Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1223. Is This Okay? (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
"Father! Please open your eyes, Father!"
Baek Cheon stared blankly at the back of the sobbing middle-aged man.
'Father?'
That old man, that man's?
The same man who had just said a moment ago, ‘What’s so important about the life of an old man like that?’
"Phy- Physician-nim! Physician-nim! Please save my father! Please! I’m begging you!"
"P- Please calm down. You’re making it harder for us!"
Tang Soso, startled by the man’s desperate plea, looked visibly flustered.
“The wound isn’t too deep. If he holds on, he should survive. But for now, please calm yourself.”
"Thank you. Really... Thank you so much."
The man repeatedly bowed his head to the ground.
“This person…”
As if afraid to even ask, Baek Cheon hesitated for a moment, then finally forced the words out.
“...Is this person your father?”
The man flinched, then nodded. His face was now soaked with tears, so much so that it was hard to believe this was the same man who had earlier disparaged “that old man” while grinning subserviently.
"Yes… Yes, he is my father."
"T- Then how could you..."
How could you speak about him that way?
How could you belittle your own father in front of the very villains who cut him down and beg so pathetically?
Baek Cheon felt instinctively that he shouldn’t ask. But he couldn’t help himself.
The man answered, his voice breaking with sobs.
"Then... Then what else am I supposed to do… What else…”
The man looked down at his unconscious father, crying. The guilt in those two eyes pierced Baek Cheon's heart.
"If I could have it my way, I want to tear him into a thousand pieces, no, ten thousand pieces and kill him! I would demand they bring my father back, even if I had to gnaw at them! How could I not? I’m human too!”
“….”
"But what would change if I did that? Only those who remain will die, everyone!"
The man gripped his father’s hand tightly.
"The living... The living must survive somehow. I wouldn't put up with it if I just had the power. If I had the power, I wouldn't have begged and groveled to the enemy. But what can I do? I don't have the power. If a powerless man wants to live, if they want to save even one more life, they have to lick the boots of their enemy if they must—what else! What else can they do! What!"
A voice filled with anguish broke free, carrying with it bitterness and a deep resentment.
"An ignorant idiot... That's how an idiot should live. Endure even when being wronged... just pretend to know nothing and live like that. If not... if not..."
The man couldn't continue speaking and wailed.
Baek Cheon bit his lips tightly.
In that moment, he wanted to tear out his own tongue for the harsh things he had thought about this man earlier.
What right did he have to judge this man so carelessly without even understanding the torment that made him bow his head to his enemy?
"Keuhu...."
The man sobbed for a long time before wiping his face roughly with his sleeve and bowing deeply to Baek Cheon once more.
"Thank you."
"P- Please, don’t do this."
"No, sir. Knowing full well that they were from Evil Tyrant Alliance, you still stepped in to help people like us from this small remote village. How could I not be grateful? Thanks to you… Thanks to you, I can extend this stubborn life of mine just a little longer. Truly… thank you. On behalf of the village, I thank you."
"It has helped me survive. Thank you so much.... I thank you on behalf of the village."
Baek Cheon's eyes trembled.
He wanted to say that it wasn't like that. He wanted to shout that he had been weighing the value of their lives until just a moment ago.
He wanted to scream that he had been putting dozens of lives on one side of the scale and the risk they were taking on the other, trying to decide which was heavier.
But Baek Cheon couldn't bring himself to say those words.
Behind him, those who had knocked out Evil Sects bastards slowly approached. Judging by their dark and heavy expressions, they must have overheard the situation as well.
"Could I... Could I dare ask for the identities of sir benefactors?"
"We...."
Baek Cheon, who was about to say something, shook his head.
"Don't ask."
"......"
"If by any chance something happens, it would be better that way."
The man seemed to understand and nodded without further questions.
"Thank you… truly… thank you."
The man kowtowed on the floor while lying face down. Unable to bear watching him any longer, Baek Cheon turned his gaze away.
Then, Chung Myung's slightly indifferent voice was heard.
“How’s the old man?”
“...Not good. The wound isn’t deep, but his age and condition make it uncertain if he has the strength to hold on."
"Oi, Tang Pae." ("어이, 큰 당.")
"...Yes?"
"You have any Yosangdan on you?"
"I do, but this…"
"Spare me the nonsense and hand one over. Guys who are stingy with Yosangdan end up dying before they can even use them all. Then they think, ‘I should have used it when I could.’"
“…Understood.”
Tang Pae nodded, pulling out a small pill and handing it to Tang Soso. She accepted the Yosangdan with a nod.
It was a precious medicine made with the secret recipe of Tang Family, so it would be of great help in the old man's recovery.
"And, hey."
"Yes, Dojang."
Namgung Dowi, recognizing that he was being called, replied with a hardened expression.
"What about those bastards?"
"...I've subdued them for now."
Meaning, he hadn’t killed them. Chung Myung’s voice dropped to a cold tone.
“Destroy their Dantian and sever the tendons in their limbs. Make it so they can’t live like humans, even if they survive.”
“...Excuse me?”
“What? Can’t do it?”
