We Can Make This a Little Bigger. (3)
"The laws are equal; there is no high or low. That is why it is called the supreme and perfect enlightenment."
With his eyes closed, Beop Jeong had been reciting the Diamond Sutra in a low voice. At last, he slowly opened his eyes.
"If you’re here, come in."
There was no answer.
But Beop Jeong did not urge him again. He simply waited. If the other man had come with the heart to enter, he would open the door; if not, he would turn away.
Kreeeeak.
Whether his patience had been right or wrong, the door soon opened. And there, at the threshold, appeared a face that was at once familiar and strange.
"Welcome."
"I greet the Abbot."
Beop Jeong accepted Hye Yeon’s formal greeting with a slight nod.
All too familiar.
Yet unfamiliar.
The youthful face was the same one he had seen countless times before, but the dullness in those eyes and the gaunt hollows beneath them had entirely changed the impression of the man he knew.
"Sit down, Hye Yeon."
"Yes, Abbot."
Hye Yeon closed the door behind him and quietly sat across from the sect leader.
Beop Jeong poured tea that had already gone half cold and set it before him, then asked, watching him closely, "Have you broken free of your confusion?"
"…"
When Hye Yeon did not answer, Beop Jeong shook his head quietly.
"You still haven’t escaped the bewilderment of that day. It was nothing more than attachment."
"…"
There was only pity in his eyes as he looked at Hye Yeon.
After being defeated by Chung Myung, Hye Yeon had entered the Hall of Repentance of his own volition. And to this day, he had not taken a single step out of it.
The pain of his first defeat.
And the shame of having stained Shaolin’s honor.
These feelings had driven him onto a path of ascetic hardship. At least, that was what Beop Jeong believed.
"As the sages say, victory and defeat are common in war. A martial artist should accept defeat as natural, and a Buddhist disciple should not turn away from suffering. How long are you going to—"
"Abbot."
Hye Yeon spoke in a voice that had sunk slightly lower.
"I am not bound by defeat."
"Then why are you tormented so?"
At Beop Jeong’s question, he lifted his head.
"I confined myself in order to understand what I could not understand. But no matter how much I contemplated it, and contemplated it again, I still cannot make sense of it."
Beop Jeong’s brow twitched faintly.
"What is it you cannot understand?"
"Chung Myung."
After speaking the name, Hye Yeon fell silent. Only after a moment did he continue.
"He was extraordinarily strong. It is only natural to lose to someone stronger, and so I do not doubt his strength. Nor is there any reason for me to doubt my own weakness."
Hye Yeon’s voice was utterly resolute.
"What I cannot understand is the anger and sorrow of that donor Chung Myung. He was exceedingly strong, and with that strength, he had every right to claim what he wanted. Yet instead he spat out his anger and simply turned away. His actions create confusion within me."
"…Hye Yeon."
"So please tell me."
Hye Yeon’s lowered gaze looked like a swamp.
"Even after he was insulted, Abbot, you did not call him rude. To my eyes, it seemed even you considered his anger justified. Am I mistaken?"
"…Amitabha."
Beop Jeong hesitated, offering only the Buddha’s name in place of an answer, but Hye Yeon showed no sign of backing down.
"Even if the Buddhist path is one of patience and endurance, to turn away from truth cannot be the Buddhist path. Abbot, am I not worthy of knowing that truth?"
Beop Jeong let out a quiet sigh.
"How could that be?"
"Then please tell me. I cannot move forward without confirming this."
At Hye Yeon’s unwavering resolve, Beop Jeong finally nodded.
Perhaps others would not need to know, but if it was Hye Yeon, who would someday bear the weight of Shaolin, then this was something he would eventually have to understand.
"…That is how it was."
After finishing his explanation, Beop Jeong looked quietly at Hye Yeon.
His gaunt face did not change much, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking.
At last, Hye Yeon spoke.
"How…"
But he seemed unable to put the rest into words. Beop Jeong shook his head.
"It was a matter of the previous generation."
