And So, It Was for Survival! (4)
"What is it?"
When Cheong Myeong nodded, Gwak Hwan-so hesitated for a moment before asking, "You all decided to fight alongside us here, didn't you?"
"I told you already. Do I need to say it again?"
Gwak Hwan-so hurriedly waved his hand. "No, that's not what I mean... I’m asking if you came here from the start with that intention. That even if negotiations with us fell apart, you would still fight as individuals?"
At that question, Cheong Myeong answered with a saintly smile that made him look anything but saintly.
"No."
"...Pardon?"
"I didn't have any plan."
"..."
"I told you, didn’t I? We had no idea things would turn out like this until just before we got here. We knew that crazy bastard Jang Il-so was insane, sure, but even insanity has its limits. Who in their right mind would’ve thought that while the standoff was dragging on at the Yangtze River, he’d pull his forces back and launch some lunatic charge like that? Only a madman."
"...Stop saying crazy so much, Cheong Myeong."
"I’m listening to you, and I feel like my head’s going weird."
"Please understand. The moment Jang Il-so’s name comes up, that bastard loses his mind too."
Gwak Hwan-so blinked. "Then after negotiations broke down that day, did you hold a separate meeting and come to a conclusion?"
"No."
"Then?"
"There wasn’t really anything you’d call a meeting."
"...Then?"
"I just said maybe it was time to go already, but nobody moved. So, well, that’s how it turned out."
"N-no, what does that even—"
"Man, you really live like everything’s so complicated."
Cheong Myeong said it with visible indifference.
"What, did you lot head out to Jiangnan because you had some grand logic and noble position behind it?"
"...No, that’s not it."
Of course there had been logic of a sort. But Gwak Hwan-so could not deny that impulse had played a larger role in his actions than reason.
"Then why are you looking for logic from us?"
"Maybe try finding a little and living with it... please."
"Shut your mouth, you Sapa bastard."
"Urk."
Cheong Myeong glanced sidelong at him and continued, clearly satisfied.
"Of course, I’m not saying we started out intending to help you no matter what. But after a bit of bickering, after a little anger, after things just sort of flowed along, before we knew it we were already discussing how to fight."
"I kept opposing it!"
"Someone shut that Sapa bastard's mouth."
When Namgung Dowi grabbed Im So-byeong by the mouth and dragged him away, Cheong Myeong went on with the air of a man whose chest had just been relieved of a great burden.
"So don’t make such a big deal out of it."
"...How can I not make a big deal out of it?"
"Still not getting it, huh."
"Pardon?"
"Like I said before, we’re not here because we’re willing to die alongside you."
"..."
"We saw for ourselves that Jiangnan’s defenses were weaker than we expected, and figured there might be a chance if we handled it right."
Gwak Hwan-so only stared at Cheong Myeong, utterly dazed.
"If you see someone flailing in the water right in front of you, shouldn’t you try to help until the day you die?"
"Well, yes..."
"The only difference is that what you think of as 'until the day you die' and what we think of as 'until the day you die' are a little different. So don’t go building strange expectations. If it looks like everything’s going to hell for Hainan and everyone there, we’ll run without looking back. That’s why only the kind of people who can do that came to Hainan in the first place."
"I understand what you mean... but it’s easier said than done, that’s all..."
"But this bastard really doesn't get it, does he?"
"Pardon?"
"So what, you just die and that’s the end of it?"
"...What do you mean by that?"
"You’ve enjoyed everything the Orthodox Faction had to offer up until now, and at the end you get to die all cool and satisfied without even paying the bill? While the rest of the righteous bastards are left to fight the Evil Tyrant Alliance and bleed their guts out?"
Gwak Hwan-so closed his mouth.
"What a joke. You lot need to fight until your backs are ripped open. Even if you die, you should drag one more bastard down to hell with you. That’s the bare minimum duty of people who picked up swords and strutted around like they mattered."
"..."
"And you need to stop doing stupid shit too. After you all die, do you think those Sapa bastards will just leave Hainan alone and quietly back off? Even though you’re supposed to be people from Jiangnan, how can you not know the nature of those Sapa dogs? Are you idiots or what?"
