A Gentleman Does Not Go Looking for Trouble (5)
The inn Haewolru in Dengfeng, the market town at the foot of Mount Song where Shaolin stood, was packed wall to wall with people.
Ordinarily, Dengfeng already saw a steady stream of visitors coming to pay their respects at Shaolin. The temple itself took in pilgrims and provided lodging for them, but those who wanted to see Shaolin without enduring the strict discipline of a monastery naturally gathered in the village below Mount Song instead.
And now, with the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament underway, Dengfeng’s inns were so crowded you could barely find space to put down a foot.
"Here! Over here! The Luoyang braised ribs, the Dongpo pork, and a warmed bottle of hwaju! Hurry up and bring them over!"
"One cold noodles, and one mixed noodles too!"
"Yes, sir! Please wait just a moment!"
The waiters ran themselves ragged, skidding from table to table as they took orders and hauled out food.
At the round tables, groups of three and five sat together, each one talking nonstop about the tournament.
And naturally, the center of all that talk was Mount Hua’s meteoric rise.
"Who could have imagined it at first?"
"Exactly. When this tournament first began, everyone thought it would be a showdown between Shaolin and Wudang. If you added one more, maybe Namgung. That was about it, wasn’t it?"
"Right, right."
The people in the conversation nodded over and over again.
"But now Shaolin has only one of the Eight Strong left, Wudang has only one man standing, and Namgung didn’t leave anyone at all."
"Heh-heh-heh. They must have all been pretty startled."
Mixed emotions flickered across the faces of the onlookers.
Watching a giant like the Nine Great Sects tremble gave martial world folk a strange, divided feeling.
A subtle thrill, and a subtle unease.
Those two emotions coexisted inside the inn.
"But if things keep going like this, won’t Mount Hua actually win?"
"Oh, come on. No way."
"Don’t be so quick to dismiss it. That Mount Hua Divine Dragon is already beyond the level of an ordinary young genius. He’s basically a monster."
"True enough. Even if some sect elder from an average school had stepped in, there’s no way he could have so one-sidedly beaten down Namgung Do-wi, the Single-Stroke Sword. The title of Number One Among the Young Generation wasn’t a lie after all!"
"Exactly! So isn’t this tournament victory going to belong to the Mount Hua Divine Dragon too?"
Just as everyone was speaking with excitement, one man cut through the mood cleanly.
"Even so, they won’t win."
The people at the table turned to look at the fat man who had stated it so flatly.
"Why do you think that?"
"Simple. Because this is Shaolin."
"……What’s that supposed to mean?"
The man shrugged.
"Surely you don’t actually think Shaolin held this tournament for the sake of harmony in the martial world, do you? If Shaolin weren’t confident it could win, it never would have started this whole affair. Think about it. Holding a tournament in your own backyard, then losing it—what kind of humiliation would that be?"
"Hmm."
"Now that you put it like that."
The fat man nodded over and over again.
"Mount Hua’s surge is certainly impressive, but winning is a different matter entirely. The champion will probably be Shaolin’s Hye Yeon."
"Aren’t you being a little too certain? It sounds like you’re underestimating Mount Hua. Of course, judging Mount Hua by this tournament alone would be going too far, but even so, isn’t it true that their young disciples are outstanding enough to be called unmatched in the martial world?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
The fat man clicked his tongue.
"You still don’t understand. I’m not underestimating Mount Hua. I’m simply saying Shaolin won’t just sit there and take it."
"Hmm."
"Of course Mount Hua will become a formidable sect. They have the talent, and they’re getting results. But Shaolin is Shaolin. We have talented people coming out of our ears. Isn’t Shaolin the Thousand-Year Northern Dipper of the martial world? No matter how impressive the Mount Hua Divine Dragon may be, there’s no way he can beat Shaolin—"
And then it happened.
Bang!
The door suddenly flew open as if it had been kicked in, and a person strode inside.
"W-what was that?"
"Who opens a door so rough—huh? That person?"
Silence fell over the inn. Everyone’s eyes went wide.
'The Mount Hua Divine Dragon?'
'Isn’t that the Mount Hua Divine Dragon from Mount Hua?'
'Why is he here……?'
Everyone gathered here had come all the way to Shaolin to watch the tournament. There was no way they wouldn’t recognize the man who was currently the hottest topic in the entire event.
The problem was…….
'Why is he so angry?'
'He looks seriously pissed.'
'Did he hear us, maybe?'
The face of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, Chung Myung, who had stormed in through the door, was twisted with irritation.
Chung Myung’s gaze swept slowly from side to side. Anyone who met his eyes hurriedly looked away and pretended not to notice.
