I was so dumbfounded by that answer I couldn’t speak.
Monk Ji Sang’s mother had already died ten years ago, and her husband was perfectly fine?
I didn’t know what his maternal uncle’s purpose had been in telling Monk Ji Sang that, but something about it was definitely wrong.
I asked again.
“Could it be that her brother doesn’t know she died?”
“What do you mean he doesn’t know? I heard he came to the funeral and even pocketed the condolence money.”
“…”
“Anything else you want to ask?”
“Ah, no, that’s all. Thank you.”
I paid the villagers for the information, and they happily took the money and left grinning.
“From what I can tell, Monk Ji Sang doesn’t know his mother passed away.”
At that, Escort Guard Seo Wu’s brows lifted slightly.
“Honestly, wouldn’t bringing up someone who’s alive work better than bringing up someone who’s dead?”
“It would.”
“And his late mother’s husband has nothing to do with him. So why would he worry about that man’s health?”
Seo Wu answered.
“Just as you said, Young Master, there’s no reason for that. That leaves only one conclusion. The man calling himself Monk Ji Sang’s maternal uncle is a filthy bastard.”
I nodded in agreement with that conclusion.
That raised a question.
Why didn’t Monk Ji Sang know his mother had died?
It wasn’t even that far from Shaolin Temple.
It would’ve been one thing before he officially became a Martial Monk, but after that, getting permission to visit a nearby village shouldn’t have been difficult.
I decided to put that question aside for later, and first we returned to Shaolin Temple.
By the time we got back to Shaolin Temple, it was already time for dinner.
What should I do about this…
I wrestled with it, but I’d already reached a conclusion.
Monk Ji Sang needed to know the truth. It would hurt, but he couldn’t stay ignorant forever.
Otherwise, he’d keep getting pushed around by his maternal uncle, and if that happened, Monk Ji Sang’s future could only be bleak.
I couldn’t let a good man like Monk Ji Sang get hurt because of a bastard family like that!
There was a chance that learning the truth would drive him into a rage and make him break the prohibition against killing…
But from what I’d seen, Monk Ji Sang’s cultivation wasn’t shallow at all.
He should be able to control that anger.
After dinner, I headed for the Sutra Library.
Because I had to tell him the truth.
He needed to learn this before he did something drastic. If he only found out after the fact, how tragic would that be?
“Amitabha, what brings you here, Benefactor?”
As I approached the Sutra Library, Monk Ji Sang greeted me with a respectful palm salute.
Actually, I’d been here earlier too…
Smiling, I said to him,
“It’s my first time visiting Shaolin Temple, so I got curious and started walking around the grounds. Before I knew it, I ended up all the way here.”
“I see. My apologies, but outsiders aren’t allowed past this point.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“Not at all. You didn’t know, so of course you came this way. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
He really was a good person.
Just then, the sound of drums rang through the temple grounds.
Boom boom boom boom!
Along with that sound, a group of monks approached the Sutra Library.
It was time for the shift change.
I’d come now specifically because of the shift change. After watching the handover for a moment, I walked over to him as he headed off somewhere.
“Looks like you’re going to eat dinner now.”
“That’s right. I’ll eat, then rest.”
After exchanging a bit of light conversation, I asked as if something had just come to mind.
“You look strangely familiar. Have we met before?”
At my question, he shook his head.
“No. This is our first meeting. I’ve never left Shaolin Temple to begin with.”
“Is that so?”
There was something sad in his eyes as he said that. Had his maternal uncle used his mother as an excuse and told him never to leave Shaolin Temple?
“My apologies. Your face just seemed so familiar…”
“No, that’s understandable.”
I scratched my cheek, then let out an “Ah!”
“I just remembered where I’d seen you.”
“Pardon?”
“It wasn’t you I saw. A while back, I met someone in a nearby village who looked just like you.”
I continued.
“She was a very beautiful lady.”
At my words, his eyes wavered.
Right, he must have known instinctively.
That the person I was talking about was his mother.
