Who Came, You Say? (2)
“Fresh clothes!”
“No, water to wash with first!”
“No! Forget all that — just give me a dry place out of the rain! If it has a roof, anywhere will do!”
“Food.”
“You already ate, Sago.”
“Food!”
“⋯⋯.”
Gwak Hwan-so stared blankly at the people barking at one another. The cold rain kept slapping his face, and the driving wind shoved at his body, yet all he could do was stand there dazed.
What in the world are these people thinking, coming all the way out here?
No, no, that wasn’t the right thought. The fact that they had come this far alone was enough to make him tear up with gratitude. He should be thankful, but⋯⋯.
They had fought through a raging typhoon to come find Hainan, a sect pressed to the very brink of collapse⋯⋯.
“Hey, why are you just standing there?”
“Honestly, you’d never know some of these guys lived in a warm southern region! So slow!”
“Wow, and the guests are getting drenched in the rain!”
“If this were Mount Hua, someone would’ve already gotten punched in the face!”
And yet why were these bastards like this?
If they’d just kept their mouths shut, they might have given off some air of solemnity or holiness or whatever, but why go out of their way to shout and ruin the whole mood? Why⋯⋯.
“No! Are we supposed to keep waiting!”
What baffled Gwak Hwan-so most of all was that the man currently yanking at the wet strands of hair stuck to his face and shouting at the top of his lungs was not even from Mount Hua.
That one⋯⋯ that’s Namgung Dowi, isn’t it?
No matter how much he lived in Hainan, there was no mistaking Namgung Dowi, the Severing Peak Sword. The noble bearing he’d shown at the martial tournament had been more than enough to ignite Gwak Hwan-so’s competitive spirit.
That is, until he got kicked in the groin by the Mount Hua Sword Saint.
In any case, the Namgung Dowi he remembered had been, quite literally, the very picture of a prestigious clan heir⋯⋯.
“⋯⋯Does this place only get guests once every ten years? Don’t you know how to guide people? Huh?”
“Dowi, calm down first.”
“No, Hyung-nim! These people are⋯⋯.”
Fortunately, Gwak Hwan-so was spared the need to do anything. Soon, Hainan’s sect leader, Geum Yang-baek, came pushing through the rain and wind, his eyebrows practically flying off his face as he ran.
Gwak Hwan-so swore he had never, in his life, seen a sect leader run that fast.
“Y-you said you came from Mount Hua?”
Geum Yang-baek skidded to a stop, nearly slipping on the rain-slick ground, and stared wide-eyed at the people standing at the mountain gate.
Sect Leader⋯⋯.
Gwak Hwan-so shot him a sympathetic look, knowing full well he was about to be swept into the same bewilderment. But then, at that exact moment—
“Would it be impertinent to ask whether you are the sect leader of Hainan?”
Baek Cheon, who had already somehow straightened himself out in the blink of an eye, stepped forward in a neat, composed state and bowed politely with clasped hands toward Geum Yang-baek. Geum Yang-baek hastily returned the gesture.
“I-I nearly lost my wits there. I-I am Geum Yang-baek, sect leader of Hainan!”
“I am Baek Cheon of Mount Hua. Though my ability is meager, I presently hold the post of Acting Sect Leader, serving in place of Mount Hua’s sect leader.”
It was a flawless bow, with nothing to add or subtract — a pose as perfect as if it had been painted onto a scroll. Behind him, the ones who had been throwing every kind of complaint around only moments ago had somehow already changed into clean clothes and stood with impeccably proper posture.
“Y-you⋯⋯.”
For a moment, Gwak Hwan-so pointed, dumbfounded. Seeing the looks on their faces — as if to say, Misbehaving? What on earth are you talking about? We’ve always been like this. — made a vein throb violently in his temple.
“You, you scam⋯⋯.”
At that instant, Geum Yang-baek whipped around and barked at him harshly.
“You fool! What nonsense is that to spout before guests who have traveled all the way to Hainan? Have the winds blown your senses away?”
“S-Sect Leader, that’s not it⋯⋯.”
“If not that, then what is it?”
“Those people were clearly just a moment ago⋯⋯.”
“Those people? Have you truly gone mad, you wretch? Shut that mouth this instant!”
“Wow⋯⋯.”
Gwak Hwan-so, choking on his sense of injustice, jerked his head around in desperation. There had surely been others who had seen it with their own eyes⋯⋯.
None.
Everyone standing nearby was studiously avoiding his eyes, pretending not to notice. They made it abundantly clear that they wanted no part of this if it meant taking a bolt of lightning from the sect leader for speaking up.
You rotten bastards⋯⋯.
Tears prickled at the corners of Gwak Hwan-so’s eyes. So there really wasn’t a single trustworthy person in this world. Just because they didn’t want a little scolding, they were abandoning the senior brother they had lived and died beside⋯⋯.
As Gwak Hwan-so was reeling from the cruelty of the world, Geum Yang-baek glared at him, then quickly relaxed his face and turned back to Baek Cheon with caution.
“I apologize. The children were startled⋯⋯.”
“Please think nothing of it.”
Baek Cheon smiled brightly. Even under the pouring rain, his face was warm enough to make one feel the rain itself had softened.
“You are facing such a grave matter that it is entirely understandable for everyone to be on edge. Under normal circumstances, we should have followed proper procedure and sent word ahead before coming to visit, so please forgive our rudeness in arriving so abruptly without fully understanding Hainan’s situation.”
Geum Yang-baek was all the more moved by Baek Cheon’s consideration.
“You would even think of such things? Merely having you knock on our mountain gate in this typhoon is enough to overwhelm me with gratitude.”
“⋯⋯Sect Leader. You’re being deceived⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
Geum Yang-baek crushed Gwak Hwan-so with a single look, then hurriedly smoothed his expression and asked Baek Cheon cautiously, “And, um⋯⋯.”
