Chapter 42: Meeting the Family
The road to the Mount Hua Sect was smooth.
Though the atmosphere was not good, however.
Grind!
As the distance from the village grew, the sound of the Mount Hua Sect disciples grinding their teeth resounded savagely. It was to the point of worrying whether their teeth might break.
These were not the faces of people returning after working hard on a good deed like village restoration.
[A person is bound to feel anger when what is precious to them is damaged.]
[There are times when anger is necessary. However, if it is excessive, one will be consumed by it. Disciple, observe that appearance closely.]
My masters, who were lecturing on the body-lightening method called the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, commented.
I understood.
Someone was aiming for the Mount Hua Sect. Moreover, they were nibbling away at their nerves nearby to annoy them.
Because of that, the Mount Hua Sect’s reputation and face were being deeply wounded.
Just as Master Zhang Sanfeng assessed, a person gets angry when what is precious to them is damaged.
This anger was not just the individual anger of the Mount Hua Sect disciples.
“It must be annoying.”
Surprisingly, Baek Mu-ho spoke as if it were someone else’s business.
Ah, since Baek Mu-ho had a connection with the Mount Hua Sect but had not officially become a disciple, was it practically someone else’s business?
“Even if they want to fight, they can’t grasp who the enemy is or where they are.”
This was also a fully understandable point. The sound of tooth-grinding, which had felt excessive, now felt quite mild.
At least one thing was clear.
How angry the Mount Hua Sect disciples were about the current matter, and how much they wanted to rip that culprit apart.
While I was inwardly sympathizing with the feelings of those Mount Hua Sect disciples, a quiet yet powerful voice came from the lead.
“It must have been hard. You must have endured it all the way from the village.”
“Senior Martial Uncle…”
The one offering comfort was the elderly Taoist of Mount Hua.
The figure who had told me that excessive politeness is a discourtesy and that if I did something worthy of pride, I should puff out my chest and be praised.
“Well done. If you had shown your anger in the village, the villagers would have found it hard to maintain their composure. Greater chaos would have been created. It is not good for them to see Mount Hua shaking either.”
The elderly Taoist, who possessed a sage-like demeanor as if he had popped out of a painting of immortals, had depth in his words just like his appearance.
At the elderly Taoist’s words of affirmation and comfort, the Mount Hua Sect disciples, who had been filled with anger until just a moment ago, nodded with deeply moved faces.
Not only those Mount Hua Sect disciples, but other Mount Hua Sect disciples nearby were also nodding as if they themselves had been validated.
A person with control.
He was a prominent person.
He showed a temperament that naturally led people.
If he had lived in the secular world dealing with many people rather than being a Taoist who turned his back on the world, he would have become an extremely influential figure.
A charming but dangerous word crossed my mind.
Hero.
[If he had been born in a chaotic era, he would have lived a fairly turbulent life.]
“That is certainly true.”
I also agreed with Master Zhang Sanfeng’s assessment.
Perhaps because of that, I became curious.
“Who is that person?”
“Adept Zihe.”
To my casual question and glance, Baek Mu-ho immediately answered, recognizing whom I was talking about.
“He’s a strange person. I’ve never heard anyone talk bad about him. There is no one who speaks ill of him. Seeing how he acts, it seems he’s still like that these days.”
“That’s amazing.”
He was clearly an elder-level figure. It was difficult for a person in such a position to receive such reviews.
“Though I don’t really like him.”
“Huh?”
“Shall I say he lacks human touch? If you’re human, you should make some mistakes and get cursed at. If someone is too perfect, it’s suffocating.”
“……It sounds very persuasive coming from you.”
He claimed he had never heard anyone badmouth him, yet he was badmouthing him himself.
No, if there was no one badmouthing Adept Zihe besides Baek Mu-ho, was it true that he had never heard anyone badmouth him?
Anyway, he was unique.
Adept Zihe.
He seemed to be someone I should remember.
***
When we reached the vicinity of Mount Hua, which was called the most treacherous mountain under heaven, I let out a small exclamation.
The most treacherous mountain under heaven.
Seeing it with my own eyes, I felt a sensation that was difficult to express in words.
Rather than trees, hard rock was more visible. The mountain terrain soared as if swords had been inserted upside down.
Looking from below, it was a terrain that made me wonder if humans actually lived there.
[When I first saw Mount Hua, I wondered how such a place could exist. It’s nice to see it after a long time.]
[It is a majestic presence that will not disappear even with the passage of time. Haha.]
Perhaps because they had visited Mount Hua before becoming immortals, Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma enjoyed the landscape they were seeing after a long time.
For some reason, they said that the methods to observe the lower world from heaven were extremely limited. Should I call it a control close to blocking?
Therefore, they were very pleased even with this indirect experience, which was close to a direct method.
Was it called the Ziwu Mirror?
A certain artifact that reflected the lower world through me.
Seeing that they liked the scenery of Mount Hua, I should consider looking around various places to thank my masters.
Since we had visited Mount Song, the Central Peak, and Mount Hua, the Western Peak, it wouldn’t be bad to take this opportunity to view the Five Great Mountains.
“By the way, that man Jeong Man-jok is quite something.”
He traveled back and forth between Hwaseong Village and Mount Hua in less than half a day. This meant he climbed up and down this treacherous Mount Hua in that short time.
