Back in My Day, It Wasn’t Like This! Back in My Day! (4)
Looking at Namgung Do-wi, reduced to a rag and collapsed on the ground, Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"Honestly, kids these days."
In the old days, if you wanted to swing a sword at all, you had to strap a boulder the size of a person to it and swing it a thousand times, you moron! Huh? You had to train so hard that even rolling your body down a cliff would make you go, "Ah, that’s refreshing!" before you’d barely be handed a scrap of swordsmanship!
And this scrawny-legged punk was what? Emperor Sword, huh?
Emperor Sword hngh?
Emperor Sword hngh-hngh-hngh?
"I ought to just smash your head in."
Ah, was he already out?
"Tch."
Chung Myung twisted away with an expression full of dissatisfaction.
That was why he hated so-called geniuses. People who were obsessed with the thrill of racing ahead to the next stage were always so intoxicated by speed that they never looked down at the ground beneath their feet.
Only when a guy like Yi Song-baek crept forward, crawling and crawling until he finally overtook them, would they realize what they had lost.
Of course, if he wanted to tell them, there was no reason he couldn’t.
But why would I?
He had no interest in the Namgung Family whatsoever, so why bother taking on extra work? He was already busy to death just teaching Mount Hua—what did he care about some Namgung Family or other!
Chung Myung swaggered down from the arena. Cheers erupted from all around.
"Krrrrr!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Krrrrr!"
Seeing his sect siblings all shooting him thumbs-up, Chung Myung tilted his head.
"What’s with you guys? Getting sentimental all of a sudden?"
"Sentimental? This is Namgung Do-wi we’re talking about! Namgung Do-wi!"
Jo Gul kept nodding in admiration.
"Namgung Do-wi of the Namgung Family, the Danak Sword, was supposed to be one of the top contenders to win this tournament. And you beat the crap out of him like that."
"Sometimes I really wonder if this guy eats from the same bowl as the rest of us."
At the unusually intense reaction, Chung Myung let out a snort.
"Tch. It’s nothing that big—"
"No, it is big. Big things are big."
"That was seriously awesome, Chung Myung!"
The corners of Chung Myung’s mouth began to twitch little by little.
"I mean, I just beat up one kid, and you’re all making such a huge fuss—"
"If that kid is Namgung Do-wi, then he’s not just some kid, is he?"
"Krrrrr. That really does make me feel better. Chung Myung, you worked hard!"
"...Hehe."
Chung Myung scratched the back of his head, suddenly a little bashful.
He really hadn’t done anything special, but when they kept praising him like this, it was strangely, how should he put it...
"He’s loving it, look at him."
"Dong-ryong, shut up."
"...."
Baek Cheon went quiet. Chung Myung shrugged and sat down, casually reaching into the sack beside him and pulling out jerky.
"Jo Gul sahyung. You took the money, right?"
"Ah, right! Chung Myung! We made a killing! There were tons of people betting on the other side this time, probably because the opponent was Namgung Do-wi!"
"Tsk tsk tsk. This is why people go bankrupt when they gamble."
Who bets on something like Namgung? Seriously, who even does that!
Then they deserve to lose everything!
Chung Myung cackled and bit into the jerky with a satisfyingly chewy snap.
Watching him, Baek Cheon glanced toward Namgung Do-wi on the arena. Still unconscious, he lay sprawled on the platform while Namgung Family martial artists crowded around him.
That must have been a huge shock.
Honestly, he felt a little sorry for him.
Namgung Do-wi, the Danak Sword.
With that kind of reputation, his self-confidence would have been immense too.
If he had firmly engraved the mindset a swordsman should possess into his heart, perhaps he could have accepted defeat. But what had happened just now was too painful and too humiliating to dismiss as mere defeat.
Then again, anyone who met Chung Myung had to go through something like that at least once.
Baek Cheon lowered his gaze slightly, looking at Chung Myung as he chewed on jerky like it was rice cake.
"...."
Heo Do-jin-in’s face, as he looked to the side, was utterly sour.
And no wonder. Namgung Hwang, whose eyes had practically popped out like a startled fish, stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring blankly at the arena.
"Uh... uh... huh?"
Unable to stand it anymore, Heo Do-jin-in shut his eyes tightly.