Namgung Dowi stared blankly at Chung Myung and then nodded with a dark face.
“I will.”
He drew his sword and approached the fallen men. Watching him, Chung Myung's mouth hardened.
This was why he didn’t regard Evil Sects thugs as people.
If Evil Sects had only killed each other, Chung Myung might not have looked down on them so harshly. At least then, it would be something both parties had agreed to.
But Evil Sects's blade does not distinguish between those with power and those without.
Unrestrained strength, wielded recklessly, can become an unstoppable disaster for some.
To eliminate a greater evil, to avoid danger—so many excuses are used to leave small evils unchecked, and then, all at once, these small evils can ruin someone’s life entirely.
The ruined ones are someone’s parents, someone’s children, and, inevitably, someone’s kin.
'I've become a fool too.'
Chung Myung bit his lips tightly.
If he were his old self, he would have leaped out before that damn bastard cut the old man and sliced his neck in one fell swoop. But he hesitated for a moment, and that hesitation led to this result.
Excuses? Of course, he had some.
Even if protecting the commoners was the purpose for which he trained his sword, these weren’t the only people he had to protect. That was why he couldn't help but hesitate.
But if even Chung Myung hesitates at that moment, if he endures it for the sake of his own life and everything else he must protect, then who on earth will protect the lives of these commoners?
Chung Myung examined the expressions of the members of Heavenly Comrade Alliance looking at the elder. Though they had done a righteous deed, a weight of heavy emotions lay on all their faces rather than satisfaction.
Perhaps they, too, felt similar emotions to Chung Myung’s. They might be feeling self-loathing for hesitating until the very last moment.
"Are you going to stay like that until night?"
At Chung Myung's words, everyone snapped and looked up at him.
“Treat those who need it, and the rest of you, finish cleaning up. We don’t have time to waste.”
"Yes, Dojang."
“Take the cart down to the bottom of the mountain and erase all the wheel marks. Leave no trace whatsoever of anyone having ever entered this village."
“Yes.”
“What about those guys?”
Chung Myung glanced at the unconscious Evil Sects and gritted his teeth slightly. Then he turned his head and looked at the middle-aged man.
"Is there something like a cave nearby?"
"A c- cave, you say?"
“Any empty cave will do.”
“...There are plenty of caves around here. This is a mountain village, after all…”
“Assign someone to lead us to a suitable one. Sahyung.”
“Got it.”
"Throw these bastards into the cave and block the entrance."
"Then they will die."
“Whatever happens to them.”
"...Understood."
Yoon Jong and Jo-Gol moved with the others to finish the cleanup.
Watching them go, Chung Myung turned his gaze to the elder who lay on the ground. Thanks to Tang Family’s Yosangdan, which was now starting to take effect, the elder’s once ghostly pale face began to regain some color.
"Sasuk."
"...Yes."
"We have to do what needs to be done."
Baek Cheon nodded silently.
Chung Myung knew exactly what Baek Cheon must be feeling in that moment, so he added nothing more. He too had felt a similar shock when he first left Mount Hua and came face to face with the realities of the commoners.
The commoners must be helped. Chivalry is for the powerless.
It's something they heard and learned countless times, but most don't truly understand what those words mean.
It’s only after seeing the lives of powerless commoners, who must bear injustice in silence, that they begin to understand all those lessons that once rang hollow in their ears.
When they understand that a single hesitation or moment of doubt can be an overwhelming despair for someone else, chivalry becomes no longer a choice but an obligation.
Baek Cheon’s gaze drifted to those who still could not bring themselves to approach. Even though the situation had been resolved, they couldn’t bring themselves to step closer to Heavenly Comrade Alliance members.
The fear in those dirt-stained faces was clearly visible.
A sigh escaped Baek Cheon's mouth for a moment.
He had once thought that by performing Chivalry, one could earn respect. Of course, he doesn't perform chivalry expecting such things, but on the other hand, he thought it was a gaze that would naturally follow.
But even though they had clearly performed Chivalry now, the looks they received were still filled with fear and unease.
It wasn’t unpleasant; rather, it was simply pitiful.
It's not that the villagers don't know the group has no malice. The villagers can't help it even though they know.
It was an instinctual fear of those who could take or spare lives at their whim. These people would live with that fear their entire lives.
"Chung Myung-ah."
"Yeah?"
"Honestly, I still don't know if we did the right thing."
Baek Cheon looked over at those diligently erasing any traces left behind.
Considering all the circumstances, the odds of this act bringing significant risk weren’t high. Still, it’s hard to claim this decision was safer than doing nothing at all.
"If we fail this mission because of this or if someone here gets hurt, I might never forgive myself for the rest of my life."
"......"
"But, you know."
He continued with a brief sigh.
"Even knowing all that, if I face the same situation again... I know I’ll rush in just the same."
Chung Myung grinned.
"Yeah."
"...."
"That's enough."
Maybe humans are meant to go through life constantly questioning their choices.
Those who don’t want to waver but inevitably do. What they need is a guiding compass that doesn’t falter.
"That's enough."
It was the moment when a steadfast compass was clearly engraved in Baek Cheon's heart.
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