Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1594. Even Buddha has abandoned you (4)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
His trembling legs forced themselves to take another step.
Though swaying as if about to collapse at any moment, Bop Kye continued advancing without rest. His wounded body had long since reached its limits, but his spirit clung to the will that he ‘must advance’.
Step.
ven if his steps were far slower than an ordinary person’s, even if he swayed as if about to fall, Bop Kye continued to advance. With Bop Jeong on his back.
This was the last choice Bop Kye could make.
But because of that choice, the man he carried was living through hell.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Again from somewhere came the horrific scream of someone dying.
It was a familiar voice. Bop Jeong's body trembled faintly.
Another life. Another despair. And another...
“Bop... Kye....”
He wished he could simply lose consciousness.
Then he could escape this pain worse than being sliced by blades all over his body. Then he wouldn't have to hear the sounds of his disciples dying to save him.
What meaning was there in saving him now? He had already lost everything. In this world, there were plenty of lives worse than death. At least for the Bop Jeong of now, his remaining life was such.
But this heavenly punishment (천형(天刑)) of energy deviation (입마(入魔)) might tear his flesh to shreds, yet left his consciousness vivid. It was truly a living hell.
"Please..."
He desperately grabbed the shoulder of the lawmaker. Of course, his hand was weak, barely able to exert any strength.
“Please, Bop… Kye…”
Put me down and you at least survive.
He couldn’t even finish that short sentence.
Of course, Bop Kye must have understood the meaning perfectly. Yet he did not let Bop Jeong go.
“Bop....”
“...Do you remember? Sahyung.”
Bop Kye staggered, placing another step with his legs weighing a thousand pounds.
Although his body was like a burnt-out candle, and it wouldn't be strange if it went out at any moment, his voice was calm.
“A long time ago…”
“....”
“…I wanted to run away from Shaolin.”
One step. And another step.
Bop Kye's voice seemed like mere muttering.
"Being naturally dull-witted and single-minded... Shaolin didn't suit me well. I still remember. The sighs of sahyungs and the stern gazes of... masters."
“Bop....”
"Back then... the one who took my side... was you, Sahyung."
Though it seemed as if it would fade away at any moment, his voice persisted. At least it reached Bop Jeong's ears clearly.
"Sahyung's words from then, I still... still remember them. That dullness… is an unparalleled blessing for a Buddhist. Because you are dull, you can delve into Dharma without turning your head, and because you are dull, you will not be tormented by small temptations. Therefore, Kye can be said to already possess the virtues of an excellent practitioner..."
Bop Kye's voice gradually grew clearer.
Bop Jeong, who knew the meaning of those words so clearly, could only bury his face in Bop Kye’s shoulder.
“Do you… remember?”
Even if Bop Jeong had been in a condition to speak properly, he probably couldn't have answered. Because he didn't remember.
It was a ridiculous story.
Something that one person had held in their heart as an unforgettable moment in their life, the other person had regarded as merely something that passed by in an instant.
Ridiculous, but he could not laugh. It was heartbreaking.
"Back then... Sahyung was the prodigy who bore all of Shaolin's expectations. I was hap, huff, I was happy. That such Sahyung would acknowledge me. Perhaps that is why I was able to endure in Shaolin until now.”
What meaning does that have now?
After everything disappeared.
When the sins he has accumulated press down on him with the weight of Mount Tai, making it hard to even breathe, what meaning could such a thing possibly hold?
"Speaking of it now... Sahyung."
“....”
“...I disliked Sahyung.”
Bop Kye taken another step forward.
He could tell.
These weren't words meant for Bop Jeong. Perhaps Beopgye had even forgotten he carried Bop Jeong on his back. Not even knowing what he was doing, he simply stepped forward and then again.
Dully, and foolishly.
"Because Sahyung was someone who could do anything. Watching you made me feel pathetic. That’s why I obsessed over the precepts. Because that was something that even a dull person like me could understand and keep.”
“Bop... Kye....”
"To me, who could do nothing but be bound by precepts, Sahyung… seemed so dazzling. That’s why I disliked you… and sometimes, I hated you. But... seeing that the only thing left in my mind now is saving Sahyung, perhaps... I liked Sahyung more than I thought..."
A faint, muffled laugh was heard.
Bop Jeong's withered hand, gripping Bop Kye's robe, trembled violently.
He did not want to hear such words.
“Looking back....”
A faint smile bloomed on Bop Kye's pain-filled face.
"That... that is what karma is."
Kwadang.
Bop Kye, his legs giving out, was tumbling along with Bop Jeong.
But his body felt no further pain.
“Bop Kye.... Me.... At least you....”
Bop Jeong's voice was heard from behind. However, Bop Kye ignored the earnest words that came in fragments and staggeringly raised his body. Then he hoisted Bop Jeong onto his back again.
'Where should I go?'
Everywhere his gaze landed was a bottomless cliff.
No matter where he steps, he falls and tumbles. There was no way to avoid the path of suffering.
Even so, Bop Kye took another step onto that hazy path of thorns.
They must have been there.
Other karmic ties. Those who became his disciples through karmic connections spanning ten thousand lives. (또 다른 인연들이. 만생의 인연으로 그의 제자가 된 이들이.)
At the end of that truly futile death, what did they think of?
“Ami....”
