Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1222. Is This Okay? (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Twitch. Twitch.
Seop Pyeong convulsed strangely with his face planted in the ground. Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists were momentarily bewildered, blankly staring at Seop Pyeong's back.
There are moments like this in life.
Moments when your eyes see something, but your mind takes a while to process it. Moments when the situation changes so suddenly that your brain just can’t process it immediately.
Of course, their reaction was perfectly understandable.
Out here in the middle of this desolate mountain, someone suddenly barges in and kicks Seop Pyeong flying without a word—It would be stranger if they weren't dumbfounded.
Normally, this would be the moment when someone from Heavenly Comrade Alliance group would speak up. But the problem was, they, too, were at a loss for words.
Right now, there was only one thought occupying all their minds.
They knew, of course.
That as soon as they had lost their patience and kicked off the ground—at least Jo-Gol, Yoon Jong, and Baek Cheon—none of them had the right to criticize anyone else for acting rashly.
Yet, in that instant, Baek Cheon couldn't help but open his mouth.
"This... Uh...."
He looked back and forth between the convulsing Seop Pyeong and the growling Chung Myung, and finally said it.
"Is this... okay?"
"......"
There was a brief silence.
After a moment, the one who definitely shouldn’t have responded spoke up.
"What?"
Baek Cheon suddenly wondered if Chung Myung was missing something or gotten confused by his overly calm answer.
"N- No. I know I’m not in a position to say anything... but still... this is Gangnam."
"What's the problem? These son of a beast say it themselves."
"Huh?"
Chung Myung pointed to the fallen scholar-looking man.
"This is a remote mountain village."
"Yeah."
"It'll take at least a few days for news to spread."
"....."
"We will arrive in Hainan within three days at the latest anyway."
Chung Myung answered nonchalantly.
"By the time those Evil Sects bastards hear about it, what they gonna do?"
...When you put it like that, it kind of made sense...
"But if they chase us...."
"Aigoo, Sasuk."
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"What loyalty do you think Evil Sects shitheads have that they’d bother chasing us all the way to Hainan to avenge these small fries? If they had such loyalty, they wouldn't be Evil Sects bastards."
"....."
"And if they want to come after us, let them. Just throw them all into the sea and be done with it!"
Ah... That's your real intention. I understand.
Just then, Jo-Gol stepped forward with a smirk.
"No, well... What can we do now that things have turned out this way, Sasuk?"
Yoon Jong, too, with a strange expression, quietly unsheathed his sword.
"Since it’s come to this, we might as well clean up properly."
Baek Cheon stared blankly at the two who stepped forward. The two conversed casually as if they had forgotten Baek Cheon's existence.
"How should we clean this up well, Senior?"
"What a stupid question. Think about it. If any of them manage to escape and talk about what happened here, things will get very complicated.”
"Hoo, you're absolutely right. We can’t let that happen."
“So, there's no other choice. We can only clean up neatly so no one can open their mouths."
"That sounds a bit cruel?"
“If you hesitate to punish evil, more people will suffer. Justice doesn’t exist just to satisfy our small consciences.”
"Truly wise words, Sahyung."
Jo-Gol smirked while raising his sword.
At that moment, Namgung Dowi, who had been watching the situation a few steps behind them, quietly moved behind the remaining Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists.
“...It would be best if we could hide the fact that these people even arrived here.”
An ominous expression unbefitting his status as sogaju of the Great Namgung Family crossed his face.
"If they vanish without a trace, people might think they deserted as a group out of greed for grain. Isn't that right, Hynug-nim?"
Tang Pae quietly moved to the opposite side of Namgung Dowi, surrounding the Evil Sect martial artists.
"...Correct. Don't worry. Erasing traces is a specialty of our family. We can clean this up without leaving a single hair behind.”
Tang Pae pulled a small vial from his sleeve and smiled. To anyone who knew what he held, that smile would not appear as innocent as it seemed.
Oh, of course, even those who didn’t know the contents of the vial weren’t exactly reassured. Judging by how the faces of those surrounded were turning deathly pale.
“So, we should clean this up neatly and leave no traces, right?”
"As quietly as possible."
"And to avoid harm to the villagers, it's best to make them disappear rather than kill them outright, so it seems like they just went missing, yes?"
"Well, that's not too difficult."
The evil grins of the supposedly Righteous Sects martial artists grew darker as they closed in on the trembling Evil Sects martial artists. Intimidated by that terrible pressure, the Evil Sects martial artists looked around anxiously with bewildered faces, constantly watching their surroundings.
“W- Who are you?”
"Us?"
“Ho- How dare you interrupt Evil Tyrant Alliance’s mission and expect to get away with it—”
"Is this guy really that big of an idiot? We’ve already interrupted, and now he’s just giving us more reason to bury him. Can’t he read the room?”
"Tsk, tsk. Jo-Gol. Why would someone with brains join Evil Sects?"
"Then what about Nokrim King?"
"...Let's make an exception for that person."
Certainly, threatening with Evil Tyrant Alliance's name was a method that would work anywhere under heaven.
The unfortunate thing was that these people happened to meet some of the few humans under heaven where threats using Evil Tyrant Alliance's name meant nothing at all.
