Then there is only one way. (1)
“So.”
Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed with an ominous light.
“So you couldn’t even say a word and just came back?”
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong flinched at the creeping anxiety that quietly surged up in them, but there was no particular excuse they could offer.
“That’s… It wasn’t exactly a situation where we could do anything.”
“…”
“If that place had been some martial sect, we could have grabbed someone and at least tried talking to them… But when the magistrate’s office tells you to go back, what are you supposed to d… Wooaaaah! Why are you suddenly throwing a book!”
“What are you so proud of that you think you can yell!”
Chung Myung burst out shouting.
“So? You just came trotting back without even knowing what that damn reason was? Huh?”
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong quietly turned to look at Im Sobyeong. The truth was, though they had gone together, wasn’t Nokrim King the one in charge of this matter?
Receiving their gazes, Im Sobyeong cleared his throat with ‘Ahem’, then opened his mouth.
“I fully understand why you are angry, Dojang, but for the time being, returning from there was the right thing to do.”
Gently waving the hand that held his folded fan, Im Sobyeong smiled and continued speaking.
“Officials are, by nature, people with an exceptional sense of pride. If we had expressed dissatisfaction there for no reason, we might have left an unpleasant memory about this child, so for the moment, stepping back and reassessing the situation would be the proper course…”
At that instant, Chung Myung charged at Im Sobyeong at the speed of light.
“Huh?”
Pooooow!
Craaaack!
Im Sobyeong, kicked by Chung Myung, shot upward like an arrow and ended up embedded straight into the ceiling.
“Wow……”
The disciples of Hwasan swallowed dryly as they stared at Im Sobyeong, who was half-buried in the ceiling with only his lower body dangling down.
Chung Myung kept jabbing his finger at Im Sobyeong, who was lodged in the ceiling, and shouted furiously.
“Proper course? What? Proper cooourse? To hell with that proper course bullshit! You bastard, if you knew what proper course was, would you be out there playing bandit? What kind of bandit bastard is stuffing fancy words into his mouth? You trying to die?”
“Well, that is true, actually.”
“That is an irrefutable argument.”
“But the person who’s supposed to hear it seems to be dead already? Blood is dripping down…”
Chung Myung, who had been glaring at Im Sobyeong as if he would burn him to ashes, ground his teeth.
“No. This isn’t the time for me to be beating up that bandit bastard. They said they couldn’t tell us the reason, but told us to get lost anyway? I’ll show those bastards!”
When Chung Myung tried to dash outside without warning, Baek Cheon shouted in horror.
“Grab him! Grab that lunatic, hurry!”
“Hold him down! Hold him down!”
“Aigoo! Chung Myung-ah, you little punk!”
“Let go! Let go of me already!”
Yoon Jong, clinging desperately to Chung Myung’s leg, practically pleaded in tears.
“I’m telling you, the opponent this time isn’t a martial artist! They’re officials of the magistrate’s office!”
“So what? Can’t those clerk bastards not be stabbed in the gut? Do they not feel pain when they get beaten? Officials or whatever the hell they are, if they’ve done something worth getting hit for, they should get hit!”
“No, this isn’t the kind of problem that gets solved by hitting people!”
“That’s something we’ll only know after I hit them!”
“Why do you have to hit them to know that, you madman!”
Hye Yeon, who had been quietly watching Chung Myung struggling and squirming as he always did, spoke in a somewhat serious tone.
“I do not think this is a matter to be thought of so lightly, Siju.”
“What are you on about now?”
“Judging by that official’s reaction, it seems this was something even he could do nothing about. In that case, beating him would not solve it.”
“…”
Chung Myung, his face twisted with all sorts of displeasure, clicked his tongue, then seemed to calm down a little and shoved away the people holding him. Then he glanced at Yu Hanbin.
“Hey. Stop looking so gloomy.”
“Taoist…”
Yu Hanbin, who had only been watching everyone’s reactions, spoke in a faintly subdued voice.
