Why Is So Much Coming? (2)
“Over there! Stack them over there!”
“Yes, Elder!”
“Has all the tableware arrived?”
“We just checked. It seems to have all arrived safely!”
“Then have the second-generation disciples wash everything once. These are things that go straight to people’s mouths, so be thorough!”
“Yes!”
Hyun Young’s eyes darted briskly this way and that.
Ugh. This is a mess.
They had hosted guests during the Hwajong Jihoe before, but there had been so few of them, and they had not stayed overnight at Mount Hua, so there had not been much to worry about.
But this time, the number of visitors would be incomparably larger. Worse, every single one of them was someone Mount Hua couldn’t afford to slight, so there wasn’t a single corner of the sect that could be left unattended.
“Elder! I sent the kids!”
“Good. Well done.”
Nodding sharply, Hyun Young narrowed his eyes a little and sorted through the chaos in his head.
That takes care of the tableware side of things...
But there were even bigger matters than hastily gathering household goods.
“Hey, grab it! Grab it!”
“Hold it tight over there! If it falls, someone’ll get hurt!”
“...Get hurt? From a little hit like this?”
“...Huh?”
Hyun Young let out a hollow laugh as he watched the disciples hauling piles of lumber up onto the halls.
They were currently renovating the rooms where the guests would stay. For ordinary people, it would have been dangerous, backbreaking work, but these disciples were each like human lifting cranes, so even the heaviest timber was being carried with ease.
It seemed the training they’d gone through had not been wasted, after all; every one of the disciples was handling work that would normally require twenty sturdy laborers.
The problem was...
Crash-bang-thump!
“Damn it, I told you not to bring it here, you bastards!”
“Huh? Sasuk said to send it this way?”
“You idiot! I told you a hundred times the partition wall isn’t there! We even drew lines on the floor, so why are you ignoring that and putting the wall somewhere else, huh? Why!”
“Th-this isn’t it?”
“Aaaaaagh! Dammit!”
Hyun Young quietly turned his head away.
Baek Cheon’s desperate screams were truly heartbreaking, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for him. If he tried to keep track of that too, he’d need twenty bodies to get everything done.
“And you, you bastard! If anything, just stay hidden where no one can see you. Why are you sitting here guzzling liquor?! You’re useless!”
“Hah... If I hide, you curse me for hiding. If I stay by your side, you curse me for being in the way. Which beat are you even dancing to...?”
“Dieeeee!”
Hyun Young glanced up at the hall with an affectionate expression.
You suffer, too.
What else could he say? That was the price the great disciple had to pay.
“How are the preparations going?”
At the voice from behind him, Hyun Young turned quickly and dipped his head slightly.
“You’re here.”
“You look busy.”
Before he knew it, Hyun Jong had approached right beside him and smiled warmly.
He swept his gaze over the scene, then spoke with a faintly troubled look.
“But, Hyun Young.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Is all this really necessary?”
“Pardon?”
In an instant, Hyun Young snapped his head around and stared at Hyun Jong. Seeing the fierce light in his eyes, Hyun Jong flinched.
“No, I mean, they’re only staying for a few days. Do we really need to go this far...?”
“Those few days are exactly the problem!” Hyun Young barked, raising his voice. “It’s not like one or two people are coming, so we need at least a minimum of proper arrangements, but this damned sect doesn’t even have the tableware or chopsticks those people will use to eat!”
“Why would we not have...”
“Why not? Because we sold them all!”
“...”
Mount Hua had once been a major sect, so naturally it had possessed all sorts of utensils for holding events like this.
The problem was that, during the years when the sect’s fortunes had declined, they had sold everything off. When they were starving to death and didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, why would they keep utensils for guests who would never come?
“They’re all martial artists, so they can probably manage most things on their own, but we still need basic supplies prepared. There’s not just one thing to do right now. If we’re feeding that many people, the kitchen has to be expanded, and of course the dining hall has to be built larger too. And the reception hall, which is so dusty it’s practically rotting and ready to collapse, has to be repaired completely.”
“A-all of it?”
“Honestly, I’d rather just tear it all down and rebuild from scratch...”
“C-calm down.”
“Tsk.”
With an obviously dissatisfied look, Hyun Young glared at the people repairing the reception hall.
