Just believe. (2)
They withdrew. No, they ignored and passed by.
Though they couldn’t control the glances thrown their way, Cheonumaeng ignored those camped there and advanced towards Mount Wudang.
Jang Ilso, who watched this leisurely, smiled and turned his gaze to the person sitting in front of him.
“Hmm, how heartless.”
“…”
“I didn’t think they’d actually leave like that. People say those of the Just Sects are full of compassion… but maybe that’s not always true?”
“You sure talk a lot, you Sapa bastard.”
“How fierce.”
Jang Ilso chuckled. Then he looked at the empty glass in front of Chung Myung.
“The glass is empty.”
He picked up the liquor bottle in front of him and personally filled Chung Myung’s glass.
The sound of the pouring liquor mixed with the footsteps of many people spread around them.
Thud.
Jang Ilso placed the bottle on the table and slid it across to Chung Myung with a flick of his fingers.
“Pour me a glass too.”
“…”
“After all this, shouldn’t I at least receive some recognition? Being the only one from the Evil Sects to taste the liquor poured by the renowned Hwasan Geomhyeop should earn me quite the title.”
Chung Myung silently stared at the smiling Jang Ilso before grabbing the bottle’s neck. He then slowly began to fill Jang Ilso’s empty cup.
Drip, drip, drip.
The liquor soon filled the cup to the brim and began to overflow.
But the tilted bottle didn’t return to its place. Jang Ilso narrowed his eyes slightly and met Chung Myung’s gaze. Chung Myung looked at him with a mocking expression.
“These days… even the Sapa bastards drink from cups, huh? In my time, they’d lick the spilled liquor off the floor.”
Chung Myung’s lips twisted into a grim smile.
“Go on, drink up. As you said, it’s a rare occasion, so consider it an honor.”
Before Jang Ilso could react, the furious Red Dogs unleashed a tremendous killing intent towards Chung Myung.
The intense and fierce murderous aura, almost tangible, stormed like a hurricane, causing Chung Myung’s clothes to flutter. His long hair, tied up high, stood up.
Meanwhile, Jo Geol kept looking back repeatedly.
Yoon Jong, Hye Yeon, and Namgung Dowi beside him did the same.
Chung Myung’s figure grew smaller in their sight. Unable to feel at ease, they kept tightening their grip on their sword handles.
‘Damn it!’
Leaving Chung Myung alone there was an unacceptable decision.
The reason Jo Geol didn’t immediately protest as usual was the weight of his position as the vice-leader.
Now that the order had been given, they had to follow it. If they couldn’t even do that, what right did they have to ask others to follow their orders?
‘Damn it…!’
Jo Geol had a mountain of things to say to Baek Cheon, who was leading the way. But instead of speaking, he just gripped the handle of his sword tightly.
At that moment.
“Sasuk, will… it be alright? No matter how I think about it, this is…”
Yoon Jong spoke up instead of Jo Geol, his voice sounding as if he was suppressing something. He, too, seemed to find it difficult to accept Baek Cheon’s decision.
But Baek Cheon remained silent. Eventually, Yoon Jong raised his voice.
“Sasuk!”
“It’ll be fine.”
“But…!”
“He’s not someone who acts thoughtlessly.”
Baek Cheon responded in an even tone.
“And if we act according to what Jang Ilso wants, we will surely lose. Isn’t that the conclusion we’ve reached after countless sacrifices?”
Yoon Jong was left speechless. It was an argument he couldn’t refute. But…
“Still, how can leaving him behind make any sense?”
At that moment, an overwhelming killing intent was felt from behind. Baek Cheon instinctively turned around.
He saw Red Dogs, who looked ready to pounce, and Chung Myung sitting calmly in front of them.
Baek Cheon bit his lip in silence and then turned his head forward again.
Right now, no words have any meaning.
Just believe. Believe that he is none other than Hwasan Geomhyeop Chung Myung.
Long fingers lightly swept the liquor spilled on the table. The liquor-laden fingertips moved to his red lips.
Jang Ilso slowly licked the liquor and spoke.
“What a waste… I said it was good liquor. That’s why you can’t trust those raised gently.”
Jang Ilso lightly complained and glanced at Red Dogs, who were gritting their teeth.
“Tsk. So unruly.”
With that simple remark, Red Dogs’ killing intent disappeared as if washed away.
“If you act so recklessly, how ridiculous would that make me look? Behave yourselves.”
Red Dogs bowed their heads. Jang Ilso, who gave them a disapproving look, smiled shamelessly at Chung Myung.
“I’m sorry. I said I’d train them, but they’re such wild children.”
“They must take after their owner.”
“Hmm. Indeed… there might be something to that.”
Chung Myung lifted the cup in front of him and drank.
Thud.
As soon as he set the empty cup down, Jang Ilso poured him another. Watching this, Chung Myung asked.
“Let’s hear your reason.”
“Reason?”
When Jang Ilso asked again, Chung Myung’s eyes sharpened.
“What’s the reason for doing such a troublesome thing? You didn’t have to go this far just to hold me back.”
“I just wanted to have a conversation.”
“…”
“Oh, come on. Don’t look at me like that.”
Jang Ilso let out an exaggerated laugh, as if he found the situation awkward.
