Mount Hua Is Not Mount Hua Without You (2)
He would die.
It wasn’t exactly an unfamiliar phrase. No, if anything, it was one they were all far too used to hearing.
But when those words came out of Chung Myung’s mouth, they landed on everyone’s chest like a ten-thousand-pound boulder.
“...No way...”
Baek Sang started to say something, then closed his mouth again.
He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
Chung Myung gave a dry laugh.
“You were lucky, huh?”
“...”
“If Heo Do hadn’t stepped up and stopped the war.”
“...”
“Or if the timing had been just a little later.”
None of them could bring themselves to meet his eyes, and one by one, they looked away.
“If Maninbang hadn’t just dragged things out there and bled the clock, but had really come at us ready to wage war.”
“...”
“Could we really all be sitting here talking about reputation and profit?”
Baek Sang bit down on his lip.
“But that’s...”
“Right.”
Chung Myung cut him off with a shrug.
“If you’re a martial artist, you should be prepared to die at any time. If you swing a sword for a living and still think you won’t get cut down, that’s arrogance. That’s disgusting.”
“...”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s fine to die.”
Chung Myung shook his head.
“The world’s already changed. The battlefields we’ll be standing on from now on won’t be so forgiving. The days when you could fight like it was practice, like it was just experience, are over. And they’re never coming back. From here on out, it’s going to be kill or be killed.”
Because Saperyeon had changed the world.
And everyone in this room knew it.
“But still...”
Baek Sang didn’t seem fully convinced.
“Isn’t that exactly why we’re uniting the sects and building up our strength? If it’s the power of the Heavenly Alliance, then...”
“Sasuk.”
Chung Myung looked straight at Baek Sang and asked, “Do you really think that?”
“...”
Baek Sang chewed on his lip for a moment before letting out a long sigh.
Chung Myung went on.
“I like money too. I like fame, and I like honor, too.”
“...And?”
“But if the price is giving away even one person’s life here, then I don’t need any of that crap.”
His voice was calmer than anyone had ever heard it, and firmer too.
“You know what really sends a person to hell?”
“...Seeing a sworn brother die with your own eyes?”
“No. That’s nothing.”
Chung Myung shook his head.
“Real hell is surviving. And then realizing, too late, that I could have stopped my sworn brothers from dying.”
“...”
“What drags people into true hell is regret.”
His tone remained flat.
And yet everyone listening felt a strange sorrow sink into their chests.
“Someone’s going to die. That’s unavoidable. Everyone’s acting normal, as if nothing’s wrong, but you all know it too. Someday, one of the people sitting here will die. And not that far in the future, either.”
“...”
“Then...”
Chung Myung lifted his gaze toward the ceiling.
“What use will all that brilliant fame hanging on our shoulders be?”
“...”
“What use will the massive fortune in our hands be?”
“...”
“What use will the lofty honor of having saved the world be?”
In the silence that followed, Chung Myung stared up at the ceiling for a moment longer before speaking again, slowly.
“Do you really think all of that would be worth a damn?”
Baek Cheon watched Chung Myung in silence.
He knew.
That wasn’t Chung Myung talking to his sworn brothers. It was Chung Myung talking to himself.
“I don’t want to regret it.”
“...”
“If I can’t avoid seeing someone die, then at the very least, I have to make sure it isn’t because I was too careless. It can’t be some worthless death caused by my own stupid choices. It can’t be a death that could have been avoided.”
Yu I-seol nodded slowly.
Calmly, but with complete certainty.
“Mount Hua has to become stronger. This isn’t enough. And it’s not just because of Maninbang. It’s not even just because of Saperyeon or Jang Il-so.”
It was fear.
Fear, vicious and deep, of losing something precious.
If even one person had been lost in this fight, Mount Hua would not have looked the way it did now. And everyone knew it: this result hadn’t been won through skill. It had been won purely by luck.
It should have been like this from the beginning.
Chung Myung bit his lip.
