A journey of a thousand kilometers started with a single step. No matter how far the end was, they were bound to reach it one day.
However, if it wasn’t a thousand kilometers but two thousand, then the words would change, and when another five hundred was added, it would change again.
It was an entirely different category if all of it was combined.
“… can that place be reached?”
“If we keep going, we will arrive someday.”
“…”
Ever since Chung Myung appeared on Mount Hua, the disciples of Mount Hua had been constantly pushed by any means to never give up on anything. Because of that, they were able to come this far.
But, when faced with another problem that cannot be solved with determination alone…
“Ugh….”
“… eik.”
Jo Gul rubbed his face with trembling hands. Even if that was frozen, his face wouldn’t be able to tell.
“Nose…nose might fall off, sahyung.”
“… my hand… has no sense….”
The answer was subtle and short as the tongue speaking it was stiff.
A strong wind blew across their faces. It was the cold and the cold alone. Did anyone ever imagine anything about this?
“What kind of wind is this strong?”
“… why are you asking me that!”
Their teeth all clattered in coldness as if they would break any moment. The low temperature could be understood. They expected it to get colder in the North.
But did anyone say that the winds would flow this far?
The entire body felt like it was being sliced by a knife, and their eyes betrayed the rigidity.
“The wind is so sharp.”
“Even the knives of those Ten Thousand People Clan members weren’t this sharp!”
Jo Gul trembled and glanced around.
“Are you okay?”
“… I’m fine… disciple….”
“It must be colder without hair.”
“….”
Hae Yeon glanced back at Jo Gul, a look of ‘Why is everyone like this?’ in his eyes, but seeing his expression made him feel slightly sadder than angry.
“S-sago… is this place always cold?”
Tang Soso, who had always lived in warm areas, couldn’t adapt to this situation. She had wrapped her whole body in wool and covered her head, but the winds still made her feel unsafe.
“… I don’t know either.”
Yu Yiseol barely moved her frozen mouth and softly mumbled in response.
“Shocking. People actually live here.”
“… yeah. I think everyone here is crazy, sago.”
They were all shrinking little by little from the intense cold they were experiencing for the first time in their lives.
“… are we getting close?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Uh?”
Jo Gul widened his eyes and looked back at Baek Cheon but then narrowed them again, unable to overcome the gust of wind.
“What do we do if sasuk doesn’t know?”
“Have I ever been to the North Sea? I’m just guessing.”
“You didn’t hear anything?”
“… at this point, I should be able to witness something.”
Baek Cheon turned his head to look at the cart, paused for a moment, and then tilted his head.
“But where did Chung Myung go?”
“Uh? He is… over there?”
Jo Gul still narrowed his eyes with a frown.
“Where did that guy go?”
“Couldn’t he have fallen somewhere?”
“… where would he fall? He is one who can go anywhere and not even fall into hell.”
“True. So where is that guy…”
At that moment, Yu Yiseol let go of the handle and approached the cart. Then, she jumped up and began to shift the piles of luggage from side to side.
“Sago?”
Like a rabbit digging into its burrow, Yu Yiseol dug in between the luggage and put her head out, frowning.
“Not here.”
“Uh? Not there?”
Everyone was shocked. Did it make sense that he wasn’t there?
“Just where is he?”
“Did he really fall?”
“I am telling you he will not fall. That guy is a fucking leech.”
“Maybe he froze and fell.”
“Uh? I didn’t think of that.”
Jo Gul’s eyes widened.
But while they were arguing, Yu Yiseol frowned and looked around. Then at some point, she looked at one point.
Then,
Tuk!
She grabbed the large package from the piled-up sacks and tossed it on top of the luggage in one throw.
“Sago? Suddenly…”
Flinch.
“….”
However, the sack thrown over the luggage moved very slowly, making Baek Cheon’s mouth open up.
“… No.”
Baek Cheon hurried forward and opened the sack, revealing blankets tied up with wool inside.
Without hesitation, Baek Cheon removed the wool.
And then…
Tuk!