'If you make eye contact, you’re dead.'
'Pretend to sleep. Pretend to sleep!'
Even those who didn’t pay much attention to Mount Hua couldn’t possibly have missed the rumor that had quietly spread through Shaolin.
- The Number One Among the Young Generation, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, has a personality like trash.
- Even Buddha would turn his back and leave.
- Nothing good comes from getting involved with him.
Smearing a rising young genius with rumors was common enough that gossip like this usually didn’t stick, but… the talk about Chung Myung, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, was accepted without much debate.
Why?
Because people had eyes, didn’t they?
He wreaked havoc without discrimination, whether on or off the arena stage, and there had simply been too many witnesses.
In the end, the rumors about the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s character had become so widespread they were practically accepted as martial-world common sense.
So of course everyone rushed to avoid his gaze like this.
As Chung Myung glared around with bloodshot eyes, he flinched. At the same time, everyone else in the inn flinched with him.
"A seat!"
Chung Myung used his lightness skill to leap into the inn, then claimed the empty spot in the corner and sat down.
"Waiter!"
"Y-y-yes sir! Coming right now!"
"Here, here! First, meat! Any dish made of meat, whatever you’ve got! And booze! What kind of liquor do you have here?"
"We have all the liquor you’re thinking of!"
"Then bring me five bottles of baekju first!"
"Y-yes! Please wait just a moment! I’ll bring them out right away!"
"The booze first!"
"Yes!"
As the waiter scrambled inside, Chung Myung slouched in his chair and let out a long sigh.
"Seriously, how can there be this many people in such a tiny village?"
Just then, the door opened again and several more people came in.
"……How many times do I have to tell you that doors are for opening with your hand, not kicking in, you rotten bastard!"
"Give up, Sasuk. If that could be fixed, he wouldn’t be him."
"Cold noodles. Cold noodles. Cold noodles."
"……Samae, I’ll order you cold noodles, so calm down."
"Cold noodles!"
Baek Cheon covered his face with one hand.
'There isn’t a single normal human being here.'
Jo Gul gave a bitter smile and said, "Anyway, it’s a relief we found seats. I don’t know why there are so many people in this village……."
"Yeah. A relief. If we’d gone to two more places, who knows what that bastard would’ve done."
Baek Cheon had first dragged Chung Myung to a shop because, no matter what, the boy had to have alcohol before anything else. But by the time they were done, the crowds had become so thick that he could only keep getting more and more flustered.
Every time they confirmed a place was full and had to turn around, the bloodshot fury rising in Chung Myung’s eyes was enough to make your heart shrink in your chest.
Baek Cheon took the seat Chung Myung had claimed, pulling out a chair and sitting down with a sigh that held both relief and a little self-reproach.
Soon, the other Mount Hua disciples took their places too.
The waiter came rushing back with bottles of liquor. The moment he set them down on the table, Chung Myung snatched up one bottle, yanked out the cork, and shoved the mouth of it straight into his own.
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp.
Watching his throat move briskly as he drank, everyone smiled with satisfaction.
"How can someone be so much like a Taoist priest?"
"He looks exactly like a bandit. A mountain bandit. Are we sure he didn’t choose the wrong mountain? He should have gone to the mountain where the Green Forest is. Feels like he accidentally came to Mount Hua instead."
"Honestly, Mount Hua isn’t all that different from the Green Forest right now……."
"Jo Gul."
"Yes?"
"There are things in this world you should not say out loud, even if they’re true."
"……I was thoughtless."
After giving his stern warning, Baek Cheon let out yet another sigh.
"Kuaaaaaah!"
Chung Myung slammed the empty bottle onto the table as if he were throwing it down.
If someone saw him, it was the kind of sight that would make them applaud for sheer swagger. That is, as long as the one chugging the booze wasn’t a Taoist priest.
It was bizarre, certainly, but in truth, no one paid it much attention. There was simply too much else to look at to care about every single thing Chung Myung did.
Those glancing toward the table where the Mount Hua disciples sat soon began muttering to themselves.
"Aren’t those people Mount Hua’s disciples?"
"Right. The one in the center is the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, and the one sitting opposite him is the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua, Baek Cheon."
"And the others are all people who did well in this tournament, aren’t they? That young lady is the second-generation disciple Yu I-seol, who made it into the Eight Strong, and beside her is Jo Gul, a third-generation disciple who somehow made it there too."
"Ohhh. Looking at them like this, they’re all quite impressive, aren’t they?"
Twitch.
Twitch.
