Read Novel Full Chapter 1205: What On Earth Is Different? (5)
Chapter 1205: What On Earth Is Different? (5)
The cup, poured overflowing, swayed. Jang Ilso, staring listlessly down at the cup, tilted his head with indifferent disdain.
“Is he gone?”
“Yes, Alliance lord. He just left the compound.”
“Tch.”
Jang Ilso clicked his tongue softly and brought the cup to his lips with a look that clearly showed his displeasure.
“He is so weak-hearted. I expected better, thought he was someone noted in the merchants.”
“...I’d like to humor you, but honestly, the fact he came to his senses in just an hour is impressive enough, I’d say.”
“Hm?”
“Considering how he confronted Alliance Lord just now.”
“Tsk tsk. You’re starting to say such sweet words these days. That’s how those in power go rotten.”
Ho Ga-Myung, hearing Jang Ilso’s not-quite-reproach, smiled faintly and asked.
“Then will you remove me?”
“Ugh.”
Jang Ilso gave a faint groan and shook his head.
“That won’t do. Even the so-called leader of merchants is an idiot like that; where would I ever find anyone to replace you?”
He drew a slow breath and continued.
“Being soft-hearted is one thing, but I thought a merchant would at least have some sense...”
“It must have been hard to understand.”
Ho Ga-Myung chuckled lightly and added to the sentiment.
“To them, Alliance Lord must have seemed nothing but a tyrant. Yet that same Alliance lord took his wealth and moved to relieve the commoners; of course they’d find that strange from their perspective.”
“So they’re just stupid.”
Jang Ilso clicked his tongue again and said nonchalantly.
“A merchant who supposedly only chases profit yet doesn’t even know what profit is. That’s what I mean.”
“...”
“Rulers preach virtue and order not because they’re virtuous, but because it’s the best way to handle dull commoners. Had they understood that, they wouldn’t have reacted that way. Particularly a merchant should know that virtue and order can be profitable, shouldn’t he?”
Ho Ga-Myung sighed.
“It may be obvious to the Alliance Lord, but for ordinary people like us, it’s not so easy.”
“You’re being melodramatic now. They’d have known that much, surely.”
“...Well, that’s true.”
Ho Ga-Myung smiled bitterly.
A ruler becomes a tyrant not because of greed, but because of sheer stupidity. A truly greedy king must be the perfect guardian of law and order.
Because that brings the most benefit to the king.
If everyone acts on their own desires and disregards law and order, chaos ensues, and massive force and funds are required to restore stability.
But if people uphold virtue and revere order, the ruler can extract profit from them without effort, often harshly so.
“Even those Justice faction fools have things to learn from. Virtue, order, covenant—those accustomed to them won’t raise a blade at others even as they starve.”
“...”
“Just as wolves are tamed on food to become dogs, people are tamed by virtue into slaves.”
Jang Ilso chuckled and laughed.
“Those self-righteous Justice faction types will call a killing blade a means of virtue when it suits them, so why shouldn’t I use their virtue as a weapon?”
“Absolutely correct.”
If word spreads that Four Sects Alliance cleared out the warehouses to feed the commoners, the peasants of the Southern Lands will hardly oppose the Hegemony Lord’s actions in the future.
Perhaps Jang Ilso will seem cruel to murim people but merciful to the untrained, and perhaps later those whom he aided will repay the favor by opposing the Justice faction.
Whatever the outcome, it would not harm Jang Ilso or the Four Sects Alliance. If such vast gains can be wrung from money and people, why hesitate?
“However...”
Ho Ga-Myung snickered.
“It’s a bit amusing. At this rate, I can’t promise the day won’t come when the Alliance Lord is called the greatest chivalrous benefactor in the land.”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Jang Ilso burst into a manic laugh.
“Chivalrous benefactor? Hahaha. Not bad at all! Hahahahaha! Then I’ll become the Guangdong Overlord Saint?”
He held his belly laughing; he knew it wasn’t impossible to imagine himself in that state.
Hypocrisy and virtue differ by a fine line. If someone lives a life of hypocrisy but dies without exposing it as such, aren’t they remembered as a virtuous person who did good all their life?
It doesn’t matter why Jang Ilso does good. If those helped praise him, he might truly be hailed as a chivalrous benefactor someday.
“Hah-hah. Fine. ‘Chivalrous warrior’... that has a ring to it.”
“It’s not only something to laugh at, half a joke, half not.”
“Hm?”
Jang Ilso narrowed his eyes and looked at Ho Ga-Myung. Ho Ga-Myung then spoke seriously.
“If being a chivalrous benefactor means sacrificing what one has to help others, then the term fits even now. Even if Four Sects Alliance’s coffers are ample, this will cost astronomical sums, won’t it?”
“Tch. You’re acting like a miser.”
Jang Ilso frowned.
“Desolate Gold Elder—that money-crazed fellow—has hoarded enough wealth to cover it with room to spare, hasn’t he?”
