I’ll Protect It This Time, No Matter What! (3)
The cart raced lightly across the ice.
On the way back to Mount Hua, of all places, the disciples of Mount Hua should have been forgetting their exhaustion and pulling the cart with delighted energy... but that was how it should have been.
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!”
“Aigoo, I’m gonna die!”
“S-Sasuk! This cart feels at least five times heavier than when it came!”
“...It’s not feels heavy. It is heavy.”
Crack, crack, crack!
It was so heavy that the ice split and spiderwebbed beneath every step they took. If their speed slowed even a little, the ice would shatter in an instant and the cart would sink beneath the lake.
And all the while, from the cart came that maddening voice.
“Don’t stop! Who said to stop? If you stop, we sink! Run before the ice breaks!”
“...”
What was a ghost doing, anyway? Why wasn’t it dragging that bastard off already?
As they listened to Chung Myung’s increasingly vile shouting, day by day worsening in character, the disciples of Mount Hua swallowed their bitter tears.
“Just what the hell... what did you load on this thing?”
Of course, if you stacked goods that high, then even clothes would be heavy. But even accounting for that, the weight they felt now was beyond reason.
Then Jo Gul said in a dying voice, “Be-besides... before we left...”
“Huh?”
“The Lord of the Ice Palace said he dragged every last bit of winter iron left in the Ice Palace and loaded it all up...”
“What?”
Baek Cheon’s pupils trembled like an earthquake had hit them.
“N-No, winter iron is the stock we were supposed to trade for later! We didn’t even bring money to pay for it—why the hell did they hand it over already?”
“W-Well... trade is trade, and gifts are gifts... The trade can just be settled with the winter iron produced later...”
“...”
Baek Cheon had nothing to say. He lifted his head, and for a moment, it seemed as though Seol So-baek’s smiling face floated faintly against the clear northern sky.
Lord of the Ice Palace.
It was so kind. Truly, deeply kind.
But Baek Cheon was all too painfully realizing that someone’s goodwill was not always a source of joy for the person receiving it.
“This damned cart is absurdly sturdy!”
They should have seen this coming the moment they heard that bastard had made the cart out of solid black iron. Human beings really did only ever look one step ahead, didn’t they?
“Amitabha. Sihyeong Baek Cheon, please don’t be too angry.”
At that moment, Hye Yeon, who had been pulling at the front, turned his shining, light-catching head and smiled brightly.
“It’s hard on us, yes, but if we return to Mount Hua with these gifts, Mount Hua’s finances will improve a little, won’t they? If you think of it that way, there’s no need to be so upset or exhausted.”
Watching Hye Yeon smile so openly and warmly, Baek Cheon smiled right back.
You’re a Shaolin monk, you idiot.
Why the hell are you happy that Mount Hua’s finances are improving?
It was a perfectly reasonable question. But as he looked at Hye Yeon’s bright smile, the words simply would not come out.
He kept feeling that something was fundamentally wrong here, but since the man himself looked so happy, well...
“Hey, hurry up and pull!”
“Kaak! Then get down here and pull too!”
“No. It’s cold.”
“Who isn’t cold? Do you think some of us have fur like a bear?”
“Whoa? The wheel! The wheel’s coming off, the wheel!”
“Aaaagh!”
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and hauled with all his strength.
It would have been natural to ask why they were foolishly crossing the ice in the first place. But running over snow and running over ice were not the same at all; the speed was different from the very start.
The disciples of Mount Hua had chosen the dangerous route—the fastest one.
“You brats! Pull! Pull faster!”
“Grrrnnnngh!”
“I’m seriously dying here! How is this harder than when we came?”
Their breath hitched in their throats and complaints spilled endlessly from their mouths, but the cart kept racing ahead with a ridiculous lightness, as though it had no idea how burdensome it was.
“Grrrnnnngh.”
“...I’m dead.”
One by one, the Mount Hua disciples collapsed into the tents they had pitched for the night.
Every part of their bodies felt more than merely tired—it felt as though they were creaking apart.
Their joints were misaligned, their muscles twisted. It was only natural, having run without rest for so long, straining every last ounce of strength just to keep from falling through the ice.
“M-my back won’t straighten.”
“My knees won’t straighten either...”
“So-Soso, give me some acupuncture...”
“...Soso is dead.”
“...”
Having emptied themselves of every last bit of strength after so long, they all lay there as though they had become one with the ground, groaning.
And then...
Swish!
Chung Myung came in, lifting the tent flap, and immediately barked, “Aren’t you eating?”
“You little bastard!”