“I–I see.”
“She was Lady Hae from Daeri County, the third wife of Lord Song, who’s acquainted with my father.”
“Is she… living happily now?”
Monk Ji Sang’s gaze trembled, and his voice was thick with emotion.
Right, after I’d gone into this much detail, there was no way he wouldn’t know.
That was why he’d asked whether she was living ‘happily.’ Someone with no connection to her wouldn’t have asked that.
“Ah, well…”
I put on a pained expression.
“I heard she passed away ten years ago.”
“What?”
“I heard she had a son with her late husband, and after sending that son to Shaolin Temple, she entered a remarriage she never wanted. It seems she slowly wasted away because of it.”
“…”
“But the unbelievable part is that the man calling himself her brother showed up at the funeral and even took the condolence money.”
I let my anger show.
“If he already sold his own younger sister off as a rich man’s concubine, took all that land, and got to live in luxury because of it, then the least he could have is some shame! Seriously!”
“…”
“Ah, I got carried away. My apologies.”
“…No. It’s all right.”
As he answered, Monk Ji Sang’s face was twisted with pain.
“Then… um…”
“Yes?”
“The lady’s husband… is he doing well?”
“Very much so.”
“…”
I called to him carefully.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m fine. Yes, perfectly fine.”
I took a handkerchief from inside my robe and held it out to him.
I felt bad, but this was pain he had to go through sooner or later.
And compared to the pain and grief he would’ve suffered otherwise, this was nothing.
“You’re crying.”
“I’ve… made a spectacle of myself.”
“If you need help with anything, come find me. And anger isn’t necessary for revenge.”
I left after saying that.
Because it felt like I needed to give him space right then.
Ji Sang felt like his heart was being torn apart.
No, it felt worse than that. As if it were being ripped to shreds.
His mother was dead.
That meant that all those nights he had cried because he missed her, she had already been gone from this world.
At first, he didn’t believe it.
But Lady Hae of Daeri County, the third wife, Lord Song, a son who had entered Shaolin Temple as a disciple—how many people could possibly fit all those details?
At that point, he could no longer avoid the truth.
He thought back to how his maternal uncle had looked whenever he came to see him.
The man had always shown up in ragged clothes and begged him for help.
So Ji Sang had pinched every coin from his monthly allowance and given it to him.
And yet he’d been living in luxury all along!
Once suspicion took root, all the strange details came flooding back.
Every time the man visited him, he wore the exact same clothes.
And there were never any fresh patches on them.
The color had barely faded, either.
If someone wore the same outfit for years, then no matter how carefully he treated it, the color would’ve faded and new patches would’ve appeared.
And unlike his shabby clothes, his hands had been pale and smooth.
A person’s hands were proof of the life he lived.
They showed whether someone lived in comfort, worked himself to the bone all day, or trained in martial arts.
If a man was truly dressed in rags, then his hands should’ve been rough as well.
Only then did Ji Sang understand the situation.
His maternal uncle had been deceiving him all this time.
Ji Sang wasn’t stupid, nor was he some hopelessly soft-hearted fool.
No one could survive the competition and become a Martial Monk of Shaolin like this by being nothing but gentle.
And the fact that he’d succeeded in becoming a Martial Monk among so many disciples also meant he was exceptionally sharp for his age.
He had only one weakness—his mother.
But as of today, even that weakness was gone. His mother had already passed away, so she could no longer be his weakness.
Even so, just for today, he wanted to cry.
The tears he shed now were tears of mourning for his mother.
After grieving for a long while, he wiped his tears with the handkerchief.
Then, looking at that handkerchief, he thought of Eun Seo-ho.
Eun Seo-ho had approached him out of nowhere, asked if they’d met before, and naturally steered the conversation toward his mother.
He must have approached him for the sole purpose of delivering news about his mother.
He remembered what Eun Seo-ho had said while giving him that handkerchief.
That anger didn’t help with revenge, and that if he needed help, he should come find him.
Right now, he was furious.
