Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1643

“Enjoying myself, you ask?”

His blood ran cold.

He had decided not to give in, no matter what Jang Il-So did. He believed Jang Il-So was not truly angry with him.

That single, short sentence was enough to make his blood run cold and his heart sink.

“Ga-myeong.”

He had heard that name countless times, a voice he had listened to for so long. Jang Il-So had called Ho Ga-myeong’s name for such a long time.

But the way his voice sounded now was very different from before. At least, Ho Ga-myeong could sense it more clearly than anyone else.

“What do you mean by that?”

Jang Il-So’s gaze began to tighten around Ho Ga-myeong.

But Ho Ga-myeong did not back down easily.

“Just as I said. I am merely asking whether you are enjoying yourself right now, Lord.”

“Ho Ga-myeong!” Jang Il-So’s voice rose slightly.

He slammed his hand on the table, making the bottle jump. Suddenly, the air became very tense.

Jang Il-So, who had been staring intently at Ho Ga-myeong, covered his face with one hand. His long fingers pressed down on his face somewhat nervously.

“Did you come to me so early in the morning to say something so meaningless?”

“Is it meaningless?” Ho Ga-myeong asked calmly. Jang Il-So’s eyes, revealed between his fingers, gleamed like those of a ferocious wolf.

“Ga-myeong…”

“Maybe these things are small to you now, Lord,” Ho Ga-myeong replied, his voice steady, “but to me, it matters a lot.”

“Ha!” Jang Il-So let out a short, sharp laugh, like a bark. He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You think it’s important if *I’m* enjoying myself? More important than how bad things are, how urgent everything is?”

“Yes,” Ho Ga-myeong said firmly, not backing down.

It was a resolute answer that left no room for negotiation, not even enough space for a needle to enter. Jang Il-So’s eyes sharpened, becoming slits.

“Is that what you decided after thinking so calmly?”

“……”

“Huh? Ga-myeong? Answer me. Is that what you decided after thinking so brilliantly? You’re telling me to give up enduring this pressure and become a pig chasing after pleasure? Is that really it?”

The emotion in Jang Il-So’s eyes now was probably not contempt, but it was certain that a faint disappointment was present.

Disappointment… Jang Il-So’s eyes, once bright with trust, now held a shadow. It looked like disappointment. Perhaps Ho Ga-myeong himself had caused this entire situation.

But Ho Ga-myeong did not give in.

“Did you say pressure?”

“……”

“When I first joined you, Lord, you told me that I would now experience hell.”

Jang Il-So nodded slightly.

“That was true. It was indeed a difficult path, comparable to hell. But I decided to serve you knowing that would be the case. And… do you remember what I said back then?”

“Are you talking about telling me to have some leeway?”

“No. I am talking about saying that being with you might be hell, but at least it would be enjoyable.”

Jang Il-So fell silent. Ho Ga-myeong bit down on his lower lip.

“The reason I said that to you back then is not because I am that kind of person. It is because you are that kind of person. The Lord of that time was someone who could mock the enemy and laugh even in the middle of hell. But is the current Lord really like that?”

Jang Il-So stared at Ho Ga-myeong without answering. Or perhaps, it was not that he was not answering, but that he could not.

He must already know. There was no way that someone like Jang Il-So would not know what Ho Ga-myeong was trying to say. If he had not understood the meaning in the first place, he would not have shown such a violent reaction.

“So?” White teeth were revealed between Jang Il-So’s twisted lips. They were fierce and sharp, as if he would grab someone’s neck and bite them at any moment.

“What if I am not enjoying myself? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to enjoy this situation? Or should I just give up everything here and drink myself into oblivion? Huh?”

A small sigh escaped from Ho Ga-myeong’s lips.

He could sense it clearly through this conversation, that scene, the scene of that day. Jang Il-So was unable to escape from that scene, which even Ho Ga-myeong feared to see again in his dreams.

“If there is an enemy, we fight.”

“……”

“If we cannot win with skill, we use schemes, and if schemes don’t work, we use poison, dig vicious traps, take hostages, and even lick the opponent’s toes to make them lower their guard, and we must win.”

Jang Il-So’s face grew colder and harder.

“That was the way of the Overlord I knew.”

“……”

“It wasn’t about finding a way to run away because we couldn’t win, but about struggling to win no matter what, and if we still couldn’t win, laughing it off—that was the Overlord!”

“Ho Ga-myeong!” A shout finally burst from Jang Il-So’s mouth. Ho Ga-myeong also shouted clearly, but desperately.

“What on earth did you see that makes you give up even resisting? That Overlord! That Jang Il-So has lost even the will to fight and is running away!”

Clang.

The bottle of alcohol in Jang Il-So’s hand broke, and the pieces fell to the floor. The bottle shattered, and the sharp smell of strong alcohol filled the air. Brown liquid streamed over Jang Il-So’s fingers, dripping onto the wooden floor.

A short silence descended.

The silence seemed to draw a line between the two, making a cracking sound, as cold and ruthless as it could be.

