Mount Hua Is Not Mount Hua Without You (3)
"Th... then."
It had been fine, at least until everyone reached the unanimous decision to close the sect’s gates.
Of course, it had been a little chilling to watch Chung Myung grind his teeth, but everyone had been prepared for something like that to some extent.
What the disciples of Mount Hua had not expected at all, once the decision was made, was that they would have to explain it to the person standing right in front of them.
"Well..."
Baek Cheon scratched the back of his head with a level of awkwardness that simply did not suit him.
"That’s how it turned out, Monk."
The memory was still vivid, sharp in his ears.
Hye Yeon had declared to Beop Gye that he would not be returning to Shaolin.
"...Closing the gates?"
"...""
"Closing the gates?"
"...""
Tears gathered instantly in Hye Yeon’s wide, deer-like eyes.
"Then... what about me?"
"Uh..."
Baek Cheon answered clumsily.
"Well... I’m not sure what to do about that."
"..."
"Ha... hahaha..."
Cold sweat began streaming down his back as he laughed in utter discomfort.
'Say something!'
'He’s going to cry!'
'What am I supposed to say to that?'
Who in that atmosphere would have thought about something like Hye Yeon’s future?
Then Hye Yeon spoke again.
"Er... if I may ask, just in case."
"Yes?"
"If the sect gates are closed... what happens to outsiders?"
"Well..."
Baek Cheon smiled brightly and answered with disarming kindness.
"If the gates are closed, outsiders can’t come in. That’s what closing the gates means. Why ask something so obvious? I’m sure someone like you would know that."
"Hey, you—!"
"No, seriously, who answers like that?"
When protests erupted behind him, Baek Cheon widened his eyes slightly as if to say, Why are you reacting like that?
"I can’t exactly lie when that’s the truth."
"Wow..."
"Did you leave your humanity across the Yangtze or something?"
In the end, Hye Yeon squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away. Clear tears spilled down both cheeks.
'These Mount Hua bastards don’t even count as human.'
Honestly, the Sapa would have been better. The Sapa would have been better.
No, this wasn’t even the fault of Mount Hua’s people. It was Hye Yeon’s fault.
He had known for a long time that the people of Mount Hua were like this, so what exactly had he been expecting when he declared that he would stay here? Why had he brought this on himself?
While sneaking glances at Hye Yeon’s face, Jo Gul let out a deliberately hearty laugh that sounded forced even to his own ears.
"Hahaha! M-Monk! There’s no need to be that discouraged!"
"...Yes?"
"Instead of looking at it like that, why not just join Mount Hua? Maybe not anyone else, but if you said you were entering the sect, the Sect Leader would welcome you with both hands raised."
"..."
"Think about it. Rather than living your whole life bald, you could join Mount Hua, grow your hair out, eat meat—"
Yoon Jong grabbed Jo Gul by the hair and yanked him backward, then clapped a hand over his mouth.
"You mouthy little—! You mouthy little—!"
"Agh! Ack! Mmph! What are you hitting me for? Why?! Ack!"
Watching Yoon Jong subdue Jo Gul in an instant, Baek Cheon shook his head.
"...I’ll speak with the Sect Leader about it. Don’t worry too much, Monk."
"..."
When Hye Yeon gave no answer, Baek Cheon let out another awkward laugh.
"Haha. As they say even in Buddhism, isn’t life just like that?"
At that, Hye Yeon slowly raised his head and smiled faintly.
"...S- sir."
"Yes? What was that?"
"...Go."
"...Pardon?"
"Go and die, sir."
"..."
"You said we’re closing the gates?"
Im So-byeong’s eyes were so wide they looked ready to pop out of his skull.
"Closing the gates?"
"Yep."
"So we’re closing the gates?"
"I just said we are."
"You’re saying we’re actually closing the gates?"
"..."
"I know this might be rude to ask, but..."
"Hmm?"
"Did you maybe eat something wrong?"
Oh... impressive. He couldn’t even tell whether that was rude or not. As expected of a bandit chief.
At that moment, Im So-byeong suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"No, are you out of your mind?"
"What the hell are you yelling at me for?"
Chung Myung kicked Im So-byeong hard in the side. But unlike usual, when the Green Forest King would have collapsed and wailed about dying, Im So-byeong sprang back to his feet the instant he hit the ground, like a coiled spring snapping upright.
"Mom?"
The sheer ferocity of it made even Chung Myung recoil in surprise. Im So-byeong’s eyes blazed as he screamed,
"Do you even know what situation this is? Money! Money! I’m talking about money!"
As though all his years of frailty had been a lie, veins bulged on his forehead and he jabbed a finger into the air.
"And not just money! You’re not some fool who doesn’t understand how much is at stake here! Closing the gates? What kind of nonsense is that!"
Just as quickly, his attitude changed again.
He grabbed Chung Myung’s hand and pleaded with desperate, almost tearful eyes.
"You’re joking, right? You’re messing with me, right? Say it was a joke. Please? Just say it was a joke."
"But it’s the truth."
Thud.
Im So-byeong collapsed on the spot. With his legs spread uselessly out in front of him, he muttered with a dead, hollow look in his eyes,
"Why did I ever get involved with those untrustworthy Taoist bastards...? There are some people you just shouldn’t trust in this world."
"...Is that really something a bandit should say to a Taoist?"
Then Tang Gun-ak, who had been listening quietly from the side, turned to Chung Myung with a face full of incomprehension.
"I don’t know what you’re thinking. Closing the gates all of a sudden? The things you’ve been working toward are only just beginning to bear fruit."
"Well, that’s true, but..."
Seeing Chung Myung hesitate, Tang Gun-ak studied him for a moment, then nodded.
"So it cannot be done now."
"...You understand?"
"Jang Il-so is a dangerous man. Now that he’s seized Saperyeon, he’ll be even more terrifying."
The most important thing in leading a sect was not how much profit you could seize right now. It was whether you could withstand what was coming next.
As the lord of the Tang Family, he understood Chung Myung’s thinking well enough.
He had seen countless people become so fixated on what was right in front of them that they failed to prepare for what truly mattered.
"No, I understand, but..."
Still, it seemed Im So-byeong had something more to say.
"That’s exactly why the Heavenly Alliance exists! Mount Hua doesn’t have to do everything alone!"
"Even that has its limits."
"Limits? If my ingenious and miraculous strategies are combined—"
"Zhuge Liang couldn’t stop Wei. What exactly do you plan to do?"
"No, that’s—"
"When you’re weaker in force, strategy is only a side dish."
Tang Gun-ak nodded.
"That’s true."
Then he added,
"Still, it is true that we’ve bought time. I doubt Jang Il-so intends to honor all three years. There must have been a reason he changed the nonaggression pact into an unbreakable peace in the Jiangnan region. That means the time we’ve been given is, at best, two years."
"Yes."
"And to strengthen our forces with that time, Mount Hua is, to be blunt, the only one capable of doing it. Mount Hua is overflowing with young, talented people. It will be the place that grows the most dramatically during that span."
And if the one leading them was Chung Myung, then the results would surely exceed even what Tang Gun-ak imagined.
But Im So-byeong still looked unhappy.
"Without Mount Hua, even stabilizing the Yangtze River right now is impossible."
"You needn’t worry about that. That’s precisely why the Heavenly Alliance exists. The Tang Family will step in. If that’s not enough, we’ll request support from Beast Palace as well."
"Urgh..."
Im So-byeong groaned and tapped his own forehead with his folding fan, poking himself over and over.
"Besides, with the smaller sects in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and the Yangtze basin all hoping to form ties with the Heavenly Alliance, if we accept them and draw on their help, we should be able to cover some of Mount Hua’s absence."
"That may be true, but..."
As long as Saperyeon didn’t make a direct move, the Tang Family alone could handle most Sapa forces. The problem wasn’t that the Sapa were too strong; it was that the others couldn’t make it to the Yangtze.
"And since Maehwado has been left alone by Saperyeon... Mount Hua doesn’t actually have all that much to do there. We can’t leave Shaanxi empty forever either."
"You really do say nothing but the truth, don’t you?"
When Im So-byeong grumbled with a sullen face, Tang Gun-ak looked at him expressionlessly.
"Are you uneasy?"
"..."
Im So-byeong’s face stiffened slightly.
"I know the Green Forest wants to stand with us not because it sees the Heavenly Alliance and thinks it’s a good opportunity. The Green Forest is looking at Mount Hua alone—Mount Hua Divine Dragon... no, Mount Hua Sword Hero. That’s why you want to place yourselves within the Heavenly Alliance, isn’t it?"
Im So-byeong said nothing.
"But whether you become a friend or a comrade, one side should never benefit unilaterally. If you want to become a friend of Mount Hua, prove that you can become Mount Hua’s sword yourself."
"..."
"For now, the priority is to stabilize the Heavenly Alliance and secure the Yangtze while Mount Hua is away. Wouldn’t you agree?"
Just as Im So-byeong seemed about to speak, he shot Tang Gun-ak a cold glare.
It was not the frivolous, theatrical expression he usually wore, but the bearing of the King of the Green Forest.
"There’s something you need to understand."
"Go on."
"The Green Forest is not yet part of the Heavenly Alliance. And even if it were, the Tang Family cannot issue orders to the Green Forest in place of Mount Hua, the alliance leader."
"That much is obvious."
The two men’s gazes locked in midair, taut as drawn bows.
"Hah."
Then Im So-byeong let out a sigh and let all that force drain from his shoulders.
"I thought I might finally get a little benefit out of this, but now it looks like I’ll be running myself ragged. Ah, what a miserable fate."
After his lament, he turned to Chung Myung with a snap.
"This is still worth investing time in, right?"
"Do I really need to say the obvious?"
"Ugh. Long-term investments aren’t my style. Life is about short-term gains."
After mentally shuffling his abacus beads around, Im So-byeong nodded at last.
"Well, no matter how much I complain, you’re not the kind of man who changes his mind once it’s made."
"You know me well."
"And you’re not the kind of man who’d charge ahead recklessly without thinking when making a decision either."
In the end, the conclusion was already set.
Im So-byeong sighed and said,
"I’ll do what I can with the Yangtze and the markets. The Tang Family can handle the common people on our own."
"No."
"...Excuse me?"
"You have to do that too. Green Forest will handle the Sapa and do the relief work for the common people as much as possible."
"..."
Im So-byeong stared at Chung Myung for a long moment, then scratched his head furiously.
"You really are asking for the impossible. You want me to protect the markets and shed the reputation of being bandits at the same time?"
"Isn’t it a good opportunity?"
"Urghhh."
Honestly, this man was always merciless. He couldn’t possibly not know how difficult this was.
"...Understood. I’ll do my best. But!"
Im So-byeong met Chung Myung’s eyes with hard resolve.
"You need to face the scale of the influence you and Mount Hua hold."
"..."
"A Heavenly Alliance without Mount Hua cannot last three years, not even close. You need to understand how unnatural it is for the Tang Family, a righteous faction, and the Green Forest, once a bandit sect, to work together. Things that meant nothing when Mount Hua was present become reasons for steel to be drawn when Mount Hua is absent."
As if agreeing, Tang Gun-ak slowly nodded.
Im So-byeong continued,
"There are limits even to what I and the Tang Family Lord can hold down. If the Sect Leader returns too late, there’s a chance that the alliance will collapse before it even binds together—and that the two of us may be forced out before then."
"You brats can’t even keep a few kids in line..."
"Whose fault is that!"
"Who are you yelling at? You want me to smack you?"
When Chung Myung glared, Im So-byeong flinched and shrank his neck.
"Anyway..."
Tang Gun-ak came to Im So-byeong’s aid.
"I agree with the King of the Green Forest. Setting aside the Tang Family and Green Forest, if you are absent right now, contact with North Sea Ice Palace will be severed completely. Their hostility toward the Central Plains is beyond imagination."
"Hmm."
"No matter how much we try to ask for cooperation, during the time Mount Hua is closed off, they will likely reach out to the Central Plains for no one. They are not helping the Heavenly Alliance; they are helping Mount Hua."
Tang Gun-ak’s voice lowered a little further.
"And that will be true of Beast Palace as well. They may reach out for now, but if the period grows too long, it will be the same."
"Huh? But you two are close, aren’t you?"
"Our friendship is maintained because of you. And Beast Palace Lord looking favorably on me is a separate matter from looking favorably on the Tang Family."
"..."
"The reason I say this is simple. The Heavenly Alliance is an alliance made possible only because Mount Hua exists. Without Mount Hua, the Heavenly Alliance cannot survive. So..."
Tang Gun-ak paused briefly, then looked at Chung Myung with unwavering eyes.
"Come back as quickly as possible."
"..."
"And of course, come back with the greatest results you can manage."
Chung Myung shook his head.
"You really are asking for a lot."
"..."
"But..."
The corners of Chung Myung’s mouth curled into a crooked grin.
"You can look forward to it."
His eyes gleamed brightly.
"I’ll show you something that’ll leave you speechless."
"Heh. That’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon for you. Or... Mount Hua Sword Hero, was it? Still doesn’t quite roll off the tongue."
"Tch. What a miserable nickname."
Tang Gun-ak smiled faintly.
He understood. Everything Chung Myung did had a proper reason behind it. So what he needed to do was support Chung Myung and Mount Hua as much as possible.
"Leave the rest to me."
"Urgh. I’ll lend a hand too."
Chung Myung smiled.
In the past, that would have been unimaginable. But now there were people he could entrust the rear to.
If he had to name the single thing the current Mount Hua did better than the Mount Hua of old, it would be the existence of these people.
Chung Myung held out his hand. Im So-byeong and Tang Gun-ak took it in turn.
Their hands tightened together, and warmth passed through the grip.
"I’m counting on you."
Chung Myung’s brief words were received by Tang Gun-ak with a gentle smile, and by Im So-byeong with a face full of suffering.