Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Medicine Hall .

“Spy Seonwoo Gang, your execution has been decided for one week from now.”

“Is… that so?”

At the sight of Moyong Hyeyeon  who came to find him wearing the Changcheon Corps  uniform and notifying him of the Murim Alliance’s decision, Seonwoo Gang’s eyes widened briefly before he smiled bitterly.

“Just as I expected.”

“You’re being told you’ll die in a week, yet you’re not particularly surprised.”

“Well… I thought it would turn out this way.”

Spies are executed when caught.

Seonwoo Gang knew that regulation better than anyone else. It was a regulation he had read countless times during his four years at Muryeon Hall .

“Do you know something?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing much.”

At the sight of Moyong Hyeyeon answering stiffly, Seonwoo Gang let out a small laugh and waved his hand.

“For four years, every single day, I thought about it. What would happen if I got caught? Would I die?”

“…….”

“I was always afraid. Afraid of being caught. Afraid of dying.”

If caught, he’d die. Even if not killed, he’d die.

Within the branches of forced choices, Seonwoo Gang always trembled in fear. Afraid his comrades would discover him, afraid he’d kill his master and fellow disciples with his own hands.

“What should I do? What’s the right answer? No matter how much I agonized, I couldn’t find an answer.”

He absolutely couldn’t kill with his own hands those who were like family. After agonizing and agonizing for one year. Two years. Three years. And four years.

“Only my fear grew. I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t want to kill either.”

“…….”

“But after actually being caught…”

“After being caught, how is it?”

“Dying isn’t as frightening as I thought. That’s when I realized. The reason my fear kept growing even though I kept trying to accept death wasn’t because I feared death…”

—Did you deceive us, Seonwoo Gang?

He feared being caught deceiving his close friends.

Seonwoo Gang, who recalled Seomun Cheok’s  hardened gaze looking at him a few days ago and smiled calmly, looked out the distant window.

“…Mm. Seeing that the execution has been decided, it seems the exchange was canceled.”

“That’s right. It’s because your comrades worked hard to collect petitions.”

“What do you mean ‘because of’? You should say ‘thanks to.'”

“Aren’t you resentful? You’re dying because of that.”

“Of course not.”

Either way, it’s the same. Even if he returned to the Demonic Path , if he couldn’t kill his master, dying would be the same. In that case, dying here would be better.

“How could I resent them when they gave me the opportunity to die as a comrade?”

“…….”

“Though I am worried. Despite how they act, they’re all fellows with warm hearts.”

I hope they don’t suffer too much shock.

Watching Seonwoo Gang murmuring quietly, Moyong Hyeyeon maintained her silence and fingered her sword hilt. And after a moment, Moyong Hyeyeon spoke.

“Even if the heart stops and the organs spill out, you’re not dead until you’re put in a coffin and buried.”

“…Pardon?”

“Those were the words the Corps Commander said to me when I was a new Changcheon Corps member. Though he was a Squad Leader then.”

“The sect master… you mean?”

“Yes. You greenhorn.”

Thwack—!

“Ugh…?”

Moyong Hyeyeon, who flicked her finger and tapped Seonwoo Gang’s forehead, chuckled.

“It’s not over until it’s over. Why are you already making a face like everything’s finished?”

“…Pardon? Pardon?”

“Even rolling in a dung heap, this life is better. Even if you have to smear yourself with manure, if you can survive, do it. You should at least struggle unsightly.”

If you do that, who knows? Maybe a miracle will come.

Having finished speaking, Moyong Hyeyeon turned her back and headed toward the Medicine Hall’s door. And just before leaving the Medicine Hall, Moyong Hyeyeon spoke quietly.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t given my evaluation of the training we conducted on the way here yet.”

“…?”

“You’re terrible alone. Still a greenhorn.”

“Ah, well. Yes.”

“However.”

Moyong Hyeyeon, who recalled Seonwoo Gang and Seomun Cheok rushing at her fiercely, smiled broadly and left through the door. At the same time, a voice was heard.

“You were quite passable. If it’s the two of you.”

Seonwoo Gang, who blinked and heard Moyong Hyeyeon’s evaluation, laughed awkwardly.

“Isn’t it useless at this point…?”

Because.

It was an evaluation that came far too late.

***

How do humans, living beings, distinguish between what they can do and what they cannot do?

This is truly a simple problem. If you try it and it works, it’s something you can do; if it doesn’t work, it can be classified as something you cannot do.

If there’s a rock of appropriate size before your eyes and you want to know if you can lift it, just try lifting it. There’s no clearer answer than directly attempting anything.

However, you can’t always experience everything before making judgments.

There are times when you need to save your strength for something that requires it, and cases where you don’t want your clothes dirtied by lifting a rock. That’s why since ancient times, animals have distinguished what they can and cannot do based on their experiences so far.

I tried lifting it in the past and couldn’t, I tried lifting it in the past and it lifted easily. For humans, such experiences become the bedrock for predicting the future.

