Read Novel Full Chapter 1228: I Don’t Know. (3)
Chapter 1228: I Don’t Know. (3)
“Can’t you stand properly?”
“......”
“I told you to stand up straight, didn’t I?”
Hyun Euk’s expression was simply dazed. Everyone has their own common sense. When confronted with something that deviates from it, anyone would be flustered.
Of course, with a generous heart one might try to understand it somehow.
Those terrifying figures who had cut down the Four Sects Alliance’s thugs in one stroke suddenly beat a comrade like a trapped rat, and the fact that the one wielding the violence looked the youngest of the group... one could possibly try to make sense of that.
But...
‘Isn’t this a bit too much?’
It no longer came as a fresh shock that the youngest-looking one was berating another person standing before him.
If only the one sulking from the scolding weren’t an animal instead of a person.
“If you stray onto another path halfway, you’ll die.”
“......”
“If you think you can run while taking breaks now and then, I’ll get myself a proper scarf. You get what I mean? If we live, we die together; if we die, we die together!”
“Chung Myung. Live together even when living.”
“Isn’t that the same thing!”
“They’re very different...”
“Anyway!”
Chung Myung glared at Baek Ah as if about to devour him, then took something from his bosom and held it up close to the black snout, shaking it.
“This is what the Nanman Beast Lord gave, Thousand... Thousand Mile... anyway, something like that. You said you can smell this from thousands of ri away, so if you think you’re even a little late, you’ll really be dead. Got it?”
“......”
“Did you hear me?!”
Baek Ah, with a tiny bundle tied around his neck, drooped and nodded.
“Tsk!”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and glanced at Baek Ah as if still unconvinced.
“Anyway, you have to be trustworthy!”
Even in that unbelievable sight, those around remained calm.
“Well... can’t be helped. Let’s go.”
Screech!
Baek Ah spun around.
“I’m serious, I’m asking you0stand straigh... Hey! I’m not done talking! Hey!”
Baek Ah didn’t look back and sprinted away, disappearing in front of Chung Myung.
“Wow, look at that speed.”
“She’s really fast.”
“She could probably make it there and back in a day. What is she in such a hurry for?”
“She’d rather run than listen to that nagging of his. I’d do the same.”
“I can relate.”
Watching Chung Myung throw punches into the air and shout after the already distant Baek Ah, everyone shook their heads.
Missing a target to torment, Chung Myung smacked his lips and suddenly turned to look at Im So-Byeong. Startled, Im So-Byeong hurriedly rubbed his bruised eye socket.
Chung Myung spoke.
“You too! If by any chance...”
“You mean, if we fail to properly rescue the people, we’ll die, right?”
“Um...”
“And if word gets out that those rotten Evil Sect bastards mistreated the people, you’ll skin them alive, right?”
“I...”
“Did you also write in the letter that since the cliff we came through is hard for ordinary civilians to pass, they should take a different route, is that what you’re saying?”
“......”
Chung Myung was at a loss for words. Im So-Byeong spread his fan with a smug smile.
“Hohoho! Who am I! I am Green Forest King Im So-Byeong, the right hand of Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, carrying out orders perfectly... Kyaa!”
Im So-Byeong, struck square in the forehead by a flying sword scabbard, rolled on the ground.
“Who are you to call yourself as the right hand, who! You Evil Sect bastard! How dare one who uses the character ‘evil’ desecrate the body of a sacred Taoist! Me? I used to avoid Evil Sect bastards so much I wouldn’t even drink water within a 5km radius!”
Watching Chung Myung treat Im So-Byeong like a trapped rat again, Baek Cheon sighed. Then he averted his gaze entirely and spoke to Hyun Euk.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“...Yes.”
“More importantly...”
He composed himself and said.
“At the very latest, within five days those coming to escort you will arrive, so just wait until then.”
Hyun Euk looked at Baek Cheon with a bewildered expression.
“Warrior... I’m truly...truly sorry. I didn’t mean it that way...”
“I understand.”
But Baek Cheon calmly shook his head.
“You didn’t act grudgingly because you were blamed. You changed because you newly learned what you didn’t know.”
“How can we ever repay this favor...”
Hyun Euk couldn’t find the words out of gratitude, apology, and embarrassment, so Baek Cheon smiled silently.
“If you truly want to show your thanks, tell what you told us exactly as it is when you go to Northern Lands. If people there ask the reasons, report it without adding or subtracting.”
For a moment, Hyun Euk’s face paled slightly.
He realized what kind of looks they’d get if the companions of these warriors learned of his shameless behavior.
But Baek Cheon shook his head as if he’d anticipated that concern.
“They are not such people.”
“......”
“I’m asking this because they too should know what those suffering in the south are going through and what state of mind they live in.”
“Warrior...”
“We are not as great as you might think. We’re merely people who can wield a sword better than others. You might think we ignored things despite knowing, but in truth there are many things we can’t act on because we didn’t know.”
“Ah...”
Hyun Euk nodded as if he understood.
“So please convey it exactly as it is, without embellishment. That will be sufficient recompense.”
Hyun Euk nodded with a resolute face. Even if they’d be pointed at, he seemed determined to keep that promise.
Seeing that solemn face, Baek Cheon smiled gently.
“Then we must be off; the road we take is urgent.”
“I am unlearned and ignorant, but I know you are not people to be detained with polite words. So I sincerely pray for your well-being.”
