Chapter 229. I Do Not Understand Myself Either.

There were no fellows I had grown close to on the way to being dragged to the Jecheon Alliance. As if something terrible would happen if they exchanged words with me, most of them stayed silent.

A journey with people who could not speak their minds was bound to be boring.

If they had interfered with or refused even the meals at the places I occasionally led them to, it would have been even less amusing. Fortunately, from a certain point on, we used a carriage, so after eating I could meditate or snatch naps inside it.

Though I was being dragged to the Jecheon Alliance while voluntarily shut inside a moving prison.

My mind was at peace.

I do not really know why my mind is peaceful from time to time. Is it because I sleep a lot? Or is it because of travel?

The Jecheon Alliance was a place I had never visited in my previous life. But after it transformed into the Black Path Alliance, I had fought or killed experts who belonged to it.

In any case, I killed more of the Black Path than the White Path.

And I killed more of the evil and heretical paths than the Black Path. In a broad sense, the Black Path was sometimes treated as part of those evil and heretical paths, but since there were also those who defined themselves as Black Path while drawing a line between themselves and such heretics, it was an ambiguous matter.

The Jecheon Alliance was like that.

Monkey bastards who were righteous on occasion, quarrelsome often, and always putting on airs. The carriage had been running along a level road the whole time, but from the moment we set off after eating some meal I had lost count of, the road became bumpy.

By the time we entered a smooth road again……

The carriage stopped, and I heard them tell me to get out.

I got out of the carriage in a state where I had eaten better and slept more than ever before. Perhaps they had occupied an abandoned old fortress and repaired it, for the main gate of the Jecheon Alliance, boasting a majesty comparable to the Murim Alliance, stood before my eyes.

Though there was no sign anywhere introducing it as the Jecheon Alliance.

Everyone standing guard or walking about wore dark navy martial uniforms. Those who had at least spoken to me informally had their tone change during the journey, and now spoke to me politely.

“Sect Leader, please go in.”

I looked around at the Jecheon Alliance martial artists who had accompanied me this far.

“You all worked hard. Is Baldy all right too?”

The fellow who had unexpectedly gone bald after being hit by my Baekjeon Sipdan Gong looked at me with displeasure.

“I am not all right.”

I looked at him with a smirk.

“At least I didn’t kill you.”

“That is true.”

I burst out laughing and then walked into the entrance of the Jecheon Alliance. The bastards who had brought me reported to the guards at the main gate.

“This is the Hao Sect Leader, summoned by the Alliance Leader.”

“Are there any more companions?”

“As you can see, there aren’t. Why are you asking something useless?”

“I ask because it is procedure.”

“What’s with your tone?”

As these idiots were quarreling among themselves, I joined in too.

“Shut up, you idiots. Are there factions here? Fighting among yourselves, are you?”

The guard glared at me, and the escorting bastard glared at me too. Thinking back, he had worn the most insolent expression most often on the way here, so I gifted him a slap across the cheek.

“Your expression……”

When I raised my hand again, the guard bastard shouted while holding back laughter.

“Open the gate!”

When the man on top of the wall sent a signal, the main gate soon opened with a loud noise. Was it all right to illegally occupy an old fortress like this under the name of an alliance? After entering, I saw that they had quite a lot of troops, so it looked as though it might be all right.

“Wow, impressive.”

At this level, I wondered if perhaps an old local magnate or someone who had held office had used his family’s influence to turn into a man of the martial world.

It was a group that, rather grandly, used the term Alliance, but the atmosphere was entirely different from the Namak Nokrim Alliance that I had struck down with Alliance Leader Im. Feeling as if I were visiting a small, little-known kingdom, I walked down the central road.

* * *

“We have brought the Hao Sect Leader.”

The guard at the entrance to the main hall blocked the way.

“Please wait. They are in a meeting.”

After traveling a long distance and entering the Jecheon Alliance, I was turned away at the door of some place that might have been the main hall.

The escort captain said to me,

“Sect Leader, you will have to wait a bit. Don’t stand here; come with us.”

I walked a few steps and kicked the main doors of the hall. With a bang, the sturdy doors of the main hall flew open to either side, and the Jecheon Alliance experts sitting side by side at a long table sprang to their feet with startled expressions.

“What the hell?”

I stood at the entrance and said to the experts of the Jecheon Alliance,

“Hao Sect Leader I Jaha. The Alliance Leader summoned me, so I came.”

One fellow immediately drew his sword and approached me, but someone stopped him.

