Book 29 Chapter 8

3000 vs 4

-But it's not all bad, right?

"I don't believe it."

"You can really do it."

Hearing Jang Hong's disbelief, Bi Ryuyeon retorted with a light laugh.

"I don't believe it. No, I don't believe it. Can't you see that number through your floppy bangs?"

"No way, that looks very, very good."

"And yet, does that come easily to you, do you?"

"Sure."

The answer was deceptively simple.

"Hah……."

Jang Hong's shoulders slumped as the energy drained out of him.

I could almost hear the unspoken cry of, "Show some manners, buddy!

"So you want to bet? Mr. Zhang."

"What, you mean you're so confident that a money fiend like you would put money on it?"

Jang Hong flinched slightly, wary of Bi Ryuyeon's overly confident demeanor.

"I know I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over again, but…… it is what it is!"

Ryuyeon Bi reiterated.

"So it's really possible……! I can't believe it……."

Here's what happened.

About an hour ago.

Bi Ryuyeon, Jang Hong, Mo Yonghui, and Nangong Shang had just arrived at the place where they were currently standing, and they quickly ducked for cover. This was because they had discovered something at almost the same time.

"……That's a lot, Ryuyeon."

"……That's a lot, big brother."

After gathering Mo Yonghui's and Nan Gongsheng's impressions, Bi Ryuyeon asked Jang Hong a unifying question.

"Uncle Zhang, have you heard the saying that all roads in the Four Seas lead to one?"

His voice sounded offended for some reason.

"I've heard of it."

"Have you ever heard of the Manchurian Candidate, or that if you go to Moro, you only have to go to Beijing?"

"Of course I've heard of it."

"But out of all those roads, there's only this one?"

Looking at Jang Hong, Bi Ryuyeon grumbled, as if she had never seen such a ruthless person who went against the laws of nature.

"I'm sorry, but this is the only way to go."

Unfortunately, Jang Hong added to it, not subtracted from it, but he was never a nice enough person to stop complaining.

"Do we really have to take this 'busy' route? Isn't there a more pleasant one? I don't like crowds, and this is too crowded, and crowds are not good for my delicate mental health."

"Save that expression for after all your delicate minds are dead. Ha ha-"

Jang Hong let out a long sigh in response to Bi Ryuyeon's tail-biting complaints.

"I wish I could teach you how to do that. Do you think I dragged you here because I like you?"

"Uh, so it wasn't?"

She glanced at Jang Hong with suspicion, but he couldn't see her through her bangs. It was almost pointless for Bi Ryuyeon to express her intentions with a gesture or a look.

"Ha, no, of course not," he said, "but what can I do, the place where the Great Lord is is within the siege of those men!"

Jang Hong hid himself among the rocks and pointed nervously, his fingers pointing to the backs of the humans who were crowding the path they must pass, lined up like a giant wall of broad-shouldered martial artists.

Hundreds of martial artists surrounded the area in a semi-lunar formation, each carrying a sharp weapon and moving forward in rows and columns, tightening their nets one step at a time. It was a terrifying scene.

"Phew, I'll break through some of those, but isn't that too much to ask for? There are too many of them."

The sheer number of people mobilized to capture just one man nearly overwhelmed Namgungsang.

"It will not be easy, to be sure, but it is the way to save the Mighty Lord. If you can't avoid it, you'll only run into it."

"I'll take that as a schoolboy comment, thank you."

Jang Hong sighed in response to Mo Yonghui's righteous conclusion.

"Do you think it's called the Great Surrounding Annihilation Mound for nothing? It's called that because it never lets out anything that's trapped inside, and it wipes out even the smallest ant babies. Getting in is easy compared to getting out."

But even getting in wasn't easy right now. Bi Ryuyeon clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, tsk, there's supposed to be distance between people, and they're way too close."

Looking at the gathering, the distance between each of them was less than half a sheet.

"How mobilized are you, Mr. Zhang?"

Mo Yongyu asked in a cautious tone.

"Do you really need to know that?"

