Go Ask Your Own Head Priest (1)
Beop Jeong fell silent for a long while, his face hardened into a mask.
Beop Gye lowered his head and could not bear to meet those eyes.
“...Is everything you have told me true?”
“Bangjang....”
Beop Gye could only let out a pained groan. He could not bring himself to answer. There was no need for ten mouths when even one had nothing to say.
“Hah....”
Beop Jeong laughed at the unbelievable truth.
“You made a pact with Sapa? And a one-sided pact at that, one that bars only our side from advancing south of the Yangtze?”
“...”
“Just what in the world....”
He could not even finish the sentence and instead let out a strained sigh.
I misjudged this.
He should not have sent Beop Gye. If Shaolin was going to commit most of its forces, then he should have led them himself. He should never have sent Beop Gye to deal with something as trivial as river bandits.
“Heo Do, you fool. How in the world are you planning to clean this up...? Amitabha. Amitabha.”
Beop Jeong muttered as he shook his head again and again. Beop Gye, who had to watch this unfold, felt as if he had swallowed a stone.
“Bangjang.... If things go terribly wrong, then please, cast me out instead.”
“You, you say?”
“Yes. It was a decision I made without your permission, so can’t we simply say Shaolin’s true intent was different? I would have a hard time showing my face, but Shaolin....”
“Foolish nonsense!”
A thunderous rebuke burst from Beop Jeong’s mouth.
“That would only cheapen Shaolin’s name. If we do something like that just to save ourselves, how will the world look upon Shaolin? From then on, anything that does not come directly from my mouth will be nothing more than hollow words that can be overturned at any time. That is Shaolin cutting away at its own standing.”
“...”
“We’re trapped. Completely trapped. I understand why, but....”
Unless the proposal had been something this outrageous, Jang Il-so would never have so readily let the men inside his belly walk away.
But still....
How in the world are we supposed to fix this?
Had this happened just a year earlier, it might not have been such a disaster. No matter how much Gupailbang and Odaesega did things that rubbed people the wrong way, if they had no other place to lean on, they would have had no choice but to rely on one another again in the end.
But not now.
“To think allowing the founding of the Heavenly Alliance would come back to us like this....”
The one who had pushed for the Heavenly Alliance despite the objections of the other orthodox sects was none other than Beop Jeong himself. At the time, it had been a matter of competing interests, but he had never imagined that something he helped set in motion would drive Shaolin’s position into a swamp.
How could matters have spiraled so perfectly, so cruelly?
If he had not condoned the founding of the Heavenly Alliance.
If that damned Jang Il-so had not organized Saperyeon and laid his trap on the Yangtze.
If Heo Dojin-in had not thrown away his dignity in the dirt in order to save his disciples.
And if Saperyeon had not eagerly swallowed that extreme choice whole!
If even one of those things had failed to happen, this might still have been manageable. But all of it had happened, and all that remained was to salvage what little standing Gupailbang and Odaesega had left, even now as it lay shattered in the dirt.
“How are the reactions?”
“The sects that did not go to the Yangtze are demanding an explanation. And although the rumor has not yet reached Mount Song, public sentiment is already boiling over elsewhere. This place will likely follow soon as well....”
“Of course.... It could not be otherwise. Amitabha. Amitabha....”
Beop Jeong recited the Buddha’s name over and over, as if the words might somehow ease the suffocation in his chest.
Public sentiment was frightening.
The common people would endure almost any abuse if they had to, but once a line was crossed, they had the strength to charge straight into the imperial palace with farming tools in their hands.
The moment they turned from disappointment to fury toward Gupailbang and Odaesega, their downfall would begin in earnest.
“And the Heavenly Alliance?”
“...Pardon?”
“Mount Hua? What of Mount Hua?”
Beop Gye stared back, not understanding what was meant, then answered stiffly.
“We pulled out of the Yangtze first, so they handled things well....”
Beop Jeong’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You mean you did not even check how Mount Hua was handling it?”
