Chapter 42: The Martial Alliance and the Medicine King Sect
The Seventy-Two Disruptive Sword Techniques form the foundation of sword arts, enabling countless variations.
Disruption (紛節) refers to severing the flow.
The Sword Disruption Technique confounds an opponent's movements and scatters their blade's path.
The Palm Disruption Technique interrupts the current of palm strikes.
These form part of a system including Fist Disruption, Wave Disruption, and Rock Disruption.
Ten days passed thus.
Ho Gong thrust his sword into the ground before the stone platform and settled into lotus position.
The time had come to verify the fruits of his sword meditation.
He attempted to summon the blade through sheer will alone, channeling no energy whatsoever.
"Spirit! Come to me!"
His stern command echoed through the air.
The sword...
Remained motionless.
Ho Gong stifled a smirk.
What satisfaction would there be in immediate success?
"Come!"
......
The blade maintained its stubborn silence.
Ho Gong clucked his tongue.
"Brat. Are you shy? Enough now - come here at once!"
Still no response.
"Come now. Here, boy! Here, here, here!"
He tried coaxing like one might call a puppy, but to no avail.
For half a day this continued - one party calling, the other as immovable as stone. Threats, cajoling, affectionate entreaties - all proved useless. Ho Gong's initial disappointment deepened into profound frustration.
He understood the need for patience, but the complete lack of response stung bitterly.
"Must you make this so difficult?!"
......
"Tch. Have it your way, wretched thing."
Snatching up a book, he watched winter's landscape dissolve into his study's familiar shelves.
Emerging later, Ho Gong found an unexpected visitor awaiting him.
At Songhwa's urgent report, he tilted his head quizzically.
"The Martial Alliance?"
"Yes. They arrived three days past and have been awaiting your presence, Young Master."
"Hmm..."
More precisely, the Anhui branch leader of the Martial Alliance had come calling.
The Anhui branch leader... Ho Gong searched his memory without success.
'A man of no particular presence, perhaps.'
"His name?"
"Mong Yeonmong, I believe."
"That fellow?"
"Young Master, 'that fellow'?"
"Never mind."
Songhwa pressed no further, her smile knowing. Since the Blood Rain Poison incident, her master had developed this habit of feigning familiarity.
"His business?"
"He only smiles when questioned, insisting on delivering his message personally."
"How ceremonious."
Ho Gong's snort of derision hung in the air. The Anhui branch had been conspicuously absent during the Seomun Family crisis, yet now camped here for three days?
As he fumed silently, Songhwa interjected:
"Young Master, another matter requires attention."
"Oh?"
"A missive arrived from the Medicine King Sect fifteen days prior. Though its contents remain unknown, the Family Lord was most pleased after reviewing it."
"Ah! The Medicine King Sect brings glad tidings indeed!"
Ho Gong's joy shone unconcealed, prompting Songhwa's own radiant smile. Though ignorant of the details, her master's happiness proved contagious.
"Where shall we proceed first? The Family Lord takes precedence over the Martial Alliance, surely?"
"Your eyesight fails you, I see."
"Pardon?"
Only then did Songhwa notice her master's disheveled state - unkempt robes, untrimmed beard.
Bath preparation immediately became paramount.
"Ah! Forgive my distraction! I'll make arrangements at once!"
Ho Gong first consulted with the Family Lord, verifying the Medicine King Sect's letter before granting audience to the branch leader.
"Hoho! The illustrious Young Master in the flesh! Truly, reputation pales before reality!"
Mong Yeonmong greeted him with laugh-lined eyes, his drooping八字-shaped eyebrows lending a perpetually concerned expression. Early fifties, radiating benign energy.
'Ah yes. Him.'
Memory crystallized upon meeting - Mong Yeonmong, the Agreeable Sword. A fixture at annual Alliance assemblies, ever smiling, eternally conciliatory. His nickname stemmed from constantly murmuring "Good, good" to any proposal, his greatest fear being open conflict.
"You honor us with your presence after such arduous travels. Please, be seated."
As Ho Gong gestured courteously, the visitor chuckled heartily while settling down.
"Marvelous, truly! To face such celebrity!"
"Celebrity?"
