Chapter 1343: Go to Rescue (Part 3)

[I mixed up ch 1343 with 1344 earlier, silly me...it's fixed now]

Chung Myung opened his eyes and looked down.

There were crisp white bandages wrapped around his chest.

Chung Myung, who had been looking down at the wound in silence, slowly got up.

Throb.

His face involuntarily twisted at the severe pain felt in his chest. Perhaps the wound that had just closed had moved and reopened, as red blood gradually seeped through the white bandage.

Just as he was about to let out a soft gasp, a loud noise came and someone burst into the room.

"No, damn it! How many times has this happened, you crazy person?"

"..."

"How many times did I tell you when you open your eyes, you should lie down? How many times? Are you a crucian carp? Did you get hit by the sword so many times that you got memory loss?"

Chung Myung turned his head and gave a glance to the person who had entered the room. Annoyance was written all over his handsome face.

Watching him closely, Chung Myung spoke.

"...How long has it been since I lost consciousness?"

"Three days, three! This time, I thought you were really going to die forever, but this guy's just too tough." 

"Three days..."

Chung Myung was so dumbfounded that he just laughed.

Usually, he would wake up in a day at most, but he had been asleep for three days. It seemed like he had almost stepped into the afterlife.

Well, come to think of it, it made sense.

It already wasn't an easy task to fight alone, let alone facing powerful enemies while protecting people. He had to be grateful for coming back with his life.

"Alcohol."

"...Are you out of your mind? Do you know what 'patient' means? Even a three-year-old in our town knows that, but they don't teach you that in Shaanxi?"

"Stop the nonsense and bring me alcohol."

 "There's nothing to eat and die." [idk]

"Bring it."

"Ugh, damn it!"

A man wearing the green robe of the Sichuan Tang Family stepped out with a huff. After a while, he came back with a white bottle in his hand. He forcefully threw the bottle at Chung Myung.

"Just drink and die!"

Chik.

Chung Myung picked up the bottle and opened the bottle cap. He gulped down the alcohol in one go. As the strong alcohol poured into his mouth, the nauseating smell of blood rising from his stomach somewhat faded.

Of course, he knew. No matter how much he drank, this smell wouldn't disappear.

After all, the smell of blood was not from the wound.

The alcohol only momentarily made him forget about the disgusting, sticky smell of this blood that had seeped into his insides.

Chung Myung, who had taken the bottle out of his mouth, stared blankly at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, Chung Myung spoke.

"How many came back?"

"...Around forty."

"How many died?"

"..."

"How many died?"

"Around twenty."

Chung Myung nodded silently.

It was quite amusing. Those who survived fighting against the enemy collapsed and died once they reached a place where they could hide. If you have the strength to wield a sword, you should have the strength to live.

Of the forty rescued, twenty had died. Hearing this, a sense of disappointment and laughter flowed out.

"What about the rest?"

"Why worry about them now? Since you saved them, they'll figure out a way to survive. Whether their arms were cut off or their tendons were severed, they survived, so what's the problem?"

"..."

"Worry about yourself. Or did some ghost from a past life, unable to fight, attach itself to you? How many times did I tell you not to risk your life against those guys?"

"...Nagging."

"Or at least fight when I'm around! How many times have you come back with a sword in your back while fighting with guys who can't even protect your back? To Taoist-hyung's life, what's dozens, hundreds..."

"Shut up. You're noisy."

Tang Bo's face twisted in frustration.

Chung Myung drank again. He frowned at the burning sensation in his throat and then smiled bitterly.

"Things like life aren't worth risking."

"..."

"It just happened because I fought."

Tang Bo, who had been staring at Chung Myung with a stern face, sighed.

"If you keep this up, you'll really die."

"Is that supposed to be a big deal?"

Chung Myung's gaze suddenly turned towards the window beside the bed. The world visible through the window was incredibly blue and desolate.

"Hundreds or thousands die every day. What changes if my life is added to that?"

"So, are you trying to die as soon as possible?"

Chung Myung looked at Tang Bo with a piercing gaze. But Tang Bo, instead of shrinking, raised his voice and expressed his anger.

"Why are you risking your life for people you don't even get along with? You've always been tormented by those damn bastards that your stomach's twisted! What, split personality?"

At that, Chung Myung chuckled softly. There was nothing to argue against that statement.

"It's because blood rushed to my head."

"..."

"Now it won't happen again."

"It better not. It better not."

Tang Bo let out a long sigh as if the ground had collapsed.

Even after all this time, despite knowing him well, he couldn't understand this Taoist bastard.

He wasn't an extremely generous person. He wasn't an individual pursuing some great Tao either.

In fact, objectively speaking, he was a questionable Taoist that made one wonder how he ended up entering a Taoist sect.

But why, in crucial moments, did he always make such choices?

"Taoist-hyung."

"What?"

"It's not a joke... you'll really die."

"..."

"You know, if Taoist-hyung dies, we really can't win this war. Whether other guys live or die, you have to survive somehow."

Even if your arm is cut off, your tendons are severed, you've lost your life, what's the problem?"

"I know."

"Hyung."

"You know, don't you?"

With lips trembling as if hesitating, Tang Bo looked into Chung Myung's eyes and spoke.

"Not all Demonic cultists are the same."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hyung, just because they're from the Demonic Sect doesn't mean they're all the ones who killed the Mount Hua Taoists. Besides, it's not like those who died can come back to life..."

