Is That Really All? (4)
People only truly lose their temper when a truth they’d rather avoid is shoved right in front of them.
The Hainan men in this hall felt exactly that way.
It was the kind of thing they knew, but didn’t want to hear. The kind of thing they could see, but desperately wished to turn their eyes away from. The truth that this young man named Baek Cheon was thrusting before them and shouting into their faces was precisely the truth they had been trying to avoid.
And because they were human too, their response was the same.
“What are you even saying?”
“No matter that you came here as an envoy of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, that is going too far!”
“Can you take responsibility for those words?”
But Baek Cheon did not bother to answer their outrage with any elaborate rebuttal. He simply remained silent and listened to the words pouring down on him, one by one, staring at each of the men who were spitting out their anger.
And as he reacted with such indifference, the heated mood gradually cooled.
Only when no one else had anything left to say did Baek Cheon finally speak.
A voice so calm it was almost cold was tossed into the middle of their agitation.
“Must I really explain why I said that?”
The short sentence was at once considerate and a blade hidden on the tongue.
Everyone here knew better than anyone else that Hainan had been abandoned by the Ten Great Sects. Those who still refused to surrender their last shred of hope were merely clinging to whatever warmth might still remain in the world, while those willing to face reality were simply searching for a way to turn the hearts of those who had looked away.
There was not a single person here who believed the Ten Great Sects would step forward and actively help Hainan.
“To speak of righteousness and orthodoxy—”
Baek Cheon’s voice cut through the ears of those who could not control their boiling emotions.
“To circle around the matter and keep discussing it in polite, flattering terms. To invoke lofty ideals and say that we are right. And then, after confirming each other’s positions without anyone getting hurt, to step back with civility.”
“...”
“Yes. We can do that. But...”
Baek Cheon’s gaze drifted slightly toward the rear. Through the half-open door, he could see trees buckling under the onslaught of the typhoon, and Hainan disciples standing guard outside even in that rain and wind.
“But this is not the time for that. Do you know what we saw on the coast on our way here?”
“...What did you see?”
“Countless requisitioned ships, and ships still being built.”
At those words, Geum Yang-baek bit his lip.
“You said requisitioned?”
“Yes. They took everything, down to the smallest fishing boat.”
Everyone in the hall froze at once. If ships had been requisitioned, there was only one thing that could follow.
Invasion.
There was no need to check whether it was true. They had already felt in their bones that an attack from the Evil Tyrant Alliance was imminent.
“Sect Leader.”
Baek Cheon looked steadily at Geum Yang-baek before speaking again.
“The moment this typhoon passes, the Evil Tyrant Alliance will begin its march on Hainan.”
“...Acting Sect Leader.”
“We have no time to waste on polite words. That is why I am simply here to convey our position. The Heavenly Friends Alliance sincerely hopes that Hainan will stand with us as well. Not in some hollow alliance made of empty words, but in a place that can truly reach out to those in need. We ask that Hainan make its name known there once more.”
Geum Yang-baek fell silent, his face heavy with worry. Unable to bear the silence, the elders fidgeted and began whispering among themselves.
“Sect Leader. It is an absurd request. To voluntarily withdraw from the Ten Great Sects? There has never been a precedent for such a thing.”
“That is right. Think about it. Even if we preserved Hainan’s name that way, how are we supposed to bear the consequences afterward? How would Shaolin or Wudang treat us?”
“And what of the world’s gaze?”
But the opposing voices were no less strong.
“What are you trying to do by dragging the future into the present? Will there even be a future if Hainan collapses?”
“It isn’t wrong, is it? The Ten Great Sects are only watching from far away. It makes sense to ally with the side that can help us right now.”
“Leaving the Ten Great Sects doesn’t make us demonic sect scum, and if it’s the Heavenly Friends Alliance, it’s not exactly beneath them either.”
As Geum Yang-baek remained silent, their voices gradually grew louder. At last, the Hainan Sect Leader opened his eyes, which had been closed as he listened to every word, and slowly fixed his gaze on Baek Cheon.
“Acting Sect Leader.”
“Yes.”
“...You surely know that asking us to leave the Ten Great Sects by our own hand is an outrageous demand.”
“Of course.”
“You would not make such a recommendation unless you had absolute confidence and conviction, would you?”
“Yes. That is correct, Sect Leader.”
Baek Cheon nodded heavily.
“I believe without the slightest doubt that joining the Heavenly Friends Alliance is the choice that will bring Hainan legitimacy, practical gain, and a future.”
“Legitimacy, practical gain, and... a future.”
Geum Yang-baek quietly studied Baek Cheon and his companions with lowered eyes. Indeed, they seemed to possess a future.
Young.
Now that he looked closely, those representing each sect were all so young. Some might grow angry and take that as an insult to Hainan. But Geum Yang-baek felt something else entirely.
