Chapter 1449: I Cannot Do It Alone. (4)

“Then, um, how much would you give per month?”

“…Please shut up.”

“Cut it out, you bastard!”

Five Swords grabbed Chung Myung by the collar with an exhausted face. It was harder to stop this guy than to break through the four passes from the Southern Island Sect.

“I’m sorry, Family Lord…”

“No… You have nothing to apologize for.”

Baek Cheon’s shameless apology made Tang Gunak give a bitter smile. He then looked at Chung Myung and spoke.

“It’s true that the Tang Family has money. And it’s also true that it’s more than you all think.”

“Ugh. Look at that smug face. He looks like a different person.”

…Ahem, Tang Gunak cleared his throat and spoke again.

“But the Sichuan Tang Family won’t be giving that money to Mount Hua.”

Chung Myung’s eyes snapped wide.

“What? Are you joking with me…! Ugh! Ugh ugh!”

As Chung Myung was finally dragged away again, Baek Cheon sighed deeply and turned to Tang Gunak.

“Do not worry. Mount Hua is not such an outrageous sect as to demand money from the Sichuan Tang Family in their hardship. Rather, we…”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Yes?”

“Spending money must have meaning. However… not in that way.”

Tang Gunak turned his head and searched for Hyun Jong with his eyes, as if there was something he absolutely had to say.

“It’s time for us to break free from this slapdash way of doing things.”

His eyes sank deeply.

At Tang Gunak’s polite words, Hyun Jong’s eyes widened.

“…What did you just say?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“No… But Family Lord. That’s a bit…”

“It’s what must be done, Alliance Leader.”

Tang Gunak was resolute.

“Of course I understand your reservations. The Heavenly Friends Alliance was formed purely on the camaraderie of each sect; nothing else should interfere. But the current situation is nothing like when the Heavenly Friends Alliance was first formed.”

“…That may be true, but…”

“Now we need a clearer and firmer method. With the loose structure we have now, we cannot cope with the coming upheaval.”

Hyun Jong’s face grew grave. Tang Gunak wasn’t wrong. But as for that method…

At that moment, Chung Myung suddenly poked his head out between the wall Five Swords had formed, just in case.

“Uh, so…!”

“Get back in!”

Baek Cheon tried to grab his face and shove him back in, but Chung Myung resisted stubbornly and finally spoke.

“Since the Tang Family is moving to Shaanxi anyway, you’re suggesting we build the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s headquarters around Hwa-Um village?”

“That’s right.”

“And pull all the allied followers scattered everywhere into that place?”

“Exactly.”

Up to here, it wasn’t exactly an appealing proposal—at least not to Chung Myung.

In fact, if the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s headquarters were located in Shaanxi, Mount Hua might feel secure—but conversely, it would create a situation where those targeting the Heavenly Friends Alliance would only need to strike Shaanxi.

But Chung Myung couldn’t bring himself to let go of the bait Tang Gunak had thrown. The reason was…

“And in return, we collect tribute?”

“…You should call it membership dues, not tribute.”

“Ah, right! Membership dues, membership dues! Hehe. I misspoke.”

Chung Myung grinned sheepishly, but everyone watching twisted their faces in disgust.

‘That bastard’s eyes turned into coin shapes.’

‘He said that knowing exactly what he meant.’

Pushing Five Swords aside to approach properly, Chung Myung cleared his throat loudly and continued.

“Hmm… It’s not that money is everything, but…”

“It will matter.”

“Probably more important than anything else in the world?”

“That bastard would sell Mount Hua for money.”

“Ah, could you all shut up for a sec.”

Having socked Five Swords with a punch, Chung Myung looked at Tang Gunak and spoke again.

“Is it necessary to go that far?”

Tang Gunak chuckled at the bluntness of the question.

“There is.”

“That is…”

“This incident taught me painfully: compared to the Four Sects Alliance we must face, the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s fatal weakness is that there are simply too many places to defend.”

“…Hmm.”

Chung Myung nodded as if conceding the point.

“Had the Tang Family not been struck, I wouldn’t have thought of this either. But after it happened, I understand.”

“So others shouldn’t suffer what happened to the Tang Family?”

“Think about it. If the Tang Family hadn’t been hit this time—if we had arrived in time and pushed the Ten Thousand People Clan back—what then?”

“…”

“Even after that, when I moved to support you, could I bring along the same number of elite troops as before?”

It would be impossible. Knowing their own stronghold could be attacked, they’d naturally have to consider defending it.

“To leave enough troops to hold out for several days against any attack from the Four Sects Alliance, at least half the forces would have to remain at each family. Do you understand what that implies?”

“Of course I understand.”

Tang Gunak nodded. Chung Myung couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.

“So the first thing we must do is reduce the places we need to defend. Before things properly erupt, gather all Heavenly Friends Alliance-affiliated sects scattered across the land into Shaanxi.”

“…Not just the fighters?”

“That’s right.”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“If we leave them scattered, Jang Ilso will naturally target those places. Then we’ll be at his mercy again. Even if the parties try desperately to stop it, that’s what will happen.”

This wasn’t about Tang Gunak himself; it was a criticism aimed at Chung Myung.

