Chapter 912: There's No Other Way (Part 2)

"Kikikikikikikiki."

"..."

"Kikikikikikikikikikiki."

"..."

Jo Gol and Yoon Jong looked around with faces full of unease.

"Sasuk."

"Why?"

"Why is that...thing acting like that?"

"..."

Baek Cheon briefly glanced at 'that thing' with a face that said there was no point in even calling it a person.

Something that couldn't be called a human in a million years, held a liquor bottle in one hand and a writing brush in the other, cackling like a demon. And it kept doing so for quite a while.

"Gol-ah, Jong-ah."

"Yes, Sasuk."

"Is there any special reason for it...?"

"Well, it's not like the fellow's gone mad for just a day or two; I understand that much."

"But isn't it acting especially intense today? Sasuk, please take a look at that."

Baekcheon flinched as he saw the direction pointed out by Yoon Jong.

Baek Ah, who rarely ever detached from Chung Myung, was sneaking away from afar, watching cautiously with trembling ears.

'He's so cute when his white fur stands on end.'

...No, that's not it.

That's a creature that can even cast a tiger whip from the ears. I shouldn't be fooled by appearances. If it's nice in character, that's enough...

Baekcheon turned his gaze towards Chung Myung.

Even in his view, Chung Myung didn't seem to be in a good condition today. His devil aura was surging behind him as if it were a shadow.

Wasn't it amazing that a person could exude such creepy energy even though he or she was expressing joy with his or her entire body?

"Kkuhuhuhu..."

At that moment, Chung Myung suddenly burst into a fit of mad laughter, his expression like a swindler who had just pulled off a big con.

"Are these brats trying to pull a fast one on me? It's still too early, you punks!"

Baek Cheon raised his head upon hearing those muttered words. There's no way he would hear it, but he wanted to say it.

"Chung Myung... if you're dealing with someone, you shouldn't be heard by a minor... How unfair it would be for that minor listening?"

"Kikikikikikiki. Hehehehe! Euhuhuhuhuhu! Karrurrurrur!"

"...He's gone crazy."

"Yeah. Not just any ordinary crazy."

"Chung Myung, why are you like this?"

"He's not just normally crazy."

Chung Myung joyfully put the bottle to his lips. Watching him move so cheerfully, the onlookers felt much refreshed.

"...Why on earth is he like this?"

Baek Cheon smiled softly and warmly, speaking gently.

"You guys still don't know him well, do you?"

"...What do you mean?"

"There are only two cases when that fox-like guy is this happy."

"W-what are they?"

"When he makes a lot of money or when he screws over someone."

"...Uh..."

"Looking closely at his smiling face, this time it seems to be the latter."

Jo Gol and Yoon Jong began to tremble.

Baek Cheon, a highly acclaimed prodigy in Chung Myung "study," must be correct.

Then...

"Ten Great Sects?"

"Five Great Families?"

"Jang Ilso? Evil Tyrant Alliance?"

"Oh, no, maybe Southern Edge Sect?"

As they listed names that came to mind, they suddenly realized.

There were too many people in the world that Chung Myung wanted to screw over.

"No, at this point, isn't everyone in the world, except the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, his enemy?"

By now, it's serious to wonder who could be the cause of all these problems.

"Hueeum! The weather is surprisingly good!"

"Krrrrrrrr!"

...It's raining, you idiot.

But whether it rains or not, Chung Myung laughed heartily, his shoulders shaking with joy.

"Kkkkkkk. You're all done! All of you! Euhuhuhu!"

The words that should never come out of a Taoist's mouth flowed freely.

If that's a Taoist, then a worm is a dragon.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

Eventually, Baek Cheon approached and asked quietly, causing Chung Myung to turn his head.

"Oh, Sasuk! Want a drink?"

"A guy who drinks at this hour in the middle of the day, are there any others like you in Mount Hua Sect?"

"Well, there aren't, but from today, you can be one too."

"I'll pass."

Baek Cheon shook his head and asked again.

"But what's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just... well..."

"Yeah."

"The Righteous Sects are going to have a brawl with the Evil Tyrant Alliance today."

