Honestly, Even I Can’t Handle This Anymore (2)
Dawn broke over Mount Hua.
Hyun Jong looked at the Mount Hua disciples lined up before him with a pleased expression.
They might have caused a few incidents lately, but they were still Mount Hua’s proud disciples—the very ones who had driven back the evil scum of Maninbang.
On a special day like today, he should at least look upon these children’s spirited, admirable faces and let his heart...
Admirable...
Huh?
What was this?
They were certainly standing up straight.
Their shoulders were square and broad.
But the faces perched atop those shoulders were all blotchy red and bruised blue...
“...Were you hit?”
“...”
The disciples, their faces swollen black and blue, averted their eyes without answering Hyun Jong.
Hyun Jong’s face began to flush red.
He glared, then snapped at someone at once.
“Chung Myung, you little—!”
“Yes?”
Chung Myung, who had been standing there blankly, blinked in wide-eyed confusion. The sight only made Hyun Jong burn with even greater fury.
“Now you’re beating your sahyung and sasuk until they’re swollen black and blue?”
“Me?”
Chung Myung pointed at himself, blinking innocently.
“Yes! If not you, then who else would do something this ridiculous!”
“Me?”
“Yes! You!”
Chung Myung slowly turned his head.
Flinch.
At his gaze, Baek Cheon gave a low whistle and stared off at the distant mountains.
Ha.
Chung Myung had made plenty of other people feel wronged in his life, but he himself had rarely been the one on the receiving end.
And yet right now, he felt more wronged than anyone alive.
“I...”
That damned sasuk—he’s the one who did the beating!
Chung Myung was just about to pour out his grievances when—
“Well, if you did something wrong, I suppose getting hit a bit isn’t so strange.”
“You shut up too! You shut up!”
As Hyun Young casually stepped in to back Chung Myung up, Hyun Jong roared again.
The sad part was that even Hyun Young didn’t have the slightest doubt that Chung Myung was the one who had enthusiastically thrashed the children.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t hit them!”
“Then who did, who?”
At Hyun Jong’s question, all the disciples turned at once toward one direction.
“...”
Following their gaze, Hyun Jong turned his head—and for a moment, he lost the ability to speak.
“You...?”
He muttered it blankly, dismay written all over his face.
Baek Cheon, the great disciple of the Baek generation and Mount Hua’s representative swordsman, the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua, was turning his head away and desperately avoiding Hyun Jong’s eyes.
“...”
You?
Not Chung Myung—you?
Baek Cheon?
“Khhm.”
Baek Cheon covered his mouth with his fist and coughed lightly into it.
Then he met Hyun Jong’s eyes squarely and said with a righteous, shining gaze, “I felt the discipline of the sect was becoming unstable, so as Mount Hua’s great disciple, I corrected the children.”
“Corrected them?”
“Yes!”
“Since when has Mount Hua corrected people by beating them?”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon, who had answered with such confidence, tilted his head.
“Now that you mention it...”
“...”
Hyun Jong’s shoulders slumped as he ran out of words.
Seeing that, Hyun Sang wrapped an arm around Hyun Jong’s shoulders as though he understood perfectly.
“It is the day the children leave. Please calm yourself, Sect Leader.”
“...We’re done for. Mount Hua is done for.”
“That is not something you should be saying in front of the children. Come now, calm down. Hyun Young, escort the Sect Leader back for a moment.”
“Yes, sahyung.”
Hyun Young soothed Hyun Jong and gently guided him back.
“...Mount Hua’s foundation... Mount Hua...”
Hyun Jong’s faint muttering drifted over, but sadly, no one paid it much mind.
“Ahem.”
Hyun Sang stood at the front and took over.
“For this trip to Sichuan, the one who will accompany Chung Myung—”
“Elder.”
Baek Cheon spoke up softly, his voice a little smaller than usual.
“The disciples talked it over and decided who would be going on this trip to Sichuan.”
“...And why are you lot deciding that?”
“...”
At Hyun Sang’s incredulous question, Baek Cheon flinched, as though he had never considered that possibility.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You brats are really going off the rails now. So you even came to blows over something that trivial?”
“It wasn’t a brawl...”
Those bastards started it first.
But Baek Cheon couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud. Even to his own ears, it sounded far too much like something Chung Myung would say.
“Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, Yu I-seol, Dang Soso, and Baek Sang.”
“Yes!”
The named disciples stepped forward.
“Baek Cheon.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Normally, this would be a matter for Hyun Young or me to accompany. But the situation is not favorable. I’d even like to send Un Geom along, but that is difficult as well, so there’s no helping it—you must lead them. Can you do it?”
“Yes, Elder. Please don’t worry.”
Baek Cheon answered with a reliable smile and unshakable confidence.
“It is a place we’ve already been before, so there should be no great difficulty.”
