People Are the Same Wherever They Live
Sun Wukong's eyes narrowed.
Five Wudang martial artists stood before them.
One among them wore the same martial robes as Ak Biun.
"He's one of the Ten Swords of Wudang, same as me. That's Third Senior Brother Gwangso."
Ak Biun ranked seventh among the Ten Swords.
The man with the broad forehead was Gwangso, third in the order.
They don't get along.
The instant Ak Biun laid eyes on Gwangso, his gaze went cold and still. The feeling was mutual.
"Greetings. I am Gwangso of the Ten Swords of Wudang."
He clasped his fists in a martial salute and met their eyes.
It was a greeting that made a show of courtesy, but his back stayed ramrod straight and there was force behind the stare.
People are surprisingly sensitive creatures.
The sense that someone stands against you, that they dislike you — that registers on instinct, and fast.
Gwangso and Ak Biun, and the Wudang disciples each of them led, had come face to face and yet exchanged nothing but murderous looks. Not a single word of greeting passed between them.
The atmosphere was so cold it bordered on awkward.
It was enough to make one wonder whether they truly belonged to the same sect at all.
Muhwa stepped forward first into the strained silence.
"Thank you for coming out to welcome us. I'm Muhwa, Head of the Law Enforcement Hall of the Namgung Clan."
"You've come a long way. It must have been a hard journey."
Gwangso's voice remained stiff.
Even though Muhwa had deliberately stressed his position as Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, the other man's expression did not change.
Gwangso turned his gaze on Ak Biun.
"Now that you've returned, shouldn't you pay your respects?"
"...Ak Biun of the Ten Swords of Wudang greets Senior Brother."
"Tsk. Is it because of the brats you keep around? Standing before a senior as lofty as the heavens themselves, and yet..."
Gwangso clicked his tongue as if thoroughly displeased.
He castigated the second-generation disciples standing behind Ak Biun.
The others at Gwangso's back snickered and jeered at them as well.
Ak Biun's face flushed red.
But he only bowed his head in silence and took a single step back, offering no further response.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Gwangso's eyes.
When Ak Biun did not take the bait, Gwangso turned his head back toward Sun Wukong.
"I apologize for that unsightly display. My junior brother and the younger disciples of Wudang have no manners."
Sun Wukong and Muhwa did not bother to reply.
Anyone could see that Gwangso's own attitude was far worse.
But they were outsiders, with no knowledge of how the sect's internal conflicts played out.
There was no need to go picking at a scab.
"A sect's discipline must be strict, of course."
Negotiations with the Wudang Sect fell to Muhwa.
It was the role he had been handling since the Wulin Alliance, and he knew the Namgung Clan's internal affairs well.
Sun Wukong had no desire to expend mental energy on such tedious matters.
His only purposes here were Geumgak and the Earth Deity of Mt. Wudang.
"The Wudang Sect welcomes the Namgung Clan. However, we will first need to verify your identities."
"Our identities?"
Muhwa's brow twitched.
The atmosphere turned cold in an instant.
Had they arrived unannounced, it might have been one thing.
But Ak Biun himself had come out and escorted them here, saying the matter was urgent.
They were invited guests.
His face is going to split open.
Sun Wukong glanced at Ak Biun's burning face.
Ak Biun had personally brought them. And yet demanding to verify their identities was as good as saying he did not trust Ak Biun.
This feels a bit much for a simple feud between martial brothers.
It did not look like a rivalry that had sprung up overnight.
Ak Biun ground his teeth.
"Senior Brother. I personally guarantee these people's identities. They are indeed of the Namgung Clan."
"And so?"
"Senior Brother, the Sect Leader is in that condition, and you want us to play power games among ourselves right now?"
"It's precisely because of that condition that we must do this!"
"..."
"We have no idea where the assassin who targeted the Sect Leader is lurking. As disciples of Wudang, we must be thorough when admitting outsiders. What, Biun — do you not even understand a principle as basic as that?"
Ak Biun's mouth clamped shut.
But Muhwa, who had been listening, felt his expression twitch as well.
