Show Me What a Real Mess Looks Like (2)
The disciples of Mount Hua and the South Sea, who had spotted the monks of Shaolin, all stopped their hands at once.
The Shaolin monk standing in the lead shouted with his face twisted in anger. “How dare you start a fight in the sacred grounds of Shaolin! Unless you mean to mock Shaolin, how could you do such a thing?! Stop at once. If you do not, I will hold your sects accountable!”
“Tsk.”
“Seriously.”
The Mount Hua disciples let go of the South Sea disciples by the collars, shoved aside the men they had been beating, and stepped back.
Seeing that, the monk’s fury flared higher. “State your affiliation!”
The Mount Hua disciples exchanged uneasy looks and hesitated, but in the meantime Baek Cheon, having composed his expression, stepped forward and cupped his fists.
“We are disciples of the Mount Hua Sect. We were merely acting without intent….”
“Mount Hua Sect?”
Before he could even finish, the old monk cut him off.
“Where is the Mount Hua Sect’s leader? I will demand responsibility for this!”
Baek Cheon’s face stiffened.
He had no excuse, since they really had caused trouble, but the reaction was far more intense than he had expected.
“Senior monk, we….”
“Enough with the needless words! Where is your sect leader?”
The old monk’s face alternated red and blue with anger.
“How do you manage your disciples that they leave another sect in such a sorry state? Does Mount Hua know nothing of righteousness? What, is this the work of some weak sect….”
The monk speaking trailed off and tilted his head.
“Weak…? Weak…? Hm?”
Then his wrinkled eyes widened little by little.
He had been looking at the wretched heap of people who had been beaten to a pulp, and at last, unable to contain his shock, he muttered as if in a groan, “...South Sea?”
“…….”
“N-no. The South Sea Sect… weak? Hm?”
His flustered gaze darted between Mount Hua and the South Sea.
Then the disciples of both sects lowered their heads.
They had all lowered their heads, but the meaning behind it was completely different.
The Mount Hua disciples looked like children caught bullying a friend, while….
This is insane.
How am I supposed to show my face after this?
The South Sea disciples’ faces were flushed crimson with humiliation.
The situation was so painfully obvious there was not even room for an excuse.
At this point, it almost felt like it would be easier to simply get beaten and be done with it.
Shaolin had seen this with its own eyes, so before long, wouldn’t everyone in Shaolin hear about it?
“...The South Sea Sect… went against Mount Hua? The South Sea Sect?”
The old monk looked completely baffled, as if his mind could not make sense of the scene before him.
What was the South Sea Sect?
It was one of the famed great sects holding a place among the Nine Sects and One Gang.
Of course, the South Sea held one of the lower positions among the Nine Sects, but that alone did not dim the light of the great name known as the Nine Sects and One Gang.
One only had to look at the fact that every sect in the world, even at this very moment, was cutting itself to the bone trying to win that place.
And yet that South Sea Sect….
Got beaten by Mount Hua?
No, not even just beaten.
The South Sea disciples looked as if their eyes had been blackened like ripe bruises. So many had been battered that even now, there were several who could not get back on their feet and only groaned.
By contrast, the Mount Hua disciples only looked a little awkward, with no visible injuries to speak of.
Logically, if these two sects clashed, shouldn’t the result have been the opposite?
This was a fight between the South Sea, one of the Nine Sects, and Mount Hua, which had long since fallen so low that only its name remained.
If you gathered martial artists and made bets, anyone who put money on Mount Hua would be called a lunatic without question.
So how had such a result come to pass?
“Senior brother.”
“Hm? Ah, right.”
The old monk jolted in surprise.
This is not the time to be thinking about that.
What mattered was not that Mount Hua had won, but that these people had started a brawl inside Shaolin’s grounds.
“Ahem.”
After clearing his throat loudly to reset the atmosphere, the old monk turned back to Baek Cheon with a hardened expression.
“I will ask again. Where is the Mount Hua Sect’s leader now?”
Baek Cheon had just let out a low sigh and was about to answer when—
“He is here.”
Everyone in the area turned toward the voice.
Hyun Jong was walking toward them with a stern expression.
Hyun Sang and Hyun Young followed behind him. Hyun Young looked more than a little troubled.
The monk immediately pressed his palms together and bowed. “I greet the leader of Mount Hua. I am Konghwa of Shaolin’s Discipline Hall.”
“You are Master Konghwa, then. I am Hyun Jong of Mount Hua.”
“The title of ‘master’ is too heavy for me. Please simply call me Konghwa.”
Hyun Jong nodded with a grave face.
Under normal circumstances, they would have exchanged pleasantries, but at present, the best they could do was keep their faces stiff and choose their words carefully.
Hyun Jong turned his head slightly and looked toward the Mount Hua disciples.
