Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1370. Do you know what shame is? (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The leader of the approaching group had an unmatched ferocity about him.
Of course, Elder Hyeong, having lived long enough, knew better than to judge a person by their face alone.
But he also knew this: while one person might be hard to read, when an entire group exudes the same momentum, the outcome is all too predictable.
The group entering the village radiated a dangerous momentum. It was a presence no ordinary villagers could ever give off. A sinister stench that only those who had spilled countless lives could emit.
It seemed the elder wasn't the only one who sensed this. The villagers all held their breath.
While the elder’s eyes were filled with resignation, the villagers’ eyes were brimming with thick despair. They knew these men hadn't simply stopped by while passing through. They must have come here with a clear purpose. Having spent their lives reading others’ moods, they could instinctively tell from the approaching footsteps.
‘In the end… this was bound to happen.’
The elder let out an empty laugh.
If mere submission wouldn't change anything, if this was the ending they were destined to face, he should have at least tried raising his voice in defiance once.
If he had, he wouldn’t have felt so ashamed in front of his son who left before him.
The strange men who entered the village swept their gazes around and turned their attention to those gathered before the burial mound.
"There they are."
The leader of the group strode toward them without hesitation.
A rabbit facing a tiger might at least attempt to flee, but ordinary people facing martial artists couldn’t even do that. The elder weakly accepted the fate that would soon befall them.
But the others weren’t like him. They hadn’t lost their children yet, and their will to live was stronger. They couldn’t resign themselves as easily as Elder Hyeong.
"Pl- Please spare us!"
The man who had been justifying his betrayal of Hyeong Wook only moments ago now dropped to the ground at the sight of the approaching men.
"Didn't we tell you everything! I have nothing more to give you. If you spare us, I’ll keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life, honorable warriors!"
The man probably knew that it was a futile act. But even so, he couldn’t just sit back and die. Wasn’t it the life he had tried to protect by selling out everything he could? How could he let go of that life so easily?
"I- I just remembered, those people definitely went north! North! I saw them go north! Up there, north, if you, uh, look north, you’ll find the traces of those Righteous Sects hypocrites!”
The martial artist, now standing right in front of them, narrowed their eyes slightly and muttered.
"...Righteous Sects hypocrites?"
The man held his breath. His entire body trembled, wondering if he'd made a slip of the tongue while frantically babbling.
"It's been a while since I've heard such pleasing words."
But fortunately, the response he had hoped for came. The man's instantly encouraged and shouted even louder.
“Yes! Yes! Those… those damn Righteous Sects bastard only care about their own gain! How could they ever compare to the heroes of Evil Sects? If you spare us, we’ll help you. W- We can recognize their faces, honorable warriors!”
“Their faces....”
The strange man let out an odd laugh and asked.
"You're saying if we take you along, you can recognize and report those faces?"
“Yes! Yes! If not, we can at least describe their appearances! We have someone who's good at drawing among us, so we'll definitely be helpful! So please, just spare us!"
“Before that, let me ask you something. Is this Hyeongga Village?”
“Y- Yes, but…”
The man fumbled his response with a bewildered expression at this seemingly random question. Why would those who were just here yesterday ask such a thing?
Just then, someone who had been examining various parts of the village called out.
"Chief! There are traces of others having been here."
“A large number. At least a few hundred.”
Hearing this, the strange man’s eyebrow twitched.
His gaze swept over the man groveling before him, the burial mound, and the traces left behind by Myriad Man Manor. His lips curled into a sneer.
"It's true that Righteous Sects members are hypocrites."
“Yes, yes! Of course!”
“But… our boss is also part of that Righteous Sects group. From the looks of things, it seems you sold our leader out to Evil Tyrant Alliance."
“...Yes?”
The strange man's expression turned cold.
"It churns my stomach to think we crossed the Yangtze risking our lives to pick up some trash."
The man couldn't understand what the strange man meant and just stared blankly at his face.
The strange man then spat out his words.
“We came here under orders from Nokrim King to escort you to Gangbuk. But… you couldn’t even wait and repaid kindness with betrayal? You are beasts worse than animals!”
A murderous intent erupted not just from the speaking man but from the entire group.
These were Nokrim King Nokchae’s direct subordinates. Their loyalty to Nokrim King is second to none in the world. This was their natural reaction to hearing talk of betraying Nokrim King right before their eyes.
The man, feeling the murderous intent, tried to scramble to his feet but ended up falling backward onto his rear.
“I, I....”
Why were these people here?
The villagers had rejected the request for help from Heavenly Comrade Alliance. They had believed the promise was impossible to begin with and thought rejecting it would put an end to it entirely.
Who would offer aid to those who had so heartlessly turned their back on a benefactor? Yet, absurdly, the people who had come to help the villagers arrived at this very moment, and the man had blabbered things he shouldn’t have in front of them.
Now understanding the gravity of his mistake, the man gaped as if he had plummeted into the depths of despair itself.
"You worm-like bastards..."
Gwak Min, the Black Night Tiger, one of Nokrim Ten Shadows (녹림십영(綠林十影)) and a close aide to Nokrim King, twisted his face in disgust. Those watching the situation from behind spoke one by one.
“It seems Nokrim King misjudged people this time.”
“There’s no way Nokrim King would make such a mistake! It must’ve been those Mount Hua bastards who convinced him.”
