Book 9: Chapter 6: Riding the Tiger

Around the time the Dark Venerable was meeting the Chairman of the Supreme Executive Council.

The bustling streets of Luoyang.

Sangwan Nan-hwa, the former representative of Tea Fan Maidens, covered her mouth with her hand and yawned softly beneath the veil that hid her face.

Because her appearance gathered too much attention even if she just stood still, a veil was a necessity.

“You must be very tired, so how about returning to Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment to rest even for a moment…?”

“No, it is fine.”

Sangwan Nan-hwa shook her head at the words of Yi-ryeong, Yeon So-hyeon's maid.

“I caught some sleep in between traveling by carriage, so I am still alright.” "……."

Even if she said it was in between traveling, each interval was merely a little over a quarter of an hour.

“By the way, as expected of the Sword Family.”

Showing a smile to Yi-ryeong, who was looking at her worriedly, Sangwan Nan-hwa changed the subject.

“Even for minor items, there is not a single place where the name of the Sword Family is missing.”

Yi-ryeong's gaze turned toward the pair of chopsticks Sangwan Nan-hwa had picked up from the display stand.

“That is indeed an excellent choice!”

The clerk, who had been lingering nearby on the sly, quickly chimed in.

“As you can tell by looking at the pattern engraved on the chopsticks, these are black bamboo chopsticks made by the famous Mount Ojeok Allied Workshop in Luoyang!”

The clerk boasted about the luxury chopsticks, spitting as he spoke.

“Surely you must know that the Sword Family is the largest shareholder of the Mount Ojeok Allied Workshop? That is as good as saying that the Sword Family guarantees the quality of these chopsticks…”

Even down to a single pair of chopsticks, the touch of the Sword Family was present.

Sangwan Nan-hwa put the chopsticks back in their place and turned around.

“It is not just this.”

As she looked around, the products inside the large store handling daily necessities caught her eye.

Whether they were produced by a business run by the Sword Family, their raw materials were supplied by a large farm run by the Sword Family, or at the very least, their transport was handled by a company run by the Sword Family.

The surroundings were filled with items that were directly or indirectly related to the Sword Family.

“Furthermore, as far as I know…”

Yi-ryeong shrugged her shoulders.

Her gaze turned outside.

“Even the buildings of this shopping street are all owned by the Sword Family.”

Following Yi-ryeong, Sangwan Nan-hwa's gaze turned toward the street visible outside the open window.

Countless people were coming and going along the night street colored by colorful oil lamps.

The gorgeously decorated four- and five-story buildings stretched endlessly into the distance.

Wealth was overflowing in the streets.

What lay beyond that?

Even beyond what was visible to the eye, and beyond that, and further beyond that, it would all be dominated by the influence of the Luoyang Sword Family.

Sangwan Nan-hwa felt momentarily dizzy just imagining its scale.

“…Indeed, they said Luoyang is no different from the territory of the Sword Family.”

Even though she, as a merchant, already knew well the reputation of the World's Number One Family.

Even though she was all too familiar with the name of Luoyang, a colossal city boasting an unprecedented population of millions.

Every single moment she verified it in person was to the point of being wondrous.

“But.”

Approaching her side, Yi-ryeong let out a bitter smile.

Her gaze was looking at the beggars packed into every corner of the alleyways.

“…They say the brighter the light, the darker the shadow.”

Her words had a gloomy resonance, much like the black clouds hanging low in the sky.

* * *

A certain wild mountain near the Luoyang Sword Family.

“We must not stop.”

While sitting on a small rock, the Chairman said.

“The Main Family right now is in a situation like a carriage racing down a slope.”

The old man's gaze turned toward the downward slope of a steep incline.

“For whatever reason, if this growth stops, everyone who was satisfied with the crumbs falling from that growth will rise up without exception.”

If one applied the brakes to a carriage running out of control, the only result would be a disastrous rollover.

