Chapter 153
Chapter 153. The Black Flame Dragon amid Chaos (3)
Hong Sa-ryeon left the banquet hall and let out a long sigh.
Her jaw was aching from how much she had laughed inside.
As Sa-ryeon reflected on how long it had been since she laughed like this, she quickly realized that it was a truly meaningless thing to do.
Ever since she had shouldered the great burden known as the Taeul Sect, Sa-ryeon had always felt as if she were walking atop the edge of a sharpened blade.
‘It was never something someone without the vessel for it could shoulder in the first place.’
Even so, she had no choice but to shoulder it because she knew very well that the moment she laid that burden down, everyone would fall into suffering.
“Heh…….”
Suddenly, she thought of her Eldest Senior Brother, who had arrived late to the banquet and beaten Geum-pyo wildly.
When she stopped him and asked, “Why are you doing this?” he had spouted some incomprehensible nonsense about how “this is all to establish the traditions of the Taeul Sect.”
Good grief. Since when had the Taeul Sect ever had traditions?
Even as she chuckled to herself like that, she soon felt sorry toward her Eldest Senior Brother.
Because she knew.
The reason her own shoulders felt light, the reason her own laughter was hearty, was because her Eldest Senior Brother had shouldered her burden for her.
“……I really am pathetic.”
She could not even think of helping the person who had shouldered her burden in her place, and was merely feeling relieved.
Even in her own eyes, she was truly pathetic.
“What are you doing out here alone?”
At the familiar voice, she turned her head and saw a man in a martial arts uniform of black cloth embroidered with silver approaching.
Without answering, Sa-ryeon turned her head again.
“Is something weighing on your mind?”
“…….”
It was always like this.
Even while shouldering the heaviest burden himself, even while doing the most painful work himself, he looked at the people around him and asked.
“If something is troubling you, tell me.”
“…….”
When the one bleeding the most was none other than him…….
“There isn't anything. Nothing like that…….”
“You little.”
His rough hand rose above her head.
He roughly ruffled the hair she had worked hard to groom, ruining its shape.
She had told him so many times that she hated having her hair touched.
But the calluses she felt against her head kept her from complaining.
As if she were being brushed with a branch, as if she were being rubbed with a rough stone, that coarse, hard feeling was so good, so comforting, that she neither slapped his hand away nor avoided his touch.
“Junior Sister Ryeon, you’re always so busy worrying about the other children that you tend to fail to take care of yourself.”
Who in the world did he think he was to say that?
“I will try hard to look after you, but as you know, this Eldest Senior Brother of yours is not very reliable. So if you need anything, please tell me first, always.”
“…….”
Then who takes care of you, Eldest Senior Brother?
It was something she was terribly curious about, but she could not say it out loud.
Because she could too easily guess what answer he would give.
“I am always sorry that this senior brother of yours is not dependable enough.”
And because that answer would tear Sa-ryeon’s heart apart.
“Sniff…… sniff…….”
And why was it that she always shed tears in situations like this?
After growing old enough to know better, she had never once shed tears even in front of her father, yet how many times had she cried in front of her Eldest Senior Brother now?
“H-huh? A-are you crying? Ah, ah! I am sorry. You told me not to touch your hair. I am sorry. I forgot.”
And why was it that her foolish senior brother never understood the reason she was crying every single time?
No matter how much time passed, she simply could not understand it.
“Now, now. Look. It is back to your original hairstyle. This is all right now, is it not?”
As he said that, he ruffled her hair again.
The more he tried to fix it, the messier her hair became, and the more that happened, the emotions that had welled up in Sa-ryeon gradually found calm.
“……Stop it.”
“Wait just a little. It is almost…….”
“I said stop!”
“……Ah, I am sorry.”
Her senior brother, who had bared his teeth fearlessly even before absolute masters, tensed up at her shout and took a step back.
“Phew…….”
“You are not angry, are you?”
“I am not angry.”
“Your voice sounds angry, though?”
“Why, you!”
When she thrust out her fist, he raised his hands and feet as if frightened and protected his face.
At that ridiculous sight, Sa-ryeon burst into laughter again before she realized it.
“Pfft, good grief, honestly.”
And once again, she laughed her heart out like a child, forgetting all things like weight.
