The Mountain Is Only Worth Crossing If You Can Climb It (1)
All the color drained from Song Tae-ak’s face.
Wudang?
Why on earth would Wudang be coming here all of a sudden?
“W-Wudang? You mean someone from Wudang is coming here?”
“I’m not sure. We haven’t identified the full details yet. But it isn’t just one or two people. At the very least, there are close to a hundred….”
“A h-hundred? One hundred?”
Song Tae-ak’s eyes bulged so hard with shock they looked ready to pop out and roll onto the ground.
This was no ordinary matter.
Of course, Wudang Sect was located in Hubei, so they weren’t the sort of people one would never see in Wuhan. But it was rare for such a large group to move at once.
Unless they had trouble with another sect, or some business to settle in Wuhan, there was no reason for them to travel in such numbers.
But the Dae-byeol Bandit Band had already been wiped out, and if not for Dae-byeol, wasn’t Wuhan supposed to be peaceful?
“Are you certain they’re coming here?”
“I-I think so.”
Of course they were. Damn it, of course they were.
There was only one reason Wudang would bother coming to this peaceful city of Wuhan.
Song Tae-ak’s gaze snapped toward the Mount Hua disciples. They, too, couldn’t hide their confusion.
“Why is Wudang coming?”
“No idea. Maybe they’re coming to pay their respects or something.”
“No, why… why would they bother?”
But if they were this flustered by Wudang’s arrival, then surely they should have been looking toward the main gate where Wudang would enter. Instead, their eyes kept sneaking back to the one person crouched in the rear. Their faces were full of misery.
We’re screwed.
No, why did it have to be while this bastard was here!
And the sect leader isn’t even here right now….
M-Maybe the elders will handle it somehow?
Everyone was failing to hide their unease at the thought of Chung Myung facing Wudang without Hyun Jong present.
Seeing that strange atmosphere made Song Tae-ak feel even more light-headed.
“S-Second Guild Master.”
“Ugh….”
Only when he heard the voice calling from beside him did he finally snap back to his senses and nod hard.
Whether Mount Hua was here or not, once they actually arrived, the pretext would become a “visit to Geum-seon Merchant Group.”
So as the guild master, it was only natural that he should go out and receive them.
Why now of all times….
Song Tae-ak didn’t even think to wipe the sweat from his brow before bolting toward the main gate. Or rather, he tried to.
But after taking only a couple of hurried steps, he stopped again. Then he turned back with an awkward expression and looked over the elders of Mount Hua and Chung Myung as if he couldn’t decide where to start.
“Um….”
Swallowing dryly, Song Tae-ak finally forced the words out.
He himself couldn’t understand why he had to explain something so obvious out loud. But an inexplicable unease had frozen his feet in place.
“Just in case, I should mention this—if there happens to be any trouble with Wudang….”
“No need to worry.”
Hyun Young said it as if it were nothing.
“We have no desire to cause problems with Wudang, seeing as we are both Taoist sects.”
“Thank you. Ah, and then….”
This time, Song Tae-ak’s eyes slid toward Chung Myung.
He hadn’t clawed his way to the top of Wuhan’s merchant world on luck alone. Just by reading the room, he knew exactly who needed to be reassured right now. And it wasn’t Hyun Young.
“What is it?”
“N-No, it’s just… Daoist….”
“You’re worried I might pick a fight with those Wudang bastards?”
At those words, the first to react was not Song Tae-ak.
The Mount Hua disciples guarding the area all flinched as if struck right in the weak point.
Chung Myung turned his head slightly and looked around at them. The moment their eyes met his, every single one of them averted their gaze at once.
“Tsk.”
“…….”
Chung Myung grinned and glanced at Song Tae-ak.
“Come on, Guild Master. That’s a little harsh. I’m a Daoist, after all. Do I look like I go around picking fights with just anyone?”
True enough.
A normal Daoist wouldn’t, would they?
But the problem was that you don’t look like a Daoist at all.
“Um… Elder?”
Song Tae-ak desperately tried to send pleading looks toward the elders standing beside Chung Myung, begging them to do something, but they too only averted their eyes.
“Heh heh.”
“No, don’t just laugh—”
“Heh heh heh. It’s a fine day.”
“…….”
At a loss for words, Song Tae-ak stared helplessly into the air, wondering what on earth he was supposed to do with this mess. Then a voice tinged with amusement came from nearby.
