Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 12: They will move north first.

Gang Yeon-shin disappeared, his few remaining strands of hair fluttering.

Jaegal Myeong-won and the other central elders of the clan approached with quick steps.

“What did you say to the leader of the Great Tiger Gang?”

I smiled at my father.

Although the Hegemon of the Fist may seem naive, he was still a person who had rolled in the Underworld his entire life.

Would he have cast aside all his doubts just by listening to my words about cutting out the Ghost Tigers’ tongues?

I had clearly mixed in the Great Murim Alliance’s special code words when conveying my message.

A code known only to a very small number of people at the center of the command structure within the Great Murim Alliance.

That was why the Hegemon of the Fist had immediately changed his attitude without even batting an eye.

In other words, even if there was a master in this Jaegal Clan with sensitive hearing capable of eavesdropping over long distances, it would have sounded like the dialect of the Southern Barbarians.

Without any further explanation, I got straight to the point.

“The Great Tiger Gang will move north first.”

“Hup!”

Startled, Jaegal Myeong-won gestured for the clan elders to withdraw.

Indeed, the Namgung Clan’s plan to move south was still top-secret information known only to a very few.

Eventually, all the elders retreated, and just like the last meeting, only my father, the First Young Master Jaegal Cheon, and the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom remained.

Jaegal Yeseong asked in a wizened voice.

“How dare you inform that lawless brute of the Alliance’s plans!”

“No, why do you frame the dark ambitions of the Namgung fellows who want to devour Jiangxi as an Alliance plan.”

“The Five Great Clans are also part of the Alliance!”

“That’s disappointing. There’s a good expression for it: a divisive scheme.”

“I do not understand.”

Suddenly, my father cut into the conversation.

The look he gave me was so cold that I thought, ‘The time has finally come.’

“For them to cross the Yangtze River and move north means they are prepared for an all-out war with our Murim Alliance. In their scattered and disorganized state, they cannot dare to face a battle with the Murim Alliance, which is on the verge of unifying the Jianghu. Moreover, they have even lost the Great Murim Alliance, which was their great central point.”

He was right.

My argument had no persuasive power at all.

With the Great Murim Alliance collapsed, the Underworld would dare to move north and wage an all-out war with the Namgung Clan?

That was something hard to imagine even when the Great Murim Alliance was still intact.

“Furthermore, that shrewd magnate of the Underworld would decide to move north just by listening to your words? Are you trying to jest with your father right now?”

The Jaegal Clan, the family of strategists that leads the Murim Alliance.

Naturally, from the Underworld’s perspective, everything the Jaegal Clan said would sound like a petty scheme.

But what could he do?

What he clearly heard with his own ears was the code of the Great Murim Alliance, and his own shame, which could never be revealed to the world, was being spouted one after another.

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Buried alive.

Gang Yeonju.

Safe house.

Ghost Tiger.

The words that had been cruelly pierced into his ears were words that only I, this Great Murim Alliance Leader, could mention in this world.

He would come to his senses after hearing that?

It would be faster to wait for the miracle of the sun rising in the west.

“They will move north. They have to move north.”

Actually, I was curious too.

Whether he would really gather the people of the Underworld and move north just by hearing the message of the Great Murim Alliance Leader.

If they were desperate, if they wished for my continued existence, I would reclaim the Divine Blade of Mad Martial Arts and lead the Underworld once more.

But if not…….

All that remained for me was revenge for my brothers.

“Let’s just wait and see for now.”

At my gritted-teeth response, Jaegal Yeseong chided me with feigned solemnity.

“We can delay the reply no longer!”

My father had yet to open the letters from either the Murim Alliance or the Namgung Clan.

“We can just reply right away.”

“To whom shall we reply?”

No, he’s asking something so obvious?

Is this really the Jaegal Clan of strategists?

“Both of them, of course. The Great Tiger Gang is gathering the World Under Heaven Society and the Black Lords of the Yangtze River to lead a large force north; we must inform both sides.”

“Huh…?”

I answered with an even more sinister smile.

“Now, Father, you no longer have to choose between the Murim Alliance and Namgung. Namgung will also give up on moving south.”

I prided myself on knowing Namgung Sejin better than anyone else.

That shrewd Namgung Clan Head was a person who would only make a move when at least an eighty percent chance of success was guaranteed.

If it were a surprise attack, it might be different, but if the Underworld gathered its forces and prepared for a great war, the Namgung Clan would never move south.

The Murim Alliance, which had just experienced the bloody tragedy of Hamma Valley not long ago, was also extremely reluctant to engage in large-scale battles.

At that moment, the First Young Master Jaegal Cheon, who had been listening quietly, interjected.

“If things really unfold as Hwi says, our clan can avoid falling out of favor with both the Murim Alliance and Namgung. Furthermore, we, who provided the information in advance, will take a significant portion of the credit for subjugating the remnants of the Underworld.”

“Subjugation?”

At my strange expression, Jaegal Cheon tilted his head and asked back.

“The difference in military strength is already severe, so if the Namgung Clan and the Murim Alliance prepare in advance, won’t even the Great Tiger Gang be bound to lose?”

I recalled what the Hegemon of the Fist had said as he left the Jaegal Clan and let out a chuckle.

-Did you really order our Great Tiger Gang to a great war? That Great Murim Alliance Leader?

-Huh? When did I ever tell you to fight the Orthodox Faction fellows?

-What?

How could that be?

Me, who had been tormented by the hardliners of the Great Murim Alliance my entire life, deciding on a war between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions?

The Demonic Cult was not completely destroyed yet.

Even the Sword Saint knew well how dangerous it was for us to engage in a war of attrition among ourselves.