Jang Hong's questioning eyes were saying.

"There are some things in life that are better left unknown, so don't ask if you don't want to despair.

"Yes, I'd love to know."

But this dyslexic man named Mo Yonghui was too high-minded for that.

"Hah, I knew you'd say that. What we're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. That's not all of them. I don't know… but I'm guessing there are at least three thousand of them."

Jang Hong frowned as he spoke, causing Mo Yonghui and Nan Gongsang to simultaneously burst out in astonishment.

"That's three, four thousand!"

Jang Hong nodded heavily.

"Ahaha, Brother Zhang, no, you're kidding, right?"

Namgungsang asked in a condescending tone. Jang Hong raised his voice a little and became nervous.

"Why do you ask? Something I'd rather forget."

That's three thousand, which is a lot of people.

With a blank expression on his face, Namgungsang let out a slightly sheepish laugh and counted the people.

"One, two…… three. And…… four."

Yonghui Mo, Hong Zhang, Ryuyeon Bi, and myself.

He wanted to count more, but he had no more power to do so, even though he still had many fingers to count. Dejected, Namgungsang's shoulders sagged under the weight of his despair.

"Why are you so upset? Don't be upset over a mere three thousand. You look like a fool."

"You said I've always been a bit of a prude, and it's not just 'a bit', it's 'a whopping' three thousand, aren't you worried about your godbrother?"

I couldn't tell if he was grumbling or crying.

"What, all those three thousand people over there aren't all really great masters?"

It was an insignificant gesture that poured cold water on the palace's worries. Namgungsang's heart sank.

'Yeah, this guy was this guy……. When did he ever go with the flow…….'

"Hehe, the power of numbers is terrifying no matter what. Isn't there a saying that there is no such thing as too many forces? When they come together in numbers, they can sometimes unleash the strongest and most terrifying power. Only super geniuses, one in a hundred or a thousand years, can surpass that limit."

Occasionally, throughout history, such geniuses would emerge and change the course of history, but they were the stuff of legend.

"Uh, did you call me?"

At that moment, Bi Ryuyeon suddenly interrupted, thrusting her upper body forward.

Jang Hong looked at her and said, "You're so shameless, you don't usually say you're a super genius so openly." She looked back at him with a look that said, "Why, did I say something wrong? I always tell the truth." Jang Hong said, "I've always told the truth.

Jang Hong was dumbfounded by his brazenness, which was harder than Manlian's shin, and his arrogance, which could pierce the heavens and cut through the universe. It had a slightly different background from everyday usage, but it was similar in that it left him at a loss for words.

"Hey, look at that. Three thousand men, three thousand men. That's three thousand men, and they're trapping you right now."

At his emphasis, the faces of Mo Yonghui and Nangong Shang beside Bi Ryuyeon only grew darker.

"But the fact that they're going so slowly that you're yawning at each step means they haven't discovered it yet, right?"

In response to Bi Ryuyeon's languidly worded question, Jang Hong was adamant.

"How can a place that is so easily found be called the Great Refuge!"

"Wow, is it really that secretive?"

Tuda admiringly.

"Of course. It's a place to get away from it all when the Great Trouble comes. The last……."

Namgung-san, listening next to him, chimed in with an understanding look.

"A place of refuge (逃避處)!"

"Absolutely not!"

Jang Hong denied with fierce intensity. The grim-faced man mumbled something.

"Huh? No, I think you're right……."

"No, no, no, that's… um… um…… Yeah, that's the last 'refuge'."

I thought about it for a while, but it wasn't a very good alternative.

"……What's the difference between a shelter and a refuge?"

Namgungsang replied in a sullen tone.

"It's a matter of perception, isn't it, perception! In the adult world, perception is sometimes more important than truth! But don't worry. It's hidden where no one can find it!"

The way he was talking so confidently and loudly, it was obvious that he was very well hidden.

"Hmph, 'no one' means…… something is fishy, and of course Uncle Jean knows where it is."

Bi Ryuyeon's question was met with a chuckle from Jang Hong.