The beginning of the mountain path was at least manageable for people to walk on, but as we climbed to a certain extent, it gradually became steeper, and now it was almost a cliff.
No, it wasn’t a metaphor; it was literally a cliff.
No path for people to walk on could be seen.
Unless a path was hidden elsewhere, it meant Jeong Man-jok leaped up and down that cliff. And that too in less than half a day.
While I was marveling, Adept Zihe casually asked.
“Do you know how to use lightness arts?”
“Uh…”
It was difficult to answer easily.
If asked if I knew how?
I did.
I was the one who had learned the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, a body-lightening method of a lifetime made by Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma putting their heads together.
The problem was that both the creation and the learning of it happened today.
Of course, considering my two masters’ levels, even if it came out in a split second, it would be an immense secret technique.
However, no matter how great the martial art was, I knew well what kind of result would come out if the user was unskilled.
In fact, I hadn’t been able to practice it even once yet.
So the answer to come out was obvious.
“He can’t. Not at all. He’s terrible at it.”
“I am so, so grateful to you for saying the difficult words on my behalf.”
It was that fellow Baek Mu-ho who gave a very honest answer instead of me, who was trying to reply in a moderately refined way.
Oh, you dirtily honest friend!
“Haha. Can a person be good at everything? At your age, it is natural to have more things you are bad at than things you are good at.”
Looking at me grinding my teeth at Baek Mu-ho, Adept Zihe seemed to want to comfort me in his own way, but it wasn’t comforting at all.
“Then climb up slowly. It won’t be bad to climb up while enjoying the scenery of Mount Hua. Since everyone… is somewhat excited right now.”
It seemed there was a path to climb up slowly.
However, to choose that path for my sake, everyone had a lot of things piled up in their hearts.
Just as Adept Zihe said, the Mount Hua Sect disciples were all flashing their eyes. There was a clear indication that they wanted to return to the Mount Hua Sect immediately and immerse themselves in training to beat the culprits more effectively when their identities were revealed later.
It was also a bad thing to hold such people back.
“Yes, I will go slowly.”
“Thank you for understanding. See you in a little while.”
Adept Zihe, who patted my shoulder once, gathered the Mount Hua Sect disciples and began to climb the mountain at a rapid pace.
“I guess there are two paths to the Mount Hua Sect?”
“Yeah. One is for ‘ordinary people’ who come to see the superb views of Mount Hua, and the other is used by ‘people who know a bit of lightness arts’.”
Since the entirety of Mount Hua was not treacherous to a crazy level, it seemed there was indeed a path to climb through a less treacherous area.
Though it seemed to be a path that required quite a detour.
Anyway, that bastard’s voice rising at certain intervals in the middle of his words was a bit annoying.
“Which way do you usually take?”
“I’m the type who knows a bit of lightness arts.”
“Really?”
“Haha! Look here, friend. The reason I am going by the path ‘ordinary people’ take is all because of you, the lightness-art-impotent gentleman. Stop talking nonsense and just follow me.”
“…….”
Even the gentle and benevolent(?) me had endured a lot by this point.
[Are you going to make soup out of what we taught you?]
[Neglecting sentient beings who need guidance is a sin, disciple.]
It seemed my masters also wanted it.
Then I should go for it.
“Shall we make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Between you and me. Who arrives at the Mount Hua Sect first.”
“Oh?”
A strange light flickered in Baek Mu-ho’s eyes.
His gaze could be read clearly.
It was the look of a battle he was bound to win.
And I was the dummy challenging him.
Certainly, I had shown a lack of lightness arts during this time.
Though there were times when I moved quickly, that was close to just running with my internal energy tensed up rather than a lightness art.
“What is the penalty?”
“Doing one thing the opponent wants. How about it?”
“Good!”
That fellow Baek Mu-ho eagerly accepted.
“Bwahaha! Whatever you imagined, I’ll show you more than that! I’ll mobilize all my creativity!!”
With a hearty laugh, Baek Mu-ho began to run forward quickly. He was so excited that his laughter did not fade even as the distance grew.
He seemed half-crazy.
I also became curious about what the extreme result that crazy guy could imagine was.
Ah, not that I wanted to experience it with my own body, though.
“You’re saying there is a faster path than that way?”
It wasn’t that I challenged him without any thoughts.
Our masters, who declared a stern lesson and guidance, said interesting words.
[The path that fellow ran on is a single path, so he cannot overtake the person ahead. He hurried to preoccupy that path. He must have thought you had a hidden move. Quite sharp.]
Seeing him run off alone, it was highly likely to be as Master Zhang Sanfeng said.
However, the path I would choose was not there anyway.
[Well, as we said in advance, it is more treacherous than over there, but it is a path that can definitely shorten the time. There is no other way to win the bet. I climbed it before upon Celestial Cheonhwa’s invitation, and the view is quite nice.]
“Then I must go. To test the newly learned martial art as well.”
They were not people who would make me do what I couldn’t. Since they surely thought I could do well, they were pushing my back.
Then, even if I couldn’t eat it, it was about guts.
What kind of expression would Baek Mu-ho have?
He must be smirking, thinking he definitely won, right?
But what to do.
“Masters, please ponder together with me on how to beat up that fellow Baek Mu-ho.”
It was my first time at Mount Hua, but my masters were different.
I had my masters with me!