Because It Was Mount Hua (3)
"Damn, it's cold!"
The dawn in the mountains was nothing like dawn on the plains. When the cold air met the damp of early morning, it carved a chill straight through to the bones. Cutting through that air, the third-generation disciples spilled out of Baekmae Hall and headed for the training ground.
"That wakes you up in a hurry."
"It wakes me up, but not my body. I'm still exhausted..."
"You should've been circulating your energy properly."
"I was circulating it all night, you know?"
"Oh, really?"
With those useless little exchanges, the third-generation disciples pulled sandbags and stone weights from the shack set up beside the training ground.
"Seriously, how long are we supposed to keep doing this?"
"Who knows? Until he tells us to stop, I guess."
"Who?"
"You're asking that like you don't know."
One person immediately came to mind for all of them.
That monster.
That bastard ought to drown in a ditch and die.
Though they were all third-generation disciples, Chung Myung had already established absolute control over them.
The training was so brutal that now and then someone did rebel. But after the last one to try had been smashed into the ceiling of Baekmae Hall, no one had dared to again.
Well, to be fair.
Even Jo Gul, the first rebel, and Yoon Jong, the great senior brother, were quietly doing their training without complaint—so what chance did the rest of them have of standing up to Chung Myung?
In the first place, Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were on a completely different level from the other third-generation disciples. No one had ever even thought of surpassing them. To the rest of them, Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were monsters already, and yet there was someone even worse than them in the world.
"But hasn't that bastard been acting weird lately?"
"Weird how?"
"He doesn't look well, and he hasn't been showing up for training much."
"...Right?"
At first, Chung Myung had shown up faithfully for dawn training and tormented the third-generation disciples in every imaginable way. But lately, he had barely been seen at all.
"What if that rumor's true?"
"What rumor?"
"That he's fallen into qi deviation."
"Come on! No way."
"No, think about it. He's been getting thinner and more haggard by the day, and his health's been bad, so he's been skipping training all the time."
"Hmm..."
"If it were some lazy bum, that'd be one thing, but that's not it. Every time he trained, he was doing three times what everyone else was doing. Isn't it strange that he just disappeared all of a sudden?"
"Now that you mention it, that does sound pretty convincing."
A subtle current began to spread among the third-generation disciples who were listening to the conversation.
"Then..."
And then someone finally said the one thing they absolutely should not have said.
"Does that mean we don't have to train?"
"..."
Their faces hardened in an instant.
To be honest, things were not the same as when they had first started training. At the beginning, they had truly come to the practice grounds only because they were forced to, and every day had felt like hell.
But now, through that training, they were beginning to feel themselves growing stronger. It had been unfamiliar to train this way—using their bodies directly rather than refining their energy and studying sword forms—but the results were undeniable.
Their lower bodies had stabilized, and their sword paths had become clearer.
For a martial artist, what pleasure was there greater than becoming stronger? Their bodies were aching, yes, but they were gradually learning to enjoy training in their own way.
Yet once they heard that, all the feelings they had been suppressing slowly reared their heads.
We can't skip every time, but...
No, well, maybe once...
Honestly, the training is a little excessive. It wouldn't be so bad to cut it back a little...
Everyone's thoughts converged into one.
If only Chung Myung wasn't here!
Even after they had taken up their training weapons and stood on the practice grounds, the murmuring hadn't died down. Dawn training, which they had taken for granted, suddenly felt annoyingly troublesome once doubts crept in.
They were all people, after all. It couldn't be helped.
"Look, he's not coming out again today."
"There really must be something wrong with him."
"Then isn't this worth trying?"
That last line was the clincher.
To be precise, there had been exactly three reasons the third-generation disciples had obeyed Chung Myung without complaint until now.
The first was that even if every single one of the third-generation disciples rushed him at once, there was no certainty they could bring Chung Myung down. No—if they were being honest, it was because they couldn't bring him down.
The second was that Chung Myung was under the protection of Un Geom, the leader of Baekmae Hall. If there was someone you couldn't deal with directly, you had to go over their head. But what were they supposed to do if the person above him was taking Chung Myung's side?
And the last was that Chung Myung, strangely enough, was reasonable. When it came to training, he was like a demon driving people to their limits, but he didn't bully others just because he had strength, and he didn't order around people for petty personal reasons.
Thanks to that, life in general had actually become easier than it had been back when Jo Gul had been trying to discipline the third-generation disciples.
But now one of those three reasons had collapsed.
Maybe we can try it?
He looked half-dead.
If we all work together, maybe we can win?
Resolve began to glimmer in the third-generation disciples' eyes.
Watching them whisper and exchange opinions, Jo Gul let out a sigh.
"Senior brother."
"Let them be."
Yoon Jong gave a faint laugh.
"They'll learn reality soon enough."
That was when it happened.
Creaaak.
Every head turned at once. The door to Baekmae Hall was opening. Everyone here was gathered outside except for Chung Myung. Which meant there was only one person left inside Baekmae Hall.
So the one coming out now had to be—
The door swung wide open.
And the third-generation disciples all shut their eyes and turned away in unison.
"Ah! What the hell!"
"It's blinding!"
Something dazzling flashed past their eyes.
Those who cautiously looked back toward the door all stared with their mouths hanging open.
Chung Myung was walking out. It was definitely Chung Myung.
But the Chung Myung they saw now was not the same Chung Myung they had seen yesterday. It was unmistakably him, and yet...
Why does he look so damn clean and fresh?
His face looks like it's dripping oil.
