What’s So Amazing About That? (5)
"What are you talking about? Give me the details!"
As Chung Myung pressed him, Baek Sang’s face went deathly pale and he blurted out in a rush, "A g-ghost appeared!"
"I asked what the hell that means."
"People going to the latrine saw a pale, w-wraith-like thing drifting around! And not just one person—two people today alone!"
"...So?"
"So? I’m saying it was a ghost!"
The more Baek Sang spoke, the more Chung Myung’s face soured.
"Sasuk."
"What?"
"What exactly are you?"
"Me? I’m... a Daoist priest."
"You idiot!"
Chung Myung kicked Baek Sang cleanly in the backside.
"Kyaaah!"
With a bizarre shriek, Baek Sang rolled away across the ground.
"Listen to yourself! You call yourselves Daoists? And you’re scared of a ghost? If a ghost shows up, you’re the ones supposed to exorcise it, not freak out like this!"
What kind of place was a Daoist sect supposed to be?
It was a place where one cultivated the Dao as an individual, and beyond that, relieved the people’s suffering and followed the principles of all creation to drive away every evil and unnatural thing.
In other words—
"Wudang bastards make money by going around performing rites for the ghost-haunted! And you’re all so-called Daoists who’re crying over seeing a ghost? If you’re the ones afraid of ghosts, then who the hell is supposed to catch them, huh? Who!"
Chung Myung spat out the words as if he were about to choke on his own frustration.
"And what, is it just Daoists here? Where the hell did that monk go?"
"M-Monk Hye Yeon?"
"Yeah!"
"W-Well... after hearing that a ghost had appeared, he locked his door and started chanting sutras...."
"...So he’s really just sitting there chanting."
Chung Myung covered his forehead with one hand, looking as though his head hurt.
"You’ve got this many Daoists here and even a monk, and not one of them is any use. Damn, what a cursed life I’ve got."
Honestly, a cat being afraid of a mouse would be more understandable. Since when did Daoists run off screaming after seeing a ghost?
"Are you all running on empty or something? Want me to whip you into shape properly?"
"Then we’d lose even more energy...."
"I’ll rip your mouth off!"
"Nngh."
The disciples who had rushed over like they’d seen a savior all flinched and shrank back at Chung Myung’s murderous glare. He clicked his tongue in disgust.
"What, there are no such things as ghosts in the world... no, hold on."
Come to think of it, wasn't he basically a ghost himself?
"Huh?"
In the past, Chung Myung would have snorted at the very mention of ghosts, but after everything he’d been through, it wasn’t exactly something he could dismiss out of hand.
"A ghost, huh."
When Baek Cheon muttered in disbelief, Yoon Jong narrowed his eyes.
"Come to think of it, when this manor was first purchased, weren’t we able to get it cheap because there was supposed to be a ghost here?"
"T-That’s right."
"It’s not nonsense. For a manor in such a prime location to have been left abandoned all this time—that’s not something that happens easily. And besides, didn’t two people say they saw it?"
"...So are you saying there really is a ghost?"
Baek Cheon tilted his head over and over in doubt.
Even so, a ghost in broad daylight? In this enlightened age?
"S-Saemme, what do you think...?"
When Baek Cheon turned around, he found himself a little flustered. Yu I-seol’s figure, which was normally a couple of steps behind, was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did she...?"
He didn’t get to finish.
There she was, hugging the entrance of Hwayeong Gate and inching backward in tiny steps.
"...What are you doing?"
At Baek Cheon’s question, Yu I-seol muttered with her usual deadpan expression.
"Ghost."
"... "
"Won’t stick to sword. Can’t beat it. Scary."
"... "
Baek Cheon looked up at the sky with a sorrowful face.
There isn’t a single normal person here.
Those words could be interpreted in more ways than one.
On the surface, she meant that a ghost was scary because a sword wouldn’t pierce it, but taken another way, it meant that if something could be pierced by a sword, then there was nothing to fear.
No wonder she always looked like she had guts bigger than the sky.
"Baek Sang."
"Yes, Sasuk."
"Who exactly was it that saw this ghost?"
"Yes. One was a disciple from Hwayeong Gate. He was so shocked we’ve had him resting in his room."
"And the other?"
"Me."
"... "
"... "
Baek Cheon covered his face with both hands.
There really isn’t a normal person in this whole sect.
