Absolute Regression - Chapter 319



Only Noblemtl

Episode 319 It’s always because of So Gyoju.

That night, the leader of Pungcheon was walking around the yard unable to sleep.

The words of Geommugeuk, about looking at the opponent properly without prejudice, kept ringing in my ears.

I could not see my student Sobaekta without prejudice.

I only focused on the difference. Was he like this? I don’t think he used to be like this.

I didn’t look at him properly and was only swayed by my emotions.

‘You changed everything about Gyojujeon like that? If you had any respect for me you wouldn’t do that.’

However, if you look at it coolly, respect for yourself and changing the religion are two different things. The change may have been made because of an insignificant decision, or there may be other reasons.

Yes, Geommugeuk is right. The answer is not in my heart, but in Sobaekta. Instead of looking at the changed Gyojujeon, I should have looked into Sobaekta’s eyes.

As I was wandering around the front yard, thinking about various things, Mabul walked out, illuminating the darkness with golden light.

“Which of the three cult leaders is causing you trouble sleeping?”

“Three religious leaders?”

“Are you our small religious leader? “Are you the contemporary leader of Pungcheongyo?”

“What about the other religious leader?”

Mabul stared at the leader of Pungcheon. Only then did the Pungcheon religious leader realize that the last religious leader that Mabul had mentioned was himself, the previous religious leader.

The head of Pungcheon Church laughed and said self-deprecatingly.

“The problem is always the last leader.”

Then Mabul came up with a different answer.

“no. “The reason we can’t sleep is because of Sogyoju.”

How can you not know?

If it weren’t for So Jyoju, we wouldn’t be here today. That Sobaekta is still asking, ‘When will I become the leader?’ He must have been in a situation where he was only looking at Gyojujeon.

It was scary to think about it that way.

Goyol will still be tied up in Gyojujeon. No, he had the key to the shackles, so he might have left himself by now.

He must be jumping up and down, giving orders to kill Gowol without knowing what kind of person he is. I was appalled at myself for living such a life.

The leader of Pungcheon Church sat on a rock. It was to make eye contact with Mabul.

If it weren’t for Su Jiaoju, that Mabul would have been living a different life.

If it had been a different leader rather than the current one, would the Archduke have become the successor?

At that time, Mabul said something unexpected.

“Honestly, I’m happy these days.”

The leader of Pungcheon was surprised. He was about to say ‘you’re crazy’ without realizing it.

I never thought words of joy would come out of Mabul’s mouth. Yes, he is human too, so he can have fun. But he didn’t know that he would reveal those feelings to himself.

“I enjoy this feeling of living a life other than my own. Have you lived a very boring life until now?”

The life of giving up the power struggle, the life of coming here to help the Pungcheon religious leader, and the life of accepting paper full of poisonous plants, he was definitely living a different life than before.

“I’ve never once thought, ‘What would it be like to live a different life?’”

The leader of Pungcheon Church, who was listening to Mabul’s words, suddenly spoke.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at you directly.”

There was a time when we were like friends, and then there was a time when we were fighting over a successor dispute, and even until this moment. It felt like I never really saw him.

Mabul was not upset at all. This was because he also sympathized with the meaning contained in the words of the Pungcheon religious leader. That’s why Mabul came to an easy conclusion.

“So, all of this responsibility is because of Lord Xiao.”

The leader of the Pungcheon Church nodded with a smile.

“Yes, it’s always because of Su Jiaoju. “It’s because of our arrogant and smart leader who makes it difficult for adults to sleep.”

These days, he was having the most fun watching Mabul and his sword dance performance. He was always the most excited when swearing at sword martial arts.

The head of Pungcheon looked up at the night sky. Outside of the bird, the moon looked more bleak and lonely. Then, for a moment, I missed it.

‘It’s happening again. Also, the answer is found in the heart first.’

I looked up at the moon again. When I looked again, the moon outside Sae-Oe and the moon in Jungwon were the same. Yes, I practice while looking at the moon. The answer is on the moon.

* * *

The next day, there was a strategy meeting before heading to the welcome hall.

“By now, the people behind this will have lost contact with the woman in the flower garden. Of course she would think we were the ones to blame her. There will be two reactions. “Either save yourself or retaliate.”

The leader of Pungcheon and Mabul did not look scared. That’s because he didn’t think that whoever he was, he would dare to take revenge on the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Little Cult, Mabul, and the previous Pungcheon Cult.

But I know sword dance. The opponent is Hwanwang, who lost Hwanyeo. No one knows how he will come out. So I woke up the awareness of the two people.

“As you saw through the flower garden woman, they are people who use the demonic techniques of the blood religion that have been proven in practice. “You don’t know what might pop up, so you shouldn’t relax.”