A strange emotion flashed in Baek Cheon’s eyes.
“This bastard!”
He groaned as he pulled out the object in his hand, revealing a familiar face.
“This bastard’s sasuk carries the luggage and cart with a gust of cold wind hitting our faces! And now you’re hiding in a sack? Won’t you come out?”
But there was no response. Normally, Chung Myung would have gotten angry and yelled, but now he just lifted his head without a reaction.
After a moment, a small, trembling voice spoke up.
“D-Dong Ryong.”
“…”
“It’s cold.”
“….”
“S-So cold. Uhhhh.”
Chung Myung quickly picked up the fallen wool and crawled back into the sack, leaving Baek Cheon dumbfounded until he again grabbed hold of Chung Myung.
“Come out!”
“It’s cold! I’ll freeze out here!”
“What kind of person are you? You’re not even human!”
Watching the two mess around, the disciples of Mount Hua muttered with emotionless faces.
“Normally… would anyone think of getting inside a luggage sack, no matter how big?”
“But it’s Chung Myung.”
“Still… no matter how cold it gets, thinking of putting yourself in a sack? Isn’t that too much?”
“It’s Chung Myung, I’m telling you.”
“…he is truly strange.”
It was surprising that no matter the situation, it somehow started to make sense when the name Chung Myung was mentioned.
“Are you not going to come out now!”
“Kwaaak!”
“Is this guy really growling at me? Have you gone mad!”
“…not me”
“Uh?”
Baek Cheon peered into the sack with shocked eyes. A ball of white hair, whiter than wool, raised its head and bared its teeth.
“HEEEIIIKK!”
“…”
Baek Cheon’s eyes, as he watched this, resembled those of a person who had lost everything.
“… it’s already difficult to handle one thing, and now two… No, both of them end up causing trouble for people.”
What have I done to deserve such a life?
What sin…
Baek Cheon felt rotten inside because of this. But Chung Myung also had plenty of excuses.
“UHHHHHH, damn it! What is all this now?”
In the past, Chung Myung had been to the point where his body was invincible. The energy in his body wouldn’t let the cold affect him at all.
But that was a story of the past!
“I-I might freeze!”
In fact, the bigger problem was that he was in a different time. After living in a time when he didn’t know the cold, he couldn’t adapt to it at all.
No, if he extended his hand right now, wouldn’t it be like slicing it with a knife? How could he endure this?
“If you turn a little more, you can hold on! Idiot!”
“I’m telling you, it won’t work!”
Chung Myung screamed.
His internal energy was the purest one could find in the world.
That meant that the qi going out was amazing, but the amount within the body was around the size of a rat’s tail. If his body was warmed up with that, then his already small internal qi would decrease even more.
How could he waste his precious qi like this? The Demonic Sect might come after them at any time.
“Ah, damn it! Why did I have to build up such useless internal qi!”
It was useless for anything but fighting! Not a single use!
“WHEIKKKK! WHEIKKKKK!”
In the meantime, Baek Ah struck the hand of Baek Cheon, which came for the sack, with its claws. Then went back to hiding itself in the wool.
“Ugh… sasuk.”
“Uh?”
“Shouldn’t that animal be used to the cold?”
“I thought the same too.”
“Then what is with it?”
“I don’t know. Living in the beast palace, it must have lost its mind.”
“… it was living in the warm south so.”
Baek Cheon sighed.
This guy and that one too!
Taking advantage of the gap as Baek Cheon vented, Chung Myung and Baek Ah went into the wool and began to tighten themselves.
“I said come out, you bastard!”
“I am freezing to death!”
“Freezing to death, my ass! Are you going to be there till we reach the North Sea?!”
“Sasuk!”
“Uh?”
“Please!”
“Come out!”
When Baek Cheon didn’t back down so easily, Chung Myung groaned and pulled the head out of the sack. He then snooped around to check their surroundings.
“All I see is white.”
A land covered with snow.
The vast expanse of snow-covered land seemed endless. The once magnificent view now felt cold and cruel. With the biting winds that pierced them, this place had become a white hell.
