What Are You Impersonating? (3)
It wasn’t often that a beggar got the chance to eat a feast fit for a king. If anything, that was even more true when the phrase wasn’t being used loosely by other beggars, but by ordinary people who truly meant it.
In that sense, Guchil had stumbled onto something rare beyond measure today.
After all, opportunities to sit down as a beggar and eat a table so laden it seemed the legs might snap were not exactly common.
If it had been any other day, he would have whooped and lunged straight for the table. But now, Guchil couldn’t even bring himself to touch the food.
This’ll make me sick. It’ll definitely make me sick.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
The mouthwatering aroma kept teasing his nose, but even that now felt less like an invitation and more like torture.
Guchil carefully lifted his head and looked at the man across from him.
Hong Dae-gwang.
To Guchil, Hong Dae-gwang—the branch leader of Hwasan—was a familiar face from frequent meetings, but even so, knowing his true standing made it impossible to feel at ease around him.
He was a candidate to become the next Beggars’ Sect leader, one of the sect’s rising pillars. Under normal circumstances, he should never have been reduced to remaining the branch leader of some tiny local outpost. “Far away” didn’t even begin to describe him.
Just sharing a table with such a man was enough to upset one’s stomach…
Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp! Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp!
“...Can you eat a little slower, Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”
“Whyhuh? Cough, the foo’’s goin’ awya.”
“What?”
Gulp!
Chung Myung swallowed everything in his mouth in one go, then scowled fiercely.
“Forget it—bring more liquor! Who’re you trying to feed with this?”
“...There are three whole bottles.”
“Not enough!”
“...Ah, all right.”
“And meat!”
“...”
Hong Dae-gwang, looking utterly drained, drew out his purse. He cracked it open to check how much money remained, and tears nearly welled in his eyes.
This was this month’s operating funds.
A branch leader inevitably had expenses, so the headquarters normally provided operating funds. But the headquarters was a bunch of beggars too, and he was a beggar as well—how much could they realistically give him?
Once the pitifully small budget was poured into that cursed bastard’s mouth, this month would be in the red too.
“Hurry up!”
“...I said I will!”
With great reluctance, Hong Dae-gwang called for the beggar outside and handed over the entire purse.
“Go buy more liquor and meat.”
“A-all of this money?”
“...Just go buy it.”
The beggar looked back and forth between Hong Dae-gwang and Chung Myung, then quietly shut the door and left. The moment the door closed, Hong Dae-gwang’s spirit seemed to collapse right along with it.
“Ha! It’s been a while since I ate proper worldly food. Feels like I can live again.”
“Hwasan’s food is plenty good, isn’t it?”
“Tch. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chung Myung knocked back more liquor, then casually wiped his mouth.
“Sure, we can eat as much meat as we want in Hwasan, but Hwasan’s still a Daoist sect. They leave out all the spicy seasonings and strong sauces.”
“...”
“That’s not bad in itself, but people aren’t meant to live on rice alone. If you eat the same thing all the time, you get sick of it.”
“...A Daoist is supposed to endure that sort of thing and cultivate himself, isn’t he?”
“Then why are you carrying a purse around when you’re a beggar, Uncle Hong? Aren’t beggars not supposed to carry that kind of thing?”
“...I was wrong.”
There was no winning against him in an argument. Not with words.
Hong Dae-gwang shook his head again and again, and Chung Myung glanced over at Guchil.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“...Huh?”
“Eat, eat! Food is what stays with you. If you’re a beggar, you especially need to fill up.”
“I-I’ll take my time and eat, Chosam.”
At Guchil’s cautious words, Chung Myung’s eyes twisted sharply. And that fury poured out—not at Guchil, but at Hong Dae-gwang.
“No, seriously, that pisses me off!”
“...What now...?”
“How much have you bullied the kid that he’s even afraid to eat in front of people? I specifically asked you to treat him well, didn’t I? I begged you, line by line!”
You didn’t beg line by line at all…
You just said it once, Mount Hua Divine Dragon…
“I’ll burn the whole place down today—main hall, hut, all of it, I don’t care!”
“I-I treated him well!”
“The kid won’t eat, damn it, he won’t eat!”
“I-I’ll eat! Chosam! I’m eating, okay?”
When Guchil saw Hong Dae-gwang’s eyes turning moist, he hurriedly began stuffing food into his mouth.
Only then did Chung Myung’s face soften. He smiled with satisfaction and poured liquor into Guchil’s cup.
“Eat a lot. And drink too.”
“Mmph! Mph!”
