Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1217. Who would help? (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
"Stop."
"No, am I speaking wrong?"
The elder who had spoken raised his voice, no longer caring to hold back his words.
"To be honest, if it were Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they wouldn't come out like this. Even if they couldn’t send help all the way here, they wouldn’t have ignored us, pretending we didn’t exist for over a year!"
"Watch your words. Do you not see where you're sitting? The Gangnam Non-Aggresion Pact..."
"Even if the mouth is twisted, shouldn't the words be straight! Was that Gangnam Non-Aggression Pact something imposed on us? If Shaolin had even the slightest consideration for Hainan, could they have signed such a pact? If this isn't proof that Shaolin doesn't care about us at all, then what is it!"
If this isn't proof that Shaolin doesn't care about us at all, then what is?"
"I said stop."
"Isn’t this what everyone here really think!"
Those words fell like a bomb in the main hall.
"Even if no one says it out loud, we all feel the same inside, don't we? Shaolin has abandoned us. No, perhaps they cast us aside several years ago already!"
"......"
"In such circumstances, what good is it to keep calling for Shaolin, who will never come?"
Frustrated sighs escaped from all corners of the room.
No one had dared to voice it, but who would have different thoughts? They had merely held it in, fearing the unbearable consequences that might come if those words were spoken aloud.
The elder, biting his lip, finally spat out his next words, as if unable to hold them back any longer.
"If it was going to be like this, we should have thrown ourselves into Heavenly Comrade Alliance before becoming this forsaken kite with its string cut—"
"I said, shut your mouth!"
A thunderous shout suddenly echoed through the main hall, followed by an even more furious roar.
"Who doesn't know that and stayed silent? You should say something that makes sense in the first place! Do you really not know where the real leadership of Heavenly Comrade Alliance lies?"
"But—"
"Mount Hua! Yes, Mount Hua! The rightful owner of the seat we now occupy!"
"....... "
"What did Hainan do when Mount Hua fell? Did we help them? Did we fight for them? No! Didn't we rejoice that an opportunity had finally come!"
Everyone’s faces flushed red.
It was a matter of the past.
But they knew. Only those who didn’t reap the benefits of the past could draw a line and call it bygone. For those who had basked in the glory of being one of Ten Great Sects, there was no escaping responsibility for their past decisions.
If they had at least voiced that what they were enjoying was actually unfair, things might have been a little different. Those who stay silent when they should speak up lose the right to speak when it matters.
"That Mount Hua!"
The elder, his emotions flaring, ground his teeth.
"Why would Mount Hua have any good feelings toward us who boldly took their seat instead of helping them in their downfall? Why would they accept us into Heavenly Comrade Alliance and come all the way to this foreign land to save us, calling us comrades?"
"......"
"Put yourselves in their shoes—if you were disciples of Mount Hua, would you feel pity seeing us in this state? No! If it were us, we would be scheming to take Hainan's seat in this opportunity. Just like Hainan did before!"
Several elders hung their heads low.
They were freshly reminded of what they had done. How must Mount Hua have looked at them?
While falling into ruin with tears of blood, what kind of resentment must they have swallowed seeing Hainan proudly taking their seat?
“If a person has any sense of shame…”
The elder who spoke up to that point firmly closed his mouth. He knew that, as an elder of Hainan, such words were not his to say.
A soft sigh escaped from Geum Yangbaek's mouth, weighed down by the cold, stifling atmosphere.
"What's past is past.... There's no use regretting it now."
Complicated thoughts lingered in his mind.
"Jayang's words aren't without reason. Perhaps if we had bowed our heads to Heavenly Comrade Alliance before things came to this, the outcome might have been different."
"......"
"When we still had something to hold on to, when we still had something to offer. If we had apologized first and sincerely repented then, the situation might have been different. But.... haven't we already missed that opportunity?"
The image of Mount Hua from the Murim Competition was still vividly etched in Geum Yangbaek’s mind.
The younger disciples, unaware of the deeper implications, harbored open resentment toward Mount Hua. But the older sect leaders and elders avoided meeting Mount Hua’s gaze altogether.
That look in their eyes was too uncomfortable.
'Even then....'
It might have been too much to beg for forgiveness, but at the very least, they could have bowed their heads. They might have said something, even if just an empty word, expressing regret for how things had turned out.
But Geum Yangbaek hadn’t. He couldn’t now blame this all on the sins of their ancestors.
Silent accomplices might be worse than the active participants themselves. Those who want to avoid sin but still reap benefits tend to become silent accomplices.
"Yes. In the end, it's karma."
Now, they were simply paying the price. Despite being Righteous Sects that values Chivalrousness and justice, they hadn’t spared a thought for others’ misfortunes and instead sought to benefit from them.
Perhaps their impending destruction was only fitting.
He just can't bring himself to say that it's natural because he's the sect leader of Hainan.
Geum Yangbaek, who had been keeping his eyes tightly shut for a long time, opened his mouth with difficulty.
"How are the disciples?"
