Chapter 384 : Seed (3)
Chapter 384: Seed (3)
When the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord finished relaying the message, Wi Jin-hak looked at Il-mok and spoke gently.
"Our youngest is not in fit condition. Stay here and rest. I'll handle this one myself."
Despite his Eldest Brother's dependable smile, Il-mok shook his head.
"I am really fine. The future of the Cult could very well be decided today, and I'd like to be there if I can."
In all likelihood, the talks would now turn in earnest toward the question of an alliance, and there was the small matter of Wi Jin-hak's open distaste for the Orthodox Faction of the Central Plains. If anyone was going to keep the peace at that table, it had to be him.
"Besides, I'm the one who's been dealing with them out in the Central Plains all this time, aren't I? Please, let me come along."
"Hmm… If your heart is so set on it, then so be it."
Their brief exchange concluded, they followed the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord out of the quarters and made their way toward a certain inn in the marketplace of Xining.
Upon reaching its uppermost floor, they found four people already awaiting them there.
"Greetings. I am Wi Jin-hak, Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."
Instead of offering the customary cupped-fist greeting or a polite nod, Wi Jin-hak introduced himself with calm indifference that invited an unsettling silence in the room.
Hwangbo Ak, the Beggar King, and the Supreme Ultimate Sword Immortal all wore complicated expressions. Their heads were already contemplating the alliance, but decades of grudge don't just evaporate, and they couldn't help but hesitate.
Il-mok had at least known these men beforehand, but coming face-to-face with the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the very enemy they'd opposed for so long, stirred up more emotions than they could sort through in a short time.
But not everyone reacted in such a manner.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Zhuge Mun, Family Head of the Zhuge Family."
Zhuge Mun greeted Wi Jin-hak with a gentle smile and an utterly unflustered demeanor.
Thanks to him, the atmosphere thawed somewhat, and the others began to offer their greetings to Wi Jin-hak one by one.
"Ahem. I am Jeong Gu (正狗), The Father of the Beggars’ Gang."
"I am Muheoja of Wudang."
"I am Hwangbo Ak, Family Head of the Hwangbo Family."
Following their introductions, Il-mok formally introduced himself as well.
"I am Il-mok, the youngest brother of Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak."
The moment Il-mok finished his introduction, Wi Jin-hak burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha. Meeting people whom I had thought one day to cross blades with on the battlefield is novel in many ways. Standing about while we converse seems hardly proper. Why not take our seats first?"
With that, Wi Jin-hak dropped into his chair without caring about seniority. Zhuge Mun and Il-mok sat down without missing a beat, while the other three settled in a bit more awkwardly.
Wi Jin-hak swept his gaze over the leaders of the Orthodox Faction before he spoke again.
"Quite a few of our Cult's warriors have come to Xining, but don't let it concern you. I've already heard about how you helped my youngest brother. Even if today's talks don't go the way we'd like, no harm will come to any of you here. I swear it on the throne of the Cult Leader."
Though they had only just met and exchanged a few words, the orthodox men were able to gain a rough sense of just what kind of man Wi Jin-hak was.
'A bold one, indeed.'
'I had heard he was once known as the Mad Demon for his violent temper, but as usual, the rumors of the martial world are not to be trusted. Tch.'
While the Supreme Ultimate Sword Immortal and the Beggar King each entertained such thoughts, Zhuge Mun smiled softly. "Hahaha. How generous of you. With such a promise from the Cult Leader himself, these talks should go a great deal more smoothly."
Sensing Zhuge Mun quietly trying to guide the conversation, Il-mok followed.
"Before we begin the discussion, there is one thing I should like to ask the Family Head of the Zhuge Family."
"Of me?"
Still maintaining his smile, Zhuge Mun asked the question and glanced briefly toward Wi Jin-hak.
Wi Jin-hak nodded and said, "Before being my brother, Il-mok is the follower of the Divine Cult whom I trust most. So long as he commits no grave breach of courtesy, I should be grateful if you would answer the youngest's question."
Nodding at Wi Jin-hak's words, Zhuge Mun turned his attention to Il-mok again.
"Then, ask freely."
"What made you decide to attend this meeting, Head of the Zhuge Family?"
Whatever the others might be, Il-mok and Zhuge Mun had had no dealings whatsoever up to this point.
Naturally, it was not easy to grasp why the man should be present here with them.
Zhuge Mun replied with an expression that suggested it was he who failed to understand.
"Why? Because I trust the words of yourself, of Senior Beggar King here, and of Senior Supreme Ultimate Sword Immortal. Is that not reason enough?"
The way he said it was like he couldn't understand why this was even a question, but Il-mok still wasn't satisfied.
"It just struck me as curious. Most people don't accept that story so easily, yet you seem to take it in stride. That's why I asked."
Even the people he'd already built some level of trust with hadn't believed the story right away.
And in the end, hadn't the Buddha Venerable and the Sword Venerable refused to believe it and walked away?
"Hahaha. So that's what you wanted to know. Well, of course, it's simply because your side is the more believable one right now."
Then, noticing the others were also giving him odd looks, Zhuge Mun added a bit more.
"In truth, our Zhuge Family has long harbored numerous suspicions concerning the Alliance Leader and the Chief Strategist."
"You're saying you already suspected they were lapdogs of the Eastern Depot?"
The Beggar King’s face seemed to ask why he had not raised the matter sooner, but Zhuge Mun shook his head in response.