While Shaolin had kept to itself, the sect that represented the Nine Sects and One Gang had been Wudang. On the Five Great Families’ side, the Namgung Family had filled that role.
That was why Heo Do-jin-in, as the leader of Wudang, had met Namgung Hwang rather often.
Yet in all those many meetings, he had never once seen that face on Namgung Hwang.
Well, that’s understandable.
His son, the pride of his entire life, had just been beaten senseless like some tavern lackey dragged off by street thugs.
If he didn’t react like that, that would have been strange.
Heo Do-jin-in looked at Chung Myung, who was descending from the arena, with a sour expression.
He really is like a runaway wagon.
If he had seen this happening somewhere else, he might have applauded along with the crowd now cheering.
He didn’t want to admit it, but honestly, just watching it had been enough to clear the chest like a fresh wind blowing through.
The problem was that the one suffering for that refreshing display was the Nine Sects and One Gang, along with the Five Great Families.
"...How in the world can he do that?"
"Hah..."
Exclamations of shock and admiration kept spilling from the mouths of the sect leaders.
Heo Do-jin-in knew.
They had all implicitly agreed not to dwell on Chung Myung up here on the platform. The moment they began to evaluate the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, they would have to confront Mount Hua itself, the sect that produced him. So they had deliberately looked away.
But now the moment had come when they could no longer ignore that monster.
"...That isn’t something you can describe by simply saying he’s gifted."
At the Green Forest sect leader’s words, everyone nodded.
"I think I understand now why the Sect Leader of Zhongnan was so devastated. Even I..."
Someone couldn’t finish the sentence and fell silent.
If a monster like that appeared in a sect you had to compete with for generations, there was no way you could stay calm.
Yes. A monster.
He was plainly a monster.
And...
It seems everyone has realized that now.
The crowd was also thrown into turmoil, murmuring noisily among themselves.
"...Namgung Do-wi lost like that?"
"Good heavens. No matter how you look at it..."
"Then just how strong is that Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
The name Namgung was not a light one.
Namgung Family was the head of the Five Great Families, a prestigious clan representing the martial world. Generation after generation, they produced sword masters who ruled the world, and in every era they always had a master in the running for the strongest sword in all the land.
And everyone in the world had never hesitated to name Namgung Do-wi as the sword of the next generation.
In other words, Namgung Do-wi was one of the candidates for the next strongest sword in the world.
That such a man had been completely crushed without even properly drawing his sword meant far more than words could express.
Heo Do-jin-in frowned slightly and looked over to one side.
He saw a smile.
A faint smile rested on Tang Gun-ak’s lips, seated next to Hyun Jong. Heo Do-jin-in’s stomach turned cold for a moment as he considered the meaning of that smile.
Then Tang Gun-ak spoke quietly.
"Congratulations, Sect Leader."
"You are too kind."
"It makes me curious all over again. Just how did you raise such a monster?"
At Tang Gun-ak’s words, all the sect leaders’ eyes turned at once to Hyun Jong.
Heo Do-jin-in frowned as he watched Tang Gun-ak smoothly steer the conversation. Once he brought the subject up in front of everyone like that, they all had no choice but to focus on Hyun Jong.
Hyun Jong slowly shook his head and answered.
"Do I have the qualifications to claim I raised that child?"
Calm and composed, he seemed quite different from the man he had been at the start of the tournament.
"A tiger’s cub is a tiger by nature. It does not become a dog merely because a dog raises it."
"You are being far too modest, Sect Leader. If it were only the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, that might not be entirely wrong. But Mount Hua is now overwhelming the other sects with its performance, is it not?"
The area went quiet.
Tang Gun-ak was dragging out the things everyone had been unwilling to say, one by one.
"Haha. Thanks to Mount Hua, the Tang Family has been embarrassed more than a little as well. We had some confidence in our children’s abilities too, but compared to Mount Hua, it is truly shameful."
"You flatter us."
Even as they conversed, Tang Gun-ak quietly watched the expressions of the sect leaders.
They all wore slightly twisted faces, unable to hide their discomfort. For sect leaders, who were usually masters at concealing their emotions, to show that much meant they were feeling several times more troubled beneath the surface.
Tang Gun-ak smiled inwardly.
If the Mount Hua Divine Dragon hadn’t happened to stop by Sichuan, I’d probably be sitting here with the same expression as they are.
