728 Chapter 1616: Bracing Oneself For The End (Part 1)

Jong Rigok stared at Chung Myung in silence. Chung Myung accepted his gaze steadfastedly. Jong Rigok spoke.

"I don't know what you're trying to say."

As if expecting that remark, Chung Myung leaned back in his chair.

"Just as it sounds. You can neither acknowledge nor reflect. That's just how it is."

Jong Rigok furrowed his brows, about to say something, but Chung Myung was quicker.

"After all, none of that was your choice. You didn't even exist back then. Isn't that right?"

Jong Rigok's face darkened. There was no hesitation. Only silence prevailed.

Chung Myung didn't feel the need to interpret the significance of that lengthy silence.

"Isn't that so?"

Jong Rigok stared at the ceiling blankly.

It wasn't his choice. Therefore, atonement wasn't his either.

To someone other than Jong Rigok, it might seem straightforward. But it wasn't as simple as it sounded. It involved denying centuries of history, spitting on everyone in that history, shaking the foundation of the sect, and enduring all kinds of shame.

And the price would come back to Jong Rigok. The things he tried to protect would instead be criticized.

Could Jong Rigok walk that path? For something he didn't even choose for himself?

Jong Rigok spoke without looking at Chung Myung.

"What do you want to say?"

Chung Myung chuckled.

"I've already said what I wanted to. This is just my two cents."

"Two cents?"

"Yes."

Chung Myung spoke with a bitter smile.

"I tried to understand. But in the end, I couldn't. No matter what reasons you bring, it doesn't change the fact that you all were nothing but a cowards who didn't even have the courage to reflect."

"..."

"So, I ignored it."

Chung Myung smiled bitterly, unknowingly.

"Just don't think about it. Just let it pass. Then we don't have to discuss it or show enmity. But I found out."

"What?"

"That's just evasion."

Jong Rigok's eyes twitched faintly.

"It was a knot that could not be undone, so I had no choice but to leave it alone. Even if someday that knot blocked the blood flow and caused even greater wounds, it was okay as long as I thought it was okay."

Chung Myung chuckled softly, but to Jong Rigok, it felt unbearably heavy. For some reason, his fingertips felt numb. Perhaps it was an emotion he could never understand.

Jong Rigok looked at Chung Myung coldly, hiding his agitation. There was no turning back now.

"Doesn't that mean you're a coward too?"

It was a blunt statement, but surprisingly, Chung Myung simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes. I'm a coward, just like you said. I have no intention to condemn, nor do I have the courage to forgive. Maybe... I'll never be able to accept the two words, 'Southern Edge,' in my lifetime."

Chung Myung paused for a moment, biting his lips, then glared at Jong Rigok.

"But at least I'm not as cowardly as you."

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword...."

"I'm not such the despicable beings who know they're wrong but still turn a blind eye, lacking the courage to face it and passing the burden they've carried onto future generations."

Jong Rigok's face grew cold. But his eyes weren't as composed. Inside those eyes, there simmered anger, resentment, injustice, and much more.

"Did you say I was cowardly?"

"Is that not it?"

"You're quite talkative. Are you not in need of the Southern Edge's power?"

As emotions surged, not only Jong Rigok's eyes but also his words sharpened.

"If you had even a bit of sincerity, you wouldn't bring up such words in a situation like this. Can you guarantee that this isn't just a calculated provocation, not merely a way for you to exploit and manipulate Southern Edge's power?"

Normally, Chung Myung would have shown murderous intent in response to these words. Even if it wasn't his choice, it was understandable coming from the side that made the mistake. But he didn't.

"They went to Anhui."

Chung Myung's calm voice echoed.

"With the disciples of the. Southern Edge Sect."

Jong Rigok's eyes narrowed unexpectedly. Chung Myung was probably referring to the disciples of Southern Edge, Jin Geumryong and Lee Songbaek.

"What's the point of that?"

"They fought together. Those Southern Edge and Mount Hua kids."

Jong Rigok remained silent for a moment. Chung Myung glanced at the teacup and asked.

"Do you know how that was possible?"

"...Well."

"Because I wasn't there."

Chung Myung's words were truly heavy and bitter.

"And because you weren't there either."

There was no lack of bitterness in Jong Rigok's eyes either. He understood Chung Myung's implication.

"They wielded swords together and threw themselves to save each other."

"..."

"It's not that I didn't intend to interfere. I planned to step in only if things got really dangerous. But... I couldn't. I couldn't move a step. Do you know why?"

He might have known. He couldn't intervene. He felt like a contaminant by inserting himself there. Afraid that everything would blur the moment he intervened.

Chung Myung asked bitterly.

"What if you and I were there?"

There was only a question, no answer. But both understood.

They would have been divided again, under the names of Southern Edge and Mount Hua. They could never have stood side by side, trapped by an insurmountable boundary.

"Do you understand what that means? You and I, things like us, are blocking the way. Even though we know that the knot will tighten around their necks more and more."

