The Disciple Is Fine! (2)
“Um…….”
“…….”
“Chung Myung?”
“…….”
“Haha. Seeing you turn your back on me like this is making things awkward for me. Isn’t it?”
But there was no answer in return. Cold sweat had already broken out along Hyun Jong’s back.
Seated in the Sect Leader’s quarters, Chung Myung had half-turned in his chair and was staring only at the plum blossom scroll hanging on the wall. Hyun Jong lamented inwardly.
Why did I even bring that thing in here?
If there had only been a plain wall, it would have been awkward and boring to stare holes into it, but that useless scroll had only given Chung Myung an excuse to turn away.
“Th-that…… haha. The plum blossoms really are beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they’re pretty.”
Seeing Chung Myung answer without even turning his head, Hyun Jong forced a laugh.
“Yes, yes. That…….”
As he searched for words and glanced around, Hyun Sang and Hyun Young were both just sitting there with sullen faces. However it had come about, it had been Hyun Jong who forbade Chung Myung from going, so it seemed they expected him to settle this himself.
Those damned bastards.
Letting out a deep sigh, Hyun Jong collected himself and looked back at Chung Myung. With both cheeks puffed up, he did not seem like someone this would be resolved easily with.
“Th…… Chung Myung.”
“Yes?”
You should turn your head when you speak. Hm?
“As you know, life does not always unfold the way one predicts. It changes from moment to moment…… doesn’t it?”
“It does, Sect Leader.”
When that relatively mild answer finally came, Hyun Jong brightened and nodded quickly.
“Heh heh. So what else can we do? A problem has come up, and we need someone to resolve it. You are the one I trust most in all of Mount Hua, are you not?”
“That’d be a martial nephew, then.”
“……I’m talking about you.”
“Ah, martial nephew, then.”
This brat. He’s quick on the uptake, isn’t he…….
Hyun Jong’s eye twitched.
“Yes, yes. I trust Baek Cheon too. But I can’t leave everything to those children. You know as well as I do that they’re still immature, don’t you?”
“…….”
“Do you not agree?”
When he looked to the two elders for support, they only sat there with sullen expressions and no response. But the moment Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes at them, both men flinched and hastily added something halfhearted.
“W-well, yes. It would be…… difficult to leave everything to those bastards yet.”
“Exactly. I’m just being honest. How could we trust those bastards with this! It only works properly if Chung Myung steps in!”
Startled.
In that instant, Hyun Jong saw it clearly.
Chung Myung’s ear, which had very subtly turned back toward its natural position, gave a tiny flick.
Now!
“I feel the same way. Though I made a bold decision for the sake of the children’s growth, the matter has grown far too large to leave solely to them. At times like this, it’s you who must step forward! You, the Number One Sword of Mount Hua!”
In the practiced eye of Hyun Jong, Chung Myung’s lips and cheeks twitched as if they might puff up any second.
Almost there.
“Chung Myung. So why don’t you step in just this once?”
Slowly, Chung Myung turned his head all the way back. Unlike before, a bright smile now rested at the corners of his mouth.
There, it’s done……
“Sect Leader.”
“Yes. Yes, Chung Myung!”
Hyun Jong answered eagerly, and Chung Myung grinned back at him.
“The disciple is fine!”
“……Huh?”
“The martial nephews will sort it out themselves. What’s the big deal? You trusted them enough to send them, so they ought to do well.”
With that, Chung Myung casually lifted his rear from the seat.
“Then I’ll be off. I still have to clean Baekmae Hall.”
“W-wait!”
As if he really meant to leave, Hyun Jong panicked and threw himself at Chung Myung’s waist.
“What are you doing, Sect Leader!”
“Ah, sit down! Sit down first! Hm? Chung Myung, sit down and let’s talk!”
“I’ve got nothing more to say, sir! Don’t do this! My pants are coming down.”
“Then just sit!”
“Hmph!”
In the end, when Chung Myung sat back down as though reluctantly humoring him, only then did Hyun Jong wipe the sweat from his brow and release his grip on Chung Myung’s waist.
“No, I understand why you’re acting like this, but…… the situation has changed, hasn’t it?”
“No, Sect Leader!”
“Eh, huh?”
