Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1597. I can't even laugh (2)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Jaegal Zian, the patriarch of Jaegal Family, stared blankly at the horrific battlefield and then collapsed.
"Ah... Aah..."
A groan as if the heavens had collapsed flowed out. With corpses wherever his eyes fell, it was inevitable.
"Ho- How could this..."
His sturdy shoulders began to tremble.
"Eu... Euah... Aaaaah!"
When he finally began tearing at his own hair, Murong Family patriarch Murong Wigyeong (모용위경(慕容委瓊)) who had come with him, grabbed his arm to restrain him.
“Jaegal Gaju.... This is not Gaju's fault."
“This incident… this incident, how on earth…”
A sorrowful sob flowed out.
Jaegal Zian felt a pang of anger inside as if it were all his fault. If they had arrived only a little sooner, this worst possible outcome could have been averted.
Even if they could not have reversed the outcome of the battle, at least more than half of those lying on this plain might have been saved.
The mere one hour they had delayed had twisted everything.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Jaegal Zian wailed like a madman.
Such a scene was unworthy of a patriarch, but Moyong Wigeyong could no longer hold him back.
How could Murong Wigyeong not understand with what heart he blamed himself? The scene before their eyes was that horrific.
'How many survived?'
Murong Wigyeong could not bear to look anymore and shut his eyes tightly.
Surely not everyone had been sacrificed. Some may have fled. However, it was not a situation where such things could provide comfort.
“Evil Tyrant Alliance!”
In Jaegal Zian's bloodshot eyes, the forces of Evil Tyrant Alliance disappearing into the distance like small dots were visible.
“Jang Ilsoooooo! Divine punishment... May you receive divine punishment!"
Jaegal Zian wailed, and Murong Wigyeong trembled with the hand hidden in his sleeve.
If even remnants of the enemy remained here, he would charge forward without regard for his life to vent his fury. If only to comfort those who had died.
But what greeted them here were only the corpses that had already grown cold.
Murong Wigyeong sighed in despair.
‘What must we do from now on?’
It was a terrible defeat.
It was unclear how much damage Evil Tyrant Alliance suffered. They might have roughly collected their subordinates' corpses before leaving.
But regardless of that, Ten Great Sects had suffered near-annihilation damage to three whole sects. It seemed unlikely that Evil Tyrant Alliance's losses would be any greater.
Murong Wei Jing had a hunch. That the long-continuing reign of Ten Great Sects had finally come to an end.
Shaolin would now never be able to recover its authority, and Kongtong and Peng will now have to worry about the destruction of their sects.
Now all that remained of Ten Great Sects were Wudang and Southern Edge Sect, which were in seclusion, and Kunlun, which was maintaining a low profile far away in Tianshan.
Could they still be called Ten Great Sects?
More than anything else, the fall of Shaolin was fatal. Shaolin didn't just mean the strongest sect among Ten Great Sects. Shaolin itself was the symbol of Ten Great Sects and the symbol of Kangho.
For such a Shaolin to have collapsed at the hands of Evil Sects held too great of a meaning.
'What should we do?'
A sense of despair and gloom as if having lost his way swept over Murong Wigyeong.
It felt like wandering in darkness where not an inch ahead was visible.
"Ah... Aah..."
Jaegal Zian remained unable to escape his torment.
There was a good reason for his anguish.
It was precisely Jaegal Zian who had made the plan with Bop Jeong to tie down their feet so they couldn't escape and strike from behind.
For him, it would be difficult to escape the guilt that felt as if all these deaths were his fault.
After weeping for a long while, Jaegal Zian looked at Murong Wigyeong with bloodshot eyes.
“We must… chase them.”
“Patriarch....”
"It's not too late! They must be exhausted after the battle! So even now...!"
A deep sigh escaped Murong Wigyeong's mouth.
"Please calm down, Jaegal Gaju. You must not lose your reason."
“Still! There’s still a chance!”
Murong Wigyeong squeezed his eyes shut.
If they had arrived even a single moment sooner… Jaegal Zian's words might have made sense. But not now. Now it was all too late.
At that moment, a group came toward them.
