Ghosts Die, and People Get Wrecked (5)
"Huuuuuuunng."
A pleased little hum drifted out, the kind that would sound pleasant to anyone who heard it.
But among those listening, there was not a single soul who could truly enjoy the situation.
"So this is..."
At the tip of Chung Myung’s fingers, a pattern no bigger than a child’s fist glimmered. The jade-green object, as if carved from polished jade, kept shifting colors every time the light touched it.
"Th-then..."
Gye Hyeong, who had been fidgeting the entire time, crept cautiously toward Chung Myung.
"P-please return i—"
"Stop right there."
He flinched.
"Back up."
The words had barely left Chung Myung’s mouth before Gye Hyeong jumped backward in alarm.
"Sit."
Clack.
"Hand."
"Hey, you maniac!"
Bang!
Baek Cheon lunged without warning and kicked Chung Myung. Sent flying like a ball, Chung Myung spun once in midair and landed neatly on the ground. Then he scowled and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"What the hell!"
"Are you training a damn dog?! There are things you do to people and things you don't, you bastard!"
"It's fun."
"Grrr. That bastard really..."
Baek Cheon scratched his head furiously, then turned to look at Gye Hyeong.
How did it come to this?
Just looking at Gye Hyeong, who had slumped to the ground with a dazed expression like a loyal retainer whose country had fallen, filled him with pity.
There was no limit to how badly things could go wrong, but this was another level entirely.
Of all people, the Sect Leader’s Token had ended up in that demon’s hands.
This was not something that could be described as a disaster. It was a catastrophe beyond catastrophe.
The Mount Hua disciples who had unknowingly helped create that catastrophe all groaned under the weight of their guilt.
"Hehehehehe."
Whether he understood their feelings or not, Chung Myung only snickered as he looked at the Sect Leader’s Token in his hand.
What’s the big deal?
The Sect Leader’s Token.
It was absurd that a single stone token could symbolize the authority of an entire sect, but... what could they do? That was reality.
This is all because people are the problem.
No matter how many trials and steady evaluations, no matter how carefully they were selected through decades of aptitude tests, a sect leader would still sometimes lose his mind the moment no one remained who could stop him. In fact, it happened all too often.
In a place like Mount Hua, where the elders could still somehow drag the sect leader back from the edge, perhaps it was different. But in most sects, especially the smaller ones, the authority of the sect leader could swallow the elders whole.
Once that happened, an uncontrollable absolute power would inevitably spiral out of control.
And the thing made to prevent that was the Sect Leader’s Token.
Most were kept with an elder council or some other body capable of checking the sect leader, a device meant to keep whoever held power from losing the thread of reason.
The intention is fine. The intention.
But wasn’t it human nature to create things for good reasons, only to use them for bad ones?
No matter why it had been made, merely holding this object meant holding the power of life and death over an entire sect and its disciples.
In other words, it was a treasure that granted absolute, unchecked authority.
So in the end, it was the sect leaders themselves who ended up holding it.
And now the Ghost Sect’s treasure was in Chung Myung’s hands.
"Tch."
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"Getting the Sect Leader’s Token is nice and all... but what kind of sect is this, anyway? Are you guys so poor there isn’t anything worth money in the warehouse besides this?"
At his mocking tongue-click, Gye Hyeong stared at him with the expression of a man watching the world collapse.
What a bastard. He’s not even fit to wipe with a rag.
What?
He had hijacked another sect’s Sect Leader’s Token while laughing about it, and now what was he saying?
Money?
Mo-ney?
Heaven really doesn’t care, does it?
What had the Ghost Sect ever done to deserve this trial?
They might wander around pretending to be ghosts, but if you looked at it honestly, there probably weren’t many sects as decent as the Ghost Sect.
The saying that good people are rewarded was nothing but a lie.
"So."
"...Yes."
Chung Myung idly swung the Sect Leader’s Token in one hand and asked Gye Hyeong,
"You feel wronged?"
"..."
Did he really need to say that out loud? Did he?
"But there’s no reason to feel wronged. If you think about it, it’s your fault for dumping the Sect Leader’s Token somewhere like this and not taking care of it. To be blunt, what sect manages its Sect Leader’s Token like this?"
The Green Jade Staff, the Sect Leader’s Token of Shaolin, never left the hands of Shaolin’s abbot.