The Heavenly Friends Alliance was changing, centered on the next generation. Hainan had already fallen behind that change.
He, too, wanted to see it—the future shape of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, led by those young martial artists. And if a young Hainan Sect Leader stood among them, what sort of future would that become?
But whether the future they possessed also existed for Hainan was a different matter entirely.
He spoke heavily.
“It is embarrassing to say this with my own mouth, but Hainan’s situation is far too urgent to speak of legitimacy and the future.”
“Sect Leader.”
“Quiet.”
Alarmed voices came from behind him, but Geum Yang-baek lifted his right hand slightly and neatly suppressed the protest.
“Some may have their hearts stirred by Acting Sect Leader Baek’s words, and others may sympathize with the future he envisions... but to be honest, those words do not particularly reach me.”
Baek Cheon quietly nodded. Hainan’s situation was indeed far too dire to discuss such things.
“I am not saying we should not speak of a future with the Heavenly Friends Alliance. But conversation and negotiation are only possible when both sides are equal, are they not?”
“That is true.”
“Then I ask that you speak frankly about what you have prepared. We... ”
Geum Yang-baek looked straight at Baek Cheon and asked,
“If Hainan joins the Heavenly Friends Alliance, what can the Heavenly Friends Alliance do for us?”
Baek Cheon took a short breath and answered.
“We cannot promise much of anything.”
“...”
“If I were to make a promise, it would only be this: that when Hainan stands at the edge of a cliff as it does now, we will never turn away, and we will protect what must be protected.”
Geum Yang-baek’s eyes narrowed. Baek Cheon went on.
“And I believe that is more important than anything else. When no one has to risk anything for each other, anyone can make grand promises and say any fine words they like. When you joined the Ten Great Sects, did you expect they would not help Hainan in a situation like this?”
“...Of course not.”
“But we came running here without any such promise.”
“...”
“That is all we can give you, and all we ask in return. The u in Heavenly Friends Alliance stands for friendship—not profit, but trust.” Baek Cheon’s eyes shone with firm resolve. “What we can give is that trust. Not a relationship that exists only when it is beneficial, but one in which each side becomes the kind of presence the other can rely on when needed.”
Geum Yang-baek looked at Baek Cheon with an unreadable expression.
For a moment, a strange silence fell between them.
Even the Heavenly Friends Alliance members guarding Baek Cheon’s rear, and the elders standing behind the Hainan Sect Leader, were just beginning to sense something odd when Geum Yang-baek spoke again.
“Acting Sect Leader.”
“Yes.”
“I will ask you bluntly. Is there anything the Heavenly Friends Alliance can do for us Hainan, who must face the final battle against the Evil Tyrant Alliance now?”
The elders stared at Geum Yang-baek in surprise.
Unlike the sect leader they were used to, his words now were far too direct. For someone who had traveled a long way to help Hainan, it was also shockingly mercenary.
Then Baek Cheon said,
“To resolve the situation Hainan faces right now, what our Heavenly Friends Alliance can do is...”
Everyone’s gaze locked onto Baek Cheon’s mouth. A moment later, his voice reached their ears with such clarity, and somehow such chill, that it was almost frightening.
“...nothing.”
Whoooosh.
Only then did everyone seem to realize, all over again, that rain was pouring outside the hall. The sound, which they had somehow not noticed until now, began to seep in. And with it, an equally cold silence spread through the grand hall.
How much time passed in that suffocating silence?
At last, Geum Yang-baek’s even voice drifted out.
“Tomorrow.”
“...”
“For a sect that may have to take down its own plaque tomorrow, what you can do is create a relationship where help can be given when it is needed.”
A bitter laugh escaped Geum Yang-baek’s mouth.
“But when it comes to this matter, you can do nothing at all?”
Baek Cheon closed his eyes.
There were many things he could say. There were just as many things he wanted to say. But he did not voice any of them. No, he could not. None of it would help Hainan right now.
The Evil Tyrant Alliance’s advance had come faster than they expected, and they had arrived in Hainan without any preparation capable of stopping it.
“I ask again, Acting Sect Leader.”
Geum Yang-baek forced down the many emotions surging in his chest and spoke.
“Is the ten of you here all that the Heavenly Friends Alliance sent to Hainan? Or have you prepared some other means of helping us?”
Within that question lingered a hope he still could not quite abandon. But Baek Cheon denied even that final expectation.
“As of now... everyone sent here is present, Sect Leader.”
No matter how formidable the Heavenly Friends Alliance might be, the only people who could immediately be of help in the calamity that would descend after this typhoon were the ten here.
Ten. It was not a small number, and yet it was far too paltry a force to turn the tide of a battlefield where a sect and its people were fighting for survival.
Yes. Far too paltry.
“Only...”
Geum Yang-baek could not quite continue, and bit down hard on his lip instead.
“Is that really all?”
The voice, mixed with anger, emptiness, and despair, spread coldly through the silent hall.