Who Dared Touch What? (3)
Hwang Jong-ui glanced subtly around the room.
It was a familiar chamber, one he had entered more than once before.
As a rule, a sect as large as Mount Hua maintained a separate reception hall for outside guests. That meant the Sect Leader’s quarters, the very heart of the sect, was not a place an outsider could casually set foot in.
But Hyun Jong had never bothered with a separate reception hall. He handled most matters of import in his own quarters, which was why Hwang Jong-ui had been inside the Sect Leader’s residence more than a few times.
Still, this was the first time he had been made to sit and wait this long in a room where Hyun Jong himself was absent.
Perhaps that was why the room’s appearance, which he normally paid little attention to, was suddenly so striking.
How plain.
It felt oddly fresh.
Mount Hua had changed so much. Compared to the first time he had come here—after meeting Chung Myung and beginning to build ties with Mount Hua at the urging of Hwang Mun-yak—it was no exaggeration to say the place had undergone a complete transformation.
And yet, even though the once-collapsing Mount Hua had grown into a sect whose grandeur no other on the entire martial world could easily match, this room had not changed at all from the first time he had seen it.
There wasn’t even a hanging scroll adorning the walls unless it was truly necessary. Even that alone made it easy to guess how unassuming the owner of this room must be.
He really is something.
People usually changed according to the position they held.
But Hyun Jong had remained the same whether he was the Sect Leader of a small, fading Shaanxi sect long forgotten by the world, or the head of the Heavenly Alliance, commanding the realm as the Sect Leader of mighty Mount Hua.
As someone who dealt with all kinds of people, Hwang Jong-ui knew better than most how difficult that was. His respect for Hyun Jong swelled anew.
“Sect Leader……”
But Do Un-chan, sitting beside him, had no leisure to admire such things. With an anxious face, he kept pressing Unam over and over, asking when the Sect Leader would arrive.
“He’ll be here soon.”
“……Where has he gone at this hour?”
“I’m sorry. The Sect Leader usually carries out his personal training at this time…… I’ve sent a disciple after him, so he should be back shortly.”
“Why would he be training before dawn……”
Hwang Jong-ui raised a hand slightly. At once, Do Un-chan, who had been voicing his complaints, let out a low groan and fell silent.
Strictly speaking, the ones who had kicked open Mount Hua’s mountain gate and barged in at dawn were the rude ones. To then badger the host about where he had gone was, frankly, even ruder.
“Hoo……”
It wasn’t that Do Un-chan was ignorant of etiquette. He simply had no room left in his mind for such niceties. All he could think about was why he had come here in the first place.
Just then, as he bit down hard on his lip—
Bang.
The tightly shut door opened, and Hyun Jong stepped into the room.
Hwang Jong-ui, Do Un-chan, and the men who had accompanied them all rose at once.
“I apologize. I did not expect guests, so I was away for quite some time. Please forgive my discourtesy.”
“How could it be discourtesy, Sect Leader? We are the ones who should be grateful that you did not reproach us for knocking on your mountain gate without permission at this hour.”
Hwang Jong-ui and Do Un-chan bowed deeply.
Hyun Jong returned the bow and hurried to the seat of honor.
“Please, sit.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Once seated, Do Un-chan immediately tried to speak. He was too anxious to wait for Hyun Jong to lead the conversation.
But he had barely opened his mouth before he had to close it again.
Huh?
There was something about Hyun Jong, seated upright in meditation, that felt different from before.
Not forceful, exactly, but something soft and heavy all at once, as though it pressed down upon the room from every direction…….
Come to think of it, hasn’t he gotten more… imposing?
He had last seen him at the founding ceremony of the Heavenly Alliance, so it had been some time, but not nearly enough for a man to change this much. Do Un-chan blinked in confusion.
Then Hyun Jong spoke quietly.
“The fact that you sought me out so early in the morning tells me something unusual has happened. Please, begin by explaining the matter.”
“Yes, Sect Leader. The thing is……”
Hwang Jong-ui shifted his gaze toward Do Un-chan.
