Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1486. I Didn't Come to See You? (1)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The clear cry of the Thousand-Li Golden Dove spread through the now-silent brothel.
'This person...'
The master of Heavenly Ascension Tower. The owner of the Thousand-Li Golden Dove.
He was clearly the very person they had been struggling to find all this time. But the moment they arrived at that answer, Baek Cheon instead found himself falling into even greater doubt.
'But why did that bastard want to find this person?'
Just as Baek Cheon's gaze was about to turn to Chung Myung.
"Indeed."
"…Hmm?"
"With appearance alone, it would be difficult to distinguish even close relatives. Certainly enough to deceive Beggar Union’s eyes and ears."
The gap between Baek Cheon's eyebrows narrowed sharply.
"Moreover..."
The Pavilion Master's gaze turned to one side. Isong Baek, who received that gaze, coughed as if something had gone down wrong and bowed his head.
"If Southern Edge Sect Isong Baek is together with someone of this appearance, no one would dare to think of suspecting."
"Keuheum."
A series of coughs burst out of Isong Baek's mouth.
“I, this...”
“Don't worry.”
The Pavilion Master said bluntly.
"I've no intention of reporting this to Southern Edge Sect. There's no need to share what I know with others."
“...”
Baek Cheon and Isong Baek's complexions simultaneously hardened slightly.
It was a welcome thing that he does not to spread rumors, but they sense in his words that he intend to use this fact to his advantage someday.
"That’s..."
As Baekcheon tries to sort out the situation somehow, the Pavilion Master opened his mouth again.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s your turn to ask questions yet. You still haven’t answered mine. I’ll ask again. For what reason have you come seeking me?”
“...”
The initiative had shifted entirely to the man.
Baek Cheon, having been caught by a weakness that wasn't a weakness, found it difficult to converse with the man on equal terms. No, perhaps even without that weakness, this opponent would have been difficult to deal with.
‘At this rate…’
They were being swept along by the other's intentions. Continuing like this, they might leave empty-handed with only losses.
But as soon as that sense of crisis arose, an indifferent voice reached Baek Cheon's ears.
"Reason?"
“…It’s more of a business than a reason.”
“Buuuusiness?”
“...”
Chung Myung's face suddenly twisted. Bewilderment that didn't suit him bloomed on the Heavenly Ascension Tower Master's face upon seeing that sight.
"Hey."
"…Yes?"
"Do you need a reason just to meet a mere brothel master?"
The Pavilion Master’s emotionless face showed a flicker of confusion.
"What kind of bastard who sells liquor acts so high and mighty. Back in my day, when customers called, even ten-story pavilion master would come running barefoot! Youngster these days! Right, Sahyung?”
"...Isn't that a bit different from this?"
“How is it different? It’s the same. That guy just called himself pavilion master!”
“Right. Well… then I guess it is the same.”
If you say so, then I suppose it is.
"Right? Pavilion Master?"
When Chung Myung fired off bluntly, the Pavilion Master let out a hollow laugh. But he didn’t have much to say in return. After all, he himself had introduced himself as the pavilion master.
"...They said Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword’s freedom is beyond words and cannot be judged by ordinary common sense, and it seems that rumor is true."
The man lets out a short sigh and nods.
“You’re right. Heavenly Ascension Tower or whatever, it’s still just a brothel. To find the pavilion master, a great reason and such would not be needed. Especially when the guest is the renowned Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword, far beyond the station of a mere pavilion master."
"Ahem. No need to flatter me so much. Hehehe. Sasuk, this guy seems nicer than we thought?"
"...Get a grip, you bastard. Before I lose mine."
"Oh, right."
Chung Myung quickly composed his loosened expression and opened his mouth again.
"It's nice that you evaluate me so highly, but you don't seem like someone who could be called just a pavilion master either. I never even thought there would be a person who would set up something like this in the middle of Kaifeng, where bastard of Beggar Union swarm like an ant colony."
"Those words are wrong."
"Hm?"
"It is not that setting up something like this in Kaifeng is amazing. It is because this place is Kaifeng that a brothel like this can be established."
Chung Myung's eyes sink slightly.
“Hm. So you’re saying that half-assed Evil Sects bastards are too scared of the Beggar Union to even show their faces, and the beggars themselves keep their distance because of their status as beggars. That it?”
A flicker of interest passed through the Pavilion Master’s eyes as he heard Chung Myung’s words.
"Precisely."
"Even so, the government officials with bellies full of grease wouldn't have just left a place like this alone, would they? How much did you offer them?"
"Not at all. I haven't given them a single coin."
“Huh? Why?”
The man spoke calmly.
"Because the ones who need this place the most are precisely them. Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.”
"...This place?"
"That is so."
The man nodded and continued speaking.
"It may be something you all cannot understand, but ordinary high officials always live worrying that their words and actions might be found out by someone. The more weight their conversations carry, the more their obsession with secrecy grows to a pathological level.”
“...”
“That’s why a place like this becomes necessary. A place where they can speak freely without worrying about the imperial palace or Kangho.”
"Couldn't they just go somewhere remote? Why be so stupidly...”
Chung Myung stopped mid-sentence and chuckled.
"Ahh. Those bastards can't distinguish whether a place is truly deserted or not. Because they're not martial artists."
“That is so. Moreover... for people of that caliber, the very act of seeking out deserted places tends to draw attention. Just as you tried to thoroughly hide your entry into this place."
Chung Myung nodded as if understanding.