At once, their heads snapped downward like they had been struck by lightning.
Seeing the disciples desperately avoiding his eyes, Hyun Jong let out a pained sound from deep in his throat.
“Grrrrr….”
If you bow any lower, your neck’s going to break, you idiots!
How did this happen?
It hadn’t even been a day, not even half a day—just half a shichen. How had they managed to cause trouble in only half a shichen?
The dust on the baggage we dumped in the quarters hasn’t even settled yet!
Hyun Jong was a man with a conscience.
He had not expected that these mountain-bandit-looking brats, once thrown into the middle of Shaolin, would somehow manage to stay out of trouble.
But!
To cause trouble this quickly and this cleanly in less than half a shichen!
“Ugh.”
What could he do? This was the sect leader’s burden.
With a heavy sigh, Hyun Jong looked at Konghwa with an embarrassed expression.
“I apologize. I should have kept our children in line.”
“This is not something that can be settled with an apology, Sect Leader.”
Konghwa cut him off coldly.
“This is Shaolin, and they have committed a crime inside Shaolin. This is not something that ends with words. They must all be taken to the Discipline Hall and punished accordingly.”
At those unexpected words, Hyun Jong’s face visibly hardened.
“Did you say the Discipline Hall?”
“That is correct.”
“The Discipline Hall is the place that handles Shaolin’s punishments, is it not? Then why should Mount Hua’s disciples be sent there?”
“That is Shaolin’s law.”
Hyun Jong gritted his teeth.
“As the leader of Mount Hua, I cannot accept that.”
“Sect Leader!”
Konghwa stared at Hyun Jong in shock.
“Will you truly go this far?”
“You may say what you wish. I cannot send my children to Shaolin’s Discipline Hall.”
Konghwa’s beard trembled.
“So you mean to disregard Shaolin?”
“I do not know why it must be phrased that way, but if this counts as disregarding Shaolin, then I will bear it.”
“Se-Sect Leader!”
Hyun Sang, startled, cried out before he could stop himself.
To pick a fight with Shaolin? That was absolutely unthinkable.
Even Konghwa seemed shocked by Hyun Jong’s words and could not quite control his wide eyes.
“...Why must you go this far? Their wrongdoing is obvious!”
“If my children have done wrong, then it is only natural that they should be punished sharply.”
“Then why?”
“But deciding what crime they committed and what punishment is appropriate is not Shaolin’s job—it is mine, as the leader of Mount Hua! I will not hand over my disciples’ punishment to Shaolin.”
The words were firm.
The Mount Hua disciples looked at Hyun Jong with trembling eyes.
Watching that broad, resolute back made something swell in their chests, proud and warm all at once.
And at the same time, they belatedly realized what they had done.
We should have held back.
Why the hell did we get so heated?
As everyone’s faces darkened with guilt, Baek Cheon, who stood at the front, felt the weight of it the most.
Wasn’t he the one who should have stopped the children, yet instead he had been the one to stir them up even more?
I alone must take responsibility for this matter.
Baek Cheon made that decision and lifted his head.
He waited until the conversation between the two elders had settled somewhat.
“Will you truly insist on this? If Mount Hua shelters them on the level of the sect, Shaolin will have no choice but to hold Mount Hua accountable.”
“As a child’s wrongdoing is the fault of the parents, so too is a disciple’s wrongdoing the fault of Mount Hua. Of course it should be so!”
“Mm! Amitabha. If you insist, then…!”
Konghwa, just as he was about to sharply rebuke them after chanting a Buddhist invocation, suddenly stopped.
“But you see.”
“Hm?”
Konghwa and Hyun Jong both turned toward the same place.
One person was crouching there, looking at them.
Hyun Jong’s eye twitched violently.
Ah, no!
Chung Myung was grinning from ear to ear.
He really did seem to find this all entertaining.
An uneasy feeling swept over Hyun Jong. He thought he had better rush over at once and clamp that mouth shut, so he moved a foot—
Rustle.
Hm?
Someone tugged lightly at his sleeve.
Turning around, he saw Hyun Young shaking his head as he whispered.
Let him be.
But!
Isn’t he the kind who can make trouble but also clean it up properly?
Uh….
Right. Chung Myung did make trouble, but he also handled the aftermath decisively….
“Really?”
“…….”
Had that brat ever cleaned anything up?
Really?
Hyun Jong’s gaze snapped over to Chung Myung with renewed intensity. But by then it was too late to stop him.
“I’ve been listening, and I’m asking because I genuinely don’t understand, but… monk.”
Konghwa’s brow twitched.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Chung Myung.”
“Chung Myung? A third-generation disciple of Mount Hua?”
“Yep.”
Konghwa’s brow twitched even harder.
