Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1783

“Master!” Bansen Lama called out, hurrying to catch up with Daloe Lama.

Daloe Lama was walking quickly. But Bansen Lama was trained in martial arts. So, it was easy for him to catch up. However, even after catching up, Bansen Lama hesitated to speak.

Daloe Lama walked straight ahead without turning his head. He looked more lonely than ever.

Loneliness and Daloe Lama? These words didn’t seem to go together. But strangely, it also felt right.

People often think of the World Honored One as a giant statue covered in gold. But was the real World Honored One more like an old, dried-up tree?

After watching Daloe Lama’s back for a moment, Bansen Lama spoke.

“Where are you trying to go?”

“I am trying to return to where I came from.”

“Now?”

“The work that had to be done is finished. So, I must return.”

Daloe Lama’s voice was calm and peaceful as usual.

“…It is too dark. Wouldn’t it be better to wait for dawn?” Bansen Lama asked, worried as he looked at the dark world.

“Your body is tired. Shouldn’t you rest?”

“As the moon gets full, it will eventually get smaller, and as the night gets dark, dawn will come. But sometimes, you can’t just wait for things to get better.”

“……”

“Sometimes, you have to make things better yourself.”

Bansen Lama sighed. If Daloe Lama had already decided, Bansen Lama would follow, even if it seemed risky. Bansen Lama couldn’t understand Daloe Lama’s great wisdom, so he could only ask.

“Then, did you achieve what you came here to do?”

Daloe Lama, who had been walking, stopped for the first time and slowly turned his head toward the tent in the distance. A small light was still on inside.

“I have given what I needed to give.”

“……”

“And I also learned what I needed to learn.”

“…What is it?”

Daloe Lama shook his head instead of answering.

“It is not important to me.”

Bansen Lama sighed softly, looking at the tent with the small light.

“Has something changed, as you hoped?”

Daloe Lama looked up at the stars and answered.

“Nothing has changed.”

Bansen Lama was embarrassed.

“Master, then why did you come all this way? Did the Hwasan Taoist not react as you expected?”

That was surprising, but Daloe Lama’s next answer was even more surprising.

“I knew.”

“…Yes?”

“……”

“You already knew that you couldn’t change anything?”

Daloe Lama slowly nodded.

“Then why……” Bansen Lama asked, horrified. Daloe Lama closed his eyes tightly.

“Some call me a living Buddha. Others call me a demon who confuses the world.”

“……”

“But I am just a human being.”

“Master……”

“That must be why.”

A tear flowed from Daloe Lama’s closed eye.

“Because I am still a human being with feelings, I could not just watch.”

Bansen Lama didn’t understand Daloe Lama’s words, but he felt a strange feeling in his heart.

“Even if it is pointless, even if it is meaningless… to shout, to be worried, to be sad. That is what a human being should do.”

It was hard to accept. Dark clouds were gathering, and Bansen Lama knew it. He thought Daloe Lama’s trip to the Central Plains was to stop those dark clouds.

But his master came all this way just because he felt sorry for one child?

Bansen Lama, who respected Daloe Lama, couldn’t accept this.

“Master, weren’t you trying to stop the unfairness? Weren’t you trying to gather the people of the Central Plains to fight against him?”

Daloe Lama didn’t answer. Bansen Lama, frustrated, raised his voice without realizing it.

“Don’t you know? He will become even stronger. If we don’t prepare properly, this time……”

“It’s not him.”

“…Yes?” Bansen Lama asked, confused.

“Existence comes from will. But sometimes, will comes from existence.”

His words were still hard to understand. Daloe Lama didn’t explain it to Bansen Lama, maybe because he couldn’t.

Daloe Lama looked at the tent again.

Instead of looking far away, he looked at what was nearby.

“He has already chosen his own path. No one can change that path.”

“Is it wrong?”

Daloe Lama shook his head.

“It is more than right, but it is also unfortunate.”

“……”

“Because it is a difficult path, a path where he will always have scars on his soul.”

“Hardship……”

“I just hope.”

Tears flowed from Daloe Lama’s eyes.

“Someday… if he gets tired and wants to give up, I hope that the honesty in his rough words will light his way.”

Dalai Lama’s words were like whispers in the wind, hard to catch and understand. But Banseon Lama nodded slowly, as if he heard a hidden meaning in them.

Dalai Lama was a mountain of a man, unmoved by small feelings. Yet, here he sat, talking about love and loss, like any ordinary person.

Banseon Lama knew better than to take these words simply. Dalai Lama wasn’t just talking about feelings. He was saying something bigger: that the answer to the world’s troubles was hidden in the hearts of people.

“However, if that’s the case…”

Banseon Lama’s eyes flickered subtly.

“Does Master believe that this seal will be the key to saving the world?”

If he thought so, this strange course of action would be explained.

But Banseon Lama wondered, was this small thing really enough to solve such big world problems? Was this truly what Dalai Lama meant?

Dalai Lama began to move again.

Watching his calm and unwavering back, Banseon Lama realized that he wouldn’t hear anything more.

Though Dalai Lama might have done all he needed to do, there was still work left for people to do.

“Then, Master, what must we do?”

