Chapter 1224: Is This Okay? (Part 4)

"Hey, you fucking bastards! Is this something you do using a sword? You'll face divine punishment!"

"Well... I've heard the divine punishment talk from Evil Sect members throughout my life."

Jo Gol mercilessly dragged the Evil Sect member, who was spouting nonsense.

"Let go! Let go! Uwaaaaah!"

"Sahyung! This bastard is rebelling?"

Yoon Jong peered into the pitch-black cave with a pierced hole. Despite the broad daylight, the light didn't penetrate properly, making the interior eerily dark.

"Hmm. It's natural to be scared when trapped in this pitch-dark cave. Can you blame them for that?"

"...What should we do?"

"What to do? You're asking about something too obvious."

Yoon Jong chuckled and replied.

"The sense of compassion should be exercised for both humans and beasts. Is it permissible to hate a human being because he or she was born good?"

Upon hearing this, Jo Gol looked at Yoon Jong as if he realized something.

"Then..."

Yoon Jong nodded with an incredibly gentle expression, as if confirming that his thoughts were correct even without being asked.

"Yes. Throw him in the cave right away."

"...Sahyung, something seems incoherent."

"Not at all. People following the righteous path should exercise compassion even towards insects. But those Evil Sect guys are not even worthy of being called insects, let alone beasts, don't you think?"

Yoon Jong delivered a pointed remark with a mild face.

"So there's no reason to hesitate."

"..."

Before Jo Gol could react, Hye Yeon kicked the Evil Sect members into the cave.

Watching him kicking people into the pitch-black cave while chanting 'Amitabha' with his mouth, fundamental questions like 'What is Buddhism?' began to emerge.

"You dog-like bastards!"

"Uwaaaaah!"

The Evil Sect members inside the cave flipped their eyes and went wild.

Jo Gol involuntarily shivered.

Even among the Evil Sect, the Black Ghost Castle was known for its cruelty. However, he didn't expect them to behave so violently after having their dantian crushed and meridians severed.

'Well, with such toxicity, they must have turned into members of the Evil Sect.'

Unless they held considerable venom, they wouldn't be able to kill ordinary peasants like flies.

"The Evil Tyrant Alliance won't stay still!"

"Your bodies will soon be torn to shreds and end up filling the stomachs of beasts! You ruthless bastards!"

"Oh, really?"

Jo Gol smirked and grabbed a rock placed nearby in advance.

"Huh?"

"Well, until we become like that, you can keep cursing from there."

Krrrrrrrrunch!

A massive rock began to block the entrance of the cave. The faces of those trapped inside turned pale.

"Wait a minute..."

"Oh, no!"

"What are you crazy guys doing!"

Krrrrrrrrunch!

The entrance was almost closed. The Evil Sect members, with lost inner energy and severed meridians, had no way to remove the rock. Soon, in the almost lightless darkness, they would undoubtedly perish without a sound.

By now, their attitude had changed.

"P-Please, spare us!"

"I was wrong! I won't do it again!"

"P-Please!"

However...

Thud!

In the end, the rock completely sealed the cave.

"Uwaaaaah!"

"You're worse than the Evil Sect!"

"Even if I have to become a ghost, I will curse you! Uwaaaaah!"

Those left in the pitch-black darkness screamed in despair, their voices echoing until they couldn't speak anymore.

"Let's go back."

"Yes."

Yoon Jong, Jo Gol, and Hye Yeon turned away after staring at the rock that sealed the cave. Just a few steps away, a slightly heavier voice flowed from Hye Yeon's mouth.

"Dojang."

"Yes?"

"They will die, won't they?"

Yoon Jong's expression stiffened slightly. Hye Yeon lowered his head.

"No, Dojang. I'm not blaming this decision as wrong. They naturally deserve punishment. With such a mindset, they must have taken countless lives so far. So, it's only natural for them to face consequences."

Hye Yeon, who held the position of a Buddhist, spoke.

"Amitabha... But even so, my heart feels uneasy."

"...You seemed to enjoy pushing them in?"

"Well, what do you mean, Jo Gol?"

"No. The truth is..."

"Cough, cough, cough! Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding!"

Yoon Jong chuckled, looking at Hye Yeon's gradually reddening head.

"Honestly, I don't feel as relieved as a monk. If they were a bit stronger, it might have been less painful. It's a bit unsettling to torment the weak."

"Amitabha. Indeed, that's true."

"But... well. I don't think there's a need to hesitate. The punishment we've given them is nothing more than breaking their martial arts and temporarily starving them."

"Yes? They..."

Hye Yeon looked back with a puzzled expression. With their meridians severed, the strength of those inside couldn't move the rock or break the cave walls. So, the only ending left for them was to die in agony inside...

Yoon Jong said.

"They may not be able to come out on their own, but there are those who could help them, right?"

"...Are you referring to the villagers?"

"Yes. Although the rock is large, if everyone combines their strength, rolling it aside won't be too difficult. So, if the villagers are willing, they can rescue them anytime."

Hye Yeon nodded understandingly. Indeed, if the villagers joined forces, it seemed easy to remove the rock.

"But will they really help them?"

"That's irrelevant."

"...What?"