He had told Jang Il-so he would make him regret giving Mount Hua time. But that had only been a venomous outburst.
Chung Myung had been terrified.
Win against Maninbang?
What meaning did victory have if it was purchased with the lives of countless disciples?
He had lived through that kind of victory already, more times than he could count. Search the whole world, and there wasn’t a single person who had tasted more victories than Chung Myung, or more glorious ones.
So what was left for him?
Nothing.
Truly, nothing at all.
Then Baek Cheon, who had been staring at Chung Myung the whole time, finally spoke.
“So...”
Every disciple turned to him. At a moment like this, if anyone could speak for Mount Hua’s disciples, it was Baek Cheon.
“You’re saying that if we shut the sect gates and train like hell, then no one has to die?”
“Like hell that would happen. But...”
Chung Myung closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. His expression had hardened by the time he spoke.
“At the very least, the living won’t have to be ashamed in front of the dead.”
Baek Cheon gave a short laugh.
“Well, that’s not much to make a fuss over.”
“...”
“I’m in favor.”
“Sasuk!”
“Sahyung!”
The others cried out in surprise, but Baek Cheon didn’t even glance at them. He only looked at Chung Myung, laughing as if the whole thing were absurd.
“I told the greedy little bastard to stop being so greedy, and now he’s doing something even crazier. I suppose I should call that very like you.”
Baek Sang looked utterly bewildered. Having spent so long with Baek Cheon, he understood better than anyone that once the Great Sahyung made up his mind like this, he would never change it.
So he turned to Yoon Jong as if begging for help.
“Say something.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Yoon Jong gathered his thoughts for a moment, then answered calmly.
“I also think there is nothing wrong with it.”
“...What?”
“Frankly, I don’t know much about wealth or fame or reputation. I only practice my sword. Mount Hua is a place where one pursues the Dao through the sword. Isn’t that enough?”
He gave a slight shrug and continued.
“I understand that Sasuk has a point. But whichever way it is, I believe it’s enough if we can simply do what we must.”
Before Baek Sang could say anything else, Jo Gul clicked his tongue at Yoon Jong.
“You stubborn old mule...”
“Why? Do you disagree?”
“If I say I do, aren’t you just going to hit me? What am I supposed to say?”
“I won’t hit you.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“I said I won’t hit you.”
“Yes, yes. It’s the word of someone above the heavens, so of course I must obey... Ack! I thought you said you wouldn’t hit me!”
Baek Sang sighed, deciding that side of the argument was already lost.
He glanced at Yu I-seol last, but since she had already agreed to shut the gates in the first place, there was no point asking her. And with that impassive face of hers, sitting there as if none of this had anything to do with her, he couldn’t even find the words to ask.
“Just give up, Sasuk.”
Gwak Hoe smiled bitterly.
“Honestly, what are you even supposed to say after hearing that? You already know it yourself, don’t you, Sasuk?”
“...Yes, I know, but...”
Baek Sang scratched his head hard.
“No matter how I think about it, it just feels too wasteful. Too wasteful! Chung Myung. Are you really saying the two things can’t coexist?”
“I’m not that good at juggling things.”
“...”
“We’re shutting the gates because we need to squeeze every last bit of strength out of ourselves. If they could coexist, I wouldn’t have asked for a closure of the sect in the first place.”
Baek Sang let out a long, heavy sigh.
Looking around, he saw that everyone’s eyes had changed without him noticing.
Seriously, these bastards.
They had been resisting so hard, and yet after just a few words, they were already beginning to accept it. No, not just accept it—the way they looked, it was as if they wanted to jump up first and shout for the gates to be sealed and the training to begin immediately.
It was frustrating as hell, but... in the end, Baek Sang didn’t say anything else.
He had no choice but to understand. He, too, felt the same way.
Maybe he could have kept insisting. Maybe he could have raged and shouted until they twisted their decision back the other way.
But he couldn’t.
