Chapter 1152: Well, If It’s Absolutely Necessary. (2) |
When I barely came to my senses, the first thought that crossed my mind was just one.
‘I have to, I must manage this!’
If I can’t somehow manage this situation, the moment I leave this room, I might be trampled to death under the feet of those glaring at me with ghostly eyes.
Then a tombstone engraved with ‘Namgung father and son went side by side into the Yangtze River’ would be erected.
Everyone would gossip. They’d say the father bravely fought and died, but the son foolishly talked nonsense and was punished to death.
‘Ah, no.’
Among the many ends Namgung Do-Wei had imagined for himself, there was no such scenario. Trembling with extreme anxiety, he desperately spoke up.
“F-First, it might be better to postpone this agenda a bit…”
“Why? It looks good. We can do it right away. What’s the big deal?”
Namgung Do-Wei’s mind began spinning more fiercely than ever before.
“I-It is truly important to create the right positions and appoint the right people. This is not something to be decided hastily in a place like this!”
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t it said that personnel is everything? Dynasties that failed to manage personnel properly always fell! So you must take this seriously!”
“…That much importance for this?”
“Of course it is!”
“Hmmm.”
Chung Myung smacked his lips as if something was unsatisfactory.
“But wouldn’t it be okay to just decide a few important positions first and fill the minor ones later?”
“P-People’s minds don’t work that way. If you decide the important positions first, selecting the subsequent ones tends to become a bit lazy!”
“…”
“Please understand that all of this comes from my heart thinking of the Heavenly Friends Alliance!”
“Well, if you put it that way…”
“Y-Yeah. Chung Myung, I don’t think this is something to decide right here.”
“That’s right, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint. We’ll think deeply about this with the elders.”
When Hyun Jong and Tang Gunak sided with Namgung Do-Wei, Chung Myung smacked his lips and subtly stepped back.
“Well, if that’s how it is…”
“Haha. Yeah, yeah. This isn’t such a simple matter, after all.”
At that moment, Chung Myung glanced at Namgung Do-Wei.
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“Namgung young lord, your tongue has become quite skillful.”
“…”
“I don’t think it was like that before. Maybe it’s because you’ve been hanging out with that Evil Sect guy lately?”
“…”
“You are learning good things. Very good.”
Feeling wronged, Namgung Do-Wei grimaced and opened his mouth slightly. No matter what, comparing him to the Evil Sect leader was too much!
“I’ll let it slide this once.”
Chung Myung chuckled and turned his head to look at everyone.
“Then, what about the other agenda?”
“Hmm. Agenda, huh…”
Tang Gunak cleared his throat slightly. Though he had experienced this many times, he was still not used to everyone exchanging opinions equally. But at times like this, he had to say something.
“Listen, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”
“Yes, family lord.”
“A war will break out, right?”
Chung Myung’s gaze at Tang Gunak darkened. It meant, ‘Why bring this up now?’
“Then do you intend to maintain this Yangtze front until the war breaks out?”
“That’s not for us to decide.”
“Huh?”
“The Nine Great Sects decide that. Those bastards haven’t withdrawn yet, so it wouldn’t be right for us to leave first.”
“That’s certainly true.”
Tang Gunak frowned slightly.
‘What on earth is Beop Jeong thinking?’
The Heavenly Friends Alliance also somewhat accidentally settled here, but in fact, the Nine Great Sects including Shaolin and the Five Great Families settled on the Yangtze more abruptly.
More precisely, among the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families, some sects allied with Shaolin.
Hearing this, Baek Cheon scratched his head.
“Come to think of it, we’ve been so busy with immediate matters that we haven’t paid attention to them, but what exactly are they doing?”
“Huh?”
“Right? We train here, and since it’s unclear where the Palaces would join us, so we naturally settled here… but the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families aren’t in that situation.”
“That’s true.”
“They seem like they could withdraw anytime…”
At first, the Nine Great Sects couldn’t easily leave the Yangtze because they didn’t know when the Evil Sect would cross the river. But now?
“…They must know that the Evil Sect needs internal reorganization.”
“That’s underestimating the Nine Great Sects. Of course, they know it.”
They couldn’t understand at all. If the Evil Sect isn’t advancing north, the Nine Great Sects don’t need to guard the Yangtze basin. So why are they still stationed there?
“Why think of it so complicatedly?”
“Hmm?”
Everyone’s gaze fixed on Chung Myung’s face. His expression was utterly indifferent.
“I don’t think they’re thinking that deeply. Just think from their perspective.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“If you were that bald leader, what would you do? You rushed here desperately, but nothing happened. You tried to take advantage of the Demonic Cult’s rise, but some guys went and solved everything.”
Putting themselves in his shoes, they thought it must be quite frustrating.
“We don’t care about such things, but that big bald guy cares a lot.”
“You’re talking about face and justification.”
“Yes, exactly.”
Chung Myung chuckled and continued.
