Chapter 282: Calculation (4)
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“Have you frozen stiff!”
Seo Jong-haeng had come right up to me, yet I had not moved at all.
But only after he drew that close would he have felt it—my aura now.
A body art born from the union of Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance, the body techniques of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and the divine arts of Wudang. Originally it was a martial art that existed only in theory.
I had built up theory and oral formulas, but my body had not been ready to actually unleash it. That too changed the moment I acquired the Martial King’s Body.
I drew up my inner force and gently received Seo Jong-haeng’s Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. As though a string were tied between Seo Jong-haeng’s fist and my fingers, we moved in parallel.
Soon I bent the fingers I had held straight. Seo Jong-haeng’s eyes widened.
“……What is this.”
Seo Jong-haeng had noticed. The aura wrapped around his fist was being drawn into my palm.
One might mistake it for something similar to the Star-Absorbing Art, but those who had seen it knew. This was not absorption, but the realm of the absorption seal—receiving an opponent’s internal energy and making use of it. The stronger the enemy’s force, the more it resembled the principle of four ounces moves a thousand pounds, returning it multiplied through the belly. It was a principle taken from Wudang martial arts.
I rolled the shock waves clinging to Seo Jong-haeng’s fist into my palm and compressed them small. Then I stirred my hand in the ripples of Taiji and pressed it to Seo Jong-haeng’s dantian.
To anyone watching, it would look as though my palm had simply rested on his dantian.
Boom!
Only then did a great explosion ring out late. I had drawn in the shock waves from Seo Jong-haeng and detonated them together with my own. Between those colliding forces lay Seo Jong-haeng’s dantian.
“……You mixed in just a trace of the core of Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance.”
“You are quick to notice.”
“What is the name of the martial art?”
“It is called Heavenly Dance.”
“An arrogant name.”
Seo Jong-haeng coughed blood and pitched forward. He would never wield martial arts again. His dantian had been destroyed. It would not affect his position as Eastern Depot Director. That post was not one where he drew the blade himself anyway.
“Heh. Remarkable.”
“Junior Brother Dong’s achievement was that great?”
“An Eastern Depot Director should be more than capable of facing elders of the Nine Great Sects.”
The watching martial artists all clicked their tongues. A martial artist with a shattered dantian was curled on the ground, yet they seemed not to care in the least.
Perhaps because the defeated were those who had fallen before climbing the waterfall, while the victor was a rival who would climb it with them.
“But is that really acceptable? He is still a high official of a nation.”
“What can be done. This is a fight between martial artists. As long as his life was not taken, that is enough.”
The martial artists coldly assessed Seo Jong-haeng. Of course, though those present were on the Imperial Court’s side, they were still of the martial world. Besides, the opponent they needed to impress was the Emperor, not a man of the Eastern Depot.
Before long, Beijing soldiers arrived. They recognized me, roughly grasped the situation, and said little. I handed over the unconscious Seo Jong-haeng.
“Ah, the inn wall was broken by the Eastern Depot Director, so please have the Imperial Court handle it.”
“……Understood. There may be further investigation from the Imperial Court, so do not leave Beijing.”
The Imperial Court soldiers carried Seo Jong-haeng away on their backs. I told the innkeeper the wall would be handled by the Imperial Court, then went up to the second floor where our room was.
But by the time I climbed the stairs, Myeong-gyeong was already outside. Given the uproar, it would have been strange if he had not come out.
“Junior Brother. You have grown much stronger.”
“So it seems.”
I laughed awkwardly. The me after training beneath the sea was different. To others it looked like half a year, but I had lived through several years. In their eyes, they could only call it a leap forward.
“Now I cannot teach you anything either.”
“You do not have to teach me just because you are Senior Brother.”
“That is true.”
It was not a conversation limited to us. Junior Brothers or Junior Disciples surpassing their seniors’ generation was common in the martial world. The greatest experts representing each sect were not always those of the highest generation.
Of course, for a youngest-generation disciple like me to stand out this sharply was a case rarely found in precedent.
“There will not be repercussions, will there?”
“No. Since the order to capture the Mad Buddha has already been issued, they will not sabotage us. And he is a first-rank official who picked the fight first—they will not lie about that either.”
