Why Is That Man Here? (4)
It gleamed.
Bathe in sunlight, Beop Jeong was shining brilliantly.
One gleam.
No, there were more than that.
Chung Myung tilted his head to the side with obvious disapproval as he watched the Shaolin monks standing behind Beop Jeong. Even his voice came out sharp and sour.
“What’s that old man doing here?”
“H-hey! You can’t call the Abbot of Shaolin ‘that old man,’ idiot!”
Yoon Jong hurriedly stopped him, but Chung Myung only looked utterly unconcerned.
“So what? He’s not our sect leader.”
“……”
Yoon Jong, left speechless, could only shake his head.
“Let’s go and greet him first.”
Hyun Jong led his disciples closer to the mountain gate. Then he cupped his hands deeply and greeted him.
“Welcome, Abbot.”
“It has been a while, Sect Leader. Have you been well?”
Hyun Jong smiled warmly.
“Thanks to your concern, we have managed to live without trouble. It is a long journey from Song Mountain to here. What brought you this way?”
Beop Jeong also put on a smile and replied.
“No matter how long the road may be, if there is nectar to wet one’s throat at the end of it, there is no reason to refuse the journey.”
Hyun Jong’s eyes gleamed faintly.
Nectar.
The two men faced each other and traded smiles.
Those who watched them had to endure a strange, chilling feeling they could not quite place.
“Why does it suddenly feel cold?”
“Winter is coming, though.”
“I mean, yes, but…”
Beop Jeong turned his head and looked at Chung Myung, who stood with one leg cocked casually, as if he owned the place.
“Have you been well?”
“Thanks to you sending a lump of baggage to Mount Hua, not all that comfortably.”
“A lump of baggage, you say.”
Beop Jeong gave a wry smile.
The baggage in question had to be Hye Yeon.
“A burden is still a burden, though I would say that much at least could be called a treasure.”
“Huh? A treasure? That bald guy?”
“……”
“If you were going to dump a free-loading mouth on us, you could at least have sent some money along with him! You sent some guy who eats nothing but grass we can barely find in Mount Hua, and you didn’t even include a single coin? For all the money you’ve got?”
“……”
Beop Jeong blinked.
It was true that he had not thought of sending money along, but…
What does he mean, grass we can barely find?
Beop Jeong let out an awkward laugh.
“Haha… Still, I believe he was of some help, was he not?”
“Help?”
Chung Myung’s head tilted even more crookedly, and Beop Jeong turned his face away with a cough. In just a few words, Chung Myung had already dragged him right back into remembering exactly what sort of person he was dealing with.
And Beop Jeong was not the only one who found the situation uncomfortable.
Hyun Jong quickly stepped forward.
He wanted to cut off any further conversation between Beop Jeong and Chung Myung before that brat managed to cause some new disaster.
“Please, come inside first. I would hate for the world to accuse us of leaving the Abbot of Shaolin standing at the gate.”
“How could an uninvited guest who arrived without a word dare expect hospitality? A bowl of water would be more than enough, and I would be deeply grateful.”
They were exchanging words of mutual humility when—
“Abbot!”
Someone burst out of the main hall and shouted toward Beop Jeong in a voice full of emotion, then ran straight toward him.
“Oh! Hye Yeon i—”
Huh?
Beop Jeong’s eyes widened slightly.
Hye Yeon?
Eh?
He blinked several times at the figure with his eyes still wide open.
It is him.
There was no mistaking it.
Who else in Mount Hua would be wearing Shaolin’s yellow robes, and who else would have gone so far as to shave his head?
The one running toward him was clearly Hye Yeon.
But…
He is Hye Yeon, all right, but…
Something was wrong.
The boy who had once looked as if he’d leave soft fuzz behind if you touched him was nowhere to be seen. Why was a young man with bronze skin shining slickly as he ran toward him instead?
Even his face seemed different somehow.
Was it because his skin had grown darker, or for some other reason? The shy boy who used to lower his head whenever he met someone’s eyes was gone, replaced by a powerfully built young man whose fierce expression made him look like a divine general ready to punch a Mara to death with his bare hands.
Uh…
Beop Jeong rubbed his eyes hard. Then he looked again at the one approaching him.
No, wait. If I look closely, his features themselves haven’t changed all that much.
Beop Jeong could quickly tell what was making him feel so strange.
His eyes.
Hye Yeon’s gaze, once so soft and timid it had looked as though he couldn’t even kill a single insect, now flashed with a faint, simmering heat.
Hye Yeon, who had stopped right in front of Beop Jeong, called out to him in an impassioned voice.
“Abbot!”
“...Hye Yeon?”