This seemed like a matter better explained by him directly. Do Un-chan nodded and immediately spoke.
“Sect Leader. Eunha Express’s special couriers are being attacked.”
Hyun Jong’s face instantly hardened.
“You said…… attacked?”
“Yes. It’s just……”
Then Hwang Jong-ui chimed in carefully. Do Un-chan was too agitated to explain the situation clearly, so he was adding what he could.
“To be precise, it may be more accurate to say they are being hindered rather than attacked.”
“Could you explain in more detail?”
Do Un-chan let out a helpless sigh.
“The escorts crossing the Yangtze River to deliver goods to the southern part of the Central Plains are being harassed by water bandits.”
“……”
“There have already been more than five victims. Three of them lost the goods but returned alive, however two are still unaccounted for. Most likely……”
Hyun Jong shut his eyes tightly.
If they had gone missing while crossing the Yangtze River, the outcome was obvious. If they were thrown into that vast river, it was only natural that their bodies would be difficult to recover. Even if they had somehow survived, the injuries would likely be severe enough to make any return impossible.
With only a few words, Hyun Jong understood the general shape of the crisis and spoke in a heavy voice.
“Why would such a thing suddenly begin happening? To my knowledge, there had not been any major problems until now.”
“……I believe there are two reasons.”
Hwang Jong-ui exhaled slowly before continuing.
“First, the special couriers of Eunha Express have become too famous. Of course, some of that fame was something we intentionally encouraged in order to increase the number of shipments, but even taking that into account, word spread too widely that Eunha Express carried valuable goods. Naturally, that makes us a target.”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong nodded as if the reasoning made sense.
“The second reason is that the volume of shipments has increased and the regions we serve have expanded. Until now, most of Eunha Express’s work involved goods heading from Beijing to places like Sichuan. But now, with more and more high officials entrusting us with their valuables, our routes have extended to Nanjing and Hangzhou—and even to Guangzhou.”
Hwang Jong-ui swallowed dryly and went on.
“Shipments to Sichuan don’t necessarily require crossing the Yangtze. Naturally, ordinary caravans would prefer the waterways because they’re faster, but the disciples of the Ghost Sect can cross land faster than they can travel by sea, so there was no need to cross the river before.”
“Hmm, yes.”
“But to reach Nanjing, Hangzhou, or Guangzhou, you’d have to make a vast detour around the Yangtze unless you crossed it. So there’s no choice but to go over the river.”
Hyun Jong nodded silently.
The Yangtze stretched from the East Sea all the way to Dongting Lake in Henan.
Hangzhou was, geographically speaking, almost attached to the East Sea. To deliver a shipment from Beijing to Hangzhou without crossing the Yangtze would require taking a route that looped around nearly half of the Central Plains.
That was far too much waste.
“To transport the goods, we must cross the Yangtze…… and the water bandits are targeting those shipments.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Hyun Jong closed his eyes again.
When he opened them some time later, he looked at Hwang Jong-ui and Do Un-chan. Hwang Jong-ui’s face had gone cold and rigid, while Do Un-chan had turned completely bloodless.
“I understand the situation. Then how would you have me handle this matter?”
At Hyun Jong’s question, Hwang Jong-ui spoke in a grave voice.
“Sect Leader.”
“Go on.”
“It seems the undefined are specifically targeting Eunha Express. In other words, this will not be a one-time incident. It will keep happening.”
“……Most likely.”
“In order to secure customers quickly, Eunha Express set its compensation fees several times higher than ordinary delivery services. So far, the profits we’ve already accumulated have kept us from suffering too much, but if this happens a few more times, we will no longer be able to bear the burden of compensation.”
Hwang Jong-ui let out a deep breath and continued.
“We considered rerouting the shipments so they wouldn’t cross the Yangtze, but however we looked at it, that was difficult. We can endure the extra costs that come with detouring around the river, but we would lose the speed that allowed Eunha Express to become so famous in the first place.”
“……A special express that is not fast is no longer a special express.”
“Exactly. If that happens, the high officials in Beijing will no longer entrust us with their goods.”
