We Have Returned (4)
With a grimace so severe his whole face seemed to twist, Chung Myung strode into the Sect Leader’s quarters, and complaints spilled from his mouth the moment he stepped inside.
“What the hell? It hasn’t even been that long since I finished, and you’re already dragging me over he—”
Then he shut his mouth, little by little.
The atmosphere inside was nothing like what he had expected. For one thing, he didn’t know what the hell was going on, but Hyun Jong…….
……Why are you lying down?
No way. Did he actually fall over backward?
“Sect Leader!”
“Please come to yourself, Sect Leader!”
“Call for Sosso! Sosso, hurry—wait, Sosso! Come help the Sect Leader, now!”
“Kh—kheuk!”
At that moment, Hyun Jong shot upright as if he had just burst out of the water after nearly drowning. His face was as white as paper, as though he had truly been hauled out of a river seconds before death.
“W-what…… what in the…….”
His hand shook so violently it was visible to the eye, and the book he was holding rattled along with it.
“Z-zaha…… za…… Zaha Divine……”
Zaha Divine Art.
Only then did Chung Myung relax, his usual blasé expression returning.
Hyun Jong glared at Baek Cheon with eyes full of disbelief, shock, fear, and—somehow—rage.
“W-what is this…… Why is this suddenly……?”
“Ah, well…….”
Baek Cheon answered politely.
“We found it while gathering our ancestor’s remains.”
“And you waited this long to say so……?”
“Yes!”
He nodded vigorously, his face practically glowing with pride, while simultaneously wondering whether, if the Sect Leader came at him with a face full of joy and tried to hug him, he was supposed to hug back or what.
But strangely enough, Hyun Jong’s reaction wasn’t quite what he had expected.
“……Why…… are you telling me this now?”
“Ah, that…….”
At the dazed question, Baek Cheon scratched the back of his head.
“We were in the middle of holding a solemn memorial, so I thought it would be proper to report it once there was a little space…… Aaagh!”
In that instant, Hyun Jong sprang over the tea table like lightning and kicked Baek Cheon square in the chest with both feet.
Caught utterly off guard, Baek Cheon went flying backward and sprawled flat on his back, and everyone who saw it had their eyes nearly pop out of their heads.
What am I looking at right now……?
Did the Sect Leader just beat up his martial nephew?
No, not just beat him—he flew kicked him?
Hyun Jong, who had also toppled to the floor, scrambled up and shouted at him.
“You crazy bastard! Do you even know what this is before deciding to report it later? Do you know what this is…… Kuhhh!”
“S-Sect Leader!”
“Aaaaagh! Sosso! Sosso, hurry!”
Watching the absurd chaos unfold, Chung Myung stood there blankly for a moment before breaking into a grin.
What a mess.
Cheong Jin. You might want to close your eyes for a second.
A moment later—
“……So,”
“……Yes.”
Hyun Jong glared daggers at Baek Cheon, who had hung his head and gone sulky.
“You thought it would be fine to report it a little later?”
“……Yes.”
At that obedient answer, the hand on Hyun Jong’s vein-throbbing fist clenched around the inkstone atop the desk.
“Sect Leader! Please, calm yourself first!”
“It’s Baek Cheon! Not Chung Myung!”
“If that little brat Chung Myung had done this, I wouldn’t even say a word! It’s because it’s that bastard! How can the Great Disciple not understand how important this is? You idiot! Do you have any idea how important this thing is?”
“Please calm down, Sect Leader. The child doesn’t know any better. He still lacks experience, does he not?”
Hyun Sang, looking serious, stepped in to stop Hyun Jong.
And Baek Cheon stared at him, dumbfounded.
So…… wait, clearly…….
- Elder. There’s something we recovered together this time, and I was wondering whether I should tell the Sect Leader about it now……
- This is not the time. Let us speak after I’m finished.
……Elder?
At that instant, Hyun Sang and Baek Cheon’s eyes met in the air.
Hyun Sang’s expression carried one clear message: If you blurt things out half-heartedly, you’ll get to experience a merciless punishment accompanied by both power and violence.
Baek Cheon closed his eyes tightly in misery. The corners of his long eyes grew damp.
So there really wasn’t a single trustworthy man in this world…… no, not a single trustworthy elder.
