How Is the World Supposed to Go On? (3)
Hyun Jong drained the tea in his hand in one long swallow.
Then he set the cup down on the table with a sharp clack.
“The Green Forest...?”
“Yes.”
“They want into the Heavenly Alliance?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Im So-byeong smiled brightly, and Chung Myung glared at him with frightening intensity.
“What, did that bandit bastard go crazy because he’s about to die?”
“Cough! Cough! Kkhh... Isn’t that a little harsh for a sick man to hear, Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”
“Come to think of it, this guy only coughs when it’s convenient for him, huh? I should rip his lungs out and check.”
As Chung Myung rolled his eyes and lunged, the disciples hurriedly grabbed hold of him, including Baek Cheon.
“Don’t. I’m genuinely scared you’d actually do it, Chung Myung.”
“Exactly.”
“Hey!”
Chung Myung shouted, his eyes practically bulging from his head.
“It already pisses me off enough that a thief came barging into the Taoist temple and sat at the same table as us, and now what? He wants to join the Heavenly Alliance? Why doesn’t he just sign up with the Demonic Sect while he’s at it!”
“...Ku, cough!”
“I’ll cough you into the grave!”
Chung Myung’s foot sliced through the air toward Im So-byeong. Im So-byeong rolled aside and shouted desperately,
“Sect Leader! Sect Leader! I’m about to be beaten to death by a guest of Mount Hua at the hands of a Mount Hua disciple! Please save me!”
Hyun Jong truly could not help but laugh at the situation.
This is a complete mess.
A total, absolute mess.
“You should calm down a little.”
“How am I supposed to calm down after hearing that kind of nonsense...?”
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
“Of course it’s absurd, and of course it’s shocking. But...”
Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes and glared at Chung Myung.
“You don’t need me to tell you who’s responsible for this situation, do you?”
“......”
“If you understand that much, then sit quietly.”
“Fine.”
Watching Hyun Jong rein Chung Myung in as if he were leashing a ferocious dog, Im So-byeong looked on in open admiration.
Hyun Jong said, “Tell me something.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Do you understand the meaning of what you’re saying right now?”
“Of course I do.”
Hyun Jong’s gaze on Im So-byeong was unwavering and righteous to the core.
“Even if the Heavenly Alliance’s shape is not yet fully defined, its foundation is the alliance between Mount Hua and the Tang Family.”
“Yes. It is an alliance between the righteous and the righteous. But the Heavenly Alliance also includes Beast Palace and Ghost Sect.”
“......”
“Neither Beast Palace nor Ghost Sect are places you could call righteous, of course. If anything, their nature is closer to that of the unorthodox factions.”
Hyun Jong gave a low hum.
“And...”
Im So-byeong glanced at Chung Myung, who was once again being held down by Baek Cheon and the others.
“Now that the Mount Hua Divine Dragon has gone all the way to the North Sea, isn’t it only natural that the North Sea Ice Palace would join the Heavenly Alliance? In that case, even less reason is there to discriminate based on background or pedigree.”
Hyun Jong shook his head.
“Even so, this is not something to decide lightly.”
His voice had lowered.
“Beast Palace is a sect from beyond the borders, and though its boundaries are vague, they have never preyed upon commoners. The Green Forest, by contrast, is a place that fattens itself by sucking the blood of common people, is it not?”
“Sect Leader, that is...”
There was steel in Hyun Jong’s voice.
“Mount Hua may not be able to represent every aspect of the Heavenly Alliance, but it is the one standing at its forefront for now. As long as this humble one serves as the alliance leader, it is difficult to accept the Green Forest, which has made a living tormenting commoners.”
It was a statement that left no room for compromise.
Even Hyun Young’s cheek twitched slightly at those words, but even he could not dare oppose Hyun Jong when he spoke in such a tone. If even Elder Hyun Young could not, then the others had no chance at all.
And yet, despite that firm refusal, Im So-byeong did not seem flustered at all. He merely smiled.
“Sect Leader.”
“Speak.”
“May I ask you one thing? What is Mount Hua’s dao? Is it to follow good on its own, or is it to guide those in suffering toward goodness?”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong frowned slightly at the unexpected question. But for someone who claimed to be a Taoist, there was no avoiding an answer.
“Mount Hua seeks goodness on its own. But that is only because the Mount Hua of today is still weak. One who calls himself a cultivator of the dao should not be satisfied with merely entering the immortal realm himself. Ultimately, it is the duty of those who bear Mount Hua’s name to guide everyone back to the dao.”
