“Why!”

A voice filled with anger.

No, maybe it was sadness or resentment.

“Why! Why are you not letting me go? Why!”

Despite the shout, the elderly person who had been staring at the moon in the distance turned their head.

The heaviness in the eyes weighed down the entire body, but Chung Myung didn’t back down. The eyes, which were calm as a lake and the eyes burning like a volcano, fiercely clashed without giving a break.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“Sect leader sahyung!”

“If you leave, we cannot guarantee victory. No, it would be a sure loss.”

Clench.

Chung Myung changed his mind at the words of Chung Mun.

“He… he has gone missing.”

“…”

“You know what that means, right? Chung Jin, that bastard! That damned bastard went missing in the Hundred Thousand Mountains!”

“I know.”

“Sect leader sahyung!”

Chung Mun closed his eyes.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were shaking, indicating he wasn’t all that fine either.

“What was lost… we aren’t the only ones who have lost someone.”

“…”

“Everyone lost someone. How can we be the only ones to cause trouble then?”

“You are not going to do this now?”

The face of Chung Myung is distorted.

“You think I am being outrageous for the asking to go find my sajae?”

“Chung Myung….”

“I don’t know what the damned cause is, but you are telling me to let my sajae die! He might still be alive there now!”

Even Chung Mun closed his mouth for a moment as if he was momentarily speechless due to the anger overflowing in Chung Myung’s voice.

“What! Damn it! What is it!”

A voice of regret came out from the mouth of Chung Mun as he slightly looked at Chung Myung’s face, which looked like it would explode.

“… for a greater purpose….”

Soon, Chung Mun smiled.

It was so low that it didn’t seem like a smile or sneer, but it was a pitiful smile that they couldn’t bear to look at.

“Did you think something like that would still be there? For me?”

“…”

“That could have been so, in the start. But now I am worn out, and there is just one thing left. Do you know what it is?”

“… what?”

“The future.”

Those firm words came out of Chung Mun’s mouth.

“If we don’t defeat them, we have nothing left. And we need you to defeat them. You! The Plum Blossom Sword Saint, Chung Myung.”

“…”

“You will still go? And yet, will you leave this place alone to rescue Chung Jin? What will you say when Chung Jin, whom you saved, comes back to find us all dead? Did you think he would thank you for saving his life? You foolish bastard!”

A stream of blood came down the lips of Chung Myung, which he bit down. The blood, which had pooled between his teeth, stained his lips red.

Chung Mun slowly shook his head.

“He won’t want it. What he cares about most is not you or himself but the kids he left behind.”

“….”

A sour, iron-like smell filled his nose.

What he felt in his mouth. A scent wafting from the end of those words.

It was sour and dizzying.

“If you really want to go and find him, go after the war is done.”

“Sahyung!”

“We aren’t the only ones who lost people!”

Chung Mun shouted. The anger and resentment, which had never found a way out, came.

“Do you know how many people want to go find him right now? I want to, too! I! Damn it…”

He bit his lips as he cursed.

“Damn it…”

The voice was shaking terribly.

Chung Mun was the sect leader of Mount Hua and was leading the Central Plains against the Demonic Sect.

How much burden was he already taking on those shoulders?

“I sent him.”

“…”

“I was the one who entrusted him with this dangerous mission. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

The emotions had disappeared from the face of Chung Mun, like they had been washed away.

“As a warrior of Mount Hua, I cannot let you go for Chung Jin. Go back and wait.”

“…”

Chung Myung looked at Chung Mun with an emotionless face.

The smiles that were always present when the two saw each other had vanished. Now, two men stood staring at each other with cold faces.

Chung Myung opened his mouth.

“By the order of the sect leader.”

“…”

“I have to follow.”

Chung Mun’s eyes trembled at the emotionless voice.

“But… sahyung.”

There was a hint of sarcasm on Chung Myung’s lips.

“Can victory fill the void of what you lost?”

Chung Mun closed his eyes. His cold voice was clearly cutting into his skin.

“I don’t know what meaning there is in winning something by losing something that shouldn’t be lost.”

“… Chung Myung.”

“I am…”

Blood trickled down Chung Myung’s lips.

“I will not accept this decision until the moment I die.”

