What I Couldn't Pass On (6)
Ilseon Dosa's face, as he lay on the bed, was badly crumpled.
Tsk tsk, I'm the idiot for trusting you. Loyalty my ass, haah….
That bastard made another bet? And he's the one talking about loyalty? Is your loyalty a bowl of rice you can just detach and reattach at will?!
"I'm disappointed in Shaolin. How does it make sense that 108 of you couldn't beat one guy?!"
Heh heh, you've learned a bit of martial arts and now nothing's in your sights anymore. Once my body's fully healed, I'll smash your daegari good and proper first thing!
"Hey, you two, can't you see the patient's in pain? I'd appreciate it if you kept it down."
Pfft!
"Cough! Oh."
Pfft!
Why not just laugh outright?
"Aigoo~~! 80 taels… I mean, monk grandpa, you're awake. You could've made a sound or something. How's your body feeling?"
Ilseon Dosa eyed the damn trio one by one and spoke.
"Loyaltyyy?"
"Ahem!"
Mujikja stealthily rose and headed outside.
"Something about Shaolin this, Shaolin that?"
"Oh dear, I forgot. I meant to say we skipped afternoon training today. Haha!"
Namgung Je-cheon, who normally ignored training unless ordered, now headed out to train.
"Youngest young master, does a heavy pocket feel good?"
With a face thick as iron plating, even in this situation where propriety demanded he excuse himself, Namgung Daeso stubbornly kept his butt glued to the chair. He even answered with utter refreshment.
"The best! No matter what anyone says, I believed in you, monk grandpa!"
Jingle!
Ilseon Dosa glanced at the money pouch Namgung Daeso gripped tightly.
Sigh….
Then, in a tone of resignation, he said,
"Give me some water."
In a situation like this, not boiling inside would mean he'd reached the realm of playing go with Buddha.
"I pass out and wake up a lot, so I know the drill—your throat gets insanely dry the first time you open your eyes. That's why I prepared ahead."
Gulp gulp.
As the cool water slid down his throat and settled in his chest, the earlier anger finally started to subside a bit.
There was much to say, but Ilseon Dosa asked the most pressing question first.
"My share… no, I mean, ahem! What happened?"
He had no memory after unfolding the Dalma Yeongeun gyeong. He'd devoted himself solely to completing it to the best of his ability.
I quickly took the empty cup, refilled it with water, handed it back, and answered.
"You'll know soon enough."
With those two disloyal ones gone, the Shaolin folks must have seen it too. I could tell him everything myself, but it was right for the man himself to hear it from the source.
Speak of the tiger, and he appears, they say.
Thud thud.
Noisy footsteps echoed from outside. They didn't barge right in but hovered awkwardly at the entrance.
Monk grandpa sensed it too and downed the freshly poured water in one go. He'd seemed eager for an answer moments ago, but now he looked tense instead.
While Ilseon Dosa had been out, I'd asked—knowing it rude—why he'd been forced into such an unfair duel. Mujikja had hesitated a long time before spilling it all. Why he'd left Shaolin. Why he'd been sweeping the Namgung courtyard.
No need to reveal that, though. Still, as his superior, I wanted to offer some kind words to my long-suffering subordinate.
I stood.
The heavy weight of the money pouch at my waist lifted my spirits.
"Money's good—the more, the better."
Obvious, right?
"But the more you have, the bigger your fears get."
Worries someone might steal it. You start distrusting and guarding against everything around you.
"I think hearts work the same way."
Growing feelings for someone might feel good at first. But when they swell beyond what you can handle, they turn into worries, fears, terror.
Ilseon Dosa listened silently. Normally he'd chant "Amitabha" and nod along, but right now he looked quite tense.
"But do you know the difference between money and hearts?"
Ilseon Dosa looked up at me. Strangely, unlike before, certainty shone in his eyes.
Ilseon Dosa spoke.
"It doesn't betray you."
Smirk. That's why I like our monk grandpa. Just the right amount of good. Just the right amount of corrupt. Just the right amount of sly. Just the right amount of righteous. The world's best when everything's just right. Excess always backfires eventually. Except money.
"Spot on. Money has no heart, so it doesn't discriminate against people. That's one reason I love it. But relationships between people are different. Unlike money's one-sided trust, they're complicated. They tangle up and need untangling; mess up, and they knot worse; sometimes you get tired untying and just leave 'em be."
I took a deep breath.
Ilseon Dosa couldn't guess what this young master was getting at.
"Take that one example—who was it? Your in-law's distant cousin?"
"My friend's next-door little sister's big brother's wife's grandfather's neighbor's daughter."
Ilseon Dosa straightened up and precisely corrected the mistake.
"Right. That neighbor's daughter! I thought it over real hard. Just suppose, purely hypothetically, that neighbor's daughter had tried hard in the past but couldn't untie the knot for unavoidable reasons, so she just snapped it off on her own… Ah, throat's dry again?"
Ilseon Dosa reached into his robe, pulled out a single tael of silver, and placed it in Namgung Daeso's hand.
"No, I said my throat's dry—why give me silver?"
Namgung Daeso opened the money pouch and tucked the silver inside lovingly.
