How Is the World Supposed to Go On? (5)
Words could carry a dozen different meanings.
The same sentence could mean something entirely different depending on the situation, which was why people had to be careful whenever they spoke.
Unfortunately, however, there were always those creatures in this world who heard a perfectly well-meant statement and twisted it into something else entirely.
“What?”
Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“You’re saying those brats are ridiculously weak?”
…Did this bastard have a sieve for ears?
They had clearly heard the same words, so how in the world had he leaped to that conclusion?
“That’s not what I said….”
“Then what?”
“I mean, the gap between the kids and the ones who went to the North Sea has widened….”
“That’s exactly what I said!”
“No, it isn’t, you idiot! It doesn’t mean the others are weak just because we’re stronger!”
“Oh? So you’re saying Uncle-Disciple is the impressive one? Hah, our Dongryong’s really grown up. Now you even know how to brag openly.”
“Khk… my, my stomach….”
Baek Cheon clutched his upper abdomen and staggered.
‘Ah, so his face wasn’t white—it was just bloodless.’
‘Well, it’s understandable.’
Yoon Jong and Jo Gul looked at Baek Cheon with sympathy.
Chung Myung snorted and crossed one leg over the other.
“Well… if you actually think about it, it’s not that strange.”
“Hm?”
“It’s about time, really.”
He muttered something incomprehensible, then propped his chin on his hand and fell into thought.
The others gave him time to sort out his thoughts, but unfortunately, among them was one man who lacked even a scrap of tact.
“What are you talking about? Don’t just think to yourself—say it out loud!”
“….”
Chung Myung’s cheek twitched faintly in irritation. But even with that murderous look in his eyes, Jo Gul stood his ground.
“Why?”
“……Nothing.”
What was the point of saying it?
It wasn’t like anyone here would actually listen, anyway.
“It’s because I don’t understand.”
Jo Gul frowned. No matter how different their experience was, he couldn’t understand how the gap had grown this much.
“I checked again, and their training really did seem thorough. In fact, Uncle-Disciple Un Geom wouldn’t be the kind of person to let his disciples goof off.”
“True.”
“And our uncle-disciples are the kind of people who’d cut into their sleep just to train harder than us… yet there’s still this much difference.”
Chung Myung answered flippantly, “What? You want me to praise Senior Brother Jo Gul?”
“That’s not it, you moron!”
Jo Gul cried out in grievance.
“You know this isn’t some simple matter.”
At the unusually serious tone, Chung Myung let out a short laugh.
Normally, they would have simply concluded that the kids needed to be trained harder. The reason they were grabbing onto him and talking like this was obvious.
Their perspective had broadened.
Up until now, training had meant improving themselves through their own efforts—sharpening themselves, driving themselves harder.
But after what had happened with Maninbang and the North Sea Ice Palace, everyone had come to realize that wasn’t enough.
To put it bluntly, the North Sea had been no different.
They had suffered terribly because of that damned Elder Il, but if the North Sea Ice Palace had not existed at all, Chung Myung’s group would never have been able to stop the Demonic Sect no matter what they did.
Cheon Ma might not have been resurrected, but they might have been forced to watch the Demonic Sect rampage through the North Sea after it had outlived its usefulness.
Or else they would have had no choice but to flee to the Central Plains in a panic.
Seeing the tense, anxious expressions on their faces, Chung Myung shrugged. Then Baek Cheon spoke in a low voice.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you mean when you say it’s about time?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. It’s time to move on to the next stage.”
“The next stage?”
“Real combat.”
Baek Cheon’s eyes widened slightly at Chung Myung’s words.
“Real combat?”
Chung Myung nodded lightly.
“Just like Jo Gul said. It’s not like the senior brothers went to the North Sea and did anything especially impressive in training.”
“That’s true.”
Yoon Jong interjected with a faintly displeased expression.
“My back was nearly broken from pulling carts.”
“If dragging a cart could make someone a master, then dogs and cows would all be masters! In that case, a cow would be the strongest person in the world!”
“…….”
“And yet there’s such a huge difference because of one thing: have you or have you not fought with your life on the line?”
Baek Cheon asked, still not entirely convinced, “But in Mount Hua, don’t we already do sparring that’s practically like real combat?”
“With wooden swords?”
“…….”
“There’s nothing more to explain. Senior Brother, you’ve experienced both, haven’t you? If you fought a thousand of those sparring matches that were like real combat, would it give you the same experience as the one time you fought that Bishop?”
“Absolutely not.”
Baek Cheon answered flatly without even needing to think.
Those who had never experienced it could never truly imagine. The Bishop he had only vaguely pictured in his mind and the Bishop he had faced directly in front of him were separated by a gap large enough to span the whole of the Central Plains.
