He didn't particularly feel the need to follow anyone. He just sought a place to avoid the pouring gazes.
Thinking of a place where Xiaobao wouldn't attract too much attention, Baek Cheon suddenly thought of this place. He remembered seeing Chung Myung alone here occasionally, even the figure of that guy.
Receiving the same looks and walking the same path, Baek Cheon came to understand.
Having the assurance of being right and doing the right thing doesn't always provide comfort.
Baek Cheon glanced at Chung Myung.
Perhaps this guy had been under such scrutiny for years.
Honestly, Baek Cheon sometimes envied that side of Chung Myung.
The insight to see what others couldn't, the courage to discuss what others couldn't. But now he knew. He knew how heavy the burden was to carry that.
Chung Myung asked, "Shaolin?"
"If you're asking about the Blood Cult, fortunately, there haven't been any major clashes. They withdrew without lingering. And the Shaolin monks have vowed to protect Mount Song."
Chung Myung nodded slowly. Although he didn't ask further, Baek Cheon elaborated.
"I requested Monk Hye Bang's help in dealing with the remnants of the river bandit group. Since he agreed, those remaining there should withdraw and move to Shaanxi within a few days."
"I see."
Chung Myung nodded calmly once again. This time, Baek Cheon asked him.
"And Monk Hye Yeon?"
Chung Myung's gaze momentarily flicked towards Mount Hua. To the quarters of Mount Hua, which were now unoccupied.
"As soon as he returned, he's been holed up in his room."
Baek Cheon's face filled with concern.
"...I see. Then maybe I should go and talk to him..."
"Leave him be."
Chung Myung cut him off bluntly. It was a short but firm tone.
"It's better to leave him alone for now. He won't hear anything anyway."
A sigh escaped Baek Cheon's lips.
"...Alright."
Baek Cheon couldn't imagine what Hye Yeon was feeling right now. If he had experienced the same thing, he wouldn't have been in his right mind either.
So for now, all he could do was wait for Hye Yeon to stand up on his own.
Staring into the distance, Chung Myung said, "He'll stand up. Because he's that kind of guy."
Baek Cheon silently looked at Chung Myung.
Though he acted indifferent, it seemed like he was deeply concerned. Judging from his mannerisms, he seemed to have glanced towards Hye Yeon's room several times already.
Baek Cheon sighed deeply.
"He'll do it."
A gentle yet strong person. That's Hye Yeon.
"What about the abbot?"
Without averting his gaze from the sunset, Chung Myung replied, "Hmm... he'll probably go back to Shaolin."
"To Shaolin?"
Chung Myung nodded faintly. Baek Cheon asked with a puzzled expression.
"Really? Can he? How can he return after burying so many people and with what face? If it were me, I wouldn't be able to go back so easily, fearing to face those remaining in Shaolin."
"But he'll go back."
Chung Myung murmured softly.
"He has nowhere else to go."
There was a hint of bitterness in his tone. Baek Cheon couldn't tell where this bitterness stemmed from.
"Then what about Shaolin?"
"It probably won't be able to send anyone out for a while."
Even if there were still forces in Mount Song loyal to Shaolin, Beok Jeong would no longer have the power to move Shaolin. Those remaining in Shaolin were the ones who had raised objections to Beok Jeong in the first place.
But fortunately or unfortunately, there wasn't enough power among those remaining in Mount Song to drive Beok Jeong away. Hye Bang hadn't yet built a strong enough position to replace Beok Jeong.
So, for a while, an uncomfortable coexistence would continue.
Until time melted away the grudges between them and peeled off the plaster covering their wounds.
Baek Cheon sighed quietly.
"What do you think the abbot is thinking?"
"...Hmm. I don't know."
"If only he could..."
Baek Cheon sighed, lowering his head as he looked up at the distant sky.
If only he had listened a little more to others' words... perhaps so many lives wouldn't feel so futile.
But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to voice those thoughts. It was as if the words were stuck in his throat, unable to come out, almost as if they were choking him.
Baek Cheon unconsciously touched his own neck. It was a reflex action, prompted by a vague sense of discomfort.
Glancing at him, Chung Myung shifted his weight slightly, leaning forward and speaking up.
"You believed, didn't you?"
"..."
"You believed you were right. That you were on the right path, no matter what others said. That this was the right path, and eventually everyone would come to see it."
In that moment, Baek Cheon understood. He understood what that discomfort he had been feeling was.
"That's..."
Chung Myung nodded, prompting him to continue.
"Yeah. But... what if that's not really true?"
An inexplicable chill ran through Baek Cheon's fingertips.
It was wrong. That's all there was to it. It had already been proven by the outcome. If they were to discuss his mistakes, they could spend all day doing so.
But Baek Cheon couldn't bring himself to definitively answer Chung Myung's question.
It was unknown.
Until the results were confirmed, no one knew for sure. Whether the path he had chosen was truly right or wrong.
It wasn't a distant tale. He had just now stirred up a story that everyone seemed to want to avoid.
But what if it was just a coincidence? What if it was nothing more than it appeared to be?