Even after beginning, he hesitated slightly. The boy before him looked young enough that informal speech would hardly seem strange, but one of the things he had just heard snagged in his mind. In the end, Geum Yang-baek adjusted his tone a little and asked,
“You said you were the Acting Sect Leader?”
“Yes.”
Baek Cheon nodded with a gentle smile.
“Though it is presumptuous of me to say so, that is indeed the case. I have been entrusted with full authority by Mount Hua’s sect leader and have come here in the capacity of Acting Sect Leader, as well as an envoy of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, to request a meeting with you.”
Perhaps it was the cold rain, but gooseflesh rose along Geum Yang-baek’s back.
Acting Sect Leader.
It was not a title one heard often.
Normally, the position of Acting Sect Leader was given to the next sect leader in line, allowing them to temporarily perform the sect leader’s duties before the current leader formally stepped down.
Such things were common enough in the imperial court or in noble households, but they were exceedingly rare in the jianghu. The reason was simple: unlike in a household or the palace, there was no true vacuum of power in the martial world caused by a ruler’s age or illness.
People in the jianghu did not grow weak with age; if anything, they only grew stronger. So why would they need a “temporary” substitute?
And yet they had created the position of Acting Sect Leader, appointed someone to it, and sent him all the way to Hainan?
That must mean they value us that much!
His fingertips trembled on their own. Come to think of it, the people standing behind Baek Cheon all seemed anything but ordinary.
“Then the others are⋯⋯.”
He meant: are they all from Mount Hua?
At Baek Cheon’s subtle cue, the people who had been waiting stepped forward and bowed in unison.
“I am Namgung Dowi, Young Patriarch of the Namgung Clan. I am currently serving as temporary Patriarch in place of my late father.”
“I am Tang Pae, Young Patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Clan. I have come in place of my clan head.”
“I am Seol Sobaek, Palace Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace!”
In that instant, Geum Yang-baek was struck by shock so strong his eyes flew wide.
Mount Hua, Namgung, Sichuan Tang Clan, and even the North Sea Ice Palace?
Each of those names alone was no less formidable than Hainan. If any one of them had come to visit Hainan by himself, he would have deserved the highest possible hospitality.
And yet these people, each with names and positions of such weight, had all come to Hainan together. Through this raging typhoon, no less.
Geum Yang-baek’s lips trembled. Not from the cold, of course. No matter how cold the rain was, it could not possibly have been enough to pierce the body of a man who had cultivated martial arts.
“To Hainan⋯⋯.”
He forced his trembling lips open. Not knowing what else to say, he began with the most proper words he could think of.
“Thank you⋯⋯ for coming to Hainan.”
Baek Cheon was just about to answer with a smiling expression when a dying voice came from behind them.
“I mean⋯⋯ setting the mood is great and all⋯⋯. Cough! Could we maybe find somewhere to get out of the rain before someone dies and we have to hold a funeral?”
“Shut your mouth, you demonic bastard.”
“⋯⋯I really feel like I’m going to die. Really⋯⋯. Cough! Cough!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. One dead demonic bastard won’t change anything.”
“⋯⋯Are you even human?”
Im So-byeong, his face as pale as a corpse, glared and spat out blood. Baek Cheon looked at him for a moment with an expression that said there was no hope left for him, then cleared his throat and spoke.
“I’m sorry, but if it wouldn’t be rude, might we request shelter from the rain first? We crossed the sea by swimming, and everyone has lost a great deal of strength⋯⋯.”
At those words, Geum Yang-baek snapped back to his senses.
“M-my apologies for such a discourtesy! What are you all standing around for? Hurry and escort our guests from Hainan to the guest hall! Quickly!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Geum Yang-baek bowed deeply.
“We can speak in more detail after a little while. For now, please take some rest.”
“Thank you for your consideration. Then we shall be so bold as to accept.”
“I’ll guide you this way!”
Lee Ja-yang darted forward with quick wit and led the visitors inside.
The Hainan disciples, who had been watching the situation in a daze, finally came to their senses and followed after them as if escorting royalty.
The last two left behind, Geum Yang-baek and Gwak Hwan-so, watched the retreating figures heading toward the guest hall as though under a spell.
This isn’t a dream, is it?
Gwak Hwan-so tapped his own cheek a few times. But he did not need to hit himself to know. The rain soaking through his whole body and the chill he could feel were enough to tell him this was real.
So the envoys of the Heavenly Friends Alliance really are visiting Hainan right now?
And people of that caliber, at that?
To Hainan⋯⋯. To this Hainan, while a typhoon was raging⋯⋯. Huh?
“⋯⋯Sect Leader.”
“Hmm?”
Gwak Hwan-so muttered in a dazed voice.
“About what they said a moment ago⋯⋯.”
“Speak.”
“Just now, that⋯⋯ that Baek Cheon Daoist⋯⋯ no, that Acting Sect Leader said he crossed the sea by swimming, didn’t he?”
“⋯⋯I believe he did.”
“Right now?”
Rumble—!
Gwak Hwan-so and Geum Yang-baek both looked out toward the distant sky. The violent typhoon and the crashing bolts of lightning were impossible to miss.
For a long, heavy moment, silence settled between them.
They knew the sea. There was no way they didn’t know what the ocean looked like when a typhoon like this was raging over it.
After picturing the sea, where waves surely loomed as large as houses, the two men looked at each other and let out awkward smiles.
“I must have heard wrong.”
“R-right? Haha⋯⋯. Unless he’s out of his mind.”
“Haha⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
Then they recalled what they had heard again and again from far across the sea.
Mount Hua was a sect with no back door.
The two of them finally came to understand, with bone-deep clarity, exactly what that meant.