Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1492. There's no need for that (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
His chest tightened, and even breathing didn’t come easily.
Magyo Great War.
It was a phrase they had heard countless times, but the words coming from this old man's lips carried a completely different weight unlike anything heard before.
“…Amitabha.”
In that heavy atmosphere, Hye Yeon softly recited the Buddha’s name. It was a voice closer to a sigh.
"Do you mean to say, Siju... that you witnessed the great war against Magyo with your own two eyes?"
The old man nodded slightly in response to Hye Yeon’s question.
"That is so."
"H- How...."
Hye Yeon stared at him with disbelief. Just how old must this man be?
"Sa- Sahyung. He was alive back then?"
"Hmm."
Compared to Jo-Gol, who was greatly shaken, Yoon Jong was relatively calm.
"If you think about it, it's not that strange. There are cases like Elder Tang Jo-pyeong too."
"Ah... Right."
At that moment, a low, Chung Myung's low voice echoed in everyone's ears. A voice so devoid of emotion it sent chills.
“A sinner…”
While the others focused on the word ‘survivor’, it seemed ‘sinner’ was what grated on Chung Myung's ears.
"What do you mean?"
The old man's gaze turned to Chung Myung. The old man, who had been staring at him so intently that no one could tell what he was thinking, opened his trembling lips.
"...The great war. That atrocity, which can't even be called a war... it swept away everything in its path."
"..."
"Everyone was a victim. Those who died innocent, those who perished without knowing why they fought, those who survived but had to groan in pain their entire lives..."
Soon the wrinkled old man's face twisted grotesquely. An indescribable fear and discomfort, and a viscous sense of guilt could be glimpsed.
"But I... I was not. I am not a victim of that sin, but the one who committed it."
"What have you been talking about this whole time..."
"Back then, I..."
The old man fumbled with his lips, then spat out the words as if vomiting them.
"...was Beggar Union’s... Young Sect Leader."
"...What?"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see young heirs or young sect leaders in Kangho, but it wasn't so in that era. In those days, when there were no disruptions in the flow of personnel, it was common for a sect leader to be over sixty, and even a young sect leader was typically at least forty years old.
Even if it was a rumor, it was common for it to be at least forty years old.
But for someone to have been a young sect leader in those times…
"The- Then how old are you now..."
"Gol-ah!"
"I'm, I'm sorry. I was just so flustered."
Jo-Gol immediately lowered his head, but his wide-open eyes still couldn’t hide his astonishment.
'At least a hundred and thirty? No, possibly even a hundred and fifty?'
He had heard of martial artists who reached high realms living past a hundred, but this was his first time seeing someone who had lived this long with his own eyes.
'Really?'
Jo-Gol, still unable to abandon his doubts, carefully examined the old man. Just then, Baek Cheon asked, his voice still tinged with caution.
"Elder, you were Beggar Union young sect leader during that era?"
"Yes, Acting Sect Leader."
"...We pay our respects to Senior."
Baek Cheon paid his respects in a somewhat dazed voice. After all, it was a situation that called for such courtesy. Following his lead, the other disciples of Mount Hua also paid their respects to the old man who claimed to have been the young sect leader of Beggar Union.
But only one person asked a question instead of bowing.
"What's your relationship with Pungbaek (풍백(風伯)) Silent Divine Beggar (무음신개(無音神丐))?"
"That person was my master. During the Magyo Great War, Master was the sect leader of Beggar Union."
"W- Wait!"
At that moment, Isong Baek spoke in startled surprise.
"If you're the disciple of Pungbaek Silent Divine Beggar... then are you, perhaps, Senior Hyeonpung Divine Beggar? The one who was once the sect leader of Beggar Union?”
The old man slowly nodded his head.
"That's right. I am that beggar who was called Beggar Hyeonpung."
"G- Good heavens...."
Isong Baek staggered slightly as if his legs had lost strength. The Mount Hua disciples who didn't understand asked.
"Isong Sohyeop. Do you know something about this?"
"Yes?"
"Hyeonpung Divine Beggar! He is the legendary sect leader who reorganized Beggar Union after it suffered immense damage and was torn apart during the great war, and replenished its disciples. He’s someone you can’t leave out when discussing nearly a century of Kangho history!”
"Huh?"
Jo-Gol and his group sharply turned their heads to look at the old man again.
Was this old man, who looked like he could be placed in a coffin any day now, really such a storied figure?
“But I heard he passed away at least fifty years ago… to think he’s still alive… and in a place like this…”
Isong Baek blinked in disbelief.
By seniority, he wouldn’t even dare speak carelessly in front of such a figure. Even the current sect leader of Southern Edge Sect wouldn’t dare straighten his back in this man’s presence.
Standing before someone like this, it was no wonder his legs were shaking...
"Seems like you really can't understand words properly."
"Gasp!"
However, Chung Myung did not seem to care at all and instead blurted out some crude remarks. Isong Baek held his breath without realizing it.
"D- Dojang! You shouldn't..."
"What do you mean by 'sinner'? Stop dodging and answer."
Watching Chung Myung practically growling, Isong Baek felt dizzy for a moment.
'H- He's insane.'
He knew Chung Myung was beyond unconventional, but even so, this was over the line. Way over.
If word got out that he had spoken like this to Hyeonpung Divine Beggar, countless old masters across Kangho would come looking to hang Chung Myung upside down and skin him alive.