That was true—Black Ghost Fortress was said to be the wealthiest organization in the land. The fortune they had amassed from salt smuggling even stunned Ho Ga-Myung, who managed the finances of the enormous Ten Thousand People Clan.
But...
“Alliance Lord. Trials are a massive organization. You can hold out for a while, but there’s a limit to surviving by burning through hoarded funds.”
“No need to worry about that.”
Despite Ho Ga-Myung’s concerns, Jang Ilso waved his hand as if it didn’t matter.
“Then spend every last coin buying grain and supplies; don’t leave a single penny.”
“Lord Ryeon, if you do that...”
“Tsk tsk. Ga-Myung, don’t be so narrow; think it through.”
Jang Ilso rose slowly from his seat and took a step toward Ho Ga-Myung.
“What is money?”
“...Sorry?”
“And what is gold?”
“That is...”
Ho Ga-Myung, about to answer, fell silent. A meaningful smile spread across Jang Ilso’s lips.
“Yes. Understand? Money is nothing by itself. People give it value. Without agreements between people, money is just worthless paper, and gold is a soft lump of metal that can’t even make a sword.”
“...”
“What meaning does gold have to someone starving to death? No matter how massive the hoard, to the hungry it’s not worth a single grain of rice.”
“...Indeed.”
“Soon... yes. Soon it will come.”
A flash of predatory light crossed Jang Ilso’s face.
“A time when a sip of rice that fills a hungry belly matters more than stacks of receipts, when rusty iron that can be forged into a sharpened blade is worth more than rivers of gold!”
Ho Ga-Myung stared at him and forgot even to breathe.
Jang Ilso slowly drew his index finger across his blood-red lips.
“When that time comes, what the world believed right will be smashed into the dirt, and what the world deemed low will rise to the heavens.”
Wearing a devilish smile, he murmured in a chillingly low voice.
“That era, the era that burns all the world has built, is coming...”
A cold, blue ferocity flowed from Jang Ilso’s eyes.
“It will begin with my hand.”
Ho Ga-Myung shuddered.
For most, the word ‘stability’ is a symbol of peace. But for this man, stability means something else. He needs stability for one reason only.
So he need not watch his back. Only then can he focus on crushing and killing his enemies.
What Jang Ilso does is the utmost good. Yet that good leads to the utmost evil. What do you call the act of doing very righteous deeds to build a thoroughly wicked system?
No, there’s no need to name it.
‘Because it’s meaningless.’
Jang Ilso doesn’t distinguish between good and evil. Whether it’s one or the other, he simply acts without hesitation to achieve what he desires.
If acts of chivalry are needed to seize the world, he’ll gladly perform them; if he must commit the gravest crimes, he won’t hesitate a bit.
What he pursues is only desire, an almost pure, black-burning desire.
As if nothing had happened, Jang Ilso smoothed the ferocity from his face and lightly placed ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) a hand on Ho Ga-Myung’s shoulder.
“What will be needed then cannot be bought with money. So... shouldn’t you spend that money before it becomes worthless scraps of paper?”
“...Understood.”
“Good.”
Tap. Tap!
Jang Ilso lightly tapped Ho Ga-Myung’s shoulder twice, turned, approached the table, picked up the cup, and drained it at a gulp before speaking.
“In that sense...”
“...Yes?”
Jang Ilso spoke without turning his head.
“It’s starting to irritate me. I don’t have the patience to keep the blade at my back forever.”
“You mean the Southern Island?”
Ho Ga-Myung nodded in immediate understanding.
“Do not worry. I’ve just received news that relations between the Nine Great Sects and the Heavenly Friends Alliance have irreparably soured.”
“Hmm?”
“If that’s the case, they’ll be busy checking each other and unable to move freely. Then Southern Island will be utterly isolated. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“You?”
“It would be beneath me to have the Alliance Lord intervene personally for something like the Southern Island. Leave it to me.”
“Hmm...”
Jang Ilso hummed softly, hesitated, then slowly nodded.
“That will do. Do as you wish.”
“Thank you.”
When Ho Ga-Myung raised his head from a deep bow, Jang Ilso had already diverted his attention and was staring out the window, lost in thought and motionless.
Ho Ga-Myung left the room as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Jang Ilso’s musing. Only after putting sufficient distance did he pick up his pace.
‘Southern Island...’
Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes flashed coldly.
Until now they had been left alone simply to avoid giving those camped along the Yangtz an excuse to move. In truth, Four Sects Alliance’s power could have wiped out the Southern Island anytime.
‘It’s time to avenge the humiliation received at Plum Blossom Island.’
This is not merely revenge against the Nine Great Sects.
He intended to make those who begged for mercy clearly understand what fate awaits those who oppose Four Sects Alliance.
“In the manner of the Evil Sect.”
Ho Ga-Myung, wearing a cold smile, quickened his pace. A strange excitement began to show at his toes.