ROTMHS Special Spin-off - Chapter 7

Chapter 7. This really shouldn’t be happening. (2)

Words are vessels that hold thought.

But those vessels are always a little lacking.

Which is to say, words can never fully contain everything one thinks.

While listening to Hyeon Yeong for a long time, even Cheong Myeong had begun to wonder, ‘Huh? Could I have just said it and gone? Was it enough to simply mention I was heading somewhere? Has the switch from my sahyung, which used to fly to my calves whenever I mentioned going somewhere, somehow tamed me?’

But after a bit of time passed, Cheong Myeong realized.

There hadn’t been the slightest error in his judgment. It was just that the thought hadn’t managed to come out as words.

“…I said it was a personal matter.”

Cheong Myeong ground his teeth as he stared ahead.

The sect leader and elders had come out to see him off on his long journey. But the reason Cheong Myeong was grinding his teeth wasn’t because of their excessive send-off.

It was because of what stood behind him.

A line of figures, each carrying bundles not much smaller than his own, were neatly lined up.

“Th-then… wh-why… are they coming along.”

“At this rate your teeth will grind away. If you keep using them like that while you’re young, you’ll suffer when you’re old.”

“......”

“Hehe. Isn’t it nice? There’s a saying—if you go alone, you go fast; if you go together, you go far.”

“....I need to go fast.”

“Shandong is far away. Choosing the way of going far isn’t a bad idea.”

Crack.

Cheong Myeong ground his teeth.

Ah, right. This.

This was exactly why he had tried to leave quietly in the first place!

“Then… wouldn’t it be enough if just a couple came with me….”

Hearing that, Hyeon Jong glanced at Baek Cheon and asked,

“What do you think?”

Baek Cheon answered immediately, as if there was nothing to consider.

“No.”

“Impossible.”

“If even one person is left out, we won’t be able to handle it.”

“Monk Hye Yeon has to come too!”

Hearing the immediate chorus of responses, Hyeon Jong shrugged as if to say ‘see?’

“That’s how it is.”

“......”

Watching this, Hyeon Yeong smiled brightly.

“Isn’t it lively when you go together? Come to think of it, the other disciples haven’t really had a chance to rest either. Take this opportunity as a trip—go at an easy pace and come back.”

“Ugh……”

Cheong Myeong let out a deep sigh.

What could he do? Considering he had been caught and still managed to go, he should count himself lucky. Wanting to go comfortably on top of that would be shameless.

“Alright, then.”

“Cheong Myeong-ah, I don’t really want to say this, but….”

“I’m not going to cause trouble!”

“Right…. I truly hope not. If you happen to pass by Mount Song, give my regards to the abbot.”

“I’d rather spit than do that.”

Grinding his teeth, Cheong Myeong lowered his head and gave a bow.

“Then I’ll be off.”

“Good. Bring back souvenirs.”

“They say dried fish from Shandong is famous. No need for much.”

“....Yes.”

Better to die than to suffer like this…

“Let’s go.”

The Mount Hua disciples greeted the sect leader and turned away.

Hyeon Yeong watched them bicker as they left, then quietly spoke.

“Will they be alright?”

“I wonder….”

Hyeon Jong’s gaze sank heavily.

“Something is definitely different from before.”

If you live long enough, there are things you can sense without hearing them. That was why he had sent the others along as well, but…

“A personal matter.”

Hyeon Jong knew.

Sometimes, matters that are entirely personal can become far more difficult—and dangerous—than the most public of affairs.

“Let nothing happen, if possible….”

His gaze lingered for a long while on the backs of the departing disciples.

✿ ✿ ✿

“By the way, what are we even going for?”

At Jo Geol’s question, Baek Cheon frowned deeply.

“You followed without even knowing that?”

“No, it’s just—the sect leader told us to go, so…. Do you know, sasuk?”

“I don’t.”

“.....Seriously, if it weren’t you, sasuk…”

“Geol-ah, think carefully. Even if it weren’t me, you’d still lose.”

“Sasuk, do you have eyes on the back of your head? One blow to the back of the head in the middle of the night would be enough!”

“What an admirable mindset befitting a disciple of an orthodox sect. Copy the Tao Te Ching twice before bed today.”

“Just kill me…. just kill me instead.”

“Why would I kill someone who says dying would be easier? Why bother?”

“....What a heartless human being.”

Whether Jo Geol cried or not, the fundamental question remained unanswered.

“But seriously, what are we going for, sahyung?”

At Tang Soso’s question, everyone’s gaze turned to Cheong Myeong. After all, he was the only one here who could resolve this.

But today, Cheong Myeong was a little strange. Normally he would’ve snapped, shouted, or let out an unpleasant chuckle. Instead, he responded in a completely different way.

“Sasuk.”

“Hm?”

“What is a family like?”

Baek Cheon smiled faintly.

“You’re picking a fight right now, aren’t you?”

“Cheong Myeong is in the wrong here.”

“Asking a runaway kid what a home is like—that’s honestly crossing the line.”

“And he hasn’t even gone back. He’s still a runaway.”

“Then what should we call him? A runaway adult?”

“It’s leaving home to become a monk! Leaving home, you damn idiots!”

Baek Cheon shouted angrily, and Yoon Jong clicked his tongue and scolded Cheong Myeong.

“How can you ask something like that to sasuk when you know his situation?”

“Then I can’t ask sahyung either. You’re an orphan—you wouldn’t know, would you?”

“....Huh?”

Hearing that, Jo Geol began to think seriously.

“Between a complete wreck who fought with his family and left home to join an enemy sect… and someone who’s been an orphan from birth— which one would be more rude to ask?”