The way Gwangso spoke, it was as if they themselves might be connected to the assassin.
Muhwa stared steadily at him.
Gwangso flinched, sensing the gaze, but he was a Peak Realm martial artist in his own right.
He was not about to be overwhelmed by mere presence.
Gwangso spoke again in that same rigid tone.
"I will verify your identities."
"Hold on. Does Mt. Wudang belong to the Wudang Sect?"
"I beg your pardon?"
Gwangso tilted his head as Sun Wukong cut in.
"Well, of course Mt. Wudang is the Wudang Sect's territory..."
"Territory and ownership aren't the same thing, are they?"
Sun Wukong's tone was easy, almost playful.
"This isn't even the Wudang Sect's front gate. Do you screen the identity of every single person who climbs Mt. Wudang?"
"That's..."
Gwangso's face grew uncomfortable, and his words trailed off.
"Well, it's not like you're a pack of mountain bandits collecting a toll..."
"Mountain bandits, you say?"
Gwangso's eyebrows shot up.
Sun Wukong gave a light wave of his hand. In that instant, Gwangso's eyes flew wide.
This bastard...!
It was a casual gesture. And yet it had severed the pulse of his breath with exquisite precision.
Gwangso, who had been about to explode, found his mouth sealed shut like a mute who had swallowed honey.
Coincidence?
He looked at Sun Wukong with a peculiar expression, then spoke again.
"Please understand. An emergency has befallen the Wudang Sect, and we have temporarily enacted these measures."
It was not, on the face of it, an unreasonable statement.
The Sect Leader had been attacked — an unprecedented crisis.
Nothing would be running as it normally did.
The problem was the attitude.
Still rigid. Still looking at Sun Wukong's party as if they were something to be guarded against.
Muhwa sighed and produced his identity plaque.
Seowol rummaged about and produced hers as well.
Their identities as members of the Namgung Clan were beyond question.
Gwangso's gaze, checking the plaques, came to an abrupt halt.
Sun Wukong had produced nothing.
He shrugged.
"I don't really have anything you'd call an identity plaque."
"Then you cannot enter."
The tone was absolute. Ak Biun shouted, his face burning red.
"This man is the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven! The Butterfly Immortal herself personally verified him!"
"Is the Butterfly Immortal a member of the Wudang Sect? Does she hold any official post here? I am merely following the rules."
Gwangso regarded Sun Wukong with a cold stare.
"If your identity cannot be confirmed, then regrettably, you cannot enter Mt. Wudang."
"Wait a moment. Teacher Sun is a guest retainer of the Namgung Clan and the master of the Young Clan Head. I personally guarantee that identity."
Muhwa's tone was firm. Gwangso still shook his head.
"Are you saying you don't trust the Namgung Clan's guarantee?"
A look of disbelief crossed Muhwa's face.
Dismissing Ak Biun and openly belittling him in front of outsiders — that much could be understood as an internal sect conflict.
This is strange.
Muhwa realized this was no simple feud.
He sent a voice transmission to Sun Wukong.
Muhwa: This is far too strange.
Sun Wukong: Doesn't it seem like he'd rather we not get in at all?
Muhwa: That can't be! Young Hero Ak used qinggong the entire way here just to bring us.
Sun Wukong: He did. That guy didn't.
Muhwa: The Sect Leader is in danger. The Butterfly Immortal insisted Teacher Sun was needed. We're supposed to save the Sect Leader, aren't we?
Sun Wukong: Looks like he doesn't want to.
Muhwa's eyes flew wide.
Muhwa: Don't tell me — there are people in the Wudang Sect who don't want the Sect Leader to live?
Sun Wukong: How would I know? People are the same wherever they live.
Sun Wukong quietly looked into Gwangso's eyes.
They were a martial artist's eyes, not a Daoist's.
No particularly wicked or sinister energy lingered in them.
I knew it from the moment these Daoists stopped cultivating the Way and started swinging swords.
That was the nature of people. Once they pick up a blade...
They start wanting to swing it.
The Dao is the abandonment of desire.
