Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 1761
Only Krnovel
Episode 1761. That’s why I am here. (1)
Pale, long fingers moved the pure white stones across the board. It was a luxurious and elegant board that did not fit the battlefield at all.
“Hmm.”
He seemed ready to start at any moment, but he hesitated for a moment. Then, as if he didn’t like the move he had originally planned to make, he put the stone down in a completely different place than where he had originally planned to place it.
The eyes looking at the plate were extremely serious, but the voice coming out of his mouth was clearly filled with playfulness.
“What a surprise. You’re the one who wants to play Go.”
Jang Il-so glanced at Ho Ga-myeong, who was sitting across from him. Ho Ga-myeong didn’t pay any attention and kept his eyes on the game board.
“It’s not strange. It used to be like this.”
“Yeah. Because you were sleepy.”
There was a time like that.
It was a time when I had to just pass the time in dirty back alleys, like a dragon that hides itself in muddy water and endures in order to ascend to heaven.
At that moment, Hogamyeong started working.
He placed a black stone on one dot and opened his mouth without taking his eyes off the board.
“Maybe it was a mistake.”
“You want to come?”
“There was a time when I was learning in detail from my teacher that baduk was a noble game.”
“It’s useless.”
“But Bangju… … No, he couldn’t win against Yeonju. Even though I was the one who taught him how to play Go.”
Jang Il-so laughed lightly.
“Tsk tsk tsk. If I had known you’d be this upset and take it to heart, I would have taken it easy.”
It was a remark that had some serious meaning. It meant that he must have been really upset to bother me to play baduk in this situation.
“It was frustrating.”
But Ho Ga-myeong continued to speak calmly, as if he didn’t care at all. Even though he was not the type of person whose true intentions were hard to guess.
“I learned from my teacher that baduk is a conversation with your opponent, and at the same time, a mirror in which you can see yourself. Therefore, you must know how to endure and be patient, and you must know how to look beyond what is right in front of you. However… … I couldn’t do that against you, Master Yeonju.”
Percussion.
Jang Il-so’s white stone was instantly placed on the table.
Ho Ga-myeong continued speaking silently, watching the number of Jang Il-so’s attacks coming in, poking at his weak points.
“Master Yeonju’s style was so free-spirited. I was the one who taught him how to play baduk, but he made moves that I could never have imagined.”
“Hmm, well… …. Aren’t you being too old-fashioned?”
To the teasing remark, Ho Ga-myeong calmly replied, “That could be true.” He even continued to talk calmly.
Jang Il-so leaned back in his chair as if his excitement had died down, as he only received reactions different from his expectations.
“So, do you want to recall old memories in this situation? Or… … because it’s in this situation?”
Jang Il-so’s eyes flashed slightly.
In fact, the person who invited me to play baduk is Ho Ga-myeong, so I am just hanging out with him, but the situation is not relaxed enough to spend time leisurely like this.
“Gae-myung-ah.”
“It is your turn, Your Majesty.”
Jang Il-so stared at Ho Ga-myeong, who still looked calm.
He doesn’t really waste time on pointless things.
And the same goes for Ho Ga-myeong, who has been with me for a long time. No, rather, he thinks that wasting time on useless things more than Jang Il-so is a terrible waste.
Jang Il-so sighed faintly.
“Okay, let’s hang out together. What’s the point of this?”
Jang Il-so straightened his posture again and began to concentrate.
Silence fell between the two as several moves were exchanged. Only the sound of stones being placed continued intermittently.
Surprisingly, it was Ho Ga-myeong who broke the silence that had been announced for quite some time.
“But recently, my thoughts have changed a little.”
“… … What do you mean?”
“When I tried to look, I couldn’t see at all. When I tried to talk, I couldn’t read anything. So I thought of small talk and all that as just excuses for polite people who needed something to pass the time.”
“… … .”
“But now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem like it was necessarily wrong.”
“Hmm. You’ve become quite talkative. While dealing with me.”
Percussion.
Jang Il-so’s stone was placed in the middle of Hoga-myeong’s camp.
A pure white stone surrounded by black stones. It was a move that seemed truly reckless.
But Hogamyeong’s expression hardened and turned cold.
This is because he realized that this was a move that could drag all of Hogamyeong’s great horses to the afterlife.
“How is it?”
Hogamyeong began his defense cautiously and silently.
However, as Jang Il-so continued to move, Ho Ga-myeong’s situation became more and more difficult. Jang Il-so’s camp was created in the middle of Ho Ga-myeong’s territory, and the black stones surrounding the white stones were all in danger of dying.
Jang Il-so let out a faint nasal sound.
“Oh, oh, oh… … The situation looks difficult. Can you back down a few steps?”
Ho Ga-myeong, who had been staring blankly at the table, finally raised his head and met Jang Il-so’s gaze.
“How are you, Your Majesty?”
“… … Hmm? What?”
“Can you see what I’m thinking now?”
“Hmm.”
Jang Il-so narrowed his eyes slightly and examined Ho Ga-myeong. Ho Ga-myeong shook his head.
“You can’t see it, right?”
“… … .”
“In the past, whenever I met you, I felt like I was naked. Even if I didn’t reveal my true feelings, you seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. But not anymore.”
Jang Il-so’s expression hardened slightly.
“… … What did you want to say?”
“That’s the kind of person the past Yeonju was. He did things that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine, with a calm demeanor. Whether on the battlefield or on the dinner table.”
Percussion.
Ho Ga-myeong touched the spot with an indifferent hand. Jang Il-so’s expression changed slightly. A displeased smile crossed his stiff face, and soon it changed to an eerie one.
