A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (4)
When the story ended, no one said a word.
Everyone kept staring at Yoon Jong’s face with serious expressions, then sinking into thought, over and over again.
It was Baek Cheon who finally broke the long silence.
“So that kid….”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“He found the sect’s treasures and martial arts manuals.”
“Yes.”
“He found the account books, settled Mount Hua’s debts, and even seized the businesses?”
“That’s right.”
“And on top of that, he even cured the illness of Hwang Da-in from the Eunha Merchant Guild?”
“Yes.”
“In return, the Eunha Merchant Guild agreed to handle Mount Hua’s finances… Mount Hua’s finances.”
Yoon Jong silently nodded.
Now that he thought about it, he had wondered about the strange changes on the way back. Hwaeum had been lively, and there had been merchants he’d never seen before.
He’d vaguely thought that, since he had been away from Mount Hua for so long, the local economy in Hwaeum must have improved in the meantime. Apparently, that hadn’t been it.
“…I see.”
Baek Cheon opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then quietly closed it again.
“Understood.”
“Yes. Then, Sasuk, I’ll be on my way.”
“Go ahead.”
After Yoon Jong left the room, Baek Cheon stared into space with a grave expression. The other disciples were equally dazed.
“Wait, this means….”
Baek Sang spoke with a stunned look on his face.
“That little brat solved all of Mount Hua’s biggest headaches by himself?”
“……”
Horror was plain in his voice.
Baek Cheon couldn’t exactly refute it.
Mount Hua’s biggest problem wasn’t its martial arts, nor was it the small number of disciples. The reason Mount Hua had fallen so abruptly was because it had no money.
Not just no money, either.
It had debt on an absurd scale as well.
The thing Baek Cheon had worried about most when he left Mount Hua for seclusion was what he would do if the sect had collapsed by the time he returned. That alone said enough.
And yet Cheong Myung had cleaned up the whole mess.
“I can see why the sect elders spoil him rotten.”
At Baek Cheon’s mutter, Baek Sang let out a hollow laugh.
“I thought Elder Hyun Young was eating meat on the money that kid brought in because he was some wealthy merchant’s son who’d been giving Mount Hua huge donations. But hearing it now, that wasn’t it at all….”
He had quite literally fed Mount Hua.
Baek Cheon shook his head.
This is impossible.
If their positions were reversed and he had been Hyun Young, he would have tried to carry Cheong Myung on his back everywhere. This was a kid who had solved Mount Hua’s financial problems—problems that had shown no sign of being fixed for decades—in just a few months, and even turned the sect into a money-making machine.
The phrase “I could put him in my eye without it hurting” was made for moments like this.
Hyun Young was lucky he didn’t have children. If he’d had a child and that child had ever fought with Cheong Myung, he probably would’ve kicked his own kid flying on the spot.
You could always have another child. But where in the world were you supposed to find another Cheong Myung?
“…Sahyung, this is….”
“Hrrrm.”
Baek Cheon let out a heavy groan.
“If he’d only solved one problem, it would just be a matter of saying he’d done a good deed. But that brat’s tied up with the Eunha Merchant Guild now. As long as the Guild manages Mount Hua’s finances and Mount Hua keeps making money because of it, Cheong Myung’s standing will only keep rising every time money comes in each month.”
For a while, anyway.
“…At some point, won’t that just become the natural order of things?”
“True enough. But will that moment come quickly? You all know this is basically….”
It was like gold had fallen into a beggar’s den.
Just looking at it would make you happy. Just touching it would make you happy. Even if you didn’t actually take the gold out and spend it, wouldn’t the mere fact that it existed be enough to make you feel rich?
Cheong Myung had thrown gold into Mount Hua’s beggar den. Even Baek Cheon couldn’t have achieved something like that.
So that’s why the Sect Leader was taking special notice of him too.
Baek Cheon bit his lower lip a little.
