The World Was Never Meant to Be Lived Alone (4)
“Paegun, huh…….”
Beop Jeong’s eyes sank into a deep, unreadable calm.
“So the Paegun came in person?”
“Yes, Abbot.”
Beop Gye stole a glance at the abbot’s face. Even though he knew better than to expect any expression to reveal Beop Jeong’s thoughts, he still looked.
Beop Jeong simply closed his eyes, his face as inscrutable as ever, and recited a sutra.
To sit in meditation before another person might have seemed discourteous at a glance. But Beop Gye, who had spent a long time with him, knew this was how Beop Jeong behaved when he was lost in profound thought.
After a while, Beop Jeong slowly opened his eyes and looked at Beop Gye.
“How have the Nine Sects reacted?”
“They’re in turmoil.”
Beop Gye let out a long breath as he spoke. His gaze was heavy.
“Of course, each sect has responded differently. Some have openly shown hostility, while others have taken a great interest in the Heavenly Friends Alliance. But in general, none of them seem certain how to respond to this situation.”
“As expected.”
Beop Jeong smiled faintly, his face showing a hint of complexity, then asked, “And in your view?”
“The Heavenly Friends Alliance, you mean?”
“Yes.”
Beop Gye frowned in thought for a moment.
He, too, had been unable to make sense of the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s existence.
“Stronger than expected…… yes. And less threatening than expected…….”
He was in the middle of gathering his thoughts and speaking in pieces when, in the end, he shook his head and answered honestly.
“I don’t know, Abbot. I don’t know what sort of impact they’ll have on the world of the Jianghu.”
Beop Jeong smiled and nodded.
“I see.”
“……What do you intend to do?”
“Do?”
“Shouldn’t we prepare some countermeasure?”
“Hah. A monk speaking such sinister things. What countermeasure is there to prepare when they haven’t even caused any trouble in the Jianghu?”
“Abbot…… It’ll be too late once they do cause trouble.”
At Beop Gye’s worried tone, Beop Jeong only laughed.
“That may be true. But that won’t happen.”
“…….”
“So long as the leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance is the Mount Hua Sect Leader, the things you and the rest of the Nine Sects fear will not come to pass. That man is not one who pursues hegemony.”
Hearing Beop Jeong’s words, Beop Gye pictured Hyun Jong in his mind.
Indeed…….
The disciples of Mount Hua did not exactly seem like Daoist priests. But from Hyun Jong, there was certainly a noble Daoist dignity. It was hard to imagine such a man pursuing domination and stirring up chaos.
“The problem lies elsewhere.”
“……Yes?”
“Influence is not something that sleeps quietly just because I do not wish to wield it. Even when left alone, it spreads by itself and shakes the world around it.”
“What do you mean by……?”
“Are people not more sensitive to rumors than you think?”
Beop Jeong gave a faintly bitter smile and shook his head.
“If you were deeply impressed by the Heavenly Friends Alliance, then others who visited there must have thought the same. The more that rumor spreads, the more inevitable it becomes that, even if the Alliance itself does not wish to move, a procession of those seeking a connection will continue to line up at its door.”
“Indeed…….”
“And if someone gains something, then naturally someone else must lose it. I doubt those who lose out will remain silent without protest.”
Beop Jeong looked at the flickering lamp with grave eyes.
“What became of the gathering of sect leaders I mentioned earlier?”
“Everyone has sent word that they will attend. However…… Wudang has not yet replied.”
“Good heavens, what a man.”
Beop Jeong shook his head.
He did not know what emotions Heo Do-jin-in was struggling with, but a man who led a sect ought to know how to hide his feelings.
“In the end, Wudang will have no choice but to come as well. Summon them all as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Abbot.”
“Amitabha.”
As Beop Jeong intoned the Buddha’s name, shadow settled over his eyes.
The Nine Sects and the Five Great Families can still be brought to heel.
For Shaolin, this was clearly a tremendous opportunity. The sects that had subtly opposed Shaolin and dismissed its words would have no choice but to listen now.
