This Really Shouldn’t Be Happening. (2)

Words are a vessel that holds thought.

Only the vessel is always somewhat insufficient. In other words, words cannot contain every thought in one’s head.

While listening to Hyun Young for a long time, Chung Myung had even fallen into the suspicion of, “Huh? Could I have just said it and gone? If I had only said I was going somewhere, would sahyung’s lash that used to come flying at my calves have somehow trained me?”

But after a little time passed, Chung Myung realized.

There was not an ounce of error in his judgment. It was simply that the thought could not come out as words.

“…You said it was a personal matter.”

Chung Myung ground his teeth and stared ahead.

The sect leader and elders had come out ostensibly to see him off on his long journey. But the reason Chung Myung was grinding his teeth was by no means because their hospitality was excessive.

The reason lay not in the direction he was looking but on the opposite side. A line of people with bundles of similar size to Chung Myung’s were neatly lined up behind him.

“Geez… why… are these guys coming along?”

“You’ll get torn to pieces. If you squander it in youth like this, you’ll suffer when you’re old.”

“…”

“Heh heh. Isn’t it nice? There’s saying: if you go alone you go fast, if you go together you go far.”

“…I said we need to go quickly.”

“Shandong is far; choosing a means to go far might not be a bad idea.”

Gnash.

Chung Myung ground his teeth fiercely.

Ah, right. This was it.

This is why I was trying by all means to go quietly and come back!

“Then I think just two or three going together would be enough…”

Hearing that, Hyun Jong glanced at Baek Cheon and asked.

“What do you think?”

Baek Cheon answered immediately as if there was nothing to ponder.

“Not possible.”

“Impossible.”

“If even one person is missing, we can’t handle him.”

“We must take Monk Hae Yeon with us too!”

Hearing that immediate reply, Hyun Jong shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “See?”

“So it seems.”

“…”

Seeing the scene, Hyun Young smiled broadly.

“Isn’t it nice to go together and have it bustling? Actually, if you think about it, besides you, the other disciples haven’t really had a proper rest either, so think of this as a trip and take it easy.”

“Uuuugh.”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

What could he do? He should be grateful that, having been conscripted like this, he could at least go. To hope for a comfortable trip as well would be too shameless.

“Anyway, understood.”

“Chung Myung, I don’t want to say this…”

“I’m not going to cause trouble!”

“I see… I hope it’s truly not so. If you happen to stop by the Mount Song on the way, give my regards to the Abbott.”

“I’d rather spit than do that.”

Gnash—grinding his teeth, Chung Myung bowed his head and made a short, formal sound.

“Then I’ll be off.”

“Yes. Bring back a gift when you return.”

“They say dried fish from Shandong Province is very famous. You don’t need to bring much.”

“…Yes.”

I’d rather die than suffer through it.

“Let’s go.”

Mount Hua’s disciples bowed to the sect leader and turned to depart.

Unable to contain himself and watching them bicker as they left, Hyun Young quietly spoke.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?”

“Well…”

Hyun Jong’s gaze grew heavy.

“There is certainly something different from before.”

When you’ve lived long, there are things you feel without needing to hear. That’s why he sent other children along…

“A personal matter.”

Hyun Jong knows.

That sometimes matters that are exceedingly personal can become more difficult and sinister than overtly public affairs.

“Hopefully nothing bad will happen…”

His gaze lingered for a long time on the backs of the disciples as they moved away.

---

“By the way, why are we even going?”

At Jo Gul’s remark, Baek Cheon scowled.

“You followed him without even knowing that?”

“Well, the sect leader told us to go… So, do you know where sasuk?”

“I don’t.”

“…As long as sasuk doesn’t it is good enough.”

“Listen. Think carefully. Even if it’s not sasuk, you’ll lose.”

“Does sasuk have eyes on the back of their head? One blow to the back at night and that’s it!”

“What a commendable mindset befitting a disciple of a prestigious Justice faction. Before you sleep tonight, write the Tao Te Ching twice.”

“Just kill me… rather that.”

“Why would there be a reason to kill someone who says dying would be easier? Really?”

“…What a cruel person.”

Whether Jo Gul shed tears or not, the fundamental question remained unresolved.

“But seriously, why are we going, sahyung?”

At Soso’s question, everyone’s gaze turned to Chung Myung. He was the only one here who could answer this question.

But today Chung Myung was somewhat odd. Usually he’d respond with anger, scolding, irritation, or an unpleasant chuckle. Today he responded completely differently.

“sasuk.”

“Huh?”

“What is a family lineage like?”

Baek Cheon smiled faintly.

“You’re trying to pick a fight now, right?”

“This is Chung Myung’s fault.”

“Asking a runaway youth what a home is like is honestly crossing the line.”

“You haven’t even returned. You’re still running away.”

“Then what should we call him? A runaway young man?”

“They’re someone who left the household to become a monk! They left! You damn kids!”

Baek Cheon suddenly shouted, and Yoon Jong clicked his tongue and reproached Chung Myung.

“How could you ask sasuk that? You know the circumstances clearly.”

“But I can’t ask sahyung that. Sahyung is an orphan; he wouldn’t know.”

“…Huh?”

Hearing that, Jo Gul began to ponder seriously.

“Which is more rude to ask: the degenerate who fought with his family and left to join an enemy sect… or the person who was an orphan from birth?”

“…First of all, I can tell you’re the biggest bastard here.”

“Agreed.”

