"Mmm......"
When Jang Ucheol hemmed and hawed, a vein popped on O Duseok's temple.
"I tried asking other people, but Yellow Dragon Fortress has been emptied out, and the only one left is you."
"I-is that so?"
"Yes! Did that bastard Dan Sahyeok actually go and throw out every last Alliance member?"
"Yes......"
"Unbelievable!"
O Duseok erupted.
"Strong as he may be, in the end he is just one man, and thousands of people--every single one of them--got scared and marched out the door when told to?"
"......"
"I cannot show my face to the seniors who gave their lives without hesitation in the Blood Sky War. Only now do I truly understand that the Martial Alliance of today was no better than a nest of mice."
O Duseok chewed each word to the bone within his fury.
He had spent years commanding the Gansu Branch, fighting the Blood Sky Sect remnants and frontier forces in grueling battles--and it was that history that lent him the depth of bitter indignation he now displayed.
"They watched the Azure Sky Sword King get smashed to pieces right before their eyes, so of course they were terrified. With Dan Sahyeok taking matters into his own hands after that, they could not even muster the nerve to resist and just ran. Over a thousand of them!"
O Duseok ground his teeth.
"I have no choice but to admit that bastard Dan Sahyeok was right. A Martial Alliance this pathetic is better off dead and gone."
"......"
"Well? Have you figured it out yet?"
"Pardon?"
"Dan Sahyeok! Have you remembered where that bastard is?"
"I-I am sorry. He never tells me before he leaves......"
"'He'? Dan Sahyeok allowed you to call him brother?"
"Oh, yes. More or less......"
"Hm."
O Duseok studied Jang Ucheol with suspicious eyes.
Under that frosty gaze, Jang Ucheol felt his nether regions shrink.
"Now, about you."
"Yes?"
"You are telling me that with that face, you are younger than Dan Sahyeok?"
"......Yes."
"Ha!"
O Duseok let out a bark of disbelief, then seemed to recall something and averted his gaze.
"I see. Hm. Is that so."
"......?"
"Well, fine. At any rate, there is nothing to do but wait for that bastard to come back."
"I-I see."
"Right. I am famished, so is there a decent inn or tavern around here you can recommend?"
"If you are looking for a drink, the Drunken Star Tower by the south gate is the place."
"No drinking in broad daylight. I just want to fill my belly."
"In that case, rather than looking for an inn, you would be better off asking Cook Jin."
"Cook Jin?"
"Yes. A cook I recommended, whom Dan Sahyeok hired. Yellow Dragon Fortress' one and only cook."
"Ha! One and only cook, he says. Well, when there is only one, that does make him the best by default. Is he any good?"
"The finest cook I know."
"Hm. Then lead the way. Looks to me like you are hungry too, so let us share a meal."
"Yes, Branch Commander."
"Just call me Big Brother."
"......?"
Jang Ucheol felt a flicker of puzzlement at the oddly familiar shift in O Duseok's manner.
Then a thought occurred to him.
He ventured a careful question.
"Um, Big Brother. If I may ask, how old are you this year......?"
"How old? I am only forty-two!"
"Well......"
Jang Ucheol opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it shut.
If he asked whether forty-two was really true with that face, the response would not be a scolding--it would be a bare fist between the eyes.
'S-so that is why he felt a kinship? Damn it all.'
Jang Ucheol grumbled inwardly but managed his expression with care.
Oblivious--or not--O Duseok was rambling to himself.
"That damn bastard Dan Sahyeok. In thirty years of eating the Martial Alliance's rice, I have never seen anyone go this far."
"......"
"Come to think of it, he was the same from the moment he first joined our branch. Appeared like the wind and turned the entire war--and the whole branch--upside down in no time."
O Duseok was ostensibly cursing, yet a certain pride was clearly showing through.
"And now he has gone and upended the Martial Alliance itself."
"More like put an end to it, I would say."
"You do not know that."
O Duseok, his heat now settled, spoke in a measured tone.
"Unless he means to let this vast fortress rot as an empty ruin, people will fill it again. And those people, like it or not, will rally around Dan Sahyeok."
"Wh-which means......?"
"One of two things. Either a new Martial Alliance is born here, centered on Dan Sahyeok, or......"
O Duseok trailed off, then continued with unease he could not quite shake.
"Something entirely different from the Martial Alliance comes into being."
***
At the same hour, in a back alley somewhere in Xi'an.
In such a great city, there inevitably existed spaces in stark contrast to the splendid halls and bustling market streets--dingy, squalid corners where an old man sat on a tattered mat.
To all appearances, he was a common beggar.
Before long, another man walked up without a sound and stopped before him. The beggar's gaze rose slowly.
"I do not accept charity, so if you wish to satisfy some paltry sense of superiority, find another beggar."
"Rest easy. I have not come to give charity."
One long, white eyebrow on the old beggar lifted.
"Fair enough. Not many fools would trek all the way to this stinking, musty hole just to hand out a coin."
"......"
"So, what is your business?"
"Your knowledge, old man. That is what I need."
"Hm! Knowledge, he says. If it is about which bridge is best for begging, or which inn is easiest to cadge a meal from, I can help."
"That would be useful too, but I am after something else."
"What sort of thing?"
"A map of the power players on the streets of Xi'an."
"A power map? What is that? Something you boil and eat?"
