Chapter 1970 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1970. He Was Really This Strong? (5)

“Didn’t I tell you to move?!”

“But, my lord! This, this…… if we leave all this baggage behind……!”

Jwa Gohak ground his teeth.

They were losing time. They needed to hurry even more, but the people weren’t moving as he wished they would. If they had simply collapsed from exhaustion, he could at least carry them on his back and move them. But when they insisted that they couldn’t abandon the carts they had dragged all the way here, all he could do was clench his fists.

“Didn’t I tell you several times that I’ll somehow procure food for you?!”

“But!”

“I promise you! I’ll compensate you for what you leave behind!”

Jwa Gohak shouted once more in desperation. But all that returned were eyes mixed with fear and distrust.

“H-How are we supposed to believe that?”

“……What?”

An old man whose face was soaked in grime tightly gripped his granddaughter’s hand. Seeing the old man’s trembling hand and the child’s hollow eyes filled with fear, Jwa Gohak’s heart sank.

“If there’s no food, this child will soon starve to death. If that’s the case, it’d be better to die here instead. How could officials possibly know how miserable it is to die of hunger?!”

Jwa Gohak squeezed his eyes shut.

It was something he’d heard countless times on the way here. By now, it had been hammered into his ears so thoroughly that he was sick to death of hearing it.

But he couldn’t carelessly blame them, either. This wasn’t their fault. This had happened because the Imperial Family had failed to give them any reason to trust it.

Promises had been broken time and time again, and every sign of calamity had been thoroughly concealed. Even so, the Emperor abandoned everyone who had trusted and followed the Imperial Family, fleeing alone.

So how could these people possibly trust the words of someone wearing an official’s robes? Even if Jwa Gohak himself were in their position, he wouldn’t have obediently believed and followed them.

But that didn’t mean he could simply stand by and do nothing.

It was only right that their distrust was directed toward the Imperial Family. Even if Jwa Gohak himself became a target of that distrust, it was something he had to accept, having chosen the official path.

[Gwanro. 관로(官路). Literally “the official road/path.” Refers to the path of entering government service and pursuing an official career.]

But the ones paying the price for this distrust with their entire bodies right now were none other than the disciples of Mount Hua. The longer they delayed here, the greater their sacrifice would become. Knowing this, Jwa Gohak could no longer afford to indulge these people’s circumstances and give them more time.

“I understand, so I’m telling you to leave the carts behind for now! If you won’t listen, I’ll deal with you according to the law!”

“Fine! Then kill us instead!”

“You......!”

Even after hearing such words, he couldn’t bring himself to lay a hand on them. It was just as Jwa Gohak stood there trembling, not knowing what to do.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I knew this was how it would turn out.”

At the indifferent voice from behind him, Jwa Gohak abruptly turned his head. There stood an unfamiliar man dressed in a worn-out scholar’s robe.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Im Sobyeong, but…… Well, does my identity really matter all that much? What’s important is that these esteemed officials can’t even control the common people and are doing nothing but wasting time.”

“What?”

Jwa Gohak’s face twisted.

Judging by his clothes, he was undoubtedly a Confucian scholar. But no matter how deeply Jwa Gohak searched his memory, there was no such person in it. Which meant that he was either a Confucian student who had failed to enter government service, or merely a fledgling official.

And for such a man to dare, in front of Jwa Gohak……

As though Im Sobyeong had read what was going through Jwa Gohak’s mind, he scoffed.

“This is why nothing gets done when you work with those gentlemen who keep looking for justification. Here.”

Snap.

Im Sobyeong flicked his fingers lightly. Then, a group of people appeared from behind him.

“What?”

Jwa Gohak flinched at the sight of them appearing so suddenly. And with good reason. Their appearance was that of typical wild men, that is, bandits.

[Yain. 야인(野人). Literally “wild men.” Here referring to men living outside the established social order, specifically bandits.]

Yet the moment Jwa Gohak saw them, one fact surfaced in his mind.

“Im Sobyeong?”

