Chapter 432: Listening to the Sound of Waves

While the jianghu men caught by the sea-fishing line were shivering from cold and hunger, the Mad Monk, who had gone to look around the vicinity, sat down near me. Was he preparing to deliver a long speech after my example? Or had he come to look at the faces of those newly made bald?

The jianghu men, already worn out from listening to me nag them all day, looked at the Mad Monk with tense expressions as well.

The Mad Monk sat in proper posture with his back ramrod straight and gazed silently at the jianghu men’s faces for a long while.

“……”

Judging that he must have something to say, I sat where I could keep watch over the jianghu men and waited for the Mad Monk to speak.

After meeting the jianghu men’s eyes several times over, the Mad Monk opened his mouth.

“I am a warrior monk of the Jabbu Esoteric Sect, come from the west.”

King Eunpyeong alone answered.

“So you were not a monk of the Central Plains. I thought your attire was unusual.”

The Mad Monk nodded.

“Temples are usually located deep in the mountains, and the donors who came to make offerings were often killed in the mountains, at times below the mountain, or on their way back.”

At the abrupt words, no one could answer.

“Warrior monks came into being to protect the lives of such donors. It was long ago. At first, they were stationed throughout the mountains. At the mountainside, below the mountain, and at important paths, they protected and guided donors while holding khakkharas. But later, the donors and the warrior monks were struck down together. Stabbed by spears and blades, killed by stones hurled at them, felled by things like poisoned needles.”

“……”

The Mad Monk looked at State Preceptor Yeon.

“Warrior monks had no choice but to study martial arts. How to block spears and blades, what to do when poisoned, how to deal with a long whip, how to fight when many rushed in at once. Warrior monks were beings who did not wish to die either, so they trained in martial arts, passed on what they learned to later generations, and lived bravely in order to protect donors and Buddhists.”

Because the Mad Monk spoke with such solemnity, the jianghu men exchanged glances with one another and, for no reason, even checked my expression.

Unconcerned, the Mad Monk continued.

“That was the beginning of the warrior monks. Among the donors were poor people and rich people, but those who robbed them made no particular distinction. For they killed the men and violated the women. Warrior monks could not merely swing khakkharas either, so for the first time, someone removed the rings attached to the khakkhara and affixed a blade of the sort bandits might use. It should resemble what jianghu men call a monk’s spade. In the end, the warrior monks of old did all manner of things to survive.”

The Mad Monk looked at me.

“Those who serve the Buddha should have deep compassion.”

“Yes.”

“And yet, a monk training in martial arts with something like an axe blade attached to his khakkhara. What does the Sect Leader think?”

I answered as I felt.

“No different from a jianghu man.”

The Mad Monk nodded.

“No different. Up to this point is merely the history of warrior monks as I heard it. Personal experience is another matter. In my memory, for more than ten years, there was an old man who came every dawn to make offerings. He was an old man who worried waking and sleeping over the son he had been blessed with late in life. His son was a merchant who traveled long distances and traded diligently, but he was seized by a gang called the Golden-Haired Ghosts, robbed of what he had, and pierced through with a spear to death. His father, Old Man Tak, was a warm-hearted donor who climbed the mountain diligently without missing a single day to make offerings to the Buddha and took careful care of the monks’ affairs, great and small.”

“……”

The Mad Monk looked around at the jianghu men.

“On the day I heard the news, I removed the rings attached to my khakkhara for the first time, attached the blade said to have been used by warrior monks of old, and tried to descend the mountain. The old monks ran out to stop me, and I was scolded and berated. I was told, ‘How can a Buddhist do something so cruel?’”

The Mad Monk smiled faintly as he looked around at the jianghu men.

“How can a Buddhist do something so cruel, they said… I shook off the old monks’ attempts to stop me, descended the mountain, and went looking for the Golden-Haired Ghosts. The rings originally attached to a khakkhara are used to make a jingling sound so wild beasts will not rush at us. They are ornaments imbued with compassion that seeks not to kill even small insects, let alone carnivorous beasts. When I removed those rings and attached a blade, I could not believe how powerful it was. In no time, the surroundings turned into a sea of blood. Now not only I, but others as well, can no longer find the Golden-Haired Ghosts anywhere in the world. But Old Man Tak, who lost his son, did not live long either.”

I looked back and forth between the Mad Monk and the jianghu men. The jianghu men were now breathing quietly. They must have realized that the monk before their eyes was not the normal, ordinary monk they knew.

That was why this bald man was the Mad Monk.

The Mad Monk nodded.

“I touched alcohol, and I ate meat as well. I became a monk who had broken the precepts. Even when I was punished and shut inside a cave, I often drank…”

The Mad Monk brought his hand to his nose.

“No matter how drunk I got, I could not erase that terrible stench of blood I smelled while killing the Golden-Haired Ghosts. I even thought that perhaps the old monks who stood by and watched such things in the name of compassion had gone senile, and that perhaps they had broken the precepts far more than I had. Just who was it that broke the precepts? To accept and eat the money and grain others had worked hard to earn up in the mountains, then speak of compassion when danger arises.”