“Good. The Ghost Sect leader will be accompanying you, so make sure he is treated properly and has no discomfort.”
“Yes!”
Behind Baek Cheon’s gentle smile, murmuring voices could be heard.
“Then why did we get hit?”
Getting hit by Baek Cheon was still bearable. The truly painful part had been the shin Yu I-seol had kicked when she stormed in halfway through.
“They’ve got no pity or mercy at all!”
“We’re supposed to be the same sect, and they beat us that brutally?”
“May you trip and fall flat on your face.”
Baek Cheon muttered softly without even turning his head.
“I can hear everything.”
“...”
“Want me to do it once more before we leave?”
“...No, sir.”
The dignity of a great disciple on full display, Baek Cheon rolled his shoulders.
Meanwhile, behind them, Chung Myung and Un Geom were talking.
“I know what I’m doing, so don’t worry and go on your way.”
“I’m not worried. I always trust you, Hall Leader.”
Chung Myung said brightly with a smile.
“There’s just one thing I’m hung up on...”
“Hmm?”
“Hehe. You know, it’s just that kind of thing. When I actually see the disciples grinding themselves down, my heart softens, and I start wondering if it really has to be this harsh. But then...”
“You mean that when something like the Maninbang incident happens again, it saves the children’s lives?”
“Exactly. See? As expected of Hall Leader!”
“So the fiercer a demon I become, the safer the children will be.”
“Exactly.”
Un Geom nodded slowly.
“Don’t worry. I can do anything if it’s for the children’s safety.”
Blue light blazed in Un Geom’s eyes.
“By the time you return, I’ll have trained them so hard that you’ll be shocked.”
“Yes, Hall Leader.”
“And...”
Un Geom looked at Chung Myung for a moment, then patted his shoulder twice and said quietly, “Thank you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing that big.”
“...”
Un Geom’s eyes, fixed on Chung Myung, were unfathomably deep.
The night before, Chung Myung had come to see him and handed over two manuals. One was for the Six Harmonies. The other was for the Seven Plum Blossoms. Both were basic Mount Hua sword arts known to everyone.
But the manuals Chung Myung had given him were special. They had been rewritten specifically for Un Geom, who had lost an arm and now needed to learn left-handed swordsmanship.
They had even been newly composed to account for the change in balance caused by the lost arm.
To be able to create manuals like that is astonishing enough.
But what was even more astonishing was the effort and care he had put into writing them just for Un Geom alone.
“Don’t worry and go. The disciples will become stronger, and so will I.”
Seeing the fierce determination blazing in his eyes, Chung Myung tilted his head slightly.
Did I overdo it?
Surely he wouldn’t go around murdering anyone, would he?
Ah, well.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hwaum County.
The cut-down iron ingot was loaded onto a huge cart.
The Mount Hua disciples busied themselves binding the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron to the cart with ropes, securing it tightly in place.
“...But this cart looks like it was cast out of a single block of iron.”
“Even the cold iron is heavy. Can we really pull this thing? Even the strongest horses would be worn out fast, wouldn’t they?”
Baek Cheon, studying the cart carefully, spoke up.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yeah?”
“How many horses did you prepare?”
“Seven.”
“Hmm. Seven sounds a bit too few. Can seven horses really pull this?”
“It’ll be fine. They’re strong.”
“That’s a relief. But where are the horses? We should probably harness them to the cart now. Did you perhaps leave them at the Eunha Merchant Guild branch...?”
“They’re right here.”
“Huh? Where?”
“Here.”
Chung Myung jerked his chin toward Baek Cheon. Then he swept his gaze over the rest of the Mount Hua disciples standing beside him—Baek Sang, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, Yu I-seol, and Dang Soso.
“...”
“Use inner force, use lightness skill. Hah, there’s no better horse than that.”
“...”
“Don’t worry. I specially ordered the cart so it wouldn’t break no matter how hard you run. Go ahead and have all the fun you want.”
“You son of a—”
“Hmm?”
“...Nothing.”
Baek Cheon nodded with tears in his eyes.
There was nothing to be surprised about. That damned bastard would never let them rest peacefully just because they’d done well.
By this point, it was still almost merciful...
“Dojo Chung Myung! Should we move it here?”
“Oh, you’re here. I’ve been waiting. Put it down here, please.”
“Yes, sir!”
The merchant guild members who had approached, grunting under the weight, lowered what they had carried before Chung Myung.
Thunk!
Several boxes hit the ground with a heavy crash.
What is this?
Everyone except Chung Myung stared into the boxes with anxious faces.
Balls?
Large iron balls were packed inside. The strange thing was that each one had a hole drilled through it, slightly smaller than a human fist.
“That’s a curious thing.”
“Oh? There’s a lock on it too. Looks like it opens up. Haha...”
How strange.
Very strange...
“Put them on.”
“...Huh?”
“On your arms and legs.”
“...”
