The abbot gazed at Plum Blossom Island with a bewildered expression.
The fleet of the Ten Thousand People clan, led by Jang Ilso, obstructed their view of the island. Still, it wasn't difficult to see between the ships and assess the situation.
'…What is happening?'
The war was in full swing. Jang Ilso had arrived at Plum Blossom Island amidst such a fierce situation. Even a three-year-old child could guess what would happen next.
But nothing was happening on the island. Not a single scream or clash of weapons could be heard.
It was quiet.
The excessive silence seemed to pierce the heart in an eerie way. The corners of the abbot's lips trembled.
He could tell intuitively what the source of that silence was.
Jang Ilso, the Hegemony Lord.
It was clear that he was plotting something immediately. Now, it seemed as if a giant snake that threatened even the sky was wrapping itself around the island.
But…
'What is it?'
What on earth could one attempt in such a situation? The moment Jang Ilso arrived, he… No, Shaolin set foot on the ground, the conclusion was almost a foregone conclusion.
"…Amitabha."
A murmur escaped his lips.
He couldn't read it at all. All he could sense was Jang Ilso's sincere malice emanating from the island. Just looking at it from afar gave him goosebumps…
'Please…'
Whatever Jang Ilso was after, if he got involved, the end was obvious. The abbot hoped that the Namgung family would take the right action.
However… the abbot didn't know it at the time.
What he really should have been paying attention to wasn't the Namgung family's reaction but what the snake's fangs wrapped around the island were truly after.
Jang Ilso's mouth twisted strangely as he looked back at Namgung Hwang.
Namgung Hwang looked like a person whose soul had been snatched away. The appearance that had once embodied overwhelming power was nowhere to be found. All that remained was the look of a defeated man who had been deceived by a three-inch tongue and had denied everything about himself.
"Hmmm."
Jang Ilso slowly licked his red lips with his tongue and made a sound.
"I lost…."
"…."
"No, Namgung Hwang."
Namgung Hwang slowly raised his head, which had been bowed down. His chin, trembling slightly, seemed to betray his struggle to hold in his emotions.
"You should ask for your life to be spared, right?"
"…."
"Cowardly and miserable. Right, that is what you need to say."
That wasn't the kind of tone one would use with an enemy. It was as if he were lightly scolding a disobedient child. Perhaps that tone was several times more humiliating to Namgung Hwang than the situation itself.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. This isn't a match between you and me. It's definitely not a match between the Namgung family and the Ten Thousand People Clan. Do you get it?"
Jang Ilso's big smile was so bright that it seemed almost cruel to witness.
"You don't even have the right to talk about losing to me."
Namgung Hwang's shoulders trembled.
The giant who had carried the name of Namgung was collapsing, infinitely miserably and cruelly.
"So speak again properly."
Jang Ilso's whisper spread clearly throughout the island, where everyone was holding their breath.
"Please spare us."
"…."
"Come on, try and beg like that, Namgung Hwang. That is how you become a good child."
Jang Ilso's face was filled with the look of vicious victory. The expression alone spoke of the situation more clearly than words.
Jang Ilso literally pushed Namgung Hwang and the Namgung family into a terrible sense of defeat without lifting a finger. Even if they had all died fighting, they wouldn't have felt such a terrible sense of defeat.
Namgung Hwang took his eyes off Jang Ilso and looked at his family members.
These were the people who came here solely because they trusted him, never once complaining, even as things became dire. Did he have the strength to witness their deaths with his own eyes?
Namgung Hwang's mouth twisted open, and a cry more desperate than a scream tore out.
"SPA…."
Jang Ilso stared at him with a smile.
"SPA…RE…."
His jaw trembled, his eyes were red, and his hands shook like thin branches.
It was the moment when the giant of the era was finally about to put everything down.
Paaaat!
Suddenly, a sword flew in and slammed into Jang Ilso's face in one swift motion.
"Hmm?"
Kakang!
Jang Ilso calmly raised his hand, blocking the sword with the ring on his fingers.
For a moment, dead silence fell.
The most astonished were the Namgung family members. They all opened their eyes wide and gasped in shock at the situation.
They groaned in despair at the thought that their lives, which had barely been secured, might be cut off with that one attack.
Kakak!