"Well then... Seems like we’ve reached a conclusion?”
Everyone's gazes gathered at one point. Receiving all those gazes, Baek Cheon heaved a deep sigh.
"This.... "
Finally, shaking his head as if giving up, Baek Cheon roughly gestured with his chin toward Ak Bung.
"Take care of them."
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as those words ended, the band of ‘villains’ (?) surrounding the cart pounced on the weak ones like a pack of wolves.
Baek Cheon shook his head.
There was no need to keep watching. They were just a bit late because of hesitation, but the truth was, the people here were far too excessive to deal with a bunch of low-level Evil Tyrant Alliance small fries.
Even if just one person came forward, it would be more than enough to sweep them all away. But since there were ten of them, what more needed to be said?
Baek Cheon tore his gaze away from the cart and turned to look at the fallen village elder. Tang Soso was already at his side, trying to stop the bleeding. With a slightly grim expression, Baek Cheon approached and asked her.
"How is it?"
"...The wound isn't as deep as expected so it shouldn't be life-threatening. However, because he's so elderly...."
"Father! Please, save my father! I beg of you!"
The woman who hadn’t left the elder’s side for a second half-jolted at Soso’s words. Baek Cheon was about to sigh and offer comfort.
"Excuse me..."
Baek Cheon slightly turned at the voice from behind.
The middle-aged man who had been groveling so pathetically before Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists was now groveling toward Baek Cheon.
Baek Cheon unconsciously furrowed his brow. Even in the chaos earlier, he had clearly heard what this man had said.
'What's so important about an old man's life?'
Of course, Baek Cheon could understand. It wouldn't have been easy to speak properly with bandits pointing swords.
But how could he think well of someone who had so shamelessly belittled a villager he lived with just to save his own skin?
"N- Noble sir. I- If it's not presumptuous, might this lowly one d- dare to ask who you noble ones are...?"
"We're in the middle of treatment...."
"No- Noble sir. Why would you, someone so noble, bother with lowly ignorant people like us… This isn’t something worthy of your precious hands.”
….Is that something to say about an injured neighbor? Slightly irritated by his desperate attempts to curry favor, Baek Cheon unknowingly answered curtly.
"Are you worried we might be like those thugs?"
"A- Aigoo, Noble sir! That's absolutely preposterous! T- This lowly one is just uneducated and ignorant... not knowing how to treat noble ones......"
Seeing this pathetic sight of someone about to prostrate himself and knock his forehead on the ground, Baek Cheon, who was about to shoot back a retort, just quietly sighed instead.
Thinking about it, what fault do these villagers have? It's the fault of martial artists who walk around with swords in broad daylight and swing them at people.
"I can’t reveal our identities, but we’re not here for any bad reasons. You don’t need to worry."
"T- Then, perhaps......"
The man’s eyes darted around nervously before he cautiously asked something that seemed to terrify him.
"That... Perhaps, from Gangbuk...."
When Baek Cheon didn't answer one way or the other, the middle-aged man's face turned pale.
"T- Then now......"
Baek Cheon bit his lips slightly.
'What is this about?'
Heavenly Comrade Alliance clearly helped these people. Of course, these villagers wouldn’t understand, but just how much risk had they taken to make this decision?
Yet instead of expressing gratitude, they first worried about possible retaliation from Evil Tyrant Alliance. If it weren’t for Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they would have become a cold ghost.
No matter how terrified they are, shouldn't they first say a word of thanks as proper courtesy? Or, at the very least, to first check on the condition of their injured neighbor who lay bleeding nearby?
An indescribable sense of disillusionment rose within him. He wanted to shout in frustration.
But instead of getting angry, Baek Cheon explained as politely as possible.
“…We will handle the aftermath as best we can to avoid harm to the village."
"Pardon?"
“If we move the cart to a spot below the mountain and clear away any traces of people, Evil Tyrant Alliance will likely think these men ran off with the goods, rather than assuming they were overpowered by anyone. So, please, do not worry too much.”
“Y- You’ll really do that for us? I- I feel we’re imposing far too much…”
"Of course, we will do so."
"Aigoo, Noble sir! Thank you so much! I- Is there anything we can offer you in return…?”
"...We didn’t do this with the expectation of receiving anything in return."
"Sorry?"
Baek Cheon bit his lips for a moment. The words almost escaped his mouth—'Instead of saying such things, wouldn’t it be more humane to check on the condition of your bleeding elder?’ But he managed to swallow them back down.
"We won't take anything in return, so don't worry. You can freely take the grain over there. However, be careful as people of Evil Tyrant Alliance may come to check later.”
"Th...ank you. Thank you so much, Noble sir!"
"Are you satisfied now?"
Instead of answering, the man turned his head to check the situation by the cart.
Only after confirming the scene of the charging Five Swords and sogajus catching and beating Evil Sect martial artists like mice did he turn toward the fallen elder.
Just as Baek Cheon was about to snap at him for only now noticing the wounded elder—
"Aah..."
The middle-aged man's mouth opened, and his face contorted into an indescribable expression in an instant. He soon ran to the elder, wailing like a beast.
"Father! Euaaaah! Fatheeeeer!"
Baek Cheon's eyes widened.
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