“Yes, Abbot!”
He had received the obvious answer to his obvious question, yet Beop Jeong could not quite bring himself to accept it.
How should he put it?
It felt like leaving behind a fluffy yellow chick for a few days, only to return home and find that the chick had grown into a huge rooster, flapping its wings and crowing at the sky.
Beop Jeong opened and closed his mouth several times in bewilderment.
“...You’ve changed quite a lot.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Hye Yeon tilted his head in confusion, but the Mount Hua party standing behind him slowly nodded in agreement with Beop Jeong’s words.
“He has changed a lot.”
“He really has. I never thought much of it because we’ve been together all the time, but compared to when he first arrived, he’s changed so much.”
“...I’m starting to feel a little guilty.”
Beop Jeong was so stunned and frustrated he could not even speak.
What the hell did they do to him?
The man had gone out seeking the Dharma, not to return as a monk who’d spent several months traveling through the Western Regions with Tripitaka in tow. What on earth could he have gone through to change this much in just a few months?
Before he realized it, his mouth had fallen open. Startled, he quickly shut it again.
This was Mount Hua, and he was the Abbot of Shaolin. No matter how astonishing something was, he could not afford to show surprise.
He deliberately adopted a solemn, benevolent tone.
“Ahem. So. Have you gained enlightenment?”
“...Enlightenment my ass.”
“...Hm?”
Did I just hear that wrong?
But Hye Yeon did not care about Beop Jeong’s reaction. His eyes already welled with tears.
“Abbot! You came to take me back, didn’t you? I knew I could trust you.”
“...What are you talking about?”
Beop Jeong asked, a little bewildered, but Hye Yeon looked as though he could not hear a thing. He seized Beop Jeong’s hand and grew teary-eyed as well.
“Pl-please, take me back to Shaolin—”
“Yo, yo. Tsk tsk.”
Seeing the scene, Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
“Even animals know enough to repay the people who feed and shelter them, and look at this human bastard. What a disgrace.”
“……”
Hye Yeon, who had gone dumb in an instant, slowly turned his head to look back.
Ah. That wasn’t entirely wrong.
They had fed and sheltered him, yes.
Just like they’d fed and sheltered him while working him like a cow and giving him nothing but grass to eat!
“Stop making trouble and come here.”
Chung Myung strode over and slapped a hand over Hye Yeon’s head with a loud smack.
Hye Yeon looked at Beop Jeong with mournful eyes, like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse. The strange thing was that he still allowed himself to be dragged away by Chung Myung without resisting in the slightest.
At that, Hyun Jong cleared his throat once and spoke.
“For now, let us go inside.”
“...Y-yes.”
Beop Jeong let out a deep sigh.
Mount Hua, indeed.
Mount Hua, all right.
“Ahem.”
“Hm.”
Even after everyone sat down across from one another, no one seemed willing to speak first.
An awkward silence settled over them.
In truth, Mount Hua and Shaolin were not close enough to comfortably sit together. So the people present had no easy topic to offer.
Say something, Sect Leader.
I feel like I’m suffocating.
As the elders prodded Hyun Jong with their eyes, he quietly looked away.
I'm awkward too, you idiots.
At the martial arts tournament, the situation had been so extreme that everyone had said whatever needed saying and whatever should not have been said. But even Hyun Jong felt immense pressure dealing with the Abbot of Shaolin.
Shaolin itself had also closed its mouth. In the end, the only person in this place who seemed completely at ease was one man.
“Why is everyone being so quiet?”
At that calm, guileless voice, all the Mount Hua elders turned their eyes in one direction at once.
The moment they saw Chung Myung sitting there as if nothing in the world could bother him, a small wave of relief went through them.
At least that bastard is here.
I never thought I’d live long enough to be glad to see that wretch’s personality.
When the elders signaled him, Chung Myung shrugged as if to say he understood, then looked at Beop Jeong.
“So what brings you here? It’s a pretty long trip.”
“I came because there were many matters to discuss.”
Beop Jeong answered lightly and lifted the teacup before him. He savored the aroma and took a sip.
“The tea tastes good, Sect Leader.”
“We have received hospitality before, so I made sure to prepare it properly. It may not compare to fine tea, but since you have come all the way to Mount Hua, I thought it fitting that you should at least taste our plum blossom tea.”
“Its fragrance is truly memorable.”
Beop Jeong nodded slowly, then raised his head to look at Hyun Jong.
“I have heard about the Maninbang.”
“Ah…”
“Mount Hua has accomplished something truly remarkable.”
Beop Jeong spoke with evident admiration.
“Amitabha. Dealing with Maninbang could not have been easy. It clearly showed how mighty Mount Hua has become. Praise for your sect has spread far and wide.”
