That’s Something We’ll Have to Wait and See (1)
Baek Cheon, who had been staring blankly at the two men who had just entered, suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly cupped his fists.
"A-abbot! It’s an honor to meet you!"
Thanks to that, the rest of Mount Hua’s disciples snapped out of it as well and hurriedly saluted in unison.
"Greetings, Abbot."
Beop Jeong smiled faintly.
"Please forgive this rude, unannounced visit."
"Rude? Not at all. Not at all."
Baek Cheon’s palms were already slick with sweat.
This wasn’t just polite formality. Wasn’t the Shaolin Abbot someone anyone in the martial world would at least want to meet once in their life?
For such a person to come in person was an honor, not an offense.
"But what brings you here...?"
At Baek Cheon’s cautious question, Beop Jeong gave a small smile and answered.
"I do have business, of course, but this is not the place to discuss it. Is the Sect Leader inside?"
Baek Cheon startled and nodded.
"Ah, forgive me. I should have informed the Sect Leader first... Baek Sang! Quickly, tell the Sect Leader that the Shaolin Abbot has come to visit, at once!"
"Yes, senior brother!"
Baek Sang dashed off at full speed and raced up to the second floor.
The rest of them stood awkwardly, at a loss as to how they were supposed to receive the Shaolin Abbot. Then the Abbot’s gaze drifted to one side.
"So."
He smiled and met Chung Myung’s eyes.
"Have your preparations for the finals gone well, Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
Chung Myung snorted when he heard that.
"What’s there to prepare? It’s just a fight."
"Just a fight."
Beop Jeong nodded slowly, as if pleased with the answer.
"Indeed. It is nothing more than a fight. Hye Yeon ought to understand that as well."
"Hm?"
Just as Chung Myung was about to ask what he meant, Baek Sang came running back in a panic.
"Please, this way to the second floor. I’ll guide you! Chung Myung, you come too. The Sect Leader said for you to accompany him."
"Sure."
Chung Myung stood up without ceremony.
"This way, please."
"Thank you."
Beop Jeong followed Baek Sang with a smile and headed up to the second floor.
Once Beop Jeong, Hye Yeon, and Chung Myung had completely disappeared from view, the remaining Mount Hua disciples exchanged looks.
"Why did they come?"
"...Beats me."
All of them stood there like mute fools, staring at the second floor where the four had gone.
"Welcome, Abbot."
"Thank you for your hospitality."
"Hohoho. What a difficult position this is. As the host, should I receive a guest, or as a guest, should I receive the host?"
At Hyun Jong’s words, Beop Jeong gave him a warm smile.
"Though this is Shaolin land, I have yielded this hall to Mount Hua. That makes me the guest here."
"Ah."
"So I should at least be treated to something, shouldn’t I?"
"Then shall I bring out some rice wine?"
"Is there rice wine?"
"I’m joking. Just joking."
"Hmm. What a shame. I would have preferred it if you weren’t joking."
"Hahaha! To hear such a thing from the Abbot himself, this is quite refreshing. Hahaha!"
Watching Hyun Jong speak so smoothly, Chung Myung smiled with satisfaction.
If you’re going to sweat, at least wipe it off before you laugh.
He was keeping up the conversation well enough, but sweat beaded on his stiff, awkward face and dampened his forehead. It was almost pitiful to see.
Still, Chung Myung couldn’t look down on him for it. Anyone, no matter who they were, would find a private meeting with the Shaolin Abbot heavy and burdensome.
"Ahem."
Chung Myung cleared his throat lightly.
It was his way of telling Hyun Jong not to be so tense with him there.
Hyun Jong subtly lifted his head and looked at Chung Myung. Only then did the stiffness on his face loosen a little.
"By the way."
Seeing that leaving Hyun Jong to handle this would get them nowhere, Chung Myung finally spoke first.
"What brings you here?"
Beop Jeong’s gaze turned to him.
"Well, with the finals approaching... "
"You didn’t come all this way just to make small talk before we start beating the hell out of each other, did you?"
Beop Jeong said nothing, only smiling at Chung Myung.
He’s bolder than I expected.
His eyes appraised the young man.
Even Hyun Jong, Mount Hua’s Sect Leader, could not hide his tension before him.
