Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1781

“Answer me,” Chung Myung said, his voice tight. “You know, don’t you?”

He *had* to know. It wasn’t just being unfair or trying to force him. Chung Myung’s face showed something closer to despair, almost terror. His hands were shaking slightly.

The Heavenly Demon was alive again. Even though Chung Myung himself had killed him. He could still feel the memory of cutting the Demon’s throat, sharp and real at his fingertips.

Death should be the end for everyone. But the Heavenly Demon had broken even that rule and come back to the world.

This truth squeezed Chung Myung’s heart, like a fist crushing it. It wasn’t just fear of fighting the Heavenly Demon again. It was the fear that even if he won again, the monster might just come back again and again.

If it happened once, it can happen again.

And if the Heavenly Demon, who he had barely defeated before, could just come back as if it was normal, what would happen to the world?

How could a world without Chung Myung protect itself from the Heavenly Demon?

Everything could fall apart. Everything Chung Myung had fought to protect, to build, using his own blood and sweat. All the dangers he had barely held back might crash down all at once.

He couldn’t let that happen. He had to stop it. This time, he had to make sure the Heavenly Demon could never come back, that he was gone forever.

He didn’t know how. But maybe…

Chung Myung stared hard at the young man in front of him. The Dalai Lama still had his eyes closed, his face calm and unreadable. He seemed to be made of stone.

But the Dalai Lama was not normal.

People at the Potala Palace said he had lived many lives. He would know much more than normal people.

So, he had to know. He had to know how to stop that cursed monster.

As if he felt Chung Myung’s stare, the Dalai Lama slowly opened his eyes.

“Esteemed Benefactor….”

A quick feeling crossed the Dalai Lama’s eyes. Chung Myung knew that feeling very well.

Sadness.

He saw it, but he didn’t understand it. Why was the Dalai Lama looking at him with sadness?

Then, the Dalai Lama slowly shook his head.

“Esteemed Benefactor, that is not my role.”

His answer was very sincere. So, his refusal was even clearer.

Chung Myung laughed a little, before he could stop himself. Maybe he had already guessed. He knew the words the Dalai Lama would say, and the answer he would get.

“Not your role?”

“Esteemed Benefactor….”

“Not ‘I know’ or ‘I don’t know’… but it’s not something for you to be involved in.”

“……”

“Is that your answer?”

Chung Myung’s voice was heavy, but not angry or cold.

Even so, Banseon Lama, who was next to him, flinched and looked at Chung Myung. He felt confused. Why had he looked at Chung Myung? It was because of the deep weight in his voice.

‘Me…?’

It was impossible.

Banseon Lama was always with the Dalai Lama. In the whole world, what could be more important than the Dalai Lama’s words?

Imagine someone who knows the ocean. A lake, even a big one, would not surprise them. In the same way, Banseon Lama should not have been surprised by Chung Myung’s voice. The Dalai Lama’s words are usually the most powerful.

But just now, Banseon Lama felt like he was being crushed. What did this mean?

Chung Myung didn’t let Banseon Lama think for long.

“I see. Yes… of course, you would.”

At Chung Myung’s words, the Dalai Lama’s eyelashes moved slightly. Chung Myung went on.

“There’s a question I’ve had for a long time.”

A question he couldn’t answer even when he was in the Taoist sect, even after living as a Taoist for two lifetimes.

Chung Myung’s eyes were sharp, like he wanted to see right through the Dalai Lama.

“Taoism and Buddhism are similar. They train to become like gods, like Buddhas. They want to be more than human, who get hurt and die.”

“Esteemed Benefactor….”

“The Taoist sect says to leave the dying world by the Immortal Path and become immortal. Buddhism says you reach enlightenment by meditating and living a simple life. If you do this, you become like gods or Buddhas. You can leave this dirty, dying world and find something new.”

Chung Myung’s lips twisted in a cruel smile.

“But what does it all mean?”

“……”

“When so many people are killed.”

His heart hurt.

“When futures that should have happened are destroyed.”

It hurt badly.

“When people are forced to die for the sake of ‘good’.”

The scene from that day flashed in his mind again.

“Where are these Buddhas and gods then?”

“……”

“You just watch. Like people watching ants drown in water, interested and sneering.”

“Esteemed Benefactor….”

“You said before that enlightenment is something you do alone, and that I and others are different. That being upset and trying to escape suffering is just for people who are not enlightened.”

The Dalai Lama’s face became serious.

“Then, I ask you.”

“Esteemed Benefactor.”

“What is the meaning of your enlightenment?”

“Esteemed Benefactor!”

It was Banseon Lama, not the Dalai Lama, who shouted. He couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted. But Chung Myung didn’t even look at him.

“If only you understand great ideas and see a great world, if only you are great! What is the meaning of your amazing enlightenment!”

“Esteemed Benefactor, the Buddha’s great ideas are….”

“Shut up. I’m not talking to you.”

Chung Myung cut off Banseon Lama and showed his teeth in anger.

“Answer *me*.”

“……”

“Stop talking in confusing riddles and answer me. How are you different? What’s the difference between people who see others as insects and step on them, and people who just watch it happen? If ignoring the pain of those who are not enlightened is your great teaching, then why should we call you great?”

