Then do it. And don’t waver. (2)
“Then let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
Seok Hanbin and Chung Myung turned around and began walking side by side.
However, for a while, they did not exchange a single word. Chung Myung had things to sort out in his own way, and Seok Hanbin… no, Yu Hanbin had things to sort out in his.
After walking in silence for quite a some time, Chung Myung turned to look at Seok Hanbin as if something had just occurred to him.
“Come to think of it, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“Something you’re curious about?”
“Rather than me being curious, should I say it’s something I don’t understand? Anyway.”
Chung Myung shifted his gaze slightly and glanced at Seok Hanbin.
“You, why did you scam those Black Water Manor bastards?”
“All of a sudden?”
At Seok Hanbin’s questioning look, Chung Myung narrowed his brow.
“At first, I didn’t think much of it either, but now that I look at it, it seems strange. From what I can tell, that wasn’t the only way you had to make money.”
“…”
“Was there really any need to go out of your way to stab the Black Water Manor in the back and invite danger upon yourself?”
“Ah, that.”
Seok Hanbin smiled awkwardly.
“Well… To be honest, they just sort of pissed me off.”
“They pissed you off? The Black Water Manor?”
“It’s only natural, isn’t it? No matter how completely I cut ties with my family, those Black Path bastards were sitting there brazenly in the old Yu family estate. Even if I couldn’t drive them out, I had to at least trip them up a little.”
“Ah, somehow. So that’s why you did…”
Chung Myung froze on the spot.
“Taoist Master?”
“What did you just say?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“That estate… That palce the Black Water Manor bastards were using originally belonged to the Shandong Yu family?”
“Yes. I don’t remember it myself, but my father said so.”
As if that alone was not enough, Seok Hanbin added.
“Of course, well… those bastards bought it properly and paid for it, so honestly, it isn’t exactly rightful for me to be angry about it. I know it’s an ugly thing to do… But still, I just couldn’t stand it.”
Having said it aloud, Seok Hanbin grew a little embarrassed and quietly glanced at Chung Myung to gauge his mood.
“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be… Taoist Master?”
“…No wonder. I thought the house was rather elegant for a den of Black Path bastards.”
Chung Myung mumbled blankly.
“So it was originally the manor of a distinguished family. The Shandong Yu family… Right, the Shandong Yu family… huh?”
In that instant, Chung Myung’s head tilted to the side.
“What is it?”
“You’re saying that place was the manor of the Shandong Yu family?”
“Yes. As far as I know.”
“Then in the past, all the people of the Shandong Yu family must have been born there?”
“I suppose so?”
“Then that means the place is…”
It was Sect Leader Sahyeong’s birthplace. And those Black Path bastards dared to use that place?
“Heh…”
With a strange gleam in his eyes, Chung Myung silently rolled up his sleeves.
❀ ❀ ❀
“…”
Seo Gunhong quietly rose to his feet.
With eyes that could not have been more cautious, he surveyed his surroundings. Aside from the sound of quiet breathing, nothing could be heard.
‘Fools.’
Injured though he was, to think they would simply shove him carelessly into a tiny infirmary like this.
He had already confirmed that there was not even a guard watching him, but even so, Seo Gunhong continued to hold his breath, preparing for any unforeseen possibility.
And after waiting long enough, the time had finally come. Now, he should be able to slip out of this place without anyone knowing. It was for this single fleeting opportunity that he had endured all that humiliation until now.
‘First, I get out of here.’
Seo Gunhong stood up carefully.
Thinking of the vicious methods of that Hwasan Shinryong, there would never again be another chance for him to flee with all four limbs intact. But it didn’t matter. He had seized the one and only opportunity he would ever get.
As long as he could escape this place. As long as he could leave Jinan behind and flee somewhere far away, beyond the sight of Hwasan Shinryong, he could live out the rest of his life in luxury.
The fortune he had hidden away was no small sum, after all.
‘This is why youngsters never know how to clean things up properly.’
Seo Gunhong, who had been wearing a triumphant smile, (though of course, because his face was swollen up like a balloon, it did not particularly look like a smile) soon ground his teeth.
“Just you wait, Hwasan bastards. One day, I will have my revenge without fail.”
Of course, the day would never come when Seo Gunhong could do anything to them by force, but in the first place, strength was not everything in Gangho. Surely, one way or another, he would be able to find a way to bring harm to those bastards.
“I will make you feel it in your bones – what sort of man Seo Gunhong is, and just how grave a mistake you bastards have made…”
Bang!
At that moment, the door to the room flew open so violently it seemed it might break.
“Uh…”
Seo Gunhong stared blankly at the person standing before the door.
“No…. Why…….”
Hwasan Shinryong Chung Myung was standing there with an expressionless face.
“Ghhh….”
“…”
“I really… just thought it…“
The previously expressionless Chung Myung suddenly broke into a crooked grin.
“Ah, it’s fine. They say even the king gets cursed behind his back when he can’t hear it, right? What, do I look like the kind of person who’d get petty over something like that?”