When the abbot set it down, it was stored in the Darma Cave at the deepest heart of Shaolin, guarded around the clock by Shaolin’s arhat monks.
They had dumped their Sect Leader’s Token in an unguarded place and failed to manage it properly, so this wasn’t the sort of thing they could complain about being robbed of.
"...There were circumstances."
"Of course there were circumstances. And now you need the Sect Leader’s Token again, right?"
"That is correct."
Gye Hyeong nodded with a hollow look, as if he had already let go of everything.
"Well. I’ve got no reason to care about those circumstances."
Chung Myung grinned and taunted him by waving the Sect Leader’s Token in front of his face.
"So what are you going to do?"
"...Pardon?"
"I had my own trouble getting this, so I can’t just hand it back for free, can I?"
Gye Hyeong’s eyes flew wide open. Color returned to his face.
He was giving it back?
So this demon really wasn’t the true devil after all. He was going to return it, then!
But the hope that had bloomed in Gye Hyeong’s chest vanished like foam the moment Chung Myung spoke again.
"How much are you paying?"
"...What?"
"I’m asking how much you’re giving me."
"..."
Chung Myung pointed with his chin at the deep pit in the ground.
"Do you have any idea how much labor we put into digging this thing? They look stupid, but these guys are actually highly skilled workers."
"We do not look stupid!"
"How much prettier are you, huh!"
"You have the nerve to say that with Baek Cheon Sasuk standing right there?"
The criticism came flying from every direction, but Chung Myung simply let it go in one ear and out the other.
"Look, I’m a Taoist who serves the Primordial Heavenly Lord too, you know. My conscience wouldn’t let me just swallow another sect’s Sect Leader’s Token whole."
"Conscience? Did that bastard just say the word conscience with his own mouth?"
"Hey. No way, Sasuk. There’s no way something that ridiculous could happen. You must have heard wrong."
"But these bastards have been..."
Chung Myung shot them a glare, but the Mount Hua disciples shoved their chests out and shouted back.
"What? What?"
"..."
Ah, those idiots were getting too bold.
They needed to be taught a lesson soon...
Anyway.
"So."
Chung Myung smiled at Gye Hyeong.
"How much are you paying? If it’s a reasonable amount, I can send it back on good terms."
"...Money?"
"Yeah."
"That is... this is deeply embarrassing to say, but..."
"Yeah?"
"I’m certain the Ghost Sect is poorer than the Beggars’ Sect right now."
"Huh?"
Chung Myung tilted his head at the unexpected answer.
"Does that even make sense? You’ve got the best movement technique under heaven and the best stealth art under heaven, and you’re saying you’re broke? You could make a fortune just by stealing!"
"We do not steal!"
Gye Hyeong shouted, wounded.
"When the Ghost Sect was at its peak, whenever something went missing in the martial world, there were always idiots who blamed us for it, so we’ve all grown sick of being called thieves."
"...Ah."
That was a sad story, but...
"No, then don’t go around dressed like that pretending to be ghosts!"
"O-our martial arts are what they are, what are we supposed to do about that!"
"If you keep sneaking around in those threadbare rags, even a noble young master would suspect you first!"
"T-that’s unfair."
Gye Hyeong thumped his chest as if truly wronged.
"We’ve been living as cleanly as we can! But because of our martial arts, people say we’re a sect that manipulates corpses, or a sect made up of ghosts!"
"..."
"Appearance isn’t everything!"
"...Well, not everyone will think that way."
"But just a moment ago, even you said we could make a fortune just by stealing!"
"Uh... sorry."
Chung Myung flinched and immediately apologized.
"...And that whole righteous-and-unorthodox thing is the same! Our Ghost Sect has never lived by harming others. We help people, if anything! But no matter what, people refuse to see us as righteous!"
Gye Hyeong’s shoulders slumped, his face looking as if he might down a flask of liquor at any second.
"Cheer up."
"Seems like they really were good people."
"Chung Myung is the bad one."
"Shut up!"
Chung Myung barked at them, then looked back at Gye Hyeong.
"Even so, does that make sense? Can you boil soup with movement techniques?"
"Of course our movement technique is peerless under heaven."
"Exactly! So you should use it for..."
"But we need someone to hire us before we can use it."
"..."
"Who would hire us when even standing still gets us called thieves? It’s not like letting a cat guard the fish."
"..."
Strange.
Why were the corners of his eyes stinging?
