We Will See Each Other Again Soon (2)
The situation that had erupted like lightning was brought under control just as quickly.
The Mount Hua disciples first stripped the martial arts of the Sapa who had surrendered or been injured, then locked them away in one of the Eunha Merchant Guild’s warehouses.
They had gained access to the very warehouse packed with the wealth they had so desperately wanted, though whether they would actually be happy about that was another matter entirely.
As a matter of course, Mount Hua’s first priority was treating the wounded and recovering the bodies.
“How is it?”
“...As fortunate as it is unfortunate, it seems no one else will die.”
“Pardon?”
There were too many injured to be treated in a single clinic, so Hyun Young had turned an entire building of the Eunha Merchant Guild into a makeshift infirmary and summoned every physician in Xi'an.
At the old doctor’s words, who seemed to speak for the group, Hyun Young asked in confusion, “Then shouldn’t that be fortunate, not unfortunate?”
“...Well...”
The physician glanced carefully at Hyun Young’s expression before answering cautiously.
“Those with injuries that severe require a very long time to heal. At the very least, they’ll have to lie still and undergo treatment for more than three months.”
“And?”
“Even if they recover, they won’t be able to use their bodies as they did before.”
“Ah.”
Hyun Young nodded vigorously, as if he had roughly understood what the doctor was trying to say.
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Th-that is, as you know, treating such grave wounds requires expensive medicinal ingredients. Even if we use them sparingly...”
“Don’t worry, Doctor.”
Hyun Young waved a hand decisively.
He must have been trying to say that the cost of those expensive ingredients was more than ordinary people could afford. Of course they were anxious while treating them. They had probably hauled over every medicinal herb they could find from the medical hall, and there was always the risk they might never be properly compensated for it.
“Mount Hua will cover all the treatment costs for those injured here.”
“I-is that truly so?”
“Yes.”
Hyun Young nodded as if it were only natural.
“If that is the case...”
That arrangement had already been settled with Hyun Jong.
To be honest, Mount Hua had no real obligation to pay these people’s medical bills. After all, they had not come after Mount Hua—they had come after Xi'an. Whether Mount Hua had been there or not, their claws would have fallen on the city all the same.
But in matters like this, one should not drag in petty notions of right and wrong, gain and loss.
- If we start thinking only in terms of right and wrong, then they’ll do the same to us. There’s nothing bad about a relationship where both sides keep score, but that’s not the kind of relationship I want.
It was the right thing to say.
And now that he had seen that certain someone whose eyes always went strange whenever money was mentioned nod in silence, it was all the more right.
“We don’t want to charge a high treatment fee to those who fought against evil-doers for us. However... if we’re careless with the medicinal ingredients and fail to treat them properly, there may be a lot of lingering aftereffects.”
“Don’t worry about the money. Treat them as best you can.”
Hyun Young swept his gaze over the injured lying upon white cloth.
“They showed courage and righteousness. People like that should never be made to suffer a poor reception.”
An admiring exclamation slipped from the old doctor’s lips.
Applauding those who had shown righteousness was not difficult. But taking your own wealth out and placing it before them was not something just anyone could do.
Especially since Mount Hua was not really in a position where it had to take responsibility for this at all, was it?
He had expected them to do no more than provide a place and make a show of concern, but this unexpectedly generous response left him genuinely impressed.
“Then I’ll proceed accordingly.”
“Please do, Doctor. Our Medicine Hall will also do everything we can to help.”
“Yes. That will be a great help...”
Thud!
“Aaaaaaagh!”
“Ah, why are you such a coward? Our sahyungs get pierced by bigger needles than that and don’t even let out a groan!”
“P-please, young lady... that hurts too mu—”
“Quiet. Turn your body this way... hmm? Hm? Is this not the right spot? Ah... it’s been so long since I last did this that I’m a little rusty...”
A sound that made one’s scalp crawl just hearing it drifted out with complete calm.
“Well, it probably doesn’t matter. I’ll just stick it in again.”
“S-save me...”
Thud!
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
The foot of the man with the giant needle shot straight up toward the ceiling. Hyun Young and the physician stared blankly at the trembling toes for a moment, then silently turned their heads away.
“Th-then...”
Hyun Young began to speak, then covered his mouth with his fist and coughed loudly.
“...In any case, please take good care of them.”
“Yes... Elder.”
It had been a warm beginning and an awkward ending.
“Have all the disciples’ bodies been recovered?”
“Yes, Father.”
Wi Lip-san remained silent for a while before nodding heavily.
When he thought back on the fierce battle they had just endured, he could not honestly say the casualties were many. It had been such a brutal fight that total annihilation would not have been strange.
