Chapter 551:
I don’t know what words to use to explain this.
Hmm, yes. I suppose I should start from here.
Why do you think wars break out?
Yes, the reason. The reason wars break out.
Most wars break out because of profit. How many would start a war where they themselves would suffer losses?
Though they may be wrapped in various words, in truth most wars begin because of interests. That could be money, it could be food, and sometimes it becomes power. What’s important is that there must be something to gain for a war to start.
But there are cases where that’s not so.
Sometimes wars break out even when they know there’s nothing to gain from war. And the cause of those wars with nothing to gain is usually resentment.
This is what’s frightening.
Do you understand how terrifying it is to wage war knowing it’s a war with nothing to gain, with only sacrifice remaining?
Such people don’t even care for their own lives. To resolve resentment that has burned and melted away, they’ll do anything.
That was the nature of the war that engulfed the Central Plains at that time.
So it was impossible to calculate.
You can know what those who seek profit will do. You can predict them because they’ll move in the direction that gains them the best benefit.
But those who move by resentment cannot be predicted.
It’s impossible for a person to read another’s heart. That’s why neither Alliance Leader Gwon-geuk nor Military Advisor Shin Gi-su could know what Baekgeomseong would do.[TL/N: Baekgeomseong is also the White Sword Castle.]
Hm?
So what did we do, you ask?
What could we do? We could only take what countermeasures we could.
Was that enough, you ask?
It wasn’t. Originally it should have been a war where we’d be completely swept away. But the reason we could endure was one thing.
What was it, you ask?
What obvious thing are you saying? We had one too on our side. A fellow that they could absolutely never predict. Looking through all of war history, there probably never was such a tremendous variable.
That was their misfortune.
***
Gwon-geuk quietly gazed at the army before his eyes.
The sight of warriors in pure white robes lined up endlessly was giving even Gwon-geuk a tremendous sense of pressure.
‘Baekgeom…’
White swords.
‘They must mean they’re clean.’
Unlike themselves.
From the fact that they had maintained their spotless white robes while coming all this way, he could guess what meaning they attached to that white color.
It meant that unlike the ugly orthodox sects of the Central Plains, they were purely white.
Yes, that was both a warning and resentment sent to the Central Plains.
‘But…’
Gwon-geuk looked at Baekgeomseong’s warriors with a hardened face.
‘What will you do about the blood spilled in Zhejiang?’
Their white clothes were already dyed red. No matter how much they washed and wiped clean, the scent of blood couldn’t be hidden. The justice they claimed had already disappeared.
What remained was just resentment.
Only hatred for each other remained in the cycle of resentment and resentment.
“Alliance Leader.”
Gwon-geuk turned his head to look at Song Hyeon. Song Hyeon opened his mouth with a hardened face.
“Is there really a need to exchange words with them?”
He spoke out of concern for the standoff.
If this standoff continued, someone would step forward and attempt dialogue. And that dialogue would…
Gwon-geuk’s gaze moved beyond Song Hyeon to behind him.
People were gathered there.
‘Foolish ones.’
There would be various reasons. There would be those who wanted to confirm with their own eyes this historic scene of Baekgeomseong and the Righteous Martial Alliance facing off, and there would be those who wanted to know the direction of the war for certain.
If the opponent the Righteous Martial Alliance was facing now were the Demonic Cult, none would dare loiter around here, but since it was a fight between the Righteous Martial Alliance and Baekgeomseong, the belief that no matter what conclusion they reached, it wouldn’t harm civilians would have pushed their feet forward.
A subtle displeasure was irritating Gwon-geuk.
He could endure the displeasure. But what truly made Gwon-geuk unable to endure was the fact that their existence was now placing a great burden on the Righteous Martial Alliance.
Song Hyeon’s concern was the same.
If Baekgeomseong opened their mouth here, the Righteous Martial Alliance would lose their justification.
‘Do they know what that means and are doing this, Baekgeomseong?’
Gwon-geuk’s eyes narrowed.
“Amitabha.”
Master Gong-mu, who had arrived in the morning leading Shaolin’s Arhats, put his palms together and spoke.
“Alliance Leader, there’s nothing good about dragging out time.”
Gwon-geuk laughed.
To them, he was a layman. The disciples of Taoism and Buddhism, who should avoid war and reduce the flowing blood, were now forcing war upon him.
Wasn’t it ridiculous?
‘What are things like face worth?’
It was the moment Gwon-geuk clenched his fist.
Baekgeomseong’s army, which had been lined up without even room for a needle to enter, slowly split left and right. And on the path created between them, one person was slowly walking forward.
Gwon-geuk’s gaze followed that person.
‘Who?’
He was young.
Someone too young to represent Baekgeomseong was now stepping forward. Through that person’s age, Gwon-geuk could guess who was now stepping forward.
‘Baek Hoe-myeong.’
Baekgeomseong’s Young Castle Lord.
A remarkable figure of his generation who, at a young age, was overseeing all of Baekgeomseong’s major and minor affairs in place of the retired Baekgeomseong Lord.
He had stepped forward.
“Oh my…”
Song Hyeon looked at Baek Hoe-myeong walking forward with a dismayed expression. With the opponent coming out like that, they couldn’t unilaterally order an attack from this side. They had missed the timing.
But Gwon-geuk stepped forward with a face that said it was rather for the better.
“He seems to be calling. I’ll go and return.”
“All, Alliance Leader, how can the Alliance Leader personally deal with that fellow? It doesn’t match your status.”
