Chapter 108

Mok Gyeong-hae stared at Yeon Mujin in disbelief.

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you’re the elder, you should buy the food. Since when does a younger brother pay for an elder? If I buy the meal, then I’m the elder. Or don’t mooch off others at all.”

“Are you being stingy?”

“A shameless fellow who wants to eat for free and still be called ‘brother’—that’s the worst kind of stingy.”

Mok Gyeong-hae thought as he watched Yeon Mujin.

‘He’s a man with a proud streak.’

He never conceded a single point gracefully.

Just before the extra dishes arrived, the server brought the liquor first.

Mok Gyeong-hae snatched the bottle as soon as it touched the table, downed it in one, and said, “You said food was off limits, not liquor, right?”

This time Yeon Mujin sounded incredulous.

“Are you stingy?”

“An eye for an eye, a sword for a sword, stingy for stingy—I merely returned like for like.”

“But you said you had pride before?”

“My followers would be more ashamed than I if I couldn’t even secure a meal for them.”

“Your sect must be starved of food.”

“And you, unable to buy a proper meal—sounds like you’re living poorly.”

“…”

“…”

Only Shapeshifter, caught between them, glanced between the two with a pitiful look.

In the end Mok Gyeong-hae stepped forward and revealed his identity first.

“I am Mok Gyeong-hae of Mount Hua.”

“Yeon Mujin of the Bukgung Family.”

“What? Bukgung Family? That’s the clan said to be the wealthiest under heaven, and you’re fussing over a single bowl of dangchoyuk?”

“You may insult our clan, but don’t insult me. I absolutely cannot tolerate that.”

Mok Gyeong-hae, about to retort, found his words stuck.

…Isn’t it usually the other way around?

“If the Bukgung Family bought meals wherever they went, they’d be known as a clan that gives alms.”

It wasn’t untrue, but to bring that up over a single unpaid meal felt galling.

“What brings the Bukgung Family all the way to this distant Hwawm-hyeon?”

Yeon Mujin looked at him steadily and answered Mok Gyeong-hae’s question.

“You came knowing well enough.”

Mok Gyeong-hae flinched inwardly and asked again.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s unlikely a Taoist of Mount Hua would deliberately seek me out among the countless inns in Hwawm-hyeon. You came after me on purpose, didn’t you?”

Mok Gyeong-hae let out an embarrassed laugh.

“For a stingy fellow, you’re sharp.”

“And you’re stingy yet careless. Usually the timid are the ones who care about others’ gazes.”

“I’m not stingy.”

“Then pay for the drinks.”

“…I’ll be stingy just for today.”

Since everything had been reduced to money, he couldn’t argue.

Yeon Mujin asked in a colder tone.

“Mok, the junior of Mount Hua, for what reason did you seek me out?”

“Ouch, sharp. Calm yourself. I came to offer an apology on behalf of Mount Hua. We had no right to drive away guests from afar like this. As you can see, the mood in Mount Hua is beyond words…”

“Hmph. You drove people off just at the name Bukgung Family?”

“Mount Hua bears some resentment toward the Bukgung Family. If you’re from a clan, you’d understand.”

“You’re talking about Mangeumjang?”

Mok Gyeong-hae gave a small nod.

“But what’s your affiliation?”

“…I’m from the Bukgung Family’s Flying Swallow Manor.”

Yeon Mujin tilted his head slightly and spoke quietly.

Mok Gyeong-hae watched him closely and asked, “I’ve never heard the name Flying Swallow Manor before.”

“That’s natural. The head of Flying Swallow Manor is the family’s youngest daughter. Compared to other manors, it’s not particularly renowned.”

The tone oddly belittled Flying Swallow Manor.

At that moment Mok Gyeong-hae had a realization.

‘This one must be someone hired by Mangeumjang!’

It seemed Yeon Mujin had struck some deal with Mangeumjang’s head out of dissatisfaction with his position.

Mok Gyeong-hae smiled with a hint of malice at Yeon Mujin—an expression Yeon Mujin didn’t notice. He also didn’t know that Geomdong, sitting with them, was watching him intently.

“Why is the food taking so long?” Mok Gyeong-hae asked, trying to change the subject out of embarrassment.

“For what reason did Flying Swallow Manor come to Mount Hua?” Yeon Mujin returned, then snorted and withheld more.

“No business. It’s not something to discuss with you.”

“Despite appearances, I’m fairly respected in Mount Hua. Besides, aren’t you currently in a position where you can’t even set foot in Mount Hua?”

Yeon Mujin considered Mok Gyeong-hae’s words.

Mok Gyeong-hae didn’t press further and waited for his reaction.

“My, my. You’re unusually curious for a Taoist.”

“Speak freely. Unlike those narrow-minded elders, I’m someone who’s a bit open-minded.”

“Then I’ll be brief. Flying Swallow Manor wishes to join hands with Mount Hua.”

“Flying Swallow Manor? With Mount Hua?”

“Yes. Isn’t Mount Hua cut off after falling out with the Bukgung Family? Mount Hua’s situation mirrors Flying Swallow Manor’s—both are without allies. As the old saying goes, ‘make distant alliances and attack nearby.’ The enemy of my enemy is my friend; people in pitiable circumstances should band together.”

Someone who came to recruit Mount Hua while openly disparaging it in front of a Mount Hua adept hardly seemed decent.

To Mok Gyeong-hae, though, the speech read like impatience disguised as public spirit.

Mok Gyeong-hae nodded. A novice reveals his hand too easily.

Therefore that fellow was a novice—perfect to exploit.

“I understand your intention, Junior Yeon. I’ll bring this up to the Sect Leader.”

