Chapter 1226



Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1226. I Don't Know (1)

Editor: Hoamzz

Co-Translator: Xoxo



Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lips.

Was it something he hadn’t considered? Impossible.

He certainly had thought about it. That the residents of Gangnam would suffer under the rule of Evil Tyrant Alliance. And that those hardships would be beyond what he could imagine.

But just thinking doesn’t mean you can truly understand, and understanding doesn’t carry the same weight as feeling it firsthand.

Until he saw their lives firsthand, until he felt what thoughts they carried each day, all those ideas were just vague and hollow words floating through his mind.

But now he knows.

What was casually brushed off with a single word 'hardship' by Baek Cheon or others was a tangible threat to those experiencing it directly. A terror so great it forced them to suppress their own emotions and bow their heads submissively.

Im Sobyeong glanced at Baek Cheon’s expression and shrugged.

"Of course, it’s not like that’s the fault of Acting Sect Leader..."

"No."

Baek Cheon shook his head with a bitter expression.

"It's not because I'm the acting sect leader of Mount Hua Sect. If I truly believed I drew my sword for the people yet didn’t understand what kind of lives they actually lead, then that’s clearly my failing."

"...Why does it always come back to that?"

Im Sobyeong scratched his head awkwardly.

He had only wanted to inform Baek Cheon of the reality that the people of Gangnam faced, thinking he might not fully understand, yet it seemed like he had unintentionally ended up lecturing Baek Cheon about Righteousness, which embarrassed him.

"That... I know I'm not in a position to say such things. So I hope you don't think I'm being too presumptuous..."

Baek Cheon smiles brightly as if he noticed his feelings.

"Don't worry. Didn’t Confucius himself say that he studied diligently, even learning from children? I doubt Confucius thought he was inferior to the child."

"Oh. Have you read Three-Character Classic (삼자경(三字經))?"

Im Sobyeong’s expression lit up instantly. He was surprised and pleased to hear Confucian teachings from the mouth of these uncultured Mount Hua disciples.

Baek Cheon nodded with a smile.

"If even Confucius can learn from a child, what can I learn from a bandit?"

"What, this punk?"

The moment the angry Nokrim King was about to curse, Baek Cheon suddenly turned his head and looked at Hyungwook.

"I apologize."

When Baek Cheon suddenly bowed his head, Hyungwook was startled and tried to stop him.

"Wa- Warrior-nim! Why so suddenly? What wrong could Warrior-nim possibly have done...!"

Baek Cheon did not list all the mistakes he had made, because it was meaningless. Instead, he conveyed only one promise.

"It won't be long."

"....."

"Evil Tyrant Alliance's rule has fundamental limitations. No matter how long the night, dawn eventually comes."

This was a promise to himself as much as to others.

"I will strive to bring that dawn even a little faster."

Then Hyungwook answered with a bright smile.

"Thank you! Truly, thank you so much, Warrior-nim!"

"Yes. We will strive harder. So please, do not lose hope."

Baek Cheon tried his best to convey his resolve to Hyungwook. But then.

"Tsk."

The sound of Im Sobyeong clicking his tongue cut through Baek Cheon’s words.

Baek Cheon turned his head in confusion, but Im Sobyeong’s gaze was no longer on Baek Cheon. Staring straight at Hyungwook, he spoke indifferently.

“It seems you’ve misunderstood.”

"...Yes?"

“I’m not that kind of person, but this respectable yangban standing before you isn’t one to just pretend not to know you if he’s displeased or things don't go his way. Can't you tell just by looking at his face?"

"....."

"So stop trying to please him and speak your true mind. That'll be much more helpful. This person is more remarkable than you think."

Hyungwook stumbled over his words in surprise.

“I- I don’t understand. I’m just speaking the truth as it is..."

“Who knows? If you really speak your mind, maybe this situation will improve even a day sooner.”

Hyungwook glanced carefully at Baek Cheon. He hesitated, then looked out the door. His expression grew complex as he watched those busily serving rice to people.

Noticing something, Baek Cheon spoke with a hardened face.

"Please."

"...Pardon?"

"I'm not just trying to feel like I helped someone. To walk the right path, I need to know the truth as it is. So... please. Tell me your true thoughts."

"N- No. My true thoughts..."

"Please."

Baek Cheon bowed his head deeply. Startled, Hyungwook hurriedly grabbed his shoulders to lift him up.

Jo-Gol, Yoon Jong, Namgung Dowi, and Tang Pae, who had also just arrived, watched the scene and hesitated, unsure whether to enter.

"...Even if I speak my true thoughts..."

Muttering to himself, Hyungwook let out a deep sigh.

"Warrior-nim."

“Yes.”

"...Please don’t take it too harshly. Warrior-nim seems to be a genuinely good person, so even someone as lowly as I am dares to voice a complaint, however small …”

"I promise it won’t offend me."

"Then..."

Hyungwook thought for a moment with a face that seemed unable to completely let go of his conflict, then contemplated for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut and spoke,

"How can we believe you?"

"....What?"

"How are we supposed to believe your words, Warrior-nim?"

The words from his mouth shocked Baek Cheon greatly. It was a shock unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Baek Cheon stared at Hyungwook with a blank face for a moment before answering.

