Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1545. Isn't that good enough? (5)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Jo-Gol was left speechless.
This wasn’t the familiar face of Yoon Jong he knew.
He had always worn a faint smile that made him seem entirely good-natured, but now with his face hardened, he even felt cold. It was difficult to casually open one’s mouth in front of him.
“Yoon Jong-ah.”
Instead of Jo-Gol, Baek Cheon called out to Yoon Jong as if sighing. He was trying to persuade him.
"Impossible."
But before he could even begin, Im Sobyeong’s resolute voice cut in. His icy glare fixed on Yoon Jong.
"Do you truly understand the situation, Sect Leader Yun?"
“Of course.”
"No, it seems you don’t."
Im Sobyeong scolded with a voice sharp as a blade.
“For Heavenly Comrade Alliance to move now is exactly what Evil Tyrant Alliance wants most. Are you saying you intend to act exactly as the enemy wishes?”
“...”
"I understand your concerns. But moving now is absolutely not a good move. What we must do right now is protect Huayin.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Huayin is where all our strength and everything we must protect is gathered. The moment we disperse our forces, Paegun will attack this place by any means necessary. He will try to slip through even the slightest gap and smash everything to pieces."
"That’s right."
Tang Gun-ak nodded as if in agreement.
“That is why we cannot withdraw any of our forces. Even if it is just one person.”
Im Sobyeong’s expression was colder than it had been in a long time. His firmness made it clear he would entertain no arguments or appeals.
Though he held no official title, he was undeniably Heavenly Comrade Alliance’s strategist. He was also the head of the massive sect called Nokrim.
He was not someone a mere second-class disciple of Mount Hua could dare to face as an equal.
Moreover, Nokrim King was now willing to use force if necessary. He would not sit idly by while the fate of the alliance was distorted over nothing more than a petty dispute between brother disciples.
But even under all that pressure, Yoon Jong remained calm.
"Is that a reason I should not go?"
"Yes."
“That’s not a reason I should not go. It’s a reason for what Heavenly Comrade Alliance should do.”
“Yoon Jong Dojang.”
“How long are we supposed to just guard this place?”
Yoon Jong's quiet voice echoed in the silent space.
"While people die, villages burn, and those who have everything they built through blood and sweat over a year completely plundered continue to increase even at this very moment, how long must we wait?"
“...”
"Seven days and nights?"
"Dojang."
“Or a month?”
“Jang Ilso will surely move. By then…”
“If he does not move, does that mean we will protect only Huayin even if nothing is left anywhere else?”
Im Sobyeong closed his mouth.
Jang Ilso will move. He was certain of it.
But convincing others of that certainty was impossible. There was always a 'one in ten thousand' chance in the world, and above all, to say that he could completely read Jang Ilso’s movements was nothing but arrogance.
Yoon Jong continued.
“Did you ask for a reason?”
“...”
“Then I’ll give you my answer. Because there are people waiting for help.”
It was a clichéd response. A sigh escaped Im Sobyeong's lips.
“Dojang. Such obvious words….”
“Obvious?”
Yoon Jong's voice changed in a flash. A sharp, cold air seeped into it.
He turned his gaze to Chung Myung.
“You answer.”
"Sahyung!"
The flustered Jo-Gol dissuaded him, but Yoon Jong didn't even spare a glance and just glared at Chung Myung.
“Are the words I speak so obvious?”
Chung Myung kept his mouth shut and did not respond.
“Answer me.”
Only after Yoon Jong urged him again did Chung Myung let out a long sigh.
“There’s nothing wrong with what Nokrim King said.”
“...”
"I understand your frustration. Because Sahyung is that kind of person. But now isn't the time to move like that. It would be better to use Beggar Union or Yuryong Sect to gather people to Huayin instead. This place is relatively safe."
Yoon Jong, who had been listening quietly, nodded.
“Is that your answer?”
"Sahyung."
Jo-Gol frantically tried to mediate. But neither of them so much as looked at him, and even Im Sobyeong, who had stepped between them earlier, kept silent this time.
Im Sobyeong chose silence because he could feel that this matter was not a mere emotional quarrel between disciples brother.
Receiving everyone’s gazes, Yoon Jong spoke in a low voice.
“I’m starting to wonder.”
It was a resolute and chilling question.
"Then why have you cursed Ten Great Sects so much until now?"
“Yoon Jong-ah!”
Baek Cheon shot up from his seat. Wasn't that crossing the line? But Chung Myung answered sharply, not giving Baek Cheon a chance to intervene.
"Compare what should be compared. We're not doing this just to protect ourselves right now."
“Then who else are you protecting?”
"Everyone in Huayin. And the commoner in Gangbuk. Everyone…”
“What about Gangnam?”
“What…?”
Yoon Jong rebuked him coldly.
“What about those in Gangnam? Weren’t they the ones who were suffering the most?”
“What the...”
Chung Myung unconsciously almost cursed at him to stop talking nonsense but swallowed it back.
They were discussing Gangbuk right now, so why are they suddenly discussing Gangnam?
“Do you remember?”
"...What?"
“When we were defeated by Myriad Man Manor at the Yangtze and signed the treaty handing over the entire Gangnam, we couldn’t sleep for three days and nights.”
