Chapter 1249: That's One Thing (Part 4)

Guo Hansuo thought.

'What kind of crazy talk is this?'

At first, he was surprised, then quickly found it absurd, and finally became embarrassed.

Chung Myung mocked him for being stupid, but Guo Hansuo was the top disciple of the Southern Island Sect. Naturally, he couldn't be a stupid person. There was no way he didn't understand the meaning behind their words.

"Um, so..."

He hesitated as he opened his mouth.

"Your missions as special envoys of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance have been terminated, so you won't discuss that further..."

"Yes."

"Are you saying that you will relinquish your positions and join the Southern Island Sect as individual martial artists?"

"Yes."

Guo Hansuo looked at the group of Heavenly Comrade Alliance. Seeing those who were casually shoving in food while engaging in a conversation made the sense of reality he had been desperately gripping onto slip away.

Guo Hansuo, after refining his words desperately, finally pushed out the most reasonable words he should say.

"Are you crazy?"

Too much? No, not at all. From Guo Hansuo's perspective, it was the most moderate thing to say. What more moderate thing could you say to someone who was willing to risk their life?

"Tsh, do you shee thish bashtard talking back? How dare you shpeak to the Deputy Shect Leader of Mont Hua like sat!" 

[His mouth is stuffed with food, so here's a translation: Tsk, do you see this bastard talking back? How dare you speak to the Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua like that!]

"Chung Myung, calm down!"

"The person who mistreats the Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua the most is you..."

Chung Myung was angry, but Baek Cheon just smiled.

"Do I look crazy?"

"...It's not something you should say with a right mind."

"Well, it's not entirely wrong."

Baek Cheon shrugged casually.

"But what can we do? The decision has been made."

Guo Hansuo, who had been staring blankly, suddenly twitched as if something had come to mind.

"Then, are all the people here?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Now, words couldn't come out.

'Is this guy really in his right mind?'

Who were the people here?

Mount Hua's Deputy Sect Leader, Namgung's Sogaju, Tang Family's Sogaju, and the Ice Palace Lord. Even the Nokrim King was here.

Of course, the Nokrim King was in the corner emitting an aura that seemed to say, 'How did I get entangled with these crazy people and end up sitting here? I just want to bite my tongue and die,' but the fact remained that they were together.

Guo Hansuo scratched his head helplessly without being able to do anything.

Of course, he was thankful. Even though everyone was turning away from the Southern Island Sect, they came all the way here, and despite the breakdown of negotiations, they were still staying. How could he not be grateful?

He wanted to kneel down and express his gratitude with tears in his eyes.

But at this moment, Guo Hansuo realized afresh. That he was such a sane person. No, perhaps he realized that countless people in the world were less sane than him.

"Do you not know where you stand?"

"..."

"You are individuals carrying the future of each sect. Why would such people risk their lives in a distant land?"

"That's because..."

"Yes?"

Baek Cheon spoke calmly.

"As you mentioned, we are individuals carrying the future of each sect. Therefore, every one of our actions has no choice but be representative of our respective sects."

"No, we all know that…"

At that moment, Baek Cheon interrupted Guo Hansuo's words with a firm voice.

"So, if we were to return like this, how do you think those who were waiting for our return would see the situation?"

"..."

"We went to Southern Island, things didn't go well, so we left before the Evil Tyrant Alliance came rushing in?"

Baek Cheon nodded calmly.

"We can't do that. If we do, we'll only leave a precedent that when faced with a formidable enemy, one should abandon their comrades and run away."

"..."

"So, we have to fight. Instead of running away because the enemy is strong, we fight because the enemy is strong. That's the minimum duty that those who have gained benefits through righteousness and justice must uphold."

"But the Heavenly Comrade Alliance..."

"Yes. Of course, the perspectives of individuals, sects, and alliances may differ. Sometimes, one needs to know where to bridle personal opinions. However..."

Baekcheon chuckled softly.

"Well, what can we do? The Lord isn't here. He may scold us later, but for now, he can't do anything to us."

"..."

"...Yes?"

As soon as those words were spoken, those around, especially the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, looked gloomy.

"If Sect Leader finds out, he'll kill us."

"Now it's not Sect Leader, but Great Sect Leader now."

"No, even if it's the Sect Leader, he'll kill us. Sahyung."

"...Uh, well..."

"Sahyung, haven't you seen Un Am Sasukjo's wrath?"

"I don't think I've seen it...?"

"I've seen it only once. That... I saw it, and..."

Just thinking about it made Jo Gol shudder.

"We shouldn't have changed the Sect Leader... We're in big trouble."

The faces of the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect darkened in an instant, but Baek Cheon remained indifferent.

"We can think about what will happen later. For now, we just need to focus on what's right in front of us."

At that moment, Guo Hansuo realized it clearly.

'This guy is really insane.'

It was amazing how much outrageousness was inside this seemingly normal human being.

His tone was polite, his face exuded utmost trustworthiness, yet within him lied something truly Mount Hua-ish. Since he was like this, it was wonder he was entrusted with the role of the Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua.

The logic was nonexistent, and there was no consistency in his words. It was almost impossible to figure out where to start and where to end when pointing out the flaws.

But Guo Hansuo couldn't openly point out that fact. It wasn't because their joining was beneficial.

Comrades.