Mok Gyeong-hae inwardly smirked as Yeon Mujin looked at him like a benefactor.

“Hey! What in the world is the cook doing? Hurry and serve Mok hyung his food!”

After Mok Gyeong-hae left, Shapeshifter finally drank deeply and with relish.

“Ahh, that’s good.”

“The drunkard is really suffering to hold back the alcohol,” Yeon Mujin said as he watched.

“What was that fellow just now?”

“Didn’t you hear the introduction? He’s a Taoist of Mount Hua, they said.”

“What a degenerate age. Everyone and his dog calls themselves a Taoist now…”

Shapeshifter seemed to have seen through Mok Gyeong-hae’s true nature. Because of his trade, he had a keen eye for judging people.

“Did you see the lust for killing in his eyes? In all my life I’ve never seen a Taoist with such dense murderous intent.”

“A monster wearing a Taoist’s shell,” Yeon Mujin said, chewing the cold pork stew.

You like pork dishes?

Really, the fellow must be in quite a hurry.

He knew Mok Gyeong-hae hated the smell of pork more than anything. If he forced himself to eat the detested dish, he was clearly pushed to his limits.

‘It seems the fellow noticed that the head of Ten Thousand Gold Manor made a deal with another faction.’

Mok Gyeong-hae was a greedy man.

He wasn’t the type to patiently accept being a replaceable card.

The Mount Hua he had long cultivated was about to fall into another’s hands; his anxiety made sense.

Thus this was a test of endurance between Mok Gyeong-hae and Yeon Mujin.

But Mok Gyeong-hae did not know this—Yeon Mujin did.

“In any case, something smells off. A shady scent. I don’t want to meet that fellow again.”

“That won’t do.”

“What?”

“He’ll take us to Mount Hua.”

Shapeshifter stared at Yeon Mujin for a long moment.

“Are you originally acquainted with that fellow? From the look of it, he seems to be meeting you for the first time…”

“I’ve seen him for the first time.”

“Then what do you trust about him?”

“I’m rather good at reading people.”

“…You.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t be under the illusion that I stick by you because I like you. If you plan to drag me into something dangerous, I’ll bolt without looking back. I can look after myself.”

Yeon Mujin nodded.

“Then I should ask one more favor before we run.”

“A second favor?”

Yeon Mujin took the bottle from her hand and said, “From now on, no more drinking. Old woman, you should quit drinking too.”

Morning Sun Peak of Mount Hua.

Also called the East Peak, this is the place on Mount Hua that greets the sun first.

Climbing Morning Sun Peak gives one a panoramic view of Mount Hua’s splendor and the sect’s various holdings. For that reason, the sect leader’s chamber has long been located on Morning Sun Peak.

The current Sect Leader of Mount Hua was Hong Yujin-in.

He was approaching sixty—an age at which elders in other sects might have already stepped down to become Grand Progenitor.

But Hong Yujin had not.

Why? Because Mount Hua was falling into ruin.

“Sect Leader, Hyun Geom has reported in.”

“Let him in.”

Hyun Geom, who came to see the Sect Leader, paid the utmost respect.

There was nearly a thirty-year age gap between Hong Yujin and Hyun Geom.

Given his age, Hyun Geom should have properly been a Jo-rank disciple rather than of the Hyeon cohort. But Hong Yujin had met him as a young man in the village where he had faced disasters and had taken him on as a disciple.

“Hyun Geom, are you here?”

“Sorry I’m late, Sect Leader.”

Mount Hua’s cohorts were nearly ten years apart by age, so Hyun Geom had grown up alongside older sworn brothers who had trained since childhood.

As an orphan who became a disciple in the same cohort and even the senior disciple, he was bound to be envied.

Perhaps because of that, no one among the Hyeon cohort adepts befriended Hyun Geom. Not even now.

“It’s all right. If you have something to say, speak frankly.”

Hyun Geom took a purse from his robe and handed it to the Sect Leader.

“This is the money I earned on my trip to the west bank.”

The purse Hyun Geom offered lay tantalizingly within reach of Hong Yujin’s hand.

The sect’s fortunes had declined so far that disciples survived on money earned outside the sect.

It felt like a band of black-clad rogues taking referral fees rather than a proper Taoist academy.

But even that had its limits; throughout Shaanxi, money had become scarce.

The three great disciples of Mount Hua in the recent line went hungry more often than not.

Hyun Geom earned the most of them. When mouths run short, shame disappears, whether for sect or person.

“Mount Hua bears a lot of guilt.”

Hong Yujin muttered—a sentence neither quite lament nor clear speech.

“What sins could the Sect Leader possibly have?” Hyun Geom’s voice was deep and warm.

“But it seems Mount Hua’s time has come for change.”

He looked past Hong Yujin’s shoulder.

The Purple Cloud Divine Sword.

It was Mount Hua’s sacred weapon, the symbol of the Sect Leader.

“…”

Hong Yujin knew what those words meant.

It was a silent appeal for him to relinquish the Sect Leader’s position and step down.

If Hong Yujin stepped down, the position should rightly pass to the next cohort, the Hyeon cohort.

By all accounts, Hyun Geom was currently contributing most to Mount Hua among the Hyeon cohort.

It would mean the unprecedented rise of a young Sect Leader in Mount Hua’s history.

…But Hong Yujin could not bring himself to hand Mount Hua over in its current state.

If Mount Hua were to fall, he decided it would fall on his watch; he would not pass the burden to the next generation.

Hong Yujin, who had been looking at Hyun Geom, slowly lowered his head toward the floor—toward the purse between them.

Lately, he sometimes feared Hyun Geom.