Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1624. With Our Blood and Lives! (4)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
A bead of cold sweat ran down Yoon Jong's forehead.
He had overcome numerous fierce battles and crises, but he hadn't experienced many situations as tense as this. The suffocating pressure made him feel like he might stop breathing at any moment, and he wanted to bolt from his seat immediately.
And it wasn't just him. Jo-Gol’s face beside him didn't look much different. If even that guy who was always dull and just fooled around was this tense, it meant this situation they faced was that serious.
Spine-chilling silence. And tension cold enough to freeze fingertips.
In the midst of it, someone's voice flowed out coolly.
"Let me say it... once again."
A face as if a craftsman had poured their heart into delicately carving and sculpting jade was now strangely contorted.
"What Sect Leader said... is merely, merely Sect Leader's stance... it doesn't represent the position of all Southern Edge Sect people..."
He forced the words out piece by piece, then shut his mouth and clenched his teeth. As if he himself knew that saying these words had no meaning.
Throughout all ages, there was one law that absolutely never changed.
When your argument collapses, all you have left is stubbornness.
"Anyway! Don't think anything will change just because such a thing happened! If you harbor foolish thoughts, I will make you learn reality the hard way.”
It was a shout seemingly mixed with killing intent. However, the person sitting across from him, who looked exactly like him, instead curled up the corner of his mouth with an air of nonchalance.
"What's he saying. Secret martial manual thief."
“Keugh...”
Feeling a tightening pain, Jin Geumryong grabbed at his chest. The tendons on his hand stood out as they trembled.
In contrast, Baek Cheoon, his face brimming with composure, shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, no... You don't need to worry that much, Hyung-nim."
"...What?"
Jin Geumryong asked back like someone doubting their own ears. And rightfully so. How was that person planning to turn his insides upside down again by deliberately bringing up the word 'Hyung-nim'?
And indeed, Baek Cheon was Baek Cheon.
“What can you do if you're weak and lacking in skill? Since there was no fair way to defeat Mount Hua, I understand the sentiment. How desperate you must have been…”
"Sahyung! Don't draw your sword! If you draw your sword here, it's all over!"
Isong Baek threw his whole body at Jin Geumryong who was about to draw his sword without hesitation, clinging and blocking him. He had gone pale as a sheet from the shock.
"Ugh..."
Jin Geumryong, his eyes bloodshot, looked ready to devour Baek Cheon at any moment. However, Baek Cheon's composure only grew more and more bold.
“Aigoo, gonna stab me then? Well… I guess that's possible for a sect like yours."
"Sa- Sahyung! Didn't I say you can't draw your sword!"
Yoon Jong, who had been watching this spectacle, finally let out a long sigh. It sounded like air deflating.
“Is this right, Gol-ah?”
"...I do have a feeling something is seriously wrong."
The image of Chung Myung overlapped with Baek Cheon's giggling. Jo-Gol smacked his lips at the sight.
"But I guess I can... understand Sasuk's heart a bit?"
…Even Yoon Jong agreed with that. The high-nosed Southern Edge Sect bastards had bowed their heads of their own accord, so they couldn't possibly let an opportunity like this slip by, could they?
Jin Geumryong, who had been huffing with his hand on his sword, finally managed to calm down after a while and exhaled a long breath. But even then, looking at that infuriating (yet identical) face, something surged up inside him again.
"Anyway..."
Jin Geumryong, having barely composed himself, suddenly straightened his posture. Then he put on a serious face and bowed deeply toward Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon's eyes widened as he wiped away his smile.
“Though it happened in the previous generation, I know this is a sin all Southern Edge Sect disciples must bear together. I am not someone who can represent Southern Edge Sect, but…”
"There's no need for that. Jin Sohyeop.”
Baek Cheon cut off Jin Geumryong's words in a firm voice.
"Just as Jin Sohyeop cannot represent Southern Edge Sect, I too am not someone who can represent Mount Hua. I am merely wearing the guise of 'acting sect leader.' In the first place, I believe it’s not right for us to bring up a matter that your Sect Leader and our Grand Sect Leader have already concluded.”
A calm yet powerful voice continued.
“If you truly feel that way, then just repay the world as Grand Sect Leader said.”
Jin Geumryong and Baek Cheon's gazes met head-on. Though a brief moment, complex emotions crossed Jin Geumryong's eyes.
“...Thank you, Baek Cheon Dojang.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Had he ever imagined a day when he faced Baek Cheon like this? Jin Geumryong sighed softly to himself.
'I don't want to admit it, but....'
He found himself thinking. If he had been in Baek Cheon’s position, could he have nodded his head like that?
No, he would never.
Even if the elders had reached an amicable agreement, he would have tried to press the other's guilt until the very end. So they could never even meet his eyes again. No, perhaps he wouldn't even have acknowledged the elders' agreement in the first place.
But Baek Cheon was different.
He was showing consideration by treating all this calmly. Of course, to Jin Geumryong that behavior was an even greater burden, but whether he aimed for that or not, it was clear it was a response Jin Geumryong couldn't make. that it was something he couldn't handle.
He had to admit it now. The younger brother sitting in front of him… No, the Baek Cheon of Mount Hua had grown beyond what he could handle.
“But that is my stance as Baek Cheon, the eldest disciple of Hwasan.”
"...Huh?"
Jin Geumryong, slightly flustered, let out a slightly dumbfounded sound. Before he knew it, Baek Cheon had leaned all the way back, looking down at him with eyes full of sheer arrogance.