“Status, what status.”
Gwon-geuk waved his hand dismissively and stepped forward.
‘Those who know no shame.’
True shame isn’t having committed a sin. It’s not knowing how to repent even after committing a sin. If they’re busy trying to hide not only sins they committed themselves but also sins their ancestors committed, how can they live with their faces raised under heaven?
They must accept everything.
Gwon-geuk and Baek Hoe-myeong faced each other with a distance of three zhang between them.
If you compared the power and position known in Jianghu, there was no way Baek Hoe-myeong could dare face Gwon-geuk. But looking at the two men, rather Baek Hoe-myeong appeared more relaxed than Gwon-geuk.
“I greet the Alliance Leader.”
Baek Hoe-myeong quietly extended his hand and cupped his fists. Gwon-geuk also cupped his fists and received Baek Hoe-myeong’s greeting.
“I have often heard of the Young Castle Lord’s reputation.”
“It’s merely a small fame.”
“I heard that the Young Castle Lord is a talent who can lead and develop Baekgeomseong for decades to come. However, you’re still the Young Castle Lord. It’s regrettable that the Castle Lord doesn’t personally step forward to lead such a force. Did the Baekgeomseong Lord not join the campaign?”
“The Castle Lord did not come.”
Gwon-geuk’s eyes twitched.
“Why is that?”
“How could I dare guess that person’s deep intentions? Even presuming would be impious.”
“Isn’t the Baekgeomseong Lord your father?”
“Though blood may connect us… I am Baekgeomseong’s Young Castle Lord, and that person is the Castle Lord. There are no fools in Baekgeomseong stupid enough to forget their position due to such tiny blood relations.”
“A foolish question, wise answer.”
Gwon-geuk quietly looked at Baek Hoe-myeong and said.
“Then may I think that you now represent Baekgeomseong?”
“No.”
At the firmly delivered answer, Gwon-geuk frowned.
“Then?”
“Not Baekgeomseong. I am not here as Baekgeomseong’s Young Castle Lord, but as the Young Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords White Family. The name Baekgeomseong is just a facade. We are the Ten Thousand Swords White Family. Let me give you the answer you want. All my statements represent the will of the Ten Thousand Swords White Family. Does that answer suffice?”
“Ten Thousand Swords White Family…”
Baek Hoe-myeong’s words, filled with internal energy, were spreading out into the world. Even those watching from far away would have heard these words clearly.
‘What are you concerned about?’
Though he thought he should accept things calmly, seeing himself keep looking that way showed his cultivation was still not deep enough.
“Then let me ask the Ten Thousand Swords White Family. Do you truly intend to spill blood?”
“Did you say blood?”
“That’s right.”
“Who spilled blood first?”
“That’s past.”
“Who decides what is past?”
“Young Family Head.”
Gwon-geuk shouted loudly.
“I too know that you have grievances. But that was already three hundred years ago. Isn’t it too excessive to drag that matter to the present and dye Jianghu with blood!”
“Excessive?”
Baek Hoe-myeong’s face was dyed with coldness.
“Did you say excessive?”
Gwon-geuk sighed deeply.
What a ridiculous thing.
Gwon-geuk was the perpetrator. Even if he hadn’t committed wrongs with his own hands, he had enjoyed blessings in Jianghu created by the sins his ancestors committed, so he couldn’t avoid that responsibility.
And these people were the victims.
The perpetrator discusses excess with the victim. If he had seen such behavior elsewhere, Gwon-geuk would have spat and cursed.
But now he had no choice.
“If you want an apology, I will apologize. If you want compensation, I will compensate. If twisted fate can be reversed… the Righteous Martial Alliance will do anything. So reconsider even now. If you join hands with those Demonic Cult forces and scheme for Jianghu, no matter what reasons there may be, history will remember you as sinners. Do you want the brilliant myth of Ten Thousand Swords to be tainted with dishonor by your hands?”
Baek Hoe-myeong smiled coldly.
“I have heard the logic of traitors well.”
“…Young Family Head.”
“However, that is not something you dare bring to your lips. It’s not something to be said by you who, blinded by fear, stabbed knives into your allies’ backs. It’s not something to be said by bastards like you who crossed the White Family’s walls knowing nothing, killing and killing again without leaving even a single child! Chasing and killing even those who fled, killing and killing again! It’s not something to be said by sons of bitches like you who tried to dry up all the White Family’s blood under heaven. Isn’t that right, Lord Gwon-geuk?”
Baek Hoe-myeong’s body trembled.
“How well you babble. How well you babble with that fine mouth of yours! Central Plains? What does the history of the Central Plains matter! Have you forgotten what that Central Plains did to us! Do you think we would consider ourselves Central Plains people! Would we fear the history written at will by presumptuous traitors! Forget? Forget our resentment?”
Baek Hoe-myeong’s voice calmly settled.
“Bring the dead before me.”
“…”
“Three thousand. The bloodlines of the White Family, and the retainers of the White Family… The total number was three thousand. Those three thousand died in a single morning, by your hands. To save just one, three thousand died. Now tell me. Those lives! How can you possibly compensate for those precious lives that died!”
Baek Hoe-myeong shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“Not just three thousand, but thirty thousand, three hundred thousand! Even if three million die, Ten Thousand Swords’ fury will not cool until we burn all of you to death!”
Gwon-geuk’s head turned toward the sky.
Why did they do such a thing?
Why?
In the end, everything comes back.
The negotiations had broken down.
Too resolutely indeed.
