Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1389. You're making fun of people (4)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
A terrible, stabbing pain shot through his thigh. The wound he had allowed earlier seemed deeper than he had thought.
Dizziness washed over his vision time and time again. Whether it was because he had lost too much blood or because the poison seeping through his wounds was eating away at him rapidly, he couldn’t tell. His breathing grew increasingly labored.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
But he couldn’t stop now.
“Chase him!”
A harsh voice echoed from not too far away. The pursuers were merciless and cruel. If he were caught by them, he would suffer so much pain that he would be begging for death.
It wasn’t the pain he feared. What truly terrified him was the thought of ending his life in a place like this. To end his life groveling in the dirt like a worm, without accomplishing anything or holding anything. That was something he couldn’t bear.
Swaeaeaeaeaek!
At that moment, a searing pain shot through his calf.
“Ugh!”
The boy, losing his balance, tumbled to the ground with the momentum of his run. His body bounced and twisted several times before finally coming to a stop, sprawled out on the dirt.
Hwiik!
With the sharp sound of air being cut, several martial artists landed in front of him.
“You little brat…”
Those dressed in blue robes glared at the boy with terribly vicious eyes. Though he lay fallen with wounds all over his body deserving of pity, there wasn't a trace of compassion in their eyes. If anything, their eyes burned with a hatred fiercer than what one might reserve for their mortal enemy.
But these people had every reason to hate him.
"You dare... not only shamelessly steal the sect's precious treasure and flee, but also assassinate Sect Leader?"
"We will cut you into a thousand pieces and avenge Sect Leader."
The boy in front of them now seemed childish and powerless at first glance, but in reality, he was a wretched demon so vicious that even snakes and scorpions would fear him.
He had attacked the sect leader during cultivation after being treated specially and granted infinite grace as the chosen successor. Then he stole the sect's true breathing technique and fled. Moreover, the number of people this bastard had killed during his escape already amounted to no less than ten.
“Even a mute dog knows gratitude. You worthless wretch! Sect Leader cherished you so dearly!”
"Kukukukuk."
Still lying on the ground, the boy let out a stifled laugh before slowly raising his upper body.
"Gratitude..."
From behind his blood-soaked, disheveled bangs, his pale eyes gleamed with a sinister light.
“Does something like that even exist in this world?”
“…What?”
“That old man only raised me to make me his pawn. If I hadn’t had talent, do you really think that so-called ‘gratitude’ would have been directed at me?”
“You little…”
"People are so strange. They live their lives without a second thought about such things, but when it’s time to speak, they act like it’s some grand virtue.”
The boy slowly raised his body completely, clenching the ground as if grasping it in his hand.
"You fool. Even if that was Sect Leader’s intent, had you patiently inherited his teachings, you could have become one of the greatest masters. You threw that opportunity away with your own hands. And now, you’ll pay the price with a miserable death.”
"One of the greatest masters…? As that old man’s disciple?"
The boy let out a clear laugh as if itwere truly absurd. His laugh was laced with biting mockery and self-deprecation. It was not the kind of laughter one would expect from a child.
One of the greatest masters? What would change by making a name for oneself in this sort of backwater place?
A wretched life, a wretched reputation.
How worthless was a life spent struggling to obtain such things?
Some might be satisfied with that. But at least the boy wasn't. A life unable to rise was more terrible than a miserable death.
"Not just Sect Leader! Everyone in the sect had expectations for you. If it were you..."
“Expectations? For what?”
The boy sneered as he looked at the man.
“Would your lives change if I became great?”
"Y- You bastard!"
“Would your worth change? You’re all just useless lives anyway.”
The man was so enraged he was practically foaming at the mouth. And then, the boy’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"Sect? Expectations? It's because you rely on such things that you live like that. The only one you can trust is yourself! If you want to change, if you want to gain something, the only one you must push to the limit is yourself. If someone undeserving lays their hands on something beyond them, all that awaits is misery."
“….”
"I refuse to live like that. If I desire something, I will take it with my own hands. And I’ll bear the sacrifices that come with it.”
The arrogance of a child, the ignorance of someone who doesn’t know the world… Could such words describe the boy?
In the child's voice lays a malice difficult for even those who had lived more than twice his age to bear. It was impossible to guess where such bitterness came from.
“…So it was you.”
At that moment, a voice like that of a sick person flowed from one man's mouth. As if he had just realized something.
"The one who killed the young sect leader of Dawn Break Sect (조령문(朝嶺門)) and took their secret teachings... The one who killed the heiress of Wicked Magnate Manor (악호방(惡豪房)) and fled with their treasure… It was all you.”
A stunned silence fell over the group as everyone turned to stare at the man who had spoken.
"Th- Then all the incidents that occurred in each sect over the past few years...?"
“…That’s impossible. They couldn’t have been that foolish.”
"Were we fooled because we were foolish?"
At that, everyone fell silent.
No, they weren’t fools. They couldn’t be.