After saying those words, Chung Myung turned away without waiting for an answer. Without any hesitation, he widened the distance between him and Chung Mun.

He clenched his fists as if they would explode.

Crack.

Nothing would change even if he ground his teeth and pounded his chest.

As he walked away without saying a word, he looked back with eyes of sorrow. But Chung Myung’s eyes had lost all their anger and strength at the sight they soon saw.

Chung Mun’s shoulders, which had always been wide enough to embrace and support all of Mount Hua’s disciples, were trembling helplessly.

Chung Myung couldn’t bear to look at the back, half crouching as if he didn’t know what to do, sobbing quietly. He turned his head away.

‘Chung Jin….’

-Sahyung.

Chung Myung, thinking of Chung Jin’s flawless smile, closed his trembling eyes.

I am sorry.

Sorry.

… I am so sorry.

Chung Myung took a step forward as if possessed.

One step. And another.

Even though he stumbled as if he were going to fall at any moment, he kept moving ahead.

And Yu Yiseol followed without speaking, Chung Myung’s back appeared in her eyes.

That back was almost like a great mountain. Sometimes, it embraced them like the sea, and other times, it turned into a cliff piercing the sky, becoming the target.

But now, he just looked pitiful.

Like…

‘Father.’

It was as if she was seeing her father’s back, which had vaguely remained in her memories once again.

The back of someone who couldn’t accomplish what he had to do.

The back of someone who held on to something that could not be achieved.

Why did that skinny back overlap with Chung Myung’s?

Chung Myung’s stumbling steps became faster and faster. Accordingly, Yu Yiseol also increased her walking speed.

Mount Hua’s disciples, who happened to find the two people, ran to Yu Yiseol, perhaps sensing the odd nature.

“Samae?”

Yu Yiseol put her index finger to her lips.

“Don’t disturb him.”

Baek Cheon looked at her and Chung Myung’s back and nodded. Together, they began to follow Chung Myung in silence.

One step.

One step.

Those who were saints led, and those who carried on their will followed. However, although the steps of the good man who walked first were filled with confidence, they were pathetically wavering.

Chung Myung’s eyes looking at the mountain rising in front of him were the same as they had been in the past.

As for Chung Jin… no. He wasn’t the type of person to let things go.

Even if a body that had lost too much blood would slowly die, even if the urge to let go of everything and be comfortable gnawed at the soul.

That guy… was not the type of person who would let go and give up.

Step.

Chung Myung began to climb the mountain.

‘Think.’

What if I was Chung Jin?

What would I do if I were him?

He could not go back. Being on the verge of death and with no way for his sahyungs back in Mount Hua to break through the Demonic Sect.

So what did he do?

A hundred years ago, standing where Chung Myung stands now, what would Chung Jin have done the moment he saw that mountain, desperately trying to control his blurring vision?

As if possessed, Chung Myung’s steps quickened as he climbed the mountain.

I know, I know.

‘You would have done it like this.’

Even if it were Chung Myung, it would probably have been the same.

The mountain wasn’t very high. So it could not replicate Mount Hua.

But… in this distant land, it was a small mountain that could remind you of Mount Hua.

‘I need to head back.’

Right, he had to head back.

Even though the body was here, he needed to return to Mount Hua. Even if the body rotted, he had to return to Mount Hua.

The place he left. Where they all lived.

Even after Chung Myung died, he couldn’t forget it, and it was as if he eventually returned.

It had to be the same for Chung Jin.

As Chung Myung climbed the mountain, he grew more and more confident.

Up and again without resting a single moment. Hesitation disappeared with each step.

Eventually, as he got closer to the top, Chung Myung stopped.

He looked ahead blankly.

And Mount Hua’s disciples watched his back with bated breath.

They didn’t know what made them feel this way. But they couldn’t even try to talk to Chung Myung.

‘This place…’

Yoon Jong, who looked around, narrowed his eyes.

“Sasuk.”

“… what?”

“This place… doesn’t it look like Mount Hua?”

“…this mountain is steeper than the other places.”

“N-No. Not like that…”

Yoon Jong looked around and then made eye contact with Baek Cheon.

“A place in Mount Hua… right, it is similar there, right? If this is Mount Hua, this is it…”

At those words, Baek Cheon looked around with a serious expression, and soon his lips parted.

