A Gentleman Does Not Go Looking for Trouble (4)
Mount Hua had pulled off a remarkable feat, sending three disciples into the Round of Eight.
Chung Myung, Yu I-seol, and Jo Gul had all won comfortably, without sustaining any serious injuries.
“…Why did you win?”
“What are you talking about, Sahyung?”
“No, it’s just a little strange.”
“Don’t say weird things. Of course I won.”
Watching Jo Gul puff out his chest, Yoon Jong felt the cruelty of life.
Some people had met Chung Myung and forfeited just to survive, while that brat had simply enjoyed an easy win because the bracket had been kind to him.
Who could have guessed that one effortless bye would lead to this result?
Still.
Getting four people into the Round of Thirty-Two was impressive enough, but having three reach the Round of Eight was an achievement that dwarfed that by an entirely different order of magnitude.
Thinking carefully about it, even back when Mount Hua had still been flexing its strength across the jianghu, it had never seen results this large.
Which was why the disciples of Mount Hua were, perhaps surprisingly, being especially careful.
- There’s no way the existing sects will look kindly on us. They’ll definitely be watching us like hawks, so don’t let your guard down for even a second and always be mindful of your words and actions.
It was a fair warning.
No one among Mount Hua’s disciples wanted to become the villain who tried to cut down the sect’s momentum as if it were sailing with the wind at its back. They were all being cautious to the point of even taking a sip of water with care.
But the situation unfolding before them was a little different from what they had expected.
“…What in the world is all this?”
Baek Cheon stared blankly at the things piled up inside the hall. Crates and boxes were stacked higher than a man’s height, forming a small hill.
“They’re gifts.”
“Gifts? Did someone throw a banquet or something?”
“No, not that.”
Hyun Young gave a dry little laugh before answering.
“The Gupailbang and the Odaesega sent them as congratulations.”
“What?”
Baek Cheon jumped and looked back at the tower of gifts.
This is all of them?
It was shocking enough that such a huge volume of gifts had arrived, but they had even come from the Gupailbang and Odaesega?
“Wh-why would they…?”
“They say they’d like to build closer ties with Mount Hua.”
“What?”
Baek Cheon asked again, still looking dazed.
He was a perceptive man. He knew how to read the mood.
He had seen with his own eyes how the Gupailbang had treated them with quiet disdain—so why the sudden change in attitude?
“This one was sent by Qingcheng. Oh? And this one’s from Beggars’ Sect? Hah. To think I’d live long enough to see beggars sending gifts.”
Hyun Young busily sorted through the gifts, visibly delighted.
“And this is… Hmm? Even Wudang?”
Muttering to himself, Hyun Young let out a snort of disbelief.
“This is the first time I’ve ever received so many gifts. And to think it would happen here at Shaolin, not even at Mount Hua. The world really is full of surprises.”
Then he shouted toward the disciples inside.
“More gifts are still coming in, so for now, take all of these inside.”
“Yes, Elder!”
The Mount Hua disciples rushed over and began carrying the gifts away.
Watching the procession, Yoon Jong asked in a bewildered voice, “But why would the Gupailbang send us gifts?”
“Didn’t I tell you? They said they wanted to build closer ties.”
“With us? They were trying to tear us apart not that long ago.”
“That’s…”
At that moment, a lazy voice came from behind them.
“Those bastards are always like that.”
“Huh?”
Turning around, they saw Chung Myung strolling over, a mooncake in hand.
“They’re always like that?”
“Yeah. Always.”
He looked at the mountain of gifts and sneered under his breath.
“They figured it wouldn’t hurt to get friendly.”
“This quickly?”
“If anything, they’re late.”
Those beneath you will always try to trample you. But if that isn’t possible, then in the end, they have no choice but to acknowledge your place beside them.
And if you were going to stand on the same ground anyway, it was better to be on good terms.
In other words, the Gupailbang had finally become certain that Mount Hua was going to recover its former strength.
Slow-witted morons.
Probably the ones who had sent gifts did not include Zhongnan or Hainan.
Zhongnan had already left Shaolin, and even if they were still here, they’d rather die than send gifts to Mount Hua.
As for Hainan, if Mount Hua really did return to the Gupailbang, they’d be the ones most likely to get pushed out, so they had no reason to send anything.
