Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1778

The silence in the tent was heavy. Baek Cheon struggled to find words after Jin Song-won finished speaking.

Jin Song-won’s voice was calm, like he was telling someone else’s story.

Yet, it was enough to convey the misery, the sorrow, and the deep-seated resentment of a man who had to relinquish everything that Jin Song-won had felt that day.

Therefore, Baek Cheon could say nothing, merely staring blankly at the man before him—a man so worn that even his mask could not fully conceal how tired and thin he looked.

“After that……”

When Jin Song-won spoke again, his voice still calm, Baek Cheon flinched almost involuntarily.

It was the first time. These words had no anger in them, but they hurt Baek Cheon deeply.

“It wouldn’t be much different from what you’re expecting, would it?”

“A dog barks when told to bark, and crawls when told to crawl.”

No, there wasn’t even a hint of self-pity, let alone animosity. Neither disappointment nor futility.

Baek Cheon felt like he was talking to an empty version of Jin Song-won, a man who had lost everything inside.

Baek Cheon asked cautiously, “Is that why you stood in our way?”

“……”

“Because you chose to be a dog, because you’d already vowed not to think for yourself?”

Jin Song-won’s eyes darkened. Baek Cheon bit his lower lip, then fired off another question.

“Is that why you blocked the path of the Zhuge and Murong families? Because Jang Il-so ordered it? Did you really not know how many people would die as a result?”

His voice grew increasingly heated, but Jin Song-won merely stared at Baek Cheon without so much as a blink.

“That was a war that could have ended then. If it had……”

So much blood might not have been shed.

Perhaps Baek Cheon, too… might still have been a proud disciple of Mount Hua, dreaming of the future, unlike his current state with broken wings.

They had ruined all those possibilities.

“Why, for heaven’s sake!”

Baek Cheon’s voice rose. His breath quickened slightly with anger.

It was only when his breathing had slowed that Jin Song-won opened his mouth.

“Let me ask you something. Which would you save, one person or a hundred?”

Baek Cheon frowned at the unexpected question.

“What are you talking about?”

“Answer me. If you could only save one of the two, which would be the right one to save?”

Baek Cheon opened his mouth to answer, but he merely moved his lips without uttering a word, then closed them again.

Jin Song-won chuckled as he watched this.

“Upright. So upright. I envy that.”

“……”

“Is it my turn to answer? Yes, I knew. I knew what we were doing, how much death it would cause. I wish I hadn’t, but I certainly knew.”

They had blocked the reinforcements coming to help Shaolin. They had hindered the heroes who would defeat the Demonic Sect. They had ruined the one chance to change the world. Beop Jeong had planned this move with all his strength.

They could have chosen again then. That day was an opportunity for Beop Jeong, and perhaps for them as well.

But they chose to obey once more.

“Why? Well… because humans think, but dogs follow. Or perhaps even the lowliest creatures cherish their young. What other reason could there be?”

“……Thousands of lives.”

“Yes, it was. It was.”

Jin Song-won laughed quietly. A sense of futility, unseen moments before, was now evident on his face.

“Jang Il-so is truly thorough. The children are still trapped in Yunnan, out of our reach.”

“……”

“If we were to defy their orders, those children would all die. No, they wouldn’t just die. They would suffer every pain in the world before dying, simply because they caught my eye and joined Mount Jeomcang.”

Jin Song-won’s gaze sharpened slightly.

“Compared to that… those who died with Shaolin at least went to fight of their own volition, so aren’t they better off?”

“How can you say that now…!”

“Then?”

Jin Song-won retorted sharply. His eyes were bloodshot, filled not with mere anger but with resentment.

“Should I have turned a blind eye? Should I have told them to accept their misfortune and clicked my tongue? Should I have shaken my head, saying it couldn’t be helped, even as children whose bones hadn’t fully formed were torn to pieces?”

“……”

“What should I have done?”

“Sect Leader.”

“Answer me. What should I have done? What could I have done that would have prevented you from blaming me now?”

Baek Cheon chewed on his lower lip.

He knew the answer, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say it. If Baek Cheon were in that position, could he have carried out the method that came to mind?

If Baek Cheon were in Jin Song-won’s position, if those taken hostage were Yu Yiseol, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, or Tang Soso… if they were his Mount Hua siblings, whom he wouldn’t hesitate to give his life to protect.

If they fell into the clutches of evil, could Baek Cheon disregard them and attack the Demonic Alliance for the sake of the greater good? Would he have the courage to decide their tragic deaths?

‘I……’

Perhaps he could. At least for the Five Swords. Even if Baek Cheon had to take responsibility for that choice and volunteer himself, he would not have allowed his siblings to become the glory of the Demonic Alliance.

But what about young children?

If the targets were children who couldn’t even wield a sword themselves, could he really make the same choice? Would it be right to place the responsibility of a martial artist, which Baek Cheon and Chung Myung had discussed so often, on those tiny hands?

“Thousands of lives and dozens of lives. They can’t be the same. They can’t be. I know that better than anyone. But… what good is any of that? I’m not human anymore anyway. I can’t be human.”