That one word from Baek Cheon, casually flowing out like water, forcibly sealed Guo Hansuo's lips.

"We..."

Guo Hansuo forced out the words that wouldn't come out.

"We rejected the Heavenly Comrade Alliance's proposal."

"Yes."

"We firmly stated that we wouldn't join the Heavenly Comrade Alliance."

"Understood."

Guo Hansuo stared straight at Baek Cheon.

"Nevertheless, are we comrades of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance? Is it worth risking your lives to fight together?"

"...Yes?"

Upon hearing that, Baek Cheon had a perplexed expression, as if he found it absurd.

"No, just because Southern Island didn't join the Heavenly Comrade Alliance doesn't mean it became part of the Evil Sect. It's still a member of the righteous faction, so why can't we fight together?"

"..."

"Of course, the relationship between the Ten Great Sects and the Heavenly Comrade Alliance may be a bit awkward. However, to put it bluntly, it's just that the relationship between the Heavenly Comrade Alliance and the Shaolin Sect is bad. Is there any reason for us to harbor ill feelings towards Southern Island?"

Guo Hansuo couldn't bring himself to respond and remained silent. Baek Cheon smiled and continued.

"The important thing is not that. What matters is that the Southern Island Sect is currently standing alone against the Evil Tyrant Alliance, and we are here right now."

His voice remained composed from the beginning to now, as if he were stating a simple fact that wasn't particularly noteworthy.

"So, all have to do is just fight. I don't understand why anything else is necessary."

A moment of silence passed.

Guo Hansuo's head drooped slightly. His emotions were overwhelming. He didn't want to show the expression he was making to them right now.

With his head bowed, he spoke in a slightly suppressed voice.

"...But the relationship between Southern Island and Mount Hua isn't exactly warm, is it?"

"Of course, it's not particularly pleasant. There are complications, of course."

"But still..."

"However, that doesn't mean we should leave the Southern Island Sect alone."

Guo Hansuo bit his lip. He didn't know what to say. Where should he start and how...

"And there seems to have been a bit of a misunderstanding... Even if the Alliance knew that the Southern Island Sect wouldn't join, it didn't mean we would abandon Southern Island."

"..."

"We just didn't know the situation here well. If we knew, even if Southern Island didn't join the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, we would have tried our best to help the Southern Island Sect with our full strength."

Guo Hansuo bit his lips and asked.

"Is that... the Heavenly Comrade Alliance's way?"

"No, it's not."

"What?"

"This isn't the way of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, but the duty of those who wield swords."

Guo Hansuo's chest surged.

Saying such words was easy. Guo Hansuo had heard and said them countless times throughout his life.

But how many people in the world would risk their lives to say these words? And now, there were a few of those rare individuals right in front of him.

"...Thank you."

For now, Guo Hansuo also kept his position to himself. Right now, this statement was not as the head disciple of Southern Island but simply as an ordinary disciple of Southern Island.

"It's just words, but thank you for saying that you are willing to die with us..."

"Who?"

At that moment, an extremely displeased voice cut through Guo Hansuo's words.

"...Yes?"

"Who said we would die with them?"

"...No, not now."

"Ah, has this guy really gone crazy?"

Chung Myung twisted his face in a grimace and cursed.

"Who said anything about dying, you bastard! Do you think I'm crazy? This far away? Even if I were to be delicately buried in a plum blossom forest on Mount Hua and worshipped for generations, that wouldn't be enough!"

"...I hope I never see that sight."

"Cursed, cursed."

"He should be thrown off a cliff for a case of mental illness."

"Wouldn't it be better to bury him at Southern Edge Mountain? It could become a curse for generations, don't you think?"

As Chung Myung turned his head with a swift stroke and flipped his eyes, the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect quickly lowered their heads.

"Who's gonna die? This bastard!"

"Oh, no... Isn't that the situation?"

"Situation? What situation?"

"The Evil Tyrant Alliance..."

"Hey!"

Flames practically shot out of Chung Myung's eyes.

"If the Evil Tyrant Alliance comes, should we all just expose our necks and ask them to kill us? It's not like all of them are coming, and even if some of them come, looking at those old men from one of the so-called Ten Great Sects begging to die is enough to make your stomach turn! Hey, you punk! If we have time to wrestle here, we should be thinking about killing all the ones coming!"

"Well, our strength..."

"Forget about strength! Fights aren't won by the strong. The one who wins is the strong one. If you're going to talk about strength, the Central Plains would have been obliterated a hundred years ago!"

"That's right."

"Demonic Cult bastards are really something."

"...They were even stronger in the past. I wonder how we defeated them."

"Compared to that, the Evil Tyrant Alliance is nothing."

A stunned Guo Hansuo looked at everyone. Then Chung Myung spoke again.

"Listen carefully, punk."

"..."

"Fighting with the determination to die and going to die are different. Who said they'd die here? Don't talk nonsense. I'm going to fight the Evil Tyrant Alliance, not die here."

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword..."

Chung Myung looked at Guo Hansuo with slightly narrowed eyes.

"So, if you have time to talk nonsense, go get ready. We'll discuss it after eating."

"...Discuss what?"

"Discuss what?"

All eyes turned towards Chung Myung.

"How to kill those Evil Tyrant Alliance bastards."

Chung Myung's lips twisted into a deadly smile.