Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 150

150. When Red Eyes Fall

Un Hyun turned his head, surprised by the Reclining Buddha’s unexpected words.

The Reclining Buddha was lifting his teacup without even glancing at Un Hyun.

“Pardon?”

“It means you’re all talk and no action, wasting your time on impossible dreams.”

Having finished his tea, the Reclining Buddha tapped the teacup, trying to dislodge the tea leaves stuck inside.

“Keep at it for a hundred days. See if that realm you’re chasing ever comes within your grasp.”

‘That realm!’

Un Hyun’s eyes widened in surprise.

There was no way he could misunderstand what the Reclining Buddha was talking about.

How could Un Hyun forget that scene that had brushed past him like fate, never to be seen again?

That new world that had unfolded before his eyes for a fleeting moment, that amazing world filled with the essence of heaven and earth.

A vast flow like eternity.

And the dreamlike sword dance that unfolded along that flow.

Although it was an experience as brief as a flash, Un Hyun could not forget that moment.

No, far from forgetting, the memory of that time remained vividly etched in Un Hyun’s heart like a brand burned with fire.

Even at this very moment.

“I don’t know if you’ve been lucky until now, or if you’ve been getting by with cheap tricks.”

The Reclining Buddha muttered, scraping the tea leaves from the teacup with his finger.

“You won’t get anywhere doing that, not even in a hundred days. It might have been necessary in the past, but not anymore.”

The Reclining Buddha popped the tea leaves into his mouth and chewed them.

“What’s the point of cherishing it in your heart? The real thing is elsewhere. Right now, you’re like a foolish, inexperienced lover who’s so caught up in the emotion of love that you can’t see their partner.”

It was a very worldly analogy for a monk, but Un Hyun had no time to dwell on that.

Because right now, the Reclining Buddha was telling him that he was missing something truly important.

“If you don’t believe me, well, keep doing it that way for the rest of your life.”

The look in the Reclining Buddha’s eyes as he looked at Un Hyun was quite provocative.

After a moment of stunned silence, Un Hyun asked,

“Then what should I do?”

The Reclining Buddha chuckled.

“Why? Do you want to see that realm so badly?”

“Yes.”

Un Hyun answered immediately.

The Reclining Buddha laughed again.

“You look like you’ll die if you can’t see it?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Un Hyun’s words were sincere.

Like the saying that one could die happy in the evening if they heard the Dao [the Way or the Truth] in the morning, he felt like he could risk everything if he could see that sight again.

The Reclining Buddha grinned.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die even if you don’t see it.”

“Master!”

Un Hyun was anxious.

It was clear that the Reclining Buddha knew something, but he wouldn’t tell him, which was incredibly frustrating.

“Please tell me. What should I do?”

The Reclining Buddha clicked his tongue.

The mischievous expression that had been teasing Un Hyun was nowhere to be seen, and only deep regret filled his wrinkled face.

“Hoo.”

After a long while, the Reclining Buddha let out a long breath.

And turning to Un Hyun, he said,

“The tea is gone.”

“Yes?”

At Un Hyun’s question, the Reclining Buddha frowned.

“I’m saying you’ve been doing your training or whatever for so long that you’ve drunk all the tea. What are you going to do? I have to drink it tomorrow morning too.”

“I’ll go get it right away!”

Un Hyun jumped up.

In his haste, he didn’t even notice that Dokgo-rang hadn’t followed him.

Nor did he notice Dokgo-rang looking at the Reclining Buddha with a complicated expression.

Thud.

Un Hyun ran along the small forest path.

Even though his figure had disappeared, Dokgo-rang’s gaze was still fixed on the Reclining Buddha.

“What are you looking at?”

The Reclining Buddha said to Dokgo-rang as if tossing the words out.

“You were so surprised earlier that you couldn’t even open your mouth, but why are you complaining now? Well, of course. That guy’s eyes were looking at a higher place.”

The Reclining Buddha’s eyes, muttering to himself, were shining sharply.

“Yes, that guy has already seen it. He can never go back to the way he was before. So I have no choice but to push him to move forward, whether he lives or dies. Heh heh heh.”

The Reclining Buddha, chuckling and lifting the teacup, frowned.

The teacup was already empty, and even the tea leaves had been scraped out and eaten.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you following your master?”

The Reclining Buddha said in a blunt voice.

Dokgo-rang, who seemed to want to say something, eventually turned his body silently.

Swoosh.

Dokgo-rang’s figure disappeared in an instant.

