Chapter 26: Living with the Afterlife in Mind
About a dozen or so had ridden up close, but only three approached directly.
Maybe due to the lives they lived under the scorching sun, their faces were burnt a deep black.
One of the men had a falcon perched on his arm. His voice dripped with disinterest as he spoke, though whether the bird knew its master was talking or not was anyone's guess. The falcon just tilted its head and stared off into the distance.
"Ah... damn it. I thought I was finally going to earn my meal ticket, but look what we found! I ran over here all excited for nothing. What a waste of time.”
One look was all it took to size up the situation. There were only two travelers, and neither looked particularly laden with anything that might turn a profit.
Then a bandit with a rather prominent scar cutting across his face stepped forward. He was looking down at them from the top of a camel. The height advantage made the incredibly long spear he carried seem even more imposing. He also had a bow and arrows strapped to him. But contrary to his menacing appearance, he glanced at the pack on Beopjin's back and addressed him with surprising courtesy.
“Are you a monk? By chance, are you returning from Tianzhu?”
Beopjin answered calmly. “Indeed, I am.”
“Oh... To return unscathed from such a perilous journey is no small feat.”
"It's all thanks to the World-Honored One's protection."
The atmosphere was a lot friendlier than expected.
But that didn't sit well with the one-eyed man standing nearby. He stepped forward with a distinctly savage air about him.
“So, did you bring back anything valuable?”
The answer flowed out just as calmly as before.
"As you can see, they're all scriptures. To a Buddhist, they're immesurable treasures."
“Yeah? So they’re worth money then?”
“If benefactor were to take these scriptures, would you be able to properly convey their true worth?”
The one-eyed man grinned viciously, his mood souring as if offended by the subtle rebuke.
“If I sell them to a monk who knows their worth, I'd get a reasonable price. Besides, there’s gotta be something valuable in there. Maybe you hid something expensive underneath the books.”
Then he lifted his spear from where it had been pointing at the ground and tapped the tip against Beopjin's pack.
“Let’s open it up! I want to see if there’s anything I want.”
Anyone else would have flinched, but Beopjin didn’t move a muscle.
"I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing, but I can't accept that request."
"Can't accept it?! Ha... shit... is this bastard crazy? Do you really have no idea what kind of deep shit you are in? Did the long trip scramble your brain?”
The one-eyed guy spit as he talked fast, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He glared at Beopjin and growled like an animal.
"I'll say this nicely one time. Drop everything except the rags you're wearing. Do that, and I'll let you keep your life."
In other words, he was saying he’d kill them if they didn't listen right now.
But what does it mean to give up everything in the middle of a desert? It’s the equivalent of saying he wouldn't let them live either way.
Even faced with a naked threat, Beopjin just stood there like it was nothing.
Seeing that confident stance, the one-eyed man looked ready to thrust his long spear at him right then and there. But the scarred man yelled out.
"Stop! Don't do anything stupid!"
The one-eyed man turned to look at him with a glint in his eye, and the scarred man continued.
“The Boss won’t be happy if you do this.”
The one-eyed man grinned. His yellowed teeth glistened with saliva, making him look like a beast.
“Over something this small? What’s the Boss gonna do?”
The scarred man's voice grew heavier.
“Did you forget that Shangqi Xin'er is in Shazhou right now?”
Yu Gyeongseong watched silently as the one-eyed man's aggressive posture immediately deflated the moment he heard that name. This Shangqi Xin’er person was clearly no ordinary figure.
"You think he'd rally the troops of Shazhou and scour this entire desert just because of one monk?"
The scarred man shook his head firmly.
"This isn't just any monk. He's an eminent monk who went all the way to Tianzhu and returned with Buddhist teachings."
"Who the fuck is gonna know if we just bury him here?”
"Who knows how that might turn out. Either way, if Shangqi Xin’er won’t let this slide once he finds out. Even if we don't get caught, we won’t be able to work in this area anymore... You think the Boss will let you off the hook then?”
The two men stood facing each other without another word.
That's when the man holding the falcon called out from behind.
“Knock it off and let's go! We don’t have time for this if we want to finish what the Boss told us to do!”
The one-eyed man stopped glaring at the scarred bandit, turned his head toward Beopjin, and spat on the ground. He yanked his camel around and barked, "Hmph, looks like my Buddhist compassion is suppressing my murderous intent today! Consider yourself lucky!"
The two camels kicked up clouds of sandy dust as they stormed off with their companions into the distance. As Beopjin wiped the spit off his shoulder, the scarred guy came closer.
"Master, that one-eyed bastard is Tibetan. He got his eye gouged out just for looking at a monk the wrong way. That’s why he goes crazy whenever he sees one. You almost got in big trouble today.”
Beopjin responded with clasped hands.
"Thank you. It's all thanks to your kindness."
The scarred man grinned once, seemingly pleased that his goodwill had been acknowledged. He urged his camel forward and left with a parting word.
“Then, I pray for your safe return!”
The bandits departed as swiftly as they'd arrived. The two men stood still, watching them leave.
Yu Gyeongseong, who had been silently observing the whole time, finally spoke up.
"Why did you let them go?"
He could have killed every last one of them.
Although the monk appeared to have never practiced a day of martial arts in his life, Yu Gyeongseong had absolutely no doubt that the monk could have eliminated all of them had he wanted to.
“Did we not save many lives thanks to that choice?”
“...Do people like that even deserve to live?”
Wouldn't it be better for the world if they just ceased to exist?
Beopjin turned to look at Yu Gyeongseong. Those deep eyes of his seemed to peer straight into one's heart.
“Who am I to judge that?”
