If one must bear it. (7)
It was essentially a match with an already decided outcome. So even if the sword that brought it to an end was calm and devoid of any flourish, it was Chung Myung who held it. There was no way it could have lacked power.
Hence, Baek Cheon’s arm… no, his entire body was trembling miserably. It must have been a struggle to block an attack with the sword clutched in those emaciated hands.
Nevertheless, he forced himself to endure.
Putting all his strength into it.
Strangely enough, Chung Myung found this appearance of Baek Cheon to be quite natural.
Well, perhaps that was only to be expected.
This man had always thrown everything he had into a fight.
Chung Myung quietly watched him standing before him.
His face, soaked in sweat, was a complete mess as though he had been beaten to a pulp, and wounds were carved all over his body. On top of that… an arm that had withered away like an old tree.
He truly did not want to say this, but he could not help thinking of the word “miserable.”
And yet, Baek Cheon stood there blocking his path.
Chung Myung’s lips parted slightly. Even the faint warmth in his breath turned ice-cold in an instant, and then a merciless voice spilled out.
“…Move.”
“You…”
“This is no time to stall. People are dying out there even as we speak.”
Baek Cheon clamped his mouth shut. From the way his lips were pressed together, it seemed as though deep anguish was coursing through him. Chung Myung drove in the wedge.
“If you don’t move, even if you’re my Sasuk… I’ll cut you down.”
Baek Cheon would know. This was no empty threat.
Yet upon hearing Chung Myung’s words, Baek Cheon let out a low chuckle instead.
“So you still call me ‘Sasuk’.”
The corners of Chung Myung’s eyes twitched slightly.
“But what should I do, Chung Myung-ah? I’m sorry, but… I can’t move.”
There was not a flicker of doubt in Baek Cheon’s eyes.
Chung Myung suddenly recalled the time he had spent with Baek Cheon. Indeed, he had always been like this in the past.
Baekcheon never knew his place. He always overestimated himself. Even after he finally realized his own shortcomings and learned what humility was, whenever the decisive moment came, he would revert to his old self as though he had completely forgotten everything.
Just like now. Like when he thrust his sword at Chung Myung despite not even being a match for him now.
Back then, what pushed Baek Cheon forward was his rashness. But what on earth is driving him now? Could it still be the same youthful recklessness of someone ignorant of the ways of the world?
“Sasuk.”
“I know.”
After gritting his teeth and pausing for a moment, Baek Cheon shouted.
“You probably want to say I’m doing something stupid. That if it’s something that can’t be undone, I should at least wrap it up quickly. I know. I do!”
The muscles on Chung Myung’s jaw twitched slightly.
“But… I can’t accept it, Chung Myung-ah.”
Why is that, exactly? No matter how shaken or trembling he might be, Baek Cheon’s eyes always regained their clarity.
“Even if it’s right, even if it’s just, I can’t accept it. I can’t accept that grand logic of yours!”
Chung Myung was at a loss for words. He was relieved he didn’t burst out laughing at that moment.
It wasn’t that Baek Cheon was ignorant of the world. He had seen enough, he knew enough. In fact, perhaps the world he had seen was far more cruel and merciless.
Yet Baek Cheon still repeated the same words as before. Even now, when he himself had become a victim of that very merciless world.
“So stop. Now.”
“……And if I can’t?”
“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”
Baek Cheon bared his teeth in a grin.
“I will stop you, you damned brat.”
And still, Baek Cheon charged at Chung Myung, with the same expression he had in those innocent days when he knew nothing at all.
Chung Myung could only stare blankly. So much had changed, yet nothing at all had changed about his Sasuk.
A sneer tugged at the corner of Chung Myung’s lips.
“Stop me? How exactly?”
It was a brazen scoff, but Baek Cheon was not particularly offended. He knew it didn’t come from a place of genuine mockery but rather from a desire not to wound him.
“You’re looking down on me…”
Whish!
In an instant, a swift flash of sword energy sliced through the air right beside Baek Cheon’s face.