Baek Cheon, who could no longer endure it, hurled the bundle in his hand at Chung Myung. But before Chung Myung could even react, Baek Ah, perched on his shoulder, leaped up, snatched the bundle out of the air, and began ripping it open furiously.
Kiiiiiik!
Then it screeched in anger like a bolt of lightning.
“...What’s wrong with that thing?”
“It says it’s not food?”
“...”
Honestly, people and beasts alike.
They should all just die.
“Dried meat... eat the dried meat. The Ice Palace packed some for us...”
“Tch. Dried meat all day long? Whatever. I’ll endure it.”
Grumbling, Chung Myung stepped back outside, and Baek Cheon covered his face with his hand.
“Yoon Jong.”
“Yes?”
“...I have never hated my own weakness more than I do right now.”
“Accept it, Sasuk. There’s no need to be so surprised... Haven’t you suffered this long enough already?”
“I’m scared I’ll have to suffer it for the rest of my life...”
“...”
That was a little terrifying.
Yoon Jong let out a weary sigh, then raised his head. Looking at the tent made of thick leather, he said, “Still, it’s a real relief that we even have tents.”
Baek Cheon nodded in agreement.
“You can’t beat the experience and wisdom of the locals.”
Thanks to the thick tents the Ice Palace had supplied, they could at least avoid the snow and wind while they rested. If they didn’t have these, then by now even the immortal realm would probably be dancing before their eyes.
Then Jo Gul, sprawled out on the ground, asked, “Sasuk. There’s no need to rush back this hard, is there? We could take it a bit easier...”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Baek Cheon shook his head firmly.
“According to Chief Han’s message, winter in the North Sea should be nearing its end. As the weather warms, the ice will gradually get thinner, and then it won’t be able to bear this weight.”
“...”
“For now, alive or dead, we just need to haul with everything we’ve got and get out of the North Sea as fast as possible.”
At that, Jo Gul, utterly dazed, flopped onto his back and muttered, “What kind of life never gives you a moment’s peace?”
He had gained a little confidence after fighting the Demonic Sect, but reality turned out to be nothing more than collapsing from exhaustion after pulling a cart.
“That bastard’s tough.”
“You could throw him into an ice lake and he’d come out after eating the fish!”
By now, everyone had thoroughly come to understand Chung Myung, so they could tell that those mountain-high piles of goods were not solely Seol So-baek’s decision.
They could feel Chung Myung’s malice plain as day—the bastard had no intention of letting them rest even on the way back.
But the real problem was something else entirely...
“Listen up, all of you.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Baek Cheon, who had somehow managed to sit up.
“You’re all tired, I know.”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“I’m not someone who complains easily, but this time it’s really difficult.”
“You don’t say?”
“Hey, Sihyeong, just stay quiet for once. You never know where you should and shouldn’t butt in...”
“You little bastard?”
Jo Gul, kicked hard in the side by Yoon Jong, groaned and puffed out his lips.
“I’m serious, it’s heavy.”
And as if they had been waiting for it, everyone grumbled in agreement at once. Baek Cheon nodded as though he understood their feelings perfectly.
“Yes. I know it’s hard. But you should all think carefully about this.”
“...About what?”
“Unlike the trip here, the destination on the way back is clear, isn’t it? The sooner we go, the sooner we rest.”
“...”
“Rather than suffering a few more days in a half-hearted way, if we suffer hard and push through, we’ll reach Mount Hua sooner and be able to rest! So stop whining and just shut up and run! Do you understand?”
At that, everyone smiled and exchanged glances.
That man’s broken too.
There are two Chung Myungs now.
We should know better than to hope for anything else.
I absolutely must never become like that.
Looking at Baek Cheon, who had already lost so much of his humanity, the Mount Hua disciples suddenly found themselves reflecting on whether they had changed as well.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“It’s dirt!”
“Dammit! Plains! It’s plains!”
After many twists and turns, a vast plain finally spread out before their eyes.
Everyone cheered and jumped with joy. Even Yu I-seol, with her usually blank face lit by rare excitement, stamped her feet on the dirt they hadn’t seen in so long.
“No snow! There’s no snow! It’s not white!”
“How long has it been since we saw ordinary ground like this?”
“If anyone gets happy about snow when we get back to Mount Hua, I’m throwing them off Nagan Peak!”
“...Soso. That’s a bit...”
Tears of relief streamed from their eyes.
At first, the scenery of the North Sea had seemed like a breathtaking spectacle, but after living through it for so long, it had become maddening. It had reached the point where they could hardly stand it anymore.
Now, even a world without snow made their hearts feel warm...
“No, it’s not that my heart feels warm—the world is actually warm.”
“Can we take off these fur clothes now?”
