Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1166

A pale hand, peeking from a white silk robe, gently took hold of a red wine cup. The night air was cool by the river, and the sound of water flowed softly.

Jang Il-so leaned his head back, blinking slowly. He gazed at the moon high above, its light bathing the world in silver. For a long moment, he was silent, just looking at the moon. Then, his eyes drifted down to the wine cup in his hand.

The cup was filled to the brim. The moon reflected in the wine shimmered, like scattered diamonds.

“As I sing, the moon wanders… ….”

His voice, a soft whisper, flowed slowly.

“As I dance, shadows scatter.”

Jang Il-so lifted the cup and slowly tilted it to his lips.

“Awake, we enjoy together; drunk, we leave no trace… ….”

The empty wine cup held neither wine nor moon. Yet, Jang Il-so stared silently at the empty cup.

“Li Bai, I presume,” Ho Gamyeong said softly as he approached.

“I didn’t know you favored the Immortal Poet, Lord of the League.”

“…Li Bai,” Jang Il-so laughed, as if reciting poetry.

“I don’t favor him. No… I rather dislike him.”

“Li Bai, you say?” Jang Il-so’s gaze shifted to the river, where the moon shimmered on the water.

“Li Bai… they say he drowned trying to scoop up the moon reflected in the river.”

“⋯⋯.”

“Foolishly chasing something that isn’t real.”

Jang Il-so threw the wine cup into the river. The ripples blurred the moon’s reflection.

But the moon, after shaking, soon regained its serene form.

“That is merely an illusion. You can never truly hold it. But even so… ….”

A faint smile touched Jang Il-so’s lips.

“It doesn’t disappear, so one can’t help but look, as if bewitched.”

“Isn’t there a real moon in the sky?”

“You can’t reach it, can you?” Jang Il-so tilted his head back.

“The moon in the sky is beyond reach, no matter how desperately you stretch your hand. But the moon on the river seems like you could grasp it, if you just reach out… ….”

“⋯⋯.”

“So, Li Bai must have drowned. He must have wanted that moon at any cost.”

Jang Il-so, who had been staring at the moon on the water with half-closed eyes, turned to Ho Gamyeong.

“What do you think, Gamyeong-ah? Does it seem like I’m trying to grasp the moon reflected in the water, too?”

Ho Gamyeong smiled slightly. “Well, I don’t know about that, but I know a way to obtain the unreachable moon.”

“⋯⋯How?”

Ho Gamyeong silently placed a new cup in front of Jang Il-so and filled it with wine. The moon rose once more above the wine.

“It’s here.”

“⋯⋯.”

“It disappears when you drink it, but if you refill it, you have it again, don’t you? Don’t lament the lost moon; just pour more wine.”

Jang Il-so chuckled. “You really are clever.”

Jang Il-so reached out and slowly drank the wine Ho Gamyeong had poured.

Ho Gamyeong, who had been silently watching, spoke with a slightly heavier voice. “I failed to persuade Talmyung Dogho (奪命獨虎).”

Jang Il-so didn’t answer, only looked at the river.

“He said that even if it meant death, he would not follow you, Lord of the League.”

Seeing that Jang Il-so still didn’t respond, Ho Gamyeong spoke softly. “⋯⋯There was no other way, so I executed him.”

“I see,” Jang Il-so said slowly.

“Did he have a family?”

“I believe he has a wife and son in the Fujian area. He seems to have left home at least ten years ago… ….”

“A heartless man.”

“Aren’t those types usually like that?”

“Send enough money to his family to use for the rest of their lives.”

Ho Gamyeong looked at Jang Il-so without answering.

“Why are you doing that?”

“It might be a slightly bold question, but… he rebelled against you, Lord of the League. Isn’t he foolish for serving the wrong master and making the wrong choice? Why bother with his family… ….”

“Wrong, you say… ….” Jang Il-so turned his head back to look at the river.

“Yes… He was foolish to go under Man Geumdaebu’s command and foolish to maintain his loyalty to the end. He’s not a dog, but he’s living like one, the most foolish bastard in the world.”

“That is correct.”

“But… well, is that really wrong?”

“⋯⋯Lord of the League?”

Jang Il-so chuckled. “If the world’s affairs could be clearly divided into right and wrong, what would be difficult? We would only need to discern who is right.”

“⋯⋯.”

“But Gamyeong-ah… Doesn’t everyone have their own ‘right’?”

Ho Gamyeong slowly nodded.

“That’s why it’s difficult. No one is wrong, but there is only one path to choose.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Some will persuade, some will try to suppress with logic. Some will wait, some will plead, and some will be moved. But I will simply… ….”

