Opening his eyes, Chung Myung looked down at his chest.
A stark white bandage was wrapped tightly around it. Silently gazing at the wound, Chung Myung slowly sat up.
Throb.
A sharp, burning pain shot through his chest, twisting his face in pain. As if the barely closed wound had reopened with the movement, dark red blood began to stain the white bandage, spreading like ink on paper.
He breathed softly when the door suddenly crashed open, and someone stormed into the room.
“Damn it! How many times is this, you madman?”
“…”
“How many times do I have to tell you to lie still when you feel unwell after waking up! Are you a goldfish? Did you get stabbed so much you forgot everything?”
Chung Myung turned his head to look at the person who had entered the room. Irritation was etched all over his handsome face. Chung Myung stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“…How long was I unconscious?”
“Three days, three days! I thought you were a goner this time, but you’re strong like a weed.”
“Three days, huh…”
Chung Myung chuckled in disbelief.
He usually woke up in a day at most, but to be asleep for three days meant he had truly had one foot in the afterlife.
Come to think of it, it was understandable.
Fighting alone while protecting people against the bishop was no easy task, no matter how skilled he was. He should be grateful to have returned with his life.
“Liquor.”
“…Is this guy out of his mind? Do you even know what ‘patient’ means? Even three-year-olds know that, but did they not teach you that in Shanxi?”
“Stop the chatter and get me liquor.”
“There’s none here to drink and die.”
“Bring it.”
“Ah, damn it!”
The man, dressed in the green robes symbolizing the Sichuan Tang Family, stormed out. He returned shortly after with a pristine white bottle. He threw the bottle at Chung Myung and burst out in anger.
“Drink it and die, then!”
Thunk.
Chung Myung snatched the bottle, uncorked it, and began to gulp down the liquor. As the fiery spirit poured into his mouth, the smell of blood in his mouth seemed to get a little better.
Of course, he knew. No matter how much liquor he poured down, the smell wouldn’t truly disappear.
Because this blood smell wasn’t coming from his wounds in the first place.
The liquor only offered a temporary reprieve from the smell of blood that was everywhere, inside him and all around him. It was horrible.
Chung Myung took the bottle from his lips and stared blankly at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
“How many made it back?”
“…About forty.”
“How many died?”
“…”
“How many died?”
“About twenty.”
Chung Myung nodded silently.
It was a funny thing. The ones who fought tooth and nail against the enemy ended up collapsing and dying once they reached safety. If they had the strength to wield a sword, they should have the strength to live.
Hearing that twenty out of the forty he had saved had died, a hollow laugh escaped him.
“What about the rest?”
“Is this really the time to worry about them? You saved them, so they’ll live somehow. Whether their arms are cut off or their tendons are severed, they’ve got their lives, so what’s the problem?”
“…”
“Worry about yourself, just worry about yourself. Honestly, did you die in battle in a past life or something? How many times have I told you not to risk your life for those bastards?”
“…Nagging.”
“Or at least fight when I’m around! How many times have you been stabbed in the back fighting with men who can’t even protect your back? Is your life worth dozens, hundreds…?”
“Shut it. You’re loud.”
Dang Bo’s face twisted in frustration.
Chung Myung took another swig of liquor. He frowned at the burning sensation in his throat and then let out a bitter laugh.
“I never risked my life.”
“…”
“I just ended up fighting like that.”
Dang Bo, who had been staring at Chung Myung with a hardened expression, sighed.
“You’ll really die if you keep doing that.”
“Is that supposed to be a big deal?”
Chung Myung’s gaze suddenly turned towards the window next to the bed. The world outside the window was both incredibly blue and incredibly desolate.
“Hundreds, thousands die every day. What difference does it make if one more life is added to that number?”
“So you’re trying to die as soon as possible?”
Chung Myung stared at Dang Bo. But Dang Bo didn’t flinch and instead raised his voice in anger.
“Why are you risking your life for men you don’t even like! You’re always complaining about how those damn bastards make your stomach churn! What, are you two-faced?”
Chung Myung chuckled at that. He had no retort to that statement.
“It’s because the blood rushed to my head.”
“…”
“It won’t happen again.”
“Yeah, right.”
Dang Bo sighed deeply, as if the ground was sinking beneath him.
Even after knowing him for so long, he sometimes couldn’t understand this Taoist bloke.
He wasn’t a particularly virtuous man. Nor was he a man pursuing some grand Taoist ideal.
In fact, objectively speaking, he was just a rogue Taoist who made one wonder how he even got into the Taoist sect in the first place.
But why did he always make such choices at crucial moments?
“Taoist Brother.”
“What?”
“I’m not joking… you’ll really die if you keep doing that.”
“…”
“You know, if even you fall, we really can’t win this war. No matter who else dies, you have to survive.”
“I know.”
“Brother.”
“I know, I said?”
Dang Bo hesitated for a moment, his lips twitching, before looking Chung Myung in the eye and saying.
“Not all members of the Demonic Sect are the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Demonic Sect men you’re cutting down aren’t all the ones who killed the Mount Hua Taoists. Besides, it’s not like the dead will come back to life if you do that…”
“Shut your mouth.”
