What Are You Impersonating? (4)
“What are you impersonating?”
Hyun Young asked back with a look of utter disbelief. Chung Myung shot Hong Dae-gwang a meaningful glance, and Hong Dae-gwang was on the verge of tears.
I can’t believe I’m here for this...
Of course, he had long since decided he would live and breathe with Mount Hua as one body. But that didn’t mean he was supposed to report things like some Mount Hua disciple, did it?
“Th-then...”
His grievances surged up, but the knee that had naturally gone to the ground before Hyun Jong spoke better than words about his current position.
There was no reason for him to kneel before another sect’s leader. But the problem was that Mount Hua Divine Dragon over there had also knelt. The thought of getting up and sitting comfortably was far too terrifying to even entertain.
“It seems there’s someone in Jiangxi impersonating a disciple of Mount Hua.”
“Huh...”
Hyun Young let out a sigh, unable to hide how absurd he found it. Hyun Jong glanced subtly at Hyun Sang and asked,
“Just in case, have we ever sent any disciples to Jiangxi without my knowing?”
“How could there be such a thing, Sect Leader? I’ve never even heard of this.”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong slowly stroked his beard, lost in thought.
“Impersonation, huh...”
It wasn’t entirely impossible.
The name of a prestigious sect’s disciple carried weight all by itself.
Just as the mere mention of an official’s rank could send people scrambling to make connections, the status of a disciple from a famous sect was enough to earn treatment most others could barely imagine.
The Central Plains was vast.
No matter how many disciples a great sect had, once scattered across this enormous land they amounted to little more than a handful. Even if someone were out there in faraway Sichuan pretending to be a disciple of Shaolin, it would be difficult for Shaolin to confirm it immediately.
For that reason, it wasn’t uncommon for people in the Central Plains to occasionally appear and swindle others by pretending to be disciples of famous sects.
Whenever such incidents came to light, the sects involved would do their utmost to handle them and protect their honor.
After all, someone who lied about their identity was a con artist from the start, so who knew what else that fraud might do while using their sect’s name?
It was the sort of thing that ought to be deeply unpleasant. And yet...
Why does he look so pleased?
Hong Dae-gwang clearly saw the corners of Hyun Jong’s mouth twitching.
And it wasn’t just Hyun Jong.
The elders seated on both sides were also trembling as though trying desperately not to burst out laughing. Hyun Sang, especially, had even turned his head away, his shoulders shaking.
“Kuhhuhuhm!”
The first to recover, Hyun Jong covered his mouth with a fist and coughed loudly.
“If that’s true, then this is a serious... Kuhhuhum! Serious... Cough. Yes, very serious indeed.”
Uh... Sect Leader. Why did he keep sounding like he was trying not to laugh?
Hong Dae-gwang looked at them suspiciously, wondering if there was some situation he alone didn’t understand. Just then, Chung Myung glared and shouted,
“No, this isn’t something to be happy about!”
“...”
“Sure, I get the feeling. The fact that there’s an impersonator means we’ve become that famous, and that Mount Hua’s become a sect worth impersonating in the first place!”
“Haha, exactly, right?”
“I said it’s not something to be happy about!”
Hyun Jong was now openly unable to control the grin spreading across his face.
Only then did Hong Dae-gwang understand the reason, and his expression turned dubious.
Oh. That’s what it was?
Now that he thought about it, it did make sense.
This was Mount Hua. Yes, that Mount Hua. Then, well... it was understandable.
“Kuhm. In any case...”
Hyun Jong ran a hand over his beard twice before turning to Hyun Young.
“We can’t ignore this, can we?”
“No. No sect would just let this sort of thing go. Even Shaolin itself, if something similar happened, would dispatch disciples late as it might be and drag the swindler in, wouldn’t it?”
“True.”
“If that bastard murdered someone and disappeared, then Mount Hua would be forced to bear the whole stain. We could explain ourselves, of course, but an explanation is only an explanation. Once a reputation falls, it’s hard to win it back.”
Hyun Jong nodded slowly, his expression turning slightly dark.
“That’s right.”
“May I say something?”
