So even a day like this really comes after all. (1)
It had been, definitely…
“Th-This…”
Baek Cheon’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck. Swallowing dryly, Baek Cheon picked up the sword lying before him with a trembling hand.
“Is, is this real?”
He carefully grasped the scabbard of the antique treasured sword and drew it downward, and a blade of deep violet revealed itself. Baek Cheon slowly parted his lips, as though his breath had been taken away.
“This is that Divine Violet Lightning Sword [자전신검(紫電神劍)], really?”
“Apparently so.”
“The personal weapon of the Violet Lightning Sword Immortal [자전검선(紫電劍仙)], who was the greatest under heaven three hundred years ago, that one?”
“I said it is.”
“The one they said would release violet lightning whenever it was swung and sweep away everything in all directions?”
“….That was probably the Violet Lightning Sword Immortal’s divine art. What kind of sword would have a function like that? Still, well… surely it isn’t an ordinary sword. If it was a sword used by the greatest under heaven.”
“Don’t they say a master calligrapher doesn’t fuss over his brush?”
“That’s a lie. The better the calligrapher, the more particular they are about their brushes.”
“…Really?”
“Isn’t that obvious? If someone is good enough to make a name for themselves through calligraphy, they must have tried countless brushes, so why would they deliberately choose a bad one?”
At those words, Baek Cheon looked once more at the sword in his hand. From the sword, stained by the passage of time, came an aura difficult to approach.
It was certainly a famous sword. No, would it not be more accurate to call it a divine sword? But…
“Wh-Why is such an incredible sword here?”
“It’s said to have came as a gift.”
“A gift? Did you just say a gift?”
“Yes.”
Baek Cheon’s mouth fell wide open.
“That’s ridiculous. People exchange things like this as gifts? If a famous sword like this were released into the world, wouldn’t people be fighting each other to get their hands on it, with bloodshed breaking out everywhere?”
“If the sword Sasuk is holding right now were to appear on the open market, it would definitely happen exactly as you said. It may not become a bloodbath, but I think at least a few people would end up shedding blood over it.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. So how does something like that come in as a gift?”
Wearing an exasperated expression, Tang Soso glanced at Baek Cheon.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Hwasan has become a place worthy of such things now, so naturally a sword of that caliber would be given as a gift.”
“Huh?”
“To put it bluntly, if this had been gifted to Shaolin, would you have found it strange, Sasuk?”
“That would… probably not be the case. But that’s Shaolin.”
Because Shaolin had always been that sort of place.
Traditionally, anything difficult to deal with got dumped on Shaolin. If one were to keep such a precious object carelessly, who knew what kind of flies might swarm around it? There was a reason people said that treasures chose their masters.
But if one offered it up to Shaolin?
“Your safety would be guaranteed, and relations with Shaolin could improve too.”
“Exactly.”
The wealth Shaolin had accumulated in that manner would be, at the very least, tens of millions in gold.
“But Shaolin has fallen, hasn… Ah, Monk, I’m sorry.”
“It, it has not fallen. It has merely sealed its gates [entered Bongmun].”
When Hye Yeon said that hurriedly, the Five Swords each muttered indifferently.
“That’s what ruined means, more or less.”
“They even locked up their temple gates.”
“Come now, don’t be so heartless. Let’s say they only went half-ruined.”
Hye Yeon’s shoulders slumped.
He looked utterly devastated, like a puppy that had walked over a thousand li back in search of the master who had abandoned it, only to discover the house burned to the ground.
“Anyway, so that’s why this thing came here?”
“No.”
“Hm? What do you mean, no?”
“If there’s no Shaolin, then normally it would go to Wudang. But Wudang has fallen too, hasn’t it?”
“….No, I’m telling you, they haven’t fallen either?”
“That’s right. Aside from the whole of Mount Wudang burning down, all the pavilions being smashed to pieces, and the old men who used to stroke their beards and put on airs all ascending to immortality at once, there’s no major problem. But normally, people call that having fallen to ruin.”
“Ahem.”
It was certainly hard to deny.
“With things the way they are, the people who used to cultivate ties with Shaolin and Wudang started looking elsewhere. Which of the remaining sects would be a good place to build connections with?”
“Hmm.”
“Namgung? Oh my, Namgung has been smashed to pieces too. The Young Lord has become the family head now, but he’s still far too young, and it will take time before he can be of any real help. The Tang Clan? That place is in Sichuan, much too far away, and… oh dear, the family head there has passed away too.”
“S-Soso. You’re saying that a little too much like it’s someone else’s business….”
“What?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Baek Cheon immediately shrank back and lowered his eyes.
