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"Please…"
Chung Myung and Im So-Byeong were fighting while swearing, and the Five Swords pretended to stop them while subtly blowing air.
The chaotic scene brought more than just confusion to Tang Gunak, who was accustomed to the strict rules of the Sichuan Tang family.
'Why is Mount Hua so…'
"Uh? Soso?"
Why was she there?
Seeing Tang Soso sticking close behind Chung Myung's shoulder and cursing at Im So-Byeong, something felt like it was crawling up from deep inside his stomach.
This damned Mount Hua…
Thud!
"Anyway, that is what happened."
Chung Myung hit the ground hard.
"You have to pull your feet out."
"Well, that is true."
"… No, why is the Green Forest King suddenly agreeing to this?"
Im So-Byeong shrugged.
"That is not wrong. We cannot keep continuing like this."
"… why?"
"Isn't the reason obvious?"
Whack!
Im So-Byeong, who had spread out the fan, said with a calm face.
"There is no way Jang Ilso can just drool over the north of the river forever."
"…."
"We will move soon, one way or another."
"Isn't that something we all know?"
"Right. So, of course, we have to get out."
Chung Myung, who had been listening, intervened with Im So-Byeong.
"I don't know what that insane guy is trying to do, but there is one certain thing. He has to cross the Yangtze River to get to the north."
"Right."
"Then what do you think will happen? The Tang family that was guarding the Yangtze River will be the first shield?"
"… Hmm."
Tang Gunak nodded quietly.
He was no idiot. He knew that if the Four Precepts Alliance crossed the Yangtze River, the main force of the Sichuan Tang family would be the first to greet them.
But…
"A shield…"
Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung quietly.
"If it were to be the shield of the Nine Great Sects, then, of course, I would refuse it flat out."
"Yes."
"But if it was to shield the common people?"
"…."
Tang Gunak slowly shook his head.
"The reason the Tang family has guarded the Yangtze River until now was not to help the Nine Great Sects. It was simply for the sake of the common people."
To be honest, that wasn't his intention at first.
He simply thought it was a chance to make the name of the Heavenly Friends Alliance widely known and build up a reputation, while the Nine Great Sects' reputation was failing.
But while living with them and traveling the Yangtze River on his own, Tang Gunak had felt so many things. He couldn't let the land and the people he had protected until then fall into the hands of the Four Precepts Alliance and suffer.
"Since we do not know what the Four Precepts Alliance will do to them, can we step down for that reason?"
Chung Myung frowned slightly.
"Wasn't the interest of the family the priority in the Sichuan Tang family?"
"That is true. But…"
Tang Gunak's gaze was fixed straight on Chung Myung.
"That is a story from our time in Kangho. The Sichuan Tang family doesn't fight over commerce and profits. At least as long as I am the head of the Tang family."
His tone was more resolute than ever.
Chung Myung's lips curled up slightly.
It wasn't the answer he wanted. But maybe it was an answer he liked even more.
'I don't know what happened in the past three years…'
It seemed that Tang Gunak had also felt a lot since leaving Sichuan.
"Well, right, it is what the lord said. But…"
"But?"
"The problem is that while trying to help the commoners, you end up being a shield for the Nine Sects."
"Isn't that something we have to endure?"
Chung Myung's lips curled further.
"Even if the Nine Great Sects don't come to help until the entire Tang family is destroyed?"
"…."
At those words, Tang Gunak fell silent.
Tang Gunak, who seemed to be thinking of many things, asked Chung Myung.
"You think that is possible?"
"Yes."
"… if we cannot stop the Four Precepts Alliance, it will not just be the Heavenly Friends Alliance that perishes. Do you think the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families will sit by and watch the Sichuan Tang family fall to the Four Sects Alliance?"
"Yes."
Tang Gunak was momentarily speechless at Chung Myung's calm and simple answer.
This indicated a difference in perspective between Tang Gunak and Chung Myung regarding the Nine Great Sects.
Chung Myung opened his mouth slightly.
"I think there is something you misunderstand."
"… What do you mean?"
"The Sichuan Tang family is no longer a comrade of the Nine Great Sects. You are their enemy."
"Enemy?"
"Yes."
Chung Myung nodded and added.
"From the perspective of the Nine Great Sects, there is no difference between fighting alongside the Sichuan Tang family or fighting after the Sichuan Tang family is used as a shield to exhaust the Four Precepts Alliance. Who would fight together across the border when there is another enemy on the way? They would just watch until one side is destroyed."
"…"
Tang Gunak's expression changed several times in a short period. He was silent for a moment and then shook his head.
"But that analogy doesn't fit. There are people of the nation outside the border. Aren't there civilians living north of the Yangtze who need protection?"
It was said that the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families would move for the sake of the people, not the Tang family. But upon hearing it, Chung Myung smiled wryly.
As if he had been waiting for Tang Gunak to say it.
"You've heard the story of Shaanxi, right?"
"…."
"Do you think those bastards didn't have the strength to stop the Evil Sect people and just sat by?"
Tang Gunak couldn't find the words to speak. After hesitating for a long time and moving his lips, he finally let out a long sigh.
"… I guess not."
If Mount Hua hadn't opened their Closed Gate and arrived in time… no, if Mount Hua had been even a little late in receiving the news, chaos would have spread.
'No.'
Tang Gunak bit his lip tightly.
Xi'an wasn't burning, but chaos had already begun to spread. Hadn't two villages already been ravaged by those Evil Sect people? The ones who stood by and watched were clearly Shaolin. To be precise, the Nine Great Sects.
They had already pushed the common people into the clutches of the Evil Sect once. Why wouldn't they do the same thing again?
