Episode 157

Sam Sal-Gwi’s eyes narrowed.

‘How did it end up like this?’

This wasn’t the plan.

An important goal for them was to reduce the number of competitors for the tomb. And securing their stable position was even more important.

As long as they didn’t face sects like Wudang, they had a chance of having the upper hand. Therefore, he had to somehow find someone to fight on his side… a temporary alliance.

And in fact, he effortlessly managed to get people to fight with him.

It was going perfectly. At least, until these idiots showed up.

“Ahhhhckk! You bastard! Deal with them properly!”

“I am dealing with them more than I can!”

It was said by a person in a white robe who seemed gentle like a sage.

But now, he saw him in action. It seemed that having Baek Cheon as his opponent was a huge mistake on his part.

And they constantly seemed to have somebody on their side cornering the giant, and there was also that temperamental young one who constantly stopped the attacks directed at the disciples of Mount Hua.

It was the same for the other disciples.

In the meantime, he could see countless people on his side being taken down. This was why he hated going against people who acted like a proper group or sect.

Because they were different.

And these guys’ trust in each other was unlike any other sect he had ever seen. They screamed nothing but curses from their mouths, but their bodies moved to defend their companions.

‘We cannot win.’

It was embarrassing for them to even admit… but the one called Chung Myung was a monster. Sam Sal-Gwi himself couldn’t kill Gok Bu in under fifty seconds despite being on the same level as he was.

This young man was doing something that even the elders of the Forces of Evil would have a hard time doing.

‘A monster.’

That was all he could think of when he saw Chung Myung.

Fight those who you can defeat and avoid those you cannot. Having such a thought in this situation meant that he thought that Chung Myung belonged to the latter. Even if he died and came back to life a number of times, he knew that Chung Myung couldn’t be defeated.

“Accck!”

Even at that moment, he could hear the screams of his allies as they fell. Once the balance was broken, it couldn’t be restored, and injured people were of no help to them anyway.

‘I have to run away.’

He thought that and slowly retreated.

It wasn’t like this was a closed place. If he wanted to retreat, all he would have to do was run to the space behind him. Had he known Mount Hua was at this level before, he would have left the others and escaped right away.

Luckily, he was still in the back.

‘Whatever I have to do, I need to run away before the others notice.’

Now there were three groups of people in the tomb.

The Wudang Sect, the people who pursued the Wudang Sect members, and the people in here.

This place had them, Mount Hua and the Beggars Union. But that didn’t matter. The most important thing was that he had to run from here and join the second group of people. If there wasn’t much difference between the Wudang Sect members and the pursuit team behind them, then maybe his presence could change the situation.

So…

Puck!

The person hit by Chung Myung’s sword fell, bleeding profusely. As if that was the signal, Sam Sal-Gwi ran back with all his might.

Phat!

His body cut through the wind. Had he ever run this desperately in his life?

He was someone who was confident in himself when it came to slaughtering people. But now, he was running away from them because it was clear that Mount Hua’s disciples would come for him and defeat him if he stayed.

‘It isn’t the strong who survive, but rather the ones who survive are the strong.’

Sam Sal-Gwi bit his lip.

He had to run now, but he would stay ahead of them in the future. Their group might have been inferior to the people left here, but the people pursuing the Wudang members had to be of a higher level than the people left here.

And if he could successfully convince them, it wouldn’t be difficult to kill the Mount Hua disciples, who would eventually catch up to them.

He promised to himself that he would repay this disgrace two-fold, and put force in his legs…

“This bastard is acting so disgustingly.”

He felt a tremendous shock throughout his body.

“Kuak!”

He lost his balance and fell to the ground, unable to breathe.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Since he was unable to control his speed when he fell, he hit the ground hard and then rolled.

“Kua…”

He was trembling in pain as he shook his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw the face he least wanted to see.

Chung Myung.

That monstrous bastard was looking right at him!

“Bastard! No matter how temporary this alliance was, how can you run away when the people on your side are fighting for their lives? Huh?”

“..”

Sam Sal-Gwi’s eyes trembled.

No…

Chung Myung was clearly fighting others, so how did he catch him…

He slowly turned his head to check the situation. It was unreasonable to see all the people behind him as he had already entered the hallway of the path behind, but he saw the people who were fighting Chung Myung a moment ago on the ground.

‘T-that?’

It could only mean that Chung Myung had knocked down all of the people who were fighting him and had chased after him. It was a situation he couldn’t fully comprehend, so he just stared at Chung Myung.

And Chung Myung opened his mouth.

“Yah.”

“…”

Chung Myung tilted his head to both sides.

Crack Crack.

The crack echoed in his ears.