“Do not worry too much. Everything will go well.”
“…….”
What exactly would go well?
Sa-ryeon did not know precisely what Jin So-un was looking toward.
“What is the future you desire, Senior Brother?”
She needed to know at least what future he was looking toward so she could match her steps to his.
“The future I desire…….”
Jin So-un looked out at Dongting Lake, over which darkness had fallen thickly, without answering.
“To my eyes, dark Dongting Lake looks just like the world.”
“…….”
“And I hope one of those brightly shining lights is the Taeul Sect.”
Jin So-un spoke with eyes that seemed to be tracing through years long past.
“That is the only thing I desire.”
Jin So-un’s words were hard to grasp, as if she understood them and yet did not.
But when Sa-ryeon saw his eyes sink deeply, she could not ask any more.
She merely thought that whatever he desired, she had to do her utmost so he could achieve it.
Due to the Demonic Cult impersonation incident that had shaken Yueyang, the sects and businesses connected to Diancang had all fallen silent.
Starting with the Yuwol Sect, the sects related to the Yuwol Sect were being investigated by Diancang all at once, and those who had lorded over Yueyang like tigers in the mountains all this time were bowing their heads on their own for fear that some fault might be found.
The Changseong Sect could not be an exception among them.
The Changseong Sect was in quite an awkward situation due to a visit from unwelcome guests.
“Did you not clearly say, only a few days ago, that we should join forces and protect Yueyang?!”
“The Naseong Martial Hall and Red Bamboo Gang have already fallen to the Black Path’s attacks.”
“They likely will never stop here. Not until they have all of Yueyang in their grasp.”
They were said to be the children of nearby Orthodox Path sects and their friends.
Had their status truly remained at only that level, the Changseong Sect would not have even let them inside in the first place.
‘I thought some remarkable people had come because they were Academy Students…….’
The Sect Leader of the Changseong Sect glared sharply at the Protective Hall Master.
They were indeed Academy Students attending the Murim Academy, but most of them had no connection whatsoever to the Righteous Path Association or the Twelve Peak Citadels of the Orthodox Path Association.
Considering that they might rise swiftly through the ranks of the Murim Alliance in the future, it was certainly right to listen to what they had to say.
However.
Considering that their sects were practically standing on the edge of a hundred-foot pole right now, their futures did not look that bright either.
“We are already devising countermeasures. For now, return to your sects and wait.”
“My sect is on the verge of falling before the Black Path’s blades this very moment. Please help us.”
He knew.
Because of this incident, more than half of Yueyang would likely fall into the hands of the Black Path murim.
However, with suspicion toward Diancang so severe at present, they had no justification to step forward against them.
Diancang was probably thinking of the future from the very beginning.
When the Black Path’s tyranny grew rampant and people’s denunciations became severe, they would once again take Yueyang into their grasp. For that purpose, they were pretending not to know them for now.
“Did I not say we are devising countermeasures? Do you not realize that obstructing us like this is making matters even more difficult?”
At the expulsion order from the Sect Leader of the Changseong Sect, the Academy Students, including Jang Woo-jae, who had been denouncing him with veins bulging, were driven out of the Changseong Sect as though chased away.
“Sniff, what should we do now…….”
Jang Woo-jae, the legitimate son of the Yujang Sect located in Yueyang, despaired before the future of his sect, which was like a lamp flickering in the wind.
“I am sorry. For showing you all such a sight……”
The Academy Students who had visited the Yujang Sect during this break at Jang Woo-jae’s invitation merely looked at him with pitying expressions.
It was true for Jang Woo-jae, but they, too, had entered the Academy by pulling out the very pillars of their own sects.
They had never had any way to help the Yujang Sect in the first place.
“Instead of doing this, how about asking somewhere else for help?”
“You saw it too, did you not? Every place we passed through rejected us.”
“I heard that part of the Righteous Path Association is holding a meeting in Yueyang right now.”
“The Righteous Path Association?”
“Yes. They say not only Academy Students but also adults belonging to the Alliance have come, so would it not be best to ask them for help?”
“Where is that place?!”
With the desperation of a man grabbing even a rotten rope, Jang Woo-jae sprang up from the ground.
“What were you thinking about?”
