Chapter 281: Calculation (3)
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I needed to go over the things I had to do first. Too much had piled up and pushed everything else back.
If I sorted them by priority, it looked like this.
First, capture the Mad Buddha. The Emperor had personally entrusted the New Justice Association with the task, so that was only natural.
Countless calculations lay beneath it. The odds of a trap were obviously high. Even those watching the request from the sidelines rather than receiving it would have felt the same.
The reason I had accepted what was not quite a request was partly that I could not refuse the Emperor’s favor to his face, but more than that, I had been mindful of the New Justice Association’s public image.
The relationship between the New Justice Association and the Imperial Court was extremely ambiguous right now. We were not openly declaring rebellion—only asking that martial policy be changed.
And that ambiguous state suited us best. Only then would martial artists take our side in greater numbers.
Even those who lived by the jianghu were, in the end, subjects of the Empire. If we openly championed rebellion, they would have no choice but to shy away.
So we accepted the Emperor’s request and showed ourselves willing to walk into whatever trap might be waiting.
Second, gather information on the Grand Tutor of the Palace of Heavenly Worship. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.
The master of the Palace of Heavenly Worship would surely become a great wall before us. Having no information at all on such a man was a problem. The Demonic Cult would probably have a satisfactory answer.
Third, meet Prince Xian in Gansu. I needed to hear the rebellion plan he had prepared so far. That was where the revolution would begin.
Fourth, confirm information on Uncle Zhu Mun-won’s son, Zhu Mun-won. That was a personal matter, so it ranked lowest in importance.
“Hmm.”
I would probably have to stop by Torofan once. Now that the Demonic Cult had issued an official proclamation, every route into Xinjiang would be subject to inspection.
That meant passing through Gansu before Torofan, so I could meet Prince Xian then.
But that would come after capturing the Mad Buddha. Word that the Emperor had entrusted me with the task had surely spread across the Central Plains already. Since I intended to finish what I started, I had to end it quickly and decisively.
I waited quietly on the first floor of the inn for the Imperial Court’s envoy. A little under half a shichen later, the envoy arrived.
The reason I recognized him at once was simple. He was someone I knew.
“Here. Eastern Depot Director.”
The man who had come to see me was the former Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, now Eastern Depot Director Seo Jong-haeng.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. But is it really appropriate for a first-rank official to come just to deliver information?”
“It is His Majesty’s will. I volunteered as well.”
“You volunteered. Why?”
“We can talk about that later. Let me tell you about the Mad Buddha.”
Seo Jong-haeng drew a bamboo scroll from his robes. I untied the cord and spread it open.
“He is in the Great Desert. So there was a reason the Imperial Court could not move.”
“Indeed.”
The Northern Di. That was what they called the cavalry of a fallen dynasty. If martial artists or soldiers of the Imperial Court went there, chaos would erupt across the region. Dispatching troops to capture one Mad Buddha would be burning down the house to catch a flea. It was understandable that they had turned to the martial world instead.
“So I only need to slip past the Gale Sands and bring back the Mad Buddha’s head?”
“Exactly. A simple task. Nothing more needs saying.”
“So it seems.”
I tucked the scroll away and spoke.
“Then shall we hear why you volunteered?”
“I came to settle a debt.”
“A debt. I do not recall ever owing the Eastern Depot Director anything.”
I naturally rested my hand on my sword hilt. Fierce true qi surged through my body.
It was a natural reaction to the aura pouring from Seo Jong-haeng’s body.
“Are you here to deliver His Majesty’s words?”
“You are right, you are right. That should come first. But is that not something for which one need only lend an ear?”
Seo Jong-haeng was openly showing me hostility.
“Did His Majesty know the Eastern Depot Director would come out like this?”
“His Majesty has nothing to do with this. It is a personal matter.”
A personal matter. I searched through my memories. Had I done anything to earn this much hatred from Seo Jong-haeng?
‘Ah.’
When I looked, there was something. I had completely forgotten it.
“Surely this is not because of the Northern Pacification Commissioner?”
“You speak as though it were nothing.”
He was right. When I thought about it, the Northern Pacification Commissioner had been Seo Jong-haeng’s subordinate. In both public principle and private feeling, Seo Jong-haeng was in a position where he had to kill me.
“But I have something to say as well. You sent him to frame me in the first place. Do you mean I should have let myself be killed and sent back anyway?”
“That does not matter. What matters is that you killed my subordinate. The result is always more important than the process. No matter how people prattle on about justification and the nobility of the process, in the end everyone’s eyes fall on the result.”
“That is a fair point.”
I nodded. It was closer to resignation than understanding. Understanding him gave me no reason to offer my neck.
Rather, my own hatred was blazing. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Court had not played their tricks, would so many orthodox martial artists have had to die?
“And it is also wrong.”
“What is wrong?”
“In the jianghu, the answer is always decided by strength. So……”
I pushed the sword hilt with my thumb and drew the blade slightly.
“If you want to hold me accountable, do it with your sword. Stop wagging your tongue.”
“Just what I wanted!”
Seo Jong-haeng charged at me like lightning. Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. An Imperial Court martial art.
A slight sense of repulsion rose in me, but not enough to make me retch on the spot as before. The discomfort felt from opposing martial arts also depended on relative realm. In other words, I had grown far beyond the level I had been at when I first learned Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance from Seo Jong-haeng.
