The Value of What Was Lost
“Hoo.”
“Oh, Guild Leader. Please don’t do this. We’ll carry it for you.”
“No. The road is this steep, so one more person ought to help.”
“Aren’t we workers to begin with?”
“Haha. You brat. So am I some sort of layabout who just eats and sleeps?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s all right. I’m doing this because I feel better if I do, so just let me carry it.”
“...If you insist...”
The laborer looked at Hwang Jong-ui with eyes that still hadn’t shaken off their unease. But Hwang Jong-ui made no move to set down the load on his back and only kept climbing in silence.
It’s steep.
He had climbed this mountain several times already, and yet every time he came up, it still drove the wind right out of his lungs. The towering peaks and jagged cliffs looked as though they rejected human visitors altogether.
The first time he had come here, crude curses had spilled from his mouth before he could stop them. But after climbing it several times, even if it was just as hard, his heart had grown lighter.
Because there were people he was happy to see at the summit.
But now Hwang Jong-ui’s heart felt heavier than it had the first time he climbed this mountain.
Mount Hua...
He gazed at the concealed peaks that stretched above the clouds.
For some reason, they felt farther away than ever today.
“Urgh.”
“We’re here.”
The laborers who had reached the summit wiped away the sweat streaming down their foreheads and panted for breath.
Even counting the times they had climbed this mountain, it had to be several dozen by now, and yet no matter how often they came, they never seemed to get used to the damned thing.
“All right. Let’s finish up and rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
The laborers set down the bundles on their backs and carefully placed them before the mountain gate.
Hwang Jong-ui silently watched them moving the cargo.
Closing the sect’s gates did not mean people could live without eating. No, in fact, because they had closed the gates, they needed food even more. If they hadn’t sealed themselves away, they could at least move around the vast mountain and gather some things on their own, but if they could not leave the sect, then food had to come entirely from outside.
That was why the Eunha Merchant Guild was hauling provisions up Mount Hua once a month for the disciples to eat.
“Huu.”
Hwang Jong-ui also set down the bundle on his back.
“You’ve worked hard, Guild Leader.”
“You really didn’t have to go this far. Thank you.”
Compared to the amount of cargo that had been hauled here, the little bundle on his back wasn’t really much of anything. But the laborers were moved by the very fact that the famed leader of the Eunha Merchant Guild had climbed the mountain with them while carrying a load.
Once he had set down his burden, Hwang Jong-ui stood wordlessly before Mount Hua’s mountain gate.
The gate, which had always stood wide open to welcome guests, was now firmly shut as though it had never been open at all.
Dust had piled thickly over the plaque that was usually kept spotless.
After staring at it for a while, Hwang Jong-ui ran his hand lightly over the mountain gate. The white dust that had settled there clung to his fingertips.
“Manager Yoo.”
“Yes, Guild Leader.”
“Have the people who carried the cargo here ever come across the disciples of Mount Hua?”
“No. To my knowledge, no one has seen them.”
“...I see.”
A bitter smile touched Hwang Jong-ui’s lips.
No, really. We didn’t close the sect because we did something wrong or anything. We’re just shutting the gate because it’s a pain in the ass having people come looking for us from all over the place. It’s not like we can’t come out.
“...And yet you said it like that.”
It stung.
“Did you always leave the cargo here like this?”
“Yes. Since there aren’t really people climbing the mountain, we leave it at the gate so they can bring it in easily.”
“I see.”
“Whenever you need certain supplies, you hang a letter on the mountain gate in time for the next delivery. Then we bring the items the next time we visit.”
Hwang Jong-ui nodded.
He already knew all of that.
They’ve been taking in a lot of medicinal herbs and wooden swords.
Both were worrying signs.
Getting a lot of medicinal herbs meant a lot of people were getting hurt, and ordering wooden swords meant they weren’t even willing to waste time carving them themselves in this mountain overflowing with timber.
Just from the fact that those two things were flowing into Mount Hua so heavily, he could roughly imagine what was going on inside.
“Huu.”
Hwang Jong-ui stepped back and looked at the mountain gate of Mount Hua and the wall that extended beside it.