“I understand that I may not seem trustworthy, but…”

"No. That's not it, Warrior-nim. It’s not that we don’t trust Warrior-nim.”

Hyungwook shook his head. Then he heaved another deep sigh.

"Warrior-nim... Do Warrior-nim have any idea how many times we’ve heard those words?”

Baek Cheon couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Everyone says so. ‘We’re here to help you,’ ‘We truly care about you.’”

A faint bitter smile appeared on Hyungwook’s face.

"Those who bear martial titles, those who come from the officials, they all say such things. I’m truly grateful for it, I really am… but then, why are we always left in this state?"

"....."

"Where are all those people who said they cared about us? Why... Why do they say these things when times are good, but the moment things turn truly unbearable, they all disappear?"

Hyungwook asked in a dispirited voice.

"You told us not to lose hope, right?"

"...Yes."

"Warrior-nim... That thing called hope, it truly torments people. We too held hope every time we heard kind words. But... when that hope turns to disappointment, we always feel it. If only we hadn’t hoped in the first place, it might’ve been better. That it would have been less painful if we just thought this was how life was meant to be."

"....."

"Did you think we didn't have expectations from the beginning? We believed. We believe naively and unwaveringly. But... somehow the world has become like this, and those who told us to believe just watch from across the river."

Baek Cheon clenched his fist. What pained him most was the expression on Hyungwook’s face, as if he had already resigned himself to everything.

"They tell us to endure and wait. But... this inadequate, lowly person cannot understand. Why must we wait? Those great and magnificent people... why do they just watch those evildoers? Why won’t those who claim to care about us fight for us?"

"...."

"We shared what little we had to support them, struggled to be of any help, however small… But when things actually happen, everyone backs away pretending not to know..."

"That's..."

Baek Cheon opened his mouth, about to say something, but Hyungwook spoke the words for him.

"Yes, I understand. Trying to save a few could risk the greater cause, right? How could someone like me, so ignorant, possibly understand the profound thoughts of those above us?"

"....."

"But… But, Warrior-nim."

Hyungwook's gaze fell on his unconscious father.

"It's really strange. People like Warrior-nim always tell us the same thing. That people like us are the most important. That you take up the sword for people like us. Isn’t that right?"

"...Yes."

"Then… why is it, whenever something happens, we’re always the bottom priority? Why is it that we are always the last ones to be saved?"

Hyungwook's voice grew increasingly louder.

"Why are we the ones who can die, who can suffer without end? Why are we the ones who have to beg like insects, endure every humiliation, just so long as we keep breathing?"

"...."

"Why should we, why! Why do we have to shed tears of gratitude for the tiny kindnesses thrown at us as if in charity, and why do we have to tremble in fear, worrying about the consequences of even that? Why?"

Before the increasingly rising voice, Baek Cheon bit his lip hard.

"Warrior-nim told us to have hope, right?"

"....."

"I'm not blaming Warrior-nim. If it weren’t for Warrior-nim, none of us would still be alive. Truly, I thank you for that. We’re not shameless people who would wish for more just because we’ve been saved from drowning. To resent Warrior-nim for this situation would be deeply wrong of us.”

Hyungwook shook his head slowly.

"But... But, Warrior-nim. We've seen too much... We have experienced too much for us to harbor hope again because of this gratitude. That’s... Yes, that’s too cruel a thing to ask. Hope is too heavy a burden to bear...”

Baek Cheon quietly closed his eyes.

How utterly hollow his words must have sounded to someone who had to call his own father a worthless old man just to survive, to try to somehow save even a few others.

He thought he understood, but he didn’t; he thought he knew, but he didn’t.

Baek Cheon opened his mouth with difficulty. Not because he had anything particular to say, but because he had to say something.

"I.... I only meant to offer even a little comfort... My thinking was shallow. I'm sorry."

"No, no. That's not what I meant."

"But not everyone is so irresponsible. Not everyone thinks that way. I wish you could at least believe in that much."

Hyungwook's expression slightly hardened at those words. Chewing his lips, he finally couldn’t help himself and spoke.

"Warrior-nim."

"Yes."

“Right now, you’re hurrying off somewhere to save someone, aren’t you?”

"....."

"And it must be a truly important matter. Right?"

Baek Cheon's face hardened.

“That means you’ll be leaving soon, then. Because your work here is already done.”

He already knew. Hyungwook knew what he was going to say.

“I don’t understand. When even Warrior-nim sees us as people who can be saved later whenever convenient, or at least as people for whom this much effort is enough, when Warrior-nim thinks there are more important people to save elsewhere... When everyone is… treating us as if we’re just people who can stand to lose a few more of our numbers along the way.”

"....."

"What we should believe in, what hope we should hold… I… I just don’t understand."

It felt as though he were sinking endlessly into a bottomless abyss.




Consider supporting me by subscribing on Patreon for 5$. The Patreon membership for Mount Hua and Infinite Mage is the same. The benefit:
Advance chapters of Mount Hua : 76
Advance chapters of Magic Realm Convenience Store Worker : 10 Chapters

|Note


Comments Box

  1. """ Thank you for the Chapter"""
  2. Awww... this is truly one of the most painful arcs in the story