With his mouth crammed full, tears even began to gather in Guchil’s eyes.
The kid was good.
The kid really was good…
It was just that the way he expressed that goodwill was, somehow, catastrophically wrong.
Then Hong Dae-gwang scratched his head hard enough to ruffle his hair. Seeing him smile, Chung Myung suddenly snapped.
“Ah! You’re getting hair in the food!”
“I washed it this morning!”
“Hah, a beggar who even washes his hair. The world’s gone to hell.”
“...”
Hong Dae-gwang realized once again that he got cursed no matter what he did, and quickly changed the subject.
“S-so, what brings you here? You didn’t show your face at all when I kept begging you to come. You ignored me every time I called.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Ha. I’m not blaming you or anything.”
Once again gulping down liquor, Chung Myung set the bottle aside and stared at Hong Dae-gwang.
“How’s the situation?”
“...”
Hong Dae-gwang’s eyes slid briefly toward Guchil. Chung Myung shrugged.
“It’s fine.”
“Hmph.”
Hong Dae-gwang nodded.
“Well, all right. It’s not as if it matters too much. Nothing major has happened yet. For now, the biggest event is that the Shaolin abbot summoned the sect leaders of the Gupailbang to Shaolin.”
“That bald fraud moves fast.”
Chung Myung grinned.
He’d expected the man to milk the situation since the board had already been set for him, but seeing him act even faster than expected meant Beop Jeong must have been feeling the heat after all.
“Those are the kind of people who live and die by face and reputation, so they won’t openly pick a fight yet. For now, they’re probably just tightening discipline inside their own camp, right?”
“They would be.”
Hong Dae-gwang nodded slowly.
“It may be internal discipline, but there hasn’t been a gathering of the Gupailbang sect leaders like this in nearly thirty years. That alone makes it a massive shift.”
“Looks like their asses are on fire. Heh-heh-heh.”
“...Mount Hua Divine Dragon. Don’t laugh it off like that. Given that they’re gathering because of the Heavenly Alliance, this may not be good news for us.”
“What’s there to worry about? Those bastards can gather all they want. They’ll just end up yanking each other’s hair over who’s right and who’s wrong. Well, Shaolin’s abbot won’t be in any danger since he doesn’t have any hair to grab.”
“...”
Though Chung Myung’s tone was light, Hong Dae-gwang couldn’t help thinking that it might actually turn out that way.
Even with an external enemy standing before them, it would not be easy for the Gupailbang—who had spent years checking one another—to suddenly unite as one. Maybe, if this incident led to even slightly better relations among them, that alone would be enough.
“Forget the orthodox sects. What about the other side?”
“First, the Odaesega have a fire under their feet. The Gupailbang is at least in a better position because no one’s defected, but the Odaesega are a different story. The Dang Family, one of the two great pillars alongside the Namgung Family, has stepped out.”
“Hmm.”
“Of course, joining the Heavenly Alliance doesn’t mean turning against the Odaesega. But how often does the world work like that? More importantly, when the family head of the Dang Family shared a cup of brotherhood with the sects of the Heavenly Alliance, that carried a very special meaning. It was practically a declaration that if the Heavenly Alliance ever comes into conflict with the Odaesega, they’ll stand with the Heavenly Alliance.”
“The Dang Family head made a major decision.”
That single act had clearly forced everyone to look at the Heavenly Alliance differently. Chung Myung nodded.
“Anyway, enough about that.”
“...Don’t refer to the Gupailbang and the Odaesega as ‘that’! You brat!”
Of course Hong Dae-gwang was horrified, but Chung Myung waved him off as if swatting away flies.
“What about the surrounding regions?”
“Hmm.”
Hong Dae-gwang took a moment to sort his thoughts, then scratched his chin.
“This is… a little strange.”
“How so?”
“If the gates hadn’t been shut, Zhongnan would have had the highest chance of becoming the center of the storm. Anyone with even a scrap of sense would naturally have tried to stir them up and support them from the shadows.”
“The surrounding sects would’ve been poking at them too?”
“Exactly. That’s what they always do.”
“Right. That’s exactly what they always do.”
As he slowly ate, Guchil watched the two men in a daze.
One was a candidate to become the next leader of the Beggars’ Sect, a member of the Gupailbang; the other was the strongest swordsman of Hwasan, which had once been part of the Gupailbang.
And yet, listening to them, it sounded like the pair were mercilessly beating up the orthodox sects without even pausing to breathe. If you only heard the conversation, you’d think they were both demon lords.
