Episode 1165 What should we do? (5)
The white hand exposed under the white nose lightly grasped the red wine glass.
Jang Il-so tilted his head back and blinked slowly, staring at the moon in the sky. After staring at the moon in silence for a long time, he shifted his gaze to the glass of wine in his hand.
The glass was so full that it seemed as if it would overflow at any moment. The moon reflected within it swayed and shimmered.
“As I sing, the moon walks…” A
whisper-like voice slowly flowed from his lips.
“When I dance, my shadow becomes dizzy.”
Jang Il-so brought the glass to his lips and slowly tilted it.
“After waking up and drinking what we enjoyed together, there was no trace….”
There is no more alcohol or moon in the empty glass. Nevertheless, Jang Il-so just looked at the empty glass without saying a word.
“It’s Lee Baek.”
Hu Ga-myeong approached and spoke softly.
“I didn’t know that Lord Ryeon liked poetry.”
“…two hundred.”
Jang Il-so laughed as if he was reciting.
“I don’t like it. No… I actually hate it.”
“You mean two hundred?”
Jang Il-so’s gaze moved to the river. I could see the moon shimmering over the river.
“Lee Baek… was said to have drowned while trying to rescue the moon reflected in the river.”
“….”
“Stupidly.”
Jang Il-so immediately threw the drinking glass he was holding into the river. The moon reflected in the river faded due to the ripples caused by the drinking glass.
However, the moon, which had been shaking and shaking, soon regained its original form. Quietly.
“That’s just an illusion. No matter how hard you try, you can never catch it. But still…”
A faint smile appeared on Jang Il-so’s lips.
“It doesn’t go away. So I have no choice but to see it. “Like I’m possessed.”
“There is a real moon in the sky, right?”
“You can’t reach it.”
Jang Il-so tilted his head back.
“I can’t reach the moon in the sky even if I stretch out my hand. But I think I can catch the moon over the river. If you just stretch out your hand….”
“….”
“So, Li Baek would have drowned too. “I would have wanted to have that moon somehow.”
Jang Il-so, who had been looking at the moon floating on the water for a long time with half-closed eyes, turns his gaze to Ho Ji-myeong.
“How do you feel? Pseudonym. “Did it look to you like I was trying to catch the moon reflected in the water?”
Ho Jiamyeong gave a small smile at those words.
“well. “I don’t know that, but I know how to get the out-of-reach moon.”
“…how?”
Hu Jiaming walked over without a word, put down a new glass in front of Jang Ilso, and filled it with alcohol. The moon rose again over the glass filled with alcohol.
“here it is.”
“….”
“If you drink it, it disappears, but if you refill it, you get it again, right? “Don’t feel sorry for the moon that’s gone. Just pour yourself another drink and that’s it.”
Jang Il-so laughed.
“I heard there are really smart people out there.”
Jang Il-so reached out his hand and slowly drank the drink filled with Hu Ji-myeong.
Hu Jiaming, who had been watching the scene in silence, opened his mouth in a slightly heavy voice.
“I failed to persuade Talmyeong Dokho.”
Jang Il-so did not answer and just looked at the river.
“He said he would not follow Lord Ryeon even if it meant death.”
Looking at Jang Il-so, who was still not responding, Hu Ji-myeong spoke softly.
“…I executed him because I had no other choice.”
“okay.”
Jang Il-so slowly opened his mouth.
“Do you have a family?”
“I understand that you have a wife and son in Fujian. “I think it’s been more than ten years since I left home…”
“You’re a heartless person.”
“Aren’t they usually like that?”
“Please send enough money to the rest of the family to last their entire lives.”
Hu Jiaming looked at Jang Ilso without answering.
“Why?”
“It may be a bit of a presumptuous question, but… he is the one who rebelled against Lord Ryeon. Aren’t you a foolish person who served the wrong master and ultimately made the wrong choice? Why bother telling such a person’s relatives…”
“You’re wrong…”
Jang Il-so turned his head again and looked at the river.
“Yes… I was stupid enough to fall under Mangeum Godfather’s command, and I was stupid enough to remain loyal until the end. “People are not dogs, but they are the world’s most foolish people who live like dogs.”
“That’s right.”
“But… well. “Is that really wrong?”
“…Ryanju?”
Jang Il-so chuckled.
“What would be difficult in the world if we could clearly differentiate between right and wrong? “It’s just a matter of determining who is right.”
“….”
“But pseudonym… doesn’t each person have their own ‘rightness’?”
Hu Jiaming nodded slowly.
“That’s why it’s difficult. “No one is wrong, but there is only one path to choose.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Some people will persuade you, and others will try to suppress you with logic. Some people will wait, some will cry, and some will be influenced. But I just…”
Chang!
The glass that Jang Il-so was holding cracked loudly and soon shattered.
“They just trample and steal. “Because it’s the fastest way.”
Jang Il-so picked up a half-full bottle of alcohol and slowly tilted it. The alcohol that flowed slowly flowed into the river.