“It’s still cold, you idiots!”
The nights on the plains were famously cold, but wasn’t everything in this world relative? To those who had cut their way through the North Sea blizzards, this place felt like midsummer.
“Don’t just stuff the fur clothes anywhere! Pack them separately! You can’t lose your body heat at night!”
“...Sasuk, you’ve gotten surprisingly naggy.”
“Shut up!”
Baek Cheon barked. But even in the voice he tried so hard to keep calm, the excitement beneath it was impossible to hide.
Leaving the North Sea behind meant they had already come more than halfway. More than anything, the best part was that they no longer had to run across that damned ice road and snowy trail.
“Don’t let your guard down. I said this before, but the nomads of the plains don’t exactly welcome people from the Central Plains.”
“The moment we leave the Central Plains, there’s no one waiting to welcome us, is there?”
“...That’s just how life is.”
Baek Cheon smiled bitterly.
“In any case, I’d like to avoid any unnecessary conflict, so we’ll move quietly. Once we cross the plains, we’ll reach Shaanxi, so save your noise for then.”
“Your nagging keeps getting—”
“What the hell did you just say?”
Jo Gul was kicked by Baek Cheon and went flying with a scream. Seeing him get beaten day after day and still stubbornly say whatever he wanted, one had to admit that nature could not be helped.
The winter plains, true to their name, were little more than wasteland. It was a desolate sight at a glance, and yet the faces of the Mount Hua disciples running through it were full of bright smiles.
“I’m not slipping!”
“My feet are sticking to the ground!”
“Sago! Sago! The wind’s blowing, but my bones aren’t freezing!”
“This is what human land feels like.”
Chung Myung, peeking his head out from among the luggage, listened to their conversation and smiled awkwardly.
Did I go too hard on them?
At this rate, they’d probably start cheering because the sky was blue...
Within that bizarre joy, the cart kept running and running.
The North Sea had been nothing but white land no matter how far they went, while here only yellow-brown earth stretched endlessly before them. With not even a single low hill in sight, the vast flat plain made people feel unbearably bored.
“Sasuk.”
“Yes.”
By then, the sun had completely set. Baek Cheon looked around and said, “Let’s set up somewhere suitable and spend the night. If we push ourselves recklessly, something may go wrong.”
Travelers on long journeys had to be careful whenever the environment changed. Shifts in temperature and conditions sapped strength and wore the body down.
“Somewhere suitable...”
Just then—
“Huh? Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
“There’s something up ahead.”
“...Hm?”
At Yoon Jong’s words, Baek Cheon narrowed his eyes and looked that way.
Since the plain stretched without end, even small things stood out clearly. Far away, crouched low against the earth, were several small tents.
“Nomads?”
Baek Cheon muttered as he thought it over.
What should we do?
It was a place where people lived and rested, so it should be safe enough, but he wanted to avoid meeting nomads if possible. There was no telling what sort of trouble might arise.
“Should we go around?”
“Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
Then, from behind them, Chung Myung said lazily, “Water?”
“...”
“In the North Sea, we could just scoop up snow and eat it, more or less, but from now on it’ll be hard to get water for a while. There seems to be a pond in front of those tents, so shouldn’t we replenish our supply first?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Baek Cheon nodded, as if convinced.
“Fine, let’s go to those tents first. But we must do everything possible not to provoke them.”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go.”
The disciples of Mount Hua slowly dragged the cart toward the tents.
The tents, which had looked no bigger than dots, gradually drew near and began to reveal their shape.
Then Baek Cheon, studying them, spoke with a strange expression.
“Chung Myung.”
“Hmm.”
“Doesn’t look right, does it?”
“Yeah?”
Dang Soso, listening to the exchange, tilted her head and asked, “What do you mean?”
“They’re not the tents used by the nomads of the plains. You saw some on the way here too, didn’t you?”
“Yes, we did.”
“But these are shaped differently, and the patterns embroidered on the cloth are different too. It’s a style I’ve never seen before...”
Baek Cheon frowned in thought. Yoon Jong asked cautiously, “What should we do?”
“...In any case, let’s go take a look first. We need water.”
They kept their voices as subdued and nonthreatening as possible while pulling the cart forward. Then they stopped near the tents.
At that very moment, the front flap of one tent suddenly flew open wide.
And three people walked out.
“Ah...?”
Baek Cheon, recognizing their clothing, gasped and opened his mouth in surprise.
“Mo, mon—”
“No.”
Chung Myung corrected him lightly.
“More precisely, they’re lama monks.”
At the appearance of the completely unexpected visitors, the faces of all the Mount Hua disciples stiffened.