Episode 1496. How dare you not follow it? (1)
Hwasan’s disciples who came downstairs were staring upstairs with somewhat anxious faces.
“What are we talking about?”
“Well….”
“It seems like a surprise attack, but if you listen closely, you might be able to hear it… Argh!”
Yoonjong grabbed Jogeol’s ear and pulled her as she slowly lifted her head.
“I sent you down not to listen, but why bother listening to it?”
“Ahh! Ear ears! “No, honestly, you’re also curious about the death penalty!”
“If I live my life doing whatever I want, is that a person? “It’s an animal.”
“Keueuung.”
Unable to deny it, Jo Geol made a groaning sound and slowly pulled out her buttocks. Yunjong sighed and shook his head.
‘I’m curious…’
Honestly, he was curious too. What kind of conversation are Ark and Cheongmyeong, the ancestors of openness who went through the Demonic Cult War, trying to have?
“Aren’t you curious about Sasuk?”
“I’m not curious.”
“yes? really?”
Jo Geol asked back at the unexpected answer. Baekcheon was just about to answer.
“…The Swordsmen Association….”
“Hmm?”
Cheon Sang-rooju, who was standing by their side and blocking the way to prevent them from going up, suddenly opened his mouth.
“What kind of person is the Hwasan Swordsman Association?”
“…What kind of person are you?”
A brief look of confusion flashed across everyone’s faces. The timing of the question itself was unexpected, but it was not a question that the Ark of Openness would ask.
Isn’t the Ark of Openness the one who might know more about Cheongmyeong than the disciples of Hwasan?
“What kind of person is that….”
“Crazy guy.”
“You idiot.”
“I’m not crazy. “This is certain.”
“It’s a basket. Amitabha Buddha.”
“…I think everyone’s words are a bit harsh…but he’s not that strange of a person, is he?”
Everyone looked at Lee Song-baek with sullen eyes at the words that seemed to cover Cheongmyeong.
“Yes, ignorance is medicine.”
“If you look at it from a distance, it’s a comedy.”
“…In my opinion, people in Hwasan tend to ignore the Hwasan Sword Association excessively. “I’m not the type of person to do that.”
“yes yes.”
“I’ll be sure to see how long those words last, Sohyup.”
Baek-cheon laughed and looked at Cheon Sang-ru-ju again.
“He’s a guy that’s hard to describe.”
“…Right.”
Cheon Sang-rooju nodded briefly. The answers weren’t particularly helpful, but Cheon Sang-rooju seemed to feel something in them.
“But why are you suddenly asking that?”
“I was just curious.”
Cheon Sang-ruju’s gaze turns upward.
“…Because I’ve been here for a long time.”
Baekcheon’s eyes narrowed slightly. At that time, Jo Geol slowly approached and asked Baek Cheon again.
“But Sasuk. “Are you really not curious?”
“…That’s right.”
“No, what kind of guy’s bravado. Sasuk has been putting on too much weight these days…”
Boom!
Baekcheon’s short and powerful blow caused Jogeol to fall straight down.
“huh. “I’ve been joking around a bit too much lately.”
“I welcome a just ending.”
The rest of the five swords clapped as they saw the scene. Baekcheon laughed while looking at Jo Geol, who had collapsed, and said thoughtfully.
“There’s nothing to wonder about.”
Then he turned his gaze towards the hole in the ceiling.
“Because he always talks about ‘next’.”
What those eyes filled was simply trust.
“…Geomzone.”
A newly cracked voice leaked from Hyeonpungsingae’s lips.
The emotions contained within cannot be fully described. Cheongmyeong just looked at Hyeonpungsingae calmly.
“Like I said before…”
Cheongmyeong paused for a moment before continuing with a sigh.
“I won’t say that what you’ve done so far is wrong.”
A slightly tired look flashed across his face as he slowly shook his head.
“Anyone who experienced that war has no choice but to come up with their own conclusions. “It is a conclusion that I cannot hope for others to understand.”
The same goes for Cheongmyeong. He also came to his own conclusion and is still coming to it. But I don’t expect others to understand that conclusion. Those who haven’t experienced it won’t know.
Cheongmyeong said resolutely, looking at Hyeonpungsingae.
“It’s just that I have a dirty temper, so I can’t calmly crane my head and wait like you do.”
“….”
“Even if it is meaningless, I will struggle, struggle, and bite.”
Hyeonpungsingae’s eyes were shaking.
“So tell me. A way to return the opening back to its original opening. How I can gain their power.”
Hyeonpungsingae looked at Cheongmyeong for a long time without saying a word. And Cheongmyeong waited for him in silence.
After a long silence, Hyeonpungsingae’s mouth finally opened again.
“Are you sure you want to fight him again?”
“okay.”
“The Geomjon… doesn’t you know? The current powerhouse….”
“It will be weaker than in the past.”
“….”
“And he will come back stronger. “If he really comes back, our chances of winning will be less than a penny.”
“How can you know all of that…”
“I told you so.”
Cheongmyeong chuckled.
“I don’t fight because I can win. “We fight because we have no choice but to fight.”
“….”
“I am a human who can only fight. “There is only one answer a person like that can come up with.”
Cheongmyeong tapped his sword and quietly muttered.
“We just fight. “Whoever the opponent is.”
Hyeonpungsingae chewed his lips. In the meantime, both eyes were diligently examining Cheongmyeong, as if trying to understand the true intention. Cheongmyeong did not feel the slightest shaking.
Hyeonpungsingae said in a sad voice.
“Geomjon… If only Geomjon had not changed his name back then…”
“….”
“No, at least a little sooner…”
The old man buried his face in his wrinkled hands.
