Episode 405. Left Councilor vs Left Councilor vs Sect Leader.

“Sword Demon, do you know anything else about our clan?”

“They’re dead men, so I didn’t bother looking into the details.”

Left Councilor Wi nodded.

“Perhaps because I have left my last will behind before coming here, my heart is lighter than usual. Would it be alright if I told you two a bit about our clan?”

Eldest Brother nodded, granting permission.

“We shall listen.”

Left Councilor Wi opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

“Our clan has a separate ledger that the family heads review. The details are checked by the steward or subordinates, but the total amount must naturally be verified again by the family head. However, the ledger the family head checks is rather simple. Money out, money in, total amount. Only those are recorded. Because increasing the total was what mattered most.”

“And?”

I actually had no interest in money, but I was curious about the clan story Left Councilor Wi was telling.

Left Councilor Wi continued.

“Since long ago, the blank margins of that ledger were used as the family heads’ sketchbooks and diaries.”

Eldest Brother asked back with the exact same words as me.

“And?”

“Truly, much was contained therein. Small talk and jokes, slander of subordinates, vile transactions, unjust transactions, times they were deceived, times they deceived others. Great successes and failures even more horrific than those. They were written with an honesty that was almost frightening. One family head wrote these words in the margin.”

Left Councilor Wi looked around at us and spoke.

“It does not match the total amount I know. Did an underling play a trick? Eventually, an internal investigation was launched, and it was discovered that someone had embezzled a huge sum. There remained a record stating that the strongmen sent to capture him all died or were injured. Then who was the one who had stolen the money?”

I answered Left Councilor Wi’s question.

“A martial artist.”

“Half correct. It was a scholar. They say he was so strong that several strongmen charging at him simultaneously were no match. It wasn’t mere brute strength. We learned through experience that to protect our money, we had to learn martial arts. This was likely the beginning of the force called a merchant guild. Do you know what logic the scholar used when he stole our property back then?”

“…….”

“‘You lot are not qualified to have this kind of money. We will put it to good use.’ That was it. Put it to good use? That was the sort of talk you’d expect from bandits or mountain brigands. Anyway, as the number of people training in martial arts at the merchant guild gradually increased to avoid suffering the same fate, the reactions of those who learned of this became another nuisance.”

“They came to harass you, no doubt. Saying they wanted to compete.”

Left Councilor Wi nodded.

“The Sect Leader is quick on the uptake, as expected. But the people and family heads of that time could not understand the behavior of these martial artists. By today’s standards it’s a common occurrence, but back then they were bewildered. They had merely learned martial arts to protect their property, yet all sorts of random martial artists latched onto them. Losing was a problem, and winning was also a problem. Because even if they won, another martial artist would hear the rumors and come seeking them. Eventually, they ended up in martial contests with money on the line. Very openly, they had a considerable amount of property taken from them. Who do you think it was?”

A sigh escaped me.

“The scholar again?”

“Indeed. They say they were even mocked. Because he said he would build a study with our property.”

The Myeongcheon Wi clan were strange fellows.

Mocked by a scholar, and treated like slaves by the Demonic Cult.

If so, there was a high probability they had also been squeezed for money by the Righteous Path, who had promised to protect them.

In truth, thinking about it calmly, it was amusing that all of these events had occurred because of money.

Anyway, if one judged purely by wealth, the Myeongcheon Wi family was the greatest in the martial world. In short, they were a force that had been obsessed with money for a very long time; so to speak, one prone to incidents and accidents.

Left Councilor Wi smiled with a peculiar expression.

“Martial artists were strange people. Because those who came to harass them arrived, those who came saying they would stop the harassment also arrived. It meant money would be spent in absurd places again. Whether they were those trying to steal or those promising to protect, they were after our money all the same. This is the essence of martial artists. Family heads must devote themselves especially to training. To protect the clan’s property, the family head’s martial arts must absolutely be outstanding. The former family head’s last will said as much.”

Eldest Brother asked.

