I Knew This Would Happen (4)
“Grrraaaagh!”
The sword thrust deep into his chest had frozen him white all the way to the bone.
Gasping through his failing breath, the Demonic Sect warrior muttered a prayer with unfocused eyes.
“Heav…enly… De…mon… has… returned….”
“……”
“Th-that one… will… strike you all….”
Crack.
The Mount Hua warrior, sick of hearing the mantra, twisted the blade buried in the man’s heart and ripped it through the Demonic Sect warrior’s chest.
With a short, wet gurgle, the last breath left him, and he collapsed in death.
“Those disgusting bastards.”
They had finally cut down the last of the Demonic Sect warriors guarding the cave. Yet the faces of the North Sea Ice Palace disciples remained grim.
Their own losses had been horrific.
Normally, once the tide had shifted this far, even the will to resist would have broken. But these Demonic Sect bastards had not lost an ounce of resolve, not even at the very end. They had fought with a ferocity that made the attacking Ice Palace disciples go pale.
In any case…
Slowly withdrawing his sword, the Ice Palace warrior turned to look behind him.
The valley, once white and beautiful beneath a blanket of snow and ice, had now collapsed into a mangled ruin, its raw flesh exposed. Blood spilled by both the Ice Palace and the Demonic Sect flowed through it like a red stream.
A horrifying sight, to say the least.
They had paid an enormous price and suffered devastating losses, but in the end, the Ice Palace disciples had succeeded in exterminating every last Demonic Sect member. With their own hands. No one else’s.
Still catching his breath, the warrior turned and saw the Mount Hua disciples staggering to their feet.
If not for them…
It was likely the ones lying here would have been the Ice Palace disciples instead of the Demonic Sect. Thanks to the visitors from Central Plains, they had been able to defend the North Sea.
He was just about to go over and offer his thanks when—
Rumble!
The mountain range began to tremble violently.
What?
Startled, the warrior whipped around toward the cave.
The shaking intensified in an instant, until even the ground beneath his feet was trembling so violently he could barely stand.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
As the whole mountain shook, every eye snapped toward one place: the cave entrance.
If the mountain was shaking like this, could that cave possibly hold?
He could clearly see the ceiling inside beginning to crumble.
No, wait—the people who went in there still haven’t come out!
The eyes of the Ice Palace disciples shook wide with alarm.
“N-no…!”
And then, in that very instant—
A group of people burst out from within the collapsing cave.
“C-Chief Officer!”
The warrior, seeing them rush desperately out of the cave, cried out before he could stop himself. Han Yi-myung, clutching Seol So-baek to his chest, and several other warriors sprang clear of the collapsing entrance in a frantic dash.
Rooooaar!
A heartbeat later, the cave caved in completely, and massive chunks of rock came crashing down.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
Dust billowed outward, pale and thick.
“Th-thank goodness….”
The warrior who had been clutching his chest in relief suddenly fell silent. Looking again, he realized the number of people who had come out was barely half of those who had gone in.
What about the others?
Well. Wasn’t that obvious?
He bit his lip, then hurried over to the palace lord and Han Yi-myung.
“Ch-Chief Officer… no, Palace Lord! Are you all right?”
At the question, Seol So-baek, covered head to toe in dirt and dust, turned back with a dazed expression. Staring at the cave that had completely collapsed into shapeless rubble, he murmured,
“Master Chung Myung….”
The collapse had happened too fast.
There had been no time to save Chung Myung, let alone escape in a panic. He had screamed, thrashed, and struggled, but in the end Han Yi-myung had been forced to drag him out by sheer force.
“M-Master Chung Myung!”
Seol So-baek tried to lurch back toward the cave, only for Han Yi-myung to stretch out a hand and clamp down on him firmly.
“Please stop, Palace Lord! There may be more falling rock. It’s too dangerous!”
“But the master! Master Chung Myung is still in there!”
Han Yi-myung let out a deep sigh.
As if he didn’t know that?
But this was not something human strength could solve.
And it wasn’t as though his own heart was at ease. How could he not want to save him? But in his position, Seol So-baek’s life came first. Blood welled from his bitten lip.
Master Chung saved the North Sea.
The sudden massive earthquake, the mountain collapse, and now the fading aftershocks.
Thinking through the chain of events, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened inside.
