The day was bright.
"Okay!"
Chung Myung got up refreshed from a good night's sleep and opened the window.
"The weather looks good!"
There was bright sunlight pouring into the room. Chung Myung smiled as he let his face bask in the sun's light.
It felt good.
When he thought of the beautiful future and the bright tomorrow that Mount Hua would soon have, it felt like his whole body was energized. He stretched his back, relaxing his stiff body, and opened the door.
"You are up early."
"Uh?"
Chung Myung's eyes widened slightly. Wei Lishan was sweeping the front yard with a completely different face from yesterday.
"The Gate Leader is sweeping the yard?"
"Haha."
Hearing Chung Myung's words, he smiled.
"I feel like I was reborn yesterday, so I am trying to take care of the most basic things so that I don't forget this new life."
"Hm, I see."
Chung Myung smiled.
What did it mean when the gate leader himself swept his own yard? It meant that he would lead the Huayoung Gate with a new heart and will.
"Did the young disciple have a good rest?"
"It's been a while since I slept that well. It feels so refreshing."
Wei Lishan let out a low sigh.
'How is that even possible?'
Last night, Chung Myung had treated Wei Lishan until dawn. It was just an hour and a half ago that he managed to go back to his room, and Wei Lishan wasn't sure if Chung Myung had any time to sleep at all.
So how could a person with a small one and half hour manage to have a refreshing sleep?
'It is embarrassing.'
Wei Lishan had only thought of Chung Myung as a mess and a crazy man who was disturbing the flow of Mount Hua. But in retrospect, Chung Myung was the one who was leading his sasuks and sahyungs to rescue the Huayoung Gate, and he had even healed him.
Furthermore…
'How could there be a man with such a pure qi!'
The qi which Chung Myung induced into Wei Lishan was something he had never felt before. When he came into contact with such a pure qi, it felt like he was seeing a different person. With such pure qi, it was shameful to consider Chung Myung to be a bad person.
'I must not have the eyes to distinguish people.'
Wei Lishan looked at Chung Myung and smiled.
Mount Hua's Divine Dragon…he felt like a literal Divine Dragon on Earth. He didn't show himself easily to others and hid his skills, truly like a Divine Dragon does.
Once he started to have a positive outlook, everything seemed good for Wei Lishan.
The bright personality of Chung Myung, who was looking at him quietly, also felt good.
Chung Myung looked around and asked.
"My sasuks and sahyungs aren't out yet?"
"No one except for young disciple has come."
"The sun is already in the middle of the sky!"
"…"
Middle?
Wei Lishan rubbed his eyes.
No matter how much he looked, the sun had just risen, but to say that it was in the middle…
'It must mean that he lives his life diligently every day.'
Since it came from the mouth of Chung Myung, Wei Lishan thought it was good, but it still felt like something was wrong.
The type of qi and the personality one had, had nothing to do with each other.
It was just an illusion that those who hadn't experienced the Dao properly thought of. It was a common misconception to think that a person with clear qi would follow the path of Dao.
And it was even more true in Chung Myung's case.
"Tch. I told them to get it done by morning!"
Chung Myung strode towards the main building.
"Where are you going?"
"Ah. There is something I have ordered the sasuks and sahyungs to do."
Uh?
Who ordered whom?
Wei Lishan titled his head.
'Did I hear it wrong?'
Maybe he did.
While he was arranging his thoughts, Chung Myung walked over and looked ahead. Without hesitation, he opened the door to the main building.
"Is it done… what is this?"
Chung Myung's eyes widened as he saw the scene in front of him.
A strange sight unfolded before his eyes.
Sa-Sa-Sa-Sasuk?
Baek Cheon, whose eyes were bloodshot, was scribbling something with ink on a long scroll. There was a piece of paper on the floor which already had something on it.
"No. It isn't this. It… it cannot be this."
Crazy!
With one hand, he was writing something at a formidable speed, and his mouth was saying something else. He was nervously biting down on the thumb of the other hand over and over again.
"This shouldn't be… if that is the case, then something should come."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon with blank eyes and turned his head.
In the background, there was the sound of Jo Gul sitting at the table and banging his head against it.
"I am trash… trash… I am trash… the only trash…"
"…"
Yoon Jong was looking at the map and pulling out his hair. Already plenty had fallen to the ground. And Yu Yiseol was in the corner muttering something with a depressed face. It seemed like she was turning her surroundings darker too.
"… wh-what are you all doing?"
When Chung Myung shouted at the weird sight, the four of them looked at him at the same time and sighed deeply.
"You couldn't solve it?"
"That's only a part of it."
Baek Cheon said in a trembling voice, still biting down on his thumb.
"I am a person who has answered countless things, but this time I don't have the answer to this."
"Is that so?"
Baek Cheon nodded at the question.
"This isn't something a genius can solve. We will need at least three people who are the best geniuses in the world to solve this. I am telling you!"
"The Wudangs solved it."
"Really?"
"…"
"…"
Baek Cheon coughed at it.
"… the Wudang must have a great genius among them then."
Chung Myung's face turned pale.
"The Wudang solved it, but Mount Hua can't?"
"Who said that! Some of the things were solved by the sasuks. But the time and manpower we have is too tight to completely solve it!"
"Umm."
