Don’t Worry! I’ll Make Sure You Win! (3)
"So you were here."
Unam hurried over to Chung Myung with a faintly anxious look on his face.
"I greet you, Great-Uncle Martial Uncle."
"I greet you, Great-Uncle Martial Uncle."
Jo Gul and Chung Myung both bowed their heads in a hurry.
"Mm."
Unam accepted the greeting with a slight nod, then fixed his gaze on Chung Myung.
"Chung Myung."
"Yes, Martial Uncle."
"It seems you’ll have to make a trip to the main mountain."
"...Huh?"
The main mountain?
Mount Hua?
Chung Myung’s face twitched.
What, is going to Mount Hua some kind of easy errand now?
He was talking about going to that insane mountain where even a bird could die trying to climb it as if it were nothing more than a quick little chore?
Where was everyone’s conscience?
"To the main mountain?"
"That’s right."
Chung Myung turned to the side with a sullen look. Jo Gul neatly avoided his gaze.
"I mean, there are plenty of strong, energetic senior brothers. Why do I have to be the one…?"
"Aren’t you the youngest?"
"And because I’m the youngest, I’ve got skinny legs, weak footwork…"
"And you’ve got the least work to do."
"…."
Ah.
So the front-yard sweeping he’d been stuck with because he didn’t want to work had come back to bite him like this. They really weren’t wrong when they said life was full of unexpected twists.
"Haaah."
Chung Myung let out a long sigh.
At this rate, he was being sent on errands for little brats now? How had the Plum Blossom Sword Saint Chung Myung ended up like this?
"So what exactly is this errand?"
"You just need to deliver a letter to the Sect Leader or to the Treasury Hall."
"A letter?"
What kind of letter was it?
He wanted to ask more, but it wasn’t polite to demand every last detail from a Martial Uncle. It was infuriating to have to show courtesy to a green little brat, but what could he do? That was just how things were.
"Yes, Martial Uncle. I’ll go."
"Good. Normally we would just leave it and send it with someone returning later, but this is rather urgent, so that isn’t easy to manage. I hope you’ll understand."
Hah.
Even his personality was good.
If it had been Chung Myung, the moment a third-generation disciple started grumbling he would’ve already knocked their mouth clean off their face.
Unam took a letter from inside his robes and held it out to Chung Myung.
"Here."
"Yes."
And because he thought Chung Myung might be curious, Unam kindly explained what the letter was.
"It’s a letter from the Eunha Merchant Guild, so handle it carefully."
"What? The Eunha Merchant Guild?"
Jo Gul muttered quietly.
"That merchant house led by Lord Hwang is the Eunha Merchant Guild."
"Huh?"
Chung Myung stared at the letter. Unam didn’t seem to notice anything odd in his expression and continued his explanation.
"This is an urgent message addressed to the Sect Leader. Since I happened to be in Hwaeum, I was able to receive it in the middle. If the people delivering supplies to Mount Hua were to take it up, it would take at least two days, so I’m asking you to go quickly and deliver it to the Sect Leader."
"Yes. Understood."
"It’s urgent, so don’t dawdle. Leave at once."
"Yes!"
As Chung Myung stuffed the letter into his robe and sprinted off toward Mount Hua, Jo Gul, who had been watching him, unconsciously reached out a hand.
"W-wait—!"
Then he muttered under his breath with worried eyes.
"You really shouldn’t send him off with that."
"Hm? What did you say?"
"Ah, nothing at all, Martial Uncle."
Jo Gul hastily covered it up. But his eyes never left the shrinking figure of Chung Myung’s back.
This feels bad.
Bad omens were never wrong.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hmm."
Once he had climbed as far as the middle of Mount Hua, Chung Myung took the letter from inside his robes.
"Hmmm."
So this was a letter from that Lord Hwang of the Eunha Merchant Guild?
No. Lord Hwang was supposedly in and out of consciousness in bed, so this must have been written by the people under him.
"Ha… This is something else."
Chung Myung sighed, sounding genuinely regretful.
"Opening someone else’s letter isn’t exactly the way of a Taoist, but isn’t it also un-Taoist that this letter happened to end up in my hands? Everything depends on the Dao. The fact that I want to open a letter that’s come into my possession is only natural, wouldn’t you say? Right, senior brother?"
- Quit making sense, you tiger-nosed bastard!
"…Anyway, senior brother and I just aren’t compatible."
That had always been true.
But that didn’t mean he had any choice but to read it.
From what he’d heard, if they left the business to itself it was obvious it would turn into a complete mess, and if that Lord Hwang fellow could step in, things would likely become much easier. But then a rush letter arrived from the Eunha Merchant Guild at exactly this time?
That could only mean something had happened to Lord Hwang himself.
Maybe he could have ignored it if he hadn’t known anything, but now that he did, how could he not check? Not that this was a choice only Chung Myung would make, of course, but anyone would at least be tempted.
Chung Myung studied the envelope carefully. The words written on the outside—For the personal attention of the Mount Hua Sect Leader—jumped out at him at once.
In other words, it was telling him not to open it unless he was the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.
"It’s fine. It’s fine. Honestly, if they had both me and the Sect Leader here, they’d have told me first. They wouldn’t have gone straight to the Sect Leader."
If anyone else had heard that, they’d have foamed at the mouth. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one around Chung Myung right now.
"Let’s see."
The letter was sealed tight with wax. No matter how he opened it, there would have to be traces left behind.
At least, that was true for ordinary people.
