Chapter 808: Great to See You Again, You Bastard! (Part 3)

 

"Now, let’s see…."

Chung Myung’s gaze shifted to the Sapae Alliance across the way.

"Those bastards over there, I don’t like them."

Then he looked down at the cliff below, clearly unimpressed.

"And I don’t like those guys either."

Clicking his tongue with an annoyed expression, he let out a sigh.

"How can there be so many people I can’t stand in one place? What a dilemma, truly a dilemma!"

At that moment, Yoon Jong crept up behind him and whispered.

"Hey, Chung Myung."

"Hm?"

"You’re just talking tough, right? You’re really going to help the Nine Great Sects down there, aren’t you?"

Chung Myung turned to Yoon Jong, looking at him with profound disappointment.

"What, did you catch some kind of fever? Why would I want to help those bastards? I’d rather pour oil on them and set them on fire."

"…."

"What? Because they’re the righteous sects?"

"Th-that’s not it, you idiot!"

"Hm?"

Desperately, Yoon Jong gestured downwards with his eyes.

"Look over there! Right there!"

"At what?"

Chung Myung looked around cluelessly, still not getting it, until Yu Yiseol frowned and stepped in.

"Hye Yeon is down there. Look!"

"Huh?"

"Exactly! Hye Yeon is down there! Who cares about the Nine Sects? We at least have to help Hye Yeon!"

"Right, Senior Brother!"

Finally, understanding dawned on Chung Myung’s face.

"Oh… he’s down there, isn’t he?"

Indeed, there was Hye Yeon, standing in the middle of Shaolin, looking up at him with those large, sorrowful eyes. Even a heart of stone would struggle to ignore that forlorn gaze. After staring at him for a moment, Chung Myung muttered.

"But…."

"Huh?"

"Buddhist monks get cremated after they die, right?"

"…Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"Just thinking…."

Scratching the back of his head, Chung Myung flashed a cheeky grin.

"If he’s going to end up cremated anyway, wouldn’t it be less of a hassle if I just set the fire early?"

"What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic!"

"Could you at least pretend to be a decent human being!"

"You call yourself a human? Do you?"

Finally, Oh Geom lunged at Chung Myung, grabbing his collar and shaking him like a ragdoll. So heated were they that Jang Il-so and his men were temporarily forgotten.

Chung Myung protested as if he’d been terribly wronged.

"Hey! Isn’t Buddhism all about letting go of attachments? Fear of death is the biggest attachment of all! In a way, I’m actually helping him out!"

"Shut that damn mouth of yours!"

"You need a beating!"

Yoon Jong slapped Chung Myung’s mouth with his hand, while Yu Yiseol gave him a sharp smack on the head with her sword hilt.

"Hey! Quit making such a fuss and let go! Here, I’ll take care of it! Hey! Monk!"

Chung Myung pushed Yu Yiseol and Yoon Jong off and shouted loudly. Hye Yeon, blinking in confusion, looked up at him with his large, innocent eyes.

"You! Get up here!"

"…What?"

"Just climb up. You think they’ll lose their minds over just one monk, right?"

"…."

"Come on up here, and that’ll settle things. Hurry up and get over here!"

Hye Yeon smiled wryly.

He’d known for a long time that Chung Myung was crazy…

‘But he’s even crazier than I thought. This is beyond imagination.’

Chung Myung was proving that madness didn’t recognize time or place.

"…How could I abandon my fellow monks and come up alone?"

"Huh? Not coming?"

"I can’t…."

"Tch. Our monk’s got some loyalty in him. Then you can just die with them."

"…."

Tears glistened in the corners of Hye Yeon’s eyes.

‘And to think… I once wanted to see this guy again.’

Even after all this time...

Meanwhile, Byeok Hyeon stared at Chung Myung in utter disbelief.

"How could he be so… reckless?"

"This one is truly insane."

The unshakeable irritation was clear on Namgung Hwang’s face as well.

Chung Myung’s actions were crossing all bounds of decency. Yet, among those watching, two people looked at Chung Myung with different eyes.

One of them was Heo Do-jin, whose gaze grew serious and contemplative.

‘That’s not something just anyone can do.’

After all, a human being is still an animal, instinctively feeling fear in the face of danger. Even the most reckless thunderbolt would hesitate if there were a sword at its throat.

But right now, Chung Myung was behaving even more wildly than usual.

‘Neither Shaolin, Wudang, nor even Ten Thousand Houses or Black Ghost Pavilion can make him flinch.’

