Chapter 1496: How Dare I Not Follow? (Part 1)

The disciples of Mount Hua who had descended to the lower floor were looking up at the upper floor with somewhat anxious faces.

"What are they talking about?"

"Well...."

"It seems strange, but if you listen carefully, you might hear.... Ah!"

Jo Gol, who pricked up his ears, subtly lifted his head, and Yoon Jong grabbed his ear and pulled him.

"I told you not to listen, you brat!"

"Ah! My ear, my ear! Well, honestly, isn't Sahyung curious too?"

"If you live by doing whatever you want, you're a beast, not a human."

"Mm-hmm."

Unable to deny it, Jo Gol groaned and discreetly pulled his butt out. Yoon Jong sighed and shook his head reluctantly.

'Curious....'

Honestly, he was curious too. What kind of conversation would take place between the Beggar's Union ancestor sect Elader, who experienced the Demonic War, and Chung Myung.

"Isn't Sasuk curious?"

"Not curious."

"Really?"

To the unexpected answer, Jo Gol asked again. It was a moment when Baek Cheon was about to answer.

"....Regarding the Chivalrous Sword...."

"Hmm?"

Master Lu, who stood by to block their way so that they couldn't go up, suddenly opened his mouth.

"Who is Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword?"

"....Who is he?"

A brief confusion passed over everyone's faces. The timing of the question itself was unexpected, but it was also because the question the Beggar's Union's sect leader threw was not the kind of question he should ask.

Perhaps Beggar's Union's sect leader knew more about Chung Myung than the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect.

"Who is he, well...."

"Crazy guy."

"Lunatic."

"He's not in his right mind. That's for sure."

"He's out of his mind. Amitabha Buddha."

"....I think everyone's words seem a bit harsh...he's not that strange, right?"

Everyone looked at Lee Songbaek with sullen eyes at his words that seemed to defend Chung Myung.

"Yeah, ignorance is bliss."

"It's a comedy from a distance."

"....In my opinion, the disciples of Mount Hua tend to excessively ignore Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword. But he's not that kind of person." [not sure]

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'll keep an eye on how long that saying goes, Sohyeop."

Baek Cheon, who chuckled, looked at Master Lu again.

"He's a guy that's hard to describe."

"…Right."

Master Lu nodded briefly. Although the answers were not helpful, he seemed to sense something within them.

"But why did you suddenly ask that?"

"Just curious."

Master Lu's gaze turned upward.

"...Because I've been hearing of him for a long time."

Baek Cheon's eyes narrowed slightly. At that moment, Jo Gol approached and asked Baek Cheon again.

"But, Sasuk. Are you really not curious?"

"...I said I'm not."

"No, what the hell. These days, Sasuk is throwing around his weight..."

Bang!

With a short and powerful blow from Baek Cheon, Jo Gol fell flat.

"Yeah. You've been acting too cheeky lately."

"Welcome to a just ending."

The remaining Five Swords clapped as they watched Jo Gol fall. Baek Cheon, who smiled as he looked at the fallen Jo Gol, said with a smirk.

"There's nothing to be curious about."

And he turned his gaze towards the hole in the ceiling.

"He always focuses on the 'next'."

His eyes were full of trust.

"...Sword Saint."

The cracked voice of Hyun Pung Shin Gae came out.

The emotions contained in it would probably be impossible to fully describe. Chung Myung simply looked at Hyun Pung Shin Gae calmly.

"As I said earlier...."

Chung Myung, who temporarily tied the end of his words, sighed and spoke.

"I won't say that what you've done so far is wrong."

A slightly tired expression crossed his face as he slowly shook his head.

"If you've experienced that war, anyone would come to their own conclusion. It's a conclusion that can't expect understanding from others."

Chung Myung was no different. He had reached his own conclusion and continued to uphold it. However, he didn't hope for others to understand his conclusion. Those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand.

Chung Myung firmly looked at Hyun Pung Shin Gae and said.

"However, I have a dirty temper, so I can't calmly crane my head and wait like you do."

"...."

"Even if it's meaningless, I will struggle, fight, and tear."

Hyun Pung Shin Gae's eyes shook.

"So tell me. A way to return the Beggar's Union to its original state. A way for me to gain their power."

Hyun Pung Shin Gae silently stared at Chung Myung for a while. And Chung Myung patiently waited for him.

After a long silence, Hyun Pung Shin Gae's mouth finally opened again.

"Do you really... intend to fight him again?"

"Yes."

"Even... you know, don't you? The current Kangho is..."

"Probably weaker than in the past."

"...."

"And he will come back stronger. If he really comes back, our chances of winning won't even be one in a hundred."

"Knowing all that, how can you...?"

"I told you."

Chung Myung chuckled.

"I'm not fighting because I can win. I'm fighting because I have no choice but to fight."

"...."

"I'm a human who can only fight. The only answer I can give is to fight."

Chung Myung tapped his sword and quietly whispered.

"I can only fight. Whoever the opponent is."

Hyun Pung Shin Gae chewed his lips silently. Even in the midst of that, his eyes diligently observed Chung Myung, as if trying to grasp his sincerity. There was no sign of wavering in Chung Myung.

With a melancholic tone, Hyun Pung Shin Gae said.

"Even if... the Sword Saint didn't... make a name for himself back then..." [not sure]

"...."

