It’s One Thing or Another (3)
"Ah, n-no. Th-those..."
At that moment, the other members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance also staggered through the open door, one after another.
"Ugh. Looks like the aftereffects were worse than I thought."
"Senior Brother. Aren’t you a little too weak? I’m sure you grabbed all the good stuff from the Tang Family."
"Don’t talk nonsense. You’re the one who grew up in Namgung and got well fed. The Tang Family has plenty of poison, but no spiritual treasures. Even if you eat there, it’s still poison pills."
"Aren’t Tang Family people supposed to use poison pills like they’re spiritual pills?"
"...I don’t know where in the world that ridiculous rumor started. You think Tang Family people have poison running through their veins instead of blood? We die if we eat poison too! What, because Namgung swings swords, you think they can get stabbed and not die?"
"Now that you mention it..."
Gwak Hwan-so blinked dumbly, staring at the group as they chatted as casually as if they were taking a morning stroll.
"Why aren’t they serving breakfast?"
"Tsk, tsk. How long were you planning to sit around and be waited on? If enough time has passed, of course you go to the dining hall yourself."
"You had it brought to us yesterday."
"A new day has dawned. It can’t be the same as yesterday."
"Wow, that’s cold."
Why in the world were these people still here?
The words slipped from Gwak Hwan-so’s mouth in a dazed murmur.
"What... what are you doing right now?"
"Huh?"
"We prepared a boat for you to leave on once the typhoon passed, didn’t we?"
"Did you?"
Cheong Myeong, who had been scratching at his belly, turned his head lazily toward the doorway and asked, "Senior Brother. Did these guys prepare a boat for us?"
"Hm? Ah, yes. I heard they had a boat ready on the shore, to use when leaving the island."
Baek Cheon came walking out from inside.
Unlike the others, whose clothes were rumpled and askew, Baek Cheon’s robes were still spotless. Gwak Hwan-so stared blankly at the white martial garb gleaming in the sunlight, then twisted his face.
"Are you out of your mind?"
The answer to that question came from somewhere else.
"The one who’s out of his mind is you, you bastard."
"...What?"
"If you’ve got guests, you feed them! Even a martial arts sect from a cursed mountain in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t let guests starve!"
"Cheong Myeong. Don’t go insulting another sect’s disciples the second you arrive."
"These bastards are worse than Mount Hua!"
"And don’t insult other sects either."
Gwak Hwan-so pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead. In a situation where no one knew when the Evil Tyrant Alliance might strike, these lunatics were calmly planning to eat breakfast. Their nerves couldn’t possibly be made of rope that thick, and yet... what in the world were they thinking?
"Ja-yang."
"...Yes, Senior Brother."
"Take the guests to the dining hall. Tell them to prepare a meal."
"No, Senior Brother. This is..."
"Do as you’re told."
"Yes..."
Lee Ja-yang shot Cheong Myeong and the others a look so loaded with grievance it seemed ready to burst through his eyes.
They’re going too far. Too far.
In principle, there was nothing wrong with what they said. Turning away a guest who had come from far away in good faith without even offering breakfast was clearly rude. In other circumstances, even he would have been the first to scold the sect leader for mishandling matters so severely.
But this was not an ordinary situation.
The disciples of Hainan had to face the Evil Tyrant Alliance now. Those who remained would die fighting, and even those who fled the mountain to avoid it would now have to lower their heads and accept the rule of those monsters.
Everyone here already knew that fate. So what were they supposed to think when the disciples of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, having finished what they came for, were strolling out of Hainan as if nothing had happened? No matter how strong one’s resolve was, morale would inevitably take a blow.
I thought if I spoke reasonably, they’d understand.
Lee Ja-yang’s gaze fixed on Baek Cheon’s face.
He wasn’t a fool, so Ja-yang had assumed there was no need to explain Hainan’s situation in detail. But apparently, that clueless man hadn’t understood a single thing they meant.
"...Follow me."
His temper was already boiling over, but now that the other disciples had all seen the scene with their own eyes, there was no choice. They would have to receive the guests properly and send them off afterward.
