Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1489. I Didn't Come to See You? (4)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The Pavilion Master frowned slightly.
Although it was difficult to clearly explain the reason, it was because Isong Baek's gaze was strangely bothersome.
“Southern Edge Sect’s Isong Baek.”
A flat voice escaped his lips.
“Southern Edge Sect’s second-class disciple. Mentioned as the next leader of Southern Edge Sect along with Jin Geumryong. The most promising rising talent receiving the greatest expectations at present. Personality is serious, polite, and disciplined. Current martial prowess is unconfirmed. Possibility of becoming Southern Edge Sect's Sect Leader in the future exists."
Isong Baek slightly widened his eyes in surprise, but the Pavilion Master spoke indifferently.
“It seems my information is mistaken. If you’re truly the Isong Baek of Southern Edge Sect I know, then you wouldn’t be ignorant of the fact that butting into this kind of conversation without permission is a breach of decorum. Or has Southern Edge Sect also decided to follow Mount Hua's unconventionality?"
It was truly a blatant rebuke. Isong Baek cupped his fists politely.
"I will formally apologize for this."
"I accept the apology. However, this is not a matter for you to interfere in. So withdraw.”
“Withdrawing is not difficult. But I wish to speak a word.”
“...What is it?”
At the Pavilion Master's obviously displeased answer, Isong Baek lifted his head straight.
"I believe there is no mistake in the words you spoke a moment ago. I could clearly feel how much Sect Leader cherishes Beggar Union.”
"Set aside the lip service and just say the conclusion."
"...Yes."
Isong Baek nodded and spoke with determined eyes.
“Isn’t it possible that what the Pavilion Master believes to be right may be different from what the disciples of Beggar Union believe to be right?”
The Pavilion Master's eyes darkened.
"I don't understand what you're saying. If you're just planning to spout obvious nonsense, stop now."
"That's..."
Isong Baek tried to say something more but suddenly let out a sigh. He felt suffocated because he lacked the words to persuade the Pavilion Master.
But he did not back down and chose a different path.
Clang!
When Isong Baek suddenly drew his sword, Mount Hua's disciples were startled and grabbed his shoulders.
“So- Sohyeop! What are you doing…!”
"Just a moment."
Isong Baek carefully pushed away Baek Cheon's hand on his shoulder and stretched his sword forward.
“This is my sword.”
“....”
"As Beggar Union Sect Leader, you must already know. I practice the Thirty-Six Swords of the World. The most fundamental of Southern Edge Sect… No, it was fundamental in the past, but now it's a sword that has deviated from the mainstream."
"What does that have to do with this?"
"Please listen."
Isong Baek took a deep breath and opened his mouth again.
“The previous generation of Southern Edge Sect deemed this sword lacking, judged that it could never make one the greatest under heaven. So they tried to advance Southern Edge Sect with a new sword. That must have been a decision made with faith in Southern Edge Sect and affection for the disciples."
The Pavilion Master narrowed his eyes slightly.
"But I am still learning the sword of the past. Do you know what the reason is?"
"It seems you and that sword are a good match."
"No."
Isong Baek shook his head.
“The reason is simple. I believe it is right for me to learn this sword.”
Isong Baek's gaze, which had left the Pavilion Master for a moment, fell on Cheong Myeong.
“Of course, the one who helped me realize that it was right wasn’t someone from Southern Edge Sect. However, I ultimately judged that it was right for me to learn this sword, and I acted accordingly. That is why I am here now."
The gaze pouring toward the Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master was truly upright and clear. They were the very gazes that had felt irritating. The Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master slightly averted his eyes and said.
"What does this have to do with the current situation? I'm not so idle as to listen to you gild my face with nonsense."
“I merely wish to ask. Sect Leader said you did all of this for the disciples of Beggar Union. Southern Edge Sect’s ancestors also did the same for Southern Edge Sect. But at least to my eyes, it looks different.”
"Different?"
“Don’t Sect Leader aware? Our Sect Leader also must have firmly believed that the disciples learning a new sword was a better path. He wouldn’t have doubted even for a moment that it was for the disciples’ sake.”
The Pavilion Master’s face hardened for a moment. As if he understood what Isong Baek was implying.
"But right now, I am learning the Thirty-Six Swords of the World. Even though my past self, who was weak and dull-witted, made such a judgment, my Sect Leader did not force the 'right' path on me. That is why the me of today exists."
Isong Baek looked down at his sword and continued speaking.
