One Day, Plum Blossoms Will Bloom Across the World (1)
The next dawn.
"……Sasuk."
"……."
"Why are they acting like that?"
"Beats me."
What kind of answer did they expect to get out of him?
The Cheong-generation disciples of Mount Hua shivered a little as they watched the second-generation disciples slink out one by one under the pale light of dawn. Mount Hua sat high in the mountains, and even after winter had passed, the morning air remained bitterly cold. The sight of those second-generation disciples walking out in clouds of white breath made them look like generals marching off to war.
"Are we dying today?"
"……Doesn't look like it."
Before long, all the second-generation disciples had come out and lined up opposite the Cheong-generation disciples. Last of all, Baek Cheon slowly walked out and took position at the very front.
"Everyone here?"
"Yes, Sasuk!"
"Good."
Baek Cheon gave a light nod and looked over the second-generation disciples. Then he let out a quiet sigh and turned his gaze to the distant sky.
No way.
It can't be.
Just then, the door of Baekmae Hall was flung open, and Chung Myung strode out while stretching and yawning lazily.
"Ugh. Why is sleep never enough, no matter how much you get?"
Then get more sleep, you idiot.
He said that, yet how was it that he never missed a single day? Every day!
Chung Myung trudged over to Yoon Jong, who darted closer as if he'd been waiting for him.
"Chung Myung. Why are those people coming out?"
"Ah, the Sasuk-nims."
"Right. The Sasuk-nims!"
"Sasuk."
"Yeah?"
Chung Myung reached out and slung an arm around Yoon Jong's shoulders.
"You've had it rough this whole time."
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Out of nowhere?
"I know very well how much the Sasuk-nims have been putting you Sasuk-nims through."
What are you talking about? That never happened!
If anyone got put through the wringer, it was us by you—so why are you dragging the Sasuk-nims into this all of a sudden?
"But now you can rest easy. Starting today, only during training, a beautiful new world will open where all men are equal."
"A place where everyone is equal?"
"That's right."
"Isn't that just another name for hell?"
"……Huh?"
Come to think of it, that actually sounded pretty plausible.
Yoon Jong's face twisted.
So even the second-generation disciples are getting dragged in now.
That monster's reach knew no end. How long had it been since he'd driven the third-generation disciples into hell, and now he was already saying he'd take the second-generation disciples into his grasp as well?
What is going to happen to Mount Hua?
As Yoon Jong suppressed the sorrow rising in his chest, Chung Myung walked to the center and stood there.
"You all came out at dawn, so I appreciate it, lads."
"……."
"I'm deeply moved that you've all joined training so voluntarily."
That shameless bastard!
When was it that he cussed out people resting and forced them to train? May lightning strike that bastard dead!
The Cheong-generation disciples bit down hard on their lips, but surprisingly, the second-generation disciples showed almost no reaction.
"Training must be hard if it's to be training. If you finish and feel refreshed and rewarded, that doesn't count as training. Real training is when the moment it's over, you start cursing, and you're so drained you have to smash your face into your food tray because you don't even have the strength to lift your chopsticks!"
A terrifying logic was being preached.
"There is no shortcut to strength. The only way to get stronger is to keep rolling around and giving it your all. If you trust and follow me, you will become stronger. Understood?"
Yoon Jong's expression twisted sharply.
No, no matter how you put it, not to the Sasuk-nims…… Sasuk-nims, don't hold back and give him a proper talking-to…!
Then it happened.
"Yeeeessssss!"
From the second-generation side came a thunderous, absurdly thunderous answer. The Cheong-generation disciples jumped in fright and stumbled back.
"W-what?"
"What's wrong with them?"
Being taught by a junior disciple who was practically a younger brother might have been awkward. But for the second-generation disciples right now, that wasn't the issue.
If we fall behind the third-generation disciples, it'll be a total disgrace!
