Chapter 171 : A Changed Standing. -03
Chapter 171: A Changed Standing. -03
Jeong Hyeon did not deny it.
It was because such feelings were layered within him to some extent.
He had originally been famous as a genius of Shaolin, but now he was renowned throughout the entire Central Plains.
That was why Jeong Hyeon wanted to receive proper advice.
“If I tell you, it will be useless if you cannot digest it.”
“Still, if I keep hearing it, won’t it become engraved in my head? Then wouldn’t it help later?”
“Do you feel nothing when you look at Bang or your junior siblings?”
“Uh….”
At Ban Hojin’s words, Jeong Hyeon trailed off.
He could not guess the intent behind them.
“The children do not often seek advice from me. Why do you think that is?”
“……Because their martial arts are different?”
“That cannot be it. Even if the martial arts one has learned differ, once they reach the extreme, they all converge. And the level of those traveling with us now can be said to be at the very top even among the Rising Juniors. Yet why do they not ask for help? Is it because they are confident in their own martial arts?”
“Uh, wouldn’t that be part of it?”
“You really cannot grasp it at all. They are trying to find the answer themselves as much as possible. They try this method, and attempt that method. Then, when no answer can be seen no matter what they do, that is when they come to me. So here is the question. Is the time spent wandering like that a waste, or not?”
Jeong Hyeon swallowed dryly.
Instinctively, he felt he had to answer well.
So he rolled his eyes busily, chewing over everything Ban Hojin had said thus far.
“Uh… um….”
Even as he pondered, Jeong Hyeon kept glancing around restlessly, reading the atmosphere. Ban Hojin looked at him steadily, as if to say he would not rush him.
As if he were willing to give him as much time as he needed to think.
But no matter how much he thought about it, nothing that could be called an answer came to mind.
“Anything is fine. There may be an answer among the things you have thought of.”
“I don’t really know. I can’t think of a reason convincing enough to call either side the answer.”
“The very act of thinking like this is helpful to you. You cannot see it, nor can you feel anything changing, but what is certain is that the time spent 고민ing is not meaningless. If you think carefully, life itself is a series of 고민 and choices.”
“Ah!”
“So do not hope for luck. Do what you can right now. Advice is something you seek only after you have tried everything and still cannot find the answer.”
Ban Hojin spoke gently.
Hoping for luck was a psychology people inherently possessed.
Everyone dreamed of turning their lives around and wished for a rise in status.
Moreover, Jeong Hyeon was only thirteen years old, so seeking a shortcut was not strange at all.
“I will engrave Senior Uncle’s words into my bones! I’ll think about them once every night before I sleep!”
“Stop spouting nonsense and go train. And don’t slack off.”
“Yes!”
As if he had realized something from Ban Hojin’s words, Jeong Hyeon immediately bowed deeply and retraced the path he had come from.
Ban Hojin quietly watched him go.
“I wish this peace would last until the day I die.”
Though he lay leisurely atop a tree, Ban Hojin’s mind was complicated.
He had fortunately brought down In Gyeongbo, but three still remained.
That weighed heavily on his heart.
It was the dead of night when everyone else was asleep, yet only the room of Sama Uiseong was brightly lit.
With an oil lamp lit, Sama Uiseong stared down at a blank sheet of paper.
His expression was serious, as though he had something on his mind.
“At this rate, there is a limit.”
The inkstone was filled with ink, yet Sama Uiseong did not lift the brush.
Instead, he had spread out a sheet of pristine white paper on the desk and muttered with a grave expression.
“We need power.”
People only thought about the fact that they had won the war against the Ironblood Fortress.
They saw only what they wanted to see, and heard only what they wanted to hear.
However, no one thought about the damage they had suffered because of the war with the Ironblood Fortress.
Ban Hojin and Ilwoo were examples of that.
While they rejoiced at the appearance of Sang Il-gi, they did not particularly welcome Ban Hojin.
Though he was still young, there was also a certain wariness simply because he was from Shaolin.
No one wished for Shaolin to grow even stronger.
“But Shaolin is not actually my elder brother’s power.”
Shaolin was certainly an excellent backing for Ban Hojin.
But only to that extent.
As a Lay Disciple, Ban Hojin possessed no authority whatsoever.
Sama Uiseong believed that was the problem.
“For the sake of the future, my elder brother must have power of his own.”
While everyone was intoxicated with victory, Sama Uiseong saw something different.
He did not overlook what others had neglected.
It was certainly an extraordinary achievement that Ban Hojin had killed the Lord of the Ironblood Fortress, but he had not accomplished it through his strength alone.
If the forces of the Mount Hua Sect, the Mount Zhongnan Sect, the Namgung Family, the Peng Family of Hebei, and others had not supported him, then no matter how great Ban Hojin was, he would not have captured In Gyeongbo unscathed.
Even if he had managed to capture him, he would not have escaped alive.
For that very reason, Sama Uiseong had no choice but to ponder this matter.
“There’s a limit to what a small elite force can do. If everyone in our party were at the level of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven, there’d be no need for this kind of concern—but that’s not the case.”
Sama Uiseong coolly assessed their current Military Strength.
The foundation of strategy began with accurately grasping the strength of one’s own side.
Thus, he set aside personal feelings and viewed the matter from an entirely objective standpoint.
