At the very mont rumors faster than the wind struck the manor of the Heavenly Friends Alliance.
“Then, Sect leader. I will step back.”
“Hmm, very well.”
The disciples of Mount Hua, who had been discussing Beop Jeong’s reaction and how to respond in the place the other sect leaders had spared, finished gathering their positions.
Hyun Jong ruffled his head and spoke.
“We’ll take separate ti to talk about the finer details and the direction moving forward.”
“Yes, we’ll do that.”
When Baek Cheon stood up, the rest of the Five Swords also rose from their seats.
“Then.”
He bowed and turned his body to leave the room.
No sooner had the door slamd shut with a thud than Hyun Young urgently spoke up.
“No, Sect leader!”
“...What nitpicking are you about to do now?”
“Isn’t this far too hasty to co to that decision?”
“Ugh.”
A groan escaped from Hyun Jong’s mouth.
“Hey, you! Didn’t everything turn out the way you wanted in the end? So why pick up nagging again?”
“No. There was no word that you’d hand the Sect leader position over to Baek Cheon, was there?”
Hyun Jong sighed deeply. Elders are ant to be in that role, but whether he did this or that, there were problems either way—on which beat was he supposed to dance?
“Did you think it would have been my plan?”
“So did he really say that suddenly without consulting the Sect leader at all?”
“That’s right.”
“Heh heh....”
Hyun Young looked at the door through which Baek Cheon had left with the expression of ‘what an absurd person.’
“These youngsters are scary these days...”
“They’re not kids, are they. It’s because this is the murim world; if it were a family household, he’d already have had children and started a family by now.”
“That may be so, but...”
Hyun Young pursed his lips bitterly.
He understood. It was a situation even Hyun Jong couldn’t control. As long as Hyun Jong occupied the Sect Leader position of Mount Hua, rejecting Beop Jeong’s proposal was impossible.
But even so, to hand over the Sect leader position so easily like this—who would have thought.
It had been Hyun Young himself who had warned not to mistake the children’s achievents as his own, but even he couldn’t have imagined Hyun Jong would react in this manner.
“...Anyway, sotis the Sect leader is hopeless, really.”
Hearing that, Hyun Jong muttered with an embarrassed expression.
“Looks like he’s been affected by the kids.”
“He was always like that, always!”
At that mont, Hyun Sang, who had been quietly listening, smiled faintly and said to Hyun Jong.
“I am a little worried.”
“About Baek Cheon?”
“Baek Cheon aside, it’s Un Am who really worries .”
“Hmm, true. I’ll have a separate talk with my Un Am.”
“You should do that.”
Hyun Young grumbled in a fit.
“Is Un Am really the problem now? Baek Cheon is practically the Sect leader already.”
“Not Sect leader but Acting Sect leader, for now.”
“What’s the difference? What’s the difference between Sect leader and Acting Sect leader?”
“It is different. Being called Acting Sect leader is clearly less burdenso than being called the Sect leader.”
Hyun Jong stared at the door through which Baek Cheon had left and thought.
‘It won’t be easy.’
He didn’t know how others viewed this matter, but having lived as Mount Hua’s Sect leader for many years, Hyun Jong knew well the burden that title carried.
It was a burden he had taken upon himself. So he had to overco it himself.
But knowing it wasn’t easy, he simply hoped the title ‘Acting Sect leader’ would lessen the weight of that burden even a little.
“Um... Sect leader. So will you really give up the Sect position? Really?”
“Tsk.”
Hyun Jong frowned and shot a glance at Hyun Young.
“Why are you so fussy today of all days?”
“No, it’s just too sudden!”
“When has anything been not sudden in Mount Hua? Since that Chung Myung fellow entered the sect, have we had even one properly prepared, leisurely proceeding?”
“That much the Sect leader is right about...”
Hyun Jong snorted a laugh.
“Why? Are you sour because you’re being relegated to the back room as an old man?”
“Oh dear, what are you saying. This is sothing I’ve dread of even in my sleep.”
