Chapter 1107
Tang Pae blankly stared at his hand. The empty spoon was convulsing in the air twelve times per second.
‘Haha....’
His eyes were half dead and the light almost extinguished.
When he looked around, his brothers, who had given up on using their hands to eat, had their faces buried in their bowls.
They couldn’t survive without eating, but using their hands to eat was impossible, so they had thrown away any semblance of dignity and were just shoveling food into their mouths any way they could.
‘Stamina...’
At this moment, Tang Pae perfectly understood why Chung Myung said that physical strength was essential to Tang Family’s martial arts.
With hands that couldn’t even hold a spoon, how could they possibly throw hidden weapons?
It is not wrong to say that Tang Family martial arts requires sophistication. However, that sophistication can only be demonstrated based on strong physical strength that doesn’t falter under any circumstances.
How sophisticated can someone be if they can’t even control their own hands?
‘I get it, but...’
He recalled what Baek Cheon said to him before.
There was a time when Tang Pae, puzzled, asked why Baek Cheon always got so angry whenever Chung Myung spoke. He thinks Chung Myung Dojang is saying the right thing, so why the anger? At that time, Baek Cheon clearly answered like this.
– ...You’ll understand when you experience it later.
Yes. Now he understood. He understood it painfully well.
Since he says the right things, there is no room for resistance. But if they just shut up and follow what is told, it feels like a death sentence.
The problem is that if Tang Pae resists, he ends up looking like a lazy and shameless fool who doesn’t try. Who would have imagined how terrifying it is to be driven by proper justification?
“Keueueu....”
“Da- Damn it...”
Groans constantly came out from the mouths of Tang Family members.
‘I wondered why Mount Hua Sect became so strong. If they train like this, even a rabbit could beat a tiger in a few years.’
“Hyu- Hyung-nim. Are we really going to die like this?”
“Don’t worry. We won’t die.”
“No, how can you be so sure?”
“Look over there.”
“Yes?”
“They’re not dead, are they?”
Tang Zhan raised his head and looked at the direction pointed by Tang Pae. There, the dying disciples of Mount Hua Sect with pale faces were half-slumped on chairs, just staring blankly at the food in front of them.
“...Why aren’t they eating?”
“They threw up all their breakfast.”
“....”
“I didn’t know either. Who knew Gaju-nim would be so thrilled to be doing this?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that in my life.”
“What a relief.”
“Huh? What?”
“That we’re seeing it for the first time... It’s better not to see such things.”
Tang Gun-ak had found his water.
It was as if he was possessed by the vengeful spirit of someone who had died unable to throw their throwing knives, and whenever he saw disciples of Mount Hua Sect, he threw throwing knives as a greeting. Of course, just because he threw throwing knives as a greeting, there was no way that the recipients could have accepted it as a greeting.
Mount Hua’s disciples, who felt the threat to their lives dozens of times a day, were drying up and withering away so much that it was obvious to the naked eye.
‘So that’s what it means when they say life is draining from your body.’
Tang Pae put down his spoon and sighed.
“Still, aren’t we in a slightly better position? So let’s not complain.”
“...Did you not hear?”
“What?”
“...After morning training, Chung Myung Dojang said, ‘Now that the basics are in place, it’s time to ramp up the intensity and do it properly.’”
“That crazy bas...! Kehuhuhum!”
Tang Pae quickly cleared his throat and cut off the words that were about to escape his mouth.
‘No. What....’
At this point, isn’t Chung Myung and Tang Gun-ak competing to see who can harass the disciples better? The innocent shrimps were getting crushed in the fight between the two whales.
“...They say that doing what you know is the hardest thing in the world.”
Tang Pae nodded.
“In my view, Chung Myung Dojang and Gaju-nim are not people who simply look at one thing and do their work. They are probably considering at least three or four things. It may be tough now, but if we follow them, there will surely be a moment when we see the light. Do you think they would do this just to torment us?”
“...That’s right.”
“Good. So, let’s eat. We need to eat to endure.”
Tang Pae somehow grabbed hold of the bowl and started stuffing the food into his mouth.
But at that moment, Tang Pae didn’t realize it.
No matter how good the intentions, no matter how benevolent the purpose, depending on the method, it can be more dreadful than acts done with malice.
* * *
“...What did you say?”
“Don’t you understand?”
Chung Myung smiled brightly.
It was an extremely refreshing expression to anyone’s eyes, but at least in the eyes of Tang Pae, that smile did not look good. No, rather, it looked more like the smile of a demon from hell.
“You’re exhausted too.”
“...Yes.”
“You want to rest, don’t you?”
“Yes....”
“So I will give you a chance to rest.”
Tang Pae was momentarily speechless.
No, Dojang-nim? I’m not stupid, of course I understood that.
“But the method....”
“Keueu, yes. That’s the key point.”
Chung Myung snapped his fingers loudly.
“Rest is good. Really good. But you know how people are, right? They don’t value something that’s just handed to them.”
“What kind of nonsense...? No, what do you mean by that?”
“So, I’m going to make you feel the value.”
Chung Myung grinned.
“As members of Tang Family, you also have pride in your skills, right? The belief that you can win against anyone.”
“...Yes.”
Chung Myung nodded as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Right. But it’s probably the same for those guys too, right?”
Chung Myung pointed to Mount Hua’s disciples with his chin. They nodded their heads with eyes filled with nothing but venom, looking like starving madmen.
“The law of Kangho is simple. The strong take and those who prove themselves gain. So....”
Chung Myung snapped his fingers again.
“The winners get to skip tomorrow morning’s training. Simple, right?”
“W- Wait a minute. What do you mean?”
Even so, colleagues who trained together split sides and fight! Does he think this kind of behavior is acceptable?
And if Tang Family and Mount Hua Sect split sides and fight, wouldn’t it uproot the budding camaraderie? This is something that shouldn’t be done...
“Ah, that damned bastard talks a lot. Well, yes. You’re probably not used to it yet. I understand. It’s very simple to solve it.”
Chung Myung smiled brightly.
“Once you get beaten up, you’ll come to your senses.”
“Huh?”
“Whoever stands last wins. Get ready.”
“Yes?”
“Start.”
Chung Myung clapped his hands.
Tang Pae let out a wry laugh. No matter how absurd this is, who would follow such a ridiculous...
“Aaaarghhh!”
And at that moment, a desperate scream was heard. Tang Pae quickly turned his head in shock.
The disciple of Mount Hua, who felt like a blood comrade in arms... No, the converts of Mount Hua Sect, were charging madly with bloodshot eyes.
“Dieee!”
It was the moment when the alliance between Mount Hua and Tang Family completely shattered into pieces.