Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1679. Just Believe (3)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The taut air seemed about to tear skin any moment.
Paegun and Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.
Two people utterly different in every way bared their teeth at each other without yielding an inch. At the collision of that formidable killing intent, even the Red Hounds, who commanded the fear of the world, dared not even breathe.
It felt as if Chung Myung's sword would be drawn out at any moment, and Jang Ilso's palm force would embed itself in Chung Myung's heart.
They realize anew that no matter how leisurely they share drinks, these two can never coexist. Theirs was a relationship that could only end when one of them breathed their last.
Amidst the clash of that terrible killing intent that made hearts feel like bursting, Jang Ilso was the first to speak.
“That reckless belief of yours.”
“...”
“Do you really think it can change anything?”
“...”
“Hm? Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?”
Chung Myung, facing that expression mixed with killing intent and mockery, turned his gaze away. Calmly, even with the world-renowned Jang Ilso right in front of him.
And the place his gaze landed was none other than Wudang.
The burning Mount Wudang.
* * *
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
“Sahyuuuuuuuuun!”
Screams were always tragic.
But if that scream was the scream of someone close, it doesn't end with just tragedy.
Udeudeuk!
Mu Jin clenched his teeth as if to shatter them.
Jin So’s body, pierced by the enemy’s dao, convulsed violently. That much can be endured. Weren't all those present here prepared for death from the start?
But the following tragedy was tragic enough to be difficult to endure with just that resolve.
Swaeaeaeaeaeaek!
Kwadeuk!
The swung dao continuously cut down Jin So's body. And Jin So’s body, no longer able to circulate true energy, could not withstand those cruel slashes. Jin So's flesh, cut apart as if dismembered, splattered in all directions.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
It wasn't just Mu Jin. The Wudang disciples who saw that scene all let out beast-like roars and swung their swords driven by malice.
Weren't they also human? Even if they faced them as enemies, weren't they also people wearing human skin? How could a human be this cruel to another human?
The cruelty of hacking at a breathless corpse, of mocking and killing those fallen from injury. That was a world the Wudang swordsmen had never known, even after training for a lifetime.
“You dog-like bastards! Aaaaaah!”
“Saje! Don’t get excited… Sajeeeeeee!”
A spear impales the body of the person wildly swinging his sword.
"Keu... ugh..."
Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk!
Countless weapons flew at the body whose abdomen had been pierced in a single blow. Even after stabbing through the flesh again and again until it was reduced to rags, the still unsatisfied dao tear the falling body into pieces.
Where was the grim resolve?
Where was the nobility?
'No...'
Mu Jin bit his lip until it bled.
Their choice to fight here was never wrong. Even if made to choose again, Mu Jin would unhesitatingly choose this path.
But it was different. This battle was different from what he imagined.
Neither the nobleness of one who stakes their life to protect honor, nor the grim resolve of one who dies gloriously for Kangho exists here.
What exists here was nothing but cruelty. A cruelty and devastation that could never be contained in a few words of praise passed from mouth to mouth.
Did those who died ever imagine their end would be like that? Could they have fought like that knowing such an end?
"Hold your ground! Don't let the formation collapse! I said don't get excited!"
Someone's shouting could be heard.
The same words. The same words they've been hearing all along. But everyone listening to that voice would know. That a different anxiety and fear than before dwells in that voice.
It wasn’t that fighting without breaking formation was advantageous. The moment the formation breaks, everyone dies. Everyone will die miserably, wretchedly, not even leaving a proper corpse.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
Another life reaches its end.
The number of Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists climbing White Face Rock was increasing, and the Wudang disciples facing them were falling one by one. It was becoming harder and harder to hold on as time went on.
Everyone must have already sensed what the outcome of this battle would be.
Perhaps it will remain as a legend. That all disciples of Wudang didn’t succumb to Evil Sects but perished atop White Face Rock while protecting Wudang. Just leaving behind that one line of writing is valuable.
However...
‘Was it truly here?’
Sorrow welled up in Mu Jin's heart.
The honor they tried to protect, the glory they tried to defend, the pride and self-esteem they tried to grasp at the end. Were they really here?
Was that pride truly so great as to warrant throwing away the lives of all those standing here? Did something worth protecting through such a horrific death truly exist in this world?
"Aaaaaargh!"
A sword lodges in the chest of one who was like family. Watching that death, those who didn't even seem human laughed wickedly. His sword was too powerless to block that terrible sight.