The Reclining Buddha, left alone, clicked his tongue as if regretting the tea he had drunk.

“Tsk.”

Swoosh.

The wind blew.

The traces of training that remained in the clearing in front of the hut were slowly disappearing, but the image of the sword that Un Hyun had unfolded was becoming more vivid in the Reclining Buddha’s mind.

***

“Master!”

“Ah, I told you, it’s nothing.”

The Reclining Buddha was adamant.

Un Hyun, who was anxious, asked for guidance, but the Reclining Buddha refused.

To Un Hyun, it seemed like the Reclining Buddha was definitely interested, but he wouldn’t teach him at all.

“If you do this, I have my own plans.”

“What plans?”

“It means you might not be able to drink Dragon Well tea from tomorrow.”

The Reclining Buddha stared at Un Hyun intently, then chuckled.

“Do as you please.”

It was not going to work.

He was already held hostage by that ‘Grand Revival Pill,’ so clumsy threats were bound to be useless.

Thinking about it, the Reclining Buddha was very meticulous.

Un Hyun had already said, ‘I really want to do it. I feel like I’ll die if I don’t.’

It was like a foolish adolescent boy who had confessed his feelings without even knowing if they were reciprocated, completely handing over the initiative to the Reclining Buddha.

“Master!”

In the end, Un Hyun knelt down.

Despite Un Hyun’s determined actions, the Reclining Buddha was indifferent.

“Why?”

“Isn’t it right for a monk to relieve the suffering of sentient beings?”

“So?”

“Why do you make my heart so confused?”

“Huh.”

The Reclining Buddha let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you trying to preach to me now?”

No matter what he said, Un Hyun waited on his knees.

Now, the only way left was to show Un Hyun’s sincerity.

Then, suddenly, the Reclining Buddha said,

“Alright, I’ll tell you.”

Un Hyun raised his head in a flash.

With a brighter smile than ever, the Reclining Buddha said,

“When red eyes fall.”

‘Ah!’

Un Hyun’s expression crumpled.

It was as if he had been struck in the back of the head.

‘Red eyes, you say.’

There are several anecdotes about Bodhidharma [an Indian Buddhist monk traditionally credited as the founder of Zen Buddhism], who is said to have founded Shaolin Kung Fu.

One of them is the famous nine years of facing the wall in meditation.

One winter day, when Bodhidharma was facing the wall in meditation at the Shaolin Temple, a young man came to find him.

The young man waited for Bodhidharma in the snow for three days.

When Bodhidharma asked him what he was seeking, he replied that he was seeking peace of mind.

However, Bodhidharma turned away from the young man and said, ‘I will accept you as a disciple when red eyes fall.’

It was a de facto refusal.

But at that moment, the young man, without hesitation, sliced off his left arm, and the accumulated snow turned entirely crimson.

Thus, Bodhidharma accepted him as a disciple, and he became Huike.

In remembrance of Huike, even now, the monks of the Shaolin Temple perform their prayers with one hand.

‘Ah…’

Un Hyun was aware of that story.

Un Hyun looked at the Reclining Buddha, then down at his own left arm.

‘Cut off my arm?’

There was no way that would work.

The Reclining Buddha wasn’t Bodhidharma, and he wasn’t Huike either.

Besides, it wasn’t winter, so there wasn’t a chance of snow.

*Slurp.*

The Reclining Buddha made a sound as he drank his tea.

A malicious smile was plastered across the Reclining Buddha’s wrinkled mouth.

***

Un Hyun had been rejected.

Saying he would tell him when red eyes fell ultimately meant he would never teach him.

But his disappointment was only momentary.

‘Cut off my arm?’

Since he had been given such an absurd demand, Un Hyun developed a stubborn streak of his own.

More than anything, he couldn’t back down now.

‘Alright.’

Un Hyun made up his mind.

And from the next day, Un Hyun’s daily life became very busy.

He quit running errands for the Reclining Buddha and cleaning. Instead, Un Hyun went around the fields, mountains, and Dengfeng County every day.

In the evening, Un Hyun would return to his lodgings with the day’s harvest on his back.

That wasn’t all.

Un Hyun obtained thread and needles and spent all night making something.

His fingers were full of wounds from clumsy sewing, but Un Hyun didn’t stop.

Dogo Lang also silently accompanied Un Hyun, without asking a single question.

Three days passed.

*Thud.*

On the dawn of the fourth day, before daybreak, Un Hyun stood in front of the Reclining Buddha’s room.