“It doesn’t seem like you have no intention of becoming independent, either, Brother.”
If what Ban Hojin desired was merely maintaining the status quo, then such worries would be meaningless.
But the Ban Hojin Sama Uiseong had observed until now clearly had intentions.
He intended to leave Shaolin Temple and establish a family of his own.
He simply had not yet made his move.
Knock knock knock.
“It’s me.”
“Please come in, Brother.”
Just then, along with the sound of knocking, came the voice of the very person who had plunged Sama Uiseong into deep thought.
It was Ban Hojin.
Though it was late and the visit sudden, Sama Uiseong was not particularly surprised.
“I saw your light was still on, so I came by. Do you have a lot to take care of?”
“Not exactly. I just have some things to think about. I couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Is it because you drank too much tea?”
“My body’s far too accustomed to that for it to matter. Hahaha.”
As he gestured for Ban Hojin to sit, Sama Uiseong smiled faintly.
Tea had nothing to do with his sleep.
He had heard of teas that drove away drowsiness, but the kind he usually drank was not of that sort.
“You haven’t been sleeping well lately, have you?”
“I still get as much as I need. Proper rest improves efficiency.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Receiving the tea Sama Uiseong poured for him, Ban Hojin spoke with concern.
He was not one to worry about others easily, but Sama Uiseong was different.
Rather than slacking off, he drove himself too harshly; sometimes he needed to be reined in.
“Thank you for your concern. But I’m really fine.”
“I know you’ve been training your martial arts in between as well, but a person isn’t a machine. Even machines and mechanical formations break down—so how much more so a person? I know how you feel, but doing your best and being foolish aren’t the same thing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So what’s been troubling you these days?”
After taking a sip of warm tea, Ban Hojin asked.
As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything in particular to worry about.
The war had more or less been settled, yet Sama Uiseong seemed unusually serious, so he asked casually.
“There are several things. One of them is you, Brother.”
“Me? Why me? I’ve been spending my time quite meaningfully.”
“I know that well. But there’s something I realized during the war with the Ironblood Fortress.”
“What is it?”
“Your Martial Prowess is remarkable, Brother—but I felt that you lack the forces to support it.”
Sama Uiseong answered cautiously.
People were more sensitive to criticism than praise.
And criticism lingered longer in memory, so he carefully watched Ban Hojin’s reaction.
It could easily sound unpleasant.
“Power, huh. That’s not wrong. I may be a disciple of Shaolin Temple, but I have almost no authority.”
Contrary to Sama Uiseong’s worries, Ban Hojin did not seem bothered.
He saw no reason to be offended by the truth.
Relieved inwardly, Sama Uiseong carefully voiced what he had been thinking.
“To speak frankly, Brother Bang and Brother Cheok belong to the Seonwu Family and the Murong Family. They may become friendly forces, but they are not places that move according to your will.”
“That’s true. So what you’re saying is that I should become independent?”
“To be precise, I wish to know your true intentions. From what I’ve sensed, you are considering independence as well. Am I mistaken?”
“I have thought about it. I don’t intend to remain on Songshan forever. Master said he would support whatever decision I make. But I should marry someday too. Wouldn’t that naturally lead to independence?”
“So you haven’t made any specific plans.”
Sama Uiseong nodded.
It might seem vague, but from Ban Hojin’s position, it was the best approach.
He did not know when or whom he would marry; it was difficult to act rashly.
Moreover, the state of Murim was unsettled.
“I think it’s still too early for marriage. They say love can blossom even in wartime, but I’ve nothing of the sort. And I doubt I ever will.”
“One never knows. They say no one can see even an inch ahead in life. Hahaha.”
“Don’t you know my personality by now? I would’ve thought you’d figured me out.”
“Uh…”
Whether he agreed or denied it, neither answer would benefit him, so Sama Uiseong trailed off.
He subtly avoided Ban Hojin’s gaze.
It was a silent refusal to answer.
“I understand your thoughts. But power isn’t something you can simply create because you’ve decided to. If you rush it, it’s worse than not doing it at all.”
“That’s correct. I’d rather not do it at all than gather a rabble. However, I believe some degree of preparation is necessary. It’s certainly better to prepare systematically than to start recklessly. That’s why I asked you.”
“That’s the proper way, yes. But aren’t you the one who’s in a greater hurry than I am? I heard the descendants of the Sama Family have come looking for you. Yet you’ve said nothing about that.”
“Mm. About that…”
“You look troubled.”
Ban Hojin tilted his head.
It was not the reaction he had expected.
But as Sama Uiseong continued, Ban Hojin nodded.
“I was planning to ask you for advice about that as well. Honestly, at first I was happy when descendants I’d never expected appeared. It made me feel I wasn’t alone. But the more I thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Even if I did distinguish myself somewhat in the war with the Ironblood Fortress, the way they appeared one after another…”
“It’s only natural to suspect they might not be blood relatives. It would be stranger to believe them without question.”
“That may be true. But it’s not easy to tell the difference.”
As if revealing the weight of his long 고민, Sama Uiseong’s expression was filled with deep distress.
Though he was intelligent, discerning deliberate lies was not simple.
Precocious though he was, Sama Uiseong was only eighteen.
“It’s difficult. It wouldn’t be easy for me either. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way.”
“Is there a method?”