Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 568
”Humm.”
Hyun Jong, who heard the circumstances from Im Sobyong, frowned slightly.
‘Internal strife of Nokrim…….’
The situation was dire.
Originally, there would be no reason for Mount Hua to be interested in Nokrim’s internal matter. However, the problem was that the Nokrim King was currently staying here.
“Then, what are you going to do?”
“I need to suppress them.”
Im Sobyong’s answer was as firm as a knife.
“It won’t be easy.”
“I still have to do it.”
A soft sigh followed.
“Sect Leader. You may not believe it, but I don’t like fighting and hate seeing blood.
“…It looks like it.”
Anyone who watched Im Sobyong for even a few days would have the same answer as Hyun Jong. Of course, you can’t conclude that what you see on the outside is someone’s true face, but a person’s tendencies aren’t easily hidden.
“And I’m not a person who craves power very much. If there was someone suitable to replace me, I wouldn’t have bothered to sit in the seat of the Nokrim King with this sick body.”
“Hmm.”
Im Sobyong looked Hyun Jong in the eye and said, “Mad Ox Sword Go Hong (고홍(高鴻)), the madman who attacked Nokchae is famous for his violent personality. If such a man were to become Nokrim King, many of Nokrim’s brothers would bleed to death.” Im Sobyong, who had been talking softly, quietly shook his head.
“I can’t bear to look at it.”
Chung Myung, who was listening at the time, snorted.
“There are good bandits and there are bad ones.”
It’s not wrong, but it wasn’t the right word to bring up here. Hyun Jong tried to blame him for that, but Im Sobyong nodded unexpectedly.
“Yes, that’s right, Dojang.”
“You’re a good bandit?”
“Rather than a good bandit…….”
Im Sobyong’s gaze is fixed on Chung Myung.
“Didn’t Dojang already destroy a Stronghold just before you met me?”
“That… Did I?”
Chung Myung answered with dismay but tilted his head as if he couldn’t remember well.
Then Yoon Jong whispered in Jo-Gol’s ear.
“I heard he sleeps with his feet stretched out, but the one who was hit can’t sleep with his feet stretched out. I guess he has already forgotten everything after he beat the person so hard.”
“… Isn’t it backward, Sahyung?”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Really?”
It was not until Hyun Sang glared his eyes as if to ask them be quiet that the two closed their mouths and bowed their heads.
“…… Anyway, did Chung Myung Dojang condemn the Nokrim brothers in that Stronghold?”
“I don’t think I killed them?”
“Why?”
Chung Myung scratched the back of his head.
“Well. I don’t think they have committed a serious crime that they need to die.”
“Yes, that’s right. It is that Master Chung Myung who had already made such a judgment before Dojang knew me and formed a relationship with Nokrim.”
Im Sobyong said with a shrug.
“Dojang probably didn’t judge them because of mercy.”
“Hm.”
Everyone nodded aggressively.
Chung Myung, of course, usually acted like a fool. However, he was a person who had no mercy for the wicked or the enemy. Rather, he often wields his swords mercilessly as if his side were evil.
Im Sobyong grinned.
“If it were Nokrim in the past, Chung Myung Dojang wouldn’t have let them go so easily.
From the previous generation, Nokrim has been based on not harming civilians as much as possible. Of course, we’re still a bandit at best.”
“…….”
“However, those who participated in this rebellion, including Mad Ox Sword Go Hong, opposed that stance. Those who control the mountains now think that more money comes in when they are more vicious.”
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong sighed heavily.
“If they took control, Nokrim are bound to change. It will become more violent, more brutal.”
Im Sobyong looked at Hyun Jong as if he had finished what he had to say.
“Sect Leader.”
“Tell me.”
“Please help.”
“…….”
“I can’t do this alone. They’re strong. Some of those who followed my predecessors supported me, but that’s not enough. The law of jungle dominates Nokrimngle, so logic and reason alone cannot persuade them.”
Hyun Jong raised his tea spoon with a frown. The hand stirring the tea was a little faster than usual.
“I understand what Nokrim King is saying.”
He could see how serious and desperate Im Sobyong was now.
Im Sobyong, seen by Hyun Jong, was a person who did not lose his composure and smile even though he was alone in the middle of Mount Hua Sect as the Nokrim King. But that kind of figure is nowhere to be seen.
“But…….”
Hyun Jong, who had been contemplating for a while, sighed softly. And slowly looked at the Elders.
“What do you think?”
“It’s not easy.”
The first person to answer was Hyun Sang.
“There is a clearly drawn line in Kangho. It is never easy to narrow the gap between Righteous and Evil Factions.”
“Hm.”
“No matter our intentions, the world will only see that Mount Hua has intervened in Nokrim’s affair.”
“I suppose so.”
Hyun Sang said with a blunt face.
“Mount Hua is a place where Righteousness and cooperation are revered. Its essence must not be changed. To put it bluntly, this is just an internal conflict of Nokrim. The Righteous Faction has not intervened in the internal strife of the Evil Faction since Kanghosa (강호사).”