The sound of Jang Ilso's ring twisting the blade rang out eerily.
"…What are you doing, young lord?"
Namgung Do-Wei.
He gritted his teeth, stabbed Jang Ilso with his sword, and growled as he put strength into the hand that held the sword.
"Do not make me laugh, Jang Ilso."
"…."
"I will die here."
Jang Ilso looked at him with respect.
"D-Do-Wei!"
A loud scream burst out from Namgung Myung's mouth.
"What are you doing! Go back!"
"And what if I back off!"
"W-what?"
Namgung Do-Wei glanced back, gritting his teeth. His red eyes looked as if they would pierce Namgung Myung at any moment.
"If I back off, will you bet your life on a snake like this and return to Anhui?"
"…."
"And you will tell the children in the family mansion that you fought the Evil Sect to the very best and returned?"
Those last words were close to a scream.
"Father!"
Namgung Do-Wei shouted at Namgung Hwang.
"A swordsman who has lost his will is not a swordsman. What I must protect until the end is not my life but the soul of a warrior!"
Namgung Hwang's body trembled.
"You taught me that! You, of all people! And now you are telling me to beg for my life from the Evil Sect!?"
Namgung Hwang bit his lips tightly at that desperate cry and said,
"… S-step back, Do-Wei."
"NO! I will not step back."
"Do-Wei!"
Namgung Do-Wei glared at Jang Ilso.
"Did you say that one's life is one's own choice, Jang Ilso?"
"Yes."
"Then I…"
Namgung Do-Wei's eyes were wavering; it wasn't a word he spoke with firm determination and conviction. In fact, even as he spoke, his heart was unsure several times.
But that is why those words held more power.
"I will die here."
"…"
The moment those words fell, all of Namgung's swordsmen trembled.
A young swordsman? An innocent choice from someone who didn't know the world?
That cannot be true.
Because those trembling hands were telling them. Right now, Namgung Do-Wei was fighting the fear of death head-on. He gritted his teeth and stood up to the great evil called Jang Ilso.
"Namgung Do-Wei! What…"
Namgung Myung desperately tried to stop him, but Namgung Do-Wei cut him off.
"You can live."
"…"
"Go back alive too. That isn't wrong. It is the right choice."
Namgung Myung fell silent.
"But at least one person… at least one person must protect the will of the Namgung family. For the sake of the kids in the Namgung family who will face the people who return!"
Namgung Do-Wei's lips were bleeding.
"That's the role of the one who carries the blood of the Namgung family."
No one could retort at that.
What needed protection until the end wasn't life itself but the soul of a warrior. This was something Namgung Do-Wei and the others had heard countless times. Yet, they were driven to the brink and ultimately failed to uphold their moral code.
In that dire situation, only Namgung Do-Wei, still considered young, was safeguarding what he had learned.
A sense of solemnity and shame engulfed them simultaneously, leaving them troubled.
Some raised their heads with red eyes, some lowered theirs in shame, and others clenched their fists so tightly that their nails dug into their skin.
The reactions varied, but their thoughts were clear. The candle, now extinguished and emitting only smoke, held a faint spark.
Perhaps it was nothing.
The arrogance, the agreement—it could all be an illusion, as Jang Ilso had said. But there was someone present who would risk his life for such a cause.
Clench.
Someone was gritting their teeth. The heightened emotions spread like wildfire from their feet, and their bloodshot eyes followed Namgung Do-Wei's form.
The one they had been protecting.
The future of the Namgung family, which they had vowed to protect all their lives.
That future was now sacrificing itself to preserve the last pride of the family. If they were to call themselves warriors, if they knew how to wield a sword, they could not witness this without feeling moved.
The venom in their dead eyes began to stir once more. It seemed as if they could erupt again if someone opened the gate.
But at that moment, they heard the voice of Jang Ilso, with its languid nasal tone.
"Uhahaha."
And as the following words reached their ears, everyone in the Namgung family instinctively sensed something was amiss.
"Right."
Even Namgung Do-Wei looked at Jang Ilso in shock.
The Hegemony Lord gazed at Namgung Do-Wei with a gentle smile.
"Right, that is it, Namgung family. I was worried. I was worried that you might beg for your lives and end up going back alive."
Namgung Do-Wei thought.
