Where Are the Others Now? (2)
Tang Gun-ak’s ice-cold stare seemed to pierce Namgung Hwang straight through.
Why is he here...?
Why was Tang Gun-ak, who should have been far away in Sichuan, standing here on the Yangtze? And why now, of all times?
The fingertips of Namgung Hwang’s hand began to tremble faintly.
Of course, none of the people here wanted to face anyone right now. They knew better than anyone what they had done.
But to meet Tang Gun-ak in a situation like this—of all people—was, for Namgung Hwang, a horror beyond comparison.
The Namgung Family of Anhui and the Sichuan Tang Family of Sichuan.
For generations, the two factions had been the twin pillars leading the Five Great Families. Naturally, Namgung Hwang and Tang Gun-ak had spent a long time as the heads of their respective families—rivals, allies, and enemies, all at once.
From Namgung Hwang’s perspective, the man he least wanted to lose to might well have been Tang Gun-ak, even more than those Gupailbang fools or the scum of the demonic factions.
“Answer me, Namgung Hwang.”
Tang Gun-ak barked the words in a voice as cold as death.
“Where is the righteousness you used to shout about so loudly?”
“...”
“And after all this, you still call yourself the head of the Azure Heaven Namgung Family? Can you even speak of Azure Heaven after begging the evil sects to spare your life just so you could survive?”
Namgung Hwang bit down on his lip until blood welled up.
What hurt him most was not Tang Gun-ak’s reproach. It was that he had no answer—no excuse he could bring himself to utter.
“Answer me.”
“...”
“Was that life of yours really so important? Important enough to throw righteousness into the dirt?”
“...Tang Gun-ak.”
Tang Gun-ak ground his teeth. He was not mocking Namgung Hwang. He was truly enraged.
The Tang Family had become part of the Heavenly Alliance, and that had complicated their ties, but the Sichuan Tang Family was still one of the Five Great Families. The shame the Namgung Family—the very family that might be called the head of the Five Great Families—had shown made his blood run backward.
No, it was not only the Five Great Families.
“Answer me, monk.”
“...Amitabha.”
Under Tang Gun-ak’s gaze, Beop Gye could not bear to meet his eyes. He shut them and softly recited the Buddha’s name.
Even after seeing that powerless response, Tang Gun-ak’s momentum did not ease in the slightest.
“How ridiculous.”
The icy sneer cut into everyone’s chest.
“You all kept saying righteousness mattered more than life itself, and the moment you were given a chance to prove it, you threw righteousness and duty away like broken sandals. And you still think you have the right to speak of what is right and what is just? Still?”
Beop Gye’s face flushed red.
What could he possibly say?
Qingcheng’s Byeok Hyeon, the one who at least had dealings with Tang Gun-ak because of their shared location in Sichuan, finally spoke in a bitter voice.
“Please stop, Lord Tang. All of this was the work of Heo Do-jin-in. Family Head Namgung and Venerable Beop Gye are hardly to blame for it.”
“Victims?”
But a clear sneer curled at the corner of Tang Gun-ak’s mouth.
“If you didn’t raise your voices, that means you’re innocent?”
“That’s...”
“Let me ask you one thing.”
Tang Gun-ak glared at them all, killing intent seething in his eyes.
“Then why are you alive right now?”
“...”
That was enough to shut even Byeok Hyeon up.
“You say you saved your disciples? Fine. I can understand that much. But then why are you standing here on two feet, alive and well, with not even a proper wound on you?”
Tang Gun-ak’s furious voice rang out like thunder.
“While the young disciples of Mount Hua were bleeding and fighting, what the hell were you all doing? Who was supposed to be the first to spill blood here, if not you?”
With his eyes closed, Namgung Hwang drew in a deep breath through his nose.
Saying they had been distracted by watching the situation and thus could not focus on the battle was a miserable excuse even to say aloud.
They simply had never understood it.
