A silence so loud that one could hear a pin drop filled the room. Even though there were quite a few people present, not a single breath could be heard.
Everyone just held their breath and looked at Chung Myung and the abbot.
'Oh my…'
Baek Cheon clenched his fists without realizing it.
He had definitely expected this to some extent.
It had already been proven many times that Chung Myung did not like the abbot, and this incident with the Evil Sect had brought that ill feeling to its peak. So they guessed that even if the opponent was the abbot, Chung Myung wouldn't let it slide.
But…
'No matter what, the man is still the abbot of Shaolin.'
The leader of the murim world, Shaolin.
Who among the warriors wouldn't admire that name? Baek Cheon's roots were from Southern Edge, but he chose to live in Mount Hua, yet Shaolin was something sacred that he couldn't dare touch.
But the Shaolin abbot, representing that sacred place, was now silent, unable to even refute the harsh words a Taoist had said.
Who would have imagined that they would witness such a sight in their lifetime?
He knew that he should stop Chung Myung, but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
All Baek Cheon could do was hold his breath and try not to miss a single word of their conversation.
"Taoist…"
After a long silence, the abbot spoke.
"I just didn't think about it yet. If I had thought about it in advance, I would have gone to the Yangtze River. This is just…"
"Ah."
Chung Myung cut off the abbot's words with a short exclamation.
"You would have gone to the Yangtze River?"
"… that…"
"You would have rushed to the Yangtze River, stopped the Namgung family from fighting the Evil Sects, handed the Plum Blossom Island back to the Evil Sect, and once again endured the humiliation of Shaolin surrendering to the Evil Sects?"
"…"
A sneer appeared on Chung Myung's lips.
"You would?"
The abbot closed his mouth, which he had opened with difficulty.
He tried to say something, but it seemed as if someone had forcefully shut his mouth.
He attempted to explain that he would have acted out of reflex, yet he also felt the truth.
The truth is that he would never have done that.
Would Mount Hua's Sword Saint believe something that even he couldn't believe? The man who seemed to understand the abbot's inner thoughts better than the abbot himself?
In the end, a hollow laugh escaped the abbot's mouth. This wasn't a situation where persuasion could work in the first place.
"It seems that the abbot of Shaolin only studies the principles of the Buddha and doesn't know the ways of the world. If you do not know, I will tell you."
Chung Myung said with great sarcasm.
"You clean up after your own actions."
"…"
"It isn't normal to run to someone else and cry and ask them to clean up."
At that moment, it wasn't the abbot but Beop Gye who couldn't hold back his anger. It was difficult to tolerate a young Taoist speaking to the abbot of Shaolin as if the abbot were a child.
"Aren't you being too much?"
When Beop Gye rebuked him, Chung Myung slowly turned his head to him. Looking straight at him, he said.
"Too much?"
At that moment, Beop Gye couldn't hold back. However, he soon calmed himself and spoke softly as if trying to persuade.
"Of course, it is true that Shaolin made a mistake. It is true that we did something wrong. But isn't the abbot trying to fix it somehow? It is easy to point fingers at someone, but it is more difficult to correct a mistake. So why are you being harsh?"
Then Chung Myung stared at Beop Gye without saying anything and then exclaimed.
"Ah, I was thinking who you were. We are old buddies, right?"
"…"
"At that time, we parted ways without even saying goodbye to each other at the Yangtze River. How have you been?"
"A-ahem."
Beop Gye's face turned crimson. The mention of the Yangtze River felt like an indelible sin to him.
"Correct. Correct… yes, it is right. But… what have you been doing for the past three years that you're trying so hard to fix things now? If you had just made up your mind, you could have already sorted all of this out."
"Look here!"
"Hmm, but how strange."
Chung Myung shook his head, as if baffled.
"Just because you're a monk doesn't mean you're not human. How can you be so shameless?"
"What did you say…"
"Ah, if I put it in a roundabout way, you wouldn't understand. Then, I will explain it properly. I told you to shut up, monk."
Beop Gye looked at Chung Myung, flustered and at a loss for words.
He had long known that Mount Hua's Sword Saint was someone he couldn't handle. But who would have imagined he would be like this? They said that when a person was too overpowering, you couldn't even speak properly to them, and Beop Gye felt the same way.
"A person who tries to correct mistakes is better than someone who criticizes. That is true. But how can you even say that with your own mouth?"
"…"
"And what? Trying to correct?"
Beop Gye looked at Chung Myung with a pale face, suddenly scared of what this guy would say next.
"That correction you speak of is to come here and beg us to fight with you?"
"…."
"Is this the correction that Shaolin knows?"
Beop Gye lowered his head.
It was harsh, but Chung Myung's words were not wrong. In particular, Beop Gye, who was one of the main people in the Yangtze River war and responsible for all this, couldn't say anything even if he wanted to.
That was because he still had a bit of shame left.
"Step back."
"… Abbot."