Hyun Jong nodded quietly. At the same time, he did not miss Hyun Young’s lips twitching.
“How about you?”
“Why bother with such useless things?”
“…….”
Hyun Young snorted with a stiff face.
“There are huge benefits to working with Nokrim. Isn’t the role of Nokrim necessary for the business with the Yuryong Sect that Chung Myung is trying to establish?”
“That’s right…….”
“In the meantime, if Nokrim King loses his position, we’ll be a dog chasing a chicken that has climbed the roof. Who we benefit if we just stand by?”
At Hyun Young’s unfiltered words, Hyun Jong made a slight groan.
“That justification! Have you ever seen Mount Hua do well in pursuit of justification? One has to take care their own bowl. It’s not once or twice that I’m embarrassed because I’m in the position to eat the rice that our disciple takes care of. Good job. We can only compliment them, but should we break their rice bowl now?”
In other words, don’t push useless justifications into the business Chung Myung is doing.
In the past, Hyun Jong would have crumpled his face and said something, but now he knows that Hyun Jong has a point.
“Humm.”
The last thing his gaze reached was where Chung Myung sat. Chung Myung was sitting with a sad face, looking at his fingertips.
“What do you think?”
“This job?”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.
“I think the answer is set, but I’m annoyed because I don’t want to do something.”
“It’s already decided?”
“Yes. So Sect Leader is saying there’s insufficient justification right now, right? Sect Leader is also worried that others will point their finger somewhere else unnecessarily.”
“Yes, of course…… You may not care too much, but aren’t their times when public eyes are more powerful than you think?”
“Yes, I know.”
Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.
“But Sect Leader. I don’t know why Sect Leader is worried about this.”
“Yes?”
“Righteousness is simply about doing the right thing and helping common people with power.”
“That’s right.” “According to that yangban, the bandits will run rampant if we leave things alone. What could be a bigger deal than preventing that?”
Hyun Jong sighed.
“You’re right. That is absolutely true. But will the people of the world understand that?”
“If they don’t understand, we can make them understand.”
“Yes?”
“There’s someone here who’ll make them understand.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung chins at Im Sobyong. Hyun Jong asked back as if he didn’t know what he meant.
“What do you mean?”
“Ei. Why is Sect Leader so slow-witted today? If they listen to what this yangban just said, most people will understand, right?”
“… That’s right.”
“Then we can let him say it in public. And under the name of Nokrim King, we can make him ask Mount Hua for help.”
“…….”
Hyun Jong’s face went blank for a moment at the sudden remark.
“So…….”
“Yes.”
“Let Nokrim King formally ask Mount Hua, ‘Please help me doing bandit job’?”
“Yes.”
“And as Mount Hua responded and said, ‘Sure. I’ll let you be a bandits.’ And help?”
“That’s it!”
Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung with a face as if asking, ‘Has this bastard really gone out of his mind?’.
“Hey, you punk! That doesn’t make any sense!”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
“What can be proud of helping bandits doing their job? It’s a relief if we don’t get lumped as bandits, too!”
“No, that is worse than being a bandit!”
“That’s why good bandits don’t steal money! You’re a bandit!”
“Yes, that’s true!”
Im Sobyong looked at the ceiling while listening to the violent conversation. Then he sighed.
‘There’s no hell like this.’
The Sect Leader seemed to be considerate of the listeners, but now he was raising his voice in front of Nokrim King, talking about bandits.
‘I should have gone to Shaolin.’
‘Why did I come to Mount Hua…….’
“Hahaha!”
At that time, Hyun Jong regained his reason a little, cleared his throat and organized the conversation.
“For your words to have meaning, the world’s people must recognize the Stronghold, who are now revolting, as undoubtedly evil. But in the end, they’re all just the same bandits in their eyes.”
“So let them understand better.”
“…… How?”
“Oh my. Sect Leader.”
“Hm?”
“People say that if you live without money, you don’t know how to spend it even if you have money, and if you live without power, you don’t know how to use it even if you have power.
That seems true”
“…….”
“Rather than waiting for rumors, we can spread them. The words containing the position of the Nokrim King are to be spread all over the place. Calling the old beggar man to take advantage of Beggar Union, send Yuryong Sect disciples to all parts of Jungwon to spread words, and give the news to Sichuan Tang Family and shake the public sentiment in Sichuan.” Hyun Jong asked with his eyes wide open.
“W- Would that be possible?”
“There’s nothing we can’t do.”
Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders as if it was not a big deal…
“We’re not making up words that don’t exist, we’re just spreading them more widely, and it’s not a fault.”
“…….”
“And if Nokrim King concedes one thing, it will be over.”
Chung Myung’s gaze stuck into Im Sobyong. Im Sobyong then flinched and asked.
“……What are you going to say again?”
“Toll fee.”
“…Yes?”
“Cut it in half.”
“…….”
Im Sobyong’s cheeks trembled at the sudden word.
“T- Toll fee are fundamental to Nokrim…….”