Just as Lee Ja-yang bit his lip and turned away—
"But why are you all crowding in here together first thing in the morning? You picking a fight or something?"
At Cheong Myeong’s question, Ja-yang’s head snapped around. He could no longer hold it in and barked like thunder, "This bastard really!"
"Ja-yang!"
"No, Senior Brother! This is too much, even for them! What else is that if it’s not mockery?"
"I told you to stop!"
When Gwak Hwan-so glared and snapped at him, Lee Ja-yang clamped his mouth shut hard enough to hurt.
"Bang Hong. You guide them!"
"...M-me, Senior Brother?"
"Why? Can’t you do it?"
"No. I can do it."
Lee Ja-yang whirled around. Behind him came Gwak Hwan-so’s voice, doing its best to sound calm.
"...I’m sorry. We were under the impression the guests had already left, and came to clean the rooms. We didn’t know you were still here."
"Huh?"
"We’ll take care of the luggage ourselves, so please don’t mind it and go have your meal first. When you return, everything will be ready for you to depart at once."
Ja-yang knew that Gwak Hwan-so’s temper was actually even worse than his own. Which meant he could tell exactly how much patience it took for him to say that now.
Facing his senior brother’s composed response, Ja-yang found himself ashamed of his own impulsiveness.
Then—
"Senior Brother. What are these guys even saying?"
Cheong Myeong’s flat voice rang out as if he were openly ignoring Gwak Hwan-so’s words. That finally severed the last thread of Lee Ja-yang’s reason.
Fine!
Ja-yang spun around, eyes blazing. Forget Hainan’s dignity or whatever else—he was going to teach that rude punk some manners.
But the moment he heard Cheong Myeong and Baek Cheon talking, he was so dumbfounded all his strength drained away.
"Why are you cleaning a room someone’s using just fine?"
"Cheong Myeong. In good inns, they clean the room even if someone is staying in it."
"That’s an inn. This isn’t an inn, is it?"
"That’s true."
"Then it’s rude. Why are you poking through other people’s luggage without permission?"
"Hmm. That’s something to think about. The etiquette of Shaanxi and the South Sea can’t be said to be exactly the same."
Lee Ja-yang lost even the strength to be angry and let out a dry laugh. Gwak Hwan-so gritted his teeth and added, "That’s not what I meant. We’re packing the luggage of those who are leaving in advance. If you’re going to leave the island before the Evil Tyrant Alliance attacks, there’s no time to spare. You can’t exactly dawdle, can you?"
There was a bite in his words now, too much to hide the strain any longer. But Cheong Myeong only gave a hollow chuckle in return.
"That’s for when I leave."
"Exactly! The lugga— ...Huh?"
Gwak Hwan-so, about to snap back, stopped and blinked in disbelief.
"Who said I was leaving?"
"..."
"You guys are funny. Is this how the South Sea treats guests? I never once said I was leaving with my own mouth, so why are you trying to kick me out on your own?"
"The food bill is probably pretty steep."
"Honestly, we really did eat a lot."
"That was all the Namgung Young Patriarch."
"M-me? Me? Wow, me?"
The Heavenly Friends Alliance members themselves remained perfectly calm. Gwak Hwan-so was so taken aback he could only stare at them in silence. Cheong Myeong snapped his fingers.
"Hey, you."
"...Yes?"
"Cut the nonsense and just show us the dining hall. Don’t touch our luggage. Honestly, kids these days have no manners, none at all. Tch!"
"..."
"Lead the way!"
"What?"
"What are you standing there for?"
"Ah... yes."
As if under a spell, Gwak Hwan-so began leading them toward the dining hall.
The disciples of Hainan could only stand there blankly, staring at their backs.
"Um... Senior Brother."
"Hm?"
"Then what are we supposed to do? Clean? Or..."
Lee Ja-yang’s face twisted in misery.
* * *
"You... aren’t leaving?"
Gwak Hwan-so asked in the most restrained tone he could manage, doing his utmost not to sound stunned.
Unfortunately, there was no one here willing to give him a proper answer.
"What... you eat raw fish?"
"This is a precious ingredient."
"It’s uncooked, isn’t it? Who eats fish raw?"
