As if it could be all right.
O Duseok skewered a sauced chunk of meat on the tip of his chopstick and looked at Jang Ucheol.
"It should be safe from rats gnawing at them right away, but...... leaving everything out like that is not ideal."
"As it happens, he already gave me orders. Told me to move everything somewhere."
"I see."
"I was in the middle of doing just that when Big Brother showed up."
"I see."
"So, in other words......"
Jang Ucheol drew out his words with a suggestive look.
It was the look of a man silently pleading for even a little help, but O Duseok was immune.
"Good luck."
"......Yes."
What could he do if the man had no conscience?
Jang Ucheol grumbled silently and stuffed more pork into his mouth.
"It may not be my place to keep butting in, seeing as I am just the cook."
Cook Jin folded his arms and spoke.
"But come nightfall, looters are bound to swarm in, are they not? Word that all manner of belongings left behind by the Alliance members are lying around the fortress grounds must have spread across all of Xi'an by now."
"Hm."
O Duseok sucked a bit of sauce off his finger and narrowed his brow.
"Well, we could just let them take what they want. Strictly speaking, all Dan Sahyeok claimed was Yellow Dragon Fortress itself, not those belongings."
"That is not the point."
Jang Ucheol's face had turned grave.
"Ultimately, people coming to take those things means they will be trespassing into Yellow Dragon Fortress."
"Ah, right. In that case......"
O Duseok thought a moment longer, then spoke.
"Can we not just look the other way?"
"Look the other way?"
"It is not as though we can fight off hordes swarming in from every direction."
"But......"
"Listen, boy."
O Duseok clicked his tongue.
"How many do you think you could kill in a fight?"
"Pardon? W-well......"
"Three or four at best. That is your limit, is it not?"
"I am a Second-Class Warrior."
"Really? The Martial Alliance's standards must have sunk that far while I was not looking."
"Ugh."
"At any rate, with your skills, killing three or four would be the ceiling. And if we are being honest, you would be flanked from every direction--taking out even one or two would be a miracle."
"I-I suppose......"
"I could handle three or four hundred at best."
Jang Ucheol's jaw went slack.
O Duseok added, as if it were nothing.
"Well, that would be the absolute worst case with a full encirclement. If I can hit and run, double that."
"......"
"Even so, that is only seven or eight hundred. And if a halfway decent master is mixed in with those jackals, the number drops sharply."
"Mm."
"You follow? Numbers are cruel. Like it or not, that is the reality."
O Duseok continued in a cold tone.
"Those looters will not camp here all day. If we just look the other way and let them run wild for a bit, it will be over."
"Mm, but......"
"But what?"
"Do you really think he would let them?"
"Let them or not, the man is nowhere to be found."
O Duseok clicked his tongue, then launched into a tirade.
"If he is going to swagger around as Lord of Yellow Dragon Fortress, he should have anticipated something like this. Charging ahead without a plan--what kind of way is that to......"
"I planned plenty."
"......!"
Jang Ucheol and O Duseok leapt to their feet and whipped their heads around.
Dan Sahyeok was stepping through the kitchen doorway.
Not alone--he had brought an old man with him.
"Dan Sahyeok, you bastard......!"
"I thought you were heading for Great Snow Mountain, Branch Commander?"
"C-circumstances changed and I came back."
"I see. Understood."
His reaction was far more subdued than expected, and O Duseok felt sheepish.
Just then, Jang Ucheol, who had been reading the room, cut in.
"Sir, we have a serious problem on our hands!"
"Have you finished moving the seized goods?"
"N-no. That is......"
Jang Ucheol's eyes slid toward O Duseok.
O Duseok looked the other way.
Dan Sahyeok, wearing an expression that said he had expected as much, turned to No Song.
"You said tonight or tomorrow."
"Mm, indeed."
"Understood."
His manner suggested that was all he needed to know.
O Duseok, blinking between the two of them, could not hold back any longer.
"And who might you be, old man? And what is this about 'tonight or tomorrow'?"
"A simple matter. People are going to come to plunder the goods and belongings left here."
"Ngh! So, tonight or tomorrow?"
"That is right."
At No Song's words, O Duseok stole a glance at Dan Sahyeok.
Dan Sahyeok spoke without inflection.
"If you wish to flee, you are welcome to, Branch Commander."
"F-flee? Who said anything about fleeing?"
"Were you not just discussing exactly that?"
"I-I have no idea what you are talking about. As if this Thunderclap Fist O Duseok would be afraid of a pack of petty thieves!"
"Well, if that is the case, then good."
Having calmly endured O Duseok's bluster, Dan Sahyeok turned to No Song and asked casually.
"You said that most of them would be former Martial Alliance members. You are certain?"
"I am."
"And that an outside force was the one who instigated them?"
"That is also certain."
"What sort of people?"
"A gang called the Green Snake Gang. A group that has been biding its time under the Martial Alliance's shadow for years."
"Unorthodox, then."
"Indeed."
No Song's deeply serious gaze swept across Jang Ucheol's and O Duseok's faces in turn.