He had thought that once his secluded training ended and he returned, he would receive everyone’s full expectations. But then some bastard who’d popped out of nowhere had taken all the expectations that should have gone to Baek Cheon.
This was not something he could ignore.
“Isn’t that a little too much credit for the kid?”
Baek Mun, who had been listening to the two of them all this time, spoke in a thoroughly displeased tone.
“Finding Mount Hua’s treasures was just luck, and curing Hwang Da-in from the Eunha Merchant Guild was probably just good fortune too, wasn’t it?”
“Junior brother.”
“Sahyung. Mount Hua is a martial sect. It’s impossible for a martial sect to favor a child just because he made money for the sect. Unless Mount Hua is turning upside down, how could it do something like that?”
Baek Cheon gently tried to calm him.
“Junior brother, you should be careful with your words. That’s practically insulting the Sasuk and Sasukjo.”
“...I didn’t mean it like that.”
“But it isn’t exactly wrong, either.”
“What?”
Baek Cheon nodded calmly.
“Junior brother is right. Mount Hua is a martial sect. No matter how much money it earns, as long as this is a martial sect and not a merchant guild, martial arts are what matter in the end.”
“Very true.”
“That’s right.”
At the disciples’ answers, Baek Cheon nodded.
“In the end, we have no choice but to return to our foundations. For now, the elders can’t help but focus on those brats, but once they truly feel that the Hwajong Jihoe is coming up soon, they won’t have the luxury to keep paying attention to the third-generation disciples.”
“Yes, Sahyung. That will be the natural course of things.”
“So for now, let’s focus on martial arts. Straightening out the Cheong generation’s bad habits can be done afterward.”
Baek Sang glanced cautiously at Baek Cheon.
“But, Sahyung.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not just us who are going to the Hwajong Jihoe, is it? The third-generation disciples will be competing too.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?”
“The point is, it won’t do to have just us working hard. We need to make sure the third-generation disciples don’t disgrace themselves too, don’t we?”
At that, Baek Cheon looked at Baek Sang with interest.
“What do you think, junior brother?”
“If we’re only thinking of ourselves, then yes, it’s right to focus on training. But the third-generation disciples are Mount Hua disciples too. How could we only think of our own generation? It would be a huge help to the Hwajong Jihoe if we could bear a little extra burden and help improve the third-generation disciples’ martial arts, even for a short time.”
Baek Cheon smiled faintly.
“As expected, junior brother thinks of and cherishes Mount Hua more than anyone else.”
“That’s embarrassing, Sahyung.”
“It’s a good idea. Since we’ve been away from the sect for a year, we’ve probably grown a bit distant from the children anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to sweat together again after so long.”
“Yes, Sahyung. That’s a good method.”
Baek Cheon and Baek Sang smiled at one another.
In the end, dignity came from strength. A gentle person might be respected, but respect was only respect.
Even within a family, authority was necessary. If they left things as they were, it wouldn’t be long before the third-generation disciples started climbing over them.
They needed to make things clear before that happened.
Why they were the adults. And why the children had to lower their heads.
“I hope that boy Cheong Myung has talent in martial arts too. Then wouldn’t our Mount Hua have a prodigy capable of leading the next generation?”
“The prodigy who will lead the next generation is you, Sahyung.”
“I can’t keep relying on the junior disciples forever. If he’s a reasonably obedient, clever kid, there’d be a lot he could be made to do.”
A subtle smile appeared on Baek Cheon’s lips.
“He looked half-starved, for crying out loud. There’s no way that kid would have any talent in martial arts.”
At Baek Mun’s cold voice, he shrugged.
“All the more reason to teach and guide him properly, don’t you think? It’ll be a bit much for him, sure, but that’s how he’ll grow.”
“I see. Understood.”
The three of them looked at one another and smiled in satisfaction.
We need to show the proper authority of our seniors.
Baek Cheon’s eyes slowly darkened.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Are you asleep?”
“Yes.”