"How can you dismiss it so lightly?"
"One cannot pay a price for what one did not do. If your enemy dies before you can settle your grudge, will you then take that child’s life to avenge yourself?"
"…"
"We have no reason to bear full responsibility for what was done in the past. That would be too cruel. We may show kindness to them, but…"
"Abbot!"
Unable to hold it in any longer, Hye Yeon shouted and cut him off.
"Everything Shaolin enjoys now comes from the previous generation. Unless we are going to peel away Shaolin’s skin and return to being nothing more than individual Buddhist disciples, how can we pick and choose what we accept from the past?"
"What nonsense!"
Beop Jeong’s voice also rose somewhat. His unwavering eyes fixed on Hye Yeon.
"If that’s your logic, then how many sins has Shaolin committed until now? Human beings live by committing sin. How many crimes have been committed by all those who passed through Shaolin? Unless you intend to carry every single one of them, do not speak such reckless nonsense so lightly!"
"…"
"The Buddhist law begins with properly establishing oneself. Cutting oneself off from worldly ties does not simply mean severing worldly profit. Only when one can sever all that and still stand on one’s own can one be said to walk the Buddhist path!"
Hye Yeon, who had been silently listening, nodded very slowly.
"You said to cut them off?"
"Yes."
"You mean not to be bound by them?"
"Exactly. Even if ten thousand kalpas pass, the karma one has created does not disappear. Then that karma is something the men of the past must bear in full. Why should you take on that sin in their place?"
"…Amitabha."
Hye Yeon quietly intoned the Buddha’s name.
"The Abbot’s words are indeed correct."
"You understand?"
"Yes. This humble monk finally understands."
Beop Jeong’s stiff expression relaxed, and he smiled faintly.
"That’s a relief. Then no longer be bound by it and do what you must."
"Yes."
As though he had set down a great burden, Hye Yeon stood.
"Good. Go now."
Then he bowed respectfully.
"Abbot, we may not see each other for a long time, so please do not treat your body lightly and take care of yourself."
Beop Jeong’s eyes flew wide open.
"What are you talking about?"
"This humble monk intends to go to Mount Hua."
"…W-what?"
Beop Jeong’s face twisted in disbelief at the completely unexpected answer. But Hye Yeon paid it no mind. In fact, he looked oddly refreshed.
"I found my answer in the Abbot’s sermon. I have seen the Buddhist path in him. I could not understand why my own Buddhism was to be found in that young Taoist, but didn’t the Abbot himself say it?"
"…I did?"
"Yes."
Hye Yeon nodded.
"If the Buddhist path is there, then of course I must pursue it. But I could not bring myself to sever my ties with Shaolin and the Abbot, and so I worried over it again and again. But now that you have told me not to cling to ties and to walk the Buddhist path, I intend to put those words into practice with gratitude."
Beop Jeong’s mouth fell open so far that he had completely forgotten his dignity.
What on earth was this supposed to mean?
"H-Hye Yeon. That’s not what I meant!"
"There is no need for such alarm. My ties with Shaolin are not so easily severed, for my Buddhist foundation is still not deep enough. So…"
Hye Yeon turned his head and looked at the closed door. No—he seemed to be looking beyond it.
"I will go and see for myself what he is doing, and how he lives. I think I need to see all of it with my own eyes before I can move further."
"…"
Beop Jeong bit his lower lip hard. He had never imagined things would turn out like this.
"What if I do not permit it?"
"I may have received your kindness, but how could I disobey the Abbot’s order?"
"Then…"
"If you insist on stopping me, I will return to the Hall of Repentance. If there is a road but I cannot walk it, then I must find a road even there."
"…"
Beop Jeong trembled, unable to say anything. If Hye Yeon truly set his mind to it, he really would do exactly that. Knowing this, Beop Jeong could not find the heart to say a single word more.
Hye Yeon bowed once more, then turned away.
Staring blankly at his retreating back, Beop Jeong hurriedly called out.
"Hye Yeon."
"…"
"Will you come back?"