“Then are those who have committed wrongs forever unable to reach the dao?”
“If they repent and sincerely turn back, then it is possible.”
As if that were the answer he had wanted all along, Im So-byeong slowly nodded.
“Then, Sect Leader. Please, you and Mount Hua, lead the Green Forest onto the right path.”
Hyun Jong’s eyes wavered a little.
With a serious expression, Im So-byeong lowered his head and continued, “The Green Forest is nothing more than a gathering place for people who have nowhere else to live. Those who have enough wealth to live lavishly have no need to climb into the mountains, and those who do not fear the sins they’ve committed have no need to hide themselves in the woods.”
“Hmm.”
“I know there are rumors that the Green Forest robs commoners and makes great sums of money. But Sect Leader, even if you piled money up like a mountain, what sort of luxury could you possibly enjoy in those mountain valleys? If we truly were collecting wealth by squeezing the blood of commoners, would everyone not simply abandon the mountain?”
“Uh...”
Seeing Hyun Jong left speechless, Chung Myung muttered from the side, “You do make a lot of money, though?”
“K-khhem. I’m talking about ordinary Green Forest men. Ordinary... cough! Cough! Aigoo, this cough...”
“I told you, we really should check his lungs.”
Im So-byeong gave an embarrassed little smile and said, “Of course I still have shame. I’m not asking to formally join the Heavenly Alliance and enjoy the same standing as the other sects. That can come later, after the Green Forest has washed away its disgrace and earned a new name. Before that, one promise will be enough.”
“A promise, you say...”
“Please do not abandon the Green Forest.”
A quiet force began to rise from Im So-byeong’s body, which had always seemed frail and sickly.
“Being evil does not mean one is no longer human. Nor does being uneducated, or not knowing the dao or goodness, mean one should be treated like trash. Is it not the true duty of people to teach the uneducated and show the dao to those who do not know it?”
Listening silently, Hyun Jong nodded.
“That is utterly right.”
“If you tell us to abandon our old lives and live anew, then we will do so. But that cannot be done by my strength alone, so please lend us your help.”
Im So-byeong dropped to the floor and bowed deeply toward Hyun Jong.
“Mm...”
Hyun Jong fell silent for a long moment, looking as though he were thinking it over very carefully, and then he nodded.
“At least I understand what you are trying to say.”
“Then...?”
“However, this is not something I can decide alone. Not only Mount Hua, but the other sects as well must gather and discuss it together. So please, Green Forest King, do not rush.”
“That answer is enough.”
Im So-byeong smiled faintly.
“Then, until the Mount Hua Divine Dragon hands over the elixir, might I stay at Mount Hua for a while?”
“By all means.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re going to feed and house a bandit? At Mount Hua?”
“Why? We’re feeding and housing you too. A bandit is better than you!”
“......”
“Stop your nonsense and show him to his quarters. And hurry up and make the elixir, too!”
“Yes.”
And so Im So-byeong remained at Mount Hua for a time.
“......”
“......”
After taking only a few steps, Im So-byeong kept turning his head cautiously to the side.
“Um... Mount Hua Divine Dragon. No, Taoist Chung Myung.”
“What?”
“...No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like the way to my quarters.”
“Oh, come on. Have you been living your life getting fooled all the time? This way. Not there, this way.”
“...Somehow I feel like it’s getting darker and darker?”
“Quiet places are better.”
The instant Im So-byeong began to inch backward, Chung Myung caught him by the nape of the neck.
Almost at the same time, Im So-byeong desperately clung to the wall of the hall.
Then Chung Myung twisted his face and yanked on him.
“Hey, I said just a little farther!”
“You’re trying to beat me, aren’t you? You are! My body’s already weak as it is, and if I get hit by a Taoist, I’ll die!”
“I’ll hit you gently so you don’t die!”
“See? That means you are trying to hit me! Aaagh! A Taoist is dragging off a bandit!”
“Sounds like a good thing to me.”
“Huh? Yeah, I guess it does.”
With a groan, Im So-byeong sat down on the spot.
“Tch. Damn my social standing. I can’t even complain when something happens to me.”
“You’re full of it. Bastard.”
Chung Myung ground his teeth and glared at Im So-byeong. He had seen plenty of slippery people in his life, but this one was especially smooth and greasy among them all.
