The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

“Really?”

The novice monk was surprised and his large eyes sparkled.

A guest had come to Shaolin after a very long time.

They were four men, and their ages were very diverse.

And the abbot of Shaolin, Seungryun, personally greeted them.

“Welcome.”

Seungryun, who had greeted them with a prayer gesture, introduced himself with a benevolent smile.

“I am Seungryun, the abbot of Shaolin.”

“I am Namgung Muhyeok, the family head of the Namgung Clan.”

“I am Gwak Myeong.”

Even while Guyong introduced himself after Gwak Myeong, Seungryun’s interest was not on any of the three.

Seungryun’s interest was all focused on one man.

“I am Jin Sohyun of the Jin family.”

At the sight of Jin Sohyun, who was introducing himself with a polite posture as if he were the son of a famous family, Seungryun felt interest.

‘Is it this child?’

Seungryun felt like he knew why Namgung Muhyeok, Gwak Myeong, and the others had come to Shaolin with just four people.

A man with long hair and an appearance as beautiful as a woman.

Nevertheless, the aura flowing from the man’s whole body was unusual.

Quiet yet noisy.

Soft yet firm.

Although he seemed small enough to hold only a single blade of grass, if you looked deeply, he was holding Mount Tai.

This child is the sea.

Seungryun closed his eyes and deeply savored Jin Sohyun.

And he said.

“Monk Songwu is in the repentance cave.”

“…”

As Gwak Myeong frowned, Seungryun, who had opened his eyes, said with a voice that still retained its softness without any change in expression.

“I know that you don’t have time to waste in a place like this. If you want to meet Monk Songwu, go to the repentance cave. I have already told them, so there will be no one to block your path. And.”

Seungryun faced Jin Sohyun.

“How about you, young sir, have a talk with this old monk for a moment?”

Jin Sohyun looked at Namgung Muhyeok and Gwak Myeong alternately.

They nodded their heads without a word, and Jin Sohyun also readily nodded his head.

“Yes.”

“Then this way.”

While Namgung Muhyeok, Gwak Myeong, and Guyong were going to the repentance cave, Seungryun walked with Jin Sohyun along the walking path in Shaolin.

“I call this path the Meditation Path. When my head is dizzy with many worries, I always walk this path barefoot and organize my thoughts.”

Seungryun spoke respectfully to the young Jin Sohyun, took off his shoes, and walked the Meditation Path barefoot.

Although spring had come, a chill that had not left was felt from the ground.

“You should try walking too, sir.”

“Should I?”

Jin Sohyun followed Seungryun and walked the Meditation Path barefoot.

Two shadows advanced along the Meditation Path at a slow speed.

“Shaolin has always tried to walk the path of Buddhism, away from the secular world. So we are trying to leave the affairs of the secular world to the secular world.”

Seungryun passed by the large trees that crossed the Meditation Path and stepped on the small twigs that had fallen from them one by one.

Nevertheless, the fragile twigs did not break.

At this, Jin Sohyun also stepped on the twigs. This time too, the twigs did not break.

Seungryun, who was watching this with interest, continued.

“Why do you not ask?”

“What?”

“Why Shaolin is ignoring the crisis of the martial world by even sealing its gates. Was it not to ask this that you came to find me?”

“Hmm… do I have to ask?”

“Haha. That’s an interesting question. If you don’t ask, you can’t get an answer, can you?”

Jin Sohyun walked, following Seungryun’s footsteps, and said.

“I know almost nothing about Shaolin. I only know that it is a sect made up of monks who walk the path of Buddhism.”

“That’s not wrong. No, rather, that is right.”

“Doesn’t Buddhism forbid killing?”

“…”

At the unexpected question, Seungryun’s steps slowed down a little.

“That’s right. Buddhism forbids killing. That’s why the martial arts of Shaolin basically have the spirit of subduing demons, and they have their significance in subduing the enemy rather than killing them.”

“That’s why.”

Jin Sohyun broke away from Seungryun’s footsteps and walked his own path.

The twigs that had not broken were now breaking at Jin Sohyun’s steps.

“Because the path that the monks and I walk is different… I did not ask why you walk differently.”

“…”

It was a strange thing.

Seungryun had thought that Namgung Muhyeok and his party, who had come to Shaolin, would reprimand him, asking why Shaolin was ignoring the crisis of the martial world.

In fact, Shaolin was a member of the Nine Great Sects.

They had protected the Central Plains martial world with them for a long time.

But now Shaolin was silent about the crisis of the righteous martial world and had instead locked its gates.

‘He doesn’t blame them.’

But Jin Sohyun rather acknowledged that the path of Shaolin and his own was different and did not blame them.

“Do you know what is at the end of this path, Sir Jin?”

“No.”

“Let’s see together.”

The two reached the end of the Meditation Path.

And there.

There was nothing.

“There is nothing at the end of the Meditation Path. Either you gain enlightenment and return to heaven, or you return again for enlightenment.”

Seungryun turned his body at the end of the Meditation Path and faced Jin Sohyun.

“The will of heaven is contained in the will and actions of the Heretic Path's Alliance Leader. Even if this war ends in the victory of the righteous martial world, you will have to pay the price for going against the will of heaven.”

“Monk.”

“Yes, please ask.”

“Who is your heaven, monk?”

Seungryun was at a loss for words.

In the meantime, Jin Sohyun moved his steps to the end of the blocked Meditation Path.

“I don’t know who heaven is. And I don’t know what is on the path I have to walk, or what is waiting at the end. No matter how wide I open my eyes and look… I can’t see that.”

Jin Sohyun looked at a distant place.

