I can’t do this anymore. Truly. (4)
“Y-You don’t know Hwasan of Shaanxi?”
“Don’t know it.”
“You’ve never even heard of it?”
“I said I haven’t.”
“W-We even won the, the Martial Arts Tournament?”
“What? What martial arts tournament? What’s that supposed to be?”
“Th-This can’t be right.”
Baek Cheon’s hands trembled.
Strange. The merchants who stopped by Hwasan, and the people they met in Hwaeum, had all said that Hwasan’s fame these days was shaking the whole world, hadn’t they? Then why didn’t he know? Was this kid simply not interested in worldly affairs?
“Do you perhaps not even know what Gangho is?”
“I’m not an idiot, and why wouldn’t I know that?”
“Th-Then do you know Shaolin? Wudang?”
At those words, Seok Hanbin looked at Baek Cheon with a face that said he found this utterly absurd.
“Of course I know them. Shaolin Temple and Wudang Sect. Who doesn’t know that?”
“Then Hwasan? What about Hwasan?”
“Bankrupt [파산 – pasan]?”
“Not ‘bankrupt’, Hwasan!”
Baek Cheon shrieked, but the disciples behind him nodded as if they agreed.
“It did go bankrupt.”
“Yeah. It’s been in ruins.”
“Though it hasn’t been that long since things got this much better.”
“You lot shut up… Please, just shut up.”
In disbelief, Baek Cheon clutched at his own hair. But whether he did or not, Seok Hanbin could not have looked more indifferent.
“I told you I’ve never heard of it. What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Why, why don’t you know it? Why do you know Wudang but not Hwasan! Does that make any sense? Then what about Jongnam? You know Jongnam……”
“Sasuk, please stop…”
“Ugly.”
“Why are you cornering the kid?”
“I’m starting to feel embarrassed.”
The shame was always theirs to bear.
⠀
“….Fine. Let’s say a place like that exists.”
After Baek Cheon’s explanation, which went on for a full gak, Seok Hanbin nodded. It was less that he understood and more that he was too fed up to argue, but Baek Cheon decided to be satisfied with that much for now.
“Yes. Thank you for acknowledging it.”
“I still don’t really believe it, though.”
“…”
Baek Cheon wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
“Calm down, Sasuk.”
“Why wouldn’t he know? Isn’t it normal to know?”
“Not knowing is normal, actually.”
No matter how much Hwasan had been making a name for itself lately, every sect was rooted in the region where its main sect was located.
How would common folk living in Shandong know about a sect in Shaanxi, on the opposite side of the Central Plains, especially one that had only recently begun to make its name known?
If he had at least been a martial artist himself, he might have kept his senses sharpened to the changes in Gangho’s power balance, but to commoners like Seok Hanbin, it was nothing more than useless piece of information about the neighbor’s dog having puppies.
“So? What business do the Taoist Masters of that oh-so-great sect have with someone like me?”
“Uh, that is….”
Baek Cheon turned his head and looked at Chung Myung. From here on, it was Chung Myung’s turn to step in.
As if Chung Myung knew that as well, he nodded and stepped forward.
“You.”
When Chung Myung abruptly popped out in front of him, Seok Hanbin flinched slightly. He, too, was someone who had grown up tough in the back alleys. The others looked somewhat easy to deal with, but this one was somehow unpleasant to face.
“Your name is Seok Hanbin?”
“How do you know tha…”
“Is it?”
Seok Hanbin furrowed his brow. He did not know what the intention behind the question was, but this question alone made one thing clear. They had come looking for him knowing exactly who he was.
“Did the Black Water Manor send you?”
“I told you, we’re from Hwasan Sect!”
When Baek Cheon flared up and cut in, the disciples turned to look at him with sullen expressions.
“Someone drag Sasuk away and gag him.”
“No! You lot must feel wronged too! Hey! Hwasan! Why doesn’t he know Hwasan! Does he know Jongnam… Mmph, mmph!”
As Baek Cheon was dragged away, Chung Myung let out a deep sigh.
“Sorry. He’s not usually like that, but sometimes he just loses it.”
“…”
There was one more thing that was certain. At this point, it was also clear that these people were not in their right minds.
“I don’t know anything about some Black Water Manor or whatever other trash, and the important thing is whether you’re Seok Hanbin.”
“Why is that important?”
“Hmm. Right, true. That’s not really important either.”
“Huh?”
“I should have approached it this way. The important thing is whether you’re…”
Chung Myung twisted the corner of his mouth up slightly.
“Yu Hanbin.”