It was a chance to make up for the failures of the past all at once.
But…….
This matter does not affect only the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families.
And that name kept gnawing at him.
Jang Il-so.
A low chant of the Buddha’s name sounded once more.
“Contact Beggars’ Sect. If anything unusual happens, have them report immediately.”
“Understood, Abbot.”
At the swift reply, Beop Jeong slowly nodded.
It was as silent as the night before a storm broke.
For now.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“What is all this?”
Chung Myung’s eyes went wide as he stared at the enormous piles of luggage stacked inside the mountain gate.
“Are we going somewhere again? How long has it been since the opening ceremony? What are you trying to sell off now, huh?”
“……That’s not it.”
Come to think of it, it had always been Chung Myung who ignored Hyun Jong’s attempts to stop him and forced his way out of Mount Hua anyway. But that memory had long since been erased from Chung Myung’s head.
Yoon Jong shrugged.
“They’re gifts.”
“Huh? Gifts?”
“Yes. Opening ceremony gifts.”
At that, Jo Gul, who had already come over beside them, tilted his head.
“The opening ceremony’s over. Why are gifts still coming in now?”
“Those were from the people who visited Mount Hua directly. These are gifts sent by merchants in Shaanxi and from other nearby cities.”
“Huh?”
Yoon Jong laughed, sounding just as bewildered himself.
“It seems even the smaller sects in Shaanxi sent gifts. In fact, that’s not even all of it. Since morning, people carrying gifts have kept coming in.”
“Whoa…….”
Jo Gul let out an amazed sigh. But Chung Myung beside him was far more composed than expected.
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“About what?”
“That gifts keep coming in like this.”
“That’s obvious.”
Chung Myung looked at the growing mountain of baggage and smirked.
This used to be normal.
Back then, Mount Hua had hired people just to sort through the supplies that kept arriving.
The influence of a sect known as a great and prestigious school was beyond imagination. It was only natural that countless people would try to build ties with it and leave a good impression, like stars scattered across the sky.
It was the same principle as the endless stream of gifts that poured into the homes of high officials and nobles.
“Elder Hyun Young must be smiling ear to ear again.”
“Looks like he’s set up permanent residence in the warehouse.”
“He should be getting used to it by now.”
“……Don’t even wish for that.”
Yoon Jong snorted, then changed the subject.
“Anyway, look over there and get ready. Hall Leader said the Cheong generation and the Baek generation are to gather at the great training ground by the hour of the Tiger.”
“Ah, I heard about that too. But why are we suddenly gathering? Up until now, aside from morning training, we’ve been practicing on our own.”
“Looks like we’re going to learn sword formations.”
“Sword formations?”
Yoon Jong nodded.
“There was a sword formation among the secret manuals recovered from the cave last time, wasn’t there?”
“……I don’t really know.”
“It seems they’re planning to study and learn that formation.”
“Why sword formations all of a sudden now?”
Jo Gul asked with a face full of incomprehension. Yoon Jong clicked his tongue pityingly.
“Think about it. When we fought the Dae-byeol Bandit Band this time, didn’t we have to engage in group combat?”
“Yes. We did.”
“We did form up and coordinate our movements to a degree, but if we’d been able to deploy a proper sword formation, the battle would have gone much better. Sahyung Un Geom must have learned a great deal from that fight.”
“Ah…….”
Jo Gul nodded.
“So that’s why Sahyung Un Geom was barely seen for a while……”
“Right. Even in the middle of all that chaos, he must have been deciphering and studying the formation whenever he had a spare moment. Truly incredible. From what I hear, he even kept up his own training without missing a step.”
“Hah, he’s only got one body, though.”
Jo Gul clicked his tongue with a slightly exhausted look.
They were no slouches when it came to effort, but Un Geom was doing even more than they were. He wasn’t neglecting his personal training, while also teaching the disciples, researching formations, and managing Baekmae Hall.
