Return of the Mount Hua

I wish it would last. (2)

ROTMHS Glossary || About page

“Uaaaaaaaargh!”

It was a bizarre sound, one he had never heard in his life.

Even though that laughable noise came from the mouth of So Hansan [소한산(蘇閑散)], known to be the sternest of the third-generation disciples, no one found it strange.

Naturally so.

When a man falls off a cliff with a grain sack as big as a person strapped to his back, whatever sound comes out of his mouth can hardly be called strange.

“Eeeeeeeeeek!”

“Hyyyaaaaaaaah!”

Screams erupted sporadically from all directions. Lee Danhoe finally squeezed his eyes shut.

Twaaaang!

Each time, one after another, someone plunged from the cliff, the thick rope went taut, then slackened again, over and over. Thankfully, the ropes tied to their waists kept them from merging into one lump with their grain sacks they were carrying. 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

At that moment, a sound of someone clicking their tongue came from above Lee Danhoe’s head.

“Hey, in the old days the lot from the outer regions* could climb mountains, cross fields, even ride beasts, and they were tough as nails. Why are the ones these days so feeble?”

“…”

“If you can’t even climb this, how do you expect to eat? Won’t your bones snap the moment you swing a sword, I wonder. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

‘This crazy bastard.’

Lee Danhoe’s body trembled. Ah, not because he was angry, of course. Because he was exhausted.

“Up we go!”

“Gaaaaaah!”

As sudden weight pressed down on his back, Lee Danhoe shrieked, flattening himself against the cliff like a frog. Barely managing to avoid plummeting to his death, he whipped his head around. That bastard, Hwasan Geomhyeop, had perched himself atop Lee Danhoe’s sack, leisurely gulping down liquor from a small white flask.

“Ahhh. What a nice view.”

“W-What are you……”

“Ah, climb faster, faster! If we’re going to fill the granary by the end of today, we have to make at least ten more round trips. The granary is empty, and the veins on Elder Hyun Yeong’s forehead haven’t gone down in days! If you lot don’t finish filling that place today, we’re eating half-cooked rice!”

‘What is he even saying, this lunatic…’

He felt like he was going to lose his mind. And, clearly, he wasn’t the only one who’d lost his sanity in this situation.

“This is insane. This is truly insane. Crazy. Insane.”

“Why… Why on earth would anyone build a sect in a place like this?”

“With perfectly good roads left unused… Why do we have to crawl up a cliff to haul grain? Why… Just why?”

All were perfectly reasonable questions, each with sound logic behind them – though not entirely correct. In truth, on this insane mountain there were no proper roads. The only difference was whether the cliff was sheer… or just slightly less so.

“Well now. Feeling the strength slowly slipping from your hands? Fine, if you’re confident, go on and fall. It’s easier to fall than to keep hanging on up here.”

“Ughhh…”

“Oh, right. Did I happen to mention?”

Chung Myung took another swig of liquor and grinned.

“You each have to carry ten sacks before we’re done.”

“…”

“If you take a couple more falls, you’ll be climbing this cliff until dawn. Tsk, I wonder if the rope will hold up? What to do… If the rope snaps in the dark of night, you’ll really die screaming for sure.”

Hearing Chung Myung mutter, ‘Well, not that it has anything to do with me,’ Lee Danhoe shuddered violently.

“W-Why… excuse me.”

“Hm?”

“Why are we the ones doing this?”

“What?”

At those words, Chung Myung, rather than looking troubled, brightened and asked back.

“You’re asking why you have to? You’re really asking that now?”

It felt like splashing water on a dying fish. He had a bad feeling, but too exhausted to talk back, Lee Danhoe nodded weakly.

As if he’d been waiting for it, Chung Myung went off.

“What is it you’re hauling right now? It’s the rice that’s going into your mouths. To be blunt, do you pay for it? Do you cook the food? What you do is closer to being a parasite, who just sits there and eats what he’s given. Then at the very least, you should carry the rice you’ll be eating with your own hands, shouldn’t you? Is that strange? Hm? Tell me, is that strange?”

“…”

“Even beasts hunt for their own food, and people earn their keep with their own hands. And the esteemed disciples of Diancang plan to live in luxury eating rice cooked with grain someone else carried up for them? Eh, no way. I must have misheard that, right?”

“…”

“Wow, if a person has any conscience……”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“…hey, I’m talking here – don’t be so noisy in the middle of a conversation.”

Clicking his tongue again, Chung Myung simply flopped down right on top of Lee Danhoe’s sack.

“Lovely weather.”

