Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1432. You'll have to kill me first (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“The distance! How far are they!”
"I- It’s hard to say exactly, but they’re close!"
"Damn it!"
Tang Wei bit his lips.
If his martial arts hadn’t been crippled, he could have gauged the enemy’s strength and distance, but now he was no different than a blind man with open eyes.
"Hurry! We must widen the distance!"
"Gr- Grand Elder-nim!"
The elders stared at Tang Wei with puzzled faces.
“Elder! We are accompanied by people who have not learned martial arts. How are we supposed to widen the gap from them? We’ll be caught soon!”
"So? Do you have any other method to suggest?"
Tang Wei shouted until his throat nearly tore.
"We are the Sichuan Tang Family! We must resist and fight to the bitter end! Do you not understand that?!"
The elders clenched their teeth. Noticing that their expressions were not filled with resolve, Tang Wei’s gaze turned cold in an instant.
“Why? Are you old men now suddenly too fond of your lives? Do you plan to abandon the family and flee alone?!"
"Wha- What are you saying? Grand Elder-nim, that’s not it....”
“Then what!”
One of the elders hesitated before speaking.
“Wouldn’t it be better to surrender?”
“...What?”
Tang Wei’s face turned blank for a moment as if he had been hit.
Surrender. A word he had never once considered in his lifetime. Now that word has come from none other than the mouth of a Tang Family elder.
“What did you just say?”
One of the elders, facing the surge of Tang Wei’s fury directly, averted his gaze slightly and continued.
“As I understand it, Paegun is a wicked man, but he does not harm those who haven’t learned martial arts. Would someone like that go out of their way to massacre these people?”
“....”
“If we resist poorly here, we’ll only give them justification. It would be better to just surrender…”
"Have you finished your nonsense?"
“…Grand Elder-nim.”
"You fool!"
Tang Wei's face flushed bright red.
“Is that something an elders of Tang Family should say!”
But this time, the elder was not intimidated by Tang Wei's rebuke.
"I am saying this because I am an elder of Tang Family! You also know well that we alone cannot stop them!"
"Th- This..."
“If there were still something left to protect, we would fight to death! But what does Tang Family have left to defend? Then why must we fight risking our lives? Shouldn't we save as many people with the Tang surname as possible?"
Tang Wei, who was looking at the elder, instantly felt all strength leave him.
It was not because he was angry or disappointed. It was because the words that there was nothing left to protect in Tang Family pierced his core.
If they had fought within Tang Family land, at least there would have been a valid reason. But now, as the elder said... there was no reason. What reason could there be for women and children who had never learned martial arts to risk their lives in battle?
If one fights to survive, isn't it right to choose the path with the highest probability of survival?
“Paegun may be ruthless and brutal… but they're fundamentally different from Evil Sects we've known. Perhaps they might even treat us favorably….”
“No!”
At that moment, Tang Sobo, who was supporting Tang Wei, spoke firmly.
“That won’t do, Elder-nim.”
“How dare you!”
The elder's face instantly filled with rage. How dare a nameless girl cut into a conversation between him and Tang Wei? This was something that could not happen in Tang Family.
“What do you think you know to dare open your mouth?”
"I know nothing. But I do know one thing. That there are lives in this world that are worse than not living at all."
"What did you say?"
"If we surrender to them, what about the patriarch? How will those who have left the family fight against them?"
The elder was struck speechless and stared blankly at Tang Sobo.
“Sichuan Tang Family would rather die miserably than live in disgrace. Isn’t that what you, Elder-nim, said? Then why are you asking us to be hostages?”
At Tang Sobo's outcry, the eyes of others around also filled with determination.
Those who had left their own families to become part of Tang Family. Those who would someday have to leave Tang Family. Thus, they have not been recognized as true Tang Family members, but nevertheless, they were still people of the Sichuan Tang Family.
“Then the children? Can you decide the fate of those too young to even understand?"
Tang Sobo faltered at the elder’s question. Then the elder turned to Tang Wei and said.
“If it’s truly too difficult, then at least take only the children and escape…”
"Stop!"
“Grand Elder-nim! Please think carefully! What use are the Tang women if we take them....”
“I said enough!”
At that moment, Tang Wei shouted to stop the elder's words.
“Those who wish to leave, leave. Tang Family will not come looking for you again. Who would blame them for risking their lives?”
“Grand Elder-nim! How can you take my words that way?”
“Ha… haha…”
A hollow laugh escaped Tang Wei's mouth.
The elder's gaze was convinced that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said. That was no different from Tang Wei's own eyes reflected in the mirror in the past.
"The young... they’re not to be trusted.”
“...Yes?”
“What could those who haven’t lived long possibly know? I believed only those who had gone through life’s trials were fit to lead the family.”
“Grand Elder-nim?”
"Yes, that's how it was. That's what I believed. I did. I thought that women who hadn’t learned the martial art of Tang Family, or those who were still young and ignorant of the ways of the world, should just endure and persevere.”
Tang Wei looked down at Tang Sobo. Though exhaustion was plain on her face, her eyes remained clear and bright.
“…I have lived in vain.”
“G- Grand Elder-nim…”
"Growing old doesn't make one wise, and being young doesn't make one foolish. I thought I had to somehow lead these immature child ones. But the immature one was me."
“I....”
Tang Wei shook his head.
“There’s no time left to talk. Those who wish to leave, leave! And those who are willing to die as elders of Tang Family, block Myriad Man Manor from the rear! Tang Family fights to the bitter end. That is the duty of those who bear the name Tang!"