“The situation was....”
“...”
Beop Jeong shut his eyes tightly. Then he sighed inwardly.
Ah.... How am I supposed to deal with this....
If Beop Gye had had the luxury to stand apart and watch the situation unfold, he would have kept a sharp eye on the Heavenly Alliance’s movements. He was not so foolish that he could fail to understand Mount Hua and the Heavenly Alliance stood to gain the most from Gupailbang’s collapse.
But....
There is a difference between watching from a step away and recognizing the situation while caught in the eye of the storm.
Beop Gye was like that, and so was Heo Do.
It was true that making calm judgments amid rapidly changing circumstances was difficult, but he had never expected them to be so flustered that they would make such absurd choices.
An age without war, without conflict.
Those who had grown stronger in such an era might have gained power, but they had not matured. Even Beop Jeong had failed to realize that they were no different from children with stronger fists.
“Did they show any sign of leaving the Yangtze?”
“...Come to think of it, we were the ones trying to leave quickly. They did not seem particularly eager to move.”
“Naturally.... Yes, naturally. That Mount Hua Divine Dragon would never let such an opportunity slip away.”
Beop Jeong gave a hollow laugh.
“We were too late. By now the rumor that we were colluding with Sapa will already have spread across the world, and if we say now that the Heavenly Alliance and Sapa made a secret agreement, it will only sound like nonsense. We lost it. We lost everything. Amitabha. Amitabha....”
Beop Jeong could not hide his dismay. The more he faltered, the more Beop Gye’s face twisted with anguish.
“I am sorry, Bangjang....”
“It is not your fault.”
Beop Jeong shook his head.
What was done was done. What good would it do to blame Beop Gye? What mattered now was finding a way to contain the damage.
“Tell the sects that are asking questions that the treaty is true.”
“B-but....”
“It is better than making a show of things and then pulling our feet out from under it. Say that Shaolin will take responsibility for what it must.”
“...Yes. I will do so.”
“And!”
For a moment, a sharp blue light flashed in Beop Jeong’s eyes.
“Those sects that were not there are no different. Tell them that since this is a treaty made in the name of Gupailbang and Odaesega, it must absolutely be honored.”
“B-bangjang!”
Beop Gye’s eyes flew wide.
“T-this was a mistake caused by us. To force it upon others is....”
“Do as I say!”
At Beop Jeong’s bark, Beop Gye shut his mouth.
The Bangjang’s expression was so grave that he could not even think of trying to argue further.
“There will be fierce backlash.”
“It cannot be helped.”
Beop Jeong’s gaze turned cold.
“Losing public support and hearing people curse us is certainly not good. But it is not the worst outcome. The worst would be Shaolin losing its control over Gupailbang and Odaesega because of this.”
“...”
“Even if we are cursed, we must remain the Northern Dipper of the martial world. If they defy our decision and begin acting on their own, the whole world will say that Shaolin is no longer the head of the orthodox factions. We must stop that no matter what.”
Cold sweat began to bead on Beop Gye’s forehead.
Only now did he truly understand how enormous a blunder he had committed.
“And....”
“Yes, Bangjang.”
“Emphasize that the one who made all these decisions was Heo Do of Wudang, and say that Shaolin will not receive visitors for one month starting now.”
“Do you mean... to close the sect?”
“Not close it. We will simply not receive visitors.”
Beop Jeong let out a long sigh.
“When the rain is pouring, you must avoid it. Sometimes not moving until the storm calms is the best course. For now, let us watch how public sentiment shifts.”
When he finished speaking, Beop Jeong exhaled another tired Buddhist chant.
Those who were angry would inevitably look for someone to blame. It could not be helped if the resentment of Gupailbang and Odaesega turned toward Shaolin, but public anger at Shaolin had to be prevented.
Then there was no choice but to offer up a suitable scapegoat.
“Wudang.... Because of this, Wudang will lose its footing. Heo Do. Heo Do.... Truly....”
