And So, It Was for Survival! (2)
Hainan. Those two characters—once a name they meant to throw away, and once a name they would carry in their hearts to the very end.
Everyone who had ever held Hainan close to their hearts fell silent as they looked at Geum Yang-baek and Gwak Hwan-so.
But neither man offered anything more. They simply stood in silence, as though to say it was no longer their turn.
Their silence made everyone bearing the name of Hainan understand.
Whether to join them and die together, or remain here and watch them go—the choice now belonged only to each individual.
That was why the two men did not press them. They did not shout that this was the righteous course. The shape of one’s final moments could only be chosen by oneself.
"Hoo."
Then, cutting through the heavy silence, came the soft, rasping sound of a blade being drawn.
Step. Step.
Lee Ja-yang moved forward with his sword in hand and took his place beside Gwak Hwan-so. He said nothing. He merely stood there, guarding his side. If it was Gwak Hwan-so’s duty to stand guard behind Geum Yang-baek, then it was his duty to stand guard at Gwak Hwan-so’s side—that much his posture said plainly.
Seeing that, the others were stirred, and they bit down hard on their lips.
Step. Step.
Then a few more swordsmen stepped out and joined them.
One, then another.
It was only a few steps, a short stretch of road—and yet for some, it was a path so endlessly distant they would have to walk it with their own feet.
Perhaps they still did not truly understand what that road meant. Perhaps, when the final moment came because of the steps they took here, they would regret it.
And yet they walked it anyway. Few could have explained why in words. They simply believed they had to.
Step. Step.
More than one, more than two—dozens of them now stood beside those who shared the same name. And each of them lifted the sword they had kept at their side all their lives and hardened their resolve.
One more. And one more.
Like waves surging toward the shore, more and more people added their will to the resolve of Geum Yang-baek and Gwak Hwan-so.
But not everyone felt hot-blooded inspiration at the sight.
"...S-Sa-sasuk."
At Go Hong’s uneasy voice, Yu Gong bit his lip.
Why...
Why bother with something like this now?
It was over. The matter was already settled. If they had simply carried out the expulsion rite and descended the mountain, his bond with Hainan could have been severed cleanly, without leaving anything behind.
So why, all of a sudden, were they making such a ridiculous display here?
Those who stepped forward and those who remained where they stood.
The contrast was brutally clear.
Clan Leader Geum Yang-baek had said he wanted to spare those leaving the sect from unnecessary burden by not holding the formal expulsion ceremony. But from Yu Gong’s point of view, this scene humiliated them far more than any expulsion rite ever could.
At the very least, a formal expulsion ceremony gave one the courage to swallow the shame and step forward. It allowed the possibility that, rather than be swept away and lose one’s life, it was nobler to endure condemnation and leave with one’s head held high.
But not here.
In this vicious situation Geum Yang-baek had created, those who turned their backs on Hainan could only stand like stone statues, staring at the backs of those who had vowed to stake their lives on the name of Hainan.
And what made Yu Gong feel even more ashamed, more pained, was precisely those backs.
Normally, the ones leaving Hainan should have stepped forward and borne the condemning gazes. They should have left beneath eyes that called them cowards, eyes that clung to some sense of superiority no matter how small. Those looks, that hostility simmering beneath them, would have been enough to keep Yu Gong from wavering.
But in this moment, those who stepped forward did not look back.
No one looked at those left behind. No one cast a condemnatory glance at those who had abandoned Hainan. The ones who had already turned toward the road ahead had made the rest irrelevant.
That fact was almost impossible for Yu Gong to endure.
"S-Sa-sasuk... what do we do?"
Go Hong seemed to sense the atmosphere too, and he fidgeted anxiously as he asked Yu Gong, panic written all over his face.
But Yu Gong only drove him colder in return.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"...Pardon?"
"Didn’t you hear what the Clan Leader said? Each person should choose for themselves."
"B-but, Sa-sasuk..."
Yu Gong said no more. He clenched his jaw and glared only at Geum Yang-baek.
How much more miserable do you intend to make people, Clan Leader?
From this moment, Yu Gong learned something bitter. Sometimes, kindness could hurt a person more deeply than malice ever could.
Even now, more people were joining those who had stepped forward. But that was not the entirety of martial artists. Eventually, when no one else moved for a long while, the elders who had remained silent joined the ranks of those who had chosen to stay.
The number of those who stepped forward was a little more than half the sect.
But that also meant the ones who had chosen to leave without standing beside them until the end were nearly half as well.
The numbers may have been almost evenly split, but the atmosphere was completely different.
Those who stepped forward did not bother checking who had been left behind. All they could see were the Clan Leader who had staked everything on those two characters, the outsiders who had come from far away to walk that road with him, and the harsh path they would have to force their way through.
But all those left behind could see were the backs of the people who had resolved to walk the road they themselves could not choose.
