I Am Mount Hua’s Third-Generation Disciple, Chung Myung (4)
"Uuugh……."
"Grrr……."
They looked like nothing so much as a band of defeated soldiers.
No—come to think of it, even soldiers returning from the battlefield probably wouldn’t be reduced to something this tattered.
Hyun Dang bit down hard on his lip as he watched the household retainers supporting one another while staggering their way down the mountain.
"H-hic!"
Beside him, Hyun Beop—who had been leaning on a wooden stick as he walked—lost his balance and toppled face-first onto the ground.
"Guh. Ngh……."
For a long while after that, he simply clutched his waist and groaned.
"Good heavens……. How can such a thing exist in this world!"
Hyun Dang ground his teeth until he could taste blood, watching Hyun Beop howl in bitter rage.
"I know the sect’s discipline has been turned upside down, but…… this is beyond reason. Beyond reason……."
Hyun Beop looked almost senseless. It was obvious enough from his hollow muttering and vacant eyes.
And honestly, who could blame him?
If they had simply been beaten down and driven out by a Hyun-generation elder, it wouldn’t have felt nearly this humiliating. But the one who had pounded them into the dirt was a child who had not even been born when they were still in Mount Hua.
Who could possibly understand the mind of a man beaten and driven off by someone young enough to be his grandchild?
"Say something, sahyung! You said everything would be fine once we reached Mount Hua!"
"Shut up!"
Murderous intent spilled from Hyun Dang in waves.
Startled by the pressure, Hyun Beop shrank his neck.
"Damn it……."
Hyun Dang’s face was twisted like that of a demon.
"Those dog-shit bastards…… so this is how they want to play it?"
"Mount Hua is finished. There’s no doctrine there anymore, and no propriety either. They’re nothing more than a band of rogues. People even joke and call Mount Hua the Mount Hua stronghold nowadays, and honestly, it fits."
Hyun Beop’s complaint was thick with indignation and grievance. A cold light flashed in Hyun Dang’s eyes. Grinding his teeth, he said in a low voice,
"If they treat us this way, then we have no choice but to treat them the same."
Hyun Beop swallowed dryly at the venom in his voice.
"Do you have a way?"
"……."
Hyun Dang stared wordlessly at the distant mountains before speaking like he was spitting out the words.
"We’ll go to Shaolin."
"……S-Shaolin?"
Hyun Beop exclaimed in surprise. But Hyun Dang looked perfectly serious.
Shaolin.
"Shaolin was shamed by Mount Hua. Of course they’d bear a grudge against them. We can use that to our advantage."
"Ah……."
Hyun Beop nodded.
It was certainly the kind of situation that could become controversial.
After all, weren’t they former seniors of the sect, beaten by a young Mount Hua disciple and thrown out in disgrace?
"If this spreads through the jianghu, some will blame Mount Hua and some will blame us. But if we’re being honest, no one from another sect will care all that much about some incident that happened elsewhere. It’ll just become convenient drinking talk."
"Yes."
"But if Shaolin steps in afterward, that changes everything. Shaolin has the influence to blow this wide open. And they can use us to pressure Mount Hua."
Hyun Beop fell silent.
Shaolin certainly had the power to do that.
But there was one thing that still troubled him.
"But…… sahyung. If we do that, then we’ll truly be making Mount Hua our enemy."
Hyun Dang shot him a knife-like glare.
"What of it?"
"……."
"They were the ones who abandoned us. A parent who abandons their child has no right to demand filial piety from that child. Why should we concern ourselves with Mount Hua after Mount Hua cast us aside?"
"You’re right, sahyung."
Hyun Beop nodded vigorously.
At that moment, he cast away even the last trace of hesitation.
"I can’t stand the sight of those uncouth bastards running around the jianghu while wearing Mount Hua’s face. Even if I have to rip out the very foundation stones of Mount Hua, I’ll put everything back where it belongs."
In truth, both Hyun Beop and Hyun Dang knew the reality.
It had been they who had tried to wear Mount Hua’s face, not the other way around.
But now that things had come to this, it no longer mattered. They had already tied up every loose end in order to climb Mount Hua. They couldn’t possibly return with nothing to show for it.
"But will Shaolin really use us?"
"From Shaolin’s perspective, there’s no downside. It would be good for them if Mount Hua fell, and even better if they could use us to lead Mount Hua instead. More importantly, we have something they can use—our justification."
"Justification, you say……."
