Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: People on the Cliff's Edge
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When Dang Mujin woke up, the first thing he saw was Namgung Myeong squatting down. A rag patched over his shoulder was soaked bright red, so it looked like he needed treatment.
But the moment he saw Namgung Myeong's expression, Dang Mujin realized he'd been mistaken.
Namgung Myeong wasn't squatting there because he needed treatment. He looked like he was dying to show off about something.
Namgung Myeong glanced at Dang Mujin and put on an expression like he had mastered all the ways of the world.
"This is how the world looks to a Peak Realm martial artist..."
Wondering what nonsense this was, Dang Mujin looked at him closely.
On the surface, nothing seemed different, but there was an indescribable subtle change.
'...He broke through the wall just like that?'
Namgung Myeong pushed off his knees with both hands and stood up, looking down at Dang Mujin.
Then, in a most irritating way, he smirked.
"This must be the insurmountable difference in perspective between Peak and First-Rate."
He'd clearly been waiting all this time just to say that. The guy was crazy in all sorts of ways.
Dang Mujin sat up with a sullen expression.
"You're in no position to act cocky in front of me. I saw you collapse with your sword in hand earlier."
"Hey, First-Rate Dang. So what?"
"So what? It means if I so much as open my mouth, a Transcendent Realm martial artist will come flying in and lop off your left arm."
"..."
Namgung Myeong's heart sank. It might be different if someone else said it, but coming from Dang Mujin, even his father would believe it without question.
Namgung Myeong's attitude snapped right back to normal.
"Of course it was a joke. You'll break through the Peak wall someday too, so what's there to brag about over something like this?"
"Hmm."
Namgung Myeong grabbed Dang Mujin's hand and pulled him to his feet. Only then did Pyochung come into view for both of them.
Both Namgung Myeong and Dang Mujin felt a pang of guilt inside. This wasn't the time for them to be casually bantering. Dangrang and Sanjeo had vanished, after all.
If people had disappeared from this towering cliff, it was obvious where they were now. At the bottom of the sheer Thousand-Zhang Precipice, where no one could return alive.
But unexpectedly, Pyochung wasn't crying.
It wasn't a happy expression or a sad one. It wasn't something that could be described so simply.
It was the face of someone who had cast off a burden and felt relieved, while at the same time endlessly mulling over deep regret and memories.
Pyo Chung gazed not down at the cliff below, but off into the distant horizon beyond it.
His eyes reached the horizon past the peaks of Nokgun Mountain.
Pyo Chung stared at the horizon for a very long time.
After quite some time had passed like that, Pyochung gathered up Dangrang and Sanjeo's swords.
"Let's head back."
*
The three headed toward Nokgun Village. But the village was empty.
Just as they had told the young people before going to fight the Taeui Sword Sect Leader, they had evacuated everyone in advance.
"Where do you think the villagers are hiding?"
"Who knows. No idea."
"Then where will you go?"
It was a somewhat formal question. There was only one place they could go.
The three climbed the cliff path along the ledge. They needed to confirm the cloud bridge was intact to put their minds at ease.
And when the three reached the top of the cliff, they unexpectedly saw a large crowd.
All the men who had been building the cloud bridge were there, and a good number of villagers hadn't evacuated either—they'd stayed to watch the bridge being made.
Someone spotted the three and shouted.
"They're here!"
The people whipped their heads around to look at Dang Mujin's group, then gasped in horror.
It was only natural. With wounds covering their bodies and blood streaming down, no one would think they'd won the fight.
Pyo Chung smiled with an almost exaggerated leisure.
"We won. The Taeui Sword Sect Leader is dead, and no one will bother us for a while."
The people's faces brightened.
But they didn't show any more emotion than that. They could see the three swords in Pyochung's hands.
The Nokgun Three Swords never parted from their blades.
And the fact that Dangrang and Sanjeo's swords were in Pyochung's hands meant the two had become guests who would never return.