“He is the Alliance Leader’s guest. Whether to kill him or not should be decided by the Alliance Leader.”

The young fellow thrust out his sword and said,

“This guy is completely insane, isn’t he?”

I ignored the sword, walked over, and stood at the end of the long table. If I sat here, it seemed I would be able to talk facing the Jecheon Alliance Leader, who would sit in the grand chair at the front, but there was no chair.

“Bring me a chair.”

Since the situation was that the group was ignoring my words, I headed directly for a chair sitting forlornly by the wall. As I went to fetch it, I saw that the gazes of the Jecheon Alliance experts were stuck to me like glue, their heads slowly turning along with me.

Under their fervent attention, I personally carried the chair over, placed it where I could face the Jecheon Alliance Leader, and sat down.

By this point, some were laughing, while others let out hollow chuckles and sighs.

With nothing in particular to say, I looked at the Jecheon Alliance executives one by one.

“……”

I raised my hand and asked the executives,

“Anyone want to exchange names?”

“……”

“If not, fine.”

After lowering my hand, I was looking around the inside of the hall when someone asked me,

“Do you know why you have come all the way here?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You were summoned because of that one remark that you could personally kill eight-tenths of the Jecheon Alliance. When the Alliance Leader arrives, apologize politely. Do not turn a small matter into a large one.”

Anticipating the annoyance of having to repeat what I had said once the Jecheon Alliance Leader arrived, I shut my mouth. Instead, I looked over the executives and gauged their martial skill. To say one can generally grasp a person’s skill as soon as one sees them is a lie. Moreover, when there are more than a dozen executives, it is difficult to assess each one individually.

I had a few staring contests.

I examined the shapes of their faces too.

Moving my stiff back and neck from riding in the carriage, I waited for the Jecheon Alliance Leader. As I remained silent, words of mockery toward me flowed out, as they always did.

“Unit Leader Kwon, what sort of force is the Hao Sect?”

“I’m not sure. Seems like a Black Path force around the Namhwa area.”

Since that was wrong, I corrected him.

“It’s a force fighting the Demonic Cult, so it isn’t Black Path.”

The executives glared at me all at once.

I spent a moment staring at my finger as I picked my nose. Nothing particularly dirty came out, but compared to looking at these bastards’ rotten faces, even my nose-picking finger was beautiful.

“The Alliance Leader is entering.”

The executives all rose at once, then looked at me when I did not. The bastard closest to me on the right said,

“Stand up.”

Resting my chin on one arm, I looked at the bastard on my right, then closed my eyes. Someone was about to nag me, but hurriedly shut his mouth, and footsteps sounded. The steps were light, with an even stride, and the sound of a sword and trousers brushing at the waist was mixed in at regular intervals.

Only after I heard the Jecheon Alliance Leader walk in without a word and sit in the taishi chair did I open my eyes.

The Jecheon Alliance Leader asked me,

“Who are you?”

An executive answered in my place.

“He is Hao Sect Leader Lee Zaha.”

“Why is he here? Have him wait outside.”

While the executives glared at me, I glared at the Jecheon Alliance Leader.

He was around the same age as Im Sobaek, and in my past life, he had often fought with Im Sobaek. His name was Zhu Ke. Seeing him in person, he looked like a man of mixed blood. People of the jianghu often had mixed blood in them, subtly so. Among them, Zhu Ke had the air of the Shatuo tribe, who belonged to the Turks, but I did not care about a person’s appearance or origins.

But he looked wicked, so it bothered me.

Looking wicked and being ugly were different things.

I rose from my seat as if I were about to go outside, then sat back down.

“...If you called me here, then speak. Say, ‘Wait.’ Don’t tell me to go outside. It’s not as if I’m your subordinate. The Hao Sect isn’t a force under the Jecheon Alliance either. If I came all the way here in person, you should show some manners.”

Had I said something too absurd?

Only then did a few executives laugh with deflated expressions.

The Jecheon Alliance Leader, Zhu Ke, also smiled and said,

“You truly are every bit the madman I heard about. Let us start with the matter of the Hao Sect Leader.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

I muttered to myself loudly enough for the others to hear.

“...So the threats begin now.”

At this point, it was no longer a mutter. Zhu Ke seemed rather dumbfounded; he laughed with his chin raised, then said to me,

“Hao Sect Leader, are you being so disrespectful to me because you are close with Im Sobaek? I heard you at least observe etiquette with Im Sobaek, but it seems you do not regard me at that level.”

Perhaps because he was still an Alliance Leader, he seemed to have a way with words.

