Read Novel Full Chapter 1170: Was I Really Wrong? (5)
Chapter 1170: Was I Really Wrong? (5)
After the meeting with the abbot ended, those remaining in the room kept an ambiguous silence before gradually dispersing in small groups. They silently agreed that now was a time to organize their own thoughts rather than discuss countermeasures together.
Thus, the only ones left in the room were Hyun Jong, the sect leader of Mount Hua, and the elders.
“Sect leader.”
When Hyun Sang cautiously spoke, Hyun Jong, who had been silently brooding with a troubled face, looked up and gazed at him.
“...What do you think about what the abbot said?”
Hyun Jong silently stared at the burning lamp before speaking in a heavy voice.
“Hyun Sang.”
“Yes, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ sect leader.”
“...Doesn’t it seem like the wick on the lamp is almost burnt out?”
Hyun Sang glanced at the lamp and nodded.
“I will replace it tomorrow.”
“A burnt-out wick can be replaced easily. But what if something irreplaceable is wearing down? What then?”
Hyun Sang fell silent, knowing that Hyun Jong was not simply talking about the wick.
Hyun Jong muttered bitterly.
“It is a truth we knew but chose to ignore. That is why the abbot’s criticism hurts even more.”
A sigh escaped from Hyun Sang’s lips.
Even Hyun Young, who would normally retort sharply at this point, remained silent with a stern expression.
“Everyone knew, didn’t they?”
“...”
“Mount Hua now is like a lamp burning the wick called Chung Myung. The brighter the wick burns, the greater the light it emits... but the brighter the light, the faster the wick wears down.”
“Who told him to burn like that?”
Hyun Young suddenly burst out angrily.
“We tried to stop him! We told him many times it wasn’t necessary! But what can we do when he keeps rampaging? You can only stop someone if you can get them to listen!”
Hyun Young, who usually cherishes Chung Myung more than anyone in Mount Hua, was cursing him like this for a clear reason: he was worried and concerned about Hyun Jong, who was blaming himself.
“Hyun Young.”
“From the start, that guy...”
“Was there really no way to stop him?”
Hyun Young was silent for a moment at Hyun Jong’s words, then tightly closed his mouth.
“You know it, I know it. There must have been some way to stop him.”
Hyun Jong knows that Chung Myung does not outright refuse his orders. Of course, he might resist and try to persuade, but if in the end their differences cannot be reconciled, Chung Myung will follow Hyun Jong’s command.
That is why Hyun Jong has always lived with gratitude toward Chung Myung.
‘That must have been consideration.’
No, perhaps it was conviction.
But at this moment, the consideration and conviction that he had only been thankful for until now were piercing Hyun Jong’s heart.
Because he cannot deny that it was none other than himself, Hyun Jong, who has relentlessly pushed Chung Myung and the Five Swords into the abyss.
“Sect leader.”
Hyun Sang sighed and spoke.
“Do not blame yourself. Anyone would have done the same.”
“...Yes.”
“Chung Myung is not someone we can judge by our standards. Isn’t he the one who even acknowledges the great abbot of the world as above himself?”
Hyun Jong gave a bitter smile.
Surely, if he thought that way, his mind would be at ease.
But Hyun Jong knows that Chung Myung has both an absurdly strong side and an incomprehensibly weak side coexisting.
Hyun Young spoke in a dismissive tone.
“So, what will you do? Will you accept the abbot’s proposal?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“I don’t like it much. That person may apologize with words and say he knows his mistakes, but how can we believe that? Surely, it’s a scheme to bring the Heavenly Friends Alliance under his feet.”
“Yes. That could be the case.”
Hyun Jong sighed.
“But hasn’t the abbot already answered that suspicion? If that greed is aligned with the greater cause of the world, then we have no grounds to refuse.”
“Just grounds, grounds! What’s so great about those grounds!”
Hyun Young shouted in an irritated voice.
“I’m sick of hearing about those grounds. I’m fed up! Why is it only us who have to suffer because of that so-called greater cause and grounds that others don’t even care about?”
“Hyun Young...”
“How did we create the Heavenly Friends Alliance!”
Hyun Young bit his lip tightly.
“Yes, I know! It wasn’t us who made the Heavenly Friends Alliance, but that Chung Myung guy! So if he says so, we should do it. But isn’t it wrong for us to be the first to say we should dismantle the Heavenly Friends Alliance?”
Hyun Jong let out a deep sigh.
“Hyun Young. Chung Myung is...”
“If Chung Myung isn’t that kind of guy, shouldn’t we be the first to throw everything away?”
Hyun Jong gave a bitter smile.
“Think carefully about the abbot’s words. Isn’t Chung Myung the type to overexert himself when a burden is placed on his shoulders?”
“Then just stop him from overexerting! There are so many paths in the world, is dismantling the Heavenly Friends Alliance and crawling into the Nine Great Sects the only way to stop him?”
Hyun Jong tried to say something, but Hyun Young glared at him with eyes full of anger as if she still had more to say.
“There are ways to protect what must be protected and compromise. Why must it always be so extreme?”
