Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1167

Chung Myung stared hard at Beopjeong.

His eyes looked the same, but everyone felt something different in his stare. It was colder now, and more serious.

“Do you even know what you are saying?” Chung Myung asked.

“Yes, I know,” Beopjeong replied calmly.

“But…”

“Listen to me until I finish,” Beopjeong said, cutting him off.

Chung Myung stopped talking, waiting.

Beopjeong ignored Chung Myung’s unfinished sentence and kept speaking.

“Also, I will not let any groups like Shaolin go to Gangnam.”

“Venerable Abbot…”

“Yes, that includes him,” Beopjeong said, looking at Chung Myung. Then, his eyes moved to Hyun Jong sitting behind.

“I also ask the Cheonwoo Alliance not to go to Gangnam, no matter what we decide here today.”

Chung Myung’s face became still and hard.

“And if we say no?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“I will stop you,” Beopjeong said simply.

“I will stop you with everything I have.”

He added something that made the air heavier.

“Even if Shaolin suffers greatly because of it.”

The room became very quiet.

It was so silent that no one seemed to breathe.

Beopjeong’s words were serious, but even more than that, his face and the way he spoke were very serious.

It was strange to see him like this.

What Beopjeong said was very strong and didn’t sound like something a Buddhist monk should say.

But even though his words were harsh, he spoke with such honesty and deep feeling that it felt almost holy.

This mix of harsh words and honest feeling made everyone watching Beopjeong feel very strange.

“I said,” Chung Myung spoke, his voice cold and sharp, breaking the strange silence.

“Do you even know what you are saying?”

Beopjeong just looked at Chung Myung, who was scolding him with a face that looked like stone. Beopjeong’s own face stayed calm.

“Yes, I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” Chung Myung said.

Chung Myung’s lips pulled back a little, showing his teeth. He was getting angry, and he could barely hold it back.

“You said you would save even just one person if you could.”

“That is right,” Beopjeong answered.

“Are the people in Hainan not people?”

Chung Myung’s voice was so cold, it felt like a knife.

When he heard that voice, Beopjeong just closed his eyes and didn’t answer.

Chung Myung seemed even angrier at this silence. His voice became louder and sharper.

“I am asking you, are the people trapped by the Demonic Sects in the far south, who are scared and worried every day, not people?”

“…”

“They are people too! They are people who chose to trust you, Abbot. They are people who have worked hard within the rules of the Nine Great Sects.”

Of course, Chung Myung’s feelings towards the Hainan Sect were not particularly good. In the first place, Chung Myung had no reason to have good feelings towards the sects belonging to the Nine Great Sects, and besides, wasn’t Hainan the sect that had snatched away the place where Mount Hua should have been? Even if he didn’t have any particularly great animosity towards the Hainan Sect, there was no reason for him to look upon them favorably. But even so, the Abbot’s attitude was enough to provoke Chung Myung’s anger.

“Do you think this makes sense?”

“Makes sense?”

Chung Myung’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

“It’s not making sense, it’s trickery! Or maybe you are just pretending to be good!”

“Amitabha,” Beopjeong chanted the Buddha’s name in a strong voice. He slowly opened his eyes.

Chung Myung looked a little surprised. Beopjeong’s eyes, even after Chung Myung’s harsh words, looked exactly the same as before.

Beopjeong looked back at Chung Myung, his eyes calm and deep.

“It might look like that. No, maybe you are right.”

“…”

“Yes. You are right. Shaolin should save them. But let me ask you something. Is that the *only* right thing to do?”

Chung Myung frowned a little, looking confused by Beopjeong’s words.

“Why are you saying this?”

“Are you asking because you don’t understand? It’s…”

“Because it’s the right and fair thing to do,” Chung Myung said firmly.

Beopjeong spoke, almost interrupting Chung Myung.

But Chung Myung didn’t get angry. He nodded slightly. Beopjeong had said exactly what Chung Myung believed.

Helping people in danger is just what you do, it’s obvious. You don’t need to call it a ‘grand agreement’.

“Then let me ask you this, Sword Saint of Mount Hua,”

Beopjeong said softly.

“Imagine there’s a way to save one hundred people. Should a person of honor, a Buddhist monk, do that?”

“Of course,” Chung Myung said quickly.

“Even if it means a thousand other people will die?”

“…”

Chung Myung stopped talking.

“Let me ask again,”

Beopjeong continued.

“You can only pick one path. One path saves a hundred people, the other path saves a thousand. Which path do you choose?”

“What kind of trick question is this…”

“Is it really a trick?”

Beopjeong shook his head slowly.

“Hainan is very close to the Demonic Alliance in the south. To help them, we will have to fight the Demonic Alliance. It’s like the Nine Great Sects starting a war with the Demonic Alliance. It will definitely become a huge war.”

“Are you scared of that?”

“Yes, I am,” Beopjeong said, nodding quickly.

“I am so scared that I am shaking. When I think about how many people will die in that war, I can’t even sleep at night.”

“…”

“Are you not afraid?”

Chung Myung couldn’t answer.

He felt the same fear.

“But the war cannot be avoided,” Chung Myung finally said.

“I know. I know. I know that better than anyone,” Beopjeong said.

“But Sword Saint of Mount Hua, even if war is unavoidable, how we fight matters. If we go into enemy land and do things without thinking, people will die who didn’t need to die.”

“…”

They were talking about a terrible battle in Hae Nam and the difficult choices made during the Plum Blossom Island incident.

“More people than we could save in Hae Nam might die. Maybe even several times more. And is this really negotiation?”

“If it isn’t done without thinking only about yourself, then it can’t be called negotiation.”

