Why Are You Acting Like That? (4)
The vast training yard spread out in front of the central hall.
Beast Palace warriors lined up on both sides. The sight of those burly men, their bronzed muscles tensed and their faces stern, standing in rigid ranks, was intimidating beyond measure.
And between those rows stood the Mount Hua disciples, looking awkward and out of place.
"...What is this now?"
"Chung Myung?"
The Mount Hua disciples, dragged out here without the slightest clue why, stared at Chung Myung with faces full of question marks.
But Chung Myung only shrugged and fanned his face with his white feather fan.
"Ah, it’s nothing. It’ll be over soon, so just watch."
"..."
Nothing? For something you called nothing, it never seems to be nothing, Chung Myung.
So could you maybe not spring another surprise on us and just explain it to this senior brother now?
Unfortunately, Baek Cheon’s hope did not come true.
Before he could ask Chung Myung anything else, a commotion broke out ahead, and the Lord of the Beast Palace made his appearance.
"Hm?"
Seeing the Lord of the Beast Palace, Baek Cheon was slightly taken aback.
This was not the usual boisterous Beast Palace Lord. His energetic stride was the same as ever, yes, but what radiated from him now was the heavy, oppressive presence Baek Cheon had felt the first time they met.
Step. Step. Step.
With every imposing step, the Lord of the Beast Palace entered the great hall and sat down on the huge carved throne prepared atop the high steps, looking down at everyone below.
In unison, the Beast Palace warriors dropped to their knees.
"Long live the Beast Palace!"
"The Beast is immortal! Long live for a thousand ages!"
The Beast Palace Lord, Maeng So, received their greeting with measured, precise hand movements.
My knees are shaking.
This never gets any less overwhelming, no matter how many times I see it.
The Mount Hua disciples shivered.
In truth, it was rare to see so many warriors raising their voices at once in the Central Plains. They were standing in the middle of a scene one would normally only see in the imperial palace, and it was enough to make anyone shrink back.
Then the Beast Palace Lord, who had been looking down at them with a faintly arrogant air, spoke.
"Well then."
His low voice reverberated through the great hall.
"Why did you ask to see me? Disciple of Mount Hua."
Chung Myung stepped forward.
Then, without warning, he flopped down flat on the ground.
"This humble daoist has a request to make of the Great and Mighty Lord of the Beast Palace. Please, with your boundless mercy, do not refuse this humble one’s plea!"
The eyes of the Mount Hua disciples nearly popped out of their heads.
What the hell?
What is he saying? Is that lunatic serious?
Did he eat something bad? Why’s he acting like this?
Wasn’t this the same Chung Myung who, even before the Dang Family Head, had thrown his head back with the stiffest of necks and said every word he wanted—no, every word he should not have said, and every word he absolutely could not have said?
And now he was bowing this low?
There’s definitely something going on here!
Baek Cheon stared at the back of Chung Myung’s head, full of suspicion and unease.
"A plea, is it."
The Lord of the Beast Palace looked down at Chung Myung with solemn eyes. There was no trace of the levity he had shown before.
He looked exactly as he should: the master of the Beast Palace, the ruler of the southern border, a man worthy of the title.
"If you are a descendant of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, then you are qualified to make a request of me. Very well, speak. As the descendant of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, as a disciple of Mount Hua, I shall hear your request and decide whether it can be granted."
"I’m deeply moved by your wise decision!"
Thud!
Chung Myung slammed his forehead into the floor once.
"...Why is he doing that?"
"How should I know? Just let him be."
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul whispered to each other. It was hard enough just trying to keep up with what was happening in front of them.
Ignoring them both, Chung Myung continued in a voice loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.
"I humbly beg the noble Lord of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace to take pity on us, who have come from far away, and allow us to trade with Yunnan!"
"What did you say?"
The Lord of the Beast Palace shot to his feet.
And then he glared at Chung Myung with blazing eyes, as though he wanted to tear him apart and kill him on the spot.
"Do you not know that trade between the Beast Palace and the Central Plains is, in principle, forbidden? No matter how much you are guests of the Beast Palace, do you think you can touch the laws passed down from our forebears and still return safely?"
The Lord of the Beast Palace’s wrath-filled voice rang out through the entire Beast Palace.
Even the Beast Palace warriors, let alone the Mount Hua disciples, trembled at the horrifying force of it.
But Chung Myung slammed his forehead into the floor once again and raised his voice.
"Lord Palace Master! Central Plains merchant groups are already traveling in and out of Yunnan!"
"And you dare bring that up to insult the Beast Palace?"
"No, I don’t. Wouldn’t it better preserve the will of our forebears if, rather than allowing so many Central Plains people to trample through Yunnan, only one place were allowed to enter and leave Yunnan?"
