Chapter 64. Kang Dal-hee
***
As the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Castle clashed in various places, a storm of blood swept across the martial world.
The Black–White War.
People called the fight between the Heavenly Demon Castle and the Martial Alliance that. No one even knew who had named it. It was just like that—the martial world split into two colors and began to fight.
In the early stages of the war, victory seemed to belong to the Heavenly Demon Castle. Just like the Anhui branch of the Heavenly Demon Castle, the branches in various regions had been operating in secret, so among the orthodox sects in each region, many had not yet even grasped the locations of the Heavenly Demon Castle branches.
Because of that, cases where they were helplessly struck by the suddenly rising branches of the Heavenly Demon Castle occurred frequently. The peace had lasted too long, and letting down their guard against the demonic path sects became the root of the disaster.
For about a month after that, the Martial Alliance's inferiority continued. Judging only from the early situation, their momentum was so frightening that it seemed as if the Heavenly Demon Castle might unify the martial world just like this.
However, even though it had fallen to the level of a paper tiger, the Martial Alliance was the collective body of the orthodox martial world. It was by no means something that would easily submit to the demonic path.
Soon, having reorganized their ranks, the Martial Alliance entered a defensive war, using the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families as strongholds. The side defending in a siege has the advantage, and this was not only true in wars between nations. In fact, since most large sects and families had all kinds of formations installed, one could even say that defensive battles in the martial world were more advantageous than national wars.
Although the Heavenly Demon Castle was the largest single force in the martial world, it did not have the capacity to handle the entire Central Plains. If it had had an army on a national scale, it might have been able to surround strongholds and devastate the remaining regions, but from the start it did not have that many people. If the main force of the Heavenly Demon Castle surrounded and attacked one major sect, without fail the rear units of the Martial Alliance would jump out and strike the Heavenly Demon Castle from behind.
Even so, riding on their early advantage, the Heavenly Demon Castle occupied the Kongtong Sect, Kunlun Sect, Emei Sect, Qingcheng Sect, and Tang Sect. However, they had to shed just as much blood.
Was that what became the pretext?
When the Heavenly Demon Castle entered a phase of catching its breath, an opportunity for counterattack came to the Martial Alliance.
When four of the Nine Sects and two of the Five Great Families collapsed, the sects of the Central Plains began to grow tense. Feeling a sense of crisis, small and medium sects began to join the Martial Alliance one by one. Once that trend started, sects from all over the country gathered in Zhengzhou, each trying to join the Martial Alliance.
Because of that, the Black–White War entered a new phase.
The Heavenly Demon Castle, which had once advanced as far as Shaanxi, the heart of the Central Plains, was soon pushed back to Gansu, and all the branches that had risen simultaneously in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Hunan, and Jiangxi were completely wiped out. Riding that momentum, the Martial Alliance even succeeded in reclaiming Kongtong Mountain and the Tang Family Estate.
In that process, it went without saying that both the Heavenly Demon Castle and the Martial Alliance suffered enormous damage. After that, the war situation developed fiercely, seesawing back and forth.
With Gansu and Sichuan as the boundary, the two sides advanced and retreated repeatedly. Blood flowed like rivers, torn flesh piled up into hills, and corpses were stacked like mountains.
The war grew more and more intense, but neither side could completely overwhelm the other. In the end, as the Black–White War showed signs of becoming prolonged, it entered a war of attrition. It was not that representatives of both sides met and discussed a ceasefire, but naturally, the flames of war died down considerably.
On the surface, the winner of this sudden Black–White War was the Hall of Gathering Evils. They took advantage of the fight between the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Castle to seize control of the underground economy throughout the Central Plains. In addition, they accumulated enormous wealth by selling weapons and supplies to both the black and white sides. Taking advantage of the chaos of the martial world, they properly reaped the fisherman's profit.
Weapons were originally items controlled by the state and could not be sold freely, but the martial world forces were different. The principle of non-interference by the authorities applied here as well.
From the standpoint of the imperial court and the officials, as long as the swords they used were not pointed at them, they were willing to tolerate anything. What's more, if a great war like this was being fought, what did it matter if weapons were sold? In any case, those called martial artists were thorns in their eyes. If they were hard to control, then even letting them weaken each other through neglect was enough.
In any case, wiping them out was impossible.
The martial world had never disappeared since ancient times, and to some extent it had continued while maintaining ties with the authorities. Even the officials and the imperial family learned and practiced martial arts, so in a way it could be seen as a symbiotic relationship. There was also clearly the aspect that their existence increased national defense and deterrence.
Even so, the authorities always kept an eye on the martial world. Especially at times like recently, when barbarians were invading the borders, this was even more so. As chaotic as the martial world was, the current borders were also chaotic.
War was being waged fiercely not only in the martial world but also in the northern regions of the Central Plains. And that place was truly one where the phrase "a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses" fit. If ten people died in a day in the martial world, there, hundreds would die in a single day, and sometimes even in units of a thousand.
As death became rampant in various places like this, paradoxically, a field of opportunity also opened.
Wanderers.
