Chapter 308. The Great War of Second Sons.

By the time three or four days had passed……

I had grown rather comfortable in the Murim Alliance.

Now that I thought about it, perhaps because the security was so strict, I could sleep more deeply here than anywhere else. In truth, if there were a bastard who broke through the Murim Alliance’s defenses, ignored the Alliance Leader, and came after me instead, that bastard would be truly insane.

Thanks to that, while waiting for the Kings, I slept well, ate well, rested well, and calmly organized my thoughts about the sparring matches in between.

Most likely, the disciples of the Kings would have a hard time surpassing the Four Great Evils.

If there was an expert among the disciple generation comparable to us, it would be that idiot who inherited the title of Fist King at a young age. As for how strong the Fist King had been in my past life, he was an expert against whom even the past-life Ghost Demon, Lust Demon, and Poison Demon could not guarantee victory.

At first, he and I had not gotten along either……

We became friends by fighting.

We beat each other so much that we grew exhausted and ended up talking. Then, while talking, we would beat each other up again, and while beating each other we would get hungry and end up eating together, and so on. In truth, I was the one who profited afterward. That was because I fought while imitating most of the Fist King’s methods.

Because I had fought my way up from the very bottom, whenever I found someone using better methods than mine, I stole them and used them as if I had struck gold.

But back then, the Fist King must have learned a great deal from me as well.

For example, things like shamelessness, vileness, petty tricks, low-class techniques, despicable techniques, throwing dirt, spitting, provoking people…… He suffered through all of it and endured it too.

That dumb bastard was the man the Fist King of that era had pointed to as his successor. In other words, he fought the best among the rising talents. I stole and used the Fist King’s martial arts, and the Fist King learned my low tricks.

I do not know who gained more from it.

To begin with, neither of us was the type to calculate gains very carefully.

So while it was true that I looked forward to the fights between the Kings and the Four Great Evils, personally, I was also curious whether the Lust Demon or the Ghost Demon could surpass that idiot from my past life.

And so, until the Kings arrived……

I spent each day in meditation, idle thoughts, and circulating my qi, making full use of my time like some pathetic person with nothing to do.

If I were to engage in a sparring match here and kill a King with the Sun-Moon Light Heaven, that would be a catastrophe.

And if the Kings challenged Im Sobaek one after another, wore down the Alliance Leader’s energy and stamina, and ended up seriously injuring him, that would also be a catastrophe.

And if Im Sobaek beat each of the challenging Kings so badly that they had to retire, that too would be a weakening of our forces, making it yet another catastrophe.

The incident from my past life that I am imagining was probably similar to the third catastrophe.

So what we had to do in this Kings’ Sparring Tournament was have us Four Great Evils clash moderately with the Kings without focusing too much on victory or defeat, drain their strength, get roughly acquainted, and wrap things up in a way that was good for everyone.

By the way, why was it that the correct answer to worldly affairs kept ending up as “roughly” like this?

I roughly thought about the reason, then soon forgot.

* * *

By the time more than ten days had passed since I had started roughly freeloading at the Murim Alliance, I sensed a change in the footsteps of the people coming and going from Wolhagwan. They were not the same footsteps as usual, but steps filled with busyness and tension.

Only then did I realize.

‘Someone has arrived.’

It felt as though the air had changed. It was only natural. Wolhagwan was where honored guests stayed, so a King would soon be coming here.

The Four Great Evils shut inside their rooms must have noticed this change too.

Curious as to which King had arrived, I threw on my clothes, left the room, and went down the stairs. In any case, Chief Song was in charge of guiding honored guests, so when the swaggering King’s party and Chief Song arrived, I intended to observe them up close.

In truth, I did not have to hide to look……

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will win a hundred battles.

Secretly watch the enemy and hide yourself, and it simply feels good.

I went out to the spacious front yard of Wolhagwan and asked an official who was sweeping.

“……Who is supposed to be coming?”

The official, with whom I often exchanged idle chatter, looked at me and answered.

“Yes, Sect Leader. The Military Sword has arrived.”

“If you say Military Sword, do you mean the Sword King?”

It seemed the Sword King of the Baekri Clan had arrived.

“Yes.”

“Where is his lodging?”

“He will probably come here or go to Bonghwangdae. I do not know that much.”

“I see. Is he bringing a large force with him?”

“The Alliance Leader does not like such things. He must have brought only the minimum number of people.”

“Mm. Why does he dislike it?”

“Because it wastes a great deal of money on food.”

“That is correct.”

Having nothing to do, I approached the official and held out my hand.

“Give it.”

“Pardon? Give what?”

“The broom.”

I snatched the broom from the official, then waved my hand as if telling him to go inside and rest.

“Ah, Sect Leader, if you do this, we will be reprimanded.”

