If You Mess With Mount Hua, I’ll Show You What Happens! (1)
“…….”
Wi So-haeng looked around with a faintly cowed expression.
So these are Mount Hua’s disciples.
In outside sects, it was common to match disciples against the main sect by generation according to birth years rather than their formal rank. By that standard, Wi So-haeng would be considered the same generation as the main sect’s third-generation disciples.
Until he had arrived here, he had thought there couldn’t be anything so special about true disciples. But now that he saw them gathered together in person, he could tell just how wrong he had been.
Each one of them is like a blade, gleaming with sharp light.
He finally understood why his father had emphasized so strongly that Mount Hua was a prestigious sect. They were all the same age, and yet there was something undeniably different about them. Every movement was disciplined; every glance carried the faint, graceful fragrance of Daoist cultivation.
Even now, while they were eating.
It was no easy thing to eat in a way that made others admire your manners, yet that was exactly what they did. So this was why everyone placed such value on a great sect, he thought…….
Chop, chop, chop, chop!
Chop, chop, chop, chop!
“…….”
Wi So-haeng’s gaze drifted to one side.
While everyone else ate neatly, one person seated in the corner was devouring his food with such violence that it was more like he was gobbling it down.
I can’t make heads or tails of this.
A chicken drumstick vanished into a mouth in an instant. The bone that emerged a moment later was stripped so cleanly it gave no clue at all as to how the meat had been cooked.
Is he possessed by a starving ghost or something?
What was even stranger was that no one in the dining hall was rebuking the one making such a racket while eating. Everyone acted as though the person vacuuming up food at the speed of light simply did not exist.
That guy is really the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?
Wi So-haeng stared at Chung Myung, unable to believe it.
Of course, his appearance was perfectly fine. No—if anything, just by looks alone, the title of Mount Hua Divine Dragon suited him extremely well.
The problem was that the only thing about him that looked fine was his face.
There wasn’t a trace of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s dignity, the genius of the younger generation said to be number one under heaven, anywhere in Chung Myung’s behavior.
Did the rumors really get it wrong?
No, that couldn’t be.
Rumors were always exaggerated beyond the truth, but not in this case. If even a sliver of falsehood had been spread, Jongnam would never have stayed quiet.
Jongnam’s silence itself was the strongest proof of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s deeds.
Which means that’s really the bastard who beat the crap out of all of Jongnam’s second-generation disciples.
Wi So-haeng scratched his head roughly.
People had different temperaments, of course, but there was still some basic decorum expected of a master, wasn’t there?
Yet Chung Myung didn’t have even a shred of a master’s bearing. If someone stripped off the Mount Hua robes right now, no one would think twice if they said he was a street thug from the back alleys.
Is it really okay to take that guy along?
At that moment, the door opened and someone walked in.
Yoon Jong.
Seeing Yoon Jong enter, Wi So-haeng let out a low sigh before he realized it.
If only that guy had been the Mount Hua Divine Dragon.
If that had been the case, he would have raised both hands and shouted for joy!
Everything Wi So-haeng had hoped to find in the Mount Hua Divine Dragon was right there in Yoon Jong. The elegant air of a true master. The discipline in his bearing. The softness and ease in his expression.
He looked exactly like the picture of a proper swordsman.
Then why was it that not that man, but that bastard, was the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?
Yoon Jong walked up to Chung Myung and frowned.
“You’ll choke. Eat slower.”
“Talkin’ with yer mouth full, are ya?”
“……You want me to starve for three months?”
Chung Myung swallowed the food in his mouth, then gulped down a big swig of cold water from the cup beside him. After slamming the bottle down, he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.
“I’ve been eating nothing but fasting pills for three months, and now the air even tastes like them. I must’ve lost my mind to shut myself away like that.”
“…….”
“Hah. A man’s gotta eat meat! I don’t know how those Shaolin monks survive on grass alone!”
We used to live on grass too, you brat.
Well, then again, it had been Chung Myung who changed that.
“So, did you make any progress?”
“Progress, my ass.”
Chung Myung snorted.
He simply needed a little time.
His martial arts were not the same as they had been in the past. Since the foundation had changed and the base had changed, the structure built on top of it could no longer be the same either.
So all he had needed was a little time to sort things out without being distracted by anything else.
“You did train properly while I was gone, right?”
“…….”
Yoon Jong glanced around with an awkward expression.
The disciples’ resentful gazes stabbed into him.
We thought there were still a few days left, so why did you have to drag that bastard out!
We finally got three months that almost felt like normal human life! And now the good times are over, damn it!
We should’ve sealed the entrance to Plum Blossom Cave with something sturdier!
Yoon Jong let out a low sigh.
“Everyone trained hard.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Just as Chung Myung started to boil over again, Yoon Jong promptly dumped cold water on him.
“That’s not the important thing right now, is it? The matter of Hwayeong Gate is urgent.”
“Ah, right! Those Wudang bastards!”
Chung Myung’s face twisted.
“We need to smash those bastards’ heads in! When are we leaving, Sahyung?”
“Sect Leader said to depart tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow? Earlier than I expected.”
“That probably means Hwayeong Gate’s situation is desperate. If someone from Wudang has already set out, they should be arriving soon. If we get there too late, won’t we just be coming in after the fact?”
“True!”
“So if you’re done eating, go pack your things. We’ll leave as soon as possible.”
“Got it!”
Chung Myung sprang up and headed outside, and the third-generation disciples all let out a collective sigh of relief.
“……I thought I was gonna die.”
“Living here isn’t really living, seriously.”
Then the dining hall’s back door quietly opened. Someone peered in through the crack, looked around, and asked in a small voice, “Did he leave?”
“……Yes.”
“Ha…….”
