Have They All Gone Mad? (2)
Trickle, trickle.
Tea poured from the steaming kettle, half-filling the cup.
Hyun Jong quietly held the teacup out to the old man, Hyun Dang.
"Hmm."
Hyun Dang lifted the cup to his lips. The scent of the tea that drifted up his nose was as gentle and mellow as could be.
After taking a sip, Hyun Dang gave a deep nod.
"Your skill at brewing tea has improved even more."
"Do you remember the tea I used to make in the past?"
"Of course. How could I not? The taste of your tea was one of the things I never forgot in my life."
Hyun Jong wore a faint smile.
"You must have had quite a few regrets."
"……Yes. I suppose I did."
It was a mild conversation.
But the expressions of those watching it were anything but mild.
The Sect Leader’s quarters.
Hyun Jong sat in the seat of honor, with Hyun Sang and Hyun Young seated to his left and right.
Before the two elders, the Un-generation disciples, including Un Am and Un Geom, were arranged in a row, all facing inward.
On the opposite side of the seat of honor, Hyun Dang sat cross-legged, and behind him were the people he had brought with him.
A subtle standoff.
And then, silence.
The faint fragrance of tea was soft enough, but the air filling the room was far from gentle.
Apparently dissatisfied with the situation, Hyun Dang spoke first.
"You lot haven't aged at all."
"When something good happens, a person can grow young again even after aging, can they not?"
"Yes. I suppose so. A good thing, then."
Hyun Dang looked steadily at Hyun Jong as he spoke.
"Seeing how well that seat suits you, I can rest easy. Truth be told, I was rather worried."
"Ha!"
The moment he finished speaking, Hyun Young snorted.
Hyun Jong shot him a mild rebuke, and Hyun Young shut his mouth, but if left alone, he looked as though he might start cursing at any moment.
"Thank you for your concern."
"No, no. It is I who should be grateful that you have led Mount Hua so splendidly."
Hyun Young kept glaring at Hyun Dang with a thoroughly displeased face. Even Hyun Sang could only clear his throat again and again, unable to hide his discomfort.
"So then…"
Hyun Jong tried to shift the atmosphere.
"What brings you here?"
For a long while, Hyun Dang simply looked at Hyun Jong in silence.
"You have changed quite a bit."
"……."
"The you of old would not have asked so directly. You always used to circle around the matter and speak obliquely."
"Three whole changes of the river and mountains have passed since then. Is there any reason a person should not change?"
"Yes. That is true. And yet I had hoped that you alone might remain just as you were."
Hyun Jong did not answer.
It was a line that did not deserve a reply. And the one who needed to answer now was not him, but Hyun Dang.
"I believe you should answer my question."
"Yes. I suppose I should."
Hyun Dang let out a soft sigh and looked around at the people of Mount Hua.
"Thirty years ago, I left Mount Hua of my own accord."
"……."
"Because I thought Mount Hua had no future. No, to be more precise, I thought that with my own strength, I could not bring a declining Mount Hua back to life."
"Indeed you did."
"But as I grew older, my thoughts changed."
Hyun Dang wore a warm smile.
"I could not turn my back on the Mount Hua lodged in a corner of my heart. I thought time would make me forget it, but the Mount Hua within me only grew larger by the day."
Hyun Young gave a blatant snort.
"If you held out for thirty years, it couldn't have been all that big in the first place!"
"……Hyun Young."
"Yes. I know. I know."
At Hyun Jong's quiet rebuke, Hyun Young closed his mouth. But judging by the way his lips were still jutting out, his discomfort had hardly vanished.
Hyun Dang said calmly,
"Yes. What can I say? In the end, we are people who abandoned Mount Hua and left. If we are to be blamed, to be cursed at, then we must bear it."
Hyun Jong frowned slightly.
"You still have not answered my question."
"……I tried to forget Mount Hua as I lived in the world. I built up a foundation of my own, and life became less difficult. But the empty corner in my heart would not be filled. Then, in the midst of that, Mount Hua's name began to reach the place where I lived."
