Chung Myung silently watched the moon hanging in the sky.

On the indifferent, purely white moon, Chung Mun sahyung’s face overlapped. The familiar, beloved face smiled gently at him.

“Ridiculous......”

Chung Myung pouted his lips.

“A man who can’t even answer.”

An inevitable grievance. And an inescapable longing.

Even knowing that person was gone forever, at times like this he couldn’t help but recall that face.

Staring fixedly at Chung Mun’s face superimposed on the moon, Chung Myung spoke in a slightly raised voice.

“No, it’s not like that.”

A small, wry laugh escaped his lips.

“How old do you think I am, that I’d be shocked by that bald man’s ramblings? Whatever he says I wouldn’t even give it a passing ear. It’s not like I’m new to the talkative types.”

He waved his hand as if it didn’t matter. But soon he muttered in a somewhat weary voice.

“Just......”

After hesitating a bit as if uncertain, he lifted his head and looked at the endlessly black night sky without clouds or moon.

“Not because of what that bald man said...... but because I revisited my own situation. I tried not to think about it if I could.”

Contrary to others’ guesses, among Beop Jeong’s words the one that shook Chung Myung most was, ‘one must be at the very back.’

Because that statement wasn’t wrong.

Chung Myung was no fool. The one who leads everything must be in the safest place. He knew that as a given. That’s why in the past war with the Demonic Cult he had done his best to keep Cheong Mun from ever going to the battlefield, hadn’t he?

The reason was simple. At that time Chung Myung didn’t have the stature to lead the entire Mount Hua. No matter how strong Chung Myung was, if he lost Chung Mun on top of already having lost Chung Jin, Mount Hua would lose its center and be unable to exert its full strength.

Yes. Being the leader is that important.

Despite knowing that fact, Chung Myung had stood on the front lines until now. He repeated reckless fights, because he had firm confidence in his experience.

But...... Chung Myung also knew that the ‘heavenly luck’ that had carried him from his previous life to this one was by no means everlasting. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

If he continued in the same way, one day, as Beop Jeong said, Mount Hua’s disciples might witness Chung Myung’s cold, lifeless body with their own eyes.

And what would await Mount Hua after that would likely be ruin. A complete destruction that no one could escape.

“What am I that I’m so great......”

Chung Myung forced a hollow laugh as if trying to appear light-hearted.

Thinking about ruin was absurd. Even if Chung Myung tried, how many people’s roles could he fill? If Mount Hua’s youngsters grew up properly, they could do far more than someone like Chung Myung.

“......Yes, that’s right.”

Chung Myung murmured weakly, lifting his head.

He truly thought that way.

If that Baek Cheon could become a proper Sect leader and follow in Chung Mun’s footsteps, if that Yoon Jong could become a proper Taoist and lead the Tao concept that Mount Hua lacked.

If Jo Gul could become Mount Hua’s assault leader, Yu Yiseol could become the sword trainer Mount Hua pursues, and Tang Soso could be a strict master to Mount Hua’s disciples.

If all the other disciples could fulfill their roles, Mount Hua would become a much stronger and greater sect than it was under Chung Mun’s leadership.

Chung Myung, having watched them for a long time, could be certain.

Though he always scorned and bullied «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» them as rookies, they were truly outstanding talents—beyond any comparison to the old Chung Myung.

Yes. Surely...... surely it would come to pass.

That’s why it’s all the more heartbreaking.

“It’s cruel, Sect leader sahyung, isn’t it?”

Chung Myung laughed hollowly.

“If I had ten more years...... I could really make it happen. Even without me leading, those guys could get there on their own.”

As the world always does, it didn’t give them enough time.

Knowing that, Chung Myung had led Mount Hua tirelessly since returning to this world—toward a slightly higher place, even just a bit higher. But in the end he failed to reach it in time.

If it had been ten years later, Chung Myung would have fought without hesitation on the front lines to save even one more person. There would have been plenty of people to take up the roles he should perform from behind.

But now he must not do that. Now Chung Myung’s death would be an indescribable loss for all of Mount Hua. To save even one more person, Chung Myung must not stand on the front lines. Yes. To save more......

“How ironic.”

Chung Myung smiled bitterly. He was the one who had asked the question: what to do with the Southern Island. For Beop Jeong, that should have been a question without an answer.

Whether Beop Jeong intended it or not, that question rather returned to Chung Myung.

Just as Shaolin must prove its righteousness through Southern Island, Chung Myung now had to prove what he meant by his notion of righteousness.

One day Chung Myung would inevitably face it.

In a situation where saving one Mount Hua disciple might require sacrificing all the others.

What would he do then?