Then Hong Dae-gwang frowned and said, “In any case, it’s not impossible that the orthodox sects will pressure Hwasan from the center around Wudang. Aside from Zhongnan, the sects closest to Hwasan are Wudang, Shaolin, and Kongtong.”
“Hmm.”
“But surprisingly, that’s not where the real problem is right now.”
“Then where?”
“Sichuan.”
Hong Dae-gwang answered decisively.
“Wudang has already been embarrassed once and needs time to catch its breath. Shaolin’s outward relationship with Hwasan isn’t too bad, and Kongtong has never been very active to begin with, so those three won’t easily combine to pressure Hwasan. But Sichuan is different. There’s Qingcheng and Emei there.”
“Hmm…”
“Pointing Peak is a sect that keeps to itself like Kunlun, so you can ignore them. But the Sichuan Dang Family was never on good terms with either Emei or Qingcheng to begin with. Now that the Dang Family has joined the Heavenly Alliance, the relationship will only worsen. If trouble breaks out soon, it’ll likely be in Sichuan.”
Chung Myung scratched his chin, thoughtful for a moment.
“Hmm… I’ll have to give them a heads-up. But there’s no way the Dang Family head wouldn’t know that. Why didn’t he say anything?”
“The Poison King isn’t the type to ask for pity. He probably thought he should handle that sort of problem himself.”
“What a pain in the ass…”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue bitterly, then nodded.
“If there’s anything else that looks like it might become a problem, tell Hwasan right away. Even something small can blow up, so report everything.”
“Understood. Don’t worry about that. Hwasan’s revival is my revival too, isn’t it!”
Hong Dae-gwang clenched his fist with fresh energy, then suddenly frowned slightly.
“Ah. Now that you mention it, something just came to mind.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think this would happen, but…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Still…”
Suspicion filled his eyes.
“Is Hwasan doing something in the southern provinces?”
“What the hell are you talking about now?”
“No, I’m asking whether you may have sent one of Hwasan’s disciples south.”
“No.”
Chung Myung tilted his head. It was so sudden and so hard to understand that it didn’t even sound like something Hong Dae-gwang would normally ask. He always got straight to the point.
Seeing Chung Myung’s expression, Hong Dae-gwang let out a groan.
“Ugh… it’s not that big of a deal, but like you said, small things can become big things, so I might as well tell you in advance.”
“All right.”
“...There’s some rising expert over in Jiangxi who’s been building a reputation.”
“So what?”
“Ugh. Listen to the rest. That so-called rising expert seems to be defeating a lot of well-known masters in succession. As you said, it’s not unusual for some martial artist to pop up out of nowhere in the jianghu…”
“Yeah. Happens all the time.”
Hong Dae-gwang’s face soured.
“The problem is that this guy uses sword energy that looks as if flower petals are flying through the air.”
“Huh?”
“And he even said, with his own mouth, that he was a descendant of the Hwasan Sect…”
“What, the fuck?”
Chung Myung shot forward like a bolt of lightning and grabbed Hong Dae-gwang by the collar.
“Are you kidding me? Has that bastard’s brain leaked out through his ass? How dare he use Hwasan’s name like that?”
“C-cough! Cough-cough! N-no, I didn’t say it! J-just let go of me first!”
“Zhongnan? It’s Zhongnan, isn’t it! Those bastards secretly opened their gates and slipped out just to screw with us?”
“Kekek—! Mount Hua Divine Dragon! Just let go…!”
Chung Myung roughly shoved Hong Dae-gwang aside and ground his teeth together. Blue flames seemed to flare in his eyes.
“What? Hwasan? That bastard’s really got flowers blooming in his head! How dare he even speak Hwasan’s name? Where is he now?”
“I-in Jiangxi…”
“You think I can’t go to Jiangxi? Since he’s gotten a little famous, all sorts of flies come swarming in. Uncle, send the beggars to track that bastard down!”
“...W-what are you going to do?”
“What else!”
Chung Myung roared with a fury like fire itself.
“I’m going to kill him!”
“...That’s a little much. How about just cutting his limbs and tendons?”
“That’s not enough. No, wait. Cut his limbs and tendons, then lock him in the Cave of Repentance for ten years?”
“That sounds about right!”
Guchil, listening to the two of them, stared blankly out the window.
The sky was so blue it felt almost cruel, and somehow that made tears want to come out.
Those people are demon lords. Demon lords.
This place is a demon pit.
He suddenly found himself missing the mother whose face he didn’t even know, and missing her terribly at that.