But as the leader of a sect, he could not be glad merely because the number of dead was small.
“...It shames me that I was the one who survived.”
“Please don’t say that, Father. All the disciples saw you fighting more fiercely than anyone else as their sect leader.”
It was not merely a line meant to comfort Wi Lip-san.
Wi So-haeng truly thought so. So much so that he was proud to be Wi Lip-san’s son.
And as far as he knew, the disciples of Hwayeong Gate felt much the same way.
At the very least, in this battle, Wi Lip-san had proven that he was not merely leading the sect on the strength of Mount Hua’s backing. His disciples had seen that he possessed not only kindness and composure, but also the righteous spirit of a true martial artist.
“What shall we do with the bodies?”
“Shouldn’t they be sent back to their hometowns?”
“...Yes.”
Most of the other sects that had suffered losses had disciples who were originally from Xi'an, but Hwayeong Gate’s disciples, who had moved here from afar, came from Namyang. At the very least, they should be allowed to rest in their homeland.
“I’ll have to go myself.”
“Father. Your body is in no condition for travel. I’ll go in your place.”
“No.”
Despite Wi So-haeng’s attempt to stop him, Wi Lip-san shook his head firmly.
“This is something I must do as the leader of Hwayeong Gate.”
“Father...”
Wi Lip-san gave a faint smile.
“Don’t look at me like that. It is a sad and painful matter. Heartbreaking, even. But you should be proud of your senior brothers. Were they not more righteous than anyone else?”
“Yes. I will never forget their final moments.”
As a resolute light settled in Wi So-haeng’s eyes, Wi Lip-san gave a slight nod.
Wounds make a person tougher.
It was heartbreaking, but through this, Hwayeong Gate’s disciples would become more truly martial. That alone was his comfort.
“Then we should hurry. It’s a long journey.”
“Ah, no.”
“Hmm? Before the bodies begin to spoil...”
“The Mount Hua Sect Leader has promised to obtain Ice Crystal for us. He said it would take a day or two, and asked us to wait.”
“...Ice Crystal?”
Wi Lip-san bit his lower lip slightly.
To use such a precious Ice Crystal to preserve the bodies... Even Wi Lip-san, who knew Hyun Jong’s character well, found himself deeply surprised.
“If we have Ice Crystal, the bodies won’t spoil. Of course, it is true that the sooner you go, the better, but if it takes a couple of days to secure the Ice Crystal, then perhaps you should rest a little—”
Wi Lip-san slowly closed his eyes.
If Ice Crystal were already in Mount Hua, it would not take two days; if it were not and had to be obtained, it would not be secured in just two days. There was no doubt this was Hyun Jong’s consideration, intended to keep him from rushing off without caring for his own body.
“...Very well.”
“Yes, Father.”
Wi Lip-san glanced sideways and spoke.
“So-haeng.”
“Yes.”
“Have you met Taoist Chung Myung?”
“...”
Wi So-haeng slowly shook his head. Wi Lip-san smiled faintly.
“It is sad, but this is also something anyone living in the martial world must go through.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So there is no need to force yourself to hold it in.”
“...”
“Go in my stead as the sect leader and express your gratitude to Taoist Chung Myung and the disciples of the main sect.”
“But...”
“That is also your duty as the young sect leader.”
Wi So-haeng nodded reluctantly.
“Yes. I will.”
“Good. Go on, then.”
“Yes.”
Wi So-haeng rose carefully, bowed, and left the room. Then, at a slow pace, he exited Hwayeong Gate and headed toward the Eunha Merchant Guild, where Mount Hua was staying.
Tap. Tap-tap!
His steps, at first slow, gradually quickened, until at last they turned into a fast run.
Taoist Chung Myung!
Ever since Chung Myung had saved him, he had not even properly been able to offer his thanks. There had never been a chance for it.
I have to thank him.
Settling sect affairs as the young sect leader was important, but giving thanks to one’s lifesaver was also the natural duty of a human being.
His pace quickened until he was nearly breathless, and he ran straight to within a stone’s throw of the Eunha Merchant Guild.
And then...
Wi So-haeng’s feet slowed as he approached the guild.
Then they stopped altogether.
A strange look, mixed with hesitation, spread over his face.
If it had been before, he would have rushed straight into the guild and run directly to where Chung Myung was. Yet for some reason, now his feet felt heavy.
Why?
He could not understand the change himself, and so Wi So-haeng tilted his head.
Still, he had to give his thanks, so he entered the Eunha Merchant Guild. But no matter how he looked around, he could not see a single Mount Hua disciple.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
Having called out to a passing laborer, Wi So-haeng asked with a somewhat stiff expression, “Where are the Mount Hua people right now?”