When he heard this, Abbot Beop Jeong slowly shook his head.

“Listen here, Hwasan Sword Saint.”

“I will not die.”

Beop Jeong sighed softly.

“I can’t be at the front of any fight.”

“Of course…”

“Is it right for someone who will not die, no matter what happens, to send people to their deaths for a so-called negotiation?”

Chung Myung’s eyes flickered slightly, showing he was surprised by the Abbot’s words.

“I’ve heard this before.”

“I heard that excuse during the Plum Blossom Island incident too. A path for the greater good. It couldn’t be helped. We had to endure to save more people. And? What was the result?”

“Weren’t you just scared? Abbot!”

A hollow laugh escaped Beop Jeong’s lips, a sound that held no joy.

“You ask if I was scared?”

“Yes.”

“What an absurd question. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you scared?”

Beop Jeong and Chung Myung’s eyes met. But at that moment, both of them felt it together.

The inescapable fear hidden deep within each other’s eyes.

The fear that only those who understand that people can die because of their choices can possess.

“I have thought about Plum Blossom Island countless times. Countless times, I tell you.”

“What exactly did I do wrong? What mistake did I make? Was my choice truly wrong?”

Beop Jeong turned his gaze to Namgung Dowi.

Namgung Dowi was glaring at Beop Jeong with eyes that showed almost no emotion, but Beop Jeong remained calm as he received that gaze.

“In the end, I reached a conclusion. Hwasan Sword Saint, and Young Master Namgung. Even if I could go back to that time, my choice would not change. Even then, I would merely watch Namgung’s death.”

“Abbot!”

Namgung Dowi clenched his jaw.

But Beop Jeong merely shook his head, even as he faced Namgung Dowi’s anger.

“Listen here, Hwasan Sword Saint.”

“Okay, get to the point. Where are you going with this?”

“Do you truly think I should have led the others and headed to Plum Blossom Island?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Then I ask you. If I had led Shaolin and the Common Faction to Plum Blossom Island before you arrived, what do you think the result would have been?”

“Well…”

Chung Myung closed his mouth.

They would have saved them. Shaolin was by no means weak.

But… if they had charged in without considering the consequences, the ground would have been soaked red with blood, and the air thick with the smell of death.

First of all, the existence of Shaolin, which was staying on the other side of the river, would have disappeared from Jang Ilso’s mind. He probably would have launched an all-out attack, surrounding them from all sides.

“More people than Namgung who remained there would have died. Wouldn’t they?”

“And that’s just the story when counting numbers. In terms of power, there wouldn’t even be any value in comparison. To save the young children of Namgung who remained, we would have lost countless people who would one day become swords against the Sa Pae Clan. Do you really think I should have chosen that path?”

Namgung Dowi’s face twisted upon hearing those words.

“Abbot.”

“Speak, Young Master.”

Beop Jeong nodded in a softer voice. As if it wasn’t easy for even him to say these words in front of Namgung Dowi.

“Perhaps the Abbot’s words are not wrong.”

Namgung Dowi bit his lip and continued.

“But, even so, Hwasan came. The Tang Family risked their lives.”

“Don’t you think that’s the difference between the two sects?”

Beop Jeong laughed a little.

“Listen here, Young Master Namgung.”

“Yes. Speak.”

Namgung Dowi glared at Beop Jeong as if to say, ‘Go ahead and say it.’

“That is why I thought about it. Why was the Cheonwoo Alliance able to do what I could not? Do you know what answer I found?”

“I wonder.”

Namgung Dowi was ready to reject whatever answer Beop Jeong gave. Because no matter what words came out, they would only be excuses.

But Beop Jeong’s subsequent answer left even Namgung Dowi speechless.

“Because I am foolish.”

“Yes?”

Beop Jeong simply answered calmly.

“I am more foolish than that Hwasan Sword Saint, and could not find a way to deal with them without anyone getting hurt.”

Namgung Dowi’s eyes widened even further.

“Ab, Abb…”

“And Shaolin is more foolish than Hwasan, and could not find a way to win without shedding blood. It is simply because we are lacking.”

Namgung Dowi’s body trembled.

He never imagined that he would hear such words from Beop Jeong, of all people.

Wasn’t Beop Jeong the one whose great pride was unmatched by anyone in the world?

“Because we did not acknowledge that, everything became twisted. Hwasan and the Tang Family had to become those who did something they shouldn’t have, and we became those who were unfairly criticized even after doing the right thing. So I even started to doubt myself. Because it was wrong from the start.”

“But now I have simply accepted it. That we simply did not have the ability to do so. So I ask again. Young Master, do you really think we should have headed to Plum Blossom Island, staining the Jang River with blood, with our insufficient abilities, to save Namgung?”

Namgung Dowi was unable to answer in the end.

Seeing that reaction, Beop Jeong closed his eyes and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

“There exist in this world those whom ordinary people cannot understand. No matter how hard they try to follow, they cannot, and they accomplish things that ordinary people cannot do with such ease.”

At those words, everyone glanced sideways at Chung Myung, known as the Hwasan Sword Saint. Because everyone here knows who the Abbot is referring to.

“But I say.”

Beop Jeong’s gaze was sharp and direct, like he was trying to see right through Chung Myung.

“To not distinguish between what one can do and what one cannot, and to demand that everything be tailored to oneself, is merely another form of violence.”

“I ask you, Hwasan Sword Saint.”

Beop Jeong’s voice flowed out slowly.

“Was I truly wrong?”

Chung Myung’s lips were tightly shut.

The slightly trembling corners of those lips seemed to be telling his feelings right now.