Episode 106. A Man Who Is Strategic Even with Abusive Language.
I looked at the sprawled-out executives of the Paegeomhoe.
“Get up and check on those still breathing. The living should live. Stop fussing.”
This was an order that Sado Haeng should have given. Only then did the executives startle themselves upright.
I plopped down across from Sado Haeng. He looked at me with a complicated expression.
It wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.
Even if he wanted to fight, I was stronger. If he wanted to apologize, his pride wouldn’t allow it. And trying to argue was difficult when he had received my help.
If I hadn’t assisted them today, Namcheonryeon would have suffered an even more miserable fate.
My conclusion was this.
Sado Haeng would handle Namcheonryeon, but claiming the Paegeomhoe’s assets, remnants, and so forth was my right.
This foolish bastard didn’t have the qualifications to grow his faction.
So Sado Haeng and I needed to clearly establish who was above whom. The method for establishing that was simple.
Humiliate him, kill him, or beat him to a pulp……
I spoke to Sado Haeng, who looked exhausted enough to faint.
“Sado Haeng, I won’t kill you. But let us part ways with a clear understanding of who is above whom.”
Sado Haeng was bewildered, but that was none of my concern.
Sado Haeng spoke.
“What good would it do to attack me when you know my skills are lacking?”
“Is that the end of it because your skills are lacking? What have you done to the weak all this time? From what I’ve heard, those from pathetic sects would kneel unconditionally before you. Is that true?”
“That’s never happened. It’s a distorted story. However, it is true that I’ve never shown courtesy to the dark paths weaker than me. I never felt the need to.”
“Alliance Leader, who am I?”
“I do not know.”
“Your subordinates went around demanding participation from various factions, and they came to me too. They came very arrogantly. And look at today’s result. There wasn’t a single faction that followed you into the canyon just now. They all fled. Well, I understand. What kind of idiot would want to come into a canyon like this and die?”
“…….”
“You even ignored my words to turn back. The corpses of your subordinates who died because of you are strewn throughout this canyon.”
Since Sado Haeng didn’t move his head, my hand shot out reflexively. I smacked Sado Haeng’s head and shouted.
“Look around, you bastard. Your subordinates who died because of you… Look at them and pray for them, you son of a bitch. Apologize.”
As I repeatedly struck Sado Haeng’s head, the executives all stopped in their tracks and stared at me.
Even as I continuously hit his head, Sado Haeng remained still.
“It’s my fault. I can’t bear to look, so leave me be.”
For a moment, I too suppressed my rage.
Because I thought it might be better to just kill Sado Haeng. Just then, the executives rushed over and surrounded me.
When I glanced at them, one executive said something contrary to my expectations.
“Lord Sect Leader, we should have held the Alliance Leader back. We apologize first. Please forgive us.”
With a bewildered expression, Sado Haeng asked the executive.
“Captain Jang, what do you mean, Lord Sect Leader?”
The man called Captain Jang explained.
“A messenger under my command recognized the Lord Haomunju here and reported to me. We were told you had joined as allies and that you were a person of a fierce temperament whom we must not treat carelessly, but I could not bring myself to relay this to the Alliance Leader.”
This was also Sado Haeng’s failure.
It seemed that because the subordinates had an atmosphere where they could not speak frankly to Sado Haeng, cases where they should have reported matters properly would pass by like this from time to time.
Sado Haeng let out a sigh and stood up, then clasped his hands in a salute toward me.
“Lord Haomunju, I, Sado Haeng, apologize to you. I am well aware that thanks to your help today, my life was saved and my subordinates were not completely annihilated. From this day forth, should you call upon Sado Haeng and Namcheonryeon, we will rush to you at any time to repay the grace of today. I may be a worthless man, but I have lived keeping the words I speak.”
Surprisingly, after having his head struck, Sado Haeng apologized politely, and the executives all clasped their hands in a salute toward me as well.
“Thank you, Lord Sect Leader. We will come whenever you call.”
I got goosebumps and rubbed my forearm.
‘Ah, you damn bastards, what am I supposed to do with this atmosphere.’
Since I couldn’t very well strike the head of a man who was apologizing politely, a sigh escaped me.
“…….”
Not wanting to engage in these bastards’ cringeworthy orthodox-style saluting game, I spoke to Captain Jang.
“Is the messenger alive?”