Being trained by Chung Myung was humiliating, yes—but becoming weaker than the third-generation disciples was the sort of thing that made a man want to bite off his own tongue and die.
And yet that was exactly what was happening.
They might be able to manage for now, but in a few years the second-generation disciples might really end up in the position of being protected by the third-generation disciples. If they became weaker than not just one or two but the entire third generation, where in the world would they recover their dignity?
I refuse to ever see that.
I'd rather bite my tongue and die first.
The second-generation disciples' eyes reddened with blood vessels.
Sometimes impure motives were what set a person's will ablaze. Or rather, to be precise, impure motives often inspired greater determination.
Pure longing for strength alone would never have driven them this far. What was pushing the second-generation disciples from behind now was pride and anxiety.
And finally…….
I don't know how it'll work, but if we learn from that bastard, we can beat the second-generation disciples of Wudang, right?
No, maybe we can become even stronger than that.
Better to be looked down on here and then swagger around in the world than to be looked down on out there in the jianghu. One hundred times better!
Let's roll!
Taking in the second-generation disciples' sparkling eyes, Chung Myung let out a hearty laugh.
"That's it, that's it!"
Those hungry-for-learning eyes!
After dealing only with third-generation disciples who kept spitting out the gold he tried to stuff in their mouths, seeing second-generation disciples overflowing with enthusiasm for learning made his chest swell on its own.
Of course, the third-generation disciples hadn't always been that sulky to begin with, but there was no way Chung Myung would ever bother thinking about that.
"All right, then."
Chung Myung's lips curled sharply upward.
"The foundation is what matters most, no matter what we do. Shall we start with strength training, Sasuk-nims? What are you waiting for? You need to show the Sasuk-nims how to do strength training."
At that, the corners of the third-generation disciples' mouths also curled up.
"Exactly. That's how it should be."
"Of course. I'll be sure to teach them properly."
With the grim determination of people thinking, Now it's your turn to taste this too, the third-generation disciples bared red eyes and stepped forward with the equipment in hand.
So you thought this was a good thing, huh?
One try and you'll be wailing for three months and ten days. I'll make sure you scream till your guts come out!
As the third-generation disciples approached with sly smiles, the second-generation disciples flinched and stepped back nervously.
But unexpectedly, there was one person who stepped forward instead.
"Hm?"
Chung Myung tilted his head at the person standing in front of him.
"Why you again?"
"I want to learn."
"Go learn from the others over there."
"No one comes to me."
"……Huh?"
Chung Myung looked at Yu I-seol, puzzled.
"No, why wouldn't anyone…… What are you people doing?"
The Cheong-generation disciples only stared at the distant night sky at Chung Myung's words.
"If it's awkward, then just a female disciple—wait. Come to think of it, why are there no women in the Cheong generation? Why is it all men? There are so many lady disciples in the second generation."
"……."
Chung Myung turned to Yoon Jong and said,
"No, Sasuk. Did the Cheong generation only take in men? No wonder Baekmae Hall is so gloomy and depressing when you go in. Why not accept female disciples……"
"Chung Myung."
"Yeah?"
Yoon Jong said with a face that looked as if he might actually burst into tears of blood,
"There are things in this world you shouldn't poke at."
"……."
Chung Myung stared at Yoon Jong for a long moment before lowering his head.
"I was wrong. I apologize. Forgive me."
"……Just be careful."
"I will."
After cleanly apologizing, Chung Myung looked back at Yu I-seol with a rather reluctant expression.
"I don't go easy on people just because they're women."
"That's exactly what I wanted."
"No matter how much you cry and beg, I won't go easy on you."
"That won't happen."
She was clingy to the point of absurdity.
"Then promise me one thing."
"What?"
"If I survive this, I'll be able to make plum blossoms bloom with a sword too, right?"
"You all keep saying weird things."
Chung Myung said with a hardened face,
"If you're disciples of Mount Hua, whether Sasuk-nims or Sasuks, your goal shouldn't be to make plum blossoms bloom. That's only the process. What you should aim for is completion."