No matter how he thought about it, allying with Mount Hua had been the best move he’d made since becoming head of the Tang Family.
And to think I’d get the reward for that so soon.
He had thought it would take at least another five to ten years before the support he had given Mount Hua started paying dividends.
That Mount Hua Divine Dragon never did anything in a way that fit within normal common sense.
"In any case..."
Just as Tang Gun-ak was about to praise Mount Hua even more—
"The Mount Hua Divine Dragon is certainly remarkable."
Heo Do-jin-in cut in first.
Tang Gun-ak’s brow tightened slightly as he looked at him. Heo Do-jin-in went on.
"He isn’t merely strong. That child’s understanding of the sword is unfathomable. It is astonishing that one who has not yet reached thirty years of age can be so skilled."
He kept nodding as he piled on the praise.
Then, glancing at Hyun Jong, he said,
"However..."
Everyone there knew the words that followed were the real point he wanted to make.
"It is truly regrettable. With talent like that... if a sect could guide and support him, he could become a swordsman spoken of even in ancient and modern times."
Heo Do-jin-in even let out a low sigh, as if he truly regretted it.
"They say one cannot have everything, but even so, it is hard not to feel disappointed. A tiger could have grown wings, after all."
It was an artfully worded remark.
He praised Chung Myung while cutting down Mount Hua.
Even more clever was the fact that if Hyun Jong showed the slightest sign of discomfort here, it would shatter the atmosphere Tang Gun-ak had so carefully created.
But Heo Do-jin-in had overlooked one thing.
Hyun Jong was, among everyone here and indeed across the entire world, someone who would never lose in patience and endurance.
Especially when it came to being ignored, he had long since developed a thick skin.
"I, too, find that point deeply regrettable."
"Hmm?"
At Hyun Jong’s calm voice, Heo Do-jin-in furrowed his brow.
"But it is all right."
Hyun Jong smiled peacefully and looked down below. Chung Myung was chewing jerky, with the Mount Hua disciples clustered around him like chicks around a hen.
"What Mount Hua cannot do, his sahyung and sago can do for him."
There was a warmth in the way he looked at his disciples, gentle as spring sunlight.
"Mount Hua is not only Chung Myung. Those children are more than capable of standing at his side. Even if no one is there to lead them, if there are those who can move forward together, then is that not enough?"
Heo Do-jin-in coughed lightly, suddenly uneasy at that benevolent smile.
"That may not be an easy thing."
"Those children are strong."
Hyun Jong’s voice was utterly firm.
"And now they will prove it."
A loud voice rang out across the boisterous, noisy den of Mount Hua.
"Next up is Mount Hua’s Yu I-seol!"
Yu I-seol, who had been polishing her sword in the back, slowly lifted her head.
Tang Soso looked at her with a brightened face.
"Sago!"
"Mm."
But Yu I-seol gave no particular reply. She simply slid the sword she had been tending back into its scabbard and rose to her feet.
"I’ll be back, sahyung."
"Yes."
Baek Cheon nodded heavily.
"Don’t get tense. Just show them what you can do."
"Yes."
As she headed toward the arena, Tang Soso shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Sago, you absolutely must wi—"
Then, as if realizing something, she snapped her mouth shut in the middle of the sentence.
Yu I-seol stopped walking, but instead of pressing Tang Soso, she simply waited quietly until she spoke again.
Soon Tang Soso smiled softly.
"Sago."
Her expression was faintly teasing, but the sincerity in it was unmistakable.
"Fight without regret, and come back."
“You must win” would only be a burden.
Yu I-seol gave a small nod and lightly tapped Tang Soso on the head.
"I’m watching."
"...."
With those words as the last thing she said, Yu I-seol moved forward again.
Watching her, Jo Gul leaned over and asked Chung Myung quietly,
"Aren’t you going to say anything?"
"About what?"
"Like, if you lose, I won’t let you off or something..."
Chung Myung, still chewing jerky, scowled and snapped back.
"That’s the kind of thing you say to idiots like you guys."
"...."
"Sago doesn’t need that sort of thing."
Chung Myung’s eyes were on Yu I-seol as she stepped up onto the arena.
"The only person here who wouldn’t be ashamed to be called a Plum Blossom Swordsmaster is Sago."
"...."
"Watch closely."
Then he said firmly,
"The soul of Mount Hua is over there."
Right there.