Read Novel Full Chapter 1227: I Don’t Know. (2)
Chapter 1227: I Don’t Know. (2)
“Um...”
He thought he had to say something. But when he tried to speak, no words came out.
He felt like leading them all to Northern Lands this instant.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t.
‘This isn’t a mission I can decide on my own.’
He was leading members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance to save Southern Island. If he abandoned the mission and returned to Northern Lands, time would inevitably be delayed.
Then everything would fall apart.
Wasn’t the reason they chose the most dangerous land route in the first place to shave even a moment off the time to reach Southern Island? This wasn’t a situation where he could waste time on momentary compassion.
But...
Seeing Hyun Euk’s despairing face, Baek Cheon bit his lip without realizing it.
But he couldn’t just leave them behind, could he? Doing so would prove Hyun Euk right—that they only say civilians are most important but actually neglect them for a greater cause.
How would that choice be any different from Beop Jeong’s?
‘I...’
Baek Cheon’s face contorted with anguish. Seeing his expression change, Hyun Euk hurriedly prostrated himself flat.
“I-I’m sorry!”
His embarrassed voice trembled as he spoke.
“I- I was speaking without knowing my place...”
“...”
“I’m sorry. It was not my place to speak to those who saved our lives... I spoke foolishly out of frustration. P-please forgive me...”
“Don’t do this...”
Baek Cheon swallowed the word ‘please’ and shut his eyes tightly. When he grabbed Hyun Euk’s shoulder and helped him up, the man looked at him with frightened eyes.
Baek Cheon suppressed a sigh and spoke.
“I’m not angry, and I don’t intend to harm anyone. I... we are not those kinds of people. I was simply struck by what you said and didn’t know what to do. So you don’t have to ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ do this.”
“...I’m sorry, warriors. It was not my place to speak to those who saved our lives... For warriors like you, it would have been easier to turn a blind eye to people like us...”
Tears welled in Hyun Euk’s eyes.
“They say those who don’t know gratitude are not human but beasts... I suppose I’m that beast.”
“...”
“I’m just an ignorant fool whining without understanding, so please don’t mind me. How could I hold back warriors on an important mission? We’re grateful you erased their traces.”
What truly pained Baek Cheon was that Hyun Euk’s words seemed genuinely sincere, not a pretense.
Hyun Euk wasn’t suppressing himself out of fear of Baek Cheon; he genuinely believed someone like Baek Cheon didn’t need to bother with people like them.
Unsure what to do, Baek Cheon turned his head toward the window. He saw the party peering in, but they looked equally gloomy, as if they had no answer.
They instead looked at Baek Cheon with hopeful eyes, as if he might give an answer even now.
Baek Cheon’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Hyun Euk, pale as if he would faint without hearing anything, and the gazes of the Heavenly Friends Alliance members fixed only on him.
Just as Baek Cheon, unable to bear the pressure, opened his mouth to say something—anything—
“What, why the atmosphere like this? Is there a funeral happening here?”
Chung Myung entered with a face full of annoyance and plopped two boars he was carrying onto the ground with a loud thud.
“Ugh, damn it! It’s hard to even spot a piglet on this mountain! Sahyung, take these and feed the people!”
“Meat! Let’s grill it!”
“Boil it! If we grill meat in front of people who’ve never seen it, they’ll choke or something!”
“Ah, got it!”
“You really have no sense!”
The moment Chung Myung appeared, the suffocating atmosphere instantly relaxed. Baek Cheon let out an involuntary sigh of relief, his tense shoulders loosening.
“But seriously, what’s up? That old man seems alive, so why the funeral vibe?”
“Ah... it’s just...”
Baek Cheon looked between Hyun Euk and Chung Myung. He couldn’t answer, but he thought Chung Myung might come up with something.
No, even if he had no answer, Chung Myung wouldn’t hesitate like this.
“The truth is...”
Baek Cheon began to explain the situation as it was.
“...”
After a moment, Chung Myung, having heard the whole story, looked between Hyun Euk and Baek Cheon.
Hyun Euk wore a remorseful expression as if he wanted to bite his tongue, and Baek Cheon turned his head slightly, uneasy under Chung Myung’s gaze.
“No...”
“...”
In that difficult situation, Chung Myung’s blunt answer landed among them.
“Sasuk, are you really an idiot?”
“Chung Myung! He’s the Acting Sect Leader!”
“He may be a sasuk and an idiot, but he’s the Acting Sect Leader!”
“Hey, you can’t call a sasuk an idiot.”
“Ah, right.”
Baek Cheon’s face twisted in horror. These idiots were joking while someone was seriously troubled...
He asked Chung Myung with a displeased look.
“...Do you have an answer?”
“No... He used to be a bit unlucky but smart, so how does a person get worse over time? You’re worrying about this? This?”
“...”
“And you all just sat here twiddling your thumbs? While that was happening?”
Chung Myung glared at the others. Everyone flinched and slyly looked away.
“Ah, my fate. What was I thinking bringing these people...”
Chung Myung sighed as if the ground had swallowed him.
“Is there a way?”
“There is a way, damn it!”
Chung Myung opened his eyes wide and shouted at Hyun Euk.
“Hey, sir!”
“Yes? Yes, yes! Warriors!”
“That’s not how a person should act. If you were helped, you should be grateful. No matter how exasperating, you can’t tell naive people to take care of everything for you!”
“...I’m sorry.”
“After meeting someone like you once, people become afraid to help others. Because of what you said, those in desperate need may lose their chance next time. Do you understand?”
