Episode 1235 I heard that’s true? (5)
The weather in Haenam is changeable. When the sun shines hotly, strong rainstorms and typhoons occur from time to time. As a result, those who live rooted in Haenam tend to expect typhoons to happen.
But now, as he looked at the raging typhoon through the front window, Geumyangbaek, a Haenam magistrate, had a deep look on his face.
‘It’s driving me crazy.’
My mind was as confused as the scene before my eyes. As the head of the Great South Sect, he had to lead everyone, but the burden on his shoulders felt too heavy to bear.
‘I’d rather…’
He looked at the trees shaking back and forth and burst into laughter. It was not a thought worthy of one sect’s long post, wishing that everything would be swept away by this typhoon and disappear.
‘I’ve become weak too.’
No, perhaps it is not that he has become weak, but that the people he has to deal with are too powerful. Whether it was a scam or a ruthless powerhouse.
Knock. At that time, a knock on the door was heard through the sound of the wind.
“Jang Moon-in. “This is Lim Gyeom.”
“Come in.”
The door opens slightly and a breeze rushes into the room. The wind caused one of the scrolls decorating the wall to soar and then fall to the floor.
Geumyangbaek’s eyes fell on the scroll that had fallen on the floor. To be exact, it is the phrase written there.
I’m excited and I’m going to go to the middle of the day. Spirit is like the sea, and agreement is like the waves. These are eight letters that symbolize Haenam.
Geumyangbaek closed his eyes tightly without realizing it.
“The wind is strong, Jang Mun-in.”
As Im Gyeom spoke while looking at the open window, Geumyangbaek slowly shook his head.
“Leave it alone. “It won’t be as dizzy as mine.”
“⋯⋯.”
“What happened?”
“First of all…”
Lim Gyeom took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
“I was planning to send the young disciples to Saga as you instructed, but…”
“hmm.”
“Just as we were about to implement it, a typhoon blew, so we decided to hold off until the wind subsides.”
“I see.”
Geumyangbaek nodded slowly.
I wouldn’t know if they were grown men. For children who had to walk on small feet, sending them out into this wind and rain was not the right thing to do. It’s not a bad choice since the enemy won’t invade during the typhoon anyway.
“Did the children listen obediently?”
“There were children who resisted, but what can we do? “You have to scold them to get them out.”
“…well done.”
“And…”
Imgyeom glanced at Geumyangbaek’s eyes and spoke.
“The excommunication you mentioned…”
Geumyangbaek, seeing Lim Gyeom’s expression, sighed and said.
“There is no hesitation. Let’s save time.”
“⋯⋯Yes. “Out of the four hundred and seventy-six disciples of Jinsan, including the elders at the main mountain, seventy-eight have requested excommunication.”
Geumyangbaek closed his eyes again without saying a word. His face looked paler, perhaps because of the cold wind blowing.
“⋯⋯It’s less than I thought.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Could it be that the children’s love for the text is deeper than I thought?”
“That’s…”
Lim Gyeom was slightly hesitant to answer. However, when Geumyangbaek urged him with his eyes, he couldn’t win in the end and sighed.
“What Jang Mun-in said was not necessarily wrong, but there seemed to be a strong feeling among his disciples that if he had to be excommunicated and go down to Saga, the Sapaeryun would not recognize him.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Then they will just spread out and be slaughtered one by one, so it would be better to fight here instead.”
A laugh flowed from Geumyangbaek’s mouth.
“okay. “He must be like that too.”
“The disciples who want to be excommunicated seem to want to choose the option that even has the slightest possibility.”
The two men did not necessarily discuss the loyalty and cooperation of those who wanted to be excommunicated. Because now it is meaningless.
If the disciples lack heart for Haenam, it is the fault of Munju and the elders who have led Haenam wrongly, and if they lack cooperation, it is also the fault of Munju and the elders who have not shown an example of cooperation to the disciples.
No matter how you criticize me, in the end it’s just spitting in my face, so what can I say?
“The excommunication ceremony… Yes, we decided to hold the excommunication ceremony as soon as the typhoon passes.”
“Excommunication ceremony?”
Geumyangbaek mocked himself. Now what does that mean?
“It is done. Just let me out. “Is it such a big deal to erase one name from the family register?”
“⋯⋯It’s not that long⋯⋯.”
“hmm?”
When Geumyangbaek looked at him with a puzzled expression, Im Gyeom answered with a shocked expression.
“I did not say that I would carry out an excommunication ceremony, but my disciples want an excommunication ceremony.”
“⋯⋯What did you say?”
“Well… it looks like you need a reliable shield when the Saepaeryeon interrogates you.”
At that moment, an indescribable feeling of helplessness spread across Geumyangbaek’s face.
“Haha… Ha…”
When the sun shines on the top of your head, no shadows are visible. It was the same in Haenam. When the power of the clan was at its peak, there seemed to be no problem.
But at this moment, Geumyangbaek was painfully aware.
‘What on earth have I been doing all this time?’
I thought I had done my best by inheriting the culture cultivated by my predecessors. However, when dark clouds descended on the sect, I had no choice but to find out. The fact that everything he had believed in so far was just an illusion.
“⋯⋯Then I guess I should do it.”
“Long story…”
“It is the last thing that those who leave the sect want, so why not be able to do just that?”
Imgyeom bit his lip as he looked at Geumyangbaek muttering bitterly.
“⋯⋯This is too much of a request.”
“Maybe so. But what can you do? “If only we were the ones who taught them that.”
“But…”
“Let’s stop.”