“Whether it’s the North Sea Ice Palace or something else, you insane bastards. What are you planning to consume while living in such a desolate place?”
“…I never thought the day would come when I’d agree with your words.”
Now they understood why things like ice crystals and cold steel formed. After being battered by the cold winds, their very essence had become stiff.
“Well, it’s time for us to reach our destination, right?”
“It seems like it’s still far away. I can’t see the sea.”
“Uh, the sea?”
Chung Myung turned his head and looked at Baek Cheon.
“It’s the North Sea. No matter how cold it is, the sea can’t freeze, right?”
“Ah…”
Chung Myung exclaimed as if his stomach would burst.
“Hey, you ignorant human! Did you think the North Sea meant an actual Sea?”
“… Isn’t it?”
“It’s a lake, it’s a lake! A massive lake in the north!”
“Why is a lake called the North Sea? Shouldn’t it be called the North Lake, then?”
“It’s a huge lake that resembles a sea!”
“I-is that so?”
Baek Cheon nodded as if he understood.
“Ah, the lake will be frozen.”
“Right.”
“So, how do we find the frozen lake…”
Baek Cheon looked around and then at Chung Myung.
“….by what means?”
“….”
All they could see was a pure white landscape.
The task of finding a lake here was like trying to find red soil in a desert.
Chung Myung silently looked around and then reached out to scratch his head.
“Wouldn’t it be better to search for it properly?”
“Chung Myung.”
“Hm?”
“Put on some clothes and come outside. Unless you want to die.”
“…..”
At the mention of death, Chung Myung’s face twisted in discomfort.
“Sasuk!”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t that a person over there?”
“Huh? A person?”
Baek Cheon turned his head.
They hadn’t come across any inhabited places while passing through the northern grasslands. And since arriving in this snowy land, they hadn’t seen a single soul.
And now, a person?
“Where?”
“There! Over there!”
Baek Cheon looked carefully in the direction pointed out by Yoon Jong.
‘Where is the person…’
“Hmm?”
His eyes narrowed. There was definitely something like a black dot in the distance.
“Is that a bear?”
“It seems a little small for a bear.”
Baek Cheon pondered for a moment, then nodded and said,
“Let’s go. Whether it’s a person or a bear, it’s better than being alone.”
Thud! Thud!
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon turned his head, puzzled. The lunatic had crawled back into the sack and hidden himself.
“I said let’s live like humans! You stupid bastard! Act like a human!”
“… just give up already, sasuk! It’s not like this is the first time such things have happened.”
“… but he is.”
After gritting his teeth, Baek Cheon sighed deeply and jumped off the cart. His determined expression was evident as he gripped the handle of the cart.
“Let’s move for now!”
“Yes!”
The disciples of Mount Hua began pulling the cart again. Fortunately, this was flat land, so moving the cart wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Ouch! My legs are swollen!”
“Sasuk! The cart wheels were stuck in the snow, and we couldn’t move!”
“Ouch! It’s a rock!”
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.
Would they be alright?
Could they really complete this mission and return safely?
“North Sea. North Sea. I’ve heard of it…”
It was astonishing that such a place actually existed, according to the rumors. After a long struggle, Baek Cheon, who had come close to the object, let go of the cart handle.
And so did the others.
“Oh, my god…”
“I-is this…?”
The scene unfolded before their eyes.
Crystal clear ice.
Transparent and shimmering white in the sunlight, it stretched out infinitely.
It was like an ice desert. The disciples were awestruck and couldn’t help but open their mouths in amazement.
“…so, this is the frozen lake?”
“How big is this lake?”
“… it’s so beautiful.”
In the face of this awe-inspiring sight they had never seen in their homeland, all the disciples couldn’t help but admire it.
But then…
“Sasuk! Look over there!”
“Hmm?”
A bear or a man sat on the lake and turned his head towards them.
“People from the Central Plains?”
Baek Cheon’s eyes widened. This was a familiar language.
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