Chapter 273 Parallel Lines (2)
The Celestial Buddha and the King of Steel. These two were the tallest among those Yoon-seok had ever seen, but that wasn’t the only thing they had in common. They were muscular, of course, and used fists as their primary weapon. But more than that, common sense conversations didn’t work with them.
“How is it? Have you been freed from anguish?”
Anguish his ass. Yoon-seok frowned and shifted his gaze. He didn’t know when they arrived, but he looked down from the top of a tree.
“Stop talking nonsense and come down. You make me feel sorry for the tree.”
“…Seeing that you don’t feel respect for the Maitreya, you must have been devoured by the demon rather than washing away the anguish, right?
“How can you remain the same as ever…?”
Yoon-seok exhaled sharply as the Celestial Buddha smiled as if he was having fun. It was unexpected behavior. To be honest, Yoon-seok had expected him to rush in angrily already. It couldn’t be, had the disruptive impulse been completely cured?
‘…Turns out, it was all conceptual, wasn’t it?’
While such a question arose out of nowhere, the Celestial Buddha jumped down from the tree.
Boom-!
The ground shook as if an elephant, not a human, had fallen. Yoon-seok prepared his heart so that he could unleash his sword at any time. Of course, the reason he wanted to meet the Celestial Buddha was that he was wondering if he could recruit him as a teammate…
However, the last time they parted wasn’t on good terms. Circumstances beyond his control should also be taken into account.
“Don’t stare at me like that. After all, I have already given up on you.”
“You have given up on me…?”
“It is too much to defeat the demon that is infesting your mind, even for someone like me.”
Saying it like that, it sounded as though Yoon-seok had become irreparable garbage.
“…”
Yoon-seok was speechless as the Celestial Buddha continued to mumble.
“Anyway, you can rest assured! Usually, I purify such people by unlocking the rule of not killing any creature, but… isn’t this the Moorim League?”
“…”
“If we fight here, the League Master will not leave us alone.”
Yoon-seok was a little surprised. The Celestial Buddha, who acted like a gangster, was wary of the Sword Sovereign?
“…Is the Sword Sovereign that strong? Enough for someone like you to notice?”
“What do you think of me?”
Yoon-seok seriously thought he was crazy. He didn’t come to fight, though, so Yoon-seok didn’t dare say it. The Celestial Buddha coughed a few times as if he felt embarrassed.
“Koff-koff! Anyway, I don’t know what enlightenment that man had in his later years, but he is much more reluctant than before.”
“More reluctant?”
“You must have met him earlier, did you not feel it?”
Yoon-seok didn’t even know what he was talking about. However, he suddenly thought of something. Perhaps the Master of the Moorim League was a much greater human than he seemed, to the point where Yoon-seok couldn’t see his specialness at this level.
‘Is this what they call the Moorim League…?’
Yoon-seok blamed himself for visiting the Moorim League with a light heart. If the Master of the Moorim League had not treated him favorably if that old man had summoned him intending to harm him-
What would happen? Regardless, Yoon-seok would have gone through quite a bit of trouble.
“Anyway… if you don’t want to fight, why did you come here?”
“…I feel the evil energy. How can I not come and see it as a follower of Maitreya?”
In other words, it meant that there was no special reason and that he just came because he was curious. Well, it might be since it was the Celestial Buddha, but…
‘Wait, if this is true, why did the Sword Sovereign say that?’
Yoon-seok was startled at the sudden thought.
—I want you to be careful of the Celestial Buddha.
Before leaving, the Sword Sovereign clearly said this as if he knew something.
‘Even if he’s pretending not to be, he’s a clever old man. So let’s be careful. I don’t know what he’s up to.’
Of course, the same was true for the Sword Sovereign, so Yoon-seok couldn’t trust his warning 100%. Therefore, Yoon-seok decided to move carefully.
‘Let’s start digging for information.’
First, he could presume the Celestial Buddha had met the League Master recently. So, was that his reason for coming to the Moorim League? Yoon-seok pretended it wasn’t a big deal as he asked.
“By the way, what’s someone like you doing here in the League? I never thought we’d meet here.”
“I was waiting for someone.”
A strange answer returned.
“…Someone? Who are you talking about?”
Yoon-seok tried to dig deeper.
“I don’t even know.”
“…You said you waited, but you don’t know?”
“What’s surprising? It’s a meeting of people, that is, a fate the Maitreya has taken.”
The Celestial Buddha only sounded crazier after explaining. Anyway, did something come to mind after saying it? The Celestial Buddha looked at Yoon-seok with strange eyes.
“Maybe, it could be you.”
Yoon-seok gave up on understanding his way of thinking.
“So, what brought you here? Is it only because of your relationship with the Namgoong Family?”
Yoon-seok came to his senses. The Celestial Buddha’s voice was sly as usual, but his eyes were as deep as a midnight lake.
“The Namgoong family is one of my reasons, but I knew you were here, and I wanted to meet you.”
“Oho, me? Did the Demon order you to?”
“…Are you going to keep doing that?”
“If that’s not what the Demon ordered, then why are you looking for me?”
“It’s simple.”
Yoon-seok laid out the persuasion he had prepared for when he met the Celestial Buddha. The world was coming to an end. Can’t you put aside the Demon thing and stuff like that and lend your power to the cause of the world?
However, the Celestial Buddha showed only an ambiguous reaction even after hearing this.
“Hmm…”
The Celestial Buddha took a minute to organize his thoughts in silence.
“I can understand why you came for me. But I have one question, why would you want to kill the Queen?”