He knew. The Divine Dragon of Mount Hua wasn’t some fool who couldn’t grasp the situation. If anything, he was overly perceptive and could read the tides of events precisely.

For someone unaware of the situation, acting wildly might be foolishness, but for someone aware, it was a show of confidence, wasn’t it?

‘Is he saying that even this situation is within his control?’

Heo Do-jin clenched his lips tightly.

Until now, he’d held Chung Myung in high regard. There were likely few in the world who valued Chung Myung’s strength as much as he did. But now, he found himself questioning whether his assessment had been somewhat off.

Besides Heo Do-jin, the only other person observing Chung Myung with keen eyes was Jang Il-so, who finally spoke up.

"You’re not planning to continue this tedious play forever, are you, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua?"

Chung Myung shot Jang Il-so a sharp look.

"I told you to shut your damn mouth."

"I’d love to, but you know as well as I do that if I stay quiet, this stalemate will never end."

Chung Myung scratched his head, reluctantly acknowledging that Jang Il-so had a point.

"Fine. Go ahead and speak. But choose your words carefully. If you start spouting nonsense, I’ll charge in without looking back."

Everyone’s mouths dropped open.

Earlier, he’d told Jang Il-so to shut up, and now he was warning him not to spew nonsense. Even the venerable elder of Shaolin, the Great Abbot Beopjeong, would hesitate to speak to Jang Il-so this way.

Stranger still, Jang Il-so didn’t seem the least bit offended by this crude language coming from a younger man.

Watching quietly, the Magnate of Ten Thousand Coins twisted his lips into a smile.

"Quite the character."

"That barely does him justice."

Jang Il-so nodded and fixed his gaze on Chung Myung. The Magnate thought there was an odd glint of amusement in Jang Il-so’s expression.

‘Could it be that the insane recognize each other?’

It was truly peculiar.

In terms of standing, the Magnate of Ten Thousand Coins had a slightly higher reputation than Jang Il-so, and there was no comparison with this young Divine Dragon of Mount Hua.

Yet, he didn’t dare to interrupt their conversation.

There was a force about them that went beyond mere status or reputation. It wasn’t just madness; there was something else, something undefined.

A sly smile curved on Jang Il-so’s red lips.

"So, what do you think, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua? Do you like the gift I prepared?"

"…What the hell are you babbling about?"

"There’s no point in hiding it now, is there? I’m sure you’d love to rip me apart."

"You're right."

"But at the same time, you’re the type who can work with your worst enemy if it means getting what you want."

"…."

Jang Il-so’s smiling face was almost grotesque.

"Bringing together sects that have no business allying, gathering unlikely people under one roof—only someone consumed by desire could accomplish this."

"You’re mistaken if you think that’s what the Heavenly Alliance is."

"No, no, Divine Dragon."

Jang Il-so shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you aren’t satisfied with things as they are. You want the Heavenly Alliance to keep growing! Bigger! So it can devour everything in its path! More!"

Chung Myung’s eyes grew cold.

"You think you know me? You talk like you know me well."

"Oh, I do. I must. We’re kindred spirits, after all."

Chung Myung’s face twisted in disgust.

"Do you not understand that not every word that comes out of your mouth makes sense? I told you, if you spew nonsense, you won’t get off easy."

"No, no. But there’s one thing we undeniably share."

Jang Il-so’s eyes swept over Chung Myung with a meaningful gaze.

"We’re both insatiable."

"…."

It wasn’t Chung Myung who flinched at that, but the disciples of Mount Hua standing beside him.

‘He’s got a point there.’

If Jang Il-so was the embodiment of desire, then Chung Myung was no different, driven by an unquenchable thirst. Thanks to Chung Myung's ambition, Mount Hua had achieved growth far beyond the imaginations of other sects, and even after reaching such heights, he hadn’t stopped. He’d brought them here, to the Yangtze River, in pursuit of even greater challenges.

"So tell me, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua," Jang Il-so continued, "could there be a better opportunity than this?"

"…."

"Neither the Heavenly Alliance nor the Sapae Alliance can break past the limits set by the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. But… if we could crush them, then the vast expanse of the northern rivers could belong to the Heavenly Alliance and the Sapae Alliance."

Everyone else saw Chung Myung as nothing more than Chung Myung.

But only Jang Il-so understood his true "position." He wasn’t just Chung Myung, the disciple of Mount Hua; he was the one who, in essence, called the shots for the Heavenly Alliance.

"Honor, righteousness, alliances… You know better than anyone how empty those words truly are. You understand how repulsive it is for them to bandy those words around!"

Chung Myung said nothing, simply glaring at him. Jang Il-so, calming his tone, smiled faintly.