Although the Luoyang Sword Family had currently lost its master, it was holding out without being torn into pieces, thanks to growth upon growth repeated year after year.

“…The reason the Sword Family has not yet torn apart from inside and out is because the Supreme Executive Council and you are managing the Main Family well.”

“No, it is not.”

The Chairman immediately denied the Dark Venerable's flattering words.

“As you know, it is not like that…”

The face of the Chairman, looking up at the Dark Venerable's mask with hazy eyes, looked exceptionally older.

“Although the new supreme councilors might believe it is due to their own abilities and credit it to the Supreme Executive Council.”

A few months ago, Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had once stood before the Supreme Executive Council.

Although it was for the sake of ending his own seclusion, the clue to the story the Chairman was trying to tell now was present in that conversation at the time.

“Eldest Young Master! Although we understand your resentful and angry stance, this council has proven its ability through excellent records so far! So trust us and…!”

Her words were true.

Under the system of the Supreme Executive Council, the Sword Family was repeating its growth every year with a terrifying momentum.

Yet Yeon So-hyeon could not hold back and burst into laughter.

It was a great roar of laughter.

“You proved your ability…?”

“The achievements that the Supreme Executive Council is said to have reaped are a lie.”

The Chairman spoke flatly.

“Because all the achievements and that steep growth achieved so far since the Patriarch's absence have nothing to do with the Supreme Executive Council.” "……."

The Dark Venerable did not reply.

As if proving that the Chairman had said 'as you know' from the very beginning.

Watching the white breath merely scattering from beneath the Dark Venerable's mask, the Chairman smiled faintly.

“What the Supreme Executive Council has done all this time is nothing more than preserving the flow of growth.”

So that it would not overflow too much, nor be lacking.

So that it would not cross the line and become excessive, nor fail to reach the line and stagnate.

“This record-breaking achievement made by the Main Family is in fact a miracle achieved by just two people who are no longer here.”

The Dark Venerable nodded slowly.

“The Patriarch and the Medicine Fairy.”

Why did the name of the Medicine Fairy, Yeon So-hyeon's mother, come out here?

Yet the Chairman agreed without the slightest doubt.

“Yes, indeed.”

Looking up at the sky, he said.

“The foundation of all this growth is the collaboration of those two: the Patriarch, who was called the Lord of the Sword, and the Grand Madame, Yak So-yu, who was considered the manifestation of Medicine Buddha.”

The old warrior recalled the memories of the past from the shape of the winding clouds, just like that day.

“The memories of that day are still as vivid as yesterday.”

* * *

To be sure, on that day as well, just like today, the night sky was terribly cloudy.

Yet even the rain falling a drop or two at a time could not stop the Patriarch and himself, who had been called the Sword Venerable.

Holding their swords, the two were mingling on the training ground as if performing a dance.

“Patriarch.”

It was the Sword Venerable who withdrew his sword first at the voice that carried over.

From the former Patriarch to the current Patriarch.

The face of the old man, the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard, who had lived his whole life in loyalty, was exceptionally dark.

He had never before seen the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard with a face so stiffened to this extent.

“…In the end, has it happened?”

“It is so.”

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard bowed his head deeply toward the Patriarch.

“The forces that ruled the four provinces south of the Yangtze River respectively have announced that they have formed a single alliance.”

After the Port Opening Decree.

The ports of Jiangnan came to seize wealth beyond imagination.

To the point that it was said a city would spring up overnight wherever a port could be built.

Backed by that rapid growth, countless forces had sprung up in both the shadows and the light.

No, in that place, there was neither shadow nor light, neither darkness nor brightness.

The place, where the power of the young Emperor did not properly reach, was reminiscent of the Warring States period.

“The name of the alliance?”

And now, that era had come to an end.

The Patriarch asked with a stiffened face as he stood in the thickening rain, and the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard replied.

“It is Evil Tyrant Heaven, my lord.”

