Book 10: Chapter 23: Same Bed, Different Dreams

The Valley of Sin.

Yeon So-hyeon's faction camp.

“All personnel, prepare for battle!”

“Leaving only a minimum number of personnel, everyone will set out!”

“Command staff gather at the command post immediately as of this moment!”

Amid the personnel running around busily gong Dam-ung scratched the back of his head and spoke.

“…The Eldest Young Master truly did it.”

The superintendent nun of the Emei Sect, who was alongside him, said with a bewildered expression.

“…Instead of a battle breaking out with the government troops, we ended up cleaning up the Valley of Sin together with them.”

That expression she was wearing was probably the same as the expression floating on Gong Dam-ung's own face.

“Really. He is a person who calmly accomplishes absurd things, Great Hero Yeon.”

If it was Yeon So-hyeon wouldn't he resolve it no matter what the matter was?

Even when he had vaguely expected it, it felt natural but once the matter that seemed absolutely impossible to resolve actually sorted itself out in front of his eyes, the sensation he felt was…

“Thrill.”

“It is thrilling.”

The two, who blurted out the same thing at the same time, looked at each other and chuckled.

“Hey, Brother Gong! Is this the time to be leisurely flirting?!”

One of the Four Heroes of Hwangho, who was hurrying to prepare for battle, shouted loudly.

“Superintendent Junior Sister! No matter how precious connections are in Buddhist teachings, remember that you are a nun who cannot marry!”

Mischievous words also flew from the Emei Sect members who were running toward the gathering place.

“B-be quiet!”

“B-be quiet!”

The two, who shouted the same words again, smiled at each other and clasped their hands together.

“May you have martial fortune.”

“Please, have martial fortune.”

The afternoon air was beginning to embrace the tension of the battlefield.

* * *

The entrance of the Valley of Sin.

Tanryung District-Gahyo District allied government troops camp.

“Everyone! Check the equipment of the colleague in front of you!”

Just like Yeon So-hyeon's camp, the movements of those preparing for battle were busy.

“We are suddenly striking the underworld of the Valley of Sin?!”

The junior constable shouted as he equipped additional gear from the carriage they had ridden in.

“Senior!”

The surroundings were so noisy that proper conversation was impossible without shouting.

“Just how on earth is this matter turning out?!”

Tightening his gaiters with a practiced touch and taking up his spear, Constable Park shrugged his shoulders.

“Probably, from the perspective of the District Chiefs, since they drew their swords, they feel they should at least cut a radish.”

“What?!”

Constable Park's words were buried under the sounds of commands and callings and could not even be heard properly.

Even so, to speak of it loudly was an extremely sensitive topic.

[After mobilizing troops on such a large scale, if they withdraw empty-handed, wouldn't the District Chiefs become a laughingstock?] was it because of his heavy heart?

[…So they are making the underworld of the Valley of Sin the culprit and subjugating them?] in contrast to the clear weather in the morning, the capricious spring weather was casting clouds before they knew it.

[Probably.] the junior constable wore an absurd expression.

[Just what kind of deal did they make with the Eldest Young Master, and how…] constable Park turned his gaze toward the upper stream of the Valley of Sin.

[That, I don't know.] removing the leather that wrapped his spearhead and checking the blade, Constable Park wore a bitter smile.

[Up until now, as we conducted investigations involving power in this Luoyang, how many times have we actually learned the inside story?] the junior constable's hand, which was stringing the crossbow, stopped.

[…Not even once.] as mere constables, how could they have properly dealt with any powerful figure?

[What about a time we locked up a truly powerful figure?] [……] they were not magistrates.

“……”

A natural fortress.

The clouds hovering over the upper region of the valley felt exceptionally thick in his eyes.

[…From the field of vision of chess pieces like us, only the enemy in front and the colleague beside us are visible.] slinging his spear over his shoulder, he pulled out a tobacco roll tucked into a gap in his armor and bit it.

“Do not overthink for nothing.”

He approached the junior and pulled out another tobacco roll.

