They retreated. No, they ignored and passed by.
While they couldn't control the sidelong glances, the Heavenly Comrade Alliance moved towards Wudang, ignoring those camped there.
Jang Ilso, watching the scene leisurely, smiled and turned his gaze to the person seated before him.
"Hmm, so heartless."
"...."
"I didn't think they'd just leave like that. I heard the Righteous Sects were full of compassion. but I guess not entirely."
"Talking big, aren't you, Evil Sect bastard."
"How fierce."
Jang Ilso chuckled. Then he looked at the empty glass before Chung Myung.
"The glass is empty."
He picked up the liquor bottle and filled Chung Myung's glass himself.
The sound of pouring liquor mingled with the footsteps of many people, spreading around them.
Tap.
Jang Ilso placed the bottle back on the table and nudged it towards Chung Myung with his fingertips.
"Pour me a glass too."
"...."
"After all this, shouldn't I get at least one reward? Being the only Evil Sect member to drink the liquor poured by the renowned Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword should be quite a title."
Chung Myung silently stared at the smiling Jang Ilso, then grabbed the bottle and slowly filled Jang Ilso's glass.
Drip, drip, drip.
The liquor filled the glass and began to overflow.
Yet, the tilted bottle didn't return to its upright position. Jang Ilso squinted his eyes slightly and met Chung Myung's gaze. Chung Myung looked at him with a mocking expression.
"Nowadays, Evil Sect bastards also drink liquor poured into a glass? Back in my day, they'd lap up even the spilled liquor from the floor."
Chung Myung's mouth twisted bitterly.
"Go on, drink up. As you said, it's a rare occasion, so consider yourself lucky."
Before Jang Ilso could respond, the enraged Honggyeon members unleashed an immense killing intent towards Chung Myung.
The fierce and deadly aura whipped around Chung Myung like a storm, causing his robe to flutter. His long hair, loosely tied, billowed up.
Meanwhile, Jo Gul kept looking back.
Yoon Jong, Hye Yeon, and Namgung Dowi beside him were the same.
Chung Myung's figure grew smaller in their sight. Unable to calm down, they gripped their swords' handles tighter.
'Damn it!'
No matter what, leaving Chung Myung alone was an unacceptable decision.
Yet, the reason Jo Gul didn't immediately object was the weight of his position as a sub-leader.
Orders must be followed.
If they couldn't even adhere to that, what right did they have to demand others to follow their commands?
'Damn it...!'
Jo Gul had countless things to say to Baek Cheon, leading the way. But instead of speaking, he just gripped his sword's handle tightly.
At that moment.
"Sasuk, are you... okay? No matter how I think about it, this is..."
Instead of Jo Gul, Yoon Jong spoke up, his voice strained as if holding back something. He too found it hard to accept Baek Cheon's decision.
But Baek Cheon remained silent. Yoon Jong finally raised his voice.
"Sasuk!"
"He'll be fine."
"But!"
"He's not someone who acts thoughtlessly."
Baek Cheon replied in a calm voice.
"And if we act as Jang Ilso wants, we'll surely lose. That's the conclusion we reached through countless sacrifices, isn't it?"
Yoon Jong fell silent, unable to refute. It was indeed undeniable. But....
"Leaving him alone doesn't make any sense."
At that moment, an overwhelming sense of killing intent was felt from behind. Baek Cheon reflexively turned around.
He saw the Honggyeon members brimming with killing intent, and Chung Myung sitting calmly before them.
Baek Cheon bit his lip and turned back.
Any words now would be meaningless.
He just believed. Believed that he was none other than Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword, Chung Myung.
The tip of a long finger lightly brushed the spilled liquor on the table. The liquor on the fingertip soon touched the red lips.
Jang Ilso licked the liquor slowly and spoke.
"What a waste... I told you it was good liquor. This is why those who are raised well can't be trusted."
Jang Ilso lightly lamented and glanced at the fuming Honggyeon members.
"Tsk. So ill-mannered."
With just those simple words, the killing intent of the Honggyeon members disappeared.
"If you behave like this, how ridiculous do you think I'll look? Keep it appropriate."
The Honggyeon members silently bowed their heads. Jang Ilso, glancing at them, then smiled slyly at Chung Myung.
"Sorry about that. I did train them, but they're quite rough."
"It must be because they take after their master."
"Hmm. Indeed. There might be some truth in that."
Chung Myung lifted the glass before him and drank.
Tap.
As soon as he put down the empty glass, Jang Ilso poured him another. Watching this, Chung Myung asked.
"Let me hear your reason."
"Reason?"
Jang Ilso echoed, and Chung Myung's gaze sharpened.
"What's the reason for this elaborate act? There was no need to go this far just to capture me."