“Ughhh. I got dragged around by the Sasuk because of that brat, and you’re lying there sleeping so comfortably?”
Yoon Jong’s face heated up slightly.
My dignity….
He had no intention now of telling Cheong Myung to behave with proper respect as the youngest. He’d long since abandoned any notion of being treated like the great senior brother.
Even so, he felt a sudden surge of irritation today because he’d seen the way the other Baek generation disciples treated Baek Cheon.
That’s what a proper sect looks like.
Seeing that courteous respect they showed their great senior brother made his own lot feel unbearably pitiful and pathetic.
There was a time I got treated like that too.
Ever since that bastard showed up, the other disciples had started acting all loose and casual too. If it were just one person, he could understand it. But bad habits spread fast, and now they were all the same….
“What are you thinking about so hard, Sahyung?”
“...Nothing.”
This bastard is a problem too!
Back then, even when he was being rebellious, there had still been a certain amount of respect. Now he acted like some older guy from the neighborhood!
With a long sigh, Yoon Jong looked at Jo Gul.
“Gul.”
“Yes?”
“Is it really a good thing that Cheong Myung came to Mount Hua?”
“Stop saying weird things and tell me what happened already. What did they say?”
Weird things, this punk. Was that any way to talk to the great senior brother?
Aigoo, what a life….
Finally giving up on everything, Yoon Jong lay back on the bed and glanced at Cheong Myung, who was stretched out nearby, then spoke.
“They told me to explain everything that bastard has done so far.”
“So you confessed everything, then?”
“...Why would I hide it?”
“Fair enough.”
They’d find out eventually anyway.
“And their reaction?”
“You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you?”
“...Haaah.”
Yoon Jong and Jo Gul both let out deep sighs. There was no helping it when they looked at Cheong Myung sprawled out on the bed, tapping his stomach.
Crazy bastard.
What an absolute menace.
No matter how you looked at it, Baek Cheon wasn’t their great senior brother—he was their martial uncle. Where in the world did anyone create a situation where the first meeting with a martial uncle became a total disaster like this?
Baek Cheon wasn’t the sort of person who was especially strict with the third-generation disciples. But now that things had already gone wrong between them, there was no telling how he would act from here on out.
“He’s not going to take this kindly.”
“...If it were me, I wouldn’t either.”
There was no one in the world who would take one look at Cheong Myung and immediately like him. Didn’t Jo Gul and Yoon Jong both originally want to hit him at least once too?
Fortunately, they’d only ended up getting beaten within reason, but if Baek Cheon truly decided to crush Cheong Myung, the situation could grow far bigger than expected.
“We’re going to get hit by stray arrows for nothing.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
After yet another soul-crushing sigh, Yoon Jong fixed Jo Gul with a determined look.
“In any case, wasn’t this something you expected from the moment you heard the Sasuk were coming back?”
“Yes, Sahyung.”
“Tell the others to watch their manners starting tomorrow. Even without anything special, they’d already be looking for faults in us, and after this mess, they’ll definitely not let it slide.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After answering, Jo Gul turned to leave, then suddenly stopped. He glanced back at Yoon Jong with a sly look.
“By the way, Sahyung.”
“Hm?”
“I’m just curious, but….”
“Curious about what?”
“If Baek Cheon Sahyung and Cheong Myung really fought, who’d win?”
“...Stop talking nonsense and do what I told you.”
“Tch.”
At Yoon Jong’s rebuke, Jo Gul pouted and headed outside.
Left alone in Cheong Myung’s room, Yoon Jong glanced at the room’s owner, who was still wandering through dreamland.
Who’d win?
Was there even any need to ask?
“...You really sleep well. You troublemaking bastard.”
Mount Hua’s peace had ended. From here on, it would be nothing but one uproar after another.
Looking down at Cheong Myung’s face, asleep without a care in the world, Yoon Jong gave a snort of laughter and left the room.
—