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#518
Taejonbirok Volume 21, Episode 18
Chapter 116: The Lazy Man, Prepare (3)
Just looking at Yeommong's face, it was impossible to know what he was thinking. But Wi Jeonghan intended to accept whatever he said.
I thought that was how it should be.
But it's also something that shouldn't have happened.
If they found out that Wi Jeong-han was hiding the blood relatives of their most hated enemies, there would be countless people who would rush to tear Wi Jeong-han apart and kill him right now.
And their anger was justified.
Wei Jeong-han, in their shoes, would have been equally outraged. Ultimately, the seed Wei Jeong-han left behind blossomed in the direction everyone feared.
“Did you say he was the son of the Great Hemp Emperor?”
"……yes."
“You hid that child and raised him as your own?”
"yes."
“……You’re not in your right mind.”
Wi Jeong-han quietly closed his eyes.
He must bear any blame. That was the price he had to pay for betraying his cause.
“Do you know what you did?”
“I know.”
“I asked if you understood.”
“……Honestly, if you say that, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t know?”
"yes."
Wi Jeong-han opened his mouth quietly.
"I know it shouldn't have happened. I also know full well that this was a result achieved through the sacrifices and suffering of so many people. But…"
Wi Jeong-han shook his head with a bitter expression.
Who will understand his feelings and his situation?
“If I could go back in time and see the face of that child in that bastard’s arms in the rain, I would make the same choice.”
"her."
Yeommong stared at Wijeonghan for a while and then opened his mouth.
“I thought you were cold-blooded.”
“Is that so?”
“You’ve been very human since then.”
Wi Jeong-han did not answer.
Being criticized didn't feel good. He was human after all. But Yeom-mong had every right to criticize his own choices. Getting angry here meant he wasn't taking responsibility for his choices.
“It just so happened.”
“With people.”
Yeommong poured some alcohol into his glass and drank it again.
His gaze was also focused on something far away.
“Look here.”
“Yes, sir.”
"If I were you when you first came here, I would never have understood your choice. Right now, I'd probably be drawing my sword and screaming at you to kill you."
“……I think so.”
The Yeommong that Wi Jeong-han remembers was a man without compromise.
He's a man who refuses to accept, even if it means dying, any deviation from his established principles. That's why Wi Jeong-han felt comfortable with Yeom-mong. And Yeom-mong likely didn't push Wi Jeong-han away, either. They were alike.
“But now I can’t get angry.”
“Why is that?”
“It must have been a person.”
Yeommong spoke in a slightly dazed voice.
"A child of a demon cult, or the child of the Great Demon Emperor… I wouldn't have seen anything like that. He would have been just a child. A child who would die if I didn't take care of him. Isn't that right?"
“…….”
Wi Jeong-han couldn't answer.
Shepherd.
Because he was Red Eye's child, he tried to raise him, even if it meant hiding him. But if Wisanho wasn't Red Eye's child, would he have been able to ignore that little boy?
That's impossible.
Whoever Wi San-ho's child was, Wi Jeong-han would have accepted him.
“That’s what I thought.”
Yeom Mong offered Wi Jeong-han a glass. Wi Jeong-han silently accepted it. Yeom Mong, holding the bottle, filled Wi Jeong-han's glass.
"They keep talking about how we defended the Central Plains, but in the end, all we did was kill people. Isn't that right?"
“……Yes.”
"They say the ends justify the means, but those who fought in that war were nothing more than murderers. And with those murderers running wild, isn't this a world gone mad?"
"senior."
It was a mixture of self-mockery and lament.
Wi Jeong-han could only look at Yeom-mong in pain.
It's a terrible war. Each side is after the other, and the heads of their comrades standing guard are instantly cut off. What remains at the end of this long war?
“In the meantime, you saved at least one person’s life.”
Laughter.
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A laughter half mixed with despair pierced Wi Jeong-han's ears painfully.
“Good job.”
"senior……."
"I'm not being sarcastic. I might change my mind tomorrow, but right now, I'm genuinely thinking that. Good job. Yes, good job."
The nobleman drank the wine that filled his glass.
“Even though the result turned out like this?”
“That’s how it is, because he’s human.”
Yeommong spoke like a man of enlightenment.
"We can't know the future. We can only hope it will be like this. We do our best to achieve that outcome. Let me ask you, did you think this would happen to the big guy?"
“I just wish I never knew.”
“Okay. Then that’s it.”
Yeommong clicked his tongue.
'I'm comforting this guy.'
Perhaps, if it hadn't been revealed that Wei San-ho was the son of the Great Emperor of the Great Demon, Wei Zhenghan would have truly raised him as his own. As the eldest son of the Guangdong Wei family, he would have felt no discomfort at all about Wei San-ho continuing the family line.
How can you condemn someone like that?
How can one do this to the one who has made the greatest sacrifice?
“Has the coral learned everything?”
"yes……."
