Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
"Kuaaak!"
Chung Myung, who had been drinking cheerfully while making a face, roughly wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve.
"It's sticking to my mouth. Ah, they say drinking while looking at the river has its own charm."
Then he glanced at Namgung Do-Wei, who was sitting next to him, and asked,
"Why aren't you drinking? You don't like alcohol?"
"Ah, no. I don't particularly dislike it."
"Then?"
"It's a bit awkward…"
Namgung Do-Wei looked at the bottle of alcohol in his hand. Having grown up under the strict rules of the prestigious Namgung family, he wasn't used to drinking alcohol straight from the bottle.
And since they were sitting on the grass, what could he say about awkwardness?
"Since we don't follow formalities, is it difficult to drink?"
"That isn't the thing…"
Chung Myung snickered and gulped down his alcohol again.
"Ughh."
He wiped his mouth again and said indifferently,
"Kids like you eventually turn into heavy drinkers."
"… Uh?"
"There's one with us, too. The Shaolin baldie. At first, that punk would ask how a monk could drink alcohol, but now he's gone insane enough to steal my alcohol bottles."
"… Shaolin baldie? Ah, are you speaking of monk Hae Yeon?"
"Yes. That bastard!"
"Monk Hae Yeon drinks alcohol… and he steals them from the Taoist?"
"Yes! I'm telling you!"
Chung Myung gritted his teeth.
"I raised a tiger cub."
"…."
Namgung Do-Wei, who had been blankly staring at Chung Myung, let out a small laugh.
"… are you laughing?"
When Chung Myung glared, Namgung Do-Wei suppressed his laughter and waved his hand.
"It isn't that the Taoist is funny, but the situation is quite funny."
"What do you know?"
Chung Myung just sighed deeply. Namgung Do-Wei stared at the bottle of alcohol he was holding, then slowly lifted it and brought it to his lips. Then, like Chung Myung, he gulped it down.
"Kuak! Eukk!"
"Uh?"
"W-what kind of alcohol is this? Gulp! Gulp!"
His face turned pale, and he kept coughing. It was literally a poisonous drink that seemed to burn his throat.
Chung Myung smiled.
"This is how alcohol should be."
"W-what alcohol is this? This is poison!"
"Tsk tsk. That is why you kids are precious."
Chung Myung clicked his tongue as if he were pathetic.
"So, you cannot handle it?"
"I…"
Namgung Do-Wei trailed off for a moment, lost in thought, then looked back and forth between Chung Myung and the bottle of alcohol.
After a while, he bit his lips slightly and began gulping down the alcohol. Chung Myung clapped his hands.
"Ah, you're having it well."
Gulp. Gulp.
"Kuak. You know how to drink."
Gulp. Gulp.
"… Uh?"
Gulp.
"Stop drinking! You insane bastard!"
Chung Myung, terrified, forcefully pulled the bottle out of Namgung Do-Wei's mouth.
"Kuaak!"
As if he had swallowed some kind of poison, Namgung Do-Wei grabbed his reddened neck with both hands.
"… Are all the Namgung kids without limits?"
Even as Chung Myung complained under his breath. Namgung Do-Wei coughed, unable to come to his senses.
After a while, he finally stopped coughing and said.
"Ah… nice."
"It doesn't seem nice at all."
Namgung Do-Wei shook his head at Chung Myung's question and looked down at the bottle of alcohol in his hand.
"In the past, I might have said that this wasn't alcohol… but now I think I know why people drink this."
"You don't seem to know at all?"
"Hehe. I feel… good, Taoist."
'Your tongue is twisted.'
"…."
Namgung Do-Wei shook his head several times as if trying to come to his senses.
It had been so long since he had drunk alcohol, but he already felt feverish. Normally, he would have used his internal qi to suppress and release the urge, but now he didn't feel like doing that.
"Taoist."
"Why?"
"Don't you have another bottle?"
"…"
Instead of answering, Chung Myung looked up at the distant sky.
"… why do these things only come to me?"
