If You Die, You Can Rest All You Want! (2)
“W-we’re here!”
“Mount Hua!”
“Waaah! We actually made it!”
The Mount Hua disciples, gripping the carts, looked up at the towering mountain and began to cry, tears streaming down their faces in relief and joy.
Normally, they would have sighed every time they had to climb it, but now even the summit veiled in clouds looked unbearably lovely and beautiful.
So this is what they mean when they say leaving home means suffering…
I swear I’ll never leave Mount Hua again!
By the time they left Wuhan, they had been so exhilarated, their chests swollen with excitement they could barely contain it. But that puffed-up feeling had been thoroughly beaten down by the brutal journey here and shriveled into nothing.
“O-once we get up there, we can rest!”
“Aaaaaah! I’m going to the summit first!”
“Move, you bastard! I’m first!”
The Mount Hua disciples surged up the path without even looking back.
“Huh?”
Watching from the rear, Chung Myung tilted his head in confusion.
“What, is there a problem?”
Un Geom, noticing his expression, asked the question. Chung Myung scratched the back of his head, looking a little awkward.
“...I was gonna say we could just leave the carts here since we’re back.”
“...”
“Well... whatever. If they want to drag them up, that’s on them. Nothing I can do.”
“...”
Un Geom looked with pity at the Mount Hua disciples, who were charging furiously up the mountain as if they had no idea what had just been spared them.
The wind was cool and fresh.
Of course, Mount Hua’s wind was always clean. Perched so high above the world, the mountain naturally carried a coolness in every breeze.
Still, with the weather warming at last, the breeze now drifted in with a pleasant touch of warmth, and it felt rather nice.
“Hm.”
Yet even with the wind brushing his face, Hyun Jong could not quite bring himself to feel happy.
“Worried about the disciples?”
At Un Geom’s question, Hyun Jong gave a low cough. Instead of answering, he smiled faintly.
“Heh heh.”
“What’s there to worry about? You’ve already heard they won against Wudang and are on their way back. There’s no way those brats would trip and smash their noses on the road home.”
“Yes, that is true.”
Hyun Jong chuckled as if even he found himself ridiculous, then spoke quietly.
“I had thought that since I’ve spent my entire life in the Dao, I would never know the feelings of a parent. Yet these days, I feel as though I’m beginning to understand what parents feel when their grown children leave home. Looking at myself worrying like this, I realize I’d only be at ease if they were back inside my arms.”
“Isn’t it because you care for the children too much, Sect Leader?”
“Heh heh.”
Hyun Jong slowly looked around the quiet surroundings, then said,
“Not only that. Still, isn’t the mountain far too quiet without the children?”
“That is true. It does feel a little lonely.”
This was the first time Hyun Jong had seen so many Mount Hua disciples leave the sect at once.
Compared to its heyday, the number of disciples had diminished greatly, yet even so, having more than a hundred bustling about and then seeing the mountain nearly empty with only a few remaining made the silence almost unbearable.
“I never knew I’d miss the sound of them shrieking through training like this.”
“Sect Leader... I suspect the disciples would not care much for that statement.”
“Ha ha. Is that so?”
Hyun Jong, gazing quietly at the empty halls, shifted his eyes toward the mountain gate.
They’re still not here yet, I suppose.
Given the distance from Wuhan to here, even at top speed it would still take at least three more days. Even accounting for Chung Myung pressing the disciples without letting them rest for a single moment, it should still have taken that long.
And yet, knowing that, Hyun Jong still found himself unable to leave the spot where he could see the mountain gate at a glance. At most, he restrained himself from going outside the gate and pacing with his neck craned out. That was the full extent of his patience.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Hyun Jong slowly closed his eyes.
So this is what it means to grow old.
There had once been a time when the young disciples of Mount Hua waited anxiously for Hyun Jong, who had gone on an outing. But now the situation had reversed. Hyun Jong was the one staying behind, waiting for the disciples to return.
That, perhaps, was how generations changed, how age accumulated, how one’s place was passed on. It came through exactly this sort of process.
It was something that ought to feel a little bitter, but Hyun Jong felt no bitterness, no discomfort. He was simply regretful that he could not do more to help the children on their arduous journey.
“By the way...”
“Yes?”
