Chapter 724

Some people left. Others stayed behind.

As the Beast Miao King watched the travelers disappear into the distance, he knew they would meet again before the ache of this farewell had faded.

And when they did, it would be on a battlefield, fighting back-to-back.

“In the end, we’re going to the Central Plains once again.”

The Beast Miao King gave a small nod at the voice beside him.

“Yes. So it has come to this.”

“A great deal of blood will be spilled.”

“Do you think your father made the wrong decision?”

“No.”

Yayul Mok continued calmly.

“If my father—no, if the Palace Lord hadn’t wanted to go to the Central Plains, I would have gone with them on my own.”

“…!”

His gaze followed the figures receding in the distance.

Strangers from a foreign land. Yet it was because those strangers had come that they had been able to protect their homeland.

“Now it’s our turn to help them.”

There had been a time when Yayul Mok, too, had been hostile to the Central Plains and rejected the Han Chinese.

But things were different now. The still-unseasoned Young Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace had learned what it meant to act with humanity from one stranger. He would never forget the conversation they had shared.

“What would you do if the pasture caught fire?”

“Put it out right away.”

“Why?”

“Because if we don’t, the flames will spread everywhere.”

“Good. There’s your answer.”

“…!”

“Don’t overthink why we came. There’s a fire, so we’re trying to put it out. Just like the Nanman people who left this land for the Central Plains decades ago.”

At first, he hadn’t believed it. He couldn’t.

The Han Chinese he knew were despicable people who had betrayed Nanman’s trust and driven countless of its people to their deaths.

There was no way they had traveled more than ten thousand li¹ to help without asking for anything in return.

That was what he had thought then.

But now I understand what you meant.

The pasture called the world was already on fire, and the vast inferno known as Dark Heaven would devour everything.

Where people were born and raised, how they dressed, what they looked like—none of it mattered now.

Just as Nanman had finally become one, everyone would have to join forces to put out the fire.

“We’ll fight with our lives on the line. For everyone who lives on this land. And for them.”

At the sight of his son’s resolve, the Beast Miao King smiled faintly.

When did he grow up so much?

Just as Nanman had finally become one, his only son had grown as well.

So why did the Beast Miao King’s heart feel as hollow as an empty jar?

You hopeless fool.

He swallowed the bitter thought and tilted a flask he had taken from his robes.

Fragrant fruit wine fell with the dwindling rain and soaked into the earth—the soil of the homeland where two sworn brothers had been born and raised together.

“Good wine, this. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The Beast Miao King had not tasted a drop, yet at his mumble the people around him looked puzzled. He merely laughed with relief.

This was enough.

One distant day, they would meet again and raise their cups together.

Yes. Someday, without fail.

The Beast Miao King lifted his head. Through the thinning rain, azure heaven spread above the countless people of Nanman.

Or perhaps it was the gaze of an unseen absolute being.

“Sound the war drums.”

His low voice broke the suffocating silence. He drew a deep breath, gathered his internal energy, and shouted.

“God wills it!”

His azure dragon’s roar rang in every direction. Somewhere high on a hill, the snow-white White Tiger that had been watching them let out a roar of its own.

Kraaaaaaang!

Clang-clang-clang!

“Waaaaaaah!”

Thousands—tens of thousands—of beasts and humans stamped their feet and cried out. Sunlight flashed from countless blades, scattering in every direction.

At long last, the prelude to the Great War had begun.

A melancholy look in his eyes, Hyuk Mujin waited until everyone was watching before slowly opening his mouth.

“I was just one person trying to save other people.”

“Stop.”

“I didn’t do it for a reward. And I couldn’t ask anyone to make another sacrifice. That’s why I was going to leave.”

“I said stop.”

“Come on, why are you like this? I never get tired of doing this, no matter how many times I repeat it. Honestly, you all agree, don’t you?”

Taishan, who was tearing into a wild boar’s hind leg atop a bear running at full speed, nodded vigorously.

“Taishan agrees!”

“See? Even he agrees. I was just one person trying to save—”

I quietly cut Hyuk Mujin off.

“Mujin.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to become a eunuch?”

The grin vanished from his face.

“No.”

“Is your life too boring, then?”

“Not at all. I’m worried it’s already more exciting than I can handle.”

“Want me to make it peaceful?”

“You don’t mean that you’re going to kill me, do you?”

“What if I do?”

“Wow, look over there. Beautiful scenery.”

“Good. Let’s travel quietly.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Hyuk Mujin shut his mouth, but Taishan looked disappointed and called for an encore.

“Pavilion Master! Taishan wants to hear more!”

So I called in his designated bully.

“Old Man Nam, I think it’s time to shut that bastard’s mouth.”

“Oh, finally!”

Namho cheered like an independence fighter at liberation² and pulled a muzzle from his robes as though he’d been waiting for the signal.

Made of sturdy black iron and leather straps, it looked bizarre—and strangely familiar.

“Wait. Where did you get that?”