Gwak Hwan-so looked as if he had just been slapped. But Cheong Myeong only clicked his tongue once, turned around, and strode off toward somewhere else with a lazy swing of his arms.
Baek Cheon came over with a small laugh and said to Gwak Hwan-so, "Don't mind him. That’s just how he talks."
"No. It’s not really his tone, it’s..."
What struck him harder was the content itself.
The ones left behind.
He had never thought like that before. The people he had worried about had only ever been the people of Hainan Island. He had never once considered what would become of the world, or how the righteous factions left behind would continue fighting.
But even if they died, the battle would go on. In particular, the Heavenly Friends Alliance would keep fighting the Evil Tyrant Alliance until the very last moment.
He felt ashamed that he had only worried about Hainan Sect and Hainan Island. How short-sighted had he been?
They had spent so long disparaging the islanders and cursing the people of the mainland, and yet when crisis actually came, there had not been a single thought in their heads about the mainland’s circumstances.
"...We’ll fight."
When Gwak Hwan-so nodded with a hardened expression, Baek Cheon smiled faintly.
"That’s good enough."
"Um, but..."
"Yes?"
"May I ask one more thing?"
"Of course."
"It may be possible to enter Jiangnan. But once we’re actually inside, the situation will be different, won't it? They’ll know we’ve entered their land."
"That’s true."
"Then naturally they’ll tighten their defenses on the Yangtze River. Is it really possible for us to break through that alone? Wouldn’t it be better to take a detour through Yunnan?"
Baek Cheon shook his head.
"The part we have to break through at the end is the same either way."
"That may be true, but..."
"The longer the route, the more we’ll be worn down. If we want any chance at all, there’s no choice but to reach the Yangtze as quickly as possible before they fully fortify it. And besides..."
Baek Cheon’s gaze darkened slightly.
"If we can’t shake the enemy’s core and carry that chaos all the way to the standoff at the Yangtze, then they’ll have room to breathe. And if that happens... the chances of them doing something pointless will only go up."
Gwak Hwan-so fell silent.
He understood exactly what they meant by "something pointless." If they were so desperate to escape that they took a detour and gave the Evil Tyrant Alliance room to maneuver, that rage might be directed toward the people left behind on Hainan.
Then the damage Hainan Sect should have suffered would fall entirely upon Hainan Island itself.
That was why Baek Cheon wanted to stir up the enemy’s core and drive straight toward the Yangtze, escalating the standoff between the Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Evil Tyrant Alliance so that the latter would not even consider turning their forces back.
I never even cared about mainland affairs.
And yet these people, in the midst of all this, were still worried about those who would remain on Hainan. So even if they had to risk more danger, they intended to drag the Evil Tyrant Alliance’s attention away from Hainan no matter what.
"...Will it be possible?"
"Who knows. We’ll have to see. But..."
"But?"
Baek Cheon gave a meaningful smile.
"There isn’t a single person here who’s itching to die. The number one rule of Mount Hua is not to uphold righteousness, and it isn’t even to protect justice. The most important rule is simple: survive first."
It was right then.
"There, there. Look at that thing waddling its way over now!"
"Huh?"
At Cheong Myeong’s shout, everyone turned their heads.
Far out on the now-calm sea, something small and white was swimming back toward them at high speed.
"Baek Ah!"
"Oh, Baek Ah!"
"My goodness, it really made it!"
Without needing to be told, everyone from the five swords ran to the shore. Dang So-so splashed into the water and scooped Baek Ah up in her arms. Half-dead from exhaustion, Baek Ah stuck out its tongue and flopped limply in her embrace.
"Senior Brother! It’s completely worn out!"
"...Isn’t it admirable."
"That’s not admirable, that’s stupid. If it were me, I’d have run without looking back."
"...That’s why Baek Ah is smarter than you. If that thing got caught by that vicious bastard, it’d really end up as fur."
As Dang So-so carried Baek Ah over to Cheong Myeong, he promptly snatched the marten by the scruff from her arms and lifted it up.
"You handled it?"
Even exhausted as it was, Baek Ah seemed to wake up instantly and nodded vigorously. Then it looked at Cheong Myeong with bright, beady eyes full of pride, as though waiting for praise.
As always, though, Cheong Myeong rewarded anyone who expected praise with utter betrayal.