But Chung Myung, faced with both him and Hye Yeon, showed no sign of nervousness. In fact, he looked a little bored.
Was he simply fearless? Or was he just thoughtless?
No. It’s neither of those.
Something about it felt strangely off.
It made no sense, and yet watching Chung Myung’s behavior gave him the same feeling as dealing with an old master who had rolled through the martial world for decades.
No.
More than that?
That couldn’t be. Of course it couldn’t.
Beop Jeong trusted his instincts very much. He believed there were times when a flash of intuition revealed more than any logical deduction ever could.
But for once, he could not fully accept what his instinct was telling him.
Why does it feel like I’m facing an elder?
He was similar.
That detachment from worldly concerns, and yet the faint, almost imperceptible obsession underneath it. The way he didn’t care in the slightest how others looked at him.
Even the offhand remarks he tossed out from time to time somehow hit the core of things with unnerving precision.
It was the same strange sensation he sometimes got when meeting Shaolin’s retired great elders.
What a bizarre thing, to feel that from such a young swordsman.
Of course, Beop Jeong did not reveal any of this.
"Since the Mount Hua Divine Dragon says so, I won’t waste more words. Of course, there is a clear reason why I came here."
He then lifted his head and looked straight at Hyun Jong.
"Sect Leader."
"Please speak, Abbot."
"How do you view the current martial world?"
"If you ask how I view it... "
Beop Jeong continued in a deep voice.
"What did you feel at this Martial Arts Tournament?"
Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes.
It was difficult to tell what Beop Jeong was trying to say. After studying Hyun Jong’s expression for a moment, Beop Jeong let out a quiet sigh.
"This tournament was originally arranged to foster harmony among the sects. But now, with the finals just ahead, it has failed to fulfill that purpose in the slightest. The rivalry between sects has only grown worse, and the tendency to keep watch on one another has only intensified."
"...Hmm."
"With the Demonic Sect showing signs of movement again and the outlying regions growing restless, if the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families cannot unite, we may have to endure that terrible war once more."
Hyun Jong nodded gravely. Then he asked with a face still clouded by concern,
"And why do you say this to me?"
"Amitabha. Harmony is absolutely necessary."
Beop Jeong’s eyes gleamed.
"But if it cannot be achieved voluntarily, then it must be achieved by force if necessary. And for that, Mount Hua is needed."
"...Us?"
"Yes."
"No... what exactly is Mount Hua supposed to have...?"
Watching Hyun Jong’s confusion, Beop Jeong smiled faintly.
"Sect Leader. The significance of Mount Hua is greater than you realize."
"...Hmm."
"This tournament has proven Mount Hua’s skill to the entire world."
"But that was only the achievements of the younger generation."
"The younger generation is a sect’s future. In other words, the sects that stood out in this tournament are the ones most likely to lead the martial world in the years to come. Mount Hua not only placed two disciples in the Four Rising Talents, but every single one of the disciples who were eliminated also proved that their skill was nothing to scoff at. No sect in the world can afford to ignore Mount Hua anymore."
Hyun Jong tried to guess Beop Jeong’s intent in personally coming here and laying all this out before him. But the old monk’s face revealed nothing at all.
"So please help Shaolin, Sect Leader. If Mount Hua helps Shaolin, then Shaolin can lead the martial world into true harmony."
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
So basically, you want us to come under Shaolin?
This bald bastard.
He looks innocent, but his politics are sharper than a eunuch’s tongue.
While Hyun Jong remained silent, unable to find a sharp answer to the sudden proposal, Chung Myung casually cut in first.
"Hold on."
"Hm."
Beop Jeong turned his head to look at Chung Myung.
"Help isn't something one side gives alone, right? It only means something if both sides help each other."
"Amitabha. The young swordsman speaks reasonably."
"Then what exactly is Shaolin offering Mount Hua in return? Doesn’t look like there’s anything we need from you."
At that bold question, Beop Jeong looked at him with an odd expression.
"Well. That’s actually something I’ve been pondering myself. What should I offer, I wonder? Hmm. How about this?"
"...?"
"For example... "
The corners of Beop Jeong’s mouth curled up slightly.
"Shaolin gives its full support to Mount Hua’s return to the Nine Great Sects."
Hyun Jong jolted so hard it looked like he’d been struck by lightning.
"R-return to the Nine Great Sects?"