“It’s not just about protecting Chung Myung. Don’t you understand? The abbot said the Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Nine Great Sects must unite to save all the people of the world. Is there any mistake in that?”
“Because that’s right, should we just throw everything we’ve done so far into the trash and bow our heads?”
“...Hyun Young, we are Taoists.”
“Yes, Taoists. Where else in the world are there Taoists like us? The wudangs of the same Tao sweep up money and power, the Buddhists of Shaolin stand as the North Star of the world, but we Taoists kick away even the bowls that fall into our laps, yes! Isn’t that right?”
“...”
“What has changed by living with pride as those great Taoists? Do you know it was only a few years ago that we couldn’t even properly feed the disciples who came in?”
“Stop it.”
“Sect leader! Be honest. Have you never resented the previous generation who ruined the great sect and irresponsibly accepted disciples?”
Hyun Jong tightly closed his eyes.
How could he not? The nights spent awake with resentment could not be counted on ten fingers.
“Mount Hua now isn’t that bad.”
“Yes. Mount Hua was prosperous before. Even greater than now.”
“...”
Hyun Young bit his lip and said.
“I don’t know, sect leader. I really don’t know.”
“Hyun Young...”
“I have lived as a Taoist of Mount Hua all my life. Yet, I don’t really know what the Tao is. When I first entered Mount Hua, my resolve was firm, but now I don’t even remember why I became a Taoist.”
A sigh escaped Hyun Jong’s lips. Not because he was disappointed in Hyun Young’s words, but because he sympathized with them.
“Because of a Tao we don’t even understand, should we tell the children to give up again? Should we tell them to surrender?”
Hyun Jong shook his head.
“Hyun Young. Mount Hua... the Mount Hua we tried to build was such a place, wasn’t it? The previous generation also...”
“Yes, sect leader. The previous generation was like that too. So we should be the same. We should tell the children that they must give it up, must hand it over. That is the path for everyone and the natural order.”
“...”
“But sect leader, thanks to the great cause and principles Mount Hua tried to protect, it was completely ruined. And miraculously, it has come back this far.”
Hyun Young bit her lip.
“And... the choice you make now will also become a milestone for the children who remain in Mount Hua. They will learn that it is right.”
“I...”
“Someday, this choice might ruin Mount Hua again. If that happens, our descendants will suffer the same pain we did.”
Hyun Jong closed his eyes. These words were the most painful and bitter he had ever heard.
“No, it will be worse. At least we were lucky to meet Chung Myung and not see Mount Hua’s signboard taken down with our own eyes. But will the children of the next generation have a Chung Myung to help them? If luck doesn’t favor them like us, they will probably see all sorts of disasters.”
“Stop it, you brat!”
“What? Stop what!”
When Hyun Sang shouted, Hyun Young did not back down and shouted back.
“Don’t be mistaken, sect leader! The reason you can talk loftily about the Tao and the greater cause is not because you’ve upheld the Tao and carried on the cause for so long. It’s because you wrapped yourself in what a guy who fell from the sky earned, allowing you, who should have been chased away in rags, to pretend to be a noble Taoist.”
“You little brat!”
“Hyun Sang!”
“No, isn’t that harsh!”
As Hyun Sang raged, Hyun Young clenched his teeth and glared at him.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Hey, you brat. No matter what, there are things you shouldn’t say...”
“So you don’t want to hear harsh words from those who pursue such great causes and agreements?”
Hyun Sang shut his mouth. Hyun Young glared at Hyun Jong with slightly bloodshot eyes.
“If you want to talk about the greater cause, morality, and agreements, then achieve something with those great causes and principles. Before you sit on the luxurious bed the children earned with their blood and talk about nobility!”
Hyun Jong’s head naturally bowed.
And then Hyun Young’s quiet voice pierced his ear.
“It might be right for the current sect leader. But I wonder, would the sect leader from a few years ago, who spent sleepless nights over the situation of having to take down Mount Hua’s signboard, have made the same decision as now?”
“...”
“If not, there is only one reason. The things the children earned with their blood have made the sect leader complacent. What else could it be?”
“Will you not shut up, you brat!”
Finally unable to endure any longer, Hyun Sang shouted and stood up. A fierce aura spread from his eyes.
“I’ve heard you say everything! Since when did you become so reckless with your words? How dare you say that to the sect leader?”
“Yes. Indeed, ‘dare’ is the word.”
But Hyun Young just glared coldly at Hyun Sang and Hyun Jong.
“How could I ‘dare’ to say such things to Hyun Jong, the revered elder Hyun Jong, praised throughout the world for that agreement?”
“You, you brat, to the very end!”
Hyun Young stood up and glared at Hyun Jong, then spoke sharply.
“Whatever choice you make, we will follow in the end. But, sect leader, at least before making the decision, please consider whether throwing away what those children earned with their blood in the name of the greater cause or agreement is just your self-satisfaction of wanting to be righteous.”
After finishing those words, Hyun Young roughly opened the door and left.
Hyun Jong, watching Hyun Young’s back as the cold wind blew, closed his eyes tightly. A heavy sigh long escaped from his lips.