We Will See Each Other Again Soon (3)
"Bangjang!"
Beop Jeong let out another deep sigh as Beop Gye burst through the door in a hurry.
In a way, Beop Gye was even more serious than Beop Jeong himself. He understood better than anyone the burden of serving at the side of Shaolin’s abbot.
When a man like that acted so unlike himself, there was usually only one reason.
"Bangjang! News has come from Shaanxi!"
Beop Jeong shut his eyes tightly.
The prediction had come true, yet instead of feeling relieved, he felt dizzy with dread.
"...Was it Mount Hua?"
"Eh? Ah, h-how did you know?"
A long sigh seeped from Beop Jeong’s lips.
"I had a feeling it would be so."
Beop Gye nodded and said, "The Beggars’ Union delivered the report. The evil sect forces that entered Xi'an attacked the Eunha Merchant Guild, and the smaller and mid-sized sects of Xi'an joined forces to stop them."
"...The smaller and mid-sized sects? Is that true?"
"Yes."
"...All the affiliated disciples of Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan?"
"Even those who did not belong to either sect fought together."
Beop Jeong’s expression darkened further.
"And what happened after that?"
"Naturally, they couldn’t stop them on their own. But Mount Hua arrived just in time and crushed them all."
"...And what of Zhongnan?"
"Zhongnan... did not appear, it seems."
Beop Jeong stared at the ceiling without a word. Only after a long while did he finally open his mouth, heavy with bitterness.
"If I understand you correctly...."
A wry smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"A great crisis struck Xi'an just then, the sects of Xi'an banded together to resist it, and just before they were driven back, Mount Hua appeared and swept away the villains?"
"That is so."
Beop Jeong’s face took on an even more pointed expression as he continued.
"Then the sects of Xi'an will feel nothing but gratitude toward Mount Hua, and news that Mount Hua subdued the demons of the righteous? No, the villains of the evil sect and saved the common people will spread across the world in no time."
"...."
"For the past three years, while other sects have suffered themselves to the bone restoring order and suppressing the evil sects, that sect locked its gates under the guise of seclusion and didn’t show its face once—and the moment it lifts that closure, it earns praise again."
As if his frustration had reached its limit, Beop Jeong kept reciting the Buddha’s name over and over.
"...Even if one planned it deliberately, it could not go this perfectly. Why is it always Mount Hua that ends up with such good fortune...."
At that quiet lament, Beop Gye seemed to want to say something, then closed his mouth.
In truth, all of this was, in part, Shaolin’s own doing.
Even if they had been far from Song Mountain, had they mobilized their disciples the moment they heard the news and sent them racing full speed toward Xi'an, they might have arrived before the others.
No, considering that the enemies burned villages and slaughtered commoners on their way to Xi'an, they would certainly have reached the city first and joined the smaller sects in slaughtering the evil sect scum.
But it was Beop Jeong himself who had decided not to send Shaolin monks to Xi'an.
So, coldly speaking, Beop Jeong’s complaint made no sense. But Beop Gye could not bring himself to point that out.
"...How badly was Mount Hua hurt?"
"That is...."
Beop Gye hesitated as though it were difficult to answer, then forced the words out at last.
"I haven’t checked every detail, but... there doesn’t seem to have been much damage. I heard they repelled them with ease...."
"With ease?"
Beop Jeong looked genuinely stunned.
"Those notorious evil sect bastards, led by the Gangseo-chilsal, swarmed in on them, and they subdued them without suffering any losses? That Mount Hua Sect?"
"Yes...."
Beop Jeong’s lips trembled faintly.
"The Plum Blossom Sword Hero?"
"Pardon?"
"Well, yes. If it was that boy, it would make sense. Three years is enough time for a young serpent to become a dragon. If that child had taken the lead...."
"Um...."
Still sounding reluctant to speak, Beop Gye continued, "According to the Beggars’ Union, the Plum Blossom Sword Hero did not take part in this battle."
"...What?"
Beop Jeong’s eyes flew wide open.
"Not only the Plum Blossom Sword Hero, but most of the Mount Hua Five Swords, who once made Mount Hua famous, did not participate either. So... the ones who subdued them this time were entirely Mount Hua’s other disciples...."
Thunk.
Beop Jeong’s hand fell onto the low table, the dull sound rippling through the room. To Beop Gye, it felt like thunder.
He knew very well that Beop Jeong rarely ever showed this kind of reaction.
"...What in the...."
Beop Jeong muttered under his breath, a dazed look washing over his face.
What sort of miracle had this been?
By the standards of the Mount Hua he had once known, those forces that had rushed into Xi'an should have been enough to force a bitter struggle. Even if they had been lucky enough to win, they should have paid a horrific price for it.
Of course, after three years of seclusion with young martial artists who grew quickly, they would have become far stronger than before—but even so....
Though I did not see the battlefield with my own eyes and cannot know for certain, they would have needed to be at least three times stronger for this to be possible.
No matter how fast young martial artists grew, was it really possible to achieve such a leap in strength in only three years?
If what Beop Gye had heard was true, Mount Hua’s strength could no longer be considered inferior even to the Nine Great Sects. No—among the Nine Great Sects, it could easily be counted somewhere in the middle.
That Mount Hua....
Beop Jeong murmured blankly, "When I first saw them at the competition for the Rising Talent Tournament...."
"Yes, Bangjang."
"I thought they would bring fresh vitality to the martial world. The sects that had led the world for the past hundred years had grown too complacent, you see. I believed that a young sect led by someone like the Plum Blossom Sword Hero would be enough to awaken them."