"I don't know."

Jang Hong's immediate response left the others with a dumbfounded look on their faces.

"You said you don't know?"

Mo Yonghui asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"I don't know, I don't know where, but we don't all have to look at each other like that, do we? I'm scared to death."

Even Jang Hong didn't seem to know exactly where it was.

"Come to think of it, don't you think we could use some bait to throw at those three thousand people, Mr. Zhang? You'd make a great escape artist……."

Jang Hong seemed to agree with that statement even more than Bi Ryuyeon's, which sent a chill down his spine.

"Why, why, why! Ahem, ahem, don't worry. I don't know where it is, but I know how to find it. Oh, and don't give me that look."

Jang Hong's urgent voice calmed them down. The atmosphere was fiery and venomous, as if they were about to be beaten to death, let alone baited.

"Uh, what?"

As if this was the last chance, Bi Ryuyeon asked. Jang Hong said, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"We just need to find the Southern Heaven!"

It was a dismissive answer that did little to assuage the suspicions of the other three.

"Nantian?! You can't be referring to the Fear of the South Heaven, can you, Brother Zhang?"

There was an undercurrent of anger in Mo Yonghui's voice as he asked the question, something that could be called fear.

It wasn't unreasonable.

It was only a few days ago that I was suffering from a terrible case of nervous breakdown. I even lost a classmate.

At that point, Mo Yonghui had no strength left to deal with him. Even if she had managed to shake off the swarming women, she would not be able to defeat him even if she were at her best.

Could I beat him the next time we met? The answer didn't come easily.

"Don't worry, it's not the dreaded Nantian."

Mo Yonghui breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good, then," I said, "but what is this nantian that Brother Zhang is talking about?"

"That's a flower."

"Flowers?"

"I see. Find the flower, and you'll know where the Great Trouble is."

"……?"

Two of the three were silent, and the third asked a question.

"How do I find that flower?"

Jang Hong replied.

"Good."

I wasn't convinced.

"So what happens when you find that flower?"

"You'll know automatically."

"Automatic? What kind of ghostly wash is that? This is the same old, same old, same old. Be honest with me, mister, you want to be the bait, don't you?"

Unable to contain her frustration, Bi Ryuyeon smiled wryly and pressed on.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. How do I phrase this, this……. Or should I say, I know, but I just forgot?"

For some reason, the word "only" seemed like the wrong place to put it.

"Do you have dementia?"

How could I have forgotten such an important point?

"That's because the place is sealed by implication!"

"I can't believe it's even got an implicit seal……."

A stunned Namgung Sang muttered.

"That's too much, why are you doing that?"

Mo Yonghui couldn't help but ask, and a bitter smile appeared on Jang Hong's lips, as if he was swallowing something bitter.

"That's because the Underworld doesn't believe in human endurance. Even with special training, there are obvious limits, and the possibility of betrayal is always a concern, which is why the Shadows seal the most important information with a seal of oblivion by implication."

He paused, then resumed.

"Because you can talk about what you know, but you can never talk about what you don't know."

There's never been a better security system to prevent confidentiality leaks.

"Are you saying that because you don't trust people, you've even crushed Brother Zhang's spirit? That's too much even for you!"

Mo Yonghui clenched his fists in frustration.

I saw a scene in the butcher shop where he unhooked a hint from a subordinate, but it didn't really connect with me.

And isn't Jang Hong supposed to be in the position of giving hints, not receiving them?

"I appreciate the defense…… but I think it was me who made the insinuation."

Jang Hong scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, as if to say, this is really embarrassing.

"Oh, sure……."

The two men replied, their voices cold.

"Black, how could you do such a cruel thing, you devil!"

Only Bi Ryuyeon turned her head away and exclaimed exaggeratedly. It was a reaction that would make anyone think she was being insinuated.

In any case, the three of them couldn't say anything more. To speak ill of the Suggestive Seal was to speak ill of Jiang Hong.

