Return of the Mount Hua

That will do. (4)

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“You…”

The eyes of Diancang’s swordsman, Lee Danhoe [이단회(李端回)], flashed. A razor-sharp chill. 

“Do you think that spewing whatever comes out of your mouth counts as words?”

Deep anger. Fierce rage.

But the emotion defined by the single word ‘hostility’ could not threaten Chung Myung. To Chung Myung, the swordsman before his eyes was nothing but too young.

Youth at times holds infinite possibility, but for the most part it is nothing more than being immature and lacking experience.

“What the hell…..!”

Before Lee Danhoe could even vent all his rage, Chung Myung cut him off mid-sentence. A cold voice tinged with a faint sneer flowed out.

“So, what changes? Let’s pretend, as you say, that it was I, not Sapaeryeon, not Jang Ilso, who wiped out Diancang.”

For a moment, Lee Danhoe’s gaze wavered faintly. It was because in Chung Myung’s words he found the contradiction he had wanted to hide.

“If you hate me and resent me, what does it change? Does Diancang come back to life then? Do you become great by using that hatred as the fertilizer?”

“That mouth…”

“Do not be delusional, you dumb brat.”

Chung Myung bared his teeth. At the sudden surge of energy that burst out in an instant, Lee Danhoe’s face turned pale in a flash. The one standing before him was someone spoken of when the world’s greatest sword was being discussed. He was not an opponent that the still inexperienced Lee Danhoe could dare to face.

“Unjust, you say? Among those who lost their lives on this land, do you think there is even one who did not feel wronged? Among those erased from Gangho over hundreds of years, do you think there is a single name without a story?”

“…”

“Your grievances? No one cares about that crap. It might provide a momentary source of sympathy, but that is all. If anything, they will feel relieved. That they did not end up in your shoes.”

Lee Danhoe bit his lip until it bled. His eyes gleamed with the killing intent.

“Then are you telling me to bow my head? To crawl between the legs of the one who made my sect be trampled on and bark like a dog?”

“…”

“Is a life like that good enough so long as you keep breathing? Is that Hwasan’s way? Don’t make me laugh. In my generation, there will never be anyone bowing their heads to Hwasan! Even if it means the name Diancang disappears because of it!”

Lee Danhoe spat out his words.

“Even the ancestors who met untimely deaths would want that as well.”

“Then it would be a dog’s death.”

“You…!”

Fwoosh!

At last, Lee Danhoe’s sword flashed out like lightning and shot for Chung Myung’s throat. But that blade, swung with all his might, was subdued far too easily.

Even with the edge caught between Chung Myung’s two fingers, Lee Danhoe did not despair. He had known from the start he was no match. To draw a sword before this man was impossible without the resolve to stake one’s life. There was no reason to suddenly lose his nerve now.

“Looks like you want to kill me.”

“Words like that aren’t enough. I want to tear you to pieces alive.”

“With this level of skill?”

“Do not insult me! My strength may be lacking, but my will…”

Thwooong!

In that instant Lee Danhoe’s body was pitifully hurled aside. The surge of Chung Myung’s energy that rode the sword overwhelmed and crushed his body in a single breath.

“Cough.”

Lee Danhoe coughed up blood. A single exchange. No – not even an exchange. Merely meeting Chung Myung’s internal energy had twisted the flow of his qi and made his blood boil.

Faced with an overwhelming gap that made even his fiercely blazing hatred feel, for a moment, futile, Lee Danhoe could only groan. Chung Myung spoke coldly.

“Do not throw around the word ‘will’ so carelessly.”

“…”

“That sort of thing isn’t will at all. You can’t win, so you turn your head and look away. What you’re doing is simply escape. True will is rolling in the mud, your insides tearing apart, yet never giving up until you achieve what you want.”

The tips of Lee Danhoe’s fingers trembled faintly.

“Even if, in the process, it means licking your enemy’s feet.”

“You…”

In that moment, Lee Danhoe squeezed his eyes shut. The image rose up of the Sect Leader licking Jang Ilso’s feet, bloody tears streaming down his face. 

What did Lee Danhoe feel then? Anger? Or relief?

“Your Sect Leader endured a disgrace that even death cannot erase in order to keep you alive. He was someone who knew what mattered more. Therefore he is someone worthy of respect.”

Chung Myung’s sharp gaze pierced through Lee Danhoe.

“And yet… The one who should inherit that will amounts to no more than this.”

Lee Danhoe’s body trembled. But that was all. He no longer shouted as before, nor did he grind his teeth. He realized that however humiliating and agonizing this was for him now, it did not come to even a tenth of the pain Jin Songwon had endured.

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

Lee Danhoe clenched his fist tight. Red drops of blood welled out between his fingers.

“Your answer?”

“…”

“Answer.”

“…I will go to Hwasan.”

Chung Myung silently nodded.

“Get ready.”

With that, Chung Myung turned around. Before he had taken even a few steps, a voice from behind – Lee Danhoe’s, far steadier than before – reached him.

“Someday you will surely regret this.”

“I hope so.”

Without so much as turning his gaze as he answered, Chung Myung walked straight out of the tent. Outside stood a man who, at the moment, wasn’t particularly welcome.

“…What?”

“Who knows. Would you believe me if I said I came because I was worried?”

Chung Myung stared at the smiling Im Sobyeong, then ignored him and brushed past. Unfazed, Im Sobyeong quickly fell into step at his side.

“Heheh. How kind of you. I’m seeing you in a new light.”

“…”

“How touching. ‘Even if that means surrendering yourself to the shad… Whoa, whoa! The fist! Put the fist down. Hahaha. It was just a bit of joking around.”

