Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1678. Just Believe (2)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
They retreat. No, they ignore and pass by.
They can't control the occasional glances, but regardless, Heavenly Comrade Alliance ignored those who had set up camp here and set foot towards Wudang.
Jang Ilso, who had been leisurely watching the scene, smiled broadly and then shifted his gaze to the one sitting before him.
"Hmm, how cold-hearted."
“....”
“I really didn't know they would just go like that. They say Righteous Sects guys are overflowing with affection… Seems that's not always the case?"
"You babble well, you Evil Sects bastard."
"How fierce."
Jang Ilso chuckled. Then he stared blankly at the cup placed before Chung Myung.
“The cup is empty.”
He lifted the liquor bottle placed in front and personally filled Chung Myung’s cup.
The sound of liquor gushing out and the footsteps of many people mixed together and spread around.
Tak.
Jang Ilso set the bottle down on the table and gently pushed it over with his fingertip.
"Pour me a drink too."
“....”
“I’ve gone this far, should I at least take home some sort of title? Being the only Evil Sects person to have drunk liquor poured by Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword of the world seems like it would be a plausible title.”
Chung Myung stared silently at the grinning Jang Ilso, then grabbed the bottle by the neck. He slowly began to fill Jang Ilso’s empty cup.
Trickle, trickle, trickle.
The liquor soon filled the cup completely and began overflowing.
But the tilted bottle showed no sign of returning to its place. Jang Ilso narrowed his eyes slightly and met Chung Myung's. He was looking at Jang Ilso with a mocking expression.
“These days… even Evil Secst bastards seem to eat the liquor poured into a cup, huh? Back in my day, they would lick up liquor spilled on the ground saying it was good.”
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth twisted terribly.
"Go on, drink. It's rare as you said, so consider it an honor."
Before Jang Ilso could even react, the furious Red Hound unleashed an enormous killing intent that surged toward Chung Myung.
Violent and vicious to the point of becoming tangible, the killing intent swept like a storm making Chung Myung's robes flutter. His roughly tied-up long hair soared up.
Meanwhile, Jo-Gol kept looking back.
Yoon Jong beside him, Hye Yeon and Namgung Dowi were the same.
Chung Myung's figure gradually grew smaller in their sight. Unable to find peace, their hands kept tightening around their sword hilts.
'Damn it!'
No matter what, leaving Chung Myung there alone was an incomprehensible decision.
Nevertheless, the one reason Jo-Gol didn't immediately rebel like usual was the weight given by the title of Vice Hall Leader.
Once the order falls, they follow.
If they can't even keep that, what qualification do they have to ask others to follow their orders?
'Just what...!'
There were mountains of things he wanted to say to Baek Cheon, who was pressing forward ahead of them. But instead of opening his mouth, Jo-Gol simply gripped the hilt of his sword.
Just then.
"Sasuk, will it be... alright? No matter how I think about it, this is..."
Instead of Jo-Gol, Yoon Jong spoke. His voice sounded as if he were barely suppressing something. He too seemed to find Baek Cheon's decision difficult to accept.
But Baek Cheon didn't answer. Yoon Jong finally raised his voice.
“Sasuk!”
"He'll be fine."
"But...!"
"He's not someone who acts without thinking."
Baek Cheon replied in an even-toned voice.
"And if we act as Jang Ilso wishes, we will definitely lose. That was the conclusion we reached based on countless sacrifices until now, wasn't it?"
Yoon Jong was speechless. It was definitely undeniable. But….
“Does that make it right to just leave him behind?”
At that moment, an immense killing intent was felt from behind. Baek Cheon reflexively snapped his head around.
He saw Red Hound twitching as if about to pounce at any moment, and Chung Myung sitting calmly in front of them.
Baek Cheon bit his lip silently. And he turned his head back again.
Right now, any words were meaningless.
He just has to believe. That guy… was none other than Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung.
Long fingertips lightly swept through the liquor spilled on the tea table. The liquor clinging to his fingertips soon moved to red lips.
Jang Ilso slowly licked the liquor and spoke.
"What a waste... I said it was good liquor. This is why those who grew up sheltered are no good.”
Jang Ilso, who complained lightly, glanced at Red Hound grinding his teeth.
“Tsk. How ill-mannered."
At that simple remark, Red Hounds' killing intent vanished as if washed away.
“If you act as you please like this, how ridiculous will I look? Behave yourselves.”
Red Hounds lowered their heads in unison without words. After rebuking them with his eyes, Jang Ilso turned back to Chung Myung and smiled with an expression that seemed almost shameless.
"My apologies. I told them to train, but they are rather rough children."
“Take after its owner.”
"Hmm. Certainly... there's that."
Chung Myung picked up the cup placed in front of him and drank.
Tak.
As soon as he put down his empty cup, Jang Ilso poured him another. Watching this, Chung Myung asked.
“Let’s hear the reason.”
"Reason?"
When Jang Ilso asked back, Chung Myung's eyes sharpened.
“Why go to all this trouble? There was no need to go this far just to grab my ankle?"
"I merely wanted to talk."
“....”
"My, my. Don't look at me with such eyes."