Blood religion is definitely effective for Pungcheon religious leaders. Because the moment he heard those words, his eyes became intense. Also, the leader of the Pungcheon cult was a person who believed in the conspiracy theory that there were people who were trying to revive the fallen blood religion.

“Sir, please keep a close eye on those attending today’s banquet to see if anyone has been victimized by the magic trick.”

Mabul was given a different request.

“They might catch me off guard and try to approach Mabul, not me or the leader. Please be mindful of that and watch out for suspicious individuals approaching.”

Geommugeuk stood up and spoke powerfully.

“Now, let’s go. The war begins now.”

I left the guesthouse with two people.

Pungcheon religious leader and Mabul walked side by side on both sides of the sword dance. Here in the world of birds, they were the wings.

* * *

In the welcome banquet hall, all the major masters as well as the five elders of Pungcheongyo Church gathered.

Not all Pungcheongyo were experts in illusion techniques. There were also pure warriors who did not use genjutsu. Elder Huyang, who is now greeting the leader of Pungcheon, was like that. He is a swordsman who belongs to the three great swordsmen of Sae-Oe.

“long time no see.”

Since he could no longer use the title ‘leader’, it was awkward for Huyang to know what to call the leader of Pungcheon.

“How are you?”

“Thanks to you, I had a good time. “It looks like you’ve lost a lot of weight.”

At those words, the leader of Pungcheon smiled happily. That’s the word I like to hear the most these days.

“Your face also looks relaxed.”

“Thank you. “You look great too.”

In the past, I would have naturally thought this way.

Since we had a good relationship in the past, of course he would still be friendly to me.

The leader of the Pungcheon Church calmly stared at him.

Is that really true?

Now this question weighs heavily on me.

This is what sword dance is about.

A past relationship, personality, reputation, something nice to hear, or a slip of the tongue. Instead of drawing on these things and judging based on assumptions, look and listen directly to the eyes, expressions, and words that are looking at you right now.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t honor you more.”

“What do you mean?”

“I respected you because you were a pure warrior. Thank you for committing yourself to our school. So she had an idea to treat her better, but she put it off and missed the opportunity. “I’m sorry.”

I apologized to him. Apologizing like this was also a change after encountering Geommugeuk. Apologize to Gowol, apologize to Mabul, and apologize to Huyang. Yes, I apologize for everything.

I could feel Hu Yang being embarrassed. She couldn’t hide her feelings as to what on earth he was planning.

Yes, my relationship with a person named Hu Yang is exactly like this.

A distance that makes you wonder, ‘Why is this person suddenly acting so kind?’ This is the distance between him and himself. The vague familiarity he felt earlier was a feeling that only existed in his heart.

When I try to look closely, I see things I couldn’t see before.

“I’m just telling you because I don’t have a chance to do it again today.”

“Thank you for thinking that way.”

Led by Huyang, other elders also came and greeted the leader of Pungcheon.

After greeting them one by one, the leader of Pungcheon asked.

“But I can’t see Elder Seong.”

Then Hu Yang spoke cautiously.

“Elder Seong voluntarily resigned from his position as an elder.”

The leader of Pungcheon was surprised. Elder Seong, known as Seongya (星爺), was the chief elder of the Five Great Elders. He was also the person he loved the most.

“What was your reason for stepping down?”

“He said he wanted to rest now.”

The leader of Pungcheon recalled what Elder Seong had said when he was leaving his position as leader.

―I will serve the new religious leader until the end of my life.

-I’m just trusting you.

He was like that, but he stepped down because he wanted to rest? That can’t be possible. If he stepped down, there must be some reason.

Meanwhile, people came to Geommugeuk and said hello.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the leader of the Heavenly Demon Church in person. So, everyone introduced themselves and tried to make a mark somehow.

At that time, a woman said a bold greeting.

“If I had known that Xiao Jiaozhu was this handsome, I would have already escaped from the new world.”

It was a middle-aged woman with a sad look. Unlike someone from Pungcheongyo who exudes a rough and treacherous aura, she had kind eyes.

“It’s Gusuk (具淑).”

“It’s a sword dance.”

Geommugeuk knew who she was. She is one of the five elders, and she is a woman who followed the Pungcheon religious leader a lot.

At that time, the leader of Pungcheon walked there and said.

“If you fall in love with Lord Xiao, you will really end up escaping from the outside world.”

Gusuk smiled brightly and greeted the leader of Pungcheon.

“Like my brother?”

“Brother?”

At the word ‘brother’, not only the leader of the Pungcheon Church but also those around him were surprised.

“Now that the religious leader has stepped down, I should call him brother. Don’t you remember? “I said that if you step down from your position as leader, I will call you brother.”

