Bab 629: Chapter 1517: This Isn't My Fault? (Part 2)
"Do you see it?"
"Yes?"
"That's the headquarters of the Beggar's Union."
"Ah!"
The young boy's eyes sparkled. A majestic hall stood before them, exuding an indescribable power.
"The history of the Beggar's Union is deeply embedded in that headquarters. It's a place no different from the history of the Beggar's Union itself."
"There..."
"Yes. From now on, this is the place you must illuminate. Can you do that?"
"Yes, Shifu! I will definitely do so."
"Good, good. Hahaha."
Laughter echoed, and the eyes of the onlookers focused on the headquarters, shimmering with clarity.
* * *
"...."
The ragged old man, draped in tattered clothing, stared at the empty face with a look of despair. The worn-out hall he had gazed at while tightly holding the hand of his Shifu, before his hair grew white, was nowhere to be found.
"The, the Union..."
The legacies of his Shifu and his precious memories, not only of his youth but also of a life devoted to the Beggar's Union, were reduced to dissipating dust clouds.
"Ah..."
"Elder!"
"Ahhhh!"
"Oh dear, Elder! Are you okay? Someone call a doctor! He's passing out!"
"Shifu..."
"Oh, Elder! Please come to your senses!"
Not just the elder, but all the beggars were in dismay. It was truly an unbelievable sight.
"What is this..."
"Indeed."
The disappearance of the Union, revealing a clear sky with not a single cloud, was even more absurd and inexplicable.
Whooooosh.
After a while, a refreshing breeze swept over the fallen debris.
As if to prove that peace and tranquility had found their way to the place where all the conflicts had ended, the collapsed headquarters was immersed in profound stillness.
Thunk!
However, at that moment, a hand unexpectedly emerged from the chaotic pile of debris.
Clutching at the air vigorously, the trembling hand fumbled left and right before finally grabbing a handful of debris.
"Ugh..."
With great effort, Jo Gol pushed his head up and crawled out of the pile of debris, his face pale as if he were dying.
"Whoa, man! You're really messed up..."
"Get out quickly, you bastard!"
"Don't stab me! Is that blade for me being a bit late?"
"Oh, shut up and move fast!"
"...Soso, I'm your Sahyung."
It seemed as if now she wasn't just following the spirit of Mount Hua but leading it...Scary kid.
As if they had agreed on some signal, the disciples of Mount Hua crawled out from between the debris, grumbling. Dust-covered Shaolin monks and elders of the Beggar's Union also rose, making painful sounds.
"Kkkeueeuu...."
"This time, I thought I was really going to die..."
"Amitabha... I, I briefly saw the Pure Land."
"Hiik, the headquarters..."
Those who barely escaped the crisis of being buried alive looked around with blank expressions. Even if intentionally destroyed, it wouldn't collapse so cleanly.
"How... How did this happen..."
"W-How should we greet our ancestors now?"
The elders of the Beggar's Union, who had gone out to gather honey, sat in the same spot like bees that lost their beehives.
The disciples of Mount Hua exchanged strange looks, their eyes conveying something.
"Isn't there something familiar?"
"Still, they're still better off than us. We burned down, but at least pillar fragments are left here."
"No, still, didn't we save a few halls? It looks like there's really nothing left here."
"...By the way, where did Chung Myung go?"
"Huh? Now that you mention it... Ahhh!"
Suddenly, Jo Gol grabbed his butt and jumped up. A sword had suddenly protruded from the spot where Jo Gol had been sitting a moment ago.
The sword swung wildly left and right. After a while, Chung Myung crawled up from the widened space, flipping the dust off. With an expression of irritation, his face was twisted.
"Oi! Why were you blocking the way! I was about to get out of there!"
"...So you should stab me?"
"Let it be. At least he stabbed gently. If it were someone else, they wouldn't have been as precise as Chung Myung."
"You've been tamed, Sasuk."
"...Let's say I've adapted."
Chung Myung, wearing an annoyed expression, brushed off the dust and looked around with an air of arrogance.
"Hmm."
His twisted expression gradually began to loosen. Then, instead of irritation, an awkward expression appeared.
"Hmm, but, um... you know?"
"Yes?"
It was a face similar to a puppy committing a crime and looking around cautiously.
