Chapter 1469
Let’s seize this opportunity to make history. (4)
Hwang Jong-ui was completely overwhelmed. Anyone witnessing such a scene would likely lose their composure.
Boom!
Dozens of tree trunks were freshly stacked on top of the mound of wood, piled up like a small mountain.
“This looks like it’s going to collapse!”
“It’s too high! Stack them elsewhere!”
“But we’ve already lifted them up.”
Several people sprang up the pile of wood like monkeys, each carrying a large tree trunk and moving it to the side.
“Hmm, this one’s too bent.”
“What? Who brought this? I said only bring straight logs here!”
“This one’s unusable too.”
“Look at how you’re working!”
“Hurry up and sort them out again! If the General sees this, someone will break their back!”
The gathered workers began bickering and re-sorting the wood among themselves. Logs, which would normally require dozens of strong men to handle, flew left and right. Hwang Jong-ui, watching this unbelievable scene, weakly turned his gaze away.
“B-Brother, I’m really at my limit now. I don’t have any strength left…”
“Stop talking nonsense and quickly channel your energy! If we don’t finish this, we won’t even get to eat!”
“But… I didn’t learn martial arts for this…”
“Who knew this would happen when you trained? Now hurry up!”
“Ughhh.”
The men gripping large logs simultaneously channeled their internal energy into the wood. The potent yang energy quickly dried the logs, which were twice as thick as a person.
Crack!
“Ah, damn it, it’s split!”
“Who’s not controlling their energy? I told you to be delicate! How many times do I have to say not to just shove your energy in!”
“Th-this one can still be used, right? It’s only slightly cracked.”
“Stop talking nonsense and bring a new one! If the Palace Lord finds out, it won’t be the wood but us getting chopped up.”
“Ugh…”
The logs were swiftly replaced, and the warriors of the Beast Palace got back to work. Under normal circumstances, it would take at least a month to properly dry the wood, but within a few breaths, it was transformed into excellent timber.
“…It’s done. Move it aside.”
“Ugh… I’m really exhausted. Here you go!”
As soon as the well-dried timber was placed on the large prepared workbench, the blades of the swordsmen slashed into the wood.
Swish! Swish!
The beast warriors moving the timber eyed them enviously.
“Must be nice. The ones using swords seem to have the easiest job.”
“If I’d known this, I would have trained in swordsmanship too.”
The swordsmen of Namgung clan, slicing through the timber with their blades, drew envy simply for being able to use their specialized skills.
Of course, it wasn’t as easy for them as it seemed.
Ka-kak!
“Hey, you idiots! Cut it properly! Maintain the spacing! This one’s too thick!”
At Namgung Myeong’s shout, the swordsmen halted their blades, flinching. Infuriated, Namgung Myeong threw the timber he was holding onto the ground.
“You just wasted a perfectly good piece of wood! Haven’t you heard that if we accumulate wasted materials, we have to pay for it out of our own pockets? At this rate, Namgoong clan is going to go bankrupt. Namgung clan! Damn it! Does it make any sense for Namgung clan to go bankrupt because we can’t cut wood properly?”
“But, Elder, we’re really doing our best…”
“Don’t just do your best, do it well, you useless fools!”
Tears welled up in the swordsmen’s eyes.
‘What are we supposed to do when we’ve learned swordsmanship like this…’
‘When we go fast, they say to be precise. When we are precise, they say to go fast.’
Namgung clan’s swordsmanship is fundamentally bold and carefree, not concerned with minor details. These swordsmen had been taught that if their strike was a little off, they could simply crush it with sheer power and speed. Trying to cut wood with hair-thin precision was killing them.
‘I’m going to die.’
‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
They could train for three days and nights without rest. But wielding a sword in the air and continuously slicing through thick logs were entirely different tasks. The faces of the Namgung clan’s swordsmen, known for their abundant internal energy and explosive sword aura, grew rough and weary, like the dried timber they were cutting.
However, this hellish place offered them no respite. As they swung their swords with every ounce of strength they had, a cart arrived, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“We’re running out of materials! Why is the work progressing so slowly?”
“Please, just wait a moment.”
“Excuses, excuses. The Genrral will be here soon! How hard can it be to swing a sword?”
“If it’s so easy, why don’t you try it yourself!”
As Namgung’s swordsmen retorted angrily, the workers from the Tang clan pulling the cart responded nonchalantly.
“Are you the ones building the house?”
“…”
“We have no complaints. Shall we switch roles?”
“……We’ll work faster. Just give us a moment…”
“Stop talking and start cutting! Cut, don’t talk!”
Namgung clan’s swordsmen resumed swinging their swords, their energy bursting.
Cut wood piled up neatly in the cart. Once it was loaded to capacity, the cart sped off without delay.
“Hurry, hurry! The Lord is furious!”
Hwang Jong-ui watched the cart navigate through Hwaeum with a blank expression. Hwaeum was now filled with an array of newly constructed, unusually styled buildings.
“The wood has arrived!”
“Why are you so slow! Always so sluggish!”
The Tang clan’s warriors didn’t respond and quickly began unloading the wood.
“Ugh.”
Generally, the Tang clan’s warriors held a higher status than the craftsmen. However, in this situation, their roles were completely reversed.
“Where should we put this?”
“…Over there.”
“And these large logs?”
“…Place them behind there.”
Normally, the carpenters would revel in the rare opportunity to order around the high-handed warriors of the Tang clan. Any person would find joy in such a situation.
However, the craftsmen giving orders looked anything but pleased. In fact, their faces were filled with despair.