“Everyone will probably go to Hyein Temple to offer some incense and come back.”

Jaegal Yeseong was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“What does that mean? Hyein Temple?”

“The Double Ninth Festival is coming soon, is that strange?”

“…….”

Hyein Temple was a temple on Mount Jeun, which could be said to be a stone’s throw from the Namgung Clan.

While the Namgung Clan was blocking the path to Mount Huang and making full preparations.

Our cute Underworld fellows could just go offer incense, praying for their respective families, and come back.

It was as if Hyein Temple, which had been minding its own business, had struck an unexpected gold mine.

Because incense offerers as generous as the Underworld fellows were rare.

“The Underworld fellows will not be armed with weapons. The clothes on their bodies will also be the typical attire of incense offerers. A preemptive strike? Do the damn monks of Shaolin Temple want to grab the back of their necks in shock? How dare they! To attack incense offerers full of Buddhist devotion! Precious incense offerers who will fill their offering boxes! What would Shaolin, which could be called the great monastery of the Seon school, think of the Murim Alliance if they did that?”

“Wow.”

So surprised was he that Jaegal Cheon even took a step back in admiration.

Jaegal Yeseong also blinked his eyelids and let out an exclamation as if mumbling to himself.

“H-how many layers of design have you laid out, you bastard. Practical benefits, justification, and even the humanistic principle of saving lives… you took care of all that… and in the end, the Murim Alliance, the Namgung Clan, and even our Jaegal Clan were all played by you, hoho!”

Namgung had prepared with their best efforts.

The Murim Alliance, which had not spared its support, had also done its part.

The Jaegal Clan, which had predicted the movements of the Underworld in advance and informed both sides of this news, was also living up to its reputation.

The Underworld fellows would also enjoy the scenery north of the Yangtze River for the first time in a while.

To say it again, it was no one’s fault.

But everyone felt uneasy.

This was the way I, the Martial Emperor, had always done things.

I enjoyed the battle, but I had no interest in seeing people die in large numbers.

No, even twisting a chicken’s neck makes a person instinctively shut their eyes tight, so why would I be crazy about killing and being killed?

Do they even know death, annihilation?

Having experienced Baengrang Village, the blood-soaked Musan Valley, I never wanted to experience that hell again.

I embraced the Underworld to protect my people, but I was a man who could never live as a murderer.

But for annihilation to befall the last of my Jianghu, the Great Murim Alliance, was it a damn joke of the heavens?

If I had known this would happen, I should have just lived according to the words of my subordinates who were locked up in prison.

“Hegemon of the Fist, Gang Yeon-shin is by no means a pushover. Do you have any reliable proof that he will definitely move as you say?”

My father, trying to examine my claims from multiple angles.

It was indeed a move befitting the head of the Jaegal Clan, but unfortunately, as I was now, I could not answer that question.

If I told him the truth, that I was the Martial Emperor, would he believe me?

“Let’s just say it’s a matter of faith.”

“Faith?”

“I am also curious as to how much you, Father, trust this son of yours.”

My father, who had been standing with his brows deeply furrowed for a long time, finally turned his back to me and looked north.

“I will send letters to both sides.”

“Oh, you believe me?”

“Enough!”

The ground shook with my father’s profound inner arts.

I was inwardly surprised.

Because the maturity of his martial arts was greater than I had thought.

No matter how difficult it was to gauge because my One Ki Divine Origin Art had not yet ripened, I still had the experience of a Martial Emperor.

For even my expectations to be wrong meant that the Ki art my father was practicing was beyond my ken.

The only internal energy cultivation method of the Jaegal Clan was the Holy Divine Art, so could it be that it wasn't that?

“Do you truly not know how dangerous a gamble that relies on probability is! This is so that I can hold you responsible for it in the future! Where in our Divine Skill Jaegal family is there room for gambling! Neither I nor the clan has ever taught you such a shabby strategy!”

I had forgotten.

That this Jaegal Clan was a family obsessed with numbers and calculations.

What those who deal with numbers hate most is probability that doesn't yield a definite answer, and naturally, such thinking would be reflected in the overall strategy of the Jaegal Clan.

But.

I said that dealing with the Jaegal Clan’s strategies was difficult, but I never said I had been defeated.

My brilliant moves always struck the Jaegal Clan from behind.

“Then why don’t you make a bet with me.”

“Hah….”

Jaegal Myeong-won turned back towards me with a look of disbelief.

I had pointed out his gamble, and he responded with a gamble; he must be at a loss for words.

“Looks like you’re scared.”

“Y-you bastard!”

“Let’s just say I lost and I’ll take the punishment now.”

At this point, it was a fight between men, beyond father and son.

Would the head of the Jaegal Clan, no, my father, avoid this man’s fight?

“I wonder what our grandson would like to bet?”

Contrary to my father, Jaegal Yeseong, who was wearing rose-tinted glasses that saw me as the reincarnation of Echoing Energy, seemed quite pleased with my strategy.

At his question, I was holding back with all my might.

Even while telling myself several times that I shouldn't do this, in the end, I couldn't stop my itching mouth.

“That internal energy.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m talking about Father’s internal energy cultivation method just now.”

“Internal energy?”

“Yes. If I win, I will have the mnemonic for circulating that internal energy cultivation method.”

Jaegal Yeseong’s aged eyes turned towards my father.

“Do you truly covet the Clan Head’s divine art?”

“Yes.”

The Martial Emperor’s greed is endless, and he always repeats the same mistakes.

Damn it, not yet.

I couldn’t easily accept that there was an internal energy cultivation method in this Jianghu that I didn’t know.