“Anyway, the four sects that served as the central pillars of Gupailbang and the Five Great Families have all lost their momentum at once. So where do you think people’s eyes would turn?”
“You mean here?”
“That goes without saying.”
Baek Cheon blankly turned his head.
“So…”
“Yes. So.”
Everyone’s gazes gradually went up, and up again. Eventually, they were looking so high up their necks nearly bent backward.
“That’s why this much came in?”
To their eyes appeared piles of gifts that rose high enough to obscure the distant Southern Peak. With a little exaggeration, it would not have been too much to call it a small hill. That was how tremendous the amount of gifts was.
“Even so. For such an absurdly large amount to come in all at once, so out of nowhere.”
“What do you mean, out of nowhere? Three days from now is the Retired Sect Leader’s birthday.”
“Huh?”
Tang Soso’s brow instantly furrowed sharply.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
At the same time, Yu Iseol’s eyes grew as fierce as a snake’s. Startled, Baek Cheon waved his hands frantically.
“I know! Of course I know! How could I not know that! I’m still Hwasan’s Sect Leader’s disciple!”
Jo Geol and Yoon Jong whispered quietly behind the struggling Baek Cheon.
“Doesn’t it seem like he didn’t know?”
“How could you say such a thing. Of course he didn’t know. Is that guy the sort of person who would keep track of things like that?”
“Shut up. You bastards.”
When Tang Soso and Yu Iseol still did not let the suspicion and venom fade from their eyes, Baek Cheon hurriedly cleared his throat and gathered his words.
“What I mean is, even if it is the Retired Sect Leader’s birthday, isn’t this too much?”
“The birthday is just a pretext. If they send gifts normally, it’s a bribe, but if they send them on the Retired Sect Leader’s birthday, then they become real gifts. Everyone must have been waiting for this moment.”
“Soso, did you see things like this often back when you were at the Sichuan Tang Clan?”
“….To be honest, even I’m seeing something on this scale for the first time.”
“Right?”
No matter how he looked at it, the sheer amount was overwhelming.
“Still, the Grand Elder must be excited.”
“I don’t think so. Look over there.”
“Huh?”
When Baek Cheon turned his head, he saw Hyun Yeong standing before the mountain-like pile of gifts, utterly dazed and at a complete loss.
“What… What are we supposed to do with this?”
…Cold sweat ran down Baek Cheon’s face.
‘The Grand Elder is flustered.’
He was someone who seemed as if he might accept a free gift even if it came from the Demonic Cult… of course, saying that out loud would earn one a beating, but in any case, for that Hyun Yeong, the head of the Finance Pavilion, to be flustered. Just what on earth was happening in Hwasan right now?
“But that’s not the important part.”
“Hm?”
“Even that guy over there is out of his senses.”
“Huuuh?”
This time, Baek Cheon shifted his gaze to Hyun Yeong’s side. There stood Chung Myung, wearing exactly the same expression, his mouth hanging wide open.
“Wh-What is this.. Oh the mother of heavens.”
…The amount of cold sweat running down Baek Cheon’s face doubled.
“If even that bastard is flustered, isn’t this really serious?”
“My legs are starting to go weak now too.”
“…Right?”
Something was happening. Something…
Then, Jo Geol tilted his head as if he could not understand it at all.
“I don’t get it.”
“What?”
“If they’re going to feel this burdened by it, wouldn’t it be better just not to accept the gifts?”
“We wanted to do that.”
“Huh? Sasuk.”
Baek Sang approached Jo Geol with hollow, exhausted eyes and answered.
“But that… wasn’t as easy as we thought.”
“Why not? If the person concerned says he won’t accept the gifts.”
“That’s…”
Baek Sang shuddered as he recalled what had happened only a little while ago.
⠀
– Ah, so you’re telling us to carry all this back down the mountain? I didn’t take you people for such heartless monsters! What if there’s an accident on the way down?
– Don’t you know heavy things are more dangerous when you’re bringing them down than when you’re bringing them up?
– Ah, I don’t know. We’re only delivery people, so we don’t have any authority to take them back down. If you want that, then pay us.
– Blalala. Blalala. I can’t hear you?
“…Today was the first time I learned how terrifying difficult customers* can be. Y-You just can’t reason with them.”
“You worked hard.”
Yoon Jong and Jo Geol offered Baek Sang their heartfelt sympathy.
To be honest, they were still rather dazed themselves. Of course, it was nothing new for gifts to come pouring into Hwasan whenever there was a major event. Ever since they had taken the leading position in Cheonumaeng, Hwasan’s standing had undeniably changed from what it had once been.
At the very least, it could not be denied that, in the Shaanxi region, they had begun to wield influence surpassing even Jongnam.
But seeing this, they could now know for certain.
