If I Must Die, I’ll Be the First to Go (3)
"No, I said I was sorry."
"…."
"Man, this bastard is seriously timid."
"…."
"You open your mouth and it’s all great compassion this, great mercy that, but some little thing comes up and this damn monk pouts like a kid. And you call yourself a monk? Unbelievable."
"I’m not pouting...!"
"Poutin' like a—"
"Ah, stop that!"
Hye Yeon’s glossy bald head turned bright red.
"W-Where do you think you’re going, just leaving a person behind like that!"
"I told you, I didn’t know. And if you want to get technical, you idiot, the problem was that a monk went and locked himself in the farthest room because he was scared of ghosts! If you’re hiding like that, then who’s supposed to catch the ghosts? You?"
"S-Shaolin never taught me anything about catching ghosts!"
"What, do you carry the Diamond Sutra around to use as firewood when you roast rabbits?"
"M-Monks don’t eat meat!"
"From now on, don’t even think about touching meat!"
"I’ve never touched it before…."
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul exchanged a sideways glance at Hye Yeon and Chung Myung’s squabbling, then shook their heads.
"Leaving Chung Myung aside. Since when did Hye Yeon-sama start bickering like that with him?"
"What, is there anyone who doesn’t? If a typhoon passes by, it sweeps up everything in its path."
"To think those two fought like that in the final match of the Heavenly Comrade Convention…."
Back then, it had been cool.
Yes, incredible, even.
But…
Baek Cheon let out another long, weary sigh.
Monk, why on earth did you do this?
Of course, there were plenty of people in the world who would strap firewood to their own backs and leap straight into a blaze. Human beings were not always rational; they often did things that made no sense at all to anyone else.
But even so, there were limits.
A man came all the way here, on his own two feet, because he thought he might get something out of Chung Myung?
Why? He might as well have walked straight into hell.
Unfortunately, Hye Yeon was now paying dearly for the choice he had made.
"By the way, Sasuk."
"Hm?"
"That monk—is he following us all the way to Mount Hua?"
"Looks that way."
"He isn’t going back to Shaolin?"
"…How would I know?"
"The more I look at him, the stranger he gets."
Did Hye Yeon know?
Did he know that the Mount Hua disciples, whom he probably considered the strangest men in the world, were looking at him like he was some sort of monkey in a cage?
Whether it was fortune or misfortune, Hye Yeon was too busy with Chung Myung to notice any of it.
"Ah, and also, Sasuk."
"What now?"
"…Why are you and I the ones pulling this cart?"
"…."
That was a fine question, wasn’t it?
Baek Cheon answered none of it, merely looking up at the empty sky with a hollow expression.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul were pulling the cart in place of horses, with Chung Myung, Hye Yeon, and Hyun Young riding inside.
"Why, you ask?"
Having heard their conversation, Chung Myung answered for them.
"One of you is a show-off who lost his sword and is now carrying around some kids’ practice sword instead."
Flinch.
Baek Cheon glanced down at his waist.
Instead of the sword that had been completely wrecked in his fight with Yeop Pyeong, a wooden practice sword used by the new trainees of Hwayeong Gate dangled from his belt.
"…No, I mean, that—"
"And the other one got stabbed by the righteous faction."
Flinch.
Jo Gul trembled and fixed his gaze only on the road ahead, pointedly refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
"Oh?"
Chung Myung ground his teeth.
"Looking at those reactions, I guess you thought I’d let it slide?"
That damn leech.
What in the world has he been through to get this petty?
"Wow, after all that mess, you’ve still got the nerve to puff out your chest? Anybody watching would think you’d done something amazing."
"…."
"Ah, right. You did do something amazing. You nearly became ‘just the two of you’ dead together. You’ll go down in history for that, won’t you? Huh? Say something. C’mon."
"…."
"…."
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul shrank their necks in perfect unison.
"Honestly, I don’t know what’s wrong with you people. You’ve barely shed your chick feathers and already think you’re phoenixes, huh? Phoenixes? If you lag behind even a little before we reach Mount Hua, I’ll put a hole in your ass."
"…."
"Run."
"Yes, sir!"
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul started dragging the cart at a run.
The Mount Hua disciples watching them wore expressions of deep sympathy.
He caught Yeop Pyeong’s Red Snake Blade and still gets yelled at.
Poor guy.
But not one of them said it aloud. Hye Yeon, however, seemed so unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the situation that he opened his mouth before he could stop himself.
