Chapter 268 : Plague (3)
Chapter 268: Plague (3)
About ten days ago, around the time when Little Tiger Beggar and guests from various sects and clans were visiting Maitreya Luminous Cult's estate, something else was happening elsewhere.
In the Alliance Leader's quarters, Chief Strategist Gongsun Hyeon was having a meeting with Alliance Leader Cheok Pae-myeong.
But the Chief Strategist's demeanor was different from usual.
The man who always seemed so composed and cold-headed now looked almost... haggard. Like he was being chased by something he couldn't quite catch.
Meanwhile, Alliance Leader Cheok Pae-myeong smiled leisurely as he spoke.
"Seems like things haven't been going your way lately, Chief Strategist."
"...My apologies, Alliance Leader."
"Hahaha. I'm not scolding you. How could one person control everything that happens in the world?"
Even though he said he wasn't scolding him, the Chief Strategist still ground his teeth at the consolation from the Alliance Leader. His pride was clearly stung.
He had always been confident that he had the whole Central Plains in the palm of his hand, but ever since the Blood Cult appeared, things kept going sideways.
And it was the same with the recent mess.
'Those damn Sichuan Tang Family bastards.'
He had formed a joint investigation team and attempted to pin the events at Mount Baihe on the Blood Cult, but the narrative did not take hold in the slightest.
The testimony of witnesses and the physical evidence were simply too irrefutable.
In the end, most of those involved in the Mount Baihe disaster started drawing their swords against the Sichuan Tang Family rather than the Blood Cult.
It meant their goal of concentrating all of the Central Plains' power into the Murim Alliance was shaking at its foundations.
"Don't worry, Chief Strategist."
The Chief Strategist, who'd been grinding his teeth, suddenly looked up at the Alliance Leader's words.
Did he have some kind of plan?
Before he could even finish that thought, the Alliance Leader continued.
"I'll go to Sichuan myself this time."
"Personally, sir?"
When the Chief Strategist asked with a guilty expression, the Alliance Leader nodded.
"I think I need to step in personally to fix this. If some half-ass goes instead, nobody's going to listen. And after I wrap things up in Sichuan, I'm thinking of visiting Gansu Province as well."
"Gansu Province... because of Maitreya Luminous Cult?"
"That's right. The Blood Cult is a problem, but don't you also get a bad feeling about them, Chief Strategist?"
At the Alliance Leader's question, the Chief Strategist nodded.
"They're not blatantly obstructing us, yet I cannot shake the feeling that they are constantly at odds with us."
"Even with this mess, their involvement was small, but it changed the whole outcome. I think I need to see exactly who they are with my own eyes."
"I'll select people to escort you, Alliance Leader."
The Alliance Leader shook his head.
"I'll leave right away. I don't need an escort. I'll go alone."
"Sending you alone is unthinkable, Alliance Leader."
Hearing the Chief Strategist's protest, Cheok Pae-myeong smiled gently.
"I need to move fast for this Sichuan business, so bringing people along would just slow me down. Besides, how many people in the Central Plains could actually kill me?"
* * *
After practically ordering that he would go alone, Cheok Pae-myeong left the Alliance and headed straight for Sichuan.
Though there was quite a distance between the Dongting Lake where the Murim Alliance was located and Sichuan, the Alliance Leader covered that distance in just a few days.
By the time the Alliance Leader arrived in Chengdu, there was a strange atmosphere in the air.
Led by the Emei Sect and the Peng Family, a huge group including Mount Hua, Wudang, Zhuge Family, the Hwangbo Family, and some local clans had set up camp, surrounding the Tang Family Village.
Emei had mobilized so many people that they'd practically emptied their main mountain, and the Peng Family had deployed half their family's forces. Meanwhile, Wudang and Mount Hua, along with the Zhuge and the Hwangbo, had each brought about twenty to thirty people.
Still, the alliance was so huge that they completely outnumbered and overpowered the Tang Family.
But for some reason, they weren't attacking on the Tang Family Village.
The Tang Family place was built by experts in poison and hidden weapons. So obviously, it was full of deadly traps and poisons.
Storming in there was basically suicide, so they'd chosen to starve the Tang Family out instead.
They'd essentially trapped the Tang Family so no one could leave, and were waiting for them to run out of water and food and come out on their own.
The Alliance Leader, who'd predicted this kind of standoff would develop, went about mediating between the factions as he'd told the Chief Strategist he would.
However, the Emei Sect and the Hebei Peng Family were out of the question for mediation.
Convincing the Emei Sect, whose disciples had been massacred by the Tang Family's poison, or the Peng Family, whose clan head's third son had lost his life, was impossible from the start.
Instead, he focused on persuading the other forces and the smaller sects of Sichuan.
He had a perfect justification.
