Why Is This Crawling Out Here? (3)
It was still so vivid it felt as if he could reach out and grab it with his hand.
Jet-black hair.
A thick, luxuriant beard.
Eyes that glittered with sharp light and a smile so gentle it seemed almost saintly.
And then... the Purple Jade Divine Sword that always hung at his waist.
Chung Myung stared at the purple blade, unable to look away.
This came out of here?
He let out a laugh of sheer disbelief.
He’d made all sorts of guesses about what might turn up, but he’d never once imagined this.
The Purple Jade Divine Sword, of all things...
Chung Myung laughed in helpless exasperation, but Hyun Jong, overcome with emotion, could only stare at the sword.
"Great Sage Sword Chung Mun...."
Who could possibly not know that name?
The man who had led Mount Hua through its golden age. A name that would never disappear from Mount Hua’s history.
"H-how! How can this thing be in Shaolin!"
Hyun Jong, who was rarely angered, could not hide his fury. He erupted without restraint, but Beop Jeong did not consider it rude. If their positions were reversed, he would likely have reacted the same way.
That was how important the Purple Jade Divine Sword was to Mount Hua.
A sacred treasure.
A holy object that symbolized a sect.
A sacred treasure represented a sect’s authority. Just as Shaolin’s Green Jade Buddha Staff sometimes wielded more power than the abbot’s authority itself.
Of course Mount Hua had its own sacred treasure as well, one that symbolized Mount Hua’s authority.
That was the Purple Jade Divine Sword.
For a sect, it was something that could never be lost, right alongside the Sect Leader’s Token.
"The Purple Jade Divine Sword should have been lost in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Are you saying Shaolin has been keeping it all this time?"
"How could that be?"
Beop Jeong shook his head.
"We discovered this item only recently. And Shaolin paid a tremendous price to obtain it."
Hyun Jong’s beard trembled.
This sword had lived through Mount Hua’s history. It was the sword that symbolized Mount Hua’s authority. Because Mount Hua had so little left from the past, it was also an item that had to be recovered no matter what.
"In return for this matter, we will return the Purple Jade Divine Sword to Mount Hua."
"... ..."
Hyun Jong bit his lip hard.
Going to the Northern Sea to investigate the situation was by no means easy. But leaving this Purple Jade Divine Sword behind and walking away was even harder.
Beop Jeong smiled as though he understood exactly what Hyun Jong was thinking.
"If the price is the Purple Jade Divine Sword, then even from Mount Hua’s perspective, it would not be a bad bargain."
Confidence glimmered in Beop Jeong’s smile.
And the basis for that confidence was clear.
For any sect, a sacred treasure was something it could never afford to lose. A sect that lost its sacred treasure suffered a devastating blow to its authority. Put differently, simply recovering a lost sacred treasure could firmly restore that authority.
Right now, Mount Hua was rising with unstoppable momentum. For such a sect, the symbolic meaning of reclaiming the Purple Jade Divine Sword could never be small.
So Hyun Jong would not be able to refuse this proposal. Never.
Beop Jeong slid the sword back into its scabbard, set the box aside, and placed the sword on the tea table. Then he pushed it toward Hyun Jong.
"If you wish, you may take it now."
"...Now, you say?"
"To be frank, Shaolin and Mount Hua are not in a particularly good relationship at the moment. But I trust Mount Hua as a sect. What could be difficult about paying the reward first to those we trust?"
Hyun Jong’s backside twitched up slightly.
He knew it.
Beop Jeong would never hand over that sword with purely good intentions. Maybe he wasn’t weaving some grand conspiracy, but the matter of investigating the Northern Sea might be harder than he claimed.
Even so, Hyun Jong could not easily make up his mind.
That sword symbolized Mount Hua’s glory from the past.
It was a sacred treasure of the sect, and at the same time, a symbol of the splendid Mount Hua that now could only be remembered. How, then, could he possibly give it up lightly?
Just as Hyun Jong bit his lip and was about to answer, Chung Myung, who had been watching quietly, suddenly reached out and grabbed the Purple Jade Divine Sword.
"Hm?"
With effortless calm, he took the sword and slowly drew it free.
Once fully revealed, the Purple Jade Divine Sword gleamed snow-white in the light streaming through the room.
Chung Myung stared at the blade for a moment before slowly lifting a hand to touch its surface with a fingertip.
Hyun Jong and Beop Jeong both held their breath.
