It might have already started. (5)

“Hwasaaaaan Geomhyeooooooop!”

As Hong Daekwang slammed the door open and burst in, Chung Myung’s gaze instantly sharpened.

“Seriously, does this guy think this place is some kind of beggar’s den front yard?”

“Th-This isn’t the time to be nitpicking! Hwasan Geomhyeop!”

“What now, again?”

“Namgung Clan!”

At the mention of Namgung clan, the eyes of those seated in the White Plum Hall [백매관] narrowed all at once.

“Namgung Clan has been surrounded by Surochae!”

“…”

When Chung Myung didn’t show much of a reaction, Hong Daekwang, frustrated, raised his voice and rushed closer, shoving his face in.

“Their main forces are trapped on Maehwado, and they’re surrounded by Surochae’s ships! If we don’t act immediately, they might be wiped out entirely. Are you even liste-”

“Ugh! You’re so damn talkative, so noisy!”

Chung Myung pressed a fingertip against Hong Daekwang’s cheek and pushed him away. If it had been anyone else rushing at him like that, he would’ve thrown a punch right away, but since this guy was basically a street-dwelling beggar, it seemed he wanted to minimize contact as much as possible.

The disciples of Hwasan nodded with pleased expressions.

“Chung Myung is being polite. He even used his hand.”

“Yeah. I thought he’d use his foot to push him away.”

“He’s gotten a lot nicer, really. In the old days, he would’ve just kicked him with the sole of his shoe. How touching.”

“…”

Excuse me? That’s what you call being polite?

What kind of darkness are those Hwasan bastards going through, anyway?

The thought flickered across Hong Daegwang’s mind, but right now, that wasn’t the important thing.

“Wh-What are we going to do?”

“Do about what?”

“Namgung Clan! Namgung Clan!”

Chung Myung looked at Hong Daekwang with a face full of disbelief.

“What about Namgung Clan?”

“We have to do something, obviously!”

“About Namgung Clan?”

“Yes!”

“Why me?”

Hong Daekwang’s eyes trembled slightly.

“I’m telling you – they’re all going to die! At this rate, it’s a complete massacre!”

“Oh dear, how tragic. So what should we do, hmm? Tsk tsk tsk.”

Hong Daekwang’s mouth slowly dropped open.

“I… uh…”

He tried to say more, but Chung Myung cut him off first, his expression already full of irritation.

“Does this guy think I’m some kind of goblin’s club* or something? He comes running to whine every time something goes wrong!”

“…”

“They charge in without thinking, get surrounded, and now I’m supposed to fix it? What, are they toddlers? They cause the mess, and I clean it up?”

“I-I mean, you’re not wrong, but still…”

“So why the hell did they go in there in the first place? If that guy’s going to go crazy, he should do it properly. What kind of place did he think that was, marching in so boldly? Just because the mullet jumps doesn’t mean the goby should too – what, do they think just because I did it, they can too?”

It’s understandable why Namgung Hwang got the wrong idea.

Three years ago, judging by power alone, Hwasan couldn’t even dream of being compared to Namgung Clan. And yet, now, not even the whole Hwasan, but just a portion of Nokrim had seized an island and was simultaneously keeping both Gangnam and Surochae in check – of course they’d think they could do it too.

‘From the outside, sure.’

But in truth, that wasn’t what Maehwado was.

This island was the result of a pact forged between Jang Ilso and Chung Myung out of mutual necessity.

It wasn’t a place that had been defended well and repelled attacks. It was a place that didn’t need to be defended – because no one attacked it.

The moment Hwasan withdrew and the pact ceased to exist, everything changed. Now, Maehwado was nothing more than hostile territory deep in enemy lines, with no escape routes. If one could occupy it, it would bring immense gains, but the point was that it had become a piece of land that couldn’t be occupied to begin with.

Let’s say, just for argument’s sake, that Sapaeryeon and Gupailbang went to war over that island.

Then who would have the advantage?

‘Sapaeryeon with their control of Surochae would inevitably win.’