"Wouldn't it be better to just dispose of them all? Why bother taking trash to Gangbuk?"
“Still, it’s Nokrim King’s order.”
“Who would know if we said that Evil Tyrant Alliance had killed them?”
Truthfully, betrayal wasn't such an unfamiliar thing to Nokrim. Even betraying benefactors wasn't particularly rare.
But precisely because of that, their judgment against such people was even harsher. They knew from experience that showing mercy to such people only led to the collapse of their sect’s foundation.
Black Night Tiger narrowed his eyes as he listened to his subordinates. His thoughts weren't much different from theirs.
Nokrim King's orders is absolute. But recently, Nokrim King had been swayed too much by the Mount Hua Sect. Wouldn't this command to save these people be something Nokrim King of the past would never have issued?
“...Answer me.”
"Yes?"
“Where did Evil Tyrant Alliance go?”
"W- We don't know that much..."
Black Night Tiger let out a dry chuckle.
“You sold out your benefactors just fine, but you can’t sell out Evil Tyrant Alliance?”
"Th- That's not it..."
The man's face turned deathly pale. Now, Black Night Tiger’s murderous aura was openly radiating.
“Tch.”
“Need I say more?”
Seureureung.
Nokrim bandits unsheathed their large swords. There was no need to feign kindness any longer, and the rough, unrefined energy unique to Nokrim bandits flowed freely.
Thinking everything was over, the man squeezed his eyes shut.
But then, one of Nokrim bandits in the back spoke up.
"Wait. What's that burial mound?"
“…Huh?”
“Who died?”
It was clearly the appearance of someone buried very recently. The villagers glanced back at the burial mound. The looks they exchanged were somehow complex.
Black Night Tiger let out a low hum and stared at the grave mound with a hardened expression.
"Did you check?"
When he asked, the one who approached nodded.
“Yes. There were clear signs of torture in the center of the village. The smell of blood hasn’t even faded yet, so it seems the victim suffered terribly.”
“....”
"If it was one person, they might have had almost all their blood drained..."
Black Night Tiger was also of Evil Secst. There was no way he hadn’t heard of the unspeakable torture methods used by Myriad Man Manor. Especially if Ho Gamyeong had personally come here, the intensity of the torture would have far exceeded normal levels.
‘Did he endure that…?’
It was hard to believe that ordinary villagers, not even a martial artist, endured such torture and kept their mouths shut until the end. But the traces left here and the expressions on the villagers’ faces proved it was true.
Even without digging up the burial mound to examine the corpse.
“Hah....”
Black Night Tiger shook his head with a slightly tired face and looked around at the villagers who were watching him with fear-filled eyes.
After a long silence, he gave a slow nod.
"Sheathe your weapons."
“...Yes.”
The subordinates sheathed their weapons without question. The ill feelings toward the villagers had not disappeared, but they could not do anything to them anymore. Even if they received such orders, the discomfort that had sprouted would not fade.
Nokrim bandits were originally part of Evil Sects, betraying others as easily as eating meals and not knowing the meaning of loyalty, but they understand better than anyone in the world what true spirit means. (Had closer meaning to backbone. Like, ‘you have no backbone to do that.’)
“Old man.”
“Y- Yes...?”
“Get ready. We'll escort you to Gangbuk."
“Y- You mean us?”
"That's right."
Elder Hyeong blinked with a bewildered expression.
"B- But we..."
He should have just nodded without hesitation, but a strange discomfort made him hesitate. A discomfort that, had he not experienced all that had happened in the past day, he wouldn’t have even noticed.
But Black Night Tiger simply shook his head and spoke firmly.
"We received orders, so we follow them. Make your choice. Either stay here, or follow us to Gangbuk. If you choose the latter, we'll ensure you reach Gangbuk alive."
Elder Hyeong glanced slightly behind.
The villagers were giving him desperate looks, but his gaze was fixed on the grave where his son was buried.
The old man's eyes, which had been staring at the spot in silence for a long time, became wet.
'You rascal...'
In the end, it was Hyeong Wook who saved the village.
If even Hyeong Wook had sold them out, they might have temporarily survived but would have eventually met a tragic end at the hands of these people. Even if they were lucky enough to avoid that, they couldn't have prevented them from leaving without helping the villagers.
Because his son remained faithful to Heavenly Comrade Alliance until the end, a way out was opened for the people of this village.
“The sooner you choose, the better. We don’t know when Myriad Man Manor bastard might return.”
“…We’ll go.”
The elder nodded with difficulty.
“We have to survive… We have to survive somehow.”
"Then prepare. The lighter your luggage, the better. No need to pack useless things like grain. There’s plenty of grain in Gangbuk.”
These words stabbed the elder's heart even more painfully. If only they had known they would have heard these words a little earlier...
"We... we will do so."
Black Night Tiger nodded. The villagers who had been watching cautiously rushed one by one to their homes.
As he watched them scatter, Black Night Tiger smiled bitterly.
'The world...'
Those who remained loyal to the end were buried beneath the cold earth, and those who committed betrayal were spared at the cost of his sacrifice.
This must be why goodwill struggles to spread in the world.
But....
As he looked at the red burial mound where no grass had yet grown, Black Night Tiger muttered.
“...At least you won’t have any regrets.”
He felt as if someone he had never met before was smiling at him.
|Note
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