Chapter 35. Fate of the Guardian (4)
[The Nameless Taoist likes to sit at the foot of the mountain beside the river, cast out his fishing rod, and waste his days away. Why don't you try fishing beside him and start a conversation?]
When Seongha went to the place the villagers had told him about, there really was a Taoist sitting there, completely absorbed in fishing with a relaxed and carefree attitude.
There was a large wart in the center of his forehead, and his curly hair had been twisted into a topknot held together with bamboo chopsticks.
His long eyebrows and white hair fluttered lightly in the river breeze.
Beneath his rolled-up trousers, thick calves and dark bare feet were visible.
Mist rose from the water around where he sat, making him look almost like an immortal who had descended upon the clouds.
Seongha calmly sat down beside the Taoist.
Two fishing rods stretched over the quiet river.
For a long while, neither the Taoist nor Seongha said a word.
Yet sometimes, a long silence could create a deeper understanding than conversation.
The fingertips holding the fishing rods.
The trembling surface of the water.
The occasional sideways glance.
Could there be a more intense battle of nerves?
Eventually, the old Taoist and the young man seemed to blend into the scenery itself.
It almost felt as though they had played a game of Go together, or passed a jar of grain wine back and forth.
At last, Seongha quietly spoke.
“What are you hoping to catch with an empty fishing rod?”
Seongha had already noticed long ago that the Taoist's fishing line had neither hook nor bait.
The Nameless Taoist laughed softly, looking somewhat impressed.
“Fishing is about waiting for the right moment.”
“Then your fishing rod is just like mine.”
Seongha raised his own empty rod.
“Just as you sit here at the foot of the mountain and fish for the passing of time, I came hoping that I might fish up some guidance.”
“...”
Seongha put down the rod.
Then he rose and bowed respectfully to the Nameless Taoist.
“Please teach me how to tame the hawk that lives in the Ancient Forest.”
The Taoist quietly studied him.
Then he asked,
“Why do you need to tame that hawk?”
Seongha hesitated for a moment.
Then he answered firmly.
“I need power.”
“Why would a priest who serves the gods and conducts rituals need power?”
Judging from Seongha's clothing, the Taoist had already realized he was a priest.
His questions cut straight toward the truth.
Seongha's gaze became serious.
“Because there is someone I want to protect in this corrupt world.”
The honest words slipped out before Seongha could stop them.
Even he felt something ripple through his own heart.
Originally, Seongha had been cynical toward Hui society.
He kept his distance from noble games and worldly affairs.
He disliked becoming involved with other people.
But after meeting Cheongyeon, he had changed.
Someone had opened the firmly closed door to his heart and stepped inside.
A person with intelligent eyes and a bright smile.
Whenever he was with her, the sharp tension constantly gripping his heart seemed to soften naturally.
The fate Cheongyeon carried as the Heavenly Maiden was far too heavy.
He wanted to lighten that burden.
He no longer wanted to simply watch over her from a distance.
He wanted to become someone who could stand beside her and protect her.
Now, Seongha no longer hesitated to step directly into the schemes of the ruling class.
But even that was not enough.
He needed power beyond ordinary human strength.
Power capable of cutting through the darkness hanging over the Hui Kingdom and facing the hardships that would come.
The Nameless Taoist looked quietly at the impatient Seongha.
“Protecting someone cannot be accomplished through strength alone.”
He continued,
“Even the most capable forest keeper cannot protect the woods when a raging fire is large enough to swallow the entire village.”
The Taoist coughed dryly, producing a sound like brass striking brass.
“If you cannot see the flow of the world and prevent disaster before it begins, then a great whirlpool will swallow the fate of every individual.”
Seongha frowned.
“What do you mean by a great whirlpool? Are you saying the end of the world is approaching?”
The Taoist pulled a long pipe from inside his clothes.
He took a deep breath from it, then slowly exhaled.
The smoke stretched outward like a thin thread.
“This world is divided into four cycles called kalpas. They are the Formation Kalpa, Continuance Kalpa, Destruction Kalpa, and Emptiness Kalpa.”
“...”
“The Destruction Kalpa is the period when a world moves toward ruin. The gates of Hell open, evil spirits roam freely, plagues spread everywhere, and natural disasters never cease.”
Seongha remembered the voice that had once descended from the sky.
[You humans, look carefully.
We have come to speak to you.]
[The gates between the Heavenly Realm and the Lower Realm have opened.
A darkness will come in which Heaven and Earth,
day and night,
human and beast,
can no longer be distinguished.]
[The names written in the records of the dead will disappear,
and the dead will return to the living world.]
[It is because your sins grow deeper and more abundant with every passing day.]
The Nameless Taoist narrowed his eyes and tapped the ashes from his pipe.
The black ash scattered into the wind.
“I do not know which of the four kalpas this world is currently experiencing. But there is no doubt that it closely resembles the time when previous worlds were destroyed.”
He looked toward the distant mountains.
“Dark clouds are gathering over a great mountain, crushing every living thing beneath them as they approach. What will you do?”
Everyone seemed to be warning of the same thing.
The end of the Hui Kingdom.
The end of the world.
Until now, Seongha had assumed that the coming disaster was simply the result of foolish rulers causing human-made calamities.
But perhaps...
it was Heaven's judgment upon mankind itself.
Seongha spoke calmly.
“To be truthful, I never cared about the destruction of the world. I've lived with a cynical view of life for a very long time.”
His voice remained quiet and even.
“I thought the things more terrible than destruction were the endless battles between people, terrible poverty, and suffering repeated every day.”
“I believed foolish people were making the world miserable through their own choices.”
Was the world not naturally chaotic and savage?