' Heavenly Comrade Alliance.'
Like them, they were too late... No.
'They can't be compared to us.'
Because it was their own plan that had kept Heavenly Comrade Alliance from coming here.
Murong Weiqing now realized keenly how arrogant they had been. All of this was the result of their arrogance, nothing more and nothing less.
That was why he couldn't bring himself to face the approaching people. He only bowed his head.
“Murong Gaju.”
“...Tang Gaju.”
A familiar face at the forefront of Heavenly Comrade Alliance, Tang Gun-ak, looked at the two with an unreadable expression.
Tang Gun-ak mouthed as if to say something a few times, but then quickly closed his mouth.
Of course. What could he say? Unless someone were blind, they could plainly see this atrocity.
Jaegal Zian wailing, Murong Wigyeong bowing his head, and Tang Gun-ak speechless. A deep despair settled over the three.
Step.
At that moment, they felt the presence of a single person approaching.
Murong Wigyeong confirmed the identity and closed his eyes tightly again. The face was not so familiar, but he knew him well enough.
He had nothing to say before him.
If he were to blame them for not calling, if he were to ask how they could have been so arrogant, if he were to ask who would take responsibility for all these deaths... What on earth could he answer?
Just imagining those questions in his mind was so heavy it choked his breath. The presence of Hyun Jong was approaching step by step. No, perhaps he felt like he might be crushed to death under the weight of the guilt he had cultivated himself.
Hyun Jong opened his mouth in a grief-stricken tone.
“I am Hyun Jong of Mount Hua.”
"...Murong Wigyeong of... Murong Family."
It was the first time an introduction he had given countless times felt so difficult.
“What... happened?”
Hyun Jong asked.
A question that should rightfully be asked. Compared to how horrific the battlefield was, Murong Family and Jaegal Family were far too intact. Arriving late was nothing but a poor excuse.
At least Heavenly Comrade Alliance, which had rushed from Huayin to this place in one go, had the right to ask this question.
The problem was only where to begin explaining it.
“That’s....”
"The masked men!"
At that, Jaegal Zian almost shouted as if having a fit.
"Those bastards! If only those damned bastards hadn't blocked us!"
“....”
"Those... Kheuk... Heueu..."
Instead of Jaegal Zian, who had begun wailing again, Murong Wigyeong sighed and opened his mouth.
"Bangjang planned to set a trap here. More precisely, since it was certain they would set a trap, he intended to play along and fall into it, thereby tying them down here."
“Hmm… And the two families were to strike their rear…”
“Yes. However…”
Murong Wigyeong slowly shook his head.
“They already knew. Unknown masked men were lying in ambush and delayed us.”
"...Masked men, you say."
Hyun Jong's face hardened. Tang Gun-ak, who had been listening nearby, asked with a doubtful expression.
“Are you saying they blocked Murong and Jaegal Family? They did?”
"...Shamefully, yes."
“How....”
The two families were not to be taken lightly. Of course, they might be a step behind the Namgung, Tang, or Peng Family, but weren't they still among Five Great Family?
That they were held off like that...
Tang Gun-ak, who was lost in thought for a moment, asked.
"Are you saying you couldn't arrive in time because they blocked you?"
His gaze momentarily turned to the family members of the two, who wore sorrowful expressions. No matter how he looked at them, they didn't look like people who had fought through a fierce battle to get here.
Reading suspicion in Tang Gun-ak's eyes, Murong Wigyeong's face flushed red.
“Are you doubting us now?”
"That wasn't my intention."
Tang Gun-ak calmly denied it. Still, the already-angered Murong Wigyeong glared at him coldly.
"If that's truly the case, then Heavenly Comrade Alliance should rather be thanking me?"
“What did you say?”
"Since the situation has turned out this way, isn't it rather something for Heavenly Comrade Alliance to rejoice about?"
“How can you say such a thing…!”
"When Murong Family is even being suspected of siding with Evil Sects, what's so terribly wrong with such words?"
Tang Gun-ak and Murong Wigyeong’s faces hardened at the same time.
They knew. That it was no one's fault among those present.