“Haven’t you thought you hear something from over there?”
“I haven’t, particularly...”
Un Geom shook his head, but Hyun Jong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
That sounds familiar...
A very familiar sound. One Mount Hua had not heard in some time.
“Could it be...”
“Yes?”
“Could those who left Wuhan actually arrive today?”
“No, Sect Leader. That’s impossible. Unless they grew wings and flew, how could that even happen?”
“Right?”
“Of course. For a human body to do that, they’d have to move with qinggong without sleeping or resting even once. It’s hard enough for one person to travel that way, let alone that many. And they’d have baggage too.”
“...Right?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“...But what if they did?”
“Pardon?”
Hyun Jong’s brow twitched.
Those lunatics...
Un Geom, who had been looking at Hyun Jong’s face in confusion, suddenly whipped his head around in shock.
Because he had truly heard something now.
It sounded almost like wailing, and yet it was horribly, unmistakably familiar.
“N-no way... T-this close already? But no, what kind of distance is this... What on earth did they do?”
If Un Geom had heard it too, there was nothing left to doubt. Hyun Jong shouted,
“Bring the others!”
“Y-yes! Sect Leader! I’ll go right now!”
Un Geom sprinted off in a hurry. Hyun Jong called after him in alarm.
“And tell them to prepare a meal at once!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Hyun Jong coughed a few times and stepped forward.
It was something he had already experienced several times, and yet every time it happened, his heart still thudded wildly and refused to calm down. Besides, before, he had been welcoming only a few children returning to Mount Hua. This time, the majority of Mount Hua’s disciples had been away and were returning together, so the feeling was completely different.
Hyun Jong stared at the mountain gate with eyes full of anticipation and unease. Soon, through that gate, the brave Mount Hua disciples who had fought their battles and returned would appear.
How admirable.
Yes. Truly admirable!
The disciples who had subdued the Green Forest uprising and won in the sparring match against Wudang.
At last, Mount Hua’s sword practitioners—no longer children in name alone—were coming home.
The anxiety that had churned in his chest like a storm began to swell with such force it felt almost painful, as if his heart could no longer hold it.
Kwaaaaang!
At last, the gate burst open so violently it seemed as though it might split apart. And the disciples began flooding in.
“You brats!”
Seeing the faces he had missed so dearly, the corners of Hyun Jong’s eyes grew hot.
They were, as always, somehow a complete mess—like beggars dragged out of a ditch—but he had seen them looking like this more than once, so he was no longer shocked.
He still couldn’t quite understand why they had come charging up the mountain with carts, but Hyun Jong had long since given up trying to understand every bizarre thing these disciples did. Once you learned to let go, you couldn’t go back.
No matter what state they returned in, no matter what they brought back with them, what did it matter? Nothing changed the fact that these were Mount Hua disciples who had returned after accomplishing feats beyond imagination.
“Welcome back!”
“Seeeeect Looooord!”
At Hyun Jong’s greeting, the Mount Hua disciples, not even thinking to set down the carts they had been dragging, rushed toward him while still hauling them behind them.
These brats... are they really this happy?
Even though they had grown so much that it wouldn’t have been strange for them to shout that Mount Hua was too small for them now, seeing them run so eagerly toward the old Sect Leader filled him with a warmth too great to put into words.
“Sect Loooord! Waaaah!”
“Sect Leader! Sect Leader!”
Hyun Jong spread his arms wide toward the disciples charging straight at him, his face full of kindness. Every one of them was the sort he could proudly display anywhere...
“Seeeeect Looooord! Chung Myung! Chung Myung!”
“You don’t even know how much that bastard Chung Myung tortured us...!”
“Please do something about that bastard! Sect Leader! Ughhh!”
“...”
They all dumped their complaints about Chung Myung at once, so quickly that no one could make sense of them. Hyun Jong slowly lowered his arms with a gentle smile.
There’s no shame in showing these brats off anywhere, all right. I’m the one who should be ashamed to meet the ancestors because of them! You little punks, huh!
“Ahem.”
After a loud cough, he looked over the disciples. The faint trace of surprise in his eyes soon gave way to a warm light.
“You all look quite well.”
At those words, the Mount Hua disciples exchanged looks and then tilted their heads.