In that instant, Seok Hanbin’s face stiffened. Realizing it himself, he quickly relaxed his expression again, but there was no one here who failed to notice the change.
“What are you talking about? Yu Hanbin? My surname is Seok.”
“No. It’s probably Yu. The Yu of the Shandong Yu Family.”
“The Shandong Yu Family? Where is that?”
Seok Hanbin tried to make a quick excuse, but the ones in front of him were no longer even listening.
“He’s a descendant of the Shandong Yu Family?”
“What, did we come all the way here because of that thing we talked about last time?”
“That doesn’t make sense. What connection would the Shandong Yu Family have with Chung Myung?”
“Then could it really be?”
Everyone looked at Chung Myung in surprise, but Chung Myung did not take his eyes off Seok Hanbin.
“There’s no need to worry. We didn’t come here out of malice.”
“…What?”
“Yu Jagyeong.”
“…”
“That is the name of your ancestor from your great-grandfather’s generation. He was the Sect Leader of Hwasan.”
“Ah.”
At Chung Myung’s words, Hye Yeon nodded as if he understood what was going on. In that case, it could not be said that there was no connection at all.
“So that was why.”
Hye Yeon looked at the disciples of Hwasan, trying to confirm the fact.
But every single one of those so-called disciples of Hwasan was wearing a bewildered expression that said, ‘Huh? Something like that happened? This is the first I’ve ever heard of it in my life.’ They exchanged glances, then quickly gathered together among themselves and began whispering in low voices.
“Sasuk, have you ever heard of it? Among the former Sect Leaders, was there someone whose surname was Yu and whose given name was Jagyeong?”
“O-Of course. Of course I’ve heard of him.”
“How many generations back was he?”
“…The weather is rather chilly today.”
Hye Yeon squeezed his eyes shut. By now, he really ought to have learned that if he expected anything from these people, they would always disappoint him even more than that.
Whatever nonsense came from the other disciples, Chung Myung did not take his eyes off Seok Hanbin.
“So Hwasan and the Shandong Yu Family are, in a sense, not strangers. And when we heard that there might still be descendants of the Yu Family left, we came all the way here.”
Chung Myung looked at Seok Hanbin. As if prompting him to say something.
But instead of answering, Seok Hanbin let out a low scoff.
“So?”
“….Huh?”
“Of course, I don’t know anything about some Shandong Yu Family or whatever, but even if I were a descendant of the Yu family.”
Seok Hanbin looked at Chung Myung with a cold, mocking gaze.
“Whether some ancestor I’ve never even seen was your Sect Leader or not, what does that have to do with me?”
“Huh?”
“What, did you think I’d be so grateful I’d burst into tears just because you came here talking about the Yu family of Shandong?”
Seok Hanbin let out a small, derisive laugh.
“I don’t know what you were planning to do after finding a descendant of that Yu Family, but I’m not that person, so stop wasting your time and go back.”
“…”
“Even if I were a descendant, it’s not something I’d welcome.”
Seok Hanbin sprang up from his seat. Then, without another word, he walked out.
“Hey!”
Tang Soso started to reach out to stop Seok Hanbin, but then shook her head. She realized she had neither the justification nor the authority to stop him.
With a face full of regret, Tang Soso looked at the door Seok Hanbin had gone through
“Are you worried because it’s late at night and he went out alone?”
“No. It’s not that… I’m worried he’ll go off somewhere and scam someone again.”
“…”
Sometimes she really was frighteningly cold.
“More importantly.”
Yoon Jong, who had been shaking his head, stroked his chin and asked Chung Myung.
“Let’s confirm something first. Is it true? That among our former Sect Leaders, there was someone connected to the Shandong Yu Family?”
“Yeah.”
Chung Myung nodded as if it wasn’t something worth hiding. In the first place, if they dug into it, there would likely be records left at Hwasan anyway, so there was no point in trying to conceal it.
“That child is Shandong Yu’s… no, there’s no need to ask that.”
Because they had seen his reaction with their own eyes. Seok Hanbin had done his best to stay composed, but he had not been able to hide his panic perfectly.
“The Shandong Yu Family, huh…”
Yoon Jong’s expression changed slightly, then asked.
“Chung Myung, I’m only asking just in case… no, that’s not it, right?”
“If you’re going to spout nonsense, lie down and sleep instead.”
“Right. I thought so.”
Even so, the idea that Chung Myung was from the Shandong Yu Family was going too far. If that had been the case, there was no way he would have just sat by and watched his own family collapse until now.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Hm?”
“What exactly was your reason for coming all the way here to find that child?”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
“Rather than having any particular reason, I wanted to confirm whether descendants of the Yu Family really still remained.”