Did he go dig up wild ginseng somewhere?
The third-generation disciples all doubted their own eyes.
Just yesterday he had looked so gaunt and worn that no one would have been surprised if he had suddenly collapsed and died. But now the Chung Myung standing before them looked so healthy he seemed ready to drip with grease.
We’re done for.
Forget it. Just train.
It was a nice dream.
The third-generation disciples instinctively knew their dream had flown off to some faraway place.
"Ahem."
Chung Myung walked out to the training grounds and stood before the third-generation disciples, then spoke in a slightly grave tone.
"You lot."
"..."
"This instructor can't help but feel sorry toward you all. For the past while, I haven't been in good shape, so I couldn't pay enough attention to your training. I take full responsibility for that."
"N-no."
"It's fine. Things happen!"
"We're fine! Really, we're fine!"
Those who sensed something deeply wrong was about to happen shouted desperately, but Chung Myung only shook his head with a solemn expression.
"No. Even without me around, you all have been training so diligently, and I haven't lived up to that expectation. This is clearly my failure."
The atmosphere was turning strange.
There's no way this is happening.
That bastard is actually saying something like that?
And yet this still didn't seem like a good development...
"However!"
"..."
Chung Myung declared firmly, his eyes fierce.
"Even if you can't undo a mistake, you can make up for it! If the training hasn't been enough, then all you have to do is train more!"
"That son of a—"
"I'll drown him in a ditch and—"
"Just kill me. Please, just kill me!"
Little curses erupted from all around, but Chung Myung didn't care in the slightest.
"So I want all of you to remember that the future of Mount Hua rests on your shoulders and devote yourselves to training with all sincerity. Now then."
He jerked his chin upward. Everyone's gaze followed.
Yeonhwabong, rising high above them, came into view.
"..."
"Go."
"..."
"First come, first served. The slower half comes back and does it again."
"..."
"You're not going?"
At that instant, someone shot off like a bolt of lightning. When they recognized the figure racing toward Yeonhwabong at horrifying speed, the third-generation disciples all gaped in shock.
"Senior brother?"
Yoon Jong.
Mount Hua's senior-most disciple among the third generation was sprinting toward Yeonhwabong as if his feet were on fire. And close behind him, someone else was chasing just as quickly.
Of course it was Jo Gul.
"Hey, senior brother! What about loyalty?"
"Shut up and run! Faster!"
"If we're late, we have to do it all over again! Run!"
Only then did the rest of the disciples regain their senses and burst forward toward Yeonhwabong.
"No way! How can they turn like that in a single day?"
"How should I know?"
"Senior brother! You just said it was worth trying a moment ago!"
"A gentleman must know how to read the times! This is not the time!"
"Gentleman, my ass! You horse-nosed bastard!"
"What did you say, punk?"
"Senior brother! Senior brother! We're falling behind! Please, run! Senior brother!"
The third-generation disciples hauled themselves up Yeonhwabong with all the strength they had. Chung Myung's training never ended just because time passed. They couldn't even eat until the quota was complete. And if they climbed Yeonhwabong twice and still had to finish the required amount, there was a real possibility they'd have to walk around on their arms by the end of the day instead of their legs.
So they ran like maniacs!
"The gods themselves are heartless! What are they doing, not taking that guy away?"
"At this rate it'll be the ghost getting dragged off!"
All of them ran and ran, nearly bleeding tears of blood. No matter what trick he had used, now that Chung Myung had recovered his health, there was no hope left for them.
It was the moment their first rebellion was crushed cleanly before it had even properly begun.
Watching the backs of the third-generation disciples as they clawed their way up Yeonhwabong, Chung Myung gave a snort of laughter.
"How adorably cheeky."
To think they had dared to dream of rebelling.
As his body had advanced into a new realm, his senses had sharpened enough that he hadn't missed a single word of their conversation even from inside Baekmae Hall.
"Well, that's fine."
He had been the same way once.
Obedient, well-behaved types always had their limits. Mount Hua might prefer such people, but Chung Myung did not. From the start, he had been born with a rebellious streak in his bones.
But!
There was nothing uglier than someone who complained while lacking the skill to back it up. For a martial artist to earn the right to speak boldly, there was only one thing that mattered first, and second, and third: strength.
"I'll make that strength for you."
Chung Myung smiled faintly.
Recovering his former martial might was important, yes, but no matter how strong he became, he alone could not restore Mount Hua's former glory. A sect was not determined by the power of one person.
In thousands of years of martial history, there had been countless people who rose to become the world's strongest alone. But even if their names were remembered, their descendants never left their own mark upon the world.
In the end, for a sect to preserve its line and spread its renown, everyone in that sect had to be strong.
Shaolin was called the number one sect under heaven not because it had the world's strongest man. Even a sect that possessed the world's strongest man could not defeat Shaolin as a sect against sect.
Even Mount Hua at the height of its former glory had once been judged a few steps below Shaolin, hadn't it?
This time, no.
Chung Myung's eyes gleamed.
In the past, he had had no choice but to follow the methods of his master and senior brothers. But this time, he could build Mount Hua back from the foundation up in his own image. It would be a hard and grueling journey, but the end of it would be higher and grander than before.
Of course, whether the sect leader senior brother would be pleased with that Mount Hua was another matter entirely.
"If you're so upset about it, then maybe you should come back to life yourself."
After laughing to himself for a good long while, Chung Myung cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted,
"The last guy gets no breakfast today!"
It was vicious enough to make even the devil weep.