Welcome Back, Mount Hua Sword Hero (4)
For the first time in a long while, the Sect Leader’s residence at Mount Hua was crowded with people.
Not only the people of Mount Hua, but even Tang Gun-ak and Im So-byeong, who had arrived yesterday, were seated opposite the Sect Leader.
“First of all….”
Hyun Jong let out a small cough and continued.
“While Mount Hua was away, I must offer my deepest apologies to the two of you, who must have carried a great burden. And as the leader of the Heavenly Alliance, I also feel I must apologize for failing to fulfill my role.”
“There is no need to say such things, Alliance Leader.”
Tang Gun-ak shook his head.
“Just because Mount Hua was away, do you think the rest of us lived easy? Who doesn’t know that? It was simply that each of us had different duties to bear.”
“Family Lord….”
Amid the warm exchange of courtesies, a slightly crooked voice cut in.
“Well, of course, it was a little rough.”
“…….”
Im So-byeong smiled brightly, without a hint of blemish, and looked at Hyun Jong.
“We were trembling over on our side, never knowing when the Four Hegemons Alliance might come crashing over, and we had to watch the faces of those scheming orthodox sects who kept wandering around the Yangtze River for no reason just to glare and leave, and then there were those merchants whining about tolls being too expensive and all that nonsense, and we even had to spend the money we scraped together so painfully to distribute grain to the common people… living like that was hard enough, but…!”
“…….”
“Of course, Mount Hua must have had it hard too, training all by yourselves in the back. Yes! What’s the point of comparing which was harder and which was not? Hahaha.”
“No, but this bastard!”
Just as Chung Myung shot to his feet, glaring in outrage, Baek Cheon pressed down on his shoulder.
“Hold it in, Chung Myung. We’re only at the beginning, and if you start now, you won’t be able to do anything for the rest of the day.”
At that, Chung Myung groaned and snapped his head around toward Hyun Young.
“How’s the ledger? The ledger! Nothing missing, right? Nothing tucked away for later? Something skimmed off the top? There could be, you know? There should be? It has to be there?”
It was a statement that somehow made one wonder whether embezzlement was a good thing or a bad thing.
And unfortunately for Chung Myung, Hyun Young’s answer was not the one he wanted.
“It was clean.”
“Clean?”
“Yes, clean.”
Hyun Young nodded emphatically.
“Not a single coin was off.”
“Really?”
“I compared everything. It was the first time in my life I’d ever seen such a perfect ledger.”
When Hyun Young turned back with an impressed look, Im So-byeong snapped open his folding fan and smiled smugly.
“Hah. I’m pleased that I was able to satisfy the Elder.”
But then—
“I knew it! That bandit bastard!”
Chung Myung suddenly lunged at Im So-byeong and grabbed him by the collar.
“Gehk!”
Snatched by the collar so abruptly, Im So-byeong’s eyes flew wide open as if he’d been struck by lightning.
“W-what? Have your ears gone bad in these last few years? I said it was clean and perfect! Perfect! Don’t you know what perfect means?”
“Yeah, I know. Perfect! That’s exactly why I’m doing this!”
“Pardon?”
Im So-byeong looked utterly baffled, and Chung Myung shouted at the top of his lungs.
“A bandit wrote the ledger, and you’re telling me there’s not a single mistake? Who the hell do you take us for, idiots?”
“…….”
Im So-byeong’s mouth dropped open.
“Spit it out, you bastard! How much did you steal? You can bet your ass you scraped everything clean and shoved it somewhere! Spit it out! If you don’t spit it out right now—”
Chung Myung shook Im So-byeong’s head back and forth. Im So-byeong’s neatly combed hair whipped wildly backward and was a mess in an instant.
“C-Chung Myung… He is….”
“I know what he is! He’s a damn thief! Don’t worry, Sect Leader! I’ll shake out every last coin he’s hidden in his underpants and take it all back!”
“N-no. Green Forest King….”
“You still won’t confess, huh? Want to die? Huh?”
Tears welled in Im So-byeong’s eyes.
The man was obviously a bandit and would naturally be suspected of cooking the books, so countless people had stayed up many a night to make sure there wasn’t a single accidental omission. And yet, what in the world had all that time been for?
