1282 — Who Came To Southern Lands Now? (2)

“We’re almost there.”

“Yes. Very soon.”

The disciples of Southern Island gathered on the deck and stared at the land drawing nearer.

Southern Lands.

Their faces hardened more than ever.

Of course, this wasn’t their first time setting foot in Southern Lands. Before the Southern Lands Non-Aggression Pact took effect, they often visited the interior.

Besides, hadn’t they passed through Southern Lands on the way to Mount Song when taking part in the Worldly Murim Martial Arts Tournament?

But it would be no exaggeration to say that the Southern Lands of then and the Southern Lands of now were entirely different places.

‘In the end…’

Gwak Hwan-So bit his lip hard.

From here to the Yangtze river, they would have to traverse some eight hundred kilometers. They had to break through the Evil Sect forces that were grinding their teeth to capture and kill them.

‘Is that really possible?’

He felt his back dampen with cold sweat.

Thinking with the head and carrying it out with the body are different. He thought he’d steeled himself, but with Southern Lands looming ahead his whole body stiffened with tension.

Gwak Hwan-So turned to look back. As expected, the other Southern Island Sect’s disciples also had tense, hard faces. The disciples on the other ships were probably much the same.

‘Don’t try to relax.’

Gwak Hwan-So consciously clenched and unclenched his fists several times. If he didn’t move even a little, he felt he might suffocate in the rigid atmosphere.

‘It’s perfectly natural to be tense. Trying forcibly not to be tense is the stranger thing.’

Just as Gwak Hwan-So was about to exhale a long breath.

“Looks like we’re nearly there.”

Im So-Byeong strolled onto the deck, snapped open his fan, and fanned his face lightly. Namgung Do-Wei asked quietly.

“Did we arrive at the time you expected?”

“Ugh.”

Im So-Byeong let out a small groan and snapped the fan shut. A long sigh escaped him.

“We’re quite a bit later than planned.”

“…Is that so?”

Im So-Byeong nodded listlessly.

“According to the plan we should have arrived at least six hours earlier… only then could we have moved as intended.”

“…”

“Why did the headwind pick up, ah… maddening. ‘Do your best and leave the rest to heavens.’ No matter how skilled I am as a strategist, I can’t be expected to predict a headwind.”

“Zhuge Liang once caused a favorable wind to blow…”

Im So-Byeong’s cheeks twitched at Namgung Do-Wei’s offhand remark.

“If I were Zhuge Liang, do you think I’d be standing here like this?”

“Ah, no. I didn’t mean you lack ability. It’s just…”

“Then why is the Namgung family’s young lord only capable of that much? If the previous family lord had come instead of the Namgung’s young lord, those Ten Thousand People Clan bastards would have all been sliced to pieces on that shore!”

“Ah…”

“What?”

“I didn’t know the Green Forest King held my late father in such high esteem. Much appreciated.”

“…This little—?”

“Yes?”

“Ahem!”

Im So-Byeong gave a displeased cough and snapped his head away. Somehow this man was getting less and less easy to deal with by the day.

His gaze fixed back on Southern Lands, and his expression hardened slightly.

Although it looked like a vast land, it was actually a basin that jutted out straight toward the sea. It’s precisely the kind of terrain you should avoid when considering a landing.

Firstly, the landing point was blatantly exposed, and to reach deep inland they’d have to break through a basin stretching three hundred ri in a straight line. There was no detour, only a single path.

Strategists would learn from this terrain and never forget it; it would haunt their dreams.

“Are we really landing there?”

Im So-Byeong replied bluntly to the quiet voice.

“Why? Is there a problem? We swam from there before, didn’t we?”

“I’m not claiming to know everything, but the situation is different now, isn’t it? Back then they didn’t know we existed… nor the direction of troop movements…”

“Hooo?”

Im So-Byeong put on an exaggeratedly surprised face and looked at Namgung Do-Wei.

“Ah, you know a bit of military strategy?”

“…”

“Wow, impressive. You know military strategy too. Oh, now that I think of it I’ve heard: the royal studies taught to a person to become the Lord of the Namgung Family include military tactics. They say one must also cultivate literary arts like poetry, calligraphy, and painting, yes?”

“It’s not that grand, just a little knowledge…”

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

Im So-Byeong’s fanning grew violently rapid.

“This is why! Half-learned knowledge causes more trouble!”

“…”

“If you don’t know, keep your mouth shut like the fellows behind you who’d just say, ‘Ah, they’re probably landing there.’ But those who’ve skimmed the surface insist the taste from the rind is the taste of the melon and poke their noses into everything!”

“…Ah, no, that’s not it.”

“That’s how rulers ruin nations! They always say, ‘I’ve learned that!’ But the tactics I learned are different from that!”

“I- I was just offering an opinion…”

“What? Honestly! If just taking that class makes you a military expert, what was your previous lord thinking charging all the way to the Yangtze river! Did he skip the tactics chapter in the book?”

“D-Don’t keep going at my late father! He acted not with his head but with his heart! With his heart!”

“Heart? What nonsense!”

“Do not insult my late father!”

Gwak Hwan-So’s eyes blurred as he watched.

‘Even in this situation they’re being like that.’

He had assumed anyone with head would naturally be tense in such circumstances. Now he saw that wasn’t necessarily true. Either that, or those people weren’t quite normal.

“Tsk.”

Im So-Byeong clicked his tongue and fanned irritably.

“If you think about it roughly, that isn’t entirely wrong.”

“Right. So…”

“Only if you think roughly, only if you think roughly!”