Cheongmyeong also closed his eyes.
Just as he despaired, Hyeonpungsingae must have suffered like hell. It must have felt like I was left alone in a world where no one would lend a hand.
“Geomzone. “The river at that time was terrible, but at the same time it was a place overflowing with many talents.”
“…It did.”
The three greatest swordsmen of the world. It is true that it is a superficial name, but in other words, it also means that there were two more swordsmen who could at least outwardly be compared to Cheongmyeong.
In addition, party reports and Cheongmun Cheongjin.
These people would have held the world in their hands if they had been born in a different era. Those people worked together to stop the demonic cult.
“But today’s powerhouses can never reach the level they had back then. And yet… you still want to fight?”
“okay.”
Hyeonpungsingae’s face was slightly distorted.
“I don’t doubt Geomzon. No one who remembers what he showed in that war would dare to doubt Geomjon. But… no matter how strong the Geomjon is, he can’t do it alone…”
“I.”
Cheongmyeong interrupted Hyeonpungsingae’s words with a firm voice.
“I don’t deny that they were great in the past. “Because of them, I was able to cut off the head of the Heavenly Demon.”
“….”
“They were so great that I couldn’t even compare them to them. “I was just a sword they wielded.”
It was a calm voice. So it comes across as more sincere.
Cheongmyeong turned his head.
At the end of his line of sight was a staircase leading down. Although faint, the light from the lamp was leaking in.
Between that light and this dark place, there is a wonderful curtain set by Cheongmyeong. So that no sound escapes.
But… just because you can’t hear anything doesn’t mean everything is cut off.
Even if you can’t hear their voices, they are definitely there. And Cheongmyeong will be watching him with familiar eyes.
“The more I look back, the more they were great people. But just because they are doesn’t mean they were great from the beginning.”
“….”
“They were all unique and lacking. I just… had to become great somehow.”
Cheongmyeong’s gaze returned to Hyeonpungsingae.
“I said I couldn’t do it alone, right?”
“…Geomzone.”
“no. I am not alone. It’s the opposite. And because before, I tried to do everything alone, that’s where I ended up.”
As Cheongmyeong’s calm words continued, Hyeonpungsingae’s shoulders began to tremble again.
“In the end, I thought it was something only I could do. Because I thought there was no one who could understand me. “I thought I had to bear that burden.”
Throughout the story, Cheongmyeong’s expression showed no signs of agitation, but the story contained Cheongmyeong’s life and even the life of Hyeonpungsingae.
“The reason I’m here now is to avoid making the same mistake.”
Cheongmyeong closed his eyes.
These are words addressed to Hyeonpungsingae, and at the same time, words addressed to the past self. The words I couldn’t say because there was no one to listen.
“Yeah, like you said, I can’t do it alone.”
“…Geomzone.”
“So help me, Hyeonpunggae.”
When I opened my eyes again, Cheongmyeong’s eyes were infinitely cool and resolute.
“Don’t look at the world through the eyes of someone who has finished everything. you are still alive There is still a chance to turn back what was broken because you couldn’t do it then. “I will make it happen.”
Transparent tears flowed from Hyeonpungsingae’s eyes.
My vision became blurred and overlapped.
The image of the young boy standing in front of him and the Plum Blossom Sword Zone he had admired so much in the past.
Hyeonpungsingae knew. The person in front of him now is Geomzon, but he is not Geomzon.
What is in front of you is another person who appears to be weaker and lacking than Geomzon, but is clearly stronger than Geomzon of the past.
“Did you tell me to help you…?”
“okay.”
“You’re not forgiving me… You’re not helping me… Are you asking me for help again when I’m just waiting for the day when I grow old and die?”
Cheongmyeong chuckled.
“okay.”
“…You’re harsh, Geomzon.”
At Cheongmyeong’s laughter, Hyeonpungsingae also shook his shoulders and laughed.
The sound, half coughing and half laughing, escaped for a long time as it scratched Hyeonpungsingae’s withered neck.
“Geomjon… I am a living corpse. The future of openness… and the path for the world are no longer visible to my blurred eyes. “For me, who has lost the power to distinguish between right and wrong… any words are empty.”
It contained a clear sense of rejection. Nevertheless, Cheongmyeong looked at Hyeonpungsingae without the slightest agitation.
Finally, Hyeonpungsingae wiped his face in a rough manner and spoke.
“But… if the Geomjon tells me to just help you…”
Tears flowed again where they had dried up. There is a scene that still vividly appears through my blurred vision.
A mountain rising like a bloody sword. That time when I cowardly turned away from that mountain. That time when I knew everything was wrong but couldn’t muster the courage. A memory that struck his heart like a sharp dagger, leaving no time for it to heal for the rest of his life.
If I hadn’t turned back then, if I had found the courage to climb Mt. 100,000, even if it was too late, at least I wouldn’t have lived such a miserable life with such regrets.
A feeling of regret thicker than the fog overlapped with the time here.
“How…”
Tears poured down in an unbelievable amount that could have come from a skinny body that was struggling so hard. Even after living for such a long time, I felt like I couldn’t explain these tears and these feelings.
“How dare you not follow? “How?”
When Hyeonpunggae turned around that day, what he left behind was not just Cheongmyeong and the death squad. He turned away that day, leaving behind the red blood that made Hyeonpunggae a Hyeonpunggae.
Red blood began to circulate again in the body that looked like a dried old tree. It was his faith, his life, and his passionate blood that was everything to him.
“If you wish, I will be with you even though my spirit has already faded and become shabby.”
My heart, which had not beaten for a hundred years, began to beat again.
