Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1203. What's the Difference? (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The beggar, running so fast so that all the stale rice in his hand was scattered, went to a shack in the corner and kicked the straw mat hanging on the door as he barged in.
“Buntaju!”
“How did it go?”
Hong Dae-gwang, who was half-lying in a corner of the shack, quickly raised his body and asked.
“How do you think it’d go? It was a mess."
"What?"
"They are divided in half and fighting, it's a mess. I went around several places, and it’s the same everywhere.”
A groan escaped Hong Dae-gwang's lips.
“These people are being too much no matter what. How much has Heavenly Comrade Alliance done for them all this time?”
“How could they remember such things? They only care about what more they will get in the future. There's no way that a person who's been a beggar all his life doesn't know that the world is just that cruel."
“Do you think I don’t know that? That’s precisely why I’m so frustrated!"
Hong Dae-gwang's face was covered in annoyance.
The fact that public opinion is split in half doesn't seem like such a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. After all, it means that half of the people understand Heavenly Comrade Alliance's position.
However, that's when you don't consider the situation up until now. Before this news spread, the common people were overwhelmingly supported Heavenly Comrade Alliance, not Ten Great Sects.
In recent years, while Ten Great Sects has done nothing for the common people, didn’t Heavenly Comrade Alliance not only provide aid to the common people in the Yangtze River, but also risked their lives rushing to Hangzhou to repel Magyo?
It was a situation where anyone with ears and a brain could not help but support Heavenly Comrade Alliance.
In such a situation, the fact that public opinion is split in half means that the cause presented by Bop Jeong has been well-received. Ten Great Sects, who had been losing ground, had finally landed a solid blow against Heavenly Comrade Alliance.
‘That rotten fake monk...’
Hong Dae-gwang clenched his teeth.
The cunning Bop Jeong did not convey the facts as they were. He pretended to, but slyly inserted the idea that Heavenly Comrade Alliance had selfishly rejected Ten Great Sects' concession for its own benefit.
It wasn’t blatant enough to be called out or refuted easily, but it was enough to stir the pot.
“The position of Shaolin bangjang wasn’t something attained in the gambling table, so this is only natural.....”
The reason he couldn’t help but curse was because the position of Shaolin’s bangjang was supposed to represent Righteousness, not cunning political maneuvering.
“Is there no word from Heavenly Comrade Alliance?”
“What’s there to say? It’s not like Bop Jeong said anything technically untrue.”
In fact, it is true that Mount Hua rejected Bop Jeong's proposal to join forces. Sure, there were nuances in the details, but people don’t care much for others’ circumstances or details.
“Doesn’t Heavenly Comrade Alliance have something to say? In fact, what does Heavenly Comrade Alliance lack that they would bow their heads and enter Ten Great Sects now?"
“That’s how it looks to us, but in the eyes of common people, Ten Great Sects is still a much larger and historically deeper place."
“Hmm... Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
"So if the two join forces, the natural assumption is that Heavenly Comrade Alliance will be swallowed up and Ten Great Sects will be the ones left standing."
"This felt strange."
Dong Gwak scratched his head.
After all, since Beggar Union also belongs to Ten Great Sects, he should feel good that the common people favor Ten Great Sects a little more. However, as a member of Huayin Branch, who was as close as sticky rice cake to Mount Hua, it wasn't something to be happy about. That’s why it felt so strange.
"So? You just sat there and listened?"
"...Then what was I supposed to do?"
“Hey, you punk! You just sat there and listened to ignorant people spouting nonsense? You should’ve corrected them right there! Told them that’s not how it is!”
“Aigoo, Buntaju. Get a grip!"
Dong Gwak looked at Hong Dae-gwang as if it were absurd.
“No matter how close we are with Mount Hua, how can we go against orders from above? Shouldn’t our job now be not to defend Heavenly Comrade Alliance, but to spread Bangjang’s stance to the world?”
“So what? You want me to spread those rumors that slander Mount Hua guys with my own mouth?”
"Who said to go that far? You can fail to follow orders, but you can't go in the opposite direction. If you do that and get marked by the higher-ups, it’ll be your neck on the line, Buntaju. Don’t you know that?"
“Ei, damn it.”
Finally cursing, Hong Dae-gwang huffed out a breath.
"The people who call beggars dirty are the biggest jokes. There are far dirtier people out there. The stench of rot fills the air! The stench of rot!"
"Watch your words. You'll really get excommunicated like that."
"If I get excommunicated, you think I’ll have nowhere to go? I can just join Mount Hua!"
“…They probably won’t accept you?”
“What? Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword is my friend, you punk!”
"Doesn’t it matter more whether Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword feels the same?"
“What’s with this rascal, since earlier?”
When Hong Dae-gwang grabbed the club next to him, Dong Gwak flinched and quickly shrank his neck.
“Ei, damn you!”
Curse words flowed out of Hong Dae-gwang's mouth again.
The place where he was now was the Yangtze River region, one of the three areas in the world, along with Shaanxi and Sichuan, where public opinion was most favorable to Heavenly Comrade Alliance. If public opinion is split in half even here, isn't it obvious what it would be like elsewhere?
“No matter how fickle the human mind is, and how quickly public opinion can change overnight... Damn it, people are cold. How could they…?”
“It’s not that they hate Heavenly Comrade Alliance. They’re just anxious. Anxious.”
"What are they anxious about? What?"