“Do you have time to stand around here? It sounds like some important guests are coming. Shouldn’t we go out and greet them?”
Chung Myung was still grinning, and Song Tae-ak’s stomach twisted hard.
“Gghhhnngh!”
But every word of it was right.
Oh, heaven and earth!
Song Tae-ak left the Mount Hua disciples behind and rushed forward.
Once he reached the wide-open gate, he could clearly see a large group approaching from a distance.
It was unmistakably Wudang.
They were the very Wudang Daoists he knew well, the familiar faces he’d seen many times before. And yet, somehow, they felt both utterly familiar and strangely foreign at the same time.
Yes, the feeling is completely different.
Song Tae-ak swallowed hard and rubbed at his now-cold fingertips.
Then he watched the Daoists in their black robes march forward with perfect bearing.
For anyone living in Hubei, that attire was impossible to miss. Song Tae-ak had been to Wudang on business before, and Wudang’s high-ranking men had visited Geum-seon Merchant Group more than once, so he had seen that sight many times.
But the Wudang before him now was nothing like the impression he’d had before.
That didn’t mean they were similar to Mount Hua, either. No, the atmosphere itself was completely different.
If Mount Hua felt so free and easygoing that they were almost like layabouts, then these men carried a clear sense of rigor and solemnity.
Perhaps this was Wudang’s true face—the one they had never shown Song Tae-ak before.
The pressure….
The Number One Sword Sect.
At the same time, the Number One Daoist Sect.
No other grand title was needed. Those two alone were enough to explain the place Wudang held in the martial world.
And that Number One Sword Sect was now approaching Song Tae-ak with stern faces.
Before long, Wudang’s disciples came forward in formation and lined up at the main gate of Geum-seon Merchant Group.
Song Tae-ak, who had been waiting there without even daring to speak, hurriedly opened his mouth the instant their movement ended.
“W-Welcome!”
His legs were trembling faintly.
He might have earned a position that no one in the merchant world could ignore, but before the name of Wudang, that meant nothing at all.
“I am Song Tae-ak, the guild master of Geum-seon Merchant Group. I have visited Wudang several times in the past….”
“Ah.”
One of the middle-aged men standing in front stepped forward slowly and faced him with a warm smile.
“So you’re the guild master of Geum-seon Merchant Group. My apologies. We’re only Daoists who spend our days polishing the Way on the mountain, so I failed to recognize you at once. I didn’t expect a man of your standing to come out and greet us personally.”
“A-Ah….”
“I am Heo Sanja, an elder of Wudang.”
Heo Sanja offered a kindly smile. Song Tae-ak’s body gave a slight shiver.
The people he had met before were those in charge of Wudang’s finances. No matter how much the world loved money, the Finance Hall’s standing in a Daoist sect like Wudang was not particularly high.
In other words, this was the first time Song Tae-ak was seeing a proper Wudang elder right in front of him.
“E-Elder Heo Sanja!”
“I’m not worthy of being addressed as a true person. Please just call me Heo Sanja.”
“Yes, Elder.”
Song Tae-ak swallowed dryly again and again.
A Wudang elder was not someone one could easily encounter. In the Central Plains, the authority held by a Wudang elder was in no way inferior to that of a guild master among the Ten Great Merchant Groups.
And if one considered the strength of the sect behind him, it would surely be even greater.
And yet this elder, Heo Sanja, showed no trace of arrogance. Instead, he lowered himself and remained courteous.
So this is one of the great sects, Wudang.
It was the moment Song Tae-ak understood why the name of Wudang crossed the world in every direction, and why everyone in Jianghu treated them with such reverence as a Daoist sect.
“Th-then, what brings you here…?”
Having started to speak in a rush, Song Tae-ak suddenly realized his mistake and shut his mouth.
It was rude to stand at the gate and ask a guest what business brought them here. Under normal circumstances, he would never have made such a blunder, but because a part of him had subconsciously wanted to keep them from going inside where Mount Hua was, he had ended up committing the error anyway.
“Ah.”
But Heo Sanja only smiled gently, as if he had no intention of blaming him for it.
“I hear the Daoists of Mount Hua are currently staying at Geum-seon Merchant Group. Is that correct?”
“…….”
Song Tae-ak couldn’t answer right away.
