Read Novel Full Chapter 1281: Who Came To Southern Lands Now? (1)
Chapter 1281: Who Came To Southern Lands Now? (1)
Swoooosh!
The boat cut through the rough current, moving forward, and forward again.
Whenever the boat rode over waves like this, Yu Gong felt a strange thrill. Probably because the blood of Southern Island, of the sea, ran in his veins.
But Yu Gong was not pleased as he steered through the waves. On the contrary, he felt miserable. The ones aboard his boat were the vicious men of the Ten Thousand People Clan who had tormented Southern Island for so long.
“You are steering straight, right?”
Those wearing blades at their waists asked frequently, glaring coldly. Yu Gong bit the inside of his cheek and nodded.
“Of course.”
“Don’t try anything foolish.”
“...I’m not that stupid.”
“You don’t look like it, though.”
The Ten Thousand People Clan members snickered and mocked each other.
But Yu Gong couldn’t even respond to their blatant ridicule. From the moment he boarded this boat, his life was essentially held hostage by them. Maybe even before he got on board.
“Remember this: wiping out a village is nothing. If you do something stupid, the people of your village will die in the most agonizing ways. You’d be lucky if they simply died.”
“...I know that.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Yu Gong knew.
He knew they weren’t threatening him because they were truly anxious. They were merely toying with him as a suitable amusement to kill time during the journey.
Because they knew he couldn’t resist.
“What a luxury in life. I never imagined I’d end up on a boat manned by Southern Island sect scum.”
“He’s was expelled, so he is not really from Southern Island Sect anymore, right?”
“That’s a different experience too. An expelled Southern Island disciple is even rarer than a Southern Island Sect member.”
“That’s true.”
The one who had called him rare openly sneered and sized up Yu Gong.
“Those Justice faction guys are merciful, huh. An expelled disciple roaming around in one piece. Back at the clan, if anyone suggested expulsion, they’d have slowly sawed them apart.”
“No one would dare think of doing that.”
“Exactly. And yet they let him go without a scratch. The sect leader of Southern Island Sect must be utterly foolish.”
“Right. In the end that expelled guy is biting at his heels. If I were Southern Island’s sect leader, I’d pull my hair out.”
“Hahaha. I bet.”
Yu Gong’s bitten lips went pale. Each of their offhand remarks, not run through a superior, stabbed at him.
What made it more painful was that there was nothing he could say to refute them. Right now he was a hunting dog chasing the sect that had shown him mercy.
And he was following them more thoroughly than anyone else...
Yu Gong’s gaze flicked back. He saw Ho Ga-Myung launching a red hawk from the deck. Yu Gong’s face hardened.
‘Damn it.’
Those hawks had hunted down all the carrier pigeons Southern Island Sect sent to the mainland. Now they were surely informing the Evil Sect forces stationed in Southern lands that Southern Island was heading there.
If only it weren’t for those hawks...
Wham!
At that moment Yu Gong’s face snapped to the side and blood appeared on his lip.
“How dare you look the commander that way!”
“Stop it. The commander told you not to touch him!”
“Tsk.”
One of the Ten Thousand People Clan members glared at Yu Gong in displeasure. Yu Gong wiped the blood from his lip with his sleeve.
‘Damn it.’
He hung his head. A heavy darkness settled in his chest that was hard to describe.
Flap-flap-flap.
The hawk that left Ho Ga-Myung’s hand shot into the sky like an arrow. It immediately turned and flew toward the land.
Gwi Yang, watching silently, spoke up.
“Where are you sending it? I thought we’d already sent messages to the necessary places.”
“Lower District Sect.”
“Lower District Sect?”
Gwi Yang asked with a puzzled look. Ho Ga-Myung slowly nodded.
“For a perfect encirclement, you need many watching eyes. It’s risky without the Lower District Sect’s cooperation.”
“Hmm.”
Gwi Yang stared at Ho Ga-Myung as if entertained.
As far as he knew, Ho Ga-Myung didn’t «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» care for the Lower District Sect. That he was now asking them for cooperation in his own name proved how seriously he regarded this matter.
“What about the main force?”
Ho Ga-Myung remained silent. Gwi Yang’s mouth twisted.
“You’re not planning to tell the Alliance lord, are you?”
“...”
“That could be construed as rebellion. You know that, commander?”
“Of course.”
Ho Ga-Myung answered that without hesitation and added,
“If the Alliance lord learns of this, killing those bastards would be nothing.”
“But?”
“...But the Alliance lord has a bad habit. If there’s an easy opportunity, he doesn’t take a small gain; he twists things to make a huge profit out of it.”
“...”
“Yet in that process, small gains could slip away. I want to prevent that.”
“Hoho. A mere commander dares to critique the Four Sects Alliance lord?”
“Ha.”
Ho Ga-Myung snorted and stared at Gwi Yang. Gwi Yang then smiled meaningfully.
“Thinking the Alliance lord’s protection will always be on your side is arrogance.”
“I never thought that. I’m only proving my usefulness.”
“Well. No matter how much you prove your worth, would the Alliance lord favor a horse that runs wild?”
Ho Ga-Myung couldn’t refute that.
Ho Ga-Myung knew as well: deceiving or excluding Jang Ilso with ulterior motives is what Jang Ilso hates most. If anyone but Ho Ga-Myung did it, they’d be torn apart; even Ho Ga-Myung would not escape punishment.
Moreover, Jang Ilso had once warned Ho Ga-Myung about this. The cost of ignoring it would be significant.
Nevertheless, Ho Ga-Myung pressed ahead without hesitation. His resolve remained unshaken.
“Sometimes you have to do things you can’t avoid.”