'The Blood Cult is scheming in the shadows, so now is the time to focus on the Blood Cult rather than the Tang Family.'
And on top of that...
"The Alliance Leader speaks the truth!"
"We must kill those wicked Blood Cult bastards first!"
Beggar Chaser of the Beggars’ Gang and Taoist Master Cheongmok from Qingcheng stepped up to support the Alliance Leader,
The Murim Alliance, the Beggars’ Gang, and Qingcheng Sect all had the extermination of the Blood Cult as their top priority.
The Beggars’ Gang did it for justice, Qingcheng did it for revenge, and the Alliance did it to grab more power.
They all had completely different reasons, but they shared the same goal of striking the Blood Cult first.
Of course, you can't convince people with just a 'good cause.'
They say having a good cause is the most important thing in the Orthodox martial world, but almost nobody actually moves just for that. Especially the major players like the Seven Great Families or the others of the Nine Sects.
So the Alliance Leader made contact with the Tang Family and extracted a promise.
"I know you didn't do this. The Elder who did it was probably tricked by the Blood Cult."
To frame this incident as the work of the Blood Cult, the Alliance Leader provided the Tang Family with a suitable pretext.
"Even though Elder Tang Cheol-jin was deceived by the Blood Cult, he was still a member of the Tang Family. Therefore, you need to pay for the damages caused to the victims."
He extracted direct compensation so those besieging the Tang Family could accept the 'justification.'
In the end, the Sichuan Tang Family had to cough up a significant portion of the massive wealth they'd accumulated bit by bit in Chengdu over the past hundreds of years.
And when the elders of Zhuge and Hwangbo, Mount Hua and Wudang heard the Alliance Leader's mediation proposal, they showed various reactions.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Light."
Wudang's Hyeongong, who'd muttered a Taoist invocation, was the first to speak.
"Since the entire Mount Baihe affair was a trap set by the Blood Cult from the beginning, I agree with the Alliance Leader’s words."
It wasn't because of the gold and treasures the Sichuan Tang Family had offered. Although the matter of Un-baek weighed on his mind, Hyeongong believed that eliminating the wicked Blood Cult was the top priority.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Light. Our Mount Hua shares Master Hyeongong's thoughts."
"Our Zhuge Family thinks the same. There's an order of priority to all things. Though the Tang Family's crimes are great, are they greater than the Blood Cult's?"
With Hyeongong stepping forward first for the greater cause, Mount Hua's Master Mok and the Zhuge Clan's Zhuge Mun readily agreed while hiding their true intentions. They acted as if they were thinking of the greater cause, just like Hyeongong.
Seeing Master Mok and Zhuge Mun's transparent attitudes, Hwangbo Gung could only swallow a sigh inside.
(TL Note: I previously translated Mount Hua’s Master Mok to Mok Jin-ja. It’s not wrong but some of you readers might not be familiar with that. Actually, the correct rendition should be Mokjinja. It’s a Taoist name. If you are curious, a person who officially becomes a disciple of Taoism would usually be granted a temple name/Taoist name by their sect and usually, at the end of their name, there would be a certain suffix. It is Ja in Korean and Zi in Chinese. Both of them use the same Hanja that is 子 (Zi) for a respected person. For example, the Ghost Valley Master would be Gwigokja if translated to Korean, and Guiguzi if translated to Chinese. Anyway, for the sake of a comfortable reading experience, I’ll translate it to Master Mok from now on.)
'Elder Brother will be furious, but no matter how I think about it, this is better for the family.'
If Hwangbo Yeon or Hwangbo Se-hui had been seriously injured or killed, they would have obviously gone to war. But the situation was different now. Either way, both had returned safely, so rather than fighting the Tang Family and losing their elite warriors, taking a massive payout and returning home was the best choice for the Hwangbo Clan.
Especially now that Wudang, Mount Hua, and Zhuge had decided to pull out.
And so, Mount Hua, Wudang, Hwangbo, and Zhuge retreated after accepting the Alliance Leader's mediation proposal and returned to their respective territories.
"Right now, exterminating the Blood Cult and restoring peace to the Central Plains martial world is the top priority!"
While spouting such justifications.
Though the Peng Family and Emei Sect were quite upset at this betrayal, but since the excuse sounded so noble, they couldn't really say anything.
After fixing the mess in Sichuan in just a few days, the Alliance Leader headed north, straight for Gansu Province where the Maitreya Luminous Cult was based.
After traveling for several more days, Cheok Pae-myeong finally arrived at Lanzhou and strolled the street leisurely like someone going on a picnic.
"Excuse me, have you ever heard of the Maitreya Luminous Cult?"
He pretended not to know anything and asked the locals, and he got some interesting answers.
"They're the ones who saved us. Hahaha."
"They're wonderful people!"
Almost all of Lanzhou's residents were quick to praise them.
