Tangmunjeon - Chapter 354



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Tangmunjeon Episode 354

scale

Until Baek Hyang-ah’s back completely disappeared, Dang Mu-jin and his party remained motionless and watched Baek Hyang-ah’s back.

There wasn’t any great reason for that.

It’s just that the situation was a bit sudden, and I didn’t know what Baek Hyang-ah was going to do.

There were some who remained silent for a slightly different reason. Unlike the other friends who understood what Baek Hyang-ah said, Hong Geol-gae did not understand Baek Hyang-ah’s story properly.

Of course, it wasn’t because Hong Geol-gae was stupid. It was just because there were some abstract and difficult parts in Baek Hyang-ah’s story.

A life where you take charge and move forward, or a life where you are swept away.

That wasn’t important to Hong Geol-gae at all.

If I had a full stomach, a warm bed, and something to laugh about a couple times a day, it would be a day that would be perfect by Hong Geol-gae’s standards.

Although it was such a simple red flag, one thing was immediately apparent.

The point is that I don’t think I should ignore Baek Hyang-ah and go back south now.

Hong Geol-gae’s question ended the long silence.

“So, what do we do now?”

As if time had stopped and was moving, only then did Dang Mu-jin and his party begin to move little by little.

“Well, I guess we should first think about what Baek Hyang-ah is going to do.”

When Dang Mu-jin answered, Hong Geol-gae spoke again.

“I told you to stop it. Aren’t you going to do something that needs to be stopped?”

A foolish question was met with a wise answer.

What was unusual was that Hong Geol-gae was in charge of the wise answer instead of the foolish question, unlike usual. Dang Mu-jin felt a subtle sense of defeat.

“···Who doesn’t know that? Let’s think about what needs to be prevented.”

“Oh, that’s what it was? Hmm.”

The group was lost in thought.

And all five came to similar conclusions.

Baek Hyang-ah, who must kill someone endlessly in order to survive.

If something like that could happen to Baek Hyang-ah, wouldn’t it be a bloody disaster?

Dang Mu-jin asked Seol-hwa.

“Snow Flower. Is there a reason why Baek Hyang-ah would hold a grudge against Bukhae Ice Palace?”

“Except for the small and large pillars, there’s nothing that comes to mind… I don’t know.”

There is uncertainty in the voice answering.

Until just a little while ago, I thought that Baek Hyang-ah and the two footnotes were one and the same.

But if Seol-hwa can confidently talk about Baek Hyang-ah’s feelings now that she knows it was a misunderstanding, that is not confidence, but recklessness.

“I don’t know…”

However, in Dang Mu-jin’s opinion, Baek Hyang-ah could have caused a bloody disaster without any resentment.

What Baek Hyang-ah wants is not revenge, but to end her life by her own choice. No, even if it weren’t a bloody tragedy, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

The surest way to influence someone is to give them a binary choice.

Baek Hyang-ah has already staked her life on one side of the scale. On the other side, she will try to place whatever the opponent cannot avoid.

In this way, Baek Hyang-ah took control of a situation for the first time in her life and ended her life on top of that situation.

Life was not entirely Baek Hyang-ah’s, but death would be entirely Baek Hyang-ah’s.

Baek Hyang-ah found her own solution, although it was extreme.

Namgung Myung grumbled.

“Whatever it is, it’s clear that Baek Hyang-ah is crazy. The problem is that she’s secretly crazy. If she had been clearly crazy like Elder Too-hee, it would have been much easier to deal with, but since she’s kind of crazy, it’s hard to predict her actions.”

“That’s true.”

“And did you see that just now?”

“What kind?”

“There was something like ice sparkling around the body. Is that really what was created by drawing out the true energy?”

“I think that’s right.”

“It wasn’t normal from the start. I thought you were going to have a go at it after seeing you bring out Jinwonjinki, but you just left. Does that make sense? Of course, it’s fortunate that we didn’t fight, but…”

Namgung Myung stopped talking and started shivering.

In Namgung Myung’s view, Baek Hyang-ah’s enlightenment was not particularly high. However, the amount of yin energy that Baek Hyang-ah possessed was so overwhelming that it could easily cover up her lack of enlightenment.

In some ways, Baek Hyang-ah might be the most difficult person for an ordinary warrior to deal with.

While other martial artists will try to determine victory or defeat through enlightenment and achievement, Baek Hyang-ah will try to suppress everything with her overwhelming yin energy to the point where nothing will be able to pass through.

Skillful hand-to-hand combat, clever psychological warfare, and the experience gained from crossing the line of death all lose their meaning in front of Baek Hyang-ah. Baek Hyang-ah will not fight in an ordinary manner.

Hyun-gong, who had been listening to the story quietly, muttered.