"Enough now."
The abbot quietly looked at Chung Myung.
Seeing the deep-rooted distrust of Shaolin in those eyes, the abbot let out a deep sigh.
"How did it end up like this?"
It cannot be denied that the sect demonstrating the most righteous actions in the world in recent times was Mount Hua.
The fact that Mount Hua's Sword Saint, who was central to Mount Hua, was showing such deep-rooted distrust towards Shaolin's abbot speaks volumes about Shaolin's current position, doesn't it?
But he couldn't just step back so easily.
"Shaolin is…"
The abbot hesitated for a moment, not answering, then quickly mumbled disapproval before continuing.
"… not perfect. I am not perfect either."
"…"
"Those who are not perfect make mistakes. We can accept the criticism we deserve for our mistakes. But… I cannot stand the fact that innocent people suffer because of my and Shaolin's mistakes."
Chung Myung glared at the abbot with cold eyes. Nevertheless, the abbot spoke firmly.
"Any condition is fine. Just help me once. Without the Heavenly Friends Alliance, the Yangtze River will descend into chaos."
The abbot bowed his head again.
A little while ago, he bowed his head to Hyun Jong, but now he was bowing his head to Chung Myung, which was slightly different.
Everyone watching bit their lips tightly.
Chung Myung's words were right. But right now, the abbot was truly putting everything aside and asking for their help. If the abbot had discussed the situation and the right thing to do, no one would have been swayed by those words.
But at this moment, the abbot was not presenting any logic and was simply making a humble appeal. Not only Hyun Jong, but even the others were looking at the abbot with new eyes at his sincere plea.
Maybe.
Could the situation really be so urgent that it couldn't be resolved without Mount Hua's help? If not, why would the abbot bow to them?
Would that Shaolin abbot kneel and bow his head to a young Taoist of another sect just for the sake of preserving Shaolin's strength? That couldn't be the case, right?
But.
Only one person's eyes didn't change at all. The eyes didn't change, let alone waver.
"The abbot hasn't changed."
The anger that had been boiling in Chung Myung's voice had vanished. Now, his tone was normal. But since his emotions were not revealed, strangely, his words sounded more chilling than before.
"I was wrong. I regret it, but all of this is for the sake of the people in the world and the suffering innocent people around, so please put aside past mistakes and help."
The abbot flinched. Chung Myung was looking at him with a piercing gaze.
"If you pretended to reflect like that and bowed your head, you probably thought that the morons would get riled up and take the arrows on them instead?"
"T-taoist."
"I really understand now."
"…."
"The abbot is not a hypocrite. That is why I hate the abbot."
The abbot frowned.
What did it mean to hate someone because they were not a hypocrite? Didn't people usually hate someone because they were one?
Chung Myung added as if he fully understood the doubt.
"A hypocrite is someone who at least knows what he is doing. At least he is aware of the evil he is doing. But…"
Chung Myung's cold gaze fell on the abbot.
"Not the abbot."
"…"
"The abbot of the sect is someone who has no doubt that he is doing the right thing. He believes himself to be a good person."
Chung Myung ground his teeth as he spoke, feeling nauseous.
Yes, a hypocrite was someone like Venerable Heo Do. He was at least aware that he was a person who could do evil for the benefit of his sect.
But not the abbot.
The abbot didn't doubt that he was right. No, even if he suffered now, he didn't doubt that he would eventually achieve the result of being in the right.
At that very moment, the abbot must be convinced that persuading Mount Hua to join the Yangtze River for the war was the way to help the world.
He didn't hesitate because he believed that he was right.
He could bow his head even to a young kid because he believed he was right.
For him, bowing his head to Chung Myung was nothing more than a sacred process of moving towards a perfect conclusion through his own sacrifice.
'I doubted this.'
Even while fighting for his life in the middle of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, Chung Myung constantly doubted himself. Was it really the right way? Was he truly making the right choice?
Not just Chung Myung. No, everyone there must have doubted and questioned their actions.
But those who stood behind them and watched their deaths didn't doubt it. They must have been convinced that it was the right thing to do, to drive so many people to their deaths, all in the name of holy sacrifice.
Right. Just like this abbot.
Such people feel sorry but also drive so many people to their deaths. They shed tears but never regret because they never doubted that they were doing the right thing.
"Once is enough."
The conviction that flowed from Chung Myung slowly pressured the abbot.
"For the world, for the people, it is too much to be fooled into dying by such dirty sophistry. It just feels too much."
His conviction didn't come from nothing. If it simply came from nothing, the abbot would not have felt so burdened.
The abbot could not even think of exhaling in the face of the overwhelming weight of the conviction that was completely indecipherable.
"As long as I am alive, you should not think of using Mount Hua with your three-inch tongue."
Chung Myung's soft declaration resembled a wounded beast growling.
"Leave the place right now, or I will break that proud neck of yours."
The blood drained from the face of the abbot.