"Oh, I see. Okay, th... wh-what, this guy?"

Baek Cheon, his eyes widening, grabbed Chung Myung by the collar.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"The Righteous Sects and the Evil Tyrant Alliance."

"War?"

"Yeah, a war."

Baek Cheon's face turned pale in an instant.

"Hey, you! If that's not a big deal, it's not a big deal even if Mount Hua collapses!"

"Come on. I'm telling you, it's really not a big deal. It has nothing to do with us."

"How can it not have anything to do with us, you crazy guy!"

"It's okay, it's okay."

Chung Myung reached out and patted Baek Cheon's back.

"Out Dong Ryong is timid. It's ok, all we have to do is watch some goot and eat some tteok. Kikikikiki!"

Baek Cheon, releasing Chung Myung's collar, buried his face in his hands.

"Oh, great Heavenly Lord."

I truly don't know. Why did you give such a rascal such power? Why...

Baek Cheon, appearing to be wrestling with something, slammed his palm with a fist.

"Ah, for now, we should send some scouts to the North Sea and Yunnan."

"Huh, to the Beast Palance and the Ice Palace?"

"Yeah."

Baek Cheon, who had been suffering, quickly raised his head and contemplated.

'Yeah, even though this bastard speaks viciously, there's no way he's just easily accepting this situation. Obviously, reinforcements are going to be requested in advance... … .'

"Such good news can't be known only by me! Happiness multiplies when shared, you know. Let's laugh together! Euhuhuhuhu! We're friends!"

"..."

The billowing dark clouds were steadily thickening. Yoon Jong approached Baek Cheon, who was looking up at them with a helpless expression, and lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Don't cry, Sasuk."

"I'm not crying..."

Baek Cheon brushed away Yoon Jong's hand while sniffing. Then he asked.

"In that case, shouldn't we hurry to the Yangtze River now?"

"Why?"

"If there's a war, we should lend a hand. After all, it's an engagement against the Evil Tyrant Alliance."

Chung Myung nodded firmly with a determined look.

"Of course! Of course, we should fight!"

"Is, is that so?"

"That's right, but..."

"Yeah?"

Chung Myung's face, which was firm just a moment ago, relaxed. Like a well-fed cat, he leaned back against a tree.

"Well, it's a bit bothersome for now. Let's go slowly. Very slowly."

"..."

"Let them fight as much as they want. Let it blow up until their noses bleed."

"..."

"Or, it would be even better if we planned for both of them to ruin themselves."

Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with a puzzled expression. However, unlike Baek Cheon, who still had some hope in Chung Myung, Jo Geol had already abandoned all hope and focused on understanding the situation. Therefore, he didn't pay much attention to what Chung Myung was saying.

"But, Chung Myung."

"Yeah?"

"If we mess this up, won't it cause problems for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. We can fight against the Evil Tyrant Alliance, but we can't fight against the Ten Great Sects or the Five Great Families, right?"

"Why not? We can fight them. Just beat them up, and that's it."

"No, no, no. We really can't have a war. Killing each other and shedding blood is not easy, you know."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Chung Myung raised his round eyes and tilted his head in bewilderment. Sensing his reaction, everyone had a feeling about what he might be thinking.

"He's considering it."

"He doesn't understand."

"Mom, I'm scared of this guy."

What's the difference between the Four Great Evils and the Righteous Sects in this guy's head, anyway?

"Anyway, so?"

"Well, that's right. Uh... but if the war breaks out like this, and the Ten Great Sects or the Five Great Families wipe out the Evil Tyrant Alliance, won't we just hand over control to he Ten Great Sects or the Five Great Families without doing anything? Isn't that like chasing a chicken and ending up looking at the dog's roof?"

"Huh?"

"..."

When Jo Gol finished speaking, everyone looked at him in surprise.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

As if to express admiration, Chung Myung applauded. He put some strength into Jo Gol's shoulders as if he were congratulating him.

"Is that so? My words are right, aren't they?"

"No? None of them is right."

This guy?

"...Then why did you clap?"

"Our sahyung seems to regard the Ten Great Sects or the Five Great Families as members of the same family. I was impressed by that."