Pyo Chung burst into a hearty laugh.
"Dangrang and Sanjeo didn't leave weeping or grieving. They didn't fall to the enemy's blade. Those guys achieved what they wanted and died purely by their own choice. Rejoice for them. Only if you all rejoice will Dangrang and Sanjeo rejoice too."
The villagers smiled bitterly. Pyochung watched those smiles, then posed a question.
"By the way, why didn't you all evacuate?"
Bang Elder answered Pyochung's question.
"Even if things went wrong, we figured we might finish the bridge if we kept at it diligently."
"If things went wrong, the bridge would snap right after completion anyway."
"Even having it complete for just a moment is what's important. It's our last chance anyway—if we die without ever laying even one bridge, wouldn't that be even more heartbreaking?"
Pyo Chung fully understood Bang Elder's words.
And the work wasn't finished yet.
Pyo Chung, the villagers, Dang Mujin, and Namgung Myeong all sat still, gazing at the clouds.
The dark rain clouds gradually lightened, slowly drifting north. Sunlight pierced through the gaps, a beautiful sight. The people gazed at the stunning scenery in a daze.
And the people of Nokgun Village stared at the cloud bridge.
An unnamed middle-aged man was crawling across the cloud bridge, securing the final plank.
A moment later, the man who had placed the last plank stood up. It was the moment the cloud bridge was complete.
Everyone held their breath.
They thought the man who placed the final plank would cross to the other side. Being the first to cross the bridge—that was the honor given to the one who capped the finale, wasn't it?
But unexpectedly, the man didn't head to the other side. He returned to the crowd.
Without a word, he blended back in among the people and sat down.
The people's gazes tangled in confusion.
It wasn't long before the eyes of the Nokgun villagers converged on one spot. There sat a skinny old woman. Ju Grandmother.
Pyo Chung stood and approached Ju Grandmother.
And just as he had done not long before, he offered her his back. Pyochung's clothes were tattered, stained red with blood. To make matters worse, wounds that hadn't stopped bleeding were visible through the tears in his clothes.
Ju Grandmother silently stared at that bloodied back.
Pyo Chung turned his head back to look at Ju Grandmother. It was hard to tell if her mind was clouded or clear.
But Pyochung spoke in a deliberately bright and lively voice.
"Mother, hop on quick."
Ju Grandmother hesitated for a long while, then climbed onto Pyochung's back. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Pyo Chung reached his left hand back to support her frail body.
Pyo Chung stood before the cloud bridge and gripped the handrail with his right hand. The bridge swayed slightly, but it didn't seem like it would snap or collapse.
Pyo Chung moved forward slowly. A bit slow, but without shaking.
Ju Grandmother said nothing.
When they were halfway across, Ju Grandmother buried her face in Pyochung's back.
His back grew wet with warm tears. From behind, he heard the old woman sobbing quietly.
Pyo Chung murmured.
"Cry it out. Cry until your heart eases. It won't wash away all that pain, but it's better than not crying."
Ju Grandmother's sobs went on for a long time. And so Pyochung crossed the bridge very, very slowly.
*
The next morning, the people left Nokgun Village and headed to Nakseong Village at the foot of Nokgun Mountain.
There wasn't any special reason. They just wanted to be even a little closer to the world outside Nokgun Mountain.
Besides, on second thought, Nakseong Village was still part of Nokgun Mountain. Entering it didn't violate the imperial decree.
Very few in the village had ever been to Nakseong Village. Aside from the few who delivered gathered herbs and fetched daily necessities, no one had reason to go.
No one had wanted to go either. They hated the villagers' gazes, laced with subtle superiority and disdain.
But now, the Nakseong villagers wouldn't be able to look at the Nokgun people that way anymore.
However, when the Nokgun villagers arrived at Nakseong Village, it was deserted. They'd left behind houses, livestock, rice sacks—everything except valuables they'd hastily grabbed. It seemed they'd fled upon realizing the Taeui Sword Sect Leader had fallen.
