Chapter 1343
I am going to save them. (3)
Chung Myung opened his eyes and looked at his chest.
White bandages were tightly wrapped around his chest. Without a word, Chung Myung slowly lifted his body.
With a groan, his face contorted in response to the intense pain emanating from his chest. Perhaps the wound, barely closed, had reopened with his movement, as blood began to seep through the white bandages.
As he struggled to catch his breath, a stifled cough echoed, and someone burst into the room.
“Seriously, what the hell! How many times do I have to tell you to lie still when you wake up? How many times! Are you a freaking carp? Have you been hit by a sword so many times that your memory is now fading?”
Chung Myung turned his head towards the person who entered the room, irritation evident on their face. Observing them closely, Chung Myung spoke up.
“…How long was I unconscious?”
“Three days! Three whole days! I thought you were a goner for real this time. Your stubbornness knows no bounds.”
“Three days…”
Chung Myung was so dumbfounded he had laughed.
It was hard to believe he had been asleep for three days. Usually, he would wake up within a day at most.
It certainly looks like he stepped halfway through the gates of the underworld.
Well, considering the circumstances, it wasn’t entirely surprising.
It was not like fighting alone, and dealing with a Bishop, but protecting people is not an easy task. He should consider himself fortunate to have returned with his life intact.
“Alcohol.”
“…Is this guy really out of his mind? Do you even know what ‘patient’ means? Even three-year-olds in our neighborhood understand it, but do they not teach you that in Shaanxi?”
“Enough nonsense, just get the alcohol.”
“There’s nothing to lose by trying.”
“Bring it.”
“Ugh, damn it!”
A man dressed in the green robe symbolizing Sichuan Tang Clan swaggered out. Shortly after, he returned carrying a pure white bottle. With a swift motion, he tossed the bottle towards Chung Myung.
“Drink up and sleep!”
Thunk.
Chung Myung caught the bottle and popped its cork, downing its contents in one gulp. As the harsh liquor flooded his mouth, a faint hint of the pungent smell of blood rising from his stomach dissipated slightly.
Of course, he was aware. No matter how much he drank, that smell wouldn’t disappear.
Initially, the scent of blood wasn’t due to any injury.
The alcohol merely offered a temporary relief, unable to rid him of the repulsive clinging odor of blood that lingered, not just on his skin but seeped into his very being.
Chung Myung, took the bottle away from his mouth and stared blankly at the ceiling. After a brief silence, he spoke up.
“How many returned?”
“…About forty.”
“And how many died?”
“…”
“How many people died?”
“…About twenty.”
Chung Myung nodded silently.
It was truly absurd. Men who fought tooth and nail against the enemies, once they arrived at a place where they could live, withered away and died.
If they had the strength to wield a sword, they should also have the strength to survive.
Upon hearing that out of the forty he had managed to save, twenty had perished, Chung Myung couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
“What about the ones who survived?”
“Why worry about them now? You saved their lives, so they’ll figure it out on their own. Whether they lost an arm or severed a tendon, as long as they’re alive, what’s the problem?”
“…”
“Just worry about yourself. Or perhaps you’ve attracted some ghosts from your past lives who couldn’t fight and died? How many times did I tell you not to risk your life for those fools?”
“…Nagging.”
“Or at least I told you to fight when I was around! How many times have you come back from battle with a sword in your back from those who couldn’t even protect your rear? How many lives do you intend to save yourself, Taosit Hyeong? There are hundreds, if not thousands…”
“Shut up. You’re being too loud.”
Tang Bo’s face contorted abruptly.
Chung Myung took another gulp of alcohol. Grimacing as the sensation of his burning throat hit him, he soon let out a bitter laugh.
“I’ve never risked my life or anything like that.”
“…”
“It just happened while fighting.”
Tang Bo, who had been staring at Chung Myung with a stern face, sighed heavily.
“You might end up really dead if you keep this up.”
“And what’s so remarkable about that?”
Chung Myung’s gaze suddenly shifted to the window beside the bed.
The world outside the window was incredibly green and desolate.
“Hundreds, thousands die every day, what difference does it make if my life adds to that?”
“So you’re eager to die as soon as possible then?”
Chung Myung stared at Tang Bo in silence. But he did not flinch, instead he raised his voice, unleashing his anger.
“Why risk your life for people you’re not even close with! You complain about those damn bastards messing with your stomach all the time! What, you have multiple personalities?”
Chung Myung chuckled softly at the remark. There was nothing to argue against it.
“It’s just the rush of blood to the head.”
“…”
“It won’t happen again.”
“It better not, it better not.”
Tang Bo let out a long, heavy sigh as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.
Despite knowing him for so long, there were still times when he couldn’t quite understand this Taoist guy.
He’s not an extraordinarily compassionate person, nor is he someone who seeks great enlightenment.
In fact, objectively speaking, he’s just a dubious martial arts master who somehow ended up in a Taoist sect.
But why does he always make such choices at crucial moments?
“Taoist Hyeong.”
“What?”
“This isn’t a joke… You might really die.”
“…”
“You know, if you, Taoist Hyeong, were to fall, we wouldn’t stand a chance in this war. Whether others live or die, you have to survive somehow.”
“I know.”
“Hyeong.”
“I know?”
Tang Bo, lips trembling as if hesitating, looked steadily into Chung Myung’s eyes as he spoke quietly.
“Just because they’re from Demonic Cult doesn’t mean they’re all the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just because you’re taking revenge on Demonic Cult doesn’t mean all of them killed Hwasan’s disciples. Besides, just because you do that doesn’t mean the dead will come back to life…”
“Shut your mouth.”
In that moment, Chung Myung’s eyes changed. With his eyes turning icy in an instant, Tang Bo found himself unable to press Chung Myung any further.