The Nokrim King, Im Sobyeong, as far as he knew, was definitely an ally of Mount Hua. Wasn’t he someone he had heard about several times in the past? And now, people like him had brought bandits here.

“I misunderstood you for a moment. I apologize.”

Jwa Gohak quickly bowed his head toward Im Sobyeong.

Of course, to Jwa Gohak, the Nokrim King was nothing more than a lowly wild man. Just because Jwa Gohak was friends with Mount Hua didn’t mean he respected everyone in the jianghu.

But if this man had brought his subordinates here at Mount Hua’s request, then he must have come to help the fleeing people. Since Jwa Gohak had suspected and pressed someone who had come to their aid, he ought to apologize.

“Well.”

But Im Sobyeong merely smiled meaningfully.

“Wait a little longer, will you? Whether you should thank me, or get angry.”

“……What?”

It was then.

“Burn every last one of them!”

“Yes!”

The bandits shoved the common people aside in an instant and rushed toward the carts. Then they pulled pure-white bottles from inside their robes and hurled them onto the cargo.

Crash.

The porcelain bottles shattered the moment they struck the carts, scattering the transparent liquid inside. At the strong smell that immediately wafted over, Jwa Gohak’s eyes widened.

“Oil?”

The bandits soon pulled fire-starters from inside their robes, then set fire to the oil-soaked carts all at once.

[Hwasopja. 화섭자(火攝子). A traditional oriental fire-starter or tinder-match (a paper/bamboo tube with smoldering tinder inside that catches fire when blown on or struck)]

Whoooosh!

The carts drenched in oil went up in flames in an instant, leaving no time to do anything about them. The startled common people screamed and struggled.

But the bandits surrounding the carts showed not the slightest trace of pity and coldly shoved the common people away.

“What the……”

Jwa Gohak had been momentarily stunned, but soon ground his teeth.

“What the hell are you doing, you lawless bastard!”

“This is more efficient.”

Im Sobyeong unfolded the fan in his hand and spoke lightly, as though it were nothing worth making a fuss over.

“If the people you’ve brought here help......!”

“Yes. Then things would be a little faster. But even so, they’d still be delayed. That’s only natural as long as they have their baggage. And no matter how many days you spend persuading them, they will never give up their baggage.”

Jwa Gohak fell silent.

“Then the solution is simply to get rid of the baggage. Now, the only way for them to survive is to somehow reach the place where the next provisions are prepared. The desperation to protect their baggage will turn into desperation to move forward. Isn’t that right?”

Jwa Gohak’s face twisted as he looked around at the common people. Seeing the old people screaming and the children crying along with them without even understanding what was happening, it had become difficult to tell who was a demonic person and who was a good person.

“Even if that’s the right thing to do, is this really the right way to do it?! I’m asking whether this is something a human being should do!”

“Something a human being should do. Well, what do you think? If you think that pointlessly wasting time until everyone here dies, and even those standing in their way die, is something a human being should do...... then I suppose even you fine high-ranking officials aren’t anything particularly remarkable.”

“What did you say?”

“‘A gentleman sides only with righteousness’. Confucius said it himself. A gentleman follows only righteousness. Not personal human affection!”

[Uijiyeobi. 의지여비(義之與比). A phrase associated with Confucius, literally expressing the idea that one should be aligned with righteousness. In context, it introduces the principle that a gentleman follows righteousness rather than private sentiment.].

Jwa Gohak flinched at those words.

“If you’re going to spout useless words and try to hold us back, then get out of the way. I’m rather pressed for time right now, more than you can see. Would anything really change if I cut down and killed one more useless official who came here this late only to spout nonsense?”

The tip of Im Sobyeong’s fan pointed straight at Jwa Gohak’s face.

“The only reason I’ve bothered to keep you alive through all your nonsense is because it’s simply more efficient for you to command them than for me to do it. So do your job, my esteemed official.”

Hatred filled Jwa Gohak’s eyes as he glared at Im Sobyeong.

Jwa Gohak was a man who would break before he bent. The thought that he would value his own life enough to submit to a bandit’s threat was unimaginable.

