"Hmm, so you're saying we send out uncontrolled forces to eliminate unseen enemies while requesting reinforcements?"
"Yes. I don't know what his true intentions are, but he's neither our ally nor the enemy's, though it's clear he's a master. Naturally, if he falls into danger, he'll reveal his true colors and slaughter the enemies."
"But I have one concern. Will the congratulatory guests really leave the Family so easily? Once they realize a Heaven-and-Earth Net has been spread around the Family, no one will try to escape."
"Family Head, this place where the Namgung Family is located isn't connected only by land routes, is it? If we provide ships, they'll compete to leave the Family."
"That may be true, but the enemies may have spread their encirclement toward Chaohu Lake as well."
"Naturally they will. However, it won't be as thick as you think. That's because Chaohu Lake itself is as vast as the sea, and beyond it lies the Yangtze River. The idea that their Heaven-and-Earth Net would extend across all of vast Chaohu Lake and reach the Yangtze River is something that cannot exist or even be imagined.
Moreover, the Yangtze waterways are under the absolute influence of the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds, and we, the Namgung Family, hold most of the control over Chaohu Lake. This means that no matter how many ships they mobilize on Chaohu Lake, they can't have more than us, and they won't be warships either. That means the enemies are likely only blocking the land routes along the shores of Chaohu Lake. If the Namgung Family's ships all escape through the South Water Gate at once, the enemies will have no choice but to concentrate their martial artists at the entrance of Chaochuan."
Chaochuan.
One of the Yangtze River's tributaries that must be passed through to go from Chaohu Lake to the Yangtze River. If one wanted to take a ship from the Namgung Family to the Yangtze River, this river, Chaochuan, was the waterway that must be crossed.
What Namgung Bang was saying now was that since the enemies couldn't cover all of the vast Chaohu Lake, they would definitely concentrate their forces and ships in that direction.
After hearing Namgung Bang's words, Namgung Byeok thought it did seem like a decent idea. If they did that, in a situation where their hands and feet were bound and their eyes covered, wouldn't at least their feet be freed? For a moment, he had that thought.
However,
"Hearing your words, it does seem that way. But if we do that, most of the congratulatory guests will die. The enemy waiting outside is Heavenly Demon Castle. Not some small local sect."
It was an efficient method, but if they did that, massive sacrifices would inevitably follow. And it wouldn't be the blood of Namgung Family martial artists, but countless others' blood that would flow into the Yangtze River.
Namgung Bang asserted once more to Namgung Byeok with a firm expression.
"That can't be helped. After all, most of those who came here as guests came to get something or are those who already got something. Rather than staying here and continuing to be obstacles, I think it's more right for them to help the Namgung Family in this way."
"...."
It was terribly cold-hearted, but just as much, it was extremely realistic. Anyway, keeping the guests here now wouldn't help their forces at all. Rather, since they had to monitor them, it would only be a loss to their forces.
Above all, there was no visible way for the Namgung Family itself to survive right now. In that sense, the method Namgung Bang was presenting now seemed the best.
If things went well and the congratulatory guests broke through just the entrance of Chaochuan, they could cross to the Yangtze River and receive help from the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds, with whom the Namgung Family has an alliance. Moreover, if they used this method, they could finally send out of the Family that 'guest who is not a guest' who kept grating on Namgung Byeok's nerves.
Moon Full Emperor Falls.
To erase these words from his mind, Namgung Byeok had no choice but to accept Namgung Bang's opinion. Namgung Byeok thought a bit more, but still no other solution came to mind.
Having made up his mind, he looked at Namgung Bang and finally gave the execution order.
"Go out right now and launch all available ships, and gather all the congratulatory guests and the servants and workers within the Family toward the South Water Gate."
"Yes, Family Head!"
Namgung Bang answered vigorously and left the Emperor King Hall without a moment's hesitation.
Namgung Byeok waited until Namgung Bang had completely left, then slowly rose from his seat.
He raised his head once more to look at the sky. Through the wide-open ceiling, he could see the sky tinged with red sunset.
Would it be a mistake if that sight looked like blood flowing on water, spreading in all directions?
Before long, Namgung Byeok lowered his head back to its original position and left the Emperor King Hall.
The place his footsteps headed toward was.
The Medicine Hall.
***
A subtle tea fragrance, as gentle as the medicinal scent flowing through the Medicine Hall, filled the inner chamber abundantly.
Slurp.
The sound of swallowing that tea quietly broke the stillness inside the inner chamber.
Four teacups were placed on the round table located in one corner of the inner chamber, but the person drinking the tea was mainly one person, and the other three only quietly listened to his story.
Namgung Byeok continued his story while taking sips of tea intermittently. When the bottom of the teacup was almost completely visible, he finished everything he wanted to say.
Having heard the entire story, Tang O downed the already completely cooled tea in one gulp and said coldly,
"When should I leave?"
Drip…
As Namgung Byeok refilled Tang O's empty cup with tea, he said,
"You can leave today."
At the word "today," Tang Hwa, another member in the inner chamber, raised surprised eyes to look at him.
She looked like she had something to say, but said nothing and lowered her head again. She knew well that her opinion wasn't important anyway.
On the other hand, Dong Bong-su maintained a composed posture without being surprised even as astonishing words continuously poured from Namgung Byeok's mouth. It was because he had already guessed most of what Namgung Byeok was saying would be like this.
The only things Dong Bong-su didn't know were that the force surrounding the Namgung Family was Heavenly Demon Castle and the plan Namgung Bang had proposed.