“If you want to hug the basics and be destroyed, do as you please.”
“…….”
There seemed to be no room for compromise. Im Sobyong closed his eyes tightly. But this is not the end of Chung Myung’s words.
“And don’t just walk away for the money you have now, and change your ways.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“People think their money is taken away, creating a problem. Don’t show up in the middle of the road like now, wait at the mountain’s entrance, and escort those who pay the toll. Until the mountain path is over.”
“…….”
“There are many things that people who have to climb mountains at night should be afraid of besides bandits. The most representative one is a tiger (호환(虎患)). It’s not that easy to cross the mountain just because there are no bandits.”
“Yes, that’s why even when we cross a known mountain, they ask for an escort from someone or wait under the mountain for a long time until people gather.”
“You can just do what such an escort does.”
“…….”
“So throw away all that d*mn beast skin and all that intimidation and dress your kids in some neat clothes! And teach them how to smile for business! Change your business to escort!”
Im Sobyong’s eyes looking at Chung Myung were speaking.
‘Is this a real madman?’
But Chung Myung did not care and asked confidently.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Dojang…. It’s not that I haven’t thought of that. But would anyone who could do that be a bandit? By default, the control…….”
“Control?”
Chung Myung blinked his eyes.
“Once that is solved, there are no other problems, right?”
“…Of course it is, but that control….”
“I’ll take care of it on my side, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Yes?”
“Since they’ve been hit by a lot by Sasuk and Sahyung, it’s time to settle their grudge.”
“…….”
Im Sobyong didn’t know what they were talking about, but Baek Cheon and the group, sitting behind Chung Myung, nodded with their arms crossed as if they understood.
“So it’s settled, right?”
Chung Myung looked at Hyun Jong and said, “Nokrim has it good since the rebellion is being suppressed, and it’s good for common people because they can live a less brutal life than now. And there’s nothing wrong with Mount Hua Sect because we can get a reputation for changing Nokrim and helping common people.”
“The money we make there will be incidental help.”
“That’s right.”
Chung Myung grinned as he watched Hyun Young, who gave strength to his words.
“It’s a good thing for everyone, so I don’t think there’s any particular reason to refuse. Of course, it’s up to Sect Leader.”
Listening to Chung Myung’s words, Hyun Jong was lost in thought with his face hardened.
‘I’m sure the kids said they needed real combat.’
As Chung Myung said, this is an opportunity to gain justification, practical benefits, and even experience. And it could also attract Jungwon’s attention to Mount Hua in time for Heavenly Comrade Alliance’s official establishment.
It was not three birds with one stone, but four birds with one stone.
“Chung Myung-ah.”
“Yes.”
“But didn’t you say you were initially annoyed because you didn’t want to do it? What does that mean?”
“Oh, that?”
When asked by Hyun Jong, Chung Myung glanced at Im Sobyong.
“It’s not that I don’t get anything, but I feel like I’m helping for no reason…..”
“…….”
“So once Sect Leader has made the decision, please leave the room for me. I need to think about how much we should get for this with Elder Hyun Young.”
“…….”
Looking at Im Sobyong with his shoulders and head down, it was almost impossible to tell who was the Righteous Faction and who was the bandit.
“……Keuhum.”
Having coughed awkwardly, Hyun Jong looked around everyone in the room.
“What do you all think?”
“What’s there to think about? Chung Myung is right.”
“There’s no reason to disagree if things go as Chung Myung intended. However, before that, it is necessary to establish a justification more elaborately and clearly.”
At the words of Hyun Young and Hyun Sang, Hyun Jong looked at Im Sobyong with a heavy face.
“Will Nokrim King accept all the suggestions made by Chung Myung?”
“With my name and my life on the line, I will certainly do so.”
Im Sobyong’s face was full of determination. Hyun Jong finally nodded slowly.
“Since everyone’s opinion is the same, I will approve the work of helping the Nokrim King to stabilize the Nokrim with the authority of the Mount Hua Sect Leader.”
“Thank you, Sect Leader!”
Im Sobyong bowed deeply, bending his back violently. Hyun Jong looked at him warmly and said, “Nokrim King, don’t forget our intention to help the Nokrim, and think about the common people a little more.”
“Yes!”
“Keuhum, then…….”
After finishing his speech, Hyun Jong stood up from his seat.
Then, as if the others had waited, they sneaked out of their seats and stood up. Chung Myung and Hyun Young were the only ones left.
“…… Then talk comfortably.”
“S- Sect Leader?”
With the sound of a cough, Hyun Jang and other disciples followed suit.
Im Sobyong was left alone in the room with Hyun Young and Chung Myung.
“Hehe. Sure.”
Chung Myung grinned and sneaked close to Im Sobyong’s side.
“Shall we get started?” From the other side, Hyun Young approaches as if he’s blocking the retreat.
Im Sobyong closed his eyes tightly.
‘These devil-like yangban.’
‘Who said Taoist is kind!’
‘It really was more than a bandit. For real.’