“…”

“Why shouldn’t we land where the enemy expects us? Because they can prepare, lay traps, or set up defenses, right?”

Namgung Do-Wei nodded vigorously in agreement. Im So-Byeong snapped in return.

“They don’t have the forces there right now to set up that defensive line! Those troops are all pacing their feet around in Southern Island at the moment!”

“Ah…”

“If we hesitate to land and waste time in that situation, the non-existent defensive line will be formed, you see? The most important thing in military art isn’t principle but timing, timing! Sometimes right now is correct and later it’s wrong—that’s how strategy works. Understand?”

Namgung Do-Wei nodded as if he now understood. But one unresolved question still sat in his chest.

“…Th-then why did you say earlier that you were going crazy?”

“Out of regret, that’s why, out of regret!”

“Eh?”

Im So-Byeong twisted his face irritably and snapped his gaze toward Southern Lands.

“If we’d arrived just 6 hours earlier we could have rushed to Guangdong and burned down the main headquarters of those Ten Thousand People Clan bastards.”

“…”

“Then Jang Ilso’s face would have been a sight to see! Ah, even heaven is heartless. Why does the headwind have to pick up at a time like this…”

“Are you indulging in fantasies like that at this time?”

“Why not? Aren’t strategists still human? Every time that Jang Ilso deliberately established a long front with the Green Forest and poked at us, my scheming twisted too! Half my poor health is that bastard’s fault!”

“And the other half?”

“Because of Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, of course.”

…It was nonsense, but somehow also oddly convincing…

“Ugh. That’s a shame.”

Im So-Byeong sighed deeply in regret and complained.

Though he spoke like that, burning down the Ten Thousand People Clan’s main headquarters was not merely to lift his spirits. Regardless of Justice faction or Evil Sect, a sect’s main compound burning carries great significance.

Just look at Mount Hua as an example.

Even after Mount Hua lost all its upper ranks atop the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains, nobody declared Mount Hua ruined. It wasn’t considered devastated until remnants of the Demonic Cult invaded Shaanxi and burned Mount Hua’s pavilions.

They are not mere buildings; a main compound’s pavilions carry symbolism. If they had taken the opportunity to burn the Ten Thousand People Clan’s headquarters clean, it would have dealt a clear blow to Jang Ilso’s solid control…

“Tsk. Nothing we can do.”

There was no way now. If they clumsily tried to burn the headquarters, the people here would get roasted. Disappointing as it was, they had to give up cleanly.

“Listen up!”

When Im So-Byeong raised his voice, everyone’s attention focused.

Gwak Hwan-So swallowed hard. To be honest, he didn’t really trust Im So-Byeong, who hailed from the Evil Sect. He’d never felt the effectiveness of Im So-Byeong’s schemes.

Yet the reason Gwak Hwan-So still listened was simple: Chung Myung, Baek Cheon, Namgung Do-Wei and the other notable members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance were all listening to Im So-Byeong.

Them listening to his words—just that alone meant Im So-Byeong had already passed a kind of verification.

‘So some great stratagem must be coming.’

If a man from the Evil Sect could make the heads of the Justice faction’s sects listen, surely he must have some remarkable trick…

“Once we land, military theory and all that won’t matter.”

“Uh…”

No… he was supposed to be cunning and elusive…

“Don’t overthink it, run until your feet sweat. We must advance as far as possible before those damned Evil Sect bastards can put a proper heaven and earth net in place!”

Gwak Hwan-So gave a startled shout.

“W-wait! If we do that, won’t they learn our entire trail?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

“Even if they know, it doesn’t matter. They’ll find out anyway; if so, it’s better to move one step faster!”

Gwak Hwan-So dropped his jaw.

‘Is he insane?’

No matter how he thought about it, it wasn’t a sane thing to say. But when he turned to seek agreement, deep despair met him.

“Finally, you have something sensible to say.”

Chung Myung of Mount Hua’s Sword Saint grinned broadly.

“Concise and good.”

Baek Cheon, the Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua, nodded in agreement.

“It’s rational, at least.”

Even Namgung Do-Wei, their last hope, expressed agreement as if there were no other option.

Watching this, Gwak Hwan-So felt his own mind go strange.

‘They’re really going to do this?’

This insane stunt?

“W-wait!”

“Ah, what now?”

Gwak Hwan-So racked his brain desperately. He had to say something sensible.

“W-what if we penetrate so deeply into enemy territory and get encircled? Then there’s no turning back!”

“What are you talking about?”

The reply came not from Im So-Byeong but from Chung Myung.

“Do you think the Four Sects Alliance is easy? Do you think you’ll avoid encirclement by hiding your butt away?”

“Th-that’s…”

“If you’re going to break into someone’s house and wreak havoc, you should be prepared to be encircled. That’s only natural.”

“No, I can steel myself for that, but if we really do get encircled, what will you do then?”

“Do what? What do you think we’d do?”

Chung Myung proudly puffed out his chest.

“We’ll think about it when the time comes!”

Despair settled on Gwak Hwan-So’s face. But the others seemed to think differently once more.

“Definitely rational.”

“A good plan.”

“No room for objections.”

Members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance nodded repeatedly. Tears welled in Gwak Hwan-So’s eyes. Wouldn’t it be better to turn back even now…?

“Then first we land?”

“Of course. But…”

Im So-Byeong smirked and looked toward the shore.

“They may lack troops, but they’ll have eyes—so we should give them a little present.”

“Huh? A present?”

Im So-Byeong’s face instantly took on a malicious glint.