“I don’t know for sure, but in that situation, they probably didn’t want to leave the Yangtze before us. At least they want the justification that they guarded the Yangtze until the very end. At first, they probably thought just one thing: watch carefully, and when we disband and return to our main sects, they would withdraw too.”
“…Ah.”
“Yes. But we didn’t go home.”
“…”
“In that situation, if we ask them why they don’t go home even now, they’d be so frustrated they’d die.”
Tang Gunak gave a hollow laugh.
“What you say isn’t entirely wrong, but leaving the sect’s base and spending time here isn’t as easy as it sounds. If there were no sects like Mount Hua that influence Southern Edge into closed gate, and Shaanxi, it wouldn’t be a problem, but for other sects, even a brief absence could cause fatal problems.”
“Hmm?”
“Of course, the face and justification you mentioned do have some influence, but thinking they stay there only for that reason seems a bit much. It can’t be just that.”
Just as Tang Gunak spoke with conviction, Im So-Byeong suddenly interrupted.
“Why do you only think halfway to the point?”
Tang Gunak’s gaze turned to him. Im So-Byeong leaned against the wall with a languid face and spoke.
“Sun Tzu said ‘Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.’ But our noble Justice faction members all know the enemy but don’t know themselves.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Tang Gunak asked, and Im So-Byeong chuckled.
“Think about it, think. They’ve been watching what we’ve been doing all this time, haven’t they?”
“I suppose so?”
This manor’s structure doesn’t allow internal matters to be hidden from outsiders. Moreover, many people in charge of the manor’s affairs come and go, so they could easily obtain information without mobilizing the Beggars’ Union.
And in fact, in some ways, they would be more curious about the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s movements than the Evil Sect’s, so naturally, they paid attention.
“Then what do you think they’re thinking?”
“What do you mean by what they’re thinking?”
“I’m telling you to think about what they’ve seen and heard all this time.”
“What they’ve seen and heard, well…”
At that moment, Baek Cheon spoke.
“Mount Hua and the Tang Family have been fighting all day long.”
Yoon Jong supported his words.
“The Tang Family’s lord got angry and beat the elders and disciples like catching rats.”
Tang Pae sneaked in.
“Suddenly, the Beast Palace from Yunnan joined in and is fighting with other sects there?”
Namgung Do-Wei continued, sweating coldly.
“C-Could it be that rumors have spread that the Namgung Family is fighting with the Green Forest?”
Just as Tang Gunak’s expression twisted, Jo Gul, with his hands clasped behind his head, smiled and spoke.
“And as the final blow, they probably heard that Chung Myung, who saw that mess, went half crazy.”
“…Huh?”
“Do you understand?”
Im So-Byeong hammered the point as if to say, ‘Look at this.’
“Right now, the ones who want to ask ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ are probably not us, but them.”
Tang Gunak could neither laugh nor cry now.
“Abbot.”
“…”
“How long do you intend to stay here?”
“…”
“Surely you don’t intend to bury your bones here?”
The abbot closed his eyes and remained silent. Jong Ri-Hyung didn’t give up and pressed him again.
“Abbot, you know as well. The Four Sects Alliance can’t advance north for a while. The Pirates occupying Plum Blossom Island don’t have the capacity to cross the Yangtze. The Pirates, whose leader is injured, can’t act alone without the Four Sects Alliance’s support.”
“…”
“Then why do you keep staying here? How many days have you been wasting time endlessly?”
Jong Ri-Hyung couldn’t contain his frustration and pounded his chest.
“The complaints among the disciples are indescribable. I understand you, but you must also understand their feelings, stuck in this distant place after hastily leaving the main sect! The Peng Family side has already been talking about leaving here alone quite often!”
“…”
“Abbot! Please say something!”
At that moment, the abbot slowly opened his closed eyes. But that was all; he just looked at Jong Ri-Hyung with deeply sunken eyes. Still no words.
“…abbot.”
At that response, Jong Ri-Hyung seemed to make up his mind and spoke. His voice was lower than usual.
“I didn’t want to say this… but among the kids, there’s talk that the abbot got scared. They say once bitten by a snake, twice shy. Do you understand what I mean?”
“…You said ‘twice shy’?”
“Yes, abbot! That’s how much right now…”
“What’s the problem with that?”
“…Huh?”
Flustered, Jong Ri-Hyung opened his eyes wide and looked at the abbot. The abbot remained calm.
“What’s wrong with someone bitten by a snake being startled by a pot lid? Pretending nothing happened and getting bitten again is more foolish.”
The abbot slightly gritted his teeth.
“Even if I’m called foolish and frustrating, I can’t let them disgrace me again. Am I wrong for that?”
“A-abbot.”
The abbot’s eyes were clearly on Jong Ri-Hyung sitting opposite him. But what he was truly seeing was the image of Chung Myung beyond Jong Ri-Hyung.
’ Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.’
The abbot, Beop Jeong, exhaled deeply through his nose.
‘What scheme is he up to now?’
Chung Myung’s phantom chuckled. Beop Jeong unconsciously clenched his fist tightly.