At Hong Dae-gwang’s words, Hyun Jong looked at him and nodded. Hong Dae-gwang took a small breath and began.
“At another time, it might not have mattered much. But right now, I think this is no time to hesitate. Mount Hua’s name is one of the hottest topics out there alongside the Heavenly Alliance. If something foolish happens while our reputation is rising like this, it’ll be like pouring cold water over all that momentum.”
“Hmm. Indeed.”
Hyun Jong nodded as if it made perfect sense. Then Hyun Young glanced sideways at Hong Dae-gwang and asked,
“Branch Leader.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“How does the Beggars’ Sect handle matters like this?”
“...Pardon?”
“I asked how the Beggars’ Sect deals with impersonators when they appear.”
“W-well...”
Hong Dae-gwang scratched the back of his head, looking momentarily flustered, then answered,
“The Beggars’ Sect doesn’t really have that problem.”
“Hm?”
“...If you think about it, what kind of useless fool would impersonate a beggar? If someone’s going to impersonate another identity, there has to be some benefit to it...”
“Ah...”
A sheepish look crept onto Hyun Young’s face.
“Th-then... my apologies.”
“...No, no.”
Hong Dae-gwang dabbed at the corners of his eyes.
That was the lot of a Beggars’ Sect man. Even if he became a branch leader or an elder, only the people who knew him would know. To ordinary folks, he was just a beggar with a bit of strength—or an old beggar, at that.
And yet impersonating a high-ranking Beggars’ Sect member was far too dangerous. So nobody ever bothered to do it.
“Anyway!”
Bang!
Chung Myung slammed the floor hard.
“We’ve gotta catch this bastard!”
“...”
“Where does that rude little punk get off impersonating Mount Hua? Is he begging me to stuff flowers in his head or what?”
“...Th-that’s a bit too worked up, don’t you think, Chung Myung?”
“Huh? This isn’t something to get worked up over?”
My goodness. Look at those eyes.
At the murderous glint in Chung Myung’s gaze, Hyun Jong unconsciously leaned back. Best not to get too close to a mad dog.
“How is this not infuriating! Mount Hua, looking like a bunch of beggars! No, not even that! The Mount Hua that even Beggars’ Sect bastards wouldn’t give a second glance—who do you think dragged us all the way here!”
Chung Myung, your affection for Mount Hua is admirable, but no matter how anyone looks at it, you’re the one hurling the worst insults at Mount Hua here.
Maybe you should get into the habit of thinking once before you speak?
“I did all the hard work... no, we all did, and now some bastard wants to snatch the reward out from under our noses? If someone just set chopsticks on my table without asking, I’d be pissed enough, and this guy wants to take the drumstick too?”
“...”
“A bastard like that’s only useful as fertilizer for plum trees. I’ll go catch him myself.”
“You can’t.”
“Why not!”
“We’re trying to catch him so you don’t add to your infamy. If you go, your infamy will only grow.”
“...”
Even Chung Myung, the incomparable Chung Myung, couldn’t refute that and fell silent.
“...Then I’ll just bring him back half-dead.”
“You were planning to drag him back dead?!”
Hyun Jong clutched his burning stomach. Then Hyun Young quietly spoke up.
“Sect Leader.”
“Hm?”
“This isn’t something to think about too simply.”
“What do you mean?”
“If it were any other sect, it would certainly be an impersonator. But if it’s Mount Hua, then that man might truly be a descendant of Mount Hua.”
“Ah...”
At the thought that flashed through him, Hyun Jong’s face stiffened.
They had once judged and dealt with those who had left Mount Hua, along with their descendants. But those people had not been the only ones to leave. There were also those from Hyun Jong’s own generation and above who had once departed Mount Hua.
“You mean he could be a descendant of those who left.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Hyun Jong nodded.
“Even if that were the case, I don’t know why he wouldn’t come to Mount Hua and instead claim to be a descendant in distant Jiangxi... Still, it’s certainly worth checking.”
Hyun Jong glanced at Chung Myung. For once, he was strangely quiet, and that earned a flicker of surprise from Hyun Jong.
Odd.