“It is not as if I am doing anything impressive. I just want to sweep the front yard, so hurry inside. I am a professional cleaner.”

I shoved the official aside with my shoulder, then swept the front yard with the broom.

Swish— swish— swish— swish— swish— swiiish— swish—

Hearing the sound of a broom after so long brought peace to my heart.

As I watched the useless little bastards of dust gathering here and there, the Hao Sect members came to mind in a disorderly fashion.

In truth, I had grown restless from doing nothing but eating, circulating my qi, and meditating, so I felt I needed to at least clean in order to loosen up.

Call it an occupational disease from being a waiter.

Still, since I was better at cleaning than cooking, I slowly gathered the dust piled in the front yard and heaped it like a mountain near the wall.

At that moment, a window on the third floor flew open, and the Lust Demon asked me.

“Who did you say came?”

While sweeping, I answered.

“The Military Sword King.”

At the words Military Sword King, the Lust Demon suddenly spat.

“Ptooey! What rotten luck.”

The Lust Demon slammed the window shut again with a bang.

“……Has that bastard gone mad? What is he making a fuss about?”

I stared blankly at the official, then spoke as my memory returned.

“The Sword King’s daughter is a beauty, is she not?”

“She is famous for it.”

“Was she one of the One Peak and Two Immortals?”

“Not quite. Please give me the broom.”

“I do not want to.”

Only then did I remember the whole story of the incident.

I think I had heard over drinks that marriage talks had been going back and forth between the Pungun Mong Clan and the Baekri Clan, only for the second son, the Lust Demon, to be unilaterally rejected. In other words, it was a beautiful story in which the Lust Demon bastard had no interest whatsoever, yet they discussed marriage among themselves and then got rejected. Most likely, the Mong Clan itself was inferior to the Baekri Clan, and since he was the second son, they must have rejected him without much difficulty.

The reason the Mong Clan and the Baekri Clan had likely discussed a marriage alliance was that both powers had begun in the military.

The problem was what happened afterward, and how they conducted themselves…….

The Lecherous Demon was one thing, but the young lady of the Baekri Clan also became famous as a girl rather fond of handsome men, and in my previous life, there had been news that the Sword King coughed blood from worrying over his child and quickly retired from the jianghu.

There was a man who fell into qi deviation because of his child, and that man was the Sword King.

For a moment, I was a little dumbfounded, and I searched my memory while holding the broom.

‘Wait a moment. This is absurd.’

Previously—when the Taecheong Merchant Guild had swallowed the construction funds for Yeonjaseong—the power backing the Taecheong Merchant Guild had been the Baekri Clan. At the time, I seemed to have sent the Taecheong Merchant Guild a letter containing threats, but I couldn’t remember whether I had received a reply or not. It was also possible they sent one and I simply failed to check it. The Number One of the Unorthodox Path had pissed me off, so I had set off for Dongho.

As I swept, I realized that the Baekri Clan was a force connected not only to me, but also to the Lecherous Demon.

‘That’s a bit unlucky.’

As for what the Sword King’s exploits had been like in my previous life…….

During the period when I was active, nothing in particular came to mind.

That was because the Sword King was already an expert who had built his reputation long before by participating in all sorts of wars.

There was no way to confirm whether he had truly fallen into qi deviation because of his daughter. However, at this point in time, neither the Baekri Clan’s daughter nor the Lecherous Demon had caused any trouble yet, so I thought the Sword King’s martial prowess and state of mind would still be intact.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

If his sword had been forged on the battlefield, it would not have been easy to pass it down to disciples or children. In other words, there was a high chance he was an unusually strong master who stood alone within his clan.

In the midst of my sweeping, an official cupped his fist toward the entrance with a tense expression.

“I greet the Sword King.”

Still holding the broom, I looked at the first of the kings to arrive, the Military Sword King. His face was younger than I had expected, and he looked like a general with a sturdy build.

Hall Master Song, who was beside him, said to the Military Sword King,

“Senior, please come in.”

Hall Master Song, who had taken a few steps, only then saw me holding the broom and flinched in surprise.

“……!”

Whether Hall Master Song was surprised or not, I looked over the Military Sword King, the young woman, and the young men about my age.

The one who looked the youngest said to me,

“What are you staring at so intently?”

As soon as I was asked, I was bewildered.

“Hm?”

Come to think of it, one of the men should have been an expert belonging to the New Southern Six Dragons. It was a faction that was subtly connected to me in many ways.

“Hahahahaha…….”

I laughed because laughter came out for no reason. When I suddenly burst out laughing, the young man furrowed his brow and immediately cursed.

“What the hell? This lunatic.”

The man presumed to be one of the Baekri Clan’s Six Dragons spoke in a grave tone.