“We’re short on time, so this time we’ll just have to get by somehow.”
Hyun Jong secretly rubbed his chest and gave an awkward smile.
For something he’s calling “somehow,” it looks like he’s doing a lot...
Just looking at the reception hall, where one whole wall had been stripped away, made “somehow” sound rather generous.
As if reading his thoughts, Hyun Young murmured softly, “I thought we could just make do with a little bit of proper appearance, but once the work actually started, people don’t end up doing that. When you think about every single detail carrying Mount Hua’s face, it’s impossible not to worry, Sect Leader.”
“Heh heh. What’s so important about appearances? The heart is what matters.”
“I know that.”
Hyun Young scratched his head.
“Still, you’re going to become the leader of the Heavenly Alliance, Sect Leader. We can’t afford to look worse than the Sichuan Tang Family or the sects from beyond the frontier. I heard from the kids who went to the Tang Family that place is all shiny and flashy.”
“They are a secular family, are they not? For a Daoist sect to flaunt luxury too much would only invite criticism.”
“But people will still criticize you if you look shabby. We don’t need to prepare extravagantly, but we can’t be lacking either.”
Looking toward the halls, Hyun Young continued, “If it were only the Tang Family or Ice Palace—sects we have a connection with and get along with—I wouldn’t go this far. But this event isn’t just for them. Every sect in the world is coming, aren’t they?”
“That is true.”
“I don’t want to give them any excuse to laugh at Mount Hua. You might think I’m being foolish for obsessing over appearances, but please understand this feeling too, Sect Leader.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. How could I not understand your feelings?”
Hyun Jong nodded. He was not the sort to mistake this for Hyun Young simply doing it for his own vanity.
“It’s just that...”
Hyun Jong trailed off and glanced toward the reception hall.
“Where did the nail go?”
“I hammered it into that side.”
“Why on earth would you hammer it there, you bastard! No, you lunatic. Why are you nailing the door?! Do you not have eyes? Is that a knot hole? Should I drill you a new one?”
“S-sorry...”
“...”
With a troubled look, Hyun Jong asked Hyun Young, “...Will this be all right?”
“...It’ll work out somehow, I guess.”
Life never went the way one wanted it to.
“So this goes like this?”
“I told you to put it upright, you brat! The long side has to go up! How many times do I have to say it before you understand? What am I supposed to do with you?”
“Uh... then like this?”
“Not halfway around, I said halfwayyyyyyy!”
Unable to contain his fury, Yoon Jong grabbed Jo Gul by the collar and shook him violently.
But Jo Gul still looked like he had no idea what he’d done wrong.
“It’s still just wood either way, so isn’t it fine if we just hammer it in?”
“Kh... ngh...”
As Yoon Jong staggered and clutched at his chest, someone else nearby was suffering too.
“W-we’ve got a problem! You can’t nail it there!”
“Why not?”
“That’s not where nails go. It’s a door! A door! It’s the part that opens! The door has to open so people can come in and out.”
“This here?”
“G-give it to me. I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
“Then I’ll do this side.”
“That’s not right either!”
Everyone was brimming with enthusiasm.
For reasons no one could quite explain, Mount Hua’s disciples had thrown themselves into smashing apart and rebuilding the halls with tremendous energy.
Unfortunately, enthusiasm did not always lead to good results.
“Sasuk! Should we bring up more lumber?”
“I said stop bringing it up! Stop! Didn’t I tell you to stop?”
“Then what should we do now?”
“Don’t do anything! Don’t do anything at all! I already told you not to do anything!”
Baek Cheon’s face twisted in misery.
There was a specialist for every task. And at this moment, Baek Cheon was painfully aware of exactly why specialists were needed. Trying to work with dozens of rookies who were strong as oxen but overflowing with enthusiasm, he was finding it harder to control them than to do the work itself.
“Useless brutes who can’t do anything except swing a sword...”
“Well, what else does a martial artist need besides being good at swordplay?”
“You still aren’t stuffed somewhere out of sight?! Get inside, will you, just get in!”
With his stomach already close to turning inside out, seeing that bastard Cheongmyeong sitting right there, sipping liquor as if he’d set up camp beside him, felt like pouring oil on a roaring fire.
