One Day, Plum Blossoms Will Bloom Across the World (5)
He was taller than Chung Myung had expected.
He’d been told the Mount Hua Divine Dragon was incredibly young, but his height actually made him seem even taller than Wi So-haeng.
And yet he didn’t feel lanky. If anything, the strongest impression he gave was one of solidness, as though he were built from nothing but sinew and bone. And then…
‘He’s handsome?’
Quite striking, in fact.
His balanced build and good looks fit together so naturally that one couldn’t help but nod in approval.
That is, if not for the irritable, ready-to-die expression sitting on his face.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh! Why the hell is there so much dust? Damn it!”
You did that yourself.
Why were you the one complaining about it?
Chung Myung, dressed in faded black robes, waved a hand to brush off the dust. Then, with a sullen face, he looked at Yoon Jong.
“Is it today?”
“No.”
“Huh? Not today?”
“There should still be about three days left.”
“Then why?”
“The Sect Leader is looking for you.”
“Khh. So the Sect Leader took pity on me and told me to come out of seclusion! Sasuk, don’t you dare go into seclusion. I’ve been eating wall-climbing pills for three straight months, and it feels like something’s sprouting in my stomach.”
“...That’s not it. Something seems to have happened.”
“Huh? What happened?”
Chung Myung tilted his head and then turned his gaze toward Wi So-haeng.
“And who’s this?”
“This is Wi So-haeng, a martial brother from Hwayeong Gate.”
“Hwayeong Gate?”
“You know it?”
“...Why would I know that?”
He said that, but his eyes were already fixed on Wi So-haeng with interest.
Hwayeong Gate.
There had indeed been a branch sect called Hwayeong Gate among Mount Hua’s allied families in the past.
So there really are places that survived after all. I thought every branch of Mount Hua had gone under with the sect.
A branch family’s rise and fall depended on its main sect.
With Mount Hua having collapsed, it should have been difficult for its branch sects to keep their nameplate up and recruit new members, which made it all the more remarkable that one had survived until now.
“Hwayeong Gate is a branch sect of Mount Hua.”
“Oh, really? But why is a branch family member here?”
“Let’s go ask the Sect Leader that first.”
“Fine by me.”
Even while the two of them talked, Wi So-haeng stared at Chung Myung with round eyes. After a long moment, he turned to Yoon Jong and asked in a daze,
“Um... then could this be...”
“Chung Myung.”
“Ah, yes. Hahaha. I figured it would be, I just didn’t think... Wait, what?”
This sc— no, this gentleman?
This person here?
Wi So-haeng’s eyelids twitched.
When he had looked at Yoon Jong, he had clearly felt Mount Hua’s profound bearing. A person who seemed to declare with his entire being, This is a Daoist priest, this is the depth of a Mount Hua disciple.
But this one now…
He looks like some punk who’d spit on the ground in an alley and call it a day.
It felt as though, without Yoon Jong around, he’d be grabbed by the nape of the neck and dragged into a cave somewhere. He’d probably have to hand over his money pouch just to walk out in one piece.
With an old childhood trauma stirred up all over again, Wi So-haeng looked at Chung Myung with a delicate expression.
Was the rumor wrong or something?
No matter how he looked at him, this did not seem like someone who had cut down the Southern Edge Sect disciples and defeated Jin Geum-ryong.
“Go wash up first. You can’t see the Sect Leader looking like that.”
“What’s wrong with the way I look?”
“Please, just go.”
“All right, all right. I’ll wash up quick.”
As Chung Myung strode briskly ahead, Wi So-haeng asked Yoon Jong,
“...Is that really the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”
“I don’t know about the Mount Hua Divine Dragon part, but if you mean Chung Myung, then that bastard is the one.”
“...Seriously?”
“Martial brother.”
“Yes?”
“...Don’t start being shocked already. There’s still plenty left.”
At that, a sinking fear rose in Wi So-haeng’s chest, and he couldn’t even bring himself to ask what exactly was left.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So, then.”
After changing into clean clothes and sitting in front of the Sect Leader, Chung Myung frowned.