Therefore, for humans, what they cannot do was exceedingly simple. What they couldn’t do in the past, what they don’t think they’ll be able to do in the future.

Yes.

All impossibility ultimately has its foundation in assumption.

Sangsan  outskirts.

“Why are you making such a deathly expression?”

“…?”

Muryeonggaek , who was quietly tilting his wine cup, heard a voice from in front and narrowed his eyes, raising his gaze obliquely toward the owner of the voice. A white-robed scholar standing before him at some point, smiling brightly.

“So it was you…”

“Haha! That’s right. I am Baek Riseon . Brother Jang’s intimate friend.”

“I don’t recall becoming such close friends.”

“Oh my. Let’s overlook trivial matters.”

At Muryeonggaek’s blunt answer, Baek Riseon smiled broadly, pulled out a chair and sat down, then looked at the wine bottles sprawled on the table and tilted his head.

“What are you doing?”

“…Can’t you tell by looking? I’m drinking.”

“I know that. Why are you drinking? In such bright daylight.”

“…….”

“Did something sad happen?”

“Something sad.”

Muryeonggaek, who repeated Baek Riseon’s words as if chewing on them, bitterly poured wine into his cup and downed a cup. The sensation of strong liquor burning down his throat.

“Just, I’m thinking about how powerless I am. As a master.”

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Muryeonggaek, who let out a hollow laugh, shook his head. Powerlessness surged up.

“My disciple, you see, is a good child.”

Muryeonggaek’s disciple, Dan Riyeon , cannot speak but is warm-hearted.

Anyone who has known Dan Riyeon for a long time cannot help but know that Dan Riyeon carefully cherishes and looks after people around her. Though she quietly passes over things disadvantageous to herself with an expressionless face, when something bad happens to an acquaintance, she runs around in every direction to help.

Perhaps it’s because she grew up under Muryeonggaek, who is weak to affection. Parents and children resemble each other, and since masters are called second parents, it wouldn’t be strange.

Yes. That is the problem.

“I heard Seonwoo Gang is to be executed. The Murim Alliance announced it, didn’t they?”

“Mm.”

“I heard that child is very close friends with Yeon-i. I also heard she received much help.”

Those well-informed all know. What’s happening in this Sangsan right now. They all know how the current situation is unfolding.

And that situation applies to Muryeonggaek, formerly of the Murim Alliance Secret Pavilion, as well.

“The Muryeon Hall disciples are running around trying to save Seonwoo Gang. They’re inducing public sympathy for Seonwoo Gang and preparing to rescind Seonwoo Gang’s execution.”

“I haven’t seen or heard anything, but is that how it’s flowing?”

“Of course. That’s right. Though it’s a futile act…”

At the sight of Baek Riseon shrugging, Muryeonggaek, who gripped the long spout of the wine bottle with his heated hand, lowered his head. A futile act.

Just as he mocked himself, it was truly a useless act.

“Do you know something?”

“What?”

“The Murim Alliance is ruthless. No, it must be ruthless.”

What is most important in maintaining a group?

It’s not momentary affection but the norms that maintain the group’s foundation. A foundation that, unlike emotions, doesn’t easily change.

“Norms are created based on emotions, but must never be swayed by emotions.”

“Mm. Those are the words of Jegal Cheon , the Murim Alliance’s first military strategist.”

“That’s right. It’s what the scholar who created the Murim Alliance’s foundation advocated. And the Murim Alliance keeps those words very well.”

Weeping while beheading Ma Su .

Just like that historical incident where Zhuge Liang wept while beheading Ma Su, norms must be applied equally to everyone. No matter how much they lighten punishment, it’s within the established scope.

“Since the Murim Alliance announced they would execute Seonwoo Gang, it will definitely happen.”

Minimum death penalty. Maximum, also death penalty.

That is the result of the execution that will be imposed on Seonwoo Gang. There will be no way to avoid it.

“Seonwoo Gang will die.”

Dan Riyeon will grieve at her comrade’s death. Just as Muryeonggaek has done until now.

Having finished his contemplation, Muryeonggaek sighed and tilted his half-empty wine cup obliquely. The wine surface  glowing softly, receiving the inn’s lamplight.

“…Should I have stopped her?”

“You mean stopping the attempt to save Seonwoo Gang?”

“It’s impossible anyway. As a master, would it have been right to help her prepare her heart instead…?”

If he hadn’t feared crushing his disciple’s hope, couldn’t he have helped her suffer less pain?

“Saving Seonwoo Gang, helping her prepare her heart… there’s nothing I can help with. Because I’m an inadequate master.”

Powerless.

“Mm.”

At Muryeonggaek’s bitter expression, Baek Riseon, who had been quietly watching Muryeonggaek, drew a small arc at the corners of his mouth, then reached out to grab Muryeonggaek’s wine bottle and poured it into his own cup. Soon wine rising in the cup to the point of sloshing.

