Read Novel Full Chapter 1168: Was I Really Wrong? (3)
Chapter 1168: Was I Really Wrong? (3)
“Wha...”
Jo Gul looks around in confusion.
But no one spoke up to defend Jo Gul. Because these words were not just for Jo Gul, but for all of them.
“What do you mean...”
“Don’t you think so?”
Beop Jeong shakes his head.
“Among you, who was the one who said we must go to the Southern Island?”
“...”
“Did Mount Hua’s Sword Saint want to do that on his own?”
Beop Jeong’s gaze pierces Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon lowers his head as if he had unknowingly committed a sin.
“Even if that were so, you should have stopped it. It’s obvious who would be the most at risk on the way to Southern Island.”
“...”
“I don’t know for sure, but if you all probably went to Southern Island in the end. Then naturally, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint would be at the forefront.”
No one dared to say it was anyone else.
Because they all knew the probability of that happening was high.
Hasn’t Mount Hua’s way always been like that?
“Mount Hua has done reckless things many times. The Ten Thousand People Clan’s matters aside, what about the North Sea? The Yangtze River? And what about Hangzhou?”
Each time one of these incidents was mentioned, everyone’s face twitched briefly.
“Was there any one of those that wasn’t dangerous? Was there any place where you didn’t have to risk your life?”
“...”
“And at the forefront, as expected, was Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”
Jo Gul bites his lip.
Because those words, merely stating facts, sounded to Jo Gul like a reproach that they had always placed Chung Myung at the most dangerous front lines.
“Many times risking life and returning alive. And those achievements became the glory of Mount Hua and the Heavenly Friends Alliance. Those who follow him naturally spoke of the alliance and their exploits. But...”
Beopjeong looked at everyone with a stern gaze.
“I ask you, even if Mount Hua’s Sword Saint was not at the front, could you really risk your lives to fight? Could you enforce the alliance even if it meant death?”
“...”
“No, I don’t think so. Yes, it wouldn’t be.”
Beop Jeong’s voice was firm.
“You couldn’t have. The reason you have had the courage to face powerful enemies is because Mount Hua’s Sword Saint stood before you. Until now, you only mistook that for your own courage.”
Baek Cheon bit his lip hard.
Though it burned inside like fire, the fact that he could not refute anything caused Baek Cheon great pain.
“Of course, I’m not saying that’s wrong. If someone like Mount Hua’s Sword Saint is before you, it’s only natural to want to lean on him. But...”
Beop Jeong slowly shakes his head.
“In the end, that reliance will push Mount Hua’s Sword Saint into a corner. Someday, only after driving him into a deadly situation will you regret it, realizing what you’ve done.”
Beop Jeong’s eyes left Baek Cheon and turned back to Jo Gul.
“But even Shaolin must lean on Mount Hua’s Sword Saint? Since I can do nothing, you want me to put an even heavier burden on his shoulders?”
“That is...”
“That is not Shaolin’s way, at least. And certainly not what I, as the abbot, should do.”
Jo Gul clenched his fist as if suffocating.
He could not argue.
To confess, Jo Gul had stopped seeing Beop Jeong as such a great man at some point.
His status as Shaolin’s abbot might be great, and his martial prowess respected, but as a person, Jo Gul did not think he deserved respect or caution.
Because all he had shown so far was always being one step behind Chung Myung, regretting, or going in the opposite direction and getting embarrassed.
But at this moment, Jo Gul and the others here could only feel it deeply.
Why Beop Jeong became Shaolin’s abbot. How great a person called as the abbot is.
They had even forgotten that the only one who had ever bested Beop Jeong was not Mount Hua or them, but only Chung Myung.
“Do you understand, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint?”
“...”
“Until now, you have done things no one could imagine without hesitation. That became your strength and a milestone for those who follow you. But...”
Chung Myung bites his lip briefly at Beop Jeong’s gaze.
“You must have felt it too. You couldn’t have not known. It’s like dancing a sword dance at the edge of a precarious cliff.”
“...”
“Even if you succeed ten times, the moment you fail once, you lose everything. Or perhaps, because you have achieved so much, you will lose even more painfully. What you least want to lose.”
Beop Jeong quietly asks Chung Myung.
“Isn’t it overwhelming?”
“...”
“Those who have someone to lean on can’t understand this feeling; only those who feel they alone must bear responsibility can bear this burden. It must have become heavier over time. More people lean on you, the situation grows more dangerous, and to continue, you must push yourself harder, right?”
Beop Jeong said with pity.
