Chapter 1555: Well, Which Side? (Part 5)

The child, her entire face soaked in mud, staggered forward.

Thud.

However, even that was short-lived as the child tripped on a rock and fell flat without any strength.

Tears welled up in her large eyes, and in an instant, her face contorted as if it could burst into tears at any moment.

"Ukcha."

Suddenly, a hand approached from somewhere, slipping under the fallen child's armpit and lifting them up.

"Don't cry."

"Uh...."

The child, who had forgotten to cry for a moment, looked blankly at the person in front of them.

Was this person frightening? Or...?

Smiling but not appearing entirely friendly, the person gently placed a hand on the child's head when they seemed unsure of what to do.

"Where's your mom?"

"Uh, mom... Mom."

The child's eyes welled up again. The man, a bit flustered, rubbed his face with one hand.

"Don't cry, don't cry! I made a mistake. Your mom will be safe, so please don't cry."

The man briskly patted the child's side.

"We need to hurry. Should we go look for your mom?"

When the child looked at the man without understanding, he covered the child's face with the edge of his clothes.

"It's better not to see this."

At that moment, the man's demeanor changed suddenly.

"There he is!"

"This rascal!"

Two large figures emerged from dense bushes. They joyfully ran towards the child as if hunting rabbits, then suddenly froze upon seeing the man.

"Who the hell...?"

The man's foot struck the ground.

Pa-ah!

In an instant, the man disappeared and then reappeared in front of the two. A bright streak sliced through the air.

Swish!

Just as one of them was about to scream, his head floated up into the air.

"Hi, hiik!"

As his companion's head was cleanly severed, the remaining face turned pale blue in shock.

Even in this incomprehensible moment, there was one thing completely understandable.

Black attire with a plum blossom pattern engraved on the chest.

A black sword and long hair flowing high.

And above all... those eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Plum Blossom Sword...."

Swish!

Before the words could even finish, a chilling blade cut through his neck.

"...De...."

The final words melted in his mouth, drifting away from the body.

Pa-ah!

The two heads that had floated in the air had not yet touched the ground when the man thrust forward, advancing.

"Ah...."

As the cloth that covered his face fell off due to the wind, the child looked up with a raised head.

A strange world welcomed the child.

Tall trees bent and stretched, and the ground trembled as if it could shoot up at any moment.

The child widened her large eyes.

'Wow....'

It was an ethereal sight. But strangely, there wasn't a hint of the wind that should've been rushing to cover the face.

Pa-ah!

At that moment, the world suddenly tilted to the side.

Flap!

Once again, a black cloth covered the view.

"Ugh...."

A faint groan, as if suppressed, was heard, but it quickly faded away, as if nothing had happened. Once again, the black fabric receded.

"Ukcha!"

Pa-ah!

The world in the child's eyes underwent another abrupt change. Lush trees rapidly sucked downwards, and soon a sky-blue sky poured into both eyes.

"Ah...."

Blue sky and white clouds.

It seemed as if she was just floating in the middle of the sky.

As the child lowered her head in surprise, a blue forest spread out below, as if looking down from a high mountain.

The child's mouth, which had opened wide, closed tightly. There was no time for astonishment. The phrase 'losing one's soul' would be appropriate at such times.

The man muttered.

"Is it over there?"

Soon, the distant forest that had been visible rushed towards them at an enormous speed.

Unintentionally, the child clung tightly to the man. In response, his rapidly descending body smoothly changed direction, stepping on the trees.

"Don't pee. I'm going to curse you if you do." [...pft...]

Flap.

Once again, the view was blocked by darkness.

"Kkuk!"

"Keok!"

After a few sounds as if her throat was being squeezed, the child's body was lifted upwards.

"Look. Is your mom there?"

The child, unaware of what was happening, shook her head. Since her mom had fallen far ahead of them...

"Oh!"

At that moment, as if frightened, the child found her mother among the onlookers. Letting go of the man, the child ran towards her.

"Mom!"

"Jin-ah!"