“…”
There were several reasons, including a bad relationship in his past life. However, Yoon-seok couldn’t answer immediately.
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It was difficult to say such a thing from the point of view of recruiting a teammate, but this time, it was because the Celestial Buddha wasn’t very reliable. However, could that brief silence be an answer?
“As long as the Queen exists, the Tower continues to repeat the same tragedy…”
“Never mind. I have already heard the answer.”
“…”
“The reason why you can’t answer immediately when I ask the cause is that it’s not a cause.”
Yoon-seok was a little upset. If the Celestial Buddha asked if killing the Queen was the main reason, he couldn’t answer that. However, it would save countless lives.
Nevertheless, the Celestial Buddha had already decided.
“My answer is no.”
“All right.”
Yoon-seok didn’t intend to cling pitifully to him. It didn’t seem like he could change his mind, and…
‘Maybe this is better.’
His combat power might be great, but it was difficult to believe in the Celestial Buddha’s character. Not in terms of what his humanity was like, but in terms of whether he could be controlled.
“Then our conversation ends here. May I go now?”
“It seems so. I was also planning to leave the League.”
“You’re leaving? Didn’t you say you had to wait for someone?”
“Now, there’s no need for that.”
It was a bit awkward to change tact like this, but who could understand the behavior of an ea strangean-like the Celestial Buddha?
“Alright. Then let’s not meet again.”
When Yoon-seok spoke sincerely, the Celestial Buddha smiled and stepped aside. It was a gesture in its own right, telling Yoon-seok to go on his way because he wouldn’t do any harm.
“So-so. And Young Lady Namgoong, I would like for us to move places, is that okay?”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
“There’s an annex used by the League. Let’s go there for now.”
Unlike So-so, who simply nodded, Namgoong Jin-jin suggested specific measures. And right on time as Yoon-seok was about to leave with the two of them according to her suggestion-
“Wait.”
The Celestial Buddha called to Yoon-seok.
“I think it would be fair to tell you this.”
“What are you trying to say all of a sudden?”
Yoon-seok looked at him with caution. However, the Celestial Buddha’s expression was completely different from before.
“You are not the first to make such a proposal to me.”
Such a proposal would be referring to the request for borrowing power. But this wasn’t the first time?
* * *
“Yes? What do you…”
“That’s it. See you again.”
There were many things he wanted to ask, but the Celestial Buddha disappeared, leaving only the promise of their next meeting. Dismayed, Yoon-seok, and the Namgoong sisters went to the annex to discuss other matters, and he received another request.
“We don’t have anything left to give in return, but we would like to ask you a favor.”
Namgoong Jin-jin bowed, saying they had to head to the main family manor to find the Azure Dragon Energy, but it wasn’t safe for the two of them.
“Sure.”
Yoon-seok accepted the request without hesitation. The first reason was that he felt sorry for the two of them who were left alone in the world overnight, and the second was his desire to directly end the story related to the Azure Dragon Energy if possible. Well, it could be a waste of time, but…
It would only take a day to arrive.
“I’ll tell the League Master that we’re leaving.”
However, contrary to Yoon-seok’s expectations, they didn’t head straight to the manor. It seemed there were various procedures and preparations before they left, and they decided they would leave tomorrow morning.
Yoon-seok chatted with Namgoong So-so while Jin-jin was busy preparing to leave.
“I haven’t seen you in the waiting room. Did you rip a permanent return ticket?”
“…That’s not it. I wanted to return to the Tower, but because of my grandfather, I couldn’t. You know, I couldn’t afford it after he passed away.”
“You mean you couldn’t go to the Tower?”
Yoon-seok remembered Namgoong Hu, whom he had met once. From what he recalled, Hu was a man with a flexible way of thinking. Why didn’t he let her go to the Tower?
Namgoong So-so continued with a sad expression.
“…My grandfather changed a little since Gege’s visit.”
“Gege? Who is that?”
As Yoon-seok tilted his head, So-so pointed at Yoon-seok with red cheeks. He heard that gege was a term to refer to an older man in Moorim.
“In a word, is it like Oppa?”
He wanted to ask So-so’s age, but sadly it wasn’t the right time.
“Anyway, after Gege left, my grandfather started talking about things like Zen riddles.”
“Zen riddles? Do you mean like that monk, dude?”
“Pfff! Are you talking about the Celestial Buddha?”
Namgoong So-so covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed. It wasn’t intentional, but the atmosphere lightened a bit.
“…So, what did the late family head say?”
“The world will return to its original state no matter what we do. That’s what he said.”
“It certainly sounds like a Zen riddle.”
“I know, right?”
It was more of a selfish remark than a Zen riddle, but it wouldn’t be polite to mention it.
Later, as they talked more about each other, Namgoong Jin-jin returned, and she took So-so to rest. Yoon-seok tried to tell her that they didn’t have to, but he looked out the window to see the sun had already set.
‘Right, this is Moorim, after all.’
If a man and a woman stayed in the same room at night, strange rumors might circulate. What’s more, wasn’t Yoon-seok the Co-Sect Leader of the Demon Sect? If that sort of rumor spread about her, a member of the prestigious family of the Political Faction, it wouldn’t end well.
It wasn’t like Yoon-seok could fulfill Namgoong’s dream of rebuilding the family even with a decent son-in-law.
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‘Besides, I need time to think alone.’
Yoon-seok quietly closed his eyes, and he took the time to take out what happened today one by one and dig into every detail.
The Sword Sovereign Mo Yongbi and the Celestial Buddha Fa Zhen. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t get rid of the thought that these two were hiding something.
What kind of secrets did they have?