Chapter 443: A Future Borne on the Sword (5)

Hwaun was not the only one surprised.

This man...

Jeongan stared at Yeon Hojeong with wavering eyes.

Even someone who knew little of the world could understand people. And if one understood people well enough, one could come to understand the world.

Jeongan still knew little of either.

There had simply not been many people with whom she had shared her heart in earnest.

But when someone genuinely opened their heart to her, she could read something of what lay within.

That was why she could sense, to a certain extent, what Yeon Hojeong was feeling.

Anger? Sorrow?

Human emotions were never ruled by only one thing. They worked in complicated ways.

Jeongan could feel the complexity in Yeon Hojeong’s heart.

Of all those emotions, anger and sorrow stood out most sharply.

What is he angry about? What does he find so painful?

Hwaun gave no answer.

Yeon Hojeong continued.

“I hope you won’t misunderstand me. I ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) am not saying that because so many sects failed, Putuo Hermitage is bound to fail as well. By the same token, just because countless sects have already pursued peace and stability does not mean Putuo has no right to uphold the same great cause. Any organization is free to choose its own purpose.”

“Of course.”

“But to my limited understanding, what you have said thus far lacks consistency.”

“Lacks consistency?”

“You wish to enter the martial world in order to save suffering commoners and pursue peace and stability. That is entirely possible. But is that cause truly something that can only be accomplished if the Sword Empress comes from your branch?”

Hwaun answered calmly.

“As I said, this child is the candidate most suited to become the next Sword Empress. With her strength of will and purity of character—”

“At the same time, you appear to believe that Putuo cannot act for the good of the world unless there is a Sword Empress.”

“Pardon?”

“Is the Sword Empress truly such an extraordinary thing? How does one earn that position? Is it a title granted to the most powerful martial artist? To one whose enlightenment surpasses all others? Or is the Sword Empress some divine being, like the future Buddha spoken of in Buddhism, destined to save the world one day?”

“...!”

“If another branch produces the Sword Empress, does every path by which your branch might contribute to peace simply vanish?”

“Commander, I believe you have misunderstood. Let me explain once more. This child is the one who truly—”

“And why must you enter the martial world at all?”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes narrowed.

“Must you establish yourselves as a martial sect and become an organization recognized by everyone before you can work for peace? You could simply live among ordinary people. You could even use Putuo’s reputation to gather wealth and improve their lives. Why must you enter the martial world?”

“Commander.”

“I said a moment ago that your words lack consistency. For them to become consistent, one fact would have to change.”

“...?”

“If what you truly want is for your branch to produce the Sword Empress, take control of Putuo Hermitage, and live in power and prestige, then everything you have said so far suddenly makes perfect sense.”

Hwaun’s expression hardened at once.

“That is going too far.”

“Have I misunderstood you?”

“Of course you have. I have already explained this repeatedly. The Sword Empress was once merely Putuo Hermitage’s symbol, but now the position must possess real authority. And for that to happen—”

“That is exactly what I’m asking. Why must it possess authority?”

“Pardon?”

“You could simply remain outside the martial world. Would you like me to be even more candid? Even if you enter it, all you are likely to gain is despair and self-loathing stained with blood and death.”

“Commander.”

“If Putuo Hermitage is a temple rather than a martial sect, then your true strength is not martial force but devotion to the Dharma. So why do you insist on coming into the world carrying martial power?”

“...!”

“Why not come carrying the thing you know best, the thing in which your sincerity truly lies—your Buddhist faith? Is the Sword Empress some kind of Buddha? Why are you so obsessed with that position?”

“Obsessed? That is too much.”

“If it is not obsession, then you must genuinely believe Putuo can do nothing for the world unless the Sword Empress comes from your branch.”

A stern light entered Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

It was not the gaze of the Dark Emperor.

Nor was it the gaze of the Green Mountain Tiger Commander.

It was closer to the gaze of a strict senior who had simply lived longer and experienced far more than the person before him.

Perhaps that was why Hwaun’s face, which had twisted with anger and displeasure, suddenly stiffened.

“Unless Putuo Hermitage is filled entirely with fools, you cannot possibly fail to understand how absurd that sounds. And if, by some chance, you truly believe that alone is truth and salvation, then before preparing to enter the world, you should first learn common sense.”

“If you intend to insult Putuo Hermitage—”

“Since when?”

“...?!”

“I am asking when you began hiding behind talk of outdated traditions and using the salvation of ordinary people as an excuse to raise the Sword Empress as a symbol, all while dreaming of worldly success.”

“Commander!”

“Are you not ashamed? In front of the successor you yourselves raised?”

“W-What did you say?”

Yeon Hojeong looked at Jeongan.

Jeongan stared back at him with trembling eyes.

“You raised your successor well. So well that she made even me look back on a time when I was convinced that strength was the highest value needed to end an age of chaos.”

“...!”

“As you can see, I am stubborn, arrogant, and the sort of mule who barely listens to anything anyone else says. Do you think tens of thousands of swords pointed at me would change my mind? Do you think a man like me would suddenly reflect on himself?”

“...”

“And yet this young lady managed it. She made me look back at the man I once was. She did it not with her sword, but with her eyes and her heart. Something tens of thousands of masters could not accomplish, someone weaker than me did.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

The smile he gave Jeongan made him look like an entirely different person from the stern man who had just rebuked Hwaun.