It was enough to make one wonder whether he was sleeping properly at all.
“If sword formations were that good, we should’ve tried learning them ourselves earlier. Five of us can already form one, can’t we? If we had, we might’ve suffered a lot less so far.”
“Sword formation?”
“Yes.”
“Us?”
The conversation stopped for a moment. Yoon Jong and Jo Gul exchanged a strange look, then both turned their eyes toward one side.
“What?”
“…….”
“Why are you looking at me?”
When Chung Myung glared at them, both of them hurriedly looked away.
That bastard, in a formation?
There’s no way his hands and feet would work with anyone else’s.
Given that a formation was something built by men moving like gears in a machine, there was no way that crooked cog would spin properly.
He’d probably foam at the mouth and try to charge out the moment there was an opening.
Chung Myung clearly did not like the look in their eyes, and he said with a sullen face, “You keep acting like it’s all my fault, but do you really think things would go smoothly if the rest of you did it without me?”
“Well…….”
Come to think of it, that was also true.
For one thing, Yu I-seol did not seem like she would cooperate properly with a sword formation.
Baek Cheon…… would try, sure, but there was no doubt that at some point his eyes would go wild and he’d start rampaging.
As for Jo Gul…….
“Why are you looking at me like that, Sahyung?”
“No. Nothing.”
Yoon Jong smiled wryly.
Let’s give up.
A sword formation my ass. They’d fought just fine without one until now! That was enough!
“Anyway, Sahyung Un Geom seems to think it’s right for us to learn it.”
“Then we should learn it.”
Jo Gul said it offhandedly.
“Right. You get ready. And you……”
Yoon Jong looked at Chung Myung with a flat expression.
“……you probably don’t need to come.”
“What? Are you discriminating against me?”
“Now, Chung Myung. Think about it in your head.”
“Huh?”
“Everyone’s in a sword formation. And enemies are swarming in front of you.”
“Yeah.”
“So where do you think you’d be?”
“At the very front.”
“With who?”
“By myself.”
Yoon Jong nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Yes. Seems like you understand what I mean.”
“…….”
“So let’s meet later. Come on, Gul.”
“Yes, Sahyung!”
Watching the two walk away, Chung Myung let out a snort of laughter.
A sword formation.
Not a bad choice. Up to now, the Five Swords had been the main force in battle, but from here on, the other disciples of Mount Hua would have to draw their swords more often.
When that time came, sword formations would definitely help.
In essence, a formation was a means not for offense, but for defense. If Mount Hua’s disciples could properly deploy sword formations, their losses would certainly decrease.
Guessing at the mindset behind Un Geom’s decision to begin formation training, Chung Myung rubbed the tip of his nose with a finger for no reason.
Now there’s not much left for me to tell them to do.
Until now, he had always had to nudge them into realizing what needed to be done next, or pass the work upward to those above him. But now everyone was finding their own next task on their own.
That meant Mount Hua had finally begun to function properly as a sect.
Feeling something swell in the corner of his chest, Chung Myung smiled quietly.
“Though…….”
Of course, there were still things that bothered him. He glanced back and forth between the growing mountain of gifts and the landscape of Mount Hua, then frowned faintly.
There’s no way things would go this smoothly.
The resistance was lighter than he had expected.
Was it because the Heavenly Friends Alliance was stronger than anticipated?
Not a chance.
The Mount Hua of the past might have been stronger than the four sects that now made up the Heavenly Friends Alliance combined. If you accounted for the difference between a sect and an alliance, even more so.
And yet they had still had to endure all sorts of obstruction and jealousy.
So now these greedy bastards would just sit back and let the Heavenly Friends Alliance exist?
Absolutely not.
Chung Myung’s steps quickened toward the mountain gate.
Something’s going to happen, no matter what.
Training and growing stronger was Mount Hua’s job. Solving the problems that would come knocking at Mount Hua’s door was Chung Myung’s job.
“I should go see the beggar old man.”
With light, springy steps, Chung Myung ran down the mountain.