"Join me, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua."

"…."

"Not a single insect will crawl out of here alive. No one will leave this place. If that happens, no one in the world will know what transpired here. The Sapae Alliance will take all the blame for this massacre. All you need to do is stand there and watch."

Jang Il-so spread his arms wide, his red cloak billowing in the wind, his ornaments jingling with an eerie sound.

"Then you’ll have half the world in your hands."

"…."

"The ones being crushed today aren’t mere men—they’re the authority of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families that’s ruled for a hundred years! The world flips here and now! You and I together will twist it into something new!"

Every word Jang Il-so spoke was filled with conviction.

Baek Cheon, finding himself instinctively retreating, felt as if an invisible pressure was pushing him back.

‘Jang Il-so….’

The almost pure, dark madness radiating from him seemed to envelop the cliff.

Heo Do-jin’s eyes quivered.

‘What… What is this man talking about?’

Was he seriously suggesting the Heavenly Alliance join forces with the Sapae Alliance to take down the Nine Great Sects?

‘This is impossible….’

Something like that could never happen. It shouldn’t happen. How could the righteous sects ever ally with the unorthodox forces to attack themselves?

And yet, despite his deep-rooted beliefs, Heo Do-jin’s logic nagged at him, whispering that this wasn’t so impossible.

His wavering gaze turned to Chung Myung.

Here were the core members of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. If they were all eradicated here, the Nine Great Sects would be reduced to mere shells.

Could the remnants of the Nine Sects, without the likes of Shaolin and Wudang, or the Namgung Family and Sichuan Tang Clan, withstand a united assault from their enemies?

‘They absolutely couldn’t.’

Even if they could endure, the cost would be staggering.

Even if the Nine Great Sects somehow won a prolonged war, the positions once held by Shaolin, Wudang, Namgung, and Cheongseong would no longer exist.

The choice Chung Myung made here could very well erase these four sects from the history of the martial world.

‘This can’t be allowed!’

No matter how deep Mount Hua’s grudges ran…

Suddenly, Heo Do-jin gasped.

‘Grudges?’

What was he trying to think?

That even if they bore a grudge, they should honor the code? When it was the Nine Great Sects who had broken their promises with Mount Hua first?

"…."

At that moment, Heo Do-jin finally understood how harshly they had judged Mount Hua, all the while hiding behind the righteousness of the Nine Great Sects.

Despite thinking he understood, he hadn’t realized just how severe and unforgiving their judgment had been.

So now he had to consider…

If he were in the same position, would he fight to save those who had stood by and let his sect burn? Just to uphold some moral code?

Wouldn’t it be enough to just step back and watch?

An eye for an eye.

This would simply be Mount Hua repaying the Nine Great Sects for what they’d once done to them. Could anyone say they were truly wrong if they chose that path?

Heo Do-jin’s face twisted as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Divine Dragon of Mount Hua…."

But before he could finish, Chung Myung, who had been silently listening to Jang Il-so, finally spoke up.

"Jang Il-so."

Jang Il-so’s red lips curved into a smirk, his eyes glittering.

"Yes, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua?"

"Do you know why I’ve been tolerating your nonsense all this time?"

Jang Il-so raised an eyebrow, feigning curiosity.

"Is it because you’re starting to see sense?"

"No," Chung Myung said, his voice low and dangerous. "It’s because I wanted to see how far you’d go before I punched that mouth of yours shut."

"…."

In an instant, the amusement faded from Jang Il-so’s face.

"You think you’re the only one who knows ambition? You think you’re the only one capable of using people? Let me make this clear."

Chung Myung’s voice, calm yet sharp as a blade, cut through the air.

"The day Mount Hua sides with scum like you is the day I stop calling myself a member of Mount Hua."

A dangerous glint flickered in Jang Il-so’s eyes.

"Think carefully, Divine Dragon of Mount Hua. This is a chance you won’t get again."

"Oh, I’m very clear-headed."

Chung Myung sneered.

"And the only thing I see is a greedy lunatic, thinking he can twist the world to suit his whims."

His words were met with a stunned silence. The magnitude of his contempt left everyone speechless.

Jang Il-so’s smile returned, but his eyes were deadly.

"So, this is the stance Mount Hua chooses?"

Chung Myung crossed his arms, meeting Jang Il-so’s gaze without a hint of fear.

"Mount Hua stands where it always has: on a path that isn’t for sale."

At that, Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and the others felt a powerful surge of pride.

Even in the face of unimaginable temptation, Chung Myung had chosen their path without a single step back.