Read Novel Full Chapter 1197: How On Earth Did You Endure This? (2)
Chapter 1197: How On Earth Did You Endure This? (2)
Maybe it’s just a stereotype, but isn’t there something like that?
The usual expectations when the leader of a group or organization changes and a younger person takes the seat.
There will of course be concerns, but if the transition is smooth, people generally expect the new blood’s vigor and broad ambitions.
But this...
Tang Gunak’s eyes trembled.
‘My elder uncle in Sichuan would be far more energetic than these fools.’
He’s old enough that his mind wanders, but surely he’s better than the sickly chicken, isn’t he?
What made his stomach turn further was that the Acting Sect leader, who was such a wreck he made that handsome face look ugly, was the very one who recently inflamed Tang Gunak’s heart in the confrontation with Beop Jeong.
‘I just can’t figure out the Mount Hua lot. I just can’t...’
Chung Myung swinging between a vicious Sword Master and a crazed brute, or Baek Cheon alternating between the revered next Acting Sect leader expected by Mount Hua and the village idiot brother Dong-Ryong...
The thought that Tang Gunak would have to discuss the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s affairs with such people made Hyun Jong’s absence painfully keen.
“So... um...”
Tang Gunak, who couldn’t stay silent forever, opened his mouth reluctantly.
“They say you built this place?”
“Yes?”
“I mean this position?”
“...Me?”
“......”
Then Tang Gunak realized why violence was so rampant at Mount Hua.
When people like this live together, wouldn’t fists naturally come before words?
“Ah... ah, right. I... yes, I did.”
“......”
“So, the reason I gathered you all is...”
Baek Cheon tilted his head.
“...What was it again?”
And at that moment Tang Gunak saw it.
Chung Myung’s face, which had been swinging between anger and gloom, twisted as if possessed by an evil, hideous malice.
Tang Gunak could swear he’d never seen a sight so terrifying in his life. Even if the Heavenly Demon descended before him, he wouldn’t feel this fear.
“...There was a reason.”
“Hey, you!”
Just as Chung Myung’s eyes rolled back and he began convulsing, the Five Swords, who had been waiting, leapt forward, clamped his mouth shut and pinned him down.
Even Hae Yeon, who usually clicked his tongue from the back, was startled and pressed Chung Myung’s chest with his shaved head, sprawled over him.
“Chung Myung! He’s the Acting Sect leader, Acting Sect leader!”
“Other people are watching!”
“Mouth! Shut your mouth, mouth! Say the wrong thing here and you’ll really be dragged off to the repentance hall!”
“Hold him properly there!”
Watching that scene in bewilderment, Tang Gunak unconsciously covered his face with both hands and hung his head.
‘Is this really okay?’
Wouldn’t it be better to join hands with the Nine Great Sects now? Even those clans that fiercely opposed them would, seeing this with their own eyes, think, “Isn’t Shaolin a prestigious school with history and tradition?” and maybe run to Mount Song without looking back.
At that moment Yu Yiseol rapped Baek Cheon’s dazed head and handed him a bottle of cold water.
“Drink.”
“...Ah.”
Baek Cheon drank the cold water in one gulp and his face gradually regained color.
It was a curious sight. He merely tightened an unruly expression that hadn’t been worth much, yet that alone made him look like a different person.
“I’m sorry. I’m not in the best condition.”
“When have you ever been?”
“Yes?”
“...Nothing.”
Tang Gunak bit his lip. Seems that damned Mount Hua’s way of speaking has rubbed off on him. After he said that.
Baek Cheon cleared his throat softly and spoke.
“The reason I invited the various sect leaders is to discuss what the Heavenly Friends Alliance should prioritize most.”
“Discuss...”
Muttering it quietly, Tang Gunak nodded slightly and said:
“I hope you mean precisely, Acting Sect leader. Do you mean to decide what should be done first? Or to discuss methods for something you’ve already decided?”
“The latter, more or less.”
“Hmm.”
Tang Gunak’s expression became slightly awkward.
Hyun Jong would not have spoken this way. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} He listened to others’ opinions before deciding. But Baek Cheon wants to discuss something he’s already decided.
It could be brushed off as a difference in temperament, but it felt a bit uncomfortable.
Then Baek Cheon spoke.
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand.”
“Hmm?”
Noticing Tang Gunak’s expression, he calmly elaborated.
“I am merely Mount Hua’s Acting Sect leader, not the deputy Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance. What I will say is not to act in place of the Alliance Leader, but simply to present Mount Hua’s opinion as its Acting Sect leader.”
“...Hmm.”
“The authority to decide has always rested with the Alliance Leader, so please don’t assume that what I say is the Alliance Leader’s opinion.”
It meant this was a proposal from below, not an order from above. Strictly speaking, Mount Hua’s acting Sect leader’s actual status is lower than the Tang family, which holds the deputy alliance leader role, and is no different from other sects.
However...
“Acting Sect leader. Given the circumstances, it’s hard for us to think that way. First, the fact that the Alliance Leader and you belong to the same sect...”
“Would the leader favor our opinion?”
“...He will understand.”