“I think, perhaps, in my case…”
“Don’t give me that ‘thinking’ crap. If you were someone who actually thought things through, would you have been living like that?”
“…..Excuse me?”
“Don’t think. This is a problem for adults.”
Chung Myung sharply furrowed his brow and spoke as though laying down a conclusion.
Certainly, this was different in nature from the problems Chung Myung had dealt with until now. He needed a little more information.
“First, call the beggar uncle. We need to look into this properly.”
“You mean Branch Leader Hong Daekwang?”
“How is that man supposed to come all the way here? I mean the beggar uncle in Jinan.”
“Ugh. All right.”
It can’t be done? Since when is there anything that can’t be done? If there’s no way, you make one.
Watching Jo Geol hurriedly head outside, Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed sharply.
❀ ❀ ❀
“Khm…”
Sunhak Gae gulped dryly as he looked at the sharp gazes directed straight at him.
“It is not as if I did anything wrong. You do not have to look at me as though you are going to devour me…”
“Did you check?”
Sunhak Gae squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Those Hwasan bastards are lower than beggars no one would even pick up.’
Being a branch leader of the Beggars Sect was a position that would earn one a certain degree of respect in any sect under heaven, and yet these mad Taoist bastards of Hwasan summoned him as if they were calling some neighborhood dog.
But what could he do? He had no power.
“Yes. I checked as soon as I heard what you said… and this is more complicated than I thought.”
“Stop dragging it out and just get to the point. Who is it?”
“Pardon?”
“There had to be someone who gave the order to do it this, right? We just need to find out who.”
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung in alarm.
“What are you planning to do after confirming it?”
“What do you mean, what am I planning to do? I’ll have a good conversation with them.”
“What conversation, you lunatic! You’re planning to beat them to a pulp, aren’t you!”
“Fists are the best means of conversation, Sasuk. Even Confucius acknowledged that.”
“He never did!”
Baek Cheon shouted himself hoarse and turned his pleading eyes to Sunhak Gae, but apparently there was no need to worry.
“To tell you the conclusion first…. I was unable to confirm where the order came from.”
“Hmm? What does that mean?”
“To be more precise. Such an order never existed in the first place.”
“Huh?”
The disciples of Hwasan looked at Sunhak Gae with expressions that plainly said they did not understand. Chung Myung wore an expression that said, ‘What nonsense did this beggar bastard hear from somewhere this time?’
Sunhak Gae let out a groan, then continued explaining.
“Officially, no punishment has been handed down upon the Shandong Yu Family. Therefore, naturally, no order exists saying that the descendants of the Yu Family cannot rise to official posts. Which means Young Master Yu here is fully of a status that allows him to qualify for the provincial examination.”
“But, then why?”
“That is the problem.”
Sunhak Gae let out a low groan along with a long sigh.
“An order that does not exist is being enforced. Do you understand what that means?”
While everyone hesitated, unable to immediately grasp those words, an indifferent voice popped out.
“It means someone has been pulling strings behind the scenes.”
Everyone’s eyes focused on Chung Myung.
“And someone fairly high up, at that. Right?”
Sunhak Gae slowly nodded with a grave expression.
“I cannot confirm it directly, but I believe the same.”
“And there is no way to know who that bastard is?”
“Yes. No matter how removed we are from the government, we still have our own information network. But with this matter, we could not find the root of it at all. If we investigated further, we might be able to catch a thread, but…”
“If you did that, there’s a high chance the other side would notice our movements?”
“…That is so. You truly catch on quickly.”
Sunhak Gae looked at Chung Myung as though seeing him in a new light.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that ordinary martial artists were completely ignorant when it came to matters connected to the imperial court. Martial sects deliberately kept their distance from the government, after all. And that Hwasan Shinryong would probably be no different.
But Hwasan Shinryong had grasped perfectly how the situation was unfolding from nothing more than the state of affairs he had seen in Jinan himself and a few words from Sunhak Gae.
‘Is this why they call him Hwasan Shinryong?’