And so they could not even look ahead properly. They lowered their heads.
Then Geum Yang-baek, the one who had stayed behind for their sake, opened his mouth.
"There is no need to lower your heads."
What Geum Yang-baek said was neither condemnation nor reproach.
"If the courage to stake one’s life is courage, then the will to suppress one’s blood and survive is also courage. No one can blame that choice."
Geum Yang-baek gazed quietly at those who remained before closing his eyes.
"But... from this moment on, you are no longer disciples of Hainan. We will not cripple your dantians or reclaim your martial arts, but you will be forbidden from using Hainan’s techniques, and your names will be erased from the sect register."
Everyone knew why.
It was the path that protected those who remained. If they used Hainan’s martial arts clumsily, the Evil Tyrant Alliance would surely hunt them down and kill them. If that happened, no matter how much the ones heading into Jiangnan drew attention away, Hainan would still not be able to escape calamity.
But the human heart was not so simple. Even knowing the words were meant to protect them, their chests still ached for no reason at all.
"Even if you are no longer disciples of Hainan Sect, nothing changes the fact that you are Hainan people who live on this island together with us. We will go to Jiangnan to protect our name. The rest of you, stay here and protect the lives of Hainan people."
The heads of those who remained lowered even further.
No matter how beautifully one dressed it up, in the end they were nothing more than traitors who had abandoned the sect’s name of their own accord. No one knew that better than they did.
Maybe it would have been easier to bear if Geum Yang-baek had simply lashed out and cursed them. But he did not. He only quietly wished that their lives might continue.
That made the ones left behind feel even more ashamed.
"Descend the mountain."
The people who had been helplessly swept up in that torrent of emotion looked up in alarm at Geum Yang-baek.
"There is no merit in dragging out a farewell. Leave the mountain now. Let that be the end of our connection."
"C-Clan Leader..."
"Go."
With those words, Geum Yang-baek closed his eyes gently.
Those who had been watching his face bit down hard on their lips. Then, one by one, they bowed where they stood. Having offered their final respects to their master, they turned away and made for the mountain gate with their shoulders bowed low.
The disciples were leaving.
Some showed tears. Some lowered their heads as though they had committed a crime. Some cursed under their breath, while others struck their own chests as though unable to contain their rage.
Those who turned away and those who did not look back.
Once, they had shared the same dream, and once, they had believed without doubt that they were family. But now their roads had split apart, never to join again.
And until the very end, Yu Gong remained there, biting his lip as he watched those carrying the name of Hainan.
His heart told him to leave, but his feet would not move.
After staring at them for a long time, Yu Gong bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and finally spoke.
"Don’t think you’ve done something so great just because you stayed."
Even Yu Gong did not quite know why he was saying it.
There was, in truth, no reason to blame them. No reason to force the issue. By his own logic, he had made the rational choice, and they were nothing more than fools who had made the wrong one. So shouldn’t he simply sneer at them and walk away?
"We’re not leaving because we’re cowards, either. Try to keep your sense of superiority to that extent."
Lee Ja-yang frowned.
"You—"
But before he could say another word, Gwak Hwan-so reached out and lightly caught his shoulder to stop him.
"...Sasuk."
"Enough."
Gwak Hwan-so shook his head and looked at Yu Gong.
"Yu Gong."
"..."
"I have one favor to ask."
"What...?"
"Once we’re gone, look after the remaining halls of Hainan once in a while."
Yu Gong twisted his face and glared at Gwak Hwan-so.
"I’m no longer a disciple of Hainan."
"I know."
Gwak Hwan-so gave a faint smile.
"But can’t you do even that much for the sake of the time we spent together?"
Yu Gong glared silently at Gwak Hwan-so for a long moment, then whirled around. Without looking back again, he headed for the mountain gate.
Watching him go, Lee Ja-yang ground his teeth.
"That damn bastard..."
"Enough."
Lee Ja-yang glared at Yu Gong as he left through the gate, then turned around. There was no need to concern himself with them anymore.
"Clan Leader."
The ones who were leaving had left. And yet, those who remained, determined to protect the name of Hainan, had one representative who stepped forward in their place: Gwak Hwan-so.
"What should we do now?"
"Hm."
Geum Yang-baek nodded and looked to the side. At that glance, Im So-byeong stepped forward.
"Now then! From this point on, you all will need to stay very busy. First, head to the nearest coast and bring—"
"Should we fetch a ship?"
"No."
"Pardon?"
Im So-byeong grinned, a wicked smile curling his pale lips.
"Don’t fetch them. Smash every ship on the coast."
"...Pardon?"
"All of them! Not a single one left! Fishing boats, cargo boats, whatever they are—break them all!"
"...W-what?"
"Move it!"
"..."
For some reason, a bad feeling told them things were about to unfold very differently than expected.