I nodded and replied,

“The class is different. Alliance Leader Im is stronger in martial arts too. His force is larger. He runs the Murim Alliance to look after the lives of the common people, so his purpose is nobler as well. On the other hand, the Jecheon Alliance turns a blind eye to corrupt dealings and collusion by wicked merchants in exchange for enormous sums of money. You worm your way into newly started businesses to extort money, or buy businesses with money and pile up wealth, so you hardly compare to Alliance Leader Im Sobaek. Have some shame. Still, the Jecheon Alliance probably has more money than Alliance Leader Im.”

The executives shut their mouths and looked at the Jecheon Alliance Leader.

The smile vanished from the Jecheon Alliance Leader’s face as he asked me,

“Are you speaking so recklessly because you are confident you can survive here?”

“I don’t act with that kind of calculation. If you want to kill me, come at me. It’s true we both have Black Path tendencies, so it won’t be too late to continue the conversation after we fight.”

“What a violent fellow.”

I nodded.

“You seem to have many experts here. Are we fighting?”

The Jecheon Alliance Leader, Zhu Ke, stared at me, then said in a relaxed tone,

“Let us talk a little more.”

“Shall we? Did you call me because I said I could kill eight tenths of the Jecheon Alliance’s experts by myself? Alliance Leader, was that remark so unpleasant and uncomfortable? Why did an expert of the Jecheon Alliance attach himself to a Grand Duke of the Demon Cult and come to kill me? It seems you do not care who the client is as long as there is money. I have already killed the Demon Cult’s forces and been thoroughly marked by the Cult Leader, so if the Jecheon Alliance intends to continue its jianghu activities while taking orders from the Demon Cult...”

As I spoke, my cheek itched, so I scratched it.

“...”

“If we intend to continue, what? Speak.”

After I finished scratching my cheek, I answered,

“Then it’s war, right here. I clearly let Hall Master Won of the Won Family Fortress live after he came to attack me, yet you got enraged over a slip of the tongue like that, killed Hall Master Won, and summoned me... Did I really look that much like an idiot?”

The Jecheon Alliance Leader, Zhu Ke, stared at me. It seemed he was trying to gauge the level of my martial arts. Zhu Ke narrowed his brow and opened his mouth.

“No matter how I look at it, your skill is not above mine, so I simply cannot understand what confidence makes you act this way.”

I lightly tapped the table with my hand.

“Even I don’t understand myself, so don’t try to understand me. Just say it clearly right here. I am the enemy of the Demon Cult. If the Jecheon Alliance intends to continue acting as the Demon Cult’s hound, then it’s war.”

I glared at the executives, looked at the Jecheon Alliance Leader as well, then said,

“As promised, I will kill eight tenths of the Jecheon Alliance with my own hands, and if I’m lucky, I’ll run away. If I’m unlucky, I’ll die here too. I’ll also accept one-on-one bouts. However, I will only accept death matches where one side must die. Do as you like—come at me all at once, have the executives wear me down one by one in death matches first, or have the Alliance Leader come at me personally. Don’t expect anything from me through negotiation or threats.”

Suddenly, I flinched because the atmosphere in the grand hall had changed so much. It felt as if some turbid air had abruptly swept through the hall. Looking around, it seemed to be because everyone was emitting killing intent.

The Jecheon Alliance Leader, Zhu Ke, laughed.

“You are a man with confidence. In that case, the best solution would be for me to step forward for a one-on-one bout. Would that be acceptable?”

I placed both hands on the table and stood.

“Not bad. If my opponent is the Jecheon Alliance Leader, I should fight with all my strength. It was worth coming all the way here.”

The executives quietly rose as well, and the Jecheon Alliance Leader also lifted himself from the taishi chair.

With my hands clasped behind my back, I turned around and kicked the entrance of the grand hall open again. Suddenly, the sky seemed clear, so I shouted and headed toward a wide-open place.

“The weather is... good!”

I walked with my back to the Jecheon Alliance Leader and the executives, then turned around and placed both hands on my waist.

No matter how I thought about it, I could not erase the doubt from my mind: wasn’t the Jecheon Alliance Leader stronger than me?

If so, I faced this with the mindset that I should smash the Jecheon Alliance first.

After all, my attacks were noisy.

If I ran around smashing every last bit of the Jecheon Alliance’s household property, wouldn’t the Jecheon Alliance Leader’s thoughts change too?

If not, then so be it.

When had I ever been such a methodical person?

I glared at the Jecheon Alliance Leader as he walked out with his chin raised.