Yoon Jong smiled faintly.

"Considering Chung Myung's personality, they're no longer living creatures to him."

Hye Yeon nodded. Indeed, the directive from Chung Myung to imprison them was quite unexpected.

Although Hye Yeon assessed Chung Myung as unexpectedly kind, he had never seen him show mercy in matters related to the Evil Sect members or evildoers.

"Nevertheless, there must be a reason why that guy chose such a cumbersome method. We don't have the right to condemn them. The ones who have the right to condemn them are probably the villagers who almost lost their lives at their hands."

"Ah..."

"So, Chung Myung entrusted their fate to the villagers. Even if they released them later, he had already taken precautions to ensure they won't face retaliation."

"Why go to such lengths..."

At Hye Yeon's words, Yoon Jong shook his head.

"These are individuals who claim they had to lick the feet of their enemies due to lack of strength. Even if we say we repaid their grudge on their behalf since we had the strength, do you think they would truly be deeply satisfied?"

Hye Yeon nodded, understanding the meaning.

"Chung Myung Siju..."

"There are times when he seems to have deep thoughts."

Yoon Jong grinned. At that moment, Jo Gol casually walked over.

"Sahyung, pull yourself together. Do you really think Chung Myung would think like that?"

"Hmm?"

"In my opinion, that bastard is just pissed off and doesn't want to kill them cleanly."

"..."

"To put it bluntly, if we killed them by hitting their heads, wouldn't they just feel a sting and that would be the end of it?"

"..."

"If we're going to kill them, let them reflect properly before dying. If they've committed a sin, why make it easy for them to die!"

For a moment, Yoon Jong, who found Jo Gol's point quite reasonable, closed his eyes.

It is said that through the eyes of a dog, only a dog can be seen, and through the eyes of a Buddha, only a Buddha can be seen.

When they had taken a few more steps, Jo Gol cautiously opened his mouth.

"Sahyung."

"Hmm?"

"Did you see it earlier?"

It was an abrupt question, but Yoon Jong immediately understood what Jo Gol was trying to say.

"The villagers' reaction a while ago."

"Yes."

Jo Gol uncharacteristically hesitated for a moment, refraining from speaking for a while.

"I don't know what to say... Honestly, it's a bit..."

"I understand what you mean."

Yoon Jong sighed briefly. Jo Gol must have been quite shocked.

What they were doing was to help the weak and punish evildoers, to benefit the world through righteousness.

But to the weak, even a sword in hands was feared. To those who couldn't wield the sword, a sword in the hands of the Evil Sect or the righteous sect looked like just another executioner's blade.

"It's a problem we need to understand."

"But..."

"People cannot reveal their hearts. Goodwill is merely something we guess and trust."

"..."

"Even if someone fears a hint of evil hidden within the goodness, something that an irresistibly helpless person might fear, can it be said that it is wrong? Rather, wouldn't it be natural?"

Jo Gol took a long breath. As Yoon Jong said, it was indeed impossible to blame them for that.

"I don't want to say they were wrong. It's just... I feel a bit sorry. If we have to face fear even after upholding righteousness... Then, we..."

At that moment, Jo Gol's ears caught a firm voice.

"Don't misunderstand, Gol-ah."

"Yes?"

"Righteousness itself has no value."

"..."

"We're not striving for a world full of righteousness."

For a moment, doubt appeared in Jo Gol's eyes. However, Yoon Jong's following words naturally dispelled that doubt.

"Righteousness is meaningful only when there are those willing to help. A truly good world isn't a place full of those willing to help each other. It would probably be a world where everyone can live without necessarily helping each other."

"Ah..."

"Righteousness without the accompaniment of force is just goodwill. In other words, righteousness can be defined as something accomplished only through force. However, Gol-ah, a world where only force can achieve something is not a good place. Someday, the world our descendants live in should be considered a romantic past with the term 'righteousness.'"

Yoon Jong looked down at the sword at his waist.

"The day Mount Hua truly becomes Mount Hua is the day this sword falls from the waist of the Taoists of Mount Hua. A world where there's no need to wield a sword anymore. A world where there's no need to protect someone with a sword."

Jo Gol's expression seemed dazed as if he had received a blow to the back of his head.

Yoon Jong smiled faintly.

"If I were born in such a world, wouldn't I have been able to live in a small Taoist temple, quietly reciting Taoist scriptures? In such a world, those villagers might have shared a cold meal and smiled at me."

"..."

"There's no blame on them. Let's think of it as our inadequacy for now."

"Sahyung..."

Jo Gol, scratching his head as if in slight agony, opened his mouth.

"When I talk to you, Sahyung, sometimes I feel like I'm a fool."

"It shouldn't just be sometimes..."

"Yes?"

"Never mind."

Yoon Jong smiled and quickly walked forward. Jo Gol chased after him, scratching his head.

"Sahyung! Let's go together, Sahyung!"

Watching the two running ahead and behind, Hye Yeon smiled broadly.

'A world without righteousness...'

Well, he didn't know. Would such a day come?

But if it did, the world would undoubtedly be a much better place to live than it was now.

"Amitabha."

The quiet sound of a prayer spread through the serene mountains.