"Something that the Xi'an branch chief of the Beggars' Sect--Thousand-Eyed Beggar No Song--keeps filed away in his head."
The wrinkles around the old beggar's eyes crumpled sharply.
"What are you?"
"Dan Sahyeok."
"Damn it all."
Thousand-Eyed Beggar No Song shifted his posture and peered up at Dan Sahyeok.
"How did you learn about me?"
"If I answer that, will you tell me what I want to know?"
"No, I will not."
No Song shook his head and rushed to speak before Dan Sahyeok could say another word.
"I can well imagine why you want a map of Xi'an's martial world. You seized Yellow Dragon Fortress but unforeseen events left it empty, and now you need to defend it from the hungry wolves lurking in every corner of this city. Am I wrong?"
"Half right."
"Only half?"
"The fortress being emptied was not an unforeseen event."
"Then it all went according to your plan?"
"More or less."
No Song stared at Dan Sahyeok with a peculiarly contorted expression.
After a moment, he shook his head.
"Well, what does it matter? The point is the Martial Alliance has collapsed, and all of Xi'an has been plunged into a fog where no one can see an inch ahead."
From its days as Chang'an, the city's history as a capital spanned roughly a thousand years.
Xi'an was the largest city in Shaanxi and one of the three great ancient capitals under heaven.
Moreover, it harbored a population commensurate with its scale--so vast that the entire population of Gansu combined would not match it.
A small nation contained within its walls would not be an overstatement.
And Yellow Dragon Fortress, one of the most important locations in that Xi'an, now sat masterless.
If the ambitious men who each held their own territory across the city did not set their eyes on it, that would have been stranger still.
The new Lord of Yellow Dragon Fortress was not without a fearsome reputation, of course.
He had defeated Azure Sky Sword King Namgung Un, and before that, had taken the life of the Blood Sky Demon Cheon Muyeol--the Orthodox martial world's longtime nemesis.
He had even put an end to the Martial Alliance's long history. A titan by any measure.
'Even so, he is but one man!'
'The circumstances behind the Martial Alliance's collapse were more complex than they appear--it is misleading to say he single-handedly destroyed it.'
'Moreover, the struggle for supremacy here is not decided by one man's martial prowess alone......'
'No matter who the new lord is, there will be countless ways to bring him down!'
'And if that happens, the one who claims Yellow Dragon Fortress will be......'
'Me!'
That was more or less what every ambitious player would be thinking.
No Song could guess their thoughts without difficulty.
"Are you aware? The Martial Alliance may have grown complacent and corrupt, but......"
"Its mere existence kept countless fools in check. I am well aware."
No Song faltered briefly at Dan Sahyeok's answer, then let a quiet anger surface.
"If you knew that and still did what you did, does that mean the chaos that is about to unfold was also your intention?"
"My intention right now is singular. To prevent that chaos. That is why I have come to you, old man."
"I understand you are strong, but you also know better than anyone that there is only one of you."
"I told you. That is why I came to you."
"What makes you think I would help you?"
"I was told that Thousand-Eyed Beggar No Song is a titan in beggar's clothing--not naive, and cold-blooded when he needs to be, but scrupulous when it comes to debts given and owed."
"What......?"
"It is time to repay a life-debt incurred in Luoyang thirty years ago."
"......!"
No Song's eyes went wide enough to pop out of his skull.
His voice, leaking through parted lips, trembled ever so faintly.
"H-how do you know about that? Surely...... you are not his grandson?"
"His disciple, to be precise. I honestly do not know what happened there, but I was told that simply saying this would be enough for you to understand."
"Ngh......!"
"So, what will you do?"
Dan Sahyeok folded his arms and asked at his leisure.
No Song's deliberation did not last long.
"Let us find somewhere else to talk."
***
"Mm! Excellent work."
"What did I tell you? Our Cook Jin's skill is the finest in Xi'an--no, in all of Shaanxi."
"Since when are you two so close that it is 'our' Cook Jin?"
"Now, Cook Jin. Let us not sweat the small stuff between friends."
One of Yellow Dragon Fortress' countless kitchens.
O Duseok and Jang Ucheol were tearing through the braised pork Cook Jin had served, exclaiming between bites.
"Cook Jin, was it? Could I trouble you for another plate?"
"Of course. I suppose I had best start preparing at least ten portions per meal from now on."
As Cook Jin murmured to himself, Jang Ucheol waggled his chopsticks.
"Let us go big--twenty portions."
"Then you talk to the fortress lord about it."
"T-to him?"
"Obviously. The food expenses all come out of his pocket."
"Ngh......!"
While Jang Ucheol sank into agonized deliberation, Cook Jin picked up a plate to leave.
O Duseok worked a morsel from between his teeth, smacking his lips, then said with casual indifference.
"Well, do not worry too much. Dan Sahyeok is not the sort to be stingy about pocket change."
"R-right?"
"Right."
At O Duseok's firm assurance, Jang Ucheol let out a sigh of relief.
O Duseok, by contrast, knit his brow.
"If anything, the problem was the opposite--he would help himself to provisions that were not his share, and that caused trouble."
"Mm......"
"And besides, what is there to worry about? Look at all the stuff worth money just lying around."
"I-I suppose so. Ha ha......"
"On another note."
Cook Jin spoke up as he brought out another plate of braised pork.
"Is it really all right to just leave all those things sitting outside?"