Chapter 1278: I Was Not Wrong. (3)

Swooooosh.

The waves, grown rather rough, struck the ship and sent up white foam. Chung Myung watched the sight silently with tired eyes.

‘How frustrating.’

If he were running on his own feet, he could push off with his legs; if he rode a horse, he could spur it on, but traveling on a wind-driven ship has limits to how much a person can increase its speed.

So from now until they reach Southern land, he would just have to kill time idly like this.

‘Honestly, this sort of thing really doesn’t suit me.’

In a way, it was perfectly natural. Yet feeling stifled by that naturalness—perhaps Chung Myung should never have become a Taoist in the first place.

“You look deep in thought.”

At the voice, Chung Myung turned his head. Green Forest King Im So-Byeong approached with a sly smile.

“Or perhaps you have no thoughts at all.”

“......”

“Which is it?”

“I think it’s the former.”

When Chung Myung nodded toward his fist, the Green Forest King edged back.

Chung Myung let out a short laugh and looked out to sea again... no, more precisely toward the Gangnam land beyond the sea.

“How long will it take?”

“Well... at this speed we’d arrive around midnight.”

“Longer than I thought.”

“Well, Taoist could swim there in no time if he wanted, but...”

Im So-Byeong glanced toward the deck. Southern Island’s disciples were clustered here and there, resting—like exhausted horses.

“If we did that, those fellows would completely collapse.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung sighed softly. Im So-Byeong looked at him with a curious smile.

“Are you truly sure?”

Chung Myung remained silent. But Im So-Byeong didn’t seem to have asked expecting an answer, and continued nonchalantly.

“Of course, I am someone who does as he’s told, but you’re the one who must bear responsibility, aren’t you?”

“Anyone listening might think you don’t care if people die.”

“Dying because you met the wrong superior is natural for strategists. That’s how those types of people usually die.”

“...Is that something the Green Forest King should be saying?”

“Green Forest King, this and that—what does it matter? That’s the role I see for myself in the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”

Chung Myung chuckled softly. Truly an odd man.

But from Im So-Byeong’s perspective, Chung Myung seemed the odd one.

“Of course, I know Master has his reasons for what he does, but...”

Im So-Byeong surveyed Southern Island Sect’s disciples with a slightly cold gaze.

“I don’t know. Will dragging such dead weight along really be of any help?”

“......”

“If we can bring Southern Island Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, into the Heavenly Friends Alliance it would be a huge external symbol... but well. Righteous cause is something that becomes strength later, which is why it matters.”

Im So-Byeong continued with a strange expression.

“I don’t necessarily think ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ people who prioritize immediate gain over distant righteousness are wrong.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing in particular.”

Im So-Byeong shrugged.

“I just wanted to ask. Would saving those clumsy ones—who’re exhausted as if they’ve already fought all the world’s battles without ever swinging a proper blade—truly be helpful?”

At that, Chung Myung also glanced at Southern Island Sect’s disciples. They looked utterly drained.

Well, it wasn’t hard to understand. For those who had never seen blood in their life, witnessing a person’s head being cut off and limbs flying would shock anyone. Especially in a world like this.

But Chung Myung also knew Im So-Byeong’s point wasn’t entirely wrong.

Having excuses didn’t change the situation. Chung Myung had to break through Southern land with those rookies who didn’t understand the battle they faced. The Southern land held by the Four Sects Alliance.

“If you opposed it, you should have opposed it earlier.”

“Have you ever had anyone listen when you opposed them?”

Im So-Byeong scratched his chin with the tip of his fan.

“Strategists fundamentally dislike inefficiency. Opposing something you know won’t change is just a waste of time—only your mouth gets tired for nothing.”

Chung Myung stared at Im So-Byeong without a word.

“...Why do you ask?”

“No...”

Chung Myung shook his head.

“It just feels like I’ve heard that line before.”

“Do you think it was only one or two times you heard it?”

“Exactly.”

What’s the point of saying anything? You’ll do as you please anyway! I might as well sing scriptures to deaf ears!Chung Myung couldn’t help a short laugh. The image of Chung Jin, veins bulging as he shouted and ranted, flashed through his mind.

It seemed Chung Myung was not much different from back then. He had thought he’d changed a lot himself.

“Still, you never know—saying something might change things.”

“Perhaps.”

Im So-Byeong looked at Chung Myung with a strange look and said,

“If it’s merely stubbornness, maybe that’s true.”

“......”

“But this doesn’t seem like simple stubbornness.”

Chung Myung smiled and shook his head.

“You’re overestimating me.”

“Of course, that might be the case. Honestly, I know the chance of that is much, much higher.”

...But this bastard? Chung Myung glared quietly at Im So-Byeong; Im So-Byeong soon looked out to the distant sea and shrugged theatrically.

