Chapter 255
Chapter 255. The Whims of Heaven
"Do you have any idea why I did that?"
"No. I do not know."
"So, you judged that I was doing something wrong without even knowing."
"I did not doubt the Alliance Leader's intentions. I believe they were certainly well meant. That belief is not based on personal feelings. You personally went to Jin Yin Mountain to find Young Lady Tang, and there you tried to save everyone. If your goal had been to conceal the Blood Sect's true nature, you could simply have not accompanied them in the first place."
A voice colder than the night air continued at length.
"When you were left alone in the passage, trouble arose, and I know you overexerted yourself trying to resolve it."
"So, because it seemed something had gone wrong with me, you tried to resolve it in my stead?"
"No. How could I possibly resolve the Alliance Leader's problem in your place?"
The Four Seasons Hall Lord added,
"I only hoped that you would not make a mistake."
The one who had confined the master of the Murim Alliance met his gaze. The eyes, free of guilt, were as light as his voice.
"There are paths that are right, and even easy, yet must not be taken."
"......."
"The Alliance Leader who taught me that, if you weighed values and made your choice, then surely you were promised something greater than the sacrifice of a single life, Young Lady Tang's included. I believe it was a peace worth sacrificing for. However, one life cannot save the entirety of the Central Plains. This is not a game of numbers, nor a question of whose life weighs more."
In a dry tone, he spoke his thoughts.
"Someone who covets the Central Plains would never be satisfied with receiving just one life. With time, they would demand another, then wealth, and continue to exploit you, Alliance Leader. In the end, the Blood Demon would gather everything he desires through you, without ever dirtying his own hands."
Heavy energy flowed from Zhuge In-hwi.
He could not bring himself to examine the Alliance Leader directly, yet warmth lingered around them.
The energy that failed to reach the Alliance Leader soon withdrew on its own.
Rather than judging alone, Zhuge In-hwi asked him directly.
"What did you see that day?"
"......."
"What frightened you so much that you made such a decision?"
"Do you think you will not regret your own judgment?"
Zhuge In-hwi gave a small nod.
As if finding it absurd, the Alliance Leader burst into laughter.
Almost in defiance, Zhuge In-hwi voiced his reasoning.
"I have heard that the Five Palaces of the Outer Regions were also in the Blood Demon's grasp. While you were intoxicated by Five Minerals Powder, one of them, the North Sea Ice Palace, was rebuilt."
The Alliance Leader seemed to already know. He looked at Zhuge In-hwi without the slightest agitation.
Sensing that the Alliance Leader was listening intently, Zhuge In-hwi asked in a calm voice,
"I heard from the Four Directions Hall Lord that conditions in the North Sea have been extremely dire all this time. Were you aware of that as well?"
At the sharp question, the Alliance Leader fell silent.
"The North Sea Ice Palace is the reason I do not regret my choice."
Cutting through the sound of insects, Zhuge In-hwi added evenly,
"Because I trusted Tang So-hwa and sent her, the Ice Palace's bloodline was separated from the Blood Sect. Once they took control of the North Sea, the Blood Sect's power weakened greatly, and in the process, we even discovered a method to eliminate the Blood Sect's Gu poison."
For the first time, the Alliance Leader's expression twitched.
"You mean you found a way to erase the Blood Demon's blood?"
"Yes."
Measuring the Alliance Leader's agitation, Zhuge In-hwi slowly added,
"It is an antidote we could never have obtained if we had handed Tang So-hwa over to the Blood Demon."
"So you mean you do not regret binding me here and spiriting Tang So-hwa away."
The Alliance Leader let out a bitter smile.
When Zhuge In-hwi remained silent, the Alliance Leader spoke again.
"I have lived longer than you, In-hwi."
It was something anyone knew.
Yet the Alliance Leader continued with a seriousness unlike any before.
"There is such a thing as fate in this world. Humans merely live along the path set by Heaven; they cannot change the outcome."
"Do you know that predetermined outcome, Alliance Leader?"
It sounded like a question, yet there was no curiosity on his face.
Zhuge In-hwi did not agree with the Alliance Leader's words.
"Even if the Blood Demon is overwhelmingly powerful, how can one declare defeat to him as fate? Results are something that can only be spoken of after seeing the end. Yet no one in this world has seen the end."
Instead of replying, the Alliance Leader wore an inscrutable smile. Perhaps because he did not see that expression, the Four Seasons Hall Lord continued calmly.
"There is something I realized while living above my station in a high position. Humans cannot control either themselves or others."
"......."
"Our hearts differ between yesterday and today, we overturn decisions made a mere quarter-hour ago, and fools suddenly make wise choices. If fate is Heaven forcing humans to walk a predetermined path, then I guarantee that there are not even a handful in the world who follow that path without deviation."
The Four Seasons Hall Lord's expression was steeped in something that was neither faith nor distrust toward humanity.
"If Heaven were truly omniscient and omnipotent, it would not create paths for humans. It would know that humans cannot be controlled. In the first place, paths are formed as one walks them, and humans merely deceive themselves into thinking that by walking the paths they themselves created, they are following Heaven's will."
“So are you denying Heaven, saying there is no fate?”