Chung Myung nodded as if he could read Tang Gunak's thoughts and drove the point home.
"If the Four Precepts Alliance moves north, how do you think the Nine Great Sects will react? They will probably wait for support, fight for a better position, and just waste time with pointless discussions?"
"Until the Sichuan Tang family completely falls to the Four Sects Alliance?"
"No."
A bitter smile appeared on Chung Myung's lips.
"Unable to stand by and watch the Tang family fight alone and fall apart, the entire Heavenly Friends Alliance, including Mount Hua, rushes to the Yangtze River only to get caught up in the war."
"…"
"Then how much easier would it be for the Nine Sects? Mount Hua, the Tang family, and Green Forest, who were thorns on their side, would join hands and help the Four Precepts Alliance in a mutual destruction of both sides. They would leisurely wait for the Four Precepts Alliance to win over the Heavenly Friends Alliance and then try to clean up the Four Precepts Alliance, which had lost all its strength. Talking about noble sacrifices and all."
A mocking smile formed on Chung Myung's lips.
How did he know?
'Because I have already been through it once.'
It wasn't like Chung Myung or Chung Mun didn't know and suffered as ignorants. Even if they knew it, they had no choice but to risk it all. If they had backed down, everything would have crumbled.
Right. He didn't regret the past.
But…
"I will not suffer the same thing twice. You fucking bastards."
Chung Myung gritted his teeth and spoke.
"The abbot isn't a bad guy."
When the words "abbot" and "bad" came out simultaneously, Hae Yeon, who was in the corner, flinched and looked at Chung Myung. However, he was in a situation where he could only keep his mouth shut.
"Even Venerable Heo Do isn't a bad man. He just has one thing in his head."
"… What is it?"
"The most important thing is the benefit of his sect."
At Chung Myung's words, Tang Gunak closed his eyes.
That wasn't much different from what Tang Gunak had been thinking until a while ago. That iswas why he could understand clearly that there was a high chance Chung Myung's words could come true.
Chung Myung was filled with a sense of pride.
Times have changed, but their thinking hasn't. When Mount Hua climbed the Ten Thousand Mountains in the past when the Demonic Sect attacked Mount Hua, and when Mount Hua miserably fell.
Even the actions of Venerable Heo Do and the Shaolin that they saw during the Yangtze River incident were no different. All of them were just rational decisions that prioritized the interests and safety of their sects.
"I don't think of it as wrong. Everyone is the same, you know."
"…"
"But…"
Chung Myung shrugged.
"If that is what you are saying, we cannot help but think about our interests, right?"
"… Right."
Tang Gunak nodded.
"No matter how right that is, if we just back out like this, the people of the Yangtze River will turn away from the Heavenly Friends Alliance. Aren't people innately cold-hearted? I am worried that the hard work we have put in over the past three years will be in vain."
At that moment, Chung Myung's mouth curled up into a wicked smile.
"Vain?"
"Yes, vain."
Chung Myung quietly looked at Tang Gunak and opened his mouth.
"Do you know what I hate the most?"
Tang Gunak spoke with an extremely serious face.
"Southern Edge."
"…."
At that moment, Chung Myung's brain froze. His mouth, which had been spitting words like a cannon, suddenly stopped and hung open.
"Is it not?"
"That… well…"
Chung Myung's face was conflicted. Of course, he should have answered 'no!' Only then could he continue with what he wanted to say.
But…
'How on earth can I say with my mouth that I don't hate Southern Edge?'
Uh? It wasn't that he didn't hate them, but that he hated them less.
That's it, those bastards!
The only thing he hated more than the Southern Edge in the world was the Demonic Cult!
Chung Myung closed his mouth as if he was speechless. His eyes began to dart left and right.
Baek Cheon, who couldn't stand it any longer, reached out a helping hand to Chung Myung.
"Lord, right now, this guy is not asking who you hate the most, but what situation you hate the most."
"R-right!"
Chung Myung quickly agreed and nodded.
Ah, right, even Dong-Ryeong could be of help when you feed him right!
"The situation?"
"Yes! The situation!"
"… losing to Southern Edge?"
"…."
At that moment, Tang Gunak felt as if he saw Chung Myung's face crack like dried wood.
It wasn't just Chung Myung who was shocked; even the Five Swords, who were silently listening from the side, shuddered.
"Woah, this pisses me off too."
"I don't even want to imagine that."
"I would rather bite my tongue and die."
Baek Cheon, who added those last words, seemed ready to draw his sword and run to attack Southern Edge at any moment.
Even the elders and Sect leader nodded as if agreeing with the words.
"Ugh, uh… that is definitely the most frustrating thing…"
Chung Myung shook his head.
"Anyway!"
"… why yell so suddenly!"
"I hate it when someone touches my rice bowl when someone else eats all the work I put in! I absolutely cannot stand it!"
"If it is as you say, shouldn't we be protecting the Yangtze River even more now?"
"But there is just one thing I hate more than that."
"…What is that?"
Chung Myung stared at Tang Gunak silently and slowly opened his mouth.
"Being obsessed with the illusions of profit and justification and losing those who we shouldn't lose to."
"…."
"I don't care if I lose anything to avoid that."
Tang Gunak closed his mouth.
There wasn't a trace of a smile on Chung Myung's face. He could tell that what he had said earlier was the utmost sincerity.
'Those who shouldn't be lost to…'
Even after hearing those words, he couldn't be stubborn.
"…I understand."
Their gazes met in the air. Tang Gunak nodded as if he had made up his mind.
"I don't know if this decision is right or wrong. But…"
His true feelings, unadorned, flowed out calmly.
"I just trust you."
A soft smile appeared on Tang Gunak's lips.