Hyun Sang bit his lip slightly.
'That bastard really has the gall…'
While those people had built their own foundations and lived comfortably, Hyun Jong had given everything he had to save Mount Hua.
If they thought about that even a little, they would never dare say such things in front of him.
"The moment I heard that Mount Hua was making a name for itself in the world again, I could no longer contain the regret I had buried away. So I came to Mount Hua with those who shared my thoughts and with their descendants."
Hyun Jong nodded slowly.
"I understand what you mean. But it still is not an answer."
"……What answer do you seek?"
"What is it that you intend to do in Mount Hua, martial uncle?"
Hyun Dang stared at Hyun Jong for a moment before speaking.
"What is there that I cannot do?"
"……."
"I am a sinner. By rights, I am not even someone who can set foot on Mount Hua's land. What more could I possibly ask for? If I can merely breathe in Mount Hua and become its fertilizer, that will be enough."
"Hmm."
"Everyone who came with me here has, in their own way, built up a life in the world and made use of their abilities. They will surely be of help to Mount Hua. So grant us the chance to become Mount Hua's ghosts. I want to live for Mount Hua until this old body breaks apart."
Hyun Jong let out a low sigh.
"Martial uncle…"
"What nonsense is this!"
At that moment, Hyun Young sprang to his feet and pointed a shaking finger at him.
"When Mount Hua was in such a sorry state that its halls were about to come crashing down, you didn't even show your face, and now, what? Mount Hua's ghosts? Do you even have a thing called conscience?"
"Hyun Young, calm yourself."
"How am I supposed to calm down, Martial Uncle! Can't you see how obvious these scoundrels are being? For thirty years, when Mount Hua looked like it might collapse at any moment, they ignored it completely, and now that Mount Hua is finally doing well, they've come sticking their asses out to snatch up whatever crumbs they can!"
Hyun Young shouted, hot breath flaring from his nostrils.
"I don't need to hear any more! Throw these damned fools out at once!"
"Hyun Young!"
And then it happened.
"I'm sorry, Sect Leader, but this time I agree with my junior brother."
"……."
Hyun Sang, his face completely hardened, stepped in to back Hyun Young.
"There is no need to think twice about it. They are the ones who left Mount Hua of their own feet. How can you speak of letting such people set foot on Mount Hua's land? Ghosts? Mount Hua does not need ghosts like them."
"……."
"You should send them back."
Hyun Jong lowered his gaze, frowning slightly as he closed his eyes.
Hyun Dang spoke again, softly.
"I fully understand how you feel. As your martial uncle…"
"How can a wretch like you call himself our martial uncle!"
"Hyun Young!"
"No, Sect Leader! Just listen to the way he talks! How can a man who cut ties and left ever be martial uncle to us?"
"Enough."
Hyun Jong stopped him with a wave of his hand.
Seeing clearly that this was Hyun Jong's own discomfort speaking, Hyun Young could only let out a pained groan and clamp his mouth shut.
Hyun Jong said in a heavy voice,
"……I understand what you are saying. But this is all far too sudden to decide here and now."
"Yes. That is only natural."
"I will have quarters prepared for you, so please rest. You must be tired from climbing the mountain."
"Very well."
Hyun Dang smiled faintly.
Hyun Jong turned his head and looked at Un Am.
"Un Am."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"See that they are given Cheongmae Hall and have a meal prepared for them."
"……Understood."
Un Am rose to his feet.
"This way, please."
"Yes."
As Hyun Dang and the others got up from their seats, Un Am silently left the room.
After Un Am and the group had gone, Hyun Dang, who was the last one left in the room, turned his head slightly and looked at Hyun Jong.
"I'm sorry for appearing before you again without shame."
"……."
"But I hope you will at least recognize the sincerity I bear toward Mount Hua."
Hyun Jong nodded without a word.
With a faint, unreadable smile, Hyun Dang left the room.
"Sect Leader!"