Just then, Un Geom, who had been silently watching the situation, casually steered the conversation elsewhere.
“But Sect Leader, is that manual truly so important?”
“Hm? Ah…… This manual is…….”
Baek Cheon turned to Un Geom with tear-brightened eyes.
Sasuk!
It felt as though the betrayal he’d suffered from his martial granduncle had just been refilled by Un Geom’s consideration.
Hyun Jong carefully flipped through several pages with trembling hands, as though afraid of damaging the paper. A moment later, he closed the manual, shut his eyes, and spoke in a shaking voice.
“This manual is none other than……”
“Yes.”
“……the Zaha Divine Art.”
“……”
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Un Geom’s face turned even more serious as he addressed Hyun Jong.
“Sect Leader.”
“Yes. So you too finally understand why I…….”
“What is the Zaha Divine Art?”
“……What?”
Hyun Jong looked at Un Geom in mild bewilderment.
“You don’t know?”
“No. I honestly…….”
“You don’t know?”
“……No one has ever told me.”
Hyun Jong tilted his head in confusion.
“Did I…… not mention it?”
His gaze shifted vaguely to Baek Cheon, carrying a trace of apology. But only for a moment; it then snapped away faster than it had come.
Baek Cheon, having roughly guessed the reason, wore an indignant look. Yoon Jong quietly placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting pat.
“……It happens to all of us, Sasuk.”
Hyun Jong awkwardly cleared his throat and changed the mood.
“This Zaha Divine Art is martial learning that can truly be called the highest inner qi art of Mount Hua.”
“……Ah, now that you mention it, I remember. But I thought the name was a little different…… The Sect Leader is talking about the Zaha Basic Qi Art, isn’t he?”
“Yes, this one.”
“Hm?”
Yoon Jong took a manual from his robes and held it out, and Hyun Jong stared at it blankly. His eyes gradually widened, and blood vessels began to stand out across them.
“W-where did you get that?”
“……It seems to have been the manual our ancestor carried. We recovered it from that fraud bastard. It was labeled the Zaha Basic Qi Art.”
“And the back is the Plum Blossom Sword Manual, isn’t it?”
“Ah, yes. Even though it looks like one volume, it’s actually two. One is the Zaha Basic Qi Art, and the other is the Plum Blossom Sword Manual.”
“……”
Shock and disbelief swept through the Sect Leader’s quarters once more.
Hyun Jong, somehow barely keeping his wits about him, looked back and forth between the manual on the floor and the Five Swords several times.
“……So…….”
But just as he seemed about to organize his thoughts, he gave up entirely and covered his face with both hands.
“What in the world are those idiots doing? They went to catch a counterfeiter and came back with the Zaha Divine Art? Is this some damn pebble you just find lying around in the street? And after recovering something like that, why did you wait until now to shove it at me like it was nothing? You lunatic bastards!”
“……Sect Leader, what you’re thinking in your head is coming out of your mouth.”
“Hm? Y-you heard that?”
“Yes…… up to ‘you lunatic bastards!’”
Hyun Jong coughed repeatedly, his face slightly flushed.
“So…… this is…….”
“Agh! You’re making my head explode!”
At last, Hyun Young, who had been silent until now, could no longer bear it and snapped in frustration. Then he snatched the Zaha Divine Art right out of Hyun Jong’s hands.
“This is the Zaha Divine Art! What you’re holding there is the Zaha Basic Qi Art!”
“……Are they different?”
“Of course they’re different! The Zaha Basic Qi Art can be called one of Mount Hua’s highest inner qi arts. It’s not on the same level as the Seven Stars Qi Art or the Plum Blossom Qi Art.”
“Then what about the Zaha Divine Art?”
“The Zaha Divine Art is a further step beyond that. It’s the greatest divine art of Mount Hua, one only the Sect Leader can learn.”
“Oh…….”
“Wow…….”
The Mount Hua disciples all fixed their awestruck, reverent gazes on the Zaha Divine Art in Hyun Young’s hands.
They had naturally assumed it was an impressive martial art, but who would have imagined it was a true secret technique only the Sect Leader of Mount Hua could learn?
“But why was that there…….”
“Exactly.”