Sealing a sect away was truly a ridiculous thing.
It was impossible to cut a sect off from the world with this little wall. If they really wanted to, anyone could cross over it and meet the people inside.
But no one could do that.
What completed the sealing of the sect was not that low wall, but the respect owed to the sect that had declared the closure. Crossing it would mean ignoring Mount Hua’s will.
That was why even Hwang Jong-ui of all people could not cross that wall.
“Perhaps...”
“Yes, Guild Leader?”
“Did you bring any cloth we could use to wipe things down?”
“Cloth? Ah... nothing like that, I’m afraid. We do have cloth used for carrying bundles on our backs, though.”
“Bring it here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Everyone looked puzzled, but no one questioned Hwang Jong-ui’s words. He was simply too important a man for them to ask him to explain every single thing he did.
“Here it is, Guild Leader.”
One of the laborers hurriedly brought over the cloth and handed it to him. Hwang Jong-ui took it, nodded, and said, “Thank you.”
Then he folded the cloth neatly and began wiping down Mount Hua’s main gate. The gate, white with dust, was gradually cleaned until its original color came through again.
“G-Guild Leader. We’ll do it. Please, give it here.”
“No.”
Hwang Jong-ui shook his head.
“This is something I should do, so don’t worry about it.”
“Oh dear. Guild Leader. Such a task, by someone of your standing...”
“I’m not someone of high standing.”
Hwang Jong-ui smiled faintly as he spoke.
“And nowhere in this world is there anyone who makes someone else clean a friend’s home. I’m only doing this because it puts my heart at ease, so help me out.”
“...Yes, Guild Leader.”
Only then did the laborers step back.
After cleaning Mount Hua’s gate, Hwang Jong-ui fetched the cargo, climbed onto it, and even wiped down the plaque until it shone. Before long, sweat had gathered in tiny beads across his forehead.
Only after a while did Hwang Jong-ui climb down from the cargo, wipe his brow, and look up at the plaque, now clean at last.
The steward who had followed him up finally caught his breath, looked at Hwang Jong-ui’s back, and said with a pained expression, “Young Guild Leader... no, Guild Leader.”
“Mm?”
The title still didn’t sit right on his tongue. How many years had it been since he had called Hwang Jong-ui the young guild leader?
Hwang Mun-yak had quietly passed away, and Hwang Jong-ui had taken over the Eunha Merchant Guild and run it magnificently. So much so that even he, watching from the side, had often been amazed.
But sometimes that back of Hwang Jong-ui’s looked unbearably lonely.
Well, of course it would.
He had lost the father he relied on most, and the people he trusted most had shut their gates and gone into seclusion. How could he not be lonely?
“Shall I call out to them once?”
“Don’t.”
The steward had spoken out of pity, but Hwang Jong-ui shook his head.
“But Guild Leader, this isn’t exactly a private matter, is it?”
“That’s precisely why it can’t be done.”
“Pardon?”
Hwang Jong-ui let out a low sigh.
Truth be told, the current state of the Eunha Merchant Guild was not exactly smooth sailing. Thanks to Hwang Jong-ui’s excellent management, there were no outward signs of major trouble, but the business that had once been expanding with force until Hwang Mun-yak’s death had run into an obstacle recently.
No, even if Hwang Mun-yak were still alive, it would have been the same. It was a confusing time for everyone.
“Have we still not heard from Ghost Sect?”
“No. They said that teaching the disciples comes first...”
The biggest blow had fallen on none other than Eunha Express. No matter how much the nonaggression pact of Jiangnan applied only to the Gupailbang and the Odaesega, who in their right mind would move expensive goods through Jiangnan, which was ruled by the Saperyeon?
Especially since it was Ghost Sect, who could be called Mount Hua’s friend, they had no choice but to shrink back even further. In the end, Eunha Express had been transporting goods only to regions other than Jiangnan, but recently Ghost Sect had been anything but cooperative.
As the number of escorts they sent in rotation kept dwindling, they had recently found themselves so short-handed that they couldn’t even accept new requests.
