Chapter 214: The Nanny of the Wolf Fang Squad (4)
After many twists and turns, all twenty members of the Wolf Fang Squad finally stood at the summit.
The joy on the faces of the squad members was beyond words.
Seeing the peaks rising through the clouds, they couldn’t help but marvel.
The stunning scenery of Mount Song shrouded in fog was like a paradise of immortals. It felt as though they had ascended to the heavenly realm where deities play.
One of the squad members murmured in awe,
“No matter how beautiful the things man makes, how can they ever compare to the beauty of nature…”
At that moment, a woman’s low voice came from behind them.
“Cut the nonsense. Hurry up and lead the way.”
It was Yeon Seo-hwa. She urged the squad members to move. There was no time for leisure.
Cheong-hae stepped forward to the front and shouted,
“Yes, sister! We will depart immediately!”
There was no telling how long the three hundred martial artists of the Murim Alliance could hold out under siege. To minimize casualties, they had to move as fast as possible.
The twenty members of the Wolf Fang Squad, along with Seo-hwa, continued to dash along the steep mountain path.
Descending some distance along the path from the peak, they saw a delicately constructed Taoist temple. A plaque engraved with the characters ‘Samhwang Lodge’ was carved on it.
Passing through the temple at the vanguard, Cheong-hae looked to his side and asked,
“Senior brother Hyeon-jeong, did you ever see a pavilion like this on the peaks of Mount Hua? It’s incredible how they built this.”
“I heard about it from our master. It is said to be a place where the Three Sovereigns, including Fuxi and Shennong, once resided.”
Impressed by Hyeon-jeong’s vast knowledge, the other squad members gasped in admiration.
“Whoa…”
“You’re amazing, Brother Hyeon-jeong.”
Watching them from behind, Seo-hwa gave them a amused look.
“That’s all lies. Stop slacking off and get down the mountain quickly.”
The squad members showed no signs of nervousness. Even as they dashed using lightfoot techniques, they were busy looking left and right, taking in the sights.
After running for another seven minutes, Seo-hwa, who was at the very rear, knit her brows.
A moment later, the squad members in front also noticed something and halted at the same time.
It was the Pagoda Forest. Located behind Shaolin Temple, this was the burial ground housing the remains of eminent monks who had lived lives of practice and enlightenment.
Those sacred tombs were now completely shattered.
It wasn’t just simple vandalism. It looked as though a pack of wild beasts had descended in a group and dug up everything. Furthermore, dozens of corpses of monks, torn apart in a gruesome manner, were scattered all over the area.
“Who on earth could have done such a thing…”
“Does this mean the cultists made it all the way here?”
“Are all the monks already dead?”
The members of the Wolf Fang Squad looked at one another, pouring out all kinds of speculations.
Unable to watch any longer, Seo-hwa stepped forward through the crowd and said,
“It wasn’t the work of the cultists.”
She could tell at a single glance. The traces of martial arts left in the area were definitely not from demonic arts.
Cheol-du of the Wolf Fang Squad asked, unable to contain his curiosity,
“T-Then who came all the way here to do this?”
“Who knows. It looks like the work of a single guy. He probably dug up the graves to steal the Buddhist relics.”
Buddhist relics, or sarira, were beads that grew inside the bodies of monks who engaged in true practice. Among them, those from eminent monks who attained enlightenment were called Buddha relics, and consuming them was known to grant immense internal energy.
Drawing the sword from his back, Cheol-du said,
“Whoever it was, to commit such a deed in the most sacred place of Shaolin… We should be careful.”
“Well, we’ll find out when we get there. Lead the way.”
“Yes, sister.”
With Cheol-du at the vanguard, the column began to move again.
The Pagoda Forest was essentially the backyard of Shaolin Temple, so their destination was not far.
Before they could go much further, they were forced to halt once again.
“Stop right there!”
Four monks wielding staves approached from the opposite direction. A deep wariness was written in their eyes.
They possessed a heavy, solid aura reminiscent of Vajra statues. The red dots marked on their foreheads were striking, with the number of dots varying from one to four.
Hyeon-jeong and Cheong-hae, who were from the Murim, recognized them instantly.
“The Four Great Vajras…?”
The Four Great Vajras. They were known as the guardians of Shaolin Temple, and it was said that when the four of them formed a formation, they could unleash power equivalent to the Realm of Transformed Qi.
“Identify yourselves, patrons.”
In the past, they wouldn’t have even dared to make eye contact with such figures, but things were different now. Hyeon-jeong stepped forward, retrieved a set of prayer beads they had prepared in advance, and said,
“Do you recognize this? These are the prayer beads given to us by your Abbot. We are government soldiers from the State of So, here to aid the Shaolin Sect.”
