Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1496. How could I not follow? (1)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The Mount Hua disciples who had come down to the lower floor were staring up with somewhat anxious faces.
“What do you think they’re talking about?”
"Well...."
“It sounds like they put up a sound barrier, but if you listen closely, you might still… Aack!”
As Jo-Gol pricked up his ears and sneakily leaned his head forward, Yoon Jong grabbed and yanked his ear sharply.
"They sent us down so we wouldn't listen, and you're deliberately trying to eavesdrop, this punk!"
“Aaack! Ears, my ear! No, but honestly, Sahyung is curious too, aren't you!"
“If you live your life doing everything you want, are you even a person? You’re a beast.”
“Urgh.”
Unable to deny it, Jo-Gol groaned and stealthily backed away. Yoon Jong sighed and shook his head.
'Curious, huh....'
To be honest, he was also curious. What kind of conversation Chung Myung was having with the former sect leader of Beggar Union who had experienced the Magyo Great War.
“Sasuk, aren’t you curious?”
“I’m not.”
“Huh? Really?”
Jo-Gol asked again at the unexpected answer. It was just as Baek Cheon was about to reply.
“...Chivalrous Sword...”
"Hm?"
The Pavilion Master, who had been standing guard beside them blocking the path so they couldn't go up, suddenly opened his mouth.
"What kind of person is Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?"
“...What do you mean, what kind of person.”
A brief look of bewilderment crossed everyone’s faces. Not only was the timing of the question out of the blue, but it wasn't a question one would expect the sect leader of Beggar Union to ask.
If anything, shouldn’t he be the one who knows Chung Myung better than even Mount Hua’s disciples?
"What kind of person? Well..."
"Madman."
“Lunatic.”
"He's not in his right mind. That’s for sure.”
"A demon. Amitabha."
“...Everyone seems to be speaking rather harshly.... H- He’s not that strange of a person, is he?”
Everyone looked at Isong Baek with dull eyes at the words that seemed to defend Chung Myung.
"Right, ignorance is bliss."
“It’s a comedy when seen from afar.”
“...In my opinion, Mount Hua disciples have a tendency to excessively disrespect Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword. He's not that kind of person."
"Yes, yes."
“We’ll be sure to watch how long those words of yours last, Sohyeop.”
Baek Cheon, who had let out a smirk, looked back at the Pavilion Master.
“He’s a guy who is hard to describe.”
“...I see.”
The Pavilion Master gave a short nod. Though the answers were hardly helpful, it seemed he sensed something from them.
“But why do you suddenly ask?”
“I was just curious.”
The gaze of the Pavilion Master turns upward.
"...Because he's someone I've heard about for so long."
Baek Cheon's eyes narrowed slightly. Then, Jo-Gol sneakily approached and asked Baek Cheon again.
“But, Sasuk. Are you really not curious?”
“...I told you I'm not."
“No, what’s with all the pretense? You’ve been putting on too much air these days....”
Thwack!
A short, sharp strike from Baek Cheon sent Jo-Gol collapsing straight to the floor.
"Yeah. You have been acting up too much lately."
"We welcome this righteous conclusion."
The remaining Five Swords applauded while watching the scene. Baek Cheon gave a faint smirk while looking at the collapsed Jo-Gol and muttered quietly.
“No need to be curious.”
And he turned his gaze toward the hole in the ceiling.
"What that guy always talks about is 'next.'"
His two eyes were filled with nothing but trust.
“...Sword Sovereign-nim.”
A cracked voice leaked through Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's lips.
The emotions contained within it were too numerous to describe. Chung Myung simply looked at the Divine Beggar Hyeonpung calmly.
"As I mentioned earlier..."
Chung Myung paused for a moment and continued with a sigh.
“I won’t say that everything you’ve done up to now was wrong.”
A faint sign of fatigue crossed his face as he slowly shook his head.
“Anyone who experienced that war is bound to come up with their own conclusion. A conclusion for which they cannot dare hope for others' understanding.”
The same goes for Chung Myung. He too had reached his own conclusions and was still in the process of reaching them. But he didn't hope for others to understand those conclusions. Because those who hadn't experienced it could never know.
Chung Myung looked at the Divine Beggar Hyeonpung and spoke with a resolute gaze.
“However, I have a nasty temperament, so I can’t sit quietly and stretch my neck out waiting like you.”
“....”
"Even if it's meaningless, I'll struggle, I'll flail, I'll bite and tear."
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's eyes shook.
"So tell me. How to restore Beggar Union to what it once was. How can I make use of their strength."
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung looked at Chung Myung for a long while without saying a word. And Chung Myung waited for him in silence.
Only after a long silence did Divine Beggar Hyeonpung finally open his mouth again.
“Do you really… intend to fight him again?”
"Yeah."
“Sword Sovereign-nim, you... you also know, don't you? Kangho of today is...”
“Is weaker than it was.”
“....”
“And that bastard will return even stronger. If he truly comes back, our odds of winning wouldn’t even amount to a penny’s worth.”
"How can you, knowing all of this….”
“I told you.”
Chung Myung smirked.
"I don’t fight because I can win. I fight because I have no other choice."
“....”
“I am a man who can do nothing but fight. There is only one answer a man like that can offer.”
Chung Myung gave his sword a light tap and murmured quietly.
“I just fight. No matter who the opponent is.”
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung chewed on his lip. Even so, his eyes diligently studied Chung Myung as if trying to figure out his true intentions. But not a single hint of hesitation could be felt from Chung Myung.
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung spoke in a sorrowful tone..
"If Sword Sovereign-nim... If Sword Sovereign-nim hadn't left this world back then......"
“....”