"B-But, donor."
"Hm?"
"Isn’t it a bit... improper to ride in a cart pulled by people?"
"You wanna pull it instead?"
"...This is quite comfortable."
"Good."
Everyone stared at Hye Yeon with dazed faces.
That monk’s adaptability is incredible.
His face is bright red, and he’s talking like it’s nothing.
He’s already starting to turn black.
Is Shaolin really going to be all right like this?
Chung Myung, having finished sorting out Hye Yeon in one swift stroke, raised his voice.
"Keep running, you slow-witted mules! No matter what it takes, we’re reaching Mount Hua by tomorrow!"
"It took us three days to get here!"
"Guts can do anything! Run!"
"Grrrgh!"
Baek Cheon and Jo Gul began to pick up speed. In step with them, the other disciples ran on without complaint.
The peaks of Mount Hua, visible in the distance, were slowly drawing closer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hmm."
Hyun Jong, looking up at the sky, frowned slightly.
Those clouds…
It wasn’t as if rain on Mount Hua was anything unusual, but the mass of dark clouds gathering overhead felt oddly ominous today.
He stared up at them for a long while, unease growing in his eyes, before finally voicing the concern he’d been suppressing.
"Nothing has happened to the children, I hope."
He instinctively looked toward Xi'an, where the disciples had gone, then shook his head as if to banish the wicked thought.
With Hyun Young and Chung Myung there as well, what could possibly go wrong?
"Sect Leader."
"Yes."
Unam, who had come close without anyone noticing, gave Hyun Jong a deep bow.
"Your expression is dark. Are you troubled by something?"
"Nothing of the sort."
Hyun Jong shook his head.
"The weather is simply quite strange, and I was worried it might be an ill omen."
"Ah…."
Hyun Jong remained fixed on the clouds for a moment, lost in thought, before speaking again.
"Humans are truly strange."
Unam quietly watched him. Seeing the Sect Leader’s profound, calm eyes made his own heart settle.
"When we lived as though trapped in a swamp, I thought I would ask for nothing more if only Mount Hua could rise again. Yet now that a true ascent may not be an exaggeration, I find…"
Hyun Jong smiled faintly.
"I have gained yet another worry."
"That is simply how people are, is it not?"
"Yes. And perhaps that is how life is as well. Those who climb higher must also bear more."
Hyun Jong closed his eyes slightly.
As Mount Hua gained more and rose higher, those who envied it would only increase, and more enemies would inevitably appear.
He was reminded of the conversation he had once had with Beop Jeong, the abbot of Shaolin.
"If I bear more, the children may be able to run more lightly through the world."
But Unam simply smiled brightly and shook his head.
"No, Sect Leader."
"Hm?"
"None of Mount Hua’s disciples would ever seek to run by stepping on the Sect Leader’s shoulders. Whether disciple or Sect Leader, we move together. Is that not the path Mount Hua must walk?"
"…You’ve grown far more eloquent, you rascal."
"Haha. I suppose it’s because I’ve spent so much time watching a fellow who only ever opens his mouth and pours forth like a mountain stream."
Hyun Jong burst out laughing.
"Yes, yes. That is how it should be."
These little wretches would not even allow Hyun Jong to become their fertilizer. Since he could still run, they told him to run with them.
Then…
"So it shall be."
Just as Hyun Jong nodded, the next instant—
"Sect Leader!"
"Hm?"
Ungeom came running from afar, his face deathly pale.
Sensing something was terribly wrong from his expression alone, Hyun Jong’s face hardened.
"What is it?"
"A-A person from the Beggars' Sect has arrived! He says he must see the Sect Leader immediately!"
The moment he heard the Beggars' Sect, Hyun Jong knew this was no ordinary matter.
The Beggars' Sect was an information network.
For them to speak of urgency could only mean something had gone badly wrong.
"Bring them here at once— no! I’ll go myself! Lead the way!"
"Yes!"
Hyun Jong surged forward with Ungeom in the lead, using lightness skills to race after him.
When he reached the mountain gate, he saw a Beggars' Sect member drenched in sweat, slumped on the ground and gasping for breath.
"What has happened!"
"S-Sect Leader…."
"Enough with the courtesies! Speak of the situation first!"
"Yes!"
The Beggars' Sect member took a deep breath and then spilled the words out all at once.