The Patriarch snorted.

“Is it a wordplay?”

Four lawless unorthodox forces gathered to form a single heaven.

“And…”

Instead of taking up the Patriarch's words, the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard continued speaking to convey the news.

“Calling the elected leader of the alliance the Alliance Leader, the first appointed Alliance Leader announced the establishment of Evil Tyrant Heaven and issued his first order at the same time.”

The Sword Venerable saw the Patriarch's face stiffen even further.

The Patriarch was a person whose intuition and instinct were developed to an uncanny degree, and there were times when he showed a look completely different from his usual appearance as a natural-born warrior.

“…He must have said they would impose a toll on all cargo passing through Jiangnan.”

Yes, just like now.

“That is so.”

Nodding the sword he held, the Patriarch continued speaking.

“And cargo heading toward the Imperial Capital would have been excluded from that toll imposition.”

No matter how young the Emperor might be, or how far the Jiangnan region was from the Imperial Capital, the Emperor was still the Emperor.

“Yes, that is so.”

“They must have already finished talks with the Sixteen Families of the Imperial Capital regarding food transport as well.”

“…We expect that is likely the case.”

The soil fertility of North China, where farming had been carried out for thousands of years, was already depleted.

For some reason, the vicinity of Luoyang still had excellent soil fertility, but as a result, about half of the food currently needed in North China was being met from the Jiangnan region.

“If they do not touch the cargo heading to the Imperial Capital and guarantee the food heading to North China…”

The Patriarch picked up the words.

“The Imperial Court would not go out of its way to invite trouble with Evil Tyrant Heaven either.”

Ignoring the rainwater flowing down his forehead, he asked.

“What is the predicted impact of that announcement?”

“Well…”

The Patriarch shook his head.

“No need to ask, it is obvious.”

The rainwater flowing down his chin splattered.

The majority of overseas logistics that enriched Luoyang started from the ports located in Jiangnan.

And Evil Tyrant Heaven does not collect tolls on logistics heading to the Imperial Capital.

When those two things combined.

The Sword Venerable, who had been listening to the conversation until then, opened his mouth.

“…It is the ruin of Luoyang.”

Whether that ruin would happen soon or take longer.

There was only a difference in timing.

The result was as good as decided. "……."

Even the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard, of whom it was said none could match in political ability, could not easily open his mouth.

Yet the Patriarch chuckled.

Indeed.

At that moment, the Patriarch was clearly smiling.

“Ruin?”

The Patriarch raised his sword.

“No.”

He drew his sword.

That single strike crossed the sky, and the falling rain stopped in an instant as a wild wind swept over the area.

“It is war.”

The Lord of the Sword declared war.

And he won.

It was a war in which no one could guarantee victory.

The Blue Sky Sword Division, the most elite swordsmen of the Namgung Clan who would not yield the path to Jiangnan, were shattered first.

The allied army of Evil Tyrant Heaven was crushed before the power of the Luoyang Sword Family led by the Patriarch.

The Alliance Leader of Evil Tyrant Heaven could not clash even a hundred bouts before his head was taken.

The 'new' Alliance Leader of Evil Tyrant Heaven married his daughter to the Patriarch of the Luoyang Sword Family and declared eternal peace with the Luoyang Sword Family.

The Namgung Clan, wary of the Evil Tyrant Heaven and the Luoyang Sword Family drawing close, also married their daughter to the Patriarch.

The Luoyang Sword Family, from Jiangnan to Luoyang.

Secured strongholds in every port and major city, and was guaranteed free commercial activities.

Since then, never again did anyone, or any force, pick a quarrel with the logistics heading to Luoyang.

* * *

The Chairman cast his gaze downward.

“That was the achievement of the Patriarch which is now referred to as the 'Jiangnan Conquest.' The 'Jiangnan Region Stabilization Doctrine.'” if they disbanded Evil Tyrant Heaven, the Warring States period would only return.

