I Saw Nothing (1)
Beop Jeong’s fingertips trembled faintly.
I…
Watching Cheong Myeong fling out his piece and turn away, he felt as if he had swallowed a lump of burning charcoal.
But there was nothing he could do. He knew all too well how pathetic it would look to grab the already-turning Cheong Myeong just to argue with him.
Mount Hua Divine Dragon!
The mood had changed completely. No one now dared to challenge the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s words.
No matter how loudly Beop Jeong raised his voice now, his logic would not work here—at least not in this place.
So Beop Jeong turned his arrows toward someone other than Cheong Myeong.
“Is this… is this truly the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s intention?”
Struggling to keep his voice from shaking, he fixed Hyun Jong and Dang Gun-ak with a hard stare.
No matter how weighty the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s words were, he held no official position in the Heavenly Friends Alliance. That meant his words could not simply become the alliance’s will.
In the end, the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s decisions belonged to Hyun Jong and Dang Gun-ak.
Beop Jeong pressed forward with all the force he could muster.
“Answer me. Is this truly the intention of the Heavenly Friends Alliance?”
Hyun Jong looked back at him with an even expression.
“If you ask whether it is the will of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, perhaps it is a little too forceful. Still, I wonder…”
At that evasive reply, Beop Jeong’s face twisted.
“Sect Leader!”
He tried to press the issue in alarm, but Hyun Jong only slowly shook his head.
“As that child said, even if we were given another chance, we would head for Maehwado without hesitation.”
“…….”
“There is not a single shred of shame in what we have done. If the world condemns us, then I suppose there is nothing to be done. From the beginning, everything we did was never meant for public display, so we can only bear the consequences.”
Beop Jeong stared at Hyun Jong with wide eyes.
What was this supposed to mean?
Not meant for public display? Prepared to bear condemnation?
Was that really something a man leading a sect—or even an alliance—could say?
“Do you… truly believe that choice is right?”
“Abbot.”
Hyun Jong let out a soft sigh and said,
“Nothing in this world is perfect.”
“…….”
“And because of that, nothing can be wholly right either. So one can only ask oneself: am I truly walking the right path?”
It was not meant as a personal jab at Beop Jeong. But Beop Jeong felt as though Hyun Jong were asking, Do you truly think yourself righteous? The unbearable discomfort gnawed at his insides.
By contrast, Hyun Jong’s eyes did not waver. In those deep, still eyes lived only his faith in himself.
“My heart tells me I have done the right thing. So why should I care what others think? Please do not force Shaolin’s way upon us. The Heavenly Friends Alliance will act according to what it believes is right.”
“…….”
“I believe that answers your question. Then—”
Hyun Jong stepped back.
Of course, Beop Jeong wanted to stop him. He knew he could not let the Heavenly Friends Alliance leave like this.
But he could not. Someone else, emerging from behind Hyun Jong, was already approaching him.
A man whose once-white martial robes had been dyed dark red-black by his own blood. A man whose limping steps carried a thick, glutinous hatred.
No matter how desperate Beop Jeong was, he could not ignore that man and seize Hyun Jong.
Because that man was none other than Namgung Dowi.
“……Namgung patron.”
Namgung Dowi stood before him and glared with eyes full of bitter enmity.
And why would he not?
Shaolin had utterly betrayed the Namgung Clan’s expectations.
It would have been one thing if they had never shown themselves on this riverbank at all. But to come all the way here and merely watch as the Namgung Clan was trampled to the ground was an unforgivable act.
Of course, Beop Jeong had his own reasons. But would such reasons mean anything to the Namgung Clan, after all they had endured through that hell?
Beop Jeong himself had never once believed the Namgung people would forgive him. Yet facing Namgung Dowi—who likely held the deepest hatred of all the Namgung survivors—left him wordless.
While Beop Jeong hesitated and fumbled for an answer, Namgung Dowi spoke first.
“……Collusion, is it.”
A hollow laugh slipped from his mouth.
“By the abbot’s reasoning, our Namgung Clan survived by the skin of its teeth thanks to collusion between the Evil Tyrant Alliance and the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”
“P-patron.”
“What should I do about that?”
For a moment, killing intent burst from Namgung Dowi’s hollow, sunken eyes.
“Should I at least recover our honor by taking this miserable life—one that survived only because of that filthy collusion—and stabbing a blade through my own throat now?”
“Namgung patron. That is not what I meant—”
“Ha… hahahaha.”
Namgung Dowi let out a twisted laugh.
“I suppose the ones who should have died and stayed dead came crawling back alive and ended up bothering the abbot. I apologize.”
“That is not what I said.”
“Isn’t it?”
In an instant, Namgung Dowi’s face went hard again, the laughter gone as if it had never been there.
His eyes asked the question plainly.
Had Shaolin really wanted the Namgung Clan to survive from that island? Or, the moment they abandoned the rescue, had they not secretly hoped there would be no survivors at all?
Beop Jeong could not answer.
If it had only been Namgung Dowi, he might have been able to crush him with authority. But the surviving Namgung members, now awake and lucid, all looked at him like a mortal enemy. What could he possibly say in front of them?
Even ten mouths would not have been enough to answer.
“If you’d rather not see us, then it would be best if we simply disappeared.”
Namgung Dowi swept a meaningful glance over everyone present.
“As the Namgung Young Patriarch…and as the acting clan head in place of our absent patriarch!”