No, wait. This bastard used to seem at least somewhat normal. How the hell had he deteriorated this badly?
Then again.
How many people at Mount Hua hadn’t been broken by now?
With a sigh, Baek Cheon asked, "Tell me exactly what you saw."
"Yes, Sasuk! I was on my way to the latrine, and I suddenly felt this chill, so I looked up."
"Go on."
"And then something pale flashed right past me! The instant I saw it, I knew—this was a ghost. And then chills just shot all over my body!"
"And then?"
"That was it."
"... "
"... "
Baek Cheon stared at Baek Sang in utter emptiness, then unconsciously curled one fist tightly.
"...Please calm down, Sasuk."
"I’d like to."
I’d like to, damn it!
Forcing himself to breathe and steady his temper, Baek Cheon glanced around. Chung Myung had already shouted everyone down once, so they had calmed a little, but worry still lingered on every face.
"Is there no chance it wasn’t a ghost? Some master of light footwork too quick for the eye to follow, perhaps?"
"Humans can’t do that. It wasn’t just fast, it was that pale thing... and it seemed half-transparent, too. More than anything, I felt a truly eerie presence."
"...Hmm."
Baek Cheon let out a low hum, his expression turning thoughtful.
Baek Sang was now part of the Finance Hall, but he’d once been one of the more capable disciples in the Baek generation. He wasn’t the kind of man to exaggerate foolishly.
There was no way he’d been so frightened that he hallucinated the whole thing.
Is there really a ghost?
Baek Cheon stared blankly at the buildings.
Was it just his imagination?
Hwayeong Gate’s halls somehow did look more sinister than usual.
And yet the new buildings they’d raised with their own hands couldn’t have aged that quickly.
"What do we do, Chung Myung?"
"Do what?"
"They say a ghost is appearing."
"So?"
"...No, I mean, it’s a ghost."
At Baek Cheon’s words, Chung Myung snorted.
"What’s the problem with a ghost? If it can be pierced, it can be pierced—nothing to be scared of. If it can’t be pierced, then it can’t hit me either, so what’s there to fear?"
"... "
That’s... strangely airtight logic.
Chung Myung waved a hand as if swatting away a nuisance.
"If you’ve got time to worry about useless crap like that, swing your sword one more time. Ghost my ass."
With those blunt words, he ambled inside, and the remaining disciples kept glancing back and forth between his retreating figure and the buildings with anxious eyes.
"Uh, what do we do, Sasuk?"
"Huh?"
Jo Gul, his face somewhat pale, spoke up.
"That bastard Chung Myung probably doesn’t have anything to worry about. Ghosts wouldn’t take him away."
Compared to a wandering ghost in this world and a demon crawled up from hell, wasn’t the ghost the one that came out the loser?
A ghost with enough sense to know better—to find a different meal—would never mess with Chung Myung.
"But we’re not like him. What are we supposed to do if we run into it?"
"...Is there anyone here who knows how to do an exorcism?"
"Does Mount Hua even have that?"
"... "
Well... maybe they might have, in the old days.
"Shouldn’t we call in a Daoist priest or something?"
"We’re the Daoists, so who the hell are we supposed to call, you lunatic?"
"No, I mean... not Daoists like us who only know how to use swords, but proper Daoists."
"...Jo Gul."
"Yes, Sasuk!"
"Get a grip. Unless you want to get hit."
"Yes, sir."
Baek Cheon sighed.
The Mount Hua disciples had been harried by Chung Myung so relentlessly that they’d long since lost their fear of people, but dealing with ghosts was an entirely different matter.
He cleared his throat loudly to restore some order.
"In any case, there’s no such thing as ghosts in this world."
"... "
He sounded calm enough, but the entire Mount Hua contingent felt like crying on the inside.
You’re not convincing anyone when you’re saying that with a face that pale...
Still, Baek Cheon pressed on stubbornly.
"Even so, in the off chance—no, in the ten-thousandth chance—something does happen, from now on don’t go anywhere alone. Move in pairs at minimum. If things stay quiet for a few days, we’ll assess the situation again."
"Yes, Sasuk."
"Understood, Sasuk."
After saying that, Baek Cheon cast one more look toward the buildings and shook his head.
"Hah, as if."
Yet there was a vague shadow of unease on his face.
But contrary to his expectations, the commotion didn’t end nearly as easily as that.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Late that night.
