Chapter 1203: What On Earth Is Different? (3)

The beggar, running so fast that the stale rice in his hand scattered everywhere, found a secluded shack, pulled aside the straw mat hanging on the door, and burst in.

“Branch leader!”

“How is it?”

Hong Dae-Kwang, half-lying in a corner of the shack, shot up and asked quickly.

“How? What do you mean how? It’s blown wide open.”

“Huh?”

“They’ve split in two and are at each other’s throats. I went around to several places and they’re all about the same.”

A groan escaped Hong Dae-Kwang’s mouth.

“Man, people really have gone too far. How much has the Heavenly Friends Alliance done for them all this time?”

“Do people remember that? They only think about what more they’ll get. A person who’s been a beggar all his life surely knows how harsh people’s hearts can be.”

“Do you think they do this because they don’t know? They’re doing it because they’re frustrated to death!”

Irritation spread across Hong Dae-Kwang’s face.

Hearing that public opinion was split down the middle might not sound so bad depending on how you look at it. After all, it means half of the people understand the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s position.

But that’s without considering the prior situation. Before this spread, the common people overwhelmingly supported the Heavenly Friends Alliance, not the Nine Great Sects.

While the Nine Great Sects had done nothing for the common people in recent years, the Heavenly Friends Alliance not only supported the people along the Yangtze river region but even risked their lives to rush to Hangzhou and drive out the Demonic Cult, didn’t they?

Anyone with ears and a brain couldn’t help but support the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

In that situation, public opinion splitting in two meant Beop Jeong’s justification had taken hold. The Nine Great Sects, which had been pushed in succession, had finally landed a solid blow against the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

‘Damn that rotten monk...’

Hong Dae-Kwang ground his teeth.

Cunning Beop Jeong didn’t report the facts as they were. Pretending to tell it straight, he slyly inserted an interpretation between the lines that the Heavenly Friends Alliance refused even the Nine Great Sects’ concessions for their own gain.

He did it subtly enough that it would be embarrassing to step forward and point out or explain it.

“The Shaolin Abbot’s position wasn’t won at a gambling table, so this should be expected to some extent...”

Still, the reason he couldn’t help cursing was because the Shaolin Abbot’s role is supposed to champion great causes, not crafty politics.

“Is the Heavenly Friends Alliance saying anything?”

“What could they say? It’s not exactly wrong.”

If you analyze it, Beop Jeong’s proposal to unite forces being refused by Mount Hua is a fact in itself. There may be differences in the details, but people don’t pay much attention to others’ fine circumstances.

“Don’t they have something to say? Why on earth would the Heavenly Friends Alliance bow their heads and join the Nine Great Sects unless they had to?”

“That’s how we see it, but to ordinary commoners, the Nine Great Sects still seem much larger and more storied.”

“Hmm... I suppose that’s true.”

“So if the two joined forces, they’d naturally think the Heavenly Friends Alliance would vanish and the Nine Great Sects would remain.”

“That feels strange.”

Dong Kwak scratched his head.

Since the Beggars’ Union also belongs to the Nine Great Sects, they should be pleased that the commoners favor the Nine Great Sects a bit more. But as a member of Hwa-Um branch who lived very close to Mount Hua, it wasn’t an entirely happy matter. Hence the odd ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ feeling in them.

“So? You just listened and did nothing?”

“...What else could I do?”

“Hey, you bastard! You just sat there listening to clueless people spouting whatever? You should’ve corrected them! Tell them that’s not the case!”

“Oh dear, branch leader. Pull yourself together!”

Dong Kwak looked at Hong Dae-Kwang as if he couldn’t believe it.

“No matter how close we are with Mount Hua, how can we refuse orders from above? What we must do now isn’t defend the Heavenly Friends Alliance but spread the Abbot’s stance across the land, isn’t it?”

“So? You want me to spread those slanderous words against the Mount Hua people with my own mouth?”

“Who said do it to that extent? You might be unable to follow an order, but you can’t go completely against it. If you get marked by the higher-ups, Branch leader could lose his head. Do you not know that?”

“Ah, damn it.”

In the end, Hong Dae-Kwang spat a breath and cursed.

“The funniest are those who call beggars dirty. There are so many truly filthy bastards out there. The rot stinks! The rot!”

“Watch your mouth. If you keep that up, you’ll really be excommunicated.”

“If I’m excommunicated, where else would I go? I’ll just join Mount Hua!”

“...They probably wouldn’t accept you.”

“What? Mount Hua’s Sword Saint is my friend, you bastard!”

“Isn’t it important whether Mount Hua’s Sword Saint thinks so too?”

“Seriously this bastard has been... ?“

When Hong Dae-Kwang grabbed the club beside him, Dong Kwak flinched and quickly ducked his head.

“Ah, damn!”

Another string of curses came from Hong Dae-Kwang’s mouth.

He was currently in the Yangtze region — one of the three places, along with Shaanxi and Sichuan, where the Heavenly Friends Alliance had the best public favor. If opinion was split even here, imagine how it would be elsewhere.

“People’s hearts may sway like reeds and public opinion can change overnight, but... people can be so cold. How can they...”

“It’s not because they hate the Heavenly Friends Alliance. It’s because they’re anxious. Afraid.”

“What are they afraid of? What?”