“Ah…”

He felt like he knew what Yoon Jong was talking about.

If they called this Mount Hua, the place where they were standing now was where the Mount Hua Sect was. Although it didn’t match the place entirely, it was definitely a place that people who have lived in Mount Hua would find similar.

Baek Cheon’s gaze turned to Chung Myung.

‘Then you…’

At that moment, Chung Myung casually knelt down on the spot. He crawled on the ground with both knees, picked at the growing bushes with trembling hands, and continued to trace the floor with his bare hands.

Mount Hua’s disciples just watched in silence.

They didn’t dare to help.

No.

It felt like they shouldn’t help.

This wasn’t something they should get involved in hastily. They didn’t know the exact reason, but all of Mount Hua’s disciples here now had the same thought.

“… what are you looking for?”

To Tang Soso’s question, which was almost a whisper, Yu Yiseol answered without even turning her head.

“A fox hole.”

“…”

“Because they would have dug a hole if they escaped with something.”

“…”

“Ah…”

Tang Soso nodded and looked at Chung Myung.

At that moment, Chung Myung’s hand, which had been groping the floor, suddenly stopped. Chung Myung’s fingertips slightly trembled.

When the long, thick bushes were removed, a small hole was eventually revealed.

There was nothing particularly strange about a hole like that in a mountain. It was a very small hole as if a cave dug by a mountain animal had been abandoned and collapsed over time.

But at that moment, Chung Myung’s hands were now trembling to a pitiful degree.

The hand that dug the hole fumbled at first, then turned faster and faster, eventually digging like a madman.

“Haa…. Euk…!”

The pain, which he couldn’t fully express, came out of his mouth in an insubstantial sound. Scattered dirt rained down on his head and back. Baek Cheon, who looked at that, unconsciously stepped closer.

“Chung Myung….”

But at that moment, Yu Yiseol grabbed his shoulder.

When Baek Cheon turned around, Yu Yiseol quietly shook her head.

“…”

Baek Cheon bit his lip and nodded. For now, he just had to watch Chung Myung.

Chung Myung dug up the soil, pulled out the pebbles, smashed the rocks with his bare fists, and continued to dig.

The sound of heavy breathing strangely resembled sobbing.

Chung Myung was digging and digging, covered in dirt. His hands, which had been working frantically as if this was their only mission, became stiff for an instant.

At his fingertips, a different sensation came into play.

The tip of his finger, which pierced the soil, caught nothing. That meant it was empty.

Chung Myung’s breathing became difficult.

“…”

He now began to carefully remove the dirt. It was a delicate touch, completely different from before.

The eyes of the Mount Hua disciples who were watching widened.

‘Cave?’

It wasn’t clear what it was.

But what was certain was that where Chung Myung was currently digging, there appeared to be a space for people to enter.

Soon, Chung Myung stumbled and entered.

“… sasuk.”

Baek Cheon nodded at Yoon Jong’s words.

“… let’s go and see.”

Baek Cheon took the lead, bending towards the cave where Chung Myung had gone.

Although it was a narrow passage, there was more space inside than expected. Baek Cheon, who lightly jumped down, raised his head and captured the sight with his eyes.

‘Chung Myung…’

Baek Cheon was perhaps a little shocked at that moment.

Chung Myung’s small shoulders, so small that they looked like they could collapse at any moment, were shaking as he couldn’t control his emotions.

What they saw over his shoulder…

Human? No? That thing sitting cross-legged wasn’t a person but a white skeleton.

A white skeleton that maintained its original posture, even though all that remained were rotten bones. The cloth draped over it was so crumbly and worn that it was difficult to guess its original form when it was alive.

But they knew.

This was because a majestic text was engraved on the stone wall, as if it had been carved with internal qi, with white ones on the back as if carved with fingers.

A sigh escaped from Baek Cheon’s mouth.

’Even though my body sleeps here,

My heart is with distant Mount Hua.

Chung Jin, the 13th Generation Disciple of Great Mount Hua.’

“Uh…”

His extended hand, trembling, touched the words carefully. His shoulders began to shake terribly.

“Ahh… uh…”

A suppressed sob burst out from Chung Myung’s mouth as he collapsed to the spot. Baek Cheon slowly closed his eyes as he heard his painful cries.