But the rest of the Gupailbang had nothing to lose by staying on good terms with Mount Hua, even if Mount Hua did come back. It would be embarrassing, yes—loss of face, certainly—but that was the extent of it.
Baek Cheon frowned. “Even so, this is a little too blatant.”
“Blatant? This is actually pretty restrained.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Chung Myung only smirked in reply.
Back in the day, it was worse.
When he had been famed as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, gifts from those who wanted to build good relations with Mount Hua had come in every single day until they piled up in the training grounds.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
“Anyway, the Gupailbang bastards really haven’t changed.”
“Even so, the Gupailbang doing something like this…”
“What’s so great about the Gupailbang? They’re all just people living in a different place.”
“They surely know we won’t think any better of them just because they sent gifts.”
“And if they didn’t send any?”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung asked blankly.
“If they didn’t send gifts, would we think better of them?”
“……”
No. Obviously not.
Baek Cheon’s expression turned bitter as he slowly accepted that. Chung Myung said indifferently, “Anyway, they don’t actually think we’ll be moved by some gifts like this. They just know which choice is more profitable: sending them or not.”
Baek Cheon shook his head.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to send these back? It feels awkward.”
“...I don’t really care, but…”
“Huh?”
“You sure about that?”
“About what?”
Chung Myung subtly jerked his chin toward the space behind Baek Cheon. Feeling that something was off, Baek Cheon slowly turned around.
Standing there was Hyun Young, wearing an expression as terrifying as a hellish ghoul’s.
“……”
“Send them back?”
“……”
“You little budget-wasting…”
Baek Cheon nearly jumped out of his skin and frantically waved both hands.
“N-no! That’s not what I meant! I wasn’t saying we should send them back!”
“I thought not.”
Hyun Young’s face instantly softened into a broad, benevolent smile.
Baek Cheon was left drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath.
That was terrifying.
He would never forget that expression. It was frightening enough that he was scared it might even show up in his dreams.
Chung Myung shrugged. “Why refuse gifts people are offering you? If you send them back, all you’re doing is filling their granaries again. Emptying the enemy’s stores is basic military strategy, isn’t it?”
Baek Cheon stared at him blankly.
“Why?”
“No, it’s just weird hearing you say the words ‘military strategy.’”
“……”
Just as Chung Myung was about to blow up, Hyun Young nodded and said, “Chung Myung is right. Whatever their intent, it’s proper etiquette to accept gifts first. I, too, find this all exceedingly irritating, but returning the gifts is not a good solution.”
Uh… Elder?
Your mouth is practically hooked to your ears.
Are you really irritated? Really?
But Baek Cheon didn’t dare ask that out loud. In Mount Hua, asking Hyun Young about money-related matters was practically taboo.
“There is one problem, however.”
“A problem?”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Young stroked his chin while looking over the gifts.
“If we just accept these as they are, it might be a bit embarrassing the next time we meet the people who sent them.”
“That’s true.”
“So we should offer something in return. It would be best if we sent gifts of our own.”
“Ah…”
Baek Cheon nodded.
If one side received gifts unilaterally, those gifts became little more than bribes. But if both sides exchanged them, then they really could be considered gifts.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“The problem is that we don’t really have anything on hand that would make a suitable gift…”
After thinking for a moment, Hyun Young looked at Baek Cheon.
“You’ll need to go down to the village.”
“You want me to buy something appropriate for a return gift?”
“Exactly. This is no time to dawdle over things like this. It would be better to send the reply right away.”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I…”
Baek Cheon paused and frowned slightly. “But what exactly am I supposed to buy for a return gift?”
“How would I know?”
Hyun Young answered with all the confidence in the world.
“This is my first time at Songshan too. How am I supposed to know what they sell down there? Go and buy something suitable on your own.”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t worry. Jo Gul.”
“Yes, Elder!”
“Go with Baek Cheon and help him. You’re from a merchant family, so you ought to have an eye for goods.”
“Understood.”
Even after that, Hyun Young remained lost in thought for a while.
“If you’re buying gifts for this many sects, two people probably won’t be enough. Then we’ll need to send Yoon Jong as well…”
“Ahem.”
“And Yu I-seol…”
“Ahem!”
“And if Baek Sang goes too…”
“AHEM, AHEM, AHEM!”