"My Sect Leader must have worried about me too. Yet the reason he didn't dissuade me was because it was a decision I had agonized over and made myself, wasn't it? If I, as a martial artist, made a choice and was prepared to bear the responsibility for it, then of course it should be respected. But!”
Isong Baek's voice stretched towards the Pavilion Master like a heavy sword energy.
"Do Beggar Union disciples know what situation they are currently facing?"
“....”
"That Sect Leader is reducing what they can do to protect them, trying to make them live as mere ordinary beggars... do they also know this?"
The Pavilion Master did not answer.
“That’s.... Yes, Sect Leader. That’s....”
Isong Baek couldn't continue and trailed off. It wasn't because his emotions became intense. It was just that he felt hopeless.
That frustration was resolved on his behalf by Chung Myung, who had been quietly listening.
“That’s not right.”
Isong Baek nodded. As if to say that was exactly what he was trying to say.
“Yes. It’s not right. It’s not fair either.”
“No one would want their life to be decided for them by a reason they don’t even understand.”
“Yes! That’s it.”
Isong Baek nodded quickly. Chung Myung certainly understood what he was saying. Thinking so, Isong Baek's heart felt strangely excited.
At that moment, Chung Myung spoke as if sighing.
"Nice words and all, but.”
"...Yes?"
"Is that really something a bunch of thieves who stole someone else’s sword techniques should be saying?"
Chung Myung glanced at Isong Baek with endlessly distasteful and displeased eyes. And every time Chung Myung’s lips twitched in discontent, Isong Baek’s body twitched and shriveled up along with it.
Isong Baek managed to open his mouth awkwardly.
“No… that's not something the current sect leader did now, so…”
"Life sure shows me all kinds of nonsense, huh? It's true that that yangban did something frustrating, but the one to criticize that should be someone who could. How dare a thief bastard run his mouth? Just listening to you, you’d think the sect leader of Southern Edge Sect is some saint of the world? Huh?!”
It had the opposite effect. At Chung Myung’s words, the Five Swords jolted to their senses and glared at Isong Baek.
“Wow. I almost got fooled. If I had listened a little more, I almost would have thought the Southern Edge Sect sect leader was a good person."
"Come to think of it, that yangban is the one who acted arrogantly at Hwajong Conference using our stolen swordsmanship, isn't he?"
“...Gotta skin him.”
“One day we’ll burn it down. Southern Edge Sect.”
“...Sago. You shouldn’t say things like that in front of someone from Southern Edge Sect.”
"Why?"
"They'll prepare. Then it gets harder. You have to strike when they least expect it."
"Ah."
Isong Baek's hands instinctively clasped together politely.
Maybe if it were back when the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique had been lost, it would be different. But now, there’s no way they couldn’t know where the Twelve-Form Snow Flower Sword Technique came from. (Before: Twelve-Movement Snow Flower Sword Technique)
Of course, the current Snowflake Twelve Forms had deviated considerably from the Twelve-Form Snow Flower Sword Technique through Jin Geumryong and Southern Edge Sect's desperate modifications. But that didn't make the sins they committed disappear, did it?
“I have no words to offer Mount Hua..."
“Lee Sohyeop.”
"Yes?"
“Lower your gaze.”
"...Yes."
At Yoon Jong's words, Isong Baek quietly bowed his head again.
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and soon grinned. And then threw his gaze at the Pavilion Master. He hadn't even thought of opening his mouth yet.
"Right... The problem is who said it, not that the words themselves are wrong."
“....”
"Someone like you would know. How important information is when making a judgment. The same applies to Beggar Union. What you're doing now is cutting off the beggars’ hands and feet and dragging them by force into the life you want for them.”
A chill flashed in the Pavilion Master’s eyes. As if he had heard terribly insulting words. But that was all. Even as time passed, no words of rebuttal came out in the end.
“It’s not that you didn’t speak. It’s that you couldn’t. Because there’s no way the beggar disciples would agree to something like this. If they did, the word ‘Righteous Blood Beggar Union’ wouldn’t have come into existence in the first place. For the world, for Righteousness, life itself can be thrown away like a blade of grass. That’s what the Righteous Blood Beggar Union is.”
The Pavilion Master bit his lips tightly. He, who had been glaring at Chung Myung with eyes mixed with hatred and anger, slowly tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling. Eyes that had been swirling with complex emotions gradually closed.
“I suppose so.”
A voice full of emptiness flowed from the now closed-eyed Pavilion Master.