“Then why did the former family head end up entering the Cult? Those with no connections would have had to surrender half of their entire property to enter the Outer Hall.”

Left Councilor Wi nodded.

“It was a rational choice. Half, you say? The Cult had no ability to grasp all of our clan’s assets. It was so in the past, and even more so now. That means the amount presented to Haenam Salseong was similar. If you shatter the expectations of those receiving it, that in itself counts as half our property.”

They possessed quite a fearsome business acumen.

Left Councilor Wi suddenly let out a sigh and poured himself a drink.

“The words of the family head who chose to enter the Cult remain. It seems it was different from what he had expected. It went something like this. There is little we can grasp about the Cult. We seem to have set foot in an organization we should not have become involved with. If we ever try to withdraw our choice, we will all die. The Cult is such a place. Entering the Cult was my mistake. It is like pouring water into a leaking bucket. Now we have no choice but to use the Cult. Eventually, seize control of all finances so that they cannot abandon us. Make them increase their spending. Pass this on to the succeeding family head. Survive by any means. I entered hell to flee from insect-like people, yet it has become unavoidable. Do not seek high status, but rather act the slave who only brings in money. Do not display your martial arts until you have become stronger than anyone.”

The history of a clan that had endured so bitterly flowed from Left Councilor Wi’s mouth. The pain, rage, and level of endurance felt between the lines seemed quite profound.

Left Councilor Wi spoke.

“We were aboard the same ship bearing the name of a religion. But our position was no different from that of the boatmen. We rowed hard, but for a long time we were told to row even harder.”

Left Councilor Wi looked at Eldest Brother.

“It is true that our clan contributed to the birth of the Cooperative Faction. But before that, our joining the Cult was thanks to the martial artists. At the time, the term Demonic Cult did not even exist. We needed to enter a powerful organization to learn martial arts, and we also needed a shield to block the demands for money from forces stronger than us. Of course, entering the Cult was not my choice but the former family head’s. The family head of that time also blamed himself and acknowledged that entering the Cult was a mistake. But how were those left behind supposed to live? Thus the events have flowed to this point.”

Left Councilor Wi looked around the Plum Blossom Hall once.

“To think I would come to such a place.”

It wasn’t a statement that felt particularly affectionate or pitiful. Because by my standards, it was nothing but excuses.

Left Councilor Wi said to Eldest Brother.

“I too left behind my last will before coming here.”

“What did you write?”

“Reduce the weight placed on earning money, and prepare for what transpires in the martial world.”

Eldest Brother tilted his head.

“That is far too vague for a last will. Is that all?”

Left Councilor Wi smiled as if he had become a different person, and then revealed his true last will to us.

“There is actually more.”

“What is it?”

Left Councilor Wi’s eyes gleamed.

“Grow strong without regard for means or methods, and exterminate all martial artists. That is, in the end, the way to seize the greatest wealth, and it is the proper revenge.”

Even I couldn’t help but admire that.

“You are one impressively mad bastard.”

Left Councilor Wi looked at me.

“I thought you were clever enough to understand me, but was I mistaken?”

“What part am I supposed to understand?”

“I heard the Haomun Master stands for those who work. In the end, I thought he walked the same path as us. What use are jianghu people to the working folk who belong to Haomun?”

After spinning out all manner of words, Left Envoy Wi whispered in a low voice.

“Wouldn’t it be better to join forces?”

Eldest Brother and I laughed at the same time, but we gave Left Envoy Wi no particular answer. Words from a merchant of the demonic path like this could not be trusted.

Instead, I tried to admonish Left Envoy Wi a little.

“Left Envoy Wi, I understand that your clan threw itself into the Cult after suffering at the hands of jianghu people. But your response to that… how is your clan any different from Qin Shi Huang, who buried Confucian scholars in the ground all at once?”

It was my first time in life encountering someone so innovatively insane, so I was a little taken aback.

Where in the world was there someone who dreamed of exterminating every jianghu person?

And because that happened to have been left as a dying wish, the Myeongcheon Wi Clan would do whatever it took to follow that will.

