CLS-Chapter 616

Chapter 616:

“……”

“……”

The Historian looked at Jang-il…… no, at Divine Beggar Gwanggu, his eyes clear and piercing.

Divine Beggar Gwanggu avoided the Historian’s gaze with an embarrassed face.

“No way……”

“Stop right there.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu firmly cut off the Historian’s words.

“That……”

“All disasters come from the mouth. Words invite disaster, and the tongue can become a sharp blade. You seem to be doing this because you haven’t lived long enough yet, but you shouldn’t carelessly speak words that hurt others.”

“Are hurtful actions acceptable then?”

“……”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu had nothing to say and just gulped down his wine.

“What were you thinking?”

“What thinking could there have been! I just did what I always did!”

“……”

The Historian thought anew.

From the beginning of this story, Divine Beggar Gwanggu had claimed that Wei Yan-ho had been glorified, but perhaps the one who was actually most glorified was Divine Beggar Gwanggu himself?

Still, Wei Yan-ho at least had the achievement of saving the martial world.

No, it’s not just that level.

If everything Divine Beggar Gwanggu had said so far was true, Wei Yan-ho’s achievements were beyond what was known. The achievements of Wei Yan-ho, known to the world, were mostly concentrated after the Great Battle of Luoyang.

Although he made a name for himself at the Huashan Gathering, Wei Yan-ho at that time wasn’t evaluated as having saved the martial world.

But based on what he’d heard so far, didn’t it mean that Wei Yan-ho had already saved the martial world countless times before that?

On the other hand……

“Um……”

“What!”

“There’s something I’m curious about and would like to ask.”

“What?”

“Then what exactly have you accomplished, Divine Beggar……”

“……”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s face contorted.

His lips trembled shiver shiver, his eyes twitched flutter flutter. His cheekbones moved up and down, and his shoulders jerked.

“……No. Never mind.”

It was as if he’d already heard the answer. To poke at Divine Beggar Gwanggu any further would be elder abuse.

“Ahem! Uh-heh-hem! Ahem!“

After coughing so hard it seemed the hut might collapse, Divine Beggar Gwanggu continued firmly.

“Anyway, that guy caused such trouble!”

“Who caused trouble?”

“No, I caused trouble.”

The Historian’s eyes narrowed.

‘Does this old man’s words have any credibility?’

At this point, he was beginning to suspect that all the trouble Wei Yan-ho had supposedly caused was actually incidents Divine Beggar Gwanggu had committed. Of course, that couldn’t be possible.

“Anyway, that’s why.”

“Yes, please continue.”

“……Groan.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu let out deep sighs.

He’d opened his mouth for nothing and crumpled his dignity completely. Now it seemed like that guy wouldn’t listen properly no matter what he said.

“Anyway, so……”

“What did you do exactly?”

“What did I do? I ran away.”

“Pardon?”

The Historian tilted his head.

“Again?”

“……Again?”

“What, do you run away every time something happens? You ran from the Demonic Cult too.”

“Hey, you punk!”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu shouted loudly.

“Do you think you could fight if you were there? Imagine masters with rolled-back eyes foaming at the mouth charging at you. And over a thousand of them!”

Imagining it was terrifying.

But how should I put it……

“Still, aren’t you the Radiant Martial Sovereign?”

“Hey! Do you think that guy is made of iron? He’s human too!”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu got heated.

“These days, people think he’s not even human. At least you’re someone I can talk sense into. Some people ask if it’s true that swords couldn’t even penetrate the Radiant Martial Sovereign’s body. Anyone would think he’s a dragon. As if he has scales or something!”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s voice grew increasingly agitated.

“They don’t even think about how much a person has to suffer like a dog to accomplish such things. He overcame countless near-death crises. Do you think there was any part of that guy’s body that was uninjured? Later, he looked like a patched-up piece of rag!”

“F-first, please calm down……”

“That guy! That!”

Unable to find words, Divine Beggar Gwanggu gripped his thigh.

“Groan.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu, who had shaken his head several times, let out a deep sigh.

“Sorry. I got excited.”

“Not at all, Divine Beggar.”

“Tsk, I was irritated.”

“Is it because everyone speaks too easily?”

“It’s not that……”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu turned his head to look outside the hut. The settled darkness was infinitely heavy.

“The world made him into the ultimate hero. His name will continue to be passed down as a hero for generations to come.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Who is the hero?”

“……”

“The Radiant Martial Sovereign, or Wei Yan-ho?”

“Aren’t they both the same person?”

“No.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu said firmly.

“The Radiant Martial Sovereign is nothing more than a shell created by taking Wei Yan-ho’s achievements.”

“But……”

“Was there even the slightest similarity between the Radiant Martial Sovereign you knew and Wei Yan-ho?”

The Historian couldn’t answer.

Similarity?

There was none.

Until he first entered this hut, the Historian had thought of Wei Yan-ho, that is, the Radiant Martial Sovereign, as something like a perfect embodiment of chivalry.

A perfect being in both martial arts and character.

But was the word “perfect” even appropriate for Wei Yan-ho?

