Chapter 1131: Let's Get Closer Together! (Part 1)

Confucius once said, "Make friends with the upright, become upright as well. Make friends with the crafty, become crafty as well."

In other words, a person's character is not only shaped by what they inherently possess but also influenced by the friends around them.

And if those words hold true... it was evident that those gathered in the Heavenly Comrade Alliance were, without exception, individuals who should never be considered friends.

"...Um, sir..."

"Today, I will definitely kill them."

With faces distorted by malice, the Five Swords walked towards the training ground. Venom filled their eyes.

"I thought my mouth would freeze because of how cold it was."

"Hey, did we set the pavilion on fire? It was Nokrim! They're the ones who set it ablaze! They should be the ones chased away, why are you getting angry at us here?"

"That's right! If we're going to make someone sleep outside, just let those Ice Palace bastards out. They sleep with doors and windows wide open even when it's freezing!"

"Wait, they open the doors? If that's the case, let them sleep outside!"

Baek Cheon cracked his head left and right.

"That's it."

Fire burned in his eyes.

"Forget the others; today, the Nokrim bastards are being buried. These lunatics even set fire to the pavilion?"

"I bet the Nokrim King ordered it."

"The 'Nokrim King' can freeze to death. Just call him a bandit!"

The disciples of Mount Hua were already mentally scarred by fire, especially temples on fire. As Chung Myung stated, wasn't there a real danger of Mount Hua facing complete destruction due to the indiscriminate fire?

"Knowing that and still setting fire? Are those bastards insane?"

Baek Cheon's eyes turned bloodshot.

Throughout the night, he was tormented by nightmares because of Im Sobyeong, who laughed as the pavilion burned. His expression seemed to say, 'I'm not trying to win a fight, I just want to piss off the Mount Hua bastards.'

"Im Sobyeong..."

Baek Cheon ground his teeth, but Jo Gol seemed to have a slightly different thought.

"No, are we only going to talk about the Nokrim King now? Aren't the Tang family bastards more of a problem?"

Jo Gol flipped his eyes and spoke vehemently.

"No, those crazy bastards should at least help put out the fire when the bandits set the pavilion on fire. Instead, they threw poison smoke?"

"..."

"If it weren't for that pink poison smoke, wouldn't we have been able to extinguish the fire somehow and save the pavilion? Don't you remember that bastard Tang Zhan's face, who was admiring the pink smoke spreading?"

"It was spectacular."

"It looked a bit like a plum blossom forest."

"Yeah, it was pretty."

"What are you agreeing with, you crazy bastards!"

"...Jo Gol, calm down."

"Huh? Sahyung? Why aren't you hitting me today?"

"...It's difficult to understand, but I agreed with you."

Yoon Jong spoke, shaking his head.

"...And even with the poisonous smoke, if the beasts of the Beast Palace hadn't gone crazy, we would've been able to put out the fire before the pavilion burned down. Still, those so-called spiritual creatures were running wild with their tails on fire, so what could we do? It's not like we're Baek-ah."

"By the way, what happened to the Baek-ah? I didn't see him."

"He collapsed from exhaustion while desperately controlling the beasts at that time..."

"So, is that why he was sick? Poor thing..."

"No. Although he's mostly recovered from exhaustion, he was captured by Chung Myung, who got angry because the beasts went berserk."

"...What does that have to do with anything?"

"If the beasts misbehave, it's Baek-ah's responsibility, right?"

Everyone closed their eyes tightly. From the perspective of Baek-ah, it would be unjust. No matter how great it may seem, in the end, he was just a marten, so what could he do when the animals in his yard went crazy and set everything on fire?

It wasn't a problem of ability but an inevitable one due to size, but the problem was that such an excuse wouldn't work with Chung Myung.

"Amhitabha. May he be reborn in the Pure Land..."

"He's not dead yet!"

However, Hye Yeon coldly shook his head.

"That's just an empty attachment. How can one who has been dragged away by the devil return alive? The next time you see him, he might be a nice scarf."

"...How did such a person come out of Mount Hua?"

"When I first saw him, he was definitely shy and kind."

"Then it's our fault."

"Actually, that's pretty hard to deny."

Everyone fell silent before the original sin(?) of Mount Hua. In fact, just by looking at Hye Yeon, one could understand the resentment Beopjeong harbored towards Mount Hua and the deeds committed as a result.

