Mount Hua Is Not Mount Hua Without You (1)
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“What are you saying?”
Their reactions were different, but the feeling behind them was exactly the same.
The Mount Hua disciples gathered around Hyun Jong blinked in rapid succession, as if they simply couldn’t make sense of what they’d just heard.
They turned to one another, their expressions so blank they bordered on foolish. Judging by the stupid looks on every face, it didn’t seem as though they had misheard him.
“Th-then, Sect Leader?”
Baek Sang carefully tilted his head and spoke.
“If I... didn’t mishear that... then...”
He struggled to get the words out while constantly glancing at the others, trying to confirm whether he’d understood the situation correctly.
He would have preferred to have heard wrong, but the martial brothers who met his eyes all gave the tiniest nods. He was right.
“Then... did you just say... seclusion?”
Even as he said it, Baek Sang gave a helpless laugh. Seclusion? What kind of nonsense was that?
“...That is correct.”
“Eek?”
“What?”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Us?”
Once Hyun Jong confirmed it, the Mount Hua disciples collectively went into convulsions. Naturally, the one who erupted the most violently was Jo Gul.
“No, Sect Leader! What crime have we committed that we need to go into seclusion? Did something happen behind our backs? Did you maybe— OAAAGH!”
“Shut that mouth, you bastard! That filthy mouth!”
Yoon Jong seized Jo Gul by the collar like lightning and battered his jaw hard enough to knock him out cold.
“Cough.”
With Jo Gul limp in one hand, Yoon Jong covered his mouth with the other and coughed decorously. The complete mismatch between the elegance of the gesture and the brutality of the reality did not matter to anyone right now.
“...This is rather shocking, Sect Leader. Of course, you must have your reasons, but seclusion all of a sudden...”
Everyone nodded vigorously.
As questioning eyes poured over him, Hyun Jong slowly turned his head. At the end of that feeble movement, his gaze landed where it was always going to land: Chung Myung’s seat.
And there, of course, was Chung Myung, grinning brightly through the whole thing.
At that sight, Jo Gul, who had been nearly unconscious, let out a terrifying shriek, threw Yoon Jong off, and charged at Baek Cheon, grabbing him by the collar in one smooth motion.
“What did you do?! Hey, you bastard! What the hell did you do?!”
Even though a junior disciple had grabbed his senior by the collar—a scandal that should have shocked heaven and earth—Baek Cheon didn’t get angry. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he couldn’t. He simply avoided Jo Gul’s searing gaze with an awkward expression.
“No... why are you blaming me when that bastard is the one who did it?”
“If a fire starts, do you blame the fire? You blame the bastard who lit it, right?! What did that psycho do wrong? It’s the senior brother who provoked that lunatic who’s at fault!”
It was a ridiculous argument, and yet every single Mount Hua disciple present agreed with it wholeheartedly.
Even Baek Cheon, deep down, felt the burden of guilt.
Did I really think he’d go this far...?
How could an ordinary person ever measure the thoughts of a madman?
Seclusion wasn’t some stray dog’s name, and truly, this was exactly what people meant when they said lightning could strike out of a clear blue sky.
“...Sect Leader. No, what exactly did you hear that made you decide this so suddenly...?”
Yoon Jong, darting his eyes dazedly between Chung Myung and Hyun Jong, cleared his throat and spoke.
“Of course... whatever the reason, if this is the Sect Leader’s command, then as disciples we must obey. But at least let us know why.”
“Well...”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“It’s just...”
Hyun Jong’s eyes gradually grew moist.
Seeing that, Yoon Jong no longer had the heart to press him.
Yoon Jong snapped his head around sharply.
“You explain it, you little mudfish! Why the hell are you suddenly saying we’re going into seclusion? It’s not like we’ve done anything wrong!”
“That’s a weird way to put it.”
Chung Myung picked at his ear with one finger, then blew on the fingertip.
“Seclusion isn’t something I decide anyway. I’m just a powerless third-generation disciple, remember?”
“Powerless third-generation disciple? Powerless?”
That despicable bastard.
“And anyway, why does seclusion have to mean you did something wrong? That’s only because those Gupailbang losers always lock the gates and hide whenever they screw up, so they don’t have to take the heat. Seclusion is just something you do when you feel like it.”
“Then why the hell are we doing it now?”
Baek Sang hurried to back up Yoon Jong.
“Yeah, you brat! Do you have any idea what time it is? The whole world is praising Mount Hua! Our business is growing like wildfire! People are talking about Mount Hua more than they talk about the Gupailbang! When the tide comes in, you row, don’t you? Why would you capsize the boat because you don’t like going with the current? You— you crazy bastard!”
Baek Sang pounded his chest as if his heart were about to burst.
“Don’t just stand there, Elder! Say something, please!”
Then he sought support from Hyun Young. Hyun Young answered with a face as firm as iron.
“Chung Myung must have his reasons.”
“Ugh!”
He really never cared about the occasion, did he?
At that moment, Jo Gul, having let go of Baek Cheon’s collar, rolled his eyes back and charged Chung Myung next.
“You little cra—! Yaaagh!”
He was flung backward with the same speed he’d used to charge forward, tumbling across the ground in a miserable heap. The sad part was that not a single person had stepped in to catch him.
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung slowly folded the leg he’d extended and clicked his tongue as he looked around at everyone.
“Looks like there’s been some misunderstanding.”
“Huh?”
“This isn’t my opinion.”
“Huh? Then whose?”
Chung Myung closed his eyes, wearing a solemn expression, and nodded.
“I’m just doing what Senior Brother Baek Cheon tells me to do. Isn’t it the duty of a junior to do as his senior tells him?”