Moreover, there was also the fact that he was adopting this composed appearance because Tang O wanted it.
Wouldn't 'Tang Sam, the ancient genius with a Holeless Body' that Tang O imagined not be easily shaken even when any crisis situation arrived?
Right, right. Life is half acting anyway.
In that sense, there was nothing easier for Dong Bong-su than acting like that. Especially since that appearance wasn't particularly different from his real self, there was no sense of incongruity to be found.
Squeak!
Tang O rose from his seat.
Dong Bong-su knew he was about to leave right now.
Then another unpleasant squeak sound came. Dong Bong-su had also risen to follow Tang O.
Looking up at them, Namgung Byeok brought the tea to his lips for a sip and spoke.
"When you leave, please take Hye-ah with you as well."
Tang O, who had been turning his body toward the door, turned back toward Namgung Byeok.
"Why?"
"I don't want to show her the sight of fighting that bastard."
Both Tang O and Dong Bong-su knew well who "that bastard" referred to.
"Is that all?"
"I'm afraid that I... that the Namgung Family might not last even ten days."
If this worked, the time it would take for Tang O to bring reinforcements. The ten days Namgung Byeok mentioned would mean those ten days and nights.
"Crazy bastard. Do you think I'd let you do that? How much would I get scolded by brother after dying? A nephew whose uncle is the Soul Chasing Poison Hand, and you're wishing curses on yourself like that. Tsk, tsk, tsk.."
Tang O spat out rough words unbefitting a famous martial artist and left the inner chamber of the Medicine Hall just like that. Following him, Tang Hwa also left the Medicine Hall.
Namgung Byeok glanced once at their backs and drank his tea with a bitter smile.
From Namgung Byeok's unconfident appearance, Dong Bong-su could feel that the situation was flowing much more seriously and urgently than expected.
Tap, tap.
Walking toward the door.
He organized and analyzed the story Namgung Byeok had told earlier in his mind. Though it wasn't a long time, Dong Bong-su discovered several major flaws in Namgung Byeok's plan.
First, Namgung Byeok had a huge misunderstanding about the 'intruder' who left the Three Holy Lights and the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts. He had said he planned to use the intruder.
Intruder, intruder, intruder....
As Namgung Byeok mentioned the intruder several times, one could see how much he was concerned about him. But the truly important thing was that the intruder wasn't a master enough to be used in such a plan.
The intruder.
It was Dong Bong-su, himself.
The Three Holy Lights had nothing to do with his internal energy and were just a conditioned reflex from leveling up, yet Namgung Byeok was speculating about the 'intruder's' martial arts level based only on that.
'Namgung Byeok's first mistake is overestimating me, and.'
Another thing that bothered him.
Could Do Heo-ok and the force behind him—whether it was Heavenly Demon Castle as Namgung Byeok said or not—really not have predicted such a simple method as what Namgung Byeok had brought?
When Dong Bong-su assumed an extreme case, the Namgung Family could mobilize all ships within the Family and abandon the Family altogether, heading toward Chaohu Lake. In that case, for Heavenly Demon Castle, which couldn't easily mobilize ships, even if they took over the Namgung Family, pursuing the fleeing Family members wouldn't be easy.
Do Heo-ok probably included this case within the range of feasible scenarios as well.
If so, it was natural that the scope of the encirclement they were currently deploying would become much broader and strengthened. It definitely wouldn't be confined only to the entrance of Chaochuan as Namgung Bang and Namgung Byeok expected.
Of course, Namgung Bang's prediction made sense within the bounds of common sense. But from the moment Heavenly Demon Castle inexplicably attacked the Namgung Family, common sense was already broken.
Breaking common sense, breaking common sense, breaking common sense....
Dong Bong-su repeated those words several times. He thought the enemies had definitely used a method that broke common sense in blocking the waterways as well.
Here, there were various methods that broke common sense, but wouldn't the most effective method be just one?
Dong Bong-su thought of and hypothesized one very efficient method that could cover all of Chaochuan and Chaohu Lake. If that hypothesis was correct, Namgung Byeok's current plan could absolutely not succeed.
The difference between a probability being 0 and existing as 0.000...0001.
Existing and not existing.
The two were absolutely different. The plan Namgung Byeok proposed now was a plan that could emerge even if Do Heo-ok's plan had proceeded normally, so it had nothing to do with the discrepancy from the enemies' original plan failing.
'The second mistake is underestimating Do Heo-ok and the enemy forces.'
In a word, Namgung Byeok's plan was completely wrong from its premise.
A plan based on two wrong premises—it would be difficult for that to work properly. Dong Bong-su thought so.
Having finished thinking that far, Dong Bong-su finally arrived at the Medicine Hall entrance and opened the door to leave.
There was no way to change Namgung Byeok's plan anyway. To change it, he would have to do the crazy thing of revealing to Namgung Byeok that he was that 'intruder.'
If so, then as he had resolved earlier, he had no choice but to display 'improvisation' and break through this crisis.
As Dong Bong-su went outside and closed the door,
'Still, the probability of survival exists.'
He thought that again.
His existence had already caused a ripple in the 0 probability the enemies created. Already once, though very small, he had caused a crack in the enemies' plan. With that, the probability of 0 had already disappeared.
Now, live or die?
It's a 50-50 gamble.
Slurp.
Namgung Byeok drank tea alone for quite a long time even after Dong Bong-su disappeared. When he left the inner chamber of the Medicine Hall, a moon close to full had already risen high in the sky.