Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1224

“Father! Father, please open your eyes!” The man’s voice was full of tears.

Baek Cheon watched him, confused. The man was crying loudly, looking down at someone on the ground.

*Father?* Baek Cheon thought.

Was that old villager the father of *this* man? Just a few moments ago, this same man had spoken of an old man as if his life meant nothing. Baek Cheon frowned. *How could he be so cruel, then cry like this now?*

“Doctor! Doctor! Please save my father! I beg you! Please!”

“Calm down. You’re just getting in the way!”

Even Tang Soso seemed surprised, her face showing she was worried.

“The wound isn’t deep, so he can live if he stays strong. Please, calm down.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much…”

The man kept hitting his head on the ground.

Baek Cheon, who had been watching, walked towards the man. He felt confused and couldn’t understand his own feelings.

“Is this person…”

He hesitated, as if afraid to ask, then forced himself to speak.

“…is this person your father?”

The man flinched and nodded, his face covered in tears. It was hard to believe this was the same man who had called the old man ‘that old man’ and smiled in a very polite and flattering way.

“Yes… Yes, he is my father.”

“But how…”

How could he speak like that? How could he speak badly about his own father and beg so desperately before the bad guy who had hurt him?

He knew he shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help it.

The man cried as he answered.

“Then… then what else could I do…? Then…”

The man looked at his father, who was unconscious, and cried. The guilt in his eyes hurt Baek Cheon.

“I wish I could tear him into a thousand, no, ten thousand pieces! I wish I could bite and tear at him, demanding he bring my father back to life! I’m only human, how can I not feel that way!”

“…”

“But what would that change? It would only cause the deaths of everyone else!”

The man held his father’s hand tightly.

“The living… the living must find a way to survive. If I was strong, I wouldn’t have to do this. If I was strong, I wouldn’t have to beg so sadly before my enemy. But what can I do? I’m powerless. If a powerless man wants to live, if he wants to save even one more person, he has to please his enemy! What else! What else can I do! What!”

He cried out in sadness, anger, and regret.

“The weak must live like that… they must live like that. Even if they’re treated badly, they must deal with it. Even if they’re treated unfairly, they must accept it… they must pretend they don’t know anything and live like that. Otherwise… Otherwise…”

The man couldn’t speak anymore and cried.

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

He wanted to take back his words for judging the man. How could he judge someone without knowing why he was bowing before his enemy?

“Sniff…”

After crying for a long time, the man wiped his face with his sleeve and bowed deeply to Baek Cheon again.

“Thank you.”

“Please, don’t do this.”

“No. You knew they were members of the Four Faction Alliance, but you still helped us poor villagers. How can I not be grateful? Because of you… because of you, we can live a little longer. Thank you so much… Thank you for helping our village.”

Baek Cheon’s eyes widened slightly, and his gaze flickered with emotion.

He wanted to say that wasn’t true. He wanted to shout that he had been thinking about whether their lives were worth it. He wanted to scream that he had been comparing the lives of the people here to the danger they were in.

But he couldn’t say those words.

Behind him, the others who had defeated the Four Faction Alliance thugs came closer. They must have heard what was happening, because their faces were sad and serious.

“Can I ask… who are you kind people?”

“We are…”

Baek Cheon was about to speak, but he shook his head.

“Don’t ask.”

“…”

“If something happens, it will be better this way.”

The man seemed to understand and nodded.

“Thank you… Thank you so much…”

The man bowed to the ground. Baek Cheon couldn’t watch and looked away.

Then, he heard Chung Myung’s calm voice.

“How’s the old man?”

“He’s in bad shape. The wound isn’t deep, but I’m worried he’s too old to recover.”

“Hey, Big Dang.”

“Yes?”

“You have Elixir Pills, right?”

“We do, but this is…”

“Don’t be silly, just give me one. People who save Elixir Pills always die without using them. If I knew this would happen, I would have used them all.”

“I understand.”

Dangpae nodded and gave a small pill to Tang Soso, who nodded.

“This is a special medicine made with our family’s secret methods, so it will help the old man heal.”

“And you.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Namgung Dowi realized he was being called and answered seriously.

“What about those bad guys?”

“We’ve captured them.”

That meant they weren’t killed. Chung Myung spoke quietly.

“Make sure they can never fight again, even if they live.”

“Yes?”

“Why? Can’t you do it?”

Namgung Dowi looked at Chung Myung, then nodded with a serious face.

“I will do it.”

He took out his sword and walked towards the men. Chung Myung watched him, his lips tight.

He didn’t think of the Four Faction Alliance thugs as human.

If they had only hurt each other, Chung Myung might not have hated them so much. But they hurt anyone, whether they were strong or weak.

Power without control is dangerous for those who can’t defend themselves.

To fight a greater evil and avoid danger, we can’t ignore small evils. They can destroy someone’s life.

The person hurt could be someone’s parent, child, or relative.

*I’ve become a fool, too.*

Chung Myung bit his lip.

If it were him in the past, he would have killed that bad guy before he could hurt the old man. But he hesitated, and that’s why this happened.

He had excuses. He had to protect more than just these people. That’s why he hesitated.

But if even Chung Myung hesitated to protect his own life and everything else, who would protect them?

Chung Myung looked at the Mount Hua Sect members. They had done a good thing, but they looked sad instead of proud.

They felt the same way as Chung Myung. They hated themselves for hesitating.

“Are you going to stay up all night?”

Everyone looked at Chung Myung.

“Heal those who need healing, and clean up. We don’t have time to waste.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Take the carts down the mountain and hide the tracks. Don’t let anyone know we were here.”

“Yes.”

“What about those bad guys?”

Chung Myung looked at the unconscious thugs and gritted his teeth. Then, he turned to the middle-aged man.

“Are there any caves nearby?”

“Caves?”

“Any empty cave will do.”

“There are many caves. This is a mountain village.”

“Please have someone show my martial brothers the way.”

“Alright.”

“Throw those bad guys into a cave and block the entrance.”

“They’ll die.”

“Let them die.”

“Understood.”

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul helped clean up.

Chung Myung looked at the fallen villager. The Dang family’s Elixir Pill was helping him regain color.

“Martial Uncle.”

“Yes.”

“We have to do what we have to do.”

Baek Cheon nodded.

Chung Myung knew how he felt, so he didn’t say anything else. He had felt the same way when he left Mount Hua and saw the reality of the common people.

*We must help the common people. Justice is for the powerless.*

He had heard this many times, but most people didn’t understand what it meant.

Only after seeing how the common people had to suffer injustice did he understand what he had been taught.

When he realized that his hesitation could cause great despair, justice became something he had to do.

Baek Cheon looked at those who were afraid to come closer. Even though the situation was over, they were still scared. The fear was clear on their faces.

Baek Cheon sighed.

He had thought that doing good deeds would make people admire him. He wasn’t doing it for that reason, but he thought it would happen naturally.

But even though they had done a good thing, the people were still afraid. It wasn’t that they didn’t know they meant well, but they couldn’t help being afraid of those who could control their lives.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Why?”

“To be honest, I still don’t know if I did the right thing.”

Baek Cheon looked at those who were cleaning up.

The risk wasn’t high, but it was still more dangerous than doing nothing.

“If this causes the mission to fail, or if someone gets hurt, I might never forgive myself.”

“…”

“But you know.”

He sighed and continued.

“Even knowing all that, if I face the same situation… I’ll probably do it again.”

Chung Myung grinned.

“Yeah.”