“Thank you.”
Beop Jeong glanced subtly at the elders, then continued.
“When I think back to the last time I saw you at Shaolin, I cannot help but feel how much Mount Hua’s standing has changed in the meantime. I can tell, even without seeing it, how hard the Sect Leader and Mount Hua’s disciples must have worked.”
As he spoke, the elders’ shoulders slowly straightened with pride.
They had heard plenty of praise like this before, of course, but hearing it from the mouth of the Abbot of Shaolin gave it entirely different weight.
No matter what anyone said, the Abbot of Shaolin held the highest authority in all of the martial world.
As their lips began to curl upward despite themselves, Beop Jeong gave a soft, thoughtful hum and went on.
“And I must also apologize. It is only natural that, when such a thing happens, surrounding sects should lend support. But because it happened so suddenly…”
“It was indeed quite sudden.”
“If Zhongnan had not closed its gates, Mount Hua would not have had to fight alone. Unfortunately, Zhongnan’s seclusion was also something I did not foresee.”
“It’s all right.”
Hyun Jong smiled.
“How could the busy Abbot of Shaolin possibly concern himself with matters this far away? One must solve one’s own problems oneself. That is only proper.”
“No, Sect Leader. This is something I should apologize for.”
With a subdued expression, Beop Jeong repeatedly chanted a Buddhist prayer.
Meanwhile, Chung Myung narrowed his eyes at him.
What is that bastard fox planning now?
It was true that Mount Hua had not received help from the surrounding sects. But in truth, that was not something Shaolin could really be blamed for.
And yet the Abbot’s self-reproach continued without pause.
“The world is in turmoil, yes, but even I did not think Maninbang from Guizhou would push all the way into Shaanxi in one stroke.”
“How could the Abbot have known in advance and prepared for it? If you keep saying things like this, you’re going to make me uncomfortable.”
“Amitabha. Sect Leader, how can you possibly believe this was not my fault?”
“What?”
Beop Jeong looked at Hyun Jong again, then spoke once more.
“I fully understand your sorrow, Sect Leader. I also understand your disappointment toward those who, even after such a thing happened, were unable to help.”
“...What exactly are you trying to say?”
Hyun Jong’s face hardened slightly as he asked, and Beop Jeong turned his gaze to Chung Myung. Then, with a strange expression, he said,
“So I can completely understand why Mount Hua is now seeking to join hands with people other than the righteous sects, Sect Leader.”
Chung Myung’s face twisted slightly.
So that’s it!
He’d wondered why the man had bothered to come all this way. So this was what he had come to say.
With Shaolin’s intelligence network, it would have been easy enough to learn that Mount Hua was trying to form an alliance with other sects.
But even so, for the Abbot himself to intervene…
That damn bald monk!
Hyun Jong also seemed taken aback by Beop Jeong’s words and cleared his throat repeatedly.
“Ahem. That matter is…”
“Of course I understand, Sect Leader. But…”
Beop Jeong’s eyes narrowed meaningfully as they fixed sharply on Hyun Jong.
“Whether the other sects will understand it is another matter entirely, and I think that is something you ought to consider very carefully.”
Chung Myung’s face wrinkled as he sprang to his feet.
“What the hell is wrong with you, old man?!”
“Chung Myung!”
“Sit still!”
But the elders barked at him at once, and he had no choice but to groan and drop back into his seat.
He could not show a third-generation disciple openly disrespecting Mount Hua’s elders in front of Shaolin’s elders, after all.
Still, Beop Jeong seemed to understand his feelings perfectly and gave a faint smile.
“Sect Leader.”
“Yes, Abbot.”
“Would it be possible for us to speak privately, just the two of us? It is rather important.”
“Hm.”
Hyun Jong fell into brief thought.
He was not the kind to hide anything from Mount Hua’s elders, but it was true that the Shaolin elders sitting beside Beop Jeong felt like a burden right now.
“Very well.”
The two of them looked toward their respective elders and spoke.
“Go wait outside.”
“Leave us for a while.”
At those words, everyone filling the room stood and went out in unison.
“Ah.”
Just then, Beop Jeong said,
“You stay behind a moment, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
Chung Myung, who had risen to leave, frowned at him.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I have something to say to you.”
At Beop Jeong’s sly tone, Chung Myung’s eyebrows shot up.
Looks like this old man didn’t get beaten up enough last time.
Fine. Let’s hear it then.
Let’s see what kind of nonsense he was going to spout.
Without another word, Chung Myung sat back down.
His sharp gaze and Beop Jeong’s calm, unfathomable one locked together in the air like drawn blades.