"......"
To Yu Gyeongseong, it sounded like he was saying, [Who are you to judge that?]
"I know it's not good to be half-hearted. To be thorough, perhaps even excessive, is often the cleaner path. But... at your level, don't you think you can afford to leave a little room for mercy?"
You shouldn't be nice if it’s going to come back and bite you, but for someone as strong as Yu Gyeongseong, how often is that really going to happen?
"A tiger doesn't get angry just because puppies bark at it.”
So, how much do you have to put up with before you can snap?
Yu Gyeongseong was thinking this over when Beopjin’s voice floated into his head, as if he could read his mind.
"One should treat people with patience and correct them gently.”
"......"
“You do that in hopes that Heaven will help them realize what they did wrong and learn the truth.”
Yu Gyeongseong understood.
What came out of Beopjin just now isn’t just an empty preach, but a conviction from his heart.
Since you never know what kind of destiny someone has, you have to treat everyone like they are treasures.
Beopjin looked at the silent Yu Gyeongseong. Then he suddenly began a story.
“Far away, in the land where the sun rises, there is a kingdom called Silla. Long ago, there lived a monk named Hyetong."
Where was he going with this?
"He was an ordinary man. One day, he caught an otter by a stream. So he stripped the flesh from its bones and just threw the bones on a mountain path. But when he woke up the next morning, the bones were gone. Only bloodstains remained on the ground. Curious, he followed the trail and found that the bones had returned to their den, embracing five little otters. He stared at that for a long time, then let out a deep sigh and decided to leave the secular world and become a monk."
It was a hard-to-believe story.
Or maybe it was the kind of story one wanted to believe.
Either way, that monk must have had quite a history.
“All life is precious. To someone, it’s the only life they have; it can never be replaced.”
Yu Gyeongseong realized why he was telling this story.
Beopjin was telling him to value the lives of others.
So what circumstances led this eminent monk to Buddhahood?
As if reading his mind, Beopjin continued.
“My story is quite ordinary. I didn't become a monk for any special reason. I was just an orphan about to starve to death on the streets when my Master took me in. That's how I became a monk."
As always, this man held himself to a brutally strict standard.
How could a man like him lack a single notable story of himself?
But even if that were true, it was even more amazing that he worked this hard with just his sincere heart driving him.
“Why do humans keep moving forward? It’s because we learn from what our ancestors went through. I listened to Hyetong’s story and learned his lesson, and that was enough for me. In exchange, didn't I save many lives just now?"
Yu Gyeongseong looked at Beopjin.
Is that why he is offering me these teachings now? To save many lives through me?
Is that the reason he wants to travel with me?
Whether he knew what Yu Gyeongseong was thinking or not, Beopjin's voice continued.
“It’s good to help the weak.”
"Why?"
“Is there a need for a special reason? I just believe that if you do good deeds, good things will come back to you. Hehehe."
The bandits were gone now, leaving a cloud of dust that rose in the distance.
Yu Gyeongseong wondered how letting those bandits go would come back to help him.
“For what purpose did you learn martial arts? If something is easy for you but changes someone else’s whole life, then what reason is there not to do it?"
With that, Beopjin started walking again.
Yu Gyeongseong followed him quietly, listening as the monk spoke.
“I wish for you to live this present life with the afterlife in mind.”
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means cherishing the peace of your afterlife, accumulating good deeds with the belief that what you give in this life will return in the next. Even if you don't get rewarded in this world, you should believe it’ll come back to you after you die.”
That was easier said than done!
It meant doing good without expecting anything back in this life.
Is that why he let those bandits go earlier?
"What is the afterlife?"
"It refers to the place where each individual will live anew after the death of their physical body in this world."
"What kind of world is it?"
"I don't know either. I haven’t died yet, have I? It’s a completely unknown world."
Asking someone to have faith in something unknowable.
That sounded kind of irresponsible, didn't it?
Then, his voice turned serious.
"But I think I know one thing. The afterlife will be different for everyone."
"......"
"You reap what you sow. If you plant beans, you get beans. If you plant good deeds, you get good deeds. The law of cause and effect runs through the karma of the Three Realms.”
(TL Note: Past, present, future.)
Yu Gyeongseong walked, following the footprints that hadn't yet been erased.
Beopjin's voice resonated in his ears.
"Rather than worrying about an unknowable future, it’s better to focus on doing right in the present.”
***
Two more days had passed since they'd set out again.
The sun came up today, same as yesterday.
The dunes looked like a silver sea under the burning sun. It was a place with nothing but sand and sky.
The two of them kept walking tirelessly.
A pleasant voice flowed from Beopjin's lips.
"The beauty felt in nature's majesty. And at the same time, the terror that creeps in."
"In this desert, the earth constantly moves with the wind, so the terrain changes accordingly. Thus, as one walks this land, one is compelled to constantly look back.”
“Is this path I am taking the right one?”
"The thirst from insufficient water will force one to question oneself. Why am I even here doing this? The seemingly endless road with no end in sight relentlessly gnaws at one's soul and tests its resolve."
“It’s a really extreme place. It makes you painfully aware of human limits. You could say it’s where you clearly see the gap between the realm of the Divine and the Human.”
The realm of the Divine...
Yu Gyeongseong looked at Beopjin quietly.
What was he seeing right now?
“But even so, people still travel through here. Isn't it amazing? The human will, I mean.”
***
Half a day later, Yu Gyeongseong realized something.
He didn't know exactly what this eminent monk had seen during the day, but he'd definitely seen this coming.
They'd been walking when suddenly, numerous presences entered his awareness.
Who were they?