"Shut your mouth."

At that moment, Chung Myung's gaze changed. In an instant, the chill in his eyes made it impossible for Tang Bo to push Chung Myung any further.

Tang Bo sighed again, expressing his regret.

"You shouldn't be the one to talk."

Then, he took out a jar of golden ointment from his robes and threw it to Chung Myung. Chung Myung caught the ointment in the air.

"Apply it to your wounds. Since I roughly bandaged them, there shouldn't be any additional trouble if you apply the ointment properly. Don't do anything foolish today; just lie down quietly."

Tang Bo turned on his heel. About to leave the room, he stopped suddenly and without turning his gaze, he said,

"Those... the ones Taoist-hyung saved."

"...What about them?"

"They wanted to say thank you."

"..."

Thud.

Tang Bo closed the door and left.

Lying down on the bed again, Chung Myung absentmindedly stared at the ceiling. As the sensation slowly returned to his body, the wounds that had been slashed and beaten all over ached. However, this kind of pain had become familiar.

'Are you out of your mind?'

Chung Myung laughed out loud.

Wasn't that stating the obvious?

In this insane world, there was no way anyone had a sound mind. Everyone was just trying to hold on to some semblance of sanity, having lost their minds halfway.

- Besides, it's not like those who died can come back to life

He knew. He knew. That was why he was doing this. Because those who die can't come back to life.

No matter how much they regret and resist, once they die, they can't come back again.

He knew very well how miserable that was.

❀ ❀ ❀

It felt as if he was continuously sinking into a very deep place. In that unfamiliar yet familiar sensation, Chung Myung opened his eyes.

The dark ceiling, the smell of blood, and the pain overtaking his whole body. A nauseating sense of déjà vu engulfed him.

Chung Myung forcibly lifted his eyelids heavy as lead and looked at his own body.

Bandages were wrapped around his chest.

The scene was familiar yet simultaneously discomforting. Because the body wrapped in bandages was now smaller and weaker than the one he knew.

Chung Myung's gaze slowly turned to the side.

Someone was leaning against the earthen wall, asleep.

The face of the sleeper changed from a familiar face to an unfamiliar one.

Chung Myung, who had been staring blankly at Baek Cheon's face, lifted his gaze upward again.

'...Right.'

He was no longer the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

The Mount Hua he knew was no longer there.

He won the war, but he lost everything.

Everything he wanted to protect was lost, and everything he wanted to leave behind disappeared.

What remained here was just...

Sah-euk. Sah-euk.

In a daze, Chung Myung heard a small breathing sound in his ear. Turning his head, he saw Yoo Iseol lying next to him, and on the opposite side, Tang Soso was also asleep.

She seemed exhausted from checking Chung Myung's condition and had fallen asleep.

Chung Myung stared at Tang Soso's face without saying a word for a long time. As if trying to find the old traces in that face.

But it didn't go well.

The face of Tang Bo that he had seen in his dream a while ago seemed distant. There were times when he couldn't recall his face.

Even though it was so vivid, it became blurry at some point. Gradually dulling.

"Did you wake up?"

There was no need for an answer. It wasn't like he threw out the question because he really wanted to know.

The words to be said were no different from the past.

"...How long has it been?"

"Not exactly sure, but it's probably been about two days."

"Two days…?"

Better than three?

Chung Myung tried to sit up with a smile. However, at that moment, Baek Cheon firmly pressed his forehead.

"Don't make the wounds that just closed up open again. Quietly lie down obediently."

"I'm completely healed."

Sheeeek.

Baek Cheon pulled out his sword without a word. Chung Myung eventually relaxed his neck. Of course, that guy may not be stronger than Tang Bo, but wasn't it already proven that he was no match for Tang Bo?

Chung Myung, lying quietly with his head against the floor, rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

"How about the others?"

"Gol and Iseol were quite injured, but... still better than you. Don't worry about others and take care of yourself."

"What about Southern island?"

"...Seems like he can't understand a word."

"How is Southern Island?"

To the stubborn questioning, Baek Cheon finally sighed deeply.

"About half."

"...The elders?"

"The same."

It must mean that about half of them died. Including those who did not arrive here and those who arrived and died.

Considering the expression on Baek Cheon's face, the actual number of those who died is probably more than half, but it didn't change the situation.

Chung Myung got up again.

"I told you to lie down."

"I'm really fine now."

Chung Myung pushed away Baek Cheon's hand, which was pressing his head, and sat up. Baek Cheon, who had tried to dissuade him in some way, eventually lowered his head.

"I entrusted you with the rear."

At this abrupt remark, Chung Myung stared at Baek Cheon.

"So, I know that I don't have the right to say such things."

"...What's this all of a sudden?"

"But I have to ask. Why do you push yourself so hard?"

"..."

"You could have backed off a bit. Even if someone else died because of that choice, no one would blame you. You know that, so why push yourself so hard? Why on earth?"

Baek Cheon's lips trembled. He seemed calm, but it was clear that he wasn't.

Looking at him like that, Chung Myung suddenly turned his head and looked at Yoo Iseol, who was unconscious.

"It's not about pushing too hard."

"...What?"

"It's just faith."

- Or at least fight when I'm around!

"I just have faith that when I exceed my limit and fall, there will be someone behind me."

Now, he finally had people to entrust his back to.