Chapter 445

Clack.

“Ah.”

Someone let out a small gasp.

The enormous library revealed when the doors opened was impressive enough, but so was the fact that they had opened without anyone touching them or using internal energy.

Even to someone who had spent his entire modern life passing through automatic doors tens of thousands of times, it was a remarkably novel experience.

Some kind of machine?

No, this was Murim. Should I call it a mechanism?

The doors contained an intricate arrangement of iron and wooden components, all precisely interlocked.

And that wasn’t all. As I slowly looked around the library, I saw unmistakable traces of similar mechanisms throughout the place.

Of course, they were crude compared to the cutting edge of modern civilization. But I had certainly never seen anything like them in any of the other prestigious great families or sects I’d visited.

That aside…

Why is nobody here?

There wasn’t even a servant or guard in sight, let alone the Family Head himself.

As everyone, myself included, stared around, Zhuge Gyun shouted.

“Family Head!”

His voice, infused with internal energy, echoed through the library.

The space wasn’t merely large. Vast was the only word for it. It was bigger than a modern soccer stadium.

Zhuge Gyun’s shout carried between the endless rows of bookshelves, but no answer came.

“What the hell? Is he not here?”

“He seems to be somewhere inside, but… Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

As if he had known this would happen, Zhuge Gyun let out a deep sigh and continued.

“He often gets like this when he becomes absorbed in something. I’m sorry, but if you could wait here for a moment, I’ll find the Family Head and—”

Jeok Cheongang, who had been looking around the library, cut him off.

“Enough. Is that really necessary?”

“Pardon? Even so, with Great Hero Jeok visiting…”

“He’ll come out when the time is right. He must have his reasons.”

For a moment, I wondered if I had heard him correctly. Of all people, I never expected those words to come from Jeok Cheongang.

Even Cheongpung dropped the candied fruit he had been bringing to his mouth.

Am I dreaming?

I was seriously considering the question when Jeok Cheongang continued with a warm smile.

“Come to think of it, this old man has never seen such a large and magnificent library in his life. Would it be all right if I looked around for a while?”

Zhuge Gyun answered with a dazed expression.

“Of course.”

“Even if I burn it down?”

“…Pardon?”

“It was a joke, you little punk. Ho-ho. How could I burn everything in sight when I’m here as a guest?”

Jeok Cheongang laughed heartily, then added,

“Knocking over a bookshelf by accident would be another matter.”

In the next instant, Jeok Cheongang shot upward like a streak of light.

At the same time, a palm strike carrying the tremendous force of ten thousand geun¹ slammed into the nearest bookshelf.

Boom!

It happened before anyone could stop him. I stared at the scene unfolding before me, my mouth hanging open.

Oh, fuck.

Rumble…

The bookshelf, which looked to be at least three zhang² tall, began to tilt.

And there were hundreds of them.

In the blink of an eye, the countless shelves packed together at regular intervals became one enormous row of dominoes.

“W-wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Crash! Rumble-rumble-rumble!

The deafening roar swallowed Zhuge Gyun’s scream.

As every bookshelf came crashing down, years of accumulated dust erupted into the air and filled the library in a dense cloud.

No, I wasn’t even sure it could still be called a library. A graveyard of books would have been more appropriate.

It might even have become one person’s grave.

“Fatherrrr!”

Jeok Cheongang patted the wailing Zhuge Gyun on the shoulder.

“You’re the new Family Head of the Zhuge Clan now.”

“Nooo!”

Whack!

Jeok Cheongang smacked him on the back of the head and gave him an incredulous look.

“You really can’t take a joke, can you? Can’t you see your father over there, alive and well?”

Jeok Cheongang was telling the truth.

A couple of coughs came from within the thick cloud of dust, and a slender figure emerged, waving one hand as he walked toward us.

“Well, now. Cough. I’m sorry I couldn’t come out to greet you sooner. There have been an unusual number of matters requiring my attention lately. Cough.”

“At least you know. What an ill-mannered brat.”

Jeok Cheongang answered curtly and flicked his sleeve.

Whoosh!

Compressed air burst outward, scattering the dust cloud. At last, the man came fully into view.

“Ha. Seeing you like this makes me realize how much time has passed. Do you remember this old man?”

A clear voice answered.

“Of course. It was the fifth Mid-Autumn Festival³ after my birth. Senior ate two plates of roast duck and drank five jars of Yeoahong,⁴ then fought a duel with Great Hero Peng as the gathering drew to a close and ended up with a bloody nose.”

“What? That Thunderbolt Saber King bastard was there too? We even fought?”

“Yes. Great Hero Peng laughed loudly and struck the table, spilling wine on Senior’s knee. It was a minor disagreement.”

“That sounds like a major incident where it wouldn’t have been strange for someone to die.”

Jeok Cheongang let out a quiet laugh before continuing.

“Quite a few years have passed, but that incredible head of yours is still as sharp as ever. All right, enough nonsense. Come here. You have guests waiting for you.”

“I was planning to greet them regardless.”

Though the middle-aged man was covered in dust, it couldn’t conceal his refined appearance.

He was the youngest Sect Leader of any prestigious great family or sect I had met so far. His eyes, unusually clear and radiant, turned toward us.

“My apologies for keeping such honored guests waiting. I am Zhuge Feng.”

It was a remarkably plain greeting for the Family Head of the Zhuge Clan, the foremost great family in Hubei Province and one of the central pillars of the orthodox faction.

Then, before anyone could respond, Zhuge Feng continued. The moment I heard his next words, I suddenly understood why his sobriquet was Crouching Dragon Guest.

