Return of the Mount Hua

That’s why it’s no fun. (2)

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“Hmm.”

With a short, nasal hum, Jang Ilso flicked away the droplet of blood trailing down his fingernail as though it meant nothing. The tiny bead of blood flew through the air before falling atop a puddle already staining the ground.

Plop.

It was impossible that anyone could hear the sound of a single drop of blood falling, yet somehow, everyone seemed to hear it distinctly. That was because suffocating silence gripped this place tightly.

Breaking that silence, Jang Ilso spoke slowly.

“Why do you all look so grim, huh.”

Step.

He took a step forward. Trampling indifferently over the blood-soaked corpses, the severed and torn remains, and everything else that should be called the aftermath of war – the results of pure malice – Jang Ilso approached.

Step.

Everyone watched him as if spellbound. Why was he here? For what reason?

Drawing all eyes upon himself, Jang Ilso clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.

“I thought you might be at least a little happy to see me… I’m disappointed.”

Jang Ilso slowly surveyed everyone around him.

Those who met his gaze instinctively shrank back. It was purely reflexive.

They all felt their blood run cold. The resolve that had filled them just moments earlier vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.

Isn’t it strange? No matter how strong Jang Ilso might be, he can’t possibly compare to the entirety of the Blood Palace. Logically, it would make more sense to be wary of the Blood Palace’s warriors rushing here rather than Jang Ilso himself.

But no one could do that. The reason was simple. The man standing before them was Paegun Jang Ilso.

He was but a single individual, yet somehow he surpassed what a mere individual could be. Because of that, no one could speak or move recklessly. Like a frog facing a viper, they had no choice but to freeze in place.

Except for one person, that is. Of course, Tang Gunak also couldn’t help his gaze from wavering momentarily, but that was all.

Jang Ilso smiled brightly. With that smile hanging on his blood-smeared face, he looked even more unsettling.

“Oh my, did I surprise you?”

Tang Gunak stared at Jang Ilso for a long time before finally speaking with difficulty.

“…I can’t exactly deny it.”

Jang Ilso burst into laughter. 

“Why are you acting like that all of a sudden?”

His laughter was casual, as though meeting an old friend.

He appeared composed. Even though he stood alone before more than a hundred enemies, not a trace of fear showed. That attitude pressed down on his opponents with even more suffocating force.

Tang Gunak bit his lower lip until it turned white. Yet, soon his expression shifted, and he spoke again.

“How could I not be surprised? I never imagined that the great Paegun would bury himself among corpses like a frightened dog, trembling in terror.”

“Ha? Hahahahaha!”

At Tang Gunak’s sneer, Jang Ilso burst into loud laughter.

“A frightened dog! Hahahaha! That’s a perfect description. Hahahahahaha!”

Those listening to his booming laughter felt their hearts grow heavier. But whether they did or not, Jang Ilso laughed to his heart’s content, then looked at Tang Gunak with tears in his eyes.

“Well, there’s nothing too bad about that, is there?”

“…”

“Whether it’s a dog or a chicken, one can become anything. If it means taking the head of the great Poison King.”

Tang Gunak replied without so much as a flicker of emotion crossing his face.

“I’m honored. That the almighty Paegun thinks so highly of me.”

Jang Ilso smiled, his eyes curving like crescent moons.

“So highly… Well, I don’t know about that…”

Splash.

Jang Ilso stepped on the pool of blood and moved towards Tang Gunak, walking as if on a leisurely stroll.

Splash. Splash.

“This…!”

When Tang Pae, overwhelmed by the suffocating pressure, could no longer endure and tried to rush forward, Tang Gunak grabbed his wrist firmly, stopping him.

Tang Pae turned around with startled eyes, but Tang Gunak conveyed his intent by gripping Tang Pae’s wrist even more tightly without so much as a glance.

“Hmm.”

Watching this unfold with evident amusement, Jang Ilso spoke.

“To be honest, I never particularly thought that highly of you. It wouldn’t have mattered who it was, so long as they were here.”

Jang Ilso’s gaze pierced through Tang Gunak with eerie clarity.

“But if that ‘anyone’ happens to be the great Tang Gunak, renowned through the whole world… it’s not so bad. Don’t you agree?”

Gradually, Jang Ilso’s expression twisted grotesquely. It was a sinister view. Tang Gunak’s fingertips trembled involuntarily.

‘Can this be called a strategy?’

While the entire Sapaeryeon fled and Cheonumaeng advanced, Jang Ilso hid himself among the pile of corpses. He buried his face in filthy water, in decaying blood. He threw his body beneath the feet of those rushing past.

The greatest Paegun, the one who rules Sapaeryeon, willingly endured such extreme humiliation himself.

What mattered to him was not a brief moment of disgrace.

Even if he had to strip off the clothes that symbolized him and remove the crown from his head, even if he had to let the ordinary members of Sapaeryeon trample his back – none of it mattered.

“If anyone – anyone at all – had noticed, it wouldn’t have ended with just a severed head. Did you really think that even if you failed, you’d somehow get out of here alive?”

“Hmm.”

Jang Ilso laughed softly, amused by Tang Gunak’s words.

“Surely not. Of course, you lot are nothing more than incompetent piglets, but that doesn’t mean everyone in Cheonumaeng is the same.”

“…”

“No matter how strong I might be, if I’d failed, I would have died. And in a most humiliating manner.”

Tang Gunak’s face grew steadily paler. Anyone could guess it wasn’t merely because of his deep wounds.

Jang Ilso went on speaking.

“No, no. It wouldn’t have ended so simply. Perhaps I would’ve gone down in history as an utter fool. A dimwit who didn’t even know how to run, getting caught and killed while pretending to be dead. But…”

Jang Ilso stretched out his words, then tilted his head slightly.