Jo Gul, who had left wounds in both Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong’s hearts, went “aha” and looked at Tang Soso.

“We might as well ask Soso…”

“The Tang Family is so peculiar it’s not a useful reference.”

“Huh. Is that so?”

Tang Soso tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“Why are you worrying about this at all? The person among us who grew up most ordinarily is Jo Gul sahyung. So just ask him. His family relations aren’t bad, and his household is respectable enough to use the word ‘lineage.’”

“That’s true, though.”

“Yes. It’s certainly not wrong.”

“Right. Though still…”

“…What are those looks for?”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong simultaneously gave Jo Gul looks that said, ‘What good is a decent family if the person is messed up.’

As Jo Gul tried to retort, Chung Myung shrugged and spoke.

“It’s just… I suddenly wondered what it feels like to have a family lineage.”

Chung Myung’s gaze grew a little somber.

He was curious. What was Chung Mun’s home like in the past?

Suddenly, Chung Myung realized he didn’t know much about Chung Mun.

‘Well, sahyung’s home was Mount Hua, after all.’

Putting that aside, the place called a family felt distant to Chung Myung. He had never experienced it even once.

A family lineage…

So it wasn’t particularly strange that his thoughts continued in that direction.

‘Perhaps.’

Chung Myung looked up at the distant sky.

Even for me…

“Hey!”

“…”

“So I asked, why exactly are we going there?”

Chung Myung briefly considered whether he should first punch Jo Gul’s jaw and then continue thinking.

But he soon set the thought aside. He now knew that most things in the world can be solved with violence. Yet the word “most” implies that, rarely, there are exceptions.

And Jo Gul belonged to that exceedingly rare category of exception.

“You’ll know when we get there. To be honest, I’m also worried about what we should do once we arrive.”

“…You really have no plan.”

“Why? Isn’t that still fortunate?”

“Eh? Why, sahyung?”

Yoon Jong shrugged his shoulders.

“If we were going for something absolutely necessary, it could become problematic, but if we’re traveling without a special purpose, nothing major should happen. It will be, literally, a personal journey.”

“Oh.”

Jo Gul nodded as if that made sense.

“I’m kind of looking forward to it.”

Until now, most journeys they took together had clear goals and destinations. They had to move quickly and there were things that absolutely had to be done.

In other words, this was the first time they were moving with a certain leisure like this.

“Feels like we’re heading into Kangho.”

“Couldn’t we just call it a trip?”

“Nah, that’s going too far.”

“Still, it’s similar.”

Among Mount Hua’s disciples, a warm atmosphere passed that didn’t quite suit them.

But they did not know.

That it is not the parties themselves who define what is personal.

But at least for now, Mount Hua’s disciples had no means of knowing that fact.

---

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

A carving knife held in wrinkled hands slowly scraped away at the red sandalwood.

Never hurried and calmly. No, rather than calm, the movement better fit the word deliberate.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

The old monk wholly absorbed in carving was in itself profoundly reverent. Faint light coming through the closed door cast a long shadow beside the old man.

Scrape.

How much time had passed?

The red sandalwood, slowly taking shape, finally formed a clear figure: a Buddha gazing down upon the world with great compassion. The body was miserably emaciated as if symbolizing asceticism, but the expression carved into that face was supremely merciful.

A Buddha statue as if embodying the Buddha-mind itself.

That profound statue was on the verge of completion after a long time. Perhaps because of that, even the steady hands carving it were slowing bit by bit.

Carefully, exceedingly carefully.

At the moment the carving knife was etching the final Buddha’s eyes, as if to allow not a hint of disorder.

“Foolish oneeeee!”

Crunch.

“…”

The wrinkled hand trembled.

“Ugh…”

Beop Jeong clutched the back of his head as he looked at the statue in his hand.

In a fit of madness, a carving knife had been driven into the statue’s face. What sort of descent into the eighteenth hell was this?

“Foolish oneeeee!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to be reckless! You…”

Beop Jeong barely swallowed the word ‘damn’ that threatened to slip from his mouth.

The ruined statue—no, the sandalwood had become a wretched monstrosity unfit even for that name—was tucked into his sleeve, and Beop Jeong nervously gulped down some cold tea.

Lately, things had not been going well and his mind kept wandering, so he had taken up an old hobby after a long time for mental peace. Even that…

But Beop Gye, who had rushed into the room, seemed to have no intention of considering Beop Jeong’s predicament.

“Abbott, an emergency has occurred.”

“…Are emergencies not common these days? How can someone practicing cultivation be so reckless?”

“It’s not that, Abbott.”

“…I see. What is it?”

“Mount Hua.”

“Huh?”

“Mount Hua’s disciples, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, have left the gate. Their destination seems to be this Henan.”

“What did you say?”

Beop Jeong sprang up from his seat.

Clang!

At the same time, something tucked into Beop Jeong’s sleeve fell to the floor.

“…”

“…”

Beop Jeong and Beop Gye’s gazes both fell upon the object on the floor: the statue into whose face the carving knife had been driven.

After staring silently at that ghastly wreck for some time, Beop Gye straightened his posture and reported back.

“I failed to gauge the Abbott’s troubled disposition. I will come again after your mind has calmed.”

“That’s not it! It’s a misunderstanding! No matter how distracted I am, would I drive a knife into a Buddha statue?!”

“Then later.”

“No, that’s not true! Can’t you stop! It’s not me, is it! Beop Gye! Beop Gye!”

A loud voice kept erupting into the quiet monastery grounds.