Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1656. I don't like those stupid guys (1)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“H- How did it go, Sect Leader?”
Heo Sanja, who had been anxiously waiting, shouted almost as soon as he saw Heo Do Jin-in. But Heo Do Jin-in merely stared at him for a moment before silently walking into his quarters.
“S- Sect Leader Sahyung!”
Heo Sanja cried out again in shock. Then he hurriedly followed Heo Do Jin-in into the quarters.
"What did they say? They didn't insist on being stubborn to the end, did they?"
“....”
"Sect Leader Sahyung! Please say something. Are they truly insisting on doing it? Even after you, Sect Leader Sahyung, spoke to them directly?"
Fear and hope swirled simultaneously in Heo Sanja's eyes. Staring intently at such a Heo Sanja, a short sigh escaped Heo Do Jin-in's lips.
"They said they would."
"Tha- That... What are they thinking..."
Heo Sanja stuttered for a moment with his eyes wide open like someone being strangled. Then, he abruptly stood up from the floor where he had been sitting and shouted.
"I, I will go and talk to them. No! I'll beat them down if I have to...!"
“It’s no use.”
Heo Sanja froze in an awkward, half-standing posture and stared blankly at Heo Do Jin-in. Heo Do Jin-in shook his head with an expression that was beyond indifferent, almost hollow.
"It will be useless. Any words... Yes, any words will fall on deaf ears."
"However...."
"This isn't a situation where you can persuade them by listing out right words. No, perhaps..."
Perhaps even those words of persuasion are inferior in Righteousness.
What words could he possibly use to persuade disciples who wished to act according to what they themselves had been taught?
A faint sneer tugged on Heo Do Jin-in's lips as he lost in thought. This wasn't directed at the young disciples who, ignorant of worldly affairs, raised their voices about upholding Chivalrousness and pride.
It was a sneer directed at himself, at Wudang up until now... who, while shouting with their mouths that Chivalrousness and pride must be upheld, forced them to flee when crisis struck, saying it was important not to suffer damage first.
"S- So are you saying we should just leave things as they are?"
“....”
"Sect Leader Sahyung! Do you truly intend to let all those children die? Do you mean to let all those brats die horribly under the blades of Evil Sects?!"
Heo Sanja was now almost screaming. Heo Do Jin-in let out a long breath and instead asked a question.
“Then what should we do?”
“We must persuade them!”
“Did I not say it won’t work?”
“Then we must stop them even if it means grabbing them by the collar and kicking their butt!”
"While treating them like children who don't know the ways of the world?"
"With such comfortable words now..."
“So, are you saying we should take away the opportunity for Wudang's disciples, who must continue to grow, to act on their own will? And furthermore, brand them with the stigma that they survived filthily through the sacrifice of their sect elders?”
Heo Sanja's agitated eyes wavered. At the same time, doubt flashed in his eyes. It was incomprehensible.
The Heo Do Jin-in he knew was someone who had not an ounce of hesitation in putting into action what he spoke with his own mouth. For Wudang's sake, he was also someone who could give up his own life or his disciples' lives at any time.
However....
“If things could be solved that way, of course I would have done so. Then let me ask you again. After we survive like that, what comes next? What will we do after that?”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“If this ended the war, I would naturally tell them to swallow their humiliation. But what if it doesn't end? What happens then?"
“Well....”
Heo Sanja, who had just opened his mouth, looked at Heo Do Jin-in as if realizing something too late.
Even if they survive this time, the war will not end. The fierce battle with Evil Tyrant Alliance will continue for a long time after that.
So what should Wudang do then?
Should they fight at the forefront more than anyone for revenge? Or must they quietly step back again, pushing the dangerous work onto others to survive then too?
"That..."
Heo Sanja couldn't readily answer as if his tongue was frozen.
In his heart, he wanted to say they should choose the former. But if they chose the former, only the time of death would differ; the result wouldn't be much different. Wudang would probably have to endure damage close to annihilation.
The latter? If they choose the latter, survival might be possible. But could a Wudang that cowardly withdrew throughout the war truly be called ‘Wudang’ after the war?
Heo Sanja's eyes darkened. Then he asked with an anxious face.
“That… It might not necessarily turn out that way, right?”
But even the face of the one asking the question had no confidence.
"Isn't there already a precedent? In the past..."
"In a country of people with three eyes, those with two eyes are treated as cripples."
"...What?"
"Back then... everyone had three eyes."
A sneer flowed from Heo Do Jin-in's mouth.
This is not like Magyo’s Great War of the past. Back then, all sects except Mount Hua were busy seeking their own safety. So only Mount Hua became the strange sect and that was the end of it.
But now it was different.
Now that Heavenly Comrade Alliance has gathered numerous sects and declared they will walk the Righteous path, what kind of treatment will Wudang receive for fleeing from the enemy for the sect's safety?
The situation is similar, yet completely different.
One extraordinary figure named Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung has completely changed the position of those swept up in the war.
"Then those kids..."
“No.”
Heo Do Jin-in shook his head.
"They didn't decide after considering all that. They simply... don't want to run away a second time. As swordsmen, as disciples of Wudang, and as someone who must uphold Righteousness."
“....”
“With what words can I break that will? When it was none other than I who argued and taught that disciples of Wudang should properly live that way. I am merely facing my own cowardice of being unable to practice what I directly spoke and taught."
"How can you call that cowardice? Who would dare call someone cowardly who shouldered all that burden and was even willing to sacrifice their own life! Sect Leader Sahyung is absolutely not that kind of person!"