“The Wudang branch sect bastards attacked our branch sect, and on top of that they called in the horse-nosed priests from the main sect?”
“...You’re a Daoist too, you little brat.”
Why were horse noses even coming up? Horse noses!
But Yoon Jong’s words didn’t reach Chung Myung’s ears.
“So they asked for our help.”
Chung Myung nodded slowly, a grave light appearing in his eyes in an instant.
“Sect Leader!”
“Mm!”
“Don’t worry about a thing. This disciple will go sort it out cleanly and come back.”
The eyes of everyone in the room wavered slightly.
Had he finally grown up after three months of seclusion in darkness? How could he sound so reliable?
But even if everyone else was fooled, Yoon Jong wasn’t.
“...Exactly how are you planning to sort it out cleanly?”
“How else? I’ll dash straight over to that Namyang place or whatever, and smash the heads of those Zong— Zong, what? Zongnam Monks?”
“It’s Southern Edge!”
“Right, right! Smash the heads of those Southern Edge bastards, smash the Wudang bastards’ heads too, and then set fire to their martial hall so they can never set foot in Namyang again. That’d make things nice and clean!”
“It’s a Daoist temple, you insane bastard!”
“Can’t a temple burn? Can’t a temple burn? In front of fire, every building in the world is equal! Even Mount Hua was equal.”
“Why the hell are you bringing Mount Hua into this!”
“Why? Didn’t our place burn too? You don’t know that?”
Hyun Jong smiled with a thoroughly pleased expression. Then he turned to Un Geom, seated beside him.
Should we really send him?
I think we may need to rethink that.
How was it that a man could grow older and yet improve in absolutely no way, day after day?
It wasn’t easy to be this consistently rotten.
Yoon Jong grabbed Chung Myung by the waist sash and tugged him back.
“Calm down. Please.”
“Calm down? Do I look like I’m calm right now?”
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed wildly.
“Didn’t you say Hwayeong Gate was one of the places that at least paid tribute properly?”
Don’t call it tribute... It makes us sound like some black market gang. Call it support money or something...
“The boss is supposed to protect the ones who pay tribute in his territory! Otherwise, who’d hand over money and follow him?”
“Exactly! Money’s on the line!”
Hyun Young clapped as if that settled everything and made his heart feel refreshed.
But when all eyes turned to him, he coughed awkwardly and slowly lowered his hands.
Chung Myung pressed on again, unwavering.
“They were the ones who picked the fight, weren’t they? Then we’ve got to answer them! Just leave it to me! I’ll go smash their heads open!”
Hyun Jong smiled warmly and said,
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
“...You mustn’t smash their heads.”
“Then their waists?”
“I mean you mustn’t cripple them or inflict serious injury.”
“...?”
Hyun Jong let out a long sigh and looked at Chung Myung with the expression of a man wondering if it was truly all right to send this one.
Still, however it might be done, with the second-generation disciples able to lend support, it was impossible to leave Chung Myung out. And in truth, if one ignored his personality, he was the most trustworthy person they had.
“In any case, that’s the situation, so we’ll need you to go.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it neatly and come back. Should I head out right now?”
“A few of the children will go with you. Let’s leave tomorrow or the day after.”
“That long?”
“We need to learn more about the situation, and I have a few matters to attend to as well. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Whether he left today or tomorrow, it didn’t matter to Chung Myung as long as he got there and was able to beat up the Wudang bastards.
“Good. Then you’ve been in seclusion as well, so your body must be worn down. Rest well and recover.”
“Understood, Sect Leader.”
“Mm. Go on now. I’ll let you know soon who’s going with you.”
“Yes, then.”
Just as Chung Myung was about to rise and leave, Hyun Jong called him back softly.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
When Chung Myung turned his head, Hyun Jong quietly looked at him for a moment before speaking.
“Did your seclusion bear any fruit?”
Chung Myung grinned.
“The Wudang bastards will find out with their own bodies.”
“Mm. I see.”
Chung Myung dipped his head in a perfunctory bow and left the room.