“The truth is... it is true the Heavenly Friends Alliance alone responded and rushed to Hangzhou’s disaster... but that doesn’t mean they saved all the people of Hangzhou, does it?”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s face hardened at those words.

“So what? Are you saying that’s wrong?”

“Not that it’s wrong... but what did those who saw it think? Didn’t they think that if the Demonic Cult decided to strike these parts, they’d end up like the people of Hangzhou?”

Hong Dae-Kwang had no rebuttal to that. He clicked his tongue sourly.

Everyone kept quiet, but Hangzhou’s calamity shocked the whole realm. It was a shock that the Demonic Cult, thought exterminated, still survived, but the most shocking was the cruelty of their hands.

The world now clearly understood what the realm would look like if that Demonic Cult couldn’t be stopped.

“Because they’re anxious and scared, don’t they want the Justice faction to become stronger? So that they could adequately repel Four Sects Alliance or the Demonic Cult if they attacked.”

“Do you think they can’t beat them just because they’re split in two?!”

“Oh dear, Branch leader, you’re not usually like this — why do you lose your head whenever Mount Hua comes up? It’s not about blocking; that’s not the main point. Frankly, what good is it if I die and then they stop the Demonic Cult?”

“...”

“Thanks to the Four Sects Alliance and the Hangzhou Demonic carnage, people realized: if the Justice faction is weak, we might be sacrificed. Or rather, they’ve finally come to truly feel that.”

Hong Dae-Kwang openly grew furious at that.

“Hey, you bastard! All the more reason to support the Heavenly Friends Alliance! When have the Nine Great Sects ever risked their lives to help the common people? They just stood by and watched from behind with righteous airs! Who caused the suffering in Southern Lands now because of those Evil Sect bastards?!”

“Well, that’s true, but...”

Dong Kwak said reluctantly.

“Actually... the moral high ground is on their side, isn’t it? Harmony is better than confrontation. Even to people, that’s the principled right thing to do.”

“What, you bastard?”

Fire seemed to blaze from Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes.

“You bastard! That’s what ruins everything. In theory! From a big-picture view! Spouting that kind of talk ruins it all! From a theoretical view, everyone dies anyway — so why desperately cram stale rice into your mouth to live so hard?!”

“...”

“When you say ‘think big,’ you should really mean it. Does looking at things broadly solve everything? Those pretending to know it all are the ones who wreck it all!”

“...Don’t get mad at me; go tell the people. Why are you taking it out on me?”

“Ah, damn it.”

Hong Dae-Kwang cursed again and flopped backwards. Rage dyed his face red and blue.

“The Abbot’s too old. Is this the time for the Beggars’ Union to listen to Shaolin and just spread rumors? They should’ve left the Nine Great Sects ages ago and clung to the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”

“How can it be that easy? Even if among the Five Great Families, the Namgung and Tang Family have left, there’s still no proper breakaway from the Nine Great Sects.”

“...”

“If a sect breaks away from the Nine Great Sects and joins the Heavenly Friends Alliance for the first time, Shaolin will try to crush it somehow — how could we handle that? Especially our Beggars’ Union can’t take that. Other sects have definite territories, but aren’t we beggars who scrounge across the land? If we’re driven out of Henan alone, thousands would starve.”

“Who doesn’t know that!”

Hong Dae-Kwang yelled furiously.

“Hey, you bastard. If you’re scared of starving to death and shut your mouth to survive, is that the Beggars’ Union’s way? You’re just a real beggar bastard. How’s that any different from those Evil Sect bastards who pillage to eat?”

“No...”

“Some run to the Southern lands, where the Evil Sect is rampant, to save commoners even when they could be making money and gaining fame, while others are so afraid of starving they become henchmen for old raccoon bastards, spreading baseless rumors.”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s voice gradually dwindled.

“I didn’t join the Beggars’ Union for this...”

“Don’t act like you joined for some grand purpose, leader. You joined because you’re a beggar.”

“Bah!”

Hong Dae-Kwang hurled the club he was holding without thinking.

“Aah!”

Dong Kwak, hit on the head by the club, tumbled backward screaming.

“Are you rubbing salt in on purpose by staring at me! Do you really want to die today?”

“Yikes!”

Dong Kwak quickly retreated toward the entrance, shouting.

“Anyway, don’t do anything useless. With an elder having just defected, the mood’s tense; if you do something foolish here you’ll be made an example of! If you don’t like the Beggars’ Union, cling on stubbornly, become Union leader, and change it — isn’t that the solution, Branch leader?”

“Will you just get lost now?”

“Absolutely not! Do not do what you are thinking! I insist!”

Having said that, Dong Kwak bolted out as if fleeing. Hong Dae-Kwang, who glared at the doorway as if he could kill, sighed and slumped into his seat.

“...Become the union leader and change it, my ass.”

If those above had intended that, it would’ve changed long ago.

He’d learned from watching Mount Hua: if you intend to change things, you mustn’t wait. If you endure hoping for ‘someday,’ you’ll end up conforming to the old rules yourself.

“What would you do, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint?”

Chung Myung’s face came to mind. When everyone called him reckless and foolish, he was the one who ultimately proved he wasn’t wrong.

“This feels disgusting.”

Hong Dae-Kwang opened a worn crate, took out cheap rice wine, and held it. It looked like he’d have to drink until he was drunk to sleep tonight.