Have They All Gone Mad? (1)
The mountain gate was quiet.
Even though its name had already spread far and wide through the world, the path up Mount Hua remained strangely still.
At the sect’s gate, damp with the dew of dawn, a group of people finally came into view.
“Huff, huff!”
“Grrr. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been so long since we climbed, but this place is absurdly steep.”
“……True enough. That’s Mount Hua for you.”
All of them wiped the sweat from their brows and glanced downward.
Below the sheer cliffside, clouds clung to the mountain’s middle slopes. It was a sight one would scarcely find anywhere except Mount Hua.
“Didn’t we used to climb this mountain several times a day back then?”
“Heh heh. Did we, now?”
“Yes. We used to go up and down the mountain repeatedly in the name of training.”
“Ah. So we did.”
Their voices were filled with a wistful tenderness as they lingered on old memories.
They looked at one another with fond, affectionate eyes, then eventually turned their attention to the mountain gate.
“After all these years, to think I’d return to Mount Hua, which I left in my youth.”
“……Senior Brother.”
“Let’s go. We should stop by the ancestral hall first and ask forgiveness. It would be even better if our master, who always used to thunder at us, were still alive to see this.”
The old man at the front wore a bitter expression as he started toward the gate. The others followed him through the wide-open entrance.
“Hmm. It looks like they’ve rebuilt the gate.”
“It seems so. The rumor that Mount Hua has made a fortune must be true.”
“Heh heh heh. So it is. A blessing for Mount Hua indeed.”
The old man laughed heartily as he stepped inside.
And then, all at once, he stopped.
His mouth fell open.
“W-What in the world……”
“Oh……?”
“……”
Those who entered after him likewise lost the ability to speak, their eyes darting wildly across their surroundings.
It was different.
Far too different from the Mount Hua they remembered.
“Where have all those collapsing halls gone……”
“Hasn’t more than half of this been rebuilt?”
“The stone paving is clearly bluestone, isn’t it? If they laid down something that expensive everywhere, just how much money did they spend……”
“H-Has Mount Hua changed this much?”
Everyone was too stunned to hide their agitation.
The last time they had seen Mount Hua, it had been a place that barely managed to survive by patching up its halls as they threatened to fall apart at any moment.
Most of the buildings had been so dilapidated they were practically unusable, and even the ones still standing leaked in the rain and were eaten through by insects. Worse, the buildings had become too fragile to touch, and there had been no money to repair them anyway.
But now……
How is this possible?
The newly built halls and the old structures blended together in perfect harmony.
If the Mount Hua of the past had been the very picture of a sect in decline, the Mount Hua before them now pulsed with living strength.
“Primordial Heavenly Lord……”
The old man at the front could not contain his emotions and murmured the Taoist salutation under his breath.
“Truly…… it’s a moving sight, Senior Brother.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
The old man at the front nodded, his expression overflowing with complicated feelings.
Yes. This was how a Taoist temple ought to be.
And now that the buildings had changed so completely, the disciples of Mount Hua must surely have changed as well……
That was when it happened.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
“I’m gonna die first thing in the morning, seriously!”
“Can’t someone just arrest that bastard? What the hell is the ghost doing?!”
“Hey. Aren’t you talking about Chung Myung?”
“What’s the difference?”
A series of loud shouts—no, screams—began to ring in their ears.
“Hm?”
Looking toward the source of the noise, they saw a group of youths in black training clothes racing madly forward, their lightness skill pushed to the limit.
“Uh……?”
Their faces were full of urgency, their lips clamped shut, and the sweat streaming down them made it clear just how hard they were running.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Some tumbled over because they couldn’t keep up with their speed, but none of the others stopped to help. They simply leapt over the fallen and raced onward on their own path.
And then.
A man who had been hopping along after them as lightly as though out for a morning stroll approached one of the fallen disciples and, without hesitation, kicked him hard in the ass.
“Aaaagh!”
The kicked disciple flew through the air and crashed down among the running group.
“Tch.”
The man who had kicked him swept back his loose hair and pulled his slightly undone hero’s headband tight again.