When the story of the Yangtze River Disaster comes up, everyone's faces harden.
Chung Myung kept his mouth shut.
“What tormented us then wasn’t the fact that we lost, but because we knew the suffering countless people in Gangnam would endure in our absence. The self-loathing of being unable to protect them was incomparably more terrible than any sense of defeat from losing to Evil Sects."
Several people slowly nodded their heads. It was a story everyone here could sympathize with.
"You know best, Chung Myung. You were the one who suffered the most back then."
Chung Myung didn’t respond. Only his gaze sank into a bottomless darkness.
"And yet..."
Yoon Jong glanced around at everyone and then fixed his gaze on Chung Myung again.
"What about now?"
“...”
“Is it painful?”
A terrible silence descended upon the great hall.
"It's strange. The suffering they endure hasn't diminished in the slightest. No, it might even be worse now with the war looming closer. But no one cares about the suffering of the people of Gangnam anymore."
“Yoon Jong-ah. That’s….”
“Because it can’t be helped.”
Yoon Jong even cut off Hyun Jong's words.
"Yes. It can't be helped. We lack the strength. It’s not something we can do now. So we had no choice but to endure. But…”
Yoon Jong's eyes narrowed.
“Is that really true?”
A faint sneer tugged at his lips.
It was clearly a self-mocking laugh, but it also looked like a sneer at those watching. That was how much Yoon Jong’s words were piercing everyone’s hearts.
“We withdrew because it couldn’t be helped. And so we resolved to protect Gangbuk at all costs. But now we must turn away again from the suffering of Gangbuk's people. Why? Because it can't be helped."
Jo-Gol unconsciously observed Chung Myung's reaction. But his expressionless face gave nothing away.
“So we gave up Gangnam, then Gangbuk, and if our strength still isn’t enough, will we give up Huayin next? What comes after that? If strength is still insufficient even then, what do you plan to do? When even that isn’t enough, will we just protect Mount Hua and abandon Heavenly Comrade Alliance?”
“Yoon Jong-ah!”
“Strange, isn’t it.”
Yoon Jong glared straight at Hyun Jong.
Watching this, Jo-Gol felt his breath catch in his throat.
It was Yoon Jong, of all people.
Yoon Jong, who along with Yoo Iseol trusted and followed Hyun Jong more than anyone else in Mount Hua, was now glaring at him with sharp eyes.
"It's all correct. Not a single word is wrong. But… isn’t it laughable how those ‘correct’ words sound so much like the very things we’ve fiercely denounced as being wrong until now?”
“Sahyung. Now….”
"I thought I felt that way because I was still immature. I thought that since everyone is more outstanding than me, they would naturally have different thoughts. But the conclusion reached by all these capable people gathered here is, in the end, ‘Let’s huddle here like turtles and wait, no matter who dies out there’?”
"Sahyung!"
Chung Myung frowned and raised his voice as if he couldn't listen any longer.
"Don't talk carelessly. There’s no one here who doesn’t care about the commoners. The reason we have to act this way now is because if we lose…”
Chung Myung suddenly trailed off. Then he shut his mouth entirely.
What he had been about to say was chillingly similar to something he had once heard in the past.
Chung Myung had sneered at and rebuked Bop Jeong, who had preached the same meaning in front of him. All those words from that time were now coming back to Chung Myung.
Self-contradiction.
What was tightening around their necks now was his logic, his sense of honor, and his past deeds.
Everything that had brought Heavenly Comrade Alliance to this point was now holding a chilling knife to his choice.
"I don't ask you to think the same thoughts. People's thoughts are each different. But don't force that choice upon me."
“For what?”
Baek Cheon, who had been listening silently, glared at Yoon Jong and asked.
“At best, you are only one person. What can you possibly do there? What will you do with that righteousness you speak of, that justice? Do you plan to console yourself by saving a few people?"
“Baek Cheon, your words are too harsh!”
Hyun Jong urgently tried to mediate, but Yoon Jong opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for that question.
“As Sasuk says, I alone may not be able to save even one person. Perhaps I’ll just get mocked for committing a foolish act.”
Yoon Jong closed and opened his eyes for a moment.
“But at least, I can prove one thing.”
"Proof?"
“That it wasn’t a lie.”
Yoon Jong's gaze turned back to Chung Myung.
"That everything we have done until now was not merely the amusement of those with power. That the hands we extended weren't mere pity, given after securing our own safety."
He paused for a moment and grabbed the sword at his waist.
"And that every action we took wasn't for some hidden gain that would come after. That even if there is nothing to gain and only things to lose, I still hold this sword because I am resolved to walk that path!”
Chung Myung remained silent. He simply stared silently at the Plum Blossom Sword Yoon Jong was holding.
His gaze moved from the Plum Blossom Sword, to the martial robes Yoon Jong wore, to the small plum blossom embroidered on the left side of his chest, and finally to Yoon Jong’s face.
Yoon Jong faced Chung Myung directly and spoke clearly.
"That is what I have learned at Mount Hua until now."
Chung Myung lowered his eyelids like a man whose vision had blurred. His eyelashes trembled faintly.
|Note
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