“Anyway, it worked out well.”

Namgung Myung grumbled after hearing that story.

“What good will it do? It’s going to be a total mess…”

“No, you just said it. Baek Hyang-ah pulled out Jin Won-jin-gi.”

Bringing out the original energy or innate energy is not something that just anyone can do.

It is known that two major conditions are necessary to draw out the true energy.

First, although there are individual differences, on average, you must have achievements above the peak level.

Second, you must let go of all your attachments to life.

At first glance, it seems like the biggest problem is the inaction of being above the peak, but in reality, it is the second condition that is more problematic: the attachment to life.

As a living being, it is not easy to let go of one’s attachment to life.

Even in life-threatening situations where there was no chance of survival, it was the same.

No, rather, there were many opinions that the more dangerous the situation, the harder it was to bring out the true spirit. The more life-threatening it is, the more intensely the will to live burns.

Given the circumstances, there were many ominous rumors about Jinwon Jin-gi during the last Jeongsa Daejeon. Stories like a great swordsman from a famous Jeongsah faction trying to take down Jinwon Jin-gi but failing, or a warrior from some Sasah faction trying to take down Jinwon Jin-gi but failing.

And that was the most humiliating experience a drone could ever have.

Doesn’t it mean that he came forward saying that he would sacrifice his life to save everyone, or that he would accept death and cut off the head of his life-and-death enemy, and then turned back? In fact, it can be called social death.

It was difficult to draw out the true energy, but the fact that drawing out the true energy inevitably led to disastrous results was also a huge problem. Everyone who drew out the true energy would die.

The time a person who has pulled out the Jinwonjinki can survive is approximately half a day. That was exactly what Hyun-gong focused on.

Hyun-gong looked up at the sky and said.

“I pulled out the Jinwonjinki before the sun was even up in the sky, so I’ll be dead by sunset. Right?”

“Uh… That’s true, though.”

“Let’s follow along slowly, and when Baek Hyang-ah dies on her own, we can just grab the body and emergency supplies and have dinner.”

It was certainly true, but something seemed fundamentally off.

“···Is that okay?”

When Dang Mu-jin asked that, Hyeon-gong laughed.

“Of course it’s okay. Did we threaten her to use Jinwonjinki? No, it wasn’t. Baek Hyang-ah did it on her own. She didn’t even have any warning. We couldn’t stop her. Baek Hyang-ah must have been intoxicated by the solemn atmosphere and pulled out Jinwonjinki, then thought, “Oh no.”

“Hey, there’s no way that’s true…”

“That’s definitely true. After finishing up my revenge, I got really excited and pulled out Jinwonjinki, and when I looked around, we were the only people there. However, Baek Hyang-ah didn’t have any great grudge with us, so she just left to set the mood.”

Hyun-gong analyzed the situation in his own way.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Dangmujin.

Baek Hyang-ah may not know about other people, but she might have a grudge against Hyeon-gong. That was the thought.

On the day that Muryangja died, didn’t Hyeon-gong use Baek Hyang-ah to take hostage?

However, the perpetrator, Hyeon-gong, seems to have completely forgotten about the incident.

Hyun-gong continued his momentum and said.

“Besides, even though Baek Hyang-ah grumbled a bit, we are still her benefactors. We helped her get revenge on So Sang-gak-ju and Dae Byeok-gak-ju.”

Hong Geol-gae, who was listening to the story, nodded without realizing it. He was the first to be caught in Hyun-gong’s tongue.

Hyun-gong pointed towards the north where Baek-hyang-ah had disappeared.

“I know it’s late to be talking about this, but Baekhyang-ah, that guy is useless. He’s like asking for a bundle when you rescued someone floating in the water. Thank you for helping me with my revenge! It wouldn’t be enough to say hello, but what? You guys are making my revenge tasteless… It’s not like a child is complaining about side dishes. How can that be right? And who would believe you if you complained like that after happily chopping up a corpse?”

Every word was right. Just as Dang Mu-jin was about to nod, a story he couldn’t ignore came out of his head.

“Anyway, we clearly did Baek Hyang-ah a favor. It’s okay for us to take care of Baek Hyang-ah’s body.”

My mind suddenly snapped. Could this really be the main point?

Namgung Myeong-do must have had the same thoughts as Dang Mu-jin, as he pointed out Hyeon-gong’s story with a subtle expression.

“The body? Should we be taking care of Baek Hyang-ah’s body? I don’t think that’s right…”

There are three major places where Baek Hyang-ah’s life is intertwined: Jewon Baekga, Gongdongpa, and Bukhae Ice Palace.

The most common ending for Baekhyang-ah is that she is buried in Jewonbaekga after death. Isn’t it best for a person to be buried in the place where they were born?