“Ugh…”
One of the craftsmen, whose eyes were bloodshot from watching the pavilion rise steadily, could no longer hold back and snapped.
“I can’t take this anymore! This is an insult to our craft!”
“Stop him!”
“No, wait! Stop!”
“Let go of me!”
With crazed eyes, he sprinted towards a particular spot.
“General!”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung, who had been keeping an eye on things here and there, turned sharply towards the person rushing at him.
“What is it?”
“I can’t take this anymore!”
“Take what?”
Chung Myung’s indifferent eyes met the bloodshot eyes of the craftsman in the air. In a tense moment, the craftsman threw himself to the ground and clung to Chung Myung’s pants.
“Generaaal!”
“Oh, come on. What are you doing? My pants are coming off!”
“Please! Let me at least handle the eaves! I can even bake the tiles myself! Please! I’ll work through the night, just please!”
His voice was almost a wail. The look in the craftsman’s eyes was desperate and earnest, enough to soften the heart of even the most implacable foe, at least momentarily.
But unfortunately for the craftsman, he was clinging to Chung Myung.
“Can’t you understand what I’m saying?”
“Please, I’m begging you! Just looking at those wretched pavilions makes my stomach churn! I’ll work without sleep if I have to, just let me at least carve some decorations. Please!”
“Talking about decorations at a time like this.”
“Get him off me!”
“Grab that man!”
Late-arriving craftsmen forcibly pulled away the one clinging to Chung Myung’s pants.
“General! General, please!”
“Enough already.”
“I understand your feelings, I really do. But begging won’t work here.”
Tears quickly welled up in the eyes of the craftsmen dragging him away.
Buildings hastily constructed without proper finishing touches, all uniformly rectangular. Just looking at them felt suffocating, their bodies twisting in discomfort.
“Let go! Let me go! When people see those buildings, they’ll ask who built them! I can’t die in peace leaving such things in the world! They all need to be torn down!”
“Just give it up…”
The craftsmen turned their heads to hide their tears.
They had spent their lives melting down hundreds of completed pieces to make a single masterpiece. Now, they were building structures that even local carpenters would be ashamed of, and it was understandably devastating.
But there are always those who fail to empathize.
“We’re too busy for decorations! Use that time to build just another one!”
…This place was a graveyard for artisans.
Each identical building filled the leveled ground so uniformly that the residents could scarcely tell their own homes apart with a single glance.
The characteristic craftsmanship of the Tang clan, the unique architectural style of Sichuan, and the subtle Taoist hue that used to linger in Hwaem were all missing. Instead, the only impressive aspect was the astonishing speed of construction.
“Wouldn’t living in a place like this drive someone insane?”
“People are stronger than you think.”
“They might not even find their own houses.”
“That’s what nameplates are for. They’ll manage.”
Faced with a living wall of steel, the craftsmen could only despair.
“Stop talking and get to work! We need to put up a hundred more houses today! Move it!”
“Ugh…”
Watching the despondent craftsmen trudging away, Hwang Jong-ui took another look around the new village.
What should he even call this?
The mountains provided all the materials. The soil dug from the mountain filled the pits, and the trees felled from it became lumber for construction. Though not of high quality, the wood was sturdy enough to last about ten years if used properly.
The rocks? The rocks excavated from the mountain were neatly cut by Hwasan and repurposed as stones for paving roads.
Soil, wood, and rocks. And most importantly…
“Move it! Hurry!”
“If you don’t finish paving this road today, no dinner for you!”
“How petty to use food as a threat.”
Watching the people carrying stones, Hwang Jong-ui let out a weary sigh.
“Laborers…”
These people, each performing the work of at least thirty strong men, were being ruthlessly exploited on a large scale. Martial artists were indeed versatile workers. They could demolish, transport, cut, clear, and even throw things. By overworking them to the point of abuse, they had managed to complete in a single day and night what would have taken thousands of workers a month.
What else could one call this but a miracle?
Hwang Jong-ui realized how futile all his worries had been. Given enough manpower, this person could turn a desert into a lush forest.
‘Is he even human?’
It was shocking to think that a human mind could conceive of such a scene. Surely, this person was divinely gifted. As Hwang Jong-ui watched in awe, Tang Gunak approached this extraordinary figure.
“It looks like we’ve done more than half.”
“You could say we’ve done more than seventy percent. There’s more work than we initially planned, but if we push hard for another three or four days, we’ll be mostly done.”
“Even setting aside the finer details.”
The speed of the work was astonishing, far exceeding Tang Gunak’s expectations – by twofold, if not more. This efficiency was the result of ruthlessly sacrificing what needed to be sacrificed and prioritizing effectiveness. Such decisions could only be made by someone like Chung Myung.
“Yes, indeed. It’s certainly faster than we expected… Ah!”
At that moment, Chung Myung screamed and clutched his head.
“Ah, damn it! I made a mistake! We should have dug the waterway here!”
“Hmm? Weren’t we going to dig a well?”
“The scale turned out to be bigger than I thought, so a well won’t suffice. Damn it.”
Tang Gunak nodded, understanding the logic in Chung Myung’s words.
“You didn’t account for the expansion. So, what will you do? Dig more wells?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? We need to dig a waterway.”
“But didn’t you already build structures there?”
“We’ll just tear them down.”
“…”
“Call some people and have them tear down that row of buildings. Be careful with the materials so we can reuse them to rebuild nearby.”
“Right. That’s a good plan.”
Hwang Jong-ui, overhearing their conversation, couldn’t help but smile warmly.
‘Is he even human…?’
A hellscape was unfolding in Hwaeum, a scene that even the King of Hell would turn away from.
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