Suddenly, Chung Myung’s eyes became cold. Dang Bo stopped talking.
Dang Bo sighed deeply once more and lamented.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He then took out a healing ointment from his pocket and threw it to Chung Myung. Chung Myung caught the medicine in a daze.
“Apply it to the affected area. I’ve patched you up roughly, so if you apply the medicine well, it shouldn’t get worse. Just lie still today and don’t do anything stupid.”
Dang Bo turned sharply. He stopped abruptly as he was about to leave the room, and spoke without even turning his head.
“Those men… the ones you saved.”
“…What about them?”
“They told me to thank you.”
“…”
Thud.
Dang Bo closed the door and left.
Chung Myung, lying back on the bed, stared blankly at the ceiling. As he started to feel his body again, all his cuts and bruises hurt. But he was used to this pain now.
‘Am I out of my mind?’
Chung Myung laughed out loud.
Wasn’t that stating the obvious?
In this mad world, there couldn’t possibly be anyone left with a sane mind. Everyone was just barely holding on to their half-crazed minds.
– It’s not like the dead will come back to life if you do that…
I know. I know that. That’s why I’m doing this. Because the dead don’t come back to life.
No matter how much you regret it or struggle, the men who have died once can never return.
Because I know too well how awful that is.
He felt like this had happened before, in a bad way. He was sinking deeper and deeper into a very deep place. In that unfamiliar but familiar sensation, Chung Myung opened his eyes in a dark cave. The air was cold and damp, and he could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance. The smell of blood was still there, mixed with the earthy smell of the cave.
His eyes felt very heavy, but Chung Myung opened them and lifted his head and looked at his body.
A bandage was wrapped around his chest.
It was a familiar but also strangely unsettling sight. Because the body wrapped in bandages now was smaller and weaker than the body he knew.
Chung Myung’s gaze slowly turned to the side.
Someone was leaning against the wall of the unfamiliar cave, fast asleep.
The face of the sleeping person gradually changed from the face he knew to an unfamiliar one.
Chung Myung stared blankly at Baek Cheon’s face, who was sleeping with his head neatly propped up, before raising his gaze again.
‘…That’s right.’
He was no longer the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.
The Mount Hua he remembered was gone.
He had won the war, but lost everything else.
Everything he had tried to protect was lost, and everything he had tried to leave behind had disappeared.
All that remained here was…
Wheeze. Wheeze.
A small breath reached Chung Myung’s ears as he blankly sank back into his thoughts. He turned his head and saw Yoo Iseol lying next to him, and Tang Soso was asleep on the other side.
They seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion after checking on Chung Myung’s condition.
Chung Myung stared silently at Tang Soso’s face for a long time, as if trying to find the old traces in that face once again.
But it didn’t work out well.
Sometimes he couldn’t remember Dang Bo’s face clearly. It was like his memory was fading, becoming less sharp.
“Are you awake?”
An answer wouldn’t be necessary. It wasn’t a question asked out of genuine curiosity.
The words he had to say were no different from the past.
“…How long has it been?”
“I don’t know exactly, but it’s probably been about two days.”
“Two days…”
Is it better than three days?
Chung Myung smiled and tried to get up. But at that moment, Baek Cheon pressed down on Chung Myung’s forehead.
“Lie still and behave yourself instead of reopening the wound that barely closed.”
“I’m all better.”
Baek Cheon just pulled out his sword. He didn’t say a word. Chung Myung eventually took the strength out of his neck. Of course, this bloke wasn’t stronger than Dang Bo, but it had already been proven that he was more reckless than Dang Bo.
Chung Myung, who had obediently put his head back on the floor, rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.
“What about the others?”
“Geol and Iseol are badly injured… but they’re still better than you. Don’t worry about others and just worry about yourself.”
“What about Hainan?”
“…It seems like you can’t understand what I’m saying.”
“How is Hainan?”
Baek Cheon eventually sighed at the stubborn question.
“About half.”
“…What about the elders?”
“Same.”
That meant about half of them had died. Including those who hadn’t made it here and those who had died after arriving.
Considering Baek Cheon’s expression, the actual number of dead was probably much more than half, but even so, it was the same.
Losing half of them was sad, but it was worth it to get through Guangdong, which was like the main base of Maninbang. Actually, they fought very well.
Of course, no one would accept it that way.
Chung Myung sat up again.
“I told you to lie down.”
“I’m really okay now.”
Chung Myung pushed away Baek Cheon’s hand, which was pressing down on his head, and sat up. Baek Cheon, who had tried to stop him somehow, eventually shook his head.
“I asked you to protect the back.”
Chung Myung stared at Baek Cheon at those unexpected words.
“So, maybe I shouldn’t ask you this.”
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“But I have to ask. Why did you push yourself so hard?”
“…”
Baek Cheon’s lips trembled. He looked calm, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Chung Myung, who had been looking at him, suddenly turned his head and looked at Yoo Iseol, who was unconscious.
“I didn’t push myself.”
“…What?”
“I just believed.”
– Or at least fight when I’m around!
“When I reach my limit and collapse, I just believed that there would definitely be someone behind me… that’s all.”
Only now, finally, have I found people I can trust to have my back.