The Mount Hua disciples’ ears twitched, and the corners of their mouths began to twitch too.
"To see the young geniuses leading Mount Hua all gathered in one place—now that’s a sight for sore eyes."
"Not just Mount Hua, either. Aren’t those the ones who’ll lead the martial world in the future?"
"Indeed, their aura is no ordinary thing."
Baek Cheon coughed lightly.
His face had, uncharacteristically, grown a little hot.
'How embarrassing.'
Still, that was only natural.
Had he ever, as a Mount Hua martial artist, heard praise this close before?
Disciples of the Nine Great Sects were bound to be met with admiration and envy wherever they went, but Mount Hua’s disciples had never had that kind of experience.
Of course, they had fought in Shaolin and received cheers, but this felt very different.
"The Righteous Sword is truly an unmatched handsome man."
"And Yu I-seol is beautiful beyond words, isn’t she? I think that’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen such a face!"
"The Mount Hua Divine Dragon is splendid enough too."
Baek Cheon lowered his head, too embarrassed to look up.
'I can hear you, you know.'
They might be speaking softly among themselves, but there was no way Mount Hua’s disciples couldn’t hear them. Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were blushing awkwardly as well, while only Yu I-seol kept her usual impassive expression.
Hm? Chung Myung?
Chung Myung was currently on his second bottle and chugging away…… Chung Myung?
"I don’t know who that one sitting beside them is, but I hear the other five have already started being called the Five Swords."
"The Five Swords?"
"Was it Mount Hua Five Swords? Plum Blossom Five Swords? Anyway, starting with the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, they say Baek Cheon, Yu I-seol, Jo Gul, and Yoon Jong are being grouped together as Mount Hua’s finest young talents."
"That sounds a bit like Wudang Three Swords."
"Exactly, exactly."
Five Swords?
Listening quietly, Baek Cheon blinked.
'What is this? I’ve never even heard of it.'
In truth, people often didn’t realize just how famous they themselves had become. Thanks to their strong showing in the tournament, the reputation of Mount Hua’s disciples was rising at an astonishing speed even at this very moment.
"But calling them the Five Swords is a little strange, isn’t it?"
"Hmm? Why?"
"There are only three people in the Eight Strong, so why the Five Swords?"
"……That’s not really how it is. The Righteous Sword of Mount Hua, Baek Cheon, had to withdraw because of his injury, but I hear he’s still one of the strongest among Mount Hua’s young disciples. And as for Yoon Jong…… well, wasn’t his opponent what it was?"
"Come to think of it, you’re right."
"In any case, don’t argue with me. Once a nickname starts spreading, logic doesn’t matter anymore. Before long, all of them will probably end up with a proper alias of their own."
The corners of Yoon Jong’s and Jo Gul’s mouths began to curl.
'An alias, huh.'
It gave them a strange, fluttery feeling.
Getting a nickname meant people in the martial world were talking about you. In other words, Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were now at the point where they could stand in the martial world and make their names known with confidence.
"Happy?"
When Chung Myung asked, the two of them coughed awkwardly.
"W-well, it’s nice."
"I-it’s just, you know, it’s not bad."
"……You’re practically dying of happiness, aren’t you?"
"Khmm, khmm."
At that sight, Chung Myung snorted a laugh.
'You’ve still got a long way to go, you idiots.'
Honestly, considering what they had accomplished, the spread of their fame was actually late. Once the tournament ended, their reputations would probably sweep across the entire martial world.
Just then the waiter came back with the dishes. Seeing that, Chung Myung nodded.
"First let’s fill our stomachs. Waiter! Five more bottles of baekju!"
"Stop drinking, you punk!"
"You ordered five bottles and already killed three of them by yourself?!"
"Does he have some ghost of a drunkard clinging to him or what?"
"A cup. A cup. Give me a cup too. A cup."
As Mount Hua’s disciples chattered loudly, tearing into chicken legs and guzzling their drinks like they’d never see alcohol again, the inn door opened with a creak.
Hesitatingly, a group of people stepped inside.
Baek Cheon glanced over and immediately narrowed his eyes.
'Beggar Clan?'
The Beggar Clan was the sect of beggars. Normally they made do by begging for their meals, but when events like this were held, they often paid and used inns like everyone else.
Of course the innkeepers wouldn’t be thrilled, but they couldn’t exactly throw out paying customers.
"A seat……."
The beggars from the Beggar Clan looked around as they searched for a place to sit.
Baek Cheon was about to lose interest and go back to his food.
"Oh?"
But then one of the beggars who had been looking around suddenly widened his eyes and strode forward.
"Chosam?"