Beop Jeong nodded.
"Yes."
Hyun Jong’s eyes widened to the point they seemed ready to split apart.
Of course, this was not an unfamiliar topic. Hyun Jong had already thought, privately, that if things continued this way, such a return was entirely possible.
But when those words came out of Shaolin’s Abbot’s mouth, it became a very different matter. And it was not just support—he had said full support.
This was Shaolin’s Abbot sitting before them.
In the martial world, what could possibly fail once Shaolin and its Abbot gave their full backing?
This was essentially a promise that Mount Hua could return to the Nine Great Sects.
"Why would you make such a promise...?"
"Sect Leader."
Beop Jeong smiled kindly.
"I hold Mount Hua in very high regard. And precisely because of that, I cannot dismiss my concerns. In the era where you and I stand, Shaolin and Mount Hua can cooperate with one another. However... "
He paused, looking back and forth between Hye Yeon and Chung Myung before speaking in a grave voice.
"There is no guarantee that the same will be true for the next generation."
"... "
Hyun Jong didn’t miss where Beop Jeong’s gaze had gone—toward Chung Myung.
The next generation?
He didn’t mean the period immediately after they died. He had brought Hye Yeon here for a reason. In other words, the next generation clearly referred to the day Hye Yeon would one day take full control of Shaolin.
If Hye Yeon became Shaolin’s Abbot, then Mount Hua would naturally...
No! No, no!
Hyun Jong shuddered inwardly.
Of course, Chung Myung was a priceless stroke of fortune that had somehow rolled into their laps—a lunatic charging ahead like a mad ox with Mount Hua on his back.
But there was no way in hell he could ever entrust Mount Hua’s Sect Leader’s seat to that brat.
Well, maybe not the Sect Leader seat. Baek Cheon was there, and so was Yoon Jong.
But whoever became Sect Leader, so long as Chung Myung remained alive and in Mount Hua, it was impossible to predict who would truly hold the power in the sect.
In any case, if the day ever came when Hye Yeon’s Shaolin and Chung Myung’s Mount Hua had to coexist?
Harmony, my ass.
Chung Myung had a bizarre amount of hostility toward the Nine Great Sects. If he was like this now, how much worse would it be once he held real power?
It would be a miracle if they didn’t start a war on the spot, much less talk about harmony.
Only then did Hyun Jong begin to understand what Beop Jeong was truly worried about.
"Aren’t you looking too far ahead?"
"This is the kind of seat where one must look that far ahead."
That one sentence carried the entire weight of what it meant to sit as Shaolin’s Abbot.
"If Shaolin and Mount Hua can cooperate, the martial world will be at peace. But if they cannot, then the martial world will inevitably fracture again."
"... "
"Sect Leader. The current situation is hardly a good one. There are subtle cracks in the relationship among the Nine Great Sects, and the Five Great Families are locked in rivalry with them. The Demonic Sect is rising, and those demonic and heretical powers are growing stronger even as we speak."
After quietly reciting a Buddhist chant, Beop Jeong fixed Hyun Jong with a serious gaze.
"These are the signs from which chaotic times begin."
"...Chaotic times, you say."
Hyun Jong fell silent.
He had thought this would be a light discussion, but it was growing heavier and heavier by the moment. More than he felt he could bear.
"So please think carefully. If Mount Hua helps Shaolin, Shaolin will also provide Mount Hua with its full support. If that happens, it won’t be difficult for Mount Hua to reclaim the glory of the past."
And that much was true.
After all, this man was the Abbot of Shaolin.
If Shaolin—the North Star of the martial world—openly supported another sect, who would dare stand against it?
It was an irresistibly sweet proposal.
And yet.
There was always someone in the world who found sweetness deeply disagreeable.
"But."
Beop Jeong turned his head slightly.
Chung Myung was looking at him with a blank expression.
"Why bring that up now?"
"Hmm?"
"The finals haven’t even happened yet."
Beop Jeong answered readily, as though he had expected the question.
"Once the finals are fought and the outcome is decided, even the same words will carry a different meaning. That is why, if I wished to reveal Shaolin’s sincerity, now was the time."
But Chung Myung gave a faint snort.
"I think differently."
"...Hm?"
The look in Beop Jeong’s eyes sharpened for an instant as he watched him.