Drip.
The clear liquid flowed like a silk thread and fell into a glass.
Jang Ilso, who had been quietly looking at the alcohol, smiled oddly.
"… no reinforcements?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
Jang Ilso's smile grew a little deeper. However, Ho Ga-Myung quickly noticed that his smile held some discomfort.
"The reason…"
"Forget it."
Jang Ilso waved his hand as if he had nothing more to listen to.
"As expected, they must have been talking nonsense. Isn't that it?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
He snorted lightly and slowly drank the alcohol. The strong and fragrant alcohol left a scent in his mouth and slowly spread through his body. Jang Ilso, who had been slowly appreciating this feeling, suddenly turned his head and looked at the Yangtze River.
"Right. How do you think it's going?"
"It seems that the Lower District sect leader is the one who is actively showing his will to confront you."
"… Hmm."
Jang Ilso nodded slowly.
"Desolate Gold elder will probably keep his mouth shut."
"He is not showing any signs of wanting to cooperate, but he isn't displaying any signs of hostility either. If we had to define the situation, I think the word 'wait and approach' would be the most appropriate one."
"Wait and see approach, huh…"
Jang Ilso laughed softly.
Well. Could they actually call it a wait-and-see approach?
Of course, in terms of not stepping forward and just watching, it would be right to call the position of Desolate Gold Elder as such.
But if one looked inside, the story was a little different.
By now, Desolate Gold Elder must be frantically calculating how to move for his own gain.
"He must be busy with the allocations."
The darkened Yangtze River just flowed thick and black. Jang Ilso asked quietly, lost in thought, looking at the river.
"What about the pirates?"
"Most of it has been sorted out. It was easy because there was no one resisting."
Those words would have made the Black Dragon King cough out blood in anger if he had heard them, but Ho Ga-Myung was just speaking of the facts.
"I am not saying that they are not dissatisfied, but it seems that there is no one who can stand in for the Black Dragon King now, so at most, the rallying of the unhappy forces and resistance can happen."
"Right."
Jang Ilso sneered without taking his eyes off the Yangtze River.
"There's no way someone like the Black Dragon King would tolerate being the second in command."
In the Evil Faction, the winner took all. It didn't matter what their origin or their status was. A world where the strong took everything. That was the world the Evil Faction lived in.
However, the extreme structure was equally harsh on those who had everything. Those who had everything taken away could not help but suffer from the fear that they too might one day have everything taken away.
That was why the Evil Faction leaders did not tolerate anyone who could threaten their position. What they wanted was perfect domination.
"That's a foolish thing to do."
Jang Ilso's gaze slowly sank down.
The Namgung family lost too many things in this river. The lord of the family, Namgung Hwang, and the elders of the family, who were its pillars, and even many of its main troops, were all cut down.
But the Namgung family didn't collapse. Now, they were trying to rebuild the sect by any means possible, centering around Namgung Do-Wei, someone who could only be called a fool.
On the other hand, the pirates had almost preserved their power, but it was in disarray before because of their leader, Black Dragon King, who had lost his strength. Thanks to that, they were unable to even put up a proper resistance and ended up surrendering to Jang Ilso.
"This is just a farce."
Probably the biggest difference between the Righteous and Evil Factions.
Sometimes, monsters that threatened the world appeared in the Evil Faction. The Evil Factions led by such people trample the Righteous Factions and dye the world red.
But that was all.
The stronger the leader, the bigger the void ended up as. The moment that absolute man's influence vanished, the Evil Sect would once again engage in a duel among themselves.
That was why Shaolin, with its thousands of years of history, existed, but an Evil Sect with hundreds of years of history was hard to find.
"It isn't bad from my perspective."
Jang Ilso laughed softly.
The pirates, who lost their heads, the Black Dragon King, were now in his grasp. Now all that was left were the Lower District sect and the Black Ghost Tower.
Of course, the Demon Blood Palace remained, but the Blood Palace was like a shackle to him. If he tried to rule them, the cost to pay would be greater than the benefit itself.
"Even if the Black Ghost Tower is an unsure thing for us, the Lower District sect needs to be taken over by us. In order to wage war against the sects beyond the Yangtze River, the information from the Lower District sect is absolutely needed."
Jang Ilso nodded slowly. He, too, had thought about the necessity for a long time.
It wasn't just a problem north of the Yangtze River. The Lower District Sect's information power was essential even in order to effectively rule the enlarged Four Precepts Alliance now.
Ho Ga-Myung let out this small sigh after glancing at Jang Ilso's expression.
"I never thought that Thousand Face Scholar would fight back so actively. I thought he was someone who knew how to read the room at times."
"It is because he knows that."
"… Sorry?"
Jang Ilso had a bitter smile.
"It isn't because he doesn't know, it is because he knows. He knows me too well."
"…"
"I guess he knows that once he bows his head to me, he can never raise it up again, so he tries to rebel while he still has strength left."
"I understand that part… but the situation is what it is. I think someone like that knows that now is the time to unite under the command of the Alliance lord and fight against the hypocrites of that faction."
"I know, but it is meaningless."
Jang Ilso laughed bitterly.
