Ilso himself responded indifferently.
“It’s the same as always. This time, it was just on a larger scale. It’s not like I did anything extraordinary. It’s just them who are idiots.”
Jang Ilso always talked like this.
“But this victory wasn’t just about outwitting fools, was it? Even he couldn’t stop it.”
“Who? Hwasan Geomhyeop?”
“Yes.”
After a brief silence, Jang Ilso chuckled.
“Gamyeong-ah.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think I’m better than him?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you for the sentiment.”
Ho Gamyeong glanced at Jang Ilso as he took a swing of liquor.
“Don’t you think so, Ryeonju?”
“Well, there might be some areas where I excel.”
With his scarred fingers, he wiped the liquor that dripped down his chin.
“And there might be areas where I don’t. But this contest wasn’t decided by ‘who’s the greatest’ or any such trivial matter.”
“Then, what was it?”
“A great many things.”
Jang Ilso laughed as if it were amusing.
“In Anhui, Hubei, even as far as Hainan. No, no. Perhaps he even thinks he should have a say in Gangnam.”
Ho Gamyeong nodded. Jang Ilso slowly rotated the bottle in his hand.
“I have nothing to protect, but he has to protect the entire world. He can’t be everywhere at once, so this was never a fair game to begin with.”
Ho Gamyeong’s expression hardened. Listening to Jang Ilso, something came to mind.
“Do you know, Gamyeong?”
“Yes?”
“That man has never lost in a place where he was present. He has always won. The Yangtze River? If it weren’t for him, we would have always achieved more.”
“Indeed…”
Although he didn’t want to, Ho Gamyeong had to admit it. After all, he himself had been a victim of that very “prowess.”
“So, to put it bluntly, the way to deal with him is simple. Just let him protect everything. The entire vast world.”
The corners of Jang Ilso’s mouth curled up.
“When he tries to grasp so much with just one pair of hands.”
Crash.
The liquor bottle in Jang Ilso’s hand shattered into pieces. Clear liquor flowed down from his tightly clenched fist.
“Eventually, some things will slip out of his grasp.”
“…”
“I just gave him a choice. To protect Anhui, or to protect Gupailbang. To protect Shaolin, or…”
Jang Ilso’s smile twisted strangely.
“To protect Hwasan, which he holds so dear.”
“…”
“Of course, he can’t make all these choices consciously. Hahaha!”
It’s complex. An ordinary person watching these events unfold might not easily understand.
But Jang Ilso simplified everything.
The key was how to draw out Hwasan Geomhyeop.
And how to fight in places beyond his influence.
‘Perhaps…’
A chill ran down Ho Gamyeong’s spine.
“May I dare… ask you something?”
“I told you there’s no need for such formalities, yet you keep doing it. Ask me anything.”
“Ryeonju…”
Ho Gamyeong hesitated for a moment. Perhaps just asking this question might be considered blasphemy.
Nevertheless, after much hesitation, he opened his mouth to speak. He couldn’t help but ask.
“…Did you foresee that Moyong, Zhuge, and Cheonumaeng would soon arrive there?”
“Hmm?”
Jang Ilso’s eyes softened gently. There was a hint of amusement in his bright pupils.
“What do you think?”
Ho Gamyeong remained silent. He didn’t dare answer.
“To be honest…”
Jang Ilso let out a subtle smile.
“I had no idea.”
Ho Gamyeong’s mouth fell open.
Jang Ilso continued speaking casually, as if he hadn’t said anything remarkable.
“Of course, I thought they might come, but predicting the exact timing is difficult. Even for me.”
“Th-then why…”
“Why did I retreat, you ask?”
Ho Gamyeong silently nodded, committing a blasphemy.
“Well… Why do you think?”
Jang Ilso did not provide a clear answer. But Ho Gamyeong felt he understood.
There’s no need to predict. There’s no need to think. The decision had already been made. He wouldn’t fight where he was.
The thinking would be done by Hwasan Geomhyeop. He would judge that there was a chance to win, that the situation could be reversed.
In other words, as long as they didn’t respond to the fights he initiated, Sapaeryeon would at least not lose.
‘Is such a thing even possible?’
Ho Gamyeong couldn’t comprehend it, as if he had hit a wall.
This entire strategy, this structure, had to be based on absolute trust in the opponent…?
Hwasan Geomhyeop, believing Jang Ilso would definitely win against Gupailbang, had rushed from Anhui to here without hesitation.
And Jang Ilso, upon seeing Hwasan Geomhyeop, turned back without hesitation despite leading a large army.
‘Both of them…’
Both of them were out of their minds.
Though he couldn’t dare say it aloud, the only way to explain this situation was with those words.
The two people who hated each other most in the world trusted each other most perfectly was a paradox that couldn’t be described as anything but tragic.