This guy was a devil who came to deceive the humans.
That voice, the soft and warm voice, with no ill intent, is the devil's voice. Behind that voice, there is something dark and heavy that humans cannot even dare imagine.
"What a wonderful young lord."
Jang Ilso smiled brightly. It seemed like he was praising a child who had done a good thing.
Clack,
Jang Ilso pushed away the sword in his hand and lightly shook his head.
"There is nothing I can do."
Then he slightly spread his arms and slowly shrugged his shoulders.
Then he slightly spread his arms and slowly shrugged his shoulders.
"If you would not accept my mercy, then I have no choice but to do what it is that you want."
"…."
"Ga-Myung."
"Yes, Alliance Lord."
"Withdraw everyone."
Ho Ga-Myung looked at the Alliance Lord with wide eyes of shock. The confusion and shock were evident in his eyes, even to the Namgung family people.
"… are you talking about the Ten Thousand People clan?"
Normally, he would never have asked Jang Ilso anything, but Ho Ga-Myung was quite shocked.
Jang Ilso clicked his tongue with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Ga-Myung, you don't understand what I am saying. I clearly said, everyone. The entire Four Precepts Alliance will withdraw from the island."
"A-Alliance Lord. That…"
Then Jang Ilso glanced at Ho Ga-Myung. Ho Ga-Myung flinched at the cold gaze and lowered his head.
"I will carry out the orders."
"Yes, yes."
As if nothing had happened, Jang Ilso smiled again and slowly glanced at Namgung Hwang, the Namgung family, and Namgung Do-Wei.
"What a touching moment."
And he nodded like an actor on a drama stage, with an expression of pure admiration.
At that moment, Namgung Do-Wei's heart was filled with even more anxiety than before.
"Then… it would be polite to give him a fitting end."
Jang Ilso turned around, his red long coat fluttering in the strong, wind-like wings.
A quiet and calm voice flowed from him as he turned.
"Die here while agonizing over whether your choice was right."
He had no regrets now that he had made the decision.
Jang Ilso walked away, staggering ahead. Then Ho Ga-Myung gestured with his hand.
The pirates, who had been shocked by the sudden situation, seemed to freeze in place after receiving the order but soon began to leave Plum Blossom Island in confusion.
It was an absurd sight—the pirates who had held swords to the necks, lowering them without killing their opponents. The Namgung family couldn't even react; they just watched.
"This is…"
Namgung Myung mumbled in a low voice.
The eyes of the Namgung family swordsmen began to grow suspicious.
Maybe…
Was Jang Ilso's proposal really not mercy, then?
Was he not driving them away with some hidden intention but really trying to let them be?
That couldn't be it. It absolutely cannot be it…
Then why did the man turn around like that without even a hint of foolishness? Why didn't he force them into anything? No, why didn't he take their lives himself?
What on earth had he done now?
In a situation where no one could even guess how to accept this, only Namgung Do-Wei had one thought.
Maybe everything that happened on this island was Jang Ilso's plan.
From the moment Jang Ilso first arrived here until this moment, maybe they had never escaped the palm of Jang Ilso for even a moment. That horrible thought.
"Alliance Lord. Those people…"
"Surround the island with ships so that not a single ant can escape."
"Uh? Yes! I will do so!"
Ho Ga-Myung bit his lip, then cautiously asked.
"What are your plans for the future? May I ask?"
Jang Ilso smiled brightly.
"What can I do? I have to show them what true despair is."
"…Ah."
Ho Ga-Myung nodded as if he understood.
"To them, a comfortable death is a luxury."
"Tsk tsk, Ga-Myung. Why are you so unresponsive today? That's not like you. And it isn't that."
"…Uh?"
When Ho Ga-Myung asked incredulously, Jang Ilso smiled, twisting the corners of his lips.
"Namgung was never on my radar from the start. My goal was always…"
His eyes slowly moved.
"Those central plains bastards."
Jang Ilso's eyes, looking at Shaolin across the river, were filled with a sense of dread.
"The plan has finally been set. It is just the start. Come now, let us show them how many horrible sides are inside me!"
As he watched Jang Ilso laughing as if in awe, Ho Ga-Myung felt goosebumps running down his body.
It was the moment when Jang Ilso exposed his fangs to the world.