"Yes. Then it wouldn't be strange to go back to your roots."
“The bastard’s roots are in the Guangdong Wei family.”
Wi Jeong-han said firmly.
"Even if we're not related by blood, no one in the world can deny that he's my son. Even if the Great Emperor of the Great Demon returns alive, he won't dare claim to be Weishanho's father."
“Yeah, I guess so.”
As soon as the name Daemadaeje came up, Yeommong was drawn into a hazy past.
“Now, let me ask you this: is the person I know really the Great Hemp?”
"……yes."
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Because they were so close, Yeom Mong-do and Jeokmok-woo had seen each other drinking together a couple of times. But that man was the Great Demon Emperor.
“What a strange hobby these two have.”
Looking back, it's really strange.
Wasn't the Great Demon Emperor the leader of the Demonic Cult? So why did he bother to cross over to their camp and share a drink with Wi Jeong-han?
“Even within that, he was unable to find stability.”
“The whole world was in his hands?”
"The world meant nothing to him. What he truly desired wasn't the world."
“Then what did you want to gain by starting that terrible war?”
“……I don’t know exactly either.”
There's no use talking about it.
Wi Jeong-han was indignant.
The leader of the Demonic Cult.
Even if the Great Demon Emperor, known as the incarnation of Asura, said that what he truly desired was freedom, who would understand? Even the Wijeonghan would have difficulty understanding it.
'Will the senior be able to accept that there was someone behind him?'
An opponent who fought with all his might.
Who could accept the fact that the person who was willing to kill even at the cost of his soul was in fact nothing more than a puppet?
It took even the most powerful people years to understand that fact.
Saying this wasn't a good thing for Yeommong. It could mean his very life was being denied.
'You'll find out someday.'
Because the Demonic Cult is on the rise again.
A hidden truth that even the wise are not yet aware of may be revealed.
“Your child is stronger than I thought.”
“Are you talking about the year of birth?”
“Yeah. It looks just like you.”
“I don’t know if this is an insult or a compliment.”
“Let’s say both.”
Wi Jeong-han laughed bitterly.
The ideal child he longed for was Wi San-ho. But that wasn't because Wi San-ho resembled Wi Jeong-han. Wi San-ho resembled Jeokmuk-woo, not him. This likely means that Wi Jeong-han considered Jeokmuk-woo to be his ideal person.
It is not Wisanho but Wiyeonho that resembles Wijeonghan so closely.
Every time I saw him, he resembled his past self so much that it made me burst out laughing. It was obvious that if Wi Jeong-han had not been born at a different time, he would have lived a free life like Wi Yeon-ho.
Oh, of course, not that damn laziness.
“He is a strong child.”
“It’s more than I thought.”
"He was a boy who followed his brother more than me. It's remarkable that he was able to maintain such composure even after his brother went to the Demonic Cult. Honestly, he's my son, but he's now out of my hands. He's walking his own path."
“Look here, Jeonghan.”
"yes."
“I don't know how great your son is. I only know one thing.”
“……I will listen.”
"Everyone who knows me says I'm amazing. They don't hesitate to call me a true hero for dedicating my life to a sense of duty."
“Isn’t that true?”
“Do I really look like that?”
“…….”
Yeommong shook his head.
"Even now, I want to run away from this place. I pretend to be fine on the outside, but inside, I'm rotten and torn. Is it human nature to stay here knowing they could come kill me at any moment? I've endured it for twenty years."
"……senior."
"If you only look at the surface, you'll miss the real thing. I admit your child is amazing. But what he's dealing with is something even the seasoned Noh Kang-ho would struggle to handle. Don't get caught up in an incident and lose sight of the person. You'll live your whole life regretting it."
Yeommong added a comment that didn't have to be added.
“If you survive, that is.”
widely.
Yeommong put down his glass and stood up.
"Get some sleep. This is the end of the world. Anything could happen at any time. Tonight could be your last night. You should be grateful for what you have."
“Go to sleep.”
Yeommong jumped down from the watchtower without answering.
Wi Jeong-han looked quietly into the distance.
excuse me.
Somewhere hidden by the sandstorm, there is a demonic cult.
'The coral guy will be there too.'
Wi Jeong-han smiled faintly.
Stomach coral.
The little boy, so small that even holding him made me wary, had grown so much. And now he was trying to find his own way.
If Wi Jeong-han were a proper father, he might respect his path. But Wi Jeong-han couldn't do that. Even if this choice would upend Wi San-ho's life, he could never leave him like that.
'This guy.'
It seems like I can see the face of the red-eyed fox in the star-filled sky.
What would he say if he were seeing the situation now?
Would he have been angry at Wi Jeong-han for not being able to discipline even one of his children, or would he have apologized and said he was sorry?
The answer to that question will never be known, for the dead speak not.
Wi Jeong-han sighed deeply as he filled his glass with the last remaining drink from the nearly empty bottle.