Discovering her child, the mother ran towards her as if possessed, embracing her.

"Fortunately, it seems I wasn't too late."

Watching the scene, the man scratched his head, exhaling a relieved sigh.

The rest of the people, confused by the inexplicable events that took place before their eyes, alternately looked at the fallen evildoers and the one who fell from the sky.

"A, a god...?"

"No, that's too far-fetched. Just call me a Taoist for now."

If someone else was there, they would've retorted, 'Taoist yeah right!'

"Thank you very much. I thought we were all going to die here without a chance to resist."

The wrinkled eyes of the old man expressing gratitude were moistened.

"Don't mention it."

The man sighed softly as he looked at some individuals who had fallen, possibly injured or wounded.

"Sorry for coming late. If I had come a little earlier, those people might have..."

Some people couldn't hold back their tears, lowering their heads.

The man looked at the old man and said.

"Since we've cleared out all the nuisances around, you can keep going this way. If you continue forward, you'll come across a temporary shelter for refugees."

"R-Really?"

"Don't worry too much. You should be able to return to where you lived soon. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to gather the people who are running away right now. We have to go help elsewhere."

"W-Well then. We'll find them on our own. Don't worry!"

The man nodded.

These people, in order to save even the children, sent the children in different directions and used a large group of adults to lure away the Evil Sect members. They were smart, so they would be able to handle it well without needing detailed instructions.

The man turned away and was about to leave when he met the eyes of the child looking this way. Then, hesitating for a moment, he approached the child.

Tock!

He placed his hand on the child's head and gently rubbed it somewhat roughly.

"Don't cry. It's expensive." 

The child was bewildered. The man chuckled.

"If by any chance, when you're a bit older and have nothing to do, come to Mount Hua in Shaanxi. Female disciples are accepted at the Mount Hua Sect. Of course, you'll have to endure some hardship."

Leaving a message for the child, who still couldn't fully understand, the man smiled slightly and turned away.

Pa-ah!

Soon, his body turned into a beam of light and disappeared. The onlookers, who had been staring blankly, murmured with weakened voices.

"Was he really a divine being?"

"He mentioned Mount Hua earlier. It seems he belongs to some martial arts sect."

"A martial arts sect?"

"There are people like that, like those from the Shaolin Sect."

"Oh..."

They all nodded with a knowing yet uncertain expression. The mother holding her child checked the child's body all over.

"Jin-ah, are you hurt?"

The child, gazing at the worried mother's face, opened their mouth softly.

"Flowers..."

"Huh? Flowers?"

"The flowers were pretty."

A bright smile appeared on the child's face.

* * *

There are many types of fights.

While everyone in the forefront was putting up a fight, the leaders of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance left in the rear were also engaged in a fierce battle.

"Guild Master! It's reported from the Eunha Guild that they can no longer accommodate refugees!"

Hwang Jongui's face twisted in frustration.

"Can't accommodate them? The Eunha Guild is that big, and yet they can't handle just this number of people!"

"But there's a shortage of grain and clothing..."

"Damn it..."

Hwang Jongui gnashed his teeth.

How could grain merchants traveling through the Central Plains be running out of grain at a time like this? It would be more believable if the Yangtze River had dried up.

"Add a twenty percent markup to the initial proposed grain price!"

"What? But they say there's a shortage of grain..."

"Tell them that, then! They'll accept it, and the funds will flow in."

"Yes..."

Hwang Jongui squeezed the brush he was holding with enough force to break it.

'Damn bastards.'

While they were providing support to refugees and even emptying their own granaries, these merchants, even in such a situation, were blinded by immediate profits.

Commerce needed people. If there were no people to buy, no matter how expensive the goods were, their value ultimately became nothing.

"Hoo..."

It was when Hwang Jongui tried to forcefully calm down the rising anger.

"And please organize the merchants who've been making such statements separately."

"...Yes?"

"While it's understandable that merchants would seize opportunities to make money, there must be consequences."