“Oh?!”

And then, putting it in the mouth of the dark-faced junior, he smiled.

“Isn't rolling in the mud with the underworld bastards our specialty anyway?”

“That is true.”

The junior, biting the tobacco, chuckled.

Just then, their carriage, which had been blocking the road, pulled to the right, and Constable Park and the junior also stuck to the right side of the road along with the carriage.

“To the right! Carriages belonging to the Central Government Security Annex, to the right side of the road!”

“Hyah, hyah!”

As soon as they clung to the right side of the road, carriages passed by them like arrows.

“…Those are carriages that absolutely do not suit a neighborhood like this.”

“Indeed.”

Constable Park nodded in agreement with the junior's words.

“Each carriage has a different shape, different driver outfits, and different carriage emblems.”

“They seem to be carriages owned by different families.”

Just as he said, the carriages that passed by them were owned by different families.

“They seem to be carriages of influential families in their own right…”

“Are they going to meet the Eldest Young Master?”

“Probably—” their conversation could not continue.

“All troops belonging to the Central Government Security Annex will begin moving to the middle stream of the valley from now on!”

The most elite troops stand at the front.

At the incoming instructions, Constable Park immediately shouted to his subordinate soldiers.

“Now, you all heard that, right?!”

The junior constable also shouted with feigned high spirits.

“Now, the march that everyone enjoys begins!”

So they began their march to the middle stream forward base of Yeon So-hyeon's side.

And those two constables did not imagine at all that those riding in the carriages that had just passed them were the 'culprits' who had caused them to come all the way here.

That is, the very ones who had placed the requests that were currently turning Luoyang into a sea of blood in order to form an alliance with Yeon So-hyeon.

* * *

Nearby.

A building temporarily secured in a safe location.

“First of all, it is fortunate that we gained something instead of retreating empty-handed.”

“Indeed. However…”

The District Chiefs of the two districts, Tanryung District and Gahyo District, were conversing in low voices.

“The damage to the government troops will be immense.”

“Indeed.”

The butlers who were serving them wore surprised expressions in their hearts at the content of their conversation.

To worry about the damage to the government troops.

Had they finally turned over a new leaf?

“It is a pity since training each of those guys costs money. If they die in piles today, I worry about next year's budget.”

“Well. What is regrettable is regrettable, and we must think of it as an investment for the future in the end. What else can we do?”

Turning over a new leaf?

Of course, there was no way.

“That is true. Because,” the District Chief of the Gahyo District stroked his beard and smiled insidiously.

“right now, the factions cooperating with the Eldest Young Master are extremely few.”

“That is correct. The Cheong Family and the Kong Family. Though they are two powerful families…”

The District Chief of the Tanryung District also wore a smile similar to that of the District Chief of the Gahyo District.

“aren't both of those families shorthanded because they are currently waging war with the alliance families of the Second Young Master's side?”

According to what was heard, both families were said to be experiencing significant bleeding.

No matter the difference in quality, this was a war.

Since it was a life-or-death issue for the Second Young Master's allied families, they were rushing in like a mouse biting a cat.

“In the midst of that, we are the first among the District Chiefs to cooperate with the Eldest Young Master.”

“Turning crisis into opportunity!”

The two nodded almost simultaneously.

“At first, we came simply with the intention of pressuring the Eldest Young Master under the influence of the Second Young Master's side,” the two laughed pleasantly.

“but since we ended up holding hands with the shorthanded Eldest Young Master instead, we will be able to receive more precious treatment in the future.”

“Although, in order to secure our safety…”

The District Chief of the Gahyo District waved his hand to dismiss all surrounding people.

“Even if it is to secure safety,” he said in an even lower voice.

“it is a bit of a pity that we handed over as much as half of the amount received from the Great Immortal Merchant Group to the Eldest Young Master.”

“But only by doing so will the Eldest Young Master also be caught together with us if we get caught in the internal investigation of the Sword Family, wouldn't he?”

There was no way that cunning people like them would have withdrawn merely believing the Eldest Young Master's promise.