“...Yes.”
“Honestly, who would dare give alms if helping one person meant taking responsibility for their entire life?”
“...”
“Frankly, beggars scrape by because they’re grateful for alms and don’t greedily demand more. Who would want to help a beggar if the one coin you give turns into a demand to set them up with a house? Then the Beggars’ Union bastards would all starve to death! Do you get it?”
Hyun Euk couldn’t even offer an excuse and bowed his head deeply. Though it was a frankness born of exasperation, even he felt it shameless.
“And!”
Chung Myung’s gaze snapped to Baek Cheon.
“If you’re going to help, help! If you’re going to refuse, refuse firmly! Why are you dithering? What are you going to do if the Acting Sect Leader lacks resolve? If the enemy attacks, will you debate whether to fight or make peace? Then everyone dies, you fool!”
Baek Cheon clamped his mouth shut and bowed his head. Chung Myung asked,
“Do you know what the bigger problem is?”
“...I don’t know.”
Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon with disdain.
“The sasuk doesn’t understand at all what position the Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua holds.”
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung as if to ask what he meant. Instead of answering, Chung Myung jumped to his feet.
“You’re the worst bastard here, you idiot!”
“Kyaa!”
Chung Myung’s kick landed on Im So-Byeong’s jaw. Im So-Byeong screamed and slammed into the wall.
“You think this is funny? Huh? Funny? You evil sect brat—we treated you like a person because you looked tired climbing a cliff, and you can’t help but toy with someone who left their post for a moment? Fine! Die today, you evil sect brat!”
“Ack! No! Mount Hua’s Sword Saint! It’s not like that!”
“Die! Die, you bastard!”
Watching Chung Myung kick Im So-Byeong mercilessly, Hyun Euk’s face turned pale blue.
“...It may be hard to understand, but the one getting hit is the evil sect, and the one doing the hitting is the justice faction.”
“...Yes?”
“I’m serious.”
“...”
Of course, superficially it looks like the evil sect is the attacker and the justice faction the victim. Im So-Byeong appears outwardly as a scholar from a noble family...
“Huff! Huff!”
Chung Myung, having thrashed him neatly, panted and dragged the bloodied Im So-Byeong before Baek Cheon and threw him down.
“Ugh...”
“Can’t you be quiet?”
“...”
“Sit!”
“Yes!”
Im So-Byeong sprang up like the wind and sat properly. Chung Myung said irritably,
“The Green Forest lot know the route here, right?”
“...Yes.”
“If they use another route instead of the cliff, getting about thirty people across the Yangtze river isn’t hard. Right?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“Thinking about it pisses me off again. But this bastard!”
When Chung Myung raised his hand, Im So-Byeong hurriedly covered his head and lay flat.
“Ah! Don’t hit me! I’m sick!”
“If you were that sick you should be dead by now! You’re still alive, you bastard!”
“...”
“Sigh.”
Chung Myung, glaring between Im So-Byeong and Baek Cheon, suddenly shoved his hand into his bosom.
Squeeee!
Baek Ah, who had been as quiet as a mouse until grabbed, screamed as if sensing his fate.
“Ah, can’t you be quiet?”
....
Chung Myung, pouty, dropped the slumped Baek Ah in front of Im So-Byeong.
“Write a letter.”
“...What did you say?”
“Draft the Green Forest elites and send them separately. The objective is to get everyone here moved to Northern Lands. If you take them to the manor, the Sect leader will help them settle.”
“...That’s a difficult task.”
“Can’t do it?”
“It could be dangerous... Even if it’s a request from Mount Hua’s Sword Saint...”
As Im So-Byeong tried to sidestep responsibility, Chung Myung snapped his gaze to Baek Cheon, as if scolding him.
Only then did Baek Cheon realize what Chung Myung meant about not understanding the nature of the Acting Sect Leader’s position; he nodded and spoke.
“What if this is not a request from Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, but one made under the authority of Mount Hua’s Acting Sect Leader?”
Upon hearing this, Im So-Byeong immediately straightened and sat properly. His previously playful expression changed, and he began to show the dignity of the Greenwood King.
“Is this an official request?”
Baek Cheon nodded gravely at Im So-Byeong’s serious question. Im So-Byeong responded at once.
“If it’s a request sent by Mount Hua, of course we’ll comply. It’s not easy, but if we mobilize the Green Forest’s elites it won’t be that hard. Crossing the Yangtze takes some time, but the Yangtze pirates don’t maintain the same vigilance as before, so we can slip across under cover of night.”
“Then...”
“However!”
Im So-Byeong looked Baek Cheon squarely in the eye and spoke.
“The Green Forest’s elites are not normally to be mobilized for such tasks, so you must consider that my reputation in issuing such orders will be diminished.”
“...”
“Therefore.”
A sly smile crept across his lips.
“I trust that the cost of fulfilling this request will be paid back to us someday.”
Baek Cheon nodded with a grave expression.
“I will definitely do so.”
Im So-Byeong’s face showed a satisfied smile. Then a sinister voice brushed his ear.
“Ah, of course we’ll repay it, debts...”
“...”
“If someone is alive until they return to Northern Lands, that is. You can’t repay a debt to someone who’s dead, can you? Right?”
“...”
“Honestly, who would care if one evil sect bastard dies down in the Southern Island...”
“We’ll do it for free!”
At that moment, everyone present felt it keenly.
The truth that enthusiastic goodwill cannot overcome scheming, and even a well-laid plan is meaningless before a madman.