"I am Yang Pyo, the deputy branch chief of the Beggars' Sect Hwaum Branch! This morning, a message arrived from another Beggars' Sect branch. Maninbang! Maninbang has entered Shaanxi!"
"Maninbang!"
Hyun Jong clenched his fist, as though the dreaded hour had finally come.
"If they’ve entered Shaanxi…?"
"Given the direction of their movement, their target appears to be Mount Hua."
"Ugh…."
"M-Maninbang…!"
Groans escaped the lips of the Mount Hua disciples gathered around the Beggars' Sect member.
Fear, impossible to hide, spread instantly through the crowd.
How could it not?
Their opponent was Maninbang, one of the five evil powers that ruled the world.
Compared to Mount Hua, which had only just begun to stretch its limbs again, it was not even in the same league in terms of reputation or strength.
While everyone else was stunned, only Hyun Jong remained calm as he asked,
"How many enemies?"
"Pardon?"
"Maninbang would not be moving in its entirety, would it? Do you have information on the number of enemies that have entered Shaanxi?"
"Ah, yes! We do! Based on our information, the enemy force is three squads. We haven’t yet confirmed any additional personnel beyond that."
"Three squads."
Hyun Jong furrowed his brow.
Because he did not know Maninbang’s structure precisely, he had no sense for how much fighting strength three squads actually represented.
"I hear Maninbang has more than ten combat units alone. Is that correct?"
"That is correct. Maninbang consists of twelve squads, with several additional combat groups as well."
"So three of them."
It was fortunate that they had not all come, but then again, they were not fools who would throw people around without thought.
Three squads means they judged that would be enough to deal with Mount Hua. That means they’re that confident.
By contrast, Mount Hua was not even at full strength right now.
"Did you send word to Xi'an?"
"Yes! We reported it by the fastest means available!"
"Lastly."
Hyun Jong drew in a shallow breath.
This was something he absolutely had to know, and yet he was afraid to hear it.
"Considering when they entered Shaanxi, where might they be now?"
"Th-That is…."
Yang Pyo wiped at his cold sweat and answered.
"They appear to have nearly reached Hwaum by now. They may even be at the foot of Mount Hua…."
Hyun Jong slowly closed his eyes.
This was a desperate situation.
But no one urged Hyun Jong, who stood there in silence with his eyes closed.
Time passed by a little.
Then Hyun Jong opened his eyes.
"Unam."
"Yes, Sect Leader!"
"Gather the disciples."
"Yes!"
There was not even the slightest tremor in his eyes.
"Sect Leader."
At that moment, Hyun Sang spoke in a voice that trembled faintly.
"With only the disciples here, we... Perhaps it would be better to abandon the main sect and join the disciples in Xi'an."
"If the enemy has already surrounded Mount Hua, many disciples will be injured while fleeing."
"…."
"You may be right. That may well be the wiser path. But! I cannot abandon even one disciple. They will not be able to harm a single Mount Hua disciple until they have stepped over my corpse!"
"...I was foolish."
Hyun Sang lowered his head. Hyun Jong’s eyes blazed with a brilliant blue light.
"I will show them. I will show the world that Mount Hua will never bow to anyone again!"
At those words, a determined light entered every face around him.
At the same time.
"So this is Mount Hua?"
Son Wol, the Life-Snatching Short Spear, smiled faintly as he looked up at the towering peak.
"It’s damn tall."
"And steep. Not a fit place for priests to live."
"Heh heh heh. Does it matter? After today, there won’t be any Daoists left in Mount Hua anyway."
The Life-Snatching Short Spear’s gaze shifted to Hwaum County, some distance away from the road leading up the mountain.
"...That place might not be a bad bit of fun either. If we cut down every one of them and then go up Mount Hua, won’t the Daoist bastards be scared half to death?"
At that, Yado shook his head.
"We’re basically inside the belly of the righteous faction now. Mount Hua itself may not amount to much, but if the others come to support them, it’ll become a headache."
"Tsk. What a coward."
Yet perhaps finding merit in the warning, Son Wol didn’t argue further.
"Has Heoksi not arrived yet?"
"How should I know? It’s those bastards."
"...Annoying sons of bitches."
Staring at the summit of Mount Hua, half-hidden by clouds, Son Wol grinned and muttered,
"It would certainly be a sight... if it all turned red."
"No more delay."
"Good."
And with a bared-toothed smile, he said,
"We’ll slaughter them all!"
The combat squads of Maninbang began scaling the steep slopes of Mount Hua at an appalling speed.