From the moment Mount Hua seduced the brilliant monk who was set to lead the next generation of Shaolin and turned him into a pitiful beggar, the relationship between Mount Hua and Shaolin became irreparable.

"Anyway, it was hell."

Baek Cheon shook his head as if he were disgusted.

The bandits who set fire to the pavilion and the Mount Hua disciples who screamed and ran around in all directions as soon as they saw the fire.

And when the Mount Hua guys tried to put out the fire, there were the Tang family guys who threw poisonous bombs into the fire while laughing, and even the Beast Palace warriors who sweated profusely trying to capture the spirit animals running amok in the flames.

All the chaos and malice in the world were dumped onto that night. If a devil had witnessed it, they would undoubtedly have shook their head and muttered, 'Satan, the progress is too fast.'

"By the way, where were the Ice Palace people at that time? The freezing techniques of the Ice Palace might have been helpful in extinguishing the fire."

"Just being near the fire was hot enough; they didn't even bother and just ran away."

Baek Cheon's tightly closed lips twitched with disdain.

'Are there really no sane people here?'

It was unknown whether the people gathered here were insane to begin with, or if, once entering the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, everyone lost their sanity.

"Anyway, we'll really kill them all."

Everyone clenched their teeth.

"...I agree this time."

"Me too."

"I'm going to stick a needle right in the middle of my brother's face!"

Mount Hua's disciples approached the training grounds with determination. At that moment, other sects were already engaging in a fierce battle there.

"Oh dear."

As soon as the Five Swords appeared, Im Sobyeong leisurely waved a fan. Although his face, which had become even more emaciated over the past few days, looked like that of a person about to die soon.

"I don't know if you slept well last night, our Taoist friends."

Chkkkkkkk!

The sound of the Mount Hua disciples gritting their teeth resonated like music. Watching this scene, Im Sobyeong chuckled.

As they looked at the face of the perpetrator who set fire to their lodging, the Mount Hua disciples' hearts were also ablaze with hellfire. There was no way that fire would go out unless they caught and burned that guy to death.

"Hahaha. I disturbed your sleep...Cough! Cough! Cough! Well, it's time to sleep... Kwooeeeh!"

Im Sobyeong coughed as if he was going to vomit. Each time he coughed, red blood spurted out, causing the surrounding bandits to look away with a slightly disgusted expression.

"Cough, Cou-Cough. Sleep... Sleep... Cough Cough."

"Isn't it better to just leave that person alone? It's just a matter of time before he dies, right?"

"That won't do. Even if he dies, he has to die in our hands. Before he dies a natural death, let's beat him to death."

"As expected of Sasuk. He ranks second among Mount Hua's personalities."

"What? I'm second? What about Jo Gol?"

Baek Cheon couldn't even claim himself to be third.

Several people approached, chuckling. It seemed not only Nokrim and Im Sobyeong wanted to mock the sight of Mount Hua from yesterday but others as well.

"Oh my, wearing burnt and torn clothes just like that. No dignity."

"Seems like there's no money in Mount Hua."

"All the remaining clothes burned yesterday, so what can you do? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, you should have been careful with fire, whether asleep or awake."

Baek Cheon glared at the people who were laughing.

"Very... amusing, isn't it?"

"There's really no reason to be depressed, right?"

"That's right. We enjoyed the fire."

"We enjoyed watching people."

"Oh, really?"

Baek Cheon grabbed the sword at his waist, bending his neck.

"But what to do now? The eyes that enjoyed watching the fire might not be able to enjoy it anymore."

"Oh my. These days, even Taoists make threats? If you can, why don't you give it a try?"

"Think I can't do it?"

Words were no longer necessary. Wasn't this a relationship in which resentment was built up through warm fists, and grudges piled thick with soft knives? Now, they had such a close(?) relationship that even without exchanging words, just locking eye contact was enough for them to spontaneously start throwing insults at each other.

Friendship expressed through words isn't true friendship. Now, rather than worthless words, they were proving their friendship through actions.

"Kill them all!"

"Tang Zhan, you bastard, today's your funeral...."

Kwaaaang!

"Aaaah!"

At that moment, someone soared into the sky at high speed.

"What, what's happening?"

"Oh my, it's Gol-ah!"

"Jo, Jo Gol, Sahyung!"

Mount Hua's disciples instinctively flinched when they saw Jo Gol spinning and flying as he drew a red trajectory in the sky. The disciples of other sects, who originally intended to pummel Jo Gol, also paused momentarily, bewildered.