“Would that really be an issue?”

For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words. They just stared vacantly at the man standing before them.

Surely the same red blood ran through his veins as theirs, yet there was something undeniably different about him. So different that even attempting to understand him seemed unimaginable.

Jang Ilso smiled faintly.

“What’s so important about the possibility that I could have died? I didn’t die, and because of that, I’m standing here before you right now. Isn’t that what matters?”

A quiet sigh escaped Tang Gunak’s lips.

‘It was something I should never have tried to predict.’

Why hadn’t he realized it before? Jang Ilso was the kind of man who could wager even his own life in a gamble without the slightest hesitation.

Trying to measure a person like that by normal standards had been a mistake from the start. It was doomed to fail.

Just then, Zhuge Jain, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke. His face was pale, as though he had encountered a ghost.

“So from the very beginning… were we all just pawns in your plan?”

In truth, Zhuge Jain could only react this way. He was the one who most fiercely insisted on chasing the multiple fake ‘Jang Ilso’ to finish this war.

But if all of that had been part of Jang Ilso’s scheme… then he had effectively driven the entire alliance into a deathtrap, making himself a traitor without equal.

“How foolish… so very foolish.”

“Foolish… hmm. That might be slightly off.”

Jang Ilso gently shook his head.

“I never underestimated you. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I believed you lot would come up with the most perfect solution, no matter what.”

“What…?”

Jang Ilso stopped his slow steps and suddenly looked behind him. Even now, countless people were still surging forward towards the fake ‘Jang Ilsos’.

“I trusted that you’d find the most perfect way to end this war, and carry it out flawlessly. Because you possess the ability to do just that.”

Zhuge Jain’s face went completely pale. Jang Ilso met his gaze with a slight smile.

“Indeed, you’ve done just as well as I expected.”

Jang Ilso’s smile was faint, and for a moment, it almost seemed benevolent.

“I believed in all of you. And you probably did the same – you believed in me.”

“…”

“Then what I had to do was simple, right? All I needed was to act a little foolish. By doing something you’d never imagine Jang Ilso would do, I could deceive you all with ease. Just like this.”

Zhuge Jain’s hands began to tremble violently.

He wasn’t wrong.

Hiding among the corpses. It wasn’t as though they hadn’t known such a possibility existed.

They had simply believed that Jang Ilso would never stoop to something so blatantly foolish and pathetic, so predictable it made them sick. Or rather, they’d never even considered the idea – dismissing it from their thoughts from the very start.

And Jang Ilso struck back at precisely that overlooked point.

Zhuge Jain felt like tearing his own mouth apart.

No matter what hidden intentions lay in the process, it didn’t change the fact that he had helped bring Jang Ilso’s plan to fruition.

After all, a scheme is nothing more than deceiving others to achieve one’s own goal.

Because Jang Ilso had been so perfectly flawless in everyone’s eyes, simply doing something so sloppy allowed him to deceive them all completely.

“You, you really think this changes anything? No matter if you are Paegun or not, with only those men at your command, you can’t possibly turn the tide….”

“Shh.”

Jang Ilso placed his index finger against his lips.

“Be quiet.”

“What….”

“Conversation is meant for those who stand on equal footing.”

“…”

“A dog that gets cocky just because it was thrown a few words and dares to jump onto the table is bound to get slapped. It means this isn’t the time for a small fry like you to step forward. Do you understand?”

Zhuge Jain stood there, utterly dumbfounded, as Jang Ilso turned away from him and fixed his gaze on Tang Gunak.

“How is it? I’d say I’ve shown at least some courtesy. Or does the Poison King need more time?”

How could Tang Gunak not know what that ‘time’ signified?

“What exactly do you intend to do?”

What Tang Gunak wanted to know had nothing to do with his own fate. He knew Jang Ilso wouldn’t risk so much just to capture a single man – Tang Gunak. What Jang Ilso was truly after – that was the question weighing most heavily on Tang Gunak’s mind.

“What I intend to do…”

Jang Ilso repeated the words slowly as he clasped his hands together. The bracelets slid down with a soft jingling sound, gathering loosely in his grip.

“That’s why it’s no fun, talking to those who don’t understand.”

“…”

“I don’t particularly plan to do anything. I just want to see something.”

“See something?”

“Yes.”

Jang Ilso nodded.

“What kind of expression will he wear after losing you? Especially if his own shortcomings are the cause of that loss. Tell me – doesn’t that make you curious too?”

Tang Gunak’s expression went rigid.

Clank.

Jang Ilso’s bracelets collided, producing a clear metallic note. Realizing the meaning behind it, Tang Gunak drew a dagger from inside his robes and spoke.

“That would be a question worth asking if you could take me down first.”

“Hahahahat. This is why I like you.”

With that burst of laughter, Jang Ilso advanced once more. Tang Gunak muttered quietly to himself, careful that Jang Ilso wouldn’t hear.

“Pae.”

“Yes, Father……”

“If you see a chance, run without looking back.”

“But that’s…!”

“That is an order from your clan’s Lord. And…”

Tang Pae, with trembling eyes, looked at Tang Gunak.

“It’s a request from your father.”

Tang Pae bit his lip until it bled and remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded with difficulty.

“I understand…”

Only then did Tang Gunak smile.

“Live.”

Woooong.

The dagger in Tang Gunak’s hand let out a deep, resonant cry.

Sensing his tightly wound determination, Jang Ilso’s face – still smeared with blood – split into a grin that revealed his white teeth.

“This is how it should be. This is truly the Poison King I know of.”

Swaaaak!

Tang Gunak’s dagger flew like a lightning bolt towards the center of Jang Ilso’s forehead.

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