“From a Nanman animal trainer. He said they mostly use it to tame wild bears.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there a problem?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Something about it bothered me. I had the uneasy feeling that if Namho put it on him, I’d have to stop calling him Taishan and start calling him product number TAESAN-317.

I hesitated, then gave in and sighed.

“Don’t put it on him. Actually, just throw it away.”

“No! Why?”

Why? Because I felt like it would dirty my eyes.

I snatched the muzzle from the practically wailing Namho and hurled it into the distance. Jeok Cheongang, who had watched the whole thing, spoke with an uneasy look on his face.

“What on earth happened in Nanman?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking what happened to make every last one of you lose your mind.”

“A lot happened in Nanman, sure, but they were all like this to begin with.”

“What?”

“Surprising, but true.”

“You brat! Don’t talk nonsense. With things this much of a goddamn mess, how did none of you get killed?”

“…”

Yeah. Fuck.

Looking back on what had happened in Nanman, I had a reasonable suspicion that the Earth Mother Goddess really had blessed us.

I came close to death several times. Making it back in one piece is a miracle.

Of course, I was the only one who had come close to death that many times. The others had suffered injuries, major and minor, but the Sacred Rain had worked so well that every one of them had recovered completely.

And we somehow stopped Dark Heaven’s plot.

A great many people had died in the process. Still, stopping the Southern Heaven Demon Empress—practically the Fire Dragon Pavilion’s top priority, and mine—was more than half a success.

The Nanman Beast Palace officially joined the Murim Alliance, too.

Truthfully, that had been all but certain once we stopped the Southern Heaven Demon Empress. Even without the Earth Mother Goddess’s value as a new brand, the outcome probably wouldn’t have changed much.

Stamp out a fire halfheartedly and it only burns hotter. Anger can draw scattered people together.

All I had done was give them another point to rally around: a One God who could erase boundaries between tribes that had stood for centuries and help them become a more united, more powerful force.

And that made the Murim Alliance stronger, too.

On this, I had no doubts. The Nanman Beast Palace was firmly on our side now.

According to what the Beast Miao King had promised before we left, they would send more troops than they had during the Great Faction War and do everything in their power to hold back Dark Heaven.

So why?

Why do I still feel uneasy?

We’d accomplished a great deal, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Perhaps it was because one question remained unanswered.

The new Murim Alliance has been formed. The forces of the Central Plains are gathering around the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families. Yet Dark Heaven still hasn’t shown its full strength.

Their first intervention in Shanxi Province, the Shaolin Bloodshed that followed, and every incident since—none of them had been minor. But each had involved only a fragment of Dark Heaven, not the organization as a whole.

They should be past the point of testing the waters.

What the hell were they—or rather, what was the Lord of Heaven—trying to do?

And why did the Lord of Heaven…

“Why would the Lord of Heaven take this much interest in me, of all people?”

I hadn’t meant to say it aloud. Everyone looked at me at once, and before I could explain, Hyuk Mujin perked up like a meerkat.

“Gasp, Captain. Did someone confess to you? Oh my God. A Nanman?”

“…”

I wanted to gouge out his eyes, sparkling like the morning star. I fought the urge.

“It’s not like that, you crazy bastard.”

“Then she’s Han Chinese?”

“How many times do I have to tell you—wait. Come to think of it, that part’s right.”

“Wow. When did this happen? Who confessed?”

“The Lord of Heaven.”

“Now there’s an impressive name for a young lady. Sounds like a daughter from a respectable family…”

Hyuk Mujin stopped. He blinked, thought for a moment, then spoke again.

“Who?”

“The Lord of Heaven.”

“The one I know? I mean, the one everyone knows?”

“Who else?”

“Fuck. That respectable household was in Xinjiang…”

Beyond Qinghai, where the Kunlun Sect stood, lay Xinjiang. For a thousand years, Xinjiang had been the domain of the Demonic Path.

Once everyone realized that the supposed young lady interested in me belonged to Dark Heaven’s household, they stared at one another, momentarily lost for words. Then the questions came all at once.

“Why would the Lord of Heaven be interested in you?” Hyuk Mujin asked.

Namho cut in. “Isn’t it obvious? He keeps getting in the Lord of Heaven’s way.”

“Sure, but the Captain isn’t one of the Three Saints or the Ten Kings. He’s just a scrap who’s only just made a name for himself.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re not wrong.”

“Taishan can eat scraps.”

“You son of a bitch. I knew this might happen, so I brought another muzzle. Come here. Open your mouth.”

“Why are you all talking about him like that? Our Pavilion Master is a scrap? Song Escort, Sama Pyo! Say something!”

“Young Lady Ju, I’m sorry, but I think I have to leave. I managed to make it all the way to Nanman, but if the Lord of Heaven has taken an interest in that man…”

“Taishan! That’s not meat! Don’t bite it! Old Man Nam, put that muzzle down!”

“…”

Fuck. I had never seen such a complete mess.

I stared blankly at the disaster unfolding before me. Then a quiet Sound Transmission reached my ears.

—Let’s talk.

It was Jeok Cheongang.