At the voice from behind him, Il-gak suddenly came to his senses.
“…….”
A large ship shining the brightest in the middle of Dongting Lake.
Il-gak, who had been looking at the man and woman standing by the railing of that ship, turned his gaze away.
“You have come, Monk.”
Without responding to Il-gak’s greeting, Hye-seong went to the spot where he had been standing and looked at the large ship.
Then he nodded as if he understood.
“You were caught in anguish.”
“…….”
At Hye-seong’s words, Il-gak was filled with shame and could not answer.
“That child defeated you, I hear. Was that so shocking?”
At Il-gak’s distorted face, Hye-seong shook his head.
“Your training is lacking.”
“……It is not because I was defeated.”
“Then what is it because of?”
“Because I am curious about the root of his existence.”
“Tsk. Since you learned the Sinew-Transforming Classic and transformed your face, I thought you had awakened……”
At Hye-seong’s tongue-clicking words, Il-gak, who had been sinking inward, asked in a low voice.
“Monk. Is it true that I have awakened?”
“Does the Diamond Power you manifested not support that?”
“Monk. From my studies, I have heard that Diamond Power, Taiji Power, and Three Pure Ones Power can only be manifested by those who have endured deep training and patience, meditation and contemplation, and suffering that reaches the very end of life.”
“That is so. They are not powers that just anyone can use in the first place.”
Il-gak once again looked toward the man among the two figures standing on the ship and asked,
“What he manifested was unmistakably Jade Purity Heavenly Image Power. How was that possible?”
“…….”
Il-gak had still not escaped the shock of the Jade Purity Heavenly Image Power Jin So-un had unleashed during their martial duel.
No, ever since that day, he had been sunk in deep anguish.
“He is vulgar, cowardly, dishonest, and good at lying. He does not care what means or methods he uses to achieve his goals. Then how is it that someone like that can use Jade Purity Heavenly Image Power? Is he truly an evil man?”
“……Tsk, tsk. You were confused by the phenomenon unfolding before your eyes.”
Hye-seong shook his head slowly.
“At times, a demon appears before one’s eyes in the form of a saint, and poison is always mixed into fragrant wine. Why are you being deluded by a mere phenomenon that confuses the eyes?”
“…….”
Il-gak was confused.
The things that had happened until now, the appearances Jin So-un had shown until now, were they truly those of one wearing the mask of an evil man, just as Hye-seong said?
Then, conversely, could his own conduct until now be said to have been performed in the form of a saint?
“Remove your delusions. Fifty thousand kinds of delusion nurture anguish. Never forget that this is the first step of cultivation.”
The orthodox doctrine of Buddhism.
A golden rule he had never once doubted.
Il-gak forced open lips that would not part.
“……I will keep it in mind.”
Hye-seong nodded for a moment, then said, “We received contact from the Association Head.”
“……Do you mean the Righteous Path Association Head?”
He had heard indirectly about what had happened in Yueyang.
They should have been busy cleaning up this incident, which would act as a calamity for Diancang, so why had he contacted them?
“Yes. He says we should go investigate the incident that occurred in Sichuan.”
“……Do you mean an external activity?”
“Yes.”
“……But there is not much time left before we must return to the Academy.”
In addition, he swallowed the words, “External activities by Academy Students during the semester require permission from the Academy Representative.”
Because he knew those words would soon cause Hye-seong anguish.
“That is why he is saying we should go. Before the Academy Representative can control it.”
“…….”
The intention was obvious.
“It is an act with an obvious intention.”
It was likely an action taken deliberately with Jin So-un in mind.
“It is likely an action taken deliberately with the matter in Yueyang in mind.”
To weaken Jin So-un’s power and extract something from him.
“With this opportunity, we may gain a foothold to enter Yueyang. If it is Diancang as they are now, they will likely yield Yueyang.”
“…….”
Unable to give any particular answer, Il-gak brought his hands together in prayer.
“Amitabha.”
“Yes, yes. It is truly something that could not have been achieved without the Buddha’s grace.”
Hye-seong burst into triumphant laughter.
As Il-gak looked at him, he was startled by the momentary sense that Hye-seong’s face looked like that of a demon, and he tried to quickly shake off the delusion.
‘Amitabha.’
***
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