At the sudden scream, the doors of the buildings burst open all at once.
"W-What is it!"
"An intruder?"
Everyone threw on their shoes as fast as they could and unleashed full-speed light-footwork, racing toward the source of the scream.
"Sasuk!"
"Huh?"
And what they found was Cheong Bong, lying on the ground with foam at his mouth.
"Bong-ah! Pull yourself together!"
"K-kh... gh... g-ghost...."
Half his eyes rolled back as he pointed into the air with trembling fingers.
"Gh. Gho... gh...."
"I said get a hold of yourself!"
"...Grrr...."
Thwack!
Just as he was about to let go of consciousness entirely, a fierce flick to the forehead landed with a crisp crack. It sounded like a walnut splitting open.
"Aaagh!"
"What kind of Daoist passes out just because he saw a ghost? Are you insane?"
The half-conscious Cheong Bong clutched his forehead and rolled on the ground.
Chung Myung looked down at him with utter contempt.
"Honestly, all of you are pathetic."
"Ch-Chung Myung."
"You gonna get up or what?"
At Chung Myung’s bark, Cheong Bong sprang to his feet as though he had never fallen over at all and snapped into a rigid stance.
My God. He actually slapped a fainting man awake.
Creative. Definitely creative.
While everyone marveled, Chung Myung asked Cheong Bong, "What did you see?"
"I-I told you, it was a ghost!"
"I’m asking what the ghost looked like."
"W-Well, it was some pale thing... no, maybe it was reddish... huh? Was it transparent?"
"What the hell kind of eyes are you carrying around? Are they stuffed with holes?"
"I-It happened so fast...."
"Shut up. Don’t talk while you’re lying."
Chung Myung kicked Cheong Bong in the backside again and let out a sigh.
"And I’m supposed to believe these idiots."
Still, even he had begun to feel a sliver of doubt this time. He narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.
It wasn’t just one or two people who saw it, huh?
On top of that, the witnesses’ accounts were remarkably similar.
The details differed, but the conclusion was the same: some pale thing had flashed across their field of vision, just like that.
Then Yoon Jong spoke up quietly from beside him.
"Could it maybe be one of the Mounts from Jongnam messing around?"
"No."
But Chung Myung shook his head flatly.
"They don’t have the ability for that. You need skill to pull a prank, too."
"Hmm."
Just to be safe, he had spread his senses everywhere, but nothing was coming up. If the Mounts from Jongnam had really been up to something, Chung Myung would’ve caught them before they even crossed the gate.
What the hell is going on?
Even Chung Myung couldn’t reach a conclusion easily.
"I-it really isn't a ghost?"
"If this many people saw it, then it’s a ghost, plain and simple!"
"Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha."
"Who the hell keeps chanting Buddha’s name? We’re Daoists, damn it!"
"Then chant a Daoist invocation, not that!"
The disciples, unable to hide their fear, started saying whatever came to mind.
"Yeah! Buddhist chants are for monks. Speaking of which, where’s Monk Hye Yeon?"
"He’s... locked the door and won’t come out."
"That guy’s seriously timid."
"One whack with Vast Power of Non-Existence and even a ghost would run."
As the area grew noisy and chaotic, Chung Myung’s face twisted with annoyance.
"Everybody shut up for once!"
Chung Myung spoke decisively.
"What ghost? There’s no such thing as ghosts in this world! And if it really were a ghost, it wouldn’t have gone missing all this time only to suddenly pop out like this. This is definitely someone’s dirty trick."
"You said it wasn’t Jongnam. So who’s supposed to be behind it?"
"That’s what we’re going to find out now."
Chung Myung ground his teeth.
"I don’t know which bastard is pulling this cheap little stunt, but I’ll make sure he realizes he picked the wrong people to mess with!"
"What if it really is a ghost?"
"No blade has ever been powerless against a beating. Ghost or not, I’ll beat the hell out of it and that’s the end of it."
At Chung Myung’s resolute tone, the Mount Hua disciples all felt a fresh surge of admiration.
That was Chung Myung, all right.
Ghost or no ghost, that bastard made everything else meaningless!
Then they could just trust him—
"Though."
"Hm?"
"...Does anyone here know how to draw talismans?"
"... "
"I mean, just in case."
Baek Cheon and the other disciples stared at Chung Myung with blank faces.
...Hey.
So you’re scared too, huh?
You bastard?