Chapter 608:
'This looks dangerous, doesn't it?'
Jang-il's mind began spinning rapidly.
No matter how he thought about it, this wasn't a good idea.
'Hefei is freezing hell.'
What kind of place was Hefei now?
Hefei was a place that even the Namgung Family, who had made their name throughout the realm as a prestigious family for generations, had abandoned and left.
Hefei was exactly the kind of place crawling with monsters that even demonic practitioners who had learned demonic arts wouldn't want to associate with.
And what?
Go to Hefei and treat those people?
Jang-il shook his head vigorously.
'How did things end up like this?'
His wish was very simple.
Eat well, sleep well, and live peacefully until a hundred years old without any major troubles, then die.
As a beggar, he didn't even dare hope for a harmonious life with a wife and children. He only wished for a life where he wouldn't starve and could live comfortably.
But recently, Jang-il had been newly realizing how vain his expectations were.
'It's impossible next to this bastard.'
Jang-il sneakily raised his head and looked at the back of Wei Yan-ho's head as he walked ahead.
What should be avoided most to enjoy a life of contentment in poverty?
That would be Wei Yan-ho.
It would be embarrassing to say he had lived a particularly long life, but Jang-il had lived a fairly dense life in his own way. Even to Jang-il's eyes, he had never seen anyone as eventful as this guy. And hopefully this would be the last!
Just being next to him attracted incidents and accidents.
What was even more frightening was that this guy had now started looking for trouble himself.
'He used to cause trouble before.'
If the troubles Wei Yan-ho had caused up until now were closer to unavoidable entanglements while trying to avoid them himself, recently Wei Yan-ho had been personally turning his surroundings upside down.
This was truly dangerous.
A guy who was already like the eye of a typhoon was now moving on his own.
How could one not be wary?
'At this rate, I won't die a natural death.'
Following Wei Yan-ho around, ten lives wouldn't be enough. This was now something everyone who knew Wei Yan-ho could agree on. But even this assessment was already a thing of the past.
Now, not ten but a hundred lives wouldn't be enough.
Just where did things start going wrong?
Eventually, Jang-il opened his mouth to this serious and fundamental question.
"Hey, Wei Yan-ho."
"What?"
"We're going to Hefei now, right?"
"Are your ears not working well? What are you saying now?"
"No, I know, but..."
Just where should he start objecting?
"No matter how I think about it, I don't understand the reason for going to Hefei."
"People are all dying, so we have to save them, don't we?"
"..."
What he said was right.
Weren't they the group who had already witnessed how those afflicted with the strange disease at the Dang Family changed?
Recalling those who were dying with their entire bodies rotting away, Wei Yan-ho's current choice might be natural.
However....
'What if I die in the process?'
It seemed like that bastard didn't really understand the seriousness of the situation.
But if you get angry at a mad dog for making mistakes, you might get bitten. If he gently coaxed and persuaded him nicely....
"But there are tons of madmen there."
"That's right."
"Treating all those people isn't easy."
"That's true too."
"If those guys go crazy and charge at us, it'll be chaos."
"Why do you keep going on about obvious things? What do you want to say?"
That was a mistake.
That mad dog had a nasty personality but was also a fairly sharp mad dog.
"Do we really have to do this?"
"Wow..."
Wei Yan-ho turned his head with unbelieving eyes and looked at Jang-il.
The moment he saw the contempt in those eyes, Jang-il instinctively knew he had made the wrong move.
"I heard that the Beggar's Sect may lack money but overflows with chivalry, but what kind of Small Beggar of the Beggar's Sect..."
Wei Jeong-han also clicked his tongue.
"Even if you can't step forward yourself, you shouldn't stop someone who wants to uphold chivalry. How did the Beggar's Sect come to this?"
"Ugh..."
Just as Jang-il was about to refute, Zhuge Mun-in stepped forward.
"I have some disagreement with that statement."
Everyone turned to look at Zhuge Mun-in.
"The Beggar's Sect is still a place overflowing with chivalry. In this White Sword Castle pursuit battle, more members of the Beggar's Sect lost their lives than anyone else. Considering the sacrifice of the Beggar's Sect who took the rear to save others, it's not right to evaluate that their chivalry has dulled."
"...Damn scholar!"
Jang-il was truly moved.
Among these people, the one he got along with least was definitely Zhuge Mun-in. Although he fought and bickered most with Wei Yan-ho, that wasn't happening because they didn't get along well.
The two had been subtly wary of each other, but for Zhuge Mun-in to take his side in this situation.
How touching this was....
"So please correct your statement about the Beggar's Sect. This beggar bastard is just hopeless by himself."
"..."
"There are bound to be one or two loaches that muddy the water anywhere."
"Amitabha."
Musan also nodded and agreed with Zhuge Mun-in.
"The sacrifice of the Beggar's Sect donors for the martial world is truly exemplary. It's unfair for everyone to be cursed because of that one beggar bastard."
"Definitely."
When even Musan and Peng Dao-ji agreed, Jang-il's face turned bright red.
"Hey, you bastards! What did I say wrong!"
Jang-il kept pointing and shouting.
"Is there anyone among you who wants to go there? You're all being dragged along unwillingly even though you don't want to go! Someone has to say something! I'm taking care of that, but instead of helping me!"