Baek Cheon looked back and forth between Chung Myung and the box.
“These?”
“Yeah.”
Chung Myung smiled with obvious satisfaction.
“They were finished right on time. Cost a bit, too.”
“...”
“What are you waiting for?”
Everyone’s eye corners began to twitch.
They were going to strap those things to their arms and legs, push that iron cart, and go all the way to Sichuan?
That... demon-like bastard...
They had made a mistake.
They had underestimated Chung Myung. No matter how harsh Mount Hua’s training was, there was no way that demon would be any gentler!
“We don’t have time, so hurry up and put them on. Or should I fasten them for you?”
“...No.”
Having surrendered completely, Baek Cheon weakly reached into the box and began pulling out the iron balls one by one.
“What even are these things? Why are they so heavy?”
“They’re made of black iron. They’re about ten times heavier than ordinary iron.”
Hwang Jong-ui chimed in with a satisfied smile.
“Haha! It was hard to get them!”
Don’t laugh, you old man!
No, was there something wrong with his head too? How could he still be smiling after seeing this?
“Come on, hurry up and put them on. We’re short on time.”
“Ugh...”
Everyone fastened the black iron weights to both wrists and ankles.
“Ghh.”
“Whoa... whoa... this...”
“M-my shoulders feel like they’re about to come off.”
It felt like their arms were stretching longer.
“Now that you’re all done, go and take your places.”
Chung Myung pointed to the front of the iron cart.
The horses of Mount Hua... no, the disciples, trudged forward with faces full of resignation and took their positions before the cart. It was a bizarre sight—people standing where horses should have been harnessed.
But Chung Myung wasn’t satisfied with that alone.
“What are you doing?”
“...Yes?”
“What, you planning to ride?”
“...”
Hye Yeon, who had been sneaking around behind the cart to avoid Chung Myung’s gaze, slowly shuffled over.
“Hurry up and put them on.”
“...Yes.”
Clack. Clack.
With iron balls strapped to his arms and legs, Hye Yeon moved toward the front of the cart like a man being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
“Honestly, you people are always trying to slip away.”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue, then turned to Hwang Jong-ui with a smile.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Hard work? Not at all. In any case, please travel safely.”
“Please handle that matter properly.”
“Yes. A letter from our guild leader arrived just now. The Eunha Merchant Guild will share the Daoist’s fate to the very end.”
“...You really do sniff out the smell of money like a ghost.”
“Haha. That’s what merchants are for, isn’t it?”
The two exchanged their sly words and lightly clasped hands.
“Well then...”
“Hey! Hey! Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”
They were just about to depart when someone came sprinting from far away.
“Where are you off to again? You have to take me with you!”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Why does that beggar uncle keep showing up even though he’s got nothing to beg for?”
Hong Dae-gwang reached Chung Myung’s front, doubled over and panting. Then he snapped his head up and shouted, “You punk! If you’re going somewhere, you should report it to me right away!”
“You want to come with us?”
“Of course! If I’m not there, who’s going to pass information to you? I expanded the Hwaum branch this time and built a proper reporting network. If you take me along, I’ll know immediately if anything happens to Mount Hua.”
Hmm.
Still, Chung Myung looked unconvinced, his expression distinctly sour. Hong Dae-gwang thumped his chest.
“Ha... Mount Hua Divine Dragon! I’m Hong Dae-gwang, Hong Dae-gwang!”
“So?”
“Do you still not know how useful I am? This time I brought you information that’ll really surprise you.”
At last showing interest, Chung Myung glanced left and right, and Hong Dae-gwang leaned in close.
“According to the information that came in this time, the Tang Family’s clan lord seems to have charged into Maninbang alone.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s eyes widened.
“So what happened?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what happened inside. But before long, he apparently withdrew safely from Maninbang and returned to Sichuan?”
“...”
Chung Myung fell silent for a moment as if thinking, then turned his head and looked toward Sichuan.
He overdid it.
He could roughly guess what must have happened.
He’d need to prepare some good liquor.
“See? I’m that useful! So you absolutely have to take me with you.”
Hong Dae-gwang puffed out his chest with a self-satisfied look. Chung Myung still seemed displeased as he looked him over, but in the end, he gave a small nod.
“Fine. Then come along.”
“Hah hah hah. That’s more like it!”
Turning away, Chung Myung spoke to Hwang Jong-ui.
“Young Guild Master.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have any iron balls left over?”
Hwang Jong-ui looked back and forth between Chung Myung and Hong Dae-gwang, then slowly nodded.
“...I do, but...”
“Perfect.”
“Huh? Iron balls?”
Hong Dae-gwang, who had arrived late and knew none of the circumstances, tilted his head in confusion.
A short while later—
“Aaaagh! You damned bastaaaard!”
The beggar who had walked straight into hell of his own accord began pulling the cart and moving out toward Sichuan.