“Then that’s a relief….”
“But that’s a separate matter from this.”
“Yes?”
In an instant, Chung Myung’s face twisted like a demon’s. So much so that Seo Gunhong’s nickname of Two-Faced Ghost Fiend seemed shameful in comparison.
“First, take a beating! You Sapa bastard!”
Chung Myung charged at Seo Gunhong like a mad dog.
Seo Gunhong reflexively brought both hands together in front of his chest and shrieked.
“No! Why! Why! Why all of a sudden!”
“Shut up! You Sapa bastard! How dare a filthy Sapa trash put his ass down and sit there, as if that place were somewhere you had any right to be! Die! Die! Just drop dead, you bastard!”
“Aaaack! Why! Aaaaaaaaack! Why on earth are you hitting me… Aaaaaaack!”
A small infirmary in eastern Jinan was sorrowfully stained with unending screams.
❀ ❀ ❀
“…You’re saying you’re going to study?”
“Yes.”
“So you mean….. study?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Seriously?”
“…”
The disciples of Hwasan, who had been staring intently at Seok Hanbin’s slightly sullen face, snatched Chung Myung from either side and rushed out of the house.
“What did you do, you lunatic!”
“No, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“What the hell did you do to the kid to make him say he’s going to study!”
“Did you beat him up? Have you beaten him up in the meantime?”
“Or what? Did you threaten him? Told him you’d kill him if he didn’t study? Otherwise there’s no way…”
Chung Myung, dumbfounded, shoved them away and shouted.
“What do you take me for! Do I look like the kind of person who’d do that?”
“Yeah.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Honestly, even you can’t say you’re not.”
“…That’s true, but.”
Having at least enough conscience to admit it meekly, Chung Myung soon let out a groan.
“I’m telling you, I really persuaded him nicely.”
“Are you sure? Yesterday I could’ve sworn I heard a pig getting slaughtered somewhere far away.”
“That wasn’t him. It was someone else.”
“So you did beat someone up in the meantime.”
“You always manage to exceed expectations. Honestly, I respect it.”
Chung Myung snorted.
“And let’s get the facts straight. If he’d been beaten by me, would he be standing there looking perfectly fine?”
“……That’s true.”
That meant Seok Hanbin truly had changed his mind.
‘Is such a thing even possible?’
Baek Cheon swallowed dryly and asked.
“What on earth did you say to him?”
“Well, that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the fact itself that he’s changed his mind.”
“Ugh.”
As Chung Myung said, this was not what mattered right now.
“Having him study means… are you thinking of sending him into government service?”
“If that’s what he wants.”
“Government service, huh… Then first, he’ll have to take the civil service examination. Are you thinking of sending him to an academy or something?”
Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon with a sullen expression.
“Dongryong-ah, Dongryong-ah… You frustrating bastard…. If that were possible, do you think we’d be going through all this trouble?”
“…I suppose not.”
What would happen if they released that brat into an academy? He didn’t particularly want to imagine it. Just imagining it was horrifying enough already. No matter how much he had changed his mind, people did not change that easily. Innocent victims(?) would probably start piling up.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? We don’t even know whether that brat will be good at studying or not yet. We’ll just grab anyone here and have them teach him first. Looks like that guy is completely illiterate too.”
Hearing those words, Baek Cheon nodded and asked back.
“Who?”
“Someone… here…”
“So, who?”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s gaze slowly swept over everyone present.
After looking over all of them once, starting with Baek Cheon, moving past Tang Soso, and all the way to Hye Yeon, a deeply satisfied smile settled on Chung Myung’s face.
“Anyway, these bastards are a disgrace to behold…”
“Look who’s talking!”
“Honestly, we’re more educated than you are!”
“Amitabha. This humble monk feels wronged as well.”
“Forget it. Useless brats, not even fit to be used as fire pokers.”
Chung Myung waved his hand dismissively and let out a sigh.
“Instead of this, why don’t we just hire an appropriate tutor?”
At Tang Soso’s question, Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh.
“Who would take him on, that guy…”
“Well, that’s true. He’s needlessly famous.”
Not just anyone accepted disciples just because they were scholars. And with Seok Hanbin’s notorious reputation(?), finding someone willing to take him on would probably take ages. Perhaps they might never find one at all.
“Hmm. If it really doesn’t work out, should I contact the person I learned from in the past?”
“Come on, someone who’d be in Sichuan…”
In that instant, Baek Cheon blinked and looked at Tang Soso.
“Soso. You’ve actually studied before?”
“A little? Well, just because we’re a martial clan doesn’t mean we all live our lives only swinging swords. Isn’t that ri… Ah, sorry. That was a slip of the tongue.”
At the sight of her seniors subtly avoiding her gaze as though by prior agreement, Tang Soso hurriedly corrected herself.
“Because I was an orphan.”
“My father didn’t teach me.”
“I memorized Buddhist scriptures, but…”
“S-Stop! But why is Monk Hye Yeon sneakily joining in too? Monk, honestly, you lived in comfort, didn’t you!”