“They’ll be in the dining hall. It’s time for a meal. That big building over there.”
“Ah, thank you.”
After bowing his head, Wi So-haeng made his way slowly toward the dining hall. But an inexplicable sense of awkwardness kept tugging at his ankles.
By the time he was nearly there, he spotted a familiar face. Someone who looked much like him, standing outside and hesitating to enter...
“Branch Leader?”
“Hm? Ah, Young Sect Leader.”
Hong Dae-gwang gave a slightly dazed nod at the sight of Wi So-haeng.
“What are you doing here?”
Wi So-haeng forcibly swallowed the words “like a dog desperate to pee” that had nearly come out of his mouth. Hong Dae-gwang let out a long sigh.
“I came because I had something to say to the Mount Hua Divine Dragon... no, to the Plum Blossom Sword Hero.”
“Yes.”
“It’s just... how should I put this? It feels a bit awkward?”
Wi So-haeng’s eyes widened.
“I know Mount Hua has grown stronger... and, well, that’s something to be proud of. But the Mount Hua I saw this time felt so different from the one I knew that I started to feel...”
As Hong Dae-gwang fumbled along, Wi So-haeng finally understood the source of the awkwardness he had felt on the way here.
It feels distant.
He was afraid that when he faced them, they might no longer feel like the Mount Hua of old.
He thought it was a foolish worry, but if even Hong Dae-gwang felt the same, then Mount Hua’s changed appearance must have been unfamiliar indeed.
“...But shouldn’t we go in anyway?”
“Hmm.”
Hong Dae-gwang groaned.
He might have been alone, but he could not keep dithering in front of Wi So-haeng forever.
“Let’s go in.”
If Wi So-haeng had not come, he had planned to press an ear to the wall and listen to the conversation inside. But since things had turned out this way, there was nothing for it but to charge in headfirst.
Pretending to be calm with great effort, Hong Dae-gwang pushed the dining hall door wide open.
“Hey, Mount Hua Swords—”
The words he had meant to toss out in his usual manner dried up of their own accord.
The moment the door opened, everyone inside turned to look at him in silence.
No, they must have been like that even before he entered.
T-this is...
This was not the noisy, boisterous Mount Hua he knew. Every single face looking their way was stiff.
It was nothing like the Mount Hua Sect of the past, which had always welcomed outsiders warmly.
Just as Hong Dae-gwang was thinking his own hunch had been right and was about to let out another groan...
“Nooooooooo!”
Huh?
From the front, a familiar back shot upright and screamed at the top of its lungs.
“What the hell! What kind of people feed those trash? Feed them, of all things!”
“...I already told you. If you keep that up, they’ll starve to death.”
“Who cares whether they starve or get boiled to death? They’re not my problem! Either way, those bastards are stuffing themselves silly! Do you know how many people there still are in the countryside who can’t even manage one proper meal a day? And you want to give them food? Food?! If I had food to spare for those cretins, I’d feed the dogs in the village first! The dogs!”
“No... seriously, they’ll die. They’ll really just go and die, you know?”
“Huh? Ah... ah!”
Chung Myung slapped his hands together with a sharp clap.
“I get it now.”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon, who had been trying to persuade him with a weary face all this time, suddenly sensed something ominous and looked at Chung Myung.
Chung Myung asked with a refreshed expression, “So you’re worried they’ll die?”
“Th-that’s right. No matter how much they’re Sapa bastards, starving them to death is...”
“Then if you don’t want them starving to death, you just kill them first.”
“...What?”
“If I go out now and slit every one of their throats, problem solved, right?! Wait here! I’ll make sure they never have to eat again!”
“Grab him!”
“Catch that bastard!”
“Damn it, please just sit still and eat! You lunatic!”
“If you’ve got time to complain, then grab me already!”
As Chung Myung drew his sword and tried to bolt, the Mount Hua disciples swarmed him, tackling and pinning him down.
“Let go! What, you won’t? Have all you bastards gone completely insane? You’re attacking me because you want to save the Sapa? Since when were you all in bed with them? It wasn’t like this in my day! Not in my day!”
“Ah, shut up already! Your mouth! Your damn mouth!”
“Aaagh! Hold him properly over there! Properly!”
“Please... please just eat.”
Hearing that spectacle in a daze, Hong Dae-gwang suddenly caught the sound of snickering laughter beside him.
“...”
Wi So-haeng was laughing out loud, as if he had never been tense in the first place.
Nothing’s changed.
Even if they had become stronger, even if that strength had given them a status unlike anything they had known before, Mount Hua was still Mount Hua.
“Taoist Chung Myung!”
Realizing that, Wi So-haeng smiled brightly. Then he called out loudly and ran forward.