"Even a flimsy justification will do."
Hyun Dang cut him off sharply.
"That’s what justification is. Even a perfect one is useless in the hands of the weak, but a flimsy one can become stronger than anything when held by the powerful. Shaolin has the power to turn our justification into truth."
Hyun Beop nodded.
"Then we should head straight for Song Mountain."
"Yes."
Hyun Dang turned to look back up the mountain.
"Hyun Jong…… and Chung Myung!"
Gritting his teeth until they creaked, Hyun Dang clutched his face. The place Chung Myung had struck throbbed fiercely, and he could barely bear it.
"I’ll make sure…… I’ll make sure I see the day you bastards fall into hell! I swear it!"
Rabid fury burned in his eyes.
At that murderous pressure, Hyun Beop swallowed hard.
Stupid Taoist bastards.
They might have strength, but in the end they were nothing but frail and foolish. If they were going to make enemies of people like this, they should have done the job properly from the start.
The reason Hyun Dang and Hyun Beop had been able to climb Mount Hua without much concern in the first place was precisely because of that weakness. Nowhere else would they have dared act like this, but Mount Hua? They had assumed there was no way they would lose their lives there.
If you were going to send them away, you should have done it with a smile. If you were going to strike, you should have left no room for retaliation.
Now they’ll feel that truth in their bones.
The moment Hyun Beop was about to let a triumphant smile spread across his face—
"Wow. This mountain really is steep."
Huh?
At the sudden voice, Hyun Beop jerked his head around.
A group of people was climbing up the mountain path.
Beggars?
Seeing their ragged appearance, Hyun Beop tilted his head.
What kind of beggar would be climbing a mountain? There was nowhere in these harsh peaks to beg for alms anyway.
Beggars and mountains.
Was there any combination less fitting than that?
Are they going to Mount Hua?
Ordinary beggars wouldn’t have any reason to go there, so were they members of the Beggars’ Sect?
Before Hyun Beop could even finish sorting through the questions in his head, the Beggars’ Sect men climbing the path drew near.
A chill suddenly crawled up his spine, and he tensed all over as he guarded against them.
The direction…….
They weren’t passing by.
Instead, the beggars slowly split to the left and right around Hyun Dang’s group, moving to either side of them.
As if they were surrounding them.
"W-why……."
Hyun Beop panicked, darting his gaze from side to side as he watched them.
They’re not ordinary beggars.
The sturdy bodies visible beneath their filthy rags, the cold and steady eyes—they were nothing like the beggars one might see in the market streets.
The instant Hyun Beop realized something had gone badly wrong, he was just about to speak—
"That’s a pretty long road to Song Mountain."
"……."
From the front.
Along the path the beggars had come up, a man strolled slowly into view.
"Man, do you think you can really make it all the way to Shaolin in that condition?"
He heard us?
Hyun Beop’s eyes trembled violently.
The beggar who had spoken to them a moment ago was, on the surface, utterly unremarkable. Unlike the others who had come up first, he was the kind of man who could sit on a street corner and blend into the crowd without anyone giving him a second glance.
But there was one thing that set him apart.
His eyes.
Those cold, flat eyes were so chilling they made the others around him seem like children by comparison.
"W-what is the meaning of this?"
Hyun Dang shouted, clearly flustered.
"There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. We were just on our way down the mountain……."
"Hyun Dang."
"……."
"Your name is Ha U-ryang. Thirty years ago, you left Mount Hua and settled in Honan. In Honan, you ran a escort agency and posed publicly as the chief escort, but in reality, you were a salt merchant dealing in smuggled salt."
Hyun Dang’s eyes flew wide open.
"Am I wrong?"
"……Y-you……."
"Looks like I’m not."
The man shrugged.
"There’s more I dug up, but I don’t think there’s any need to brag about it here."
Though he was smiling, there was a glacial chill in his gaze.
"The important thing is not who you are. It’s that you tried to spit on the Mount Hua I claimed first, and now you’re trying to ruin it, right?"
Cold sweat broke out along Hyun Dang’s back.
Anyone who lived in the jianghu had to understand one thing.
You could make enemies with anyone in the world, but never with beggars.
Who were the most terrifying people in the world?
Those with nothing to lose.
And the place where those people gathered was the Beggars’ Sect.
People only saw the Beggars’ Sect’s surface—their talk of righteousness and chivalry. But how could a sect of a hundred thousand beggars be truly righteous all the way through?