Ho Gamyeong suppressed something creeping up from within. Then, to avoid revealing this unknown emotion, he changed the subject.
“Then… what do you think he’ll choose this time?”
“Shaolin.”
“…Isn’t Hwasan more important to him?”
“Of course it is. But this time, he can’t compare both. Once a choice is made, it can’t be undone.”
“…”
“It’s a pity I can’t see it with my own eyes.”
Jang Ilso licked the liquor off his hand.
“The look on his face, struggling because of a choice he made unconsciously, would be a rare amusement.”
The faint scent of liquor soon mingled with the taste of blood in his mouth. He smirked faintly.
This move could no longer be used. The Just Sects would eventually be reorganized under the name of Cheonumaeng.
However…
“So, at least enjoy my last gift. I’ve put quite a bit of effort into preparing it.”
An eerie aura shimmered across Jang Ilso’s face.
❀ ❀ ❀
Clatter clatter clatter!
Over a hundred horses were racing across the wilderness. Red and white robes intertwined and fluttered in the wind.
The eyes of those urging the horses held a menacing gleam.
“Hurry up!”
The time set by Jang Ilso was almost up.
To evade the eyes of the Beggars Sect, they had ridden along the mountain range toward the western region, galloping across the vast grasslands before finally arriving here.
Now, they were close to their target, Hwaeum. The one leading the group licked his lips.
‘Hwasan…’
What a detestable name. The thought that he would be the one to bring it down made his hair stand on end with excitement.
According to the plan, Hwaeum, where Hwasan was located, should be completely undefended at this moment.
“As soon as we arrive, kill them all and set everything on fire. Let them wail upon seeing the sight.”
“Yes!”
The Red Dog, who was leading the charge, kicked the side of his horse.
‘Faster!’
Despite still having some leeway, his heart was burning with impatience.
He knew that even a slight delay could prevent him from achieving his goal.
Before that hateful Hwasan Geomhyeop could arrive, everything living in Hwaeum must be wiped out. So that he would lose everything, and eventually even himself, and goes on a rampage as a vengeful ghost.
‘Faster!’
Just as he was about to urge his horse forward once more,
“Leader! Up ahead!”
“Hm?”
The Red Dog frowned.
The path from the great grasslands to Shaanxi was nothing but wasteland. A vast expanse of barren land with nothing to obstruct the view.
Yet, there was something on that desolate ground, where no trace of humans should be.
‘A person?’
The figure walking through the wasteland wore ragged clothes that fluttered in the wind. In fact, they looked more like tattered rags than proper clothing.
Moreover, the feet exposed under the ragged clothes were bare.
Walking through such a wasteland in worse condition than a beggar…
‘A madman?’
No sane person would traverse this land in such attire.
“What should we do?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Shing.
A gleaming blade was drawn from its sheath.
There was no need to leave witnesses.
Anyone who saw them had to be killed as a precaution.
‘Just think of it as bad luck!
Taaaaat!
He kicked the side of his horse. The steed galloped toward the man, almost leaping forward. The Red Dog, closing in quickly, swung his blade down at the man’s back.
❀ ❀ ❀
“Do-dojang?”
Hwang Jong-ui was startled by Chung Myung’s sudden appearance on Hwaeum’s main street.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Chung Myung’s appearance, gasping for breath as if he might collapse any second, was unfamiliar. Without a moment to catch his breath, Chung Myung frantically looked around. His eyes were shaking terribly.
While Hwang Jong-ui was in a state of panic, Un Am approached Chung Myung without hesitation.
“What happened? Did you come alone?”
Chung Myung seemed not to hear the question, too busy looking around in a daze.
After a long pause, Chung Myung finally spoke.
“…The enemy?”
“Enemy?”
Un Am frowned.
“Enemy? Isn’t Sapaeryeon in Hubei?”
“…”
“Retired Sect Leader led the disciples to Hubei. Didn’t you receive the message?”
A look of worry crossed Un Am’s face. Chung Myung stared blankly at him, his fingers trembling.
‘What… is this?’
He arrived first? No, that couldn’t be. The enemy couldn’t be so careless.
Then did they not target Hwaeum in the first place? No. That couldn’t be either.
Just as Jang Ilso knew him, he also knew Jang Ilso. In this situation, the only place worth diverting the troops to target would be here.
So what on earth was this scene? Why was Hwaeum still peaceful?
“Chung Myung-ah?”
Chung Myung’s eyes were clouded with confusion.
“What the hell…”
Muttering weakly, unable to grasp the situation, Chung Myung spoke as if he were in pain.
“What the hell happened?”
A cracking sound, as if something was splitting apart, echoed in Chung Myung’s mind.
________
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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