If, in exchange, one day Baek Sang were to stand before Baek Cheon’s corpse, how could he ever forgive himself?
He never could. Not ever.
And because he knew that, he couldn’t bring himself to object.
“It seems... things are more or less settled.”
At that moment, Hyun Jong, who had quietly listened to their conversation the whole time, spoke in a deep voice.
“Last night, when Chung Myung came to me and raised this matter, I, too, spent a great deal of time thinking. About what was right.”
“Sect Leader...”
“Mount Hua has many opportunities. And upon Mount Hua’s shoulders rests a heavy responsibility.”
Hyun Jong, of all people, had even more reason to think that way.
Others only needed to think about what Mount Hua might lose. But as the leader of the Heavenly Alliance, Hyun Jong had burdens to carry as well. Even if he limited his thoughts strictly to Mount Hua, he would have to consider far more than just his disciples did.
“By logic, no answer came to me. So for the first time, I asked my heart instead. I asked it what path I truly wanted.”
When everyone’s attention fixed on him, Hyun Jong smiled gently.
“And my heart answered me. It said that even a fortune of a thousand gold, even fame that echoes throughout the world, even honors that would make Mount Hua’s name shine...”
His eyes were brighter and clearer than ever before.
“None of it is worth exchanging for even a single disciple.”
“...Sect Leader.”
Hyun Jong smiled.
Perhaps it was not the sort of thing a sect leader ought to say. And yet, at the same time, it was exactly the sort of feeling a sect leader should have.
Hyun Jong’s heart was saying precisely that.
The opportunity before Mount Hua now was something he had once wanted more than anything in the world.
But now he understood.
“I don’t mind if Mount Hua does not become the greatest sect under heaven.”
“...”
“Even without that name, Mount Hua is still Mount Hua. It is not Mount Hua because it is strong and great. But...”
Warmth filled Hyun Jong’s eyes.
“Mount Hua without you is not Mount Hua.”
Everyone clenched their fists.
There were countless words in this world, but none that could move their hearts more than those.
“As Mount Hua’s sect leader, I intend to protect Mount Hua.”
“...”
“Does anyone object?”
Silence.
All of them looked at Hyun Jong without a word. After a moment of quiet, the first answer came.
“None.”
Baek Sang.
Once he answered, the rest followed like ripples in water.
“None.”
“None, Sect Leader!”
“We will follow Sect Leader’s wishes!”
Hyun Jong slowly nodded.
“All disciples of Mount Hua, listen.”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
“In the name of Mount Hua’s sect leader, I hereby order the closure of the sect, effective immediately. No end date shall be set.”
“Yes!”
Hyun Jong looked at them with gentle eyes.
It might have been an unreasonable demand. But none of them stepped forward to protest, and no one sent him any more resentful looks.
Whatever was in their hearts, they were trying to follow his words.
How could he not protect such people?
“Let us return. To Mount Hua.”
“Yes! Sect Leader!”
And so Mount Hua’s journey to Shaanxi was decided.
Just as everyone was smiling warmly at Hyun Jong, a cold voice spoke up.
“So it’s decided?”
Crack. Crack.
Chung Myung rolled his neck from side to side. The bones popping in his throat sounded strangely ominous.
“Ah, there’s one thing I forgot to mention.”
“...Huh?”
“Whoever dies soon won’t necessarily be dying because of the war.”
“...”
“I’m really going all out this time too. If you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be better to die by my hand than somebody else’s? Don’t you think?”
“...”
“Just so you know. Keep that in mind.”
The fighting spirit drained straight out of Mount Hua’s disciples. When they all turned to Hyun Jong with the eyes of frightened deer, Hyun Jong smiled kindly and quietly looked away.
“There’s no point dragging this out. Let’s head back at once. We’re going to be busy from here on.”
“...”
The gates of hell were always decorated beautifully.
Only now did Mount Hua’s disciples realize they had willingly walked straight into it.