“People have to be loyal.”

Sam Sal-Gwi felt like crying. And he said,

“L-Loyal? You mean I have to risk my life for damn loyalty?”

“Oh?”

When he said that, Chung Myung’s eyes went wide.

“Damn it! What kind of loyalty should I have to those whom I met for the first time today!”

“Uh… that is true.”

Chung Myung nodded as if that made sense.

Uh?

He admitted that?

“Don’t worry. I didn’t catch you because of that.”

… then why?

“If I let you go like this, you will surely tell the people ahead about us, right?”

“…”

Chung Myung smiled brightly.

“It is because I am the type of person who can see such things happening.”

Sam Sal-Gwi closed his eyes shut as he looked at Chung Myung, who was approaching him.

“Pheew.”

Yoon Jong took a deep breath.

He didn’t realize it when he was fighting, but now that it was done, his whole body hurt.

‘A real fight.’

This was completely different from sparring. The pressure of his life being at stake and the blurred judgment because of his nervousness.

Jo Gul was sitting on the ground with his back drenched in sweat, and Yoon Jong put his hand on Jo Gul’s shoulder.

“You did good.”

“No sahyung. You suffered a lot.”

Jo Gul spoke in a tone that wasn’t his.

“They say you have to go through real battle to know your skills. Now I realize what that means. I didn’t know I was such a mess.”

A mess…

That was a weird choice of words.

No matter how much Chung Myung helped, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul handled Son Myung together. The entire Mount Hua Sect would be in shock if they knew about that. It was because that was the fame behind the name ‘Son Myung’. These two disciples could never compare to him.

Still, the reason Jo Gul was saying it was simple.

‘His eyes were comparing everyone and everything.’

He remembered what Chung Myung showed them. And since they hadn’t met the standard that Chung Myung required from them, they couldn’t be happy even after winning.

It initially felt like they barely reached the level that Chung Myung was talking about, but in reality, they weren’t anywhere near it.

“There’s nothing to be disappointed about.”

Baek Cheon walked up to them.

“It is only natural that you cannot show your entire skills here. Everyone wants to show what they strived for, but it is impossible to actually display it in such situations.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t be discouraged and look at your current skills. Your real skills are what you used in battle.”

“Yes, Sasuk.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Baek Cheon nodded his head.

And just as he was about to say more, he heard something from behind.

“Kuak! That! You! Real skills!”

“… don’t.”

“Kikiki”

Baek Cheon began to frown.

Chung Myung was walking toward them and was dragging someone by their leg. Baek Cheon was unable to confirm who that person was, but he was sure that he had to be someone who ran.

Chung Myung dragged the man and threw him into a corner. The corner was already full of people who had been defeated by Mount Hua.

No one among them was dead.

Chung Myung had killed two of them, but the others had just lost consciousness and weren’t dead. They might’ve been injured, but the disciples of Mount Hua didn’t kill anyone.

Baek Cheon knew it.

A person’s life wasn’t something he wanted on his hands. The disciples of Mount Hua weren’t ready to kill.

And contrary to that.

‘We are too soft.’

So far, this wasn’t a problem for them. But in the urgent situation the coming battles would have, the hesitation in killing someone would result in them losing their lives.

They had no reason to kill someone, but they had to make up their minds if they wanted to survive here.

“What are you thinking about?”

“… nothing.”

Baek Cheon sighed, looking at Chung Myung.

‘I cannot keep up with him.’

The image of Chung Myung slashing the neck of Dae Ra-Geom without hesitation was firmly stuck in his eyes. Perhaps, it wouldn’t disappear for quite a while.

Baek Cheon steeled himself and moved to help Chung Myung, but that was also to prevent him from killing more.

Maybe he was a coward to others. It was true to an extent as well. But he was someone walking on the path of Tao and had to avoid unnecessary murder.

No, that was what it meant to be human.

Chung Myung gently turned his head and looked at where Mak Hwi and the others had fallen.

“Hmm.”

If Baek Cheon hadn’t intervened, Chung Myung would have killed them all without another thought.

Well, if he was Chung Myung of the past, he would have killed them all despite his intervention.

He didn’t think it was wrong. A person who sought the life of another must be prepared to die. And that was the rule everyone knew.

But…

‘Well, this isn’t bad.’

You cannot overcome your past by doing the same things that you did in the past.

Chung Myung didn’t change. What changed was Mount Hua. If he wanted to make Mount Hua like it was in the past, then leaning on the shoulders of others wouldn’t hurt too much.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung smirked.

“Now let’s go catch those Wudang bastards!”

The disciples of Mount Hua shuddered at those words of Chung Myung and smiled.