“Time is as precious as gold, and I have no desire to take anyone else’s gold. Only those who wish to remain need stay. Oh, and I’ve always believed people should make themselves comfortable when they talk, so please don’t take this the wrong way.”

I wondered what he meant until Zhuge Feng promptly flopped onto his side, paying no attention to the dust coating the floor. A laugh escaped me.

“Sure, why not? This is comfortable.”

I lay down at an angle and propped my chin on one hand. The corners of his eyes curved like crescent moons.

Though everyone looked dumbfounded, they sat down one by one and listened to Zhuge Feng.

Mu Song tried to leave, saying he had to visit a Yangtze River Channel League stronghold in Hubei, but one remark from Zhuge Feng stopped him in his tracks.

“I won’t stop you if you wish to leave, but what I am about to say concerns you deeply as well, Ship-Fire Boy Mu Song.”

“…!”

Mu Song hesitated, then remained behind. Surprisingly, Mungyeong, who had seemed the most likely to leave first, stayed quietly where he was.

Then again, with everyone else remaining, leaving alone might have drawn even more attention.

The Zhuge Clan’s intelligence network had already informed Zhuge Feng that this young medical apprentice was the Divine Physician’s Disciple. He gave Mungyeong a curious look, but soon turned away and began to speak.

“It was exactly one month ago. I was in the library, reading the Records of the Grand Historian⁵ for the eighty-fifth time, when I heard the news.”

The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families were the leading powers of their respective provinces.

With roots stretching back anywhere from a hundred years to several centuries, each possessed a dense intelligence network that allowed them to know their territory like the palm of their hand.

The Zhuge Clan was no exception.

“The Sea Serpent Society had disappeared.”

“The Sea Serpent Society? What’s that, Benefactor?”

“I don’t know either.”

Unlike the bewildered Cheongpung and me, everyone else’s eyes widened.

Mu Song’s reaction stood out more than anyone else’s.

“Th-the Sea Serpent Society?”

“Yes, the very one you know. The association formed by the countless fishermen and boatmen of Hubei Province.”

Ah. Now I understood.

I had never heard of the Sea Serpent Society, but I could guess what kind of organization it was.

To put it simply and dispense with all the old-fashioned explanations, it was a sort of professional association.

Just as each region had a Hunter Association, Hubei Province had—or rather, used to have—an association of fishermen called the Sea Serpent Society.

And this was unquestionably good news, at least for Mu Song. The faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth was proof enough.

“I cannot say what the Zhuge Clan thinks of this, but as someone devoted to the League, I welcome the news. The Sea Serpent Society caused my Master no end of trouble.”

“I thought you would feel that way. At least within Hubei Province, it was the only organization capable of standing against the Yangtze River Channel League.”

Tributaries of the Yangtze ran throughout Hubei Province like a spiderweb.

No matter how powerful the Yangtze River Channel League was, it must have been vastly outnumbered by the people who made their living from fishing.

Though Hubei was outside the Sichuan territory under his responsibility, Mu Song laughed heartily at the news that one powerful rival had disappeared.

“But how did they end up disbanding? Did they happen to smuggle salt or something…?⁶”

Zhuge Feng shook his head.

“Of course not. Even if they had been smuggling salt, the Sea Serpent Society would never have handled it so carelessly. And if they had been caught, a fleet dispatched by order of the Son of Heaven would already be filling the Yangtze throughout Hubei.”

“Then was it an internal conflict?”

“I don’t think you properly understood what I said.”

His clear, transparent eyes fixed on Mu Song.

As he faced Mu Song’s confusion, Zhuge Feng continued slowly.

“The Sea Serpent Society disappeared. Someone crushed it utterly.”

“…!”

“The night before I received that report, a banquet was held to celebrate the Society Head’s eightieth birthday. Forty-five shipowners who had sworn loyalty to him and roughly a thousand members of the Sea Serpent Society attended. They drank until past midnight and launched dozens of pleasure boats onto the waters of Red Cliffs. And that was the last of it.”

The next morning, an old boatman who rose at dawn found the waters of Red Cliffs choked with corpses and the wreckage of brutally shattered boats.

The Society Head and the organization’s core members, including dozens of shipowners, had all met their deaths at Red Cliffs. The Sea Serpent Society had lost both its head and its body.

Nothing can move without either.

The Sea Serpent Society, which had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Yangtze River Channel League and wielded power throughout Hubei Province for decades, disappeared just like that.

“H-how could such a thing happen…?”

“It is strange that you, of all people, knew nothing about it.”

Zhuge Feng stared steadily at the speechless Mu Song.

“Do you know who moved first after the incident at Red Cliffs became known? The authorities? The Sea Serpent Society members who were lucky enough to survive? No. It was the Yangtze River Channel League. They invaded the Sea Serpent Society’s territory and took control of the Yangtze with astonishing speed.”

“…Great Hero Zhuge.”

Mu Song’s face hardened.

Like the rest of us, he seemed to have finally realized why he had needed to remain.

“Are you saying you suspect me? The League?”

“Of course I didn’t. The Great Hero Hwang of Donghu Stronghold whom I know is not such a foolish man. He is different from the other foolish, violent Stronghold Lords.”

Zhuge Feng brushed the dust from his shoulder and smiled faintly at Mu Song.

“That was certainly what I thought—until the Dongting Fisherman, who had publicly condemned the Yangtze River Channel League, disappeared three days ago.”

“…!”

At that moment, unrest spread through the group, and a familiar notification rang in my ears.

Ding.