“......At least I know you’re the biggest bastard here.”

“Agreed.”

Having simultaneously wounded both Baek Cheon and the others, Jo Geol went ah and turned to Tang Soso.

“Then maybe asking Soso—”

“The Tang Family is too unique to be a reference.”

“Ugh. Is that so?”

Tang Soso tilted her head, not quite understanding.

“Then why are you even worrying about this? Among us, the one who grew up the most normally is Jo Geol sahyung, right? So just ask him. It’s not like he’s on bad terms with his family, and his family is respectable enough to be called a proper family.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Yeah. It’s not wrong.”

“Right. It is, but…”

“…..What are those looks for?”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong simultaneously looked at Jo Geol with expressions that clearly said, ‘What’s the point of having a proper family when the person himself turned out wrong?’

As Jo Geol was about to protest, Cheong Myeong shrugged and spoke.

“Just… I was suddenly curious what it feels like to have a family.”

Cheong Myeong’s gaze sank slightly.

He was curious. What kind of place had Cheong Mun’s home been?

Come to think of it, Cheong Myeong realized he didn’t actually know that much about Cheong Mun.

‘Well… sahyung’s home was Mount Hua.’

Still, beyond that, the concept of a ‘family home’ felt distant to Cheong Myeong. He had never experienced it even once.

A family home…

So it wasn’t strange that his thoughts continued.

‘Maybe.’

Cheong Myeong looked up at the distant sky.

Maybe, for me as well…

“Hey!”

“......”

“Then what are we even going for?”

Cheong Myeong briefly considered punching Jo Geol straight in the jaw first before continuing his thoughts.

But he soon dropped the idea. He knew it now—most things in the world could be solved with violence. But the word most implied that, on rare occasions, there were exceptions.

And Jo Geol belonged to that extremely rare category.

“You’ll know when we get there. Honestly, even I’m still thinking about what I’m supposed to do.”

“......You really have no plan.”

“Why? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Pardon? Why, sahyung?”

Yoon Jong shrugged.

“If we were going because we had to do something, problems might arise. But if we’re going without a specific purpose, then nothing big should happen. It’ll literally just be a personal trip.”

“Oh.”

Jo Geol nodded as if that made sense.

“Now I’m kind of looking forward to it.”

Up until now, whenever they traveled together, it had always been with a clear goal and destination. They had to move quickly, and there was always something that had to be done.

In other words, this was the first time they were moving with this kind of relative ease.

“It feels like a journey through the Jianghu.”

“Can’t we just call it a trip?”

“Hey, that’s going too far.”

“It’s similar, though.”

A warm atmosphere—one that didn’t quite suit them—passed among the Mount Hua disciples.

But they did not know.

That what defines something as ‘personal’ is not the people involved.

At least, not yet. The disciples of Mount Hua had no way of knowing that.

✿ ✿ ✿

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

The carving knife in a wrinkled hand slowly shaved away at the red sandalwood.

Not rushing in the slightest—no, rather than leisurely, the motion was more fittingly described as deliberate.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

The old monk, fully absorbed in the carving, seemed almost sacred in his focus. A faint light filtering through the closed door cast a long shadow beside him.

Scratch.

How much time had passed?

The red sandalwood, slowly taking shape, finally formed a complete figure. A Buddha gazing down upon the world with great compassion—its body emaciated as if symbolizing ascetic suffering, yet its face bore the utmost mercy.

A statue that seemed to embody Buddha-mind itself.

That profound statue was nearing completion after a long effort. Perhaps because of that, even the once steady hands carving it had begun to slow.

Carefully—more carefully than ever.

As if allowing not the slightest error, the carving knife moved to inscribe the Buddha’s final eye—

“ABBOT!”

Crack.

“.....”

The wrinkled hand trembled.

“Ugh….”

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

The carving knife had, irreverently, lodged itself into the statue’s face. What kind of sin was this, to fall into the eighteen levels of hell?

[tl note: “십팔층지옥 (十八層地獄)” refers to the Buddhist concept of eighteen layers of hell, each with its own punishments.]

“ABBOT!”

“Did I not tell you not to act rashly! You—!”

The word ‘damn it’ that almost slipped from Beop Jeong’s mouth was barely swallowed back down.

The ruined statue—no, something too profane to even call a statue now—Beop Jeong hid the sandalwood figure in his sleeve and irritably drank the cold tea.

Nothing had been going well lately, and his mind had been unsettled. So, to calm himself, he had taken up an old hobby again.

And even this……

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

“Abbot, something has happened.”

“.....Is there ever a day when something doesn’t happen? How can one who cultivates himself be so rash?”

“It’s not that kind of matter, Abbot.”

“......Fine. What is it?”

“Mount Hua.”

“Hmm?”

“The disciples of Mount Hua—the Mount Hua Divine Dragon—have left their sect. It seems their destination is Henan.”

“What did you say?”

Beop Jeong sprang to his feet.

Thud!

At the same time, something fell from within his sleeve onto the floor.

“......”

“......”

Both Beop Jeong and Beop Gye’s gazes turned toward it.

That was—the statue with the carving knife embedded in its face.

After staring silently at the grotesque object for a while, Beop Gye straightened his posture and pressed his palms together.

“I failed to perceive that your mind was unsettled, Abbot. I will return after you have calmed yourself.”

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

“Then I will take my leave for now.”

“I said it’s not that! Stop right there! I said it wasn’t me! Beop Gye! Beop Gye!”

Within the quiet temple grounds, his loud voice rang out again and again.

✿ ✿ ✿

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