Chung Myung quickly twisted his head and leaned back.
Slash! Slash!
The assault did not end with a single strike.
As though determined not to waste this chance, more bursts of sword energy followed in succession.
With a cold expression, Chung Myung parried the barrage of darting sword energy.
“Sect Leader!”
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and shouted.
Standing behind him, Jin Songwon was using Baek Cheon as a shield, launching sword energy at Chung Myung.
“Stop, Sect Leader!”
But Chung Myung was not someone who would simply stand there and take it.
Paararak!
The tip of Chung Myung’s sword began to tremble violently. Sharp petals bloomed vividly and flew straight at Jin Songwon.
With Baek Cheon in between them, the two different sword energies scattered chaotically.
It was truly splendid – at a glance, even beautiful. Yet anyone versed in martial arts would recognize how dire and terrifying this scene was.
Paaat!
Waves of force scattered as killing intent collided. Anything made of flesh and blood would have no hope of surviving in a place like this.
“Stop, can’t you hear me?!”
Blood spattered from the flesh torn by Chung Myung’s sword, and pieces of flesh fell away from the area Jin Songwon’s blade had pierced.
Baek Cheon could sense it – the bitter hatred flowing between those two. Nothing would make it disappear.
The truly bizarre fact was that, even amidst the ferocious exchange of the swift sword that seemed capable of slicing through time itself and the illusionary sword that seemed to deceive even space, Baek Cheon, who stood between them, remained completely unscathed.
‘This…!’
Baek Cheon ground his teeth.
If he were the man he used to be, he might have been able to stop them both. In his most brilliant days, his sword would certainly have posed a threat to them.
But not now.
For the man he was at present, the notion of stopping their fight might be nothing but a pipe dream, even in his sleep.
‘So what?’
Even so, Baek Cheon did not hesitate. There was no reason to. The reason he stood here was not to do what he could, but to do what he must.
Fwoooosh!
Chung Myung’s sword energy knocked Jin Songwon’s blade aside. Then, before Jin Songwon could even grasp what had happened – before he could so much as change his expression – Chung Myung unleashed another powerful burst of sword energy, thrusting his sword again. An attack that looked as though it would slice Jin Songwon in two at any moment.
Baek Cheon leaped forward. There was not even a fleeting moment of hesitation.
But this time, Chung Myung did not stop his sword either. As if declaring that, should Baek Cheon refuse to move aside, he would cut him down as well, the blade he brought down glowed with even more vivid sword energy.
Baek Cheon let out a short breath and raised his head.
Could he block it? Not a chance.
Even so, Baek Cheon lifted his sword. Winning the fight is not everything.
Overpowering someone with an even stronger might to enforce one’s will is not the only way.
That was what he had learned and realized after losing his dantian.
Swaek.
Compared to Chung Myung’s incoming sword, Baek Cheon’s rising blade was so slow it was almost laughable. It did not even carry proper internal energy. If it were to collide with Chung Myung’s fierce sword as it was, the result was painfully obvious.
Clang.
But the moment the two swords collided, something unexpected happened.
It wasn’t that Baek Cheon’s sword stood firm against Chung Myung’s. As if cradling a child, Baek Cheon’s blade, which met the descending sword, traced a gentle circle. It was a truly natural movement.
Following the arc Baek Cheon drew, Chung Myung’s sword twisted as if it were being guided.
Chung Myung’s eyes widened in an instant.
“What in the…?”
The redirected tip of his sword promptly drove into the ground.
Stepping forward, Baek Cheon slammed his shoulder into Chung Myung’s chest.
Thump!
Chung Myung’s body shot back. A single thought crossed his mind.
‘What is this?’
Thud.
Knocked away before he realized it, Chung Myung jumped back to his feet. Yet instead of charging again, he simply stared blankly at Baek Cheon.
‘How…?’
A wave of confusion roiled Chung Myung’s mind.
It was nothing but raw physical strength. That brute force struck Chung Myung’s chest. It made no sense.