But on closer inspection, it was rather strange.
The person who had just heard the incredibly rude words from a junior far beneath him, Hyeonpung, the Divine Beggar himself, did not seem offended at all.
'How can this be?'
Of course, the Divine Beggar could react this way. To him, Chung Myung was a junior so distant he wasn't even old enough to be his great-great-grandson. Even if he climbed on his knee and pulled his beard, he might see him as cute.
But the fact that Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master, the current sect leader of Beggar Union was also allowing this situation to unfold was undeniably bizarre.
Moreover, it wasn't just Beggar Union that was strange. Chung Myung was the same.
Though Chung Myung was often called ill-mannered, he wasn't so brazenly disrespectful as to show outright hostility toward an elder without reason.
'And this isn't hostility but....'
Killing intent?
A cold killing intent from Chung Myung flowed towards Hyeonpung Divine Beggar. Sensing this, the Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master was about to move, but Hyeonpung Divine Beggar raised his hand to stop him.
“Do not interfere.”
"But Master. I..."
"I told you not to interfere."
The tremendous pressure emanating from Hyeonpung Divine Beggar instantly crushed the Heavenly Ascension Tower Pavilion Master. Then the Pavilion Master, whose spirit seemed like it wouldn't lose to anyone anywhere, couldn't even attempt proper resistance and quietly lowered his head.
"Cough. Cough."
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar coughed weakly and turned his head towards Chung Myung.
"It's not what you're imagining. Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword."
"..."
"I couldn't commit such acts. If one saw that war with their own eyes, they wouldn't be able to lick the feet of Magyo. A human being could not do such a thing. So please withdraw that anger."
Only then did Chung Myung's shoulders loosen a little.
"Then? What do you mean? A sinner?"
'Ah...'
Only now did the others observing this scene realize what this unnatural standoff had really meant.
The words ‘sinner,’ and a life where even one’s survival had to be hidden.
Considering both, Chung Myung must have believed that this man might be someone who had betrayed Jungwon.
As the killing intent disappeared from Chung Myung’s eyes, Hyeonpung Divine Beggar let out a deep sigh and continued.
“In that great chaos…”
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar’s two eyes stared off into the far distance. A place that no longer exists in the world, somewhere in the past.
"I drove masses of people to their deaths."
"..."
"Countless people, so many it’s beyond counting, all of them... I drove all of them to the battlefield. All of them."
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar’s gaunt shoulders slowly began to heave.
An indescribably heavy and oppressive air settled around them.
"My sahyungje, my disciples... anyone who was under the name of Beggar Union, I pushed them into enemy lines without exception. Because I had to. Only then could I figure out the enemy.”
"...Amitabha."
Hye Yeon turned his head aside.
“How can that possibly be your fault, Senior-nim? Anyone in that position would have…”
"Do you know what kind of place Beggar Union is during wartime?"
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar cut off Hye Yeon’s offer of comfort. Faced with a spirit that was, for a moment, almost cold, Hye Yeon couldn't help but shut the mouth he had so rashly opened.
"Those who lost their parents at the hands of Magyo, parents who lost their children, those with nothing left who were just waiting to die... in times of war, they all become beggars and flow into the Beggars' Sect."
Everyone held their breath and listened to the old man's voice.
“I drove such people into enemy territory. Telling them that to avenge their families, they had to risk their lives, I placed swords into the hands of ten-year-old children. Knowing full well that they would not return… merely to determine the presence of enemies by the timing of their deaths."
Baek Cheon's face grew pale.
He had heard countless times how terrible the war with Magyo was, but he had never heard stories like this.
How many people's deaths and blood were lumped together under the words 'heavy casualties’?
“I simply watched children with their tiny hands gripping daggers head toward Gangnam. No, I even pushed their backs forward.”
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar's voice began to tremble.
"Because I had to..."
It might have sounded like an excuse, but everyone here knew. Anyone who saw the expression on his face would know.
What he was saying was by no means an excuse.
"Because only then could we win. Only then could we avoid destruction. Only then!"
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar's hands start to tremble.
"Because that was the only way to survive..."
Tang Soso, staring at his pitifully trembling hands, bit her lip hard.
"But even that wasn’t your fault, Senior-nim!"
"..."
"Anyone would have had to do the same in the end. Because back then there was no other choice. The ones at fault are Magyo!"
"Child..."
A sorrowful smile hung on Hyeonpung Divine Beggar's lips.
"...I used to think that way too."
A series of dry coughs burst out. With each cough, it seemed as if vitality was draining from him.
No, perhaps what was draining away was not his life, but the lingering attachments he had left behind.
"Until I saw with my own eyes what it was I had tried to protect... what I had preserved by sacrificing and casting away so many things... I too thought that way."
Hyeonpung Divine Beggar's two eyes were dyed with deep regret.
"Before I knew the fact that the sacrifices of those I drove to death were for the benefit of mere worms."
As he quietly murmured, the old man’s face gradually contorted and twisted in a grotesque manner. That face seemed to be both laughing and crying.
In Chung Myung’s eyes, as he stared at Hyeonpung Divine Beggar, a faint trace of bitterness and grief welled up.
|Note
Agh damn. This arc gives an unexpected side blow… I’m not crying
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