Listening to him, Chung Myung found himself oddly reminded of Mount Hua back when it had been on the verge of ruin, and that stirred some strange, involuntary sympathy in him.
"So you really are broke?"
"...We don’t even have enough to eat and die with. We were already a poor sect, and things got messy recently during the process of choosing a new sect leader. The previous sect leader died suddenly without clearly deciding between the two heirs."
"So there was a war."
"...It wasn’t that large a scale, so calling it a war is a bit much... but there was a major conflict. It only ended recently."
"So you came to recover the Sect Leader’s Token?"
"Yes. If it had appeared before the result was decided, it could have caused other problems."
"Hmmm."
Chung Myung looked at Shadowless Ghost Gye Hyeong with a slightly complicated expression.
"You’re not lying, are you?"
"I’m telling the truth. We’re a sect that tries to keep to its principles. The worst thing I’ve done recently was steal a few pieces of meat from the kitchen here because I was starving..."
"...I’ll forgive that."
"Thank you."
Chung Myung smacked his lips.
If they don’t have money, this is a problem.
He’d thought he had finally grabbed a real opportunity, but if this was all it was, he’d just suffered for nothing.
And on top of that, shaking them down somehow felt...
Strangely innocent.
Thinking about it honestly, the bastard hadn’t actually done anything that terrible. He’d just pretended to be a ghost. He hadn’t attacked any of Mount Hua’s wandering disciples or the Hwayeong Gate disciples, had he?
Of course he had rushed at Chung Myung, but well... he hadn’t even landed a single hit and had only gotten thoroughly beaten up, so it was hard to even call that a crime.
In the end...
This is all just a pretty skin over a rotten interior.
Chung Myung clicked his tongue at the Sect Leader’s Token.
What was he supposed to do with a Sect Leader’s Token from a sect that didn’t even have money?
And it wasn’t as if those guys were strong, either. After testing them, their movement and footwork were decent, but everything else was pathetic. That meant the sect didn’t have the money to...
"Hold on."
Chung Myung suddenly lifted his head and looked at Gye Hyeong.
Flinch.
Seeing his eyes burning with fierce intensity, Gye Hyeong shrank back as if the thing had turned hot.
"You’re not against making money, are you?"
"Of course not. What place in the world hates money? However much martial arts may come first, you still need enough to keep rice in your mouth before you can train in it. You know that well too, Young Daoist."
"Ohh..."
Chung Myung nodded while his mind raced.
So this was a sect with the best movement technique under heaven but no means of making money, and that was why they lived in poverty.
Slowly, a satisfied smile spread across Chung Myung’s face.
"Hey."
"...Yes?"
"How long would it take to bring your sect leader here?"
"...More precisely, the Ghost Sect’s sect leader position is currently vacant. If the Sect Leader’s Token is recovered, a new sect leader will be chosen."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So how long would it take for that new sect leader to get here?"
"Well..."
Gye Hyeong seemed to think for a moment, then answered quickly.
"It won’t take more than ten days, no matter what."
"Good!"
Chung Myung nodded hard.
"Go tell that person if they want this Sect Leader’s Token back, they should come get it in person. And on your way, you come too."
"D-Dojang! If I go back like this, I’ll be beaten to death!"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. If you just deliver one line for me, you won’t get beaten to death."
"...One line?"
Chung Myung nodded firmly.
"Tell them I’ll make them filthy rich, and ask them to do a job with me."
"...Filthy rich... you say?"
"Yep. Not just money. Filthy rich."
Watching the still-confused Gye Hyeong, Chung Myung started cackling.
Those who had known scarcity always lost their minds when money was put in front of them. Wasn’t he exactly the same?
We were already at the point where we needed to expand the business anyway.
- Delivery anywhere in the Middle Kingdom within ten days. We bring it to you like ghosts. -
This would work!
It would absolutely work!
What had only looked like a rather pretty stone just moments ago now began to shine like a lump of gold.
"Ghost Express, huh. Heh heh heh heh. This could actually be pretty good. Eheheheheh!"
Seeing Chung Myung rolling around in laughter over whatever the hell he was imagining, the Mount Hua disciples all trembled with unease.
What is he scheming now?
Please, let’s just live like human beings, Chung Myung.
Whenever Chung Myung got started on something, wasn’t it always Baek Cheon and the others who had to clean up the mess?
Everyone let out a deep sigh, already sensing that another round of suffering was about to begin.