Episode 1369. Do you know what shame is? (4)
Red soil was piled high. The older brother covered the burial mound with the last handful of dirt and wiped away the tears from his eyes with his dirt-covered hands.
“Is there ever a case where a child goes first, leaving his father behind? This is heartless.”
My older brother also knows. That it wasn’t Hyeong-wook’s fault. But I couldn’t bear it without saying this.
The child eventually died after being brutally tortured in front of his eyes.
It wasn’t that I was ignoring it because I was wasting my life. Wouldn’t it be more important to have a life that doesn’t last long than a child who is in the prime of life?
If the old man had lost his temper and attacked the thugs, he would not have been the only one to suffer misfortune. The village people and even the daughter-in-law’s young grandchildren would have ended up in the same situation as Hyeong-wook.
Because of this, those who are powerless have no choice but to turn their heads. Although the common people have eyes, they cannot see, and although they have mouths, they cannot speak.
“So… so I…”
The old man couldn’t continue his words and sobbed helplessly. Villagers approached him as he sat down and offered words of comfort.
“Chief… Hyungwook went like a man.”
“You won’t regret it.”
But those words did not provide the slightest comfort. Rather, it seemed to bring out the old man’s anger even more.
He screamed, spitting as if in a fit.
“What does that mean? When you die, it’s all over! “Isn’t this what happened to me because I promoted such nonsense as loyalty and grace?”
The old man repeatedly hit my thigh hard. The old man’s eyes were red, and words of resentment poured out of his mouth without stopping.
“Live well? Who doesn’t know that’s right? You know this is what happens to you because you live a good life, so you turn a blind eye! They think people like us have no conscience or shame! You bastard! “The worst bastard in the world!”
I could hear the sobbing sounds of the wife who lost her husband and the children left behind.
“Are you a charlatan or a fool! Have you ever seen one or two people passing by who took a peek and offered to help? so? So what has changed! “Where were they when we got into this!”
Everyone was silent.
“This is why I should have ignored it… I shouldn’t have installed it so presumptuously, but I told you so…”
The old man broke down and sobbed. Everyone couldn’t help but feel confused as they looked at that scene.
It is clear that thanks to the volcano people, they escaped the danger of ending their lives. However, the person who tried to repay the favor ended up being buried in the dirt after suffering a worse fate than losing his life in the first place.
What was the right thing to do?
“…But isn’t it true that we are saving our lives thanks to them?”
“How do you know that? Even if they hadn’t helped, luckily things might have worked out!”
“Why are you saying that? To those who helped me with a good heart….”
“Good heart? Is that why we ended up like this? There is nothing wrong with what the village chief said. What were they doing while we were surrounded by these evil bastards? “Didn’t I run away for my life?”
Everyone surrounded the burial mound and raised their voices.
Although it wasn’t something they would show in front of the dead, they were also extremely emotional because of what they experienced yesterday.
“If you’re not going to be responsible until the end, then why not help me?”
“Is there any way to help even a little bit? “Are there just one or two people who don’t even do that?”
“Isn’t it like this because of that? What is this? I had high hopes for nothing! “If Hyung-wook didn’t know where they went, he wouldn’t have gone through such trouble!”
Then, the old man who had been in a state of ecstasy suddenly looked back at the people with bloodshot eyes.
“…Well… whose fault was that?”
“…Chief?”
“If everyone had just kept their mouths shut, everything would have passed without incident. If only everyone had kept their mouths shut! But in the meantime, who was the person who suddenly sold Hyeong-wook away?”
The old man’s distorted face was now horrendous.
He saw clearly and heard clearly. The village people he believed were part of his family sold his son.
If only they had kept quiet, Hyeong-wook might not have died. No, at least he wouldn’t have died so miserably after so much pain.
I was instantly enraged at the sight of the people who had put my precious son through such pain shamelessly pretending that nothing had happened.
“How can that be? How! How good my son was to you, how much he thought of you! Isn’t the one who begged me to save you even if my father got stabbed by the sword, my son? But how…! “How!”
The old man shouted at the top of his lungs.
“If you have a mouth, speak up! ok?”
Some people lowered their heads. And some people quickly shook their heads as if they had never done anything like that. The old man ground his teeth.
“These people who will be punished….”
“Why is it our fault?”
But it seems that someone couldn’t just listen to that.
“…what?”
The old man rolled his eyes. Then, with a face full of dissatisfaction, one person asked again bluntly.
“Why is it our fault?”
“…I have no conscience…!”
“yes! I am a person with no conscience and no shame. But didn’t the village chief tell you to do that?”
The old man widened his eyes as if he was shocked.
“I?”
“No? Didn’t you say that in order for us idiots to survive, we should stop thinking about grace and other things and instead think about how to save our lives? “You told everyone just two days ago that things like grace, agreement, and affection are only thought of by those who can afford it.”
The old man looked at the man blankly, as if he had been hit unexpectedly.
It wasn’t wrong. That’s clearly what he said. But I didn’t say this with this in mind. The old man opened his eyes and said.