Chung Myung titled his head. Not just Baek Cheon, but the others too had a rotten look in their eyes. It didn't seem like they could solve it even if he somehow got them more time.
'Maybe we cannot do it?'
"Anyway, even if we try, we cannot solve it like Wudang. This is beyond our ability. We need someone who has studied such things professionally."
"Studied what?"
"Qi usage, techniques and operations."
"Ah, who in the world will study such things?"
"Right. Which is why we need to find someone quickly."
"In here?"
"…"
Baek Cheon turned his head and looked outside the window.
'This is Nanyang.'
It was difficult to find people who studied such things professionally here. There is no way such a person would even live here.
"… right now, wouldn't it be better to head to a city and get someone from there?"
"Right now?"
Chung Myung titled his head.
Seeing the way he tilted his head, Yoon Jong retreated. The stiffness in that turn was higher than usual. And this meant that Chung Myung's head was properly heated.
Chung Myung's eyes began to gleam.
"In a little while, people from the Wudang Sect will come over to us like a pack of dogs. What did you say? Go to a city and find someone to decipher it?"
"…"
Baek Cheon's heart sank.
It wasn't because he was scared of Chung Myung, who was getting angry. It was true that Chung Myung was a ruthless person, but he wasn't someone who bullied people for things they couldn't do.
The reason Baek Cheon was scared was simply because he could see Chung Myung's eyes changing now. That face meant that no one could predict what he'd do next.
"I-Is there no way out?"
"Oh? No way?"
Chung Myung smiled weirdly. Seeing that evil smile, the disciple of Mount Hua shuddered.
"W-what are you going to do?"
"I'll solve it."
When Chun Myung reached his hand out, Yoon Jong quickly handed him the map.
"Is it a real one?"
"It looks like it. It is difficult, and there are rules to handle it. If there is more time it can be solved, but… right now it is impossible."
"So, this is the real one."
Chung Myung looked at the map.
"Then it must be true that the Wudang guys solved it."
"…"
"Okay. Then, we cannot solve it, which means we cannot figure out where the Sword Tomb is while we are in Nanyang. And the Wudang disciples must have arrived back at Wudang by now, so they will be flocking back here within a few days, right?"
Chung Myung's face was turning more and more serious.
"Then we will end up being chased by those dogs, and we would have to watch the Wudang bastards take away the information and get stronger, right?"
The Wudang Sect and the pills.
It was the most horrific union, according to Chung Myung.
Both the Wudang and Shaolin sects basically used martial arts, which represented balance. And such people get pills to enhance their power?
That wasn't a nice answer.
Consider Mu Jin, whom he fought yesterday. If he took the pill and his qi increased…even if all the disciples of Mount Hua, except for Chung Myung, went to fight him, Mu Jin would still win.
"Hmm."
Chung Myung frowned.
'What do we do?'
As Chung Myung looked like he was in deep thoughts, Yoon Jong sighed and said,
"Chung Myung."
"Yes?"
"We cannot help it. We cannot deal with the Wudang disciples on our own, can we?"
"…"
"Let's give this up…"
"Sahyung, what did you say?"
"Uh. Give up…"
"No. Before that."
"…we cannot deal with Wudang on our own."
"We. Right, we."
Chung Myung's eyes lit up as he realized something.
"We cannot stop them…"
A weird smile began to form on his face.
"Then it would be fine if it isn't just us!"
"Uh?"
"Let's raise the stakes!"
Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon were confused.
'No, what else is he going to do now?'
They both looked at Chung Myung with that question on their faces, and he responded with kind eyes.
"Well, we cannot stop the Wudang Sect by ourselves. If they know that I beat Mu Jin, they will send out stronger people."
"Right."
"Then it's better for us to raise the stakes!"
"What?"
"We release the information that there is a Sword Tomb to the world."
"…"
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with a blank expression.
'Is he insane?'
The existence of the Sword Tomb was invaluable! It was a treasure which they couldn't hand over even if they were given all the riches in the world, and now he was telling them to release information about it out to the world?
"Th…"
"Ah, wait!'
Yoon Jong held his hand to ask, but Baek Cheon held him back.
"It sounds crazy but if I think about it, it doesn't seem wrong. If the Wudang Sect does come here, we can't stop them. But what if several sects gather here at the same time?"
"…they will have to handle all of them."
"Right!"
Yoon Jong frowned and said.
"The entire thing is an 'if' situation, but it does have the best outcome. It can target the ones aiming for the Tomb. And if the Wudang alone tries to go after the Sword Tomb, we won't have the power to intervene… but all the sects will flock here for it and…"
Yoon Jon looked at Chung Myung.
"There are sects who will have the most fun when making a mess of a situation, right?"
Baek Cheon bit his lip.
'It feels like everything is going to turn crazy here.'
An alarm was ringing inside his head.
Baek Cheon shook his head and looked at Chung Myung.
"Then how will we get the word out? Can we just go around and talk about the Sword Tomb?'
"Like people would trust our words!"
"Then? We don't have much time!"
Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.
"No matter how much we talk about it, no one will believe us. We should have someone who is trusted speak about it."
"Who is that?"
Chung Myung smiled.
"It isn't a who, but where?"
Chung Myung turned around.
"Everyone should rest, I will be back."
"Where are you going?"
Chung Myung answered without even looking back.
"Luoyang!"