When Im Sobyeong spoke, Hwang Jongui stared blankly at him.

"Nokrim King, what are you going to do..."

"Well, don't worry. I won't release the bands to attack the merchants."

"Y-Yes, of course."

"But that might be better. Compared to those crazy Taoist guys running around with their hair down."

"..."

Oh...

Indeed, bandits might be better. At least bandits wouldn't keep harassing them.

"People should have a conscience. Now even the bandits are opening their storehouses. This is how these damned merchants are. Tsk tsk."

Hwang Jongui's head kept drooping at Im Sobyeong's words. It was almost as if he was about to smash his head onto the desk.

Throughout his life, every time he went over the mountains, he spent the night cursing bandits. At least regarding Nokrim, he cursed them as much as he praised them, if not more.

But now, he couldn't refute Im Sobyeong's words at all.

Im Sobyeong chuckled.

"Anyway, it's fortunate that the merchants are cooperating to this extent."

"...Thank you."

To turn that cooperation into reality, Hwang Jongui had to endure more than just this. Of course, most of the support came from the martial arts sects affiliated with the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, especially the Namgung Family.

"How is the establishment of branches in each province going?" [could be city or province]

"About half of them are completed. We should be able to complete them within three days."

"...That's somewhat fortunate."

"Those damn bastards, if they had moved a little faster, we would have completed them all by now. But they were lazy!"

The command posts in each province were decided to be named as a Heavenly Comrade Alliance branch office. This conclusion was drawn from the fact that calling them mountain offices would be too shabby [not sure], but they were also too ambiguous to be called command centers.

"I can't believe that such a thing was actually possible...."

As a result of the four factions joining together---merchants, Nokrim, Ghost Sect, and the Beggar's Union---they obtained a system that could issue commands to the entire Gangbuk within just one day.

'Even the Imperial Palace couldn't do this...'

How did he come up with such a notion?

"The progress is faster than I thought."

"Yes. It's fast. It's very fast. However..."

Im Sobyeong stared at the report with a strange expression.

"...Whether this is a good thing or not..."

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

Im Sobyeong shook his head.

There was no need to say it because it could not be explained with any words other than ominous. But no matter how much he thought about it, it was uncomfortable that things were going so well.

'Jang Ilso. He must have some plan.'

Im Sobyeong tightly grasped the fan in his hand, then shook his head.

'No.'

It was true that he was anxious, but there was no need to get caught up in it. Just as they didn't know about Jang Ilso's plans, Jang Ilso probably didn't know everything that was happening in Gangbuk.

He never could have imagined that the Heavenly Comrade Alliance and the Mount Hua Sect could mobilize and command the people scattered throughout the world at any time.

So whatever means he used, they could respond. Definitely!

"First, about the situation of the Evil Tyrrant ALliance..."

At that moment.

"Commander! Commander! News from the Beggar's Union!"

"What! Hurry up and speak!"

Im Sobyeong rebuked the panting man who entered. Internally, he prepared himself not to be surprised by whatever was said.

However, that resolution crumbled like a rotten tree with the news that came in.

"Yangtze! A large-scale fleet from the Yangtze is attempting to cross the river again."

Im Sobyeong opened his eyes wide.

"Yang...tze...?"

A word that had been completely excluded from his mind was thrust in like a sharp dagger.

"What is this...?"

Who was riding it?

No, no. It didn't matter who's riding it. Unless the ship was empty, someone was on it.

However... why?

Jang Ilso dispersed the Heavenly Comrade Alliance's power and slowed down the Ten Great Sects from joining together. If so, it was time to move the main force to take advantage of that opportunity.

But in this situation, why would he divide and spread that precious power even further?

In this vast Gangbuk?

"Why?"

Why? Were the people in Zhang Jia Jie not the main force?

No, that couldn't be. That was impossible. Then why?

Why were they doing something that didn't make sense even rationally? Unless they deliberately planned to lose?

"...What the hell are you planning, Jang Ilso..."

An eerie chill ran down Im Sobyeong's spine.