"The expelled Alliance members have lost their judgment amid the shock and confusion. The Green Snake Gang has exploited that gap perfectly. Even now, recruitment is happening across the market streets and inns of Xi'an."
"H-how do you know all this, old man?"
"The birds that hear the day's whispers and the mice that hear the night's murmurs are all friends of mine."
"Master No Song!"
It was Cook Jin's voice.
He had been bringing dishes from the kitchen when he spotted No Song.
"Thousand-Eyed Beggar? Is he someone famous?"
"It seems you have been away from the Central Plains too long to know, Brother O. The Xi'an branch chief of the Beggars' Sect--that is who this man is."
A branch chief--meaning a station equivalent to O Duseok's own.
Though the weight of Xi'an and Gansu differed considerably.
Meanwhile, No Song's grave expression held as he continued.
"What concerns me most is the Green Snake Gang's intent. For a simple raid to grab some loot, the numbers they have recruited are far too great."
"How many are we talking about?"
"At least a thousand."
O Duseok, Jang Ucheol, and Cook Jin gaped.
"At the upper end, easily more than double that."
"T-two thousand?"
"It is not just the expelled Alliance members. Minor sect disciples from across Xi'an, and the wanderers filling the streets on top of that. Add them all together and two thousand may not even be an overestimate."
"Ngh......"
"Sir......"
Two half-stunned faces turned to Dan Sahyeok.
He showed no particular reaction.
"I merely gather the information that flows to me from every direction. Interpreting it and devising strategy is not my role."
Having prefaced himself thus, No Song looked at Dan Sahyeok.
"But this once, I cannot stay silent. Standing bare-bodied against an incoming avalanche is not courage--it is recklessness. Close your eyes for one day and let it pass."
It was sound advice by any measure.
Two pairs of eyes silently agreed as they watched, and at last Dan Sahyeok spoke.
"So you are telling me to let them loot and rampage to their hearts' content."
"I am."
"While I hide somewhere like a dead mouse."
"Yes. It will leave a deep scar on your pride, of course, but......"
"That is not really an issue."
"Hm?"
"I have little interest in public opinion or reputation. If someone calls me a coward who hid like a mouse, I will not care."
No Song blinked.
He recovered his composure quickly enough, though, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Then that settles it. I nearly put my benefactor's disciple in danger for nothing......"
"But I will not hide."
Everyone flinched as if they had been burned.
"S-sir?"
"Dan Sahyeok, what do you think you are saying?"
"You do not mean to face them head-on, do you?"
"Whether it comes to a fight or not remains to be seen. What I am saying is that I have no intention of leaving Yellow Dragon Fortress."
"But why?"
"Because it is my fortress."
Dan Sahyeok answered calmly, then shrugged.
"And those people will be trespassing into my fortress without permission."
"I-I suppose that is true, but......"
"I am not angry about it, mind you. When I think about it, I also took this place by force--the previous Alliance Leader's dying wish notwithstanding."
"Mm. That is fair."
O Duseok nodded.
"The martial world belongs to the strong--that hoary old saying hardly needs repeating, and staging a show of force is entirely their prerogative."
"They are simply pawns in the Green Snake Gang's scheme."
"And falling for it is ultimately their own responsibility."
Dan Sahyeok said flatly.
"It is simple. If they wish to kick down my front door and barge in, I can respect that resolve. And I, as the owner, will simply respond with a resolve of my own."
"Mm."
"Damn you, so in the end you are going to fight them after all?"
O Duseok's voice was tinged with exasperation.
Dan Sahyeok allowed himself a faint smile.
"Well, more or less."
***
As the sun dipped below the western horizon, the city plunged swiftly into darkness.
The clamor of Xi'an's streets was gradually swallowed by night and silence.
From alleys in every quarter, figures slipped out in secrecy.
They moved without exchanging a single word.
One became ten, and ten became a hundred, in the space of a heartbeat.
Streams of people converged from every direction--north, south, east, west--all moving toward the center.
Their destination, of course, was Yellow Dragon Fortress.
On any other night, torches would have blazed atop the towering walls, but now only the empty watchtowers rose in bleak silhouette.
Not a single sentry walked the ramparts.
A desolate scene.
For a former Martial Alliance member, it might have stirred a pang of sorrow--but in this moment, their hearts were seized by altogether different emotions.
Tension, and exhilaration.
'Monster or not, there is no way he could have disposed of everything valuable this quickly.'
'One good haul and I head home to start a new life.'
'If I can secure enough funds, I might even be able to open a sect of my own.'
'With over a thousand people swarming in from every side, the chances of running into that monster are next to nothing.'
'All I have to do is keep my head down. Grab the goods and run.'
The former Martial Alliance members walked on, each turning their own thoughts over.
They came to a halt before the south gate of Yellow Dragon Fortress.
Just then.
"A word of advice, from the fortress lord."
A lone man stood before the firmly shut south gate, and he spoke.
"I would suggest you refrain from anything you will regret."