Tang Bo sighed heavily once again, lamenting,
“I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
Then, from within his robes, Tang Bo pulled out a small bottle of golden ointment and tossed it to Chung Myung. Chung Myung caught it swiftly.
“Apply it to your wounds. I’ve prepared it roughly, so as long as you apply it well, there shouldn’t be any complications. Just stay quiet and rest for today.”
Tang Bo turned on his heel. About to leave the room, he suddenly stopped and spoke without even turning his gaze.
“Um… It’s about those people you rescued, Taoist Hyeong.”
“…What about them?”
“They wanted to say thank you.”
“…”
Thunk.
Tang Bo closed the door and left.
Once again lying back on the bed, Chung Myung stared blankly at the ceiling. Gradually, sensation returned to his body, and the various cuts and bruises that adorned him throbbed with pain.
But this kind of suffering had become familiar to him.
‘Have you lost your mind?’
Chung Myung laughed aloud.
Wasn’t that such an obvious question?
In this insane world, there couldn’t possibly be anyone with a sound mind. They were all just barely holding on to sanity amidst the madness.
– Just because you do that, it doesn’t mean the dead will come back to life.
He understood. He knew. That’s why he acted like this. Dead people don’t come back to life, no matter how much you regret or rage.
Once someone’s died, no amount of remorse or fury can bring them back.
He knew all too well how bitter that truth was.
❀ ❀ ❀
It felt like sinking deeper and deeper into a profound abyss. Amidst the unfamiliar yet strangely familiar sensation, Chung Myung opened his eyes.
Dark ceiling, the smell of blood, and the overwhelming pain that engulfed his entire body. A profound sense of nausea washed over him.
Forcing his heavy eyelids open like lead weights, Chung Myung lifted his head to look at his own body.
Bandages wrapped around his chest.
It was a sight both familiar and unfamiliar, filled with discomfort. His body wrapped in bandages was now smaller and weaker than the one he knew.
Chung Myung’s gaze slowly shifted to the side.
Someone was leaning against the unfamiliar cave wall, fast asleep.
The sleeping person’s face gradually transformed from a familiar one to an increasingly unfamiliar one.
Even as he looked blankly at Baek Cheon’s face, leaning against the wall with a straight posture even in sleep, Chung Myung lifted his gaze once more.
“…That’s right.”
He was no longer Maehwa Geomjon.
Hwasan he once knew was no more.
He may have won the war, but he had lost everything else.
Everything he tried to protect was lost, and everything he wanted to leave behind disappeared.
All that remained for him here was just…
Haa. Haa.
As Chung Myung began to sink back into unconsciousness, a faint sound of breathing reached his ears. Turning his head, he saw Yu Iseol lying beside him, and Tang Soso slept on the opposite side.
Exhausted from monitoring Chung Myung’s condition, they seemed to have fallen asleep.
Chung Myung silently stared at Tang Soso’s face for a long time, as if trying to rediscover traces of the past embedded in her expression.
But it didn’t go well.
Tang Bo’s face he had seen in his dream a while ago seemed distant. There were times when his face didn’t come to mind as easily as it used to.
It would be vivid one moment and then blur the next, gradually fading away.
“Are you awake?”
There didn’t seem to be a need for an answer. It wasn’t a question genuinely seeking a response.
The words to be said weren’t much different from before.
“…How long has it been?”
“I’m not exactly sure, but probably around two days.”
“Two days…”
Is it better than three days?
Chung Myung smiled and attempted to sit up, but Baek Cheon pressed firmly on his forehead.
“Don’t aggravate the wound that’s barely closed. Just lie down quietly and be obedient.”
“I’m completely healed.”
Swoosh.
Baek Cheon drew his sword silently. Chung Myung eventually relented, releasing tension from his neck. While Baek Cheon might not be as strong as Tang Bo, but isn’t it already a proven fact that he has no bounds compared to Tang Bo?
With his head obediently resting on the ground, Chung Myung rolled his eyes and spoke.
“What about the others?”
“Goel and Iseol are pretty banged up, but… still better off than you. Don’t worry about others, worry about yourself.”
“And Haenam?”
“…Seems like you’re having trouble understanding what’s being said.”
“I’m asking about Haenam.”
After persisting with his stubborn question, Baek Cheon sighed deeply.
“About half.”
“…And the elders?”
“Same.”
He must be saying that about half of them died. That includes both those who didn’t make it here and those who arrived and perished.
Considering Baek Cheon’s expression, the actual number of deaths is likely far more than a half, but the situation remains the same.
If paying that price – piercing through Guangdong, the headquarters of Manibang – resulted in only that level of sacrifice, it’s not a bad deal. In fact, one could argue it’s a success.
Of course, no one would accept it that way.
Chung Myung rose again.
“I told you to lie down.”
“I’m really fine now.”
Chung Myung pushed Baek Cheon’s hand away from his head and sat up. Despite Baek Cheon’s attempts to resist, he eventually relented with a nod.
“I’m the one who entrusted you to defend the rear.”
At Baek Cheon’s sudden remark, Chung Myung looked back at him intently.
“So I know I don’t have the right to say such things.”
“…What are you suddenly talking about?”
“But I have to ask. Why push yourself so hard?”
“…”
“You could have eased up a bit. Even if someone else died because of that decision, no one would blame you. You know that, so why push yourself so hard? Why?”
Baek Cheon’s lips trembled. He seemed calm, but clearly, it wasn’t the case.
As Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon, he suddenly turned his head to look at Yu Iseol, who was still unconscious.
“I am not pushing myself too hard.”
“…What?”
“It’s just trust.”
⁃ Or at least fight when I’m around!
“I believed that when I fell beyond my limits, there would always be someone behind me… That’s all it was.”
Now, finally, there were those to entrust his back to.
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