Then what Baek Cheon had done was nothing more than shattering the alliance that might have been formed, from the beginning. A cycle of doubt and suspicion gnawing at each other.
Was that really the right thing to do? Baek Cheon's fingertips trembled slightly.
'Courage...'
He had once believed in it. He had believed that pushing forward with what he believed to be right was courage. That sticking to "righteousness" even at the cost of his life was courage.
But who determined what was "right"?
Like Baek Cheon just now, Beok Jeong must have believed. After much deliberation, there could be no doubt in his conclusion.
Despite numerous concerns, he couldn't simply abandon the "justice" he had obtained.
When that justice led not only himself but everyone into hell, what was Beok Jeong feeling?
He couldn't sympathize. There was no value in being sympathized with. Yet...
"Feeling scared now?" Chung Myung's voice cut through. When Baek Cheon looked at him, Chung Myung was smiling lightly, shadows cast across his face by the twilight.
It was a different smile from the one he often gave Baek Cheon when he struggled.
Baek Cheon responded quietly.
"Not so much scared as... just resigned. There's no such thing as a perfect choice in this world. No matter how hard you try and hold onto it, eventually, you'll end up losing something."
Chung Myung silently regarded Baek Cheon. When Baek Cheon continued, he didn't explain the reasons.
But both Baek Cheon and Chung Myung knew.
Eventually, someone had to make a choice and bear the responsibility for it. Postponing that choice meant simply passing the responsibility onto someone else.
That's why they couldn't help but step forward.
Even if they were to become another Beok Jeong, cursing themselves, it was better than someone else being thrown into that pain.
"So, I won't step back," Chung Myung quietly observed Baek Cheon. The sun had now disappeared beyond Xi Mountain, leaving only the lingering light spreading around him.
Looking Chung Myung straight in the eye, Baek Cheon spoke.
"So, it's not your fault."
Chung Myung's lips twitched slightly, but Baek Cheon was quicker.
"Surely there must have been someone somewhere. A path where you could have prevented the abbot's choice from the start."
"..."
"You're probably still searching for that. Because that's who you are. If you had made the right choice, if you could have found that path, you probably think they wouldn't have died like that."
Chung Myung's face hardened.
"I..."
"You're really not funny."
"Huh?"
Caught off guard by the sudden barrage of criticism, Chung Myung's expression faltered slightly. Baek Cheon twisted his mouth in response.
"Just how highly do you think of yourself to even entertain such thoughts? Are you that strange?"
Chung Myung's mouth opened slightly.
"No..."
It wasn't shocking in itself to hear these words, but it was utterly absurd to hear them from none other than Baek Cheon.
"Don't dismiss people."
"..."
"Even if it was the abbot's decision, everyone there decided to follow it. And even if you make a mistake, it's us who chose to follow that mistake."
Chung Myung tightly shut his mouth.
"So don't entertain such ridiculous thoughts that you're carrying everyone's lives. It's nauseating."
"Elder brother."
Baek Cheon rose abruptly from his seat.
"It's not you, but me, who determines the way I live my life."
And he stared at the sky. Night was pushing out the sunset. Eventually, the sunset would disappear, but it wouldn't lose its color until the very end.
"So stop making those ridiculous faces while contemplating nonsense."
"..."
"I won't wait forever."
With those words, Baek Cheon turned and began to descend the mountain.
Watching him blankly from behind, Chung Myung turned his gaze to the dimming sky.
Thunk.
And soon, he lay down in that spot.
"...You've grown up now. Those kids."
Chuckling softly as if momentarily lost in thought, he smiled.
Did the Chung Mun of the past ever feel this way?
No, probably not. Chung Mun probably never looked at him with such eyes.
Chung Myung led.
He believed he had to somehow resurrect the fallen Mount Hua, dragging it along. But at some point, they were the ones leading him instead. No, they were urging him on. They were telling him not to falter, not to give up.
"...Senior brother."
The image of Chung Mun, eyes closed, flashed in his mind. Not the kindly smiling one. The determined one.
That image was undoubtedly...
- I won't accept this decision until the moment I die.
Chung Myung's eyelashes trembled as he closed his eyes.
It was the words he had said to Chung Mun, who prevented him from going to save Chung Jin.
Repeated countless times, regretted just as many times. But still a word that could never be completely erased from his heart.
Perhaps he's still a ghost of the past.
A pitiful existence who, while knowing he must move forward, is afraid to lose. Just a pathetic being who knows nothing but clinging onto what he already has.
Chung Myung let out a bitter chuckle.
"Anyway... They won't let me rest for long."
He got up.
It didn't matter if he was a pathetic human who couldn't escape the grasp of the past. Because here, there are others living lives different from that abyss of the past.
That's why it's dazzling, and that's why it's worth it.
The sky now resembled the one when he faced Chung Mun in the past.
But now Chung Myung stood where Chung Mun once stood. So now, he must give the answer. A different answer from the past Chung Mun.
The answer Chung Myung wanted to hear the most back then.
With a wistful smile, Chung Myung stepped down towards below.
In the midst of the illusion, the stiff Chung Mun finally sent a gentle smile to Chung Myung.