Episode 1274 It must be a tiger in a poison. (4)
Humans used all available resources to conquer the sea. Therefore, humans, who were originally unable to travel on the sea, were able to go beyond the coastal waters and into the distant ocean.
It may have been difficult for ordinary people to imagine, but the efforts and tenacity of humans to face the sea have achieved such great results.
But funny enough, the more people fight against the sea, the more they face the greatness of the sea. No matter how much you row or how much you spread the sails, there will inevitably come a moment when you cannot drive the boat as you want.
In that case, all you have to do is wait. May the sea guide them and may the Dragon King of the sea have mercy on them.
Kwak Hwan-so looked at the sea with somewhat bewildered eyes.
High waves crash and a headwind blows. In times like this, human power is of no use.
All we have to do is fold the sails, put in the oars, and wait in silence.
In fact, Kwak Hwan-so did not dislike this moment that much.
If you think about it, this is the moment when humans become one with the sea, the moment when the flow of the sea and the flow of people coincide.
However, what came to Kwak Hwan-so’s eyes as he gazed at the sea now was not the satisfaction of unity, but a feeling of helplessness.
I originally thought that nature was something to go along with, not something to fight against, so I thought being pushed around wasn’t such a bad thing.
Now, Kwak Hwan-so was painfully realizing that his thoughts were merely the self-consolation of a helpless person.
‘War…’
His hands were still shaking. Even though it had been a while since we left the coast, the tremors did not subside. I hesitated to even take my hands out of my sleeves for fear that my trembling hands would be caught.
It’s funny. If you think about it, wasn’t what happened just a moment ago a situation that Kwak Hwan-so had dreamed of his whole life?
I have been waiting for a long time for the day when I will be able to swing my sword against the evil enemies of the ruthless Sapa who are disrupting the world.
Because the situation was not favorable, I had endured until now, but I promised myself countless times that if given the opportunity, I would fight braver than anyone else and prove that I had the courage of Haenam’s sword.
But… the war he saw through his eyes was very different from what he thought.
The smell of young blood still hasn’t gone away from the tip of my nose.
This was the first time I realized that the smell of human blood could be so disgusting. It was my first time to know that the screams of a dying person spilling out their internal organs were so cruel. It is also common for people to step on their comrade’s severed head and move forward in the midst of that vicious melee.
The romance of the battlefield he had heard and dreamed of was just a facade. Agreement and courage that bloom while life and death intersect?
‘Sounds like a dog…’
Kwak Hwan-so bit his lip.
I want to show the person who said such things the wide-open eyes of someone whose heart had been pierced. Anyone who has seen the open eyes of the person looking around for his severed arm will understand that there is nothing on the battlefield except the stench of corpses.
Kwak Hwan-so wrapped his trembling hand around my shoulder.
The screams of the dying people still seem to ring in my ears.
And what made it even more difficult for Kwak Hwan-so to endure was the fact that among those who died screaming like that were his priests.
“Yang Shao (楊笑)….”
The priest he particularly cared for.
A priest who was smaller than his peers and had a kind personality, so he did not get along with Haenam, who was quite rough.
So, I thought it would be better to get off the mountain and start my own life.
However, Yang So did not abandon Haenam until the end. I may not have enough skills, but I went to Gangnam with a firm determination to share my fate with Haenam.
Therefore, he died in vain without being able to escape Haenam Island.
So miserable that even the body could not be recovered.
An indescribable feeling of loss tore through Kwak Hwan-so’s heart.
‘What on earth was I looking at?’
If I could, I would like to tear my past self, who dreamed of being active on the battlefield, to pieces.
The blood that flows on the battlefield is the blood of the priests he cherished, and the shining prestige he gains from that battlefield is obtained at the cost of countless lives.
What on earth did you see and dream about?
“execution.”
Kwak Hwan-so turned his head. Priest Izayang was approaching. Judging from the fact that his face was paler than usual, it seemed like he was also in quite a bit of emotional pain.
“What’s going on?”
“…Eight.”
“……”
“There are no eight.”
Kwak Hwan-so closed his eyes tightly.
‘It was such a one-sided fight.’
I didn’t lose my spirit and just pushed on. He broke through the opponent’s defense line and captured the ship in one go.
Great victory. It is an overwhelming victory that cannot be expressed in other words.
And yet… And yet, eight people died.
So how many people are going to die in Gangnam, where a fierce fight is incomparable to Haenam?
“…Have you checked who it is?”
“Yes, death penalty…”
Kwak Hwan-so, who was about to ask their names, soon shook his head with a miserable expression.
What does it mean?
In any case, you have to recognize the victim before you can find the body and hold a funeral. Because they are not just leaving the battlefield, they are heading to another battlefield.
“The damage is not small.”
“Yes… But if it wasn’t for the Hwasan Sword Association, the damage would have been much greater. “Maybe…”
Lee Ja-yang trailed off. But Kwak Hwan-so knew what he was trying to say.
‘He probably meant that Haenam could have been wiped out there.’
It’s not wrong.
No matter how quickly they captured their boat, if they were chased and caught before they could move the boat, there is a high possibility that everyone would have become fish food.
Cheongmyeong alone prevented the worst situation.
“…If you think about it, it was a really reckless thing to do.”
“I see.”
“If I had known it was a plan like this, I would have rejected it.”
“Maybe so.”