He could see the mountains that held numerous peaks beyond Mount Song.

“I am a fool, so I don’t know anything. So… I just walk my path.”

Jin Sohyun took his first step towards a path that no one had ever stepped on.

“You have to go yourself to know what is at the end, don’t you?”

At Jin Sohyun’s smiling face, Seungryun felt an uncontrollable change of emotion.

The whirlpool of emotion that had once started could not be easily controlled, so Seungryun’s face turned red.

“If… more deaths are waiting at that end… will you still go?”

“I am a lazy person. When I lie down once, I don’t come out of my room for a month as a basic. Nevertheless, I do my best to be lazy every day.”

Although they were just random words, Seungryun asked seriously.

“What is the reason?”

“Because tomorrow, I might be busy with work and might not be able to be lazy. Gahyeon might throw a tantrum, asking me to play with her, and my father, who can no longer stand his son’s laziness, might forcibly wake me up. Maybe I might want to go for a walk on that day and leave my bed.”

Jin Sohyun, who had said this, asked with an innocent face.

“Do you know what the monk of tomorrow will do, monk?”

Of course, Seungryun’s day was repetitive, so he could roughly predict what the him of tomorrow would be doing.

But that was just a prediction and a guess.

What the him of tomorrow would actually be doing… even Seungryun, who had cultivated for a long time, could not know.

“You said that more people might die, right?”

“…”

“On the contrary, doesn’t that mean that more people might be saved? And I will do so.”

Jin Sohyun said, taking one step at a time on the path that no one had walked.

“By doing my best.”

***

“It’s hard to open my eyes.”

“How long have you been locked up?”

“Well. Since I parted with you, Great Master Gwak, I have been locked up all this time…”

“You’ve suffered.”

As they entered the repentance cave, Songwu, who had been locked up as Seungryun had said, was able to be released quickly.

Thanks to that, Songwu, who had been exposed to the sun after a long time, looked around with half-open eyes and soon discovered a welcome face.

“Young Master Jin!”

“Monk Songwu! Are you okay? Your face has become pale.”

“Hehe… I am fine.”

Songwu fumbled with his gaze and discovered Seungryun standing behind Jin Sohyun.

“Abbot…”

Songwu showed a surprised expression.

It was not just because Seungryun had let him out.

It was because he had felt a heart demon on the face of Seungryun, whom he had faced after a long time.

“…Are you okay?”

“You are saying what I should be saying, Monk Songwu.”

“As for me… there is no reason for me not to be okay.”

As he had said.

No worldly desires could be felt from Songwu, who had come out of the repentance cave.

But the abbot, Seungryun, was on the verge of a headache from the worldly desires he had created himself.

Seungryun put his two hands together, carefully examined the faces of Namgung Muhyeok, Gwak Myeong, Guyong, and Songwu, and finally met Jin Sohyun’s eyes.

And he said.

“May I… ask you a favor?”

***

“Is it okay to leave like this?”

At Guyong’s question, Gwak Myeong shifted his gaze to Namgung Muhyeok, who held all the decision-making power.

Namgung Muhyeok, who had felt their gaze, shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s Monk Songwu’s will, so what can we do? And… you all saw the abbot’s face, so you know, don’t you?”

“Indeed… that’s true.”

The unwavering abbot of Shaolin, Seungryun.

Seungryun, who resembled a large tree that had stood tall without being shaken by any storm, was shaking like a reed.

The one who had shaken the great tree of Seungryun was only one person.

“Koo— koo—”

A man who was sleeping with his head on the carriage as soon as the work was over.

“What on earth did they talk about… to bring worldly desires to the abbot of Shaolin…”

The three, including Gwak Myeong, stopped talking and spent a quiet time.

For the one man who had fallen asleep.

***

Songwu was puzzled.

Why was Seungryun, who was the great tree of Shaolin, shaking like this?

The man who had the answer had left Mount Song in a carriage.

So now the only one who had the answer was Seungryun, so Songwu waited for Songwu with patience.

Soon, Seungryun moved his steps.

The two walked along the Meditation Path side by side.

How long had they walked?

Seungryun, who had reached the end of the Meditation Path, finally opened his mouth.

“The child named Jin Sohyun asked me about heaven. So I… could not answer.”

“Heaven…”

“And that child asked me about tomorrow. And I… still could not answer.”

Songwu suddenly discovered a new footprint on the side of the Meditation Path.

No one else had ever left the Meditation Path, but the owner of that footprint had boldly left the Meditation Path and had created a new path.

Songwu had a hunch that the owner of that footprint was Jin Sohyun.

“I think I know why worldly desires have come to you, Abbot.”

“Songwu… I still do not know right and wrong. How can a mere human understand the will of heaven? But that child asked me. What heaven is to me. Now I think I know the answer.”

Seungryun raised his hand and placed it on his chest.

“I had forgotten… that heaven is within me.”

He had forgotten the teachings of decades.

Although he had vowed to walk the path of Buddhism, away from the secular world, he was still not able to escape from the secular world.

“Monk Songwu.”

“Yes.”

“I am still afraid that Shaolin will walk the path of killing. That child also knew this, so he did not blame Shaolin, and he did not force it.”

Seungryun’s old fingers, which were touching his chest, clenched into a fist.

“That young child has made himself a lantern before me. So now I will also light my lantern.”

Seungryun continued.

“Shaolin will advance. But that will not be the path of killing.”

“Yes, Abbot.”

In front of the nodding Songwu, Seungryun said with a benevolent face that was no longer in worldly desires.

“Let’s go save people.”

(End of Chapter)