Episode 1363 After all, you have a big heart. (3)
When negotiating, there should be no expectation of reciprocation. This is the iron rule of those who practice guild.
This is because the moment you expect something in return, it becomes a transaction rather than a collaboration. Therefore, Baekcheon also did not expect compensation for what he had done.
Even if it was something I did while taking countless risks and losing countless things. But…
Baekcheon slowly nodded and opened his mouth.
“I understand the situation.”
I somehow suppressed the sigh that escaped me.
“But, Chief. Our situation is not so good either. So, can you please help us just this once? “It is difficult to guarantee your life if you have to cut off your body to avoid being chased by the Sapaeryeon.”
If it were Baekcheon, he wouldn’t have told such a detailed story.
The reason he said this was not to gain sympathy by informing people of his difficulties. He just wanted to know.
How does the goodwill that is given purely without expecting anything in return come back? Is their cooperation really making the world a little better?
“Hyupgaeknim…”
However, it seemed that Baekcheon’s feelings did not reach his older brother.
“How can idiots like us discuss the circumstances of the charlatans?”
“⋯⋯.”
“We don’t know anything. I just hope that I can somehow survive each day. Please take pity on us.”
The old man bowed his head again. When Baekcheon saw that, he burst into laughter.
What should I do?
If the strong force pushes them down, they will at least try to resist. However, if a weak person claims his circumstances and hopes for understanding, what can he say in front of him?
“no!”
Jo Geol, who was holding her breath next to him, blushed and raised his voice.
“I’m not saying I’m going to rob you, I’m just saying I’m going to pay you to buy it! Isn’t that also worth several times more? “You guys, just go down to a reasonably large village and use that money to buy more grain… that’s it!”
“Walk.”
“Isn’t it a bit too private? “Well, it’s not that dangerous!”
“stop!”
Baekcheon shouted firmly at Jo Geol. Even though Jo Geol closed her mouth, she couldn’t hide her dissatisfied expression.
“Please, fellow knights.”
The old man bowed and opened his mouth again.
“It may not be a big deal in the eyes of the charlatans, but idiots like us have to risk our lives for every single one of these things. “For a tiger living in the mountains, sleeping in the middle of the day may not be a big deal, but for a rabbit, it is risking his life.”
Jo Geol was about to retort again when someone’s hand quietly rested in front of his face. Jo Geol, who was reflexively trying to remove the stroke, stopped. This is because the person who covered his mouth was none other than Yoonjong.
Yunjong quietly stared at the old man and then opened his mouth.
“Chief. I understand what the village chief is saying. But we also risked our lives to help the people of this village.”
At those words, my older brother also closed his mouth as if he had nothing to say.
“To dare to set foot in Gangnam and punish the evildoers of the Sapaeryun is not as simple a task as you might think, nor is it something that can be decided easily. But no one here objected.”
“Hyupgaeknim…”
Yunjong looked at his older brother with eyes that were a little different from usual.
“That is why we are asking you to give us only something so small that it cannot be compared to what we have given. But is it really not possible?”
“father!”
When Hyeong-wook couldn’t bear it any longer and started yelling, his old man looked back with stern eyes.
The old man, who gave Hyeong-wook a menacing look, looked back at Baek-cheon and his companions. The look he was giving Hyeong-wook relaxed as if it were a lie, and there was a feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment.
“How can you not know that? But warriors… “If we help the samurai and end up being embezzled, wouldn’t that mean nothing?”
Yunjong was momentarily dumbfounded and looked at his older brother in a daze.
Even Yunjong, who always did not hesitate to stand on the side of the common people, did not expect these words. The old man wedged himself in.
“Please understand our position. The grace we have received is like a curse…but we are shamefully foolish people who do not have the strength to repay the grace. What can these people do who barely survive off the land and survive on the grain provided by the evil enemies of Sapa?”
“⋯⋯.”
“Please do this. “Please stop saying those words.”
The old man’s obsequiously low posture actually made those sitting in front of him uncomfortable. It felt as if they were persecuting the powerless.
Baekcheon, who was quietly watching the situation, finally opened his mouth.
“In the end, you are telling me not to expect any grain and to leave this place as soon as possible.”
“That’s…”
The old man’s voice quieted down. There was no specific word of denial. Baekcheon also did not ask to continue speaking. Since each other’s positions were so firm, persuasion was meaningless.
And actually, I can’t convince you.
Even if those with swords scold them with good words, can they only sound like good words? The moment the first proposal was rejected, Cheon Woo-maeng and Haenam and their party were no longer given a choice. Those who are confident that they will follow the path of political faction will have no choice but to do so.
The old man was still looking at him with regret, and Hyungwook next to him was biting his lips.
Baekcheon, who had been staring at these two, looked back at those sitting behind him.
Most of them could not hide their despair and resentment. In particular, Tang Pai and Nangong Daowi Seol Sobaek seemed to have a hard time accepting this situation.