"He's like like Sagal." [idk]

"He's like a Sapa." [Evil Sect member, didn't translate to preserve the pun]

"..."

Jo Gol attempted to defend himself in frustration, but his words fell on deaf ears, except for one person.

"Well, isn't it a reasonable argument?"

"Sasuk!"

Tears of gratitude welled up in Jo Gol's eyes. Baek Cheon was still Baek Cheon, after all. He could be the next leader...maybe.

"Usually what comes out of his mouth is just bullshit..."

Well, it seems that Yoon Jong should be the next leader.

"Anyway, the longer we wait to get involved, the stronger the positions of the Ten Great Sects and the Five Great Families will become, right? No matter how much I think about it, I don't think the Ten Great Sects and the Five Great Families will lose to the Evil Tyrant Alliance."

While the Evil Tyrant Alliance had shown remarkable growth in the past three years, the Ten Great Sects were still the Ten Great Sects, and the Five Great Families were still the Five Great Families. If they went all out, the Evil Tyrant Alliance, no matter how strong it had become, couldn't defeat them. That was Baek Cheon's common sense.

Chung Myung, who had been listening silently, chuckled.

"Some things are right and some things are wrong, but in truth, there's no need to worry about the situation you're concerned about. It was never going to happen."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because the Ten Great Sects and the Five Great Families won't be able to muster their full strength."

Baek Cheon's face stiffened slightly.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said. No matter how loudly Shaolin shouts, no one will gather."

"Oh, no, it's a crisis for Gango, right?"

"Right, it's a crisis. But you see..."

Chung Myung chuckled mischievously.

"People don't usually realize the urgency until the fire is on their own feet, and as sasuk mentioned, the Ten Great Sects could catch the Evil Tyrant Alliance if they put all their strength into it."

"...That's true."

"But would it be crazy to lead the way? In that case, I'll suffer more damage. And as Jo Gol sahyung mentioned, if we win the war, our strength will weaken, and we'll fall behind other sects."

"Won't, won't we miss some war achievements?"

"Ah, war achievements? That thing, you do it once, and it becomes a trivial and useless thing."

"..."

"Life is practical, practical. This guy is here! He's living by complaining about inedible and subtle things like that!"

"But, well..."

"The guys from the Kangho who were hesitating whether they would win or not even when the Demon Sect attacked, the ones who gave up their butts for their own benefit, who were they? The Evil Tyrant Alliance?"

"..."

"Oh my. They will certainly fight fiercely."

Baek Cheon's forehead broke out in cold sweat.

"So, does that mean the Evil Tyrant Alliance will win?"

"Is there anything different there? When Jang Ilso strikes from the north, and the Evil Sect strikes from behind, wouldn't the leaders of the Righteous Sect applaud from behind? Come on, step forward and fight, then you die quickly."

"..."

"No."

Baek Cheon was at a loss for words. The fight between the Righteous Sects and the Evil Tyrant Alliance that he had thought of was not like this. He thought it was a fierce confrontation between justice and evil...

Is this just an eye-fighting contest and a real mess?

"What kind of war..."

"No, it's not."

"Huh?"

Chung Myung chuckled.

"This isn't what a war is like. A war is usually like this. Just leave a few lines of it in history, and it looks like it went well. If kept every detail, then all the leaders would have died of high blood pressure, right?"

Baek Cheon the. started to think that maybe he wasn't normal either. That was because Chung Myung's nonsense sounded somewhat plausible.

"Sasuk, so we..."

Chung Myung, who briefly lifted his drink in a refreshing manner, laughed again.

"Let's just watch these crazy guys' heads explode. Ha ha ha ha. When I think about the blood on that baldie's forehead, I feel like everything I ate three years ago is being digested all at once! Eohehehehehehehehehehehe!"

Chung Myung grabbed Baek Ah, who was trying to run away while looking for a chance, and laughed heartily while staring at his tiny face.

"...crazy."

Baek Cheon, who had had enough, let out a deep sigh. It felt as if he had acutely realized that he had returned to the Mount Hua Sect.

I'd rather die than suffer this.

I'd rather die...