“People in this world are more cowardly than you would think. Even those with great reputations.”
“Quite accurate.”
Myeong-gyeong and I laughed.
As I said, we stayed at that inn, but no follow-up investigation came.
Now it was time to leave Beijing.
“Senior Brother, would you like to go to Hubei first?”
“Why?”
“It is the Great Desert. It will be hard.”
“I am fine.”
Myeong-gyeong shook his head. I did not try to persuade him further. Myeong-gyeong was nearing fifteen as well—the age of flowering for a martial artist. How long would a flower forced to bloom while choosing its environment last?
So we left Beijing. Our destination was the Great Desert.
* * *
“So it has come to this, Alliance Leader.”
“What can be done. The Imperial Court is pressing this hard.”
Su Je-heon shrugged. Sama Ye sighed. He was no longer Chief Strategist of the Martial Alliance, but aide to the Deputy Master of the Palace of Heavenly Worship.
“How long do you intend to remain the Imperial Court’s dog?”
“Your words are harsh.”
“I thought the Alliance Leader was a lion. Seeing you gnawing on a dog bone, it seems you were only a dog after all.”
Sama Ye sent him a contemptuous look. Su Je-heon chuckled and poured wine.
“Do not blame me too much. Was it not a current we could not refuse?”
“His Majesty cannot even properly crush the New Justice Association Master who has raised the banner of rebellion against him. That is how formidable the martial world’s strength is. The history of the martial world is far longer than the Empire’s.”
Sama Ye vented his resentment.
“From the start, what you and I planned was not a righteous martial world dominated by vested interests like the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. Yet the New Justice Association, centered on the Nine Great Sects, said it would set down those vested interests. What we had to strain every nerve to accomplish, they tied up with a single word.”
“That wounds me as well.”
“In the end, we and the New Justice Association were headed the same way. From that moment, we had no need to oppose the New Justice Association. The New Justice Association’s inauguration was also the last chance to sever ties with the Imperial Court.”
Su Je-heon nodded. Not a single word was wrong. Each sentence felt like a dagger driven into his chest.
“It was a favorable trend. We threw orthodox martial artists of the Nine Great Sects to the Great Toad of the Eastern Sea as bait—would they have accepted our cooperation?”
“That is why I told you not to do that.”
“What good is saying it now. You should have stopped me more firmly then.”
Su Je-heon laughed loudly. Sama Ye’s face reddened.
“I am not joking.”
“Neither am I.”
Su Je-heon’s smile vanished at once. Sama Ye closed his mouth.
“Many martial artists are gathering. Of course, to the New Justice Association, not the Palace of Heavenly Worship. As the Martial Alliance is absorbed into the Palace of Heavenly Worship, that phenomenon will only accelerate. The Imperial Court made a mistake. It should have left the Martial Alliance as the Martial Alliance.”
“You were aware of it. Then why did you not oppose it?”
“Why should I correct the Imperial Court’s mistake? I am a martial artist.”
Sama Ye’s eyes widened as though struck on the head with a hammer.
“……Then.”
“The role we wanted has passed to the New Justice Association. We have to admit that. But we still have work left for us, do we not?”
Su Je-heon’s eyes sharpened. Sama Ye shook his head back and forth.
“You mean we should play the clown and pour strength into the New Justice Association?”
“I think it is the only chance to escape a greedy Imperial Court.”
“The New Justice Association will not accept it. Right now the Alliance Leader is a traitor.”
“Who said they had to accept it? Of course they will not. I am the one who killed their Martial Uncles, Junior Disciples, Senior Brothers, and Junior Brothers. There is no way they would accept it.”
“You knew that and still did it?”
“But my disciple was also killed by the New Justice Association Master. That was quite a bold decision. But I would have done the same.”
“…….”
Sama Ye fell silent. When he heard Cho Hae-ryang had died, Su Je-heon had worn a vacant expression for days.
Outwardly he pretended not to care, but the boy had been his disciple for more than ten years. That the child’s life had been cut down in a single stroke must have been impossible to accept.