'They must've been scared we'd come for revenge.'
The Nokgun villagers had no intention of harming the Nakseong people. But given how long they'd tormented the Nokgun folk, it was understandable they'd panic preemptively.
In any case, the Nokgun people seemed relieved that the Nakseong villagers were gone.
With curious expressions, they explored Nakseong Village. Some went inside the well-built houses, others marveled at all the odds and ends.
Nakseong Village wasn't large, and there was no grand mansion where everyone could gather.
The Nokgun people came out of the houses and settled in open spaces. Fenceless yards. Streets. Well sides.
They sat wherever convenient and enjoyed the leisure. Even that much seemed to satisfy them.
Children ran about wildly, shouting, but no one scolded them.
But there was still work to be done.
Someone had to leave Nokgun Mountain and inform the magistrates and county chiefs of other regions.
Only after presenting and confirming the Nokgun villagers' merits could they truly be free.
The ones who could leave the village were three: Dang Mujin, Namgung Myeong, and Pyochung.
The three decided to leave Nokgun Mountain together.
When the three announced they were going out of Nokgun Mountain, the Nokgun villagers gathered and surrounded them in a circle.
"Come back safe. You'll be coming back, right?"
"Hope there's good news..."
"How many nights before you return?"
Pyo Chung listened to their words for a long while, then asked them.
"If you're allowed to leave Nokgun Mountain, where will you go?"
The people hesitated a bit. Then, like a dam bursting, they each shared their plans.
A good number of the young ones said they'd leave Nokgun Mountain and settle elsewhere.
But surprisingly, more than half said they'd stay on Nokgun Mountain.
"You're staying on Nokgun Mountain?"
"Yeah. Good or bad, we've lived our whole lives here."
To the villagers, the outside world was a dream, infinite possibility, the land of their ancestors' roots and their true home.
But at the same time, it was an unknown realm, a space they knew nothing of, a homeland no one had ever seen.
What mattered to them wasn't the life they could have outside Nokgun Mountain.
What mattered was that they weren't imprisoned anymore, and that they could choose their futures.
That they were no longer outlaws was key, and that their descendants wouldn't be either.
They had shattered the chains passed down for generations and seized a life where they could leave whenever they wanted.
Bang Elder smiled warmly.
"Besides, rather than suffer in some strange place, it feels better to live hugging the familiar Nokgun Mountain. And now the Nakseong people have vacated their houses, so we can live just as well off as they did."
Bang Elder also expressed his gratitude to Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong.
"Healer Dang, Young Hero Myeong. We've received such great help. We'll stay here and wait for the day we can repay Healer Dang and Young Hero Myeong. Is there any way we can show our thanks?"
Dang Mujin didn't particularly want anything from them. What could he demand from people who had just escaped a hellish life?
He also felt that he and Namgung Myeong had contributed very little.
The ones who laid the endlessly long ledge path were the Nokgun people, the ones who built the cloud bridge were Nokgun people, and the ones who endured the long years of suffering were Nokgun people.
But the people sincerely wanted to repay Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong. To lighten the debt in their hearts, Dang Mujin had to ask for something.
So Dang Mujin asked for the one thing they could easily obtain.
"Elixirs or herbs... no, never mind. No need for those. Sell them to merchants. But if you find venomous insects, poisonous plants, or any unusual poisons, don't throw them away—collect them carefully and pass them on to me."
"That's all?"
Nokgun Mountain was full of poisons. But until now, no one had needed them.
To the Nokgun people, Dang Mujin's request was hardly different from saying he wanted nothing.
"It won't help anyone else, but it'll be useful to me."
"...If that's what you want."
Bang Elder bowed deeply to Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong, offering a cupped-fist salute.
"The people of Nokgun Village, and our descendants, will always regard the two of you as family. We wish you eternal peace."
Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong returned cupped-fist salutes to Bang Elder.
And they left Nokgun Mountain following Pyochung.