Having filled his wine cup to the last drop, Baek Riseon sniffed the strong wine aroma as if it were sweet fragrance and smiled faintly.

“Brother Jang, do you know how to tie an elephant to a stake?”

“…?”

“I asked if you know the method to bind and restrain a fully grown elephant with a stake barely over a foot long.”

“…Is there such a method?”

“There wouldn’t be. Normally.”

Elephants are strong animals.

An adult elephant’s strength far exceeds that of humans, making it absolutely impossible to restrain with a stake less than a foot long. If the elephant exerts even a little force, the stake will be pulled from the ground.

But that’s only the story when an adult elephant is tied.

“I’ll tell you an interesting story.”

Baek Riseon, who smiled broadly, opened his mouth.

“Far away, beyond the Western Regions , elephant hunters tie baby elephants to stakes barely over a foot long to raise them.”

“…….”

“A newborn elephant can’t pull out a stake barely over a foot long. No matter how hard it tries.”

When an elephant is tied to a stake, the elephant struggles to escape the restraint. But no matter how strong, a baby is weak. No matter how much it struggles, the stake won’t be pulled out.

“After repeating this for several days, several months, the baby elephant stops struggling.”

“That’s obvious…”

“And!”

Baek Riseon, cutting off Muryeonggaek who was about to retort that it was obvious, continued.

“An elephant that spent its infancy tied to a stake won’t struggle to pull out the stake even after becoming an adult. Even though it’s a stake that would come out with just a little force, it lives its entire life without knowing that fact.”

“…….”

“From what I see, it seems Brother Jang hasn’t tried pulling the stake yet.”

Don’t give up without even trying.

At Baek Riseon’s story containing that meaning, Muryeonggaek maintained silence for a moment, then answered in a deeply sunken voice.

“The possibility of success is slim.”

“Well, you won’t know unless you try.”

“You don’t know. How desperate the Murim Alliance is to uphold regulations…”

“Is there anything to lose by pulling the stake?”

“…….”

“If it’ll just hurt a little, I think it’s okay to try pulling it.”

At the sight of Baek Riseon smiling broadly, Muryeonggaek quietly closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and muttered softly.

“…Perhaps so.”

The meager pension and honor from being former Murim Alliance.

Such things weren’t that important in the first place. What need is there for money when living holed up in a mountain valley, and does honor feed you?

“…I’ll be going now.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll try persuading old colleagues. Though it’s been quite a while since I contacted them.”

“Hmm.”

At the sight of Muryeonggaek steeling his resolve and trying to rise from his seat, Baek Riseon, who blinked briefly, suddenly smiled broadly and pulled out the folding fan from his waist and spread it.

“Brother Jang. Do you know? My intuition and luck are quite good.”

“…What are you suddenly talking about?”

“If you truly want to help your disciple, just stay still in this spot for a bit. The answer will walk right in.”

“What on earth are you…”

Bang!

“He’s here.”

Before Muryeonggaek’s questioning words could finish, the inn’s door opened urgently as if it would burst. At the same time, one young man walked in from outside.

“…Who are you?”

“Excuse me, but I want to go somewhere and return as quickly as possible. May I request your guidance?”

Watching the young spearman asking politely, Muryeonggaek blinked in bewilderment, thought for a moment, then asked back.

“Why do you want to go?”

“To save a close friend.”

“Is there a possibility?”

“Yes. If I can just return within the time limit, sufficiently.”

At the sight of the young man answering with a confident face, Muryeonggaek, who looked at Baek Riseon with a peculiar expression for a moment, rose from his seat and faced the young man.

“The time period?”

“One week.”

“Timed to the execution ceremony.”

“Yes. I must return before then.”

“I see… Then I ask. Where do you intend to go?”

At Muryeonggaek’s words as if he’d made up his mind, the young man, Seomun Cheok, gripped the spear shaft slung horizontally on his back tightly and looked at Muryeonggaek. And soon after, Seomun Cheok’s answer followed.

“Hubei . Akyang .”

“That’s far.”

“Would it be difficult to go and return within a week?”

“One week.”

About 2,600 li one way. 5,200 li round trip. 833 li per day.

Muryeonggaek, who drew the route from the Murim Alliance to Akyang in his mind, chuckled.

“Such a forced march is impossible for a person.”

“…….”

“However, if you run so fast the shadow cannot be seen .”

It might just barely be possible.

Seomun Cheok, who guessed the unspoken words behind, bowed his head. At the same time, Muryeonggaek’s command fell upon Seomun Cheok’s head.

“I’ll give you one gak .”

“…….”

“We depart one gak later. The location is Guanjemiao  to the south. Have your preparations finished by then.”

“Yes!”

Watching Seomun Cheok answering vigorously and going outside, Baek Riseon smiled and glanced at the sky.

“One week, is it?”

Looking at the sky slightly clouded with overcast, Baek Riseon smiled broadly and quietly waved his folding fan.

“It should be clear for about a week.”

As if chasing away the clouds in the sky.