Mu Jin's hand holding the sword trembled.
Perhaps it wasn't them who created this scene. Perhaps his youthful impetuousness, his stubbornness created this hell.
That fact... that reality filled Mu Jin's eyes with a hazy moisture.
* * *
“That’s a good word. Believe.”
Jang Ilso drank the liquor in the cup in one go and put it down with a tak. A thoroughly sinister smile touched his lips.
"But that... is also just another word for irresponsibility."
“...”
“Do you understand?”
The mockery in his gaze pierced through Chung Myung.
“Someone who truly has ability does not prattle on about believing. They do what's possible and make things possible. Not mixing half-assed hopes into plans."
Jang Ilso’s gaze turned toward Heo Do Jin-in, who was continuing his shallow breathing while collapsed.
“That idiot over there is the same.”
“...”
“Isn’t that funny?”
Jang Ilso chuckles and shakes his head.
"Still, that idiot was someone who knew how to make decisions. If it weren't for the choice he made on the Yangtze River, more people would have lost their lives. But... isn't it strange that this time he's doing something so nonsensical? As if he became an idiot over the course of a few years.”
Chung Myung glared at Jang Ilso without saying a word.
“Do you know what that man blabbered?”
“...”
“He said he couldn't stop his disciples. Was it that he couldn't break their will? Hahahaha!”
Jang Ilso spread his arms exaggeratedly.
"Look. This is the result. The tragedy created by someone who lost their own conviction with such senseless talk."
“...”
Chung Myung's eyes turn to Heo Do Jin-in.
Heo Do Jin-in looked as though his breath might stop at any moment, but perhaps his consciousness still lingered, his body twitched faintly. He must have heard Jang Ilso's words.
"If one truly has something they want to do, they should take responsibility for themselves. They should have grasped cold reason instead of reckless bravado. A pig who can't even do that will ultimately..."
Jang Ilso’s hand dropped limply.
"...end up like that."
Jang Ilso slowly shook his head.
“However… You speak like that pig. This is beyond disappointing."
Chung Myung, who had been silently observing Heo Do Jin-in, picked up the bottle with an indifferent expression. Then he slowly tilted it to fill Jang Ilso’s empty cup.
Trickle.
After filling the cup to the brim, Chung Myung set down the bottle and stared straight at Jang Ilso.
"If you're done babbling, drink."
“...”
Jang Ilso and Chung Myung’s gazes collided briefly in the air.
Jang Ilso, who had been staring intently at Chung Myung, reached out and emptied the filled cup again. Chung Myung slowly opened his mouth toward such a Jang Ilso.
"You said believing is just another word for irresponsibility."
"…Right."
"I'm a bit different."
“...”
"I call believing..."
Chung Myung continued in a voice without a trace of wavering.
"Earnestness."
* * *
“Raise your swords!”
A beast-like roar resounded through White Face Rock.
Heo Gong shouted at the top of his lungs.
"There's no time for despair! If I can't swing my sword, not I but my sahyungs die!"
His sword consecutively pierced the necks and chests of charging Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists.
“Regret and despair belong to those who survive! Don’t forget why you took up your swords! Don't fight just to protect your own life! Your Sahyung's life depends on your sword!"
Mu Jin's eyes shook.
And right at that moment, something suddenly surged up before his eyes.
A blade honed to a cold blue edge. And the moment he saw the vivid dao energy coiling around that blade, Mu Jin's body froze.
'Too lat….'
Kaaaaang!
In Mu Jin’s vision, unable to close his eyes, the sight of a sword surging from the side striking away the flying dao entered vividly.
“Sasuk! Are you alright?”
“...”
What Mu Jin saw wasn’t Jin Hyeon’s sword that had saved him. It was Jin Hyeon’s shoulder, slashed by the enemy’s dao as he tried to save Mu Jin while leaving his own opponent.
The blood that splattered from it lodged painfully in Mu Jin’s two eyes.
“Not yet! Not yet!”
Mu Jin's face twisted like a demon.
'What was I...'
What kind of sentimentality was he immersed in?
Heo Gong was right. If he faltered, it was not only he who died. What was carried in his sword now wasn’t just that one life.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaah!"
Mu Jin’s sword was swung, wreathed in a formidable sword energy.
“Sasuk!”
Where the clear blue sword energy shot forth, white and black sword energy raged.
The sword energy Mu Jin emitted swept away Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artists who had been attacking the front all at once.
A desperate scream erupted.