“Strength is necessary. I have not changed my mind about that. But the more people there are like this young lady, the fewer places there will be where strength must stand in the first place.”

“...”

“And I believe that is what can bring an age of peace, whenever it may come, even a little closer.”

Hwaun spoke in a rigid voice.

“Commander, you are even more naive than I am.”

“Do I seem that way?”

“Yes. The world does not change merely because good people smile. Putuo understands that. That is precisely why we intend to enter the world. To lend what little strength we can.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“I will not stop you. Nor do I have any grounds to do so. But that still does not explain why the Sword Empress must come from your branch.”

“...What a disappointment.”

SCRAPE.

Hwaun shoved herself roughly to her feet.

“I was told the Green Mountain Tiger Commander was a genius whose insight matched his martial prowess. You are very different from what I had heard.”

“Rumors are often exaggerated. I have never been as remarkable as people claim.”

“Yes. I have been reminded once again that rumors are not to be trusted. So this is why the world is such a frightening place.”

Jeongan looked at Hwaun in alarm.

“Martial Aunt! That is too far!”

“Be silent!”

It was the harshest rebuke Hwaun had ever directed at her.

No, calling it a rebuke was almost too generous.

It was closer to an irritable outburst.

Jeongan flinched.

No matter how much her martial aunt had changed, never once had she spoken to her like this before.

Hwaun glared at Yeon Hojeong with blazing eyes.

“I was told that if I went to the Martial Alliance headquarters, they would be too busy fighting among themselves to give me a proper answer. That is why I came to you. I was told that if anyone could represent the Martial Alliance of this generation, it was the Green Mountain Tiger Commander.”

“That is what you were told?”

“Yes. And I regret to discover that the truth is otherwise. Someone like you could never represent an organization.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“You have seen clearly. I am a man with far too many shortcomings.”

“This was a wasted journey. Thank you for the tea. Jeongan, get up.”

Jeongan did not rise.

She only stared at Hwaun with shaken eyes.

Hwaun snapped.

“I told you to get up!”

Then Yeon Hojeong asked,

“What is it that makes you so angry?”

“I have no desire to hear any more.”

“When did your own pride and desire become more important to you than the eyes and heart of the successor you have cherished like a daughter?”

“Shut up!”

Yeon Hojeong’s tone changed instantly.

“Do you think there have never been people like you before?”

Hwaun flinched.

The atmosphere around him had shifted in a heartbeat, bringing with it a subtle pressure.

“There have been countless people who burned away their entire lives proclaiming that they would enter the world and change it. Not even a handful truly meant those words. And among that handful, sadly, not one succeeded in realizing the dream.”

“I will not listen no matter what you say.”

“Yes. Most of them were just like you. Enlightenment is something one can stumble upon while simply walking down a road, yet desire can make even a practitioner like you close her ears and lose the ability to look within herself.”

“...!”

“That is what desire is.

“And you have lost to it.”

“Shut up!”

WHOOSH!

A fierce qi wave burst from Hwaun’s body.

When concealed, she had looked almost ordinary.

But the moment that qi erupted, she transformed into a formidable master.

Astonishingly, the level of her qi approached Yeon Hojeong’s own.

Simply by revealing it, she proved the terrifying depth of Putuo Hermitage’s foundations.

“To insult a follower of the Dharma in such a way! If you were not a general-ranking figure of the Martial Alliance, I would not let this pass!”

“You mean you would kill me?”

“...Yes.”

Malice flashed through Hwaun’s eyes.

Her pride had been wounded.

Worse, it had happened in front of the successor of her own branch.

Without realizing it, she had become enraged over an injury dealt to a pride she herself had built from illusion.

“I would kill you.”

Jeongan shouted.

“Martial Aunt!”

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“Wrong.”

“...?”

“The one you need to kill is not me. It is the Buddha. Even I, who am no practitioner, know that if you wish to reach truth through enlightenment, you need the resolve to kill even the Buddha.”

“A menial brute who has learned a few crude worldly martial arts dares lecture me on the Dharma?!”

“At least right now, I seem closer to the Dharma than you are.

“And I have never read so much as a single line of Buddhist scripture.”

“You bastard...!”

Yeon Hojeong slowly rose from his seat.

“I will apologize in advance.”

“Shut up! I have no desire to hear your apology!”

“I never intended to simply let you leave in the first place.”

“What?!”

Yeon Hojeong turned his head.

“Did you see all of that?”

He was speaking to empty air.

And astonishingly, a voice answered from nowhere.

“I saw it. And I heard it.”

Both Hwaun and Jeongan were startled.

Neither of them had sensed that someone else was hiding nearby.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“What do you think, as a monk who has already killed the Buddha once?”

“I find it only regrettable.”

The voice that said it was regrettable contained no emotion beyond genuine sorrow.

The words and the feeling behind them matched perfectly.

There was not the slightest trace of falsehood in the deep, weighty voice.

Hwaun barked,

“Who are you?!”

SHHH.

A figure slowly emerged from empty space.

It was Beomo.

“Amitabha. Beomo of Shaolin offers his greetings to the enlightened practitioners of Putuo.”