He didn’t need gods like that. He didn’t need Buddhas like that.

No, he would hate them, argue with them, and make fun of them with all his strength. It was sad when people who cannot help do nothing. But it was cowardly when powerful people choose to do nothing.

Maybe Chung Myung’s stare was too strong. Or maybe the Dalai Lama also had something to say. After a long silence, the Dalai Lama spoke.

“It is not… different.”

A small sigh escaped the Dalai Lama. It was a strange sound coming from someone known as a “living Buddha,” a very holy and respected leader. But then, the sad feeling on his face disappeared quickly, as if he wanted to show he was more than just a normal person.

“Even when we see the same thing, we understand it differently. If you feel that way, that’s okay. Maybe I am not so different from ‘him’ either.”

Chung Myung felt his energy drain away.

It had been like this before. People feared the Heavenly Demon and were terrified. But they didn’t hate him. Chung Myung was the only one who truly hated the Heavenly Demon deep down.

Chung Myung felt that others were strange, and they thought he was strange too. He finally understood why everyone didn’t hate the Heavenly Demon.

It was because you can’t resent a mountain or hate the sea.

They are too big, too uncaring, and too powerful for humans to control. No matter how much you shout and struggle, nothing changes. Chung Myung now understood the despair of a small human facing something so immense.

The Dalai Lama looked straight at Chung Myung.

“However, please believe me, I am not trying to avoid your question. I mean it sincerely. This is not my role.”

Chung Myung’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

He didn’t ask whose role it was because he already knew the answer.

Even if the Dalai Lama had other plans, Chung Myung wasn’t going to give that role to anyone else.

“Then…”

Chung Myung spat out the words with anger.

“What the hell did you come here for?”

“I told you, I came to talk about your regrets.”

“Regrets?”

Chung Myung laughed in a mocking way.

“Why? Because I regret something, you’re going to be nice to me and comfort me?”

“No.”

The Dalai Lama slowly shook his head. Chung Myung gritted his teeth, not wanting to hear any more.

“Get lost.”

“……”

“Even if I am drowning in regret, I will never talk about it with you.”

The Dalai Lama’s eyelids moved slightly.

“I am human. Just a human that you look down on.”

“……Benefactor.”

“And as a human, I don’t want the little bits that a great person throws out like a favor. So go back. I won’t accept your help.”

A small sadness appeared in the Dalai Lama’s eyes again.

Chung Myung couldn’t speak for a moment because a memory came back to him.

Those eyes were the same as when he faced the Dalai Lama in the past.

The words that the Dalai Lama had said, sounding almost crazy, flashed in his mind.

Samayasamghata.

Why did those words, which he didn’t understand and never got an explanation for, come to his mind now?

“There is something you don’t understand, Benefactor.”

“Misunderstanding? Oh, you want me to thank you for your great kindness to people?”

Chung Myung sneered, but the Dalai Lama calmly shook his head.

“The regret I am talking about is not the regret you feel now.”

“……What?”

“It is the regret you will feel in the future.”

Chung Myung closed his mouth. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“I’ve had enough of regret. Even if there is something new to regret now…”

“The world is full of suffering. And the deepest suffering is filled with regret. Sometimes, regret causes more pain in this world than hell itself.”

Chung Myung glared at the Dalai Lama.

“So?”

“If things continue like this… you will experience hell while you are still alive.”

The Dalai Lama seemed very serious. Chung Myung just chuckled.

This is why it’s impossible to talk to powerful people.

Experience hell while alive? He had already done that many times. Maybe he was in hell right now.

“If you’ve said everything, leave.”

“Benefactor.”

The Dalai Lama spoke firmly again. His voice sounded desperate.

“You must listen to my words. Many things are connected to you. The regret you will feel in the future is not like any regret you have felt before. It will be a pain that breaks your soul and wanders in darkness forever… a pain you cannot bear.”

“……”

“I came all this way to stop that from happening.”

Chung Myung’s eyes were dark and still.

It was a sound not worth listening to or dealing with. But…

“You can stop it?”

“Yes, if you decide to.”

The two stared at each other in silence for a while. Finally, Chung Myung spoke.

“Tell me.”

“……”

“I’ll listen.”

The Dalai Lama sighed before speaking.

He had come all this way to say these words.

Even so, he hesitated, knowing that Chung Myung wouldn’t accept it and that these words might cause him even more pain.

But he had to speak.

If there was even a small chance, he couldn’t give up. Saving this person would save the world.

“Think of the person you hate the most… the person you hate most in the world.”

As soon as the Dalai Lama finished speaking, the face of one person flashed through Chung Myung’s mind.

Chung Myung was embarrassed to remember that person.

Because it wasn’t the Heavenly Demon.

Was it because of the conversation with the Dalai Lama? Or, like others, was Chung Myung unable to completely hate the Heavenly Demon? Or…

No, it didn’t matter now.

“So, what about that person?”

“That person…”

The Dalai Lama’s lips trembled slightly, showing his worry.

The words he wanted to say came out with difficulty.

“The one you are thinking of now… must not be killed.”

In an instant, Chung Myung’s eyes became colder than the glaciers of the North Sea.