The conspiracy was so grandiose and vast that I could not immediately think of how to crush it.

He was a villain different from us Four Great Villains, and entirely different in nature from the Cult Leader as well.

He was a villain who either did not even realize that they were far too mad for money, or had grown so numb that they could no longer distinguish what was right from what was wrong.

It was something I had experienced in my previous life as well, but when you met a truly evil, devil-like bastard, there were times when you wondered whether it was fine to simply kill him then and there.

Left Envoy Wi was of that sort.

In other words, killing him was not the issue; it meant I had to consider even the aftermath after killing him.

If the Myeongcheon Wi Clan hid itself away and devised plans to exterminate jianghu people, how would I deal with that? Even if I devoted my entire life to it, it would be difficult to root out their forces.

‘They really put a madman in the seat of Left Envoy.’

Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to me.

In the short term, we were fighting the Cult Leader, but in the long term, it felt as though we would end up fighting Left Envoy Wi as well. At this point, I even began to think the Myeongcheon Wi Clan had been making good use of the Demonic Cult all this time.

Left Envoy Wi looked around at us and smiled.

“Do my words finally make some sense now?”

I shook my head.

“Not in the slightest.”

I realized that Left Envoy Wi had threatened Eldest Brother and me with his bizarre logic. I had been threatened countless times before, but this sort of threat was a first.

In the end, to oppose the Myeongcheon Wi Clan, we had no choice but to produce many righteous chivalrous heroes and respond to them each time.

Left Envoy Wi muttered.

“The Cult Leader must be on his way. I wonder how far he has come. I’m getting impatient. Sword Demon.”

“Speak.”

“I challenge you. If I win, hand over the Gwangmyeong Sword. If I lose, I will accept defeat and withdraw.”

Eldest Brother refused at once.

“I refuse. I cannot allow the Gwangmyeong Sword to flow into your clan’s hands. If you had shown proper courtesy from the start, I would have settled this as a martial contest, but you and I must fight a life-and-death duel. Third.”

“What?”

Eldest Brother looked at me.

“If I die, pass the Gwangmyeong Sword to Mongrang, and kill Left Envoy Wi with your own hands. He is not someone we can let leave alive.”

So Left Envoy Wi’s threat had apparently had no effect on Eldest Brother at all. Thinking about it, I realized that this was Eldest Brother’s demonic path.

It seemed I was the only one who had taken it seriously.

But I looked at the Sword Demon and restrained his demonic path.

“Eldest Brother.”

“…….”

“You must not die. I cannot permit a life-and-death duel. Do it as a martial contest.”

Eldest Brother furrowed his brow and glared at me.

“What?”

For the first time, I raised my hackles and glared back at Eldest Brother.

“I said do it as a martial contest.”

Eldest Brother said,

“Are you saying that even if I win, I should let Left Envoy Wi leave alive?”

I nodded.

“That’s right.”

“The reason?”

I looked at Eldest Brother’s expression, then finally managed to find an answer and replied.

“Leave the life and death of a cultist to the Cult Leader. The Cult Leader has not arrived yet. No one knows whether we will have a martial contest with him or end up fighting a life-and-death duel. Before that, we can’t drag the atmosphere into a life-and-death duel. Because then someone will definitely die at the Cult Leader’s hands. I intend to live long enough to smear shit on the wall in my old age, and I cannot accept an ally dying for the sake of killing someone. My conclusion is that we cannot defeat the Cult Leader’s demonic path with a similar demonic path. Left Envoy Wi does not suit our disposition, but for now, he is the Cult Leader’s subordinate. For now, let’s do it as a martial contest. Both the Cult Leader and you, Eldest Brother, are people far too close to death.”

I glared at Eldest Brother.

“Get a hold of yourself. No one on our side has died yet. Not because we’re so great, but because the Cult Leader has shown a certain degree of consideration too. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Facing two Left Envoys, the crown of my head quickly grew hot.

It was also the moment I realized that fighting with words was every bit as difficult as fighting with a sword in hand.