“…”

“I’m going to take a quick nap, so keep me steady up top. If you drop me, I die.”

“Th-Then just kill me now…”

“Eh? I said I’d die – me. Why would I kill you? I’ve got so many tasks for you. Don’t be so dramatic.”

Clear tears quickly welled up in both of Lee Danhoe’s eyes.

“Hehehehehehehe! For some reason the liquor tastes especially good today. Ahh, this is the joy of living.”

Chung Myung’s laughter spilled out, clear and bright.

“Why is he so excited?”

“……What was it he said? That just thinking about tormenting some feeble newbies for the first time in a while makes vigor surge through his whole body and makes his rice taste like honey.”

“…Wasn’t tormenting us enough?”

“He says messing with Hwasan is no longer fun. Says they’ve all become ‘experts’(?) and manage just fine on their own.”

At Jo Geol’s reply, Yoon Jong was left dumbfounded. That ought to be something to be pleased about, not bored by.

“When he said before that just watching Hwasan train made him feel stifled and his anger boil over… is that what he meant?”

“Ah, so that’s why he got demonic possession [입마(入魔) – glossary]…”

“Huh? Chung Myung got what?”

“He always lives like he is possessed anyway.”

“……That’s true enough.”

Indeed. It would be worse if the one not possessed acted like that.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

From far away, another harrowing scream drifted over, and Jo Geol shook his head.

“He’s really having the time of his life. How did he even hold himself back until now? Because he couldn’t do this, he kept taking it out on us. Sahyeong, that’s why I said we should take in some new disciples. How long are we going to be the youngest?”

“We should. We do need to, but…. Geol-ah.”

“Doesn’t it feel… wrong, somehow, watching that?”

Jo Geol opened and closed his mouth for a moment, then fell silent. The thought of those cute juniors they’d just taken in – being slowly corrupted by that demon’s wicked influence – made it impossible to even force a smile.

“It feels like committing a grave sin.”

“Not that we haven’t committed plenty already…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Even in the midst of this, the mournful screams did not cease. Yoon Jong tapped his chin with his fingertips.

“Sahyeong, what’s the matter?”

“Isn’t it a little strange?”

“What is?”

“Chung Myung, I mean. Why is he so motivated?”

“…he’s always overflowing with motivation. Needlessly.”

“No. That’s true too, but this is… somehow odd, isn’t it? There’s no enemy to fight right now, so why push the disciples of another sect this hard?”

“That’s the sort of thing that would make Namgung Clan’s people jump out of their skins if they heard it.”

“They brought that on themselves. In truth, unless it’s something to do with Hwasan, that punk Chung Myung’s first thought is to dodge it – but right now he’s oddly proactive.”

Frowning, Yoon Jong suddenly tilted his head.

“Sasuk? What are you looking at?”

“Hm? Ah, no. Nothing at all.”

“Huh?”

As Yoon Jong stared at Baek Cheon’s back, doubt flickered across his face. Unaware of the doubtful gaze fixed on him, Baek Cheon stood there, cold sweat dripping down his face.

‘…I hadn’t meant for it to go this far.’

The conversation from last night replayed in Baek Cheon’s mind.

❀ ❀ ❀

Last night, Baek Cheon, who had gone straight to Chung Myung, asked with a grave face.

“But here’s the thing.”

“Yeah?”

“What are we going to do about Diancang’s kids now?”

…Baek Cheon realized then that Chung Myung was capable of making that kind of face. If he had to describe it, it was the face of someone who woke up from a good sleep to find, out of nowhere, a bear cub lying on his chest.

“What kind of bullshit is that. You are the one brought them, Sasuk! Why are you asking me?”

“I did bring them.”

“Exactly!”

“But there is nothing I can really do with them, is there?”

Chung Myung tore at his hair. Watching Chung Myung’s shoulders tremble faintly, Baek Cheon felt a strange sense of satisfaction. He’d always been the one suffering, and it felt like he’d finally paid him back for once… No, he shouldn’t be pleased about something like this.

“Dongryong… Dongryong! You little bastard!”

“Ahem. It’s ‘Sasuk.’”

“If you’re Sasuk, then act like one, for heaven’s sake! This is why I won’t be able to close my eyes even in death!”

“Don’t say such dreadful things.”

A world where Chung Myung doesn’t ever die – now that would be a disaster.

“Fine, I did bring them. I was thinking of giving them a bit of support and then sending them back to Diancang.”

Baek Cheon let out a bitter sigh.

“I didn’t think it would come to this. Honestly.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue, then took a long sip of his liquor.

