Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Haun Merchant Company , Merchant Company Leader’s office.

“Reporting. The Alliance Leader  has set out accompanied by Daesageom and Taeak .”

I Ryang , who had been holding a brush and staring at documents, pressed his brow in fatigue upon hearing Ga Yeom’s report.

“……They’ve finally begun to move.”

“Are you alright? My lord, you haven’t rested properly for quite some time.”

“I’m not alright, but…….”

I Ryang, who let out a bitter smile, shook his head and shook off his fatigue. Either way, if he didn’t overwork now, the karma would come back later, that was certain.

“But it’s almost over now. The results will come out soon.”

I Ryang, who looked beyond the window, leaned his body against the chair’s backrest and slowly sank into thought. Looking at the appearance of Hwayonghyeon  still immersed in silence in the morning.

“Time is fleeting.”

A little over a month had passed since the Hundred Demons Night Parade occurred in Akyang.

During that time, the situation between the Murim Alliance and the Sado Alliance was in a precarious state, no different from walking on a knife’s edge. Although the Sado Alliance prohibited local battles, wasn’t it just the word of the evil path?

The orthodox path sects, thinking they could invade at any time, didn’t neglect their defenses and simultaneously kept their nerves sharp regarding the Sado Alliance’s movements. And at the end of that, this place.

Hwayonghyeon, where the Muryeongwan trainees were receiving training, got caught up in it.

-It seems it’s time to show trust to each other in order to have talks now.

It started from there. I Ryang’s hardship.

“I never even imagined a situation where we’d have to block the pressure applied to the orthodox sects, but…….”

I Ryang, who trailed off and rummaged through the documents placed on the desk, shook his head and continued.

“As expected, if you work yourself to death, there’s nothing you can’t do. Was the cleanup done neatly?”

“Yes. There’s no worry of being tracked. We used figures from the gray zone  to complicate the chain of command, so even the Murim Alliance’s intelligence bureau  won’t be able to suspect our involvement. However.”

“However?”

“……Because we used our main sect’s connections, there’s a possibility the First Young Master noticed. If he makes an issue of this, the matter could grow.”

“Hmm.”

At Ga Yeom’s voice mixed with worry, I Ryang, who pondered for a moment, nodded and was lost in thought for a while before giving an answer.

“My senior martial brother is certainly capable in that one aspect. But you don’t need to worry about that part.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s all or nothing anyway. If this competition fails, our necks will fly anyway. Conversely, if we can succeed, we can pull hard on the tilted scale.”

It was a tilted scale to begin with. This move was also just a gamble thrown in an all-or-nothing manner.

Then rather than needlessly worrying about things that couldn’t be helped, it was right to focus on what could be done.

“Rather, let’s talk about something else.”

I Ryang, who burst into a smirk, erased his smile and spoke.

“How many other personnel were mobilized?”

“It seems about five elites from each sect were selected as Daesageom and Taeak’s escort personnel.”

“On the Alliance side?”

“Don’t you know?”

“It seems there are none. Well, he’s always been consistent. Then three of the Ten Heavens  are heading toward the Murim Alliance.”

I Ryang, who paused for a moment, tapped the table with his finger and continued.

“How about the orthodox side? Surely they wouldn’t fail to respond with three Ten Heavens coming to their heart.”

“Travel parties heading toward the Murim Alliance were sighted from the Sword Pavilion  and Baek Ri Family.”

“Sword Marquis  and Sword Emperor …….”

I Ryang, who stroked his chin, was lost in thought for a moment. Because the gathering members were all extraordinary.

Three from the orthodox side, three from the dark side.

Although it didn’t include the Demonic Cult  or yokai, it was an event where six of the Ten Heavens, said to be the strongest in the current martial world, were gathering. If something happened there, it wouldn’t end as a trivial matter.

“Many things will be divided depending on whether Muryeon Hall wins or doesn’t win here.”

“About that matter…….”

Ga Yeom, who carefully opened his mouth, gauged I Ryang’s mood and spoke.

“Can they really win?”

“Can they win…….”