"...."
"And yet...."
A hollow laugh slipped from Beop Jeong’s lips.
"It seems I was the complacent one as well."
That much was now certain.
Mount Hua was no longer a sect Beop Jeong could do anything about.
"...Send a message to Mount Hua."
"What should I say?"
"I suppose I should congratulate them on lifting their closure."
"...I shall deliver those words."
When Beop Jeong closed his eyes without answering, Beop Gye quietly rose from his seat. The abbot’s mood seemed poor, and there was no need to linger and crowd him any further.
Once Beop Gye had withdrawn carefully, Beop Jeong opened his eyes again. A lifeless chant of the Buddha’s name escaped his lips.
"Amitabha...."
Once the news of Mount Hua spread, the martial world, which had only just begun to settle down, would surely start boiling again. Whether they wanted it or not, Mount Hua had already become a sect that commanded everyone’s attention.
But that was not what Beop Jeong feared.
What will happen now?
The past three years had been chaotic, but in a way, they had also been a period of stability. No—more accurately, it had been a time of recovery rather than stability.
From the moment that Mount Hua had shut itself away from the world, there had been no great upheaval in the martial world.
And so Beop Jeong could almost hear it: the great wheel that had been still for so long beginning to turn once more with a heavy roar.
"...Amitabha."
And now, no one would be able to stop that motion.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Xi'an quickly regained its stability.
The commoners who had fled returned after hearing that the disaster had been subdued, and the tense, uneasy atmosphere rapidly settled.
It was possible because, although it had been a terrible crisis, most of the fighting had taken place inside the Eunha Merchant Guild, and the other commoners had not really suffered any damage.
Even those who still felt a lingering fear were comforted by the news that Mount Hua itself was staying at the Eunha Merchant Guild.
"Then Mount Hua has finally lifted its closure?"
"Of course. Why else would they be here?"
"Well, I’ll be damned. How did they time it so perfectly?"
"Don’t be stupid."
"Hm?"
"This wasn’t some coincidence. Mount Hua had probably intended to remain in seclusion longer. But when they heard that the villains were coming, they boldly lifted their closure, didn’t they?"
"Right. Right. That makes more sense."
The speaker’s gaze drifted to the main gate of the Eunha Merchant Guild.
"Still, they’re incredible."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Who else? The Sect Leader of Mount Hua, Hyun Jong! To close your gates for a purpose and then come out again when needed—how easy do you think that is?"
"Come on. That sounds a little strange. They are righteous sects, after all. If people are in danger, shouldn’t they come running and put everything else aside?"
"What about Zhongnan?"
"...Huh?"
"I’m talking about Zhongnan. If your words are right, then what did Zhongnan do?"
"That is...."
"I heard your family has people connected to Zhongnan, too. Are you really okay saying something that paints Zhongnan in a bad light?"
"Tch."
The other man glanced around and lowered his voice.
"You’re not the only one. I’m the same. Who in Xi'an has no connection to Zhongnan? If you trace the links back a few steps, everyone here is related to them somehow."
"That’s true. This is Xi'an, after all."
"But still... from now on, whenever something goes wrong, people will probably look to Mount Hua rather than Zhongnan."
"...Surely not that much?"
"If a robber broke into your house, who would you go looking for?"
The man asked the question, but the answer did not come readily. Even in his own mind, the words Mount Hua had surfaced before Zhongnan.
"I’m not saying this just because Mount Hua came faster than Zhongnan. Think about it. If it had been Zhongnan... no, if it had been any sect at all that did this much, wouldn’t they have swaggered about it to some extent?"
"W-Well, yes. But that wouldn’t exactly be wrong, would it? They did something that big."
"Exactly. It wouldn’t be wrong. That’s why Mount Hua is remarkable. Look. You can’t even see a trace of the Mount Hua Sect, can you?"
"Now that you mention it...."
Their eyes turned toward the main gate of the Eunha Merchant Guild.
"They say a true hero doesn’t boast of his deeds, but I never imagined there was a place that actually lived by that. To think they did all this and still kept themselves hidden as if it meant nothing."
"...They’ve got a big heart."
"Exactly. Too big, really."
Similar words passed between everyone who walked by the Eunha Merchant Guild.
Even those who had not particularly liked Mount Hua could not help but feel goodwill toward those who had rushed over to save them and then never once used that deed to elevate themselves.
"In the end, the only sect that truly cares about Xi'an is Mount Hua."
"Doesn’t this just prove that Shaolin, Wudang, and the rest didn’t send a single soul to help Xi'an?"
"You don’t even need to go that far. Isn’t Zhongnan the same?"
"Hey now. Didn’t Zhongnan close its gates?"
"What about Mount Hua? Didn’t Mount Hua close its gates too? If both of them were in seclusion, but only one sect broke closure and came out, then of course they’ll be judged differently!"
"That’s true...."
The commoners had no way of properly judging Mount Hua’s strength, since they did not truly understand how powerful the evil sect forces that had invaded Xi'an had been.
But they understood all too clearly that Mount Hua had rushed out to save Xi'an.
Even if Xi'an had been reduced to rubble, the arrows of blame would have pointed not at Mount Hua, but at Zhongnan. And yet how could they not praise those who had come to rescue the common people in place of that sect, which was almost like an enemy?
As a result, Mount Hua’s name now rang louder in Xi'an than Zhongnan’s, and no one in the city denied it.
And at that same time, the key figures of Mount Hua, after finishing the necessary cleanup, sat together in the meeting room of the Eunha Merchant Guild.