Chapter 1465
Is that what we saw? (5)
Hwang Jong-ui’s face, as he gazed into the distant south, bore a deep sense of concern.
‘Are they going to be okay?’
For a while now, there had been no news from Hwasan. It was incredibly frustrating and disheartening.
Despite numerous attempts to inquire about Hwasan’s situation through Hwaeum’s branch of the Beggars Sect, he was only met with evasion. It had been several days since communication from the Beggars Sect’s headquarters had ceased.
“It’s as if they’re completely oblivious,”
Hwang Jong-ui muttered, his face clouded with anger.
Could it be possible that Beggars Sect hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation? This was undoubtedly them blatantly disregarding Hwaeum’s branch.
“Hmm.”
Hwang Jong-ui let out a short sigh and lowered his head. His temples throbbed with tension.
Observing his troubled demeanor, the chief administrator of Eunha cautiously inquired.
“Master.”
“Hmm?”
“What about the additional supplies we were planning to send? They’ve been waiting for two days already.”
“…Let’s wait a little longer.”
“We can’t keep them waiting like this indefinitely, can we?”
Hwang Jong-ui glanced briefly at the carts lined up in front of Eunha merchant guild’s Hwaeum branch, then sighed.
“Let’s give it just one more day. After that, we’ll either return them to the warehouse or send them down the Yangtze River.”
“Yes, understood. We will proceed accordingly.”
Another sigh escaped him. It seemed that Hwaeum was not showing any signs of being as lively as before.
Indeed, it was a peculiar situation.
Hwaeum had undoubtedly grown into a larger town. With more people and the establishment of Eunha merchant guild’s branch, the traffic of merchants traveling to and from the village had increased.
Although the branch might appear small, in reality, it served as a crucial hub for the logistics handled by Eunha, involving substantial amounts of money and goods flowing through its transactions. Yet, despite these advancements, Hwang Jong-ui couldn’t shake the feeling of desolation surrounding the current state of Hwaeum.
The people of Hwasan. They were few in number now, and those who turned their attention to the village were rare. Yet, with their absence, the entire village seemed to lose its vitality.
It dawned on Hwang Jong-ui once again that the affairs of the world couldn’t be gauged simply by wealth and manpower alone.
“Excuse me, Master.”
“Hmm?”
“Um… What if Cheonumaeng has gone to Sichuan and faced a disaster there?”
In an instant, sparks flew from Hwang Jong-ui’s eyes.
“How dare you mock me with such thoughtless words!”
His enraged voice erupted, causing the contemplative administrator to prostrate himself on the spot.
“I-I apologize! I was just too worried…”
“No matter how worried you are, there are words that should be spoken and words that shouldn’t! If you utter such words again, I won’t stand idly by!”
“Yes! Yes, Master! I’ll keep that in mind.”
Hwang Jong-ui bit his lip slightly.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the anxiousness driving the words. However, regardless of the worry, speaking recklessly was unacceptable.
‘They must be safe. No, they have to be.’
That…
“Masteeeeer!”
At that moment, someone burst into the wide-open main entrance of the guild. Hwang Jong-ui furrowed his brow at the sight of the person’s flustered demeanor.
“Didn’t I tell you to remain calm at all times? Merchants are supposed to…”
“The people from Hwasan!”
“Huh?”
“They’re, they’re here at the village entrance! Right now! Right now!”
“Move aside!”
“Oof!”
Hwang Jong-ui shoved aside the guild member in front of him and dashed out in a hurry. The person who had been sprawled on the ground watched momentarily, dazed, then snapped back to attention and scrambled to his feet.
“L-Let’s go together! Master! Master!”
The person also ran after Hwang Jong-ui. Other members around them did the same, abandoning their tasks and rushing towards the village entrance.
“Where are they?”
“There! Can’t you see over there?”
“Ah!”
Hwang Jong-ui widened his eyes.
Indeed, a group of people was approaching from afar. Their appearance was still difficult to discern at such a distance. However, even from afar, the sight of black robes and swords at their waists identified them unmistakably.
“They… they’ve returned!”
Moisture welled up in the corners of Hwang Jong-ui’s eyes.
Though he didn’t say it aloud, how much had he worried? No, since their departure, there hadn’t been a single moment of peace of mind. Yet finally, here they were, returning to Hwaeum.
“A-are they…? Are they all safe?”
“It seems so. There must be at least a hundred… No, two hundred… No, three hundred? Uh…”
“Huh?”
“Uh…”
The number of people returning to Hwaeum was increasing compared to those who had left.
“Why are more coming? Why do they keep…”
“I-it seems like it could be… a thousand?”
“More are coming?”
“W-who are all these people, Master?”
With emotions momentarily set aside, Hwang Jong-eui quickly assessed the situation and came to a decisive conclusion.
“It seems… like there might have been a breakthrough, doesn’t it?”
The faces of Eunha’s members, brimming with joy just moments ago, suddenly drained of color.
“Master! We’re short on accommodations!”
“Ugh! Didn’t I tell you it might be short! What about the tents we prepared earlier?”
“W-well, they’re probably at headquarters…”
“Then what are you waiting for! Go get them right away!”
“There’s a shortage of manpower! We’re already stretched thin trying to guide these people and gather essentials on the spot. Where do we have the capacity to send people back to headquarters?”