“I know the Muryeongwan trainees have grown a lot. You can tell just from watching from the side that they’re making rapid progress day by day. But isn’t the opponent too strong?”

At Ga Yeom’s words, I Ryang nodded. Because it wasn’t wrong.

Although the Muryeongwan trainees achieved remarkable growth during the training period, looking at the records of the past four years, the Muryeongwan trainees had never seized even a single victory from the Mujeongwan trainees.

That meant there was originally an insurmountable gap in ability between the Mujeongwan trainees and Muryeongwan trainees. It was no different from saying they crushed the Muryeongwan trainees with such a gap that even luck wasn’t permitted.

Moreover, even if this side achieved remarkable growth during the training period, there was no law saying they wouldn’t grow too. According to obtained intelligence, didn’t they entrust the Mujeongwan trainees’ training to Wudang’s Greatest Talent , the Taiji Hero  Cheongryoo ?

It was safe to assume the gap in ability hadn’t narrowed much. Normally one would think that way.

Only if it were normal.

“The Sect Master Baek Riyun I know is a person who doesn’t pick fights he can’t win. If he judged it worth trying, it must really be worth trying.”

“Is……that so?”

“Don’t you know just from what we’ve done so far? There’s no guarantee he won’t fail this time either, but without challenging, there’s no success.”

Of course, that possibility was small. Since the competition wasn’t low-level, it would be impossible to prepare in a pinpoint manner like the Baekgeom Competition , and raising ability in just a few months wasn’t easy either.

However, the Muryeongwan trainees already proved their potential once in Akyang. Then now there was no choice but to believe.

-I’ll come visit with good news.

Recalling beyond memory the appearance of Baek Riyun speaking calmly, I Ryang let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“Either way, we need him. Whether it works or not.”

It didn’t really matter what happened to Uicheonmun. What he invested in wasn’t Uicheonmun but the human being Baek Riyun himself.

The dice were already thrown, and the stakes were already laid on the table.

“Let’s just do what we can.”

I Ryang, who finished speaking, turned his gaze outside the window.

As if trying to find where Baek Riyun, who would be heading toward the Murim Alliance, was.

***

I had a dream.

A dream of the old days, over fifteen years past.

-How unfortunate.

-…….

Looking at the man speaking before his wife’s corpse grown cold, he gripped his sword hilt in his palm in silence. However, the man who confirmed that but didn’t enter combat readiness and continued speaking.

-The moment you draw it, there’s no turning back. You know that.

-…….

-She wanted it to end with just herself.

-…….

-If you draw that sword, at that moment all the Baek Ri bloodline will be exterminated. Child. It means the necks of your children and siblings are all placed on that sword’s blade.

At the bastard’s appearance speaking quietly as if seeing through his insides, rage boiled from within. The heart wanting to draw his sword right now to cut off that bastard’s neck.

However, he couldn’t draw it.

Because the moment he drew it, everything would end.

-A wise choice.

The world turned black along with the appearance of the man slowly moving away. And.

A moment later.

“My lord. Did you cough?”

“…….”

At the sound quietly heard from outside the window, Baek Ri Family Head  Baek Rigang , who opened his eyes, maintained silence and then opened his mouth.

“Come in.”

“Yes.”

At Baek Rigang’s permission, a white-robed man who slowly opened the door entered and sat properly before bowing his head.

“Shall I prepare washing?”

“……No.”

Washing.

At the word the man brought out, Baek Rigang stared at the man intently and then shook his head. The dream’s remnants still tingling at his eyes.

“It’s fine.”

Wasn’t it already a past matter?

Baek Rigang, who frowned slightly at the memory that occupied a corner of his mind vividly despite over ten years passing, shook his head and quietly spoke.

“……You came from morning. Do you have a report?”

“Yes.”

At Baek Rigang’s quiet voice, the white-robed man who bowed his head again spoke with a heavy voice.

“I’ll report. It’s intelligence that Miss and the Mujeongwan trainees have left Wudang Mountain .”

“……Has the time already come?”

Dropping a word and quietly sinking into thought, Baek Rigang turned his gaze outside. Because time was flowing incomparably fast, fleeting.