How could anyone explain that soul-tearing killing intent, that crushing pressure that seemed intent on grinding the body to dust?
Remembering that moment, Baek Cheon said in a heavy voice, “Those who haven’t experienced it simply don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
Chung Myung nodded.
“Martial arts are strange that way. There are some things you can’t solve with mere appearance or theory. No matter how much I drive someone in a real fight with a sword in hand, there’s still a part of the mind that has someplace to lean on.”
“You mean because we know you wouldn’t really kill us?”
“That’s ri— Ah. Maybe I should’ve tried acting like I would actually kill you?”
“……Don’t.”
That would be even scarier than the Bishop.
“Hmm. Then what you’re saying is that we lacked real combat experience?”
Baek Cheon nodded, as if that made sense.
Come to think of it.
Strictly speaking, aside from them, the disciples of Mount Hua had hardly ever experienced real combat, let alone proper sparring.
During the Hwajong Jihoe, aside from part of the Cheong generation and that brat Chung Myung, everyone else had been crushed without even getting a chance to show what they could do. And at the Heaven’s Chosen Rising Stars Tournament, only a handful of representatives had participated as sparring competitors.
They had gained some real combat experience during the Maninbang incident, but one encounter was hardly enough to call them seasoned.
“But does it really make that much of a difference whether someone has experienced real combat or not?”
“Think of it like a wagered game of Go.”
“……Huh?”
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung as if to say, What the hell are you talking about now?
“When you’re practicing, the moves are easy to see. You can show your full skill without holding back. But what if your entire fortune is riding on the game?”
“……Your hands would shake.”
“And life is worth even more than your fortune.”
Chung Myung’s voice turned cold.
“Someone who has played that kind of wagered game again and again becomes dramatically stronger. It’s not just about being able to show your skill properly.”
“Hmm.”
Jo Gul, who had been listening quietly, leaned toward Yoon Jong and whispered, “So climbing cliffs without a rope isn’t enough, huh?”
“There’s still a net below,” Yoon Jong replied.
Jo Gul let out a small sigh and nodded.
In any case, everyone could understand now. They had all experienced real combat firsthand, so they grasped instinctively what that difference meant.
“It’s definitely different.”
“Mm, a lot.”
Chung Myung continued in a perfunctory tone.
“That’s why sects send disciples who’ve ripened enough out into the jianghu. If training really were all-powerful, then those who stayed in the sect and trained diligently should be stronger than those who roamed around making their names in the jianghu. But in reality, that isn’t how it works.”
“So that’s what they mean by going out into the jianghu.”
“Right.”
“Still, that’s strange…. I went on a journey through the jianghu before, but I never felt like I improved all that much back then.”
“……Senior Brother.”
“What?”
“I said they have to ripen, ripen!”
“…….”
“Wine has to be made from good ingredients and aged properly before it tastes right! If you just bury cheap junk away, it rots! Back then, Senior Brother wasn’t worth a single coin. I’d have to pay people to take you!”
“Khhhhh….”
Jo Gul and Yoon Jong hurriedly supported the trembling Baek Cheon.
“Please calm down, Senior Brother.”
“It’s not like I’m a stranger to being ignored.”
“It’s because it’s not just for a day or two that he’s doing this, you idiot!”
“Why are you taking it out on me….”
Jo Gul, unfairly scolded, pouted and slumped.
“Anyway!”
After barely calming himself, Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung and said, “So in the end, if we want everyone’s skill to improve, we have to make sure they can experience real combat.”
“That’s right.”
“……Real combat always carries that level of danger.”
“It’s still better than being too late.”
Chung Myung’s voice lowered a little.
“If you avoid real combat because you’re afraid of that, you’ll eventually run into something you truly can’t avoid. By then, regretting it will be far too late.”
Everyone here knew exactly what that unavoidable thing was.
The Demonic Sect.
If they kept protecting their martial siblings inside Mount Hua so they’d never be in danger, and the day came when they had no choice but to fight the Demonic Sect, what then?
Could people who had never properly experienced real combat withstand the killing intent of Demonic Sect members?
No matter how he thought about it, that seemed impossible.
“I understand.”
Baek Cheon nodded.
“I’ll speak to the Sect Leader about this separately.”
“Good.”
Watching Baek Cheon’s resolute face, Jo Gul clenched his fist with a vague sense of unease.
“But, Senior Brother.”
“Hm?”
“If they go through real combat, doesn’t that mean the senior brothers and juniors will all be going out into the jianghu?”
“That’s right.”
“……Will that be okay?”
“…….”
Yoon Jong also looked visibly tense.
This isn’t something to take lightly.
Setting aside their skill, weren’t the senior brothers of Mount Hua the kind of people whose character you could proudly show anywhere in the world?
