You Really Are Generous, After All. (3)

When performing acts of charity, one must not expect repayment. This is a principle of those who act as righteous warriors.

The moment you expect repayment, it ceases to be a charitable act and becomes a transaction. Thus, Baek Cheon also did not expect reward for what he did.

Even if it meant risking countless dangers and losing much. However…

Baek Cheon slowly nodded and spoke.

“I understand your situation.”

He said it while suppressing an involuntary sigh.

“But, village chief. Our circumstances are not that good either. So could you help us just this once? If we must avoid the Four Sects Alliance’s pursuit and even stop eating, it would be hard to guarantee our lives.”

If it were the usual Baek Cheon, he wouldn’t have gone into such lengthy pleas.

His reason for saying this was not to elicit pity by revealing hardship. He simply wanted to know.

He wanted to see how benevolence given without expectation of return would truly come back. Whether their acts of charity were actually making the world a bit better.

“Righteous warrior…”

But that sentiment of Baek Cheon didn’t seem to reach the old man.

“How could ignorant people like us discuss the circumstances of righteous warriors?”

“……”

“We know nothing. We only hope to scrape by day by day. Please pity us.”

The old man bowed his head again. Seeing that, Baek Cheon let out a hollow laugh.

What could he do?

If the strong pressed down by force, they might at least resist. But what could one say when the weak lay out their plight and beg for understanding?

“No!”

Jo Gul, who had been holding his breath at the side, reddened and raised his voice.

“We’re not saying we’ll steal—we’re saying we’ll buy with money! We’ll pay several times over. You could just go down to a reasonably big village and use that money to get more grain…!”

“Nonsense.”

“Sasuk, isn’t that a bit much? It’s not that terribly dangerous!”

“Stop it!”

Baek Cheon shouted firmly at Jo Gul. Jo Gul shut his mouth but couldn’t hide his displeasure.

“Please, righteous warriors.”

The old man kowtowed and spoke again.

“What may seem trivial to you righteous warriors is something we ignorant folk must stake our lives on. Sleeping during the day might be nothing for a mountain tiger, but for a rabbit it is a life-or-death matter.”

As Jo Gul tried to retort, a hand quietly covered his face. Jo Gul, reflexively about to swipe it away, froze—it was none other than Yoon Jong who had silenced him.

Yoon Jong quietly stared at the old man and then spoke.

“Village chief. I understand what you’re saying. But we too risked our lives to help these villagers.”

At those words, the old man also fell silent, seemingly without a reply.

“To deliberately set foot in these Southern lands and eliminate the villains of the Four Sects Alliance is neither a simple thing nor an easy decision. But none of those here opposed it.”

“Righteous Warrior…”

Yoon Jong looked at the old man with a slightly different expression than usual.

“Therefore we beg that you give only something far smaller than what we’ve given. Still, is it truly impossible?”

“Father!”

Hyung Euk could no longer hold back and shouted, and the old man turned with blazing eyes.

After glaring fiercely at Hyung Euk, the old man looked back at Baek Cheon and his group. The glare he’d shot at Hyung Euk relaxed as if it had been feigned, replaced by awkwardness and embarrassment.

“How could I not know that. But, warriors… if we help you and suffer some calamity as a result, what meaning would that have?”

Yoon Jong for a moment was dumbfounded, staring blankly at the old man.

Even Yoon Jong, who had never hesitated to stand with commoners, hadn’t expected such words. The old man drove in his wedge.

“Please understand our position. The favor we’ve received is as vast as the sea, but sadly we are foolish people without the means to repay it. We barely scratch the earth to live, surviving on grain supplied by the Evil Sect’s villains—what could we possibly do?”

“……”

“We beg this much. Please, withdraw that request.”

The old man’s abject posture made those seated before him uncomfortable, as if they were oppressing the helpless.

Baek Cheon, who had been quietly watching the situation, finally spoke.

“So in the end, you’re saying not to ask for grain and to leave this place as soon as possible.”

“That is…”

The old man’s voice trailed off. There was no outright denial. Baek Cheon did not press further. With positions so entrenched, persuasion was pointless.

And in truth, persuasion was impossible.

Even if those with swords tried to reason kindly, would it be heard as anything but coercion? The moment the initial proposal was rejected, Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Southern Island’s party had no choices left. Those who claim to walk the path of the Justice faction could do nothing else.

The old man continued to look guilty and wary, while Hyung Euk bit his lip.

Baek Cheon, who had been watching the two, turned to those seated behind him.

Most could not hide their stunned and aggrieved expressions. Especially Tang Pae, Namgung Do-Wei, and Seol So-Baek found it hard to accept the situation.

On the other hand, two people reacted completely differently.