To put it extremely: if to save Baek Cheon trapped in a pit there was no option but to charge all of Mount Hua into the Demonic Cult’s stronghold...... what choice should be made?

Would he ignore Baek Cheon’s blood-spitting screams of ‘don’t come’ and throw his life away along with everyone else?

Or would he turn away as if tearing his own eardrums, gouging his eyes, and cutting off an arm?

“......sahyung.”

Chung Myung muttered bitterly.

“You’re quite the man too. Just when I think you’ve come closer to my understanding, you pull away again......”

He never thought of surpassing Chung Mun. Yet he had thought he might now partly understand what Chung Mun had felt and agonized over.

But each time like this he newly realized what Chung Mun had gone through.

“The sword of Mount Hua.......”

Chung Myung chuckled.

That would have been nice indeed. A sword that doesn’t need thought—just swung.

The position Chung Myung wanted was exactly that: one that didn’t require him to think. A place where he could fight on impulse and not bear responsibility.

But he knew.

He could not be Mount Hua’s sword. Maybe someday he could return to that place, but not now—he couldn’t be a whole sword. No one in Mount Hua could wield him freely. They couldn’t properly lift the sword called Chung Myung.

Then he had no choice but to move by himself. He must think and choose by his own will and self.

“Sect leader sahyung.”

Calling slowly, Chung Myung let out a low laugh.

“I’m sorry. Back then I, not knowing my place......”

When he tried to go rescue Chung Jin, Chung Mun stopped him. At that time Chung Myung didn’t hide his feelings and poured his anger onto Chung Mun.

But now he knew how presumptuous that had been.

He shouldn’t have dared to speak like that as someone who didn’t have to bear the responsibility for choices to someone who would have to accept the full cost of them.

“But...... I still don’t really know, sahyung.”

Chung Myung’s blank gaze turned to the moon.

“I know I have to choose, but I don’t know what to choose. So I kept postponing it and it led me here.”

He thought—no, believed—that if he trained Mount Hua’s disciples stronger, made them strong enough before the enemies showed up, he wouldn’t be forced into that absurd choice.

He had scolded the sahyungs for not facing the approaching death, but the one who had been avoiding the death they faced more than anyone was none other than Chung Myung.

He had seen death too many times and knew painfully well how agonizing the sudden absence of comrades was.

That’s why he lacked the confidence to choose.

He couldn’t say, like Beop Jeong, that saving more lives is right and one must set aside petty feelings and boldly discard what must be discarded; nor could he drag everyone into the middle of death to save one and then smile proudly.

If he truly faced such a situation, Chung Myung wouldn’t be able to do anything. He would just let go and slump down, not knowing what to do.

And that would one day lead Mount Hua to destruction. Chung Myung’s hesitation and indecision would drive Mount Hua into an inescapable pit.

“I thought that if I lived longer I’d become an adult.”

He had already lived more than enough—indeed excessively. He had clung stubbornly to a life that should have been cut off.

“But...... it seems those who can become adults are predetermined. I was not one of them.”

How wonderful it would be if Chung Mun were by his side now?

If there were someone to make the choices he couldn’t and carry the burden ahead of him. If even Chung Jin, if not Chung Mun, were here......

“It’s greed.”

Chung Myung shook his head.

Longing for those who are gone won’t change anything. Missing them is just proof that Chung Myung has grown that weak—nothing more, nothing less.

Chung Myung glanced at the wine bottle in his hand. He stared at the full alcohol that hadn’t lost a drop, sighed, and spoke.

“Did you bring cups?”

There was no answer.

But Chung Myung, as if he expected that, said without turning his head.

“I didn’t bring any cups.”

Thud. Thud.

With familiar footsteps approaching, Baek Cheon plopped down next to him. Then he snatched the alcohol bottle from Chung Myung’s hand as if grabbing it.

“You’re the kind who doesn’t even pour into cups, and yet you’re being sentimental now.”

Baek Cheon tipped the bottle and gulped the wine down in one go. Chung Myung silently watched his profile.

“Ugh.”

Baek Cheon grimaced and lowered the bottle.

“Strong.”

“That’s what makes it alcohol.”

Chung Myung took the bottle Baek Cheon handed back. But unlike usual, he didn’t lift it to his mouth—he merely set it down.

Baek Cheon, quietly watching that, cast his gaze forward and spoke.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just.”

“Is that so?”

Baek Cheon, staring at the moon in the sky, slowly spoke. “I felt relieved.”

“What?”

“You too......”

Baek Cheon’s voice that came out was matter-of-fact. Yet somehow it carried an inexplicable resonance.

“So you’re human too.”

The moon over the Yangtze was distorted by the incoming waves.