“This is… … .”
Before we knew it, the situation at the table had changed.
The fact that Jang Il-so had caught the marijuana of Ho Ga-myeong had not changed. However, a large house had been built in a place that had nothing to do with the marijuana.
The stones that were struggling inside and outside like loaches trying to survive somehow have now built up a strong force.
At this rate, even if he catches marijuana, Jang Il-so can’t win.
‘bait?’
Are you using that marijuana as bait?
But the reason Jang Il-so looks angry rather than embarrassed now is not because he was defeated in an unimaginable way.
“Gae-myung… … .”
“Do you remember?”
Ho Ga-myeong spoke calmly, as if he had made up his mind.
“This is… … a game of Go that we’ve already played once in the past. Only, our positions were opposite at that time.”
“… … .”
I remember.
The one who threw the marijuana and tried to build up power outside was none other than Jang Il-so himself.
And the current Jang Il-so is helpless against the moves he made in the past. It’s as if he was possessed.
“At that time, I was quite shocked. At least in the Go that I know, giving the hemp as bait to the enemy and making a new territory your own was a move that did not exist. Another reason I was surprised was not only because it is the standard of Go. It is not easy to give away the hemp that you worked so hard to make as bait. It would be the same for ordinary people.”
Hogamyeong’s eyes were cold and sunken.
“But at least back then, the master of the lottery was someone who didn’t mind doing something like that. Someone who would use whatever he had if he could, and throw it away if he had to. Someone who would even tear off his own arm without a care in the world in order to defeat his enemy.”
“… … .”
“But the current Lord Lienju doesn’t want to let go of what he has in his hands easily. So… … he’s going to suffer the same fate as his past self.”
“Gae-myung-ah.”
“Are you enjoying yourself, Lord Lien?”
“… … .”
“At that time, everything was just a game to you, Yeonju. Gaining something, losing something, even your own destiny. But what about now? Are you happy?”
“That’s about it.”
“Or are you starting to feel heavy now? Are you hesitant to move because you feel like one failure could take everything away?”
“You’re going too far. Even for you… … .”
“I wonder. Would the current Yeonju-nim, who roamed the back alleys of Guizhou, see you as a human being, or would you just… … .”
Boom!
The go board between the two flew into the air.
Urrrrrrr.
The stones floating in the air fell to the ground like rain. Jang Il-so slowly picked up the stones that had been thrown off the board.
A creepy smile appeared on his face.
“I’m not a human… I’ll just look like a piglet with a bloated belly, is that what you’re saying?”
Instead of making a fuss, Hogamyeong got up from his seat. Then he silently began to pick up the stones that had fallen on the floor.
“Hoganyeom.”
“They are encamped at that shaman. It is not easy to deal with them who are encamped in such a place. That is probably why Your Majesty is hesitating to go out now.”
The corners of Jang Il-so’s mouth twitched.
“so?”
“Patience and practice are different things. We have no more room to spare. So instead of just waiting around, we have to drag them out.”
“I have to drag it out… … .”
Jang Il-so slowly tapped his knee with his fingertips.
“I don’t really want to argue about your aesthetics, Lienju. I think it’s not wrong to think that there’s no reason for ignorant people to get involved in this war. However… … .”
Hogamyeong glared at Jang Il-so resolutely.
“Wasn’t it you, Lord Yeonju, who once said that aesthetics and values are useless in war?”
Jang Il-so’s pale eyes began to gleam. The rising murderous intent seemed like it would cut off Ho Ga-myeong’s neck like a blade at any moment.
But Hoga-myeong was still calm. As if his life was not important at all.
“Give me the order. I will cut off the heads of the innocent people and drag them out. If you won’t give me the order, at least give me the authority to command the room. Then… … .”
A soft, serious, yet at the same time strong voice continued.
“I dedicate this Central Plain to the Lord.”
Jang Il-so remained silent.
“Your Majesty.”
“… … In the past, present, and future.”
“… … .”
“You’re the only one who can talk like that in front of me.”
Hogamyeong nodded as if he had heard an extremely obvious fact.
“That’s why I am here.”
“……anyhow…….”
Jang Il-so leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
“Okay, feel free to do whatever you want. But you have to deliver as promised. Do you understand?”
“By sacrificing your life.”
Hogamyeong bowed his head deeply and turned around. Then, without delay, he walked out.
Jang Il-so, who had been staring at the back of the figure, suddenly lowered his gaze. He saw the stones that Ho Ga-myeong had not been able to pick up.
It’s not like Jang Il-so was just wasting his time without any plan. Of course, he had a plan. But that’s why he couldn’t help but ask himself.
Is my plan really better than the scheme that Hogamyeong just came up with?
Why was I making things so difficult when there was an easier way to confuse my enemies, a way that even a three-year-old could figure out?
Is it really because of the aesthetics that Hogamyeong spoke of? Were some strange principles holding me back without me knowing?
or not…….
As Hogamyeong said, were you really scared? Seeing the end of all this with your own eyes… … .
Swish.
Jang Il-so relaxed the hand that had been sweeping his bangs back. His long hair flowed down his pale face.
“Yoo Hee-ra… … .”
A dry smile, something you never see from him normally, flowed out in vain.
I already realized that I was different from the past. Even though I knew it, I thought there was nothing I could do about it. I thought I had to accept it.
But Hogamyeong says that you shouldn’t do that. He says you should just have fun and mess around like before.
“Then I… … .”
Jang Il-so’s eyes darkened.
Gradually, it became darker and darker, and even the sparkle that had always been there disappeared, and something very dark slowly began to fill his dried-up eyes.
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