Read Novel Full Chapter 1195: Why Did It Turn Out Like This? (5)
Chapter 1195: Why Did It Turn Out Like This? (5)
“First of all...”
Baek Cheon, breathing hard, spoke firmly.
“It’s true that I rose to the Acting Sect leader position, but the fact that I’m your sasuk and also your sahyung hasn’t changed one bit! Yes, not one bit. So treat me as you always have. Understand?”
“I understand. It’s just...”
“What else?”
“In the process of making them understand that... didn’t you beat the poor man into a bloody mess?”
All eyes turned to Jo Gul, who was smashed and turned upside down.
“...He sure knows how to mouth off.”
“That’s true.”
“Honestly, he went overboard.”
“He deserved it.”
Of course, everyone here had done the same, but in their minds their past deeds were already completely erased.
From Jo Gul’s perspective it was unfair, but what could he do? The mouth that would protest was already swollen shut.
“Anyway...”
Sensing that losing momentum here would condemn him to a lifetime of ridicule, Baek Cheon steeled his eyes and spoke.
“I’m not formally the Sect leader yet, nor has my status as second class disciple changed, so! As always! Just treat me the way you have until now! Understand?”
“Yes, Acting Sect leader.”
“...Just call me sasuk.”
“Ah, come on. How can you say that? The sect has rules.”
“If you don’t want to be punished by the sect’s rules, call me sasuk.”
“Wow, powerholder.”
“Oh dear. When you crush us with power, of course we have to follow.”
“Yes, Acting Sect leader.”
Baek Cheon’s head dropped. Yoon Jong cautiously placed a hand on his somewhat sorrowful shoulder.
“Sasuk.”
“...Huh?”
“Didn’t you say you’d take on the responsibility? Hold on.”
“...This isn’t the kind of responsibility I meant.”
“Isn’t life full of things like that?”
Yoon Jong quietly comforted Baek Cheon, but it didn’t improve the situation. After being torn to pieces by this pack of jackals, a far larger pack of wild dogs would come to tear him apart.
“This sect should fall.”
How did a place that should be pure become infested with jackals and wild dogs? The ancestors of Mount Hua would weep rivers of sorrow to see this.
The problem now was that Baek Cheon was the leader of those jackals. Realizing what he’d done, he wiped the tears welling at his eyes.
“Ugh... well, Sect is...”
Look at him.
Look at that man who, despite being beaten black and blue, still lifts his head to say one more thing to rile him up!
Baek Cheon quietly stretched his foot and gently stomped on Jo Gul’s head, then cleared his throat to change the mood.
“Ahem. Guys.”
“Did you hear? Hey, you guys!”
“Wow! Now that you’re Acting Sect leader, even your tone’s changed! Is this what power is?”
“...Tang Soso, please.”
“Yes, Acting Sect leader! Speak... no, give us orders!”
Tang Soso beamed and echoed Baek Cheon’s words. Turning people’s insides with a smile like that was a talent in itself.
“Anyway.”
After a short cough, Baek Cheon spoke with utmost seriousness.
“As you know, I am greatly lacking.”
The Five Swords, ready to nitpick whatever he said, quietly shut their mouths at that.
“I asked the Sect leader myself to be Acting Sect leader, but it wasn’t because I was confident I could lead Mount Hua like the Sect leader. I did it because it had to be done.”
Some nodded.
“And you are probably the same. I know you still lack confidence. But... now that things have become like this, it will be hard for you to be the same as before.”
“Yes, sasuk.”
“I understand what you mean.”
This is a change of generations.
Nothing has fundamentally changed. Hyun Jong is still the Sect leader of Mount Hua, and they are still Mount Hua’s second and third disciples.
But with Baek Cheon as acting Sect leader, they will one day have to become elders and first class disciples. That time has been pulled forward much sooner than they expected.
“I’m sorry to suddenly dump responsibility on you.”
“Not at all, sasuk.”
Yoon Jong shook his head.
“We fully understand why you made that decision. And we don’t think it’s wrong. If you resolved to bear such a burden, then of course we should bear the corresponding burden.”
“Right.”
A gentle smile touched Baek Cheon’s lips. Indeed, Yoon Jong understood his heart best at times like this.
“For Mount Hua to remain Mount Hua, a decision had to be made. But I am still lacking, not yet fit to lead Mount Hua. So...”
Baek Cheon bowed his head towards the Five Swords.
“You must help me a lot. I’m asking you.”
The Five Swords received his plea and nodded in unison.
“Yes, sasuk.”
“We’ll do it.”
“Don’t worry, sasuk! We’ll do our best!”
They had teased him enthusiastically and still had more teasing to go, but everyone here understood why Baek Cheon made this decision.
They also knew that because Baek Cheon stepped forward, they were spared from being forced into an unwanted situation. So there was no way their looks at him lacked gratitude.
Baek Cheon bit his lip slightly at that reaction.
He inwardly feared the suddenness would provoke backlash. Yet his samae and sajil understood the heart with which he took the Acting Sect leader post.
“I-I will help too... sasuk...”