“Uwaah!”
Spiral shock waves poured from Seo Jong-haeng’s fist and collapsed the inn wall. The people eating noodles on the first floor fled at once. They had quickly realized this was no ordinary brawl between martial artists.
Since I knew the inn would be destroyed, I meant to suggest we fight outside, but Seo Jong-haeng’s temper was sharper than I had expected.
For the moment, I slipped out through the collapsed wall to keep the damage to a minimum.
“You rat!”
Seo Jong-haeng closed the distance in an instant. The gap was narrow. He was a master of unarmed body arts who used no weapon. Naturally, his fighting distance was tighter than that of a weapon user.
And in another sense, Seo Jong-haeng was unquestionably a master of body arts. Even a single swing of his fist did not simply shoot out in a straight line. From ankle to knee, waist, and shoulder, each joint turned in sequence as the strike extended.
When he unleashed his martial art, his internal energy also circulated through the meridians of the joints that turned.
Crack!
I tilted my head back and avoided Seo Jong-haeng’s fist. Even though there was some distance between his fist and my body, the front of my robe tore open. Seo Jong-haeng’s inner force was invading and seizing the space around me.
If Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance had not been so familiar to my eyes, the blow would surely have landed harder. Seo Jong-haeng was the one who had taught me Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. Yet he still used it—proof of how much confidence he had in that art.
“I taught you a martial art, and you repay kindness with enmity!”
“I hardly use it anyway.”
“Shut up!”
Strictly speaking, Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance had also been incorporated into my Heavenly Demon Divine Art. I had embodied it in my own way.
Of course, if it had not been Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance, some other divine art or body technique would have taken its place.
“Isn’t that the New Justice Association Master?”
“Is that not Lord Seo, newly promoted to Eastern Depot Director?”
It was a commotion in densely populated Beijing. Of course spectators gathered.
Because our auras were so menacing, commoners fled far away. Those watching now appeared to be the martial artists invited to the Palace of Heavenly Worship inauguration.
“Heh heh. I thought they would fight at the Palace of Heavenly Worship event, but they are doing it separately.”
“Indeed.”
“But can Junior Brother Dong really defeat Lord Seo? He is still young.”
“He seems quite formidable for his age, but who knows.”
As expected of martial artists who loved taking sides, they were already predicting the outcome between us.
Seo Jong-haeng’s speed increased further. With spectators watching, he seemed to put in even more effort.
He had said earlier that this had nothing to do with the Emperor, but it was hard to believe Seo Jong-haeng was causing this uproar alone, ignoring the Emperor’s will. At the very least, the Imperial Court had probably sent him with orders to preserve its dignity first.
But with personal grudges layered on top, he was raging like that.
“Hoh. Even so, Junior Brother Dong seems to be keeping up with Lord Seo’s movements quite well.”
“Indeed. If he had appeared at the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes, he would have taken a seat. Meaningless words now, of course.”
I narrowed my eyes and tracked Seo Jong-haeng’s movements. Or more precisely, I evaded them reflexively.
“As I thought.”
“What?”
“You never taught me the essence of Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance.”
In truth, Seo Jong-haeng’s Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance had been familiar at first, but the farther the fight went, the more unfamiliar the movements became.
“Did you think I would teach you that?”
“Well, that would be difficult.”
I nodded. It did not matter anyway. Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance had given me no more than inspiration.
“A fine martial art.”
“Still so composed?”
“Who knows.”
I caught his swinging elbow with both arms crossed in an X and blocked it. The rebound sent me flying into the distance. I barely managed to reduce the force by kicking off the ground several times before I could stand again.
“I saw that clearly.”
I smiled from far away. Then I released Bright Elegance and let it fall to the ground.
“What are you doing?”
Seo Jong-haeng furrowed his brow. I was known to people as a swordsman. I was a disciple of Wudang, and in the jianghu I generally used only a sword. It was also true that I had devoted the most effort to sword talent.
For someone like me to drop my sword carried great meaning.
“Surrender?”
“You know that is not it.”
“Then do you mean to fight without your sword?”
“Of course.”
“A provocation.”
The flames in Seo Jong-haeng’s eyes burned hotter.
“I meant to cripple only one arm, but it seems I will have to cripple both.”
Clearly Seo Jong-haeng did not intend to kill me. There was no killing intent. Compared to his murderous aura, it was almost laughable. That proved he was not acting on his own.
“Try it if you can.”
“I would have even if you had not said so!”
Seo Jong-haeng pressed in fast. The distance was certainly narrow. He clearly had a tendency to close in even more on purpose. A swordsman, when pressed close, could not adapt to the interval.
But I had realized something. Once you mastered the sword beyond a certain level, you came to handle other weapons as well. That principle applied to the enemy’s weapon as well.
I wrapped shock waves around my entire body. I felt as though my body had hardened. Every muscle felt strengthened.
Even after learning several body techniques, I had never felt this before. This was not the influence of the martial arts I possessed, but of my constitution. The influence of the Martial King’s Body I had recently acquired.
Only when he was within arm’s reach did I lift my head and look at Seo Jong-haeng. Seo Jong-haeng flinched when our eyes met.
Slowly, my two arms began to move.