“Actually... It’s true that Heavenly Comrade Alliance was the only one that rushed to deal with the disaster in Hangzhou, but… it’s also true that they didn’t exactly save the people of Hangzhou, did they?”
Hong Dae-gwang's face stiffened at those words.
“So what? What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m not saying it’s wrong… but what do you think people who know that thought? They probably figured that if Magyo comes at them full force, they’ll end up just like the people of Hangzhou."
Hong Dae-gwang had no rebuttal for that. He clicked his tongue bitterly.
Though no one spoke about it openly, the Hangzhou disaster sent shockwaves throughout the world. It was shocking that Magyo, which was thought to have been eradicated, still existed, but what shook people the most was the sheer brutality of their actions.
Everyone in the world knows clearly what will happen to the world if that evil cult is not stopped.
“People are anxious and afraid, so they want Righteous Sects to grow stronger, right? So that we can sufficiently defend against Evil Tyrant Alliance or Magyo if they ever invade.”
"You think we can't win against those bastards just because we're split in two!"
“Aigoo, Buntaju, you’re not usually like this. Why do you lose your mind whenever something related to Mount Hua comes up? I'm telling you, it's not important to just repel them. I mean, if I die and then you manage to stop Magyo, what’s the point in that?”
"......"
“Because of Evil Tyrant Alliance and the Hangzhou disaster, people now realize this: if Righteous Sects aren’t strong enough, they might end up being the ones sacrificed. No, to be exact, they’re finally starting to feel that reality.”
Hearing that, Hong Dae-gwang openly grew angry.
“Hey, this punk! That’s all the more reason they should support Heavenly Comrade Alliance! When have Ten Great Sects bastards ever risked their lives to help common people? They just stood by and watched from behind while being pretentious! The suffering that Evil Tyrant Alliance causing to the common people of Gangnam right now, whose fault do they think that is!”
"No, that's true, but......"
Dong Gwak said in a hesitant tone.
“But... the other side has the justification, don’t they? Because it's better to harmonize than to confront each other. Even in people's eyes, that's right, at least theoretically."
“What, this guy?”
Hong Dae-gwang's eyes sparkled with fire.
“You punk! That kind of reasoning ruins everything. ‘Theoretically!’ ‘The bigger picture!’ Saying crap like that is how you ruin everything! Theoretically, we all die anyway, so why bother stuffing your mouth with food to survive!”
"......"
“You have to see the big picture as the big picture. Do they think everything can be solved if we just look at the big picture? It’s these know-it-all types that ruin everything!”
"......Don't get angry at me, go tell that to the people. Why are you doing this to me?"
“Ei, damn it.”
Spitting out curse words again, Hong Dae-gwang sprawled onto his back. His face flushed red with anger he couldn’t do anything about.
“Bangju has gotten too old. Is Beggar Union really going to keep following Shaolin’s lead, just spreading rumors! We should’ve left Ten Great Sects a long time ago and stuck with Heavenly Comrade Alliance.”
“Could it be that easy? Sure, Namgung and Tang left Five Great Family, but no sect from Ten Great Sects has fully defected yet.”
"......"
“If a sect finally does break away and join Heavenly Comrade Alliance, Shaolin will do everything it can to crush them, but how could we handle that? Especially our Beggar Union can't handle that. Other sects have their own territories, but we beggars are all over the world and beg for a living. If we get kicked out of Henan alone, thousands of us would starve to death.”
“Who doesn’t know that!”
Hong Dae-gwang shouted angrily.
"Hey, you bastard. If you shut your mouth and live in fear of starving to death, is that Beggar Union? Are you really a beggar? How is that different from the logic of those Evil Sects bastards who plunder to make a living!"
"No...."
“Some people are making money and earning fame without being envious of the world, yet still run off to Gangnam to save the common people from Evil Sects bastards, while others, afraid of starving, become the lackeys of old foxes bastards and spread false rumors.”
Hong Dae-gwang's voice gradually died down.
“This isn’t why I joined Beggar Union…”
"You speak as if you joined with some grand purpose. You just joined because you were a beggar."
“Argh!”
Hong Dae-gwang suddenly grabbed the club he had been holding and threw it.
“Arghhh!”
Dong Gwak, who had been hit in the head with the club, screamed as he tumbled backward.
"This bastard, I cut you some slack, and now you’re rubbing it in? Do you really want to die today?"
“Uwaargh!”
Dong Gwak bolted towards the entrance and shouted.
“Anyway, don’t do anything stupid! The atmosphere’s already tense because an elder recently defected, and if you mess around here, you’ll be made an example of! If you don’t like how Beggar Union is right now, then grit your teeth, become a bangju, and change things yourself!”
"Won't you get lost?"
“Don’t! Absolutely don’t! I mean it!”
Leaving those words behind, Dong Gwak rushed out as if escaping. Hong Dae-gwang, who had been glaring daggers at the entrance Dong Gwak left through as if to kill him, sat down on the spot with a sigh.
"...Become bangju and change things, my ass."
If those above had any intention to change, it would’ve happened long ago.
He realized it after watching Mount Hua. If you want to change something, you can’t just wait. If you spend your time thinking “someday,” enduring and waiting, you’ll end up being just another person who conforms to the old rules.
“What would you do, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?”
The face of Chung Myung came to his mind. The one who ultimately proved that he wasn't wrong when everyone called him reckless and stupid.
“This feels like shit.”
Hong Dae-gwang opened an old, worn chest and pulled out a bottle of cheap liquor. It seemed like he’d have to drink himself to sleep tonight.
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