“Hmm.”
Yoon Jong quietly studied Chung Myung’s expression.
That sounded like he hadn’t decided what to do next yet.
“Then I should ask again. What are you going to do now?”
“Who knows.”
Chung Myung’s thoughts were just as complicated.
At first, he had only intended to confirm whether the bloodline still continued, but now that he had seen it with his own eyes… how the kid was living alone, practically like an orphan, it just kept twisting his guts.
And above all, the biggest problem was…
“Haaa, why does he have to look like that?”
“Hm? Why are you suddenly picking at the kid’s face? He looked perfectly fine.”
“Exactly.”
“Ugh. I shouldn’t bother talking.”
Chung Myung let out a deep sigh. Now that he had seen, right before his eyes, undeniable proof that his Sahyeong’s bloodline had continued, simply turning around and leaving did not sit right with him.
Then what choice was there?
“First, I’ll have to do something about that guy.”
“Hmm. Are you planning to take him to Hwasan?”
“Hm? Take him?”
At Chung Myung’s words, Baek Cheon instead asked, looking puzzled.
“Aren’t you saying you’re worried about that child’s safety, living alone? If we take him to Hwasan and accept him as a disciple, the whole problem is solved.”
“Uh, you’re right?”
“He seems to have some talent for martial arts, doesn’t he?”
“His bone structure and muscles aren’t bad. It bothers me a little that his build is somewhat small for his age, but that isn’t really a problem.”
“Seeing how he talks back at every turn, he seems to have some grit, too.”
“And seeing how he goes around scamming adults, he’s smart as well.”
The disciples of Hwasan calmly went on talking. The only one flustered by those words was none other than Hye Yeon.
“A-Amitabha. Siju, what do you mean, take him as a disciple? How could you accept a child like that as a disciple? Did you not see how that child behaved?”
“Ah, that? That’s fine.”
“……Pardon?”
The disciples of Hwasan all nodded as one.
“No one can hold out against a good beating.”
“We beat him first, and if he doesn’t listen, beat him again, and if he still doesn’t listen, just keep beating him until he does.”
“Could he be worse than Geol? When you think of Geol in the old days, that much could be called adorable.”
“No, why am I being brought up again?”
“…”
Hye Yeon was left speechless.
But, how should he put it, he could understand. Well, compared to Hwasan, even bandits looked better…
“What should we do? Should we catch him and drag him off to Hwasan?”
When Baek Cheon asked, Chung Myung let out a groan, then soon shook his head.
“That won’t do.”
“Why?”
“It seems he’s the only descendant left, and we can’t turn the one remaining child into a Taoist.”
“Ah.”
Baek Cheon realized his mistake and accepted the fact, but then tilted his head again.
“Wait. No, that’s not right. Hwasan doesn’t forbid its disciples from marrying.”
“That’s meaningless.”
“What do you mean, meaningless? The line would be continuing.”
“Sasuk. If Hwasan were destroyed, and Hwasan’s disciples were living off in some remote corner farming, could you say Hwasan’s legacy had continued?”
“…No, I suppose not.”
Chung Myung nodded with a troubled expression.
“In any case, he’s the descendant of a distinguished family, so even if he became a Taoist and had children, that wouldn’t mean the family line had continued. More importantly, that’s not something we can decide.”
“Hmm… you’re right.”
It might be different if he himself wanted it. But they could not drag off someone who did not want it and turn him into a Taoist. Especially not in a case like this.
“Then what are you planning to do?”
“Hmmm.”
Chung Myung rubbed at the corner of his mouth, then suddenly broke into a grin.
Seeing those twisted lips, the disciples of Hwasan pulled their shoulders in without realizing it.
“Well, the conclusion is obvious anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Whether he becomes a Taoist, or the heir of a distinguished family, or rises to office and succeeds. That’s a matter for later.”
“…”
“First…….”
Chung Myung ground his teeth.
“Let’s make a proper human being out of him.”
His Sahyeong would probably desperately want that too.
Not so? Oh dear, I can’t hear anything a man who died a hundred years ago is saying. Heheheheh.
But unfortunately, the objection came not from the heavens, but from right beside him.
“A human being. A fine statement. However.”
“Hm?”
“Would that not also require us to have at least enough money to buy breakfast tomorrow morning?”
“…”
After hearing Hye Yeon’s words, Baek Cheon took out his completely empty money pouch again and shook it with a sorrowful expression.
Chung Myung covered his face with both hands.
“I can’t do this anymore. Truly.”
There were more than one or two people who needed to be made into proper human beings.
________
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