"But even if you want to find the Red Flower of the Southern Sky, that's only after you break through the siege of those three thousand humans."

Then Bi Ryuyeon said something out of the blue.

"Huh? That's simple, right?"

"Did I say simple or difficult?"

However, it's hard to tell if she's talking out of her ass, as her expression is refreshingly cheerful.

"You're not making a mistake……."

"Sure. One, two, three."

Bi Ryuyeon's index finger pointed at Jang Hong, then Mo Yonghui, then Nan Gongsheng, before returning to Jang Hong and pointing once more.

"A thousand, a thousand, a thousand."

"……?"

What the heck does that finger pointing mean?

The trio's questions were soon answered.

"There are three thousand, so a thousand each would be perfect."

It was like, "I'll just lie down and eat my cake and eat it too.

"Wait, but why is it per thousand, isn't there something wrong with the math?"

Puzzled, Jang Hong raised his hand in protest.

Bi Ryuyeon then raised her index finger again and pointed at Jang Hong, Nangong Shang, and Mo Yonghui in turn, with an indifferent expression.

"One, two, three. Three thousand divided by three thousand. So one thousand per day. Simple math, don't you know that?"

Jang Hong said with an incredulous expression.

"What I meant was, if there are four people, why are you dividing by three?"

"Me? Of course not me."

"No, why?"

"Why would you involve me in something like this? Besides, I have a firm belief that all of my friends are innocent, and how could a thrifty boy like me and the head of the family betray his beliefs? Such a tragedy shouldn't happen, so I'll stay here and watch over you with warm eyes."

The words were like liquid gold.

"In other words, Ryuyeon, you're going to suck your hands and watch, is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly! Mathematically speaking, a perfect fall is beautiful, right? 'Seven hundred and fifty per day' is kind of weird, isn't it? It's not beautiful if it doesn't fall, because it feels like it fell less."

Bi Ryuyeon chuckled. Of course, there was no way that idea would be accepted, especially not by the Southern Palace Lord.

"No, that's not weird at all, big brother, less is more, more is better, more is better!"

"Self-deprecation is not good, palace boy. Humans should be more aware of their infinite possibilities……."

"Shut up, and don't even think about playing, because you're not a thousand dollars a day, you're seven hundred and fifty dollars a day. Or give us a reason we can live with."

Jang Hong's voice was uncharacteristically firm.

"But I don't deal in thousands, I deal in tens of thousands, because I make $300,000 a year."

"Seriously, that's serious.

"I can't believe he's serious!

"So you meant it, then!

In different ways, but the same sentiment struck all three of us.

But I wasn't about to let it slip away.

"I'm going to get caught again!

Jang Hong had no intention of standing idly by, especially after being repeatedly pushed to the brink by Bi Ryuyeon in recent years.

"If you're so confident, why don't you take on those three thousand people by yourself? If you can take on 300,000 people, three thousand should be a piece of cake, right? Why not? There's no need to lie between us."

Now, trust this big brother's big chest and blow it all out. To summarize Jang Hong's words.

"Why would I lie, it's all true."

She seemed to mean it.

"You're not lying? Don't lie to me."

"Has this man been lying to me all this time, and why does he not believe me?"

"Ugh, I'm suddenly feeling a little hot under the collar, but I still don't believe it. You can't lie and say you believe something you don't, can you?"

"Okay, so how are you going to believe me, do you want to make a bet?"

And then the story took a strange turn.

"Bet? What do you want to bet?"

"I'll bet you one of the things I care about: money!"

"You're so honest about your love of money, how much do you want to bet?"

Not all money is created equal, and it was the amount that mattered most.

"Well, it's three thousand, so let's go for three thousand, how about that?"

For a moment, Jang Hong flinched.

"Four, three thousand niang each……."

Jang Hong had been on high alert ever since the word "bet" came out of his small mouth. Even though he had known this man for many years, he was not the kind of person who would talk casually unless he was sure that he would not lose even a single penny.

"Is that really possible? Is that really possible? Is that really possible?