“Hmm?”
“...That guy is dangerous.”
“You’re talking about Mount Hua’s Sword Saint?”
Ho Ga-Myung quietly nodded. Gwi Yang frowned.
“I don’t get it.”
“...”
“Of course he’s a monster. By our ordinary standards he’s a walking catastrophe.”
Gwi Yang readily likened himself to an ordinary man.
He was the captain of the Ten Thousand People Clan and naturally proud. Yet he had no hesitation calling himself ordinary—when the opponent is the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, there’s no room for doubt.
“But that’s our standard.”
“...”
“To the shipmaster...”
“Alliance lord.”
“...Yes, to the Alliance lord. Compared to him it’s different. No matter how formidable that guy is, to the Alliance lord he’s just a toy on the palm. Compared to the Alliance lord, even that guy is merely ordinary. You know that, right?”
“...”
“So I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss over him. Do you really think that guy’s venom could reach the Alliance lord? Him?”
Ho Ga-Myung chose silence. A rare look of surprise crossed Gwi Yang’s eyes.
“...You’re serious.”
“...”
“What’s the reason?”
Ho Ga-Myung’s face hardened. He couldn’t persuade Jang Ilso because he himself couldn’t find an answer.
So this time too he could only answer like this.
“It’s a gut feeling.”
“...A gut feeling?”
“Yes. Or perhaps I should call it unease.”
Gwi Yang looked at Ho Ga-Myung blankly and asked,
“Did I hear you wrong?”
“...”
“From the world’s mind-reader Ho Ga-Myung: a gut feeling? unease? My ears don’t seem to be fine.”
“Laugh if you must.”
“I’m not laughing. I don’t understand. The commander I know is the farthest from things like that.”
A sigh escaped Ho Ga-Myung instead of an answer.
Gwi Yang was right. Ho Ga-Myung had always hated arguments without evidence. But now he was perhaps making one of the most important decisions of his life based solely on a feeling.
Even he found it hard to understand himself.
“It’s hard to explain.”
“...”
“But the reason is simple. Whatever that unease is, if it could in any way harm the Alliance lord, it must be removed early.”
Ho Ga-Myung said, almost spitting the words out.
“Even if that means disobeying the Alliance lord’s orders in the process.”
“...”
“The Mount Hua’s Sword Saint must be killed. If possible, before word reaches the Alliance lord, and before they reach the Yangtze river basin!”
Gwi Yang shook his head, slightly taken aback.
He had never seen Ho Ga-Myung act so emotionally. From his current state, no one would think him the cold-hearted mind-reader most despised within the Ten Thousand People Clan.
“So this stems from loyalty to the Alliance lord, then.”
“Will you stop it?”
“Me?”
Gwi Yang laughed softly as if incredulous.
“If you’re right, the moment the Alliance lord learns of that guy’s movements, there’s a good chance he’ll let him go.”
“...Maybe.”
“Then I’ll pretend I know nothing.”
When Ho Ga-Myung glanced over, Gwi Yang twisted his mouth into a grin.
“I don’t have the nerve to defy the Alliance lord, but it would bruise my pride if the prey I marked fled my territory. And I’m curious—what expression will that bastard wear when he dies?”
He licked his lip with his tongue, eyes shining. Ho Ga-Myung’s face twitched slightly.
Among the Evil Sect, who would shy away from killing? But Gwi Yang was extreme even among them. He enjoyed killing itself more than any benefit it brought.
Precisely, he was addicted to the tension of hunting the strong and the thrill when finally bringing them down.
But right now, Ho Ga-Myung needed that Gwi Yang the most. That fact was undeniable.
Gwi Yang asked.
“So what’s the encirclement like?”
“It’s already set up to some extent. It should be complete within a few days. So make sure you kill him. Put everything on the line.”
“No need for useless worries. That’s my specialty.”
Ho Ga-Myung snorted softly as he looked at Gwi Yang’s murderous eyes. His gaze then shifted to the Southern land—the very ground that would be limbs and flesh for Chung Myung.
‘No matter how I explain it, you wouldn’t understand.’
What could he possibly say?
No matter that he was the mind-reading Ho Ga-Myung, the commander of the Four Sects Alliance, and Jang Ilso’s right hand, thoughts he could not voice kept circling his mind.
‘He smells like the Alliance lord.’
No one else in the world might think so, but Ho Ga-Myung, who had long served Jang Ilso, could tell—they resembled each other.
They were extremely different, yet extremely similar. So...
‘If by a thousand-to-one, ten-thousand-to-one chance the Alliance lord ever falls by someone’s hand... then...’
Ho Ga-Myung, briefly lost in thought, quickly shook his head.
‘No. That can’t happen.’
It was absurd.
But a commander must prepare for even a one-in-a-thousand possibility. Even if it’s nothing more than an unfounded feeling, Ho Ga-Myung would do what he could.
‘Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, Chung Myung.’
Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes darkened.
‘If you were truly of the same kind as the Alliance lord, I couldn’t catch you. But you are not the Alliance lord.’
That difference would be what strangles Chung Myung’s neck.
‘Still, I’m curious too.’
If he heard that Chung Myung died at Ho Ga-Myung’s hands, what expression would Jang Ilso wear?
Would he be furious? Or would he shrug and say it couldn’t be helped? What exactly did the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint mean to him?
‘Presumptuous questions.’
Ho Ga-Myung cleared those thoughts from his head.
One can disobey orders, but one must never presume to judge the Alliance lord. If he crossed that line, Ho Ga-Myung would no longer be Ho Ga-Myung.
‘Only for the Alliance lord.’
Ho Ga-Myung’s gaze sank into endless depths.