Chapter 1412: If You Really Want It, You Should Take It. (1)

“…Sichuan?”

“Yes?”

Ho Ga-Myung’s face, watching the bowed person, twisted strangely.

“He is headed to Sichuan?”

“Yes! The Alliance lord ordered that we report the situation as soon as the troops arrive.”

Ho Ga-Myung was momentarily at a loss for words. When he raised his head, he saw the Four Sects Alliance forces withdrawing from Nanjing.

Even amid that chaos, what caught his eye was a person standing awkwardly in the center of a smashed carriage.

Jang Ilso. No, someone with an appearance similar to Jang Ilso.

Wearing the clothes only Jang Ilso wears in the world and the ornaments only he dons, trembling in fear.

Ho Ga-Myung knew precisely ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) who he was. He had to know. It was none other than Ho Ga-Myung who had used Jang Ilso’s distinctive appearance to secure his safety.

“Ha… haha…”

A low laugh escaped Ho Ga-Myung. The entire situation spread across his mind as if he had seen it all at once.

“Hahahahahaha!”

The suppressed laughter gradually grew into a large, manic grin quite unbefitting Ho Ga-Myung.

Exactly like Jang Ilso. Terribly like Jang Ilso.

Twisting what the whole world believed without a second thought, treating Ho Ga-Myung’s earnest pleas as trivial yet using them when convenient.

All of it was quintessentially Jang Ilso.

He deceives everyone: the world, the Four Sects Alliance, the Heavenly Friends Alliance, the Nine Great Sects.

Even Ho Ga-Myung, who followed him most closely.

“Haha…”

Ho Ga-Myung stopped laughing and exhaled deeply.

‘Since when, exactly?’

No matter how much of an Alliance Lord he was, he could not have expected those Heavenly Friends Alliance bastards to appear in the Southern Island Sect.

That means he had envisioned all of this from the moment the Heavenly Friends Alliance came to the Southern Island sect and when he learned Ho Ga-Myung was following them.

In that short time, Jang Ilso had effectively placed the whole world in his palm and toyed with it.

His whole body chilled and goosebumps ran down his spine.

“Did the Alliance lord… say anything to you separately?”

Ho Ga-Myung asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. As if expecting the question, the bowed man raised his head and looked up at Ho Ga-Myung.

“The Alliance lord said… the troops already know what they must do, so there’s no need to tell them explicitly.”

“…”

“But he did say that once the troops arrive here, the command over everyone gathered here will be in the hands of the commander.”

Ho Ga-Myung laughed. Even that answer was so Jang Ilso.

Ho Ga-Myung shook his head and stared blankly at the Four Sects Alliance forces.

“Who is controlling them right now?”

“Temporarily, the lieutenants of the commander are acting according to the orders the Alliance lord previously issued.”

“Where are they?”

“On the left, in the center of the Ten Thousand People Clan.”

Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes cooled ominously.

“Go that way. We must regain control.”

If Jang Ilso intends to trample Sichuan, there is one thing he must do: tie down those here so they cannot go to Sichuan.

After that, he will of course go to Sichuan himself.

“Move, now!”

“Yes, troops!”

A strange light briefly flashed in Ho Ga-Myung’s swiftly moving eyes. Even he found it hard to explain what he was feeling.

‘Alliance lord.’

Ho Ga-Myung felt a clear unease toward Mount Hua and the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost. He believed Jang Ilso was excessively lenient toward that Plum Blossom Sword Ghost. Perhaps that leniency and composure might one day twist to stab the Alliance lord in the throat.

That was why he obsessed over them and vowed to kill them with his own hands by any means necessary.

But even his desperate pursuit, ready to die, was for Jang Ilso merely another useful card to be played.

Someone’s piece. A pawn to be used casually.

Therefore…

‘How can one not marvel?’

How could anyone not pledge loyalty to the one who turns even Shaolin, Mount Hua, and the Heavenly Friends Alliance into mere game pieces?

Even if people were more numerous than grains of sand, only Jang Ilso could create such a spectacle in the world.

Ho Ga-Myung’s gaze suddenly turned. The leaders of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, whom he had relentlessly pursued, were gathered there.

They were too far away to read their faces, but he knew without looking what expressions they wore now.

‘Pathetic.’

Though he had hated them fiercely, in this moment Ho Ga-Myung felt something like pity for them.

If they had committed any wrongdoing, it was only one thing.

Turning Jang Ilso into an enemy.

❀ ❀ ❀

A heavy silence fell instantly.

The leaders of the Heavenly Friends Alliance stood speechless. People often say ‘lost for words,’ but never had that phrase felt so apt.

“Th… this is…”

Even when they managed to open their mouths, no words came out. Crushed words swirled chaotically in their heads, never forming sentences. Only bewilderment and despair felt vivid.

“W-What do you mean? Jang Ilso isn’t here? Then who is that guy? He’s right there, Jang Ilso!”