"I'm fine though?"
"I'm also fine, donor."
"Tsk tsk, where did the beggar bastard's character go?"
Jang-il flinched and stepped back.
'These crazy bastards!'
Just as Jang-il was about to refute, Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth.
"Then leave."
"Huh?"
"If you don't want to go, you leave."
"...Is that okay?"
"Who told you to force yourself to follow? You followed with your own feet, so why blame others?"
You told me to follow by force!
You grabbed the collar of someone who said they wouldn't go and dragged them here, man! At least wet your lips before lying!
Thinking about it, he had never said to follow him to Hefei. But before that, when coming to this place, hadn't he forcibly dragged along someone who didn't want to go?
"Can I really go?"
"I told you to go, didn't I?"
"You're not going to say something different later, are you?"
"Hey!"
Wei Yan-ho got completely irritated.
"Go! Go! I'm telling you to go!"
"..."
"What more do you want! You complain when I tell you to go, you complain when I tell you not to go! Even if a beggar's daily routine is to complain all day, there should be some limit!"
Jang-il hesitantly stepped back.
This wasn't the atmosphere he had wanted.
"...So I can really go?"
"Go! Please go! I'm telling you to go! Go!"
Jang-il looked around. Everyone was looking at him with strange gazes.
"...I'll go together."
"Geez!"
Wei Yan-ho kicked Jang-il's butt. Jang-il jumped up from that spot.
Jang-il, who had crashed to the ground, burst out shouting.
"Then what am I supposed to do! If I go back from here, you bastards won't just stay quiet!"
"Well, we'd have to beat you up."
"We'd just spread rumors that a Small Beggar of the Beggar's Sect ran away."
"We're just stating facts as they are, donor. We don't have enough loyalty to each other to cover up each other's disgraceful acts."
Jang-il ground his teeth.
"Listen to how that monk talks. Even Buddha would slap you twice without hesitation if he heard you."
"Hehe, if Buddha would slap me, that would also be an honor. Then I would offer the other cheek too."
"That's something you shouldn't say carelessly..."
"Is there a problem?"
"No, no."
Just as Jang-il was about to say something, Wei Jeong-han opened his mouth.
"Small Beggar."
"Yes, Great Hero Wei."
"If you want to go back, go back now."
"No, I..."
"I'm not saying this as a joke or jest."
When Wei Jeong-han spoke seriously, everyone fell silent.
"It's different from before. From now on, it will become more dangerous. I can't guarantee your life."
"..."
Everyone's faces became serious.
"If you're willing to risk death by your own choice, I can't stop you from that. But I don't want you to take that path because you're pushed by others."
Old comrades came to Wei Jeong-han's mind.
People he could never see again.
They were overflowing with conviction to stop the Demonic Cult back then. Their passion couldn't be disparaged.
But after death?
If they were given another chance to choose, would they choose to give up their lives without hesitation again?
No, probably not.
There's nothing more foolish than dying swept up by the atmosphere, swept up by others' passion. Human life should consist entirely of one's own choices.
"I know that until now you couldn't drop out because of the atmosphere. Even if you return from here, no one will blame you. So if you want to go back, go back now. Don't risk your life for vain reputation or pride. This is not advice but a request."
Everyone quietly looked at Wei Jeong-han.
Wei Jeong-han had already fought against the Demonic Cult more enthusiastically than anyone in the past war. Words from such a person carried different weight.
"Great Hero also sometimes says really obvious things."
But the people here weren't those who would be crushed by such weight.
Jang-il snorted and said.
"If you were going to say that, you should have said it much earlier!"
"Now!"
"We've already come this far! You should have said it at least before we reached Hefei!"
A storm of criticism poured down.
"..."
Watching this, Musan smiled broadly.
"Hehehe, going back alone from here, who knows what trouble we might encounter, but you say 'go back' so easily. It would be better to tell us to bite our tongues and die. You probably won't go to a good place after death either, donor."
"..."
Wei Jeong-han smacked his lips.
He had wanted something a bit tragic and serious, but these guys weren't affected by such things at all.
"And honestly, where in the current martial world is it not dangerous?"
Jang-il raised his voice.
"Even if we go back to the Righteous Alliance, it's dangerous all the same. If Demonic Cult bastards or White Sword Castle bastards swarm that way, whatever we do will already be too late, so rather than that, I'd rather fight in a place where there's a possibility of changing something."
At Jang-il's words full of determination, Wei Yan-ho chuckled.
"The guy who was listing all kinds of complaints just a moment ago sure talks well."
"It's not that I don't want to go! It's because you decide everything on your own and go on your own!"
"Fine. Everyone knows beggars are fickle."
"Ugh."
When Wei Yan-ho and Jang-il sorted out the atmosphere, Wei Jeong-han nodded.
"If everyone thinks that way, then it can't be helped. But from now on, it would be good to really prepare yourselves."
Jang-il tilted his head.
They had just crossed the most dangerous pass. For a while, such threats wouldn't come again. But why was Wei Jeong-han saying that?
"We've arrived."
"Huh?"
"It's beyond there."
When Wei Yan-ho pointed ahead with his chin, Jang-il looked at the forest with tense eyes.