Eyes filled with mockery.
Those eyes seemed to be saying:
Did you, who used to act like the whole world was under your feet, manage to anticipate this situation?
Tak!
Jang Ilso unconsciously raised his hand and covered his face.
Instinctively, he thought that he shouldn't show the expression he was making to others.
He was the leader of the Ten Thousand People Clan and the Alliance Lord of the Four Precepts Alliance.
He was someone who shouldn't distort his face just because of Mount Hua's sect leader.
At that moment, Chung Myung opened his mouth.
"The sect leader has ordered it, so the Black Dragon King will be released as per the wish. But."
Clench.
Chung Myung infused qi into the foot, stepping on the Black Dragon King's head. A groan, which seemed like it would die off, escaped from the Black Dragon King's mouth.
Chung Myung, who had been listening to the groan with an expressionless face, glared at Jang Ilso.
"I don't trust you."
"…."
"The Black Dragon King will be released after we arrive on the Northern lands."
Jang Ilso glared at Chung Myung silently. His eyes were filled with a vivid killing intent.
"So get lost now. My patience has its limit."
Jang Ilso laughed softly.
His shoulders, which had been trembling gently, soon began to shake violently. However, strangely, no laughter could be heard at all.
Silent madness.
Those who were watching the scene clenched their fists in inexplicable eeriness.
Jang Ilso, who had been laughing for a long time, slowly took his hands off his face. His face had returned to its usual calm expression.
"Hmm."
Jang Ilso slowly turned his head and looked at Hyun Jong again.
"Sect leader."
"Go ahead, Alliance lord."
"I believe that the sect leader would definitely keep his word."
Hyun Jong nodded.
"I will."
Jang Ilso nodded as if he was satisfied.
"You said you wouldn't negotiate with the Evil Sect… that is the position of the sect leader. I am a person with dignity, so I cannot just follow the words of the sect leader. I will keep my word."
Jang Ilso slightly raised his hand. Then, two ships from the fleet waiting behind began to approach Plum Blossom Island.
When Mount Hua's swordsmen saw this, their faces hardened, and Jang Ilso twisted his lips.
"An empty ship."
"…"
"Those who have accomplished great things are returning home in glory, so it is not right to be so shameless and do this. Think of it as my favor."
Mount Hua's disciples looked at Jang Ilso with eyes full of suspicion.
In their minds, the names Jang Ilso and Favor didn't fit together.
However, Hyun Jong simply bowed deeply and showed his respect.
"Thank you."
"…"
Jang Ilso looked at Hyun Jong, who bowed his head towards him without a word.
Jang Ilso, who had been staring at Hyun Jong for some time, slowly opened his mouth.
"Mount Hua's Sect leader. Heavenly Friends Alliance's leader."
The voice was calm, but it spread with a strange resonance.
"… Hyun Jong."
Jang Ilso nodded slightly. It wasn't the exaggerated look he always showed.
"I will remember the name properly."
"… it isn't such a great name for the Hegemony Lord to remember."
"Heheh."
Jang Ilso smiled softly and turned around without any regrets. He slowly walked toward his small boat behind Chung Myung.
He inevitably approached Chung Myung. His eyes and Chung Myung's eyes met.
"… this time."
Jang Ilso opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
"I got hit. Mount Hua's Sword Saint."
Chung Myung's mouth twisted.
"This time?"
A smile, which strangely resembled Jang Ilso's but was clearly different, appeared, and Chung Myung's mouth opened.
"You are talking so well when you barely managed to save your life and return."
"…"
"Get lost."
Jang Ilso shook his head slightly as if he had no choice and passed by Chung Myung.
The moment his body moved past Chung Myung and as his face was no longer visible to anyone…
Krkrkrk!
The rings on his hands tightened as they touched, making a cracking sound.
As if the vengeful spirits were screaming in pain.
Step. Step.
As he strode up to the small boat, it moved on its own and headed to the river.
'Mount Hua and… Hyun Jong.'
Jang Ilso's face turned blue and ghostly.
On the surface, it was a result that wasn't too bad for him. In any case, he prevented the death of the Black Dragon King and left him with a huge debt.
Of course, even if the crisis itself was caused by Jang Ilso and the Ten Thousand People clan's actions, the fact that he saved the Black Dragon King's life didn't change.
To those who did not understand this conversation, it would seem that Jang Ilso went into the enemy's land, Plum Blossom Island, alone and rescued the Black Dragon King with just his three-inch tongue without shedding a drop of blood.
Jang Ilso's reputation would surely rise even higher.
Yes. On the surface. Just the surface.
But now, Jang Ilso was filled with an inescapable sense of humiliation.
'I…'
Jang Ilso's face contorted like an evil spirit.
'Is this the life I begged for, thanks to the mercy of a guy whose name I couldn't even remember? Me? Jang Ilso?'
Hyun Jong was a being that didn't even exist in his calculations.
Up until Mount Hua and the Tang family entered Plum Blossom Island, with the Black Dragon King in danger, everything happened just as he had calculated.
However, what happened after that was completely different from what he had thought.
If it was Mount Hua's Sword Saint—Mount Hua's Sword Saint who valued Mount Hua's disciples more than his own life and never let go of profits he could hold in hand—he would never give up the negotiation proposal Jang Ilso had made.