Hyun Young clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
“Honestly, Mount Hua has grown too large for country bumpkins like us to handle. Thanks to the kids we’ve seen good things, eaten well, and lived in comfort, but were we ever worthy of that?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
A faint smile appeared on Hyun Jong’s face.
“This was going to happen anyway. Even if it happens a bit sooner than expected, what will really change?”
His voice was simply calm, as if he had already accepted everything.
“The ones who will live Mount Hua’s future are those children. And the ones who must bear Mount Hua’s choices are those children. Therefore it’s right to let them decide Mount Hua’s direction as well.”
“Ugh.”
Hyun Young made a strained sound. Within that groan there was both worry and acceptance.
“We only need to watch from behind to ensure those children don’t make overly radical or extre choices.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve always done?”
“Yes. Nothing will change. It’s only that Baek Cheon happened to be the first to speak.”
Nothing has changed.
But many things will change. That was a thought shared by the three people present.
“You did well, Sect leader.”
At Hyun Sang’s words, Hyun Jong glanced subtly.
“Saying you trust them is easy. But putting that into action isn’t. The fact that the Sect leader trusted and supported them without weighing every circumstance will surely be a great strength to that child as well.”
“...”
“You were admirable.”
“Ahem.”
Hyun Jong coughed awkwardly. The tips of his ears were slightly red.
“All these complints.”
Seeing that, Hyun Sang smiled faintly.
‘You’ve beco more at ease.’
Hyun Jong’s tone had noticeably lightened compared to before. It made them newly realize how much burden he had been fighting.
If Baek Cheon hadn’t stepped up in ti, Hyun Jong might have been crushed by the burden and pressure before he could overco it.
‘This must be the natural order.’
Nature sotis seems fickle, but in the end it moves toward where it ought to be.
Just as Hyun Sang was about to nod.
“But...”
“Hm?”
Hyun Young looked toward the door as if sensing sothing odd.
“That guy has been strangely quiet, hasn’t he?”
“That guy? Who?”
“Ah, who do you think? The one who would foam at the mouth and run berserk first.”
“...Chung Myung?”
“Yes. He’s the one.”
Hyun Sang smiled faintly.
“He usually rampages, but when it cos to deciding the major affairs of the sect, doesn’t he beco serious?”
“Hmm.”
“Besides, even if he doesn’t say it, he seems quite comfortable with Baek Cheon. He respects him to so extent as a warrior.”
Hyun Young tilted his head in puzzlent and asked Hyun Jong.
“Do you think so, Sect leader?”
“...You an Chung Myung?”
“Yes.”
“Well... from what I see, just...”
“Just?”
“...seems like his mind’s gone?”
A brief silence followed.
The three of them looked toward the door with utmost unease.
Jo Gul, stepping out of the room, stared fixedly at Baek Cheon’s back as he walked ahead, then spoke with a voice full of awkwardness.
“Um...”
“Hm?”
“Ahem!”
When Baek Cheon ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) turned and their eyes t, Jo Gul cleared his throat for no reason. Then he tentatively said again.
“Um... sasuk. Earlier I, I...”
“What are you trying to say?”
Jo Gul couldn’t bring himself to continue and scratched his head. He wanted to apologize for his earlier behavior.
“I... I was a bit thoughtless when I...”
“You!”
But at that mont Yoon Jong roared in an unusually stern voice. Startled, Jo Gul gaped and looked at Yoon Jong.
Yoon Jong’s expression was grave. It was the severe expression one only saw when he’d committed a terrible mistake.
“No, sahyung... what did I do wrong...?”
“Don’t you know what your fault is?”
“Yes?”
Gritting his teeth, Yoon Jong shouted again.
“How dare you speak to the Acting Sect leader like that! Do you need to be punished with the penance of ‘No training’—severely struck and confined to the penitence hall—to co to your senses? Hurry and show proper etiquette and speak respectfully!”
At those words, Jo Gul suddenly turned his head to look at Baek Cheon.
Seeing the expression on Jo Gul’s face, Baek Cheon involuntarily felt a shiver and reflexively stepped back one pace.
“Aiyo! Acting Sect leader!”
Jo Gul imdiately prostrated himself on the spot.