Chung Myung had probably stopped the Heavenly Demon’s resurrection…
Han Yi-myung squeezed his eyes shut.
How am I supposed to repay this debt?
And how was he supposed to face the Mount Hua disciples now?
Many Ice Palace warriors had also died in that cave. Some had been unable to escape in time while breaking free of the Ice Jiangshi and fleeing the cave.
But they were North Sea people. Dying for the North Sea was only natural.
It was nothing compared to the one who had led them across this vast foreign land, saved the North Sea from the Demonic Sect’s claws, and then thrown away his own life in the process.
“You must steady your heart. Master Chung would not want the Palace Lord drowning in grief like this.”
Seol So-baek bit his lip hard and stared at the collapsed cave. Seeing that expression, one that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment, made it impossible for Han Yi-myung to say anything more.
Han Yi-myung forced himself upright, swaying slightly. There was work to be done as the chief officer of the Ice Palace.
He turned a heavy gaze toward the Mount Hua disciples, who were still sprawled on the ground and unable to get back up.
“Uncle-disciple.”
“……What?”
“Are you… alive?”
“……Dead.”
“……I thought as much.”
Baek Cheon, face pressed into the ground, twitched faintly.
I really feel like I’m going to die.
This wasn’t just exhausting. This was beyond exhausting. He literally couldn’t move a single finger.
But he couldn’t stay like this forever.
“Ughhh….”
Baek Cheon was the first to move, dragging every last shred of strength from his body. At last, he managed to push himself upright.
Crack. Crack.
Broken bones screamed in protest, and wounds that had just barely started to close split open again, blood trickling down in streams.
“Ghh….”
The pain was so intense it felt as if his entire body were coming apart. Still, Baek Cheon somehow succeeded in standing.
“Is everyone all right?”
Despite his own miserable condition, he checked on the disciples first. But no one had a proper answer for him.
“I… I’m sleepy….”
“Sa-sahyung, please… please wake up. If you sleep here, you’ll freeze to death!”
“The plum blossoms… Mount Hua’s plum blossoms….”
“No, has this old man gone completely insane?”
The least injured of them all, Jo Gul, smacked Yoon Jong hard across the cheek.
“Wake up, sahyung!”
Jo Gul.
It definitely felt like there was some emotion in that hand. At this rate, he’d be beaten to death before he froze to death…
“Amitabha….”
Hye Yeon trembled pitiably as he sat himself up. Looking at the way the flesh on his body had gone dark and dead-looking, it was all too easy to realize just how horrific the battle had been.
Baek Cheon struggled over to Dang Soso and Yu I-seol. Dang Soso was caring for Yu I-seol despite not being in any condition herself.
“How is she?”
“……Fortunately, the bleeding isn’t severe, so her life isn’t in danger. But she took too much shock….”
“That’s enough.”
“S-sago! You can’t get up yet!”
“I’m fine.”
Baek Cheon’s firm hand pressed down on Yu I-seol’s shoulder as she tried to force herself upright.
“……Uncle-disciple?”
“Don’t push yourself.”
Seeing Baek Cheon’s face so battered and wrecked, Yu I-seol finally let the strength drain from her body again. Baek Cheon exhaled softly and said,
“If you don’t properly treat your injuries, they’ll leave aftereffects. That sort of thing will dog you as a martial artist for a long time. Listen to Soso, junior sister.”
“……Yes, sahyung.”
Seeing Yu I-seol’s face swollen all over, Baek Cheon swallowed a sigh.
So badly….
They had been lucky.
If the battle had lasted a little longer, or become any more intense, not a single one of them would have survived to stand here.
Then Han Yi-myung came stumbling toward them.
“Is your condition a bit better… no, that’s not something I should even ask.”
Han Yi-myung gave the Mount Hua disciples a quick once-over and shook his head.
Shameful.
Of course, the Ice Palace had suffered many losses too, but if one asked whether they had fought as desperately as the people here had, the answer was no. Merely recalling the clash between the Bishop and these people made his whole body tremble.
Could he ever see a battle like that again in his lifetime?
Han Yi-myung bowed deeply to Baek Cheon, his sincerity plain.
“And….”
His lowered shoulders began to tremble.
“I don’t even know how I should express my condolences. We could hardly dare imagine how you must feel….”