Was the world wrong? Or was he wrong?
-Are you asking because you don't know?
"Kuaak!"
"W-why are you suddenly like that?"
"N-Nothing."
Chung Myung, who had glared at the sky once, lay down on the spot.
"Ugh, I am drunk."
Namgung Do-Wei stared at the sight and called out to Chung Myung quietly.
"Taoist."
"What?"
"… why did you call for me?"
"Uh?"
Namgung Do-Wei let out a soft sigh.
"Isn't there something you want to say?"
"I just called you."
"Uh?"
"Let us have a drink."
"…."
"Drink. Drink. What is life? Just drink."
Those who expected something from Chung Myung were bound to be disappointed beyond their expectations. It was a natural thing in Mount Hua, but unfortunately, Namgung Do-Wei turned his head and looked at the darkened Yangtze River, mumbling.
"Actually… actually, Taoist."
"Uh?"
"I didn't want to leave this place yet."
"…."
Chung Myung didn't really answer, but Namgung Do-Wei continued speaking slowly as if that didn't matter anymore.
"No, to be honest, it isn't that I didn't want to leave this place… I didn't want to go back to Anhui. To be honest, I was a little… scared. If I left this place and went back to Anhui…."
He really had to become the head of the Namgung family and lead it.
It was still too heavy a burden for Namgung Do-Wei. Something he had thought would happen at least 20 years later had suddenly been put on him.
Not only that, but he was the lord of the family, which had lost more than half, or maybe even 80% of its power.
Namgung Do-Wei said self-mockingly.
"I got angry a little while ago."
"…."
"I got angry because it wasn't what I wanted. I pretended to be disappointed, asking why they didn't trust me and follow me."
Namgung Do-Wei shook his head slowly.
"But… maybe it wasn't my anger at them. No, it wasn't. What really made me angry was… the fact that I was thinking the same way as them, and maybe even more scared than them."
"Hmmm."
He covered his face with both hands and sobbed.
"It's hard, Taoist. It's too hard. The burden is still too heavy for me to handle. I don't know what to do…."
"…."
"At least if I had been given 20 years… no, even 10 years… if I had been given that time… I could have been a little stronger; I might not have wavered."
"Uh!"
Chung Myung, who had been silent, suddenly raised his upper body and turned his gaze fiercely towards Namgung Do-Wei.
"… Taoist!"
When their eyes met, a strange sense of anticipation bloomed in Namgung Do-Wei's heart.
Perhaps he would scold him for not being enough.
Perhaps he would praise him for being great.
Either way was fine. What Namgung Do-Wei needed right now was someone who could evaluate and guide him. Someone who could tell him whether his choices were right or wrong.
Perhaps… this Mount Hua's Sword Saint could guide him.
But…
"There."
"Yes."
Chung Myung gestured to the bottle of alcohol beside Namgung Do-Wei.
"Give me the bottle next to you. There should be one left."
"…."
"What are you doing?"
"Alcohol…?"
"Yes, that."
"…."
"Hurry up."
"Yes…"
Namgung Do-Wei, who was tired, laughed in vain and handed the bottle to Chung Myung.
'What on earth is he talking about?'
He knew.
No one could help, no one could advise him. In this situation, all others could say were obvious things. In the end, he has to just endure and solve everything.
He knew that… he knew it, but.
Chung Myung's throat, with the bottle of alcohol stuck in his mouth, went up and down.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
"Kuaak!"
Chung Myung took the bottle out of his mouth and put it down with a cheerful exclamation.
"Well, if you listen to it right, it's an interesting story."
He clicked his tongue while looking at Namgung Do-Wei.
"What do you think would have been different if you had experienced it 10 years ago?"
"… Uh?"
"What do you think would have been easier if you had experienced it 20 years later?"
"That is…."
"See here, kiddo."
Chung Myung waved his hand and sighed.
"It's an illusion that the world gets easier as you get older. When I got older, it wasn't like that. My head just got more complicated than when I was young."
"T-taoist? When did you get older?"
"Sigh. When I was young. It's so long ago."