Because it was obvious that his maternal uncle had been the beginning of this entire tragedy. And as if that weren’t enough, he’d now even ordered Ji Sang to do something he never should do.
Not being angry would’ve been strange.
But he thought he understood Eun Seo-ho’s intent in telling him all this.
It meant he shouldn’t let his maternal uncle sway him into doing something foolish.
‘Then does that mean… he already knows everything? Even what I was about to do?’
A chill ran down his spine.
‘I need to see him right away.’
Before long, it was time for bed.
But instead of sleeping, I sat in my quarters reading a book.
If my guess was right, Monk Ji Sang would come find me even this late.
“Young Master, you’ve got a visitor.”
At Palgap’s words, I nodded. Just as I expected.
“Let him in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Soon the door opened, and Monk Ji Sang, whom I’d seen earlier, stepped inside.
Judging by his swollen eyes, he’d cried quite a bit.
Man… I suddenly felt bad for him.
“Please, sit.”
He sat where I indicated, then bowed his head.
“First, thank you. I only learned about my mother today.”
“So the lady I mentioned earlier was your mother.”
“You already knew, yet you still acted as if you didn’t.”
As I thought…
I immediately bowed my head slightly in apology.
“I apologize.”
“No. I’m simply grateful that I can at least pray for my mother’s passage to Heaven now.”
He was so polite it almost made me feel embarrassed.
“But why would you show me such kindness?”
“You may not believe me, but I actually met Venerable Blood Staff Star Monk in a dream.”
“What?”
“He looked at you with such pity that I started wondering what had happened. While looking into it, I learned the truth.”
“…”
“Why didn’t you ever try to learn what happened to your mother?”
At my question, he answered evenly.
“My maternal uncle told me that if I ever left Shaolin Temple, my mother would suffer for it.”
“So that was the reason.”
Wow, I seriously wanted to swear.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of my mother suffering because of me.”
To use a person’s devotion to his mother like that!
Even among cruel men, that bastard was the worst kind.
“You told me to come if I needed help, so I’ve come.”
“Go ahead.”
“The truth is, my maternal uncle ordered me to do something that would outrage heaven and earth.”
In a steady voice, he told me what had happened.
“He told me to take the Elixir enshrined within Venerable Blood Staff Star Monk’s sacred body. And he said that if I burned the sacred body afterward, no one would know who did it.”
He spoke calmly, but there was no way his heart was calm.
Right now, he was only holding back his anger through sheer force of will.
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
“Pardon?”
I repeated myself.
“Something happened to you that would make anyone angry. Of course you should be angry.”
“But earlier you said anger wasn’t necessary for revenge…”
“That’s right. Anger isn’t necessary for revenge. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t feel angry. Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are all natural parts of being human, aren’t they?”
I continued.
“I only meant you can’t let those feelings ruin what needs to be done.”
“Ah…”
“Your late mother definitely saw how well you grew up. And she would’ve been deeply proud of you.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. So don’t dirty your own hands for the sake of revenge. Leave that revenge to heaven’s will. If you stain your hands with blood and end up cast out for breaking your vows, how heartbroken would your late mother be?”
As a Martial Monk, even taking a life wouldn’t normally get him expelled, but only if it wasn’t for a private grievance.
“But I don’t know how to control this feeling… I truly don’t.”
“I’ll help you.”
“Pardon?”
“The truth is, I’m very serious about protecting Venerable Blood Staff Star Monk’s sacred body.”
“But even so, that doesn’t give you any reason to go this far for my sake.”
“Just think of it as your mother sending me for the sake of her son’s future.”
“…”
“If not, then why would I be here now? Isn’t this heaven answering your mother’s desperate wish?”
I continued.
“So how about you spend about a month in the Penance Cave?”
“The Penance Cave?”
He thought for a moment at my suggestion, then nodded.
“Very well. I’ll spend a month in meditation and pray for my mother’s passage to Heaven.”
You can count on it.
By the time you come out a month from now, everything will be neatly taken care of.
–TL Notes–
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