Chapter 1442: What Should I Do? (Part 2)

The night was exceptionally dark and heavy.

At first, even though they had created a resting place, many were anxious about the possibility of Myriad Man Manor launching another attack. However, with physical exhaustion taking its toll, most eventually succumbed to the fatigue, falling asleep.

Those who had embarked on a desperate escape from Chengdu to here and those who had exerted all their strength running from Nanjing all fell into a deep slumber.

However, Tang Sobu couldn't easily fall asleep.

The sounds of insects and the rhythmic breathing of those around her tickled her ears. Fidgeting with unnecessary anxiety, she noticed the figures of those standing guard with torches. She reassured herself.

It's okay now.

Even if Myriad Man Manor attacked again, the Tang Family marital artists and the Mount Hua Sect were here. So, there shouldn't be a recurrence of such dreadful events. But the deeply rooted anxiety in her heart wouldn't easily disappear.

Now... what would happen?

It was a frustrating question.

She had never stepped out of the Tang Family compound in her entire life. She was not alone in this; most females born in the Tang Family were in the same situation.

Until they left the Tang Family and joined another household, the only ground they could tread on was the Tang Family compound, and at best, Chengdu. But now, there was no longer a Tang Family they could return to.

Although it was a fanciful idea, the thought that the Tang Family no longer existed brought a sinking feeling and discomfort.

'Elder.'

Suddenly, the image of Tang We, who had urged her to leave, flashed faintly in her mind. But at that moment, someone rose from the ground.

"Huh? Who..."

The person who stood up walked away from the crowd without making a sound. Those guarding the surroundings reflexively blocked him, but after confirming his face, they stepped back.

In the dim light of the campfire, his face became visible. A title came to Tang Sobu's mind.

'Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword.'

After dispersing the sentries, he was gradually enveloped by the darkness that fell on the fields. Tang Sobu silently watched the back of Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword

The sound of insects echoed quietly across the vast field.

Tang Gunak, sitting in a reed field surrounded by high mountains, suddenly grabbed the reed that had grown next to him.

Thud.

With a simple movement, he swung the broken reed, and with a sharp sound, it pierced through the air and deeply embedded itself in a rock in front. Someone from somewhere exclaimed.

"Woah."

When Tang Gunak turned around, Chung Myung, grinning, approached.

"That's pretty impressive."

Chung Myung, pushing aside the reeds, approached Tang Gunak and nodded toward his side.

"Can I sit down?"

Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung with a complex expression.

"If you want to be alone, I can go back."

"No... that's not it."

Shaking his head, Tang Gunak pointed to his side. Then, without saying anything, Chung Myung sat down on the ground. He raised his head and stared at the sky.

Neither Chung Myung nor Tang Gunak opened their mouths. They just stared. Perhaps they were looking at different things even though they were sitting in the same place.

After a fairly long silence, Tang Gunak slowly opened his mouth.

"Why aren't you talking?"

"I didn't come here because I had something to say. I just came."

Tang Gunak let out a dry laugh.

"You'll die someday because of that foolishness."

"Isn't it strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the past, people kept begging me to show some interest in others. But now people keep telling me to stop being so rude."

"..."

"Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

"I don't know... maybe it's one of the two. Either you changed, or the world changed."

"Which one do you think it is?"

"You've changed. No, you've definitely changed. The you I first saw and the you now are different people."

Chung Myung made a muffled sound in response.

"People say that when you change, you die."

"I'm already halfway dead, so it's okay. It's good to be alive."

This wasn't a joke.

Despite pouring out everything he could, Tang Gunak believed that the chance of Chung Myung surviving was less than half. Even if he survived, he thought it would be impossible to recover his former strength.

But now, Chung Myung was casually joking next to him. It was something Tang Gunak couldn't comprehend with common sense.

"Is your body okay?"

"I feel like I'm going to die."

"...Honesty is good."

"One of my countless merits!"

"Is that really a merit?"

"Well, friends should be straightforward."

Tang Gunak chuckled.

Right. One of many merits. Being with Chung Myung unknowingly made him cheerful. Perhaps that was an indispensable merit of Chung Myung.

Tang Gunak looked up at the sky again. Countless stars seemed to be looking down on him.

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword. What do you think when you see those stars?"

"Well... I don't really think about anything."

It was a typical answer that could be expected, but Tang Gunak's expression became a bit bitter. Then he spoke slowly.

"I've been looking at those stars and thinking like this since a long time ago. If I could throw as many hidden weapons as there are stars in the sky, I thought I could become the best in the world. Thus, the Tang Family would become the best in the world."

"...You were born ambitious."

No, but it felt like he had heard similar words before... Were all Tang Family members like this?

"But do you know what those stars look like to me now?"

"...I don't know?"

"Eyes staring down at me."

"Eyes?"

Tang Gunak nodded his head.

"The eyes of my ancestors looking down on me."