“What are you thinking?”
“What do you mean, what am I thinking? Didn’t you hear me? I said I wanted to join the Heavenly Alliance.”
“What’s a bandit like you doing trying to join an alliance? What’s your game?”
Im So-byeong gave a snort at Chung Myung’s suspicious look.
“Listen here, Taoist Chung Myung.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know who died the most in the war against the Demonic Sect?”
“Well...”
“The unorthodox factions.”
Chung Myung nodded quietly. That was true.
“And among the unorthodox factions, the ones who died the most were the bandits of the Green Forest and the pirates of the Yangtze River bandit sect. Do you know why?”
“Because no one helped them.”
“Exactly.”
It was ridiculous, really.
Of course Chung Myung despised the Nine Great Sects. But at the very least, until the final moment came, they had helped one another while resisting the Demonic Sect.
The outer sects beyond the borders had also failed to form an alliance with the orthodox sects, but among themselves they had crossed thousands of li to provide support.
But the unorthodox factions never helped one another.
“A bunch of idiots who knife each other over territory every day aren’t suddenly going to grow a brotherly bond because a new enemy appears. Even if they didn’t attack one another, they still never managed to unite against the Demonic Sect in the end.”
“Right.”
“So it’s no surprise they couldn’t survive.”
It was the same now.
Would the Maninbang and the Green Forest suddenly join forces and resist together just because the Demonic Sect was rising again? Not a chance. If anything, if it meant they could crush the Green Forest completely, there were plenty in Maninbang who’d happily support the Demonic Sect.
The unorthodox factions cannot unite, the righteous factions have no reason to help them, and the outer sects have no obligation to aid the sects of Central Plains. So the Green Forest received no help from anywhere in the world.
“Why should this time be any different? The reason the Green Forest has grown so strong is, paradoxically, that the losses from the last war were so catastrophic. The commoners who lost their homes had to commit crimes just to survive, and they fled into the mountains to escape the authorities. As those people were absorbed into the Green Forest one by one, only now has it become somewhat livable.”
“By robbing banditry?”
“I’m not trying to excuse it. What I mean is...”
Im So-byeong’s eyes turned cold.
“As the Green Forest King, the one responsible for taking care of my people, I will never simply stand by and watch them die the way they did in the last war. If the price of that is licking the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s boots, then I’m perfectly willing to do it.”
Seeing the determination in those eyes, Chung Myung nodded with an unusually serious expression. Then he slowly bent down.
“...What are you doing?”
“Taking off my shoes.”
“Why the hell are you taking off your shoes?”
“No, you said you’d lick them...”
Startled, Im So-byeong hurriedly shouted, “I-I mean that as a figure of speech, a figure of speech!”
“Tsk. See? This is why mountain thieves can’t be trusted. Not a single word out of your mouth is reliable!”
“Ughhh...”
Im So-byeong was no stranger to being verbally outmaneuvered, but every time he talked with this Taoist, he felt himself getting dragged into the mud.
“Sigh.”
He let out a deep breath, then spoke in a serious voice.
“Taoist.”
“Yeah?”
“Please help us.”
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung looked at him languidly, then scratched his head.
“By the way.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you keep talking as if it’s a given that the world’s going to be thrown into the same sort of chaos as before?”
Im So-byeong smiled thinly.
“Because it’s too obvious.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re doing it.”
“......”
Im So-byeong unfolded the fan in his hand and covered his mouth slightly.
“When someone like you begins stacking power around himself, layer by layer, in preparation for something, it means something is coming that cannot be solved by your own strength alone.”
“......”
“It seems traces of the Demonic Sect were found in the North Sea, and that must be why you rushed there like your hair was on fire.”
“......”
“And if I still didn’t understand the situation after that, I’d be admitting I was an idiot. Fortunately, I’m quite clever for a bandit.”
“Ha...”
Chung Myung let out a snort-laugh.
Setting aside the question of intelligence, this was a man who had come all the way to Mount Hua and lowered his head just because of that much?
Indeed, he was no ordinary person.
“And besides...”
“Hm?”
“If I stick close to you, I might even get an extra elixir or two, wouldn’t I? Cough! That... cough! Cough! For me, that’s a matter of survival... cough!”
“......”
Chung Myung shook his head and sighed deeply.
Why is it that only people like this keep clinging to me?
It must be karma from his previous life.
Karma, through and through.