Chapter 35. Go San-gong
Go San-gong is the leader of the third unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad, Namgung Family.
Originally a rural martial warrior, he earned his living with the blade in the Namgung Family and rose all the way to become a unit leader of the Heavenly Wind Squad—by most measures, a fairly successful life.
There was only one problem.
"Uaahh -."
He was always bored.
The yawn he let out now was due to the monotony of everyday life.
Today as well, he brought ten members of the third unit out in front of the East Heaven Guest Hall at the third watch and rotated shifts with the second unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad. These dull, repetitive days were tiresome and tedious.
More than ten years ago, he had entered the Namgung Family as an outer disciple... back then, his heart had always raced, and he eagerly awaited tomorrow. It was because of the sense of accomplishment that came with finally achieving the dream he had long admired.
The stories he had heard and the dream he had held ever since learning martial arts from the first master he served at a rural martial hall.
Become a martial artist of the martial world.
Stride freely across the world to your heart's content.
Go San-gong believed he had achieved that dream the moment he entered the Namgung Family.
Naturally, he began to dream of something higher.
Since he had already set foot in the martial world, he might as well become a hero.
Victories earned through bloody battles against the demonic soldiers of Heavenly Demon Castle.
Beheading the evil troops of the Hall of Gathering Evils and dominating south of the Yangtze River.
Crushing the conspiracies of mysterious forces hidden in the shadows and saving the martial world.
He made such grand resolutions every single day.
At the time, it felt as though he could accomplish all of that at any moment. But dreams were only dreams. Reality was completely different from what he had imagined.
The original mission of the Heavenly Wind Squad was to pursue and annihilate enemies or to conduct reconnaissance and scouting of enemy positions.
Originally, that was the case.
At present, the main duty of the Heavenly Wind Squad was—
No more than standing guard, just as Go San-gong was doing now.
Due to prolonged peace, battles were rare, and this was especially true for a great clan like the Namgung Family, which dominated its region. Moreover, the only major martial world force in Anhui Province was the Namgung Family itself.
For him to win battles, dominate territories, or become a hero, someone had to provoke trouble—but such an incident had occurred only once in over ten years. And even then, ten years ago, he had been a mere low-ranking martial warrior, without even a chance to distinguish himself in battle.
Now things were different. At least, that was what he believed.
"They say a real man should cut down the enemy on the battlefield, drink wine mixed with blood from their skulls, and sing—so what the hell am I doing here? Damn it."
He had confidence he could defeat anyone, yet reality gave him no opportunity to become a hero, and that resentment weighed heavily on him.
"At the very least, I wish those bastards from the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses would attack again. But even they've been completely quiet these days. To think that I, Go San-gong, will rot away standing guard like this."
The Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses.
Although the Central Plains were said to be under the rule of the Three Conquerors, they were not the only forces in the martial world. Countless minor sects were scattered throughout, and among them were several forces that, while inferior to the Three Conquerors, were still considerable compared to other small sects.
The so-called "Third Power."
Among them, the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses, together with the Greenwood Thirty-Two Mountain Fortresses, called themselves the Azure-Green Twin Heroes, a major power.
They did not belong to the orthodox path, unorthodox faction, nor demonic path, yet on rivers and in mountains, they were forces no one could ignore. These were the Yangtze Water Fortresses and the Greenwood. Though common people derisively called them the Azure-Green Twin Bandits, their influence was so great that no one in the martial world could truly dismiss them.
"Blue upon the water, green in the mountains."
Martial artists used this short phrase to describe their dominion over rivers and mountains. It succinctly expressed the might of the Yangtze Water Fortresses, who controlled the Yangtze River—the lifeline of the Central Plains—and the Greenwood, who held sway over mountain regions devoid of major sects.
By nature, they did not form a single tightly unified group, but they were nominally connected as a large alliance, much like the Martial Alliance. Thus, though divided into eighteen fortresses and thirty-two mountain strongholds, they were collectively referred to as the Yangtze Water Fortresses and the Greenwood.
Go San-gong mentioned the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses because the most recent major armed conflict the Namgung Family had faced was precisely with them. That clash had occurred in the very year he entered the Namgung Family as an outer disciple.
The reason the Namgung Family was commonly called the strongest force in Anhui Province was not because the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses were weaker, but because only one of the eighteen was based in Anhui Province. If all eighteen had gathered there, even the Namgung Family would have struggled to maintain its dominance.
They were spread across the entire Yangtze River, and naturally appeared frequently along the waterways of Anhui Province, where the river ran through. As befitted river bandits, the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses steadily sought to expand their influence in Anhui Province, while the Namgung Family tried to stop them—making conflict inevitable.
Ten years ago.
The chief fortress lord of the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses, Yangtze Dragon Tiger Sasa-ho, ignored Namgung Byeok's warning and attempted to expand toward Chaohu. Feeling that the hegemony over Anhui Province was threatened, Namgung Byeok, the family head of the Namgung Family, immediately mobilized nearly all of the family's armed forces and marched to Chaohu.