“This disciple! This disciple has committed a mortal sin! I was thoughtless and dared to utter foolish slander against the Acting Sect leader! Please pull out my tongue and punish for that sin!”
“...Don’t.”
“Acting Sect leader! Please relieve your anger. I didn’t know things would turn out like this!”
“Don’t...”
At that mont Jo Gul flopped forward completely.
“The sin lies only with this disciple, so brothers please be rciful and punish only . Please take the bla on , acting Sect leader!”
“Don’t...”
“You fool! Didn’t the Acting Sect leader say to stop!”
“Oh no! How could I possibly disobey the Acting Sect leader’s command! If you say live, I’ll live; if you say die, I’ll die!”
“...Then just die already, please... please...”
At that mont, a strange voice ca from beside Baek Cheon.
“Acting Sect leader.”
“...Hm?”
Baek Cheon turned his head. Yu Yiseol... Yu Yiseol, expressionless, was trembling more than ever as she looked this way.
“Acting Sect leader...”
“...”
“Sect... pfft.”
Unable to hold back her laughter, she snapped her head away. At the sa ti, a crack splintered across Baek Cheon’s face.
“...samae.”
“Sect...”
“Yes.”
“Acting Sect leader.”
Wow... she really has a talent for pissing people off? He never knew until now.
“Hehe. Congratulations, sasuk!”
Tang Soso clapped with a big smile. Taken aback by such an unexpectedly ordinary, bright reaction, Baek Cheon reluctantly nodded.
“Yes, thanks...”
“Oh my, oh my! He’s a sasuk! Look at ! Sect sasuk... uh, is that not it? Then what should I call you?”
“...”
“Yes? sasuk? How should I call my sasuk from now on?”
A devilish grin overtook Tang Soso’s face.
Baek Cheon helplessly covered his face with both hands.
‘This is why I didn’t want this.’
Would that pack of bloodthirsty jackals ever leave him be? He stepped up because the situation demanded it, but thinking of what he’d endure from now on made his stomach churn.
At that mont, unable to bear it, Hae Yeon spoke up.
“Amitabha. I’m not Mount Hua’s disciple and perhaps shouldn’t say this, but everyone’s teasing seems excessive.”
“M-monk Hae Yeon!”
Baek Cheon looked at Hae Yeon with a moved expression. Yes, that person still has... sothing.
“No, Acting Sect leader.”
“...Yes?”
“The laws of the murim world are strict; a sect’s Sect leader should not give honorifics. From now on, just call Hae Yeon... cough. Please... call that... guff!”
Hae Yeon hurriedly covered his mouth with one hand. His smooth head was trembling.
‘...I wish they would all just die.’
Wouldn’t quickly removing these people be the best path to peace in the murim world? Most would probably agree, right?
“Kuhahaha! Acting Sect leader, he says!”
“Wow! I’m seeing my sasuk beco the Sect leader with my own eyes.”
“The sect’s in fine shape! Hey, Chung Myung! Say sothing... huh? Chung Myung?”
Only then did everyone’s gaze return to Chung Myung, and they all flinched and shivered.
“W-why are you like that, Chung Myung?”
“Are you okay?”
Chung Myung, bleached pale, stood with his mouth half open, dazed. It was as if his soul had crumbled and drifted out through that gap.
“Dong...”
“Dong?”
“Dong...Ryong is...”
“...”
“Dong-Ryong is the Sect leader... and I’m the disciple...”
“...”
“...I should die... I should just die... Why have I lived to see this with my own eyes... I should just go out and perish... oh hohohoh.”
“...”
“I should die. Oh dear... I should die.”
“That’s what he is saying, sasuk?”
Baek Cheon, covering his face, murmured weakly.
“Soone go toss that bastard sowhere.”
“Aiyooo! Who says you can do that...”
“Die, you bastard!”
“Aaaaah!”
Finally, Baek Cheon, his eyes going wild, pounced on Jo Gul.
Thus Jo Gul’s shrieks and Chung Myung’s lantations, chanted like a sutra, sadly echoed around the manor for a long while.
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