“I’m not sorry to the people I trampled on, but wouldn’t you be able to give them at least a drink? yes?”
Hu Jiaming quietly shook his head.
“I will do as you command.”
“okay. “I guess so.”
“Yes then.”
As Ho Ga-myeong quietly retreated, Jang Il-so’s eyes turned again to the moon floating over the river.
‘Who is right….’
It was so meaningless.
* * *
The court’s mouth closed quietly.
Cheongmyeong’s clear eyes were coldly weighing on him. It feels as if a cold, sharp knife is stabbing deep into my lungs.
Suddenly, darkness falls and in the lamp-lit room, only those eyes seem to shine brightly.
Today is not the first time I see these eyes. I’ve already seen it several times.
And each time, the court had to make efforts to hide its true intentions. This is to avoid the unknown discomfort felt in the eyes of a child who has not even lived half of his life.
Yes, it’s rough…
I have to say it now, but that roughness may be another form of fear. He himself couldn’t know because it was a fear he felt from someone who should never have been afraid.
The court quietly closed its eyes.
After honestly admitting my feelings, my mind calmed down. The court had already expected to face a moment like this when it came here.
‘Hwasan Sword Association.’
No matter how hard I try to understand, I cannot understand. A person who always goes in the opposite direction of the direction he wants to go and achieves unimaginable achievements.
His very existence is a threat to the court and a threat to Shaolin.
That is why the court has been trying to somehow control the Hwasan Sword Association. However, after much and deep research, I came to know. Why has he been afraid of Cheongmyeong?
‘I was just afraid because I couldn’t keep it inside me because it wasn’t mine.’
If there had been someone like Cheongmyeong in Shaolin, would the court really have been afraid of him? Could it be that he thought he was a threat to himself and tried to be on guard and suppress him?
No, it would never have been like that. Rather, he may have been more pleased with Cheongmyeong’s presence than anyone else. He is someone who will fill in what is missing in Shaolin right now.
What does this mean?
‘If you don’t understand it, just keep it close to you.’
The moment the opponent ceases to be an enemy, fear will also disappear.
Therefore, the court reached only one conclusion. It is to somehow embrace Shaolin and Hwasan Sword Association. Prepare an offer they can never refuse.
The court slowly opened its eyes.
“dole.”
Cheongmyeong faced the court without answering. With eyes that haven’t changed at all.
“To be honest… I was expecting this moment even before I came here.”
“…What does it mean?”
The court chuckles.
“I didn’t know what question to ask. And I didn’t know what the reaction would be. “But I thought the Lord would definitely bring out something I didn’t expect.”
The court chuckled.
“It’s always been like that.”
Cheongmyeong’s lips twitched slightly. He also felt it intuitively. That the current courtroom is different from usual.
“That’s why I set one principle before coming here.”
“what is that?”
“No matter what questions I get asked.”
The court stared at Cheongmyeong with unwavering eyes. He didn’t avoid Cheongmyeong’s gaze for even an inch.
“I said I would never tell a lie.”
Qingming frowned.
“It is something that a Buddhist should naturally do, but it is an absurd thing for a Buddhist to say. “In the end, it means that you’ve been telling lies until now.”
“Maybe so.”
“…It looks like Shaolin is finished. The person called the room manager said all those things calmly.”
When Cheongmyeong slightly scolded, the court shook its head.
“I never tried to lie to myself. But sometimes even the truth becomes a lie.”
Cheongmyeong briefly clicked his tongue. Because I know what the court means.
“It seems like you’re saying that you’ll try your best and that you won’t say anything obvious that you don’t have to take responsibility for?”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
The court gave a low voice of disapproval.
“That’s right. In this position, there are times when you have to tell lies that are not lies. I didn’t think it was a lie myself. Because I tried to keep what I said. But… not telling everything would just be another form of lying.”
The court looked at Cheongmyeong and thought.
‘That’s funny.’
How did it end up like this?
In his eyes, Cheongmyeong is the hero of the world. Now no one can deny that fact.
If he had truly made it his life’s goal to protect Gangho and establish its spirit as the leader of Shaolin, he should have been happy and glad that someone like Cheongmyeong appeared.
But… until recently, the existence of Cheongmyeong was nothing more or less than a delusion in his mind.
“So I’ll be honest.”
Know.
What he has to say here is a well-packaged lie. That it makes his situation a little better.
It’s not that difficult to say that you will do your best to save Haenam. So, it is not difficult to say that it would be good if Cheon Woo-maeng could help.
But the court knows. The fact is that it is just a lie in a different form than what was said a moment ago. Hasn’t he already made up his mind? I won’t tell even the slightest lie here.
“You asked. “Is it true that I will do my best to save even just one more person?”
“…I did.”
The court nodded.
“Okay, then I’ll be honest.”
The gaze of the dark court and the gaze of Cheongmyeong met in the air.
“Shaolin… I have no intention of saving Haenam.”
That voice was so calm. Therefore, it penetrated the hearts of those who sat there more deeply and vividly.
