Episode 1305. What the heck is this guy? (5)
Jo Geol looked ahead with nervous eyes.
“Death penalty….”
“Shh.”
But as soon as he could open his mouth, Yoonjong interrupted him.
Yunjong, who was silently examining the scene seen through the dense bushes, hardened his face.
Narrow canyon.
In fact, many people were encamped in a narrow road that was more suitable to be described as a cracked cliff rather than a canyon.
It seemed as if their momentum was being conveyed to this far away place.
“…Let’s go back.”
“yes.”
Yoonjong and Jogeol carefully turned around.
The bushes rustled every time my body passed by.
It was a subtle sound, but it was annoying, almost like scratching my ears.
The two people moved carefully, leaning down to avoid touching the bushes as much as possible. The moment they reached the back of the mountain, they got up and sprinted forward.
After running for a while, they entered the deep forest at the entrance to the mountain.
As I entered the deep forest where not even the sunlight shines, death threats came pouring out from all around me.
“That’s me!”
When Jo Geol shouted, the murderous spirit that had been flying in disappeared as if it had washed away in an instant.
Jogeol jumped over the bushes that had grown up to his waist and glanced at the people sitting in front of him.
Haenam’s disciples were sitting here and there taking a rest.
‘…It’s decreased quite a bit.’
Jo Geol’s expression darkened slightly.
After leaving for a while and returning, the situation seemed more objective.
Their numbers have decreased significantly compared to when they first arrived at the coast together.
It’s not just the number that has decreased.
The bigger change is the energy they give off.
At first glance, the gaze of the Haenam faction inspectors who were drawn to Jo Geol showed an eerie, lifelike quality.
I am not showing any hostility toward Jo Geol.
Even though it has been a while since I came here and rested, the nerves and vitality from the previous battle are not easily going away.
Clothes that were soaked with sweat and dirt, making it difficult to recognize their original color. Faces with dried blood and dust.
Their lips were dry and cracked, and the shadows under their sunken eyes made their faces look even heavier.
They look more like battle-weary soldiers rather than unmanned soldiers.
Jo Geul once again realized how much they had changed.
If Jo Geol hadn’t moved all the way here together, she wouldn’t have believed that the people she saw in Haenam and the people sitting here now from exhaustion were the same people.
‘It was only a few days.’
Of course, just because they are Jo Geol doesn’t mean they don’t understand them.
What I went through in the past few days was on a level that surpasses the hardships that other people usually have to go through in a few years.
Jo Geol, too, would have been similar if he had suddenly been driven into battle like them, instead of growing slowly after meeting Cheongmyeong.
No, he probably looked even worse than these people.
Or maybe it wasn’t even possible to look like this.
Because I wouldn’t have survived this far.
Jo Geol, who was walking while thinking deeply, suddenly flinched when she felt a sensation under her feet.
I hurriedly got my feet wet.
“Ah… I’m sorry!”
What he stepped on was the sword that Haenam disciple had placed on the ground.
Rather than putting it down, it would be more appropriate to say that it was thrown away or thrown away.
But in any case, it is extremely rude to touch someone else’s illness.
It is common for people to get stabbed even if they carelessly touch someone else’s illness.
But now that he had stepped on it…
But the Haenam disciple said nothing even after seeing his sword being stepped on.
He just glanced at Jo Geol and wordlessly dragged the sword that had been stepped on and threw it in front of him.
He didn’t even think about shaking off the mud that had moved from Jo Geol’s shoes to his sword shoes.
At that time, Yoonjong quietly approached me and comforted me.
“let’s go.”
“Yes, death penalty.”
Jo Geol nodded and walked after Yoon Jong.
The scene I saw just a moment ago still lingered in my mind.
‘But it’s my sword.’
Jo Geol, a disciple of Hwasan, was also taught to cherish his sword as if it were his life.
Education is like ink that slowly seeps into a white cloth. If you listen to the same words for a long time, you will unconsciously keep those words throughout your life.
Haenam, a member of a prestigious family, must have received a more rigorous education than Hwasan.
However, Haenam’s disciple is handling his sword like a rolling wooden stick.
Are you tired enough to handle a sword as important as your life like that?
Or does it mean that even that life is so insignificant here?
Jo Geol immediately shook his head and cleared his mind.
These are all meaningless thoughts and delusions.
The two stopped only when they reached the place where the members of the Cheonwoo Alliance were gathered.
“Sasuk.”
Baekcheon, who was discussing something with Lim So-byeong, looked at Yoonjong’s call.
“Have you been there?”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“What is the situation?”
“Not good.”
Yoonjong explained with a stern expression.
“The canyon ahead is much narrower than I thought.”
“How was it compared to where the Black Dragon House was last time?”
“It seems narrower than that place.”
Baekcheon’s face darkened slightly.
The valley entering Heukryongchae was also high and steep, making it difficult to respond to attacks from above.
However, if it were narrower than that, it would be more dangerous because there would be no place to escape.
“What about the enemies?”
“We are blocking the water leakage. Because the canyon is narrow, there aren’t many of them visible from the outside, but they could have been lined up much further back. And assuming that they are encamped at the exit as well… the number will be at least five hundred or more.”
“…Five hundred.”
Baekcheon calmly repeated.
Despite his calm voice, he was not very comfortable on the inside.
‘It’s endless.’
It is impossible to count the number of people who were killed on their way here.
There are more killings committed in the last few days than there have been in my entire life.
However, the number of enemies being replenished is greater than the number of enemies being reduced.
Now I felt more than just gloom, I even felt despair.