“Take it easy, take it easy. What’s so great about a bunch of sword-eating brats needing a fancy place to sleep?”
“...I’ll handle it myself.”
At Baek Cheon’s feeble voice, sounding half-charred to ash, Cheongmyeong snorted.
They talk like that, but everyone’s got excited faces.
And well, it made sense.
To Cheongmyeong, it felt so natural to have the major figures of various sects visit Mount Hua that it was almost common.
When Mount Hua stood at the center of the jianghu, it had been easier to see unfamiliar guests than to see the faces of his own fellow disciples inside the sect. What more was there to say?
But that was Cheongmyeong’s perspective.
For these disciples, until now, they had only ever played house with each other in halls that were practically falling apart. So how exciting, how deeply gratifying, must it be for the leading figures of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families to come flooding in to celebrate Mount Hua?
They’re getting carried away because they don’t know any better.
They should at least guess what the hell those people were coming here for.
“We’ll be able to finish this today, right?”
“If you keep jabbering, absolutely.”
“But Yu-sagong is hanging the door upside down?”
“Aaaaagh! No!”
Watching Baek Cheon sprint away in a panic, Cheongmyeong shook his head.
Who cares?
So what if the buildings weren’t perfect? As long as everyone was healthy, that was enough!
Cheongmyeong stared absentmindedly at the Mount Hua scenery visible through the broken wall. Compared to the day he had first returned to Mount Hua, the change was so drastic that calling it transformation felt almost laughable.
Soon, the greatest sects in the world would gather here.
Most of them were probably coming with the sour, smug thought of, “Let me see for myself just how impressive this so-called Heavenly Alliance really is,” but even so, the important thing was that they had no choice but to come.
Maybe I should lend a hand too...
That was when Cheongmyeong slowly pushed himself to his feet.
“E-e-e-elder!”
One of the third-generation disciples who had gone to wash the tableware came running back through the mountain gate, his face stark white.
“Wh-what?”
“Is it an attack?”
“N-no, that’s not it!”
Gasping for breath, the third-generation disciple shouted toward Hyun Young, “They’re coming!”
“Huh? Who is?”
“The Tang Family! The people from the Sichuan Tang Family are coming up the mountain!”
“Al-already?”
Hyun Young turned in alarm.
What, had it only been a short while since the letter arrived? There was a limit to how impatient one could be!
“W-we’re not ready yet!”
Hyun Young’s face went pale. Seeing the goods scattered all over the half-collapsed halls, he clutched his head in panic.
“At least tidy up what’s visible—!”
But it was a meaningless shout.
“The people from the Sichuan Tang Family have arrived!”
“Eek! S-Sect Leader!”
“R-right. I’m coming!”
Hyun Jong, too, nearly jumped out of his skin and hurried toward the mountain gate.
When the gate was thrown open, the Tang Family’s people were already lined up before them. Seeing Tang Gun-ak at the head of the group, Hyun Jong quickly approached and seized both his hands.
“Lord Tang. Why did you come so soon?”
Tang Gun-ak smiled warmly.
“Have you been well, Sect Leader?”
“Thanks to your consideration, Lord Tang, we’ve had no major problems.”
“Ha ha. I haven’t really done anything.”
While the two exchanged cordial greetings, Cheongmyeong strolled over and took his place beside Hyun Jong.
“You’re here?”
“Long time no see, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
“You came early.”
“If I were a guest, I would have come slowly.”
Tang Gun-ak’s gaze shifted to the area behind Hyun Jong and Cheongmyeong. Sure enough, the place was in complete disarray from the frantic preparations. He nodded slowly, then said,
“I’ve come to lend a hand.”
“...Pardon?”
“Tang Pae.”
“Yes, Father!”
“Bring in the craftsmen. We will finish perfectly before the guests arrive.”
“Yes, Father. Everyone, move!”
“Yes!”
The Tang Family retainers lined up in the back each drew out their tools and surged inward all at once.
“...Huh?”
“What?”
The Mount Hua disciples stared blankly, dumbfounded by the sight.
“There’s no need to worry. Predicting this, I brought skilled craftsmen with me.”
Looking at Tang Gun-ak’s calm smile, Hyun Jong truly understood what it meant to feel as though he had gained ten thousand cavalry.