"Hmm!"
The Lord of the Beast Palace gave a loud snort.
The Beast Palace warriors exchanged quick looks. As a matter of plain logic, the words were not wrong.
"We respect the Beast Palace more than anyone from the Central Plains, and we can abide by the Beast Palace’s laws."
"How can you guarantee that?"
"We are the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint. And we are the disciples of Mount Hua, a sect that lost its glory after being shunned by the Central Plains. If we cannot understand Yunnan, then what Central Plains person would dare claim they can understand it?"
The Lord of the Beast Palace glared at Chung Myung with his large eyes.
"Even so, I cannot trust the people of the Central Plains!"
"The Plum Blossom Sword Saint was a man of the Central Plains!"
"Do you think I can place him and the likes of you on the same level?"
"Perhaps not on the same level, but we can still follow his will. If he sought to protect Yunnan, then we, as his descendants, must naturally protect Yunnan as well. Is that not the very way of Mount Hua, which reveres the Plum Blossom Sword Saint as its ancestor and symbol?"
It was a torrent of words.
Baek Cheon, watching from behind, let his jaw hang open.
Was that brat always this eloquent?
Of course, there was no denying Chung Myung’s tongue. But being good with words and being logically persuasive were two very different things.
And yet here he was, rattling off his speech as though he had memorized every word in advance.
Anyone who didn’t know better might really mistake him for a scholar. He even had scholar’s robes on, with a white fan in hand.
Does that mean I still don’t know that bastard as well as I thought?
Just then, while Baek Cheon was staring at his back with fresh eyes—
"So our Mount Hua... Mount Hua... uh? The next part was... huh?"
"..."
The Beast Palace Lord’s expression stiffened a little.
Hey, you bastard! If you memorized it, memorize it properly!
Ah, wait! He might need a moment to think!
Chung Myung hurriedly fiddled with his sleeve, as if flustered, then resumed speaking with a calm face, as though nothing had happened.
Baek Cheon caught the movement with hawk-like eyes and didn’t miss a thing.
There was definitely something inside that sleeve just now.
Something white... covered in writing...
You bastard! You were copying it!
Of course! There was no way you’d have come up with all that yourself!
"So please understand our sincerity, Lord Palace Master! In the end, fate is nothing more than chance unless people themselves connect its threads. If the Beast Palace’s forebears had never meant to grant us this land, how could we have come all this way to meet you face to face?"
"So you are saying that our ancestors opened the road to Yunnan for you?"
"That is what I believe!"
"Hmm!"
The Lord of the Beast Palace closed his eyes with a grave expression. Seeing that face, as though he had entered serious deliberation, Chung Myung let out a faint breath.
That should do it, right?
Of course, Chung Myung and the Beast Palace Lord had already agreed on the words beforehand.
They were reopening trade out of necessity, but every matter required process and justification. And right now, the two of them were building that justification.
From the Beast Palace Lord’s perspective, it looked better if Mount Hua lowered itself and asked, then he accepted, rather than looking as though he were the one directly begging Chung Myung for help.
Little details like that were what accumulated to determine the Beast Palace Lord’s authority.
That the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint had come from the Central Plains and were behaving with utmost courtesy would only reinforce the Beast Palace Lord’s standing in the eyes of those watching.
"What do you think?"
At last, the Beast Palace Lord opened his eyes and looked to the protectors.
The elderly man standing at the front spoke slowly.
"Lord Palace Master. What that young man says is not entirely wrong. But the will of our forebears must still be upheld."
"Those boys are descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, whom the forebears so greatly revered. And yet you still say no?"
"If it were the Plum Blossom Sword Saint himself, that would be a different matter. But they are only his descendants. Surely we cannot treat people who do not even share his blood as though they were the Plum Blossom Sword Saint himself."
"Hmm."
The Beast Palace Lord frowned slightly as the protectors turned out to be more hardline than expected.
"The instructions left by our forebears are of utmost importance, Lord Palace Master. This is not something we can accept."
"Lord Palace Master, do not forget the humiliation we suffered at the hands of the Central Plains. The Beast Palace does not lose its pride."
"Sometimes pride matters more than life. Please, preserve your pride!"
"Preserve your pride!"
The protectors all dropped to their knees at once.
Seeing that spectacle, the Beast Palace Lord shut his eyes tightly.
Even after going this far, it still won’t work?
That was exactly why this act had been staged—to break the hearts of these uncompromising men.
But nothing changed.
Even the warriors standing below seemed to sympathize, however faintly, with the protectors.
Is the divide really this deep?
The gulf between the Central Plains and Yunnan was far too deep. No matter how hard one tried to cross it, it could not be crossed.
That was when the Beast Palace Lord let out a heavy sigh.