“You speak well.” Jang Il-So shook off the alcohol on his hand and let out a short sigh.

“What you see and what I see are different.”

“Lord.”

“If you could feel what I felt, you wouldn’t be able to speak so easily now. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Is that so?” A faint light flickered in Ho Ga-myeong’s eyes.

Jang Il-So could tell what emotion was in those eyes, an emotion that was not so different from what was in his own eyes now.

“In other words, until now, you have only turned those who are easy to deal with into enemies.”

Jang Il-So, who had been wiping his hands, stopped moving abruptly.

A viper-like gaze stared straight at Ho Ga-myeong.

“What did you say just now?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Ga-myeong.” An eerie aura settled on Jang Il-So’s face.

“There are lines that must be kept between people. No matter how much it is you, there are lines you must not cross.”

“No. It isn’t I who crossed the line. It is you, Lord.”

The corners of Jang Il-So’s lips curled up. The viscous smile was truly eerie.

“Yes. Keep going. Let’s see how far you go.”

“Was it the way of the Overlord to give up the fight itself if the enemy could not be defeated?”

“No. Finding a way is my way. But if I can’t find a way, what should I do? Should I fail badly by attacking without a plan? Should I just die quickly since death is coming anyway?”

“Is there really no way?”

“……”

“The way of the Overlord I know is not like that. If the chance of winning is only one in ten, then finding a way to create a chance of two in ten was the way of the Myriad Man Faction, the way of the Overlord, and also the way of Jang Il-So.”

“So now…!”

“Join hands with those Orthodox Faction bastards.”

Jang Il-So, who was about to get angry, froze.

Silence gathered between the two again. After a long silence, Jang Il-So opened his mouth.

“What… did you say?”

“Join hands with the Orthodox Faction bastards.”

“Ha. Haha.” A hollow laugh escaped from Jang Il-So’s mouth.

“Do you think that’s even reasonable?”

“If there’s no common enemy, it’s impossible, of course. But if there is a common enemy, it’s entirely possible. If they also understand the existence of ‘that one,’ they will take your hand, Lord. That is a fact that history proves.”

Jang Il-So closed his mouth.

“If the chance of winning by fighting isn’t good enough, increase the chance of winning. If that is the way of Jang Il-So, then uniting with them is now the most certain way to increase that chance. Then is there any reason not to consider it?”

As Ho Ga-myeong’s words continued, Jang Il-So’s eyes distorted.

At the same time, a strange light flickered in Ho Ga-myeong’s eyes.

It was not uncommon for Jang Il-So to show aversion. After all, he is someone who mocks everything.

But the aversion that Jang Il-So was showing now was closer to disgust than displeasure.

A physiological aversion, like a person fearing snakes and disliking bugs. What could be glimpsed from Jang Il-So now was that kind of aversion.

After a while, Jang Il-So pressed his temples and shook his head.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Lord.”

“Ga-myeong, Ga-myeong. You suddenly had a dream, and now you’re only talking about dreamlike stories. I wondered what you were going to say.” Jang Il-So chuckled.

“Yes. You may be right. That may be one way. But Ga-myeong, after seeing that, don’t you know those guys? Do you think those pig bastards will believe my words? In this situation?”

“……”

“No, let’s say they believe me. Let’s say those guys believe my words. Then do you think those guys will really try to join hands with me?”

This time, it was Ho Ga-myeong’s turn to be silent.

“You know very well that that can’t be true, don’t you?” Jang Il-So let out a deep sneer.

“Sometimes resentment is stronger than reason. There are plenty of people in the world who would rather die than let their opponent live. But… do you think they will really join hands with me to survive?”

“They are not fools either.”

“Tactics are in books, but people don’t live in books.”

“……”

“There are plenty of people over there who lost their relatives to my hands and lost their sects to my hands. But do you think those guys will protect my back for the sake of the ridiculous two letters called ‘righteousness’?” Jang Il-So’s face twisted horribly.

“What a joke. A colleague who you have to worry about stabbing you in the back at any moment is worse than a definite enemy. Why don’t you understand that an equal opponent is meaningless if you can’t keep them under your feet?”

“That sounds strange.”

“Strange?”

“Just listening to you, it sounds like you would never ally with the Orthodox Faction bastards, but in fact, you have already done so, haven’t you?”

“……”

“You joined forces with them in the past in Hangzhou, so why can’t you take the same approach again now? Is it because the situation has changed from then? Or…”

Jang Il-So’s face hardened slightly. He did not realize it himself, but Ho Ga-myeong was now smiling coldly.

“Is it because the person has changed from then?”

Jang Il-So stood up from his seat, like someone who had heard words that could never be tolerated. But Ho Ga-myeong also did not back down.

“Say it again.”

“I asked if you have changed, Lord.”

“You…”

Jang Il-So’s blue eyes and Ho Ga-myeong’s firm eyes met.

It was a scene that had never happened before. A ‘confrontation’ that had never existed.

Footsteps that always headed in the same direction were now, at this moment, diverging just a little, but definitely.