“Is Hyeong-wook from outside the country? Are you a powerful person? People like us should help each other….”
“For now, shouldn’t we live?”
The man shouted as if he was yelling. As his voice grew louder, the people around him looked at the old man and tried to dissuade him.
“Look! “What are you doing to the village chief?”
“Can’t you stop?”
“no! “Did I say something wrong?”
But the man did not tolerate it.
“He is ignoring the charlatan who saved his life and trying to figure out a way for us to survive. What on earth has Hyung-wook done so great that I have to risk my life to protect him? I have to live and see! I!”
“….”
“Didn’t you all feel the same way? At that time, I was the only person who confessed to Hyungwook that he knew where the charlatans went. “I’m sure everyone felt the same way!”
“Hey man! Whatever it is, I just buried Hyeong-wook in the dirt! How can I do this in front of him….”
“Damn it, don’t act like you’re nice now!” “Do you think I didn’t hear you selling out Hyeong-wook?”
“When did I…”
A green vein stood on the man’s neck.
“If you had kept your mouth shut, we would all have died! “So you’re saying we all had to die to save that one guy?”
The man glared at his older brother mischievously.
“What’s the difference! You did what the village chief told you to do! Didn’t you tell me to not even think about it being moral and immoral? What did I do so wrong! “Tell me!”
The man, who had been struggling to the last of his strength, finally fell to the ground with his legs giving out.
“What are you asking me to do? What!”
He pounded the ground with his fist and howled in an animal-like voice.
Hearing that sound, all the strength left the old man’s body.
Who to blame? There is nothing wrong with that statement. It was my older brother who repeatedly emphasized to them that they should live like that.
Those words killed the son who seemed like a lifetime ago and turned the village into this state.
‘okay. ‘I have to live.’
Isn’t it enough just to be alive?
Even if it means selling out a benefactor who has shown favor and putting someone who has lived with you for decades under the blade of evil enemies, isn’t that living if you save your own life?
Wasn’t that the right thing to do?
“Hehe…”
At that moment, a dejected laugh escaped the old man’s mouth.
“Hehehehe….”
But everyone knew that it wasn’t a laugh. That sound was the lamentation and crying of someone who had lost his way.
The villagers could not bear to face such an old man and avoided their gaze.
The old man groaned for a long time, unable to tell whether he was crying or laughing, and a slightly firmer voice came out from his mouth.
“…Get ready to leave.”
“yes?”
Everyone looked at the old man in confusion at the sudden remark.
“Chief, what is that….”
“I’m not talking about leaving the village. “What power do I have to tell you not to go?”
Some people pursed their lips at those words.
“I just said I couldn’t live here any longer so I decided to leave.”
“You mean I can’t live here anymore?”
“Will they just leave us alone?”
“…Well then? “Why didn’t you just go?”
Those were naive words. The old man smiled and spoke weakly.
“If things in this world were so easy, we wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. Even though Hyungwook went underground, it doesn’t change the fact that we ultimately rebelled against them. “If not now, disaster will come to the village at any time.”
The villagers, who had never thought about it that far, looked at each other in confusion.
If you think about it, it was true. This village has already caught the attention of Sapaeryeon. Even if we get through this incident safely, if even the smallest pod is caught, there will be immediate persecution that is incomparable to other places.
“I have to leave… I can’t live with my feet planted on dead ground.”
“Now, just a moment, Chief. We have lived here our whole lives. “But where on earth should we go?”
“Do you guys understand?”
“…The house and the fields are all here…”
The old man laughed at the good sound of selling.
“Then you stay.”
There was no answer back. Even as he spoke realistic words, the old man’s eyes remained empty.
“I have to survive… I have to live my life somehow even though it has been so difficult for me to survive. “I have to live, even if it means
going to a place where no one knows and slashing and burning.” Everyone’s faces became increasingly gloomy as they realized that the life ahead of them was miserable.
The old man looked blankly at the earthen mound. My heart became empty.
What did you live for? In the end, this is what you have to see at the end…. What on earth did you survive so tenaciously for?
Why did I act so smart when I knew that if I abandoned others, they might abandon me?
In the end, I knew nothing.
“Get ready right away.”
“yes? “Baba right?”
“Can you guarantee that those who went back for the sake of saving face won’t send someone back?”
“….”
“If it were me, after wiping out the village, I would report to the authorities that the village suffered a disaster regardless of their involvement. You guys have to live. I have to do something about that harsh life. So, get ready…”
The villagers bowed their heads.
Where did it go wrong? Where on earth did it get so twisted? They didn’t do anything, so why should they suffer like this?
“Stop procrastinating and get moving. “Let’s leave before they do anything.”
“Um…Chief Cho?”
“What are you doing…”
“That’s not it, over there! “Over there!”
A man pointed somewhere with a pale face. The old man moved his weak body and looked around.
“Heh heh…”
A group of men were approaching the entrance of the village. A cold expression and even a large knife strapped to his waist. The old man stopped laughing desperately.
“It looks like it’s late…”
Maybe this is a fitting end for this town. The old man thought like that and quietly closed his eyes.