He had heard that the higher-ups were more wary of Hwasan Shinryong’s judgment than of his martial prowess, and now he thought he understood why such talk was going around.
Whether Sunhak Gae was surprised or not, Chung Myung was already lost in thought, sensing that the matter was turning far more serious than expected.
‘This is more complicated than I thought.’
If some punishment had actually been imposed on the Shandong Yu Family, it would have been easier to resolve. There would at least have been a clear party responsible for issuing the punishment.
But that was not the case. They had to deal with both a punishment that did not exist and an enemy who was only faintly visible.
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung, who had been frowning in thought for quite a while, jerked his chin upward and said.
“Get that down.”
“.…Isn’t he dead?”
“He’s alive. Get him down.”
“Got it.”
The disciples of Hwasan pulled Im Sobyeong, who was stuck(?) in the ceiling, down. Im Sobyeong, who fell to the floor, groaned and writhed.
“If you just keep lying there like that, you’ll really die.”
“Come now, surely not. I’ve slept enough.”
Im Sobyeong quickly got up and sat properly, wiping away the blood flowing from his nose as if he were used to it. Watching that, Sunhak Gae let out a hollow laugh in sheer disbelief. Just what sort of bizarre bastard was this?
“What do you think?”
“Well. It doesn’t seem like there’s any solution.”
“There isn’t?”
“W-Wait a moment. No! Why do you people reach for your fists first the moment anyone says anything!”
“Fists do create answers, you know.”
“….Seriously, who is the Sapa here?”
Im Sobyeong let out a deep sigh and shrugged.
“It is impossible to resolve this by conventional means. Given the nature of officials, with a matter like this, if you start climbing up from below, the trail will inevitably be cut off somewhere around the middle. At this point, even if you tried to look into it, it would be impossible to track down who originally gave the order.”
Chung Myung nodded. This was something that happened frequently not only among officials, but in any large organization.
“You struggle to uncover it, only to find that the one who issued the order has already retired from office, or some equally hopeless situation like that. Which is why this is a problem that cannot be solved in the first pla… No! Hear me out to the end! Don’t draw your sword!”
Im Sobyeong shook his head and continued.
“So this is… not a problem to be solved, but one to be cut off.”
“Cut off?”
“Yes.”
Im Sobyeong snapped his fan open and waved it lightly.
“What does it mean that this was never an officially issued order in the first place? It means some powerful figure moved people around on his own authority, does it not?”
“That’s right.”
“Then there is only one way. We use power on our side as well.”
At those words, Baek Cheon let out a small exclamation and spoke.
“So. If another person in power gives an order saying he is allowed to take the examination, the problem will simply be resolved?”
“Precisely. Of course, if the person who gave the previous order still remembers this matter and tries to block Young Master Yu’s path again, then another problem will arise at that point.”
Im Sobyeong shrugged.
“Well now. Would someone still care about an order related to something that happened over a decade ago? Probably not. Those in power are more persistent than you’d think, but also more fickle than you’d expect.”
The disciples of Hwasan all nodded.
Certainly, at present, this seemed like the fastest and most reliable way to resolve the entire matter.
Yes. But…
“But.”
“Hmm?”
“That person in power, I mean, how are we supposed to win over such a high-ranking official?”
“…”
The disciples of Hwasan, who had fallen silent, all looked at Im Sobyeong at once, their eyes carrying the expectation that, as a Geoin, Im Sobyeong might know at least one high-ranking official.
Understanding the meaning contained in those gazes, Im Sobyeong snapped his fan open and smiled confidently.
“I am a bandit.”
“…”
“What are you expecting from me?”
“…Right.”
“I want to snap that fan in half.”
The disciples of Hwasan, instantly convinced, turned this time towards Sunhak Gae.
Receiving those gazes, Sunhak Gae smiled awkwardly.
“As you know, the Beggars Sect strictly forbids contact with people like high-ranking officials.”
“And if it weren’t forbidden, could you actually make contact?”
“Would that be possible? I am a beggar.”
“……I suppose not.”
