Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1488. I Didn't Come to See You? (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The startled Five Swords exchanged glances.
'What did he just say?'
'He said he'll kill him?'
'Who? The Sect Leader of Beggar Union?'
'Is that bastard actually crazy?'
Those who were just gaping their mouths in surprise all at once sharply looked at Chung Myung's back.
'This bastard is serious.'
Yoon Jong could tell right away.
This was by no means a simple threat. If Beggar Union Sect Leader didn’t give a proper answer right now, Chung Myung really intended to act. His countless experiences staring at that back of his told him so.
"Sasuk!"
Flustered, Yoon Jong ended up turning to Baek Cheon. Right now, the only person who could possibly stop that madman was Baek Cheon.
'We have to stop him!'
The opponent is the Beggar Union Sect Leader. Though it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, that person is claiming to be so, isn't he?
To cut down such a person? With Chung Myung's sword? This wasn't an incident that could be resolved. No, it might become an event that would overturn Kangho even more than Evil Tyrant Alliance’s advance toward Gangbuk.
"Sasuk. First, Chung Myung..."
"Wait."
Yoon Jong's eyes shook briefly.
"But..."
"I understand what you mean, so wait."
Yoon Jong in the end closed his mouth shut. He couldn’t easily speak up against Baek Cheon when he was that resolute.
‘What are you planning to do…?’
The uneasy gaze mixed with resignation turned forward again. Chung Myung's back was still indifferent, while the Pavilion Master's eyes were dark and sunken.
After a long silence, the Pavilion Master finally spoke.
"What you're saying..."
Though his voice sounded calm at first, Five Swords noticed the faint agitation hidden within.
"..is that I'm deliberately making Beggar Union incompetent?"
"..."
"Me, who is the Beggar Union Sect Leader."
Isong Baek looked at Chung Myung with somewhat bewildered eyes.
In fact, it might be strange for a disciple of Southern Edge Sect to harbor such thoughts, but Isong Baek trusted Chung Myung almost to the point of perfection. He was convinced that there was a reason for everything Chung Myung did.
But even to such Isong Baek, this was too strange an interrogation.
If that man was truly the sect leader of Beggar Union, he should be wishing more than anyone for the Union to be competent. What kind of sect leader would intentionally render his own sect incompetent?
Thinking there must be some misunderstanding, Isong Baek hesitantly spoke up.
"Um... Dojang. This seems a bit..."
"You’re correct."
But at that moment, the calm voice of the Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master silenced Isong Baek.
'What?'
Did he mishear? Not only Isong Baek, but everyone was flustered and focused on the Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master.
"Certainly, you can’t be judged hastily. Just as I've heard."
The gazes of Chung Myung and the Pavilion Master intertwined in the air.
"There were those who noticed Beggar Union's decline, but they merely mocked my incompetence. You are the first to accurately discern my intentions. Impressive."
Yoon Jong's jaw slowly dropped.
'What does this mean?'
Why would Beggar Union Sect Leader make Beggar Union incompetent?
"Spare me the obvious. And the useless empty rhetoric."
Chung Myung cut off coolly.
"What I want to hear is the reason. The reason for doing such a thing."
"The reason, you say..."
The Pavilion Master slowly turned around. Then he sat in the office chair and loosely leaned his back.
"That is something I should be the one asking in reverse, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword."
"...What?"
"Why does Beggar Union have to be competent?"
Chung Myung's eyes sank low.
"Answer me. Why must Beggar Union be competent? And why must I, as its sect leader, ensure that the Union always remains competent? For what purpose?"
"What nonsense are you trying to say?"
"Because it’s convenient for you all to use them whenever needed?"
When Chung Myung did not answer, the Pavilion Master chuckled out loud.
"You must know this too. Beggar Union is a sect that rose to Ten Great Sects Righteous Sects with information power alone, but... unlike Hao Sect, we don't particularly learn martial arts for covert movements. This sect only has feets to run here and there fastly and ears to listen."
Chung Myung glared at the Pavilion Master without answering.
"The significance of the existence of so many beggars lies only in their ears. If not that, it lies in appropriately blocking the opponent with those large numbers."
"What are…."
"You already know the truth, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword."
The Pavilion Master spoke quietly. His voice carried a strangely hollow and empty tone.
"The competence you speak of comes from righteousness that disregards one's own life. The determination to see enemies with your own eyes and hear them with your own ears, even if it costs your head. Without that righteousness, Beggar Union is nothing more than a useless group of beggars. Do you know what that means?"
Again, Chung Myung did not answer. The Pavilion Master's face suddenly distorted. He spoke as if spitting out the words.
"The competence of Beggar Union you speak of is solely the blood price of beggars."
Yoon Jong's body flinched and trembled.
But the Pavilion Master continued speaking as if he didn't care about their reactions.
"To make Beggar Union competent right now is, in truth, a simple task. Just push the disciples into Gangnam regardless of whether they die or not, place them near Evil Tyrant Alliance, and trace the enemies’ locations by collecting the blood the beggars shed. That’s the method Beggar Union has always taken."
