Episode 1607. It’s the same when I open my eyes. (2)
“What about the others?”
“First of all, everyone returned to their assigned accommodations.”
Tang Gunak sighed deeply at Lim So-byeong’s words.
Baekcheon’s words literally became a bomb. There were still a mountain of issues that needed to be sorted out, but that one word swallowed up the entire agenda.
It was not easy to continue the meeting in that atmosphere, so we had no choice but to break it off for now.
“It’s betrayal…”
Tanggunak muttered softly and quickly closed his mouth. And then I glanced at Hyeonjong.
Even without asking, I could clearly see the depth of the water in the corner of my eyes. It wasn’t that difficult to guess his inner thoughts.
“How do you view the military?”
“Hmm.”
Lim So-byeong, who was sitting across from King Hyeonjong’s Tanggunak and Datak, clicked his tongue and tapped his cheek with the tip of his fan.
“It’s reasonable.”
“⋯⋯.”
“There is certainly no other possibility than that.”
“Is there really no possibility that the defeated army raised its own troops?”
“If Jang Il-so had that much power, he would never have formed an alliance called Sapae-ryeon in the first place. “All people would have just united the four factions.”
“⋯⋯.”
“And what if Jang Il-so succeeded in nurturing that many people after the Sapaeryeon was formed?”
Lim So-byeong shrugs his shoulders.
“Then what is there to worry about? “I should run to Hubei immediately and beg for my life to be spared.”
A sigh burst out of Tanggunak’s mouth.
“Don’t say that even as a joke. “We’ll just listen to it for fun.”
“I guess what you’re saying is that it’s not very audible to other people’s ears. “I will be careful.”
Tang Gunak asked, rubbing the corners of his eyes that were stiff from fatigue.
“But realistically, who can betray?”
“Are you talking about possible clans?”
“⋯⋯No.”
If you listen to it, your doubts will only deepen.
The enemies are getting stronger day by day, and it is difficult for us just to keep them in check. But now we must be wary not only of external enemies but also of internal betrayal.
The whole situation aroused a suspicion in Tang Gunak.
‘Can we really win?’
Perhaps the one who has been most concerned about Jang Il-so’s existence but has ignored him the most may be none other than the Tang military evil.
He never once thought that Cheon Woo-meng and Gu Pail Bang would get to this point.
“…What are they doing now?”
“There has been no movement since they took over a few manors on the outskirts of Hubei.”
Tanggunak nodded slowly. They also need to organize their internal affairs.
“Lord.”
Hyeonjong, who had received the call to play Tanggunak, silently cast his gaze.
“What are you thinking about?”
“⋯⋯Matriarch.”
“yes.”
“…Betrayal means that those who followed the right path are following Jang Il-so’s will, right?”
Tang Gunak frowned slightly. Why are you suddenly saying such obvious things?
“I guess so.”
“Why?”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
“Why do they make that choice?”
Tang Gunak was momentarily speechless. Hyeonjong said quietly.
“We had a chance to win back then. If they had not come forward to help the Sapae Alliance, Sapa would not have won. But why did you make that choice? “When our side was tilted, we didn’t give in to them, but even though we were in a sufficiently advantageous position, what was the reason for bowing down to the enemy?”
Tang Gunak’s face suddenly hardened.
I hadn’t thought about this. The very fact that there could be a traitor was so shocking that I was buried in it.
“It’s right…”
That is correct.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason to betray. What is so disappointing about people with such talent that they take the side of the Sapaeryun?
“⋯⋯Hasn’t the defeated army made some kind of persuasive promise? “Hand over Gangbuk…”
Lim So-byeong chuckled at those words.
“What a political faction that believes the words of the Sa faction and then betrays them. “It’s a story that wouldn’t even appear in a children’s book.”
That is correct. The more I think about it, the more uncertain it becomes.
‘It’s like a ghost.’
It certainly exists, but it has no substance at all.