Then he spoke quietly again.

“Even so, I won’t stop you.”

“Why?”

Im So-Byeong paused at the question, then suddenly began speaking about something else.

“From childhood, listening to old tales or studying history, there were parts I truly couldn’t understand.”

“Like what?”

“That the smartest people suffer under stupid leaders and eventually die because of it.”

“......”

“Strategists are originally the smartest people of their era. Wouldn’t their conclusions be closest to the truth?”

“Indeed.”

“But the fools above never listen, collapse miserably, and later regret it, saying the predictable line, ‘Ah, I should have listened then.’”

“Are you criticizing me right now?”

“Tch. Please hear me out now.”

Chung Myung scowled displeased, but Im So-Byeong continued regardless.

“Do you know the biggest question that arose from seeing such situations?”

“...Why don’t the superiors listen?”

“That’s not it. Superiors are naturally idiots who don’t listen. Those kinds become leaders. What’s the point of calling inherently stupid people stupid? It’s just their nature... Ah, no! I don’t mean you! Put your fist down!”

“...Watch yourself.”

When Chung Myung spoke with clear displeasure, Im So-Byeong grinned.

“In any case, that wasn’t what frustrated me. What I couldn’t understand was why the smartest people suffer under such leaders doing unreasonable things. They could just build their own power.”

Chung Myung snorted and asked back,

“So?”

“So I thought: I won’t do that. I’ll form a force that listens only to me and smash all the factions those idiots lead!”

“You became the Green Forest King because of that?”

“Well... that part was half foisted on me, though.”

Though it was thrust upon him, if he truly didn’t want to be Green Forest King he could have avoided it. But he didn’t—he had something he wanted to try.

“So? Then you should have done as you planned.”

“Yes. I did. But I soon realized how naive that fantasy was in the face of reality.”

Im So-Byeong clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“What good is saying the right thing if they don’t even listen? Even if you tell them the correct method, they dismiss it as scholar nonsense.”

“......”

“Persuasion? Of course I tried. But people simply don’t think they could be wrong. Even if nine of your points are right, they latch onto the one small mistake and proclaim all your words wrong—I’d like to really...”

“You can’t win against that, can you?”

“...So I held back.”

Chung Myung lightly tapped Im So-Byeong’s drooping shoulder.

“You had a hard time.”

“...Don’t even mention it.”

Seeing Im So-Byeong’s pale face, Chung Myung chuckled.

Frankly, Im So-Byeong’s martial strength wasn’t lacking. The problem was it didn’t match the title of the Green Forest King. Besides, until recently he was a sick man unable to use half his power.

In Green Forest, where the law of the strong eating the weak is taken to heart more than anywhere, how much weight would Im So-Byeong’s words carry?

It was obvious what hardships he had endured. At first, aside from the Green Forest who was loyal to his predecessor, no one likely treated Im So-Byeong as a proper Green Forest King.

“But as he aged and his strength grew, his voice should have become louder, right?”

“If his goal was just to manage Green Forest in moderation, maybe. But what’s the point? He’d just become a stupider Green Forest King than his predecessor.”

“Indeed.”

Im So-Byeong stared fixedly at Chung Myung.

“I saw it then. Spouting nonsense, making utterly stupid conclusions, repeating absurd gambles—precisely the kind of fool to die alone in a strange house... Ah, no. I’m just talking about the past! In the past!

cough

cough

Ah, my illness flares up...”

“......”

“Yet still!”

Im So-Byeong grinned.

“There are people who, despite making utterly stupid decisions and walking into death, have followers who willingly follow them.”

“......”

“At that moment I realized: ah, such people are a distinct kind from the start.”

Chung Myung smiled bitterly and shook his head again.

“That’s overestimating them too.”

“Of course.”

...But this bastard?

“But you see.”

“Yes?”

“It seems I’m not the only one overestimating them.”

Im So-Byeong gestured subtly toward Southern Island Sect’s disciples. Chung Myung also turned his gaze toward them.

Those who lived peacefully in the Southern Island, who barely knew where they’d come from, have left the life they’d always known because some fellow showed them a path, and they’re walking into death, saying they’ll die there if need be.

“......”

“Do you think this is something that makes logical sense?”

“Because it’s the most righteous path.”

“That’s what matters.”

Im So-Byeong chuckled.

“If people only chose the right path, there would be no wars. If knowing the right way meant you could act on it, the world would be filled with goodness. But what is the world actually like?”

“......”

“A leader isn’t someone who presents some grandly correct path that others don’t know.”

Im So-Byeong smiled wryly.

“He’s the sort of person who makes others take the path everyone knows but no one dares to walk.”

Im So-Byeong’s gaze passed Chung Myung and turned toward Southern land.

“Even if the end of that path is death.”

Chung Myung, who had kept silent, hardened his expression slightly.