Hyun Jong’s face grew even sterner. This was more serious than he had expected. The very existence of Eunha Express itself might be at stake.
“Then in the end, you’re saying we need to cross the Yangtze without losing anything.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Hyun Jong turned to Do Un-chan and asked,
“Hmm. What do you think, Sect Master?”
“Sect Leader.”
Do Un-chan bit his lip hard and said,
“My disciples were injured.”
“……”
“Some of them are even missing, and I don’t know whether they are alive or dead. In a situation like this, what can I possibly say? However…… Sect Leader. Please remember this. The reason I began this delivery service in the first place was because of one thing.”
“And what was that?”
“Even if we lose the goods, there is a place that will step forward and recover them for us. That place is Mount Hua.”
“……”
“Sect Leader. I beg you. Please resolve this situation for us.”
Hyun Jong fell silent and sank into thought.
Tap. Tap.
Silence settled over the room. The only sound was the faint crackle of the lamp’s flame as it burned down.
After lingering in thought for a long while, Hyun Jong finally spoke.
“……To be honest……”
Everyone tensed and waited for him to continue.
“I do not know business very well. And I do not know whether there is any reason to continue a business while taking such risks.”
At that, Hwang Jong-ui’s face stiffened. It sounded as though Hyun Jong was about to tell them to shut down Eunha Express right here and now.
But Hyun Jong’s words were not yet finished.
“However, there is one thing I know for certain.”
His clear eyes fixed on the two guests before him.
“The Ghost Sect is Mount Hua’s friend. The important thing is not that the goods were lost, nor that we suffered great financial damage. The important thing is that Mount Hua’s friends were injured and went missing in an attack from another faction. That is what matters most right now.”
“S-Sect Leader!”
Do Un-chan was so moved that he bit down hard on his lip.
Had he not wanted to beg them to step in? Had the words “Please avenge the ones who attacked my disciples” not risen all the way to his throat?
But he knew how unreasonable such a request would be, so he had not been able to say it aloud. And yet Hyun Jong had stepped forward and said it first.
“Mount Hua is not a place that turns a blind eye when a friend is harmed. Or at least, it should not be anymore.”
Hyun Jong’s expression was so firm that it left no room for doubt.
“Mount Hua will not stand by and ignore this.”
“Sect Leader!”
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
“However!”
Hyun Jong slowly shook his head, as if warning them not to get ahead of themselves.
“No matter that I am the Sect Leader of Mount Hua, if I consider the consequences this incident may bring, it is not something I can decide alone. I would like to summon the senior members of the sect and my disciples to discuss this matter, so I ask for your understanding.”
“Yes, Sect Leader! Of course.”
Do Un-chan nodded vigorously. Not only because Hyun Jong was right, but because he also desperately wanted to hear the same words from other mouths.
“Unam, go and bring the disciples……”
“Sect Leader.”
“Hmm?”
Before Hyun Jong could give further instructions, Do Un-chan hurriedly spoke.
“I’ll go and escort Mount Hua Divine Dragon myself. I think it would be better if someone went and explained the situation to him first.”
“……”
“Would that be all right?”
“Well…… it’s not that it wouldn’t be…… Yes, I suppose there’s no reason it wouldn’t be, but…… why?”
When Hyun Jong gave a hesitant response, Hwang Jong-ui hastened to back Do Un-chan up.
“Better than hearing it directly from here, wouldn’t it……”
“……”
Hyun Jong quietly imagined what Chung Myung’s reaction would be if he came here and heard the story himself.
“……Very well then.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Unam.”
“Yes.”
“Take these gentlemen to Chung Myung.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
As he watched the two men rise without delay, Hyun Jong let out a sigh and added,
“And if possible……”
“Yes?”
“Take a few others with you. There’s no need to have the whole hall smashed to pieces for nothing.”
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
At those words, the same thought crossed the minds of Do Un-chan and Hwang Jong-ui.
Looks like he really hasn’t changed.
He’s as consistent as ever.
But today, above all other days, that fact felt like a relief to both of them.