Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1628. Isn't it good that it's good? (3)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“Here you go!”
“...”
Hyun Jong stared blankly at the document placed in front of him.
A joint petition...? No, on a long scroll that he didn't even know what to call it, handwritten seals were stamped in a row.
“Handwritten seals?”
"Well, since they relinquished their authority, wouldn't it be strange to have their sect leader seals stamped? So I got their handprints instead!"
Chung Myung puffed out his chest with a 'Didn't I do well?' face. Seeing that, Hyun Jong's eyelids twitched.
"This... well..."
Hyun Jong asked, filled with doubt, anxiety, and suspicion.
"The sect leaders... write this themselves?"
"Would I write it for them? Psh, where in the world would there be someone gutsy enough to forge sect leaders' handwritten seals?"
"...There is."
“I think so.”
“He’s more than capable of it.”
The heads of everyone in the alliance leader's hall nodded in unison. It wasn't that there was no one with that much guts, but rather that there was 'no one else' with such guts.
But unfortunately(?), judging by how the seal sizes were all different, it didn't seem to be a forgery. Even if others could be forged somehow, there would be no way to forge the massive handprint of the Beast Palace Master, which still looked like it was struggling to escape the scroll.
"So, the sect leaders all did this voluntarily?"
“That's what I'm saying!”
“And they knew what they were signing?”
"Ah, it’s written right there! Why are you so suspicious all of a sudden? You weren’t like this before!”
“...”
Chung Myung-ah, who do you think is to blame for all this?
Hyun Jong let out a deep sigh and was examining the seals when he tilted his head.
“This one has six fingers?”
"Did it shake?"
"Here something seems forcibly pressed down and smudged..."
Chung Myung smiled brightly.
"That much... Um... They were that enthusiastic?”
“...”
“...”
Hyun Jong's cheeks trembled.
"Does that even make sense! You rascal!"
“Aigo!”
The inkstone resting on Hyun Jong's desk flew through the air. Chung Myung quickly ducked his head to avoid the flying inkstone.
"It's obvious without looking. You must have coaxed, persuaded, and threatened these frail (?) sect leaders who didn’t even know what was going on to force them to sign their seals!”
“Geez, I told you that's not what happened!”
“What do you mean, 'not what happened'! You good-for-nothing rascal!”
Watching the two of them turn the alliance leader’s hall into chaos in an instant, Jo-Gol quietly asked Yoonjong beside him,
“But Sahyung.”
"Hm?"
“Can the words 'Sect Leader,' 'frail,' and 'threaten' even be used together?”
"Would they?"
“...Right?”
Jo-Gol looked at the back of that Chung Myung bastard's head as he dodged Hyun Jong's punches with a disgruntled face. It really shouldn’t make sense… it shouldn’t, and yet…
“Please calm down, Maengju-nim.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Tang Gun-ak stepped in to restrain Hyun Jong.
"N- No. Gaju-nim, this is!"
"Anyway, it's a fact that the sect leaders have given their seals. Surely you don't think they gave their seals because they truly couldn't handle Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword’s threats?”
“...”
Hyun Jong couldn't bring himself to answer this question. He had his suspicions, but if he answered 'yes,' wouldn't that mean disrespecting all the heads of sects cooperating with Heavenly Comrade Alliance?
“That’s not... that’s not it...”
"Whatever the process, the fact that seals were signed means those people also tried to take responsibility for what they said."
Tang Gun-ak rose from his seat and walked steadily toward the door.
"If that weren't the case, they would all surely be here by now, protesting to you Maengju-nim. But look."
Creaaak.
Tang Gun-ak opened the door to the alliance leader's room.
“...”
Tak.
And the door that had been opened was shut, several times faster than the speed it opened.
Clack.
Tang Gun-ak quickly locked the door with a mysterious dexterity that did not disgrace his title as the patriarch of Tang Family, and then turned around with a slight deliberate cough.
"Hmm. That's not what's important right now."
"No, wait. Just now outside, clearly..."
“There was nothing.”
“There was definitely something…”
“There was not.”
“...”
Hyun Jong's beard trembled finely. He was certain he had seen the figures of sect leaders lined up outside, grinding their teeth, through the briefly opened door crack...
Hyun Jong closed his eyes tightly.
'No. Let's pretend I didn't see it.'
What would change by seeing it...? By seeing it...
“Phew.”
Hyun Jong's gaze returned to the scroll where the seal was stamped. The process was highly suspicious, but in any case, the fact that the seals were signed here could not be denied. As Tang Gun-ak had said, those sect leaders probably didn't obediently give their seals as told because they were truly powerless.
They might have had inner discontent, but ultimately, didn't they show the will to follow whatever decision was made?
But that support did not lighten Hyun Jong's heart.
“Hey, you rascal.”
"Yes?"
"What exactly are you trying to do with all this?"
"What do you mean?”
Chung Myung answered calmly, but also firmly.
"We're doing it to win."
“...”
Hyun Jong was speechless as he stared at Chung Myung.
To win.
It was an incredibly flimsy answer. But Chung Myung has nothing more to add. Quite literally, he was only choosing the best measures to win and to reduce casualties. What other reason was needed?
The one who needed more reasons wasn't Chung Myung but Hyun Jong himself, who was not yet free from appearances, responsibility, and the gazes of other sects.
“Ugh.”
Hyun Jong let out a groan and glanced at Tang Gun-ak. Tang Gun-ak chuckled.
“Are you laughing?”
"While it's regrettable that I cannot be of more help, this matter seems to be one that Maengju-nim must choose entirely on your own. That’s likely why the strategist and the other sect leaders haven’t set foot here either.”