If this had been the Chung Myung he knew, he would have exploded a hundred times over, yelling that someone who had left Mount Hua wasn’t even truly a Mount Hua disciple and asking what idiot dared impersonate one. Yet now he was keeping his mouth shut in an almost eerie way.
It was as if the furious display from just moments ago had been a lie.
Still, that wasn’t the important matter right now, so Hyun Jong spoke in a heavy voice.
“Yes, now that I hear it, this doesn’t seem like something we can ignore. Hyun Young.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Send disciples to find the one claiming to be a Mount Hua disciple and learn the full circumstances. If necessary, you are authorized to bring him back to Mount Hua.”
“Yes, understood. Should we send Chung Myung?”
“...Why.”
“Pardon?”
Hyun Jong looked at him with slightly trembling eyes and asked again,
“Why, exactly?”
“...”
“Is that brat the only disciple in this sect? He’s not a side dish on the table, so why do you people keep looking for Chung Myung for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”
“No, it’s just that he’s the most reliable...”
“Reliable? He’d reliably have his neck snapped. No, absolutely not! Not this time! Like the Branch Leader said, Mount Hua’s reputation is finally rising, and now you want to send that brat out to stir up more trouble? You’d have to shove dirt into my eyes first before I let that happen...”
“Really?”
At the sudden voice, Hyun Jong turned his head slightly. The face he gave Chung Myung was distinctly sour.
“...Really what?”
“No, I mean... you said you’d let me go once dirt got in your eyes.”
For a moment, Hyun Jong looked utterly dumbfounded.
“...No, I just meant I was checking. Do you really think I’d shove dirt into the Sect Leader’s eyes? I’m a human being with a conscience, you know.”
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
“...I say that because I don’t think you have one.”
“A what?”
“That conscience...”
The elders of Mount Hua shook their heads and shut their eyes tightly. Hong Dae-gwang’s eyes grew red as well.
And only Chung Myung, utterly failing to read the mood, glared back at them.
“Anyway, this time I’m not giving in either. I have to see that bastard’s face with my own two eyes!”
“...You say that as if you’ve ever given in before.”
“Fine, then I’ll say I’m not giving in just this once.”
“And after that, you will?”
“...Huh?”
Don’t think about it, you bastard!
Hyun Jong suppressed the words surging up in him and let out a long sigh instead.
“Hyun Young.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Before you send Chung Myung out, train him thoroughly. Make it clear what he must not do, and make sure you send people who can stop him if something happens.”
“Shall we still send him?”
“Do you think he’ll stay put if we tell him not to go? Judging by his face, he looks ready to climb over the wall if we refuse.”
“That he does.”
Hyun Young grinned as though he’d expected exactly that.
“Don’t worry, Sect Leader. When has Chung Myung ever gone out and caused trouble?”
“...Are you serious?”
Hyun Jong shot him a look, and Hyun Young quickly changed his tune.
“I-I mean, he’s caused trouble, yes, but hasn’t he always brought back something far bigger in return? He’ll surely bring something huge back this time too, so just wait with a fluttering heart. Hahaha!”
At that, Hyun Jong smiled faintly.
“Both of you, get out.”
“...”
“And tell So-so to brew some medicine for my stomach.”
“...Yes.”
As soon as the rough discussion ended, Chung Myung sprang up from his seat.
“Then I’ll—”
“W-wait!”
At that instant, Hyun Jong grabbed him in a panic.
“What is it?”
“Promise me one thing! Just one thing! Only then can I let you go!”
“What?”
The request that spilled out of him was desperate and frantic beyond measure.
“If that person turns out to be of higher seniority! If he’s someone whose generation is above yours! Then you must not beat him or half-kill him and bring him back—you have to subdue him properly and escort him here intact! You can promise that, right? Right?”
“Oh, that?”
A sinister smile curled at the corners of Chung Myung’s mouth.
“I swear.”
“...”
“If his ‘generation’ is higher than mine, I won’t lay even one finger on him. Not a single one. Otherwise, I’ll go straight to hell.”
“...”
“I’m serious. I’m swearing it, aren’t I?”
And yet, for some reason, even with such a firm vow, why did it feel this unsettling?
Hyun Jong felt inexplicably despondent, unable to shake the unease.