“Grab him!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Hyun Jong’s command, the Mount Hua Five Swords, who had been standing by, rushed in and tore Chung Myung away from Im So-byeong. Even as he was dragged off, Chung Myung kicked at the air furiously.
“No! Let go! I’m telling you, you’re all being fooled!”
“The ledger’s accurate, isn’t it!”
“That thieving bastard is talking to the Sect Leader like that?”
“…….”
Ah. So that was it.
Then he should’ve said so.
Baek Cheon nearly let go of Chung Myung’s arm before freezing at the last second and regaining his reason. Then he tightened his grip again and dragged Chung Myung backward.
“……I’m sorry, Green Forest King.”
“…….”
“Are you all right?”
“……I am all right.”
His eyes looked faintly damp, but neither Hyun Jong nor Tang Gun-ak bothered to point that out.
“In any case….”
Whoosh.
Im So-byeong snapped his fan open. It was a shame that the fan, which normally symbolized confidence, was being used right now to cover his face.
“As you can see from the ledger, Maehwado is bringing in a tremendous amount of money. Merchants who’ve confirmed that Maehwado guarantees safety all want to cross the Yangtze through it, and we’re practically short on boats.”
“Oh? So these bastards are skimming money from the boats—mmph! Mmph!”
“…….”
Im So-byeong turned to Chung Myung with a hollow, broken look. At that moment, Hyun Jong said,
“Green Forest King.”
“Yes, Sect Leader….”
“Let us simply ignore him.”
“……Yes.”
After clearing his throat, Im So-byeong continued.
“As the Mount Hua Sword Hero said, it would be a problem we could solve by increasing the number of boats, but in the end, since this profit comes from blockading the Yangtze, Maehwado’s situation could change at any time depending on what happens on the river.”
“Hmm. That makes sense. Honestly, I never thought that Water Bandit Sect would keep blockading the Yangtze for this long.”
“Yes, Sect Leader. That’s why if we recklessly increase the number of boats, we could end up taking a loss. For now, it seems better to maintain the current state.”
“You must have suffered greatly.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Im So-byeong smiled faintly.
“The Green Forest, too, ought to do its part as a proud member of the Heavenly Alliance, shouldn’t it? Hahahaha.”
“And what does this Sapa bastard think he’s doing, sticking his spoon into everything? I’ll see the day I’m buried in dirt before I let that stand—mmph! Mmmph!”
This time, Tang Gun-ak himself stepped in to clamp a hand over Chung Myung’s mouth.
“Be quiet, will you? Quiet!”
“Shut your mouth already.”
“If you open your mouth one more time, I’ll nail needles into your forehead, Sahyung!”
Hyun Jong covered his face with both hands and apologized to Im So-byeong once again.
“……I’m sorry.”
“They say a bandit’s life is no better than a dog’s.”
“A slave, perhaps?”
“……Slave or bandit.”
It made a difference. A very big difference.
But Hyun Jong nevertheless comforted Im So-byeong, who seemed to be suffering under the shackles of his social rank.
If what Im So-byeong said was true and the Green Forest had truly lived honestly for the past three years, then the way people looked at them would surely have changed a great deal. Even if that gaze hadn’t changed much, they would at least have to admit that Mount Hua could keep the Green Forest in check.
So perhaps, as Im So-byeong suggested, they needed to solidify the Green Forest’s position as an unofficial ally of the Heavenly Alliance.
Before things turn serious with the Four Hegemons Alliance.
Hyun Jong nodded silently, then shifted his gaze to Tang Gun-ak.
“I’m sure the Family Lord has also suffered greatly.”
“There is nothing to call suffering.”
Tang Gun-ak shook his head.
“There are no truly major problems in the disturbances along the Yangtze. If there is a problem, it is that the Tang Family, with our already limited manpower, must coordinate such a vast region.”
After finally getting Chung Myung’s hand off his own mouth, Baek Cheon muttered grumpily.
“Then you should’ve just used those lazy bandit bastards, didn’t you?”
“……It wasn’t easy in practical terms. Who would welcome bandits coming down claiming they were here to catch Sapa?”
“Anyway, those bandits are useless, that’s what I’m saying.”
As Im So-byeong agonized over what he had come all this long way from the Yangtze for, Tang Gun-ak went on.