Geumyangbaek let out a deep sigh with a tired face.
“Elder Lim.”
“Yes, Jang Mun-in.”
“Has there still been no contact from the outside?”
“⋯⋯Maybe it’s because of the typhoon…not yet⋯⋯.”
Geumyangbaek mocked himself again.
How many hours have passed since the typhoon blew, and the typhoon has stopped coming? In the end, it means that it was a flue that never came in the first place.
His eyes gazed helplessly out the window again. The dark clouds that filled the sky seemed to tell of the situation Haenam was currently facing.
‘The typhoon will always stop and the sun will rise again. But…’
Will the sun rise again in Haenam?
“Long story…”
At that time, Imgyeom cautiously opened his mouth.
“I think it’s time to make a decision.”
“…A decision?”
“What Jayang said is not wrong. Just because you hold on like this doesn’t mean you’ll get an answer, right? “Rather…”
“So you’re saying that if I don’t hold on, the answer will come?”
Geumyangbaek said in a sighing voice.
“okay. “It probably means leading the disciples and leaving Haenam.”
“Yes, Jang Moon-in. Judging by the fact that Sapaeryeon does not really do anything to the common people… it does not seem like there will be any major problems for the remaining people. So…”
“You think I haven’t thought of that?”
“⋯⋯.”
“Didn’t you tell me? The person who most wants us to escape this island is none other than Sapaeryeon. The only places we can go after leaving this island are Gangnam and Im-eup. “Is there even one of them that is friendly to us?”
“That’s…”
Geumyangbaek shook his head.
“It’s not a choice to live or die. You choose where you die. “It is not something a person should do, to leave the place where they are rooted and die just to hold on to their life a little longer.”
“Long story…”
Geumyangbaek raised his head and glanced at Lim Gyeom.
“Elder Lim.”
“Yes, Jang Mun-in.”
“Do you really want to find a way?”
At that moment, suspicion filled Lim Gyeom’s eyes. Geumyangbaek’s slightly changed tone of voice made me strangely nervous.
“Are you saying there is a way?”
“Bandora…. Yes, that’s right. “There is one way.”
“What method?”
“Isn’t what we just want for the name Haenam to survive and for the disciples here to survive?”
“That’s right.”
“In order to do that, shouldn’t you be able to endure as much humiliation as you want?”
Lim Gyeom’s face hardened in an instant.
“No way…”
“There is a room too. “There is a way to preserve the name of Haenam and spread it throughout the world.”
Geumyangbaek laughed as if mocking himself.
“If we surrender to the Sapaeryeon and bow our heads at Jang Il-so’s feet, at least all of our disciples will be able to survive.”
“Jangmun-in!”
Lim Gyeom’s voice burst out louder than the thunder outside the door.
“Are you saying that now?”
“The defeated army will accept it. No, we will not just accept it, we will welcome it with open arms. He will be able to become the leader of the four factions with the nine factions under his feet, something no one has been able to do so far. “They will try to invite Goigoi and give him preferential treatment.”
“Stop it!”
Im Gyeom glared at Geumyang Baek with bloodshot eyes.
“No matter how foolish these words may be, they are not the kind of words a Jang Mun-in of the Great Haenam faction would say! “How can you say such rebellious words?”
“It’s a traitorous dance.”
Geumyangbaek laughed.
“What is so rebellious? “Why do people who receive and enjoy what others have achieved with their blood, and who steal and enjoy what their benefactors deserve, have the courage to say that they are traitors?”
“Jangmun-in!”
“⋯⋯To begin with, we weren’t that different from Sapa. “I was just pretending it wasn’t happening.”
Geumyangbaek sank limply on the chair. I know it’s nonsense. I just wanted to say it out loud at least once.
“So… Otherwise, just accept it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“We can’t do anything on our own if no one helps us. The opponents are Jang Il-so, Sapaeryeon, and Doksimnachal Ho Ga-myeong. What can we do against those who played a trick on Shaolin and even Hebei? “They probably already anticipated our movements and set a trap.”
Lim Gyeom bowed his head. Because I couldn’t deny those words.
“What can we do…?”
Rumbling!
Following the helpless mumbling, the sound of thunder and lightning was heard.
“I believed it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I believed that I was doing something good just by climbing high, gaining fame, and receiving praise. That wasn’t really the important thing. “No matter how much praise is poured on a sect that is only a shell, what does that mean?”
“⋯⋯.”
“I should have done my duty. We must not forget why Haenam is Haenam. Now I’m just paying the price for being swayed by something I shouldn’t have been swayed by. “I just feel sorry for my predecessors and my students who will pay the price for my wrong choice.”
“Long story…”
Geumyangbaek’s eyes looked towards the distance.
They must be somewhere in the land across the sea.
‘I should have met you in person at least once and apologized.’
Now that I can’t do that, it just breaks my heart. I just hope that his feelings will be conveyed someday…
Kwaaaaaaaa!
At that moment, the door opened violently as if it would break.
“Long sentence!”
Soon, an intoxicated elder Jayang came running in with an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
“What’s going on!”
“Sapaeryeon? “Has the Sapae-ryeon come?”
The two people, lost in thought, jumped up from their seats.
“That’s not it…!”
“⋯⋯Then?”
Jayang shouted with a pale face.
“You should come and see! “Guest! We have a guest!”
“customer?”
Geumyangbaek was about to question the nonsense, but Jayang shouted again.
“Woe, fire, volcano!”
“⋯⋯Huh?”
A voice rang out, almost like a scream.
“The volcano is here!”
– May 19, 2022 –