When Chung Myung glared, Hyun Jong shrank back.
“Wasn’t it you who said, from the beginning, that the disciples had to experience hardship without me, so they could grow and learn to stand on their own?”
“Th, that’s right.”
“Isn’t this that hardship? Hardship! What better situation could there be for building self-reliance?”
Hyun Jong, turned into a mute with honey in his mouth, stared blankly at Chung Myung.
“If you were going to be like that, you shouldn’t have started in the first place! You said they had to be able to handle things on their own, and then the moment the situation changes, you go trotting off to fix it for them!”
“He’s right.”
“He is.”
Hyun Sang and Hyun Young folded their arms and nodded. But under Hyun Jong’s bloodshot glare, both of them quickly tucked their tails in.
Hyun Jong let out a sigh and spoke in an even heavier voice.
“Chung Myung. If I were only thinking of the children, I would not be doing this. As you say, I would hope they could step over that danger and grow even further. But did you not hear that common people are being held there? We must rescue them.”
But Chung Myung did not yield so easily. On the contrary, his eyes went wild, almost predatory.
“No, even that is part of hardship, isn’t it? They have to handle that much on their own! That’s how self-reliance is built! If you only solve the easy problems, when is self-reliance supposed to grow?”
For a moment, Hyun Jong was left speechless.
Heh heh. You’re really only saying things that are annoyingly hard to refute today.
“Sect Leader.”
“Y-yes?”
“I’m not doing this because I don’t want to go. I fully sympathized with your great intention.”
“…….”
“I, too, clearly understood that for Mount Hua’s sake, I had to swallow my tears and make this decision. All of this is for Mount Hua.”
“……Really?”
“Yes! If I had even a single shred of selfish intent, may I be struck dead by lightning…….”
RUMBLE.
At the sudden thunder from the heavens, everyone’s eyes flew wide and they jerked their heads toward the window.
“……There aren’t even any clouds.”
“What kind of lightning comes out of a clear sky…….”
Only Chung Myung’s cheeks twitched as he muttered inwardly.
Are you really going to do this, Martial Uncle?
—Get some conscience, you bastard! Conscience!
Chung Myung’s expression changed in an instant, and he calmly revised his words.
“……I do have a little selfish intent. But! I’m not doing this because of selfishness.”
“…….”
“Anyway, I’m not going, so trust the martial nephews who went to the Yangtze and leave it to them.”
“C-Chung Myung!”
When Chung Myung sprang to his feet and opened the door, Hyun Jong lunged for him again.
“Ah, let go! You need to keep your dignity as the Sect Leader!”
“Does dignity put food on the table!”
“Hey now! Let go already! You’re stretching my pants!”
“I was wrong, Chung Myung! Don’t we have to save people first?”
As the shouting outside Hyun Jong’s quarters grew and grew, Unam, who had been quietly listening from beyond the door, smiled faintly. Then he spoke to the disciples standing beside him.
“Children.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle.”
“Cover your ears.”
“……Yes.”
“Tsk.”
The elders tightly surrounded the three sides of Chung Myung, who was leaning against the wall.
“Now, now, Chung Myung. First calm down.”
“Would we be doing this if it weren’t urgent?”
“You know perfectly well that bringing the other disciples from Mount Hua will take a long while.”
“Right, right. It’ll take a while.”
“And you know that only you can move quickly on your own and buy us time until the main force arrives.”
“Right, right. Only Chung Myung can do it.”
As Hyun Sang and Hyun Young continued their persuasion, which sounded almost like a threat, they glanced at Hyun Jong standing in the middle.
There was unmistakable complaint in their eyes, as if to say, Quit just nodding along and say something for once. Who do you think caused all this?
In the end, Hyun Jong let out another sigh and began in a grave voice.
“Chung Myung. When people live, they sometimes make the wrong judgment. And when they make mistakes, they must also be able to clean up after them, mustn’t they?”
“One person does the messin’! Another person does the cleaning!”
“Exactly. Exactly.”
Hyun Young’s face twisted sharply.
“Why are you agreeing there!”
“Uh…….”
Hyun Jong wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled awkwardly again.
“In any case, right now, you are the only one we can trust. What are we supposed to do if you’re the best?”