“Has a young disciple of Mount Hua forgotten manners and propriety? We are speaking to the sect leader, so why does a third-generation disciple step forward?”
“If even a first-generation Shaolin disciple can speak with our sect leader, then why can’t a third-generation disciple of Mount Hua speak with a first-generation Shaolin disciple?”
“…….”
Konghwa’s cheeks trembled.
He had told the boy not to stick his nose in where he didn’t belong, and the reply that came back was, You’re not even in a position to speak with our sect leader, so who are you to act all high and mighty?
You, you little—!
Fury surged to the top of his head in an instant, but this was absolutely not the moment to lose his temper.
The instant he did, every harsh word he had just thrown at Hyun Jong would come flying back at him like a blade.
“...Fine. What is it you want to say?”
“So, again, I’m asking because I really don’t get it.”
“What don’t you understand?”
Chung Myung tilted his head.
“You keep talking about crime and punishment and all that.”
“Hm?”
“What exactly did we do wrong?”
“…….”
Konghwa’s eyes filled with disbelief.
“...What did you just say?”
“I asked what we did wrong.”
Chung Myung looked genuinely curious. There was not a trace of mockery on his clean, innocent face, and….
He’s disgusting.
I really want to beat him.
I’m sorry, monk.
In fact, the Mount Hua disciples were even more rattled than Konghwa.
What nonsense is that bastard trying to pull now?
Hyun Jong, flustered, hurried to speak and smooth things over, but unfortunately Chung Myung was faster.
“You said you were going to punish us in the Discipline Hall, but then shouldn’t you at least say what crime we committed so there’s a reason to haul us there?”
“You committed no crime?”
“No. That’s what I think, anyway.”
Konghwa barked out a shout. “You started a fight in Shaolin’s grounds and yet claim you committed no crime?”
“What’s so different about Shaolin’s grounds?”
“What?”
Chung Myung yawned and spoke in a lazy tone.
“You keep saying Shaolin, Shaolin, but what’s so special about this place? What’s the difference between brawling in a market square and brawling in Shaolin?”
“…….”
Konghwa closed his mouth.
There was a difference. Of course there was a difference.
But there was absolutely no way he could say that out loud.
Especially not in a situation like this….
He glanced around.
The onlookers who had gathered were all waiting for him to speak. And with that as the backdrop, was he supposed to answer, Of course Shaolin’s grounds are sacred and can’t be compared to a market street?
As a Buddhist monk, that was not something he could ever say.
“Of course Shaolin’s grounds are no different from a market street! But you fought without permission on a large scale, did you not?”
“Yes. So why is that wrong?”
“...What on earth are you talking about?”
“Tsk tsk. You really don’t get it, do you?”
Chung Myung groaned as he stood up, then stretched his back until it creaked.
“Shaolin called us here, didn’t it?”
“It did. If you are invited guests, then naturally you should observe proper courtesy….”
“Why did you call us?”
“...Hm?”
“Why did you call us? You didn’t call us to brawl, did you?”
Konghwa’s mouth fell open.
“N-no, what I mean is….”
What kind of nonsense was this?
“We invited you for the martial arts tournament and the match tournament….”
“Right. That match tournament. Isn’t that fighting?”
“…….”
Chung Myung snorted.
“That martial arts tournament or whatever is only for the sect leaders to enter. We came here together to fight, didn’t we? So we fought. I don’t understand why you’re all making such a fuss over what seems like such a huge crime.”
“How can that be the same! That is a formal match, while this is a brawl!”
“What’s different?”
Without giving him room to breathe, Chung Myung pressed on.
“A match is a fight with swords in hand, but that’s okay because Shaolin allowed it. We put our swords down and used our fists, and that’s not okay because Shaolin didn’t allow it. That’s what you’re saying, right? Right?”
“Uh….”
Konghwa fell silent.
How did this turn into this?
That was pure nonsense, a sophistry through and through.
But the bigger problem was that it wasn’t really wrong.
A match was a battle fought with the understanding that casualties might occur. The results could, in some ways, be even more tragic than this street brawl.
So with what words were those who held such matches supposed to condemn this fight?
“Amitabha. Amitabha!”
In frustration, Konghwa repeatedly chanted the Buddha’s name.
“The disciples of Mount Hua are….”
“Ah. Wait a second.”
Chung Myung cut him off again, then slowly turned his head.
“What do you think?”
Following his gaze, everyone looked in the same direction.
“Ah!”
They all gasped.
Before anyone had noticed, the Shaolin abbot, Beop Jeong, was standing there.
“Amitabha.”
After the chant, Beop Jeong smiled faintly and said, “The young benefactor’s words are by no means incorrect.”
At that thunderbolt of a ruling, everyone stared in shock, their mouths hanging open.