Even so, for the Luoyang Sword Family to dominate all the way to Jiangnan was physically close to impossible.

Moreover, it was something that no power holder in the State of Zhongyuan desired.

“Thus, the Patriarch of the Sword Family left the existence of Evil Tyrant Heaven intact to seek the stabilization of the Jiangnan region.”

“Indeed, you are correct.”

The Chairman nodded, searching for the image of the Patriarch in his memory within his eldest son.

“And the growth of the Luoyang Sword Family, which had nothing left to hold it back at the time, was maximized even further with the overlapping appearance of a single person.”

“The Medicine Fairy.”

Although she died at an early age.

To the point that there were physicians who said the medical achievements she left behind throughout her life were more than all previous eras combined.

As a result, it led to a population explosion centered around Luoyang, where she mainly operated.

“Those who would have had to die in the past no longer died, and children who would have lost their lives as soon as they were born grew up healthy.”

The manifestation of the Medicine Master Buddha.

There was not a speck of exaggeration in the reason Yak So-yu came to be called that.

The Luoyang Sword Family, and Luoyang, seethed with overflowing productive labor forces and surplus population.

“Thus, the golden age of the Luoyang Sword Family began.”

The golden age that came in this way continued even after those two disappeared.

The special demand from the Northern War also played a part, and the poor who flooded in uncontrollably after the war also became a great boost to growth.

That was also the reason Yeon So-hyeon had laughed at the new supreme councilors.

“You proved your ability…?”

Just like the Chairman had said moments ago.

“The achievements that the Supreme Executive Council is said to have reaped are a lie.

Because the Supreme Executive Council was merely nothing more than having painstakingly managed the legacy left by the couple all this time.

“But even that was not so successful…”

Avoiding the Dark Venerable's gaze, the Chairman cast his eyes down toward the floor.

“In the end, the Supreme Executive Council failed to overcome the aftermath of losing those two people.”

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

“Rather, we are only repeating the act of balancing an impossible balance by stacking stones on top of a collapsing tower…”

But what would happen if that light, the sun itself, were lost entirely?

“The Luoyang Sword Family must not stop.”

The Chairman repeated the words he had spoken first.

“…Indeed. It must not stop.”

If growth stops, the Luoyang Sword Family will collapse.

If the colossal counterweight called the Luoyang Sword Family collapses, the aftermath will reach the entirety of the State of Zhongyuan.

And to occupy that vacant spot, the entirety of the State of Zhongyuan will be engulfed in war.

No, it will surely be engulfed.

Yeon So-hyeon knew it.

“Sacrifice is essential, and thus it was inevitable.”

The Dark Venerable, who had merely been listening quietly to the prior history, said.

“Even the fact that the poor workers at the site of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering arena, which the Third Young Master was in charge of, became unable to endure the delayed wages and hunger.”

The Dark Venerable was merely speaking the facts calmly.

“And the fact that they eventually rose in rebellion.”

An indispensable sacrifice for growth.

The Chairman, the Supreme Executive Council, was doing the best they could. "……."

Yet the Chairman could not make any reply, merely wrapping his face in his hands.

* * *

The present.

Dragon and Phoenix Gathering arena construction site.

The innermost part of the siege network.

The fortified poor workers' district.

In the darkness and heavy rain where it was hard to see even an inch ahead, a boy was walking along the street. "……."

Every time lightning flashed, the complex that was right on the verge of completion revealed its appearance.

For some reason, that scenery did not look like it was on the verge of completion, but rather like a ruin that had been abandoned for a long time. "……

The boy, Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, raised his head at the voice coming through the sound of the heavy rain.

"—–!"

It was a scream mixed with the wailing of many people, and a cry full of sorrow and regret.

Yeon So-hyeon began to walk toward that sound, receiving the heavy rain.

Since the Supreme Executive Council and the Chairman were doing their part, it was now his turn next.