Heo Sanja shouted with a distorted face, but Heo Do Jin-in-in's eyes simply followed the empty space.
What was right and what was wrong.
If it were as simple as a calculation divided by numbers, what would be difficult? Because each person’s ‘Righteousness’ differs, and each has a different way of carrying it out, the world becomes this complicated and chaotic.
No one was wrong.
It's just that their 'Righteousness' has now grown to not fall behind Heo Do Jin-in's 'Righteousness.'. Heo Do Jin-in was immeasurably proud of this yet indescribably saddened.
"Th- Then... really..."
“Heo Sanja.”
“Yes, Sect Leader Sahyung.”
“Persuade the disciples.”
"Yes? What do you mean?"
"There might be some among them who were swept up by the atmosphere and are staking their lives against their will. To ensure there are no such people, persuade as many as possible and have them leave the mountain."
“Sa- Sahyung!”
“The legacy must continue.”
Heo Do Jin-in smiled faintly.
Heo Sanja simply couldn't accept this. How many would there be even if he gathered all such people? Could a group scraped together from such people be called 'Wudang'?
“Is there truly no way? Why do you give up so easily?”
“....”
"If we invoke the sect leader's authority and forcibly break their will! Then they would have no choice, wouldn't they!"
"Yes. Then they could survive."
"Then right now..."
“But at that moment, Wudang ends. Even if everyone survives without a single hair being harmed, Wudang from that point on will no longer be Wudang.”
Heo Sanja's hands trembled finely.
He wanted to refute it a hundred times, but he already knew that statement was correct. How could Wudang, branded as cowards, remain Wudang?
How could those who cowardly begged for their lives dare to perform rites before the tablets of the ancestors?
"Go."
"Sahyung...."
"If we still see them as children, we could do as you say. But..."
Heo Do Jin-in shook his head.
“My duty as a master is to properly watch over and acknowledge their growth. I cannot break the will of those who have become Taoists no less than myself... No, who have already become greater Taoists than me, with the oppression called authority.”
“....”
"I will stand by their side."
"Sahyung!"
Heo Sanja let out a desperate scream as if all his insides had been scraped out. However, Heo Do Jin-in's eyes remained heavy and calm.
“Now, there is only one way for Wudang to continue.”
Instead of seething killing intent, a refined sense of duty now filled his eyes.
"To show them. What kind of sect Wudang is. To those who dare target this place, to the watching world, and to other sects who will try to confirm our choice."
“....”
“With swords, with lives, and with that will. I intend to show them clearly. Then that death will become fertilizer, and Wudang will bloom again."
It was a voice calmer than ever before.
However, the hand on Heo Do Jin-in's knee betrayed his inner feelings and trembled faintly.
He had taken on every insult to save his disciples. But now, he has come to see those very disciples he saved dying for the honor of the sect.
How could such a feeling even be put into words?
“Get moving.”
"Sahyung...."
"Hurry!"
A brief silence fell. Heo Sanja stared at Heo Do Jin-in, then finally bowed deeply with full sincerity.
"Take care of yourself."
With that, he left the room without looking back.
Heo Do Jin-in, staring blankly at the spot where Heo San Ja had disappeared, let out a hollow laugh.
“Two days?”
No, perhaps only one. He was counting the time left for Wudang. Then he suddenly found himself mulling over a belated realization.
"So that's why... That's why, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword."
Why had that person, who cherished people so much and despised sacrifice so deeply, been so furiously angry at him for trying to save his disciples?
Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword had known all along. Those who retreat out of fear of sacrifice will inevitably pay a greater price. That if one truly wished to protect their disciples, one must not turn away from the duty given to them.
Only now... Yes, only now does it seem he understands.
"I should have known a bit earlier."
Heo Do Jin-in, who murmured softly, closed his eyes deeply.
Now it was no longer only sorrow.
Because he has learned that those disciples of Wudang are walking a better path than he did. Because he has confirmed that they are Taoists who did not fail as he did.
Even if the end of that path was despair and death...
They will eventually bloom again. Splendidly at the end of that path, so that the whole world can see.
"Sect Leader."
Heo Do Jin-in's voice echoed hollowly.
What he was following was someone whose face he had never seen. A person who had died and vanished a hundred years ago, and was a sect leader of another sect, not even Wudang.
“Will our Wudang bloom again too?”
Just like Mount Hua, which eventually bloomed again, will we?
No matter how much Heo Do Jin-in closed his eyes and kept his silence, no answer came back.
* * *
“Are you saying they won't retreat?”
"Yeah."
“No, but why! Why do such a stupid thing!”
“Because they are human.”
Im Sobyeong stared piercingly at Chung Myung as if he couldn't understand at all. Chung Myung shrugged.
"It's because they're foolish that they're human. It's because they can't always make the right choices that they're human."
"...But it's Wudang. So what kind of..."
"And I like such stupid bastards."
As if he had said all he needed to say, Chung Myung rose from his seat. His once-dim eyes were now quietly shining.
“I’m going.”
"What? You can't! Didn't you say it could be a trap!"
"So?"
When Chung Myung asked again, everyone was speechless. Chung Myung spoke firmly to Im Sobyeong and all those watching him.
"If it's a trap, I'll just smash the trap and all. Because I can't just let those stupid bastards die like that."
Chung Myung smiled brightly as he clenched his sword tightly.
'Right, Sahyung?'
- You're stating the obvious.
That answer seemed to ring refreshingly in his ears.
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