From a short distance away, a messenger who had been stanching the bleeding on his thigh shot his hand up.
“Lord Sect Leader, I am alive.”
I remembered the messenger’s face.
“Ah, it was you.”
It was the one who had clasped his hands in a salute when we parted at Heukmyobang, saying he had listened to my words well. I looked at the messenger and nodded.
“As long as you’re alive, that’s good.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, the mood of Namcheonryeon plummeted drastically at the words “as long as you’re alive, that’s good.”
Sado Haeng spoke to me.
“Lord Sect Leader, once matters are settled, may I visit Haomun?”
I met eyes with Sado Haeng and replied.
“Don’t come. It’s bad luck. You focus on cleaning up Namcheonryeon. I will have my subordinates handle the Paegeomhoe.”
I addressed the entirety of Namcheonryeon.
“Going by my original temper, I would have dealt with Sado Haeng too…… Let’s not finish that sentence. Know that the only reason I am holding back is because the warriors of Namcheon have been uniformly courageous. There is no other reason.”
I berated Sado Haeng to the very end.
“You need to know that your foolish life is only attached to your body because of your subordinates, the executives who charged into the canyon first, and every single one of your men who threw themselves into a death trap without exception. Sado Haeng, do you understand?”
Sado Haeng nodded.
“I shall engrave it in my heart…….”
Suddenly, I whipped my head toward the canyon entrance where Thousand Hall Leader Cheon had appeared.
“…….”
The gazes of Namcheonryeon followed me all at once.
The surroundings went abruptly silent.
Two people were standing at the canyon entrance, a completely absurd combination.
The man on the left was dressed like a scholar and held a folding fan in his hand.
The man on the right was draped in rags, and no matter who looked, from far away, or how many times they looked, he was a beggar.
Though I was inwardly surprised, I was nevertheless glad.
They were high-level masters of the Kwaedang who had come to sightsee in the canyon.
The problem was that since corpses were strewn about in the places the high-level masters of the Kwaedang liked, there was a possibility they would be displeased.
I spoke to Sado Haeng in a lowered tone.
“Clean yourselves up and disappear as quickly as possible. Quietly, swiftly, and orderly. Don’t look at them.”
I sent Sado Haeng a look urging him to keep this in mind. Sado Haeng nodded and began handling the scene while speaking with the executives.
Sado Haeng had enough sense to recognize a master, and his expression showed he understood what I meant.
But when I looked back at the entrance, the Kwaedang experts had already disappeared.
They were people who lived as they pleased, so even I had trouble predicting their actions. For one, there were too many corpses lying about, so the most likely possibility was that they had gone elsewhere to amuse themselves. Or perhaps they were simply hiding…….
* * *
While Nam Cheonryeon was cleaning up the mess, I crossed my arms and fell into deep thought.
The madness I know takes many forms.
Among them, the madness possessed by the Kwaedang experts has a pure side. This was because they focused on the realm of “kwae” (快), speed, and pursued becoming ever faster. That said, this didn’t mean they were cripples who only knew how to run.
Speed, in any sense of the word, means strength.
However, the combination of a scholar and a beggar was something even I was seeing for the first time, so I was bewildered.
‘Were those two close?’
The beggar was a master of the Gaebang called Nosin (Dull Body).
Nosin meant “dull body,” and the reason he had taken it as a nickname was because there were those faster than him. In truth, he was not only a master belonging to the Kwaedang, but also the fastest in the Gaebang.
Being the fastest in the Gaebang naturally meant he was the fastest beggar in the world.
And that scholar bastard was a troublesome figure.
This was because he was the Chief Librarian of a Demonic Path faction. While the position of Chief Librarian was not one of a powerful figure who could command many people, it was a post that handled affairs perhaps more important than those of your average power-holder.
Because he managed martial arts manuals.
I didn’t really know who had taken a dislike to him, but…….
He was a man who had fled the force he served and defected to the Murim Alliance. So, in a way, he was the exact opposite of the Gwangmyeong Left Emissary.
The Left Emissary of Baek Eungji defects to the Demonic Cult.
The Chief Librarian of the Demonic Path shifts sides to the Murim Alliance.
He was a figure people brought up when talking about someone from the gangho switching to the enemy camp. I had met that man in the Kwaedang. The surprising thing was that whether he was in the Demonic Path or the Murim Alliance, he had remained a member of the Kwaedang the entire time.