Those who roamed the world without a fixed place, making a living by swordsmanship and martial arts.
These were a peculiar kind of people who actually had more to do when the world fell into chaos. An interesting fact was that there was demand for them both in the martial world and from the authorities.
If the martial world hired them, they became wandering martial artists, and if the authorities bought them, they became mercenaries.
But.
No matter what name they were called by, there was one clear fact. No matter how one tried to dress them up with words, the truth that they were cruel human hunters—that alone was an unmistakable truth.
***
A city located at the northernmost edge of Shanxi Province, Datong.
Today as well, a wanderer market was open here. Men who looked vicious, carrying swords, blades, or bows, were sprawled around everywhere, their eyes flashing. Some were lying down and sleeping, but most were waiting for sword brokers who would connect them to their employers.
Sword brokers referred to those who matched wanderers and employers according to the level of the request and took a certain amount of profit. The sounds of haggling over prices here and there, and the sounds of disputes between sword brokers trying to take customers, made the market noisy.
Also, all around the wanderer market, portable houses of the northern barbarians called tents were set up, and inside them, the work of exchanging hunted ears for silver or silver coins was taking place. The word "hunting" was not commonly used, but it was another word for hunting, and here, they often referred to human hunting as hunting. There was no special reason. It was just because they went to war and took the ears of barbarians, so it was called that. And they sold those to the ear brokers at the tents to make money. The ear brokers wrapped them in cloth bundles and handed them over to military officers, exchanging them for silver.
Those who worked as mercenaries here were usually lower-rank wanderers. Those with fairly usable skills could apply to the Martial Alliance's wanderer corps or the Heavenly Demon Castle's External Demonic Beings Unit. The wanderers who applied there and were selected left for Gansu. There, they would point their blades at each other. They were supposed to be enemies, yet they were recruited from the same place like this.
Amusingly, neither the Martial Alliance nor the Heavenly Demon Castle cared about this at all. To them, only the war of attrition itself had meaning. Since they could not stop the war anyway, this was a way to save their real strength.
Apart from them, wanderers of truly outstanding skill mostly took on jobs guarding important figures of the authorities or escorting cargo of escort agencies. That side paid better and was safer. Accordingly, it also required much greater skill.
Such wanderer markets could be easily seen not only here in Datong, but anywhere along the border regions. Especially in bleak times like these, wanderers became even more important. In times when law and order were in chaos, those outside the system became more meaningful.
Because of them, the public security of the nearby cities was in shambles, but the Northern Expeditionary Army and the garrisons pretended not to know. In any case, wanderers were a necessary evil. These scum of humanity were the same no matter where they went. If that was the case, they thought it was enough if they were at least paid here to shed blood in someone else's place.
Whether the people living in these border regions suffered or not was none of the officials' concern. If wanderers were hunting dogs, then the people here were rabbits or bitches to soothe their ferocity, weren't they?
The most important task here in Datong was to block and hunt the northern nomadic tribes. Wanderers were tools for that. To properly soothe hunting dogs, sometimes you throw them meat, and if they are in heat, you even throw them bitches—that is the hunter's virtue and proper attitude. If, by doing so, the hunting dogs do not bite their master, the master is satisfied.
***
"We're leaving for hunting in Guisui. Those who are interested, don't hesitate and apply! Two silver coins per ear!"
Suddenly, the wanderer market became bustling. It was because more than a dozen military officers had appeared. Their loud voices swept through every corner of the wanderer market and caught the attention of the lower-rank wanderers. Two silver coins was quite a lot of money, but considering it as saving one well-trained soldier, it was cheap. That was why hiring mercenaries was a very everyday occurrence here.
However, the scale was unusual. Even though this was a wanderer market, it was rare for more than a dozen military officers to come out at once to recruit mercenaries. The appearance of more than a dozen officers meant that they were recruiting from hundreds up to even a thousand mercenaries.
A large-scale expedition. It was a sign of that. Of course, for the lower-rank wanderers, it was extremely good work. If luck was good, they might easily take several ears. If luck was even better, they might get the ears of children or dead comrades without lifting a finger.
"I'll go."
"I'll go too."
"Me too."
Soon, wanderers who had been sprawled around sleeping all over the market got up and applied for hunting.
"Name?"
"Hogu."
"Name?"
"Kang Pae."
Each officer wrote down the names of the applicants one by one on the recruitment list. The reason for writing this was to at least grasp the minimum number of people. Since wanderers were extremely unruly, it was easier to control them if at least their numbers and names were known.
Thus, each officer wrote down about a hundred names. Considering the number of officers, it meant that more than a thousand mercenaries had been recruited. It was an unprecedented large-scale hiring of mercenaries even here.
"Anyone else?"
The one who looked like the most senior among the officers shouted loudly. There was no one stepping forward anymore. The officer asked one last time, "Anyone else?" and then closed the register.
But.
That was when it happened. A man strolled over to him, snatched the brush, and opened the register.
The man's build was very solid, and his height was average. His long hair grown out behind was very dirty, and his bangs were hanging down long, covering both eyes.
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