"Completion……."
"Well, sure. Then……."
Chung Myung shrugged.
"First, let's build the foundation for blooming. Begin!"
Watching the second-generation disciples hoist up the equipment, Chung Myung let out a wicked grin.
Back then, I only cared about my own strength and couldn't spare the time to look after my Sasuks' martial arts.
He had considered that natural then, but not anymore. Didn't he feel it back in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains? In the end, the opponent Mount Hua had to face wasn't a single absolute master, but the other sects.
There was a limit to what one person could do alone.
What if, one day, these people grew strong enough to support Chung Myung from behind?
"Kuhuhuhu. You're all gonna die. The entire jianghu will be ours. I'll even draw plum blossoms on those bald heads at Shaolin."
Feeling like he'd heard something he shouldn't have, the Mount Hua disciples shut their eyes and turned away.
"Hmm."
Un Geom let out a satisfied murmur as he watched the Mount Hua disciples training earnestly from afar.
Now even the second-generation disciples.
Well, it had to be that way. They had seen it and felt it for themselves.
Un Geom recalled yesterday's conversation with the Sect Leader.
- Leave him be.
The Sect Leader had said that.
- He is not someone we can truly hold within our arms anyway. If we interfere by insisting on leading the child, we may only obstruct his path. We are old now. And the sun is setting on us. What we must do is become the fertilizer that allows the paths of those children to shine. Leave him be. The Dao is within that child; he will never stray onto a bad path.
In other words, don't go prodding around out of curiosity and end up making the child wary.
Un Geom agreed with that as well.
There was so much he wanted to know—about the plum blossoms Chung Myung had made bloom, about that incomprehensible level of skill, even about his murky background. But he didn't particularly want to ask any of it.
The Dao.
The Dao simply flows.
And embraces.
Whoever Chung Myung might be, as long as he was a disciple of Mount Hua, there was no reason not to embrace him.
That was what the Dao was: boundless generosity.
More than that…….
Should I try learning too?
After watching the children for a long while, Un Geom gave a wry smile and spun around sharply.
Greed. It's greed.
It would hardly matter if he had to roll around on the ground under the orders of a junior if it meant he could become stronger, but Un Geom knew the truth: at his age, it was hard to grow stronger by such means. He ought to be grateful that at least the second-generation disciples were still young enough to keep growing.
But that doesn't mean I can just sit on my hands.
The children were trying so hard—how could he, as their teacher, be lazy? Even if he left that sort of instruction to Chung Myung, he had to teach as much as he could of what only he was able to teach.
"Mount Hua will grow stronger."
Wudang was not the end.
Ever since Chung Myung arrived, Mount Hua had changed completely.
Un Geom had only recently realized that he himself had merely been drifting along wherever the current took him.
Now even the first-generation disciples and the elders had begun to change their air.
At the very least, they could not become a burden to those children. They had to do everything within their power and become a help to them.
And…….
Someday, when those children completed their own martial arts, the world would witness the rebirth of Mount Hua—the very sect that once spoke of becoming the world's greatest sword school.
It was still a little far off, though.
Un Geom turned his head slightly.
"Don't straighten your back while training! Your back! If you've still got the strength to breathe, then you've got no excuse not to keep training! What? You're fine? Fine my ass! You won't die, you won't die! I've lived long enough to hear plenty of stories about people dying in battle, but I've never heard of anyone dying from training!"
Un Geom's body trembled.
"Qi deviation? Qi deviiiaaaation? Good heavens. Just how profound is the martial art you're practicing that you're worried about qi deviation? I think I need to take a look at that martial art level myself. Get out here! Let's see whether you die from qi deviation faster or whether your head cracks open faster!"
Watching the third-generation disciples rush in to stop Chung Myung, Un Geom looked out at the distant sky with an embarrassed expression.
Maybe it's not so far off after all.