“It seems we’ve been seeing each other often lately.”

At Mo Yonggun’s remark, Je Gal Munho smiled.

“There’s a saying in the world, isn’t there? Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer.”

“Hah.”

“If only Clan Lord Mo Yong would cast aside that immense ambition of yours, I think we might even be able to become friends.”

Mo Yonggun let out a hollow laugh.

“Is ambition a crime now?”

“Ambition is not a crime. But if that is your position, then you must also understand the desires of those who would tear that ambition down.”

“Of course. I told you before, did I not? I understand people like you. It is only because you stand in my way that I mean to strike you down. I bear very little personal feeling.”

“Very little... so not none at all.”

“I am human too.”

Je Gal Munho burst into hearty laughter.

“Exactly so. Because we are human, we harbor desire. Because we are human, we restrain one another.”

Mo Yonggun snorted.

“So then, what brings you here to see me today?”

Je Gal Munho pulled a document from his sleeve and held it out.

Mo Yonggun tilted his head.

“What is this?”

“Hunan has been rather noisy lately.”

“Hm?”

Mo Yonggun glanced over the document.

A moment later, the corner of his mouth lifted.

“The Guizhou Merchant Guild has been expanding its sphere of influence... and doing so quite aggressively.”

“That’s right.”

“And why are you showing this to me?”

“I did a bit of investigating into the Guizhou Merchant Guild.”

“You did?”

“And in the course of that, I came to learn which sects have been trading with them behind closed doors.”

Mo Yonggun shrugged.

“Of course, the Mo Yong Clan is one of them.”

“Yes, it is.”

“But why would that be any great matter? Any sect with real capability needs trade with merchant houses. The Je Gal Clan does the same, does it not?”

“It does.”

Je Gal Munho smiled.

“And that is why I would like to ask Clan Lord Mo Yong for a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.”

“I do not know what sort of favor it is, but I hope you understand that I am unlikely to grant one so easily. I do not know your reason, but conducting this sort of background investigation and then thrusting a document in my face besides does not put me in a pleasant mood.”

“I ask for your understanding. The Guizhou Merchant Guild’s expansion has been so sudden that we had no choice but to pay attention.”

“I see. Then what is this favor?”

“Please give me an introduction to the Guizhou Merchant Guild.”

Mo Yonggun was genuinely startled.

“You want me to put you in contact with the Guizhou Merchant Guild?”

“That is correct.”

Je Gal Munho kept an utterly calm expression.

Studying his face through narrowed eyes, Mo Yonggun tossed out a question.

“For the Martial Alliance? Or for the Je Gal Clan?”

“The latter, of course.”

“...”

“If the Martial Alliance had decided to bring the Guizhou Merchant Guild into its fold, it would have convened a Service Council meeting and pressured you openly. It would not have come in person to ask you privately for an introduction.”

That much was true.

What are you plotting?

Mo Yonggun knew Je Gal Munho was not making this request out of greed for money or power.

He stared at Je Gal Munho in silence for a moment, then frowned.

“Do you truly intend to go this far?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Don’t play ignorant. If Strategist Je Gal begins trading with the Guizhou Merchant Guild, then one way or another you will try to examine this clan’s dealings with them. And if you find even the slightest suspicious sign, you will attack at once.”

“Is the Guizhou Merchant Guild such a faithless group? A customer’s transactions ought to be kept in the strictest confidence.”

“If one were determined enough, it would not be impossible to dig them out.”

“Even if that were possible, the real problem would be the decision to go that far. And besides, if I truly meant to tear the Guizhou Merchant Guild apart, I would never have come asking you for an introduction in the first place.”

That was not wrong. But Mo Yonggun had already seen through what Je Gal Munho was after.

“You intend mutual destruction, do you not?”

Je Gal Munho’s eyes deepened.

As expected.

In the realm of schemes and stratagems, Mo Yonggun displayed ability worthy of the Thirteen Seats of the Supreme Heavens. He had instantly seen through one of Je Gal Munho’s aims. More than that, he was not weighing the possibility of it. He was certain.

It was discernment refined to the extreme. That a man like this burned with such selfish ambition for the seat of Martial Alliance Leader was truly regrettable.

“I felt I ought to take out at least that much insurance.”

A mocking smile touched Mo Yonggun’s lips.

“There is no value in discussing this further. You may leave.”

Je Gal Munho watched him a moment, then rose without resistance.

“At least think it over once. It is certainly a rather extreme stratagem, but it is not a proposal that would harm you alone.”

“Of course not. If I were to give up the position of Martial Alliance Leader, it would profit me quite nicely.”

Je Gal Munho burst into booming laughter.

“What a pity. If only you possessed a little more honor and fellow feeling, I think we could have become very good friends.”

“Get out.”

“Very well. But I ask that you understand at least this one thing. I, and ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the Martial Alliance, think far more highly of Clan Lord Mo Yong than you imagine.”

“...”

“Mutual prosperity and harmony will, in the end, always bring down absolute power. I only wish that you might come to understand the politics of harmony.”

With that, Je Gal Munho left.

Left alone, Mo Yonggun tapped the table with his index finger.

“Mutual destruction...”

He frowned.

