Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Continuing Ties
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The young disciples who left the Lotus Flower Pavilion early that morning must have been in high spirits. They deliberately visited Seonwoyong's annex to bid a cute and spirited farewell for the day before departing.
Not only the young disciples but most of the people in the Lotus Flower Pavilion had left, plunging the pavilion into an early silence and stillness.
Freed entirely from teaching Geum for the day, Seonwoyong spent his time comfortably reading books or playing the geomungo, then took a short stroll outside in the afternoon.
However, upon returning from his walk, the Lotus Flower Pavilion had completely transformed from its usual appearance.
The various red lanterns that always hung at the main gate entrance had all been taken down.
The auspicious fu papers pasted on the closed main gate had been removed as well.
With that, the Lotus Flower Pavilion shed its brothel guise and took on the look of some martial clan estate or the mansion of a great wealthy house.
The interior of the Lotus Flower Pavilion had also undergone a complete change in atmosphere.
The blue and red lanterns that had hung everywhere indoors were gone, replaced by elegant white lanterns.
The thick scent of makeup from the courtesans and maids who had come and gone was absent, replaced by the fragrance of high-quality incense burning somewhere.
Seonwoyong stopped by the dining hall early for a simple dinner.
Strangely, there was not a single meat dish; the table was laid only with vegetables, herbs, and tofu.
It truly felt as if the inside and outside of the Lotus Flower Pavilion had become some temple.
As the sun set, instead of the main gate, the small side door opened, and two small white lanterns were hung on either side of it.
Soon after, guests began to enter sporadically.
Their appearances varied greatly.
Some looked like merchants, others like martial artists, some like scholars, officials, farmers, and so on—their faces were truly diverse.
But before long, the side door was firmly closed again, and the white lanterns were removed.
Moments later, around fifty people had gathered in the pavilion's largest guest hall and sat down.
They had all changed into white robes embroidered on the sleeves with a pattern of a blazing red flame.
Dozens of people sat there, yet not a sound echoed in the hall.
Everyone wore an extremely reverent and solemn expression, simply gazing toward the front of the hall.
Soon, Jeong Yeongyeong entered the hall, dressed in a white light robe with a red flame embroidered on the sleeve.
In her hand was a small bronze vessel containing a small flickering flame.
Jeong Yeongyeong approached the large brazier enshrined at the innermost center of the hall and tilted the bronze vessel in her hand to transfer the flame.
Moments later, a fierce blaze roared to life in the large brazier.
With that, the people filling the hall reverently bowed and began chanting a mantra in unison.
“Revere Heaven, revere Fire; all phenomena rely on Fire, all forms return to Fire… Gazing upon Heaven and Fire, all phenomena depend on Fire, all things return to Fire….”
Thus began their ritual.
At the back of the hall, the pavilion's chief steward Jang Dojeon and Sacheonggi, the elderly disciple of the Azure Purity Sect known as the Azure Flower Sword, were also devoutly chanting the mantra.
They too wore white robes with the red flame emblem on the sleeves.
At that time, Seonwoyong sat in the study of his annex.
He sat in the lotus position with his eyes gently closed, but his face bore an expression of agony rarely seen before.
In his ears came the distant sounds from the guest hall: various prayer chants and mantra recitations of the ritual.
The sounds of the ritual drum being struck and shaken, and the sacred bell, reached him as well.
To him, they were sounds all too familiar and deeply longed for.
Those sounds echoed through the night in the Lotus Flower Pavilion's guest hall, and Seonwoyong could not sleep.
That night's ritual was none other than the worship ceremony of the Great Cloud Bright Religion, where he had once served as its leader.
The next dawn, before the day had fully brightened, the guests who had visited the Lotus Flower Pavilion departed one by one through the side door.
The pavilion saw them off as if nothing had happened and welcomed the morning.
Only then did Seonwoyong open the door of his annex and begin strolling through the garden.
Jeong Yeongyeong, who happened to be in the garden tending to the flowering trees, greeted him.
“Did you sleep well last night? It might have been a bit noisy.”
“I don't think I slept much.”
Jeong Yeongyeong quickly noticed the heavy, dark expression on Seonwoyong's impassive face as he replied.
“I apologize. There won't be any more of that from now on, so please don't be angry and rest well today. The children won't return until evening.”
At Jeong Yeongyeong's words, Seonwoyong turned without a response and walked back toward his annex.
Gazing at his retreating figure, her eyes mixed surprise, worry, and regret.
As she stroked a rose glistening with morning dew, she pricked her hand on a thorn.
That afternoon, Jeong Yeongyeong visited Seonwoyong's annex with the geomungo.
Without a word, she began playing, and Seonwoyong silently listened to the geomungo sounds.
Today, her playing was unusually chaotic and dull, frequently breaking off.
The performance did not last long.
“I've only troubled your ears, Teacher.”
As Jeong Yeongyeong stopped plucking the strings and spoke in self-reproach, Seonwoyong silently drew his own geomungo and began to play.
It was the piece Moonlit Long Spring Dream, which she had left unfinished.
Yet, astonishingly, Seonwoyong too could not finish the piece and stopped midway.
“Today is not a day for us to discuss geomungo together.”
“It seems so. You appear to have many worries, Teacher, and I've been deeply troubled by it. Might I ask what those worries are?”
“First, tell me how much you intend to reveal to me and how much you plan to hide.”
At Seonwoyong's words, Jeong Yeongyeong was startled.