For Chung Myung, it wasn’t all that difficult.
"They sure stuck it on well."
Swish.
The sharp energy flowing from Chung Myung’s fingertip cut cleanly along the boundary between paper and wax. When it was done, the envelope looked as though it had never been sealed at all.
He opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and unfolded it without hesitation.
"All right, let’s see…."
With his legs crossed, Chung Myung began to read.
His expression twisted violently.
He nearly crumpled the letter then and there, but with slightly trembling hands he smoothed it out, folded it neatly, and slipped it back into the envelope.
Then he let out a long breath.
"Huuuuh!"
After a few rounds of deep breathing, he finally managed to settle his mind, but even then his body still trembled as though he hadn’t fully calmed down.
"This is that damned Mahwa, isn’t it?"
Mahwa.
The Demonic Flower.
Chung Myung gritted his teeth.
"There’s no way ordinary physicians can treat Mahwa!"
Because this was caused by martial arts.
Outwardly, the symptoms looked like a severe poisoning. Naturally, any attempt to cure it would have focused on that direction.
But Mahwa was the condition that appeared when one was struck by a specific martial art of the Demonic Sect.
The reason Chung Myung couldn’t calm down was simple.
Those Demonic Sect bastards!
The Demonic Sect—whom he’d thought he’d nearly wiped out—was up to something in the middle of the Central Plains.
No, no!
Chung Myung slapped both cheeks so hard a crack rang out.
"What I killed was the Heavenly Demon. I didn’t kill every single bastard in the Demonic Sect."
It made perfect sense for remnants of the Demonic Sect to still be alive in this era.
Didn’t they say there had already been survivors who didn’t get wiped out even after the Heavenly Demon died and Mount Hua was overrun?
Some of those bastards must have survived there, and others must have remained in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. It was only natural that their line would still continue.
The problem was not merely that they were alive, but that they were scheming something in the Central Plains.
Chung Myung’s eyes spat fire.
"No, but do these bastards have some kind of grudge against Mount Hua?"
Why did everything they did end up hurting Mount Hua?
There were how many people in the Central Plains—why the hell had they to gone after Lord Hwang and created this mess?
"Ah, damn it. My neck’s starting to tense up."
Chung Myung let out a long sigh.
This won’t do.
It looked like he’d have to go there himself.
Just from the content of the letter, he couldn’t confirm that this was Mahwa. He’d need to see the patient in person first.
Besides…
"Compensation! Enormous reward!"
The final line of the letter had turned Chung Myung’s head clean around.
If Jo Gul was right, this Eunha Merchant Guild must be rolling in money. If a place like that was using the words “enormous reward,” then just how much were they willing to pay?
"This is absolutely not something I can let go!"
Chung Myung’s heart sped up.
Nearly a hundred years had already passed, so there probably weren’t many people left who knew about Mahwa.
If the Central Plains and the Demonic Sect hadn’t been at war for the past hundred years, there would likely be no one who could recognize the symptoms caused by a specific demonic art.
And the people who might know those symptoms had all died at the summit of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains that day at the hands of the Heavenly Demon and the Demonic Sect.
But no one knew what the world might hold.
There might be survivors from a hundred years ago who know about Mahwa.
And if any of them were still alive, they would now be senior figures in their respective sects. They’d be too old to still be sect leaders, yes, but what if one of the sect leaders who received this letter showed it to someone else in hopes of getting information?
"They’d be completely screwed! No way! I can’t let that happen!"
Fire flashed in Chung Myung’s eyes.
What insolent bastard was trying to target Chung Myung’s prey… no, his patient? For the sake of the money… no, for the sake of the Dao, this was absolutely a matter Chung Myung had to resolve!
Exactly! That’s how it was!
"I’m busy!"
Chung Myung grabbed the letter and put his hand to the seal. He called forth a little Samadhi True Fire and melted the wax back into place, then immediately shot upward toward the summit of Mount Hua at a terrifying speed.
"I need to hand it over first!"
Only then, if they managed to solve the problem, would those bastards understand what was going on.
"I’m taking the whole thing!"
Just you wait there.
For the personal attention of Mount Hua Sect Leader Hyun Jong.
Sect Leader. Spring is coming after the long winter, and the fresh buds are beginning to sprout. By the time this letter reaches you, the spring plum blossoms of Mount Hua should be in full bloom.
The scenery of Mount Hua that I once visited with my father is still vivid in my mind. I have long hoped to return one day, but I regret that circumstances have not allowed it.
It is embarrassing beyond words to send a letter after being out of touch for so long, and yet I do so now because my father’s condition has grown worse day by day.
As you know, my father has been unwell since last year and has been confined to his bed. Considering his age, this is understandable, but in recent days he has begun displaying strange symptoms that should not accompany simple old age.
My father is currently barely conscious and unable to move. His body has been turning red, a black hue has gathered between his brows, and his qi channels have been running wild on their own.
Our Eunha Merchant Guild has invited renowned physicians from across the Central Plains to examine his condition, but none have been able to make a proper diagnosis.
So, clutching at straws, we are sending letters to those with whom we have some connection in hopes of obtaining even the slightest clue regarding his illness. If, by chance, the Sect Leader knows anything about my father’s symptoms, I would be grateful for contact in any form.
To anyone who can provide information that may improve my father’s condition, we promise—under the name of the Eunha Merchant Guild—a substantial reward beyond measure.
We await your reply.
Sincerely,
Hwang Jong-ui, junior guild master of the Eunha Merchant Guild.