Chapter 1959 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1959. If There Is Something to Be Gained, There Must Also Be Something to Be Lost. (4)

Baek Cheon’s expression turned cold.

“You said there was an injury?”

“….Yes.”

Accompanied only by Im Sobyeong, Baek Cheon faced Pung Yeong Sin Gae and took a short breath. Then he asked calmly,

“What is his condition?”

“......It isn’t a situation where I can easily say anything.”

“Sin Gae.”

Baek Cheon asked again in a subdued voice.

“Please tell me clearly. What is his condition?”

To be honest, this was somewhat bewildering.

From age and experience to status, there was nothing about Mount Hua’s Baek Cheon that could be compared with Pung Yeong Sin Gae. At least, that was what Pung Yeong Sin Gae had believed until this moment.

But at this moment, he couldn’t deny that he was being pressed down by the look in Baek Cheon’s eyes.

‘When did he become this…..?’

Until the previous war, he had never been someone of this caliber.

It wasn’t simply a matter of martial ability.

Having lived as long as Pung Yeong Sin Gae had, he could distinguish between the intimidation that martial prowess gave off and the weight that came from the person themselves. This was unmistakably the weight emanating from the person himself.

“Speaking frankly, I can’t guarantee whether he’ll live or die.”

That was why Pung Yeong Sin Gae answered honestly with what he knew.

Baek Cheon slowly closed and opened his eyes, then asked again in a clear voice.

“Then what happened to Heavenly Executioner?”

Pung Yeong Sin Gae narrowed his eyes and asked in return.

“.....Did I say that the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword fought Heavenly Executioner?”

“I don’t need to hear it from you. There can’t be many people in this world who could leave that Cheong Myeong in such a state.”

Pung Yeong Sin Gae nodded as though he understood.

“Yes. He was injured in the process. Near-fatal wounds.”

“......”

“Not only did the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword survive after fighting him, he even inflicted a near-fatal wound on him. That shows just how remarkable the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword is….”

“It would be the other way around.”

Pung Yeong Sin Gae looked at Baek Cheon with puzzlement after the latter abruptly cut him off.

“What do you mean?”

“That he’s still alive after fighting Cheong Myeong is what shows just how remarkable that bastard is.”

It was the exact same outcome being interpreted in completely different ways.

From Baek Cheon’s words, Pung Yeong Sin Gae could realize just how much he trusted Cheong Myeong.

“Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword entrusted command to you until he awakens.”

Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lips.

Cheong Myeong had probably known that Heavenly Executioner was there. That was why he’d deliberately gone ahead, leaving everyone else behind, so that the others wouldn’t get caught up in the fight.

Thinking of it made his stomach churn. Once again, Baek Cheon hadn’t been able to help. But….. now wasn’t the time to surrender himself to this rage.

“I have a question, Sin Gae.”

“Ask anything.”

“I heard that you are one of those who knows the war with the Demonic Cult in the past better than almost anyone. Then let me ask you this. How do you think those without the Bishop’s command will move?”

“How do you think they’ll move?”

“Do you think they’ll wait until the Bishop recovers from his injuries? Or will they continue marching without concern? If the Bishop is their head, then surely the body won’t move without a head, will it?”

After pondering for a moment, Pung Yeong Sin Gae soon shook his head.

“It won’t be that way. Of course, the Bishops do command the Cultists. But they can’t be called absolute. The Cultists merely carry out the Heavenly Demon’s orders. As long as that is the Heavenly Demon’s will, whether the Bishop is injured or dies, they won’t stop their advance.”

Baek Cheon let out a faint sigh.

It wasn’t unexpected, but it was still the worst possible answer. What those words meant was that they had to stop the Demonic Cult’s advance right here in Shijiazhuang.

‘And without that Cheong Myeong, no less!’

Between the Demonic Cult without Heavenly Executioner and the Central Plains without Cheong Myeong, which side had suffered the more painful loss?

“This is troublesome.”

Perhaps because he’d been thinking the same thing, Im Sobyeong, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, spoke.

