Chapter 194: The Courage To Be Cowardly (2)
Chapter 193 – The Courage To Be Cowardly (2)
“I… really must bow my head.”
“Hmm?”
Namgung Geom stopped drinking his tea and raised his head.
Bi Ryang shrugged and let out a hollow laugh.
“Because I made a promise with that person.”
“…….”
“What should I do now?”
Bi Ryang’s gaze turned out the window. The people coming and going in the market street lingered in his eyes.
The scene he always saw looked different.
Is this what they call an eye-opening experience?
The Heavenly Great Killing Star, Jin Cheon-rang.
He too might have lived a normal life like the people coming and going over there. No, he should have lived that way. Perhaps he might have lived an even more wonderful life.
Yet he was driven out as a Martial World public enemy since childhood.
Without having done anything wrong.
What kind of life would he have lived if it were him?
It felt as if the life he had lived pursuing his own truth was completely collapsing.
Bi Ryang poured his collapsing heart into his voice.
“Jin Cheon-rang must be the Heavenly Great Killing Star. He must have been born with the Heavenly Killing Star. If that is not the case… if that is not the case, what happens to my life? What kind of human do I become, who hated him as a mad murderer and tried to hunt him down?”
“…….”
“Can I find the answer? Can I believe that my past life was right?”
Silence flowed.
Even amidst the surrounding noise, the two remained still with their mouths closed.
The first to speak was Namgung Geom.
“If someone must become the Heavenly Killing Star for the sake of your life, is that life not also too tragic?”
“……!”
“Anyone can make a mistake. There was a time when I also believed he was the Heavenly Killing Star. Forget it.”
“Do you not regret it?”
At Bi Ryang’s question, Namgung Geom stared blankly with his usual sharp gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“Did you not lose your daughter because of Jin Cheon-rang?”
“My daughter died of illness.”
“But if you had killed Jin Cheon-rang long ago, Patriarch, your daughter would not have been branded a traitor. Then the Namgung Clan would not have been ruined like today…”
“So, predicting the future, should I have killed that child?”
“That is…”
“It is in the past.”
Bi Ryang tightly gripped his teacup.
He raised his head and asked demandingly.
“Why are you staying still?”
“And if I do not?”
“You should tell the world. Jin Cheon-rang was not the Great Killing Star originally! He was just overflowing with talent! The hunt must be stopped even now! And of course, that Namgung Seon was not a traitor…!”
“If we tell them?”
“Pardon?”
“Will it change anything if we tell them?”
“Well…”
Would it change?
An answer did not come easily.
Bi Ryang hesitated and struggled for a long time to find suitable words.
But no word came to mind.
Would it change?
If he shouted like that, would the world listen?
Namgung Geom brought the teacup to his lips, then set it down again as he continued.
“Living in the world, are unfair things only one or two?”
“But…!”
“Angering and flaring up every time resolves nothing. The flow of the world is like the flow of air. No matter how much one fans, one cannot change the direction of a typhoon.”
“Even so, do you just stay still?”
“For now, we have no choice but to hold our breath and wait until the wind stops.”
“Do you not think of that as a cowardly excuse?”
Bi Ryang’s voice stiffened hard.
Namgung Geom narrowed his eyes and stared blankly at Bi Ryang.
Bi Ryang did not avoid that gaze.
Namgung Geom’s blade-like voice flew over.
“Do you know the heart of a father who lost a child as precious as his own life?”
“……I can only dare to guess……”
“No. That is not something that can be guessed.”
“…….”
“I lost my daughter, and the child my daughter bore is wandering. Did you call me cowardly? To protect those who remain, sometimes the courage to be cowardly is also necessary.”
The courage to be cowardly.
Bi Ryang’s gaze turned back out the window.
Namgung Geom’s low voice drifted over once again.
“Then what will you do now?”
“…….”
“What will you do to correct the mistake? Should you not retrieve the lost meaning of your life?”
Bi Ryang, who had kept his mouth closed for a long time, slowly stood up from his seat.
“I will think about it.”
* * *
To think that was already several years ago.
Once again, the passage of time felt real.
Namgung Geom took a sip of tea and looked down out the window.
The streets of Wuhan were still bustling.
Children playing and giggling, women looking at toys laid out on stalls with interested expressions, merchants shouting at the top of their lungs to attract customers, martial artists strolling with swords at their waists.
The world had not changed, but the environment surrounding him had changed quite a lot.
Indeed, had the Namgung Clan not endured harsher hardships than any other place over the past twenty years?
Experiencing a period in which the landscape would change twice, the change in environment had now become somewhat familiar.
Clatter.
Namgung Geom raised his teacup again and took a sip.
It was Bi Ryang with whom he had conversed in this very restaurant, at this spot.
And it was also in this spot that he met Bi Ryang again last year.
It was when Namgung Cheon advanced to the main tournament of the Joint Conference.
The words Bi Ryang spoke with a resolute expression at that time came to mind.
“I plan to somehow protect the son of the man I tried so hard to kill.”
“Is that the meaning of life you found?”
“I do not know about anything so grandiose. I just think it might be a way to make up for my mistake. I plan to find the answer later.”
And he added these words.
“That child did not choose the courage to be cowardly. It seems he decided to face the typhoon. So I… decided to watch over him.”
“You might also get caught in that typhoon at this rate.”
“Would that be a big deal? I have already been that typhoon once before.”
Bi Ryang had smiled in such a silly way.