“We’re filthy, though.”
“Wow, you’re seriously ugly.”
“Were you talking to me, you bastard?”
“Who else?”
“I swear, I’m going to—!”
Hyun Jong turned his head toward the distant sky.
He had thought he had let everything go, but apparently there was still something he had not yet fully released.
For some reason, it almost sounded as though some poor soul up in the heavens was answering, I’m suffering too. Thinking that perhaps he was beginning to hear hallucinations as well, Hyun Jong shook his head.
“How did you return so quickly? It could not have been easy getting here from Wuhan.”
“...May I tell you?”
“...No, don’t. I think I already know.”
Without question, the devil of a brat had probably been spitting fire from his mouth the entire way.
A warm smile spread across Hyun Jong’s lips.
“You all worked hard.”
“Not at all, Sect Leader!”
They were all breathing hard, but the change in their expressions was plain to see.
Only three days apart and they look like entirely different people.
Even Hyun Jong, who knew these disciples better than anyone, felt admiration at how much they had grown. A nobility they had never possessed before now radiated from them.
That must mean they had gained a great deal on this journey.
“I’ve already heard about what you did. You all did very well. Very well indeed.”
“...”
The Mount Hua disciples bit their lips, visibly moved.
They had been praised for their deeds before, of course. The elders and the Un generation had called what they did excellent, and those from other sects, as well as passersby, had looked at them with admiration.
But the words that came from Hyun Jong carried a different weight entirely.
It felt as though, only now, their grueling journey was being properly rewarded. The Mount Hua disciples glanced upward at the sky or hastily wiped at their eyes.
“Not at all, Sect Leader! As Mount Hua disciples, it was only natural!”
“We’re sorry we couldn’t return even better!”
“We learned so much too. From now on, we’ll train even harder!”
“Good, good. You brats. Well done.”
Warmth bloomed between the Sect Leader and his disciples. It would have been a perfect reunion, if not for the voice that suddenly cut in.
“Hah, that’s one fine state your sect’s in!”
Hyun Jong squeezed his eyes shut.
The disciples, too, the moment they heard that voice from behind them, hunched their necks like frogs that had seen a snake. Even the pride on their faces hid away like a startled snail.
What the hell did they go through to end up like this...
How was it that, day by day, the children seemed to get even more...
Chung Myung stormed through the mountain gate and shouted,
“The ending matters no matter what you do, the ending! How are you going to wrap things up with some half-assed words? Move the baggage to the side and line yourselves up properly! You’re going to report correctly, aren’t you?”
“Grrr... that bastard is seriously only right all the time.”
“Exactly. It’s driving me insane!”
Even while dying inside and complaining they were about to lose their minds from the nagging, the Mount Hua disciples dutifully and swiftly dragged the carts into a corner. Then they hurried over and lined up neatly in the middle of the training ground.
When even the Un generation that had followed them up had taken their places, Hyun Sang and Hyun Young stepped forward and stood before the Sect Leader.
Hyun Jong straightened the posture he had unconsciously let relax and set his back as rigidly upright as befitted the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.
Hyun Sang spoke.
“The disciples under Mount Hua Elder Hyun Sang have returned after carrying out the Sect Leader’s order.”
Thump!
As Hyun Sang extended his hand and offered a respectful salute, the Mount Hua disciples all raised their clasped hands in return.
Hyun Jong watched them quietly for a moment, then lifted his head slightly. After a brief moment of looking away, he lowered his gaze once more, and by then a splendid smile had already bloomed at the corners of his mouth.
“Did you come back having felt many things?”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
“Good.”
He nodded and continued.
“That is enough. You all worked hard. You must be hungry, so let us eat first and talk after.”
“Food!”
“Waaah! Come to think of it, we starved for three days straight!”
“Run!”
Watching the Mount Hua disciples race each other toward the dining hall, Hyun Jong smiled faintly.
So lively. This is what Mount Hua should feel like.
Looking at the one person who had not yet left, Hyun Jong said,
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Did your expedition bear fruit?”
Chung Myung grinned.
“You’ll be shocked when you see it.”
“Heh heh. I see. So it did.”
A pleasant wind blew over the mountain.
It was the moment when Mount Hua Sect’s somewhat long journey finally came to an end.