“Anyway, I do not regret the Guiyou Incident. I cannot say the birth of the New Justice Association and my reduction of Nine Great Sect figures had no influence. If they had kept that strength, the organization called the New Justice Association could not have emerged. After the Guiyou Incident, the Nine Great Sects bent low. Our only mistake was not knowing the Imperial Court would take this much interest in the martial world.”
Su Je-heon drained his cup and set it down with a clatter.
“It is a path where no one is respected, no one is forgiven, and no one speaks of alliance. There is a limit to self-satisfaction. It is a foolish thing.”
“You know that. But what can be done. The chivalry I have devoted my whole life to upholding is that kind of thing.”
Su Je-heon clicked his tongue.
“Even knowing I will not hear the word chivalrous hero after death, I have no choice but to go. Chivalry is a kind of sorcery.”
Sama Ye silently lifted the wine bottle and filled Su Je-heon’s cup. Su Je-heon raised his cup the moment it was full. Sama Ye, who had not been drinking until now, also raised his cup and clinked it against his. It was their first toast.
“Then what do you intend to do at the Palace of Heavenly Worship?”
“We will have to let the Palace of Heavenly Worship play the villain so the martial world gathers as much as possible.”
“For that, you started far too half-heartedly from the beginning.”
The Palace of Heavenly Worship inauguration had ended as Sama Ye said—truly in a muddle. They had not even introduced the palace master at the climax.
“It is strangely convenient for Muk Hui-yeong.”
“Indeed. In the end he devoured the climax of the Palace of Heavenly Worship event himself. Bringing out some unheard-of prince called the Prince of Jianzhou.”
“Good grief. That Wudang brat was imperial blood. It is absurd.”
Among Martial Alliance people, no one had known that information. The Imperial Court wanted every scrap of Martial Alliance intelligence while keeping its own secrets.
“Well, in the end Muk Hui-yeong became the protagonist of this Palace of Heavenly Worship inauguration. For us, that is not bad news.”
From Su Je-heon’s standpoint, wanting the martial world to gather, it was a natural thing to say. Though the bitter aftertaste remained that it had not happened by their design.
“But Strategist. What reason could the Demonic Cult possibly have for invading all the way to Zijincheng and snatching Hyeong Tae-seong away?”
“No one truly knows. Hyeong Tae-seong may be a Demonic Cult spy.”
“The Demonic Cult Leader is locked in the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s prison right now, and they ignored that and only took Hyeong Tae-seong? That is nonsense.”
Su Je-heon shook the wine bottle. The sound meant little wine remained. Sama Ye took another bottle from the cabinet on his own.
“I thought of two possibilities.”
“Let me hear them.”
“One, if Hyeong Tae-seong was someone above the Demonic Cult Leader.”
“That is a bit of a stretch.”
“Two, that someone used the Demonic Cult for the Palace of Heavenly Worship inauguration.”
“The difference between acting on their own and acting on orders.”
Sama Ye’s eyes gleamed.
“But the way they stirred up dust and chaos seemed quite prepared. In truth, the second possibility carries more weight.”
“I see. So that person used Demonic Cultists for private reasons.”
Su Je-heon tapped his temple with his finger.
“That person cannot be greater than the Demonic Cult Leader, so some private emotion must have been mixed in, I suppose?”
“Yes. But not many people were personally tied to Hyeong Tae-seong. After coming to the Censorate, he was not close with officials, and naturally he kept distance from martial artists too. Either to carry out Censorate duties, or to play the Demonic Cult spy role more diligently.”
“As far as I know, only one martial artist has a connection to Hyeong Tae-seong.”
“Who?”
“Muk Hui-yeong. When he was praised as the Divine Physician of Hubei, he cured Hyeong Tae-seong’s daughter.”
“Ah. Right.”
Sama Ye blinked suddenly, then struck the desk and stood.
“Th-Then does that mean Muk Hui-yeong is a Demonic Cultist?”
“It could mean that. Then the calculations become enormously complicated.”
Su Je-heon spun his cup. Sama Ye opened his mouth as though his soul had left him.
“If that is true, the martial world will have to see quite a lot of blood. There is no Demonic Cult in my martial world.”
Su Je-heon spoke in a cold voice.
It was the moment the calculations of the former and final Martial Alliance Leader were set in place.