Gongdongpa was also a decent choice. Gongdongpa was Baek Hyang-ah’s second hometown, and it was a place where she had memories of her teacher. In reality, there were many people who built graves near their temple instead of their hometown.

But why would they suddenly take care of the body? It was something I couldn’t understand at all.

Then, Hyun-gong hit his chest as if he was frustrated.

“We’re going to take care of the body. It may sound strange, but it doesn’t mean anything strange or bad. Do I look like someone who wants to take care of the body with evil intentions? I just want to make a tomb for Baek Hyang-ah in the Bukhae Ice Palace.”

Why would they build Baek Hyang-ah’s tomb in the cold Bukhae Ice Palace, leaving aside Jewonbaekga and Gongdongpa?

Dang Mu-jin and Hyeon-gong looked at Hyeon-gong with eyes full of suspicion.

“Think about it carefully. What did Baek Hyang-ah say to us at the end? She said she was going to the Bukhae Ice Palace. Didn’t she tell us to stop her? She meant that she wanted to go to the Bukhae Ice Palace even though she knew she would die. When it comes to matters like where to find a burial site, it’s right to respect the deceased’s wishes.”

In Hyun-gong’s mind, Baek Hyang-ah was already a dead person.

If I had to describe it, I would say that it was a very kind and considerate corpse.

A corpse walking to the burial site on its own two feet without tiring the person carrying it.

Of course, the reason Hyun-gong wanted to place Baek Hyang-ah’s body in the Bukhae Ice Palace was not because of Baek Hyang-ah’s wishes.

If you take Baek Hyang-ah’s body to the Bukhae Ice Palace, you can boast that you helped the people of the Bukhae Ice Palace solve their problems by helping them solve their problems.

You may also be able to get your father-in-law and his family members to stamp their faces.

‘How many brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law did you say you have? Should I bring them a gift?’

Namgung Myung asked in a suspicious voice.

“That… By any chance. Are you planning on using Baek Hyang-ah’s body for something? Of course, I don’t think you’re that serious, but…”

If I hadn’t really suspected it, I wouldn’t have asked.

Of course, it was not a suspicion without context. Rather, Namgung Myung’s question penetrated the essence of the situation.

Since Hyun-gong heard the story of So-sang-gak-ju, he had been thinking about whether there was a way to utilize Baek-hyang-ah’s body.

However, Hyun-gong considered himself a respected martial artist of the Jeongpa faction, so he had no intention of eating Baek Hyang-ah’s corpse like So-sang-gak-ju or Dae-byeok-gak-ju.

“How could that be! Touching the corpse of the deceased is something that even the most evil villains would not commit. I plan to follow Baek Hyang-ah’s will and prepare a tomb in the Ice Palace. With the protection of the elder Yeongbojin, I will make sure that no one touches Baek Hyang-ah’s corpse!”

However, when pure energy gathers together, elixir is bound to grow.

There was a high probability that an elixir containing tremendous yin energy would grow on Baek Hyang-ah’s tomb.

Hyun-gong had no intention of touching Baek Hyang-ah’s body, but he thought it might be okay to touch the elixir.

If the elixir doesn’t grow, just think of it as a good deed, like a Taoist.

Furthermore, it was not possible to be certain that the Gongdongpa would readily accept Baek Hyang-ah’s body. Wasn’t Sang Gwal Do-in walking a different path from Muryangja?

Returning to Jewonbaekga and becoming a tomb that no one cares about was not a very good outcome in Hyeon-gong’s eyes. He was worried about Baek Hyang-ah.

Of course, my friends’ thoughts didn’t reach that far.

It seems like Hyun-gong is just trying to look cool in front of Seol-hwa. That’s all I can think of.

Hyun-gong got up from his seat and urged his friends.

“Let’s go slowly.”

“already?”

“Baek Hyang-ah may be a bit unusual, but she’s lived a difficult life. Wouldn’t it be better for someone to watch over her as she passes away rather than being found dead? If the eldest daughter of the Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, the next leader of the shaman faction, the head of the Namgung family, the head of the Tang family, and a strong beggar can watch over her as she passes away, then she’ll have a rather luxurious end.”

It is a great gesture for a public official.

Dang Mu-jin and his party followed Baek Hyang-ah while maintaining an appropriate distance.

*

That’s how the day ended.

“You still look okay?”

“I’ll start clearing out the mess tomorrow morning. Oh well… Let’s go to sleep for now.”

Another day passed like that.

“When will I die?”

“Tonight is for sure. Should I sleep a little closer? If you feel out of breath, I’ll run straight to you…”

And the third morning dawned.

Still, Baek Hyang-ah showed no signs of dying.

Today, too, we continue to move north, surrounded by sparkling white ice crystals.

The mood in the group became extremely serious.