At that moment, Dalai Lama turned to look at Banseon Lama.

Banseon Lama couldn’t hide the sense of distance he suddenly felt from him. An unreachable, vast chasm.

Nevertheless, he simply waited for an answer.

“You must prepare for what is to come, and you must also believe.”

The words about preparing were immediately understood. From now on, what needed to be done was to prepare for the coming troubles.

For them, for the world, and for all sentient beings in the world.

But the latter words were not easily understood.

“The words about believing… ?”

Dalai Lama’s deep gaze sank profoundly.

“Even if the world wounds you, even if you are shaken by relationships, even if you are betrayed, you must believe that the will of man will never yield.”

“Are you speaking of the Chung Myung Seal?”

Dalai Lama was silent for a moment. His gaze seemed to be directed towards the distant sky, or perhaps beyond it.

“Yes. But perhaps also…”

His eyes were as calm and deep as a lake.

“Perhaps these words were for someone who had lost their path.”

***

Whoosh.

Hogamyeong, pushing aside the screen of beads hanging at the entrance of the tent, frowned.

The tent was meant to be temporary, but it was very luxurious inside. However, it was also a mess. Bottles of alcohol were scattered everywhere, and the tent was filled with the stench of strong liquor and the smoke from the dream incense that had been lit in several places. The bad smell was enough to cause him to cough.

Of course, it was a familiar sight to Hogamyeong, but today it was excessive.

‘This much…’

So much dream incense burned that he could barely see. Even Jang Il-so in Guizhou, who personally practiced being ‘dissolute,’ had never used dream incense so much.

Moreover, the situation was even worse now. Wasn’t this a battlefield where the enemy could attack at any moment?

Hogamyeong, biting his lip for a moment to suppress a sigh, strode further inside. With each step, something bumped against his feet.

The tent was huge. There was even a space big enough to be a bathroom.

As he approached it, he could see white steam coming out. It wasn’t dream incense. Hogamyeong, clearing his throat briefly, opened his mouth.

“Lord Commander, reporting in.”

No answer came, but Hogamyeong did his duty.

“The Hao Clan Leader, who went into the enemy camp, met the Plum Blossom… the Mount Hua Sword Master, barely managed to escape after a difficult fight, and has returned.”

Still, no answer was heard.

“He did cause some distrust, but he failed at almost everything else. So, it was mostly a failure.”

Hogamyeong stared intently ahead. There was no reaction from within. He suddenly felt the urge to kick aside the screen of beads before him.

“The strange thing is what the Hao Clan Leader reported… He said that the Mount Hua Sword Master, Chung Myung, seemed to have severe internal injuries. If that’s true, now is the perfect time to attack them. However, how much we can trust the Hao Clan Leader’s words is…”

Hogamyeong trailed off, licking his lips.

His lips were dry and his throat was parched. There was no need to explain how crucial his report was right now. Yet, Jang Il-so showed no reaction.

“Lord Commander…”

Hogamyeong, unable to bear it any longer, was about to raise his voice when—

Whoosh!

The screen of beads that hung like a door right in front of Hogamyeong was pulled aside, and pure white steam poured out like a cloud.

“Hmm…”

And from within it, Jang Il-so slowly revealed himself.

His hair, wet and flowing down, and the countless scars etched over the years were draped over his body.

“It’ll be the truth.”

“Lord Commander…”

Hogamyeong was momentarily at a loss for words.

Jang Il-so looked surprisingly calm, not sleepy or confused from the dream incense, as Hogamyeong expected.

“How much can you trust Dam Yeohae’s words…”

Thud. Thud.

Jang Il-so, wearing a long cloth around his lower body, walked past Hogamyeong and picked up a large glass placed on a low table.

“Doesn’t matter, Gamyeong-ah.”

“…Lord Commander?”

“Whether it’s true or not, whether he’s injured or not, none of that matters.”

Jang Il-so’s lips twisted. A strange smile appeared on Jang Il-so’s face as he looked closely at the glass. His face was reflected in the smooth, mirror-like glass. He was smiling more confidently than anyone else.

“The important thing isn’t him, but me, isn’t it?”

Jang Il-so waved his hand. Suddenly, the huge tent puffed out, and the bad-smelling smoke poured out.

“Lord Commander…”

“I feel incredibly good. Strangely, the fogginess that had been clouding my head has finally cleared.”

Hogamyeong trembled briefly. Just by looking at those eyes and that expression, he could tell. The words Jang Il-so had just spoken weren’t just made up to reassure him.

It was definitely different from yesterday. It was like the fog that had been around Jang Il-so was gone, and now he was very clear-headed.

“Lord Commander!”

In a moment, Hogamyeong, filled with surging emotions, strode towards Jang Il-so.

“There’s no point in dragging it out.”

Jang Il-so, emptying the glass in one gulp, threw the glass to the floor.

Clang!

The bronze glass rolled away, making a sharp sound.

“Before this feeling is broken… let’s end the war. Now, all the preparations are complete.”

Everything was clear. Even if there was nothing left at the end.

If he couldn’t win completely, he would destroy everything. That determination alone remained unwavering in Jang Il-so’s eyes.