'What's going on?'

No one had attacked the Mount Hua Sect yet? The bewildered onlookers blinked and looked towards the spot where Jo Gol had been. Instead of the vacant space they expected, someone else, familiar to their eyes, was standing there.

"Chung Myung?"

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword?"

"No, why...?"

Patter.

The blood that Jo Gol had sprayed in the air fell like rain. Drizzled in crimson, Chung Myung smiled brightly.

At that moment, Baek Cheon's heart sank.

'Dangerous....'

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were eerily tense. And his eyebrows were slightly twitching. This was the most dangerous of all danger signals.

"Ch-Chung Myung! I don't know what's going on, but... f-first, let's calm down..."

"Calm down?"

Chung Myung smiled even more brightly. Baek Cheon's face began to turn pale. At the same time, the quick-witted Yoo Iseol quietly stepped back.

Chung Myung spoke.

"No, no. Sasuk, it seems like there's a misunderstanding. I didn't come here with ill intentions."

"Is that so?"

If anyone had common sense, they would have asked why he kicked Jo Gol, but at this moment, no one stepped up to say such a thing. No, Jo Gol, whether that bastard died or not was none of their business...

"I just wanted to ask a little."

"Yeah? W-what?"

"Well... Lately, there's been talk that the Sasuk and Sahyung are not sparring and are instead engaging in real fights. So, I wanted to check. Is this a real fight right now?"

Baek Cheon's face turned blue. At this point, whether Chung Myung was the one who had created all of this or not had no meaning now.

"Th-That can't be."

"No way!"

"No way! That's nonsense, Dojang!"

"Who would say such a thing! We're so close!"

"We're sparring, sparring! Just sparring!"

Those who knew what kind of person Chung Myung was quickly agreed. The Tang Family and Mount Hua, who had been swearing at each other to death, laughed with their arms around each other as if they had found long-lost friends, and even the Nokrim members sweated profusely as they held hands with the Namgung family.

It was a historic moment when the [former] Ten Great Sects, the Five Great Families, and the Four Great Evils, who seemed like they would never reconcile, came together in harmony. However, the truth contained within the unity was unbearably cruel.

"Oh, really? Was it just a misunderstanding on my part?"

"That's right!"

"We only wish each other the best."

"No hard feelings at all! Hahaha!"

"Yes, Dojang!"

Even Yoon Jong and Hye Yeon were busy making excuses while shedding cold sweat.

However, with a large crowd, there were bound to be those who were oblivious.

"No, why are they suddenly acting friendly? Damn bastards!"

"Who said we acted friendly with you! These savages!"

"What, this guy?"

The heads of those belonging to the four Central Plains sects swiveled sharply. The Ice Palace and Beast Palace, who didn't understand the situation at all, were once again fighting, baring their teeth at each other.

'Shut up!'

'Please pay attention!'

'I'll definitely kill those bastards later!'

Just at that time when no one could bear to open their mouths.

"Oh, so you weren't fighting. You're actually friends then?"

"W-Well!"

"Of course!"

"Yeah. We can't live without each other now."

Chung Myung nodded as if satisfied.

"That's right. In the process of getting to know each other, sometimes you fight, right? Fighting strengthens your bonds, doesn't it?"

"Yes!"

"Hahaha. We can't get any closer than this."

Tang Pae and Namgung Dowi desperately pulled out words. Then Chung Myung spoke.

"So, it's a bit disappointing."

"...What?"

He grinned and licked his lips.

"Come to think of it, I'm of the same status, but everyone is getting close without me. Isn't that right?"

"T-That's not true!"

"We're closest with the Dojang!"

"Not at all true, really!"

"Hehe. Don't just say polite words. So, from now on, I'll try to get closer while hanging out with you guys."

"Si, Siju. Just a moment..."

Chung Myung gleefully twisted his neck left and right.

"To. Ge. ther."

Everyone present saw it.

Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword. The archenemy of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, the one who slayed the bishop of the Demonic Cult. The sight of a man, with such a reputation, emanating from his eyes a horrifying brilliance that even a devil couldn't radiate. 

Thump!

When Chung Myung stomped the ground, a web-like fissure emerged with a cracking sound.

"Let's get closer together, you bastards!"

He flipped his eyes and charged forward.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

Everyone was thrown into chaos. As the frenzied tiger charged in, the pitiful(?) cries of the desperate sheep began to fill the manor.