“Hm?”
Only then did he notice the people standing by the gate, and his brows drew together slightly. He then bowed politely from the waist toward them.
“What brings you to Mount Hua this early in the morning?”
Seeing that, they let out involuntary sounds of admiration.
What a striking young man.
He had all the bearing of a hero who would lead an era.
So there are people like this here, which is why Mount Hua has risen to fame again.
Excellent.
The old man nodded in satisfaction.
Of course, the odd spectacle they had just witnessed was a little puzzling, but if one looked at it generously, it could simply be seen as training taken to its utmost extreme, couldn’t it?
Watching that handsome face, that heroic bearing, and those bright, spirited eyes, he thought he knew exactly who this young man was.
“Yes. You must be the one whose name has recently shaken the entire world.”
“……Pardon?”
“There’s no need to be modest. You must be the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, Chung Myung, are you not?”
“……Nope.”
“Hm?”
“I’m Baek Cheon, a second-generation disciple of Mount Hua.”
“……Huh?”
The old man stared blankly at Baek Cheon.
From the twitching at the corners of his eyes and the faintly distorted line of his mouth, it seemed he really wasn’t Chung Myung.
“Ah…… my apologies. Then you must be the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua?”
“Yes, sir.”
“……”
The old man covered his mouth with his fist and gave a low cough.
“I-I see. Baek Cheon, the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua. I’ve heard much of you.”
“……Thank you.”
His expression was still not especially kind.
An awkward silence drifted between them.
Baek Cheon cleared his throat lightly and spoke.
“May I ask who you are, and what brings you to Mount Hua this early in the morning?”
“Ah, yes. Quite right. We should begin with the matter at hand.”
The old man smiled.
“Is Hyun Jong inside?”
At that instant, Baek Cheon’s face hardened.
He fixed the old man with a slightly angry glare.
It annoyed him that someone had come to Mount Hua and addressed the sect leader by name as though calling to some inferior underling, but if the other party was of such a status that he could do so, Baek Cheon could not act rashly.
“If I may be so bold, may I ask who you are?”
“That is a little difficult to say to you, child. Go and fetch Hyun Jong, and then you will understand everything.”
Baek Cheon silently looked at the old man and the others standing behind him. Then he said firmly,
“I understand what you’re saying, but that goes against Mount Hua’s rules. Visitors to Mount Hua cannot enter the sect or meet the sect leader unless they first state their identity.”
“Hahaha. Yes, yes. Quite so.”
Despite the sharpness of the reply, the old man only laughed with apparent delight.
“A correct answer. But that applies to outsiders. I am not an outsider to Mount Hua, so there is no need for me to follow that rule.”
“……Pardon?”
The old man quietly shook his head.
“I don’t have time for a long discussion with you. Go and bring Hyun Jong. Or any elder will do.”
Baek Cheon had no idea how to deal with the situation.
Just then, a voice he was glad to hear brushed past his ears.
“What is going on?”
“Ah, Elder!”
Baek Cheon brightened and spun around.
Hyun Young.
He was walking toward them with a puzzled expression.
“These people said they wanted to meet the sect leader without revealing who they are.”
“Who dares to act so rudely? And who are they?”
Hyun Young glared at the men with a somewhat displeased look.
“I’ve never seen…….”
Then he shut his mouth firmly.
His face began to harden more and more.
Baek Cheon watched him closely and was startled in turn. He had seen Hyun Young angry many times before, but never had he seen such a grave expression on his face.
On the other hand, the old man at the front only smiled faintly.
“It’s been a long time.”
“……”
Hyun Young glared at him without answering.
His eyes began to tremble ever so slightly.
After staring the old man down for a long while, he spat out the words as though chewing on them.
“What shamelessness do you have left to set foot in Mount Hua again?”
“Shamelessness, is it?”
The old man shook his head.
“Hearts return to the old mountain, do they not? Even the most spirited young man eventually grows old, and now that I have become an old man, I find myself missing my hometown.”
“Hometown?”
Hyun Young’s face twisted.
“And you dare call Mount Hua your hometown?”