“That’s why people should live honestly. Once you start being suspected, even when you tell the whole truth, people don’t believe you. It’s really frustrating.”
“I didn’t know you were so stupid that you wouldn’t understand the meaning of ‘you reap what you sow.’”
“…Ugh.”
Jang Ilso let out a deep sigh.
No matter his intentions or reasons for sitting there, no one could deny that Jang Ilso’s demeanor was as natural as meeting an old friend.
“No need to be so confrontational.”
Jang Ilso spoke softly and raised the glass filled with liquor. It was the glass that Chung Myung had filled a moment ago. He drank leisurely, savoring the flavor.
“Even though neither of us can fully reveal our true intentions… I genuinely wanted to sit face-to-face with you at least once.”
Chung Myung looked at Jang Ilso with calm eyes.
“And, incidentally, keep me tied to this place?”
“Well, that’s so obvious there’s no need to mention it.”
“And if the opportunity arises, you’d like to put a blade in my neck too, wouldn’t you?”
“Hahahaha!”
Jang Ilso burst into hearty laughter.
“I’m not that greedy. No, to be precise, I am a greedy person… but I know enough not to bite off more than I can chew.”
His gleaming eyes formed a smooth arc.
Chung Myung knew. The cruelty hidden within those seemingly gentle eyes. It was a strange chill, like watching a finely honed blade.
Chung Myung grabbed the liquor bottle.
Trickle.
The liquor, drawn out like a long silk thread, slowly filled Jang Ilso’s empty glass. Watching this with interest, Jang Ilso spoke.
“But I didn’t expect you to sit down so readily. I thought I’d have to do quite a bit of convincing.”
“The same goes for me.”
Chung Myung replied in a somewhat indifferent tone, as if talking to himself.
“Even now, I still think you’re not worth associating with… but perhaps I also wanted to have a conversation with you at least once.”
“…Oh?”
“And the same goes for this.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
Chung Myung placed the liquor bottle down with a thud and looked directly at Jang Ilso.
“You think that as long as you keep me tied here, Wudang will be easy pickings. Likewise, I think that as long as I keep you here, Sapaeryeon’s bastards are nothing.”
Jang Ilso’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Is that what you think?”
“Don’t be arrogant.”
“…”
“That’s why I figured there was nothing to lose. As long as I’m here, no matter what happens, you won’t be able to run to that place.”
“Oh dear, oh dear.”
Jang Ilso shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.
“So… it’s not that I’ve tied you down, but rather, you’ve tied me down?”
“It’s all in how you look at it.”
“Haha.”
Jang Ilso laughed out loud again. However, his face seemed slightly more distorted than before.
“This is why… yes, this is why I find you interesting. You’re incomparable to those fools. But, well… do you think things will really go your way?”
Jang Ilso’s gaze shifted from Chung Myung’s face to the ground. There lay Heo Do Jinin, barely holding onto consciousness, as if it could slip away at any moment.
“People… tend to overestimate sometimes. Themselves and those close to them.”
“…”
“That’s why their vision gets blurred.”
Upon hearing those words, Heo Do Jinin trembled.
It must be painful.
To be defeated and mocked by an enemy one would want to kill a thousand times over, lying in such a wretched state, he probably wished he could bite his tongue and die.
But humiliation is an unavoidable punishment for the defeated. All Heo Do can do now is endure this humiliation.
“What about you? Are you really seeing those you lead with a clear, cold eye?”
Chung Myung, who had been listening expressionlessly, smirked.
“Cold, clear eye? I’ve already overdone it with that.”
Chung Myung leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky.
“Looking at them coldly, criticizing them for being unhelpful, and struggling on my own.”
“…”
“Yeah. Just like you are right now.”
Jang Ilso’s expression subtly hardened. Even for someone who toyed with people’s emotions, these words were hard to understand.
“Then what are you doing right now?”
When Jang Ilso asked, Chung Myung cast his gaze elsewhere. At the end of it was Cheonumaeng, moving far into the distance.
“Just…”
A faint smile appeared on Chung Myung’s lips.
To some, it might sound like he had no plan. In the past, he would never have given such an answer.
But it was the answer he finally arrived at after an irreparable failure.
“I just believe.”
“Those guys?”
Chung Myung’s eyes grew deep.
“Them. And what I’ve done, what we’ve done.”
Jang Ilso’s face hardened like ice. His ever-confident expression cracked.
What should one call the emotion that appeared on his face?
Absurdity? Anger? No, perhaps it was actually despair.
The reason for this was unknown even to him, but in any case, there was only one word that could best describe that expression.
“This… is disappointing.”
Jang Ilso’s white teeth showed through his red lips.
The face that had been adorned with a bright smile was now distorted, and the soft voice was gone. A chilling voice emerged.
“I didn’t expect to hear such words from your mouth.”
“…”
“I thought we could understand each other at least a little.”
In response to that mocking hostility, Chung Myung also bared his teeth.
The surrounding air became tense in an instant, like a bomb about to explode.
________
The latest chapters of the novel – Patreon or Buymeacoffee – caught up to the ongoing there. Currently aligning my blog and my Patreon schedule-wise so the new schedule here soon too.
Return of the Mount Hua 
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