I didn’t know his current nickname, but when I had joined the Kwaedang,
he had been called Magunja (Demonic Gentleman) internally.
That Magunja and Nosin had come here to compete in qinggong, so I couldn’t help but be surprised.
He had been a man at the center of too many dramatic and momentous events, so my thoughts inevitably deepened.
‘How on earth do I deal with them?’
If I recruited all the Kwaedang experts into the Haomun, I would instantly become the head of a sect standing at the pinnacle of the gangho.
But the chances of that were slim. This was because they, like me, were all eccentric and willful.
Even within the Kwaedang, there had been virtually no reaction to him shifting allegiance from the Demonic Path to the Murim Alliance.
This was because sparring in qinggong and training were far greater interests to them.
Only after hearing Sado Haeng bid farewell did I snap out of my thoughts.
“Sect Leader, see you again.”
I nodded and replied.
“Alliance Lord, if you find out about the Ilwi Dogang, contact the Heukmyobang.”
Sado Haeng nodded.
“I was thinking perhaps I could put in a request and meet you that way. If I find it, I’ll contact you.”
“Get lost already.”
I watched Nam Cheonryeon leave, then sat cross-legged in the center of the gorge. Subordinates had duties that subordinates must attend to, and the Haomun Sect Leader had duties that a sect leader must attend to.
It didn’t matter if I failed.
I was someone who always believed that trying was more important.
In my previous life, I had been content with merely joining the Kwaedang, but this time, I intended to draw at least one of the Kwaedang’s experts into the Haomun.
I too enjoyed running, but…….
Running wasn’t everything.
I would respect their pure madness and obsession, but.
What was needed for worldly affairs was their martial prowess. If I could pull those bystanders detached from worldly affairs over to my side…….
In a certain battle, a situation where a hundred of my subordinates would have to die might be reduced to just three or four deaths. That was how important recruiting experts was.
As I sat with my eyes closed, submerged in meditation…….
Shortly after, I heard Magunja and Nosin’s whispers, faint to the point of being dangerously subtle.
「He hasn’t left yet?」
「That’s troublesome. Should we chase him out?」
「Let’s wait a bit longer.」
Magunja and Nosin were likely underestimating my martial level. Because I looked so young, they obviously thought of me as just some young Heukdo fighter who had scrapped in the gorge.
The moment I realized the two were still nearby…….
I unfolded my legs, stood up, and took a deep breath.
Then, in the center of the gorge, I moved as if limbering up my body alone.
“Huu…… hiss…… huu…… hiss…….”
I deliberately exaggerated my breathing, then suddenly sprinted toward the cliff. I purposely ran noisily, kicking up piles of stones.
Pababababababababak!
In any case, only a handful of people in the world knew the true nature of the Kwaedang. They were essentially lunatics obsessed with qinggong.
I leaped lightly onto the cliff and ran ferociously across its midsection.
To anyone watching, it was a mad act.
But to the experts of the Kwaedang, it was merely…….
‘Huh? He runs pretty well.’ That level of reaction.
Alone, I climbed the cliff, leaped down, clung to it like a spider, and made all manner of insane displays as I ran about the gorge.
I felt slightly ashamed.
‘What am I even doing without having eaten? Ah…….’
After a short while, Magunja and Nosin appeared with eyes shining like cats who had come out to see something interesting again.
When I fixed my gaze on the two of them…….
The beggar bastard smirked and spoke to me.
“Well, well, young punk…… you run pretty well?”
I nodded and replied in a solemn tone.
“What beggar bastard is this?”
“…….”
At my rude words, the flustered Nosin looked at Magunja.
“I mean, is there anyone who calls a beggar a beggar to his face? What do you think?”
Magunja replied.
“Don’t know, you beggar bastard.”
Magunja crossed his arms and shook his head at me.
“Your form is no good. Amateurish. If you run like that, your knees will give out soon.”
I glared at Magunja.
‘I know that too, you bastard.’
But once again, I replied contrary to my inner thoughts.
“Where do you get off nitpicking? You turtle-shell-looking bastard.”
Magunja’s eyes widened.
“……!”
Beside me, Nosin cackled and laughed, then toppled over backward.
“Wahahahahahaha…….”
I glared at the two of them with my arms crossed. Right now, with the fate of Haomun on the line, I was making extremely serious, strategic rude remarks.
A man whose insults were strategic, too.
That was me.