The two sides confronted each other fiercely across Chaohu, and eventually clashed. The fighting was intense, but it did not last long.
This was because both sides judged that there was no need to overextend themselves and withdrew their forces at the point where the battle could have escalated. They realized that fighting to mutual destruction would only allow other sects, who were watching for an opportunity to encroach on their territory, to reap the benefits.
In the end, the two forces continued dull skirmishes for about a year before finally agreeing to a truce. Under the treaty concluded then, all interests arising in Chaohu belonged solely to the Namgung Family, while the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses, in exchange for promising not to advance further into Anhui, received a pledge from the Namgung Family that their activities along the Yangtze River would not be interfered with. It was an agreement where each side yielded what it could and gained what it wanted, rather than constantly snarling at one another.
That incident was already more than ten years ago, and it was the only real battle Go San-gong had ever experienced. In truth, he had been a complete newcomer to the Namgung Family at the time and was barely deployed in actual combat, performing only scouting duties or standing guard.
Even so, he continued to milk that single deployment to this day, boasting loudly about it to his unit members.
However, the unit members all knew he was nothing special.
If he truly were exceptional, he would not still be serving as the leader of a mere rotation unit here after more than ten years of service.
The reality Go San-gong faced was that of a simple rotation unit leader standing guard near the Yun Bridge by the East Heaven Guest Hall from the second to the third watch. Especially on days like today, when the pleasure boat had gone out to Chaohu, he had to take on the menial task of searching pleasure boats as well. Since the pleasure boat was most likely to return at this time, the least capable unit leaders were usually assigned to this rotation.
"Look at that. Go San-gong. Then I'll leave the rest to you."
After finishing the handover, the leader of the second unit took his members and returned to the quarters. Among them were members who had earlier washed a drunken guest from the Guest Hall of Heaven.
"Hey, do we really have to search that thing ourselves?"
Go San-gong frowned as he looked at the large pleasure boat anchored deep within Chao Bay. In fact, there were guards stationed on the side of the West Heaven Guest Hall as well. The pleasure boat was clearly positioned in the lake bay between the island with the East Heaven Guest Hall and the island with the West Heaven Guest Hall, yet it was always the Heavenly Wind Squad's rotation unit that handled the search, which irritated him.
Still, there was nothing to be done.
The Heavenly Thunder Unit, responsible for the rotation on the West Heaven Guest Hall side, was also tasked with guarding the Guest Hall of Earth beyond it. Under those circumstances, making a fuss over the search of a pleasure boat—which did not happen every day—would have been ridiculous.
"Hey, leave three here and everyone else get on the pleasure boat."
"Four, unit leader."
No matter how unreliable he was, a unit leader was still a unit leader. The members of the third unit left behind only the minimum of three guards and moved toward the pleasure boat.
As they walked along the lake bay, the light from the fire flints they carried reflected off Chaohu, briefly illuminating the surroundings of Chao Bay.
The wind was blowing fairly strongly, and though the water was not calm, it sparkled as it caught the light. It created a rather striking night scene, but since it was a sight any Heavenly Wind Squad member saw often, they paid it little mind and simply continued toward the pleasure boat.
Plop-.
At that moment, a small sound like something sinking into the water was heard.
It was so faint that none of the third unit members noticed it. Moreover, the sound came from behind the East Heaven Guest Hall, precisely toward the inner side of Chao Bay near Chaohu, and it was a blind spot where the building obstructed the view.
In fact, the position they were guarding was not the island where the East Heaven Guest Hall stood, but beyond the Yun Bridge that connected the island to the mainland. In other words, their guard duty was conducted under the assumption that all guests staying at the Guest Hall had already been vetted.
The unit members soon rounded the edge of the bay and arrived at the docking point where the pleasure boat was anchored.
The vessel moored in a corner of the dark lake bay was like a silent small fortress. It was so quiet that it almost felt eerie.
They had done this task so many times that it no longer bothered them. Using the temporary steps placed at the bow—the boarding stairs—they climbed aboard one by one.
A short while later, the flickering light of the fire flints on the deck disappeared completely. They must have finished searching the deck and gone down into the lower chamber of the pleasure boat.
When the distant fire flint lights of his unit members vanished, Go San-gong, as he always did, leaned his arms against the end of the Yun Bridge and fell asleep standing up. The remaining three members, accustomed to this by now, paid it no attention and faithfully carried out their own guard duties.
Thus, about 30 minutes passed.
But...…
Not a single unit member who had gone to search the pleasure boat returned.
No, they could not return.
Drip, drip, drip...…
While Go San-gong dozed, drooling, his seven unit members had already been reduced to a mere handful of blood, flowing down along the tip of Dong Bong-su's sword.
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