“The status of a sect acknowledged by all of the Central Plains really is on a completely different level.”
“…That sounded incredibly obnoxious just now.”
“But it is true.”
Tang Soso nodded and opened her mouth again.
“Our own perspective doesn’t matter. What matters is that people throughout the world now regard Hwasan as the sect leading Gangho. The position of the Northern Star of Gangho that Shaolin maintained has been transferred to Hwasan.”
“Hmmmm.”
Yoon Jong scratched his cheek.
“I do think it’s not a bad thing… Yes, of course it must be a good thing. We have been aiming for that all this time too. But… that also means our responsibility has become just as heavy, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right. And as it happens, there’s someone over there suffering under that heavy responsibility.”
“Hm?”
Tang Soso pointed, and the rest of the Five Swords turned their eyes in that direction.
At first glance, it looked like a wall, but on closer inspection, it was moving. That thing crossing Hwasan’s training ground was…. a line of people.
“….What is that line for?”
“What else? It’s the waiting line to have an audience with the Retired Sect Leader.”
“Hiiiiiiik…….”
Everyone shuddered as they looked at the endlessly stretching line.
“A-All of those people?”
“And they’re probably all people he’s seeing for the first time too?”
“I-If it were me, I’d suffocate to death.”
Tang Soso added calmly.
“With that many, even if he spends only half sik-gyeog** meeting each person, he probably won’t be able to go to the bathroom until three days from now?”
“Aaaaah…….”
What a dreadful and atrociously cruel thing this was. Baek Cheon shook his head.
“The Retired Sect Leader truly has it hard.”
“Why are you saying that as if it’s someone else’s problem?”
“Huh?”
Tang Soso looked at Baek Cheon and grinned.
“Because it’ll be your problem soon enough, Sasuk.”
The blood drained from Baek Cheon’s face.
“Wh-What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you hear? They say the Sect Leader is preparing to hand the position of sect leader over to you, Sasuk.”
“Th-That matter has been put on hold for now.”
“That’s true. It is, but…”
Looking at the line of visitors that seemed to go on without end, Tang Soso continued.
“Do you think we’re the only ones seeing this?”
“Ah…”
Baek Cheon stared blankly and let out a sigh, and the rest of the Five Swords all nodded as one.
“Well, true. The Sect Leader must be seeing this too.”
“Wow, if I were next in line after that? I’d throw everything away without even looking back.”
“Since there’s already a designated successor, maybe he’s planning to hand over the position at an appropriate moment and spend the rest of his days in peace. He was never the type to be attached to the Sect Leader’s seat in the first place.”
“D-Don’t talk so lightly just because it’s someone else’s problem.”
“Then what are we supposed to do? It really is someone else’s problem.”
“Oh dear, even if I wanted to do it in your place, there’s no way to, is there? What a shame.”
“…You bastards.”
Baek Cheon’s eyes filled with tears.
What he had wanted was the position of Sect Leader of his own small and precious sect, not some absurd position like this. How on earth was he supposed to handle it?
“But we’re not really in a position to be saying things like this, are we?”
“Hm? What do you mean by that now?”
“Isn’t there someone else suffering the most?”
“Ah…”
Everyone looked far off towards the Retired Sect Leader’s residence. It felt as if they could hear someone’s sorrowful sobbing.
“My condolences.”
“Stay strong. That’s just how life is.”
At that moment, Jo Geol cleared his throat and spoke.
“Hm, but, you see. To go back to what we were talking about earlier, what are we going to do with that Divine Violet Lightning Sword? May I have it?”
“What? You bastard, have you lost your mind?”
“N-No, I mean. Because I heard it’s still…”
“Even when sharing something simple, there is an order of precedence, is there not?***”
“No, Sasuk, you already have the Purple Mist Divine Sword!”
“Ahem. Which is why I should test this one first!”
“Thanks.”
“Samae, while I’m still asking nicely, put that down.”
“A divine sword belongs to the strong.”
“Then why don’t we settle it with a duel?”
“Draw!”
Over a single sword, a complete mess broke out in the middle of Hwasan.
Chung Myung, who had been blankly watching the scene from a distance, squeezed his eyes shut without realizing it.
‘What on earth was I thinking. Great tree, my foot.’
Those idiots wouldn’t even be fit for firewood.
Special Spinoff Chapter 45 >>>
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*They are basically using a slang term for Karens here. “These unreasonable Karens are so hard to deal with.” 진상 from 진상 손님.
**반 식경; Full 식경 sik-gyeong is considered to be around 30 minutes (a time to have 1 meal). So half of it would be 15 minutes.
***There is an idiom used there that literally translates to: even cold water has an appropriate order to it/has upper and lower (level).
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