Kwak Hwan-so’s answer was calm throughout. Then Lee Ja-yang’s face twisted.
“Aren’t you even angry about the death penalty? If you messed up, everyone would have died! And the priests died because of that reckless strategy!”
Guo Huanxiao stared at him without answering. Then Lee Ja-yang kept her mouth shut.
“Is it their fault that the priests died?”
“…No, I mean…”
“And if they had told me it would be like this in the first place, I wouldn’t have done as you said. If that were the case, what would have happened to us by now?”
Lee Ja-yang could not answer.
Because it is clear that everyone would have died fighting at the headquarters by now. There is no guarantee that this trip to Gangnam will save Haenam, but it will save their lives a little more right now. The fact that it was connected cannot be denied.
‘There is no way I could have told you in advance.’
This is not something that can be understood just by hearing it. Because it is something that cannot be believed unless you see it with your own eyes. In the
first place, who in the world would believe that one person can stand in the way of an entire army and save time?
So, I couldn’t say it. Because the truth that no one believes is worth nothing.
“They’re not in the wrong. If there’s anything wrong, it’s us who were blinded by the fact that we were heading to Gangnam and couldn’t properly examine the situation.”
“That’s…”
“How do people from the water know when the water is going out? Or, did they even know that the water was going out in the first place? You should have thought of it and I should have thought of it. We were stupid. “I almost killed everyone because of this
. Are you going to blame someone else again?”
“……”
“Those who had no skills were ahead of their will and could not even do what they could do properly. But now you’re going to blame innocent people?”
Lee Ja-yang’s face was distorted and she bit her lip until it bled.
Kwak Hwan-so sighed at the sight.
He understood Lee Ja-yang’s ugly appearance. Priest There is nothing you can do about it. How can you console your heart for losing the death penalty, which you did not have to lose because you were weak or stupid? It is human to want to find
someone to blame even when you know it is not true, and to blame even when you know it is not true.
“I am sorry. “Death penalty.”
At that time, Lee Ja-yang bowed her head towards Kwak Hwan-so.
“I…”
He said, closing his eyes tightly.
“… It was foolish and cowardly.”
“Jayang…”
Guo Huanxiao looked at him still and shook his head.
It was because he knew Lee Ja-yang’s feelings better than anyone else. Moreover, Lee Ja-yang prides herself on being the most cool-headed person in Haenam. If the shock had been bigger, it would have been bigger and not smaller.
A brief moment of silence hung between them.
The moment Kwak Hwan-so opened his mouth to say something out of awkwardness, Lee Ja-yang spoke again.
“Death penalty.”
“… Speak.”
“How can they do that?”
Lee Ja-yang said with a dejected look on her face.
“I don’t understand. How on earth can you stay calm in such a situation? How can you even look at all those people…”
He trailed off and fell silent. It was clear how shocked Lijayang was. Go
to the clouds A person who lived only looking at the covered sky finally jumped up to the top of the clouds and saw that the endless sky stretched out above them.
Naturally, rather than being happy, he would be gloomy and embarrassed.
“How can you be cool-headed even in such a situation? And how can you not be scared in such a situation?”
“Do you understand that it is me?”
Kwak Hwan-so shook his head.
Strength can be better understood. They are strong and they are weak. That’s because there’s no need to find a reason. If you train harder and make more efforts, you may be able to narrow the gap to some extent, even if you cannot completely overcome it.
But…
it was still nice to the eyes. This is the back of Cheongmyeong, who jumped in alone against hundreds of troops rushing at him like crazy.
‘Would that be possible if I became as strong as that person?’
Kwak Hwan-so already knows the answer.
“What is certain is that they were fighting and shedding blood while we were just feeling unfair and venting our anger on this island.”
“……”
“The saennim on the land have been criticizing me for being pretentious when I don’t even have a platform…”
Gwak Hwan-so chuckled.
“The real Sannim was us. Saenim, who has never properly swung a sword and killed a person.”
“Sahyeong…”
“Did you say you were curious about how he could fight like that?”
Lee Ja-yang looked at Kwak Hwan-so with questioning eyes. Kwak Hwan-so’s gaze was It was heading towards the land of Gangnam in the distance.
“We don’t know now, but we will find out soon. No…”
Kwak Hwan-so’s face suddenly turned cold.
“You have to realize. If you don’t realize, you will only die over there.”
Miss Lee slowly nodded.
Their journey has only just begun. If they can survive and break through Gangnam, which is full of dead waves… then we might be able to understand a little bit about the battle that took place on this coast.
‘I just hope so.’
Kwak Hwan-so quietly closed his eyes.
After calming his pounding heart for a while, he asked as if he had finally remembered it.
“What about the Cheongmyeong seal?”
“…It looks like they are currently pulling out the needle stuck in the body and sewing up the flesh.”
“Removing the needle?”
“yes. It was said that there were more than ten needles longer than fingers stuck in its body. Yeopdong
said, “If it had been an ordinary person, he would have died ten times over.”
Kwak Hwanso was stunned for a moment.
“He looked fine…”
“… It doesn’t seem like anything special.”
Miss Lee continued in a lost voice,
“For that person.”
Kwak Hwan-so’s gaze turned towards the cabin.
Kwak Hwan-so, who had been looking at the cabin where Cheongmyeong was being treated in silence for a while, soon let out a deep sigh.
