Chapter 1899 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1899. That’s Enough. (4) ❀ ❀ ❀

“This....”

Lee Danhoe, the swordman of Diancang, flashed a sharp look. His manner was fierce. [이단회(李端回)]

“Do you think saying whatever comes to your mouth means it’s true?”

A dark rage. Furious anger.

Yet in the end, the feeling that could only be defined with the single word “hostility” could not threaten Cheong Myeong. To him, the swordman before him was simply too young.

Youth at times carries infinite possibility, but for the most part it is nothing more than childishness and immaturity.

“Just what the hell-…!”

Before Lee Danhoe could even finish exhaling his fury, Cheong Myeong cut him off mid-sentence. A cold voice, threaded with a faint sneer, flowed out.

“So what’s the difference? Suppose, as you say, the Evil Tyrant Alliance or Jang Ilso didn’t destroy Diancang, but I did.”

For a moment Lee Danhoe’s gaze trembled. In Cheong Myeong’s words he’d caught the contradiction he’d been trying to hide.

“What good does hating and resenting me do? Will that bring Diancang back? Will your hatred act as fertilizer that makes you all great?”

“That mouth....”

“Don’t be mistaken, you stupid bastard.”

Cheong Myeong bared his teeth. The pressure that poured out in that instant drained the color from Lee Danhoe’s face. The man standing before him was one who was spoken of when discussing the greatest sword under heaven. For the still unripe Lee Danhoe, he was not an opponent he could dare to stand against.

“Feeling wronged? Do you think there’s a single person who lost their life on this earth who wasn’t wronged? Among those erased from the martial world for centuries, is there a single name without a story?”

“.....”

“Your grievance? Nobody cares. It might make you a momentary object of pity, but that’s all. People would rather be relieved they weren’t in your position.”

Lee Danhoe bit his lip until blood showed. His eyes glittered with murderous intent.

“So you want us to bow our heads? To crawl between the legs of the one who trampled on my sect and bark like a dog?”

“.....”

“Is a life like that worth surviving for? Is that Mount Hua’s way? Don’t be ridiculous. In my generation there will never be a head bowed to Mount Hua! Even if that means the name Diancang disappears!”

Lee Danhoe spat out the words.

“Our predecessors who died a tragic death would surely want that as well.”

“Then it’d be a dog’s death.”

“This...”

Flash!

At last Lee Danhoe drew his sword like lightning and thrust at Cheong Myeong’s throat. But the strike, made with every ounce of his effort, was quelled far too easily.

Even after the blade was caught between Cheong Myeong’s two fingers, Lee Danhoe did not despair. He’d known from the start he wasn’t a match. To draw a sword before this man without the resolve to stake one’s life was impossible. So there was no reason to newly cower in fear.

“So you want to kill me, huh.”

“Those words aren't enough. I want to tear you to pieces while you're still alive.”

“With this level of skill?”

“Don’t insult me. My strength may be lacking, but my will is-...”

Thud!

In that instant Lee Danhoe’s body was flung about helplessly. Cheong Myeong qi riding the sword overwhelmed his flesh and crushed him in one motion.

“Cough”

Lee Danhoe spat coughing blood. Just one move. No, not even one proper move. Merely meeting the internal force had twisted his qi and blood throughout his body.

Overwhelmed by a gap so great it made even his blazing hatred seem hollow, Lee Danhoe could only groan. Cheong Myeong said coldly.

“Don’t toss the word will around.”

“.....”

“That isn’t will or anything like it. You just look away because you can’t win. What you’re doing is mere escape. True will is rolling in the mud, even if your insides are torn apart, and still never giving up until you achieve what you set out for.”

Lee Danhoe’s fingertips trembled faintly.

“Even if it means licking the feet of your enemy in the process.”

“You...”

In that moment Lee Danhoe squeezed his eyes shut. He remembered the image of their sect leader who, with blood in his eyes, licked Jang Ilso’s feet.

What did Lee Danhoe feel at that moment? Anger? Or relief?

“Your sect leader endured an unerasable humiliation even in death to keep you alive. He knew what mattered. Therefore, he deserved respect.”

Cheong Myeong’s sharp gaze pierced Lee Danhoe.

“But.... to think that the one who should carry on that will just amounts to this much.”

Lee Danhoe’s body shook. But that was all. He no longer shouted or ground his teeth like before. He realized that no matter how humiliating and painful he was now, it was not even a tenth of the pain Jin Songwon had endured.

“If you truly want to kill me, harden your resolve. Even if that means casting yourself into the shadow of your enemy.”

Lee Danhoe clenched his fist so tight blood welled between his knuckles.

“Your answer?”

“.....”

“Answer.”

 

“....I will go to Mount Hua.”

Cheong Myeong silently nodded.

“Prepare.”

With those words Cheong Myung turned his body. Before he had taken more than a few steps, Lee Danhoe’s voice rose from behind, now noticeably firmer than before.

“You will definitely regret this someday.”

“I hope so.”

Without even turning his gaze, Cheong Myeong answered and walked out of the tent. Outside stood an unwelcome figure.

“.....What is it?”

“Well, if I told you I came because I was worried, would you believe it?”

Cheong Myeong glared at Im Sobyeong’s grinning face and ignored him, brushing past. Im Sobyeong, unshaken, hurried to keep pace.

“Heh heh. How very considerate of you. I’m seeing you in a new light.”

“.....”

“Touching. Throwing yourself under the enemy’s shadow… whoa, whoa! Lower the fists. Put your fists down. Haha, I’m only teasing.”

Cheong Myeong staring at Im Sobyeong who was grinning broadly, then ignored him and quickened his steps. Again, Im Sobyeong matched his pace.