For a moment, Chung Myung bit his lip. The pressure felt from Tang Gunak's words was so overwhelming that it was hard to express it.

Tang Gunak slowly lowered his head. When the stars disappeared from his sight, what came into view was the darkness covering the entire world.

"The Tang Family will decline."

"..."

"No matter how hard I try to stop it, I won't be able to. Because what's lost can't be brought back."

"Gaju-nim."

"I can't figure it out no matter how much I think about it."

"..."

"What should I do now?"

Chung Myung couldn't easily offer words of comfort. The despair that Tang Gunak was feeling now was probably beyond his imagination. It wasn't just the Tang Family compound burning down and the inability to return to Sichuan.

They had lost their hidden weapons and lost their poisons.

This was by no means something that could be restored in a short period. Perhaps they would never reach the level that the Tang Family had originally reached.

The Tang Family losing their poisons and the hidden weapons wasn't much different from Mount Hua losing its sword [techniques]. Could a Mount Hua without its sword be called Mount Hua? Could Chung Myung affirmatively say that a Mount Hua that couldn't use its sword was still Mount Hua?

So, no one could answer Tang Gunak's question.

"I heard about what happened in Chengdu. They said old man Shinsu set fire to the Tang Family compound and drove out the disciples."

'Tang Jopyeong...'

Chung Myung whispered that name in his mind and tightly closed his eyes.

The wrinkled face of Tang Jopyeong and the face of the young Tang Jopyeong both came to mind. How would Tang Jopyeong be remembered by Chung Myung?

"That's not an answer. But it's an answer at the same time."

"...That's right."

"Thanks to the elder, the Tang Family has been able to maintain its lineage. Even if I expressed my thanks a thousand times, it wouldn't be enough. But, you know, Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword."

Tang Gunak suddenly turned his head and stared at Chung Myung. There was a hint of redness around Tang Gunak's eyes.

"Is it because I am weak that I resent such a venerable elder? Or is it because I am wicked?"

"...Gaju-nim."

Tang Gunak's eyes became slightly redder.

Chung Myung became even more despondent. He had never seen Tang Gunak like this before.

Even if the moment came when his throat was cut, Tang Gunak would face it with dignity. But his current appearance was far from being confident. It was not the Poison King Tang Gunak, the head of the Sichuan Tang Family, but a man crushed by weight and burden.

A deep sigh escaped from Chung Myung's lips.

It wasn't strange. No one in the world who was always strong. There were only those who pretended to be strong while gritting their teeth. Just like the past Chung Myung.

"I know. People are more precious than anything else. I dare not compare poison or hidden weapons to a person. The old man was not wrong. Even if it was me, the choice wouldn't have changed in the end."

Tang Gunak's voice was deeply subdued, as if submerged in water. No, it was submerged in something heavier than that.

"But... I don't know. Even though I know it's right, I keep thinking like that."

Chung Myung felt like he knew what Tang Gunak was going to say.

"...If I had protected the sect, even if I had to make sacrifices, if I had preserved the roots of the Tang Family..."

It might have been a bit easier for him if that had happened.

Even if the numbers had decreased, the Tang Family would still be the Tang Family. If everything the Tang Family had achieved over the years remained intact, someday the Tang Family could regain its original form, the ruler of Sichuan.

"Isn't it funny?"

Tang Gunak's face twisted.

"...Gaju-nim."

"I disgust myself."

Tang Gunak's hand trembled.

"That's... it's ridiculous. I'm weighing a worthless lump of cold iron against a person's life. I keep thinking that it wouldn't have mattered if some of them died to protect it."

As much as his hand was trembling, his voice was also trembling miserably. It was as if someone was squeezing and twisting his neck.

"If that had happened, the pain would have been more severe, but maybe I would have been in a slightly better position later. I keep thinking about that!"

Tang Gunak covered his face with his hands. His trembling fingers revealed a voice full of despair.

"I am so... so disgusted."

Chung Myung turned his head away. Not because he didn't want to see him. It was because it was difficult to calm his heart.

The future he had firmly believed in had collapsed, and he was losing everything he considered his own, crushed by an unbearable weight.

'You must have felt the same way.'

They probably did.

The young swordsmen of Mount Hua who waited and waited for their predecessors, and learned that not a single person returned, and the disciples of Mount Hua who watched Mount Hua burn, shedding tears, probably had the same feelings as Tang Gunak now.

Who could dare to comfort them easily? Who could fully understand that feeling?

"Look, Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword."

"Yes."

"What should I do?"

Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung. Meeting Chung Myung's gaze with his moist eyes, Chung Myung quickly looked up at the sky. The sky full of stars overlapped with the sky he had seen before.

Perhaps that sky was not much different from the sky that overlooked Shaanxi when Mount Hua burned.

Therefore, Chung Myung had to say it.

The words someone had to convey. The words he had to convey. The words of someone who passed away without bringing himself to convey them.