Emerging from his thoughts, Namgung Geom stretched out his hand again and picked up his teacup. The tea was already completely cold.
‘The courage to be cowardly…’
Was that indeed the answer?
While he chose the courage to be cowardly and remained silent, Namgung Cheon was facing the typhoon just as Bi Ryang had said.
Even now, he would be on his way back from fighting the typhoon somewhere.
Since words travel faster than feet, the people of Wuhan were already talking about the heroic exploits of Guangxi Province.
“The courage to be cowardly…”
A bitter smile suddenly came to him.
A self-deprecating thought arose that perhaps that answer was wrong.
‘Seon, is this father wrong?’
Looking up at the sky outside the window, he asked.
Even though he knew no answer would return.
Just then, a man of sturdy build approached Namgung Geom.
“I am sorry for being late, Patriarch!”
Only then did Namgung Geom turn his gaze to look at the man before him.
The person who respectfully showed etiquette was none other than Azure Eagle Squad Captain Son U-gon.
Namgung Geom pointed to the opposite seat.
“Sit down.”
“Yes, did you wait long?”
“No. I came out a bit early and was retracing old memories.”
Son U-gon’s brows twitched.
He had changed somehow.
Namgung Geom had always been like a frozen blade.
Yet at this moment, was it somehow like the dew frozen on the blade had melted?
Although he still possessed a sharp and keen impression, the overall atmosphere he radiated felt somewhat softer.
However, that feeling was only momentary, as Namgung Geom’s eyes sharpened and a voice cold as ice flew over.
“Why are you staying here?”
In other words, it was a demand to know why they had abandoned the original duty of the Azure Eagle Squad to guard the Young Patriarch and were separate.
Son U-gon replied while being extremely tense.
“It was the Young Patriarch’s order.”
“Even so, there must be clan rules above that which must not be violated.”
“There was a special circumstance. I am sorry.”
“What special circumstance?”
“The Young Patriarch will arrive in Wuhan soon. He said he would tell you everything directly then, Patriarch.”
The corners of Son U-gon’s eyes quickly scanned the surroundings as he answered. He was conscious of others’ attention.
Namgung Geom, noticing his thoughts, did not press further. Instead, he took a sip of the cold tea and continued.
“I must be able to be convinced.”
“Of course.”
Son U-gon thought to himself as he replied.
‘Would it just make sense?’
If he were the Patriarch, he would dance with the Young Patriarch on his back.
Perhaps a faint smile had seeped out without him realizing it, for Namgung Geom narrowed his eyes.
As he quickly tightened his tension and firmed up his expression, Namgung Geom set down the teacup and spoke.
“The reason I came to Wuhan is because of the upcoming Seven Great Clans Conference.”
“If it is the Seven Great Clans Conference, our clan…”
Son U-gon trailed off.
It had been almost twenty years since the Namgung Clan was excluded from the Seven Great Clans. At first, they left because they had disgraced the honor of the Seven Great Clans, and later they were naturally excluded as they entered the path of true decline.
Yet he came to Wuhan because of the Seven Great Clans Conference?
Namgung Geom also roughly guessed Son U-gon’s meaning and nodded.
“It has been a long time since our clan was excluded from the Seven Great Clans. However, because Cheon rose as the Divine Dragon of the Jianghu this time, they invited our clan.”
“I see.”
Son U-gon replied with a somewhat lukewarm expression.
Would they really welcome the Namgung Clan sincerely?
Would they not perhaps invite them only to throw all kinds of insulting remarks?
He felt needlessly anxious, but Namgung Geom continued in his usual stiff expression.
“This time, it is a seat where the Young Patriarchs of each family also attend.”
“Ah…”
Son U-gon flinched and let out a short groan.
Now his anxiety shifted in a slightly different direction.
“The Young Patriarch… must attend.”
Namgung Geom nodded.
For some reason, a sigh filled with worry leaked out.
‘Sigh, it is a gathering where the Young Patriarch attends… I see…’
Son U-gon opened his mouth cautiously.
“Um… the Young Patriarch…”
“Take care that he does not cause any trouble.”
As expected. The Patriarch knows about it by now too.
Son U-gon thought with a bitter smile.
‘Do you not know well that it is extremely difficult?’
If they were the Seven Great Clans, their momentum would surely be formidable. Furthermore, if even the Young Patriarch attended, would Namgung Cheon really stay quiet?
If all kinds of grating words came out, would he not roll his eyes back and charge?
“I will do my best… to try. By any chance, will the Alliance Leader also attend that day?”
He desperately hoped that was not the case, but Namgung Geom nodded indifferently.
“He probably will. The gathering will take place at the Yellow Crane Tower. It seems the movements of the unorthodox forces have been unusual lately.”
Ah, is it related to that?
Son U-gon suddenly thought of the unorthodox martial artists he met in the Demonic Pill Valley.
Since they indeed seemed like people with a single, identical purpose.
Should he say they possessed a sense of comradeship rarely seen among unorthodox martial artists lately?
Namgung Geom raised his head and asked.
“So when is Cheon arriving?”
“I heard news that he will arrive around this evening.”
“Understood. Then I shall see you later.”
“Yes, Patriarch. Then…”
Son U-gon respectfully showed etiquette and stood up.
And at that time, Namgung Cheon was entering the outskirts of Wuhan along with the apprentice cadets.
“Ah, the air is already different!”
Namgung Cheon stretched fully and smiled pleasedly.
‘My cute elixirs, I shall see you again soon. Hehehe.’