That was definitely not a reckless offer for Mount Hua's Sword Saint.
He could return alive without sacrificing a single disciple of Mount Hua and gain the reputation of rescuing Namgung from Plum Blossom Island.
With this achievement alone, the Heavenly Friends Alliance and Mount Hua could gain a justifiable advantage over Shaolin and the Nine Great Sects.
This was an offer that no one with any sense could refuse.
Especially someone as astute as Mount Hua's Sword Saint; he had no choice but to join forces with Jang Ilso, regardless of his personal feelings. By any means necessary!
That was why Jang Ilso was able to head to Plum Blossom Island without an escort.
He believed Mount Hua's Sword Saint would never turn down the offer.
But…
'Hyun Jong.'
Hyun Jong rejected his negotiation offer.
The man, Hyun Jong, dismissed the offer, which was absolutely impossible to refuse if one had even a slight understanding of what was beneficial.
That was something Jang Ilso could not comprehend, no matter how he looked at it.
And objectively speaking, at that moment, Jang Ilso was as good as dead.
Jang Ilso was nothing more than a fool who overestimated his own intellect and placed himself in danger when he underestimated the variable called Hyun Jong, and his proposal was rejected.
Even so, it was just a stroke of luck that he survived.
Jang Ilso, who had held everything in his hands and manipulated it as he pleased, seemed to have escaped with his life for reasons even he couldn't understand.
"Heheheheh."
Jang Ilso's eyes once again showed a vivid killing intent.
"… Hyun Jong."
The reason a madman was called a madman was because he committed acts that defied common sense.
In that sense, Jang Ilso may have seemed like a madman to them, but in Jang Ilso's eyes, Hyun Jong was the true madman.
A crazy person whose mind he couldn't understand or predict.
Such a person was the head of Mount Hua and the leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance. He had the unwavering support of Mount Hua's Sword Saint.
Jang Ilso licked his lips with his tongue. His lips, red as blood, took on a slightly more sinister hue.
"That is why… the world is interesting."
Jang Ilso twisted his lips forcefully, suppressing the burning sensation in his stomach as if he had swallowed charcoal.
However, his eyes grew even more somber.
"Hoooo."
"Phew…"
The moment Jang Ilso left Plum Blossom Island, a collective sigh of relief escaped from the mouths of the Mount Hua disciples.
Some wiped the sweat from their foreheads, while others shook their heads vigorously.
The pressure Jang Ilso exerted was terrifying.
Just meeting him made them feel suffocated as if their skin was being sliced by a sharp blade.
Why was that person the leader of the Four Precepts Alliance? They could feel it in their very bones every time they encountered him.
But that was why…
'Sect leader.'
Naturally, their eyes, looking at Hyun Jong, were filled with deep trust.
That Jang Ilso…
Hyun Jong didn't back down an inch when facing Jang Ilso, the Hegemony Lord and ruler of the Southern Lands. No, it wasn't merely a matter of not backing down.
Hyun Jong didn't confront Jang Ilso forcefully, nor did he repel him by raising his qi.
He simply faced Jang Ilso calmly, as he usually did.
Who could do that?
They felt a renewed admiration for him. How great a person their sect leader was.
"Thank you for your hard work, Alliance leader."
Those words came from none other than Tang Gunak.
This meant Tang Gunak must have thought the same as they did.
"No, lord."
Hyun Jong shook his head.
"I was sweating profusely, trying to calm my trembling legs. The Hegemony Lord is indeed formidable. How can someone be like that…?"
Tang Gunak smiled faintly.
'Such a great man.'
Anyone who saw Jang Ilso's back as he turned around would feel the same way as Tang Gunak.
Who in the world would dare send Jang Ilso away like that?
"This is truly amazing…"
"I am sorry, but I think we should talk later, Lord."
At that moment, Hyun Jong's gaze turned to the Namgung family.
"Since the Hegemony Lord has promised us, there will be no more attacks. First, we should quickly move Namgung's injured soldiers to land and treat them."
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
Tang Gunak rarely experienced interruptions in his speech.
But there was not a single trace of displeasure on Tang Gunak's face at that moment.
This was because Hyun Jong's anxious heart was conveyed clearly, worried that more of the Namgung family's swordsmen might die from serious injuries.
"Move the wounded to the ship! We will return to the Northern lands."
"Yes!"
Mount Hua's disciples responded loudly with the same expressions. Interestingly, even the Sichuan Tang warriors joined in with raised voices.
Tang Gunak snickered at the sight.
Perhaps even his family members had clearly acknowledged Hyun Jong as their leader at this moment.
'You have gained a lot.'
It was something they started impulsively, but he truly gained a lot.
Fame, legitimacy, achievements.
Right. So many things.
At that moment, Hyun Jong, who was in front of him, ran to support the Namgung family's swordsmen as if he were scared.
Seeing that, Tang Gunak nodded.
'But the greatest thing we gained here might be that person.'
Thinking about that made him curious again.
Tang Gunak turned his head.
He saw the back of Chung Myung, who was glaring at the Ten Thousand People clan across the river, with one foot stepping on the unconscious Black Dragon King.
'Did you foresee this and come here?'
Of course.
Chung Myung wouldn't answer it.