They didn’t know why, but it felt like they should not interrupt him now.
It was not his momentum.
It was the expression on his face, something impossible to explain in words, that sealed the mouths of the two men.
Chung Myung.
Hyun Jong simply watched him in silence.
Sometimes this child showed such a face. And every time he did, Hyun Jong found himself forced to remain silent before the nameless heaviness Chung Myung carried.
Chung Myung slowly closed his eyes.
It was like a painting come to life.
With his hand resting on the blade and his eyes closed, he remained still for a long time before finally opening them again and lifting his head.
Only then did Hyun Jong make up his mind.
The Purple Jade Divine Sword must remain at Mount Hua.
Seeing Chung Myung hold that sword had made it certain. That sword must one day be in Chung Myung’s hands as he roamed the world.
"Mount Hua accepts the abbot’s request—"
Tap!
At that moment, Chung Myung shoved the sword back into its scabbard with a sharp clack and set it down on the tea table. Then he stared at it hard, his face showing a faint look of thought.
"Hmmm."
Beop Jeong smiled quietly. Just the fact that Chung Myung, who had treated anything related to Shaolin by kicking it first and asking questions later, was showing this kind of reaction already meant the deal was as good as settled.
"Young Daoist. If you wish, I could hand over the Purple Jade Divine Sword here and now. The price is for the peace of the world; Shaolin is not ordering Mount Hua about. Wouldn’t you agree?"
Chung Myung nodded slightly, as if Beop Jeong’s words weren’t wrong. Then he lifted his head a little and looked at Beop Jeong as he spoke.
"And then?"
"...Hm?"
And then?
What did he mean, and then?
"I’m not quite sure what you mean."
At Beop Jeong’s question, Chung Myung asked again, sounding bored.
"What else are you giving me?"
"...What else?"
This time Beop Jeong tilted his head.
"I’m offering you Mount Hua’s sacred treasure, and you require something else as well? Young Daoist, do you not understand what a sacred treasure means—"
Beop Jeong stopped mid-sentence and fell silent.
Chung Myung’s expression had clearly twisted.
"Abbot."
"... ..."
Chung Myung tilted his head from side to side for a moment, then clearly leaned it to one side and said,
"You’ve been living so deep in the mountains that I guess you’ve lost touch with reality."
"... ..."
Deep in the mountains?
Lost touch with reality?
Chung Myung tapped the Purple Jade Divine Sword lying on the tea table.
"You bring out some old chunk of iron and act like it should buy me something? I guess if you just sit there long enough, pilgrims keep coming to hand you money, so the world must seem pretty easy to you. Even the Beggars’ Sect swindlers get their gourds smashed and chased off if they beg like that, you know?"
"O-old chunk of iron?"
Beop Jeong’s eyes widened.
Had he just called Mount Hua’s sacred treasure an old chunk of iron?
"Y-young Master of Mount Hua. I don’t think you understand. This is Mount Hua’s sacred treasure."
"So what?"
"...Do you not know? It is the sacred treasure of Mount Hua Sect!"
"Yeah, I know. So what about it?"
Chung Myung absentmindedly scratched his ear.
"Do you not understand what a sect’s sacred treasure means?"
"You’re a strange one, aren’t you?"
"...What?"
Beop Jeong stared at Chung Myung with a dazed look.
"No, seriously. I’m a Mount Hua guy, so why is the abbot deciding what that sword means to Mount Hua? It’s not like you’re counting the bowls in someone else’s house."
"Uh...."
Beop Jeong was left speechless. He looked to Hyun Jong just in case, but Hyun Jong was no different.
Hyun Jong was also staring blankly at Chung Myung with a dumbfounded expression.
"Ch-Chung Myung. Even so, it’s the sect’s sacred treasure..."
"What’s the big deal about a sacred treasure anyway? A bunch of sect members got together, fought over things, and if something expensive and pretty turned up, they just said,
'From now on, this is our symbol.'
That’s a sacred treasure. It’s not like heaven personally sent it down from above."
Chung Myung said it with a careless shrug.
"It’s just an object. Why are you attaching so much meaning to it? Mount Hua isn’t Mount Hua just because that thing’s missing, and Mount Hua doesn’t magically become great just because it has that thing. Why the hell would I go all the way to the Northern Sea for a chunk of sword? The Northern Sea?"
