BSA Ch 23

I can no longer laugh off Lee Hwa’s arrogance. No matter how relaxed they tried to act, the slaughterers were herbivores. To the snakes, conquering the peninsula was just a light game of gonggi, but to block that gonggi game, they had to struggle with all their might—even writing pledges of slaughter that abandoned their humanity—to desperately thrash about. For seven years, they had worn the masks of beasts and somehow deceived the snakes, but now even that trick had run out of steam.

The time for conquest was precisely nine o’clock this morning. Six hours later, the gonggi game would begin, and the beast masks that the herbivores had worn for seven years would be ruthlessly stripped off. Deceived by the beast masks, the snakes would quickly revive the instincts of carnivores that they had forgotten for a long time and dye the enemies’ land with blood. The enemies’ ruin was a scheduled future.

Gwanchang wondered how Lee Hwa would breakthrough this crisis. Whatever concept had entered Lee Hwa’s head, one thing was self-evident. Mukso would never give up the East (東) Peninsula. Because after making a meal of ‘Ilhwawolguk’, the King of Murder had harbored the ambition of full-scale continental unification.

― I need to hear people call me Emperor soon, too.

After conquering ‘Ilhwawolguk’, Mukso would openly say so. Even just as a food grain warehouse, the East Peninsula was absolutely necessary.

“Hey, snake.”

A low laughter suddenly burst forth. Gwanchang turned back. As expected, it was Lee Hwanmae.

The wicked high priest walked out like a ghost from the shade of the plum tree. The smell of the snakes’ blood still lingered from his black uniform, buttoned impeccably up to his neck.

“You’re leaving the sword behind, right? That’s a sword my beloved disciple cherishes very much.”

Cruel, long-slitted eyes stared at Gwanchang. Gwanchang hesitated just as he was about to hand over the sword. Some bizarre object was moving on Lee Hwanmae’s wrist.

The next moment, Gwanchang opened his eyes wide. Wrapped coiling around Lee Hwanmae’s wrist and moving smoothly was none of all things a snake. A split tongue darted in and out of the snake’s mouth. Every time the tongue darted out, churirik, churirik sounds were made. Gwanchang momentarily lost words at that eerie sight of Lee Hwanmae calmly holding out his hand with a snake coiled round and round his wrist.

Lee Hwanmae quietly gazed at Gwanchang, who couldn’t even make a slight movement. Soon, he gave a cynical chuckle and tilted his head toward the snake. The snake’s tongue began to lick Lee Hwanmae’s lips. It looked just like they were sharing a kiss. Sharing a kiss with the snake, Lee Hwanmae stared at Gwanchang. The long-slitted eyes slowly scanned Gwanchang’s entire body. A chill brushed against the back of Gwanchang’s neck. It was the moment he understood the emotion of fear for the first time in his life.

“Go on inside, Hera.”

Lee Hwanmae said, as if whispering. The snake moved its slender body slowly and entered inside Lee Hwanmae’s uniform sleeve. The moment the snake completely vanished into the uniform sleeve, Lee Hwanmae held his hand out to Gwanchang again.

“Here.”

“…”

Gwanchang abruptly threw the sword to Lee Hwanmae. Lee Hwanmae snatched the sword with agile movements.

“You have something to say to me, right?”

Gwanchang questioned right away. He had figured it out when Lee Hwanmae kept him alive under the pretext of translation. That Lee Hwanmae had something to say to his side.

Gwanchang hadn’t opened his mouth even a bit down in the torture room. Yet Lee Hwanmae unhesitatingly singled him out as someone fluent in East-dialect octopus. It was proof that he had been tipped off in advance about Gwanchang’s identity by Lee Hwa. Not only that, he had openly blabbed about the secret pact made with ‘Saengmyeongmokguk’ in front of his subordinates. In truth, it was talk meant for Gwanchang to hear. Furthermore, Hopi had let him sleep without even putting handcuffs on a tall, muscular prisoner. It meant to run away. Every single thing was so blatant that Gwanchang actually felt a sense of humiliation. Do I look that stupid to you, you slaughterer?

“Yeah.”

Lee Hwanmae said.

“I waited to say the words that you guys are stupid.”

Gwanchang’s mouth twitched on its own. It was so absurd that a hollow laugh came out instead. He wondered what kind of business this was again. As if he had peeked into this side’s mind, he said, “I waited to say the words that you guys are stupid”?

“I know your goal completely, pseudo high priest.”

