Everyone tended to believe what the majority had actually seen...
That was only human nature.
If what one person had seen wasn't what he himself believed, then in a similar situation, he would also side with the majority.
Once he understood this...
The Young Scholar's mouth hung open, but he couldn't utter a single word.
But...
He had seen it with his own eyes...
This should have been the strongest reason of all...
Yet now, when the Young Scholar said it aloud, it sounded flimsy, not like solid evidence that could clinch the argument.
Just as his brothers' not seeing it couldn't convince him...
His seeing it couldn't convince his brothers either.
They had reached an impasse.
There was no way to break it.
But...
He was the only one who had seen it, while he wasn't the only one who hadn't seen it.
He was the one standing alone, outnumbered.
So today, he was the one who'd been brought to see the master.
Not his brother.
"...Was what I saw with my own eyes not real?"
The Young Scholar seemed to be asking the Eminent Monk, and himself at the same time.
"Did you really see it with your own eyes?"
The Eminent Monk unhurriedly posed another question.
The Young Scholar froze.
He blurted out, "Of course I saw it with my own eyes..."
The Young Scholar's voice grew quieter and quieter.
Until it disappeared in his throat.
What did that mean?
The Young Scholar looked at the Eminent Monk in confusion.
"...I've met it many times..."
"...It's very greedy."
"Every time... it eats all the food I prepare."
"The food it ate was real."
"...I can't eat that much food."
He and the Black Monster hadn't had no interaction at all.