Why had a martial art only the Sect Leader could learn been in the hands of someone who wasn’t the Sect Leader? Mount Hua’s thirteenth Sect Leader was the Great Heavenly Sword, Cheong Mun Jinren…….
“Give it here.”
When Hyun Jong reached out, Hyun Young gently handed the manual back.
Taking it, Hyun Jong let out a long sigh and carefully set the manual back on the tea table.
“……Hah.”
He gave a dry laugh, as though nothing could be more ridiculous, and asked Baek Cheon,
“You said our ancestor hid himself in a deep cave?”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“……I see. So that was it. Our ancestor……”
As the situation began to make sense to him, Hyun Jong slowly nodded.
At last…….
His eyes grew misty as he looked at the Zaha Divine Art.
This Zaha Divine Art was practically the symbol of Mount Hua’s Sect Leader.
Though he had taken up the position in accordance with the will of those before him, he—and the previous Sect Leaders as well—had never been able to escape the fact that they were incomplete, unable to master the Zaha Divine Art. It was a deficiency he had always carried in a corner of his heart.
And now, the Zaha Divine Art, that lifelong lack he had borne like a wound, had finally returned to Mount Hua’s embrace.
“Our ancestor’s grace is…… as vast as the rivers and seas……”
Hyun Jong murmured with a wet voice, gently stroking the half-decayed cover of the Zaha Divine Art. Then he spoke.
“Martial Hall Leader.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Hyun Sang answered quickly, his face solemn.
“Recover the manual and verify whether it is the true original. Then determine whether there are any problems with it. Check whether any parts have been damaged, and if they have, see whether they can be restored.”
“Yes!”
“This is an exceedingly important matter. Put your whole heart into it.”
“Yes, Sect Leader! However…….”
Hyun Sang, who had been answering in a booming voice, hesitated a little.
“Sect Leader, I can verify the Zaha Basic Qi Art and the Plum Blossom Sword Manual. Of course, since they are martial arts I have never seen before, it may take some time to grasp their true meaning, but if I compare them against Mount Hua’s martial arts, it should not be too difficult.”
“Hmm, and?”
“But…… I’m afraid it is impossible for me to check the Zaha Divine Art.”
“Hm? Why is that?”
“By Mount Hua’s laws, the only one allowed to learn the Zaha Divine Art is the Sect Leader. Anyone who is not the Sect Leader may not even open it. To observe and verify the manual with one’s eyes is essentially the same as learning it.”
“Huh? Seriously? Then what the hell was that bastard?”
In the middle of this serious exchange, an abrupt voice cut in, and everyone’s attention turned toward it.
Chung Myung, suddenly the center of attention, gave an awkward laugh and waved a hand.
“Hehe…… don’t mind me. Is this even a day-or-two kind of thing?”
It wasn’t a day-or-two kind of thing, of course.
But Chung Myung didn’t usually say that himself, you idiot.
“Ahem. Fine, then what should we do?”
“Even if you granted me special permission to view the Zaha Divine Art, the order is wrong. It would make no sense for me to check a martial art the Sect Leader has not yet learned before you do. As for the Zaha Divine Art…… I think you will have to verify it yourself, Sect Leader.”
“……I?”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Hyun Sang’s voice rose a little in excitement.
“It is a martial art only the Sect Leader of Mount Hua can learn. Naturally, the proper thing would be for you to see it and learn it yourself!”
And at that moment, every Mount Hua disciple in the room fixed their eyes on Hyun Jong with dazzling expectation.
It was impossible not to read the hope shining in those gazes. Cold sweat began to run down Hyun Jong’s back.
The highest martial art of Mount Hua.
The strongest inner qi art, one only the Sect Leader can learn!
Then just how much stronger will the Sect Leader get?
Will Chung Myung finally get beaten up?
Please! Please!
Hyun Jong, now bearing the weight of looks that would have made anyone feel cornered and desperate to run, asked Hyun Sang again with a sour expression.
“Me?”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“At my age?”
“……Does age really matter?”
Hyun Jong’s head jerked downward.
Though it was clearly the same manual, his heart and his eyes were utterly different from when he had looked at it before.
You want me to learn this?
The highest martial art of Mount Hua? At my age?
Hyun Jong slowly lifted his head. Looking at the bright, expectant eyes pouring down on him, he found himself smiling without meaning to.
So this was elder abuse.