“What the hell…”
Lim So-byeong, who had been thinking for a long time, scratched his head as if he was annoyed.
“Where is the Musketeer now? “I think I’ll have to listen to the craziest guy’s opinion now.”
“⋯⋯.”
Tanggunak and King Hyeonjong looked at each other without realizing it.
❀ ❀ ❀
“⋯⋯Betrayal.”
Murong Wei-gyeong muttered as if he had lost his mind. Then Zhuge Zain asked.
“Do you believe that?”
“I don’t want to believe it, but… there’s no way not to believe it, right?”
“No matter what, it’s a betrayal.”
The faces of the two people talking were extremely serious. Zhongligok, who was watching this, quietly put down the teacup he was holding. And I ended up laughing in a way that didn’t suit the atmosphere.
As soon as he left his seat, these two entered his room and sat down.
Even if he didn’t have a particularly close relationship with Jongnam, he probably thought it was better than Cheon Woo-maeng, who was extremely awkward.
Either that, or they need someone to give them instructions since they have never done anything independently before.
“What do you think, Jang Mun-in?”
Sure enough, Zhuge Zain hinted and asked Zong Ligo.
“Before that… there is one thing I want to confirm.”
“Say yes.”
“Did they really exist?”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
Zhuge Zain stared at Zongligu in bewilderment, as if wondering what that meant.
“The ones who blocked you two. “We are asking whether they really existed.”
After a while, Zhuge Zain’s face brightened up.
“Jangmun-in!”
“Don’t get excited. Because it’s just confirmation. I have no intention of criticizing the two of you, even if they did agree. That’s a better situation now. “Then at least it doesn’t mean that a mysterious power has been added to the SPA.”
Zhuge Zain pursed his lips.
“There is not a single lie in what I said.”
“hmm.”
Zongligok let out a soft groaning sound.
So that means there was a traitor after all.
At that moment, Mo Yongwi-gyeong opened his mouth with a shocked expression.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m stupid, but I just don’t understand this whole situation.”
“⋯⋯What are you saying?”
“Just because unidentified enemies appear, you can’t necessarily conclude that they are traitors. “It could be that a third force we don’t know about has taken hold of them.”
Zhuge Zain sighed deeply.
“If that were the case, wouldn’t you say there was no need to hide your identity? “But we clearly saw that they were trying hard to hide their identity.”
“No, that’s true, but…”
Zhongligok brought the teacup to his mouth again. Even if I talk about it further, it’s just empty talk and a repetition of the same story.
“I have one more question.”
“Yes, Jang Mun-in.”
“How did you fight them?”
“yes? “What do you mean by that?”
“I heard that they withdrew without any major damage. “If there had been an all-out war, it wouldn’t have ended that way. How much of it was directly involved?”
Zhuge Zain’s face hardened slightly.
“That’s…”
He hesitated, looked at Zhongligok’s eyes, and reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Fever… No, it won’t even be ten.”
Zhongligok’s hand, which was about to tip the teacup, suddenly stops.
“heat?”
“⋯⋯Yes.”
“More than 100 people. And the actual competition was ten. But why are you so sure that all of them are experts?”
“That’s…”
Mo Yongwijing quickly intervened.
“Isn’t there momentum? The characteristics felt by those who have properly studied martial arts. “They had that.”
The corner of Zhongligok’s mouth twitched slightly.
“In the end, you’re saying it only looked that way based on what you could guess with your eyes.”
“Oh no, that’s a bit…”
Mo Yong Wei-jing mumbled an excuse, but Zhuge Zain kept his mouth shut and did not say anything.
Only now did Zong Ligok have a general idea of the situation.
‘That’s reasonable.’
It would not be a lie to say that the enemies were strong. However, they only properly confirmed about a dozen people.
This means that there is no way to confirm even if the dozens of others behind them were just bravado to fill in the numbers.
However, Zhuge Zain was not willing to sacrifice himself and fight the enemy.
There may have been two reasons.