Half of the dirty money handed over to the Eldest Young Master.

It was a kind of safety device for them.

“That is true, but…”

While the District Chief of the Gahyo District nodded, he smacked his lips in regret.

“Since the sum is what it is, you see.”

The amount that the Second Young Master's side had fed them, the top officials, was truly astronomical.

Half of that money had gone to Yeon So-hyeon.

“Mmm.”

As the District Chief of the Tanryung District recalled the amount, he shook his head at the faint ache in his stomach.

“Let's stop thinking about that.”

“We should think positively, positively.”

“Indeed. Instead, we become the only currently available ally of the Eldest Young Master—” his words could not reach their end.

“District Chief!”

“We are in the middle of an important conversation right now. How dare you be so rude—!”

“You must look at this immediately!”

A subordinate who ran in panting handed him a note.

“This is…”

The face of the Tanryung District District Chief, who had resolved to flog him if it was nothing major, hardened as he read the note.

“This is a list of families hostile to me.”

The District Chief of the Gahyo District, who received the note, also frowned upon reading the list.

“And they are families hostile to my family as well.”

They were families that could not help but be hostile.

Because…

“Aren't these the families to which we gave administrative disadvantages several times at the request of the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master?”

Crumpling the note, the District Chief of the Tanryung District asked the subordinate.

“Just what is the reason we must urgently view this list right now?!”

“Just now.”

The subordinate swallowed hard and said to him.

“Just now, the carriages of those families visited the Valley of Sin all at once.”

The two District Chiefs sprang up from their seats almost simultaneously.

“What is the reason?!”

“According to reports from the temporary checkpoint, their purpose of visit was to meet the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family as 'allies'…”

“Allies?!”

Allies.

An alliance with the Eldest Young Master.

“…Th-then?!”

Something was turning out strange.

“Surely, it was said that there was no trace of the Eldest Young Master or the Fourth Young Master's side directly hiring those who attacked the merchants, correct?”

The subordinate nodded quickly.

“Yes, though it is only the result of the primary investigation…”

“And suddenly. To the Eldest Young Master, who had no known allies other than the Kong Family and the Cheong Family, families claiming to be allies appear?”

“And those are families hostile to the Second Young Master or Third Young Master's side?”

They, who boasted extraordinary brains in the Luoyang political scene did not need very long to notice the direction in which things were turning out now.

“Those people, those families…! They were the culprits who hired the ones who slaughtered the merchants!”

The District Chief of the Tanryung District clapped his hands alone.

“It was so! That was exactly how it turned out! Look here, District Chief of the Gahyo District!”

To explain his reasoning, the District Chief of the Tanryung District looked at the District Chief of the Gahyo District.

“Listen to me…”

But the District Chief of the Gahyo District's face had turned pale white.

Not only that, he was even dripping cold sweat.

“L-look here, District Chief of the Gahyo District. What on earth is—”

“We are ruined.”

The District Chief of the Gahyo District looked at the District Chief of the Tanryung District, unable to even think of wiping his flowing sweat.

“Ruined? What do you mean by that?”

The District Chief of the Tanryung District tilted his head.

“For now, we did become one of the Eldest Young Master's allies—” his voice stopped.

It was because the District Chief of the Tanryung District also realized it.

“…W-we.”

His lips moved.

“Even before the alliance with the Eldest Young Master properly starts, did we end up belonging to the same alliance as those hostile to us in droves?”

Even within an alliance, factions are bound to exist.

And now, in an alliance that had not even properly begun they were automatically registered as the weakest faction.

“…We are ruined.”

And it was also the moment the golden future they dreamed of shattered into pieces.

“…Even while offering that massive amount.”

The District Chief of the Gahyo District said as he slumped onto the chair with a blank look as if he had lost his mind.

“Did we choose political suicide?”

The District Chief of the Tanryung District muttered as he looked out the window in despair.

“…Just what on earth is this?”

For some reason the laughter of the Eldest Young Master seemed to echo in their ears.