“In the first place, the reason we were able to establish a defensive line at Shijiazhuang was because we were operating under the assumption that additional reinforcements would arrive here later. And the reason those additional reinforcements were possible was, without adding or subtracting anything, entirely thanks to the existence of Cheong Myeong Dojang.”

Im Sobyeong tapped his cheek lightly with the end of his folded fan.

“But Cheong Myeong Dojang is in a situation where he can’t stand at the front? Then reinforcements could be cut off, and even those who came to Shijiazhuang could instead be at risk of becoming isolated.”

“We already made an agreement, didn’t we, Nokrim King?”

“An agreement…..? Is there really any word in this world more meaningless than that?”

Baek Cheon couldn’t refute him.

The reason the value of ‘fidelity’ was so high was because there weren’t that many people in the world who considered it important and kept it.

[Fidelity. Sinui. 신의(信義). 信 (신) means “trust,” “faith,” or “to believe,” while 義 (의) means “righteousness,” “justice,” or “moral obligation”. Together, 信義 refers to trustworthiness, fidelity, and keeping faith with another.]

“Cheong Myeong Dojang surviving after facing Heavenly Executioner, a Bishop of the Demonic Cult, is certainly an extraordinary feat. But wouldn’t that only have meaning for those who know what kind of person Heavenly Executioner is? What will those who don’t know think?”

“....You mean they’ll think that someone who talks about being the strongest under heaven simply lost because he couldn’t handle one measly Bishop of the Demonic Cult?”

Im Sobyeong shrugged his shoulders. There was no need for him to answer. It was an affirmation. Baek Cheon clenched his teeth for a moment, then asked again.

“What do you think we should do?”

Under Baek Cheon’s unwavering gaze, Im Sobyeong opened his fan and lightly covered his chin as he spoke.

“Frankly speaking, I think it would be right to abandon Shijiazhuang and withdraw. Holding this place under the current circumstances would mean accepting far too great a loss.”

“......Have you forgotten what our original plan was, Nokrim King?”

“I haven’t forgotten. We came here to destroy the Demonic Cult’s vanguard. But is that possible without Cheong Myeong Dojang? When we don’t even know when that Heavenly Executioner might step back onto the front lines again?”

“......”

“To say it again, I think withdrawing is the right choice.”

Baek Cheon’s gaze toward Im Sobyeong grew slightly colder.

“And if we withdraw? What happens to the common people who have barely managed to flee here?”

“They’ll die. Every last one of them.”

With an answer without the slightest hesitation, Im Sobyeong’s fan continued to sway aimlessly in the air.

“But that is still better than everyone dying.”

“Don’t say it so easily….”

Im Sobyeong met Baek Cheon’s gaze without avoiding it and spoke.

“It’s impossible to save everyone. Dojang. Clumsy compassion….. no, arrogance that ought to be called compassion could bring about the destruction of the Central Plains.”

“And how is anything different if we retreat?”

“At the very least, we’ll gain the opportunity to fight when we’ve determined that we can win.”

Im Sobyeong’s voice was utterly cold. To Baek Cheon, shaken by Cheong Myeong’s absence and the urgency of the situation, that coldness even felt cruel.

“So decide, Dojang.”

“You said decide?”

Baek Cheon let out a hollow laugh.

“You’ve said everything you wanted to say, and now I’m the one who has to decide? If you know so much, why don’t you decide, Nokrim King?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why? Because it’s not that damn bastard’s order?”

Im Sobyeong gave a snort of laughter.

“Dojang.”

“....I’m listening.”

“Regardless of when or in what era, those called military strategists have always been the most outstanding people, whether in the art of war or in command. But do you know why those military strategists always entrusted the final decision to someone else?”

Baek Cheon didn’t answer. At that, Im Sobyeong shrugged his shoulders.

“Because intellectual correctness doesn’t guarantee that the result will be correct.”

Baek Cheon merely clenched his fist at those words and remained silent.

“Therefore, this can be nothing more than advice. Make the decision yourself, Dojang.”

Baek Cheon glared silently at Im Sobyeong, then turned around. Im Sobyeong made no attempt to stop him.

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“......It’s been a while.”

“Though it had to be in a situation like this.”

Jwa Gohak gave a bitter smile as he looked at Baek Cheon.

