Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1428: So Is This Dagger A Failure? (3)
Previously on Return of the Mount Hua Sect...
It’s frightening.
That was the first thought that came to Hyun Jong’s mind.
It’s hard to explain precisely why, but his spine went cold. The one who filled Hyun Jong’s mind was none other than Beop Jeong, the Abbott of Shaolin.
‘In that situation…’
Could it be that he foresaw things this far ahead?
No, no. That can’t be. No matter how great Beop Jeong is, he couldn’t have predicted the Tang Family abandoning their house and fleeing, or the Four Sects Alliance splitting in two.
Yes. That’s the reasonable way to think.
But…
‘Then isn’t that an even bigger problem?’
If all of this wasn’t calculated, then Beop Jeong had only one intention: to get them away somehow and at least save Dian-cang, wasn’t that the plan?
But if Mount Hua and the Tang Family end up turning their backs on Dian-cang, how would Beop Jeong react?
“Catastrophe…”
Words he hadn’t finished forming spilled from his tongue first.
There was no other word to describe the outcome than ‘catastrophe.’ The Nine Great Sects and the Heavenly Friends Alliance would become a relationship that could never walk the same path again.
‘What should be done about this…’
It’s a terrible crossroads.
Even if there was intent, it doesn’t change that Beop Jeong risked danger to give them a chance to escape. To throw away Beop Jeong’s expectations is not something a person should do.
But that doesn’t mean they can abandon the Tang Family. Abandoning the Tang Family would be like abandoning the foundation of the Heavenly Friends Alliance. Isn’t the Heavenly Friends Alliance defined by never abandoning your friends?
No, even if the Heavenly Friends Alliance permitted it, Hyun Jong could not allow it.
Hyun Jong’s hand trembled.
If he chose the Tang Family, he’d choose friends but forsake his oath. If he chose Dian-cang, he’d keep his oath but turn a blind eye to the sacrifice of his friends.
How could he possibly choose either side?
But there wasn’t even time to ponder deeply. The Ten Thousand People Clan had begun pursuing the Tang Family, and if the remaining Four Sects Alliance members were heading for Dian-cang, they too had to immediately change course and chase after them. Otherwise, both sides would be sacrificed.
“Fo- former Sect leader. This is…”
Una A’s voice trembled as if he understood the situation. Just then, Hyun Jong, who could not bring himself to choose anything, squeezed his eyes shut.
“Huu…”
A low sigh.
A small but piercingly clear sigh pricked their ears. When Hyun Jong turned his head, he saw Tang Gunak with an untroubled expression.
“There is… there is no way.”
“Family lord…”
“We must go to Dian-cang, Alliance Leader.”
Hyun Jong’s eyes widened involuntarily.
“F- Family Lord. What are you saying! Right now the Ten Thousand People Clan, that Jang Ilso, is chasing the Tang Family’s members! If we don’t help, they will…”
“As I said.”
Tang Gunak answered in a voice as calm as could be.
“The Tang Family is not that weak. Even the Ten Thousand People Clan cannot catch and kill them all. Those who are to live will live.”
But Hyun Jong didn’t miss the faint tremor in Tang Gunak’s voice. Perhaps it was even obvious enough that the most oblivious could notice the tremor.
“Family Lord…”
“If we don’t go to Dian-cang, we’ll give them justification. The Abbot who has quietly disliked the Heavenly Friends Alliance will shout loudly and condemn the Alliance for lack of principle.”
Hyun Jong squeezed his eyes shut. That scene played vividly in his head.
But…
“Of course loyalty is important. However… it’s not everything. Family lord, how…”
“Alliance Leader.”
Tang Gunak cut off Hyun Jong’s words.
“We must do whatever it takes to prevent a rift with the Nine Great Sects. Especially at a time like this!”
“…”
“We must go to Dian-cang.”
Hyun Jong turned around in a daze. Those he looked at were not his disciples but the Tang Family’s elite who had been following Tang Gunak.
Those Jang Ilso was chasing were, broadly speaking, Tang Family household members, but more narrowly they were brothers, parents, and children.
Tang Gunak’s words meant leaving those people to die screaming in the Evil Sect’s clutches. It was so cold, so heartless, and so heartbreaking.
Yet none of the Tang Family present protested Tang Gunak’s words. They simply bit their lips and clutched their thighs, enduring the situation.
Because they understood.
Right or wrong, they knew that Tang Gunak—the one who had to make this decision—suffered the most, and so they gritted their teeth and endured the gut-wrenching pain.
Even Tang Pae, the Tang Family’s young lord, was among them.
“How…”
“You must go to Dian-cang! Former Sect leader.”
Hyun Jong looked at the one who spoke with trembling eyes.
Tang Soso.
The youngest of Mount Hua and Tang Gunak’s daughter, she trembled at her chin but managed to continue speaking.
“That’s what we have to do.”
“Soso…”
“This isn’t something to agonize over…”
At that moment, someone grabbed Tang Soso’s shoulder and pulled her back.
“…”
Surprised, Tang Soso turned her head and saw Yu Yiseol standing there with an expressionless face.
“Stop.”
The words sounded cold, but the voice was full of worry. Tang Soso’s shoulders trembled at that voice.
“No. No, Sago… We must go to Dian-cang. To Dian-cang.”
“I know, so stop.”
“We didn’t come here by our strength alone. But we can’t cause harm. The Tang Family isn’t that kind of place…”
Yu Yiseol gently pulled Tang Soso close and patted her shoulder. Unable to continue, Tang Soso bowed her head deeply.
Silence.
A deep silence settled among them.
“Former Sect leader.”