"…"
Was this person making fun of him now?
Namgung Do-Wei stared blankly at him with a dumbfounded expression. Then Chung Myung asked calmly.
"Was everything easy for Namgung Hwang?"
At those words, Namgung Do-Wei's body suddenly froze.
"… Father is…"
He tried to say something reflexively, but Chung Myung's words made Namgung Do-Wei close his mouth.
"Did your father, as you know, really live so easily?"
"…"
"No. Of course not. Saying that the gentleman had an easy life would be an insult to him."
Right. That cannot be true.
Namgung Hwang did his best at all times in all situations. Sometimes he made mistakes, he failed, but he was always a person who tried to do everything he could.
"Then what would have been different if Namgung Hwang had been here right now?"
"…"
"No."
Chung Myung shook his head.
"The situation may have gotten a little better, but the worries your father had to go through were certainly not smaller than yours. He must have had more expectations and more responsibilities than you."
"…"
"The people are just people. No one remains unhurt when stabbed by a knife, and no one has a heart made of iron. Even those who seem incredibly strong get hurt and feel sad the same."
Namgung Do-Wei bit his lips tightly.
"But, kid. Becoming an adult is."
"Yes."
"You learn to pretend not to be hurt even when you are hurt."
Namgung Do-Wei closed his eyes.
He thought of Namgung Hwang clearing a path in front of him.
Right. It must have hurt. It must have been painful in both body and mind.
But he couldn't get sick, he couldn't be in pain. Because Namgung Do-Wei was behind him. Because there were people in Plum Blossom Island whom he had to protect. Because there were people who looked up to him.
"Carrying something on the back… that is what it means."
"…"
"It's natural to be sick, and it's natural to go through tough times. No one has to be hurt and go through tough times. For someone who carries more and tries to lead even one more step, there will never be a time of comfort."
Chung Myung drank his alcohol.
His gaze, which had been hovering over the Yangtze River, was now turned to somewhere in the distant past. But for a moment, his gaze turned to the garden behind him.
To the place where everyone in Mount Hua resided.
"I don't know much, but…"
Chung Myung looked straight at Namgung Do-Wei.
"You definitely have it. Something Namgung Hwang gave you. Something he desperately passed on to future generations."
Namgung Do-Wei clenched his fist without realizing it.
There was. Right, there it was.
Namgung Hwang clearly told him what the sword of the Namgung family was.
The Emperor's Sword wasn't something to use to reign or rule, but something to protect from the forefront.
How could someone who had to block the enemy and break through the attacks not have a hard time and fall ill?
"That is all you need."
"…."
"What you need has already been passed on. That is what it means to continue."
"Taoist."
"If you still don't understand, think about it."
"What do you mean…?"
Chung Myung smiled faintly.
"What do you want to pass on to future generations?"
"…"
"That's the path you should take."
Namgung Do-Wei looked at Chung Myung silently for a long time. Then he turned his gaze towards the Yangtze River.
Namgung's soul flowed in that river.
What kind of life did they want Namgung Do-Wei to live?
"Taoist."
"Uh?"
Namgung Do-Wei, who had been silent for a long time, slowly opened his mouth.
"I… do you think I can do well?"
"Well. I don't know much about that, but I think you will be a good lord for the family."
"… Uh?"
Chung Myung looked behind him and smiled.
"Complaining means trusting that person. There is no way someone who is trusted by everyone wouldn't be a good lord."
Namgung Do-Wei turned his head to follow Chung Myung.
"Young lord!"
"Young lord! Where are you!"
The swordsmen he left behind were all outside, searching for him.
"That…"
Namgung Do-Wei, who was about to say something, bit his lips tightly. His head slowly dropped down. Soon, his shoulders began to tremble slightly.
Chung Myung smiled at that. It was a faint and warm smile like the moonlight.
"So let us drink today, kiddo."
"… Yes, Taoist."
The night deepened on the Yangtze River.
With the faint scent of alcohol, the strong smell of grass, and the river wind blowing.