If the Ice Palace were attacked and the Ice Palace folk were being slaughtered by Jang Ilso, even if the Ice Palace tried to dissuade him, Chung Myung would definitely go there.

Chung Myung could hardly object.

“But if their cores—all the key people of each sect—gather in Shaanxi around Hwa-Um village, then we only need to defend Shaanxi. The places Jang Ilso can target would be drastically reduced, and the schemes he can use would be limited.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung couldn’t refute that and gave a slight nod.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of it. Jang Ilso holds countless cards. Even Chung Myung would struggle to respond to them all one by one.

Isn’t a fight between someone who has nothing to lose and someone who must protect everything doomed from the start? The outcome is almost predetermined.

The important thing is to reduce the number of cards Jang Ilso holds. In that sense, this strategy is certainly meaningful.

But there was exactly one reason Chung Myung, despite knowing this, couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

Money.

If you gather people, you must take responsibility for them. But if you act without plans in a war that could drag on indefinitely, supply issues could become severe.

Just finding places for all those people to live and putting proper food in their mouths would require mobilizing all the Eunha Merchant Guild resources, to say nothing of anything else.

Mount Hua alone could never shoulder those massive expenditures.

“I know what you’re worried about. But that’s not for you to worry about.”

“Bold promises are fine, but it’s not so simple. Putting aside the Tang Family and Namgung, you know Mount Hua, the Ice Palace, and the Beast Palace aren’t exactly wealthy.”

“Mount Hua?”

“…”

At Tang Gunak’s blunt look asking why Mount Hua—the one sweeping up the Central Plains’ coffers—would involve itself with those impoverished border sects, Chung Myung quietly averted his gaze.

“Well… uh. It’s like pouring water into a bottomless jar.”

“…Let’s say that’s the case.”

“Ahem. Anyway!”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“You needn’t worry about that part. I don’t think membership dues… not tribute, but dues from each sect will cover everything. That’s only ceremonial. The bulk of the money will be borne by the Tang Family and Namgung.”

“…”

“It’s not just building the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s headquarters and feeding those who come there. We’ll also have to cover the costs of the coming war with the Four Sects Alliance.”

“W-will that be all right?”

War eats money like a demon. Sure, a martial war costs less than one with full armies, but war is still war.

And now the Tang Family, which has lost seventy percent of its wealth, is saying it will put all its remaining funds into preparing for that war.

“Hasn’t it already been proven that hoarded money means nothing?”

“…That’s true, but.”

Mount Hua used to have plenty of money too—until it all burned away. That’s all…

“If we don’t learn from this mistake, we’ll only repeat it. Now is not the time to clumsily cling to what we have. Rather, it’s time to actively create a place for ourselves.”

“…Wow.”

Chung Myung looked on in admiration as Tang Gunak smiled faintly and turned his gaze to Hyun Jong.

“That’s what must be done, Alliance Leader.”

“But Family Head. What you say is correct, but persuading them…”

Hyun Jong’s face looked troubled.

At that moment, Jo Gul, who had been watching the situation, quietly asked Yoon Jong.

“Um, sahyung.”

“Yes?”

“…That sounds good, but isn’t it basically a threat?”

“A threat? What do you mean?”

“No, think about it. They say they’ll put up thirty percent of their wealth, but when you look closely… most of that will end up being used to keep the Tang Family afloat, won’t it?”

“…Huh?”

Yoon Jong tilted his head for a moment. Hearing it, it did… uh…

“But now they’re going to handle it under the name of the Heavenly Friends Alliance and, in exchange, pull in all the money from the other sects: ‘We contributed under these conditions, why won’t you?’—isn’t that the plan?”

“…Ah, no way…”

“No, think about it. Which sect in the Heavenly Friends Alliance has money right now?”

“Namgung and…”

Yoon Jong suddenly turned to Tang Gunak as if he’d realized something.

“Green… Forest…”

“Right?”

Green Forest made a lot of money. They weren’t a poor clan to begin with, and by handling Plum Blossom Island’s intermediary trade they earned a great deal.

“They couldn’t seize the money those bastards earned because there was no justification, but now the Family Lord is laying out that justification, isn’t he?”

“No, even so, maybe you’re overthinking it because you’re from a merchant family…”

“Really? After seeing that, you still say that?”

“…Huh?”

Yoon Jong turned his gaze to where Jo Gul gestured.

“Do it, former Sect leader.”

“Huh?”

“The Tang Family Lord is making such a decisive proposal; refusing it would be impolite, wouldn’t it?”

“…Ah, no, it’s just that…”

“Do it.”

“Um…”

“Let’s do it.”

Chung Myung, having perfectly grasped how things were going, wore the gentlest expression in the world.

“For the Central Plains, right? Huh? For the Central Plains. This isn’t to satisfy my greed—we must extract from Namgung and Green Forest… no, gain their cooperation. Isn’t this all for the common people!”

“Well decided, Alliance Leader.”

“…”

“Now we’ll finally get some breathing room. Heheh!”

Yoon Jong, who had been watching quietly, turned to Jo Gul with helpless eyes.

“…But, by the way.”

“Yes?”

“Do people normally go strange after their home burns down once?”

“…I don’t really…”

Looking at Tang Gunak and Chung Myung pressing Hyun Jong from both sides without mercy, Yoon Jong finally shook his head.