Pick up a sword, and desire takes root. Stronger power. Stronger martial arts. Higher rank. And authority itself.
Power struggles. People are the same wherever they live.
If this were a world of true Daoists, perhaps it would be different.
But these people were not mere Daoists, were they?
"..."
Gwangso flinched.
Those eyes, quietly watching him.
A gaze that seemed to look straight through him, and a sudden, intense aversion welled up.
And yet he could not look away.
He found it difficult to turn his head. An invisible pressure seized the brow he was trying to furrow and locked the neck he was trying to turn firmly in place.
How much time passed?
Sun Wukong's eyes suddenly curved into crescents.
"...Hah!"
Only then did Gwangso realize he had not been breathing.
I...?
He had felt pressure from a mere look — and had not even been able to breathe?
It was hard to believe, but it was the plain truth.
Horror settled over Gwangso's face.
He stared at Sun Wukong's smiling face.
Then Sun Wukong drew something from his robes.
"I don't have an identity plaque, exactly. Not sure if this'll do."
"This is...!"
"The Blue Heaven Jade Plaque!"
"Does this prove who I am?"
It was none other than the Blue Heaven Jade Plaque.
There was not a soul in the martial world who did not know what it meant.
Gwangso's face went rigid.
There was only one person in the world who could confer this plaque.
The Clan Head of the Namgung Clan.
This was an identity personally verified by the Heaven's Edge Sword Star, one of the Ten Great Masters.
Gwangso had been able to dismiss even Muhwa's guarantee somehow. He could not dismiss a definitive verification from the Namgung Clan Head.
And yet even greater wariness rose in his eyes.
Not merely a guest retainer — the Young Clan Head's master, and trusted enough by the Clan Head himself to receive the Blue Heaven Jade Plaque...
Wary though he was, he nodded for the time being.
"It is sufficient. This was clearly an imposition, but thank you all for complying with Wudang's procedures."
"Man, climbing Mt. Wudang is a real pain."
Sun Wukong grumbled openly, but Gwangso could not bring himself to say a word.
The only people reckless enough to harass a bearer of the Blue Heaven Jade Plaque would be those who already held a grudge against the Namgung Clan.
The path up Mt. Wudang was silent.
The Wudang Sect is a place where people live, sure — but I didn't expect the infighting to be this bad.
Every sect has its power struggles.
Even those of the same school, who share the same master — it is only natural.
Even siblings born of the same parents fight. That is the way of the world.
Thinking of it that way, the Namgung Clan's strength was clear.
Anyone could freely offer opinions and counsel, but in the end every matter of the clan followed the Clan Head's decision.
Once the Clan Head decided, the clan said nothing more and obeyed without question.
That was why the Namgung Clan, despite its small numbers, stood so tightly united and displayed such formidable potential.
The Wudang Sect, on the other hand, is a great sect.
Not only the secular branch schools and disciples scattered across the entire martial world.
From the first-generation through the third-generation disciples gathered at the main mountain.
With so many martial artists assembled, conflict was bound to take many forms.
The question is why they're clashing, and over what.
This was no simple feud.
Muhwa resolved to observe the internal conflicts of Mt. Wudang closely while he had the chance.
For now, though, it was uncomfortable.
He felt as if he had been dropped into the middle of their war of nerves.
More than anything, Sun Wukong — who had become the unspoken center of the party — maintained his silence.
Muhwa carefully studied Sun Wukong's face.
That face, which had always worn a smile, was slightly subdued now.
Was it tension at entering the Wudang Sect?
Sun Wukong kept looking around, as if trying to commit the surrounding scenery to memory.
"Mt. Wudang's terrain is quite something, isn't it?"
"The terrain, sure... but..."
Sun Wukong let out a short laugh. Muhwa flinched.
Those eyes, piercing through the green of the forest.
His mouth smiled lightly, but his eyes were more chillingly still than Muhwa had ever seen them.
"It's been a while since I last saw this place. The atmosphere's gotten a little bloodthirsty."
An amused smile rose on Sun Wukong's face.