"Then where can I meet these Incarnations of Maitreya?"
"Normally you can only see them at the gatherings or when villains appear, but right now, you can find them over there. They're taking care of plague patients."
"Plague patients?"
"Yes. They even stepped up to help the sick. Isn't that admirable?"
Hearing the middle-aged man's answer, the Alliance Leader responded with a friendly-looking smile.
"Indeed it is. Hahaha."
After that, Cheok Pae-myeong continued strolling through Lanzhou with the leisurely gait of someone on vacation.
But inside, he was thinking something totally different.
'They’re like a bunch of cultists.'
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong here.
From Cheok Pae-myeong's perspective as someone trying to unify the Central Plains under the Murim Alliance, the common people's faith in Maitreya Luminous Cult felt somehow unpleasant.
After wandering around Lanzhou a bit more, he soon arrived near the hall where they were said to be caring for plague patients.
'That guy must be the head of Maitreya Luminous Cult.'
That’s when he locked eyes with a man wearing a mask.
* * *
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Murim Alliance Leader."
Il-mok stopped his crew and asked.
The Alliance Leader just stroked his beard with his free hand and answered.
"For you to recognize me so quickly, I must have become too famous. Hahaha."
He sounded so relaxed for a person who was surrounded by a group of martial artists ready to draw their weapons at any moment.
Il-mok ordered his subordinate.
"Stop!"
As he shouted, Il-mok felt something wet around his mouth.
Although they had only exchanged two blows, that exchange caused him internal injuries and caused blood to stain his clothes and mask.
This was also why Il-mok had stopped his subordinates.
'If we fight, we'll all die.'
Even though he'd been ambushed, the difference in skill was obvious. And that bastard didn't even look like he was going all out.
'So this is what they mean by there is always a sky beyond the sky.'
Though Il-mok was on the verge of achieving Transcendence thanks to his enlightenment at Mount Baihe, the gap between him and the Orthodox Faction's greatest master was still huge.
But he couldn't just grovel either.
It was not because of the fanatics watching him from behind. He knew from experience that the weaker you acted, the more likely you were to get pushed around.
"I'll ask again. What the hell do you think you're doing, Alliance Leader?"
When Il-mok asked with a stern expression again, Cheok Pae-myeong sheathed the saber he'd been holding in his right hand and cupped his fists.
He even bowed his head about halfway as he spoke.
"My apologies. When I came face to face with the leader of a rising sect whose fame has been spreading throughout the Central Plains lately, I wanted to test your skills just once. I guess it's an occupational hazard for martial artists. Hahaha."
Even though he'd bowed his head, there was no sense of servility at all. His apology even carried a playful tone.
On top of that, after finishing his apology, Cheok Pae-myeong raised his head and swept his gaze over those who'd stepped forward to help Il-mok.
"I heard you took over Gansu Province in an instant, and you really do have a lot of talented people."
Feeling like their full strength had been exposed in an instant, Il-mok inwardly swallowed a sigh and said, "Everyone, return to your posts and continue caring for the patients."
"But..."
"That's an order. Do you really think the Alliance Leader would chop off the head of a guy helping plague victims in broad daylight? Right, Alliance Leader?"
"......"
"Hahaha."
The crew glanced at Il-mok as if checking his intentions, and the Alliance Leader burst out laughing as if he found it interesting.
After sending his subordinates away, Il-mok looked at the Alliance Leader again and asked, "So, what brings a busy Alliance Leader to this backwater place?"
Il-mok had already roughly figured out why this bastard had attacked from their first meeting.
'It was a test.'
He probably wanted to see what kind of martial arts Il-mok used and how strong the cult really was.
If they'd started with a formal sparring match after revealing identities, Il-mok's side would have had time to prepare various tricks or hide things.
In fact, the Alliance Leader hadn't even gone all out and had stopped attacking after just a few exchanges.
But that only explained the attack. It didn't explain why he came here in the first place.
When Il-mok asked him sternly, Cheok Pae-myeong laughed and answered.
"The Maitreya Luminous Cult stopped the Blood Cult's plot, so as the Alliance Leader, I had to come and say hello and some thanks. Hahaha."
"So that ambush was your way of saying thanks?"
"Sparring with a master can be the catalyst for enlightenment. Some people pay a fortune just to spar with me, so that should count as a gift, right?”
The Alliance Leader answered shamelessly, then smiled and bowed his head.
"I was joking. I offer my sincere thanks once again."
While Il-mok kept his mouth shut at his hard-to-read attitude, the Alliance Leader spoke again.
"Also, I'd like to make a proposal on behalf of the Murim Alliance."
"What kind of proposal?"
"The Beggars' Gang tells me that the Maitreya Luminous Cult is an Orthodox group like us. So why don't you join our Alliance and work together for the peace of the martial world?"