"This isn't my fault, is it?"
A silence fell. The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect sighed as if the ground had collapsed.
"Sect Leader."
"...."
"...Sect Leader, you need to come to your senses now..."
"...."
The highly disturbed Pungyeong Shin Gae finally turned his head towards Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon coughed somewhat awkwardly.
"It must be shocking, but now you need to gather your composure. At least it's just a hall, right?"
"Documents..."
"Yes?"
"...The archive containing all the information about the history of the Beggar's Union, including the records of various sects and their details... all the information about the Beggar's Union..."
"Ah..."
It should be there. Uh, under there, torn or crumpled.
It seemed as if the soul of Pungyeong Shin Gae was clearly detaching from his body.
"I... I must die. Die to atone for this sin..."
"Don't say that, Sect Leader! That's unreasonable."
"Deputy Sect Leader..."
"This isn't just a problem that can be solved with just one person dying, is it?"
"...."
For a moment, Pungyeong Shin Gae's face, looking at Baek Cheon, seemed to say, 'What kind of guy is this?' Although he might have meant words of comfort, didn't it sound like 'This isn't a crime that can be paid with your worthless life' to Pungyeong Shin Gae's ears?
"...Thank you."
Once this incident was resolved, whether or not he resigned from the Sect Leader position, he would revise all information and evaluations related to the Mount Hua Sect.
Pungyeong Shin Gae firmly made up his mind and turned his head.
"Good grief."
It was ridiculous.
Although compromises had been made, it was never easy for those who had fiercely clashed just moments ago to come to terms with the situation.
But this troublesome matter had been resolved all at once as the hall collapsed. It may not have been intentional, but wasn't the situation remarkably absurd?
Pungyeong Shin Gae sighed.
If it had been in the past, the collapse of the hall might have led to a month-long suspension of food and drink. However, having experienced this, it felt refreshing that it had collapsed so cleanly.
"Sect Leader."
At that moment, Ilho Shin Gae approached from this side.
"Sahyung."
"We've temporarily subdued and confined the elders. It was a bit difficult to find a suitable confinement, but..."
"But there's no need for that..."
"No."
Ilho Shin Gae firmly nodded.
"If you're going to do it, you should do it clearly. Sect Leader said he wouldn't question their sins, but they haven't completely given up. At least until a new Sect Leader is elected and authority is delegated, we must prevent them from making any reckless moves."
There was a bitter smile on Ilho Shin Gae's face as he spoke. He himself had fueled dissatisfaction and incited the fire, leading to this situation.
"And... after this is over, I think I should step back at least from the position of an elder."
"Sahyung, that's not necessary."
"No."
Ilho Shin Gae nodded again this time.
"Not to ask for forgiveness, but to make sure I don't have futile thoughts again."
"...Sayung."
"If we had shared our thoughts like this from the beginning, things wouldn't have turned out like this."
Even Pungyeong Shin Gae, who followed his Shifu's will, was the one who distanced himself from the beggars within the Union. He considered himself leading 'beggars,' but in the end, he saw those beggars living within the Union as nothing more than beings enslaved by the Union. Despite inwardly chanting and pledging that it was the path for them.
"How miserable."
"That's right. So we aren't beggars after all?"
Ilho Shin Gae and Pungyeong Shin Gae both let out a faint laugh. When they put down what they were holding, all tension dissipated, and the world looked green. If you held something in your hands, you weren't a beggar, and a person holding something in their hands could never lead the Beggar's Union.
It was a natural and obvious fact that they realized anew at this age.
"But..."
"Yes, Sahyung."
"What do you think we should do?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think about the next generation? ...No, there's no time for the next generation. Who do you intend to choose as the next Sect Leader?"
"That's..."
Pungyeong Shin Gae's face twisted slightly. He stammered a few times, then glanced in one direction.
"Hey, Mount Hua's Divine Dragon! What are you going to do about the Union now?"
"Has this guy gone crazy since earlier? Why is he asking that to me!"
"Isn't this the result of your wild rampage?"
"That's absurd! Even if I broke some things, it's the fault of those Shaolin guys. What, would swinging a sword a few times leave a mark? No, and... why did you suddenly become lively? Are you planning to enjoy yourself before losing your arms and legs?"