Though it seemed like they were trying to come...
“...Is your thought still the same, Gaju-nim?”
“Yes.”
Tang Gun-ak nodded.
“I understand that you're reluctant because it's so unprecedented. But… if I were the one in a position to decide, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
“May I ask why?”
“Mm.”
Tang Gun-ak let out a slight sigh.
He had already stated the reasons several times, so what Hyun Jong wanted now was probably his more sincere inner thoughts.
"There are countless reasons in worldly affairs."
"Right."
“But sometimes, all those reasons and justifications become meaningless. In the face of just one single word, that is.”
"One word, you say...?"
“Great Righteousness (대의(大義)).”
Tang Gun-ak looked at Hyun Jong with resolute eyes.
“In truth, reasons and justifications are only necessary for those who have failed to set a proper Great Righteousness. I think everything else becomes meaningless before the cause that Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword speaks of.”
A soft voice came out of Hyun Jong's mouth.
"Great Righteousness..."
Hyun Jong closed his eyes tightly and fell into deep thought. A fairly long time passed, and no one present disturbed his contemplation.
“...Chung Myung-ah.”
Hyun Jong finally opened his eyes and looked at Chung Myung before speaking.
"I understand what you're trying to do, but as the alliance leader of Heavenly Comrade Alliance, I cannot permit this. The alliance’s members did not come here to become tools of Mount Hua.”
Chung Myung's face hardened slightly.
"The hall leader is a position of great responsibility. I cannot place those who are still immature in such positions. The hall leaders will be selected from among the sect leaders of sects who share the alliance's will."
Just as a helpless sigh was about to escape Chung Myung and Tang Gun-ak's lips, Hyun Jong opened his mouth again.
“How about this?”
"...Huh?"
"Those you recommended. In other words, those kids..."
Hyun Jong's gaze turns to Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Jo-Gol.
What filled Hyun Jong's eyes looking at them was not concern but trust.
"Let's appoint them as vice hall leaders of each hall to assist the hall leaders. Then won't the quick judgment you want become possible?"
"Ah?"
"Oh..."
Chung Myung's head began to spin rapidly.
After all, the future hall leaders would be chosen from among the sect leaders who signed the scroll, and they would be unlikely to block decisions made by the vice leader appointed in this manner.
It was undeniable that this added a slightly cumbersome step, but the work he was trying to do wouldn't collapse.
“Right… then we can somewhat suppress each sect's complaints too."
“It probably will.”
Tang Gun-ak nodded as if impressed.
If Chung Myung hadn't brought back the sign, it might have been difficult for Five Swords to raise their voice to the hall leaders, but since, formally or not, they had already consented for Five Swords to lead the hall, the hall leaders would feel the burden of dismissing those voices.
In effect, by ceding a little authority they also lightened some of the responsibility.
A small laugh escaped Tang Gun-ak.
If this opinion had come from someone else's mouth, he would have evaluated it as a very political move, but Hyun Jong would have no such intention at all. It was simply a heartfelt attempt to accommodate those who joined the alliance, and that sincerity happened to produce an exquisite brilliant move.
“How about it?”
“Hmmmmm.”
Chung Myung scratched his cheek for a moment before nodded.
"It's a bit awkward, but I think that much won't be a big problem. Instead!"
"Hm?"
Chung Myung chuckled.
"Let me pick who becomes hall leaders."
“Huh? Why?”
“I can pick well.”
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth twisted wickedly.
“I roughly memorized their expressions when they were signing their seals.”
"Expressions?"
"Yes, well. Some signed nicely, others signed reluctantly. If we appoint hall leaders from among those who signed nicely…”
“They did resist, you rascal! You said they didn't earlier!”
The inkstone, which had just been returned to its place, flew through the air again. Chung Myung sharply bent his body to avoid the inkstone and fumbled out excuses.
“N- No! The resistance wasn’t that kind of resistance…”
"What you're doing now is resistance! Come here! Won't you come, you good-for-nothing punk!”
Tang Hun-ak shook his head as he watched Hyun Jong fly into a rage and Chung Myung running away with tail between his legs.
'You saw the expression beforehand?'
He thought Chung Myung was making a big fuss by insisting on getting handwritten seals, but it seemed that sly old Taoist bastard had anticipated that Hyun Jong would give this answer. The process of signing the seals must have been to preselect those who would cooperate with Five Swords even if they became hall leaders.
Just how far ahead did he think before starting this?
"...Monkey on Buddha's palm, is it?"
Tang Gun-ak's head shook from side to side once more.
Chung Myung ran, Hyun Jong chased, and Tang Gun-ak nodded. The situation was complicated, but in any case, an answer had been found.
However.
One of the borrowed sacks of barley that couldn't participate at all in this farce-like situation and that series of decisions cautiously opened his mouth.
"Um, but..."
“...”
“...”
"Our opinions...?"
But that deflated voice was buried in the commotion in the room and scattered faintly.
“No, this is...”
Jo-Gol's hand stretches out into the air meaninglessly.
No… If you're going to decide something like this, shouldn't you at least consider the opinions of the very people who will immediately suffer under the pressure from the hall leaders above and the piercing glares from below...
Tak.
Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon's hands landed on Jo-Gol's shoulders.
“Just give up.”
"Since it's come to this anyway, let's just take it easy."
They had suddenly become vice hall leaders who weren't in their fate and were about to command people who had lived more than twice as long as them.
“...Why is it always like this?”
"What can we do? We have to adapt."
“...”
Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Jo-Gol.
A sorrowful sigh escaped all three at once.
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