Im So-Byeong, sneering as if ‘I knew it,’ and Chung Myung, maintaining an inscrutable expression as if thinking nothing at all.

A sigh escaped Baek Cheon’s lips.

“Then…”

“W-wait a moment!”

At that moment Hyung Euk hurriedly spoke. The old man tried to dissuade and pressure him with that same look again, but this time Hyung Euk did not yield.

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“What now…”

“It was the villagers, not others, who benefited from these people. Father, weren’t you unconscious at the time? You didn’t see how hard they’ve worked to protect the village.”

The old man lifted his graying eyebrow.

“What are you trying to say?”

“This means it’s not for us alone to decide. We must ask the villagers too! Convey the situation as it is and leave it to their choice. No matter the fact that you are the village chief, you can’t decide everything on your own, can you?”

The old man sighed.

“Will that do?”

“Yes! Then I will accept it too.”

Hyung Euk quickly nodded and addressed Baek Cheon and his group.

“Righteous Warriors! I’ll gather the villagers and ask for their opinion. Sorry for the trouble, but could you wait until then?”

Baek Cheon looked back at those behind him. They, too, had no particular objections and just stared at Baek Cheon.

“…Then please.”

In any case, this was the only remaining option. There was no other choice.

“Yes! Then just a moment…!”

Hyung Euk dashed out. As Baek Cheon stared at the wide-open door, he heard a small cough at his ear.

“E-excuse me, warriors.”

“…Yes?”

“Before that, one thing…”

It was the old man. His face was once more filled with a contrite expression.

“Again I say…”

Baek Cheon looked over the villagers clustered before him and spoke. He wondered if this was necessary, but the old man’s point that it was the fair thing to do was not wrong.

“Whatever choice you make… we will not harm you. That is guaranteed by me, the Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua…”

When Baek Cheon turned his head, Geum Yang-Baek grimly nodded. He couldn’t feel pleased being asked to make such an absurd proclamation in front of everyone without knowing the reason.

“I, Geum Yang-Baek, the sect leader of the Southern Island Sect, will vouch for this.”

With even Geum Yang-Baek solemnly declaring it, the villagers waved their hands vigorously.

“Oh my! What are you saying!”

“Yes! Yes! Isn’t it thanks to you that we survived? How could we entertain such dishonorable thoughts toward those who saved our lives?”

“Yes! Exactly. Only a beast who doesn’t know gratitude would do that.”

Still, the villagers who had seen them fight the Four Sects Alliance were certainly more favorable than the village chief.

“Is that settled now?”

Hyung Euk glanced at the old man and asked, and the old man bobbed his head.

“Hold the discussion back there.”

“Yes. Then this way.”

Hyung Euk led the villagers toward the back of the house. Perhaps worried that voices might carry, they moved farther away than expected.

After even the old man turned and went inside, Jo Gul, who had been watching the situation, spoke.

“Still, the villagers will think differently, won’t they?”

“Probably.”

“Right. That old man was unconscious when we saved those people. Of course they’d think differently.”

Baek Cheon merely nodded silently.

“I think so too.”

It was less a confident answer than a pure wish—the last hope Baek Cheon offered them.

But then a mocking voice was heard.

“It seems our Taoists have lived in the mountains for too long.”

It was Im So-Byeong. He sneered faintly as he looked at Baek Cheon.

“If you put your hopes in people, all that remains is disappointment.”

“I understand what you mean, but…”

“No. The Taoists do not understand it.”

“…Sorry?”

Im So-Byeong snorted and said.

“Why Mount Hua became the talk among so many people. And why, despite still being a force incomparable to the Nine Great Sects, it draws the attention of so many sects.”

“Well…”

“You’ll probably find out soon.”

At that moment, as if to add to Im So-Byeong’s words, Hyung Euk returned faster than expected.

That he returned so quickly without prolonged discussion likely meant most villagers shared the same opinion.

‘Then?’

Just as he hoped it might be good news, Baek Cheon saw it.

On Hyung Euk’s approaching face, a complicated mix; in his steps, a heaviness.

Hyung Euk, meeting Baek Cheon’s gaze, silently bowed his head deeply.

He felt he didn’t need to be told to know the conclusion.

Im So-Byeong’s mocking voice was heard.

“Show kindness to those in distress. Repay kindness when you receive it.”

“……”

“Because there are no others who keep those obvious things, the name Mount Hua became special.”

Before Baek Cheon could reply, Hyung Euk approached and, with a long sigh, spoke.

“…I’m sorry, righteous warriors.”

Baek Cheon’s shoulders dropped involuntarily.

“The villagers… want you righteous warriors to leave the grain and depart… Yes, they want that…”

Grit.

Baek Cheon clenched his fist tightly. The dull crack of his joints resounded.