The presence of that astonishing sword energy momentarily halted the flow of a battlefield whose outcome had seemed one-sided.
“Come, you small fry of Evil Sects! You cannot violate Wudang before passing over my corpse!"
Perhaps the noble cause one must stake their life to defend does not exist here. Perhaps standing here itself might be a mistake created by their stubbornness.
But still...
'Still!'
There's a reason to fight. What must be protected still exists. Before this life was severed.
“You won't be able to lay a single finger on my sahyungs!”
Mu Jin’s sword, having cast aside both bravado and Righteousness, was dyed with boundless earnestness.
* * *
“…Earnestness?”
"That’s right."
Chung Myung looked at Jang Ilso with indifferent eyes.
"What does that mean? That you believe because you're earnest? Hoping someone will do something instead of you?”
“...”
“How is that different from irresponsibility?”
“It’s different.”
“Tsk. You’re being stubborn. It’s no different.”
“It’s different.”
“...”
Chung Myung's eyes sank deeply.
"Your words might be right. But if you're truly earnest, you should cultivate ability. You should accomplish things yourself, rather than trusting someone else.”
Jang Ilso nodded slowly. No, he tried to.
"Heo Do Jin-in couldn't have not known that."
“...”
Chung Myung didn't even glance at Heo Do Jin-in. But his words would surely reach Heo Do Jin-in's ears as well.
“But despite that, he ultimately chose to believe. Instead of using force to break their will and impose what he believed was right, he chose a more difficult and arduous path, a path that might even lead to destruction."
“That’s foolishness.”
"No. We call that earnestness."
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth twisted. His pure white teeth revealed like the fangs of a beast.
"Listen well. You stupid punk."
“...”
“What you’re saying is right. Not a single one of it is wrong. And that’s exactly why you’re stupid.”
Jang Ilso's eyes narrowed.
“Stupid?”
"Right. If your way is to accomplish everything with only your ability alone."
Chung Myung’s voice flew like a blade.
"What will you do about things you can't do with only your strength?"
“...”
Jang Ilso's face instantly hardened.
“Will you give up? Will you let go? Or will you shake your head and say there’s nothing to be done, and cling only to what you can manage?”
“...”
"People inevitably face it at some point. With things they cannot do alone, things they cannot achieve with their ability alone. But also with things they cannot give up on, things they cannot shake their heads at!"
"Heu..."
Jang Ilso's head turned.
Heo Do Jin-in, who until now hadn't shown a proper reaction even once, was squeezing out a voice. A voice that couldn't be known whether it was laughter or tears.
"The earnestness possessed by one who must achieve the impossible. The despair of having to reach a place unreachable no matter how hard one pushes oneself. That, I call—no, we call!"
Chung Myung bared his teeth.
“Believing.”
* * *
“Sasuk!”
"Right! I, I see it too!"
Mu Jin shouted at the top of his lungs.
Countless emotions mixed and raged in that voice. Perhaps even emotions that didn't suit this urgent battlefield at all.
But none in the world can blame Mu Jin for that.
He could see it. Below this lofty Mount Wudang. Still in the far distance.
The scene of a series of groups rushing toward here at tremendous speed.
He can tell. Even though they're still distant and only shapes can be seen. Who they are, why they're coming here!
"Heav..."
Mu Jin's hands trembled violently.
No, perhaps what trembled wasn't his hands but his chest.
In contrast to Mu Jin’s face which crumpled as if collapsing, the figures that were blurry in the darkness became clearer little by little, yet unmistakably.
“HEAVENLY COMRADE ALLIAAAAAAAAANCE!”
Mu Jin screamed as if his chest would burst.
And those three words. The moment those three words which now containing so much rang out, the atmosphere of White Face Rock that had been filled only with stubbornness and despair changed completely as if it were a lie.
“Heavenly Comrade Alliance! Heavenly Comrade Alliance is heeeeeere!”
Those fighting with swords in hand. Those preparing for their end. Those pouring out everything they had left. Even those who had been cheering, having skewered the great name 'Wudang' on their spear. All of them turned their heads in shock at those words.
They were clearly visible over the towering peak.
Those rushing toward them as if splitting the darkness. And at their forefront, the dazzling white robes of one who drew a sword as if to lead everyone.
"Baek Cheon! It's Mount Hua! Mount Hua has led Heavenly Comrade Alliance! Reinforcements!"
They will surely come, surely! If it was them.
That moment had arrived when the earnest hope named belief was finally realized.
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