Never understood what it meant to fight with your life on the line, or how difficult that truly was.
Of course, they could force out excuses if they wanted to.
But the wounds covering the body of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon had sealed his tongue and pressed his lips down like lead.
“The reason the world tolerates your violence is because it believes righteousness is contained in the point of your sword. The moment you forget righteousness for your own gain...”
Tang Gun-ak snarled the words as if spitting them out.
“You’re no different from thieves, you idiots.”
“...”
Silence fell.
Tang Gun-ak bit his lip, barely holding back a sigh that wanted to burst out of him.
No amount of cursing could undo what had already happened. Knowing that only made it more suffocating.
Forcing his emotions down, he clenched his jaw and declared,
“As the head of the Sichuan Tang Family, I hereby declare this. From this day on, the Sichuan Tang Family will no longer be called one of the Five Great Families.”
“Tang Gun-ak!”
“Shut your mouth, you damned bastard.”
When Namgung Hwang shouted in shock, Tang Gun-ak growled like a tiger and cut him off.
“You came running here for envy and jealousy, and ended it with fear and cowardice.”
Tang Gun-ak swept a glacial gaze over everyone, then spun on his heel.
“Get out of here. The Yangtze is no longer land you can tread upon.”
Namgung Hwang was trembling now, his whole body shaking.
Terrible humiliation and unbearable shame coiled around him from head to toe.
But even greater than that was the self-loathing that clawed at him from inside.
“...Board the ships.”
“...Yes.”
At last, Namgung Hwang spoke in a helpless voice, and the retainers of the Namgung Family answered softly before making their way toward the boats moored at the riverbank.
“Amitabha.”
Beop Gye also shook his head and let out a deep sigh.
“...Let us return.”
The Shaolin monks gave faint nods and headed for their boats. But among those turning away, one person remained standing with both feet planted firmly on the ground.
“...What are you doing?”
“Elder.”
Hye Yeon spoke with a calm face.
“I will not be going back.”
“...”
Fury flashed across Beop Gye’s face for an instant.
He was acting in the Abbot’s place right now. To disobey his order was to disobey the Abbot himself—and Shaolin as a whole. Hye Yeon could not possibly be unaware of that.
But Hye Yeon simply looked at him with unwavering eyes. The anger rose and faded quickly, and Beop Gye’s strength seemed to drain away before that placid expression.
Everyone had clawed and scraped their way up the cliff to survive.
And the one who had stayed behind below, shielding the backs of those climbing up, had been Hye Yeon alone.
Of all the people in this terrible hell, the only one who had truly embodied Shaolin’s teachings of compassion and selflessness with his own body was Hye Yeon. What right did Beop Gye have to rebuke him?
“...Do as you please.”
“Amitabha.”
Hye Yeon pressed his palms together in a quiet bow. Beop Gye did not look back again and headed for the boat.
Byeok Hyeon, the last one left behind, finally opened his mouth toward Tang Gun-ak with a dark, hesitant expression.
“Lord Tang...”
“Not now.”
But Tang Gun-ak did not even spare him a glance as he snapped coldly,
“I have no desire to exchange words with you, so please return, Sect Leader.”
“...”
A deep sigh escaped Byeok Hyeon’s mouth.
It hurts.
Tang Gun-ak was a man who fully understood the crushing burden of being responsible for the lives of countless disciples. If even someone like him showed such contempt, how cold and merciless would the rest of the world’s response be?
Just imagining it made the tips of his fingers feel cold.
“...I’ll see you again. Take care of yourself.”
Leaving those words behind in utter misery, Byeok Hyeon led his disciples toward the boat.
There was no strength in the steps of those heading for the vessels. It was a very different sight from when they had arrived. And of course it was. They had lost too much here.
The Shaolin boat entered the narrow gorge first, followed by the Namgung Family’s boat slipping out of the ravine. Soon after, Qingcheng’s boat also slowly turned its bow, but only Wudang’s boat, the first to have boarded, remained moored and unmoving.
