Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1225. Is This Okay? (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
"Is it done?"
"Yes. Now we just let it sit."
"Hmm."
Tang Soso smiled as she glanced at Yoo Iseol. Yoo Iseol rarely urges people. For such a person to hover around like this and ask multiple times was truly a rare occurrence.
'She must be quite anxious.'
Tang Soso didn’t miss Yoo Iseol secretly glancing at the village children. The children were hiding behind their mother’s skirts with frightened faces and continued peeking at them.
“Is Sago worried the children might be hungry?”
When Tang Soso asked, Yoo Iseol answered in a somewhat curt voice.
"...It’s hard."
"Yes?"
"Starving."
"...."
"Moreso when young."
Tang Soso was speechless for a moment. Thinking about it, Yoo Iseol too must have endured day by day clutching an empty stomach in childhood.
It was a memory Tang Soso couldn’t quite relate to.
"It's all done. I'll serve it quickly."
"Okay."
“So instead of just standing there watching, please bring some bowls.”
"Okay."
Tang Soso smiled faintly as she watched Yoo Iseol scurry off to get plates.
Originally, they hadn’t planned to do all this. Having saved their lives, they could simply be on their way.
The problem was in handling the grains loaded on the cart. To make it look like Evil Sects martial artists had stolen the cart and run, they needed to get rid of the grain.
Even if told to just eat and clear it away, not one villager were willing to touch this grain.
Though their minds knew Evil Tyrant Alliance wouldn't have the leeway to investigate each grains distribution, instinctive fear kept their hands from reaching out.
So, Tang Soso deliberately rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward. If it were normal, Jo-Gol would have cooked the meal instead of the precious physician Tang Soso, but right now Jo-Gol was busy elsewhere.
Tang Soso glanced at the sun and then checked the pot from the corner of her eye. Though it was something that needed to be done, they couldn't waste time.
If they didn't finish before those who went to erase the cart's traces returned from completing their task, it would all be for nothing.
"It’s ready! Come and eat, everyone!"
"...."
"Come on!"
When the villagers still hesitated to approach, Tang Soso opened the pot and stirred the rice vigorously with a rice paddle. Then she scooped a big serving of rice into the bowl that Yoo Iseol had brought.
"Here it is! Hurry!"
"...."
Still watching the villagers hesitate to approach, Yoo Iseol stretched out her hand, grabbed a bowl of rice Tang Soso had scooped, and stuffed it straight into her mouth.
"Sa- Sago."
Yoo Iseol, cheeks bulging with rice, chewed thoroughly and gulped it down. Glancing briefly at the villagers, she took another scoop.
"Me, me too...."
Only then did the anxious villagers begin to cautiously approach. Tang Soso greeted them with a bright smile, helping to dispel their fears over Yoo Iseol’s blank expression.
"Come, come! Hurry! Our Sago eats quite a lot, you know. If you don't get it quickly, Sago will eat it all."
"Th- Thank... you."
The first step was always the hardest. The villagers rushed over and began accepting the rice Tang Soso was serving. It was just plain rice without any proper side dishes, but their hunger was so fierce that they ate desperately.
Protruding ribs showed through tattered clothes. Seeing this, Tang Soso’s expression darkened for a moment before she regained her bright smile.
"There's plenty of grain so eat more! Not that I brought it myself."
"Th- Thank you!"
With a hearty expression, Tang Soso quickly continued scooping out the rice.
Baek Cheon, who was in the village chief's house, spoke while watching the situation outside.
"...The situation doesn't look very good."
At this, the middle-aged man who introduced himself as Hyungwook heaved a deep sigh.
"Saying this with my own mouth... might sound a bit absurd, but we're fortunate to receive grain even in this way."
"......"
Considering these words came from someone who nearly lost their life to Evil Tyrant Alliance moments ago, it gave a rough idea of how desperate their situation had been.
"One month... No, had we starved just half a month more, we would have died from hunger rather than by the sword."
“Were the slash-and-burn crops unsuccessful?”
Hyungwook shook his head.
“Noble sir may not know this, but surviving off slash-and-burn farming isn’t that easy. Usually, while cultivating burned fields, we gather various things from the mountain to sell down below and buy grain with that money."
"Yes, that's right."
"But... a few years ago, it became nearly impossible to get grain. Naturally, grain prices skyrocketed... later, when even grain stopped appearing in the market, no one would buy our herbs no matter how much we gathered. Even when someone did buy them, we couldn't buy grain with that money."
"I see.... "
If he was talking about a few years ago, the reason was clear.
Gangnam Non-Agression Pact. Ever since Evil Sects began to dominate Gangnam. (강남불침. 강남을 사파가 지배하기 시작한 이후부터.)
"We've managed to hold out somehow until now... but recently, we really had nowhere else to turn…”
Baek Cheon, whose face hardened, asked again.
"Is it worse here because it's in the mountains?"
Hyungwook shook his head at those words.
“No, Noble sir. We’re rather fortunate in comparison."
"...What?"
"We're in a remote mountain area, so hardly anyone comes all the way here to cause trouble, right? But in the larger places, people are barely surviving day by day."
Baek Cheon turned his head with a shocked expression.
He could see the villagers now eating as if they were possessed. Looking at their gaunt appearances made him feel beyond pity - it was heartbreaking. And yet, these people were considered “fortunate” in comparison?
Then what on earth must be happening in other places?