That’s why both Chung Myung and Im Sobyeong had withdrawn before war could break out.

But these people went charging into that dangerous plot of land without a shred of thought…

If you’re weak, you get hit. If you’re ignorant, you get hit. If you act cocky – well, maybe scratch that last one.

Anyway, isn’t it a truth of Gangho that if you’re clueless, you deserve to get smacked?

“Still, back in the day, Namgung Clan used to have some sense, didn’t they?”

Usually it was Paeng family causing trouble, and Namgung clan played the role of cleaning up after them. But what the hell happened over the past hundred years to leave Namgung clan in this state…?

“Wait a second.”

“Huh?”

“I was just wondering, what about that guy, Namgung Hwang.”

“Huh? The Lord of Namgung Clan? What about him?”

“Who’s his mother?”

At that moment, Hong Daekwang’s eyes grew as wide as humanly possible.

“H-Hwasan Sh-Shinryong. I-I mean, I know there’s nothing you wouldn’t dare, but still – that’s crossing a line, don’t you think…?”

“Oh, for f-!”

Chung Myung kicked Hong Daekwang without warning, sending him tumbling.

“This guy’s trying to paint me as some kind of degenerate! Do I look like someone who’d do that, seriously?!”

At those words, the disciples of Hwasan all nodded with pleased expressions.

“Sounds plausible.”

“Very possible.”

“He wipes out entire lineages like it’s nothing. That’s not even that bad in comparison.”

These little punks?!

“That’s not what I meant! I’m asking which maternal clan he belongs to! His family! His lineage!”

“Oh, that?”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Hong Daekwang rummaged through his memory.

“Let’s see… As far as I know, the current Namgung Clan Lord’s mother is from Paeng Family…”

“Ah, right?”

Yeah. That makes sense.

Blood doesn’t lie, after all.

At last, Chung Myung spoke with a refreshed expression, as though a lingering question had finally been resolved.

“No wonder. I was wondering how someone like that came out of Namgung Clan.”

In a typical sect, that could happen. After all, a sect is a gathering of many people united under a single ideal.

But a clan is connected by blood. When people of similar temperament receive similar education, they naturally end up sharing a certain disposition, don’t they?

Of course, even considering that Namgung Hwang had some of Paeng family’s traits mixed in, he still went a bit overboard…

“Chung Myung.”

“Yeah?”

At that moment, Baek Cheon, one of the Five Swords, approached and asked.

“What do you think will happen? Do you think Namgung Clan can escape from there?”

“It’ll be difficult.”

“……Then what happens now?”

“Hmm. That’s the thing…”

Chung Myung rubbed his chin.

“It’s going the way I expected, but… there’s something a little off, too.”

It was obvious Namgung clan was going to face a complete disaster. The martial artists of this generation have never experienced full-scale war. Because of that, they don’t understand how critical terrain is.

Sure, they’ve probably studied military strategy. But they likely believed their martial prowess alone could overcome anything.

“I predicted that Namgung Clan would charge towards Maehwado… but the problem is the Black Dragon King.”

“The Black Dragon King?”

“He looks like the type who’d charge into Maehwado yelling ‘You die, I die!’ in a blind frenzy… but surprisingly, he’s shrewd. Like an old fox.”

“They say you shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance…”

Baek Cheon agreed with that. The Black Dragon King they had seen at the Yangtze River three years ago had looked like the embodiment of tyrannical domination. Who would’ve imagined that things would play out like this when Surochae he commanded clashed with Namgung Hwang’s Namgung Clan?

“If that Black Dragon King bastard were as hot-blooded and reckless as we thought – if he stormed the island to wipe them out completely while he had them surrounded – then ironically, that would actually open a path for Namgung to escape.”

Hearing that, Baek Cheon’s expression darkened. Whenever Chung Myung spoke like this, it meant he was already considering other possibilities.

“What if,” 

Baek Cheon said in a low voice, 

“what if the Black Dragon King and Surochae have no intention of attacking the island? Wouldn’t it just come down to a race – whichever side’s reinforcements arrive first?”