Even so, he eventually nodded. The reason was simple. He had seen the tip of Im Sobyeong’s fan, which was pointing at him, trembling ever so slightly.

‘This man is desperate, too.’

That meant there was a need to evacuate everyone as quickly as possible, urgently enough to resort to such a drastic measure. Even so, was Im Sobyeong really wrong?

Jwa Gohak squeezed his eyes shut once, then opened them and spoke.

“I’ll do as you say. Thank you for making me see reason.”

“......”

Im Sobyeong narrowed his eyes, as though surprised.

A faint trace of bewilderment crossed his face, and then, after a moment, he gave a short exclamation of admiration.

“Let’s hurry.”

Jwa Gohak nodded without answering and turned around.

“Move!”

When his voice, driven by desperation, rang out, the screaming common people started and turned their heads.

“There’s no more baggage we have to drag along now. From here on, the only way for you to survive is to move forward to where the provisions we’ve prepared are.”

Jwa Gohak relayed Im Sobyeong’s words exactly as they were. There was no need to add anything else.

“Go. You can survive if you do! I said move, now!”

The common people stared blankly at the baggage carts that were still burning. Amidst it all, Jwa Gohak’s voice, almost a scream, thundered through the air.

“Are you going to sit here and die? With that same tenacity you had in protecting your baggage, find a way to survive! Can’t you see the path to life lying right in front of you?!”

[Saengro. 생로(生路). Literally “the road/path of life.” A figurative expression for a means or route by which one can survive or escape death.]

At that desperate cry, the common people finally began rising to their feet, one by one.

The fact that they had been obsessed with the carts carrying their possessions didn’t mean they were foolish. Desperately finding a way to survive. That was the nature of the common folk.

Now that the carts had burned away, there was only one path left for them to choose.

“Let’s go.”

“But……”

“Damn it! It’s all burned up! Even if we put out the fire now, there won’t be much left to salvage!”

Moreover, if they delayed while trying to put out the fire, in the end, the only path left would be for them all to die together. If so, there was only one thing to do. The people who had been glaring fiercely at the bandits gritted their teeth and began to walk.

Jwa Gohak, who had been watching, let out a faint sigh.

“We don’t have time.”

In Jwa Gohak’s ear came Im Sobyeong’s calm voice.

“Move during the time you’re spending sighing. We’ll have to chase after every place that gets held up and set fire to the carts. We did it for you this time, but from now on, do it with your own hands.”

“......I intended to, even without you saying so.”

“So you’re not a fool, after all.”

It might have been an insulting thing to say, but Jwa Gohak didn’t react. He merely left behind one remark.

“If I were clever, I’d have become a bandit.”

With those words, Jwa Gohak turned and ran. Im Sobyeong let out a low hum and unfolded his fan.

“Nokrim King.”

“He’s no ordinary man. Honestly, everyone connected to Mount Hua is like that.”

Im Sobyeong stared fixedly at the retreating Jwa Gohak, then turned his head. His gaze shifted northward, and the expression on his face had already hardened like a sheet of ice.

“....For now……”

Even if he joined the battlefield right away, the situation wouldn’t change. What he had to do wasn’t die alongside those people. It was to make a path for them to retreat.

He knew that in his head.

“Nokrim King, next time……”

“......I already told you.”

“What? What did you just……”

Im Sobyeong’s hand shot out like a flash of lightning. Grabbing the neck of the Nokrim bandit who had approached from the side, Im Sobyeong roughly pulled him closer and clenched his teeth.

“Didn’t I tell you to clear out every last one of those troublesome things as quickly as possible?”

“S-Sorry……”

Im Sobyeong glared coldly at the Nokrim bandit, then slightly raised both hands and released him.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Cough. N-No, it’s nothing. I’ll carry it out immediately!”

“Good. Hurry it up for me. Hm?”

After finishing the conversation, Im Sobyeong’s gaze turned north once again. In the far distance, brilliant red flowers were chaotically mingling with black demonic qi.

“Anyway…… They really do make me do things that don’t suit me.”

Im Sobyeong shook his head slightly and finally kicked off the ground. He had to move first, right now.

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