Like a civil official attending the imperial court, Un Hyun tidied his clothes and waited solemnly in the dim light.

How long had he been standing there?

*Rattle.*

A sound came from the Reclining Buddha’s room.

But the Reclining Buddha didn’t come out.

Perhaps he was doing his morning meditation, or maybe he was looking for tea.

‘Now that I think about it, the tea must have run out already.’

Un Hyun suddenly had that thought.

He hadn’t bought any, so there wouldn’t be any tea.

How had the Reclining Buddha, who couldn’t live without tea for even a moment, been holding out all this time?

Un Hyun suddenly thought, ‘I should have brought him some tea.’

But regret, no matter how early, is always too late.

Un Hyun quietly waited for the Reclining Buddha to come out.

*Chirp chirp.*

The dawn sky gradually brightened, and the birds began to chirp.

It was then.

“Ahem.”

A sound came from inside the hut, followed by a cough.

Finally, the Reclining Buddha was coming out.

Un Hyun clenched his fist tightly.

And the door opened.

*Thud.*

*Whoosh.*

The Reclining Buddha frowned at the sudden rush of floral fragrance.

‘This is?’

The Reclining Buddha already knew that Un Hyun was waiting outside.

But he hadn’t expected the surroundings to be filled with flower petals.

*Swish.*

The Reclining Buddha looked around.

The hut was filled with various kinds of flower petals.

It was as if a flower rain—no, a flower snow—had fallen.

“Heh.”

The Reclining Buddha smiled.

Un Hyun was standing in the middle of the flower-covered yard with his head bowed.

He looked exactly like Huike seeking enlightenment.

“Ahem.”

The faint fragrance of the early morning wasn’t unpleasant, so the Reclining Buddha gave a faint smile and said to Un Hyun.

“What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“I seek your teaching.”

Un Hyun said in a respectful and solemn manner.

The upright demeanor of a scholar who had lived as an academic for over ten years was evident in Un Hyun’s posture.

“Has the red eye come?”

The Reclining Buddha replied in a deliberately blunt voice.

Although he had spread red flower petals all around, that was not enough to move the Reclining Buddha.

“It seems you’ve used your head quite a bit…”

It was the moment the Reclining Buddha spoke.

*Swish.*

Un Hyun moved his hand slightly.

And the Reclining Buddha’s words were cut short.

*Rustle.*

A piece of red blocked the Reclining Buddha’s vision and passed by.

And after that, flower petals began to scatter.

*Whoosh.*

It was snowing.

In the quiet mountains with no wind, red flower petals covered the sky and fell.

A bundle tied high on a tree had burst open, and all kinds of flower petals were pouring out.

*Whoosh.*

Amid the flower petals scattering in all directions, Un Hyun said.

“It is a sky full of red snow, Master.”

Un Hyun was smiling.

Red flower snow was falling on Un Hyun’s shoulders, head, and all around him as he spoke.

“Hehehe.”

A smile also appeared on the Reclining Buddha’s lips.

The sight of flower petals scattering in all directions was truly spectacular.

But that wasn’t all.

In fact, from the moment Un Hyun unleashed the White Tiger Training Sword [likely a metaphor for his wit or plan], the laughter he had been holding back finally leaked out onto his wrinkled lips.

*Whoosh.*

The flower snow was covering the sky and falling.

The shabby little hut was now so beautiful and splendid that it was no less enviable than the imperial palace.

“You rascal.”

The Reclining Buddha barely managed to speak.

“This is called a flower rain. Where did you get the term ‘sky full of red snow’? It should be ‘sky full of red rain’.”

However, the Reclining Buddha’s expression was already smiling brightly like a child.

Un Hyun also smiled softly and said.

“Well, it varies from time to time.”

“That’s right.”

The Reclining Buddha nodded.

“It varies from time to time.”

The Reclining Buddha reached out his hand.

A red flower petal gently landed on his wrinkled little hand.

“After all, snow and rain are all in the mind.”

The Reclining Buddha slowly raised his head.

The red flower petals that had been pouring down from all directions were gradually fading, but their fragrance was thickly enveloping the hut in the morning sunlight.

“…It’s all in the mind.”

The Reclining Buddha murmured quietly.

Un Hyun could see tears welling up in the corners of his wrinkled eyes as he looked up at the sky.

But Un Hyun said nothing.

That morning, flower snow fell on the Reclining Buddha’s hut.