Not only because his worst suspicion had been confirmed, but also because the look in Heo Sanja’s eyes seemed to say, We already know you’re trying to move your business from Wudang to Mount Hua.
His gaze was only warm, and yet there was an inexplicable chill beneath it. Then Heo Sanja asked once more.
“Is that so?”
“Ah… yes! Yes, they are. Mount Hua is inside right now….”
Heo Sanja let out a low Taoist greeting.
“We heard that Mount Hua had eradicated the Dae-byeol Bandit Band and rescued the common people. As fellow seekers of the Way, it was only natural that we should come at once to offer our thanks. If it would not be an inconvenience, might you allow us to meet the Daoists of Mount Hua?”
Having said it that way, Song Tae-ak no longer had any way to retreat.
“O-Of course, Elder. Please, come inside.”
“Amitabha. Thank you.”
Song Tae-ak stole a glance at the people behind Heo Sanja.
Their words and their faces are completely different.
Unlike Heo Sanja’s claim that they had come to thank Mount Hua, the faces of the Wudang disciples guarding his rear were tinged with a strange mixture of hostility and fighting spirit.
But what was he supposed to do about it?
Caught between two giant sects—Wudang and Mount Hua—there was nothing he could do. All he could do was obey, let the two parties meet, and pray to heaven and earth that nothing happened.
No, this time, he supposed he should pray to the Primordial Heaven Worthy.
Led by Song Tae-ak and Heo Sanja, the Wudang disciples entered the main gate of Geum-seon Merchant Group. And before they had even taken more than a few steps, they met the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples who were gathered inside in a loose cluster.
At that sight, Song Tae-ak felt a sharp sense of incongruity.
Now that I see them together, it’s even worse.
Was it because he had just felt the full force of the Wudang disciples’ presence?
Compared to Wudang’s perfectly arranged procession, the Mount Hua disciples—loosely grouped and half-sitting here and there—looked almost like neighborhood thugs.
They were both Taoist sects, so why were they this different?
But if there was one thing they shared, it was their eyes.
The look in Mount Hua’s eyes was in no way inferior to the sharp aura of Wudang’s disciples.
No, if anything….
“Huh?”
That was when it happened.
Chung Myung, who had been crouched in the center like the leader of a gang, suddenly sprang to his feet. Then, breaking into a bright smile, he ran forward.
“Wow, Elder! It’s been how long?”
He trotted right up, beaming, and grabbed Heo Sanja’s hands with both of his, shaking them up and down with great enthusiasm.
“Huh….”
“That crazy bastard….”
The Mount Hua disciples voiced the words Song Tae-ak had wanted to say.
“Heh, hahahaha. Hahahahaha.”
Even Heo Sanja laughed in stunned disbelief.
“It truly has been a long time, young Daoist.”
“Right? Right! Since we last saw each other at the Sword Tomb, this is, um… how many years has it been? Time really flies once you get older, so I can’t keep track.”
That damn lunatic.
Song Tae-ak’s face went pale with horror. No matter how he looked at it, this was not something a young brat like Chung Myung should have been saying to Heo Sanja’s face.
But Heo Sanja, as if used to Chung Myung by now, only burst into hearty laughter instead of getting angry.
“Indeed. It really has been quite some time. You’ve grown imposing in the meantime.”
“Yep. It really is good to see you again. Hah, we’re people who’ve exchanged blades and all that….”
Thud!
The next instant, Hyun Young’s fist landed on Chung Myung’s head.
“Quit making a scene and go stand in the back.”
“Ow, Elder! That’s a little much, don’t you think?”
“Would you like me to hit you more?”
“I’m going right now!”
Chung Myung clutched his head, pouted, and ran to the back. Heo Sanja let out a laugh as if there was nothing he could do about it.
This is anything but simple.
He couldn’t tell whether Chung Myung had planned all of this or was genuinely happy to see him. But thanks to him, the atmosphere Wudang had tried to create had been shattered completely.
Fine by me.
Looking at Hyun Sang and Hyun Young, who had stepped forward, Heo Sanja spoke.
“Amitabha.”
“Amitabha.”
The two sides exchanged Taoist greetings and clasped their hands in salute. When they lifted their heads and looked at one another, smiles gentle as spring sunlight spread across both faces.
The moment they met each other’s eyes, the air around them changed, and tension began to coil and gather.