It was absurd.

But……

“However, isn’t that also good for Wei Yan-ho personally?”

“Listen here……”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever once thought about how much hardship Wei Yan-ho endured to protect the martial world, until you came here?”

“……”

He hadn’t.

That’s why he couldn’t answer.

“It gets obscured. The world made Wei Yan-ho into a perfect being. Because of that, all of Wei Yan-ho’s anguish and the blood Wei Yan-ho shed were erased. When actually, that’s what everyone should know about.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s voice flowed out bitterly.

“I wouldn’t be any different either. I’m the one who most enthusiastically defended the illusion called the Radiant Martial Sovereign that the world created. I too thought at that time that it was for Wei Yan-ho’s sake. But at some point I realized that it wasn’t. So suddenly the world looked different.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s words were resonating in the Historian’s heart.

“How many people’s sacrifices and pain must have disappeared like that? In the face of that enormous thing called history.”

Heavy words.

Especially for the Historian who had to deal with history, they were infinitely heavy words.

“Wei Yan-ho was the same.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu smiled bitterly.

“Tsk, I said useless things. What use is it now?”

“May I ask just one thing?”

“You’ve asked countless times already, what’s so new about it. Just ask.”

“Did the Radiant Martial Sovereign…… no, did Wei Yan-ho suffer that much pain?”

“Hm?”

“From what I’ve heard so far, I don’t think it’s enough to say that much. Of course, he suffered like death with his hardships, and there was the incident with Wei San-ho…… I couldn’t say he lived an ordinary life even if it killed me, but actually it doesn’t seem to fit well with words like blood or pain.”

“You’re right.”

“Pardon?”

“I said you’re right.”

“……”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu chuckled.

“In the stories I’ve told so far, Wei Yan-ho hasn’t particularly suffered that much. Of course, as you said, he did suffer mentally because of Wei San-ho’s incident, but he didn’t suffer enough pain for me to say this much.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

“Still, the reason I say this is because of what’s to come. The story that Wei Yan-ho experienced.”

“……Yes?”

“It’s not much time. It’s the last story. That last story has never once been told to the world.”

“……”

“Do you remember? What I first said to you.”

“The first time?”

“When you first asked me to tell you Wei Yan-ho’s story, do you remember what I said?”

The Historian quietly recalled the memory.

“This story……”

“Right. Whether you can tell it to others.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu chuckled.

“The reason I’m telling you this story is for two reasons.”

“I’m listening.”

“One is because I lack courage.”

The Historian’s eyes widened.

Jang-il, Divine Beggar Gwanggu lacking courage, what on earth did this mean?

“I thought it should be known. I thought that before I die, the proper story about Wei Yan-ho should be made known. If I die like this, no one will open their mouth. The monk can’t speak, and the Sword Ghost is carrying too much now to say such things.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu said bitterly.

“So there’s no one but me to speak, isn’t there?”

“……But Divine Beggar.”

“Yes. I know what you want to say. There was no particular need for it to be you. Just think of it as coincidence. Or you could think of it as fate. When there wasn’t much, you happened to come to me, so perhaps it should be called destiny.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu grinned.

“So you have to choose. Whether to make known to the world the story you hear from now on, or whether you’ll know it alone and die. Or pass it on to someone else like I’m doing.”

It was certain that this wasn’t just casual talk.

Though the usual playfulness hadn’t completely disappeared, at least now Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s voice had sincerity. A slightly different kind of sincerity than usual.

“Is there a reason it must be now?”

“There isn’t much time left.”

The Historian looked at Divine Beggar Gwanggu with shaking eyes.

“Don’t look at me with those eyes. I’ve lived as much as I should. It’s stranger that I’m still alive at this age.”

“But the others……”

“Well, though I don’t want to admit it, it’s also true that my martial arts fall short compared to the Sword Ghost or the monk. So me going first is natural when you think about it.”

“……Divine Beggar.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu reached out and grabbed a wine bottle.

After gulping down wine until his Adam’s apple bobbed, Divine Beggar Gwanggu went “Keu,” and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“If I’ve lived enough, that’s sufficient. What I fear isn’t dying. It’s dying while carrying all of this. But if at least one person other than me knows these facts, wouldn’t I be able to close my eyes more comfortably?”

Without even waiting for the Historian’s answer, Divine Beggar Gwanggu continued.

“I don’t know how we got to this point in our conversation. Let’s finish the story we were telling. Where were we?”

The Historian’s eyes turned slightly askew again.

“The slingshot.”

“……”

The atmosphere he’d finally built up was ruined in an instant. Noticing that the Historian’s eyes held suspicion saying ‘This bastard, did he act sick to change the subject?’, Divine Beggar Gwanggu quickly opened his mouth.

“Ahem, hem! Right, we were in the middle of that story. Yes, so. The result that slingshot brought was tremendous. So when those over a thousand guys charged all at once……”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s body trembled.

“It was a sight that anyone who didn’t see it could never imagine. It was like black waves rolling in.”

Divine Beggar Gwanggu’s words continued.