"No, if only a bit earlier even....”
The old man buried his face in his wrinkled hands.
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
Just as he despaired, Divine Beggar Hyeonpung too must have suffered like hell. He must have felt abandoned in a world where no one would lend him a hand.
“Sword Sovereign-nim. Kangho back then was brutal, but it was also a place overflowing with so many talented martial artists.”
“…Yes, it was.”
The Three Great Swordsmen Under Heaven. It was true that it was a title in name only, but in other words, it means that there were at least two more swordsmen who could be compared to Chung Myung, at least on a surface level.
There are also Tang Bo, Cheong Mun, and Cheong Jin.
Had they been born in another era, any one of them could have seized the world in their grasp. These people joined forces to stop Magyo.
"But the current Kangho absolutely cannot reach the level of that time. Even so... even so, you intend to fight?"
"Yes."
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's face faintly contorted.
“I do not doubt Sword Sovereign-nim. Anyone who remembers what you showed in that war would not dare doubt Sovereign-nim. But… no matter how strong you are, Sword Sovereign-nim, you alone…”
"I."
Chung Myung cut off Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's words firmly.
“Do not deny that they were great in the past. It was because of them that I could behead Heavenly Demon."
“....”
"They were incomparably greater than someone like me. I was merely the sword they wielded."
It was a calm voice. Therefore, it came across as even more genuine.
Chung Myung turned his head.
At the end of his gaze were the stairs leading down. A faint light from a lamp was seeping in.
Between that light and the darkness of this place lay the sound barrier Chung Myung had put in place. So that no sound would leak out.
But… just because sound couldn’t be heard didn’t mean all ties were cut.
Even if his voice didn't reach them, they were undoubtedly there. And they would be watching him with eyes Chung Myung knew well.
"The more I look back, the greater they were. But even they weren't great from the beginning."
“....”
“Every single one of them was rough-edged and lacking. It’s just… they had no choice but to become great.”
Chung Myung's gaze returned to Divine Beggar Hyeonpung.
“You said I can’t do it alone?”
“...Sword Sovereign-nim.”
“No. I am not alone. It’s the opposite. And the previous me tried to do everything alone, which is why it ended there."
As Chung Myung continued his words calmly, Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's shoulders began to tremble again.
"Because I thought only I could do it. Because I believed no one could understand me. Because I was convinced I had to bear that burden entirely."
Though his expression hardly changed throughout, within Chung Myung’s words lay his life, and even the life of Divine Beggar Hyeonpung.
"The reason I stand here now is to avoid repeating that mistake."
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
These were words to Divine Beggar Hyeonpung and simultaneously to his past self. Words he couldn't say because there was no one to listen.
“Yes, you’re right. I can’t do it alone.”
“...Sword Sovereign-nim.”
“So help me, Divine Beggar Hyeonpung.”
When he opened his eyes again, Chung Myung's eyes were infinitely cold and resolute.
“Don’t look at the world with eyes like it’s all already over. You are still alive. There is still a chance to restore what you couldn’t do back then, what collapsed. I'll make it so."
Transparent tears flowed down in streams from Divine Beggar Hyeonpung's eyes.
His vision blurred and overlapped.
The boy standing before him now, and the image of the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign he had once so desperately admired.
Divine Beggar Hyeonpung understood. The person in front of him now was Sword Sovereign, but not Sword Sovereign.
What is before my eyes is another person who appears weaker and more lacking than the Sword Sovereign, but is clearly stronger than the Sword Sovereign of the past.
"You ask for my help...?"
"Yeah."
"Not that you forgive me... not that you will help me... but rather you're asking for help from me, who has grown old and merely waits for death?"
Chung Myung smirked.
"Yeah."
“...You are harsh, Sword Sovereign-nim.”
At Chung Myung's laughter, Divine Beggar Hyeonpung shook his shoulders and chuckled.
The sound, half cough and half laughter, continued for a long time, scratching the twisted neck of the Divine Beggar Hyeonpung.
“Sword Sovereign-nim… I am but a living corpse. The future of Beggar Union… The path for the world, my clouded eyes can no longer see them. To me, who has lost the power to discern right from wrong… any words are just hollow.”
There was a clear meaning of refusal in his words. Nevertheless, Chung Myung looked at Divine Beggar Hyeonpung without the slightest wavering.
After a while, Divine Beggar Hyeonpung said while wiping his face roughly.
"But... if Sword Sovereign-nim asks me to simply.. to simply help..."
Tears fell where tears had just dried. Through his blurry vision, there was a scene that still rose vividly.
A mountain that rose like a blood-stained sword. That moment he turned away from it in cowardice. The moment when, even though he knew everything was wrong, he could not summon the courage. A memory that had stabbed at his heart like a dagger, leaving no room for healing.
If he hadn't turned away then, if he had belatedly gathered courage and climbed the Hundreds Thousand Mountain, at least he wouldn't have lived such a regretful and miserable life.
A regret thicker than any fog overlapped with the time in this place.
“How....”
Tears poured out, so much that it was hard to believe they could come from such a dried-up body. Even after living all those years, he likely couldn’t describe this emotion, this tear.
“How could I dare not follow your wish. How could I.”
When Divine Beggar Hyeonpung had left behind when he turned away that day wasn’t just Chung Myung and the death squad. That day, he turned his back on the red blood that made Divine Beggar Hyeonpung who he was.
Red blood began to circulate again in the body that had been like a dried-up dead tree. The hot blood (義血/Righteous Blood) that had been his conviction, his life, and also his everything.
“If you so wish, then even if it is a faded and shabby will, I will walk with you.”
A heart that hadn't beaten in a hundred years began to pound once more.
|Note
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