“Yoon Jong, see to it that Martial Brother Wi has quarters prepared for him. He must be hungry as well, so help him get a meal.”
“Yes, Sect Leader. I’ll make sure he has no discomfort.”
Once Yoon Jong and Wi So-haeng also left, Hyun Jong wore a subtle expression.
“Hyun Sang.”
“Yes, Martial Brother Sect Leader.”
“I don’t know whether I’m being overly cautious, but does it seem to you that the Wudang branch sect entering Namyang—a place that had seen no trouble for all this time—and picking a fight with Hwayeong Gate was merely a coincidence?”
Hyun Sang couldn’t answer right away.
On the face of it, it was the sort of thing that could happen by chance. But the more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
“I’m not sure it was wise to send Chung Myung. Perhaps what they’re aiming for is...”
“That is not the case, Sect Leader.”
Unam shook his head.
“The idea that they would attack a branch family solely to draw out Chung Myung is too far-fetched. They’re Wudang, are they not? They are people who have no need to pick a fight with Mount Hua. What would they gain from it? What great profit could there possibly be in that small place called Namyang?”
“Mm.”
Hyun Jong murmured lowly.
Yet in that murmur lay his difficulty in agreeing with Unam outright.
“Since the last Hwajong Jihoe, Chung Myung’s reputation has risen excessively. Now, when people speak of the greatest young talents under heaven, his name is the first one mentioned.”
“Indeed.”
“The title of Mount Hua Divine Dragon is far too flashy, far too excessive. Wudang may not care much for petty gains, but they are not a sect that would tolerate another Daoist sect taking away greater fame. Perhaps…”
At that moment—
“Then what of it?”
“Hm?”
Un Geom smiled faintly and said,
“Sect Leader. Do you know the nickname the Mount Hua children gave Chung Myung?”
“...He has one of those?”
“It’s Mount Hua Mad Dog.”
“Ah... well... that’s a bit...”
Unam, who had been listening in silence, let out a low hum.
“Mad Dog is too harsh. Let’s say Fierce Hound instead.”
That was still a dog.
No, why couldn’t they get away from dogs?
Crazy dog or fierce dog.
Then Un Geom continued, smiling as he spoke.
“For the past two years, our children have truly bled and sweated for every inch of progress. Now no one—not Wudang, not Shaolin—can look down on them anymore.”
“That’s true.”
“Mm. That is correct.”
No one here did not know how brutally the second- and third-generation disciples had been pushed over the last two years. Honestly, everyone had probably at least once been relieved that they were a generation above Chung Myung.
“And especially that one... hm...”
Un Geom scratched his head with an embarrassed look, as though he didn’t even know how to describe Chung Myung’s past two years.
“In any case, that’s how it is. Anyone who tries to challenge the Mount Hua Divine Dragon in some half-baked manner will learn exactly why he’s called that.”
“Divine Dragon?”
“No. Mad Dog.”
“...”
Well... hm. It really shouldn’t have, but he found himself agreeing with that a lot.
“Send Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong with him. Those two should be able to rein him in properly if he starts going too far.”
“...Really?”
“Of everyone, they’d have the highest chance.”
“Then what about sending I-seol as well? At least he doesn’t hit his senior sister.”
Wasn’t that obvious?
“Sect Leader.”
Hyun Young opened his mouth, tidying the room as the commotion settled.
“Sending the children is not the whole matter. Sending them means our Mount Hua is stepping back into the world once more. There will be much to do.”
“Mm!”
Hyun Jong nodded heavily.
“Listen carefully.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“If the main sect is Mount Hua’s face, then the branch sects are its hands and feet. Hwayeong Gate has contributed greatly to the main sect all these years. Use every means available to support Hwayeong Gate, and let the world know that Mount Hua has not abandoned its branch families.”
“We’ll keep that in mind! Sect Leader!”
Looking at the disciples bowing in unison, Hyun Jong’s face was set with firm resolve.
Two years is not a short time.
Now it was time to proclaim Mount Hua’s changed appearance to the world.