The Beggars’ Sect was the most chivalrous place in the world and, at the same time, the one that gathered the most dangerous people in the world.
"I was already planning to put things to rights even without a request……."
The man lifted a hand and rubbed the top of his own head.
"……but I even got chewed out for not properly identifying the bastards climbing Mount Hua. Me, Hong Dae-gwang."
At that, the beggars surrounding them all began to snicker.
"Looks like these days they use fists to serve up insults."
"I could’ve sworn I saw someone take a kick, too."
"Boss, you’re in rather a shabby state there."
"Shut it. You filthy beggar bastards!"
Hong Dae-gwang barked the words out, then looked over Hyun Dang’s group with a roguish smile.
"Anyway, the point is this: if a man makes a mistake, he should at least clean up the mess properly. I don’t particularly want to disappoint that demon bastard any more than he already is."
Hong Dae-gwang smiled broadly.
"If you lot go to Shaolin like this, all you’ll be doing is helping the idiots who already have a line to Shaolin. Unfortunately for you, I’ve got a line to Mount Hua."
There was laughter in his voice, thick with amusement.
But to Hyun Dang and Hyun Beop, it sounded utterly sinister.
"Know what beggars hate most?"
"……."
"Losing their livelihood. And right now, you’re trying to cut off mine."
Hyun Dang’s trembling eyes shot around wildly.
From the sleeves of the beggars surrounding them, eerie blades began to poke out.
Short daggers.
Sharply honed iron spikes.
Even long sickles.
Then, with mocking chuckles, they slowly began tightening the encirclement.
Hyun Dang’s household retainers shuddered and huddled together in the center. Fear had started to glisten in their eyes.
"Tsk, tsk. You should’ve at least learned to read the room before causing trouble. You picked a fight with that demon when you didn’t have the slightest clue what you were doing. Of course you’ve got to pay the price."
Hong Dae-gwang gave a subtle nod of his chin. The beggars lunged at Hyun Dang’s group with chilling eyes.
"We’re not killing them."
Crunch. Crunch.
Chung Myung said it indifferently as he chewed on a mooncake.
"But……."
"The beggar bastards do go overboard sometimes, sure, but they’ve got enough sense to stop short of murder. They won’t kill them. They’ll just make sure they’re terrified."
"Hmm."
Hyun Young listened to Chung Myung’s explanation with a serious expression.
"And they’ll probably just tie them up and toss them somewhere near the border. They won’t be allowed to go anywhere near Shaolin for the rest of their lives. If they’re really skilled, maybe they could dodge the eyes of every beggar scattered across the world and still make it to Shaolin—but I doubt those old men have that kind of talent."
Hyun Young nodded, seeming to think that made sense.
"Still, they’re probably angry, so you should expect a few cuts from sickles or a beating with a flail."
"……."
Watching Chung Myung grin, Hyun Young let out a sigh and nodded.
"In any case, you’ve suffered a great deal."
"No, not really. Just a bunch of gnats, that’s all. Tch."
"Keep anything related to the Beggars’ Sect secret from the sect leader."
"Hey. I’m not a kid."
Chung Myung snickered. Hyun Young nodded and fell into thought.
The one who led a sect could not be a person of nothing but integrity and righteousness. If someone showed righteousness openly, then someone else had to know how to work in the shadows.
In the past, that had been Hyun Young’s role.
But now…….
"Will you be all right?"
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"You’ve given too much to Mount Hua. But that glory……."
Chung Myung waved a hand emphatically, cutting Hyun Young off.
"Elder, you worry too much about stupid little things. If I wanted something like that, I’d have already pocketed everything by now. Do you think you don’t know me?"
"……Yes. I suppose so."
Hyun Young smiled faintly.
"Then how about I feed you some meat in place of what you didn’t get to keep? I’ll make Dongpo pork for you after such a long time."
"What about alcohol? What about alcohol?"
"Go fetch one of the bottles I hid."
"Hehe. So you knew? I thought I’d hidden it well."
"Let’s go."
"Yes."
Watching Chung Myung’s back as he walked ahead, Hyun Young smiled with a strange warmth in his chest.
Then he quickened his steps a little and moved up beside Chung Myung, pressing a hand firmly onto his shoulder.
"Ow."
"Yes, yes."
The smile at the corner of Hyun Young’s mouth only grew wider.
Sunlight poured down brightly over the backs of the old man and the young one as they trudged toward the dining hall.