"I just wanted to have a conversation."
"...."
"Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that."
Jang Ilso laughed exaggeratedly, as if it was difficult for him.
"This is why people should live honestly. Once you start getting suspected, people won't believe the truth, even if you tell them plainly. It's frustrating."
"I didn't think you'd be stupid enough not to know you're getting what you deserve."
"...Ugh."
Jang Ilso let out a deep sigh.
Regardless of his intentions or feelings for sitting here, no one could deny that Jang Ilso's demeanor seemed natural, as if meeting an old friend.
"No need to be so sharp."
Jang Ilso spoke gently, lifting the cup full of alcohol. It was the cup that Chung Myung had just filled. He drank slowly, savoring the taste.
"Though neither of us can reveal our true intentions, I genuinely wanted to sit and talk with you at least once."
Chung Myung gazed at Jang Ilso with a subdued expression.
"And to tie me down to this place?"
"That goes without saying."
"And if given the chance, you'd probably like to stick a knife in my neck too."
"Hahahaha!"
Jang Ilso burst into laughter.
"I'm not that greedy. Well, maybe I am a greedy person, but I know better than to overindulge and get sick."
His oily eyes curved smoothly.
Chung Myung knew. The ruthless intent hidden within those seemingly soft eyes. It felt like watching a well-honed blade, a peculiar chill.
Chung Myung grabbed the liquor bottle.
Pouring...
The liquor, thin as silk, slowly filled Jang Ilso's empty cup. Jang Ilso, finding the sight interesting, opened his mouth.
"But I didn't expect you'd sit here so readily. I thought I'd have to persuade you more."
"Likewise."
Chung Myung answered somewhat indifferently, almost to himself.
"I still think there's no value in dealing with you, but I might have wanted to talk with you at least once too."
"...Oh?"
"And likewise."
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
Chung Myung set the bottle down with a clink and faced Jang Ilso head-on.
"Just as you think that as long as you tie me down here, you can easily deal with Mount Hua, I also believe that as long as I tie you down here, the Evil Sect is nothing."
Jang Ilso's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Is that what you think?"
"Don't get cocky."
"..."
"So I just see it as not losing anything. As long as I'm here, no matter what happens, you can't rush over there."
"Goodness."
Jang Ilso shook his head, as if he couldn't handle it.
"So, you're saying... I didn't tie you down; you tied me down?"
"Think what you want."
"Haha."
Jang Ilso laughed aloud again. But this time, his face seemed a bit twisted.
"That's why... Yeah, that's why I find you interesting. You're incomparable to other idiots. But I wonder... Will it really go as you think?"
Jang Ilso's gaze left Chung Myung's face and drifted to the floor. There lay Heo Dojin, barely holding onto consciousness.
"Sometimes people overestimate themselves. They overestimate those close to them."
"..."
"That's why they become blinded."
Heo Dojin shivered upon hearing those words.
It must be painful.
Falling into the hands of an enemy, he would kill a thousand times if he could. Being humiliated like this, he must feel like biting off his tongue and dying.
But humiliation is an inescapable punishment for the defeated. Heo Dojin could only endure this humiliation now.
"What about you? Are you seeing those you lead clearly?"
Chung Myung, listening expressionlessly, smirked.
"Don't talk about objectivity. I've already done that excessively."
Chung Myung leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky.
"Being objective, criticizing for being unhelpful, struggling alone."
"..."
"Yeah. Just like you are now."
Jang Ilso's expression subtly hardened. Even for someone who toyed with people's minds, this was a difficult statement to understand.
"Then what are you doing now?"
Jang Ilso asked, and Chung Myung's gaze shifted. At the end of his sight was the Heavenly Comrade Alliance moving away.
"Just..."
A faint smile appeared on Chung Myung's lips.
Anyone who heard might say it's reckless. In the past, he would never have uttered such words.
But it was the answer he reached after countless irreversible failures.
"Just believing."
"...In those guys?"
Chung Myung's eyes deepened.
"In them. And in what I've done, in what we've done."
Jang Ilso's face froze like ice. His perpetually relaxed expression cracked.
What word could best describe the emotion surfacing on his face?
Astonishment? Anger? No, perhaps it was despair.
Though the reason was unclear even to him, the best word to explain his expression was probably just one.
"This is... disappointing."
Jang Ilso's red lips revealed white teeth.
The face, always adorned with a bright smile, was twisted, and the soft voice was gone. A chilling voice emerged.
"To think you'd say such things."
"..."
"I thought we could understand each other a bit."
In front of that sneering hostility, Chung Myung also bared his teeth.
The surrounding air tightened instantly. It was like a bomb about to explode.