“I can’t help but think that’s a bit much.”
“...There’s no need to think of it as too much. To them, we’re nothing more than merchants. Weren’t we always just in a business relationship from the start?”
“But...”
“If it hadn’t been for Mount Hua, there’s no way we could have used them as escorts in the first place. They’re simply returning to where they belong, so don’t resent them.”
“...Yes.”
Hwang Jong-ui spoke again.
“And there’s still no word from the North Sea?”
“No. They said they would make contact once preparations were complete, but... since delivering supplies to Mount Hua last year, they haven’t contacted us for a full year now.”
“Hmm.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to send someone over?”
“Leave them be. Their hostility toward the Central Plains hasn’t vanished yet. If we press them carelessly, it could backfire on us.”
“...But even the escort team that went to Yunnan to fetch tea has run into trouble with the locals there and couldn’t bring the tea back. All three of the guild’s biggest money streams are blocked. Guild Leader, right now we’re only managing by using the money we’ve already earned, but...”
“I know.”
Hwang Jong-ui let out a sigh.
Once, he had thought Mount Hua’s existence had given the Eunha Merchant Guild wings. That they had possessed ample ability but had been unlucky, unable to spread their wings, and that they had at last met good friends they could walk alongside.
But with things the way they were now, he had come to the painful realization that what he had thought was the guild’s own ability had been nothing more than Mount Hua’s halo.
My father was right.
Now he understood why Hwang Mun-yak had treated Mount Hua with such reverence and caution. Hwang Mun-yak had seen farther ahead than his son could.
Once he truly felt the weight of everything, his thoughts about Mount Hua only deepened.
Because he knew how profitable Mount Hua had been?
No.
What told Hwang Jong-ui he had never truly understood Mount Hua’s value was exactly how humbly Mount Hua had treated the Eunha Merchant Guild all this time.
Despite bringing them that much profit, they had never once lifted their chins and looked down on others. As comrades, as friends, they had treated them with courtesy and smiled at them all the while.
“Only after losing something do you finally realize its worth, they say.”
“...Guild Leader.”
Hwang Jong-ui, who had been silently staring at Mount Hua’s gate, shook his head.
“Let’s go back. The Daoist said he wouldn’t keep the gates shut for more than three years, so he’ll be coming out soon enough. If I don’t want to get chewed out later for running the guild this hard, we’ve got time to rest, don’t we?”
“...Yes.”
“Come on. We should do everything we can.”
Even as he said that, Hwang Jong-ui kept looking back over his shoulder.
Daoist.
He kept missing him.
He kept thinking of Chung Myung, who had once stormed in without warning, kicked down the gate, and bellowed for them to hand over the liquor.
Back then, it had only felt rude... but now he knew. Chung Myung had acted that way because he thought of them as friends with nothing to hold back.
So it wasn’t rudeness. It was familiarity.
Only now did he fully understand the smile Hwang Mun-yak had worn every time Chung Myung came to visit. Only now, after carrying all this weight on his shoulders.
“Say, steward.”
“Yes, Guild Leader.”
“Get me a few more bottles of liquor. The good stuff.”
“Pardon? Haven’t we already set aside more than ten bottles to give the Daoist once Mount Hua lifts its closure? They’re all rare fine liquors in the Central Plains...”
“Those are for the Daoist to drink.”
“...Then this time, for...”
Before answering, Hwang Jong-ui looked back at the mountain gate, now already a little farther away.
“For me to sit in front of it and drink.”
“...”
“Please.”
“I’ll do so, Guild Leader.”
Hwang Jong-ui nodded slowly.
Daoist.
The vacancy was enormous, but he did not want to rush Chung Myung.
Hwang Jong-ui knew it well. In the past, Chung Myung had filled their deficiencies for them. And now, it was their turn to fill the space Chung Myung had left behind.
Please, achieve great merit and come back. I’ll have your celebration drink ready whenever you return.
For a long while, Hwang Jong-ui stood there, staring at the tightly shut mountain gate. At last, he forced his reluctant body to turn around and began descending the mountain.