Chung Myung’s cheek twitched slightly.
Seizing the momentum, the elders applauded with all their might.
“That’s right. That’s right! The only one we can rely on is Chung Myung!”
“Exactly, Chung Myung. The Sect Leader isn’t doing this out of malice, is he? Isn’t the very reason he could make that decision because he knows you’ll step in when things are in crisis?”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he can make such bold choices because he trusts you to handle danger. In other words, all these decisions were possible precisely because you’re so outstanding.”
Once Chung Myung’s face looked half-melted, the two elders skillfully pressed into the opening.
“Oh dear. What can we do? If Chung Myung doesn’t step forward, there’s no one to resolve this.”
“Mount Hua will fall, Mount Hua will fall. The Sect Leader made one wrong decision and now Mount Hua will fall.”
“He’s lost his clarity, tsk tsk tsk.”
Hyun Jong, who had been clapping and nodding enthusiastically, cast a slightly strange look at the two men on his left and right.
These guys really are pushing it……?
But neither of them paid him any mind.
“Chung Myung. You have to understand this with a broad heart.”
“Exactly. Chung Myung’s heart is broad enough to cover the whole sky!”
Chung Myung’s features were a mess. His ears kept turning red, his eyes were wide open as he struggled not to smile, his nostrils kept flaring, and he also had to keep pressing down the corners of his mouth whenever they tried to rise of their own accord. It seemed to be quite a struggle.
“Ahem!”
After one loud fake cough, Chung Myung finally gave a small nod.
“Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”
Then he shrugged.
“I mean…… the Sect Leader only ended up like this because he was trying to do his best, so it wouldn’t be proper for a disciple to hold that against him.”
The words Then what the hell was all that just now? rose to Hyun Jong’s throat, but thanks to his deep reserves of patience, they never made it out.
“R-right. As expected, our Chung Myung is a true vessel of the Dao.”
“Hehe. Come to think of it, when I first entered Mount Hua, Sect Leader, you did say something like that.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“I was delusional…….”
“Ahahahaha! Oh dear, our Sect Leader must be very tired!”
Hyun Sang and Hyun Young practically covered Hyun Jong’s mouth and hauled him backward at the same time.
“Mmph mmph!”
Unable to keep the saying that one’s mouth may twist but one must still speak correctly, Hyun Jong’s eyes glistened with tears.
Watching that scene, Chung Myung rose from his seat and casually thrust out his belly. In response, Baek Ah, who had been tucked inside Chung Myung’s robes, stuck its head out through the collar too and struck a proud pose.
T-this…….
Now even a tiny beast was joining in?
“I have a lot I’d like to say, but since the situation is urgent, I’ll head out immediately.”
“Y-yes. Chung Myung.”
“And next time, maybe be a little more…… Sigh…… No, what’s the point of saying anything? I suppose I’ll have to understand.”
“Mmph! Mmmpf! Mmph!”
“And from now on, please make a wiser decision, Sect Leader.”
Shaking his head, Chung Myung bowed.
“Then I’ll be off for now.”
“Yes. Go well.”
“Hahaha. It seems the Sect Leader is delighted as well. So happy he’s practically dancing with his shoulders. Haha. Please, stay still! Hahahaha!”
Having taken in the chaos and joy spilling everywhere, Chung Myung laughed and stepped outside.
Clack.
Seeing him emerge with a face so fresh it could not have looked more refreshed if he’d bathed in spring water, Unam asked with some hesitation,
“How did it go?”
“Martial Uncle. This disciple will be going to the Yangtze.”
“……I see. Go quickly, then.”
“Yes. Heehee!”
Watching Chung Myung’s back as it rapidly receded, his steps seemed almost light enough to fly. Then a dreadful scream rang out from behind Unam’s back.
“Forget it! Just forget everything, you bastards! Tell that bastard not to go!”
“Ah, please stay still!”
“The older one gets, the less sense one has, tsk!”
Hearing the three of them bickering, Unam slowly lowered his head.
“Children.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle.”
“I told you to cover your ears…….”
“……Yes.”
After all the twists and turns, the rogue with both cheeks stuffed full of annoyance set off like a streak of light toward the Yangtze.