Chapter 1416: Even If It’s Meaningless. (1)

Hyun Jong bit his lip gently.

Beop Jeong, the Abbott of Shaolin, should be a symbol of mercy, yet the Beop Jeong whom Hyun Jong remembered was mostly wrapped in wrath. Though the figure he showed Hyun Jong wasn’t merely angry, those images were far more vivid in his memory.

Thus, he sometimes rebelled and considered him someone unworthy of association. How many times had his excesses been unleashed against Mount Hua and the Heavenly Friends Alliance?

But this time even Hyun Jong could offer no rebuttal.

“So…”

Beop Jeong ground his teeth and spoke.

“How many times did I not tell you! It’s nothing but self-satisfaction! Your self-satisfaction may drive this murim world into greater chaos! How many times! How many times did I tell you!”

“…”

“What on earth do you intend to do about this! About the situation where those bastards are attacking Sichuan, now that it has become unclaimed land, what are you going to do about it!”

Beop Jeong, unable to contain his fury, bit his lip.

In truth, it wasn’t only Hyun Jong to blame. Beop Jeong was equally responsible for causing all this. If he hadn’t been played like a child by Jang Ilso’s scheme in the first place, there might have been a way to protect Sichuan.

But he failed to see. Blinded by the huge current of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, he didn’t notice at all what Jang Ilso was aiming for. There had been signs several times already.

Had he not missed Jang Ilso’s movements, Sichuan might have been saved on its own, and the Heavenly Friends Alliance might have been preserved as well.

Yet even knowing that, his anger toward the Heavenly Friends Alliance did not abate. After all, the beginning of all this was their expedition to the Southern Island Sect, wasn’t it?

“Abbott.”

Hyun Jong sighed deeply and spoke.

“I know you have reason to be angry, Abbott. But now is not the time to argue right and wrong. We must discuss how to help Sichuan somehow…”

“You say help?”

A voice like an icy blade came from Beop Jeong’s mouth.

“By what means?”

“…”

“The distance from here to Sichuan is no less than 1500 km. By what means do you expect to help a Sichuan more than 1500 km away? Even if you start running like mad now, do you think the Hegemony Lord will just sit idly by?”

Beop Jeong’s voice felt like it pierced the vitals, and Hyun Jong squeezed his eyes shut.

Hyun Jong knew this as well.

In retrospect, everything had already been decided. What Jang Ilso truly aimed for was not their annihilation. It was to cunningly drive Chung Myung’s party and the Southern Island Sect eastward, drawing the Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Nine Great Sects to the east.

Whatever happened in Sichuan, they would be pulled to the eastern Central Plains where they could not intervene for days.

“If we join our forces…”

“Get a grip, Alliance lord!”

A thunderous roar burst from Beop Jeong’s mouth.

“Join forces? You mean fight them and go to Sichuan? Fine! Try to break through! And if you do break through, do you think those in Sichuan will hold out until we arrive? Against the Four Sects Alliance?”

“…”

“Do you think you’re the only one who wants to dash to Sichuan to save them? Sichuan houses the Qingcheng sect and Emei Sect! Do you not understand what that means?”

Hyun Jong was momentarily at a loss for words.

Qingcheng and Emei are sects responsible for one pillar of the Nine Great Sects. If they lose their strength, the power of the Nine Great Sects will no longer be what it once was.

No, it wouldn’t stop at just that.

Among the Nine Great Sects, Kunlun has long since become a mere name, and because of the Southern Island Sect disaster this time, Southern Island Sect has also lost much strength.

In such a situation, if Qingcheng and Emei in Sichuan, and perhaps even Dian-cang, are wiped out, the Nine Great Sects might lose over thirty percent of their forces because of this incident.

Thirty percent in one blow. No, if you include the Southern Island Sect, it would be even more. And all within less than a month.

For the Nine Great Sects, it might be a greater loss than the past Demonic Cult calamity. It would be presumptuous to even talk about recovery.

So even Hyun Jong could not blame Beop Jeong for losing his mind and raging half-mad.

“If you had not recklessly gone to the Southern Island Sect, Sichuan would not have been engulfed in this calamity! Do you not understand what I mean? This is the price of what you did. The world will blame you!”

Beop Jeong’s icy gaze fixed beyond Hyun Jong onto Tang Gunak.

Meeting the reproachful stare, Tang Gunak did not flinch and returned the fierce gaze steadily.

“That’s why I told you so many times!”

Beop Jeong ground his teeth and was about to scold again.

“…Did you just call us reckless now?”

Beop Jeong fell silent.

From behind, Geum Yang-Baek, the Sect leader of Southern Island Sect, whose face looked as if his breath might leave him at any moment, stepped forward. He staggered with every step.

Beop Jeong, boiling with rage, felt as if his whole body had been plunged into ice water and instinctively clenched his fist.

“That means…”

A cold, deadly light poured from Geum Yang-Baek’s eyes.

“Are you saying that the actions of those who ran all the way to the Southern Island Sect to save us were reckless and pointless? Say that to my face, Abbott.”

It was the spirit of a man facing death. The final vigor of someone who has accepted death crushes even the righteousness of the world.

“Sect leader, that…”

“Why would it be!”

Yelling fiercely, Geum Yang-Baek took another step toward Beop Jeong as if about to draw his sword.

“Why is that their fault!”

“…”

“If we speak of principles, isn’t it the Abbott’s fault for completely abandoning fellow members of the Nine Great Sects and ignoring the rescue pleas we sent countless times! If you had helped us even once before the situation reached this point, would this calamity have occurred today!”