Baek Sang opened the door and came in. Behind him, the second-generation disciples trailed in with gloomy faces.
“Can’t even eat one meal in peace! One meal!”
“No, wasn’t there still a few days left before the retreat ended? Why did he come out early?”
“So this is the end of peace. I want to die.”
“…….”
Watching it all, Wi So-haeng couldn’t make sense of a single thing. His curiosity was practically burning a hole through his chest.
What on earth is going on here?
It seemed that the person named Chung Myung was the youngest among them, yet the senior brothers were all watching the mood around him, and even the martial uncles seemed uneasy around him.
I heard prestigious sects have very clear hierarchy.
Wi So-haeng’s awkward gaze met Yoon Jong’s.
“Um…… Yoon Jong Daoist.”
“Ah.”
Yoon Jong looked at Wi So-haeng and scratched his head lightly.
“I just…… I don’t understand how all of this is supposed to work.”
Yoon Jong gave him a strange look and said, “There’s no need to try to understand it, Young Hero Wi.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll understand soon enough, whether you want to or not.”
“…….”
Something unknown and unsettling pressed into Wi So-haeng’s chest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning.
Wi So-haeng waited in front of the Sect Leader’s quarters for those who would depart with him for Hwayeong Gate. Beside him, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul were already carrying their bundles, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.
“They should be here any mi—”
“There they are.”
Wi So-haeng turned his gaze following Yoon Jong’s line of sight.
“Ah…….”
A man in a pure white robe and wearing a hero’s cap was walking toward them.
Incredible.
That was all he could think.
He had already felt the overwhelming presence of a master from Yoon Jong, but the one approaching now seemed to exist on an entirely different level. One might even call it the bearing of a true hero.
It was a bad habit to judge people by their appearance, but anyone seeing him for the first time would think the same thing.
Yoon Jong lowered his head to the approaching man.
“Sasuk Baek Cheon. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Baek Cheon? Then that’s him?”
Baek Cheon, the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua?
If the Mount Hua Divine Dragon was Mount Hua’s most mysterious figure, then the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua was its most famous. Everyone who knew anything at all knew the story of how the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua had led his fellow disciples out into the martial world and wiped out wicked bandits, rescuing countless people along the way.
And didn’t those who had seen the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua praise his bearing until they were practically out of breath?
Indeed, the bearing of a hero.
Baek Cheon approached them with a gentle smile on his face, then smiled faintly and opened his mouth.
“If it were you, would you have slept well?”
“…….”
Baek Cheon’s face twisted.
“Damn it. It’s horrifying enough that that bastard showed up again, but now I’ve got to travel the martial world with him too. What the hell did I do to deserve this?”
“Still, Sasuk, at least you can complain. We’re stuck with it.”
“Ugh.”
Baek Cheon scratched his head roughly.
“The Sect Leader is so inconsiderate.”
“Tell me about it.”
The three gathered there sighed at the same time.
“Um…… I’m Wi So…… Agh! You startled me!”
Just as Wi So-haeng was trying to speak timidly, he noticed someone standing beside him and nearly jumped out of his skin, stumbling backward.
When did she get here?
He hadn’t sensed a thing, so since when had she been standing there? But Wi So-haeng alone was shocked; the others looked entirely unsurprised, as if this were perfectly normal.
Was that a woman?
Upon seeing the face of the woman standing there, Wi So-haeng’s jaw dropped open without his even realizing it.
Beautiful.
Wi So-haeng swore he had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life.
A woman stood there with a face as cool as though it had been coated in a layer of ice.
Ordinarily, that cold expression ought to have dampened her beauty a little, but on her, the chill only seemed to magnify it further.
“Yu Sago. Did you pack your things?”
“Yes. Sahyung.”
“There’s no need to call me Sahyung, though.”
“I wanted to come.”
“Hmm.”
Baek Cheon seemed to want to say something, then closed his mouth and nodded.
Watching them, Wi So-haeng realized one thing.
This doesn’t seem like a sect with all that many people, and yet everyone I meet is anything but ordinary.
Seeing it that way, they all seemed quite distinctive.
But there was a reason he had only just realized it. And right now, that very “reason” was shuffling toward them from far away.
“You’re early?”
As Chung Myung approached, waving a hand, everyone except Yu I-seol had their faces twist slightly.
You could at least sleep in a bit.
That idiot’s annoyingly diligent.
Chung Myung glanced over the assembled group and tilted his head.
“Sasuk’s coming too?”
Baek Cheon answered with a bland expression.
“That’s how it turned out.”
“Well, fine, Sasuk I can accept, but……”
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes a little.
“Sago too?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Just as Chung Myung was about to say something else, the door opened and Hyun Jong came out.
“Have you all gathered?”
“Yes.”
Hyun Jong came down and took Wi So-haeng’s hands in both of his own.
“Young Hero Wi.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“I know you must be worried, but these children are surely reliable, and they will certainly be of help to Hwayeong Gate.”
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
Wi So-haeng bowed sincerely.
However much Hwayeong Gate might have been an external branch of Mount Hua, he had never imagined they would offer such wholehearted assistance. The warmth passing through his hands made him want to cry.
“And…… Baek Cheon.”
“Yes.”
“Take good care of the children. I trust you.”
“Yes!”
“Iseol, Yoon Jong, and Jo Gul, you must support Baek Cheon.”
“Don’t worry, Sect Leader!”
“We will.”
“Yes.”
Finally, Hyun Jong’s gaze settled on Chung Myung.
“……Chung Myung.”
“Yes!”
“For the love of heaven, don’t cause any trouble.”
“……Hey, that seems a little different from what you said to everyone else.”
“Please!”
“……Yessir.”
And just like that, the second- and third-generation disciples of Mount Hua began their journey to Hwayeong Gate.