Every eye shifted to Baek Cheon.
Meeting those stares, Baek Cheon gave a gentle smile.
“...Just kill me. Don’t torture me like this. If you’re going to kill me, at least do it cleanly.”
“When did I ever say I was torturing you? That’s harsh.”
Baek Cheon buried his face in both hands and let his shoulders tremble helplessly.
“Sect Leader! Are you really going to listen to that nonsense?”
“No matter how much it’s Chung Myung, this is going too far.”
“I can’t accept this! Seclusion? Why would we go into seclusion? The crimes were committed by Shaolin and Wudang, so if we close our gates now, what will the world think of us?”
As the disciples rose one after another, boiling over with protest, Hyun Jong looked over them all with grave eyes.
But then a low voice broke through and silenced everyone.
“Seclusion.”
All eyes turned in one direction. Sitting calmly in the center, Yu I-seol received those stares and nodded without the slightest disturbance.
“Return to Mount Hua. Go into seclusion.”
“...”
“Good.”
The disciples exchanged glances.
Why is Sago acting like that now?
How are we supposed to know what’s going on in her head? Her head, her head!
I’m going to lose my mind, seriously.
If Chung Myung was the visible approach of a typhoon from far away, Yu I-seol was an earthquake that struck without warning. You could at least prepare for a typhoon, but there was nothing you could do about an earthquake.
“Anyway, that’s how it is, so everyone get ready. We’re going back to Mount Hua.”
“No, you bastard!”
“What the hell are you pulling here?”
At that point, the quietly suffering Baek Cheon finally spoke.
“Chung Myung.”
“Hm?”
His face was hardened.
“Explain yourself clearly first. This isn’t something you can just brush off like that.”
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung nodded as if he understood.
“The reason is simple.”
His finger pointed at Yu I-seol.
Yu I-seol nodded silently.
Then the finger moved to Baek Cheon, then to Jo Gul, then to Yoon Jong. After that, it swept across every Mount Hua disciple gathered there, one by one.
After pointing at the last disciple, Chung Myung said calmly, “You’re weak.”
“...”
Silence fell in an instant. Everyone’s faces stiffened.
The atmosphere shifted all at once, as though he had touched a reverse scale.
It was Baek Sang who broke the silence.
“...I understand.”
He stared fixedly at Chung Myung, but even now his expression showed that he still couldn’t fully accept it.
“We’re lacking, that much is true. In this battle too, we couldn’t make much of a showing. We only barely managed to drag on Maninbang by the ankles.”
“Right.”
“But Chung Myung. There is a time for everything. It’s only natural for a martial artist to devote himself to training, but isn’t this the time to look at something bigger?”
Baek Sang let out a sigh.
“I understand that you’re impatient, but if we wait one year... no, even just half a year more, Mount Hua’s position will become much more secure. The Four Hegemons Alliance agreed to a three-year truce, so there’s no reason we can’t wait half a year, is there?”
“Half a year?”
“Yes, half a year!”
Baek Sang glared fiercely at Chung Myung.
As a member of the Finance Hall, he had studied Mount Hua’s finances, learned how the world moved, and watched the flow of the markets under Mount Hua’s control.
So he knew. More clearly than anyone else here.
He knew just how great an opportunity Mount Hua now had in its hands.
For another sect, this would be a chance where every disciple would rush forward and give everything they had to seize it. And yet here they were, not only throwing the opportunity away, but apparently planning to bury it in a dung heap and trample it underfoot.
He simply couldn’t understand it.
“What exactly gets better if we wait half a year?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? First, wealth! Then fame! And on top of that, all the sects that want to align themselves with Mount Hua and the Heavenly Alliance. Plus honor and standing!”
“...”
“This is a chance to double Mount Hua overnight! Triple it! Maybe even quintuple it! Isn’t that exactly what you wanted all along? And after going through all that hardship to finally see results, you want to close the gates and go into seclusion?”
Chung Myung looked at Baek Sang without saying a word. Growing increasingly agitated, Baek Sang raised his voice.
“And I’m not just talking about the present! If we wait until our reputation has ripened a little more, then open our gates and accept new disciples, all kinds of powerful families will send in talented children! That’s what will secure Mount Hua’s future!”
“...”
“So why are you throwing away every single one of those chances? Why?”
Everyone agreed with Baek Sang’s words.
Anyone could see it: Mount Hua was riding a massive wave unlike anything it had ever seen before. If they could just ride that wave well enough, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Gupailbang would no longer be a dream.
“Say something. Don’t tell me you’re going to claim that a martial sect needs nothing but martial arts. That’s not your style, is it?”
Everyone fixed their eyes on Chung Myung’s mouth. In each pair of eyes was a hard resolve: this time, they would not back down so easily.
Chung Myung looked at them with slightly darkened eyes. Then he spoke slowly.
“Wealth’s good. Fame’s good. Honor’s good too. You all know I’m the kind of person who really likes that stuff, right?”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Why ask when you already know? I told you. Because the senior brothers are weak. Because the senior uncles are weak.”
“You...!”
Baek Sang clenched his teeth, anger trembling through his words at the off-kilter answer.
“Give me a proper answer!”
“That is the answer. They’re weak.”
“Hey, you brat!”
“Don’t get it?”
At Chung Myung’s icy question, Baek Sang fell silent for an instant. The weight in that voice was considerable.
In the silence, Chung Myung said quietly, but clearly, “This far is enough. Relying on luck.”
His cold gaze swept across them all.
“Next time...”
Those who met his eyes shuddered.
“Someone here is going to die for sure.”
In that instant, everyone’s mouths snapped shut.