Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1189. This is the path we will walk from now on (4)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The blank gaze of Bop Jeong lingered on Hye Yeon for a long time.
Hye Yeon didn't bother to meet his gaze. It wasn't because of fear or discomfort. It was because he knew that facing him now would be too harsh a burden for Bop Jeong to bear.
"Huh..."
After a while, a hollow laugh came out of Bop Jeong.
"Haha... hahaha..."
"……"
"Hahahahaha."
Bop Jeong finally turned its gaze to the others. In each of their eyes, there was firm resolve. Bop Jeong shook his head and spoke with a tone of disbelief.
"Now that I see... from the start, this was a meaningless meeting. I was merely clinging to those who had no intention of staying with me."
"Bangjang."
"Acting Sect Leader."
Bop Jeong opened his mouth softly. There was no longer any hostility or anger in his voice.
"You’ve won."
Baek Cheon couldn’t discern what was contained in Bop Jeong's calm gaze.
"I have no confidence to break your logic. How could I ever win against someone who speaks the truth as it is?"
His gaze passes over Baek Cheon and turns to Hyun Jong. To Hyun Jong, who has a complicated and strange expression on his face.
"If they knew how terrifying the world truly is, how could us old folks being pushed aside possibly handle young people who boldly say things they wouldn’t dare speak of if they understood?" ("세상이 얼마나 무서운 곳인지 안다면 차마 입에도 못담을 말을 당당하게 하는 젊은이들을, 밀려나는 늙은이들이 무슨 수로 감당하겠소?")
"Bangjang, we..."
"Acting Sect Leader."
The gaze of Bop Jeong that turned back to Baek Cheon was tinged with bitterness.
"You must understand that your lofty ideals, your noble Chivalrousness, and your unwavering Righteousness could someday tighten around your neck and lead Mount Hua Sect to its destruction."
"……"
"A place where those who cry out for justice are crushed by force, those who cry out for mercy are trampled by wickedness, and those who discuss Chivalrousness are strangled by corruption." ("정의를 외치는 이들은 힘 앞에 굴복하고, 자비를 외치는 이들은 악심에 짓밟히고, 협의를 논하는 이들은 협잡에 목이 베이는 곳.")
Baek Cheon closed his eyes gently.
"Life (고(苦)) is suffering, and the world is a hell filled with hungry ghosts. Though your noble ideals may give you the strength to endure that hell, they do not possess the power to change it."
Bop Jeong let out a deep sigh. His face looked unusually weary.
"This is neither a curse nor malicious talk. It’s merely the truth. The truth."
Baek Cheon's chest felt heavy as if it was being crushed. How could he not understand? Mount Hua had already endured such things before.
Bop Jeong asked again.
"Are you truly okay with this? Despite your grand words, isn’t this the same as having Mount Hua stand at the front and sacrifice itself, bleeding for others, as it always has?"
"……"
"You once said, 'How can one who doesn’t care for those around them possibly think of all the people under heaven?' But conversely, how can someone who cherishes those close to them offer up their precious life for those they’ve never met? Can you walk that thorny path, that hellish path, with just the light of Chivalrousness to guide you? Can you truly commend those who die following your command?"
These were not words spoken out of malice.
Was there not a time when Bop Jeong dreamed of such a bright future? Was there not a time when his heart burned with passion? Who in the world wears themselves out because they wish to? Even if the body grows old, the desire to keep a passionate heart remains strong.
These were words of caution from someone who had already walked this path, a concern from one who had trodden the thorny path and returned to someone about to head down it.
But Baek Cheon simply smiled at those words.
"Did you say 'those who die following my command'?"
"That's right."
This time, Baek Cheon looked at the people around him.
"Bangjang, can you see?"
"……"
"Do they look like people who would stake their lives following a command they didn’t believe in?"
Bop Jeong turned his head. There stood the disciples of Mount Hua, staring firmly at Bop Jeong with resolute faces.
"As the leader, my role is simply to be the first to jump into the flames."
"You yourself?"
"Yes."
Baek Cheon nodded. Bop Jeong asked in a bewildered manner.
"Are you saying that the one who will become the leader of the sect will throw himself into the most dangerous place?"
"Why wouldn’t I?"
"Acting Sect Leader..."
"Bangjang. Do you think that no one can take your place as Bangjang (Head Abbot)?"
At this, Bop Jeong shut his mouth.
"Not only among other sects but even among the disciples of Shaolin, you believe there’s no one who could take your place. That’s because Bangjang is too exceptional. However..."
Baek Cheon shook his head.
"That’s not the case for me. I believe that anyone in Mount Hua could replace me. It’s just that, for now, it’s my turn to step forward. One day, someone better than me will naturally take my place."
The lips of Bop Jeong trembled slightly. Baek Cheon smiled as he looked at him.
“That is the purpose of a sect’s existence. To do what cannot be done alone, and to pass on the will discovered throughout a lifetime to the next generation. That is why a truly great sect leader is…”
Baek Cheon turned his head, glanced at Hyun Jong, and continued.
“…someone who can trust the next generation. And someone who ensures the next generation can walk an even better path.”
At those words, Chung Myung's shoulders trembled slightly.
'Cheon Mun Sahyung...'
It was as if he could see the image of Cheon Mun smiling before him. The memory of him, always speaking about everything being for the future and the next generation, was clear.