“Yes.”
Those who had watched the conversation from behind smiled at Hyun Euk and then turned away.
“Take care on your way!”
Tang Soso smiled brightly and waved her hand.
Those who had been fed by her came out to the entrance and watched the departing Heavenly Friends Alliance party, but still couldn’t easily reply or bid farewell. They simply stood unsure of what to do.
But Tang Soso bowed with an unwrinkled face and then turned away0she knew that if they kept watching, the visitors would feel more burdened.
“Let’s go!”
“Alright.”
The Heavenly Friends Alliance group quickly moved away.
Those who had been staring blankly alternated their gaze between the road the group had taken and the grain piled in the village center.
In the silence, complex, indescribable expressions crossed their faces.
“Hyun Euk, you...”
“Say nothing.”
Hyun Euk let out a deep sigh.
“I called those ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Evil Sect bastards as beasts... but in the end, when it came down to it, I think I’m no better than a beast myself.”
“......”
“Huh...”
Hyun Euk slumped his shoulders and headed to the house where his father lay. The villagers watched his retreating figure with complicated faces.
Whoosh!
Those led by Im So-Byeong ran out like the wind.
They had been delayed by an unexpected matter. To make up for it, they needed to increase their speed even if it meant taking some risks.
Baek Cheon, running in silence for a long while, glanced sideways at Chung Myung running beside him. Chung Myung watched straight ahead with an expressionless face.
Baek Cheon sighed briefly and looked ahead again. This was undeniably his fault.
His vision had become so narrow that, despite having someone he could use by his side, he hadn’t even thought of it. As the leader of the group and as Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua, he had failed.
But there was another matter that truly complicated Baek Cheon’s mind.
This time they had Green Forest King, so they could find some solution. But if Green Forest King hadn’t been there in the same situation, what would they have done? Was there really an answer to such a problem?
“You’re thinking a lot now.”
At that moment, a nonchalant voice slipped into Baek Cheon’s ear. He sighed without realizing it. This guy never missed even the smallest detail.
Chung Myung said.
“Don’t overcomplicate it.”
“......”
“Things in the world are never as neat as you imagine. There’s never a perfect answer that satisfies everyone.”
“......”
“But a leader still has to produce an answer amid that. That’s why it’s hard.”
Baek Cheon nodded.
“You’re worrying about what you’d have done without Green Forest King, aren’t you?”
“...How did you know?”
“Tsk tsk. Dong-Ryong, Dong-Ryong. Why do you overestimate yourself so much?”
“......”
“No one shows their thoughts on their face as much as you do, yet you think you’re some grave man who hides his inner self well.”
“Ugh.”
Chung Myung snorted and shrugged his shoulders.
“What answer could be there?”
“......”
“Trying to find an answer to a problem that has none is a foolish act.”
“Then...”
“The important thing isn’t finding an answer where there is none. It’s to not create such problems in the first place.”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon asked in puzzlement, and Chung Myung exhaled slowly.
“That’s what Mount Hua and the Heavenly Friends Alliance are for.”
“......”
“Drop the arrogant notion that becoming the Acting Sect Leader means you must shoulder everything and always decide correctly. It’s not because sasuk, you are lacking. No one in history has ever managed that.”
Baek Cheon pressed his lips shut.
“The elders and ancestors knew that it was difficult, so they formed a sect and gathered people. And when that wasn’t enough, they joined with more sects and pooled strength and opinions. With one more person contributing strength, you can do more.”
Baek Cheon, who had been listening quietly, widened his eyes slightly.
He knew that too. In fact, he knew it all too well.
Yet he had completely forgotten.
“It wasn’t that it could be done because Green Forest King was there. It’s that Green Forest King who was the only one who could do that much. If the Ghost Clan had come along, it would have been faster, and if a few more major sects had joined, the Four Sects Alliance bastards wouldn’t have been able to run amok like this in the first place.”
“...That’s true.”
“The answer the sasuk sought is where the sasuk are going now. ‘Practice consultation’—that’s not all. If more people come to believe and practice the consultations the sasuk believe in, we will have a world where problems without answers simply don’t exist.”
Chung Myung, who had been speaking quietly, suddenly clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression.
“So stop wasting time on useless thoughts and just run forward. If you keep running, a day will come when you’ll find that answer.”
“...For a kid to chatter on and say sensible things.”
“That’s right.”
“How presumptuous to say that to the Acting Sect Leader!”
“That brat needs a lesson in discipline!”
“Oh ho?”
Playful voices broke out from behind. Baek Cheon smiled faintly. He seemed to understand the meaning behind Chung Myung’s words.
‘Worrying isn’t wrong.’
The important thing isn’t to avoid worry, but to steadfastly carry out your chosen path despite it. If practicing consultation were so easy, why would the word ‘consultation’ be disappearing from the world?
It’s a path chosen by oneself and believed in by oneself. So one must push forward with greater conviction.
Those running behind him now, and those watching him from afar, will help.
“...This isn’t the time to waste on useless talk, so let’s hurry!”
“Yes!”
Baek Cheon pushed off the ground and surged forward first. Mount Hua’s disciples and the leaders of other sects quickly followed close behind.
Watching the backs of those racing ahead, Chung Myung laughed.
“They really are a handful.”
Thud!
At last he too swiftly followed the group.
They headed south.
To the farthest place in the Central Plains, Southern Island.