At those words, the old man’s expression stiffened as well.
“Hyun Young.”
“Don’t call me like one of your juniors.”
“……”
“Whatever bond you had with Mount Hua was already severed long ago. So what are you coming back here to scavenge for now? Go back. If I haven’t already beaten you for this, I’ve done enough.”
“I need to meet Hyun Jong.”
“The sect leader is not some idle man who has time for this!”
In the end, Hyun Young raised his voice.
“What are you doing!”
“Yes?”
“Throw them out at once. And scatter salt after them!”
“……Elder.”
Baek Cheon hesitated for a moment, his face stiff.
The Mount Hua disciples who had stopped running upon hearing the commotion were already beginning to gather here and there.
“What’s going on?”
“Who knows?”
“Looks like Elder Hyun Young’s really angry.”
The angry voice of Hyun Young, sharp and clear, struck even the disciples approaching with confused expressions.
“I don’t know what you intend by coming here again, but so long as I’m here, things won’t go the way you want!”
“……I understand your feelings perfectly.”
“How dare you…….”
“But you should not forget something yourself. This is not a matter you can decide on your own. Isn’t that right?”
“……”
Hyun Young shut his mouth tightly. The old man smiled faintly and said,
“Please, go and call Hyun Jong. If he tells us to leave, I’ll turn back without another word.”
Hyun Young bit his lip.
He absolutely did not want to let these people meet the sect leader.
“I don’t know anything about that. If you don’t leave at once, I’ll……”
That was when it happened.
“What is it?”
At the voice from behind him, Hyun Young’s face twisted sharply. He turned around, and there was Hyun Jong, walking toward them with his hands clasped behind his back.
Of all people……
Before Hyun Young could do anything, Hyun Jong’s gaze settled on the old man.
He approached quietly, staring at him for a long moment before bowing his head slightly.
“It’s been a long time, Senior Brother.”
“……Yes. It truly has.”
When the old man spoke in a gentle voice, Hyun Young shouted again.
“Sect Leader! Calling them Senior Brother after they abandoned the sect? They were already erased from Mount Hua’s registry! Such a title is improper!”
Hyun Jong looked at Hyun Young and nodded calmly.
“So it is.”
“……”
“But I couldn’t think of any better way to address them, so do not blame me too harshly.”
“……Sect Leader.”
Hyun Jong looked at the old man with quiet eyes.
Hyun Dang.
His senior brother, and the former great senior disciple of the Hyun generation.
Had he not left Mount Hua of his own will, the sect leader standing here now would not have been Hyun Jong, but Hyun Dang.
“……You came as well, Senior Brother.”
“It has been a long time.”
Hyun Beop, who had been standing beside Hyun Dang, smiled and nodded.
Hyun Jong’s gaze drifted briefly to his disciples. Every one of them was watching this scene with hardened faces.
“……For now, please come inside. The morning air is cold. It would be better to speak indoors.”
“Very well.”
Hyun Jong slowly turned away. Hyun Young followed with obvious displeasure, while Hyun Dang’s group began walking with relaxed expressions.
Once they were finally out of earshot, the Mount Hua disciples swarmed around Baek Cheon.
“Sasuk!”
“Senior Brother, what on earth is going on?”
“……I don’t know. I also…….”
Baek Cheon began to answer, then closed his mouth.
His eyes had caught sight of their backs as they headed toward the sect leader’s residence.
What in the world is this?
The sect leader had clearly called that old man Senior Brother. Which meant those men must be members of the Hyun generation who had left Mount Hua in the past.
“Baek Sang.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
“……It looks like a major uproar is about to break out, so keep the disciples under control. From now on, the Baek and Cheong generation disciples of Mount Hua are forbidden from approaching the area around the sect leader’s residence. And if they’re given quarters, no one goes anywhere near them, either. Understood?”
“Yes, Senior Brother. I’ll keep them in line exactly as you said.”
Baek Cheon nodded heavily.
I don’t know.
Whether Chung Myung’s absence at a time like this was a blessing or a curse, he still couldn’t tell.