Beop Jeong could not bring himself to continue and closed his eyes.
As the one leading a sect, he could not possibly fail to understand why Heo Dojin-in had made that choice. More than that, did they not already know how Mount Hua had once collapsed?
If Shaolin were to fall like Mount Hua during his own lifetime, Beop Jeong himself would not easily endure it.
And yet, even so, there are limits.
He could understand it, but he could not accept it.
Beop Jeong sighed and shook his head, and just then—
“B-bangjang!”
A frantic voice came from outside the door.
“What is it?”
Beop Gye answered quickly, and the door slid open as Beop Hyo hurried inside.
“I-it’s bad.”
“Calm yourself and speak properly. What happened?”
“W-Wudang....”
The moment he heard the word Wudang, Beop Jeong’s face stiffened.
“Heo Dojin-in of Wudang has relinquished the position of sect leader and gone into seclusion.”
“What did you say?”
Beop Jeong shot to his feet and demanded the news be repeated, his eyes blazing.
“Is that certain?”
“Yes. The message came directly from Wudang.”
“Th-this....”
Beop Jeong’s voice trembled as it slipped between his lips.
He had thought Wudang would merely shut its gates for a while to avoid the backlash, and yet they had used such an extreme measure.
Is he taking all the blame upon himself?
That was not something done without absolute resolve.
Once a sect leader stepped down, there was no precedent for ever taking the seat again. Which meant Heo Dojin-in was taking responsibility for this matter and withdrawing completely from the position.
“Who is the next sect leader?”
“For the time being, Heo Sanja, Heo Dojin-in’s junior brother, will serve as acting sect leader.”
Beop Jeong’s expression went blank.
“You... idiots....”
The single dumbest thing a guilty man could do was confess. People did not know what had truly happened there. For now they would be shocked and enraged by the news, but once their anger settled a little, they might also assume there had been reasons for it.
Over the years, Gupailbang and Odaesega had accumulated no small amount of prestige, and there would certainly be those who defended them.
But if Heo Dojin-in took responsibility and stepped down from the position of sect leader, that would amount to admitting that Gupailbang and Odaesega had committed a grave wrong.
“I’ll have to meet Heo Dojin-in myself.”
“...That will be difficult, Bangjang. Wudang says it will enter seclusion for the next three months.”
“You—!”
At last, blue veins stood out on Beop Jeong’s face.
“What in the world are you all doing! That Heo Do—what a hopeless fool!”
A bolt of thunder burst from Beop Jeong’s mouth, a rare outburst from the usually restrained man.
“How did it come to this? Why?”
His fingertips began to tremble with shock and fury.
It was collapsing.
The martial world order he had tried to preserve, centered on Gupailbang, was shattering to pieces before his eyes.
So the age of chaos had already arrived?
The moment Gupailbang and Odaesega lost their grip on power, the world would never again be as peaceful as it had been before.
He could almost see the flames of the Central Plains rising before him.
“I’m going to the Yangtze. I need to meet Mount Hua.”
“...Bangjang. We... cannot go to the Yangtze.”
For a moment, despair and deep emptiness settled across Beop Jeong’s face.
He looked at Beop Gye in silence, then after a moment let out a bitter laugh. It was a laugh at the state he had been reduced to.
“Send a letter to Mount Hua’s sect leader—no, to the Heavenly Alliance Lord. Tell him I request an audience.”
“...Yes.”
“Once this is over, Beop Gye, you will enter the Cave of Repentance. I order you to spend the next six months in meditation.”
“I will obey your command.”
“Heh heh heh....”
The tower he had built so carefully had collapsed in one blow, as though everything he had painstakingly raised had been nothing more than a sandcastle.
Saperyeon, and the Heavenly Alliance.
He closed his eyes and recited the Buddha’s name.
How difficult this is.
For the first time, Beop Jeong felt that Shaolin’s name was growing smaller.