Jo Gul, bewildered and at a loss, finally shouted as if he couldn’t understand. His finger pointed at the man in a red robe standing in the settling dust cloud.

“…He’s not Jang Ilso.”

“W-Where else in the world would someone strut around in such flashy attire besides that bastard Jang Ilso…!”

Jo Gul, about to retort to Baek Cheon, abruptly lost his words. Mid-sentence, realization struck.

Only Jang Ilso walked around like that in the whole world.

That’s why the disguise was so easy.

If someone wore that red robe and ornaments and applied the distinctive makeup, no one would suspect he was not Jang Ilso.

Unless you could get close enough to inspect him closely, at a distance where his aura couldn’t be felt, anyone in the world would be certain he was Jang Ilso.

No need to look far; weren’t the people here doing the same?

“…Why didn’t we doubt it? Why…”

Baek Cheon bit his lip hard.

From the moment he saw that massive carriage, he had assumed Jang Ilso would be here. It was inevitable. This was a moment that would decide the fate of the world. In such a moment, it was unthinkable for Jang Ilso to withdraw. At least in Baek Cheon’s understanding.

This wasn’t Baek Cheon’s fault. No one in the world would have thought that way.

At that moment, a voice like a scream echoed.

“Then where is Jang Ilso? Where the hell is he right now!”

An indescribable dread washed over everyone.

The Ten Thousand People Clan had suffered countless losses chasing the Heavenly Friends Alliance. The problem was that Jang Ilso was never someone who suffered losses. If he intended to let those who chased him go after such sacrifices, he’d naturally inflict even greater losses.

What on earth was it?

A prey larger than the opportunity to trample the entire Heavenly Friends Alliance.

“Th-That’s impossible. There’s no place in the murim world with a concentration of power greater than here!”

At Namgung Do-Wei’s shout, everyone nodded in unison.

“Then what on earth…”

At that moment, a weak voice was heard.

“That’s… not it.”

“Yes?”

All the commoners turned to look. At the end of their gazes, Im So-Byeong sat down with a dazed face.

“Bigger… it’s not that. From the start, this place wasn’t a tasty prey for him.”

“What do you mean by that, Green Forest King?”

“…If it were him, he’d have considered the possibility that that Beop Jeong might cross the river. If that happened, even with the Four Sects Alliance’s forces concentrated, they’d face a battle whose outcome couldn’t be certain. Win and you gain much; lose and everything ends. No… even if he wins, he’d have to bear tremendous losses.”

Hyun Jong nodded.

Indeed, the Justice faction forces here were at least that strong. With the Heavenly Friends Alliance joined by Shaolin, the Peng Family, and others, even the Four Sects Alliance couldn’t take them lightly.

“But… he wasn’t interested in that kind of fight from the start.”

“…Yes?”

“Because he’s that kind of bastard! Damn it, exactly that kind of bastard! He mocks most of all those who take the hard road when easy prey is available. He saw things he could devour without shedding blood! Tender flesh he could pick apart with overwhelming force!”

A rancor surfaced on Im So-Byeong’s exhausted face.

This was a different order of defeat than being outread by Ho Ga-Myung. From the start, Jang Ilso hadn’t even stepped onto the board Im So-Byeong had been watching. No even Im So-Byeong himself had been one of the pieces on the board Jang Ilso observed.

A despair came over him as if some absolute being had lightly picked him up and placed him somewhere. A crushing helplessness overwhelmed Im So-Byeong.

“W-Where on earth is it then?”

“…Qing.”

“Yes?”

“Qingcheng! In Sichuan. He’s surely trampling the Qingcheng right now with hidden forces and the Lower District Sect in tow. Unlike here, that place has made no preparations for war one of the Nine Great sects!”

Everyone turned pale. Im So-Byeong continued.

“And of course he’ll burn Emei nearby as well. If he surprises and shatters Qingcheng, Emei will have to fight alone. With the combined strength of the Ten Thousand People Clan and the Lower District Sect, picking off Qingcheng sect and Emei Sect separately is nothing.”

A silence so complete you could hear a pin drop settled over the surroundings.

“Thoroughly…”

Countless images passed through Im So-Byeong’s mind like scenes.

The arduous journey from the Southern Island to here, the desperate fights where they risked everything to survive.

But to Jang Ilso, it was nothing more than rat-drive. While everyone’s gaze was fixed on that loud rat-drive, Jang Ilso strolled with muddy feet straight into the Justice faction’s inner sanctum.

“We were thoroughly toyed with. Thoroughly…”

Then someone who had been quietly listening spoke up.

“Next?”

“…Yes?”

Yu Yiseol met Im So-Byeong’s gaze with an impassive face.

“Qingcheng and Emei. What’s next after that?”

“Next is…”

Im So-Byeong turned his head slowly. In an instant, everyone’s gaze followed him to one place.

At the end stood a man whose face had gone pale.

“…The Tang Family.”

The head of the Sichuan Tang Family, the Poison King Tang Gunak.