Could he really condemn them? Despair washed over Baek Cheon’s face.

‘It’s distorted.’

Until recently, his world had been upright and simple. A world where right and wrong were absolutely divided. Living in it might have been difficult, but it wasn’t painful.

But at some point, that boundary had collapsed. A world where right and wrong were indistinguishable seemed to be sucking him in like a swamp.

Jin Song-won chuckled as he saw Baek Cheon’s troubled face.

“How novel.”

“……”

“Disgustingly obvious.”

A thick residue of emotion could be felt in his casually tossed words.

Baek Cheon glared at Jin Song-won.

“What do you mean?”

“You must have guessed what would happen to Mount Jeomcang from the moment you chose the Tang family over them, no?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes wavered for a moment.

Jin Song-won began to chuckle. His hollow laughter scattered emptily within the desolate tent.

“Look here. Why do you wear such an ignorant expression? You knew it all along, didn’t you?”

“I……”

“You already knew that countless people from Mount Jeomcang and Yunnan, even young children who were simply wearing the clothes of Mount Jeomcang without knowing anything, would be torn to pieces by their hands, didn’t you? You knew it, and yet you’ve been living so well. So why pretend to be so pitiful now?”

Baek Cheon’s fingertips trembled.

“Why?”

Jin Song-won’s face contorted. It was clearly visible even through the mask—a distortion that was impossible to tell whether it was a smile or a cry.

“Are you displeased that those who should have disappeared in some distant land, unseen and unheard, have stubbornly appeared and dug up what you buried?”

“What are you……”

“Isn’t that so?”

Jin Song-won’s laughter continued, as if it would never end.

“But why that expression? It’s quite a sight. I would show you your own face, to see how you look, if you were someone worthy of respect.”

“……”

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to resent you. No matter how much I’m treated as less than human now, I’m not so shameless as to blame Mount Hua and the Cheonwoo Alliance, whom I’ve never even met. It’s just……”

Jin Song-won’s gaze pierced through Baek Cheon.

“Seeing your face, as if you’re suddenly agonizing over something you already knew, makes me think that I still have enough humanity left to feel disgust. Or perhaps that’s just how people are.”

Jin Song-won rose from his seat.

Baek Cheon could do nothing. He couldn’t stop him, nor could he ask anything.

Because there would be no answer anyway.

The one who was called Jin Song-won had already died long ago. What was here was merely the vengeful spirit of the dead Jin Song-won, not even allowed to rest in peace.

Nevertheless, there was one thing he wanted to ask. Baek Cheon’s voice stopped Jin Song-won as he turned to leave.

“Why… did you help me?”

“……”

“If you resent me so much, then why?”

Jin Song-won stood silently for a long time without answering.

After an unbearable silence, a faded voice leaked from his lips.

“Well… perhaps it was because I thought your situation and ours weren’t so different. Or maybe it was just a whim.”

“……”

“But then again, maybe……”

Jin Song-won’s words trailed off.

After he left, Baek Cheon was left alone in the tent. He forced his unresponsive hand to his face and wiped it clean.

Thud. Thud.

Baek Cheon moved heavily, as if chasing after Jin Song-won, and pulled back the tent flap. As soon as he escaped the suffocating, dark tent, the stinging sunlight hit his eyes like needles after the darkness of the tent. The sky was still clear, and the sun was dazzling.

People slumped here and there as if they had been carelessly thrown down came into view.

How had Baek Cheon seen them before entering this tent? And how does he see them now?

Much had changed. But objectively, nothing had changed in the camp.

‘Perhaps it was just……’

Jin Song-won said nothing.

But Baek Cheon felt as if he had heard the words that followed.

Perhaps Jin Song-won just wanted someone, even one person, to understand him.

Jin Song-won didn’t want anything from Baek Cheon.

He didn’t tell him to stay, nor did he tell him to leave. He simply conveyed his message and left.

So the rest was entirely up to Baek Cheon’s will.

Baek Cheon, who had been staring out of the tent for a long time, slowly sank to the ground. Like the others who had faded away, he gradually settled into that spot.

“……The Dalai Lama?”

Chung Myung’s eyes, which had flickered with doubt for a moment, quickly regained their composure.

The red-haired boy he had encountered on his way back from the Northern Sea in the past.

He remembered that there was something different about him, so much so that even Chung Myung couldn’t treat him carelessly. That boy, now a vibrant young man holding fragments of the past, stood before Chung Myung.

He remembered the strange word the boy had said before: ‘Samayasamjiva’?

The words he had spoken as if possessed by something still remained in Chung Myung’s memory like a brand.

He had thought that he might meet him again someday, but he never imagined that he would encounter him in such a place.

“Have you come to find me?”

The Dalai Lama slowly nodded.

“Yes, Benefactor.”

“……Why?”

“I must share many stories with you. That is the destiny that lies between you and me. But… you might not understand everything right now.”

Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What……”

The Dalai Lama sighed briefly and looked straight at Chung Myung. His endlessly deep eyes seemed as if they would suck Chung Myung in at any moment.

“So first, I would like to discuss your regrets.”