A resolute light filled Tang Wei’s eyes. And the elders who were infected by that gaze responded with firm determination.
"Yes, Grand Elder-nim!"
Tang Wei turned his body. As if he wouldn't look back.
“Everyone, hurry! The enemy is pursuing us!”
Tang Wei who had been encouraging the exhausted grabbed Tang Sobo's arm.
“Let’s go!”
"Yes."
Tang Sobo supported him and led him forward.
A bitter smile repeatedly crept across Tang Wei's mouth. He could feel frantic movement behind his back. Most of the elders had likely struck the ground with resolve to hold the rear, but perhaps some had fled elsewhere.
But Tang Wei didn't bother to look back. He didn’t want to know who stayed and who left. Whoever left, wouldn't it all ultimately be Tang Wei's responsibility?
'Tang Family.'
Who is the true enemy of Tang Family?
Were those chasing them with blades in hand the enemies?
Or is the one who divided martial artists and non-martial artists, women and men, young and old, splitting Tang Family into fragments the enemy of Tang Family?
'Father....'
The previous patriarch told Tang Wei that he was never qualified to be the patriarch. Even though his martial skill and insight surpassed that of his younger brother, he was told he should never become the patriarch.
He couldn't understand, and so he was angry and hated it. He spent his entire life trying to prove those words wrong.
But only now does he finally understand.
'It wasn't me.'
He alone should never have become the patriarch of Tang Family.
Because he would have divided everything that existed within Tang Family. Because he would have strictly classified everything and create boundaries.
It may seem efficient and better in the short term.
Like the young Tang Wei once lamented, perhaps those decisions temporarily strengthened the name of the Sichuan Tang Family.
But what lies at the end of that path, Tang Wei had now seen it.
'Gaju.'
He had always resented Tang Gun-ak.
If only Tang Gun-ak hadn’t decided that foolish alliance with Mount Hua, he believed Tang Family wouldn’t be facing this crisis.
But... perhaps the one who created the current crisis of Tang Family is none other than Tang Wei.
Had he not interfered and instead trusted Tang Gun-ak’s vision, might Tang Family have become stronger and greater than it is now?
"Cough!"
“E- Elder-nim. Are you okay?”
Tang Wei turned his head and looked at Tang Sobo.
“...I’m sorry.”
"Why would you say such a thing? Just hold on a little longer!"
The corners of Tang Wei's lips twisted.
'Too late... I realized too late.'
The image of Tang Jo-pyeong shouting loudly flashed before his eyes. Perhaps this was what he had wanted to say. He couldn't convey it with his crude speech skills after a lifetime of hammering iron, but he must have conveyed it with his gaze and gestures.
Perhaps he had been shouting all along, but Tang Wei never heard. No matter how loud others scream, those who have blocked their ears will hear nothing!
If only he had realized this sooner...
“The- They’re coming! Here they comes! Grand Elder-nim!”
Tang Wei unconsciously looked back. He hadn't wanted to look, but he had no choice but to look.
From beyond the distant horizon came a charging red herd.
The sight of them spreading red over the ocher earth was terror incarnate. But Tang Wei wasn’t looking at them. His gaze locked onto one man at their center.
The man’s red long robe fluttered through the air. A groan escaped Tang Wei’s lips.
“Pae… gun…”
He had wanted to see them with his own eyes at least once, but not like this. At least not now.
Even from this distance, Paegun Jang Ilso's piercing gaze seemed to stab through him like a blade.
“Ryeonju-nim! It’s them!”
Jang Ilso lightly scratched between his eyebrows with his fingernail.
"Hmm, only here so far? Tang Family truly has fallen."
“There’s barely anyone capable of fighting! Just a few old ones at best!”
“So it seems.”
“Shall we capture them alive?”
Jeok Ho glanced at Jang Ilso. It was a natural question. Killing them would be no great feat, but if they were taken hostage to pressure Tang Gun-ak and Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they could be put to much more useful purpose.
But all that returned was Jang Ilso's clicking tongue.
"Tsk, tsk. This is why you Evil Sects never learn."
"M- My apologies."
“Look.”
Jang Ilso pointed his chin toward the front. Jeok Ho looked in the direction. Tang Family elders were moving backward while emitting momentum. Like jackals riled with poison.
“Where are you looking? That’s not it. Look beyond them.”
“...Yes?”
At those words, Jeok Ho looked at those beyond the elders.
Women and weeping children.
And craftsmen who hadn't learned martial arts, panting as if they might lose their breath at any moment.
"Do you see?"
“…What does that mean?”
"If you want to know whether the opponent is an enemy or not, you should look at their eyes, not their strength. Look. Those many eyes are telling you that they will fight.”
At that, Jeok Ho unconsciously nodded.
Normally, those untrained in martial arts would tremble in terror when pursued by Myriad Man Manor. But now, the eyes of the women and craftsmen turning this way were filled with malice.
"Whether one is strong or weak. That's not what's important. Anyone who steps on this earth with the will to fight is a martial artist."
“....”
“And if the opponent is a martial artists, then we must show the proper courtesy as well. Understood?”
“Yes, Ryeonju-nim!”
"Good."
The corners of Jang Ilso's mouth curled into a sinister smile.
“Kill them all. Leave not a single one alive.”
"By your command!"
At Jeok Ho's signal, the Myriad Man Manor martial artists surged forward.
"Raaaaaagh!"
Watching them charge, Jang Ilso murmured softly.
"A bit excessive for the price of liquor... but such is the calculation of Evil Sects. Try to understand."
His sinister eyes soon curved like a crescent moon.
|Note
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