“What do you mean…? I truly have no idea.”
“Heh heh heh… I knew something like this would come eventually while staying here, but I didn't expect it so soon. Pavilion Master, to which banner do you belong?”
At those words, Jeong Yeongyeong was utterly shocked, at a loss for words as she stared at Seonwoyong's face.
“Please explain in a way I can understand.”
“Did you not hear the ritual drum and sacred bell sounds from the great hall last night? Though I didn't see the faces of those who visited the Lotus Flower Pavilion yesterday with my own eyes, I could easily discern from their aura that they were devotees worshiping the Holy Fire and paying homage to the Ming Lord.”
Jeong Yeongyeong paled in shock.
“How did you… Are you perhaps one of the elders of our religion, Teacher?”
Seonwoyong gave no particular reply.
It was a situation that could only be seen as tacit affirmation.
“Let's just say I have some connection. It's been a very long time since I left the religion.”
“Then, did you commit apostasy?”
“Haha… Apostasy… It wouldn't be apostasy, but you wouldn't be wrong to see it that way.”
Seonwoyong's expression was extremely grave.
Jeong Yeongyeong's face also grew heavy as she bowed her head in thought.
“Now that I know this place is one of the religion's strongholds, I can no longer stay.”
At Seonwoyong's words, Jeong Yeongyeong looked up in alarm.
“How can you say such a thing… Though the Lotus Flower Pavilion is indeed a hidden stronghold of the religion as you say, it faces no restrictions even with you staying here as you are.”
“That's ultimately my problem. I must decide where I stay and where I go.”
“Since you put it that way, I can no longer hide the truth.”
Jeong Yeongyeong resolved to speak the facts.
“Yes, that's correct. I belong to the Azure Water Banner of the Great Cloud Bright Religion, which reveres the Ming Lord, and my role is to gather and report various news from this Sichuan region. And this Lotus Flower Pavilion is a place where a few Holy Capital elders of Sichuan gather once a year to inquire after each other's well-being and pay homage to the Holy Fire.”
“I'll ask just one thing. Are they still reciting the final precept of those Five Elemental Commandments?”
At Seonwoyong's question, Jeong Yeongyeong let out a sharp gasp.
“Then you must be one of the Three Great Precepts faction that values the Three Great Precepts more highly?”
“What are you talking about? Does that mean the religion is still divided between the Five Elemental Precepts faction and the Three Great Precepts faction?”
“You didn't even know that far, Teacher. Yes, that's right. Currently within the religion, there is the Five Elemental Precepts faction seeking to wash away the old humiliations and rise again in the world, and the Three Great Precepts faction insisting that following only the Ming Lord's great teachings comes first. However, the faction prioritizing the Three Great Precepts is so minor in presence that…”
As Jeong Yeongyeong's explanation grew longer, Seonwoyong's complexion grew more somber.
After a long while of explaining the religion's ins and outs, she paused, and he asked something.
“Then who is leading the religion as its leader now?”
“There is no one currently holding the position of leader. After the incident at the Taihang Mountains, the then-leader U Gyeongcheon and the Divine Wood Command vanished together, and since the Divine Wood Command has not appeared again, naturally no one has been appointed leader.”
Seonwoyong let out a deep sigh as he listened to her explanation.
“Then who exactly is pushing to uphold the Five Elemental Precepts? With the leader's seat vacant, shouldn't all the followers exercise restraint and devote themselves solely to the gracious teachings bestowed by the Ming Lord?”
“The Radiant Right Emissary is currently controlling the religion in practice. The Left Emissary left the religion long ago, and his whereabouts are unknown.”
After listening to yet more tales of the religion's affairs for a long while, Seonwoyong, his face sunken in anguish, asked Jeong Yeongyeong again.
“What will you do now? By rights, you should report everything about me in detail.”
“Of course, I should. But first, let me ask one thing. If my guess is correct, you must be one of the great elders of our religion who vanished in the previous generation. May I ask your true identity?”
“That would be difficult. It poses no great issue for me, but it would bring disaster to you, Pavilion Master, and this Lotus Flower Pavilion.”
“Then promise me just one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Will you protect the family members and children working here at the Lotus Flower Pavilion?”
As Seonwoyong listened without answering, Jeong Yeongyeong continued with a bitter expression.
“I too have no desire to partake in dyeing the world in blood again. It is the duty and fate of us devotees to follow the religion's orders, but if it can be avoided, that is my true heart. Especially, I truly do not want this Lotus Flower Pavilion to face any hardship.”
Continuing poignantly, she looked at Seonwoyong and spoke as if resolved.
“If you do not deliberately put this Lotus Flower Pavilion in peril, Teacher, I will not separately confess the full details about you.”
“I promise you that. That's why I said it. I must indeed leave this place.”
Thus ended that afternoon's conversation.
Now, Seonwoyong had to prepare to leave the Lotus Flower Pavilion.
In truth, his settling in this Lotus Flower Pavilion had not been by chance.
He had detected the scent of the Holy Fire in the aura of Chief Steward Jang Dojeon, who first spoke to him that day.
It was only natural that he discerned the presence of the Great Cloud Bright Religion, which reveres the sacred fire and follows the Ming Lord's teachings, from him.
When he entered the Lotus Flower Pavilion and met Pavilion Master Jeong Yeongyeong, his suspicion became certainty, and at that moment, he realized this place was the beginning of his newly gained life and connections.
And now, it was time to depart.