Chapter 1770. Who Did You Say You Were? (5)

The man holding a sword and the one unarmed. 

The one threatening and the one being threatened. 

A tense standoff, as though walking on ice, continued for a moment.

The middle-aged man, who had been glaring at Baek Cheon with a piercing gaze, slowly withdrew the sword from his neck.

"...."

Instinctively, Baek Cheon raised a hand to touch his neck. His fingertips came away sticky with warm blood. He had been threatened and injured without understanding why. Yet, strangely, he felt no hostility toward his opponent.

Was it because these people had saved him? That might be part of it, but Baek Cheon sensed there was more to it. That couldn't be the only reason.

"...What do you mean?"

At the same time, Baek Cheon felt a strong sense of obligation—a need to understand the situation unfolding before him.

"If I was once the Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua, what do you mean by saying I should know who you are?"

The middle-aged man silently stared at Baek Cheon.

After a long, wordless gaze, the man let out a small chuckle.

"Impressive. To ask a question like that in a situation like this... I suppose that's why you could become the Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua at such a young age."

Baek Cheon let out a short sigh.

"That's not it. I'm just not afraid. I don't have anything left to lose."

"Nothing left to lose, huh..."

The middle-aged man let out a chuckling sound.

"Do you really think that?"

"...."

A bitter laugh—no, a blatant mockery.

Even so, it was clear that this man didn't think lightly of Baek Cheon. In fact, it seemed he might consider him important. The fact that the man's eyes didn't bother hiding his animosity made that evident.

Yet, instead of shrinking back, Baek Cheon spoke again.

"You haven't answered my question."

"I asked you a question first."

"...."

That was true. The man had asked Baek Cheon first—whether he knew who he was.

But Baek Cheon couldn't answer. No matter how hard he searched his memories, this middle-aged man didn't exist in any of them. Not even a fleeting memory.

"...I don't know." 

With that, Baek Cheon could only repeat the same answer as before. 

"Ha ha ha." 

The man chuckled softly again at the response.

It was a hollow laugh, filled with a sense of futility. Yet, Baek Cheon sensed a small amount of resentment and anger lurking behind it.

Was it really something to be so angry about? The fact that Baek Cheon didn't recognize him?

"I suppose you wouldn't know…"

The man's gaze shifted to the ceiling of the desolate tent. Fixing his eyes on the barren ceiling, he muttered quietly.

"You wouldn't know. There's no reason for you to."

He slowly lowered his head, meeting Baek Cheon's eyes once again.

"Did you see them?" 

"...What?" 

"The people outside." 

"..." 

"What did you think?"

Baek Cheon furrowed his brow. It was a difficult question, but not one he felt the need to avoid.

"...They seemed like people who were alive, yet dead."

"..." 

"There was no will or hope left in them."

"Hahahaha."

The man burst into a loud laugh. It was a dry, emotionless laugh, as if he had no real reason to laugh but forced it out anyway. Yet, that hollow laugh felt like thorns pricking Baek Cheon's heart.

"You saw well. You saw very well." 

"..." 

"That's the perfect way to put it. They're already dead." 

"...What?" 

"It's literal. They are... yes, they're already dead. Dead, but unable to die—people who should've died long ago but weren't allowed to. They now long for death more than anyone else in this world."

With each word, Baek Cheon felt as though he was sinking deeper into a labyrinth. 

But one thing was becoming increasingly clear. 

'These people aren't from the evil sect.'

It was obvious but something he still needed to confirm. And in this moment, Baek Cheon was sure of it.

He had already sensed that they didn't emit the same sinister Qi associated with the evil sect. But that alone wasn't enough to be sure.

The Qi a person gives off can be influenced by the heart techniques and training they've undergone. Someone like Jang Ilso could easily train someone from the evil sect to emit the righteous art if they wished.

However, even though they can imitate qi and it's appearance, it's far harder to fabricate the natural atmosphere that a person gives off.

And then, a memory suddenly resurfaced in Baek Cheon's mind.

"...Could it be... are you the ones who blocked the Zhuge and Moyong Family?"

"...."

The man's face slowly hardened.

"Are you the ones who drove the Shaolin and Peng Family into hell at Hubei?"

"Zhuge and Moyong..." 

The man nodded slowly. 

"Yes, that was us."

"Why?!"

A loud shout erupted from Baek Cheon's mouth.

"Why did you do it?! Why did you side with them?! Do you even know how many people's blood was spilled on the grounds of Hubei?!"

Even Baek Cheon didn't know why he was shouting like this.

Perhaps, deep down, he had already made a judgment. That even if these people bore him ill will, they weren't evil enough to side with the evil sect.

And because of that, his anger surged. And so did his resentment.

