764 – 9. There is not a single day when this does not happen (13)
‘Jin(盡)’ is ’emptiness’.
It was a fact that Seria had explained countless times. Did you say that it is a practice to eliminate not only distracting thoughts, but also emotions and ego, and become a ‘path’ in itself?
To put it bluntly, it is a state that embraces all changes.
It was similar to how an empty bottle gets a different name depending on what is poured into it. If you put water in it, it will become a ‘water bottle’, and if you put alcohol in it, it will become a ‘liquor bottle’.
It’s just that there are countless ‘somethings’ to put in the body.
Seria expressed it as follows.
“The reason why ‘Jin’ is especially important in training is because ‘something’ can be contained only when ‘something’ is emptied like this. “It is not a story at a material level, but a story at a conceptual and abstract level, so in order to feel ‘something’, you must go through the process of becoming aware of it.”
“You say I am writing unconsciously?”
“It’s a little different.”
While saying that, the girl slowly closed her eyes.
The lotus position was very stable. Moreover, the calm expression was enough to instantly replace the cries of grasshoppers with silence.
I was the same way, leaning against a tree trunk. In the first place, since each person had become a ‘master’, there was no way that there would be any obstacles as long as they were at the level of imitating the movements of the body.
There is only one important process.
If it is such a unique training method, there must be a meditation method that matches it.
“If I had to compare it, you could be seen as no different from an ‘automatic doll.’ It moves as input without knowing why. “
“Do I have to say that?”
“So, I’m going to let you know.”
And the breath becomes more and more blurred.
After, after. Under… Two inhales and one exhale. The breathing noises, which were loud at first, were becoming more and more quiet.
“Sink deeply into unconsciousness.”
“There are probably not many people who have been in and out of unconsciousness more often than me.”
Although I responded jokingly, I was already faithfully following Seria’s instructions.
Inhale twice, exhale once.
For now, my heart was just quiet. Ceria’s muscles were already relaxed, and I decided to imitate her.
“Whose unconsciousness was that?”
“It was my unconsciousness.”
“No, it’s not ‘your’ unconscious… ….”
Actually, it was the unconsciousness of me and ‘me from the future’.
This counterargument did not seem to have much effect. So I remained silent and gradually calmed down with my breathing.
Inhale twice, exhale once.
Tuk, thuk. My vision began to flicker and I slowly began to lose consciousness. The fishy smell of pond water and the smell of grass mix in my mind, and the scent of flowers of unknown origin wafts like fog.
“It is truly ‘unconsciousness’… “After emptying the place, even I myself disappeared.”
I burst out laughing.
How do you erase ‘me’? ‘Imagination’, on the other hand, was a process of establishing ‘me’. A will that will never be broken and will not be held back by the laws of the world.
Sinking into unconsciousness without even this was an act of suicide.
Unconsciousness leads to the ‘boundary’, and the flow of the ‘boundary’ sweeps away everything.
It was right then.
“Let me help you.”
I felt the presence of a woman in her lotus position raising her body. Immediately after, I smelled the faint smell of flesh in front of me as she closed her eyes.
Should I call it sweet or fragrant?
I thought of Delphine for a moment, but it seemed like such trash that I decided to stop. I just tried to ignore the breath that touched the tip of my nose.
The woman’s soft voice touches me.
“Follow my lead from now on. Just, quietly… …..”
Soon, I become desperate.
“Close your eyes and stop thinking.”
I decided to follow what he said. I blocked my vision and focused all my senses on the woman’s fingers tracing my chest.
I suddenly fall in love with it.
It literally felt like falling off a cliff. There is a scene that is engraved in my mind and before reason comes back to me.
Dive deep. The ego spits out bubbles as if it were about to drown, right after that.
*
“Have you ever heard of ‘Pianhua’?”
I suddenly came to my senses. The Northern Front, a place where the pure white snow is blowing and it is difficult to even leave footprints.
It was one of the extreme cold places where it was difficult to meet the minimum survival conditions.
It was so cold that even my breath froze into pure white and dispersed. Some of them, weakened by injuries, even froze to death, but perhaps this was because the habits of warriors could not be helped.
The young driver, who claimed to be a guide, was already holding a bottle of alcohol in his hand. The lively way of blowing a bottle without a glass was something that could be said to be truly ‘Northern’.
The only problem is that I am also being forced into that culture.
It was due to the reality that even the resources to make drinking glasses had to be saved. No, to be precise, he may have deliberately wanted to show me such a harsh environment.
I was the central messenger. Since the central government is responsible for most of the supply to the front lines, it is natural that the strategy is to somehow obtain more support.
It was something I had already become accustomed to. Every time I visited the Eastern Front, the story I heard all day about being captured by a woman with a bad drinking habit had a lot to do with it.
On the contrary, it was fortunate that this was enough.
It was also the reason why I drank strong liquor on purpose.