“Is that something a merchant should be saying? Can’t you move right away?”
“P-please, hold on… How about sending the people to Hwasan Sect for now? I heard there are many vacant rooms on their grounds…”
Hwang Jong-eui’s eyes shot flames of fury.
“What? Have you ever seen such a foolish human being?”
“W-why are you saying that, Master?”
“If we house people at the top of the mountain, they’ll have to carry supplies up there every day. Who’s going to do that? Are you going to do it?”
“…Why did the ancestors of Hwasan build pavilions on top of such mountains in the first place?”
“So stop spouting nonsense and quickly send someone to fetch the tents. We need to come up with a makeshift solution! Hurry!”
“Yes…”
At that moment, another guild member rushed in with a look of concern.
“Master! Th-there’s a big problem! We’re running out of grain!”
“What? What nonsense is this! Shortage of grains! How is that even possible?”
“Well, uh, all the grains we stored earlier were sent to the Yangtze…”
“You fool! Instead of standing around, shouldn’t we be getting it right away? Send people to Xian to gather all the grains each merchant holds! Immediately!”
“Oh, Master. Do you have to be so harsh? If word spreads that we’re urgently seeking grain, they’ll raise the prices even higher.”
“Even if they raise it tenfold, we still need it! Stop the chatter and do as you’re told.”
“Ugh… Yes, understood.”
The reporter rushed out. From Hwang Jong-ui’s mouth came a sigh of distress.
“What on earth is happening…”
Grains and accommodations could somehow be managed. But sustaining people’s livelihoods was not so simple. From the moment they accommodated them in Hwaeum, endless needs would arise.
“Master… Will they continue to stay here?”
At the chief administrator’s inquiry, Hwang Jong-ui furrowed his brow.
“The urgent fire can be put out, but… isn’t it a separate issue for them to settle here? Even if they’re Hwaeum people, they’re only in the hundreds, while the newcomers alone exceed the population of the village. Isn’t this a much bigger issue than our current resources?”
“Well, since the entire Tang clan has come over, there’s no helping it…”
“After providing living quarters for those people, Hwaeum will easily triple in size. Who’s going to handle all that?”
“…We will?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to work, but…”
“I understand what you mean.”
Hwang Jong-ui scratched his head.
Having calculated it over and over in his mind, he suddenly took off and rushed outside.
At the village entrance, Hyun Jong was carefully observing the situation of the arrivals.
“Sect Leader, no, retired Sect Leader!”
“Master Hwang.”
Hyun Jong warmly clasped Hwang Jong-ui’s hand, his expression filled with concern and apology as he spoke.
“You’ve been through a lot. I’m truly sorry for the trouble.”
“Trouble? What trouble could there be?”
Hyun Jong’s words made Hwang Jong-i flinch, and he lowered his head.
“Well… It’s not really a problem if we’re the ones going through trouble, but no matter how you look at it, accommodating this many people in Hwaeum doesn’t seem easy.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“Yes, retired Sect Leader. This place is just a small village to begin with. If a group like this settles here, it’s going to cause more than a few inconveniences. And it’s not something that can be easily resolved just by trying hard.”
Hyun Jong sighed, deep in thought. Such matters were surely better understood by Hwang Jong-i than anyone else.
“Then, what do you suggest we do? Let me make it clear, we can’t send them away.”
“How about accommodating them in Xian instead?”
“Xian?”
“Yes. Xian is nearby, isn’t it? There wouldn’t be much difference in terms of distance. Moreover, Xian has plenty accommodations to spare, and there are many sects that are friendly to Hwasan. We could even rent their estates. Besides, Xian is a big city, so compared to this small place, there’s an abundance of goods. There’s no need to struggle to acquire supplies.”
Hyun Jong nodded as if he found the reasoning sound.
“Indeed, it seems quite reasonable.”
Hyun Jong’s words caused a hint of hope to spread across Hwang Jong-ui’s face. If they were to relocate to Xian, their workload would be halved… no, it would be reduced by several times. But Hyun Jong hasn’t finished speaking.
“However, this… this notion of rationality is quite futile, living in reality.”
“Uh… what do you mean?”
“Even if you speak the truth, it’s only rational if the listener comprehends it, isn’t it?”
“What… what are you trying to say?”
“Oh, here they come.”
“Uh… what do you mean?”
“Over there.”
Hwang Jong-ui turned his gaze towards the direction indicated by Hyun Jong. It was the entrance of the village, where numerous people were pouring in, and the ground seemed slightly flatter than before.
‘Huh?’
As they watched, something was rapidly approaching, kicking up clouds of dust from a distance.
“Uh, what’s that?”
Hwang Jong-ui and others looked in that direction, each offering their own interpretations.
“It looks familiar, but… a bit different, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, the dust cloud isn’t usually that big.”
“And this time, there are several of them?”
Hwang Jong-ui’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Eventually, they became clear. Several carts racing towards Hwaeum, and a man standing atop a pile of goods.
“No-o-o-o!”
His voice, amplified by fury, pierced through everyone’s ears.
“What have you been doing all this time! Get these things unloaded!”
No one dared to speak.
Clench.
Hyun Jong lightly grabbed Hwang Jong-ui’s shoulder, who remained silent, staring up at the sky.
Today, more than ever, he missed his father, who had passed away some time ago.
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