Chapter 1529
Now it’s my turn. (4)
“Attack, you say… Chung Myung, don’t tell me…”
Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung with wide eyes, as if something had suddenly dawned on him.
“Achoo!”
At that moment, Chung Myung sneezed loudly and rubbed under his nose.
“It’s not a cold, what’s this all of a sudden.”
“…”
“Hey, don’t worry. Do you think I’m an idiot who would charge into Sapaeryeon alone with a sword claiming I’m going to bring back Jang Ilso’s head?”
“Isn’t that what you’re saying?”
“Isn’t it?”
“You weren’t?”
“Then why are you all…”
As Chung Myung glared, Five Swords quickly averted their eyes.
Meanwhile, Im Sobyeong slowly tapped his shoulder with his folded fan, pondering Chung Myung’s words.
‘An upside down tower, huh.’
He wasn’t wrong. The only reason they hadn’t noticed was because the tower was so grand and magnificent, but Sapaeryeon was indeed an abnormal entity.
Cheonumaeng had been harboring similar concerns, and it all revolved around Chung Myung.
Chung Myung was the link of Cheonumaeng and the root of Hwasan. If he fell, neither Cheonumaeng nor Hwasan would ever be the same.
Then what about Sapaeryeon?
Could Sapaeryeon still be Sapaeryeon without Jang Ilso?
No. That would be impossible. In fact, it’s more severe than Cheonumaeng’s situation.
Even if Chung Myung were to disappear, Cheonumaeng might still maintain its shell, but without Jang Ilso, Sapaeryeon would be torn apart so savagely that even the terms “discord and division” would be an understatement.
It would be as if this period of Saparyeon’s dominance had been a lie.
In hindsight, it was an obvious issue. But until now, no one had pinpointed it accurately.
Im Sobyeong opened his mouth.
“So, you’re saying we can’t win by playing the long game?”
At those words, Chung Myung’s face turned sour.
“No, it’s not that we can’t win, but…”
“Ah, I chose my words poorly. Then, you’re saying the damage would be too great?”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
Only then did Chung Myung’s face light up with satisfaction. Im Sobyeong chuckled softly.
“There are few who can win against a seasoned player by exchanging moves across a board. Especially if the opponent has the advantage of the first move, even the best strategist in the world couldn’t win.”
“Hmm.”
Worry spread across several faces.
“So, there are only two ways to win. One is to flip the entire board and slam it into their head.”
“…Are you insane?”
“Get a grip, Nokrim King.”
Im Sobyeong calmly snapped open his fan.
“The other is to draw them onto the board.”
As Im Sobyeong’s voice reverberated heavily, everyone’s expressions turned serious.
Jang Ilso’s life. That was the way to end all this and reduce the bloodshed throughout the Central Plains. Everyone had to agree on that.
“What’s the plan?”
“I have no idea.”
Tang Gunak’s eyebrows twitched. Im Sobyeong looked at Chung Myung with a playful smile.
“But it seems someone knows… isn’t that enough?”
Tang Gunak let out a faint sigh. Hyun Jong asked in his stead.
“What do you intend to do, Chung Myung?”
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not that I don’t know how, I just haven’t decided on the exact approach yet.”
“Why not?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because I don’t know how he’ll react.”
At that moment, an unexpected figure who had been quietly listening spoke up.
“You’re saying you’ll watch his movements and attack the moment you see an opening. Am I right?”
“…I think you came to Hwasan for no reason, Sasuk.”
“Huh? What are you talking about…?”
“Every time you wear Jongnam’s robes, it seems your intelligence increases. Maybe you should just…”
“What did you say, you brat?”
“Hehehehehe.”
Chung Myung playfully laughed at Baek Cheon’s angry reaction. However, he soon dropped his smile and lowered his gaze.
“It’s similar, but not quite.”
“Not quite?”
“He doesn’t show openings like that. It’s not about waiting for a gap to appear. It’s about creating one.”
“How?”
“I told you. I don’t know that part yet.”
Baek Cheon sighed deeply, almost as if the ground would swallow him. The others felt much the same. How in the world…?
“Don’t try to understand it.”
Im Sobyeong spoke up.
“It’s not like a child holding a sword for the first time can understand a complex martial arts technique just because you explain it to them, right?”
“…That’s true.”
“No matter what’s said, we won’t understand it anyway. What’s important isn’t whether we can understand… but whether we can trust.”
Im Sobyeong’s sharp gaze turned to Chung Myung. Following his lead, everyone’s eyes focused on Chung Myung.
Can we trust even if we don’t understand…?
“Chung Myung-ah, can you do it?”
Hyun Jong asked. Chung Myung grinned widely.
“It’s not about whether I can do it, it’s that I have to.”
“…”
“Somehow.”
Hyun Jong nodded heavily. Though Chung Myung answered playfully, Hyun Jong knew how much meaning was packed into those words. He trusted Chung Myung.
However, Cheonumaeng is not a place where decisions are made alone. Hyun Jong looked at the others and asked.
“And the rest of you…?”
“There’s no need to ask.”
Tang Gunak cut him off, as if the question itself was unnecessary.
“We are here because we already trusted him.”
Everyone nodded firmly in agreement, even Five Swords, who typically started by questioning anything involving Chung Myung.
“It’s decided then.”
There wasn’t even a hint of disagreement. With consensus reached, Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung.
“So, what do we need to do?”
Chung Myung smiled at his words.
It was that familiar, ominous smile…
❀ ❀ ❀
“…Giving the task of building houses and putting up fences to the refugees seems like a natural thing to do.”