Jang Ilso let out an exaggerated laugh as if embarrassed.
"This is why people should live honestly. Once you start being suspected, even when you tell the truth as it is, people won't believe you at all. Truly a frustrating matter."
“I didn't realize you were stupid enough not to know the phrase ‘you reap what you sow.’”
“…Hng.”
Jang Ilso sighed deeply.
No matter his intentions, no matter the feelings with which he sat here, no one could deny that Jang Ilso's attitude now was as natural as meeting an old friend.
"No need to be so on edge."
Jang Ilso spoke softly and lifted the cup filled with liquor. It was the cup Chung Myung had filled moments ago. He drank the liquor leisurely as if savoring it without rushing.
“Anyway, neither you nor I can open up to each other about everything… but I mean it when I say I’ve always wanted to sit down with you like this at least once.”
Chung Myung stared at Jang Ilso with subdued eyes.
“Well, that goes without saying, doesn't it?”
“Well, that’s so obvious that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned.”
"And you would also like to thrust a sword into my neck if given the chance."
“Hahahaha!”
Jang Ilso burst into laughter.
“I’m not quite that greedy. No, to be precise, I am a greedy person... but I'm also someone who knows that overreaching leads to indigestion, you could say."
His long, slanted eyes drew a smooth arc.
Chung Myung knew. The cruelty hidden within that gaze that appeared only soft. He felt a strange eeriness, akin to watching a well-honed blade.
Chung Myung grabbed the liquor bottle.
Slurp.
Liquor stretching long like a silk thread slowly filled Jang Ilso's empty cup. Watching that sight with interest, Jang Ilso opened his mouth.
“But I didn't expect you to sit down this willingly. I thought I would have to persuade you quite a bit.”
“It’s the same for me.”
Chung Myung answered somewhat indifferently as if talking to himself.
“I still think you’re not even worth interacting with… perhaps I too wanted to have something called a conversation with you bastard at least once."
“…Oh?”
“And also because it’s the same reason.”
“Hm? What does that mean?”
Chung Myung set the liquor bottle down with a clack and looked straight at Jang Ilso.
"Just as you think that merely tying me down here means you can easily take Wudang, I also think that merely tying you down here reduced Evil Tyrant Alliance to nothing."
The corners of Jang Ilso's eyes slightly curved.
"You think so?"
“Don't get cocky.”
“....”
“So I just figured there was no loss in it.. As long as I am here, you won’t be able to run over there no matter what happens.”
“My, my.”
Jang Ilso shook his head as if he couldn't handle it.
"So... it's not that I've tied you down, but that you've tied me down?"
"Depends on how you think about it."
"Haha."
Jang Ilso laughed aloud again. But unlike before, his face seemed slightly distorted.
“That’s why… Right, that’s why you’re interesting. You can’t even compare to those other idiots. But well… I wonder if things will really go the way you think?”
Jang Ilso's gaze left Chung Myung's face and turned to the ground. There lay Heo Do Jin-in, who was struggling to hold onto a consciousness that seemed ready to snap at any moment.
"People... tend to overestimate at times. Themselves, and those close to them."
“....”
"That's why their eyes become clouded."
Heo Do Jin-in shuddered when he heard those words.
It must have been agonizing.
Being defeated by an enemy against whom even hacking him to pieces wouldn't satisfy his rage, and now being mocked while lying collapsed like this. He must feel like biting off his tongue and dying.
But humiliation was an unavoidable punishment for the defeated. The current Heo Do Jin-in has no choice but to endure this humiliation.
"What about you? Are you truly looking at those you lead with a cold eye?”
Chung Myung, who had been listening without expression, let out a snicker.
"Coldness, you say. I've already done too much of that."
Chung Myung leaned back against the chair and looked up at the sky.
“Looking coldly, criticizing them for being useless, and screaming my lungs out all alone.”
“....”
“Right. Just like you right now.”
Jang Ilso’s expression slowly stiffened. Even for him who plays with people's hearts, this was a difficult statement to understand.
"Then, what are you doing now?"
When Jang Ilso asked, Chung Myung turned his gaze elsewhere. At its end was Heavenly Comrade Alliance moving away in the distance.
"Just..."
A faint smile appeared on Chung Myung's lips.
Some might say it was reckless if they heard. An answer he absolutely would never have given in the past.
But it was the answer finally reached and found after irreversible failure.
“I’m just believing.”
“...Those guys?”
Chung Myung's eyes sank deep.
“Them. And in what I, what we have done."
Jang Ilso's face hardened like ice. His usually composed expression cracked.
What should one call the emotion that surfaced on that face?
Absurdity? Anger? No, in fact, it might be despair.
Even he himself might not know the reason, but regardless, there was likely only one word that could best describe that expression.
"This... is disappointing?"
White teeth were revealed between Jang Ilso’s red lips.
The face that had been constantly wearing a bright smile was distorted, and the gentle voice was now gone. An eerie voice flowed out.
"To think such words would come from your mouth."
“....”
“I thought we might at least understand each other a little.”
Before that sneering killing intent, Chung Myung bared his teeth as well.
The surrounding air became taut in an instant. Like a bomb about to explode any moment.
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