“But was that really necessary?”

“What are you talking about now?”

Im Sobyeong smirked.

“If you had just stepped back and left them alone for a while, they would have figured out their place on their own. Why go through the trouble?”

“.....”

“Honestly, isn’t it laughable they resent Dojang like that? Even a mutt on the street could figure it out. Instead of wasting time blaming you, it would be far more reasonable for them to take out their anger on the corpses of those Evil Tyrant Alliance bastards?”

Cheong Myeong’s steps came to a halt. At once, Im Sobyeong flinched, covering his face with his arms and hunching his body.

“Argh! It’s not like I said anything wrong!”

He’d braced expecting a punch, but surprisingly no pain came. Im So-byeong slowly relaxed his defensive stance and gave him a puzzled look.

“Dojang?”

“It would be nice if people could always be that rational.”

“...What do you mean?”

“It’s not that they don’t know. They know, but they just can’t help themselves.”

Im Sobyeong frowned, as though he couldn’t make sense of it at all. Instead of looking at him, Cheong Myeong stared into empty space and spoke.

“They’ve lost too much, and there’s no way to get it back. The ones they should have avenged themselves on are gone. Then what are those left behind supposed to do?”

A faint glimmer crossed Im Sobyeong’s eyes.

“They should forget.”

“And if they can’t?”

“Hmm.”

This time even Im Sobyeong scratched his head with the end of his fan, as if he couldn’t figure it out either. Cheong Myeong let out a sigh with his voice.

“That’s why it’s difficult.”

Cheong Myeong understood what they felt. Perhaps no one in the world could understand them more completely than Cheong Myeong himself.

Irreversible loss, resentment that can’t even be released through anger. He too had gone through all of it.

But back then, Cheong Myeong had a mission to devote himself to. He had the ability to achieve it. That’s why he had been able to endure.

What Cheong Myeong had, they didn’t. And because he knew that, he couldn’t help but feel concern for them.

Im Sobyeong wore a thoroughly dissatisfied look.

“So you went and made yourself the target of their resentment?”

“.....”

“What a pitiful thing to do, hardly befitting Dojang. I thought Dojang would’ve just beaten the bastards half to death until they came to their senses.”

Cheong Myeong chuckled faintly.

“That’s a good way too.”

“It’s still not too late.”

Cheong Myeong gave no reply.

“Tsk. You’re no fun.”

Im Sobyeong grumbled as he went on.

“Those Diancang fellows. Seems like about a dozen or so managed to survive, but the moment they woke up, they put those filthy masks back on and disappeared.”

Hearing this, Cheong Myeong clenched his jaw. Im Sobyeong kept shaking his head, as though it made no sense at all.

“Honestly, isn’t it better to return to their sect than to live like wandering strays?”

“That’s exactly why you’re a bandit bastard.”

“Ah, come on, seriously?”

Ignoring Im Sobyeong’s resentful tone, Cheong Myeong turned his gaze.

The wind swept across the wide grassland. Fresh air, free from the stench of blood, came rushing in. Cheong Myeong found a strange bitterness in its cleanness.

“...It’s not out of compassion or anything like that. That sort of thing doesn’t suit me, maybe those idiots. Not me.”

“.....”

“I just don’t forget, and I don’t look away. That was all I ever wanted.”

“What nonsense are you—”

A bitter smile crossed Cheong Myeong’s face.

He knew. It’s something no one would understand. And now, it hardly mattered anyway.

Finishing his words, Cheong Myeong resumed walking with a lazy gait.

“Wait, come on, let’s go together, Dojang!”

Im Sobyeong trailed after him.

“Anyway, about Nokrim. Nokrim! We did our share this time too, you know.”

“You want me to subdue you?”

“Why would you do that? I’m saying we fought hard too! Don’t be like that. Listen. I was thinking we could expand the stronghold a bit...”

“Oh, that sounds good. Go ahead. Let’s see what happens.”

“Are you seriously doing this?”

❀ ❀ ❀

“You said you’re not going?”

Baek Cheon looked at Gwak Hwanso with a puzzled face.

Qingcheng, Emei, and Diancang, strictly speaking, had no ties to Mount Hua. So it was reasonable to expect they might hesitate to head there.

But Hainan was different. They were part of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, or more precisely, a sect sheltered under Mount Hua’s protection. So he thought they wouldn’t be reluctant to follow. Yet Gwak Hwanso’s answer was completely unexpected.

“Why?”

When Baek Cheon asked again, Gwak Hwanso answered with a small smile.

“We’ve been away from Hainan too long.”

“I know that, but still...”

“People of Hainan need to live with the sea wind on their faces. Staying on land too long, I almost feel seasick from it these days.”

Baek Cheon frowned.

“Gwak-sohyeop, but—”

“Dojang, please don’t stop me.”

“.....”

“If you ask us to repay the debt we owe Mount Hua, we’ll give our lives to do so. But this isn’t about that, is it?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then please let us go. The ones left behind in Hainan need us.”

Gwak Hwanso’s will was unshakable. Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh.

“When you say it like that, I can’t hold you back.”

“That’s why I said it like that.”

“It will be hard.”

“I know. But... well, no matter how hard, it won’t be worse than back then.”

“That’s true.”

The two men exchanged faint smiles. Compared to that brutal escape in Gangnam, what in the world could be harder?

“By the way... I heard you met him.”

“What? Ah...”

Baek Cheon immediately realized who Gwak Hwanso meant by “him” and sighed. It must’ve been Baek Sang who let his tongue slip.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Seeing the deadly seriousness in Gwak Hwanso’s eyes, Baek Cheon gave a small nod. Then, in a low voice, he began to speak.

Next Chapter

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