It was Baek Cheon who spoke up then.
“I understand the situation, but… is it truly impossible to divide our forces?”
Hyun Jong’s face contorted at Baek Cheon’s words.
Not out of anger, but because a terrible temptation had come to him for a moment. Perhaps dividing the troops could give them a chance to save both sides—an opportunity to not miss either.
Even if both fail, couldn’t he at least tell himself he had tried the minimum?
It was a very sweet temptation—enough to shake even Hyun Jong for a moment. But he pushed away that temptation desperately.
“That cannot be done. If we make a mistake, Mount Hua and the Tang Family could be defeated piece by piece. If that Jang Ilso prepared a trap knowing we’d move like that, there’d be no way to survive it.”
Baek Cheon bowed his head deeply.
His thoughts were not that different. He had only been shaking off lingering attachments.
“I understand what you mean, former Sect leader. But then isn’t going to the Tang Family the right thing to do?”
“Baek Cheon…”
“Not just the Tang Family. Timing suggests no major catastrophe, but in Sichuan there’s also Gul’s house. If we go to Dian-cang, something could happen in there too.”
At those words, Hyun Jong flinched and looked at Jo Gul.
Then Jo Gul shouted at Baek Cheon with an angry face.
“Why are you suddenly talking about my family!”
“It’s important.”
“Why is that important! Everyone else is risking their lives fighting, and you’re telling me to go defend my household? If I go there, do you think my father will praise me? He’ll just be angry at having such an idiot son!”
“Gul!”
Jo Gul snapped his head around to look at Hyun Jong.
“Do not think of my house, former Sect leader. They are not martial people.”
Hyun Jong bit his lip.
He understood Jo Gul’s meaning. But that didn’t mean he could just leave them.
“But I also agree with going to the Tang Family. We must protect them! They have no one to fight! Protecting the weak is our duty.”
“Dian-cang’s situation isn’t necessarily any better.”
“Sahyung!”
At Yoon Jong’s reply, Jo Gul burst out shouting.
“If we must help the weak, the same applies to Dian-cang. Just because we have no ties, or because they’re not part of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, we can’t relegate them to a lower priority…”
“You’re saying it’s not a negotiation?”
“No.”
Yoon Jong looked at Jo Gul with resolute eyes.
“It’s not the Tao.”
“…”
“Only gathering those you prefer is not the Tao. There is no high or low among people. Whoever they are.”
“Damn it! What a great sage you’ve become!”
Jo Gul growled and snapped angrily.
“Then be the sage, Sahyung! I’ll be a friend of the Tang Family!”
“Gul!”
“No, from the start…”
Just as their argument was about to escalate, Tang Gunak spoke.
“We don’t have time for this.”
Those words doused everyone like cold water.
“Jo Gul, Taoist.”
“… Family Lord.”
“Thank you.”
“…”
Jo Gul shut his mouth tightly.
“And Baek Cheon, Taoist as well. But now we must not go to the Tang Family. What we would lose is far too great.”
“Things like loyalty…”
“It’s not just loyalty. Above all is the world’s perception. If the belief that the Heavenly Friends Alliance will help those in danger collapses, even for groups not part of it, then…”
Baek Cheon flinched at Tang Gunak’s resolute words.
Tang Gunak was deliberately bringing up what Baek Cheon had tried not to think about.
“It means the covenant that the world believed the Heavenly Friends Alliance upheld would be shaken. People would think that, when pressed, we’d save our own first. Who would trust such a place? If that happens, the Heavenly Friends Alliance would lose what it must not lose above all. Compared to that…”
Tang Gunak spoke with a cruel edge.
“The lives of those who cannot fight are a small part.”
“…”
He wanted to be angry.
He wanted to shout how could he say such things. But no one could; the one who spoke was Tang Gunak himself.
“The threat of the Four Sects Alliance is no longer hypothetical. They are pressing a blade into the heart of the Central Plains. If the Nine Great Sects and the Heavenly Friends Alliance split under such circumstances, it will be over. Jang Ilso will widen that gap and set the world ablaze.”
“…”
“Do as I say.”
“Family Lord…”
“If you respect me as the Tang Family’s Family Lord, this once heed my words. At least let me choose the fate of my own family.”
Everyone bit their lips and looked at Tang Gunak.
“I beg you.”
Tang Gunak bowed his head.
It was an utterly desperate plea. Who would dare ignore such a request?
Jo Gul who had been shouting, the resolute Baek Cheon, and even the wavering Hyun Jong all averted their gazes before that nod.
But only one person.
“…Ugh.”
It wasn’t just one person.
“Damn… It’s filthy noisy.”
“Chung Myung!”
“Hey, you!”
Chung Myung, whom Tang Gunak had briefly put aside, sat up. Scratching the back of his head with one hand, he clicked his tongue at those rushing toward him.
“You all right, Chung Myung?”
“Why? You wanted me dead?”
“No, you bastard. What are you saying…”
“I know, so move aside. This is no time for that.”
At that, the Five Swords flinched and stepped back. Space opened between Chung Myung and Tang Gunak.
“I wondered what had happened in the meantime… So Jang Ilso is indeed formidable, it seems.”
“…you.”
“You’ve even made the Family Lord of the world spout nonsense.”
Tang Gunak’s face hardened.
“Making a fuss over something that needs no thought. Hey, sasuk.”
“Yeah.”
“Move out.”
“Where to?”
“Where? For goodness’ sake, it’s obvious.”
Chung Myung sprang to his feet and grinned.
“We’re going to the Tang Family. While we’re at it, we’ll take that Jang Ilso’s head.”
It was a moment when everyone’s mood changed completely.