And in that moment.
"Feels good as new."
Ilseon Dosa stared at Namgung Daeso with the eyes one might use on the most vile scum from the Blood Shadow Branch of the Black Way.
Naturally, Namgung Daeso paid no mind to such trifles.
"Simple. Retie the snapped knot. Tie it so tight no one can ever untie it again. You already know how, since you've done it before."
"Ahem!!!"
"Kekekehem!!!"
"Ahem!!!"
Coughing erupted noisily from outside.
"Oops, I talked too much? I'll be off then. If you're curious about the tying method, it's 20 taels…."
"No need."
"Haha! Just asking to be polite. Alright! I'm really going now."
As he stepped out, his eyes met those of the first-generation disciples waiting there. They hesitated to enter rashly for some reason.
This? Extort them too?
The thought crossed his mind, but pushing one step further felt like crossing a point of no return, so he dropped it.
I bowed politely to them and stepped aside.
Ilseon Dosa waited quietly inside. He mulled over Namgung Daeso's words.
Just retie it….
Then the door opened, and in walked Jinheo leading six first-generation disciples. The moment he saw them, Ilseon Dosa froze in the exact pose he'd been pondering in.
Silence filled the tiny three-pyeong room. Jinheo's group had frozen too. Jinheo, at the front, stared not at Ilseon Dosa but somewhere else.
About an hour passed like that. Poke! Jingak jabbed Jinheo's side. Jinheo flinched. As if on cue, the other first-gen disciples started poking Jinheo's back relentlessly.
Ilseon Dosa watched the scene with curious fascination. Jinheo twisted to dodge or tensed his waist to ignore the prodding fingers.
Poke! Frustrated to the point of irritation, Jingak finally jabbed with his index finger full force.
"Ow, that hurts!!!"
Only then did Jinheo speak. The first-gen disciples, Jingak included, pressured him to hurry up. But Jinheo kept hemming and hawing, unable to continue.
"Amitabha."
Ilseon Dosa murmured the chant softly. Eyes naturally turned to him. His stiffened expression had relaxed. His rigid body eased into a more comfortable posture.
Ilseon Dosa spoke calmly to them.
"Let's start tomorrow."
Jinheo awkwardly stared at some distant, invisible mountain. The other first-gen disciples cheered among themselves: "Yes! Woo-hoo! Awesome! The best!"
Retie it….
Ilseon Dosa wondered if he'd been overthinking it. When they'd opened the door, he'd fretted over what to say, what to do. No ideas came; he'd even seriously considered just saying he was tired and going back to sleep.
But then he noticed the disciples standing there awkwardly. They were all sturdy adults now, each holding prominent positions in the sect, yet they hadn't changed a bit from back then.
-What's your name?
-J-Jinheo, sir!
-Ho ho, so you're Jinheo. Nice to meet you. I'm Ilseon. Do you know me?
-Y-Yes! You're a living Buddha! Hehe.
-I wanna greet the living Buddha too, big bro!
-Yeah! You greeted him already—unfair! Big bro dummy!
-Idiot! Baldy!
-…Baldy? You crossed the line.
-Oops! Slip-up! Hehe!
-These disciples are full of energy. I've decided to teach you martial arts from now on.
-Really?
-Of course. Follow well, and you could become my disciples… or maybe someone else's….
-I'll learn! No matter what!
-Me too!
-Me!
-I wanna!
Heh heh, alright. Let's start tomorrow.
"Heh heh."
Jinheo spoke up, looking displeased.
"What's so funny?"
"Just old memories made me laugh without thinking. Sorry."
"Old memories? That time master cracked my skull?"
"Oh yeah, I remember that! Wasn't that the day big bro secretly raided master's hidden liquor stash and we all got drunk?"
"Right! I remember too! Damn, big bro tricked us all."
"Exactly! I said I was training, but then I got chewed out by master again because of it."
"Hey, you punks! At least you drank—because of you, I got blamed for just licking it! Hey, Jingak! Tell 'em—you drank the most!"
"Ho ho, big bro. Think my eyes are knotholes? Or do I have dementia already? Who drank from those rolling bottles…."
"Anyway, it wasn't me!"
Hey… hold on a sec. Guys?
"And I'm way higher up than you now, you know?"
"So you're gonna defy your esteemed senior?!"
"Jingak."
"Yes?"
"Bring the green jade rod."
No, hey guys…? You still bickering like this? And anyway.
"You really want it?"
"Bring it, and I'll crack your daegari with it."
"…."
"Don't, and I'll crack it later."
"…."
I'm a patient here, you know?
"Follow me out. Time to show you senior's dignity!"
"Hmph! I'm in Hwagyeong now. Not that snot-nosed kid anymore!"
Jingak and Jinheo bickered as they headed outside. The remaining first-gen disciples shook their heads at the pair's backs, bowed to Ilseon Dosa, and followed.
Ilseon Dosa laid his head back on the bed. A headache he'd definitely not had before now throbbed in.
He muttered softly to himself.
"My juniors… sorry. Even if it means breaking their damn legs, I should've raised them properly…."
Aigoo, my head!