"Some people fight against barbarians and sacrifice their lives to protect their country, but others dig up the corpses of the dead to increase their wealth. The victory of the Evil Faction would mean nothing for the Thousand Face Scholar, at least."
Ho Ga-Myung gritted his teeth slightly.
Of course, he had no intention of denying that. That's just the nature of Evil Factions. Wasn't it their nature to do anything for their own benefit?
However, there was a time for everything in the world. Now was not the time for them to fight one another…
"What will you do, lord?"
"Hmm."
His pure white hands interlocked and hung on his knees. The rings decorating the long fingers were rubbing against each other.
"Let's just leave it alone for a while, Ga-Myung."
Jang Ilso said in a slightly low nasal tone.
"I would like to go and make them know their place in person, but…"
Jang Ilso's eyes flashed with a deep killing intent. He stared at the Yangtze River with an eerie feel just from looking at it, but soon relaxed his body and shook his head.
"This cannot be happening. Don't those bastards need me too much?"
His laughter spread across the calm river.
Ho Ga-Myung, who had been watching this, spoke softly.
"Alliance lord. May I ask you something?"
"Uh?"
He lowered his body and asked.
"I know what you are thinking. Just by your presence here, they will split up and fight one another."
In other words, Jang Ilso was making a huge profit by just guarding this place.
"But Alliance Lord. No matter how much they split up, if the Four Precepts Alliance doesn't stand against them properly, we won't be able to take advantage of that gap. It is hard to understand why the Alliance lord is leaving them alone when you say the world has had enough of peace."
"Tsk tsk."
Jang Ilso clicked his tongue and picked up the bottle of alcohol to fill his glass.
"Ga-Myung, Ga-Myung."
"Yes, Alliance lord."
"You take that guy too lightly."
"… sorry?"
A twisted smile formed on Jang Ilso's lips.
"The man is indeed being manipulated here and there, but he is not an easy person. If that were the case, he would have already been devoured by Mount Hua's Sword Saint. The man is surely worthy of the title of abbot of Shaolin."
"…"
"If we step back now and start cleaning up, the man will also step back and start preparing for us. Right now, tying up that man's feet is more important than anything."
"But can't the abbot use the current situation to unite the Nine Great Sects without having to leave this place?"
"It is possible."
"Then shouldn't we stop them?"
Jang Ilso looked at Ho Ga-Myung with an odd smile.
"Do you really think we can stop them from coming together?"
"… Uh?"
"Ga-Myung, you see the venom of the rich. The reason they don't come together now is that we are not a great threat. If we really were a threat, they would put aside their own grudges and unite. That is how they have always been."
Ho Ga-Myung had no choice but to nod.
It was certainly true. When the world was at peace, the Nine Great Sects fought among themselves for power, but when chaos came, they banded together as one to fight against the enemy like nothing had happened.
Where was the guarantee that they wouldn't do the same when it was the Four Precepts Alliance?
"We won't gain anything by cornering them like this. There is something else we need to gain."
"… And that would be?"
Jang Ilso smiled.
"Fear."
"… uh?"
"Fear. Yes, fear. But, that is…"
An evil smile formed on the lips of Jang Ilso. However, his eyes were darkly sunk.
"It isn't fear of us. It is a more trivial and insignificant fear."
Ho Ga-Myung didn't understand Jang Ilso's words. But he couldn't bring himself to ask again. Even though his voice didn't contain any emotion, an inexplicable sense of oppression was weighing on his mind.
"Do you know what the first thing a person who is filled with fear does?"
"…"
"Find a way to live."
Jang Ilso's face had a grim look.
"Throw away the pretense of honor and harmony and find a way to live. Isn't that human nature?"
"… Alliance Lord."
"Let us see. How many of those great Buddhists can overcome their own human nature?"
Jang Ilso slowly licked his lips, wet with alcohol.
'It's almost done. So close now.'
He could see it in his eyes.
It wasn't a crack between the obvious troops that could be seen on the surface. It was a small crack created by the wedge in the abbot's heart.
The crack, which had been carefully spread little by little, would eventually produce meaningful results. The time was ripe.
'Just a little more…'
It was then.
"A-alliance lord!"
Someone ran to his feet and knelt down.
"W-we have a problem."
"Hmm?"
Jang Ilso looked at the guy with indifferent eyes.
"What is it? Surely, it isn't the Lower District sect that barged in."
"T-that is…"
The one who had been brought up raised his pale face and quickly began to speak.
"… What did you just say?"
A different, more intense reaction burst out of Ho Ga-Myung's mouth after hearing the report.
"Is this true?"
"Y-yes!"
Ho Ga-Myung was dumbfounded and momentarily silent. His face instantly turned to despair.
"H-how… at this moment…"
Even he, who had proven his ability to be a great warrior in the Ten Thousand People Clan, could only be dumbfounded at the moment. He urgently checked the expression of Jang Ilso.
Flutter!
The rings around the fingers made this uncomfortable metallic sound. Contrary to his threatening gesture, the lips of Jang Ilso now had a sincere smile.
"This is why…"
He slowly got up from his place.
"Life is so interesting. There are variables you can never imagine."
Madness flashed in his eyes. Jang Ilso's pure white teeth were revealed. It was a smile filled with sincere anger and less pleasure.