"No one would agree with what I'm trying to do. Those with power would want Beggar Union to become competent, and those without power would say its right to perform chivalry without regard for their own lives."
“You weren’t deceiving the outside world.”
Chung Myung nodded as if he finally understood.
"The one you deceived was none other than Beggar Union. Right?"
“....”
“Beggar Union might really believe you’re bedridden. No, maybe there’s even a body double. In any case, you hid yourself in order to deceive even Beggar Union, and yet you were unable to leave the place close to Beggar Union, so you stayed nearby. Like a ghost.”
The Pavilion Master trembled slightly.
Chung Myung felt an unknown sadness from that sight.
There were things that cannot be understood by anyone in the world, but must be done. He knows best how lonely the person who does this was.
"I won't say you were wrong. But you weren't right either. If you truly wanted that, you should have persuaded the beggars of Beggar Union."
The Pavilion Master lowered the head he was holding up and slowly opened his eyes. The hatred that had swirled within them had subsided. But that didn’t mean they now looked at Chung Myung with warmth.
"I appreciate the pointing out."
“....”
“But now I have no intention of changing my ways. I will save even one more Beggar Union disciple until the end. Even if it's the wrong path."
He was rather more determined.
"This conversation is over. Please leave now."
"Wa- Wait a moment."
Startled by the abrupt dismissal, Jo-Gol hastily intervened.
"Just go back like that? N- No. After talking this much, how can we just go back? What will you do if we inform the world of this fact after leaving this place?"
"Will you tell?"
“No, that’s not it. I'm not trying to threaten you... We need to have closure or something somehow..."
The Pavilion Master said calmly, looking at Jo-Gol who was bewildered and talking nonsense.
"Tell them if you want."
“Right. That.... What?”
“I said go and let them know.”
Jo-Gol blinked his eyes.
He was saying it was fine to expose everything? That the supposedly bedridden sect leader of Beggar Union was living comfortably, eating well at the top of a high-class brothel?
"If that happens, the inside of Beggar Union will also be divided into those who believe your words and those who don't, and this will be an opportunity for them to fight and quarrel with each other again. I might be ousted as a result, but I will hold on stubbornly until this war is over. Then the chances of Beggar Union getting involved in this dirty war will decrease. Thanks to you, things might even get easier."
"N- No..."
Jo-Gol left with his mouth agape. Hearing it, it really seemed like things could flow that way.
"Don't even think about changing my mind. If it could change that easily, I wouldn't have been able to endure until now."
The Pavilion Master looked straight at Chung Myung.
“Especially Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword. I am not like the people you’ve dealt with so far. I will never change my mind from talking with you. So stop wasting your breath and go back. Beggar Union will side with neither Ten Great Sects nor Heavenly Comrade Alliance.”
Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh at the words that seemed to cut like a blade.
‘Is it hopeless?’
The way he spoke made it seem like there really was nothing left they could do. Pushing further would only provoke unnecessary resistance.
In any case, just getting this far meant their trip to Kaifeng wasn't entirely meaningless. Thinking so, Baek Cheon said.
“Chung Myung-ah. Let’s head back for now…”
Just then.
"Of course it won't change. The judgment isn't yours to make anyway."
"...Huh?"
“Right?”
As Chung Myung gazed at the Pavilion Master with a strange smile, the man sighed.
“So now you’re just being unreasonable? Well, I suppose you’re out of options. The only thing remaining is the possibility that I am not Beggar Union Sect Leader. But, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword. No matter how unreasonable you are, I am indeed Beggar Union Sect Leader."
“Yeah, probably. But the thing is? That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“…It’s not?”
Chung Myung let out a cynical chuckle.
"I was a bit puzzled, but now I understand clearly."
Slightly bewildered, Baek Cheon lowered his voice and asked.
“What are you talking about, Chung Myung? I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple logic, Sasuk. Just because someone is the leader of Beggar Union doesn’t mean they’re necessarily the head.”
“What does that…”
"Why are you finding it difficult? Mount Hua is like that right now."
"Ah...!"
Baek Cheon immediately understood and sharply turned back to the Pavilion Master.
Sect Leader.
Just those two words had led everyone present to assume the man before them was responsible for all of Beggar Union’s affairs.
But that might not be the case.
"Speak."
Chung Myung glared at the Pavilion Master with a chilling smile.
“Who’s behind you? Who told you Beggar Union has to be made this way?”
In that instant, Baek Cheon saw it.
The Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master's complexion changed greatly for the first time.
|Note
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