“If we think about it logically, yeah, that’s how it should go. But… that’s not how it’ll play out.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because the Black Dragon King probably knows that too.”

“What do you mean by…”

Baek Cheon tilted his head in confusion for a moment, then flinched as if something had just clicked.

“R-Right. That’s it.”

Jo Geol, unable to follow the conversation, looked back and forth between them with a puzzled expression before asking,

“Sasuk. What are you two talking about? Please explain so I can understand too.”

“…The Black Dragon King, who’s surrounding Namgung Clan, must also know that whichever side’s reinforcements arrive first will gain the upper hand.”

“Right. He’s no fool, after all.”

“But think about it. What if the Black Dragon King believes Gupailbang’s reinforcements will arrive first? Do you think he’d just kindly let the prey go, now that it’s trapped in the jar?”

“…No, he wouldn’t.”

Baek Cheon bit his lower lip slightly.

“At the very least, he’d try to wear down Namgung’s forces as much as possible before help arrives. Which means there won’t be any idle standoff where they just sit around glaring at each other.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“And the Black Dragon King’s position is different too. If Sapaeryeon gets there first, it means the annihilation of Namgung Clan. But if Gupailbang arrive first, all it means is that things get a bit more annoying for Surochae.”

“Because they’re on the river?”

“Exactly.”

A slight smirk tugged at Chung Myung’s lips.

In the past, he would’ve had to do all the explaining in conversations like this. But now, Baek Cheon not only grasped the situation on his own, he even voiced the conclusions before Chung Myung did.

“In the end, all Namgung can do is endure. That’s all they’ve got right now.”

“Can they hold out?”

“Namgung Hwang’s crazy, but he’s not stupid. He can manage to hold out. The real problem is…”

Chung Myung’s face twisted slightly.

As if carefully choosing his words, he paused for a moment before speaking slowly.

“Do you know when people break?”

“…”

It was a sudden, out-of-the-blue remark, but Baek Cheon couldn’t bring himself to object. The heaviness in Chung Myung’s voice made it impossible to dismiss.

“People don’t break when things are hard. Hardship – people can endure that, somehow. As long as there’s still hope of survival.”

“…”

“People break the moment that hope is cut off.”

A faint sneer curled on Chung Myung’s lips.

“I’m curious too. That man who’s trying to wage war like a game of chess… would he really be willing to risk his life to save Namgung Clan?”

No name had been mentioned.

But everyone present knew exactly who Chung Myung meant. It wasn’t something you couldn’t know.

“N-No way…”

“It’s just a thought. A thought. Something that hasn’t happened – yet.”

Chung Myung waved his hand lightly, as if to say don’t get carried away. But despite the casual gesture, his eyes were dark and heavy.

“But if, by chance…”

He paused, letting the silence linger for a beat before finishing the sentence.

“If, by some one-in-a-thousand, one-in-ten-thousand chance, the thing I’m imagining really happens…”

The atmosphere turned cold and heavy.

“Namgung Clan will live to see hell.”

A moment of silence passed. No one could open their mouth.

“Well, as for us, we just need to enjoy the show and eat some rice cakes.”

“Chung Myung. If that’s the case… shouldn’t we do something?”

“Huh?”

“If Namgung Clan is in that much danger…”

“Sasuk.”

Chung Myung cut Baek Cheon off, as if pressing down on his words.

“The moment you step onto the battlefield, you have to take full responsibility for every decision you make.”

“…”

“If someone thinks it’s only natural that I step in to help them, they’ll keep expecting someone else to do the same every time they’re in danger. That kind of complacency is what gets people killed.”

Baek Cheon fell silent.

“That’s the battlefield. That’s a war. Don’t forget it. If you don’t want to watch your fellow disciples die instead of you because of a thoughtless decision.”

“…I’ll keep it in mind.”

Nodding, Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.

“Watch closely. This might be something we’ll have to face ourselves someday.”

Somehow, an uncomfortable feeling seized their throats, and everyone swallowed dryly.