He spoke slowly, then seemed to lose the ability to continue and clamped his mouth shut. After a moment, he forced the words out again.
“The North Sea will never forget Master Chung Myung’s sacrifice. We will speak of him for generations as the hero who saved the North Sea.”
“Pardon?”
Baek Cheon asked back, genuinely bewildered, and Han Yi-myung’s expression darkened even further.
“……Master Chung Myung was unable to escape the cave.”
“……”
“I am truly… truly sorry. He….”
“Oh, is that all?”
Baek Cheon replied flatly. Startled by the reaction, which was nothing like he’d expected, Han Yi-myung cautiously lifted his head.
Is he too shocked to accept reality?
But then Jo Gul asked Baek Cheon,
“What did you say? What happened to Chung Myung?”
“He says Chung Myung got crushed under a rock and died.”
“Ha….”
Jo Gul wiped at his ruined face and snorted a laugh.
“If he were the kind of guy to die like that, he wouldn’t have put us through all this hell.”
“Exactly what I was saying.”
“……”
Han Yi-myung stared at the two of them with his eyes wide.
And it wasn’t just those two who seemed perfectly calm.
“Amitabha… Even if you threw Chung Myung siju into hell, he’d come crawling back alive. If a mountain had really killed him that easily, he’d have died ten times over already.”
“Ahh… the plum blossom….”
“No, has this old man actually gone and decided to die? Sahyung! I said wake up! Sahyung!”
Smack! Smack!
“Jo Gul. Keep that up and you’ll get Yoon Jong killed.”
“No, but he keeps trying to sleep! Soso. It’s bad enough with sago, but we’re going to have to do something about this guy. He keeps trying to die.”
Han Yi-myung’s mouth gradually fell open at the unbelievable scene.
What in the…
Just as he was trying to decide what on earth he was supposed to say, Baek Cheon gave a faint, crooked smile.
“Chief Officer Han.”
“……Yes?”
“Do you know what Chung Myung is best at, besides fighting?”
“Scamming?”
“……”
“Ah, threatening people?”
Well… yes. That was true. Yes, that really was true….
It wasn’t wrong, so he couldn’t even get angry.
“Th-that is true, but not that kind of thing.”
Feeling an inexplicable sadness, Baek Cheon squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again before continuing.
“Do you know the two things Chung Myung is best at, excluding fighting, bullying people, making his uncle-disciple run around, cheating people out of money, acting like he has no manners, and swearing at people until they want to tear their hair out?”
At that point, shouldn’t one stop attaching the phrase “best at” to those things?
“Cliff climbing and digging.”
“……Pardon?”
The answer only grew more absurd. Han Yi-myung blinked blankly at Baek Cheon. This was hardly a time for jokes…
But even more absurdly, the Mount Hua disciples and Hye Yeon all nodded as if they deeply agreed.
“He’s like a ghost. A total ghost.”
“Amitabha. Indeed, that’s exactly right.”
“Pl, plum….”
“Stop that! You old fool!”
Watching Han Yi-myung stand there in utter bewilderment, Baek Cheon broke into a grin.
His gaze was fixed on the middle of the collapsed mountain. Naturally, Han Yi-myung turned to look where he was staring.
“In other words, that bastard is….”
At that moment—
As if answering Baek Cheon’s words, the sunken, collapsed midsection of the mountain began to twitch faintly.
Huh?
For a moment, Han Yi-myung doubted his own eyes and gaped without meaning to.
“He’s the sort of bastard who’d crawl out again even from his grave. That man doesn’t die from something like that. Absolutely not!”
Twitch. Twitch.
Fwaaaat!
From between the piles of collapsed earth and stone, a blood-red hand suddenly shot out.
Han Yi-myung’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
“Th-tha….”
Scrape. Scrape.
The arm that had emerged blindly groped around. Then the earth around it exploded left and right as though blown apart.
“Pwaaaaaaaaat!”
And out of the mess, Chung Myung’s face popped up.
“Grrrgh! I really thought I was gonna die! Sasukkkkk! Where the hell are you, sahyung! Sasukkkkk! Hurry up and dig me out of this crap! Don’t just lie there doing nothing, damn it!”
Baek Cheon, who had been speaking so proudly, looked at that sight and smiled faintly.
“It would’ve been nice if he had died.”
But that was a dream that could never come true.
Unfortunately.