Chung Myung shot Im Sobyeong a brief glare, then once again ignored him and quickened his pace. Im Sobyeong matched him, hurrying to keep up.

“But was that really necessary?”

“What?”

Im Sobyeong snickered.

“If you’d just taken your hands off and left them by themselves for some time, they would have figured out their place on their own. Why go through all the trouble?”

“…”

“To be honest, isn’t it laughable that those punks resent you, Dojang? Even a neighborhood mutt, if it used its head a little, could see it: rather than spending time resenting you, it would make more sense to go and beat up the corpses of those Sapaeryeon bastards.”

Chung Myung’s steps halted. Immediately, Im Sobyeong covered his face and hunched his body.

“Aagh! It’s not as if I’m wrong!”

He had clearly braced himself, expecting a fist to fly, but, unexpectedly, there was no pain. Lowering his guard little by little, Im Sobyeong shot him a puzzled look.

“Dojang?”

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

“…….What do you mean?”

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

Im Sobyeong furrowed his brow as if he had no idea what Chung Myung meant. Chung Myung spoke, gazing into empty air instead of at Im Sobyeong.

“They’ve lost too much, there’s no way to get it back, and the ones they needed revenge upon are also gone. So what is left for them to do?”

Im Sobyeong’s eyes lit up slightly.

“They have to forget.”

“And if they can’t?”

“Hmm.”

This time Im Sobyeong scratched his head with the tip of his fan as if he wasn’t really sure. Chung Myung said in a weary voice. 

“That’s why it’s hard.”

Chung Myung knew what they must be feeling. Perhaps there was no one in the world who could understand them better than Chung Myung.

Irreversible loss, an injustice that cannot be eased even by raging – he too had suffered all of it.

Even so, back then Chung Myung had a mission to immerse himself in. He also had the ability to accomplish it. That is why he could endure.

What Chung Myung had, they do not. Because he knows this, he cannot help but pity them. 

Im Sobyeong wore an expression of clear displeasure.

“So you personally made yourself the object of their resentment?”

“…”

“Pathetic, and unbecoming of you, Dojang. I would have expected Dojang to beat those bastards up and make them come to their senses.”

Chung Myung chuckled.

“That’s not a bad method either.”

“It’s not too late even now, though.”

Chung Myung did not answer.

“Tsk. No fun.”

Grumbling, Im Sobyeong went on.

“About those Diancang bastards. Looks like around a dozen somehow survived, but the moment they woke up they pressed those filthy masks back on and all vanished from sight.”

Hearing this, Chung Myung clamped his mouth shut. Im Sobyeong kept shaking his head as if he couldn’t make sense of it.

“Honestly, rather than living like vagabonds, wouldn’t it be better to return to their own sect?”

“That’s why you’re a Sapa bastard.”

“Ah, are you really going to be like this?”

Ignoring Im Sobyeong’s resentful tone, Chung Myung turned his gaze.

Wind blew across the wide grassland. Clean air, not mixed with the scent of blood, rolled in. In that cleared wind, Chung Myung felt bitterness instead.

“…It’s not really out of any sense of compassion. That sort of thing doesn’t suit me much. Maybe for those stupid idiots, though.”

“…”

“I’m just not forgetting, and not turning away. That was all I ever hoped for.”

“That’s a strange thing to say…”

A bitter smile spread over Chung Myung’s face.

He knew. It was a story no one could understand. And by now, it likely didn’t matter anyway.

When he finished speaking, Chung Myung resumed walking at a leisurely pace.

“No, let’s head back together. Dojang!”

Im Sobyeong scurried after him.

“By the way, Nokrim, Nokrim. We earned some credit this time too.”

“Are you asking for a purge*?”

“Why would I ask for that? We fought hard too, you know! Don’t be like that – hear me out. I’m thinking of expanding a few mountain strongholds….”

“Oh, nice. Try it, see what happens.”

“Are you seriously going to be like this?”

❀ ❀ ❀

“Did you say you wouldn’t go?”

Baek Cheon looked at Gwak Hwanso with a puzzled expression.

Qingcheng, Emei, and Diancang, strictly speaking, had no ties to Hwasan. So he had expected they might actually hesitate to go to Hwasan.

But Haenam was different. It was part of Cheonumaeng – more precisely, a sect that had been under Hwasan’s protection. So Baek Cheon assumed they would feel no reluctance towards heading to Hwasan, which made Gwak Hwanso’s answer all the more unexpected.

“Why?”

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

“We have been away from Hainan for too long.”

“I know that, but…”

“People of Hainan must live facing the sea breeze. Having kept my feet on land for so long, I’m starting to feel seasick on solid ground.”

Baek Cheon furrowed his brows.

“Gwak Sohyeop, but…..”

“Dojang, please do not stop me.”

“…”

“If you tell us to repay the grace we received from Hwasan, we will gladly lay down our lives. But this is not that kind of matter, is it?”

“That is true.”

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

Gwak Hwanso’s resolve was firm. Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh.

“If you put it like that, I can’t hold you back.”

“That is precisely why I put it like that.”

“It will be hard.”

“I know. But well, hard as it may be, will it be as bad as back then?”

“That is also true.”

The two looked at each other and let out a faint laugh. Thinking of that hellish escape in Gangnam, what in the world was there they couldn’t do?

“More than that… I heard you met that bastard.”

“Huh? Ah…….”

Baek Cheon immediately realized who the ‘bastard’ Gwak Hwanso meant was, and sighed. It seemed that Baek Sang had run his mouth.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Seeing the utterly serious look in Gwak Hwanso’s eyes, Baek Cheon nodded. Then, in a low voice, he began to speak.

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*I don’t know how to say this better. Chung Myung is basically saying (in a mocking tone) – do you want me to wipe out/crush/subjugate them? 

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