"Why?!"

Baek Cheon's eyes trembled with fury.

Yet, in contrast to Baek Cheon's fiery emotions, the man's expression remained unchanged. After a long silence, his lips slowly parted.

"Earlier."

"...."

"You said you had nothing left to lose."

An abrupt statement. But Baek Cheon nodded anyway. It was the truth, after all. While there were still things he needed to do, he had nothing left to lose.

Hearing Baek Cheon's answer, a strange expression crossed the man's face.

A mixture of mockery and pity... but at the same time, it was an expression too complex to describe with just those words.

"Do you really think so?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I thought that way too, once." 

"...."

"But, you see..."

The middle-aged man's voice took on a chilling tone. 

"The world is far crueler than you think." 

The man bared his teeth slightly as he spoke. 

"What would you do? What if I held a sword to the throats of your sahyungs—no, your former sahyungs—and threatened to kill them all if you didn't follow my orders? What would you do?"

Without a moment's thought, Baek Cheon shook his head.

"I wouldn't comply."

"...Because you're no longer a disciple of Mount Hua?"

"No."

Baek Cheon's voice was firm.

"Because following something unjust is wrong."

"Then your sahyungs would die."

"That's something they should've been prepared for from the moment they picked up a sword. Life is important, but it's not the most important thing."

"The greater cause is more important than life?"

"I'm not trying to make some grand statement about the greater cause. It's just that sometimes there are things more important than someone else's life, or even your own."

"I see."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly, but it wasn't a look of friendliness.

"Is that conviction unshakeable?"

"Of course."

"Even if it were your master, and not your sahyungs?"

"Yes."

"Even if it were your family?"

"Absolutely."

There wasn't the slightest hesitation in Baek Cheon's answers. 

His master, his family—they would be ashamed if Baek Cheon committed a wrong because of them.

They were the kind of people who, if they saw the consequences of such actions, would rather take their own lives. There was no need for hesitation or second-guessing.

"Why?"

"Because they all chose that path for themselves."

"..."

"Someone I know once said: those who wield a sword must always be prepared to be cut down by one. If you're not ready for that, you shouldn't take up a sword."

The light in the man's eyes dimmed.

"No matter how unjust their death might be, it's still a choice they made for themselves?"

Baek Cheon nodded slowly.

"I don't fully agree, but I don't think it's wrong either. So I won't commit evil to save someone."

The man nodded in apparent satisfaction. His eyes softened, as though he were looking at a student who had perfectly answered a difficult question. But somehow, seeing that expression sent a chill through Baek Cheon.

"That's a good answer. Excellent logic."

"..."

"But that's why I can ask you this."

"...Ask what?"

"What about those who haven't picked up a sword?"

"...What?"

"I'm asking you. What would you do if someone who hasn't even realized what it means to wield a sword—like a young disciple—was in danger?" 

Baek Cheon fell silent. 

He didn't have a disciple, but that wasn't the point.

"What if the necks of young children, still showing traces of youth on their faces, were slowly being cut by the blades of evil people?"

"..."

"As you watched their tears, their screams, their fear and resentment... would you simply tell them that this is the fate of those who wield swords and that they must accept it?"

Baek Cheon's eyes trembled violently.

"How could you..." 

"Answer." 

"..." 

"Answer me!" 

"..."

Rage began to simmer in the man's eyes.

"Tell me, Baek Cheon! How should I have answered the ones who scorned me atop the corpses of the dead, while gambling with the lives of those who had no choice but to die?"

"I..."

Those who choose must bear the consequences. 

But what about those who didn't choose? Should they bear the same burden?

"Answer me, Baek Cheon, Deputy Sect Leader of Mount Hua!" 

"..."

"In the hell you created by turning a blind eye, in the land you ignored, what do you think our only possible course of action was? Answer me! Speak with that mouth of yours!"

Baek Cheon's eyes quivered wildly.

The hell they created by turning a blind eye? The land they ignored?

"Could it be..."

Everything in Baek Cheon's mind began to fall into place.

These people didn't seem like those from the evil sect. But if that was the case, how could their strength be explained? 

Those who should've died but couldn't. 

There was only one group that could make sense of it all.

The source of their sin—the root of Cheong Myeong's pain.

"You... you're..."

The man glared at Baek Cheon with piercing eyes. 

"I'm Jin Seungwon." 

"..." 

A single tear, as red as blood, fell from the man's bloodshot eyes. 

"I was once the Sect Leader of the Diancang sect that you abandoned."

It felt as if the ground beneath him collapsed, as if his body were falling into an abyss.

Baek Cheon was now face-to-face with the weight of his own sins.

In a form he could neither turn away from nor escape.