"Haha!"
Hong Daekwang, upon hearing those words, confidently placed his hand on his side.
"You're slow to catch on, Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword. Didn't Sect Leader say he would take responsibility for everything that happened today?"
"Huh?"
"Of course, what I said becomes something I never said! This is immunity, you know! Immunity! Don't you understand?"
"...Is this guy really out of his mind? Did he hit his head on the way out?"
Watching the commotion from a distance, Pungyeong Shin Gae sighed deeply, seemingly without realizing it.
"Sahyung..."
"...Speak."
"To be honest, I think I know why Sahyung did what he did."
"...Is that so?"
Rather than resigning the Sect Leader position to someone like that guy, he would feel better with Ilho Shin Gae doing it...
'Unsatisfactory.'
The sigh of the two old beggars deepened at Hong Daekwang's appearance, which seemed to be crafted from dissatisfaction.
But it was only for a moment. Pungyeong Shin Gae chuckled.
"But... even so, we have to believe in what we have to do."
"That's right."
The gaze of the two men converged in one direction. Hong Daekwang was kicking Chung Myung away.
"Perhaps, even he didn't know what we didn't know. If we didn't have trust, we couldn't believe it."
Ilho Shin Gae nodded in agreement.
Hong Daekwang's confident declaration left a vivid impression. Only Hong Daekwang's unique Beggar's Union was embedded in that declaration.
"...We need to prepare for the coronation ceremony. The headquarters has collapsed. Ugh."
Ilho Shin Gae, who was nodding his head gently, suddenly turned his gaze to Pungyeong.
"Ah, but Sect Leader."
"Yes, Sahyung."
"Where did you put the divine artifact? I've been looking for it for so long and couldn't find it. If only I had that... No, no. Anyway."
"The divine artifact?"
Pungyeong Shin Gae, with a solemn expression, quickly scanned the surroundings.
"Let me see... Oh, that's..."
After a while, as if he had found something, he briskly walked towards a certain direction.
"Come this way."
Taking Ilho Shin Gae along, Pungyeong Shin Gae walked for a while among the debris. Suddenly, he stopped.
"...Sect Leader?"
"Hup!"
Reaching out, he pulled out something buried. Ilho Shin Gae, who saw the revealed object, opened his eyes wide.
"Is this...?"
It was a very familiar object to him. It was the desk that had been placed in the office of the Sect Leader. Just looking at the smudges and stains, you could tell.
"Why did you suddenly take this out?"
"Hmm... it's broken."
Instead of answering, Pungyeong Shin Gae sighed as if disappointed. Then, with one hand, he enhanced his internal energy and smashed the desk.
Splinter!
The old wooden desk was shattered with a single blow. Surprisingly, a bright light suddenly spread. Instinctively closing his eyes, Ilho Shin Gae quickly opened them again.
A long, irregular object emitting an emerald glow was inside one of the broken legs of the split desk.
"Huh... huhuhu."
Ilho Shin Gae, who had momentarily lost his mind, burst into a forced laugh.
Thud.
As the crushed debris fell, a complete object was revealed. A baton-like weapon, about the length of an adult's forearm, unevenly carved like a club. It looked like something a local thug would use to catch a stolen dog.
"Tagu... Bong (打狗棒)."
Dog-Beating Club. [not the animal abuse ⁝(˚͈͈͈͈̥̆ A ˚͈͈͈͈̥̆⁎)⁝]
Its official name was the Nokokjang ['Green Jade Staff'] (綠玉杖), but everyone in the world called it the Tagubong. Named after the intention of the founder, who said, 'Why should beggars have an official seal?' It became the symbol of the Sect instead of the official seal of the Sect, with a pattern naturally formed at the end. [not sure lol]
"Haha... haha..."
That Tagubong was hidden exactly in the desk where Ilho Shin Gae always sat.
"Invisible. Yes... it was the invisible. Everything, objects, people, none were visible to my eyes. I tried to only see the bright side. Haha, that's right. That's how it was! Hahahaha!"
Ilho Shin Gae's cheerful laughter echoed clearly over the ruins of the collapsed headquarters.
"Amitabha."
And on top of that, there was an unmistakable Buddhist chant.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone