I Know It, But I Can’t Hold Back! (5)
Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he looked at the Baek generation and Cheong generation disciples gathered in front of Baekmae Hall.
“……Honestly, now…….”
The disciples of Mount Hua, their faces half-rotted by hangovers, kept retching and swaying on their feet.
“……Sasuk.”
“Mm?”
“Where’d you go and pawn your sword this time?”
“…….”
Baek Cheon glanced down at his waist.
His real sword was nowhere to be seen, and in its place hung a wooden sword that looked as if it had been picked up from God knew where.
“Don’t tell me you blew through another one?”
“…….”
When Baek Cheon failed to answer, Chung Myung shook his head with a look of utter disappointment.
“Well, aren’t you just amazing. Absolutely amazing.”
His sword had been reduced to a wreck in the clash with Yado. Of course, it hadn’t been snapped clean in half like last time. But only because it hadn’t broken completely; the blade had been battered so badly that the edge was chipped all over and had turned almost like a saw.
“I thought you’d somehow managed to get your hands on a decent sword again, and you went and wrecked that one too. Again!”
Baek Cheon flinched and quickly looked away.
The problem was that he wasn’t the only one feeling the sting.
“Anyone with a wooden sword, raise your hand.”
“…….”
At Chung Myung’s words, those who had been sneaking nervous glances around slowly raised their hands one by one. When nearly half of them had their hands up, Chung Myung covered his forehead with one hand.
“Well done. You’ve all done so very well.”
His face was starting to redden. And then he blew up.
“You call yourselves swordsmen, and after a little fight you ruin your swords? And not just any swords, either—the specially crafted blades from the Tang Family? Huh? You freeloaders who can’t even earn a single coin!”
“……They were free, though.”
“Shut up!”
Jo Gul, who had butted in for no reason, shrank back and clamped his mouth shut.
“If you’d fought for just one more shichen, you’d have flung away your blades and gotten yourselves killed in one big heap! Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.”
The constant clicking of his tongue drove them so crazy they felt like blood might start leaking from their ears. The Mount Hua disciples’ lips all jutted out in grievance.
Come on, this stuff happens!
What’s the big deal anyway?
Of course, they had their own excuses.
The Maninbang fighters who had invaded this time mostly used heavy weapons—great sabers, thick blades, and heavy spears.
By contrast, Mount Hua’s plum blossom swords had been made lighter than ordinary longswords so that they could best unleash Mount Hua’s dazzling, lightning-fast swordplay.
If they had faced the Maninbang’s heavy weapons with thin, light swords, wasn’t it stranger that the blades had survived at all?
But Chung Myung clearly was not pleased, and he kept rubbing his chin.
I didn’t think of this.
In the past, Mount Hua had never needed disciples at the level of these Baek generation and Cheong generation kids to throw themselves into death matches against another sect’s full force. With the Cheong generation of Chung Myung’s era charging about like madmen, frothing at the mouth, where would disciples not yet thirty years old have even fit into battle?
Because of that, Chung Myung had overlooked something: they still weren’t at the level where they could fully channel internal energy into their swords.
If the battle had dragged on just a little longer and swords had started snapping in batches, the number of casualties would have exploded.
“Hngh.”
Chung Myung scratched his head vigorously.
I’m going to need to do something about this.
Just as he was worrying over a solution, Jo Gul raised his hand and spoke up.
“But…….”
“Yeah?”
“Why the hell are you standing there? This is training time.”
“Huh? You didn’t hear?”
“……Hear what?”
Chung Myung smirked as if he was about to say something, but just then the door to the rear hall opened, and Un Geom stepped out.
In an instant, the Mount Hua disciples stiffened.
“Have you all gathered?”
“Yes, Hall Leader!”
Their voices boomed out together.
Even in the past, the disciples of Mount Hua had relied on and followed Un Geom. Since Chung Myung had appeared, they had learned more from Chung Myung than from Un Geom, and yet not once had they ever dismissed or ignored him.
But the way the Mount Hua disciples looked at Un Geom now was different from before.
Hadn’t they all seen it?
They had all seen Un Geom throw his life away to protect them.
Anyone with eyes and feelings would naturally find it impossible to keep the same attitude as before.
“You all look full of spirit.”
Un Geom smiled lightly.
His face was still pale, but his movements looked much less strained, suggesting he had regained some of his strength.
He looked over the disciples and spoke calmly.
“As you know, my body is not fully recovered.”
At his quiet words, the disciples all wore sympathetic expressions without realizing it.
“I was originally in charge of Baekmae Hall’s instruction, but in my current condition, it is difficult for me to teach you all.”
“It’s all right, Hall Leader!”
“Please don’t worry and rest!”
“We absolutely won’t slack off!”
“Health comes first!”
Strong words of encouragement burst forth like thunder.
Un Geom smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
But he couldn’t simply do as they said.
“That said, I can’t leave your training entirely to your own discretion. You’re already doing enough independent training, aren’t you? So…….”
Un Geom slowly turned his head.
“Until I recover my strength…….”
When the Mount Hua disciples saw where his gaze had landed, they began to stir uneasily.
“……Why is he looking over there?”
“No way, right?”
“Nah…… no way.”
But Un Geom cleanly crushed their hopes.
“Until I have fully recovered, I will appoint Chung Myung as instructor of Baekmae Hall and entrust him with the training of the Baek generation and Cheong generation for the time being.”
“Hall Leader!”
“No, why would you do that!”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“No, what the hell?”
“Ghk!”
Yoon Jong’s punch snapped Jo Gul’s jaw to the side. Having gone too far from sheer shock, Jo Gul was brutally punished and sprawled on the ground like a frog.
Yoon Jong, having taught Jo Gul a lesson in one shot, spoke with a flustered expression.
“Th-that won’t do, Hall Leader. Please think about this again!”
It was true that Chung Myung had been training the Baek and Cheong generation all this time. But that had always been after their regular Baekmae Hall training was finished, as extra instruction.
And now he was going to run Baekmae Hall itself?
This wasn’t like letting go of a colt’s reins. This was like throwing a tiger out of its cage and letting it roam free.
“Ahem.”
At that moment, Chung Myung clicked his tongue and spoke with feigned solemnity.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So this is what sect discipline has come to. And here the disciples are complaining about a decision made by the Hall Leader?”
“This sect’s discipline turned out this way because of who?”
“Did you sell your conscience in Xi’an and come back with none left?”
“……No, Sasuk. Let’s be accurate here……. That was never there to begin with.”
“Ah. Right.”
Even as he watched the noisy commotion, Un Geom spoke in a calm voice.
“I understand that you’re all startled, but please bear with it. I will recover as quickly as possible and return.”
“N-no, Hall Leader! What are you saying? You need to rest properly so your injuries don’t worsen!”
“Yes! Rest well and take your time……. No, as quickly as possible……. No, wait, not that—take your time……. Ha, I don’t know anymore.”
Jo Gul buried his face in his hands.
Un Geom gave a light smile, as though he had expected this reaction.
“In the meantime, there was something we had all been doing with our eyes half-closed, wasn’t there? It was something we had tried not to expose too much because of rank and propriety, but after this incident I have come to feel something of my own. Above all else, what matters is skill.”
At that, everyone nodded as if they couldn’t deny it.
“Keep training.”
With those words, Un Geom met Chung Myung’s eyes. Then he gave a slight nod and went back into the hall.
The remaining Mount Hua disciples watched his retreating back with complicated expressions.
“It’s true that Sasuk needs to rest, but…….”
“Yeah. It is true.”
“……Why did it have to be that bastard, though?”
Truthfully, they understood it, even if they said it like that.
There were too few Un generation disciples to replace Un Geom’s role. And aside from Un Geom, the Un generation’s martial prowess wasn’t especially remarkable.
So the only person who could take over Baekmae Hall was Hyun Sang, but Hyun Sang had also been badly poisoned in the recent battle and his body still wasn’t fully recovered.
In the end, all that was left was…….
“Why is that bastard so annoyingly healthy?”
“Exactly. After getting all beat up like that, why is he already bouncing around?”
Jo Gul glared.
“This is all So So’s fault!”
“What did you say?”
“Isn’t this happening because you healed him too well? Take responsibility…….”
“Jo Gul. Shut your trap before I twist that mouth of yours right off again.”
“Yes, sir.”
It looked like they needed to calm this mess down. But just as Chung Myung drew in a breath and opened his mouth—
“Quiet!”
“…….”
Baek Cheon frowned and swept his gaze over the disciples once. Under his stern look, they all flinched and fell silent.
“What are you dissatisfied about?”
Baek Cheon barked at them.
“Did a little air get into your bellies?”
“No, sir!”
“Did you think that beating the Maninbang means you’ve become something?”
“N-no, Sasuk!”
“Absolutely not!”
His eyes were like a tiger’s.
“What did you feel fighting the Maninbang?”
“…….”
“I felt how lacking I am, and how far I still have to go. Do you still not understand? We are so weak we can’t even punish that Maninbang! If we were strong enough, the Sect Leader would already have led us to Guangxi Province!”
To be exact, it would have been Chung Myung rather than Hyun Jong, but still.
“And yet you’re not ashamed, just spouting petty complaints? Instead of training harder and pushing your skills up, all you can do is grumble? Since when did you all become so great?”
At his anger-laced rebuke, the Mount Hua disciples lowered their heads in shame.
Their hearts, which had swelled with pride at having driven off the Maninbang, quickly settled back where they belonged.
“Chung Myung!”
“Huh? Yeah?”
“Don’t go easy on us!”
With sharp light blazing in his eyes, Baek Cheon said firmly, “We’re still far too weak. I know full well that this battle was won only by luck! So don’t hold back and train us properly! So that not a single one of us gets hurt or dies!”
“…….”
Chung Myung opened and closed his mouth.
Uh…….
That’s what I was going to say, you know…….
Uh…….
That’s strange. Really strange.
It was not much different from what Chung Myung had intended to say. But hearing those words come out of Baek Cheon’s mouth made them sound so…….
Why does this piss me off?
Ah…… so this is how everyone else feels when they have to listen to me, huh?
While Chung Myung stood there momentarily at a loss for words, Baek Cheon pressed him again.
“What are you standing there for!”
“Ah! Got it!”
Chung Myung, who had been about to push everyone around only to get one back in return, frowned and cleared his throat.
“What Sasuk said is all right. This time, everybody just got lucky. And from now on, we’ll be fighting stronger enemies.”
“…….”
“I’m sure everyone felt it this time, but in the end, the only thing that protects you in the final moment is skill. We have to get stronger!”
Clang.
Chung Myung drew his sword.
“And to do that, we start with the basics. We’re starting over with the six forms.”
Real swords and wooden swords were drawn all at once.
Looking at the disciples, whose eyes had become serious without him noticing, Chung Myung couldn’t help but laugh in the end.
Now I’m the one being rushed.
Fine. Even better.
Let’s see if I can make those mouths scream for mercy.
“Start with the stance form!”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So this is Mount Hua.”
Two men looked up at the towering Mount Hua.
One stood a step ahead, while the other remained quietly behind him.
It was a rather strange sight.
From the way they acted, the man in front seemed to be of higher status, yet his clothes were so plain they looked as if he had just come back from working in the fields.
“Gye Hyeong.”
“Yes, Young Sect Leader.”
“Is it certain that the one with the Sect Leader’s Token is here on this Mount Hua right now?”
“It is!”
“Hmph.”
The man called Young Sect Leader stared up at the steep mountain slopes with an expression of displeasure.
“I simply can’t understand it. Even if Mount Hua is a righteous sect, how can they rob another sect of its Sect Leader’s Token and use people as they please like this?”
“As I told you, the Mount Hua disciples are not like what you might imagine…….”
“Enough!”
As the Young Sect Leader snapped, Gye Hyeong shrank his neck.
“I’ve heard that Mount Hua defeated the Maninbang. If they’ve grown that powerful, then of course they’d act arrogantly. But that doesn’t mean I intend to meekly obey them! I’ll demand an explanation for this matter!”
The Young Sect Leader of the Ghost Sect.
Ghost Hands of the Underworld, Do Un-chan, began climbing Mount Hua with a resolute expression.
And Gye Hyeong, following behind him, silently covered his face with both hands.
You’ll understand once you experience it.
Once you experience it.