Beop Jeong fell silent as if his mouth had disappeared.

He could not put forth any logical defense.

How meaningless and cruel it would be to logically explain to the abandoned why they had to be abandoned.

No matter how blinded by rage, he should have been able to exercise that level of discernment.

“Yet! You’re oblivious to what you yourselves did! And you call those who did your duty for you fools? And yet you are the Abbott of Shaolin? And yet you are a Buddhist! You?”

Blood spurted from Geum Yang-Baek’s mouth in his excitement.

“Gasp!”

“Sect leader!”

“Sect leader! You mustn’t get excited, Sect leader!”

“Stand aside!”

Geum Yang-Baek shoved away his disciples who tried to restrain him. A chilling coldness gleamed in his eyes.

“You said the world will condemn them?”

“Sect leader…”

“Yes! Perhaps so. But that won’t be the entire world! Even if everyone condemns and points fingers at them, the Southern Island Sect alone will stand by them! Even if the name of the Southern Island falls and not even ashes remain! Those who bear the Three Waves emblem on their chests will take the incoming stones and the spittle spat by others in their stead!”

A cry that seemed to squeeze out souls rang out.

Beop ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Jeong involuntarily sighed for a moment. Not only Geum Yang-Baek’s shout, but the venomous gazes sent by the Southern Island Sect disciples standing behind him were truly formidable.

Just by looking at those eyes one could tell: Southern Island and the Nine Great Sects had now crossed an irretrievable river between them.

In a situation where sects belonging to the Nine Great Sects in Sichuan might be annihilated, even Southern Island Sect, which might have been some help, had parted ways with them.

“Heh, hehe…”

Beop Jeong let out a hollow laugh for a moment.

“So it is. All of it is my fault.”

“…”

“Sichuan burns and innocent sects will be drenched in blood, and all of it is my fault! All of it!”

Beop Jeong glared again at Hyun Jong and Tang Gunak, but that gaze could not bear to reach Geum Yang-Baek.

At that moment, Meng So, who had been silently silent, spoke.

“Now is not the time for this. I know there are long-standing emotions between us, but now is not the time. We must first discuss measures to help Sichuan.”

“Y-Yes, Abbott. Now is…”

Jong Ri-Hyung, the Kongtong Sect leader, also supported Meng So. That did not mean he bore no ill will toward the Heavenly Friends Alliance, but now every moment was precious.

But Beop Jeong merely glanced at Meng So with a frigid stare.

“You say measures?”

“…”

“What meaning is there in you and I discussing measures? You have never once listened to what I said! When have you ever accepted a single proposal I made?”

“Abbot. How can you say such things…”

“Am I wrong?”

Faced with that, it was Hyun Jong who found himself at a loss for words.

Of course the circumstances were complex in detail, but looking at the outcome plainly, the Heavenly Friends Alliance had consistently rejected Beop Jeong’s proposals and always prioritized their own will.

So Beop Jeong was not wrong to speak as he did.

“And now? You expect us to assist you?”

“Those in danger include Qingcheng, Emei, and even the Dian-cang sect. Isn’t it the Abbot’s duty to protect them!”

“Yes, that’s right! That’s why I strove to protect them! I even ran here risking my life and crossed the river to try to save even you!”

“…”

“And the only thing you say is that all of it is the fault of me, the Abbot of Shaolin.”

Beop Jeong sneered and looked at the Four Sects Alliance troops who had stopped at a distance.

“It is impossible to break through them. No, it might be possible, but that is what the Hegemony Lord intends. We need not suffer greater losses when huge damage is already inevitable. I will return to the Northern land.”

“Abbot! But Sichuan needs help this very moment…”

“Do you still not understand that if we suffer even greater losses, it will truly be irreparable!”

Boom!

When Beop Jeong stamped his foot, the ground trembled.

With an expression unbefitting a Buddhist, Beop Jeong glared at the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

“If even we fall here, an era of usurpers will come upon the world! Jang Ilso will seize the world and manipulate it as he pleases!”

Everyone’s faces darkened instantly.

“No matter how the Heavenly Friends Alliance talks about principle or consultation, in the end you run to where the incident happened and just swing swords! Do you truly not expect Jang Ilso to move you like that?”

“…”

“In this situation it’s a meaningless talk, but still heed me. This is my final advice. Do not go to Sichuan. Unless you all wish to die there!”

Beop Jeong turned on his heel and left.

Behind him, the disciples of the Nine Great Sects who had been watching the Heavenly Friends Alliance also stared at them briefly before turning away.

For a moment, Hyun Jong realized.

‘The disciples…’

The Nine Great Sects’ leadership may have looked on the Heavenly Friends Alliance unfavorably until now, but those disciples had felt quite favorably toward them.

But not anymore.

The looks they showed as they turned were no longer those of allies.

The wall erected between the Nine Great Sects and the Heavenly Friends Alliance had now become too strong to tear down.

Then Beop Jeong, who had turned away, spoke softly with a sneer.

“Nevertheless… of course you’ll go to Sichuan, won’t you?”

The person who answered was not Hyun Jong.

“We will.”

Baek Cheon answered in a calm voice without the slightest tremor. Beop Jeong glared at him with a cold face, then turned his head sharply as if a chill wind passed.

“Yes. You will.”

Watching Beop Jeong walk away, Hyun Jong squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Jang Ilso…’

He felt as if he could hear Jang Ilso’s laugh in his ear.

The manic laughter of that audacious scoundrel who had achieved everything as he wished.