The moment he was gone, Hyun Young raised his voice.
"Wait."
"But—!"
"I said wait."
"Cough!"
Hyun Jong let out a long sigh before speaking.
"I am sorry, but would you clear the room? I have something to discuss with the elders."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
The Un-generation disciples filling the room all rose in a clamor and went outside. Once only the elders remained, Hyun Jong idly stroked his teacup before speaking.
"What do you think?"
"What is there to think about? It's a damned scheme!"
Hyun Young exploded at once.
"Now that Mount Hua's reputation has risen, they're trying to come sniffing around and get something out of it. How dare they show their faces here so shamelessly?"
"I agree, Sect Leader."
Hyun Sang, who usually never took Hyun Young's side, openly sided with him this time.
"It is impossible to see this as a visit made with good intentions. Judging from their clothes, they are not poor people. Isn't the reason obvious? They ignored Mount Hua when our disciples were eating roots to survive, and now that we are finally doing well, they've come showing their faces."
"And!"
Hyun Young ground his teeth and added,
"Even if they did come with good intentions, it would be the same. They are people who abandoned Mount Hua and turned their backs on it. Remorse? Remorse? It is not as if remorse alone can make everything forgivable!"
Hyun Jong sighed.
"I also do not think your words are wrong."
"Then expel them now, Sect Leader!"
"Let us wait on that a little."
"Why?"
Hyun Jong shook his head.
"Have you forgotten? Mount Hua can no longer afford, as it once did, to ignore the way others look at us."
"……."
"If they leave Mount Hua like this, busybodies will go around saying that Mount Hua mistreated its old elders."
"How can that make any sense?"
"It makes no sense at all. But since when did busybodies ever pursue the truth?"
"……."
"We cannot hand food to those who are dying to tear Mount Hua down. At least for a few days, let us feed them well, treat them well, and then see them out."
Hyun Young let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"I understand the Sect Leader's intention, but I don't think this will end so simply. Will people who came here with a plan really back off that easily?"
"We must at least try."
Hyun Jong spoke in a subdued voice. Then he let out a weary sigh.
'Bad luck always follows good fortune, they say.'
When good things happen, trouble is sure to tag along. Still, he had never imagined something like this would happen.
'How suffocating.'
The sigh Hyun Jong exhaled seemed to fill the whole room.
"……Martial uncle."
"Hmm?"
"Isn't Hyun Jong being unusually firm?"
At Hyun Beop's words, Hyun Dang smiled faintly.
"So it seems."
"I thought he'd flatten himself the moment martial uncle came calling, but seeing that weak little worm sitting in the seat of honor and acting all superior makes my guts twist. That seat was supposed to be yours, wasn't it?"
"Now, now. Lower your voice."
Hyun Dang gave him a subtle warning.
"This is Mount Hua."
"As if that's saying much. It's not exactly full of anything but children, is it?"
"That is true enough."
Hyun Dang smiled crookedly and looked over Mount Hua. It was as if everything here would soon fall into his hands.
"He may act like he has backbone, but a man's nature cannot be hidden forever. Hyun Jong will end up accepting us. Soon more people will arrive in Mount Hua and pressure him, so he won't have a choice."
"That's right, martial uncle."
"Mount Hua may have escaped ruin by heaven's grace and taken in good disciples, but if a timid man like Hyun Jong remains Sect Leader, it will never recover its former glory. So we must help."
"Of course."
Hyun Dang curled the corners of his mouth upward.
"Until the time is ripe, there is nothing wrong with bowing one's head a little. For now, restoring our status is what comes first. So make sure none of you do anything rash."
"Yes."
"Good. Let us go."
Hyun Dang laughed as he looked at Un Am's back far ahead of them.
He had naturally expected that they would not greet him with unalloyed warmth. But that would not last long.
'I need to take back my place.'
For that.
And for Mount Hua.
A hearty laugh burst from the old man's lips.
Everything would return to the proper order.
Yes. The proper order.