Bit by bit, Chung Myung’s eyes began to flash wildly. Hyun Jong flinched and thought,
No, but still, it’s the sect’s sacred treasure...
What on earth did this brat grow up learning?
The two men’s bewildered gazes fell on Chung Myung.
But Chung Myung only smirked with complete ease.
"Of course, if it fell into my hands, I wouldn’t exactly sell it off for cash, but risking our disciples’ lives over a sacred treasure is nonsense. What ancestor would value some sacred treasure more than their own disciples?"
"... ..."
By this point, even Beop Jeong could no longer find anything to say. Nor did he have the energy to keep trying.
Chung Myung casually curled his thumb and forefinger into a little circle in front of him.
"What else do you have? Money, maybe. Or... money? Bills are fine too, you know. Promissory notes, maybe, or jewels..."
"Chung Myung. Isn’t that all the same thing?"
"Yeah, it is. But..."
Chung Myung grinned and shoved the Purple Jade Divine Sword back toward Beop Jeong once more.
"Come to think of it, I don’t think taking just a little would be worth it. It looks like a pretty nice sword, so keep it somewhere safe and use it well."
As though there was nothing more to discuss, Chung Myung got to his feet.
Hyun Jong rose awkwardly to follow him.
"Then—"
Just as Chung Myung turned to leave, Beop Jeong hurriedly reached out and called after him.
"Young Daoist! You can’t just end it here!"
"Then what?"
Beop Jeong seemed quite flustered, his words speeding up.
"If you’re not satisfied with the price I offered, I can change it. This is for the sake of the world."
"Ah. Right. The world. That really is important."
Chung Myung spun around and straightened his posture. Then, with the most serious face imaginable, he clasped his hands and bowed to Beop Jeong.
"Mount Hua’s efforts in the past to do its best for the world remain a source of endless pride in the hearts of Mount Hua’s disciples, Abbot."
Beop Jeong fell silent.
He had been struck in exactly the sore spot again.
"Of course, that matter was—"
"I’m not bringing it up to dredge up the past. Mount Hua lost many things, but it also gained many things."
"... ..."
"So..."
Chung Myung smiled broadly.
"So I’d really like Shaolin to feel that kind of pride at least once too."
"... ..."
The smile on his face was so bright it was nearly blinding.
"I’m sure Shaolin can handle it without any trouble! I’ll be cheering for you with all my might from Shaanxi, so please definitely uncover the traces of that wicked Demonic Sect and save the world from ruin!"
"N-no...."
"Who else but Shaolin could possibly do this if not Shaolin? Right? Sect Leader?"
Hyun Jong, staring blankly, nodded.
"T-that’s right."
"Heh. Exactly, exactly. This is the sort of job only Shaolin could handle. Do your best, Abbot! If you ever need to use that Purple Jade Divine Sword while fighting the Demonic Sect, please use it well. The blade still looks perfectly alive to me. Well then."
Chung Myung even waved his hand cheerfully before throwing open the door and striding out.
Watching Hyun Jong follow after him with a dazed expression, Beop Jeong called out again in a panic.
"Will you truly abandon your ancestor’s sacred treasure? Is that Mount Hua’s choice?"
Chung Myung, who had been about to leave, turned back.
The look in his eyes was so contemptuous that Beop Jeong visibly flinched.
Chung Myung let out a snort.
"Sacred treasure my ass."
A black sword.
Just a sword, that was all.
Even if that blade had truly been Mount Hua’s sacred treasure, even if it had been Sect Leader Brother’s beloved sword, a sword was still only a sword.
Mount Hua’s will was not contained in a thing like that.
The will of Mount Hua was carried on by Mount Hua’s disciples; the will of Mount Hua lived within Mount Hua’s swordsmanship. How could a mere chunk of iron possibly contain that depth of meaning?
And most importantly...
I’m the ancestor, you punk.
How dare anyone talk about ancestors in front of Chung Myung?
The ancestor’s will was standing right here, and yet they were calling a piece of metal a sacred treasure. It was laughable.
"Take your precious sacred treasure and use it well, Shaolin."
Without another glance, Chung Myung walked on. Then he looked up at the blue sky spread before him and smiled.
Even if Chung Mun himself had heard those words, the result would not have changed. What was so important about a piece of iron anyway?
- No, you brat! Even so, we have to recover that!
Huh?
What, no?
"Then come get it yourself."
Aigoo, my back hurts too much for that.
Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
---