Jong Rigok just stared at Chung Myung expressionlessly. But inside his tightly shut lips, his tongue was restlessly chewing. After a moment, he managed to pry his stubborn mouth open.

"If that's the case, shouldn't we just let it go? If, as you say, those who were trapped in the past die and disappear, won't things eventually return to normal? What's wrong with us avoiding it for now if the outcome is good?"

"Are you going to just let it go like that?"

"...What do you mean?"

"Are you going to pass on to them, as if they were the ones who committed the sins you didn't commit, even the burden you created?"

Jong Rigok's eyes flickered faintly.

"Are you just going to pass on all the emotions you're feeling right now to your disciples, and then to their disciples, forcing them to endure it? Are you going to impose it?"

"..."

"Are those the teachings of the Southern Edge Sect?"

Jong Rigok pondered. It wasn't that he accepted Chung Myung's words or succumbed to his provocation. It was just that one thought occurred to him.

'Since when did I start resenting Mount Hua?'

Why was he so unable to swallow the fallen faction entrenched in the rugged mountains? Before the appearance of the Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword, the Mount Hua Sect had never once resisted against him.

Was that hatred... really Jong Rigok's?

Then, Chung Myung chuckled.

"It's amusing. A sect that should be teaching the right path to disciples... is forcing hatred upon each other. Instructing that it's right to make those who should have no resentment towards each other hate each other. Isn't that a dirty trick?"

Jong Rigok closed his eyes. Chung Myung twisted the corner of his lips slightly.

"However... I'm not that different, either."

Of course, Chung Myung's hatred wouldn't disappear even until the moment of death. But there was no need to pass it on to them so completely.

"I just realized it. If I can't sever it, someone else will suffer the same pain next time. When I looked beyond the facades of Mount Hua and Southern Edge, there was nothing there. Now, I'm trying to peel off that shell."

Jong Rigok, who had been listening with his mouth firmly closed, spoke.

"Haven't I said it before? Human nature ultimately divides and engenders hatred between oneself and others. Even if we try such things, someday we'll end up facing each other again under the names of Mount Hua and Southern Edge. You should know that too, right?"

"That's at least their hatred."

"..."

"It's the hatred they've built themselves, the conclusion they've drawn themselves. There's no reason to keep harboring hatred even in this crisis."

Chung Myung's face looked somewhat complicated. But once he had already made up his mind and come here, his voice was as calm as ever.

"I don't know either. What they'll create. What they'll build. Perhaps the outcome could be even more horrific than it is now. But at least... they can choose that outcome themselves. Beyond the tangled relationships where the fallen cling to each other out of cowardice and pass it on to the next generation, we have something unknown."

Chung Myung turned away.

"I've said all I had to."

"...Mount Hua and Southern Edge."

"Now it's up to you to decide. Not the Southern Edge Sect, but you. I've done my part, so now it's your turn."

With a somewhat angry expression, Jong Rigok slammed the table. His rough voice poured out.

"What! What are you asking me to choose? What should I do?"

"..."

"Do you want us to bow down to Mount Hua for our mistakes? Do you want me to shout to the whole world how worthless we've been?"

Bloodshot veins appeared in Jong Rigok's eyes.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

"That's for you to think about."

Without turning his head, Chung Myung replied. His coldness contrasted sharply with Jong Rigok's passionate voice.

"I've already conveyed my intentions. The rest is up to you. It's no longer mine. It wasn't easy for me to give you this opportunity."

He walked away without looking back and grabbed the doorknob. At that moment, Jong Rigok's question caught him off guard.

"Why me?"

Chung Myung turned back. Jong Rigok stood there with an expressionless face. He was unfazed, as if everything he had just shouted a moment ago was a lie.

"Did I appear to be the kind of person who would be burdened by such words? Did I seem like someone who could be easily swayed?"

"..."

"If I choose all of that, I'll gain nothing and just end up sinking myself deeper into the pit. Did it seem like I couldn't even make that simple calculation?"

Chung Myung spoke briefly without much expression.

"Perhaps."

"...Then why me?"

None of his ancestors took responsibility. Yet, just because Jong Rigok happened to be born in this era and became the leader of the Southern Edge Sect, did he have to shoulder all of that? Just for that reason?

He didn't expect an answer. It might just be a rhetorical question.

But Chung Myung responded to that rhetorical question.

"Because you're the leader of the Southern Edge Sect."

He chuckled unexpectedly, as if he didn't expect himself to say such words.

"And... you're an adult."

"..."

"That's all."

Thud.

Chung Myung left and the door closed.

In the room where only Jong Rigok remained, silence descended. His gaze, which had been fixed on the closed door endlessly, slowly turned to the table.

One table. Two teacups placed on it.

The teacup on Chung Myung's side was full, but Jong Rigok's teacup lay dry and twisted like a withered rice paddy on the floor.

'An adult...'

That brat.

Jong Rigok couldn't bear to look at the table any longer and closed his eyes tightly.