Before that Wudang boat stood one man who had not yet boarded, gazing this way.
“That bastard...”
Just as Tang Gun-ak was about to step forward, Chung Myung grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“Wait a sec.”
Then he strode toward the man standing before Wudang’s boat. Heo Do-jin-in, standing alone on the shore, watched Chung Myung approach and twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile.
“Don’t look at me with such a sour face, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
“...”
“The Heavenly Alliance can only be a good thing. Especially for someone like you, who’ll never miss a chance to make Gupailbang and the Five Great Families pay for their sins. You should be honest and admit you’re pleased.”
Chung Myung stared at Heo Do without giving him a proper answer.
“...What? Still got more insults left in you?”
At the question, Chung Myung looked at him in the dim light for a long moment before speaking.
“Idiot.”
The rebuke was ice-cold.
“If you make a choice, then grit your teeth and hold on. There’s nothing stupider than doubting a decision you made yourself. And no matter how much you yell, I’m not going to curse at you any more, and you won’t feel any better just because I’m chewing you out.”
“...”
“Yeah, you did the stupidest thing possible. You’re going to spend the rest of your life regretting the choice you made. And the responsibility for that won’t fall only on you—the entire Wudang Sect, and Gupailbang itself, will have to bear it.”
Heo Do-jin-in listened to Chung Myung’s words without the slightest change in expression. His face was impossible to read.
“But at least I...”
It was Chung Myung who twisted his own face and bit his lip instead. He let the sentence trail off for a moment, then said with a pained expression,
“I’ll call you an idiot. But I won’t laugh at you for being a coward.”
“...”
For the first time, Heo Do-jin-in’s eyes wavered.
Chung Myung let out a sigh.
Damn it.
His feelings were a mess. He knew it was wrong, knew clearly that it was wrong... but he couldn’t help understanding the mindset that forced someone to commit that wrong.
He himself had regretted things like that over and over again.
If only he had been a little more selfish. If only Chung Mun had been a little more cunning...
“If you feel better now, then get lost.”
“Ha...”.
Heo Do-jin-in gave a faint, dry laugh.
His face was still expressionless. But somehow, that blank face looked different now than it had a moment ago.
“We’ll meet again.”
“No, thanks.”
“You will. Someday...”
Heo Do-jin-in turned and leapt back onto the boat. Once he boarded, the vessel slowly turned its bow and slipped out of the gorge. Watching Wudang’s boat recede across the river, leaving a long wake behind it, Chung Myung looked up at the sky with a bitter taste in his mouth.
He could not bring himself to condemn him.
If it had been Chung Mun, he would have rebuked Heo Do without a shred of hesitation. But Chung Mun was not the one standing here, and Chung Myung could not do it.
I’m still a long way off too.
Chung Myung shrugged and gave a crooked smile, just as he was about to say something up toward the sky.
Stagger.
“...Huh?”
What the hell?
Why was the world spinning...?
No, why was the ground rising up?
“Chung Myung!”
“Hey, you brat!”
Huge shouts erupted from all around him. But only for a moment; soon the noise became thick and muffled, like he was hearing it underwater. Then, all sound in the world vanished.
It’s dark.
He couldn’t see anything.
His body was sinking lower and lower without end.
Sect Leader Senior Brother...
The Mount Hua disciples who caught Chung Myung as he collapsed unconscious were screaming his name, but Chung Myung could not hear a thing.
So many people’s desires, so many people’s hidden hearts.
Those willing to stake everything to achieve their goals, and those who would not let go even if they had to lose everything.
That was the moment when the great war, forged by all those intertwined wills and burning away everything in its path, finally came to an end.
But no one thought this was truly the end.
This was only the starting point.
Only a tiny spark—one that would, one day, grow into a blazing inferno capable of devouring the world and setting it alight.