"No, at least a bit earlier..."

The old man buried his face in his wrinkled hands.

Chung Myung also closed his eyes.

He must have suffered as much as Chung Myung did, abandoned in a world where no one reached out a helping hand.

"Sword Saint. Back then, Kangho was cruel, but at the same time, it was a place overflowing with countless talents."

"....Indeed."

Three Great Swordsmen of the World. A name that is nothing more than a façade, but in other words, it meant that there were at least two swordsmen comparable outwardly to Chung Myung.

And there were Tang Bo, Cheon Mun, and Cheon Jin.

If they were born in a different era, all of them would have held the world in their hands. Thanks to them, the Demonic Cult was stopped.

"But the current Kangho can't match the level of those days. Even so... even so, do you still want to fight?"

"Yes."

Hyun Pung Shin Gae's face distorted faintly.

"I don't doubt the Sword Saint. If anyone remembers what you showed in that war, no one would dare to doubt the Sword Saint. But... even if you're strong, alone..."

"I am."

Chung Myung interrupted Hyun Pung Shin Gae's words with a firm voice.

"I don't deny the greatness of those in the past. It's because of them that I could cut off the neck of the Heavenly Demon."

"...."

"I was just a sword wielded by them. I can't compare to them."

It was a calm voice. Therefore, more sincere.

Chung Myung turned his head.

At the end of his gaze, there were stairs leading down. Faint but lantern light was seeping in.

Between that light and this dark place, Chung Myung had spread out an energy barrier to prevent any sound from leaking.

However... just because words couldn't be heard didn't mean everything was severed. Even if the voice was unheard, they were undoubtedly there. And with eyes that Chung Myung knew well, they would be watching him.

"The more I look back, the more I realize they were great. But they weren't great from the beginning."

"...."

"They were all imperfect and lacking. They just... had to become great somehow."

Chung Myung's gaze returned to Hyun Pung Shin Gae.

"You say I can't do it alone?"

"....Sword Saint."

"No. I am not alone. It's the opposite. And the previous me tried to do everything alone, so it eventually ended there."

As Chung Myung's calm words continued, Hyun Pung Shin Gae's shoulders began to tremble again.

"In the end, I thought it was something only I could do. Because I thought no one would understand me. I believed I had to bear that burden alone."

Throughout the conversation, there was no hesitation in Chung Myung's expression, but within the story lay Chung Myung's life and even the life that Hyun Pung Shin Gae had lived.

"I am here now to avoid making the same mistake."

Chung Myung closed his eyes.

It was a message to Hyun Pung Shin Gae and at the same time, a message to his past self, words he couldn't say because there was no one to listen.

"Yes, I can't do it alone."

"....Sword Saint."

"So help me, Hyun Pung Gae."

When he opened his eyes again, Chung Myung's eyes were infinitely cold and firm.

"Don't look at the world with eyes that seem like those of someone who has already given up. You are still alive. There is still a chance to undo what you couldn't do back then. I'll make it happen."

Transparent tears flowed from Hyun Pung Shin Gae's eyes.

The sight blurred and overlapped.

The young boy standing in front and the figure of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint that he so admired in the past.

Hyun Pung Shin Gae could understand. The one in front of him now was the Sword Saint, yet not the Sword Saint.

Before him was someone who seemed weaker and insufficient compared to the Sword Saint, but undoubtedly a person who had become stronger than the Sword Saint in the past.

"Did you ask me to help...?"

"Yes."

"Not about forgiving me... or helping me... but asking for help from someone like me who is just waiting to get old and die?"

Chung Myung chuckled.

"Yes."

"...You're cruel, Sword Saint."

In response to Chung Myung's laughter, Hyun Pung Shin Gae also laughed with shaking shoulders.

The sound, mixed with coughing and laughter, continued for a long time, scratching Hyun Pung Shin Gae's dry throat like a blood-stained sword.

"Sword Saint... I am a living corpse. I can't see the future of the Beggar's Union... the path for the world with my dim eyes now. For me, who has lost the power to discern right from wrong...any words are just empty."

There was a clear meaning of refusal. Nevertheless, Chung Myung looked at Hyun Pung Shin Gae without any sign of wavering.

Finally, Hyun Pung Shin Gae spoke roughly, stealing a glance at his face.

"But... Sword Saint, if you just, just ask me to help you..."

Tears flowed once again in the place where the tears had dried up. The memory of that time, still vividly emerging between the hazy vision.

A mountain rising like a blood-stained sword. Turning away from it cowardly at that time. Even though he knew everything was wrong, he couldn't muster the courage at that time. Memories of the past, where everything stabbed his heart like a sharp dagger.

If he hadn't turned away at that time, if he had gathered the courage to climb the Thousand Mountains even belatedly, he wouldn't have lived such a regretful and miserable life.

The thick regret overlapped with the time in this place.

"How..."

To the extent that it was almost unbelievable that tears poured out of the dried-up body like a withered tree. He couldn't explain this emotion and tears, even after living for so long.

"How dare I not follow? How?"

Tears poured out as if a river from the dry body that had not beaten for a hundred years. It was the warm blood (義血), his belief, his life, and everything.

"If you want it, even if my spirit is dim and my will is pathetic, I will be with you."

The heart that hadn't beaten for a hundred years began to pulse again.