Nearly two months had passed since the Sado Alliance Leader proposed the ‘bet’ to the Murim Alliance.

During that time, the martial world was buzzing with talk about the Mujeong Hall and Muryeon Hall competition. No, it would be stranger if it didn’t buzz.

If the Murim Alliance wins, ceasefire; if the Sado Alliance wins, war resumes.

The content was a simple bet, yet the stakes were tremendously large. It was about whether or not to have war.

Depending on which side won this competition, the direction of the martial world for the next year, or several years, would be decided. One year of ceasefire would have a significant impact on each sect, the merchant world , and even the Imperial Palace.

So as the head of the Baek Ri Family occupying one seat of the Five Great Families , he couldn’t help but be concerned about that matter.

And moreover, for Baek Rigang, there was an element that concerned him even more.

“……Who do you think will win?”

“Pardon?”

“Mujeong Hall and Muryeon Hall.”

“Well…… Wouldn’t it be Mujeong Hall? Even when I last saw them, the difference between the two academies was considerably wide. It’s not a gap that can be narrowed overnight. Moreover, doesn’t Mujeong Hall have Miss too?”

“That would be the common thought.”

At the white-robed man’s appearance carefully laying out the conventional wisdom, Baek Rigang nodded. Because thinking commonly, that was right.

Martial arts  was fundamentally something built up.

No matter what fortuitous encounter one had, raising ability by several stages at once didn’t make sense. You might beat a master one level above through luck, but you couldn’t beat a master several levels above through luck.

Of course, sometimes reversals occurred if heavenly fortune overlapped. But wasn’t a competition something that didn’t end in a single match?

There was no luck. What would be determined was absolute ability. Looking from such a common-sense perspective, the white-robed man’s words had nothing strange about them.

Right.

That’s the story when looking from a common-sense perspective.

“How long has it been since you became Sword Corps Leader ?”

“……Are you asking about me?”

“Yes.”

“It’s my seventh year this year.”

“Is that so. Then you wouldn’t know.”

“……What do you mean?”

“What kind of person Un, that youngster is.”

He probably wouldn’t not know at all. It wasn’t as if the white-robed man wasn’t in the Baek Ri Family just because he wasn’t Sword Corps Leader. Wasn’t he a child who was famous as a prodigy in the first place?

The white-robed man also encountered Baek Riyun many times. They probably conversed over ten times. At that time, Baek Riyun was the next family head, and at that time, the white-robed man was the next Sword Corps Leader.

However, that was all the man knew.

“That youngster never takes on fights he’ll definitely lose. No matter how reckless it seems, he calculates everything first before proceeding.”

Both Baek Rigang, the Baek Ri Family Head, and the previous Sword Corps Leader knew. How animalistic Baek Riyun’s senses were, how outstanding his abilities were.

Martial arts talent? Of course outstanding. Even searching through the entire martial world, those with more outstanding talent than Baek Riyun probably didn’t number even three. However, was that Baek Riyun’s real talent?

No. Baek Riyun’s real talent wasn’t such a thing. The reason Baek Rigang, Baek Riseong , and many other Baek Ri Family elders picked Baek Riyun as the next family head was just one.

Because they were confident that if Baek Riyun became the Baek Ri Family Head, the Baek Ri Family would absolutely never crumble.

-Family Head. You…… aren’t even human.

Baek Rigang, who forcibly scattered the remnants rising beyond memory, looked at the white-robed man and quietly opened his mouth.

“Prepare to depart. We’ll have to leave a bit early.”

“Isn’t it a bit early? Arriving on the day of the competition would be sufficient.”

“Something I want to confirm came up.”

He heard from Baek Riseong—didn’t he say he’d come show his fully grown appearance?

A son whose methods and thoughts differed from his own. A fight he shouldn’t win. However, if it were the Baek Riyun that Baek Rigang knew, he would probably do his utmost to definitely win.

“I’m curious how he’ll resolve it.”

Baek Rigang, who let out a faint smile without realizing it, stroked the sheath of his sword placed beside him with his finger.

The surface of the sheath engraved with countless scars.