Clang! Cracks appeared on the cup Jang Il-so was holding, and it shattered.

“Trample and seize, because that’s the fastest way.”

Jang Il-so picked up a wine bottle half-filled with wine and slowly tilted it, pouring the wine into the river.

“I don’t feel sorry for those I’ve trampled, but I can at least offer them a cup of wine, can’t I? Right?”

Ho Gamyeong quietly nodded. “I will follow your command.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

“Yes, then.”

As Ho Gamyeong bowed and retreated, Jang Il-so’s gaze returned to the moon on the river.

‘Who is right… ….’ It was futilely meaningless.

Beopjeong’s mouth closed silently.

Chung Myung’s clear gaze was coldly pressing down on him, like a sharp, frozen blade piercing his core.

In the room, lit by simple lamps at night, only that gaze seemed to shine brightly.

This wasn’t the first time he had seen that gaze. He had seen it several times.

Each time, Beopjeong had to try his best to hide his true intentions, to avoid the discomfort felt from the gaze of a young child.

Yes, discomfort… or perhaps fear. He felt fear, but it was strange because Chung Myung was so young. He didn’t understand this fear at first.

Beopjeong quietly closed his eyes.

After honestly acknowledging his inner thoughts, his mind calmed. He had anticipated this moment.

‘Hwasan Sword Saint.’ Someone he couldn’t understand. Someone who always moved in the opposite direction and achieved unimaginable feats.

His very existence was a threat to Beopjeong and to Shaolin.

That was why Beopjeong had been trying to control the Hwasan Sword Saint. But he realized why he had been afraid of Chung Myung.

‘I was afraid because he was not mine, because I could not confine him.’

If someone like Chung Myung had emerged from Shaolin, would Beopjeong have been afraid? Would he have been wary and tried to suppress him?

No, he might have welcomed Chung Myung’s existence more than anyone else, as someone who could fill what Shaolin lacked.

What does this mean?

‘If you can’t understand it, keep it by your side.’

The moment the opponent ceases to be an enemy, fear will disappear.

Therefore, Beopjeong decided to embrace Shaolin and the Hwasan Sword Saint by preparing an offer they could never refuse.

Beopjeong slowly opened his eyes.

“Venerable One.” Chung Myung faced Beopjeong without answering, his gaze unchanged.

“To be honest… I anticipated this moment even before coming here.”

“⋯⋯What do you mean?”

Beopjeong smiled gently. “I didn’t know what questions you would ask, or what reactions you would have. But I believed you would bring up something I didn’t expect.”

Beopjeong smiled. “Because that’s always been the case.”

Chung Myung’s lips twitched slightly. He sensed that Beopjeong was different.

“That’s why I set one principle before coming here.”

“What is it?”

“No matter what questions I receive,” Beopjeong said, gazing at Chung Myung, not avoiding his gaze.

“I will never utter a lie.”

Chung Myung frowned. “It’s something a Buddhist should do, but it’s absurd for a Buddhist to say. That means you’ve been lying until now.”

“Perhaps.”

“⋯⋯Shaolin must be finished, for the Abbot to say such things so nonchalantly.”

Beopjeong shook his head. “I have never tried to speak a lie myself. But sometimes, even the truth can become a lie. Meaning, sometimes not saying everything is like telling a lie.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue. He knew what Beopjeong meant.

“You mean you won’t say obvious things like ‘I’ll try my best,’ things you don’t have to take responsibility for?”

“Amitabha.” Beopjeong chanted the Buddha’s name.

“That’s right. Being in this position, there are times when I have to utter falsehoods that are not falsehoods. I didn’t even think of them as lies, because I tried to keep my word. But… not saying everything is just another form of lying.”

Beopjeong looked at Chung Myung and thought, ‘How ridiculous.’

How did it come to this?

In his eyes, Chung Myung was a hero. No one could deny that.

If he aimed to protect the world as the Abbot of Shaolin, he should have been pleased by Chung Myung’s appearance.

But Chung Myung’s existence was nothing more than a delusion filling his heart.

“So, I will speak honestly.”

He knew the words he had to say were lies. It would make his position better.

It wasn’t difficult to say he would do his best to save Hainan, or that he wanted the Chunwoo Alliance to help.

But Beopjeong knew it was just another form of the lie he had mentioned. He had decided not to utter even a slight lie.

“You asked whether the words ‘I will do my best to save even one more person’ are true.”

“⋯⋯I did.”

Beopjeong nodded. “Yes, then I will speak honestly.”