Chapter 1722. You Can't Help But Lose. (2)
"Brother!"
The child runs with all his might.
"Brotherrrr!"
His small hands stretch out desperately toward a back that seems unreachable. Unlike the child's tiny hands, the back is broad. To the child's eyes, that back, which seems infinitely strong, moves farther and farther away.
"Let's go together! Let's go together, brother!"
Despite raising his voice with all his strength, that back only gets farther away. No matter how desperately he runs, the distance doesn't shorten at all.
"Brotherrrr!"
The child, realizing he can't reach the person ahead, screams with all his might.
At that moment, the figure who had moved far away slowly turns his head.
The child, who was running at full speed, stops in his tracks. The gaze of the person who turns around seems terrifyingly indifferent.
"Go back."
A voice that seems to resonate with force. Not a trace of emotion can be heard in it.
"It's not for you."
The child's tightly clenched fist trembles.
"W-why?"
The child's eyes filled with resentment.
"I too... I too could do it, right? If I try hard! If I try harder..."
"It's not for you."
But the man's gaze doesn't change at all, despite the child's desperate plea.
"Go back. A wish that exceeds your abilities will bring you misfortune."
The child, gritting his teeth, tries to scream again. But the figure seen in the distance has already disappeared like a mirage.
"Ah..."
The child's eyes shook violently.
"Brother!"
Why? Why won't he even give him a chance? He just wanted to have the opportunity to be by his side.
He didn't want to get ahead. He didn't want to surpass anyone to prove his worth. What the child wanted was simply to be beside him. To be able to walk alongside him.
Then why won't he even give him that?
"Ah..."
Is that why he couldn't get it?
No, he had it.
"You guys?"
Other people appeared in front of the child.
Black clothes with a plum blossom design embroidered on the chest. After a long journey, he finally found the place where "he" should be.
"Companions... Yoon Jong, Jo Gul."
He didn't necessarily have to be beside Jin Geumryong. He now had others to walk with.
But...
"Why are you looking at me like that...?"
The gazes of those who looked at him were unfamiliar as never before. They had always had warm looks, but now they only cast cold gazes, like a winter storm.
"Guys?"
Calling them cautiously, the three turned in unison and turned their backs on him. At the same time, they too disappeared like a mirage.
"Guys, guys! Where...? Where are you going?"
The child reaches out, desperate.
But he grabs nothing. In the place where those he walked with disappeared, only emptiness remained.
"Why...?"
Why do they abandon him? Why?
The child looks around desperately. Nothing is visible. A barren and desolate space. In this place where even light is dim, only he stands.
"Where have they all gone?"
The child's face begins to show fear. No, maybe it's not fear, but sadness.
"Why...?"
The child looks frantically around him. But he sees nothing.
"Ah!"
At that moment, he sees a faint light in the distance. Although it seems like it could go out at any moment, it is definitely a light.
Without thinking any further, the child runs towards the light.
"Huff! Huff!"
He breathes heavily, and his body feels as heavy as a thousand weights.
Even so, he runs with all his strength, as if his body is about to break. Shouting the name of the person wrapped in that faint light.
"Chung Myungaaa!"
The person with the familiar yet somehow unfamiliar back slowly turns his gaze and finds the child's eyes.
"C-Chung Myung. I too... I too will go with you. I too!"
The lips of Chung Myung, who seemed motionless, slowly opened.
"Can you come?"
"What...?"
"Can you come?"
The child's face contorts horribly.
"I can come! I too, I too can do it!"
But Chung Myung's gaze doesn't change at all. Those eyes, which seem closer to a mineral than something alive, pierce him.
"How?"
"What...?"
"Can you really come? It seems like there's nothing left for you."
"What does that mean...?"
The child's eyes, full of doubts, waver. At that moment, a sardonic smile, never before seen, formed on Chung Myung's face.
"Do you really not know?"
It was at that moment.
"What?"
Everything around him became blurry. No, actually, it was the child who was crumbling.
As if black ink spread from his feet to his entire body, the child's body literally began to crumble.
"Ah, ah..."
The child, watching his body being stained with jet-black darkness, finally screamed a heartbreaking cry.
"Ugh... Ahhhhh!"
--------------------
The blurred and foggy vision slowly began to clear.
After the sensation of being deeply submerged in water, the feeling of floating gradually returns, giving an unpleasant sensation of discomfort that presses on his throat.
'Where am I...?'
It's an unknown place. The scent that touches the tip of his nose is familiar, but what he sees in his still slightly blurry vision is an unfamiliar scene.
Baek Cheon, barely able to lift his heavy eyelids, slowly turned his gaze to the side.
He saw familiar curly hair.
'Jo Gul...'
And next to him, there was someone else, a little less familiar... No, actually, someone whose appearance sleeping on a bed is what seems strange.
'Companion.'
Watching them quietly, Baek Cheon slowly looked back at the ceiling.
I'm alive.
'I have survived well. Very well.'
A dry cough escaped. As soon as he realized he was still breathing, a sharp pain ran through his body.
'How long have I been unconscious?'
His mind seems to be enveloped in a dense fog. It's hard to think clearly. It's no wonder that sleep begins to press on him again.
Baek Cheon, caught in a state of semi-unconsciousness due to the sleep that keeps coming, sees one side of the tent surrounding the bed open and someone enter.