One is that if the sacrifice on this side is too great to defeat those unknown people, the main force is bound to lose anyway.
And another, more crucial reason would be that they were not passionate enough to risk their lives against people whose identity they did not even know.
‘It’s betrayal…’
Jongligok desperately tried to suppress the laughter that was about to escape.
Isn’t it difficult to deny that there was a traitor, regardless of their identity?
Because actively pointing a knife at someone is not betrayal.
From the perspective of the court, which is shedding bloody tears, who is the real traitor?
“Jangmun-in.”
At the sound of the voice, Zhong Ligoo put aside his thoughts. Now is not the time to discuss this. He spoke in a calm voice.
“Then… the scope is overly wide.”
“That means…”
“It’s not difficult if you have the intention. This means that if we could have about a hundred people and ten experts, anyone could be there. For example…”
Zhongligok let out a strange laugh.
“For now, we cannot confirm who is inside the wall.”
Zhuge Zain’s face hardened.
“Jangmun-in!”
“Otherwise, they are known to be in the far outskirts and not yet involved in matters in the central plains.”
This time, Mo Yongwijing’s face looks a little tired.
“Now that it’s a long sentence, what you’re saying is…”
“Otherwise.”
Zhong Ligoo said calmly.
“Couldn’t this be the person sitting in front of you right now?”
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
Zhong Ligu, who was staring at the two speechless people as if even their mouths had stiffened, let out a small laugh.
“What I mean is that it’s impossible to be specific in those terms. “Anyone can be a traitor.”
“Yes… that’s true.”
“Then how on earth should I deal with it…?”
“well.”
Zhong Ligoo sighed and drank the tea in one go.
“It may be a bit funny, but I know a lot about volcanoes and heavenly rain.”
“Yes, Jang Mun-in.”
“Cheon Woo-maeng… No, the Hwasan sect usually does not follow common sense in these cases.”
“yes?”
“I don’t know if it’s a human problem or a sect problem.”
Zhongligok looked away. Beyond the window, you can see an incredibly tall volcano. He looked at this and burst out laughing.
❀ ❀ ❀
The red sunset colors the whole world as if spilled.
Cheongmyeong’s face, sitting at the mouth of Mt. Bukbong, gradually turned red.
Cheongmyeong, who was just watching the sunset motionlessly, heard a shout from behind.
“You were here.”
Cheongmyeong looked back without saying a word.
“A volcano person climbs mountains whenever he gets the chance. There is probably no one else in the world who loves climbing mountains like you. How do you find time to come here? “I’ll have to go down soon anyway.”
Baekcheon approached, shaking his head with a tired face. And then he sat down next to Cheongmyeong.
Cheongmyeong asked.
“what’s the matter?”
“What do I have to do to come?”
Baekcheon answered without looking at Cheongmyeong, only looking at the sky that Cheongmyeong was looking at.
“I just came up to avoid glares.”
At those words, Cheongmyeong laughed as if it were absurd.
“It seems like there is a perception of being frowned upon.”
“I’m also a perceptive person.”
“I thought you wouldn’t know that because your face is so thick.”
This time Baekcheon let out a faint laugh.
Baekcheon is not a traitor. I only mentioned the possibility that there was a traitor.
But people are always like that. I find it uncomfortable to ignore someone who is thrusting a reality in front of my nose that I don’t want to reveal and that I don’t want to face. They even point fingers and swear.
In the end, once you accept reality, the atmosphere should change soon, but you will have to endure uncomfortable stares for a while.
“So you ran away?”
“Well, rather than running away… I just avoided it for a while.”
“Why are you here?”
“hmm. “I just had that thought.”
Baekcheon paused for a moment and turned his gaze to look at Cheongmyeong. There was a smile on his lips.
“I’m guessing you’ve been receiving the same attention I’m getting right now.”
“⋯⋯.”
The sunset became darker and redder rapidly. A long shadow was cast over Cheongmyeong’s face.