Tang Gunak nodded immediately.
He couldn’t be sure of any other place. But Hyun Jong would never do that; his fairness was beyond doubt.
Moreover, Hyun Jong ridiculously trusted his disciples and at the same time...
‘...was also the person who least trusted his own disciples in the world.’
More precisely, he perhaps didn’t distrust them so much as understood their fanaticism better than anyone... anyway.
So there would be no special deference to Mount Hua’s opinion.
“But if that’s the case, Mount Hua will be treated as just another sect with equal voice. Is that acceptable?”
“Isn’t that only natural?”
Baek Cheon answered at once as if with no hesitation.
“It should have been that way. That’s what the Heavenly Friends Alliance is. The reason Mount Hua appeared to lead the alliance was simply because the Alliance Leader also held Mount Hua’s sect’s leader position. If the lord of the Tang family becomes the leader, the Tang family will assume that role.”
“Hmm.”
“Mount Hua has no intention of demanding privileges within the Heavenly Friends Alliance. Our founding principle is equality for all, isn’t it?”
Tang Gunak’s mouth twitched into a small smile without him noticing.
‘Indeed...’
People are called indifferent to power when they aren’t clinging to potential power. In the end, no matter how indifferent someone seems, letting go of power they already enjoy isn’t easy.
Power is comfort.
Why refuse the comfort given and choose discomfort? Especially if no one will blame you, there’s even less reason to do so.
But now Baek Cheon says Mount Hua will calmly relinquish even the implicit superior rights and position it held in the Heavenly Friends Alliance.
Maybe that’s possible because he’s young, but even so, it was impressive.
“Is that Mount Hua’s stance?”
“Yes, lord of the Tang family.”
“Hmm. That’s good. Young people are certainly different.”
Tang Gunak nodded, then suddenly made a strange face and said:
“But there’s something.”
“Yes.”
“...It seems there’s someone who thinks differently from you?”
“Yes?”
At that, Baek Cheon glanced to his side.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Chung Myung, pinned by the Five Swords, writhed with bloodshot eyes. Those eyes full of hatred and malice seemed to shout, “How did you earn that right, and you just give it away as you please! You damned son of a bitch! Get out of Mount Hua!”
“Ughhhh!”
“Just stay still!”
“Someone go get a rope, quickly!”
“A... a hemp rope?”
“Not hemp rope, a steel cable! What are you going to do tying this bastard with hemp!”
“No, where are we even supposed to get a steel cable right now...”
The Five Swords pressed down desperately on the struggling Chung Myung. Watching that strange, terrifying spectacle, a faint, sardonic smile crossed Baek Cheon’s lips.
“Lord of the Tang family.”
“Hmm?”
Baek Cheon lifted his gaze briskly and, looking at Tang Gunak, spoke very calmly:
“You needn’t worry about it.”
“...R-really?”
“Yes. I speak now as Mount Hua’s Acting Sect leader. I don’t understand why you’d concern yourself with the reaction of a mere third class disciple.”
“Cough, cough.”
Tang Gunak suddenly choked and coughed violently.
“A mere third class disciple?”
“Don’t mind him. He’s just one of Mount Hua’s countless third class disciples. We invited him because he can actually use a sword, but at most he’s just a third class disciple and completely irrelevant to Mount Hua’s official stance—so treat him as if he isn’t here.”
“Uh...”
Which would carry more weight: my words representing Mount Hua’s Acting Sect leader, or that ‘mere’ third class disciple’s?
“Well, th-that... no, it could... it should be...”
“Ha. Isn’t that painfully obvious?”
Tang Gunak watched as Baek Cheon gently asked, glanced at Chung Myung, and gave a small smile.
Seeing that face, Chung Myung began trembling convulsively, then soon foamed white at the mouth.
“Gurgle...”
Chung Myung made a strange noise, rolled his eyes and collapsed, and the room fell silent. The spasms twitching intermittently looked like he’d drifted very far away.
‘Is this... really okay?’
Of course it’s correct in principle. No matter how skilled the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint is, as a matter of status he’s only a third class disciple of Mount Hua. By protocol and principle, he shouldn’t have a speaking role at such a meeting.
‘But still—he’s Mount Hua’s Sword Saint?’
Is this really allowed?
“Not as a mere third class disciple, but as Mount Hua’s Acting Sect leader, I’ll say this...”
“Hmm?”
“What the Heavenly Friends Alliance must prioritize now is to carry out a consensus and make it clear that we are different from the Nine Great Sects.”
“Th-that makes sense.”
“Therefore Mount Hua proposes to the other sect leaders that they immediately muster personnel and depart for Southern Island. Prepare as quickly as possible—no more than three days—and aim to push through Southern lands and reach Southern Island.”
“Um... that’s a bit sudden...”
“Only those confident in their martial prowess should join. If no one joins, Mount Hua will head to Southern Island alone.”
Silence followed. Baek Cheon finished and grinned.
“That’s all.”
At that moment Tang Gunak realized: this mad Acting Sect leader wasn’t only attacking Beop Jeong.
Tang Gunak’s stomach began to churn bitterly again.