“…… “Are you talking about the flower that blooms in the afterlife?”
Ugh, a retort I let out while shaking off the sizzling sensation in my esophagus.
The man who was once Yurdina’s vassal smiled faintly. As if she really knew.
“hahahahaha! Yes, there is a legend like that too… However, ‘Hyunghwa’ is a real flower.”
“I’ve never seen it before.”
“It has to be that way. The places where it grows naturally are very limited… “It only grows on ‘Cheongeomsan Mountain.'”
It is called ‘Cheongeomsan Mountain.’
As a raven of the empire, I have visited countless places. At the very least, they went all the way to the great forest in the south or the front lines in the north.
Nevertheless, I have never visited ‘Cheongeomsan Mountain’.
The reason was simple. When I came into the world, ‘Cheongeomsan Mountain’ had already become a wasteland.
While I was spinning the bottle and feeling the contents sloshing around, the man’s explanation continued.
“Actually, it is said that the misconception that pianistic flowers are flowers that grow in the underworld has a lot to do with this… “Once they cross the long desert and arrive at a place with abundant vegetation, they tend to dig up anything they can find.”
“It was a poisonous flower.”
The man’s head moved up and down a couple of times at the sound of my voice, which immediately guessed what was going on.
“It must have been a terrible sight. No, in some sense, should it be called a ‘superb view’? A group of humans left in search of a new home, suffering from starvation and eating anything they could find… “It’s like a group of corpses lying in a flower field.”
I couldn’t help but have a vague question about this unexpected topic.
So what is it? Just as I was about to inquire into its true meaning.
“Isn’t this a truly fitting nickname?”
At the question posed to me, my body stiffened in shock.
There was no need to ask who he was talking about. As soon as I heard it, there was one scene that came to mind,
A noble blood-red flower that reigns over a mountain of corpses.
The image of a woman looking up at the moon covered in blood stains immediately covered my retina.
“…… Come to think of it, I heard that ‘Ghost Sword’ also has a deep connection with Cheongeomsan Mountain.”
Like a seizure, I had no choice but to bring up the topic.
The reason was unknown. It’s just that I probably didn’t want to remember the girl with such an ominous impression.
Or maybe it was because the scenery I saw at that time seemed extremely beautiful yet lonely.
“Have you ever heard a story? The secret story of the day Cheongeomsan Mountain burned down…….”
“It’s because of that woman.”
It was an assertion that came back without even a moment’s hesitation.
It was difficult to guess the origin of that confidence, so I frowned slightly. Regardless, the knight just drank over 40 percent strong liquor in one go.
The faintly intoxicated eyes were directed to a certain point. A tent that is unusually luxurious, but also unusually quiet.
It seems to remind me of a woman living alone there.
“I told you, right? It’s called ‘Pianhwa’… “It is a flower that blooms by sucking the blood of a corpse.”
“Wasn’t that a legend?”
“What do you think? “The demons of legend appear in various places, and the enemy confronting us is a monster from mythology.”
The man burst out laughing. It was a self-deprecation that oozed sadness and the smell of alcohol.
“That woman truly deserves to be called ‘Pianhua’… “A flower that survives and blooms alone on countless corpses.”
Is it an illusion? In that tone, you can even feel a subtle hint of hatred.
“Cheongeomsando and Yurdina were like that too. Everything turned into a corpse and collapsed… “Except for one thing, that woman.”
I tilted the bottle without saying anything. Looking at the tent where the ‘ghost sword’ is staying in the distance.
“We will soon be like that too.”
Suddenly, a memory from a long time ago came to mind.
When I was still attending the academy, there was a junior with gray hair who was being bullied.
I was young and cowardly, so I couldn’t stop their unreasonable bullying.
For some reason, I am now reminded of the shabby version of myself from that day.
“Everyone hates her.”
It was around this time that I decided. I guess I’ll have to fight alone with a ‘ghost sword’ in the near future.
“Anyway, she is the reason why Heavenly Sword Mountain burned down.”
A woman who lost both her reputation and her family.
*
Huh, I open my eyes and take a deep breath.
Before I knew it, my forehead and back were damp with cold sweat. Following the sense of touch, the sense of sight and hearing that had been impaired comes back.
“…… ?”
Is it because I had no idea I would wake up with such a harsh reaction?
I inadvertently stretched out my hand towards Seria, who was looking at me with a puzzled look in her eyes. While clutching my shoulders tightly with both hands.
“Seria.”
“I’ve told you this many times, my name is ’empty’… ….”
“Not this time, not this time.”
Seria’s eyebrows narrowed at the series of nonsense. Nevertheless, I spoke in a voice that did not let my nervousness go away.
“We have to stop it.”
So that Heavenly Sword Mountain does not burn down.
It was a confidence conveyed by memories from the future.
I didn’t know the reason yet.