“But no one thinks it strange when a high-ranking official enjoys some entertainment at a fancy brothel nearby?”
"Precisely."
“And it wouldn’t be particularly strange to run into another high-ranking official on that run. That it?”
“Precisely. The infamy one gets from that is a cheap price for hiding one's words."
Chung Myung scratched his head.
“This is why I never understand what those high officials or rich bastards are thinking.”
Chung Myung sighed deeply and looked at the Pavilion Master with indifferent eyes.
"So? You are a person who makes such folks speak with peace of mind, and then picks up those words to earn money?"
“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”
“Hm? Misunderstanding?”
“I don’t listen to their conversations. I simply let them talk.”
Chung Myung chuckled.
"You laid it all out as if you know me very well, but it seems there's one thing you don't know well. I—"
"—Hate a person who lies to your face. Especially when it’s an obvious lie that’ll be found out anyway.”
“...”
Chung Myung glared at the Pavilion Master without saying a word.
"I know this is hard to accept. Someone who could instantly recognize your identities must be well-versed in information. So you would think there's no way they would just let this precious information flow by."
Everyone nodded. Logically, it made no sense otherwise. If not for that, why would anyone go to such lengths to create a place like this?
“But Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword. Do you know the first thing required in order to profit from information?”
“…What’s that?”
"It is precisely that information must exist."
“...”
Chung Myung looked at the Pavilion Master with dazed eyes. Not from surprise. He simply couldn't grasp what reaction he should have to this all-too-obvious story.
However, the Pavilion Master continued speaking calmly as if it were natural.
"No information emerges from completely open places. But here, information comes into being—information that would never have existed if this place hadn’t been here.”
“...”
"The more information arises in the world, the more information there is to use. A merchant earns money by selling grain, but if there is no farmer who grows the grain, a merchant and such cannot even exist."
"So?"
Chung Myung glared at the Pavilion Master with cold eyes.
"You are the one who cultivates that information?"
"So to speak, yes."
“Hahaha.”
A laugh of disbelief slipped from Chung Myung’s mouth.
“I was wondering what kind of big shot I’d find by chasing that little bird.”
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth twisted oddly.
"...This is downright a madman."
The Pavilion Master looked at Chung Myung without answering. His eyes were still calmly sunken, but that gaze clearly reached Chung Myung.
"That evaluation is just. However."
Pavilion Master quietly shook his head.
“That judgment doesn’t seem fitting coming from your mouth. Because if anyone’s more of a lunatic than me, it’s you.”
“...”
“Now that we’ve said what we had to say, it’s time you answered my question.”
The man paused for a moment as if to lighten the mood. Then after receiving everyone's attention, he opened his mouth again.
"Why did you come to seek me out, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?"
Everyone turned their gazes to Chung Myung this time. They too were curious. But once again, Chung Myung didn't give the answer they wanted.
"I wasn't looking for you?"
"Hm?"
Chung Myung shrugged.
"I just followed that bird. I thought chasing it would lead me to someone using beggars to monitor me."
“...”
“Right. So, someone who can freely command local branch leaders of Beggar Union, someone who uses a reporting line different from the regular channels, and someone with enough authority to learn about my movements even faster than Beggar Union’s main headquarters.”
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth curled up.
“Do you understand?”
“...”
The Pavilion Master's face hardened.
"I thought if I came here, I could meet such a person. As far as I know, there's only one person in the world who could pull off such a thing."
"There's some misunderstand..."
“Beggar Union...”
“...”
"Sect Leader."
Pavilion Master's gaze sharply pierced through Chung Myung.
Beggar Union Sect Leader.
It wasn't the Pavilion Master who was flustered by those words, but rather Five Swords.
“Chu- Chung Myung-ah. What are you saying? Beggar Union Sect Leader is bedridden right now and barely even breathing…”
"That's what I should be saying."
"What?"
"I came to meet that old man who is on his deathbed, but when I actually came and looked, there is no old man on his deathbed, and some madman is here instead. Wouldn't I be flustered too?"
"Ah..."
Chung Myung chuckled.
"Then the conclusion is one of two things."
“One of two?”
"Either Beggar Union Sect Leader has been deceiving the world while perfectly healthy and playing immortal here.”
“...”
"Or the Beggar's Sect has already been seized by someone who isn't the sect leader and is being manipulated at will. That yangban would be the mastermind behind it."
The Five Swords turned their heads violently towards the Pavilion Master.
“I- Isn’t that taking it too far?”
"Then how else would you explain someone who can give orders to Beggar Union branch leader dispatched to Luoyang that differ from headquarters' commands?"
"That's..."
The Five Swords shut their mouths.
Indeed, there was no other way to interpret it.
“So which is it?”
"That's something I should ask that yangban, not something I know. Hey."
Chung Myung's smiling eyes reach the Pavilion Master. In that instant, the Pavilion Master flinched ever so slightly. As if he had felt strong pressure from that insignificant gaze.
“Who are you?”
At the same time, the Five Swords’ bodies tensed up sharply.
Everyone understood that depending on that answer, a life-risking fight might occur in this place.
But the Pavilion Master, the one holding all the keys, did not speak easily.
“I…”
The Pavilion Master, who had been hesitating for a good while, finally shakes his head. It was a declaration of giving up and of surrender.
“Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword… I was so careful…”
“...”
"Your words are correct."
“What?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
As voices filled with suspicion spilled from the Five Swords’ mouths.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the current Sect Leader of Beggar Union.”
A triumphant smile bloomed on Chung Myung's lips.
|Note
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