"Gee, don't you think I don't trust people because I'm always cheating? Now I can't even trust my friends! What a shame, you're so close to them. If you don't want to trust me, you don't have to, but there's no reason for me to go to the trouble of 'doing' it, is there?"

In other words, he wouldn't fight three thousand people unless they accepted his bet. He would either fight the three of them or fight all of them alone.

"Joe, that's great, hase!"

Jang Hong's answer surprised Mo Yonghui and Nan Gongsheng, as it should: a bet with Bi Ryuyeon was a surefire way to lose.

"Oh, really, that's why you're my friend!"

Bi Ryuyeon smiled broadly and replied, "I didn't think you would accept.

"But three thousand is too much, how about three hundred?"

For that money, Jang Hong could have done anything at his discretion.

"Okay, let's make it three hundred, because you're timid and like big boobs."

Attach a word that doesn't need to be attached.

"Whoa, who said bigger is better, don't accuse me!"

Jang Hong jumped up and down in protest.

"Wow, you're not going to tell me now that you were saved by your boobs one day, are you, you stool!"

"Whoa, who said anything about boobs, I'm not a pervert, never!"

"There are always people who make unconvincing arguments."

Jang Hong's fumbling protests were quickly chewed up by Bi Ryuyeon.

"I'm just a regular twenty-something guy who happens to like beautiful things!"

Then Bi Ryuyeon's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"Wow, a twenty-something, with that face, a twenty-something, how could he be so shameless?"

No wonder Ok Yoo-kyung was so excited to hear his set age.

"Me, I'm still young! I'm still in my prime! I'll be in my twenties forever!"

Jang Hong tried to call out, but Bi Ryuyeon only snorted in response.

"I have nothing to lose by talking to this guy anymore!

So Jang Hong turned his attention elsewhere.

"Senior Namgung, do you think so too?"

Since Jang Hong had entered the Heavenly Martial Academy in the same year as Bi Ryuyeon, on paper, he was two grades higher than her." He straightened his clothes and posture.

"Oops, senior, I don't dare to call you that. This Namgung Mo can't handle it. You'd better tone it down, big brother. Please just call me 'ivory'."

Kugung!

'It's not just uncle, it's big uncle! The one that was tainted by that Bi Ryuyeonyan is a bust! We need to find a clean one that hasn't been tainted yet!

Jang Hong's shocked gaze found one last hope.

"Mr. Mo Yong, do you think so too?"

Jang Hong firmly believed that this upstanding friend would be his ally, but Mo Yonghui was too well-painted. She couldn't lie.

Turning his head to look away from Jang Hong's eager, trusting eyes, Mo Yonghui said with a cough.

"Uh-huh, I guess we'll have to move fast if we want to find you, Mr. Zhang."

Jang Hong's confidence was shattered and crushed. He sank to the ground in a heap.

However, his behavior did not attract any attention from Bi Ryuyeon. Seeing this, Mo Yonghui silently sighed to himself.

'I don't know if I should call this pathetic or envious…….'

Mo Yonghui was confused by their lack of sense of urgency at such a critical moment. He was a serious man, and the mere realization of the enormity of the task of rescuing the blind man made his stomach turn.

At times like this, I felt a little envious of the two of them, whose personalities I didn't know whether to call casual or bold, but it was also a way of life that I didn't dare to imitate.

After a moment, Mo Yonghui turned to Bi Ryuyeon and asked quietly.

"Ryuyeon, do you have any good ideas?"

Bi Ryuyeon smirked at his comment.

"Hey, whew. Do you know what a bunch of people like that, a bunch of people like that, a bunch of people like that, a bunch of people like that, a bunch of people like that?"

"Well?"

"That's distrust."

"Disbelief? You mean the disbelief in the disbelief hell?"

Mo Yonghui's questioning tone made Bi Ryuyeon giggle.

"Giggle, mistrust does make for hell."

"But what does that have to do with this?"

"See for yourself. That's it."

Snapping her raised five fingers playfully, Bi Ryuyeon grinned wickedly.