"That’s how it’s supposed to be eaten."
"Even the people who fish along the Yangtze River don’t eat it like this! In Anhui, even though Dongting Lake is right next door, they still cook their fish!"
"They eat it in the North Sea, though."
"No, they didn’t originally eat it there either. That’s why we made them eat it."
"They eat it anyway, don’t they? If they ate it and nothing happened, then that’s fine."
"So this is how they eat it around here."
"Ah, no..."
Just as Namgung Dowi tried to object in some fashion, Cheong Myeong’s face crumpled.
"Just eat it, you bastard! What’s with the whining over side dishes? This is exactly why people who grew up pampered are hopeless! You ought to dump them in a corner and feed them nothing but mud if you want them to become decent!"
"What does being pampered have to do with this?"
"Shut up. Damn rich brat!"
Namgung Dowi, unable to withstand the cultural shock, looked around desperately with trembling eyes for support from the others.
But—
"Oh, it’s chewy."
"It sticks right to your teeth."
"Tastes good."
The Mount Hua bastards were already shoving raw fish into their mouths with abandon. Even Tang Pae was chewing happily, exclaiming, "Delicious!"
If it’s something they can chew, they’d probably rip into someone else’s flesh and eat that too.
Was there some separate category called gluttonous fiends? No—those guys were the fiends. Namgung Dowi thumped his chest in frustration.
But there was someone here even more frustrated than Namgung Dowi.
"No! Please, just listen to me for a second!"
"...Ah, can’t you stop talking while we’re eating..."
"Even dogs aren’t bothered when they’re eating."
"Maybe the South Sea has different customs."
Gwak Hwan-so clutched his head. He was almost ready to praise his own restraint for not already drawing his sword and swinging it at those mouths.
"I-I... aargh..."
"...Yes?"
Cheong Myeong swallowed what he’d been chewing and snapped back, "Why do you keep pressuring us to leave? Is the food that precious?"
"Yes, it’s precious— no, that’s not it. The discussion is already over, and hasn’t it been decided that the Heavenly Friends Alliance and Hainan will each go their own way?"
Baek Cheon nodded readily.
"That is so."
"Then there’s nothing left to do. There’s no reason for you to stay here. Acting Sect Leader, you also told our sect leader that as a special envoy of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, you would convey our position properly to the alliance, didn’t you?"
"That is also correct."
Again, Baek Cheon nodded. Which only made Gwak Hwan-so feel even more suffocated.
"And now you suddenly say you’re not leaving—what do you mean by that?"
Cheong Myeong thumped his chest and cut in.
"It’s one thing, and then there’s this, idiot!"
"What?"
"Why the hell can’t this guy understand what I’m saying? Are you a little slow or something?"
Cheong Myeong twisted his face in annoyance.
"Now, look. I’ll explain it to you. The negotiation with the Heavenly Friends Alliance fell through, right?"
"Right."
"Then all we have to do is report that situation properly to the alliance, right?"
"Right!"
"Then our job’s done, isn’t it?"
"That’s exactly what I’m saying!"
Cheong Myeong shouted in exasperation.
"So! Since we’ve completed the mission we were given, what happens after that is up to us! The Heavenly Friends Alliance is leaving, but I’m not! What’s so hard to understand about that? Can’t you get it?"
Gwak Hwan-so was speechless for a moment. ...Would that make sense to anyone? Why would it work out like that?
Watching him stand there dumbstruck, Cheong Myeong clicked his tongue.
"What are you going to do if you can’t even understand something this simple? You’re killing me here, seriously."
Gwak Hwan-so sank into thought. What on earth was there left to say to this madman? Baek Cheon, who had been listening, smiled faintly and opened his mouth.
"Once the meal is finished, I would like us to gather here again."
"...What?"
"Not as the Mount Hua Acting Sect Leader representing the Heavenly Friends Alliance... but rather."
Baek Cheon’s gaze had grown deep and solemn before anyone noticed.
"As a fellow martial artist from the Central Plains who came after hearing that someone there was in danger."
At that moment, chills ran down Gwak Hwan-so’s spine.