“Even knowing what lies at the end, you can’t stop. That’s the path you walk. It’s like walking a thorny path bare-skinned forever. At first, just small scratches, but as they increase, the drops of blood from those wounds accumulate. Someday, that blood will be so much it soaks your entire body.”
Perhaps at this moment.
Chung Myung might have met someone who understands him for the first time.
Someone who understands what he is doing and the life he leads.
“But Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, the path is not that alone, right?”
Beop Jeong sweeps his gaze over the others.
“If you join us, you won’t have to bear so much. Shaolin and the Nine Great Sects are still lacking, and I am still foolish, but we can share your burden.”
“...”
“So now, give up your stubbornness.”
Chung Myung still looks at Beop Jeong with eyes full of distrust.
“That’s unexpected.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t realize the abbot had such a smooth tongue.”
It was clearly a sarcastic remark, quite inappropriate when directed at Shaolin’s abbot.
But Beop Jeong did not get upset; he just chuckled.
“In life, even I, a monk, get praised by you sometimes.”
“Do you take that as praise?”
“Isn’t it?”
Chung Myung shakes his head.
No one is harder to deal with than someone who has completely let go of themselves. Provocations don’t work on someone who cannot be hurt or angered.
Chung Myung was painfully realizing that fact now.
“Your words flow smoothly, but how can you guarantee that all this isn’t just your greed dressed up in nice words? We’ve already been deceived enough by you. There’s no trust between us, so just telling us to believe isn’t enough.”
“Listen, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”
“Please speak.”
“Let’s say, as you say, all this began from my excessive greed.”
“I suppose so.”
“Then am I wrong in what I say?”
Chung Myung frowns, unable to fully understand Beop Jeong’s point.
“Well...”
“No, that’s not it.”
Beop Jeong said firmly.
“Your desire to uphold the alliance is also a kind of greed. Isn’t it true that people live pursuing what they desire?”
“...”
“Righteousness isn’t something grand. When one’s greed goes beyond personal desire and aims for something greater, greed becomes righteousness.”
Beop Jeong murmured like an enlightened monk.
“I only hope that the world can get through this crisis more easily. What I must do for that is clear: to reconcile the divided Justice faction and unite our strength. What could be better than that?”
There was not the slightest hesitation in those words. Not at all.
So much so that even those listening nodded unconsciously.
“And the small greed I hold, the righteousness it creates, will clear the thorn bushes on your path. Eventually, it will also lead Mount Hua’s path.”
Chung Myung stared silently at Beop Jeong.
“Just know one thing.”
“...”
“It may sound like an excuse, but everyone makes mistakes and does wrong. The important thing is to learn and move forward from those mistakes.”
Beop Jeong closes his eyes and bows his head.
“Amitabha. I understand all the mistakes I’ve made. So I bow my head and apologize. So please understand this foolish man once.”
Unconsciously, Chung Myung clenched and unclenched his hand.
Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is not to stay in those mistakes but to move forward.
He empathizes and understands. Chung Myung is the one who is wholeheartedly living by that proverb.
“Abbot.”
“Speak.”
Chung Myung sighed deeply and spoke.
“Let’s say everything the abbot has said is right.”
“...”
“But that conclusion just means allowing the Southern Island to die and turning a blind eye. Who will bear that sin?”
“Who else? Of course, it’s my burden to bear.”
“...Do you think one life of yours can bear that?”
“Maybe not. Yes, one life might not be enough. But ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) what can I do? Should I demand others’ blood because I can’t bear it alone? Or ask others to share the responsibility?”
“...”
“If not me, then who will go to hell? I will accept it all alone. If the murim world escapes this crisis and more lives are saved, wouldn’t I be able to smile even in a thousand-foot infernal fire?”
Beop Jeong smiled gently.
“I’ve said all I need to. Now only the choice remains. Will you accept my proposal or not?”
Beop Jeong shouted a short refusal and stood up.
“I don’t expect an answer here. I will return in about three days, sect leaders.”
“Are you... leaving?”
“I hope the sect leaders make the right decision. I, a monk, know where I must go. I hope you do as well. Farewell.”
Beop Jeong bowed deeply and left with Jong Ri-Hyung.
An indescribable atmosphere settled in the room after he left.
No one spoke, and no one met each other’s eyes.
And at that moment.
Swoosh.
Chung Myung stood up and silently walked out.
“...Chung Myung.”
Only a small murmur escaped Baek Cheon’s lips as he watched Chung Myung’s back, drifting aimlessly in the room.