His voice rolled out, deep and resonant.
“As of this moment, the Namgung Clan withdraws from the Five Great Families and transfers its allegiance to the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”
“N-Namgung patron!”
A cry close to a shriek burst from Beop Jeong’s mouth.
He had expected the orthodox sects to feel ill will toward the unorthodox forces, but who could have imagined that Namgung would make such a declaration here and now?
“This is not something to decide emotionally!”
“Yes, one should be rational. Rational, like the abbot who merely watched Maehwado from here and did nothing!”
“…….”
With Beop Jeong left speechless, Namgung Dowi bared his teeth and spat out,
“So when you claim the Heavenly Friends Alliance has colluded with the demonic side, make sure to say this as well. That the Namgung Clan has become lapdogs of those unorthodox bastards too.”
“…….”
“Take care, Abbot.”
As if he no longer wished to exchange a single word, Namgung Dowi spun on his heel.
Beop Jeong’s face went pale.
This… this cannot happen.
The Namgung Clan must not be allowed to join the Heavenly Friends Alliance. No— even if they were going to join, it could not be now!
Who would believe him?
The instant Namgung joined the Heavenly Friends Alliance, everything Beop Jeong had said would become nonsense. Worse, even the fact that he had suspected them would become a scandal.
All the justification would go to the Heavenly Friends Alliance, and Shaolin and the orthodox sects would be shoved, quite literally, into a pile of dung.
That had to be stopped. That, at least, had to be stopped!
“Namgung patron! Think again! Namgung…!”
“Enough!”
At that moment, someone seized Beop Jeong by the shoulder.
Turning around, he found Jong Ri-hyeong, who had come up beside him at some point, shaking his head with a grimace.
“This is not the time, Abbot.”
“……Sect Leader.”
“There is nothing wrong with raising doubts. But even that has its time and place, does it not? There are injured people groaning over there. If you, as an abbot who should be speaking of Buddhist compassion, place preserving Shaolin’s face above treating the wounded by exposing the truth of the matter, how do you think the world will see you?”
“You are speaking too far!”
Beop Jeong shouted, his face reddening.
Jong Ri-hyeong bit down hard on his lip. If he had his way, he would not have stopped there. The honest truth was that he wanted to hurl even harsher words.
But he could not. However ugly Shaolin had looked, it was still the North Star of the orthodox sects.
And Kongtong was a sect that had nowhere else to lean among the orthodox schools except Shaolin.
Whether he liked it or not, he had to maintain his relationship with Shaolin. He could not press further than this.
“……For now, just let them go, Abbot.”
Instead of pushing harder, he lowered his voice and whispered,
“There are too many eyes watching.”
At that, Beop Jeong reflexively looked back. Behind Shaolin and Kongtong, the Beggars’ Union beggars stood there, their eyes gleaming as they took in every last detail of the scene.
Those people made a living by spreading stories across the world. No matter how tightly the Beggars’ Union was supposedly controlled by its chief, there was no way to seal every one of those eyes and mouths shut.
And however one looked at it, their gazes were not friendly.
If he pushed too far here, no one knew what would pour from their mouths and spread across the entire martial world.
Damn it.
Beop Jeong bit his lip. His fists, hidden beneath his sleeves, trembled violently.
He had no choice but to admit it now: the mistake he had made on this Yangtze bank had been far too great. But even so, did the price have to be this cruel, this savage?
Beop Jeong felt the urge to pound his chest in bitter resentment.
They had run this far in a single breath to save Namgung too. Why would no one understand that Shaolin had acted with good intentions toward Namgung as well?
“Then take care, Abbot.”
Hyun Jong made a deep, formal bow toward Beop Jeong.
That profound courtesy seemed to declare that, even as they departed, he would not allow a single accusation to be leveled against them.
Then, straightening, he did not even wait for Beop Jeong’s return bow. He spun around and called out,
“Find accommodations and move the injured!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
The Heavenly Friends Alliance disciples, who had been glancing over the orthodox sect members, sprang into action at Hyun Jong’s command. Dang Gun-ak, who had remained until the end, also cast Beop Jeong a cold, bone-deep look before turning away.
Beop Jeong stared straight ahead with bloodshot eyes. His body trembled with intense humiliation.
The perfectly ordered ranks of the Heavenly Friends Alliance moved away from them in disciplined unison.
So in the end…
Blood seeped out between his tightly bitten lips.
So this is how it ends?
Beop Jeong did not want to admit it. But by now, he had no choice but to admit it.
I cannot embrace them.
Even when there had been friction with Mount Hua, he had grown furious as a matter of course, but somewhere in his heart there had still been the belief that, in the end, he would have to guide the Heavenly Friends Alliance onto the right path. That what had become a quarrel over temporary differences would naturally be mended with time.
But at this moment, he understood with absolute certainty.
Those people could never walk the same road as the orthodox sects.
“……So that’s what it was after all.”
“Pardon?”
“No. Nothing.”
Beop Jeong’s eyes had become cold in a way unbefitting a monk.
Today, right here and now.
A fissure had opened between the orthodox sects and the Heavenly Friends Alliance, between the two great powers that claimed to speak for righteousness in the martial world—a fissure that could no longer be mended.
In this lawless age, with the Evil Tyrant Alliance rising across the land, no one could tell where this crack would drag the martial world next.