Baek Cheon covered his face with both hands and muttered.
“To begin with, the very fact that bandit, beggar, and Taoists have gathered to discuss power and connections to high-ranking officials is strange.”
“It is practically a list of professions unrelated to power, and even in order.”
“And of all possible combinations, why did it have to be this one?”
What good was there in having a method if none of them could carry it out? Everyone sighed deeply enough to make the ground cave in beneath them, lamenting their situation, but no matter how frustrated they felt, there was no obvious solution.
“S-Soso. By any chance, the Tang Clan…”
“My family is in Sichuan. If we had connections like that, why would we be living in Sichuan?”
“R-Right?”
While everyone had fallen into despair and was practically clawing at the ground, Hye Yeon, who had been scratching his shining head, opened his mouth with a strange expression.
“Um… He is not a high-ranking official, but…”
“Yes?”
“No, depending on how you think of it, I do know someone who could be called a high-ranking official.”
“Huuuh! Really, Monk?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to him at once. Hye Yeon nodded awkwardly.
“Yes. There’s hardly any need to explain. It’s someone all of you know quite well.”
“We know him well?”
Even after thinking it over carefully, no one in particular came to mind. When had they ever met someone who had risen to government office?
“Ah!”
But still, there were some who understood what Hye Yeon meant.
Tang Soso let out an exclamation, then turned around sharply to look at Jo Geol and said.
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Depending on how you think of it… perhaps.”
“No, he really is a high-ranking official. He is the Imperial Tutor [황사(皇師)].”
At that point, everyone finally understood and nodded vigorously with bright expressions on their faces.
No, except for one person.
Chung Myung tilted his head and stared blankly at the disciples of Hwasan whispering among themselves.
“What is it? Who are you talking about?”
“You, stay still for a moment. But Monk, would that person grant our request?”
“Mm. Well, I do not know. I have never asked that person for such a personal favor before. However.”
“However?”
Hye Yeon glanced at Chung Myung.
“If none other than Chung Myung Dojang were to ask directly, would that person not move on his behalf?”
“……Huh?”
“More than wanting to place you in his debt, I think he would simply be delighted by the very situation of Hwasan Shinryong asking him for a favor.”
The disciples of Hwasan brightened at once and eagerly agreed with Hye Yeon.
“…That actually sounds convincing.”
“This will work. I really think this will work.”
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
“No, I’m asking who you’re talking about! Why are you talking while leaving me out!”
At that question, Jo Geol grinned and answered.
“It’s someone you know well too.”
“Who?”
“The highest-ranking person among all the people you’ve ever met.”
“The highest-ranking person I’ve ever……”
Chung Myung, who had been muttering and repeating the words, snapped his mouth shut. At the same time, his eyes rolled around in their sockets.
Chung Myung, who had called to mind a face he did not want to think about, opened his mouth with a creaking sound.
“…No, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s not… the person I’m thinking of, surely?”
“I’m telling you, yes.”
Chung Myung, whose complexion had visibly stiffened, edged backward step by step.
“Chung Myung-ah.”
Baek Cheon quickly grabbed Chung Myung’s shoulder as he tried to retreat.
“It’s for Hanbin’s sake. You only have to bow your head once.”
“N-No.”
“Come now! I’m telling you, it’s for the greater good. Are you really going to act this petty?”
“No! I said no! Seriously!”
Chung Myung’s scream pierced through the walls of the desolate house and spread far into the distance.
“I said nooooooooooooooooo!”
⠀
“Hmm?”
And at that same time.
Beop Jong, the Abbot of Shaolin, who had been staring at the Buddha statue before him with a solemn expression, tilted his head and scratched the top of his head.
“I feel as though I just heard some beautiful sound* from somewhere.”
For some reason, Beop Jong suddenly found himself in an inexplicably good mood.
________
*옥음(玉音) – jade-like sound/noise – (literary) meaning beautiful sound or a beautiful voice.
________
Omg he makes his comeback? I’m not even mad, I’m so excited?
________
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.
Leave a Reply