Chapter 355. Resignation and Resolve
For roughly one sijin, Youngwoo wandered across the empty plain before returning to his tent.
The night wind over Hubodagang was cold, and traces of battle still lingered across the field.
Far away, the lights of the army tents flickered, while the low rumble of wagons carrying spoils continued through the darkness.
Even after walking alone for so long, his mind had not settled.
When he entered the tent, So Cheolryong and So Cheolun cautiously watched his expression.
From the look on Youngwoo's face, they seemed to have already guessed that something was about to happen.
Youngwoo sat down without even loosening the straps of his armor.
"Bring me brush, ink, and paper."
So Cheolryong's expression stiffened. His unease was obvious.
"What are you going to write this time?"
"Bring them."
So Cheolun hurriedly brought a brush, inkstone, and paper.
Youngwoo had the ink ground, then stared down at the blank sheet for a long while.
At last, he slowly raised the brush.
It was a statement of resignation.
He tried to keep the language within proper form, but the feelings beneath it were rough.
Its meaning was clear.
They spoke of kinship, yet placed their own interests first and postponed the plight of the Balhae people who had shed blood and submitted to them.
If no one else would act, Youngwoo would go to Liaoyang himself and help them.
He would lay down his office, avoid staining the name of the Goryeo army, and take responsibility as a single martial man.
Youngwoo wrote to the final line and added his signature.
The instant the brush left the paper, he called for Do Gyeongtaek.
"Take this to General Park's tent."
Do Gyeongtaek accepted the paper and studied his face.
"Right now?"
"Now."
Do Gyeongtaek asked nothing more and slipped the document inside his robe.
This was usually how things went when a stubborn man decided to cause trouble.
Youngwoo did not drag his thoughts out for long.
Once his mind was made up, he wrote the document, signed it, and sent someone off with it.
Whether those left behind were shocked or not, the matter had already begun to move.
Youngwoo then removed, one by one, the insignia and objects that had come with his official post.
The badge at his waist.
The military tally issued by the army.
Even the small ornaments that marked his office.
He arranged them neatly on the table.
That was how he settled his own mind.
For a moment, he rested a hand over them and looked down.
Those objects had given him a name all this time.
Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard's Liaodong Expeditionary Force.
But if he could no longer act under that name, then he could simply lay it down and go without it.
Youngwoo rose wearing only his martial robes.
So Cheolryong hurriedly stepped in front of him.
"Oh, come on. What are you doing now? Please, just hold back for once."
Youngwoo looked at him.
"I can endure it.
"But what about those people who have nowhere to go?"
So Cheolryong could not answer.
The words were too direct to block.
At times Youngwoo seemed to be doing something mad.
Yet whenever one looked inside that madness, it was always the same.
He put his own body last and saw someone else's situation first.
Before long, Do Gyeongtaek returned.
He entered the tent and bowed his head.
"I delivered the document you asked me to."
He did not call it a resignation letter.
He simply called it a document.
It was the choice of a man who did not want to disturb the air inside the tent any further.
Youngwoo asked,
"Did he say anything?"
Do Gyeongtaek hesitated for a moment.
There must have been words.
It was easy enough to imagine Park Geunsu's expression when he read the document, and equally easy to imagine what curses he had thrown out.
But Do Gyeongtaek kept his head lowered.
"No."
Youngwoo did not ask again.
Whatever had been said no longer mattered.
Everyone could understand the world in whatever way made it easiest for them to live in it.
If that way hurt less, then perhaps that too was a path.
Youngwoo went straight to his master's tent.
Baek Ingyeom was already seated, as though he had known Youngwoo would come.
A single lamp swayed softly, and a calm stillness filled the tent.
Youngwoo bowed deeply.
"Master."
Baek Ingyeom looked at him.
"You're going?"
"Yes. I leave at dawn."
"Alone?"
"If anyone follows, I will go with them. If no one does, I will go alone."
Youngwoo's voice was low.
The wine still lingered in him, but his words were clear.
"I cannot simply stand by.
"The families and relatives of those people are in Liaoyang.
"The Balhae soldiers turned their backs on Liao because they believed our words.
"But if Liaoyang remains in Liao hands, then the moment they return, they will be seized and made to suffer.
"If we delay this, they will have nowhere they can stand."
Baek Ingyeom drew a deep breath.
His disciple often appeared to others like a man who rushed forward without thinking.
Yet whenever the truly important moments came, there was always one thought within him that remained perfectly clear.
Once he took hold of that thought, he followed it to the end.
While others calculated and avoided the matter, Youngwoo had already prepared himself to move.
Baek Ingyeom asked,
"You submitted your resignation as well?"
Youngwoo bowed his head.
"I did."
"Do you think General Park Geunsu will simply let that pass?"
"He'll curse me, I imagine."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Baek Ingyeom's mouth.
"You'll be fortunate if it ends with cursing."
Youngwoo laughed briefly.
Then his expression settled again.
"Master, am I wrong?"
Baek Ingyeom did not answer immediately.
For a long while, he studied Youngwoo's face.
Exhaustion and wine.
Anger and responsibility.
All of them lay upon it at once.
Yet his eyes were clear.
"This is not a matter of right or wrong.
"You have already decided to go."
Youngwoo lowered his head.
"Yes."
Baek Ingyeom slowly rose.
Then he placed a hand on Youngwoo's shoulder.
"Then go.
"But do not think of it as a road you walk alone.
"If you are going to save people, you must also carry with you a way by which people can live.
"When you enter Liaoyang, do not fight out of anger.
"First, see to the places of those who must return."
Youngwoo bowed deeply.
What did he mean?
The places of those who must return…
"I will remember your words."
Outside the tent, the wind before dawn was blowing.
The eastern sky was still dark.
But Youngwoo's heart had already gone toward Liaoyang