On the other hand, there were two people who had completely different reactions.
Lim So-byeong, who sneers as if to say, ‘I knew it would be like this,’ and Cheongmyeong, who maintains a blank expression and has no idea what he’s thinking.
A sigh escaped Baekcheon’s mouth.
“Then…”
“Now wait a minute!”
At that moment, Hyungwook hurriedly opened his mouth. The old man again tried to dissuade and pressure him with his polite look, but this time, Hyungwook did not give in.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“What else…”
“The people who benefited from these people were none other than the village people. Didn’t your father just lose consciousness? “You haven’t seen how hard these people worked to protect the village.”
The old man raised his gray eyebrows.
“What are you trying to say?”
“It means this is not something we can decide between ourselves. You should also ask the villagers! You have to tell the situation as it is and leave it to them to make their own choice. “No matter how much your father is the village chief, he can’t choose everything as he pleases, right?”
The old man sighed.
“Is that okay?”
“yes! “Then I will give in.”
Hyungwook quickly nodded and spoke to Baekcheon and his group.
“Scammers! I will gather the villagers and ask their opinions. “I know it might be a hassle, but can you just wait until then?”
Baekcheon looked back at those behind him. They also stared blankly at the millionaire as if there were no particular differences of opinion.
“⋯⋯Then, please.”
Anyway, this is the only way left. There was no other option.
“yes! Then just wait…!”
Hyeong-wook quickly ran outside. Baekcheon, who was staring at the wide open door, heard a small coughing sound in his ears.
“The… warriors.”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
“One thing before that…”
It was an old man. The expression of regret was once again on his face.
“I’ll say it again…”
Baekcheon said, looking around at the villagers gathered in front of him. I wondered if it was necessary to go this far, but my older brother was not wrong in saying that it was only fair.
“No matter what choice you make… we will not cause you any harm. “That’s with me, the Hwasan Jangmun agent…”
When Baekcheon turned his head, Geumyangbaek nodded with a worried face. There was no way I was in a good mood, saying absurd things in front of everyone like I was performing a Peking opera without even knowing what was going on.
“I will guarantee it in the name of Geumyangbaek, the famous scholar of Haenam.”
After making the solemn declaration of Geumyangbaek, the villagers violently waved their hands.
“oh my! “What do you mean!”
“Yeah! Yes! Isn’t it thanks to you that we survived? “How could you think such reckless thoughts toward the people who saved your life?”
“Yeah! That’s right. “That’s something a ungrateful animal would do.”
Still, the village people who had seen the fight against the Sapae-ryeon in person were definitely more favorable than the village chief.
“That’s enough now, right?”
When Hyeong-wook glanced at his older brother and asked, the old man shook his head.
“Let the discussion take place in the back.”
“yes. Then this way.”
Hyungwook led the villagers to the back of the house. It seemed like he was worried that his voice might be heard, so he moved much farther than expected.
After the older brother turned and entered the house, Jo Geol, who had been watching the situation, opened his mouth.
“But the villagers probably think differently, right?”
“maybe.”
“Yes. Wasn’t that old man unconscious when we rescued those people? “Of course it will be different.”
Baekcheon just nodded silently.
“I think so too.”
This was a pure wish rather than a confident answer, and it was Baekcheon’s last hope for them.
But then a mocking voice was heard.
“I guess our Taoist monks have been living in the mountains for too long.”
It was Lim So-byeong. He was looking at Bai Qian with a faint sneer.
“If you have expectations from people, the only thing left in the end is disappointment.”
“I know what you mean, but…”
“no. Taoist monks don’t know.”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
Lim So-byeong said with a grin.
“Why has the volcano become a hot topic for so many people? And why did it attract the attention of so many sects even though its power is still incomparable to that of the old sect?”
“That’s right…”
“You’ll probably find out soon.”
At that moment, Hyeong-wook returned faster than expected, as if to add to Lim So-byeong’s words.
The fact that they returned so quickly without the discussion lasting long probably meant that most of the villagers had the same opinion.
‘then?’
Just when Baekcheon was hoping that it might be good news, he ended up seeing it.
Hyeong-wook approaches, showing a youthful confusion on his face. And a youthful heaviness in your steps.
Hyeong-wook met Baek-cheon’s gaze and bowed his head in silence.
I felt like I knew what the conclusion was without even having to hear it.
Lim So-byeong’s smiling voice was heard.
“Show good intentions to those in trouble. “If you receive a favor, you will repay it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“The name volcano became special because there were no people protecting those things that were taken for granted.”
Before Baekcheon could answer what he said, Hyeongwook came and stood. And then he opened his mouth with a long sigh.
“⋯⋯I’m sorry, sir.”
Baekcheon’s shoulders suddenly fell.
“The villagers… hope that the guild leaders will leave their grain behind… “Yes, I want you to…”
Wow.
Baekcheon clenched his fists. There was a dull sound of bones breaking.