“Hyeok, what kind of way is that to speak to an Alliance member? Let’s go in.”

“No, he just laughed right in our faces all of a sudden, didn’t he, Brother?”

At that moment, the Lecherous Demon’s voice flowed out in a low tone.

“Why the hell are you making a fuss over someone laughing? Can’t a man even laugh?”

The young man who had cursed at me shouted toward the window.

“Who are you!”

Hall Master Song floundered helplessly, running around in confusion.

“No, what on earth is… going on? Please calm yourselves.”

At that moment, the Sword King turned back and said,

“……Noisy.”

One man and two women answered at the same time.

“Yes.”

Suddenly, my eyes met the Sword King’s for a moment. The Sword King, having turned his head, took one step forward, then stopped again. He slowly turned his body and stared at me as though confirming something.

“…….”

The expressionless Sword King’s gaze swept from my feet up to my face.

“Who are you? I have not seen you before.”

Since he would find out anyway, I introduced myself briefly.

“I am the Hao Sect Leader.”

The Sword King smiled faintly and said to me,

“……So it was you? What are you doing here?”

It sounded like he was asking why I was in the Murim Alliance, but I deliberately did not answer properly.

“Sweeping.”

The Sword King let out a deflated laugh and nodded once.

“It suits you well. Carry on.”

The Sword King turned around and entered the lodging.

It seemed like a remark meant to attack me, in his own way, but I had no particular thoughts about it and simply continued sweeping.

Baekri Hyeok’s voice could be heard.

“……Brother, if he is the Hao Sect Leader, then he is the one who sent the threatening letter to the Taecheong Merchant Guild, isn’t he?”

“That is not what we came here to discuss.”

“Looks like he was dragged here by the Alliance, doesn’t it?”

“I do not know.”

The young woman’s voice followed.

“Then is that person also one of the New Southern Six Dragons?”

“He is.”

To summarize, the eldest son with the serious personality was a powerhouse who belonged to the New Southern Six Dragons. The youngest fellow was rather immature.

Had the Military Sword King neglected his children’s education because he had spent his time roaming battlefields and training in martial arts? It was not something I could know.

At that moment, the Lecherous Demon opened the window again and poured curses at me.

“Why are you sweeping there? You’re pissing me off. You crazy bastard. What the hell is wrong with you? If you’re the leader of a sect, then act like a sect leader. Please.”

“…….”

I watched the Lecherous Demon’s expression while gripping the broom.

Why did that bastard lose control of his mind and throw a fit whenever something related to his family happened? Was it because he was a child of a concubine? Since I wasn’t a child of a concubine, I couldn’t understand the Lecherous Demon’s feelings.

I said with a smile,

“You dumb bastard. Why are you so angry today? Why could that be? Why are you huffing and puffing like that?”

I thought it would be good for the Lecherous Demon to free himself from his needless inferiority complex about being born of a concubine, but I could not think of anything in particular to mock him with.

“Come down and sweep the yard a bit.”

“Why should I?”

As I swept the yard clean with the broom, I said,

“For peace of mind, for the peace and tranquility of the jianghu, for a man’s word being worth a thousand gold, for the front yard…….”

The Lecherous Demon, who had been staring at me, suddenly turned his head and asked toward the door,

“Who is it?”

The voice of Baekri Hyeok, the Baekri Clan’s second son, could be heard.

“Hey, why don’t we talk face to face? You’re the one who was running his mouth about ‘the hell’ and all that, weren’t you?”

Peace and tranquility of the jianghu, my ass…….

It seemed the opening match would be the second son of the Pungun Mong Clan versus the second son of the Baekri Clan. From inside the room came the Lecherous Demon’s voice.

“……That’s me. What are you going to do about it?”

“Open the door.”

“It’s open.”

I stopped sweeping and clicked my tongue.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Good grief, these hot-blooded young fools just couldn’t be helped……

I called out to the Lust Demon.

“Hey, you youngsters. How about you stop raising hell inside the room and come out somewhere spacious? That way we can watch.”

Now that I thought about it, I had swept the courtyard for nothing.

I tossed the broom aside, then sat down on the steps and waited for the two of them. Seeing as the Army Sword King was silent and the Sword Demon was silent as well, it seemed those immature brats were about to start quarrelling any moment now.

In any case, there was nothing more entertaining than watching a fight, so I planted my backside in a prime spot early and waited.

A thought occurred to me.

‘Wow… Good thing I came to the Murim Alliance.’

From now on, there was a high chance that anything happening here would inevitably lead to a fight. To be honest, I thought the cleanest outcome would be for all the experts among the younger generation to be dealt with at the Lust Demon’s level.

How could the sect master of an entire school step forward for a children’s squabble?

Of course. That simply wouldn’t do.