“That’s why I will step forward without hesitation. I will endure the blood that will be shed as a result. Because I firmly believe that this blood, this will, this sacrifice, will only make Mount Hua more true to itself.”
"……"
“And the actions of myself and the other disciples will prove that Mount Hua has not strayed from the right path it has walked all this time.”
"Acting Sect Leader."
Bop Jeong sighed.
“I don’t know if I am in a position to say this, but I ask your pardon and must question one more thing.”
"Please ask, Bangjang."
“I understand your intent well. I also understand why. But despite that, there is one thing I simply cannot make sense of.”
"What is that?"
Bop Jeong took in Baek Cheon, Hyun Jong, and Mount Hua's disciples in his eyes.
"Will Mount Hua really be okay with this?"
"……"
"Who knows better than Mount Hua what results that lofty will and that ceaseless Chivalrousness have brought about?"
Bop Jeong asked once again.
"This time, you may face the same results. And it’s possible that because of that lofty Chivalrousness, the world could collapse. Are you really saying Mount Hua would be fine with that?"
Baek Cheon smiled gently.
"Bangjang. I believe I should answer this question not as the Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua, but as Baek Cheon, the second-class disciple of Mount Hua."
"…As a mere second-class disciple?"
"Yes."
Baek Cheon took a deep breath and continued.
"The issue Bangjang mentioned is the one that has troubled me the longest. Is it really right to continue to act the way we did in the past and face the same consequences?"
"…Amitabha."
"I, too, once thought our predecessors were foolish and was angered by what I saw as meaningless sacrifices. It wasn’t resentment but more of a deep sorrow. However, Bangjang, after experiencing Kangho, as you said, I’ve come to a conclusion."
Baek Cheon looked at the disciples of Mount Hua. It seemed as if these words were not just a response to Bop Jeong, but were addressed to all of them.
Then he turned his head, looked straight at Bop Jeong, and spoke with a deeply serious voice.
"Do you believe our predecessors were wrong, Bangjang?"
"……"
"Let me ask again. Do you think those who upheld Chivalrousness with their lives were mistaken?"
"That’s…"
"No. They were not. Absolutely not."
Baek Cheon shook his head.
"People do good because it is good, not because it guarantees a favorable outcome. It is good in and of itself."
"……"
"The reason Taoism emphasizes compassion for all living beings, and Buddhism emphasizes mercy for all living beings, is not because compassion and mercy bring good results. It is because, even if it does not lead to good results, we are human, and it is right for us to do good because we are human." ("도가에서도 측음지심을 강요하고, 불가에서도 중생에 대한 자비를 강조하는 이유는 그 측음지심과 자비가 좋은 결과를 가져오기 때문이 아닙니다. 설사 결과가 좋지 않다 해도 사람이기 때문에, 사람이기에 선을 행하는 것이 옳기 때문입니다.")
Baek Cheon's two eyes looked firm with a straight will.
"You are a Buddhist, Bangjang, and I am a Taoist. But why should we, of all people, judge our predecessors and debate their outcomes? Even if the entire world condemns their choices as wrong, should we not be the ones to refuse such judgments?"
"……"
"If we condemn good deeds simply because they didn’t yield favorable results, then soon there will be no one left in the world who performs good deeds. Rather than doing good, people will only try to do things that will bring good results to themselves. Then, just as you said, Bangjang, the world will indeed become a living hell. So tell me, is it our predecessors who would create this hellish world, or is it us?"
The eyes of Bop Jeong who was silently looking at Baek Cheon were trembling slightly.
"The ones who should bear the consequences are not the predecessors who performed good deeds with their lives. The ones who should be punished are the future generations who failed to uphold their noble will and buried it. If the current Kangho had inherited the intentions of those ancestors and practiced Chivalrousness, things would not be the same now."
"……"
"Did Bangjang ask if I would regret facing the same results?"
Baek Cheon smiled brightly.
"The meaning left by the ancestors of Mount Hua will continue for a hundred years, a thousand years, as long as Mount Hua continues. Perhaps it will continue forever as long as the two words Mount Hua remain in the world."
"…Acting Sect Leader."
"If I have one wish, it’s simply this. I wish to follow in their footsteps and become a descendant who will not be ashamed of my predecessors. So that one day, like them, I too can uphold their will and pass it on to the next generation."
"……"
"Bangjang said that the world might collapse because of my choices. We have already defeated Magyo. We’ve already stopped countless uprisings of Evil Sects. Yet again, we stand before the same situation. Why is that?"
There was determination in Baek Cheon's eyes.
"It is because the foolish people of the future, who failed to properly inherit the will of our predecessors, continue to repeat their mistakes. If we compromise and compromise again, and repeatedly retreat in the name of reality, we will inevitably face another Magyo. We will face another Evil Sects. And eventually, we will lose to them."
"…Acting Sect Leader."
"My conclusion is one."
Baek Cheon straightened his shoulders. The will of Mount Hua that he had inherited was with him.
"In order not to repeat this profound foolishness any longer, I will learn and practice what I have been taught. That is my will as Mount Hua’s second-class disciple, my will as Mount Hua’s Acting Sect Leader, and furthermore…"
Baek Cheon spoke the final words that would conclude the entire conversation.
"It is the will of Mount Hua."
While everyone was looking at Baek Cheon with excited faces, there was only one person who hung his head.
Chung Myung. His shoulders trembled faintly.
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