The Pavilion Master shrugged his shoulders.
"And what remains?"
"..."
"Righteous Blood Beggar Union. Beggar Union doesn't refuse to shed blood for righteousness. Besides those damned four words, what else remains?"
The Pavilion Master's voice grew louder and louder. As if anger he couldn't fully suppress was leaking out.
"They truly spout it so easily. They so nonchalantly say that this is a job the Beggar Union must do. That we must find out, even if it means enduring sacrifices."
"..."
"Could they still speak like that if that sacrifice were the lives of their own sect members?"
The Pavilion Master let out another dry chuckle.
"No. Of course, they couldn’t. Because everyone cherishes their own lives. But the lives of one or two beggars are nothing in this world."
"Tha- That’s not true."
When Yoon Jong couldn't hold back and spoke, the Pavilion Master glared at him with a cold gaze.
"Is that really so?"
"Of course."
"Then did you not resent us when we lost track of Jang Ilso?"
Yoon Jong was speechless for a moment and closed his mouth.
"Really?"
An odd smile spread across the Pavilion Master's lips.
"There are people who say so, yes. The lives of beggars are equally important. But when a crisis strikes, in the end, they all shout in one voice. Information is important. We must find out where the enemy is. Otherwise, more people will die."
"..."
"And so they tell us to head into that Gangnam that’s swarming with enemies and stick close to them."
Yoon Jong felt his breath catch in his throat. He wanted to say deny, but he couldn't. Here, the feelings he harbors aren’t important in the slightest.
What if Yoon Jong insists that they shouldn't obtain information through the sacrifice of beggars? The world would probably never accept it. It would continue to demand it as a matter of course. That Beggar Union should secure more information.
At that moment, Chung Myung's soft voice penetrated between the two.
"So that’s why you did this?"
Chung Myung chuckled and said.
"Being bedridden was quite a good excuse. If you're lying in a sickbed, you don't have to meet the sect leaders of other sects, so you wouldn't have had to listen to requests or pressure."
"I won’t deny it."
"You must also be the one who stopped Beggar Union disciples who, in the past, wouldn't have hesitated to charge into enemy territory."
"That’s right."
"You pulled them back from places where enemies moved, and likewise you turned a blind eye even as the sect fractured and turned on itself."
The Pavilion Master nodded silently.
"But the reason for all those actions was merely... because you didn't want to do work that benefits others?"
"You’re wrong, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword."
The Pavilion Master shook his head firmly.
"I just wanted to save even one more Beggar Union disciple."
"..."
"We are just beggars. Beggar Union is a place where those who live in the lowest place in the world gather to not be persecuted anymore. But the world demands even the last thing we have left. Our very lives."
Chung Myung's lips twitched slightly.
"The ones who create the information you want aren’t high-ranking masters inside the Union. They are those who beg and live somewhere in that village, those who worry about making ends meet for one day tomorrow. Is it truly right to ask even the lives of such people?"
The Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master, grinding his teeth, said.
"If it's truly necessary, then those of you who have taken plenty should be the ones to do it. Why demand it of us?"
"And Beggar Union got plenty in return. Yet you’re trying to wash your hands now?"
"So am I not saying I will give that up!"
The Pavilion Master suddenly roared like lightning.
Tension seized the air in an instant as Chung Myung and the Pavilion Master’s eyes clashed fiercely.
The Pavilion Master, who had briefly heaved his shoulders, realized a moment too late that he had lost control and exhaled deeply.
"My apologies. It wasn't something to get angry about."
He rubbed the corners of his eyes with a faintly trembling hand. In that tremor, the sense of pressure and mental anguish he had felt were wholly contained.
"Perhaps I too just wanted to confide these words to someone. That might be why I didn't stop you all from coming up here."
The Pavilion Master let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Go back."
"Sect Leader."
"You must have come here thinking to restore Beggar Union to normal. You probably believe that in the war to come, Beggar Union must fulfill its role."
"..."
"And of course, you would have been confident of that. Because you have achieved whatever you wanted until now. I acknowledge your abilities too."
The Pavilion Master glared at Cheong Myung with cold eyes.
"But I will never be swayed by your words and logic. I have no intention of sacrificing the lives of beggars to give you the information you need. If that is truly what you want, just sever my neck here and now. Then you might be able to achieve that goal. Right now, the headquarters is overflowing with those who want to return Beggar Union to its former state."
The Pavilion Master, who lifted his head straight, slowly asked.
"Did that answer your question?"
"..."
Chung Myung quietly opened and closed his fists. His mouth, which had opened as if to say something, shut tightly once more.
He didn’t know what he could say.
When someone says they will save even one more beggar's life no matter what happens, no matter what condemnation they must bear, how could this be refuted?
It was when Chung Myung closed his eyes with a feeling close to resignation.
"It’s hard to understand."
A clear voice flowed from the mouth of Isong Baek, who had been listening seriously to the conversation going back and forth. His clear and bright eyes stared directly at the Pavilion Master, whose gaze was soaked in remorse.
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