Tang Soso let out a groan, then turned her head. If things had come to this, then there was no choice but to…
“Huh?”
Then Tang Soso tilted her head. As her gaze wandered, she spotted someone standing there blankly as if he had nothing to say, and that guy was a little…
“What about Jo Geol Sahyeong?”
“What about me?”
“Come to think of it, Sahyeong, didn’t you study a bit?”
It was a question asked without any real expectation. But at those words, Jo Geol scratched the back of his head.
“Studying… well. I did about as much as anyone else.”
Tang Soso’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
“How much is ‘as much as anyone else’? The Thousand Character Classic?”
“What are you talking about! You know perfectly well what kind of family I come from.”
Jo Geol frowned deeply before lowering his voice slightly.
“I finished the Four Books*. Though I didn’t get to learn the Five Classics* because I came to Hwasan.”
“Y-You finished the Four Books? Really? Even I haven’t finished all the Four Books.”
“What’s there to boast about in finishing the Four Books? Any halfway decent family does at least tha…. ah. I get it! I was wrong!”
Under the gazes of Hwasan Orphans’ Alliance, Jo Geol recoiled in horror and frantically waved his hands.
“Anyway, you finished the Four Books?”
“Come to think of it, in the past, Geol did seem rather smart and capable.”
“Now that I think about it, I remember feeling the same way. I thought, ‘A pretty sharp guy has joined us, so the Chung generation will be fine.’”
“What’s with all this talk about the old days?”
Jo Geol awkwardly reached to scratch the back of his head when…
“How did he end up….”
“Right, how did he end up like this…”
“Excuse me?”
At that moment, Chung Myung snapped his fingers.
“Then it’s settled. Jo Geol Sahyeong can teach him.”
“Me? You’re telling me to teach him?”
“Why? You said you studied. Not confident about teaching?”
Jo Geol flared up at once.
“What are you talking about! I just haven’t had the chance until now, but I’m confident I can teach much better than you, you know? I’ll show you what teaching really means!”
Jo Geol’s eyes blazed with enthusiasm.
⠀
“As Confucius said, ‘With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow; I have joy still in the midst of these things.**’ Now, what do you think this means?”
Seok Hanbin’s head sharply tilted to the side.
“Winning in your own head?”
“…”
“Or the mindset of a beggar?”
“You little…”
Jo Geol’s hand, which was holding the book, trembled.
“Think carefully! ‘Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness, are to me as a floating cloud.**’ If you look at that together with this?”
“If someone keeps chasing righteousness instead of getting rich, they’ll end up stuck eating cold rice soaked in water for the rest of their life?”
Jo Geol stared with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“H-How does that interpretation even come out of it! It means you should be wary of pursuing wealth without principles, and value contentment in poverty! Inner peace and dignity***!”
At that, Seok Hanbin’s face twisted as though he had just heard something utterly absurd.
“No, people who live with that kind of mindset are exactly the ones eating cold rice in water! Righteousness, my ass – the people making real money are out there feasting on delicacies from land and sea!”
“Th…. uh….. ugh.”
Jo Geol, whose hands were trembling, gritted his teeth and roughly flipped through the book.
“Then this! Confucius said, ‘If the search for riches is sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with whip in hand to get them, I will do so. As the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love.****’”
“…If you want to become rich, you shouldn’t care what means or methods you use?”
“Hey!”
His face bright red, Jo Geol jabbed his finger at him.
“How does it turn into that! It means don’t blindly chase wealth, but pursue what you truly love! What is true to oneself!”
“So I’m right!”
“Why!”
Seok Hanbin shouted back in frustration.
“I’m saying I like being rich! Then that’s what I like!”
“Uh…?”
“To do what I like, I should work even as a groom with wip in hand and save money! It means don’t care about methods or means when it comes to making money! That’s what it says!”
“…”
A sorrowful silence settled over them. Jo Geol, looking as though his soul had turned to ash, shut the book with a snap.
“Chung Myung-ah…….”
With tears glistening in his eyes, Jo Geol turned to Chung Myung and mumbled.
“This bastard is hopeless. He is beyond saving.”
“…”
“Let’s look for another way. Hm? Please…”
Chung Myung stared up at the sky with blank expression.
– Why, why! What now? Damn it.
No point saying anything. It’ll only make my insides rot.
Good grief….. seriously.
________
*사서(四書) – Four Books – Chinese classic texts illustrating the core value and belief systems in Confucianism. 오경(五經) – Five Classics – Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn Annals.
**From the Analects, Book 7 (論語·述而). 子曰：「飯疏食飲水，曲肱而枕之，樂亦在其中矣。不義而富且貴，於我如浮雲。」
***安貧樂道 – also an idiom – to be contented with living in poverty and take delight in abiding by moral principles.
****子曰：「富而可求也，雖執鞭之士，吾亦為之。如不可求，從吾所好。」 From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translation provided is based on James Legge’s version.
________
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