“……”
Hyun Young slowly turned his head.
There was Chung Myung, covering his mouth with one hand and coughing politely over and over.
“...You want to go?”
Chung Myung said nothing. He simply stared at Hyun Young with sparkling eyes.
“Hmmmm.”
Hyun Young let out a thoughtful groan.
He had been through so much that he truly wanted to let the child have a day of rest. There was still time before the next match, so taking a day to go into the village wouldn’t cause any major problems.
Only…
Can I really send this brat into the village?
That was a different matter entirely from whether he was adorable or not.
The sort of boy you could stuff into your eye socket without it hurting—but letting him loose unsupervised took a great deal of resolve.
“Eeeeh. You can promise not to cause trouble, right?”
“Come on, Elder. When have you ever seen me cause trouble?”
“……”
Plenty of times, of course.
But in the end, Hyun Young sighed and nodded.
“Fine. Go with them.”
“Elder!”
“Please reconsider, Elder! This is reckless!”
“Terrible.”
Protests erupted from all around. But Hyun Young shook his head and said, “That is precisely why I’m sending the rest of you too. You’re all used to Chung Myung in your own ways, so if trouble starts, you’ll be able to stop him.”
“...Elder, just because someone gets burned often doesn’t mean they get used to fire. That brat is more like blazing hell the more you deal with him.”
“……”
“Please, reconsider! Just once…”
Thud.
Someone’s hand landed on Baek Cheon’s shoulder as he desperately tried to persuade Hyun Young.
“……”
Turning around, he saw Chung Myung grinning at him.
“Sasuk. Sasuk.”
“...What?”
“Think about it. You know, don’t you?”
Chung Myung smiled bright and sweet, looking positively pleased with himself.
“Which is more likely: that I follow you and cause trouble?”
“……”
“Or that I’m left all alone, heartbroken and wandering around with my wounded feelings, and then some idiot starts something with me, so I end up smashing every last one of the other sect’s guys’ heads?”
“……”
Baek Cheon’s eyes wavered.
“What do you think? No matter how I look at it, the answer seems pretty obvious to me.”
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung, whose eyes were now gleaming with menace, and squeezed his eyes shut.
This was outright extortion.
“...Fine. Let’s go. We’re going.”
“Hehe. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Chung Myung beamed, looking utterly innocent and cheerful.
Someday, I’m going to plant my fist right in that face.
Clinging to a hope that might never come true, Baek Cheon let out a sigh so deep it seemed to sink into the earth.
“Then I’ll be going, Elder.”
“Yes. Take this with you.”
Hyun Young took money from his robe and handed it to Baek Sang.
“Choose something decent.”
“Yes! I’ll pick the finest thing available.”
“...You really don’t understand, do you?”
“Pardon?”
Hyun Young frowned in frustration. At that, Chung Myung snatched the money pouch right out of Baek Sang’s hands.
“Don’t worry, Elder. I’ll pick something that looks expensive, but once you look closely, isn’t actually that pricey—and isn’t especially useful either.”
Hyun Young smiled with extraordinary warmth and indulgence.
“Yes, yes. Our Chung Myung. How is it that you understand me so well?”
Baek Cheon frowned. “That’s just because his character—”
“The loser with a nice personality should stay quiet.”
“……”
Baek Cheon lowered his head.
Yoon Jong laid a hand on his shoulder and patted him gently.
“It’s all right, Sasuk. You can lose sometimes.”
“I don’t want comfort from the guy who forfeited.”
“……”
Yoon Jong sadly looked up at the ceiling of the hall.
This rotten sect.
There wasn’t a single moment when they weren’t trying to tear each other apart.
“Then we’ll be going.”
“Yes. Be careful and come back safely.”
“Yes!”
After they headed outside, the Baek-generation disciples slowly edged toward Hyun Young and asked, “...Will they really be all right?”
“What won’t?”
“No, I mean Chung Myung and all…”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Ah, no, but still…”
Hyun Young smiled with a meaningful expression.
“Even if he causes trouble, it won’t be our noses that get broken, so why wouldn’t it be fine?”
“……”
“If you have time to worry about those brats, worry about the people who are going to be in the village.”
“……”
The Baek-generation disciples couldn’t help wondering if Mount Hua, as a Daoist sect, might already be finished.
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