I met the Mad Monk’s eyes.

The Mad Monk said to me,

“The Sect Leader beating the Black Path rabble to death in order to protect working people, and I cutting down the Golden-Haired Ghosts with a blade—there was no difference in our intent.”

I nodded.

“There was no difference.”

“The very deeds of the Sect Leader that I heard of on the way to the sea were like a signpost to me. Humans are weak beings by nature, so the Sect Leader’s course was a comfort. I am newly grateful.”

This time, the Mad Monk looked at the jianghu men.

“Though we have spared your lives, the murderous intent that has filled my heart since I was in the west has not been erased even while I gaze upon a sea as vast as this. Are you not jianghu men no different at all from the Golden-Haired Ghosts?”

As soon as the Mad Monk finished speaking, the eyes of not only the Four Supremes but also the Vice Society Leader widened at the same time.

“……”

Some looked at me with flustered expressions. Even without words, it was easy to tell that their faces were as if they were asking me to save their lives.

State Preceptor Yeon opened his mouth.

“Master.”

“Speak. I have heard nothing about the Yan Kingdom, but I am curious how someone who is called the State Preceptor of a nation came to collude with a Black Path force. Is the Leader of the Life-and-Death Society that remarkable a man? On the way to Zhejiang, I heard several times that the Leader of the Life-and-Death Society was extremely cruel.”

The voice of State Preceptor Yeon, who had seemed as if he had been through every hardship under heaven, flowed out without composure.

“The truth is, after that Yan Kingdom fell, as one who had received its stipend, I dreamed of its restoration and came to need a great deal of money.”

The Mad Monk cut him off.

“State Preceptor Yeon, in the end, you mean you cooperated because of money, do you not?”

“That is…”

State Preceptor Yeon could not continue.

The atmosphere had become such that it would not be strange if the Mad Monk smashed someone’s head with his khakkhara right then and there.

“To borrow the Sect Leader’s expression, you are now nothing more than bait on a fishing rod meant to catch the Leader of the Life-and-Death Society and King Geumsan. Setting aside such usefulness, is there any reason the Sect Leader and I should keep you alive? As I said earlier, words like hoping for compassion from a monk sound like nothing but dog shit to my ears. Someone, speak.”

I took up the Mad Monk’s words.

“…Something like having an elderly mother at home, perhaps.”

The Mad Monk said,

“The reason the killing intent in my heart has not faded is because I can read so much from your faces and expressions. You have generally lived without forgiving your enemies, and that must be why you wear such looks in your eyes. Just as I did on the way to the sea. I cannot forget the expressions you wore when you stepped down from the black carriage.”

Black Wolf spoke up.

“Please spare me, Master.”

The Mad Monk let out a hollow laugh, like air escaping, then shook his head.

“Since you are people of the jianghu, let us speak of martial arts. What do you think, Sect Leader?”

I answered at once, like a child watching a performance in the village.

“Sounds good.”

“If we rank the martial skill of those present here from weakest upward, it would be Black Wolf, the Life-and-Death Guest, Demon Monkey, King Eunpyeong, the Vice Society Leader, and State Preceptor Yeon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Vice Society Leader looked the most surprised. It seemed he had always thought State Preceptor Yeon was weaker than himself.

The Mad Monk explained.

“I will not go into excessive detail, but Black Wolf, the Life-and-Death Guest, and Demon Monkey are on similar levels. King Eunpyeong and the Vice Society Leader are at similar realms. However, State Preceptor Yeon is roughly two steps ahead of the Vice Society Leader. State Preceptor Yeon has likely always believed that there are very few in Zhejiang who can match him, while concealing much of that strength. Is that not so?”

State Preceptor Yeon answered in a respectful tone.

“It is.”

“You likely also believe that, if you fought the leader of the Life-and-Death Society with all your strength, you would not lose. What say you?”

“That is also correct.”

“Then how does State Preceptor Yeon assess the martial level of the Sect Leader beside you?”

State Preceptor Yeon stared fixedly at me.

I began a staring contest with State Preceptor Yeon. Having quickly lost that contest, he answered.

“I know he is far above me.”

“How large is that gap? Compared to the difference in skill between Black Wolf, who is at the very bottom, and State Preceptor Yeon, do you think the difference between State Preceptor Yeon and the Sect Leader is greater? Or smaller?”

State Preceptor Yeon spouted nonsense.

“If judging by the gap, I would think they are similar.”

The Mad Monk smiled faintly and asked.

“Are you certain?”

State Preceptor Yeon answered as if making an excuse.

“Black Wolf is not such a weak man either.”

“No. State Preceptor Yeon, the Sect Leader’s skill is at a level you cannot measure. Do not indulge in self-love and turn away from reality in that fashion. With your ability, the reality is that you cannot even grasp how strong the Sect Leader is. Did you infer his realm by considering how many times you were struck by his finger techniques earlier?”

“Mm.”