“Still, I thought at least one or two of their elders would quietly come by for the children’s sake.”

How had they all vanished like ghosts? Baek Cheon found it hard to understand. Just then, Chung Myung shook his head.

“It’s the other way around.”

“Hm?”

“Because they were thinking of the children, not one of them could remain. When you think of a blank white sheet of paper, you mustn’t let ink anywhere near it.”

“…I see.”

Baek Cheon let out a short sigh, trying to shake off his thoughts. Regret and sorrow surged in like a tide, but they weren’t what mattered now. What mattered wasn’t them, but what they had left behind – something Baek Cheon had to protect. 

“Anyway, with things as they are, there’s nothing I can do.”

“What do you mean there’s nothing you can do! Just do it!”

“There’s nothing I can teach. Are you telling me to teach them the Plum Blossom Sword Technique?”

“Then why did you bring them!”

“I told you the situation was different.”

Chung Myung clutched his chest in frustration. Seeing the sight again, Baek Cheon felt that same odd sense of satisfaction – almost relief. Still, his expression soon turned solemn.

“We have to raise them so they can stand on their own in Yunnan. And we mustn’t lay a hand on their martial arts while doing it.”

“Why not? Since it has come to this, why not tell them to become the world’s greatest merchants with not a single coin.”

“Oh? Can they do that?”

“Hey, you little punk!”

Chung Myung’s foot sliced through the air, but Baek Cheon, already prepared, narrowly slipped past the kick.

“Ha! I, Jin Dongryong, no longer fall for that.”

“…Now he’s calling himself Dongryong with his own mouth.”

Chung Myung shuddered. He has grown up, grown up well. Now he has grown so much it got creepy.

“Do me a favor, Chung Myung-ah. Isn’t there a way?”

“A ‘way,’ he says. Ah, Sahyeong. Why did you leave me behind all alone. Take me with you, too.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. I’m being serious.”

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung suddenly cast his gaze into the distance. Diancang’s disciples were jabbing at a whole roast boar.

“Look. Doesn’t it feel like the old Hwasan, Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. So just shut up for a bit.”

“Yes.”

After staring at Diancang’s disciples for a good while, Chung Myung tilted back his head and looked up at the night sky. A long sigh escaped him, rising from deep within his dantian.

“I’d rather die than suffer, I…”

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Tsk. So there’s no helping it.”

“Hm?”

“You’re not thinking of wiping their debts away, or making them think well of us, or spending a long time together until grudges fade and we become brotherly sects – any of that nonsense, right?”

“…As if.”

“If it’s the Dongryong I know, you’d do it and then some more, so I’m asking. Be honest.”

“Not this time. Truly not.”

Baek Cheon shook his head cleanly. Surely the old Baek Cheon might have entertained such thoughts. But this time it was different.

Not because he was simply tired of the ways of Gangho. Not for that reason. It was just that such a direction was not the best path for those children.

He wanted to put them first. That was what Baek Cheon was feeling now. Hwasan had already taken much from Diancang.

“Well then… since the grudge is deep anyway, it won’t be a problem if it gets a bit deeper.”

“……Huh?”

Baek Cheon sensed that something was wrong at that very moment.

“W-Wait. Chung Myung?”

“Tsk. It’s a hassle, but there’s no helping it. You can’t drive away the kids who can’t even spoon up their own food out into the fields, so I at least have to get them to the point they can use a spoon. Eh.”

“Hold on? Are you not hearing me?”

“Ah, don’t worry.”

Chung Myung grinned. It was a face Baek Cheon knew well – one he’d seen far too often.

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“….Huh?”

❀ ❀ ❀

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The scream – who knew how many times now – faded away below the cliff. Baek Cheon squeezed his eyes shut.

‘I’m sorry.’

It had certainly begun as goodwill… yet somehow, somewhere along the way, that goodwill had twisted into malice, and he couldn’t even begin to understand how it had come to this.

‘No. To be honest, I did kind of expect it.’

Just not to this extent. A tear of pity briefly brushed the corner of Baek Cheon’s eye.

Next chapter >>>

________

*Chung Myung is talking about Yunnan, where Beast Palace is from, and technically Diancang too, so he uses ‘새외’ as in 새외오궁(塞外五宮) – five ‘outer’ palaces. 

________

It was this blog’s 2 year anniversary last week, on October 23d, and I forgot! Thank you, everyone, for reading with me for the past two years!

________

Please, subscribe/donate on Patreon or Buymeacoffee – support my work and help me buy official cookies to purchase the chapters. My schedule is on the About page.