“But thanks to that, public sentiment in the Yangtze region has clearly shifted toward the Heavenly Alliance.”
Hyun Jong nodded vigorously.
He knew all too well how frightening public sentiment could be. Before Chung Myung had appeared, the reason Mount Hua had been able to hold out to the very end, even in such dire circumstances, was because there were still a few people who were willing to support Mount Hua, was it not?
“However, we’ve now reached the limit, Alliance Leader.”
“Hmm.”
“For now, while the Four Hegemons Alliance remains quiet, we can manage somehow. But once their rise becomes imminent, the problems will certainly grow. We need support on the level of the Heavenly Alliance.”
The Heavenly Alliance may have been an alliance, but in the Central Plains it was really just Mount Hua and the Tang Family.
This was no different from Tang Gun-ak formally requesting Mount Hua’s support.
“Indeed… if you’ve stayed in the Yangtze for the past three years, your main family in Sichuan must be in no state to speak of.”
“It is embarrassing, but yes.”
“Very well, Family Lord. Then our Mount Hua will as quickly as possible….”
“What for?”
“Pardon?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Chung Myung.
Baek Cheon, who had been holding him, quietly loosened his grip. By now, he had become more or less able to tell in advance when this brat was spouting nonsense and when he was saying something with a point.
“Just leave them be and pull out, yeah?”
Baek Cheon’s hand slowly returned to Chung Myung’s shoulder.
Should he restrain him?
“……Did you say pull out?”
“Yep.”
“From the Yangtze?”
“Yep.”
Watching Chung Myung speak so calmly, Tang Gun-ak frowned.
“I know you’re not the sort of man to speak without thinking, but I’m afraid I don’t understand that at all.”
Baek Cheon’s eyes flew wide in shock.
Wait, Family Lord…? I think you’re under a terrible misunderstanding. There isn’t a single person in all the Central Plains who talks without thinking more than this bastard.
“For the last three years, the Tang Family has protected the common people not only because that was our duty, but also to foster favorable public opinion toward the Heavenly Alliance. But if we back out now, won’t all of that become meaningless?”
“No, after everything you’ve done so far, is it really human to curse you for wanting to rest a little? That’s an animal, not a person.”
“…….”
“When people help others, they should know how to be grateful! It’s not like you rescue someone from drowning and then they tell you to hand over your bundle!”
“Well… that isn’t wrong, but the world doesn’t work according to such simple principles.”
“That’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? So why should we be the ones doing it? Weren’t the Wudang bastards and the Namgung bastards supposed to protect that place in the first place?”
“But they closed their gates….”
“What, is closing your gates some kind of title? Once you close the sect, you don’t have to do anything?”
“……That’s not something Mount Hua can say.”
Baek Cheon hurriedly nodded.
Right. That’s not something we can say, is it? Hm?
But Chung Myung only snorted scornfully.
“Then keep doing it, I guess.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re asking Mount Hua for support right now, aren’t you?”
“That’s… right?”
Unease crept into Tang Gun-ak’s face.
And sure enough… Chung Myung was Chung Myung.
“Even if a knife’s at my throat, I’m not going to go fight in the Yangtze in place of those Wudang bastards, so the Tang Family should pull out too. Or else keep standing there and rot for all I care!”
“…….”
“Why the hell are we the ones doing the work those rotten orthodox bastards were supposed to do!”
“Even so, the orthodox sects and the Heavenly Alliance, while not official, are in a sense allies….”
“Alliiiiaaaanccce?”
Chung Myung’s eyes practically rolled back in his head.
At that wild glare, Tang Gun-ak involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’d rather join hands with Sapa than make an alliance with those orthodox bastards! Tell Shaolin and Wudang to go eat dirt!”
“Haha. Then since the opportunity has come up, perhaps the Green Forest and….”
“You, spit out the money you’ve already eaten!”
“No! I didn’t eat anything!”
Chung Myung raged, Im So-byeong protested, and Tang Gun-ak agonized in silence.
Before that scene, seething like hell itself with confusion, Hyun Jong smiled in satisfaction.
Yes, this is the feeling.
Ah… he wanted nothing more than to return to the tangled mountains and hidden ridges again.
Please….