"Modesty ill becomes you!" Mong Yeonmong waved plump hands. "All Anhui buzzes with your deeds! When they should marvel at the Seomun Family's downfall, they instead extol the Heavenly Fire Academy's genius! And seeing you now, I comprehend why! Hoho! The world upends itself when true talent awakens!"
Ho Gong responded drily:
"The world upended itself, yet Martial Alliance representatives only appear post-cataclysm."
The sudden barb left Mong Yeonmong momentarily speechless before booming laughter erupted.
"Hahaha! How sharp! My apologies for our delayed response - circumstances compelled us, you understand."
"Naturally."
Ho Gong's tone carried curiosity rather than accusation.
"Circumstances indeed! Southern Anhui's recent turmoil demanded our full attention. Strange characters emerged suddenly - one brash youth challenging sects after some fortuitous encounter, another..."
He massaged his temples.
"...even the typically reclusive Tianzan began provoking conflicts inexplicably. Chaos reigned despite our mediation."
"Tianzan? Uncharacteristic."
"Oh? You know him?"
"By reputation only."
Ho Gong's evasion came smoothly. His actual connection to Tianzan would complicate matters unnecessarily.
"Regardless, these troubles concern you not. To business!"
Mong Yeonmong leaned forward, eyes gleaming.
"The Martial Alliance extends an invitation! Talent recruitment, you see. Astonishing, no?"
......
Ho Gong's face froze. The organization he once led now sought to recruit him?
Misinterpreting the silence as awe, Mong Yeonmong's voice swelled:
"The Alliance isn't some common guild! We recognize true genius! Imagine - honing your talents for the realm's benefit! This invitation comes through personal recommendation from Strategist Zhuge Hui herself!"
"Zhuge Hui?"
The name escaped Ho Gong's lips reflexively. Mong Yeonmong's eyes sparkled.
"Ohoho! Acquainted with the strategist, are we?"
"I... have heard of her exceptional talents."
Mong Yeonmong's brow furrowed.
"You've developed a most peculiar habit, young man."
"Pardon?"
"This presumptive familiarity! I nearly thought you intimate friends!"
Ho Gong cleared his throat. If only the man knew - he'd dandled Zhuge Hui on his knee since her toddling days, playfully nipping her cheeks when she demanded kisses.
"Regardless," Mong Yeonmong continued, "Zhuge Hui left the Alliance after the Leader's sudden passing. The shock... they were as kin, you see. She abandoned even food and drink in her grief."
Ho Gong nodded solemnly. The strategist had likely discovered his previous incarnation's suicide - a sight to shatter anyone's psyche.
"Her successor, Murong Guo, proves competent. But we digress! The Alliance desires your inclusion in the Dark Ministry (暗府). This elite group..."
As Mong Yeonmong launched into grandiose descriptions, Ho Gong's attention wandered. He knew the Dark Ministry's true function - originally the Codebreaking Division. Five master cryptanalysts deciphering secret communications between sects, while developing the Alliance's own ciphers. Adding Heavenly Fire Academy's genius to their ranks seemed logical.
"...with your brilliance, you'd lead the Ministry within years! Imagine your talents flowering on this grander stage!"
"I decline."
"Eh?!"
Mong Yeonmong gaped fish-like, eyelids fluttering.
"Wh-wh-why?!"
"With Zhuge Hui absent, what interest holds the Alliance for me?"
"You... you... because of a woman?! The Alliance boasts many beauties!"
"Does it?"
"Well... your point stands, but... are you truly refusing? This path leads to becoming Chief Strategist!"
"Strategist? Not even Alliance Leader? How underwhelming."
"Alliance Leader?!"
Mong Yeonmong's expression proved so comical that Ho Gong burst into laughter.
"Aiya! I forget the sweetener!" The branch leader slapped his knee. "Join us, and receive Nine Blossom Elixir! A rare cultivation booster! I received but one pill in ten years!"
"Nine Blossom Elixir..."
"Tempted now?"
"Has the Branch Leader forgotten where he stands?"
Mong Yeonmong's face fell as realization struck. They were in Heavenly Fire Academy - an institution fully capable of producing such elixirs. The offer's sole value lay in being an Alliance-endorsed gift... now rendered meaningless by refusal.
His already drooping eyebrows sagged further in defeat.