Enlightened Path Manor (명도방(明道房)) was a sect with a reputation like that of a death god in Bokju region. If their leaders had truly been fools, how could they have achieved such a status?
"We weren’t stupid. That bastard! That bastard was simply too cunning. Enough to deceive everyone so perfectly in such a short time."
The men bit their lips. Someone muttered with a face of contempt.
"Worse than a dog."
“Kukukuk….”
The boy slowly wiped the blood flowing down his face. The crimson blood spread along the corners of his mouth like the exaggerated makeup of a Peking opera actor. At a glance, it looked like the wide grin of a madman.
That alone completely transformed his appearance. The face that once seemed innocent and clear now turned into that of a wicked demon.
"Is that truly my fault?"
"What nonsense are you trying to spout now...!"
"Can you tell? What I'm thinking right now. With what thoughts I'm looking at you."
The man's face wasdistorted. He couldn't understand what this wicked bastard was saying.
"Of course, you wouldn't know. There's no way you could. No one can ever truly understand another person's thoughts or intentions. Even as you stand just a few feet away and glaring at me with hatred, you’ll never know.”
The man’s eyes flickered briefly. The boy smiled.
“So how on earth did you have the audacity to trust someone whose innermost thoughts you couldn’t possibly know? Is the trust you gave something that must be returned? And if not, you gain the right to criticize and curse?"
"What sophistry..."
"If that's what you think, then your beliefs are laughably shallow."
Perhaps this wasn't mere mockery, but a genuine question.
The boy couldn't understand.
Those who depend on others, those who place expectations on others, even those who think others will act according to their will.
To the boy, it was no different from throwing oneself into a deep, bottomless well. It was the act of a madman, betting everything on baseless optimism and trust, without knowing what monsters or abysses lay within.
Perhaps they saw him as a madman. But to the boy, the truly insane ones were the people of this world. It was filled only with people who weren't in their right minds.
To the boy, such a world was disgusting to watch… and at the same time, it was indescribably beautiful. It sparkled.
That's why he wanted to grasp it in his hand. This world, overflowing with things he could never truly have.
“It doesn’t matter what you say. We’ll make you pay for what you’ve done.”
"The likes of you?"
"I'll acknowledge your nerve. But, boy. You knew too little of the world. And because of you, everyone will soon learn just how ruthless and thorough Enlightened Path Manor’s revenge can be!"
The boy sneered when he heard that.
Of course, his physical condition was at its worst. Even now, more pursuers were closing in from afar. But the boy felt neither solitude nor loneliness.
“This is why fools like you…”
"What?"
"You said it yourself. That the one who stole Dawnbreak Sect's secret techniques was me, and the one who stole Wicked Magnate Manor's treasure was also me."
The man flinched at his words.
"Then what do you think I did with them? Do you think I sold them for pocket change?"
“G- Get him now…!”
"Now do you understand? I didn’t run away because I feared the likes of you. I simply didn’t want my name to spread any further here. You should have realized that earlier!”
Sinister madness spewed forth from the boy's eyes.
The sound of enraged shouts echoed from somewhere.
A murderous intent sharp enough to pierce his skin surged from the distance.
The entire world seemed to be violently swirling and raging just to catch and kill him alone.
But it didn’t matter. The world had always been like this. He had never wished for it to be any different.
The moment he subjugates this filthy world beneath his feet, he will fully discover the reason he was born into this world for the first time.
Even if he was torn to shreds while walking that path, without leaving even a single piece of flesh behind, he would have no regrets.
Just laugh once (웃고(一笑)/Jang Ilso) and walk into hell, that's all.
"Kill him!"
Looking at those charging toward him, the boy, Jang Ilso, narrowed his eyes and smiled.
'I will grasp them.'
Everything that he was never meant to have.
* * *
Jang Ilso slowly opened his eyes and gazed out the window with a languid expression.
‘How unusual.’
He rarely had dreams. Especially not of those wretched days when he had been dragged through the dirt.
Lost in silent thought, he suddenly wondered.
Did he obtain what he sought?
No. Not yet. He hadn’t obtained anything.
This power that others so bitterly envied, this unsurpassable high reputation, this wealth that wouldn't dry up even if used for a lifetime—all still seemed trivial.
None of it was what he truly wanted to obtain.
But Jang Ilso was certain. If he followed this path to the end, everything would eventually fall into his hands. And after that…
“...Who knows.”
Jang Ilso muttered with a languid face.
"What comes after is not my concern. Right?”
Most people don't understand.
For some, it was not the life they will gain after achieving their goal that matters, but the very act of achieving it itself.
Perhaps the one who could understand that was struggling in a hellish situation right now. Just as Jang Ilso had in the past.
And perhaps he would feel everything Jang Ilso had felt back then.
Jang Ilso had abandoned everything to survive. But could he do the same?
“Either way, it doesn’t matter.”
A seemingly benevolent smile flashed across his face. But as his red lips twisted, an eerie aura seeped from his expression.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if you came this way too.”
And if that happened, Jang Ilso might finally obtain something.
The one and only in the world. The only one who could understand him.
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