"Sasuk, have you regained consciousness?"
"Huh?"
At those words, Jo Gul, who was nodding off, started and lifted his head. Then, seeing Baek Cheon with open eyes, he jumped and quickly approached his bedside.
"R-really awake? No, Sahyung, I wasn't sleeping..."
"Shh."
Yoon Jong gently pushed Jo Gul and asked Baek Cheon with a serious expression.
"Are you okay?"
Baek Cheon's half-closed eyes struggled to open once more. As he tried to open his mouth to say something, his dry lips cracked.
"Water! Gul, get water."
"Here it is, Sahyung."
Jo Gul, already quick in his movements, was pouring water from a jug into a bowl. Yoon Jong took the bowl and carefully poured the water into Baek Cheon's mouth.
"Ah, ah..."
Baek Cheon began to cough again.
The feeling was like swallowing thorns instead of water. However, somehow, thanks to that pain, his cloudy mind cleared a little.
"Sasuk."
"Raise me..."
The words didn't come out well. Baek Cheon, biting his lips, opened his mouth with all his might again.
"Raise me..."
"Gul."
"Yes!"
Jo Gul quickly moved to the other side of Yoon Jong. And together, they carefully lifted Baek Cheon's torso.
"Can you sit up?"
Baek Cheon nodded with difficulty. A hoarse and broken voice escaped his cracked lips.
"How long... have I been unconscious?"
Yoon Jong, after a brief hesitation, replied.
"Sasuk, you have been unconscious for five days."
"So long...?"
"Yes. It was really dangerous."
Baek Cheon nodded slightly and spoke again.
"Where are we?"
"In Wudang."
"And the Evil Tyrant Alliance?"
"They have retreated. Since then, there has been no significant movement."
Baek Cheon stared at Yoon Jong. At that gaze, Yoon Jong began to talk about things that hadn't even been asked.
"Don't worry, Sasuk. All the Sahyungs are fine. Some are injured, but they will recover soon."
"......"
"And... although Wudang has suffered great damage, we have avoided the worst. If the Wudang Disciples work hard, the sect will be able to move forward. All of this is thanks to you, Sasuk."
Baek Cheon's gaze gradually darkened.
"Yes, Sasuk. You have done something incredible. Really, I mean it."
Even Jo Gul, who normally didn't give compliments, began to praise, albeit with an extremely uncomfortable expression.
"......"
Baek Cheon, silently watching the two, slowly turned his head.
Yoo Iseol. Unlike the other two, she was looking at him from the foot of the bed without saying a word. She didn't have her usual indifferent look, but one that was strangely melancholic.
Yoon Jong said:
"Now... it feels heavy, but it's because of the severe wounds. It has been treated well, so you will recover soon."
Instead of responding to those words, Baek Cheon asked another question.
"Where is Chung Myung?"
"Ah... that idiot... where has he gone now that Sasuk has woken up?"
Jo Gul burst into a shout.
To Baek Cheon, this whole situation seemed strange. It was as if everyone was acting in a play with clothes that didn't fit them.
"You guys..."
With a slight movement, the fabric covering Baek Cheon's torso fell down. Looking down, Baek Cheon was left speechless, closing his mouth tightly.
Although wrapped in bandages, the shape of his body could be seen. His two arms, tightly wrapped, were noticeably thinner than he remembered.
"Ah."
Jo Gul quickly pulled the fabric back up to Baek Cheon's neck.
"Now is not good, you need to rest more."
"Gul."
"After sleeping a bit more..."
"Move aside."
"Sasuk."
"Quickly."
Although his voice lacked strength, it was firm. Despite his repeated insistence, Jo Gul sought help from Yoon Jong with a glance.
But what could Yoon Jong do? He too, resigned, closed his eyes and nodded his head.
Jo Gul sighed briefly and reluctantly removed the fabric covering Baek Cheon's body.
In the silence, Baek Cheon's eyes darkened.
They looked like dry branches.
That was the first thing that came to Baek Cheon's mind. His arms, wrapped in bandages, were no longer the same as he remembered.
Yoon Jong, hiding his anguished expression, spoke.
"It's because of the deep wounds, Sasuk. Tang Gunak is doing everything he can, so soon..."
"Remove the bandages."
"Sasuk, now is not..."
"Yoon Jong."
"......"
"Remove them."
Yoon Jong bit his lower lip. Then, as if making a decision, he grabbed the bandages around Baek Cheon's arm. His movements were slow, as if he didn't want to do it.
Silence filled the room.
Finally, Baek Cheon's arm was exposed.
The arm, thin and with black spots, looked like that of a hundred-year-old man, just bones and skin. That image painfully etched itself into Baek Cheon's mind.
"Sasuk."
"......"
Despite Yoon Jong's call, Baek Cheon kept looking at his arm for a long time. Then, he slowly lifted his head.
Yoo Iseol, silently, pulled back the curtain around the bed. Through the open window, a clear sky unfolded.
Baek Cheon fixed his gaze on that sky.
'So...'
Not even his fingers trembled. His will no longer resided in his arms.
'So it is...'
-It seems like there's nothing left for you.
This was like a broken wing of a bird, a prison for a bird that could no longer fly in the sky.