"...The will of our forebears?"
Chung Myung, who had been lying face-down, rose to his feet. Then he looked at the protectors and slowly tilted his head.
Gasp!
We’re doomed.
Stop him! Stop him! At least clamp his mouth shut for now!
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong leaped in reflexively, alarmed.
But—
WHOOSH!
Chung Myung released his aura and shoved them both back.
"Eh?"
"Wh-what?"
Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon were knocked backward. Stunned, they stared blankly at him from the ground.
Of course, this was not the first time Chung Myung had ignored their attempts to stop him. Wasn’t this the same Chung Myung who would fling people away even when they clung to his arms and legs, all while saying whatever he damn well pleased?
But this was the first time he had used actual martial force to shove them aside.
"Chung Myung."
Baek Cheon called out, his voice full of bewilderment. But Chung Myung didn’t even glance at him; he only stared straight at the protectors.
"You said the forebears left a will?"
His voice had gone cold.
"What was that will?"
"You, you insolent brat!"
"I asked what the will was."
The elderly man at the front took a step forward and glared at Chung Myung with a wizened, hardened face.
"Our forebears said we must never communicate with the people of the Central Plains. Those who violate that command will be dealt with only by death."
"Then everyone here should probably be dead already."
"What did you say?"
"What does that make us, then?"
"..."
"What about the Peace Merchant Group already inside Kunming? What are you lot doing, letting Central Plains people openly come and go through Yunnan? If your rule is so absolute, then shouldn’t all of you be handing over your necks too? Or am I wrong?"
The protector’s face flushed red.
But what came out of Chung Myung’s mouth next was a little different.
"Of course I understand. It’s a matter of making a living. But you only bring up that matter when it’s convenient, as a way to dodge responsibility."
"Are you insulting the Beast Palace right now?"
"No. I’m insulting you people, not the Beast Palace. Don’t use the Beast Palace as your shield."
"You little— Someone cut down that brat this instant!"
"You say you’re upholding the forebears’ will? Was that really all the forebears left behind?"
At the sudden thrust of words, a flicker of fluster crossed the protector’s face.
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Didn’t the forebears also leave a will telling you to take good care of the people of Yunnan?"
"..."
The protector fell silent.
Chung Myung, who had been staring at him intently, turned to look at the Beast Palace Lord.
"There wasn’t such a will?"
The Beast Palace Lord said with a sigh,
"No. There was certainly such a will. It was only natural."
"Then which will matters more?"
"..."
Chung Myung swept his gaze across everyone and shouted,
"If your forebears could see what Yunnan looks like now, they’d probably be delighted. They’d applaud you for keeping their will so well, even if it meant starving the people of Yunnan to death. Switch places for a moment—would you be happy if your descendants did something like that? If it were me, I’d chop off every last one of your heads!"
The faces of the Beast Palace warriors turned scarlet.
"The forebears’...!"
"Only those incapable of thinking for themselves keep going on about the forebears. Do you really think your forebears wanted nothing more than for their descendants to obey every last word they said? No parent wants their child to become a mindless puppet!"
Chung Myung reached a hand behind him.
"Huh? Eh—hey!"
Yoon Jong, who had been listening to Chung Myung in a daze, was seized by the hand and dragged forward. Before he quite knew it, he was standing at Chung Myung’s side, looking up blankly.
"This senior brother Yoon Jong here emptied his entire purse the moment he arrived in Kunming, and even sold his sword to help the people of Yunnan."
"...Enough, brat."
Why bring that up now?
"Then let me ask you this!"
Chung Myung growled like a beast.
"Which do you think those compassionate forebears of yours, who cared only for Yunnan, would have favored more? My senior brother, who sold off everything he had to fill the bellies of the people of Yunnan? Or you people, who stand by and watch them die just to obey a single word left behind by your forebears?"
No one answered.
Chung Myung ground his teeth.
That damn forebears’ will, my ass.
What did people who had never even died know about spouting on about a will? As someone who had once watched a sect collapse with his own eyes, Chung Myung could not begin to understand these suffocating idiots.
A forebears’ will was exactly that: a will. It was something left behind to serve as a lesson, never an absolute law.
The world changed far too quickly for anyone to keep clinging to such stale words forever.
Glowering at the Beast Palace warriors, Chung Myung clicked his tongue. There was no need to speak with these people any longer.
"What a waste of time. Let’s go!"
Without a shred of hesitation, Chung Myung turned away.
And that was when—
"Wait."
Chung Myung spun back around, veins bulging on his forehead.
The Beast Palace Lord cleared his throat and looked at Yoon Jong.
"You said your name was Yoon Jong?"
"Yes."
"I have a question for you."
Yoon Jong nodded, his face slightly tense.