"Come on, come on. Pull yourself together."
Ki-ee!
"See this? This thing?"
Cheong Myeong lightly shook the little signal tube in his hand and tied it around Baek Ah’s neck. Baek Ah tilted its head at the signal tube now hanging there.
Ki-ee?
"That’s important. Deliver it properly."
Kiit?
"Now go."
Baek Ah tilted its head in bafflement. The way it cocked its small head while its huge black eyes sparkled was undeniably cute, but the reality beneath that cuteness was rather pitiful.
"Why are you so dense? I said go back again."
Ki-ee?
"What are you doing?"
Ki...ee?
At that moment, everyone saw it: Baek Ah’s snow-white face turning deathly pale.
Isn’t that fur? How does fur turn pale blue?
Did Beast Palace Lord know about things like this?
Would anyone even believe it if we told them?
Then, all at once, Baek Ah exploded into a furious scream.
Kiieeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Animals may understand human speech to some degree, but humans do not understand animal speech. And yet, for some terribly strange reason, everyone here could interpret that cry perfectly.
"That’s an insult."
"Sounds like an insult."
"It definitely is an insult."
If it had been human speech, it would have been an insult—an obscene, ear-shattering barrage of profanity no decent person could bear to hear.
"You little bastard!"
Cheong Myeong outright hurled Baek Ah away.
Kiieeeeeee!
Pointing at the retreating Baek Ah, Cheong Myeong shouted, "I fed you and let you sleep like a pig getting fat, and this is how you repay me? You got so spoiled you lost your damn mind? Where the hell are you hissing at me from!"
"Cheong Myeong... at least tell it straight. That thing had it much better in Yunnan."
"Honestly, it only suffered after coming here..."
"It’s probably wondering why it even came, by now. No, it was probably thinking that much earlier."
Of course, there was no way those words reached the bastard’s ears. Baek Ah spun around midair, landed, and then came charging back, livid with rage. Cheong Myeong caught the little creature by the scruff again and pulled its tiny face right up to his own.
"We don’t have time, so hurry up and go send the m— AGH!"
In that instant, Baek Ah’s forepaw lashed out viciously and slapped Cheong Myeong across the cheek. Caught by surprise, Cheong Myeong’s head snapped to the side.
Laughter burst out all around them.
"Oh!"
"It fought back!"
"Heh, it’s been holding back all this time. Honestly, it was time for him to get hit."
The moment that happened, Cheong Myeong glared at Baek Ah with fire in his eyes.
"You little bastard?"
Kiieeeeeeeeeeeek!
The beast that was like a human and the human that was like a beast began to scream and claw at each other.
Watching this, Baek Cheon covered his face with both hands.
Don’t seriously fight with a beast...
No matter how much of a spiritual beast it was.
Huff! Huff!
After wrestling for a long time, Cheong Myeong, out of breath himself, seized Baek Ah by the scruff and ground his teeth.
"Damn it! If I didn’t need it for anything, I’d really toss this damn weasel into the sea today!"
Ki-ee!
"Deliver it properly. If you’re late, you’re getting roasted for real, got it?"
Kiieeeee!
"Hell, stop arguing back!"
Baek Ah, who resisted to the very end, finally nodded with tears streaming down its face. It seemed to have given up.
"Go! Hurry!"
Kiieeeeeeeee!
Once placed on the ground, Baek Ah let out a cry of bitter resentment and raced toward the sea. Everyone watched in stunned silence.
"...It came all the way here from the Yangtze, and now it’s leaving again the moment it arrives."
"...No matter how small the creature is, is this really something to make it do?"
"I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you."
"Poor thing."
Everyone else was solemn, but Cheong Myeong still seemed too irritated to calm down.
"Honestly, that thing’s getting weaker and weaker."
Heartless bastard.
Animal abuser.
Total scumbag!
Just as everyone was watching Baek Ah disappear over the sea with pity, it happened.
"...Sasuk."
"I saw it too."
At Yoon Jong’s astonished voice, Baek Cheon answered in a rigid tone.
Far out over the sea they had been watching, a fleet emerged like a scattering of tiny dots.
"...It’s the Evil Tyrant Alliance."
A suffocating tension began to rise over the shore, which had only moments ago been somewhat relaxed.