The reason he couldn't complete the chant wasn't just because his strength was gone.
'Are you truly watching?'
If you do, why did You let so many go?
A single tear slid from the wrinkled corner of Bop Kye’s eye.
His steps did not stop. He didn't know where he was going. He simply moved forward because his strength wasn't exhausted. Just as he had lived until now.
"Sea of suffering (고해(苦海))..."
A muttering voice was heard.
What was he carrying on his back now?
Was it what he was trying to protect? Or was it hope? Or was it just a single, groaning sentient being? Or perhaps… was it his karma (업(嶪)인가)?
Maybe it was all of those things. His consciousness gradually blurred.
"Live..."
Paaaaat!
At that moment, dao energy flew from behind toward Bop Jeong's back. Bop Kye instinctively turned his body and shielded Bop Jeong.
Kwadedeuk!
The dao energy burrowed fiercely into Bop Kye's body at an angle. His blood-soaked body flew like a kite with its string cut and tumbled to the ground again. he torn robe that had tied them together was severed, and Bop Jeong’s body was thrown some distance away.
"...Leech-like bastards."
Step. Step.
True to his name, Jeok Ho (Red Tiger), drenched entirely in red, walked forward while dragging his dao. he sound of his gritting teeth crossed the distance and reached Bop Kye's ears.
“Thought you could run?”
The Shaolin disciples held him back so viciously. They had clung to him even after becoming corpses, so he had cut down every last one of them on his way here.
Jeok Ho's eyes, with killing intent raised to its peak, flashed viciously.
In that instant, Bop Kye’s hand pushed Bop Jeong’s back.
"Go... Sahyung."
“Bop Kye....”
“I said go!”
“....”
“Never… never forget. You are bangjang of Shaolin.”
With those words, Bop Kye rose to his feet. He didn't wait for Bop Jeong’s answer.
Bop Jeong knew as well. Bop Kye had already exhausted his strength.
But Bop Jeong had no choice but to leave him.
Bop Kye will block Jeok Ho even if his body was torn to shreds. He would use every shred of his torn flesh to obstruct the man's path.
Bop Jeong pressed his hands firmly against the ground.
He had to go. If not, everything would be in vain. Their deaths would be reduced to a mere dog’s death.
He struggled, scraping the ground. No strength would enter his legs. Even at such a moment, his body betrayed his will.
But he had to survive. He had to somehow survive.
Bop Jeong gave up on standing and crawled forward.
It was a pitiful sight, utterly unbefitting the solemn Shaolin bangjang. As he clawed the ground, his fingernails came off, and his gaunt hands trembled wretchedly as he dragged his heavy body.
For Shaolin's bangjang Bop Jeong to crawl along the ground begging for his life.
But Bop Jeong rubbed his blood-and-tear-stained face against the ground and managed to crawl forward, bit by bit.
"Heu..."
A hollow laugh mixed with sobs leaked from his dirt-stained mouth.
What exactly had he been trying to grasp?
Something that, if obtained alone, was nothing but a phantom. Why hadn't he known what was more important?
A short death rattle reached him.
'Bop Kye....'
He couldn't even look away. Bop Jeong just desperately pushed against the ground with his feet. Tears streamed down his face.
How did you believe in me?
Why did you not say a single word of resentment until the very end?
Even though you must have known that I was the one who caused all this. And yet, how could you go like that without driving in a single blade-like word?
How could you just go, without releasing a single word of the resentment that must have piled up in layers in your heart?
“Heu …”
He must survive.
Step.
Whether an auditory hallucination or not, the sound of footsteps approached from somewhere.
But Bop Jeong simply reached out his hand. Amidst the pain like crawling over a sheet of freezing ice.
'I....'
Now he remembered.
The days when he was young. The days when he was still full of curiosity and yearning for the world. There had been a small novice monk who had looked up to him then. He had seemed a little slow-witted and a little dull.
His saje who couldn't smile brightly and only managed shy smiles.
'Bop Kye....'
After that, the faces of countless others came to mind.
His master, his disciples, and his sajes... the faces of those he should not have abandoned.
“Ugh....”
Bop Jeong's trembling hand stretched out desperately forward.
As if to somehow grasp what was now irreversible.
Then, it soon drooped helplessly with a thud.
Thud.
But his fingertips, numb and blunt from wounds, touched something other than the ground.
Bop Jeong struggled to push open his closed eyes. Something unfamiliar entered his hazy vision.
Staring at it blankly, Bop Jeong laboriously, barely managed to lift his head. What he faced then were someone's eyes.
It carried an infinitely cold and quiet rage. Too cold for reproach, too hot for punishment.
That someone, who glanced briefly at Bop Jeong frozen and speechless, slowly moved their steps.
Toward Jeok Ho, who had been approaching Bop Jeong but had stopped.
Grinding his teeth, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Get lost. Before I kill you.”
At that truly ice-cold voice, Jeok Ho's body instantly stiffened.
|Note
Bop Kye… While I hate baldy bastard, I never held the same feeling toward you.
Consider supporting me by subscribing on Patreon for 5$. The Patreon membership for Mount Hua and Infinite Mage is the same. The benefit:
Advance chapters of Mount Hua : 76
Advance chapters of Magic Realm Convenience Store Worker : 144 Chapters
Advance chapters of Got a Gallery in the Wild : 10
Comments Box