"I had no idea about any connection to the Eastern Depot. I merely suspected the abrupt change in their conduct. Think about it, weren't both the Alliance Leader and the Chief Strategist essentially figureheads to begin with? They were the most prestigious people who didn't belong to either the Nine Great Sects and One Gang or the Seven Great Families that were propped up to serve as mediators. Were a figure from any one sect or family to assume those posts, the balance of power would tilt, and so figureheads were placed there of necessity."
While the remaining three orthodox men wore awkward expressions or coughed at Zhuge Mun's blunt phrasing, Zhuge Mun's account continued on.
"Those two had certainly carried themselves as though they understood as much. And yet, didn't their attitude change overnight the moment the Blood Cult started stirring?"
"So you're saying you've had your doubts ever since then?"
Zhuge Mun nodded at Hwangbo Ak's question.
"Indeed. And upon hearing the accounts of Senior Beggar King, Senior Supreme Ultimate Sword Immortal, and what Young Master Il-mok had to say about that battle, everything fell into place. More than anything, the mutual-destruction strategy the Imperial Family had prepared seems quite doable, even to my eyes."
So saying, Zhuge Mun gave a sly grin and added one final remark.
"A mistake people who think they're clever often make is assuming nobody else can think the same way they do. But in this case, the moment I heard the story, my immediate reaction was, I'd do the same thing. What ruler in this world would actually want to share their power?"
The Beggar King mulled it over for a moment before pressing further.
"Yet up until now, the Imperial Family has never once shown displeasure regarding the non-interference pact between government and martial world."
"That's because the previous Emperors were the odd ones. You have to consider the fact that the strength of the Central Plains’ martial worlds wasn’t nearly as bloated as it is now. Back then maybe different as most factions were scattered, but with the Martial Alliance standing there as a clear rallying point, the current martial world is nothing less than a serious national threat from within in the eyes of a competent Emperor.”
The Central Plains had once been home to several Unorthodox powers powerful enough to rival any single one of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang or the Seven Great Families. But every time the Orthodox Faction faced a large Unorthodox power, they'd banded together under the Martial Alliance's banner and wiped them out completely.
Thanks to that, the Orthodox Faction came to rule the entire Central Plains uncontested, and now only scattered bands of minor Unorthodox Faction rabble remained.
And having claimed the fertile lands of the Central Plains all to themselves, the Orthodox Faction's strength had only grown more bloated with each passing day.
Once their thoughts had reached this point, the other orthodox men began to grasp the full picture as well.
'We all have grown too comfortable with this whole non-interference pact.'
While they were each turning this thought over, Il-mok was wrestling with a slightly different concern.
'Tch. It would have been good if Shaolin and Qingcheng had come over as well.'
As for the Namgung, the previous battle had already made them outright enemies, so he'd written off that possibility from the start. Many of the Namgung's warriors had fallen to the hands of the Demonic Cult, and many of the Demonic Cult's warriors had likewise fallen to the Namgung or to Namgung Jin himself.
But the fact that Shaolin and Qingcheng had departed left him with much regret.
The fact that they had not remained in Xining meant they probably hadn't been able to bring themselves to trust the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult even at the very end.
While turning that over in his mind, Il-mok belatedly remembered something.
"By the way, what happened to the Chief Strategist?"
Since Il-mok had been unconscious and hadn't quite caught up on everything, his question prompted a brief and awkward silence. The three orthodox men were all somehow looking at Zhuge Mun, and Zhuge Mun calmly responded to their gazes.
"One of our family's warriors managed to subdue him, but he ended up dying because of that Blood Cult’s Formation."
"Ah…"
A sigh of disappointment escaped him, but Zhuge Mun could hardly be blamed. Everyone had been equally caught up in the chaos that day.
Pushing the regret aside, Il-mok directed another question at Zhuge Mun.
"So in the end, what you're saying is that you're siding with us because you can't trust the Imperial Family, am I correct? Are you saying you can trust us?”
A man of power does not share his power.
By Zhuge Mun's own logic, no man of power could reasonably be trusted.
Zhuge Mun answered with a smile.
"Of course, I do not trust you."
His perfectly composed reply left everyone wearing expressions of bewilderment, but he paid them no mind and instead turned the question back upon Il-mok.
"You do not trust our Zhuge Family as well.”
"…At present, yes."
Zhuge Mun smiled as if he expected that much.
"A perfectly natural reaction. What's the point of an alliance that's only built on words? So, in order for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to trust our Zhuge Family and our Zhuge Family to trust the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult more, shouldn't we first build some bond between us?"
"And in what manner do you intend to forge this bond?"
Zhuge Mun replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Marriage."
"!!!"
Every one of the orthodox men reacted with visible shock. Among them, the most stricken was Hwangbo Ak.
'Oh, for—! That sly bastard beat me to it!'
If this hadn't been a formal occasion, he might have actually let a string of curses slip out without thinking.
'No! It's not too late yet. Even if the Zhuge Family calls their daughters to Xining now, our Se-hui will get here first, so any marriage to the Young Master... Wait a fucking minute, hadn’t the Young Master already had something going on with that maidservant?'
Hwangbo Ak glanced back and forth between Il-mok and Zhuge Mun like he was going to get a Qi Deviation.
But contrary to his expectation, Zhuge Mun didn’t continue his dialogue with Il-mok and abruptly turned his head and looked elsewhere.
To Wi Jin-hak, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had until now sat calmly observing the proceedings without once joining the conversation.
"As I understand it, the Cult Leader has yet to take a wife. In that case, would you take a daughter of our Zhuge Family as your bride?"