Even Jo Gul, who had been toppled, mustered the strength to speak.
Touched in the chest, Baek Cheon pressed at his eye slightly and forced his voice to calm.
“Yes, please give me much guidance from now on...”
“Do whatever.”
Baek Cheon’s head turned aside at the abrupt sarcastic voice.
Chung Myung, slumped against a wall, wore a look that seemed to say, ‘Oh my, aren’t you special.’
“That’s a pretty sight.”
“Watching the future Sect leader and the next-in-line praise each other like, ‘Oh! The Sect leader’s position is so hard! Thank you for your toil!’ makes me glad that I’ll never be a Sect leader in my life. Right?”
Baek Cheon glanced at the others as if to ask them to intervene. But even the Five Swords, usually zealous and ready to do anything for him, quietly averted their eyes at ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) this moment.
‘Blood should be avoided, not fought.’
‘If you touch that the wrong way now, you’ll really see something awful happen.’
Even the dog at a village school can recite poems after three years—how could anyone living beside Chung Myung for years fail to read the mood?
Right now he’s basically a barrel of burning oil. No one wants to get near a barrel that’ll explode at the slightest touch.
But that’s their stance; Baek Cheon’s stance was entirely different.
‘...Bastards.’
They just said they’d help with all their might.
He are the ones who’d run without looking back if Demonic Cult members showed up. No, he’d kick Baek Cheon and throw him out as bait.
Reminded once more that there’s no one trustworthy in the world, Baek Cheon glanced toward Chung Myung and carefully spoke.
“Ahem. Um! Hey... Chung Myung...”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s face instantly lit up.
“Oh my. The Acting Sect leader of Mount Hua is even speaking directly to this lowly third class disciple.”
“...”
“I’m so honored I don’t know what to do.”
Baek Cheon’s face gradually grew pale.
‘I knew this man would be like this.’
When he resolved to request the Acting Sect leader post, the thing that worried him most wasn’t the weight he’d have to bear as Sect leader, but that damned man’s reaction.
Look! See how that bastard’s eyes have rolled back!
“Even if the sect goes to hell, there’s a limit. Skipping ranks and shares, some greenhouse kid takes the Sect leader seat!”
“Huh? Isn’t there supposed to be norms in a sect! Rules! Huh?”
“Chung Myung.”
“If you keep ignoring principles saying it’s just this once, the once-great sect will instantly become third-rate! In the Mount Hua of history and tradition, this...”
“Chung Myung.”
“Not until dirt gets in my eyes...”
“Chung Myung!”
“Yes?”
After babbling on, Chung Myung looked up. Baek Cheon tilted his chin up, displaying a sharp jawline, and spat out in the most obnoxious tone imaginable.
“If you’re so upset, you be the Sect leader.”
For a moment Chung Myung’s mouth hung open.
“Uh...? Uh uh...”
“Or go argue with the Sect leader.”
“...”
“You can’t, right? You can’t do anything, can you?”
“...”
“Then shh. Keep quiet, third class disciple.”
As Baek Cheon grinned, Chung Myung’s body slumped sideways.
Thunk.
His eyes lost their light like a rotten fish, and his slack mouth seemed to expel the last remnants of his soul.
“Why... why did I...”
The Five Swords, watching Chung Myung be knocked out with a single blow, genuinely marveled and looked at Baek Cheon.
“Unbelievable... Chung Myung felled by just a few words...”
“Is this the power of authority?”
“That bastard’s surprisingly weak against power.”
“‘Surprisingly’ my foot—he’s blatantly weak.”
Yoon Jong whispered to Baek Cheon.
“Wasn’t that a bit harsh?”
“No... that bastard needed that. Otherwise he’d have kept that up for another year.”
“True...”
Yoon Jong nodded in agreement.
Baek Cheon waved his hand and spoke.
“Anyway, there’s a lot to say, but let’s do what must be done first.”
“Yes? What must be done? Is something urgent now?”
“Yoon Jong, Jo Gul.”
“Yes, sasuk!”
“Go and relay my message to the sect leaders of each clan.”
A meaningful smile played at Baek Cheon’s lips.
“A man must keep his word. We’re going to save the Southern Island Sect.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Jo Gul, remembering the matter, gasp with a ‘oh no’ expression—so many shocking events had occurred one after another that he’d completely forgotten.
“We’re not in a position to finish everything before leaving. Tell them to quickly discuss the situation.”
“Understoo...”
“What? Southern Island?”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who had been nearly dead, rolled his eyes and sprang up.
“Hey, you crazy man! What on earth are you trying to do with Mount Hua?!”
“Ah, then if you’re so aggrieved you should have joined earlier and taken the Baek disciples rank. Oh dear, what to do? Even if I wanted to give you the Sect leader seat, I can’t give it to a Chung disciple rank, can I? Someone insisted the sect has rules to be observed.” |
“I-I...! I... ugh!”
When Chung Myung finally grabbed the back of his neck and fell backward, the Five Swords exchanged curious looks.
‘I like this?’
‘Actually, good?’
They were already beginning to feel the benefits of the Sect leader’s change.