"I will."
"…Good. Then go and return safely."
"Yes."
With no hesitation at all, Hye Yeon opened the door and left the room.
When the door closed, silence settled over everything.
Left alone, Beop Jeong looked at the now-cold tea and let out a low sigh.
It is karma.
The world was still being shaken to its foundations at this very moment.
If, in the past, Hua Mountain and countless other sects had sacrificed themselves to establish a new order and support one another, then the world might have been different by now.
But the Central Plains had cared only for their own interests. And in the midst of that dog-eat-dog slaughterhouse, the Demonic Sect, which had once collapsed, was once again slowly revealing its strength.
An age of chaos.
An age of chaos was coming.
All the sacrifices of the past had become meaningless.
Yes. Go and see for yourself.
Hye Yeon had never been someone a human being could lead. Dragons could not be tamed by men. Only another dragon could guide a dragon.
If Hye Yeon was a dragon, then Chung Myung was one too.
Then there was surely something Hye Yeon could learn from Chung Myung.
"Amitabha."
Beop Jeong softly intoned the Buddha’s name.
But there was one thing he had overlooked.
No matter how pure-white the scales of a white dragon might be, if it spends its time with a black dragon, it will quickly turn black as well.
Had Beop Jeong realized that sooner, he would have grabbed onto Hye Yeon’s pant legs and done everything he could to stop him.
Unfortunately, at that time, he had not the faintest suspicion of it.
…Unfortunately.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"There it is!"
"Oh!"
"That’s Xi'an!"
The Mount Hua disciples raised their voices. At their excited shouts, Chung Myung frowned and snapped at them.
"What are you, on a picnic?"
"You’re the one who keeps coming and going to Xi'an because of the Eunha Merchant Guild, but this is our first time here."
"…Seriously?"
When Chung Myung asked in obvious disbelief, the Mount Hua disciples let out long sighs.
"We hardly ever even go down from Mount Hua. What reason would we have to come all the way to Xi'an?"
"…You’re really all country bumpkins."
"Shut up!"
When Yoon Jong barked at him, Chung Myung snorted.
"Whatever. You’ll be coming and going like it’s your own home before long anyway."
"That’s right."
Hyun Young nodded and added his own comment.
"Not just Xi'an—before long, you’ll be traveling all over the world. The forebears of Mount Hua used to roam the world, walking the path of chivalry and accumulating countless merits, didn’t they? You’ll be like that soon enough too."
"Yes, Elder!"
The Mount Hua disciples answered in booming voices full of anticipation.
But Chung Myung alone did not lose his indifferent expression.
Chivalric path, my ass.
Listen to this guy!
That’s all just territory management!
You go beat up the sect bastards who are causing trouble where the commoners live, and you go crush the bandits messing around in the places where the commoners live!
And after a while, the commoners start bringing tribute with their own hands, and then the sect gets rich!
That’s how the world works. Chivalry my ass.
Of course, while moving around to manage territory, there were plenty of times when something happened that was infuriating just to hear about, and he would storm in and smash everything to pieces. But actually leaving the sect for the sake of chivalry itself? That was rare.
He was already busy enough learning the sword. How often could he possibly leave the martial world without any purpose?
Well, I’ll figure it out once I go through it.
He would learn just how unforgiving reality could be.
And the first place to realize that would be right there.
Chung Myung took in Xi'an’s towering city walls with his own eyes.
"All right, then."
The corners of his mouth curled upward.
"Shall we start by taking that place down first?"
First Xi'an, then he’d gobble up all of Shaanxi! Just like old Mount Hua had done.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh."
Watching Chung Myung suddenly start laughing to himself in that sinister way, everyone else felt unease creeping up their spines.
What’s wrong with him now?
Let it go. It’s not like this is the first or second time.
They didn’t know why he was like that, but they had learned from experience that whenever he laughed that way, something always happened.
Baek Cheon and the other disciples prayed, with all their hearts, that this time, at least, that ominous feeling would miss the mark.