Gwanchang said in a clear voice.

“But it won’t be easy to persuade me. Lee Hwa picked the wrong person. Fine, blab all you want with whatever you want to say. Try and persuade me. Though your persuasion will fail anyway.”

Lee Hwanmae wore a soft smile.

“‘Saengmyeongmokguk’ will stab the snakes in the back. You guys mobilized your entire army and flocked here, didn’t you? Do you think Joby will miss this opportunity?”

“Does that mean it wasn’t a lie?”

“Of course.”

“No! It’s a lie! If you really made a pact with Joby, there’s no way you would blab about such information in front of me! Isn’t maintaining secrecy essential in important operations!”

At Gwanchang’s firm rebuttal, Lee Hwanmae nodded in satisfaction.

“You saw through it well. It was a lie. Five years ago, Joby’s side first reached out asking to secretly collude with us. In truth, they did help us out casually for five years. Because it was a pretty useful card to delay your invasion. But it wasn’t a vessel for us to actively bet on, so God ignored their secret emissary who came reaching out again this time, too.”

Laughter scattered from Lee Hwanmae’s lips.

“While we clashed with the snakes and God raised His fame high, the men dreaming of becoming the ruler of the continent must have realized. The fact that joining hands with God is no different from acquiring the ultimate kingmaker.”

This time, Gwanchang did not refute either. Because it was the right words.

“God saw the sight of the snakes invading the East Peninsula. The snakes swiftly trample us and march all the way to Yun (侖). They said there was never a tsunami quite like it. Taking advantage of the snakes clearing out from their land, Joby occupies your capital, but the moment the snakes actually begin to turn back their troops, he gets scared and hurriedly runs back. That is the reason God turned away Joby’s secret emissary. He’s a coward.”

“That’s grand. To finally end seven years of tedious standoff now, is it truly a genuine utopia? The great prophet even saw the sight of himself being minced into salted fish and…”

“And I saw one more thing. This one is quite fun.”

Lee Hwanmae cut off Gwanchang’s words.

“What is it, that fun thing?”

“Mukso orders his dangerous son to commit suicide. To the dangerous son who actively helped the enterprise of invading his mother’s homeland, he orders suicide, saying you too are a person of the peninsula. The dangerous son commits suicide and is left abandoned in his mother’s homeland. That corpse is chopped into pieces and torn to shreds by the angered people of Yun (侖), disappearing without a trace…”

The high priest said, closing his eyes gently. In a soft and gentle voice. Sunk in sadistic pleasure, truly and pleasurably enjoying it.

Scattering plum flower petals heavily wrapped around and enveloped the high priest. The hair draped over the edge of his eyes scattered, pouring out the plum fragrance like blood.

Gwanchang didn’t budge even a fingertip and remained silent. He wanted to sneer at something, but somehow his tongue just wouldn’t open.

“How is it, this much? I think it’s enough to persuade you?”

Lee Hwanmae said, slowly opening his eyes.

“A person’s life is truly funny, isn’t it? There are truly many fools who realize that fact only when the reaper of death swings his sickle. The person who met God is lucky. As long as you obediently submit, you can change your destiny. Though God suffers because He sees nightmares every single night.”

Lee Hwanmae approached silently like a snake.

“Don’t you want to live?”

Gwanchang did not answer.

“You hate your father, don’t you? Your father didn’t even recognize you as his own bloodline, did he? You actively cooperated with the peninsula invasion because you wanted to be recognized by your father, didn’t you? You thoroughly denied the blood of your mother who gave you your name, didn’t you? You thought of yourself as merely a snake with feathers, didn’t you?”

A soft and gentle voice flew in like a short spear. The short spear pierced thoroughly through Gwanchang’s vital points.

“Your father didn’t even pass down his own family name to you, Gwanchang. That name is the name of a famous Hwarang of Silla. Do you even know how the Hwarang with that name—given to you by your mother who hailed from Yun (侖)—died? He died as a scapegoat of war. This is why names are important. Just like my name.”

“Is that also something Lee Hwa blabbed about?”

“Muk-Gwanchang is not a beautiful name. Don’t go out of your way to desperately acquire the family name of a father with a harsh pronunciation. Live only with the name your mother gave you.”

“Shut up. I am a person of the continent. Don’t think of shaking me by putting forward a meager bloodline.”

“Don’t you want to live?”

Lee Hwanmae approached silently again.

“If you want to live, I will teach you a path to survive.”