Ihwa-jeobmog [이화접목(移花接木) – Glossary]? No, something bigger. This was Neung-yujegang – to overcome strength with gentleness [능유제강(能柔制强)].
That Flowing Sword, which had diverted his Powerful Sword [강검(强劍)], was definitely Neung-yujegang. And that could only mean…
“Wudang?”
How had the essence of Wudang found its way into Baek Cheon’s sword?
Moreover, it wasn’t some clumsy imitation. It was clearly the real Neung-yujegang, which only grows stronger the more power your opponent exerts.
“I told you, don’t underestimate me.”
Chung Myung stared at Baek Cheon, unable to hide his bewilderment.
Baek Cheon’s sword was trembling violently. It was the aftermath of forcing himself to use his internal energy. In other words, his dantian was still shattered beyond repair.
Actually, there was no need to confirm anything. Those strange supporting devices strapped to his arm are more than enough proof of Baek Cheon’s condition.
“What on earth…?”
What on earth has he been up to?
That was the question Chung Myung originally intended to ask. But before the question could fully form, Jin Songwon moved swiftly once again from behind Baek Cheon.
Baek Cheon turned to him and shouted.
“Sect Leader!”
Jin Songwon did not even spare Baek Cheon a glance.
It was an intentional disregard. Or perhaps he simply found Baek Cheon unworthy of his attention.
Jin Songwon tried to rush past Baek Cheon in a single bound to attack Chung Myung, but at that moment, Baek Cheon raised his sword to block Jin Songwon’s path.
“Get out of the way!”
Jin Songwon swung his sword roughly, trying to knock him aside. Yet Baek Cheon’s sword clung persistently, as though coated with glue.
Jin Songwon’s face twisted.
How strange.
It’s nothing special. Moreover, that sword doesn’t even have proper power behind it.
And yet, inexplicably, it’s not easy to shake off.
Like a butterfly fluttering around him, no matter how violently he swipes his hand, the sword gracefully rises and clings to him again.
“Stop, can’t you hear me?!”
“Shut up!”
Exasperated by the repeated pleas, Jin Songwon finally erupted in fury. But Baek Cheon still refused to give up.
“Please, stop this! What difference will it make?!”
“And if I do stop?”
Clang!
With a single strike, Jin Songwon knocked Baek Cheon’s sword aside. Then he glared at Baek Cheon coldly.
“What difference will it make if I stop?”
“Sect Leader!”
“Enough with the lecturing! There’s no reason I can’t just cut off your head. Unless you’re throwing a fit because you’re hoping it’ll get chopped off?”
Jin Songwon’s voice sounded like a desperate wail. A deep-rooted hatred emanated from him.
At least Baek Cheon could sense it. He knew where this lost hatred and fury stemmed from.
And precisely because he knew, there were words he had to say.
“It’s quite the opposite.”
Jin Songwon’s movements halted for a moment.
“…What did you say?”
Baek Cheon glared straight at him. His gaze held both pity and reproach.
“Aren’t you the one who’s longing to have your head cut off, Sect Leader?”
Jin Songwon bit his lip.
“You may find no easy answer. But giving up in despair can never be the solution to any problem. Don’t you realize this, Sect Leader!”
Jin Songwon suddenly looked up at the sky.
Instead of pressing for a reply, Baek Cheon watched him quietly. It was as if time alone had stopped for Jin Songwon in the midst of that fierce battlefield.
In truth, his time had all but ceased to move. He might as well have been dead. Ever since he knelt before Jang Ilso and licked his feet, Jin Songwon’s time had been frozen.
“…It’s suffocating.”
Jin Songwon muttered. Then abruptly, he clutched the mask that had been covering his face and tore it off in one swift motion.
Thud.
The bloodstained mask fell to the ground, revealing Jin Songwon’s face, tinged with silvery-white hair.
From the eyes that had once been devoid of anything but emptiness, a single ray of sorrow slipped free.
________
I believe in Baek Cheon. All I can say.
________
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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