“Exactly. They can’t just sit around doing nothing forever. People feel a sense of stability when they earn money through work.”
“It’s also natural to hire people for the new workshop the Tang clan has built.”
Baek Cheon nodded as he continued sewing.
“There aren’t enough workers in the workshop to supply weapons for the entire Cheonumaeng.”
“Right.”
Jo Geol, who had been listening, widened his eyes in disbelief and spoke with an incredulous expression.
“No, this is quite a significant undertaking, you know?”
“…What is?”
“Traditionally, the Tang clan’s workshop wouldn’t even let someone without the Tang surname touch a hammer. The fact that these workshop craftsmen have accepted people who aren’t skilled and have never held a hammer before…”
From Jo Geol’s perspective, having grown up in Sichuan, it was as if the world had turned upside down.
“Well, because the head of the family ordered it?”
“You don’t understand, Sasuk. Do you know what kind of people the workshop craftsmen of the Tang clan are? This couldn’t happen just because Lord Tang gave an order.”
Baek Cheon spoke bitterly.
“…It must be because they are honoring the wishes of Elder Tang Jopyeong.”
“…”
“He always said such things weren’t important. And the ones who feel this the most are probably the craftsmen of the Tang clan’s workshop themselves.”
Jo Geol, who had been raising his voice, nodded at this statement.
“When you think about it that way, it does make sense.”
“Right. I heard that Eunha Merchant Guild is also hiring refugees in large numbers.”
“They seem to be distributing the reclaimed land as well.”
“For free?”
“What money would refugees have to pay for it? They will probably take a portion of the crops grown there as rent. Even then, it might not amount to much, knowing the Sect Leader’s personality.”
Yoon Jong chuckled.
“It would be fortunate if a group of noblemen who go to collect grains even shows up.”
“Exactly.”
Coming from a merchant family, Jo Geol had a clear and sensitive understanding of profit and loss, and this situation didn’t sit well with him.
But amid all this, Baek Cheon had a different thought.
‘Houses are being built, land for farming is being created… and jobs are appearing…’
Moreover, Hwasan manages most of this land. It’s obvious how Hwasan will treat those who work on it.
Not just Hyun Jong, but even the current sect leader, Un Am, is known for his compassion.
“Refugees…”
“What?”
Baek Cheon chuckled softly as he muttered.
How long will they continue to be called refugees?
If refugees are those who fled from disaster, then they might always be refugees, but if they are merely temporarily displaced people who will return one day…
Well, they might soon shed that label. After all, they won’t need to go back.
If they have a place to stay, food to eat, and work to do, why would they need to return?
“…Just how far ahead is he thinking?”
“Why do you keep mumbling, Sasuk?”
“Leave him be, Sahyeong. My mother would always grumble like that while sewing… Ow! Is throwing a needle at someone’s face even an option?”
Baek Cheon retrieved the needle, his face twisted in annoyance.
‘One of Hwasan’s biggest weaknesses is the small size of the neighboring village.’
He had vaguely thought this before, but seeing Kaifeng made it clear.
Tang clan had Chengdu, Wudang has Wuhan, and Shaolin has both Luoyang and Zhengzhou as large neighboring cities.
Hwasan, while near Xian, is overshadowed by the much closer and stronger presence of Jongnam.
Even if the situation is a bit different now, there’s no guarantee it will stay that way. If Hwasan’s influence wanes even slightly, those greedy Jongnam bastards will quickly swallow Xian.
Even if they manage to prevent that, Hwasan still has to share Xian with Jongnam, unlike other sects which have exclusive influence over their cities.
‘Territory isn’t just about land. It’s about building relationships with the people within, generating revenue, recruiting disciples, and providing a path for those disciples to make their way into the world.’
Without this virtuous cycle, a sect isolated in the mountains would wither away. Hwasan’s disciples had already experienced this firsthand.
Baek Cheon, always considering this, aimed to firmly establish control over Xian as soon as he became Sect Leader.
But to think… they would actually build an entire city here.
With this, even in times when Hwasan might not produce exceptional talents, the sect wouldn’t face ruin.
“…Did he really think this far ahead, or did he just do it because it’s profitable?”
“What are you mumbling about, Sasuk?”
“You were talking about money. It’s something Chung Myung would think about.”
“Oh, right.”
“Noisy.”
Baek Cheon sighed deeply.
Preparing for decades, even centuries ahead, in a fight where everyone would be doomed if they lost… this wasn’t madness – it was extraordinary foresight.
At that moment, Yoon Jong sighed deeply and spoke.
“I understand it all, but why are we doing this too…”
“Didn’t you hear during the meeting?”
“Of course I did.”
“If it’s a fight to kill and win, we don’t have to do it. But if it’s a fight to save even one more person, then we must.”
“…”
“I agree with that.”
Yoon Jong nodded in agreement.
Among the many topics discussed in the meeting, the issue of medical skills [의술(醫術)] was the most significant.
“…I honestly thought Soso had lost her mind.”
“For that moment, I saw Chung Myung as a sane person.”
What Tang Soso suddenly asserted at that meeting was clear and simple.
❀ ❀ ❀
“We need to disband the Tang clan.”
“What… did you say?”
“I said we need to disband the Tang clan.”
Tang Gunak’s mouth dropped open. In his shock, he completely forgot his dignity and composure.
His gaze quickly shifted to Chung Myung.
“…It wasn’t me.”
Chung Myung’s face showed utter innocence, making it clear he was not lying. Only then did Tang Gunak turn his attention back to Tang Soso.
It seemed his daughter had finally lost her mind.
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