"...They don't say it, but none of them can hide their unease."
“That’s to be expected…”
The enemy was far too powerful, and this island felt far too isolated.
"Jayang."
"...Yes, Sect Leader."
"There's no use bringing up the past now. It's better to focus on what we can do even now."
"......"
"If Ten Great Sects won't help... If they have no intention of helping us, we should seek help elsewhere. Reach out to other sects, those willing to help Hainan."
At those words, Jayang let out a bitter laugh.
“Who would come?”
"......"
Even Geum Yangbaek likely wasn’t expecting much. But Jayang couldn't accept even those seemingly superficial words.
“Asking anyone to fight alongside Hainan now is no different than asking them to die with us. Who, in all the world, would be willing to break through that Gangnam territory and come here?”
“Jayang…”
"If there were really that many people overflowing with righteousness in the world.... Hainan wouldn't be in this state in the first place."
Geum Yangbaek, after a short sigh, spoke in a hollow voice.
"Even so, shouldn’t we at least try, even if it's just grasping at straws?"
"Sect Leader... There aren't even straws in the water we've fallen into. Even if we want to send messages... we have no way to send them, do we?"
In the end, Geum Yangbaek closed his eyes tightly again.
He wanted to rebuke Jayang for always speaking so discouragingly, but he didn’t even have the energy for that. Merely holding himself together, like waterlogged cotton weighed down, was exhausting enough.
"Sect Leader. Rather than that, abandoning the island and escaping might...."
But Geum Yangbaek shook his head before even hearing it all.
“Don’t you understand? The ones waiting most eagerly for us to leave this island are the very members of Evil Tyrant Alliance. Gangnam Non-Aggresion Pact. Yes, that pact applies to us as well."
"......"
"The moment we leave the island, they'll have a justification to strike us.. And... while we may be Hainan Sect on land, on a ship we’re just ordinary people. No matter how skilled we are in martial arts, what could we possibly do out in the vast ocean?"
What can you do in the vast ocean?
"Sect Leader...."
“Whether we reach Gangnam or try to sail the open seas, neither option leads to a good outcome…”
"But we can't just sit here waiting for the day we die, can we?"
Geum Yangbaek remained silent. He too was frustrated. He felt just as frustrated. But what could he do? Drinking salt water when thirsty would only hasten death.
"Has the pact period already passed?"
"...Based on the dates, it has. However, neither Evil Tyrant Alliance nor Ten Great Sects have publicly acknowledged it."
"Of course… I suppose so."
There's no need for either side to openly state that they're now in a relationship where war could break out at any moment.
Ten Great Sects find it shameful to even mention the Gangnam Non-Aggression Pact, and Evil Tyrant Alliance doesn't want to cause immediate conflict by talking about it.
Perhaps the moment when the Gangnam Non-Aggression Pact officially ends will be the day when Evil Tyrant Alliance's blade invades Hainan.
'It's probably not far off.'
Even if they wanted to avoid it, they could feel it—the inevitable moment was now looming just ahead.
"Im Gyeom."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"...Send the younger disciples outside the gates; have them return to their families."
"....Sect Leader?"
"I can't stop those who wish to bury their bones with Hainan, but the young ones who don't yet know what they are doing must be stopped. While there’s no guarantee that their families will be safe from Evil Tyrant Alliance’s reach, it will at least be better than staying here."
Im Gyeom bit his lips at those words.
Those words are tantamount to admitting that Hainan has no means left to resist Evil Tyrant Alliance.
"...I will carry out your command."
"And... if any of the disciples wish to renounce their ties to Hainan, allow them to do so."
"Se- Sect Leader! That's....!"
"Those who can live should live."
Geum Yangbaek shook his head.
"One person dying while holding on to Hainan's foundations is enough. There’s no need for others to share the same fate."
The grim resolve behind his words needed no further explanation. Yet, Jayang could only let out a frustrated sigh.
"What good will it do…?"
"......"
"Evil Tyrant Alliance are not those who follow the righteous path. They won't leave any loose ends. After dealing with Hainan Sect, they'll search every corner of Hainan and try to eradicate everyone related to Hainan Sect. That is the way of Evil Tyrant Alliance... and isn't that also the way of Myriad Man Manor?"
Jayang's lamenting voice settled heavily.
"Where can people without wings possibly flee to? No matter where they go, they’ll still be from Haian, nothing more than people of Hainan."
"......"
Geum Yangbaek's fingertips trembled finely.
Annihilation.
That word, which he never thought he would face, had suddenly, and mercilessly, dug its way into his reality.
Though Hainan was warm and familiar, now he felt cold and utterly alone.
'Why did I never realize how heartless Kangho truly is?'
Why had he not understood that the ideals of Righteousness they all cried out for were nothing but a game for the powerful?
"Hohoho...."
A feeble laugh escaped his mouth.
"Hohohoho...."
That laughter, more sorrowful than weeping, echoed through the main hall like a wandering ghost, lingering for a while.
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