Zhuge In-hwi shook his head.
"To be precise, I am saying that humans cannot know Heaven's will."
His voice was serious. He did not consider the Alliance Leader's words to be empty fancy.
"A river that has existed for hundreds of years can disappear the next year when drought comes. Even if Heaven has decided to erase that river next month, if clear water ripples now and fish abound, the humans of the present cannot know that will."
The Alliance Leader did not refute Zhuge In-hwi's words.
"Even if, as you say, heaven has determined humanity's path, humans do not know that predetermined road, and thus cannot know the roads that change. If you regard Heaven as an absolute power, then is not Heaven's whim itself also something humans cannot interfere with?"
"......."
"If human fate is merely to flow as Heaven decrees, then arbitrarily guessing at Heaven's will and interfering with that flow would itself be an act that goes against Heaven— a contradiction."
After a long while, the Alliance Leader let out a hearty laugh and asked,
"Are you saying that I know nothing?"
"Yes, because you too are human, Alliance Leader."
It was a fair statement.
Staring at the Four Seasons Hall Lord standing before him, he spoke.
"...... Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen you turn against me."
At those words, Zhuge In-hwi's eyebrow lifted slightly.
"I have never turned against you, Alliance Leader."
At the firm reply, the Alliance Leader gave a small snort of laughter.
Swallowing a light breath, he muttered as if to himself,
"I am curious about this ending as well. I cannot know what kind of world will come from a will shared by you and Tang So-hwa."
Zhuge In-hwi's eyebrow returned to its place—no, it dropped a little lower. His slightly narrowed eyes revealed emotion.
"...... I do not share my will with Young Lady Tang."
It was difficult to explain, but he did not look pleased.
The Alliance Leader did not try to read Zhuge In-hwi's mood. Instead, he recalled the day he was freed from a long punishment.
The name of the sorcerer who had sent the Yeonju Group back to their places vaguely lingered in his mind.
"In-hwi."
"Yes."
"Do you know that even the people of the Outer Regions understand that names carry meaning?"
It was an abrupt question, but Zhuge In-hwi nodded.
"I do not know all the clans of the Outer Regions, but all the people from there that I know put meaning into their names.”
With a bitter smile, the Alliance Leader said,
"Indeed. You may not be wrong."
Much was left unsaid. No matter that it was Zhuge In-hwi, he could not grasp the Alliance Leader's meaning at once.
All he could do was surmise that the man had accepted that something had changed.
* * *
Even the Ice Palace disciples flinched when they arrived at the Blood Demon's pavilion. It was because they discovered a splendid structure where a dragon coiled around red pillars as it climbed upward.
However, the Ice Palace disciples could not keep their eyes on the Red Pavilion for long.
When the Fourth Seat suddenly increased his speed and assaulted the Black Pavilion, their attention was instantly drawn that way.
Kwaaang.
With a violent surge of force, a section of the Black Pavilion's wall was blown away.
The Fourth Seat rushed inside the Black Pavilion in an instant, as if he knew exactly where he was headed.
Running after him, the Main Blood Hall Deputy Lord spoke urgently.
"J-Just a moment, please stop!"
The Fourth Seat halted and lifted his head.
Min Doyu swallowed a curse and spoke in a voice thick with displeasure.
"We're supposed to let the Blood Demon know that we attacked the Black Pavilion in the first place, but there's no one here, is there? We didn't come to actually loot the Black Pavilion, so we need to find a witness and send them out into the Great Desert."
The accompanying Ice Palace disciples stared blankly at Doyu.
Reading their expressions, Doyu's face hardened.
Those looks clearly said that their objective was to raid the Black Pavilion.
They had not the slightest interest in the situation of the Great Desert.
Fortunately, the heated atmosphere quickly subsided.
"Fifth Seat, go out under the guise of the gatekeeper's trial and trigger the formation."
At the Fourth Seat's order, the person beside him immediately left the pavilion.
The sight of him departing with the meek face of a lamb was almost laughable. It was an attitude that seemed to ask when they had ever cared about an outsider's opinion.
The abrupt shift in demeanor was absurd, yet it was also fortunate that there was no need for a verbal clash.
'Damn it, we don't have time for this!'
Min Doyu had no room to care about the Black Pavilion at all—his entire focus was on the Great Desert.
The Fourth Seat looked at him and spoke in a low voice.
"If the gatekeeper's formation is disturbed outside, an alarm will sound, and either the Blue Blood Hall or the Red Blood Hall will cross over. Let's go in now."
"Please go ahead. I have something to look for in the garden, so I'll stay here."
The Fourth Seat's gaze slid briefly toward the garden.
He nodded without asking for a reason. The plants of the garden were just as precious as secret manuals.
"And hurry. I hear that if you just bring out the administrator inside, there's no need to steal the manual. So don't drag things out."
The Ice Palace disciple, as if the North Sea were plagued by a disease that killed at the sound of a voice, offered no reply.
Watching the Ice Palace disciple vanish without a sound, Doyu felt a tightness in his solar plexus, but he swallowed his anger and pulled a slip of paper from his robe.
On it were written the materials Tang So-hwa had told him to secure.