“That, too, was a deception. The way he went to the trouble of chasing you all around and fighting in such a petty manner was also a deception. With your level of skill, most of you would die from a single gesture of the Sect Leader’s hand. That is the gap, and you are people so weak that you cannot even perceive that gap. Since one never knows what may happen, the Sect Leader’s nature is to deceive first and observe the situation… and every single one of you was deceived.”

Everyone except the Mad Monk looked at me in unison. Since the Mad Monk’s words were true, I had nothing in particular to say.

King Eunpyeong quietly raised his hand and said this.

“I had anticipated it to some extent.”

I answered.

“Clever.”

“Thank you.”

The Mad Monk glared at the people of the jianghu and said.

“But the Sect Leader is the Sect Leader. I am me. There was no other intention behind what I said at such length earlier. I have no intention whatsoever of letting you go. I have long gazed at the sea and tried to calm the killing intent swelling in my heart, but what am I to do when it will not disappear? The Sect Leader and I have a relationship of mutual respect, so if I intend to kill someone, the Sect Leader does not stop me. And those the Sect Leader has intended to kill, I have not stopped either. If I follow my heart, all of you are already dead… so what am I to do?”

The moment I newly became aware of how quiet the surroundings were, the sound of the waves slipped in with uncanny precision.

Those whose lives hung by a thread looked at the Mad Monk as though at a loss for what to do, and at times they looked at me.

Now these bastards were cold and hungry enough as it was.

On top of that, they had been placed in a crisis where it would not be strange if they were beaten to death at any moment.

I offered these bastards words of comfort.

“How pitiful. People of the jianghu, their heads shaved clean, about to be beaten to death by a monk. Though if told at an inn, it would be rather funny news.”

Perhaps because they were all masters who had trained in martial arts fairly harshly, they were people who could not even prostrate themselves in an ugly manner or beg to be spared with obvious words.

In short, they had pride.

At last, as if he had made up his mind, the Mad Monk rose while gripping his golden monk’s staff.

I folded my arms with the mindset that I would remain a bystander to the end.

In truth, my inner thoughts were as follows.

I already knew very well what was in the Mad Monk’s heart. In other words, this was a coordinated tactic by the Mad Monk and the Mad Demon to peel away even a single layer of the filthy mindsets of these people of the jianghu.

When would they ever have felt this kind of fear of death?

When the Mad Monk approached with his staff in hand, Black Wolf was the first to react. Black Wolf slammed his head into the ground and uttered humiliating words.

“Please spare me. Master, I will do anything you order.”

“What would I possibly have you do?”

The Mad Monk asked State Preceptor Yeon.

“State Preceptor Yeon, if your internal injuries have recovered to some extent, we may settle this with a life-and-death duel. In exchange, I will use only external arts. Stand up.”

State Preceptor Yeon also rose and looked at the Mad Monk.

“Master.”

“Speak.”

“The Yeon Kingdom, from which I once received my stipend, has now disappeared, and as you pointed out, I entrusted myself to the Life-and-Death Society for money. But now I truly have nowhere to go. If you open a path for me, I will follow it, so please tell me what I should do. If even this is another delusion of mine, then I will simply take your staff.”

“Is that so?”

When the Mad Monk brought his staff down, State Preceptor Yeon squeezed his eyes shut.

The Mad Monk was no ordinary master either, so the staff that had advanced as though it would smash State Preceptor Yeon’s skull stopped by a hair’s breadth above State Preceptor Yeon’s shoulder.

If this was how it turned out, perhaps State Preceptor Yeon’s scheming mind was extraordinary. I could not help but admire him.

‘That vicious bastard. He didn’t dodge that.’

The Mad Monk said.

“How am I to trust you?”

I agreed as well.

“Quite right.”

The Mad Monk returned to his place, sat upright, and spoke in a plain tone.

“State Preceptor Yeon.”

“Yes, Master.”

“If I spare you, can you take the position of eldest senior brother among the warrior monks I will teach in the Central Plains from now on? Judging by both skill and intellect, you are the most shrewd and outstanding. With a calculating mind capable of deliberately not dodging, if you guide your junior brothers well and deepen your own cultivation… one day, I think you too may become a light by which you can look back upon your dark days.”

Perhaps because State Preceptor Yeon was a clever man, he was not simply delighted.

“Will you accept me?”

“A person’s words are like smoke, quick to scatter. It depends on what lies in your heart. Is that heart of yours not still wandering somewhere in the Yeon Kingdom?”

State Preceptor Yeon nodded.

“In truth, it still is.”

The Mad Monk nodded, then said with a slight smile.

“In that case, I shall wait a little longer.”

The Mad Monk’s final words felt like the very finishing blow spoken of by masters of the martial world. Sure enough, State Preceptor Yeon, looking utterly drained, sank back into his seat.

Suddenly, as I listened quietly……

Though we had not agreed to it, the Mad Monk and I looked out at the sea at the same time.

The sound of the waves rolling in and receding was truly pleasant to hear.