If those people all went out into the jianghu together, wouldn’t whatever happened become a huge mess?
“But even if it’s real combat, there’s nowhere to fight, is there? We’re not about to go raid Maninbang.”
“What’s there to think about? Just pick a decent bandit fort and wipe it out.”
“Shh! Idiot! The Green Forest King is right here—what if he hea….”
“I heard that.”
“See, he heard it—huh?”
Baek Cheon jumped and slowly turned his head.
Through a small window in the wall, two pairs of now-familiar eyes were peering inside.
“I heard it,” said Im So-byeong.
“…….”
Baek Cheon gave a small, awkward cough.
How was he supposed to fix this…?
“W-well, even if there’s a window, eavesdropping on other people’s conversation isn’t proper conduct….”
“What sort of morals are you expecting from a bandit? If I were going to do that, I might as well have become a scholar.”
Fair enough.
Yes. That wasn’t wrong.
But weren’t you a little too casual about switching back and forth between gentleman and bandit depending on what benefited you? How convenient.
Im So-byeong shoved the door open and strode inside, then shouted at Chung Myung.
“What! I wondered where the man preparing medicine had gone off to, and you were here talking about raiding a bandit fort?”
“Now, now. Does nagging make rice into cooked rice? It needs to steam properly!”
“Then at least say so after you’ve set it boiling! Khk! Khrrk! Heheheh-atchoo! Kkhk. M-my chest….”
Watching Im So-byeong’s face turn deathly pale, Baek Cheon said dryly, “……That doesn’t look like a cough. You really do have something like Three Yin Severed Meridians, don’t you?”
“Nope. I checked him roughly, and that was a lie.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yeah. It’s not just Three Yin—it’s a bit worse than that. Maybe Three Yin and a quarter severed meridians?”
“…….”
What an utterly obnoxious name.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yeah?”
“Make him an elixir before he becomes a corpse.”
“Tsk. What a pain in the ass.”
Chung Myung glanced sidelong at Im So-byeong and said, “Well… I’ll make you an elixir, sure.”
“Yes! Yes! Please! Please, I’m begging you! Do you think I came all the way here, abandoned my bandit fort, just to sit here like this?”
“Which reminds me.”
“……Yes?”
“Do you happen to have some spare bandit fort lying around? You know, one that’s so disobedient you can beat the hell out of everyone and bury the whole place without worrying about it?”
“Hey, you bastard!”
“How can you say something so ridiculous to the Green Forest King!”
“There are things you should say and things you absolutely shouldn’t!”
The disciples of Mount Hua screamed and tried to stop him. But Im So-byeong didn’t seem nearly as upset as they feared.
In fact…
“Um… there is one, actually.”
“Hm?”
There was?
Why would there be one?
“Will you take care of it?”
“Hold on a second.”
Baek Cheon stared in horror.
“C-can that even be done? You’re the Green Forest King. You can’t just raid a bandit fort!”
“It’s still just bandits, though.”
“Yes. Still just bandits, really. The world isn’t going to end because a few of them die.”
“…….”
Baek Cheon’s face twitched violently.
These bastards are insane.
No, seriously—why did a Daoist and a bandit get along this well? Why!
“It’s mutually beneficial. We get to deal with a bunch of annoying trouble!”
“And we get to train the kids?”
“No. We get to make money.”
“Hm? Money?”
Chung Myung smiled brightly as he looked at Im So-byeong.
“How much are you paying?”
“…….”
“I’ll give you a discount. A nice, cheap discount.”
“…….”
Im So-byeong’s face grew paler and paler.
“You want money?”
“Yep.”
“……You already stripped me of all my wealth last time, and you still didn’t even give me the elixir you promised as payment, and now you want me to pay again?”
“That was then and this is now. Hehe.”
With a cheerful smile, Chung Myung added cruelly, “That’s how business works, isn’t it?”
Im So-byeong silently brought a hand to his mouth.
Drip.
“Huh?”
“Mother of—!”
He had not coughed, and yet blood like raw liver began pouring from Im So-byeong’s mouth.
“A-are you all right?!”
“Is he dying?”
With a face white as paper, Im So-byeong stopped the blood flowing from his mouth and said quietly, “I….”
“You…?”
“……I will curse you. Damn Mount Hua bastards.”
Thud.
With those final words, Im So-byeong collapsed right there.
Seeing him fall and twitch on the floor like a true patient—no, like exactly the kind of patient he was—Baek Cheon said wearily, “……Go fetch So-so.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
“And tell her to bring my stomach medicine on the way.”
“……Yes, Senior Brother.”
Baek Cheon had somehow developed a strange sense of fellow-feeling for Im So-byeong.