The circumstances when they had parted hadn’t been particularly good either, but now they were practically the worst.

When Baek Cheon stared at Jwa Gohak without saying anything, Jwa Gohak let out a small sigh.

“Two days. I need at least two days.”

“Do you know what I was going to say?”

“Obviously. You want to say that we can’t stop the Demonic Cult at Shijiazhuang. So you came to hear the situation from me, since I’m the one who knows the condition of the people here better than anyone else, right?”

Baek Cheon shook his head with a somewhat exhausted expression.

“This is why dealing with smart people is so tiring.”

“No need to be tired. The people dealing with you probably feel the same way.”

Jwa Gohak roughly wiped his visibly exhausted face.

“And…. you don’t need to make that expression. The ones who should feel guilty aren’t you. It’s me. If that fucking emperor bastard hadn’t dragged the entire Imperial Army away and fled, things wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“Aren’t you talking pretty harshly for a Confucian scholar?”

“I’m a Confucian scholar [儒者], so this is me stopping at only this level of expression. If I had my way, I’d spend three days and three nights writing poems cursing that son of a bitch.”

“.....That’d be a masterpiece.”

Baek Cheon gave a derisive smile.

“You boasted that you’d change things.”

“If it were as easy as saying it, we wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.”

Jwa Gohak spoke with self-deprecation. But Baek Cheon didn’t want to blame him. No, if anything, when one considered it properly, he was someone who deserved praise. If it weren’t for him, incomparably more common people would have died than now.

“You said two days?”

“…..Honestly, even three days won’t be enough. I’m working with Beggar Union and making the most of everyone who shares our purpose, but even so, evacuating so many people isn’t easy.”

“Of course.”

Baek Cheon closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. Then he turned and began walking away from Jwa Gohak.

Jwa Gohak’s voice came from behind him.

“Hey, stubborn bastard.”

“......”

“I only told you honestly because you said you wanted to know the situation. But don’t worry about that situation.”

Baek Cheon turned around. Jwa Gohak spoke with a resolute expression.

“Your job is to fight those bastards, and my job is to save the people. All we have to do is give our best to what each of us can do. Right now, resentment and blame are luxuries.”

“.......”

“So don’t think about useless things.”

Baek Cheon stared at Jwa Gohak for a moment before twisting the corner of his mouth.

“How presumptuous. Who do you think you’re advising, you ink-stained bastard?”

“.....Still as unpleasant as ever.”

Just as Baek Cheon was about to turn away again,

“What about him?”

“......”

“What happened to him?”

“They say they can’t guarantee whether he’ll live or die.”

For an instant, overcome by a desolate feeling, Jwa Gohak couldn’t bring himself to face Baek Cheon and closed his eyes.

“......I’m sorry.”

“What’re you talking about?”

But when he opened his eyes again, Baek Cheon was smiling calmly.

“If he were the kind of bastard who’d die that easily, he’d already have died a long time ago.”

“......”

“He’s the kind of bastard even Yama is sick of and won’t accept, so there’s no way he’ll die from something like this. He’ll probably wake up soon and start nagging again. Just like always.”

[Yeomwang. 염왕(閻王). 閻 (염) refers to Yama, the king of the underworld; 王 (왕) means “king.” In Buddhist and East Asian traditions, Yama is the ruler who judges the dead. Here, the expression humorously means that even the ruler of the dead is fed up enough with Cheong Myeong not to take him.]

Jwa Gohak stared blankly at Baek Cheon before letting out a small laugh.

“Hopeless Taoist bastards. This is why I hate you guys.”

“It’s the same for both of us.”

Baek Cheon left Jwa Gohak behind without a trace of hesitation and headed outside. Watching his back, Jwa Gohak gave a bitter smile.

‘Compared to before, the difference is almost laughable.’

He didn’t know what they had gone through all this time, but the immature Taoist he had known was no longer there.

“......Damn Mount Hua bastards.”

Pulling himself together before he could sink into self-pity, Jwa Gohak bit his lip and clenched his fists tightly.

He had to hurry.

If only to avoid placing an even greater burden on those bastards, now was the time to do what he could.

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