“How about climbing the mountain without going through the canyon?”
“The mountains are very steep. We don’t know, but whether Haenam’s disciples will be able to follow along…” “
…There will be ambushes.”
“I guess so. “I felt like I was alive.”
Baekcheon nodded.
I don’t know if it’s Jo Geol, but since Yoon Jong confirmed it, it’s certain.
The ambush on the cliff is nothing to the disciples of Hwasan.
In fact, it may be easier than the enemies lurking on the flat ground.
However, not everyone here is a disciple of Hwasan.
Without even discussing Haenam, even if you just play Namgungdowi or Dangpae, you won’t be able to show even half of your skills on the cliff.
I don’t know if it’s Lim So-byeong, who lives in the mountains like his own home.
Baekcheon looked at one person with new eyes.
Cheongmyeong was leaning against the tree trunk and closing his eyes.
Baekcheon’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.
When that guy hung Hwasan’s disciples from the cliff and threw them into the water, I thought he was just looking for an efficient way to harass them.
But here, I felt it again and again.
That all that training had meaning.
Of course, it would have been meaningless training in a peaceful world.
However, in wartime, where fights between death and death continue, all those experiences can save one’s life.
‘Did he expect all this?’
I can not know. But I can’t ask.
After entering this battle, Cheongmyeong was extremely quiet.
And when the moment came to rest, I closed my eyes like I did now and focused only on recovering my stamina.
As if that would allow them to fight even for just one more moment.
Baekcheon also knows. That that’s right.
It’s a meeting, and half of the conversation is meaningless.
In order to make sure that you are not going down the wrong path, you may be constantly having conversations that are just a waste of stamina in order to suppress the anxiety rising in your heart.
However, Cheongmyeong mechanically does what needs to be done, as if he is a person with no emotions.
For a moment, he doubted whether that guy was actually the Cheongmyeong he knew.
“Sasuk?”
Baekcheon took a long breath and turned his gaze in the other direction.
“The Green Forest King.”
“yes.”
“What do you think?”
Lim So-byeong said, scratching his head with the end of a fan out of habit.
“A detour would be the wisest way, but in a war, you can’t just follow the right judgment.”
Baekcheon nodded.
Detours only increase the time of escape.
Since the speed at which enemies are replenished is faster than the speed at which enemies are defeated, you will have to deal with more and more of them as time passes.
“As for the back…”
“I recommend not thinking about it.”
Lim So-byeong shrugged his shoulders and joked.
“No matter what you think, there is no answer. “For now, we just have to think about moving forward.”
That is correct.
However, as Lim So-byeong said earlier, there are times when it is difficult to do something even if you know it is right.
No matter how hard I tried to erase it from my mind, I kept thinking about the fact that 10,000 people were following me from behind.
‘It probably reached a short distance away.’
How far is it? Two o’clock? Or Han Si-jin?
Since it stopped here like this, it would have been close enough to reach this place within at least an hour.
“Then it means you have to break through eventually.”
Baekcheon looked at Haenam’s disciples who were sitting down.
Even though I’m so tired, can I endure the intense battle that will follow?
From yesterday to today, they were only able to rest a little.
It’s not enough time to even close your eyes, or even to fly.
I was pushed to the limit just by training, and I had to endure threats to my life for several days.
Can they survive this battle?
“…Let’s think of a way around it.”
“Jangmun Assistant Manager.”
“I’m not avoiding it. You have to think realistically. “What did Yoonjong’s enemy level look like?”
Yoonjong spoke calmly with a stern face.
“It’s not exact, but it looked like there were some people from the Sapaeryun. “I felt an eerie feeling at times.”
Baekcheon speaks to Lim So-byeong again.
“Even if we drill through there, it’s meaningless if the damage increases. And even if the damage is not great, if you use up everything there, the only way left is to be chased and die.”
“Hmm.”
“We need to avoid the falling rain. “It’s not the end just passing through there.”
Baekcheon’s words also had a point.
Lim So-byeong was lost in thought with his complexion hardened.
At that time, another voice suddenly joined in.
“Go to the canyon.”
Baekcheon suddenly turned his gaze.
Before I knew it, Cheongmyeong had opened his eyes and was approaching with a sword strapped to his waist.
“Cheongmyeong.”
“You just have to get over there.”
“…Cheongmyeong. You may be like that, but they…”
“Sasuk.”
Baekcheon closed his mouth.
“You just have to get over there.”
Baekcheon, who was hesitant about what to answer, eventually nodded.
When Cheongmyeong says something, there is always a reason.
Wasn’t it Cheongmyeong who decided on this route in the first place?
Baekcheon said.
“Let’s do that. However, we must remember that if the damage is too great, there is no point in breaking through.”
“damage?”
Cheongmyeong laughed softly as if it was funny.
The exposed white teeth looked strangely creepy.
“You need to look at the situation clearly, you desk lickers.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Even if there was a detour, I would have gone there.”
As Baekcheon looked at him curiously, Cheongmyeong spoke as if chewing.
“You won’t be surrounded on a narrow road. “You just have to deal with the enemy in front of you, right?”
Baekcheon’s hands trembled slightly for a moment.
However, Cheongmyeong just smiled coldly, whether he was aware of his expression or not.
“It’s a place where there are a hundred or a thousand people, and as long as you cut down, the path will open. “Is there any better way?”
Baekcheon sighed, trying his best to ignore the chill running up his back.
“…Where is the departure?”
“now.”
There was a grim look in Cheongmyeong’s eyes.
“Instead, tell them to be prepared. It will be worse than you think.”
Everyone nodded with serious faces.