But it wasn't a situation where they could calmly consider each other.
A carnage they didn't even dare touch. And a relationship that had become irreparably terrible. All of that was driving everyone to extremes.
“Enough.”
At that moment, Hyun Jong's heavy voice cut through them. Not only Tang Gun-ak, but even Murong Wigyeong, who originally had no reason to listen to Hyun Jong's words, flinched at those words.
Hyun Jong let out a chant and looked at the battlefield with a grave face.
Those who were once living and breathing lay scattered in wretched states. Hyun Jong, who briefly shut his eyes tightly, soon spoke like a sigh.
"We all have much to say to each other, but first, let us attend to the deceased. That’s….”
“Attend the deceased!”
The enraged Jaegal Zian laughed madly as if he had lost his mind. It wasn't an exaggerated act. The laughter was truly that of a madman.
“Very well. Attend the deceased!”
Then he suddenly glared at Hyun Jong with vicious eyes.
“We don’t know when the Sa Pae-ryun will return, and we don’t know what those who have retreated will do! We have no choice but to attend to those corpses! Isn't that the punishment the defeated must bear?"
It was a voice filled with malice.
"If not Heavenly Comrade Alliance, who else will give the commands now? Command us! Tell us to go and bury them. To see with our own eyes the sins we have committed and feel it painfully! Give such a command!"
“Jaegal Patriarch!”
Murong Wigyeong was startled and cried out. Jaegal Zian pretended not to hear and continued to shout.
“After leading this many people here, is the best we can do to tend to the corpses? Is that the way of Mount Hua, and the way of Heavenly Comrade Alliance?”
Murong Weiqing flinched and unconsciously observed Hyun Jong's expression.
Those words could be heard as a terrible insult. Heavenly Comrade Alliance had even rushed this long distance without hearing a single word asking for help.
"No."
Then Hyun Jong's eyes, hich had been closed throughout, slowly opened.
In his eyes was a firmer conviction than before, and a note of sorrow.
"This is neither Heavenly Comrade Alliance's way nor Mount Hua's way."
"Then?"
Hyun Jong was silent for a moment and looked at the battlefield.
Then, in a voice that carried both pity and sorrow, he said like wind passing through.
"It's simply, human duty."
For a moment, no one spoke, as if they were all crushed by those heavy words.
“I ask of you.”
Hyun Jong bowed his head respectfully to Jaegal Zian and Murong Wigyeong.
The two who had been silent also finally nodded their heads.
Those who despaired. Those who grieved. Those who worried about what was to come.
Whatever their position, what all of them must not forget first and foremost was the courtesy of a human being. That plain principle moved those who had been sunk in despair.
“...I will help.”
Murong Wigyeong gave instructions to Murong Family's members. Jaegal Zian also staggered to his feet.
"Please forgive my rudeness..."
"No."
Hyun Jong shook his head and stopped Jaegal Zian from speaking.
"Rather, there is work to be done."
"...I will do so."
Hyun Jong, having consoled Jaegal Zian, now walked toward the battlefield which had become a gigantic tomb. Tang Gun-ak followed behind him.
Step. Step.
Hyun Jong’s steps were directed not to the place where the corpses were gathered, but to a place slightly off to the side. After walking in silence for a while, he finally stopped.
He let out a small sigh as he looked at the person before him.
Just looking at him like this was so heavy it made his fingertips ache.
It was truly sorrowful that the living must bear the weight of all these deaths most heavily.
That fact tormented Hyun Jong. Perhaps more than the carnage that had occurred here.
“Chung Myung-ah....”
Hyun Jong spoke with pity toward Chung Myung, who couldn't take his eyes off the carnage before him.
“It is not your fault.”
Chung Myung, who had been frozen like a stone statue, finally looked back at Hyun Jong.
The seemingly hollow pupils stabbed a corner of Hyun Jong’s heart.
“Then....”
Chung Myung asked in an emotionless voice.
“Whose fault is it?”
“....”
"Sect Leader."
Something seething from a very old, deep place was felt. At that deep, deep despair, Hyun Jong would rather close his eyes.
|Note
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