"That... This trouble you’re talking about… Are you referring to Evil Tyrant Alliance’s doing?”
The man couldn't bring himself to answer. It seemed he was too afraid to even utter those words.
"Sometimes..."
After long hesitation, he finally forced the words out with difficulty.
“When we go down the mountain to visit the market... there are corpses just about the roadside. Half-decayed corpse.”
"...."
“People starve to death, and no one even has the strength to think about clearing them away."
"How could such a thing…"
“They have no energy left themselves. And besides… even if they clear one, soon enough another will die to take its place.”
Baek Cheon looked back at Im Sobyeong with a blank expression. Im Sobyeong shrugged his shoulders.
"Why so surprised now. Didn’t you have an inkling about this already?”
"Jang Ilso... Jang Ilso's goal is to swallow up Gangbuk, right? Why would someone like him… This, something like this doesn’t help at all…"
"Yes, that's right. That's Jang Ilso."
Baek Cheon shut his mouth at those words. He understood what Im Sobyeong's words meant.
"But the other leaders of Evil Tyrant Alliance aren't like that. They never had much interest in Gangbuk to begin with. What matters more to them is that now, for the first time, these lands, which they used to loot cautiously while watching their backs because of Righteous Sects, are fully in their hands."
"I don't... understand."
Baek Cheon bit his lip until it bled.
"Even if they're Evil Sects... even if they're Evil Sects who know neither principle nor what should be protected, wouldn't someone who becomes the leader of a sect at least not be stupid? Are you saying they don’t understand what might happen if they drain their own land dry?" ("사파라고는 하지만...... 도리도 모르고, 지켜야 하는 것이 뭔지도 모르는 사파라고는 하지만, 아무리 그래도 한 세력의 우두머리가 된 이라면 멍청하지는 않을 것 아닙니까?)
To begin with, martial artists are no different from parasites clinging to commoners. How can those who only swing their swords and learn martial arts make a living?
Righteous Sects rely on donations from the people in their territories and the businesses that operate in those regions to support their main sect.
But if the people in that territory are wiped out, where would they earn money to maintain their main sect?
"They’re not so stupid that they don’t know that. Even Nokrim bandits are Evil Sects, yet they don’t exploit people like this."
If the people passing through the mountains dwindled, Nokrim would ultimately suffer. That is why Nokrim bandits try not to harm the travelers going up and down the mountain unless absolutely necessary.
In fact, the ones who enforce this code are not the officials, but other members of Nokrim themselves. If the mountain bandits were to indiscriminately kill and rob, only to flee to another mountain afterward, Nokrim wouldn’t fall due to outside forces but because of internal strife as they fight each other over territory.
"Obviously, under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have come to this. But... this time, things were different. Have you forgotten? What happened in Evil Tyrant Alliance?"
"...."
"Certainly, if their foundation were to crumble, neither Evil nor Righteous Sects could survive. But now, there’s no time to consider such things. After all, if they lose and are swallowed by their enemies, the foundation and everything else will be seized, right?"
Now he finally understood.
Black Ghost Fortress, Hao Sect, and even water fortress probably knew that one day they would have to compete among themselves to decide the leader of the huge alliance called Evil Tyrant Alliance.
So they pooled all the resources they could, amassing funds and stockpiling military supplies without looking back.
"What about harassing people and causing trouble? That has nothing to do with it, right?"
"Dojang. You seem to forget, but Evil Sects are originally like this. Would people who live by upholding principles turn to Evil Sects?" ("도장. 잊으시는 모양인데, 사파는 원래 그런 것들입니다. 멀쩡하게 지킬 걸 지키며 사는 이들이 사파에 투신하겠습니까?")
"...."
"Under normal circumstances, the higher-ups would have kept things in check to some degree. But with war about to break out, what need is there to forcefully control the subordinates and reduce morale? If they decide other places look more favorable and abandon ship, it’ll only be a loss."
"No...."
"A sect like Myriad Man Manor might still manage to keep order even now, but the other Five Great Evil Sects cannot."
Baek Cheon had a puzzled expression, as if understanding yet not understanding. No, maybe he understood it all too well but simply didn’t want to accept it.
Looking at such him, Im Sobyeong let out a strange smile.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"...."
"With such chaos in Gangbuk, you couldn't have been human unable to guess what was happening in Gangnam. Even the Evil Sects who couldn't hold out here and were pushed out to Gangbuk ruined people's lives, how much worse must it be for people who have to endure against even more vicious ones here?"
A feeling of bitterness rose in his chest, as though he had swallowed hot ash.
They had simply chosen not to think about it.
After the Gangnam Non-Aggression Pact, seeing how public sentiment became so turbulent because of the Evil Sects driven to Gangbuk, they could have easily guessed...
Even while heading to Gangnam, his mind was filled only with thoughts of Hainan. He had no concern at all for those living here. This fact ashamed Baek Cheon even more.
Im Sobyeong shrugged and said,
"Well... There’s no need to look so grim. Things will get better. As Dojang said, Jang Ilso isn’t an idiot, and the power struggles within Evil Tyrant Alliance have already been settled. They'll probably start proper management now. Like how they're distributing grain this time."
"…."
"However."
Im Sobyeong’s calm voice cut sharply into Baek Cheon’s ears.
"The terror that one’s life could be taken on a whim, the fear that they must bow down and endure any abuse without strength to resist, and the helplessness and despair that come from that—these will never disappear. Not as long as Evil Tyrant Alliance's rule continues."
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