Honestly, I couldn’t remember. There was no way I could make something up like that, so I realized once again how little I listened to others properly.

“I thought it was a joke.”

“I have never joked.”

The leader of Pungcheon was just listening with his eyes closed, but he could feel the sword dance. She says she respects her religious leader.

“Master Xiao, I hope I have a chance to treat you to a drink before you pass away.”

“Anytime is good for me. “How could I miss the opportunity to learn about alcohol and life from a beautiful sister who has gone through all the hardships of childbirth?”

Gu-suk smiled brightly at the joke of the sword dance and scolded the leader of the Pungcheon Church to be at least half as good as the leader of the So Church.

While there are elders with such a refreshing personality, there are also elders like Wang Xiao who just greets people and then quietly investigates.

There was laughter next to me.

When Geommugeuk turned around, he saw Mabul sitting at the table and talking to people. Because he met a lot of people, he had a knack for leading conversations.

At that time, Sobaekta, the religious leader, entered the banquet hall.

As he entered, the warriors of Pungcheongyo all greeted him with courtesy. The pattern from yesterday was completely erased from Sobaekta’s face.

Was that why? The once quaint atmosphere felt pure today.

Sobaekta took care of the sword dance first.

“Today is a day for Lord Xiao, so eat as much as you want.”

“Today I learned for the first time that Sae-Oe’s alcohol is this delicious.”

“It’s a special drink prepared for a precious person.”

Next, I said hello to Mabul, and lastly, I took the Pungcheon pontoon.

“Master, did you sleep well?”

“I slept comfortably thanks to our religious leader’s care.”

I deliberately expressed myself as our religious leader so that everyone would listen. Even though I didn’t know where and how the mastermind had infiltrated, the leader of Pungcheon Church had a sense of responsibility to protect Sobaekta and Pungcheon Church.

“Cult leader.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Coming back to the school after a long time, I suddenly want to see the sound bell. “Can you see it?”

“Of course. “I will take care of you.”

I said this because I wanted to be alone with Sobaekta, and I also really wanted to see Eumraejong.

Sobaekta, who left the banquet hall, took the leader of the Pungcheon Church and headed to the Church Hall.

‘There wasn’t a sound bell at the place I went yesterday?’

Although he was puzzled, the leader of Pungcheon silently followed Sobaekta.

Entering Gyojujeon, Sobaekta climbed up to the Taesa Temple and sat down, injecting internal energy into the place where he placed his hand.

Then the walls on all sides began to rise.

Guuuuuung.

A decorative cabinet was placed behind the wall, and sacred items from Pungcheon Bridge were stored there.

“We have already changed the interior and stored new items in this way.”

“It’s a very sophisticated institution. “That’s cool.”

Of course, it did not suit the leader of Pungcheon, who lived for the fun of looking at sacred objects.

The leader of Pungcheon walked slowly and looked at the sacred object. It was a new feeling to see it after a long time. I took all these things and went to Shingyo.

The Yin Lai Bell was placed in the center behind the Taesa Temple.

“It’s been a really long time.”

The eyes of the Pungcheon Church leader as he looked at the Yin Lai Bell deepened. It’s been a long time since I saw the evil spirit engraved on the sound bell.

‘Gowol says hello.’

Sobaekta, who was standing next to him, spoke softly.

“Do you remember what you said to me when you left the church?”

For a moment, the leader of Pungcheon was shocked.

‘What did I say and leave?’

I was really out of my mind at that time. All I could think was that I should hurry up and finish the job and return to Gowol.

But no matter what, you don’t remember what he said?

Also, I forgot what I heard from Gusuk earlier.

This is not a question of whether memory is good or bad. This is a matter of attitude to life. It is a problem of attitude that is only focused on one’s own emotions and does not look at the other person carefully and does not listen to the other person’s words well. That’s why I forget everything.

The reality for you is… … It seems that the world was worse than the world in the illusion.

The leader of the Pungcheon Church, who was looking at Yin Lei Zong, turned his head and looked at Sobaekta.

Sobaekta calmly did exactly what the Pungcheon religious leader had said that day.

“I didn’t achieve my dream, but you must make it come true.”

When I heard that, I remembered it. Yeah, she told him this. What else can a departing person say? What I meant was that you please stay long and die as a religious leader.

Sobaekta also turned his head and looked at the leader of Pungcheon. The two people’s eyes met with Yin Lei Zong’s evil spirit between them.

“I’m trying to make that dream come true.”

“What is the leader’s dream?”

For some reason, I felt like something that shouldn’t have come out was coming out. And that prediction was accurate.

“Murim Iltong.”

“!”

Yeah, it was okay up to that point. It was a dream that any head of the great hegemony called Pungcheongyo could have at least once.

The problem was what came next.

“Now I’d like to take that first step.”