If Chung Myung had seen it, he would have snapped, ‘There he goes again, that insufferable bastard.’
"As the person Jin Dongryong, I think I need to receive an apology?"
“...”
“What? 'The likes of Mount Hua'? 'A place like Mount Hua'? 'That damned ruined sect'?”
“...”
"Aigoo. Southern Edge Sect must be such a greaa~at sect. Is that why you so carefully stole that ruined sect's secret martial manual? Wow, it seems the word 'great' I know and the word 'great' you use have different meanings. I guess you're so great you even make up your own words, huh? Eh? You must be so proud to be the eldest dis.ci.ple of such an illustrious sect...."
Kwang!
Jin Geumryong, who had roughly closed the door and come out, breathed heavily. If he had stayed in there even a bit longer, he would have ended up drawing his sword.
"That damn...!"
Just where did he learn to make such an obnoxious expression and use such utterly shameless speech? At least when at home, he had been someone who kept to propriety.
Just as he was trying to forcefully calm his boiling insides, the door crept open again and Isong Baek followed him out. Jin Geumryong glanced back at him, then began walking back to his quarters without any hesitation.
“Le- Let’s go together, Sahyung.”
Isong Baek matched his steps and quickly followed. A somewhat awkward atmosphere flowed between them as they walked to the quarters.
“Sahyung. This matter...”
“I know. I wasn’t being mature.”
“...”
“Enough. Don’t say more.”
Isong Baek sighed deeply.
“Still, it’s a relief.”
"How?"
“About Baek Cheon Dojang.”
Jin Geumryong glanced slightly at Isong Baek. Isong Baek spoke softly.
“Honestly, if Baek Cheon Dojang had been serious and pressed the issue, the relationship between Mount Hua and Southern Edge Sect would have turned literally ice-cold. But since he stepped forward and treated it playfully like that, at least we can still exchange words, right?"
How could Isong Baek not know how grave this matter was?
Coveting another sect's secret martial manual was something where it wouldn't be strange to wage war until the last person remained on each side.
To let such a grave matter pass like this, how remarkable was that.
"Even the sajes are at a loss as to how to view the disciples of Mount Hua. Meanwhile, Baek Cheon Dojang..."
“Yeah. He must know what he’s doing.”
“...I guess so?”
Baek Cheon's influence was far greater than one might imagine. In terms of influence within his sect alone, it was incomparable to the influence Jin Geumryong exerts over Southern Edge Sect.
With such a person lightening the mood like that, it was clear that no major problems will arise between them for a while. Baek Cheon must have aimed for that by sitting with Jin Geumryong and showing that side.
“So, the burden on my mind has been lifted a little.”
“Do you really think so?”
"Yes?"
Jin Geumryong stopped dead in his tracks and stared intently at Isong Baek. His gaze bordered on glaring.
“I asked if you truly think so.”
"...Sahyung?"
"What have we done to feel less burdened? What did we do? Just because we bowed our heads once before them?"
Isong Baek's face instantly stiffened as he realized his mistake.
"Put yourself in their position. If those who wished for Southern Edge Sect's ruin and took advantage of Southern Edge Sect's crisis to steal Southern Edge Sect's secret martial manual bowed briefly, could you understand everything?"
Jin Geumryong bit his lip.
“Forgiveness is something you can only hope for when you've at least paid a fitting compensation and price. Forgiveness received without conditions is merely begging for mercy. You are prattling about being grateful that Mount Hua pitied Southern Edge Sect."
Isong Baek bowed his head silently. Jin Geumryong, who had been glaring at him, soon let out a short sigh and looked up at the sky. His insides kept feeling stuffy.
He knew he was being immature, but he couldn't control himself. It wasn't Isong Baek who was at fault, but he snapped at him for no reason.
Isong Baek asked carefully.
“Then… what should we do?”
"We must repay."
Jin Geumryong looked at him again and spoke firmly.
“Because they offered forgiveness like that, we should not feel justified. Instead, we have to repay and repay until both we and they feel it is enough. That's how you earn dignity. Not through others' tolerance."
“...Can you atone for the wrongdoing of abandoning morality?”
"If our generation cannot fully repay it, then the next generation can; if that is still insufficient, then we repay it over the generation after that. It will be difficult, but at least it's a thousand times better than Southern Edge Sect becoming a sect without dignity.”
Isong Baek agreed and nodded heavily.
"Tell the saje and the sajil clearly; I will never forgive anyone who acts rashly."
“I will, Sahyung.”
Jin Geumryong looked at Isong Baek for a moment, then turned and started walking again.
‘A relief, huh…’
He thought about why he had vented his anger at Isong Baek. Perhaps his anger had surged because Jin Geumryong had thought the exact same thing.
What if this matter hadn't come to light now?
If he had become sect leader and then learned the truth, would he have had the courage to reveal everything openly and accept the consequences?
He couldn't have. Not just Jin Geumryong, but no one in the world would readily have the courage to touch this powder keg.
So, Jin Geumryong would have just buried the unavoidable sin deep inside and secretly rotted away. Anyone… yes, anyone.
At that moment, Jin Geumryong thought of just one person and smirked.
'That guy would have brought it out without a second thought and bowed his head.'
Thinking of his younger brother who looked exactly like him, he shook his head.
'Am I in the position of chasing after him now?'
A bitter smile touched his lips, but his mood felt refreshingly clear.
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