“He comes out of nowhere and asks me to introduce him to the Guizhou Merchant Guild? If Je Gal truly begins dealings with them, then from that moment on he will start moving seriously against this clan. And I will counterattack. And if the Alliance learns of that...”

That was why it was mutual destruction.

If the Martial Alliance learned that the two clans were checking one another and fighting a filthy political mud war, both clans’ political influence would collapse completely. Je Gal Munho was prepared to stop him even at that cost.

“But.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

“That sly old fox would never have believed I wouldn’t see through that.”

Which meant he was aiming for something else besides mutual destruction.

After thinking it over for a while, Mo Yonggun spoke.

“Is someone outside?”

“Yes, Clan Lord.”

“Send word to the head of Mount Hua Sect. Tell him I’d like to invite him to lunch.”

“At once.”

Thump.

Mo Yonggun smiled as he lightly struck the table with his fist.

“I don’t know what you’re after, but this means your side has finally started moving as well.”

*****

For a moment, Tang Gwan tilted his head, wondering whether he had heard wrong.

“What did you just say?”

“I asked you to enter the election as a candidate for Martial Alliance Leader.”

“...”

“Is that impossible?”

Tang Gwan stared at Yeon Hojeong for a long moment, then openly furrowed his brow.

“Are you planning to make me your puppet?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“I don’t care for the word puppet. I’d rather you understand it as this: I’m asking you to become an iron shield for a better future.”

“Fine words. In the end, what you want is to put me out front to keep Mo Yonggun in check while also pinning down his attention, is it not?”

As expected, one did not become the head of one of the Six Great Clans by chance.

A hard, cold man. Proud in the midst of that, and hot-blooded at times as well.

That was the sort of man Tang Gwan was. But that temperament did not mean he was stupid.

On the contrary, his sharp eye surpassed that of the leaders of most sects by a wide margin. He might be a man steeped in stubbornness and pride, but in terms of sheer ability, he yielded to no one.

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“That’s right.”

He admitted it plainly.

Tang Gwan gave him a frigid smile.

“Tell me this. Did you truly think I would accept such a proposal?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I thought you might accept it, and you might refuse it.”

“Why? Did you come to that conclusion simply because I’ve had a falling-out with Mo Yonggun?”

Yeon Hojeong’s face turned serious.

“I never thought the proud head of the Tang Clan of Sichuan would throw himself into something like this merely because of a single conflict with another man.”

“Then what?”

“I thought there was a chance you would accept if you were a power holder of Sichuan who truly intended to wield influence in the political arena of the martial world.”

Tang Gwan’s eyes narrowed.

“A power holder of Sichuan... that is an interesting choice of words.”

“You were calculating in the middle.”

“...”

“Wasn’t that so? Weighing the Je Gal side against the Mo Yong side, wondering which one would expand the Tang Clan’s influence more if you aligned yourself with it.”

Tang Gwan frowned.

“You know a great deal.”

“In the end, you made your choice. And this is where that choice led you.”

“So what? Are you telling me to forget that failed choice and join hands with you instead?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“You know how it is. Many people make mistakes in politics. But once a man steps down from the stage, he cannot climb back onto it again. That is why you were preparing to return to Sichuan, wasn’t it?”

“...”

Yeon Hojeong spread both hands.

“Not many people get hold of a second chance. And those chances do not come at just any time.”

“...”

“Come up with us. Onto the true stage the Martial Alliance has built.”

“You would have me become a bat?”

“You would need to become something uglier than a bat, filthier than a bat, and even more ruthless than one.”

“What?”

“I am already walking that road myself. That is why I can wield this much influence at such a young age.”

If Tang Gwan had known Yeon Hojeong’s past, he would truly have been shocked.

Yeon Hojeong had died at Tang Gwan’s hands.

More precisely, in his previous life he had died from Tang Gwan’s hidden weapon, used on Mo Yonggun’s orders. However one framed it, Tang Gwan had been the direct cause of his death.

In other words, to Yeon Hojeong, Tang Gwan was no different from a mortal enemy. Even if he had returned to the past and the event had not taken place in this reality, it was not something Yeon Hojeong could simply treat as though it had never happened.

And yet Yeon Hojeong stood there smiling at Tang Gwan. More than that, he was asking him to stand together.

Tang Gwan could never have imagined how monstrous a force of will that change, that patience, required.

“You once said it yourself, Clan Lord. A poison used well can become medicine, and medicine used poorly can become poison.”

“...”

“Become medicine for us. And become poison for our enemies.”

“And if I do, you will arrange a meeting with the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions?”

“To tell the truth, if that was all you wanted, there was never any need for you to go through us in the first place. And yet you suggested a deal. Wasn’t that your way of quietly signaling that you wanted to join hands?”

Tang Gwan stared at Yeon Hojeong for a long moment, then turned away.

“Follow me.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“Thank—”

“You didn’t bring an axe.”

“Pardon?”

“That damned axe you always carry around.”

“No. I left it at the training ground.”

“Did you?”

Tang Gwan shook his head.

“Then don’t bother making excuses that you lost because you didn’t have it.”

“...?”

“I’ll judge the size of your vessel through martial skill. Follow me.”