The First Vajra, who had one dot on his forehead, stepped forward and took the beads.
“It is indeed the Abbot’s token. Are you saying the Murim Alliance is currently here?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Hyeon-jeong briefly explained the current situation.
Listening to the explanation, the Third Vajra said in relief,
“To climb such a perilous path to help us… Thank you very much.”
“More importantly, what is going on here? The Pagoda Forest has been turned into a complete mess.”
The First Vajra let out a sigh and said,
“It is the work of a renegade monk who was imprisoned in the Repentance Cave. He escaped while the temple was in chaos, and we were tracking him.”
“A renegade monk?”
“Yes, it is Grandmaster Jeong-gwang, the Abbot’s junior brother. He was once our senior uncle, but now he is nothing but a murderous madman fallen into a heart demon.”
“I don’t know the story behind it, but that is indeed unfortunate.”
“Let us go inside first. Currently, all the monks have gathered at the entrance of Shaolin Temple to form a formation.”
Just as the members of the Wolf Fang Squad were about to move, the Four Great Vajras suddenly flinched in unison.
Their four staves thrust forward, aiming at someone.
“Reveal your identity!”
The Vajras were visibly tense.
At the very rear of the Wolf Fang Squad, a woman was narrowing her eyes and glaring at them.
“You noticed? Impressive.”
How many practitioners of demonic arts could remain so calm in front of the Four Great Vajras? From her appearance, they managed to guess her identity.
“T-The Saintess of Jade Flowers?”
“How is a demon head here…”
Seeing the atmosphere turn hostile, Hyeon-jeong quickly stepped in to defuse it.
“There is no need to be alarmed. She is someone we invited from the outside because we needed her help.”
The Fourth Vajra, who had four dots on his forehead, asked,
“Does the Abbot also know of this?”
“We traveled together all the way from Shaanxi, so how could he not know? We guarantee it in the name of the government forces.”
Since the soldiers vouched for her so strongly, the Four Great Vajras relaxed their tension slightly. However, there was one thing they absolutely could not compromise on.
The First Vajra clasped one hand and said,
“However, one who practices demonic arts cannot enter the sacred temple.”
In truth, she had no desire to enter anyway, but the bald monks’ attitude annoyed her.
Wasn’t Shaolin Temple going to be trampled by the Neo-Demonic Cult in a moment anyway?
She wanted to teach them a lesson, but for the sake of the Wolf Fang Squad’s reputation, she decided to keep quiet.
“I’ll wait here, so go ahead.”
The squad members bid her farewell as they followed the Four Great Vajras into the temple.
“We’ll be right back, sister.”
“Wait just a bit!”
Seo-hwa gestured for the squad members to disappear quickly from her sight.
Left alone, a sudden wave of boredom washed over her.
Tapping the ground, she soared into the air like a crane spreading its wings.
Sitting gracefully on a nearby rock, she looked around at the magnificent view, and her mood began to improve.
‘There should be about four hours left.’
That was the time her husband and the Murim Alliance had agreed to launch the diversionary attack. Before then, all the monks in Shaolin Temple had to be evacuated.
Since she couldn’t enter Shaolin Temple, there was nothing else for her to do here.
After spacing out for about fifteen minutes, she suddenly knit her brows. She felt something flying toward her.
Pop!
With a swift twist of her upper body, she snatched the object out of the air.
Opening her delicate hand, she saw a small, mysterious black ball.
Seo-hwa scoffed and looked to her left.
“I guess you’re that crazy renegade monk.”
An old monk in bloody robes was drooling. Looking at his crazed eyes, he was clearly out of his mind.
He let out a bizarre laugh, leering at Seo-hwa from head to toe.
“Hehehehe!”
The renegade monk’s gaze made Seo-hwa feel extremely disgusted.
“This is maddening. What a filthy piece of trash.”
As if unaware of the situation, the renegade monk danced while picking his nose with his index finger.
“Hehehe! Pretty! Let’s kiss! Yin-Yang union! Yin-Yang union!”
It was only when she saw the black object on his finger that she realized what she had just caught. The object she had caught with her bare fingers was a booger flicked by the renegade monk.
“You… don’t tell me…”
A frost-like killing intent erupted from her entire body. At the same time, the demonic qi she had been suppressing began to dominate the surrounding space.
Sensing that something was wrong, the renegade monk pointed his finger and said,
“Hehehe! Eat this!”
As the renegade monk flicked his finger, a black booger shot toward her in a fierce arc. It was a strike powerful enough to pierce a body if it hit.
To think someone would perform the Flicking Finger Divine Art with a booger. It was truly mind-boggling.
But who was the Saintess of Jade Flowers? When it came to ranged attacks, no one in the Demonic Cult could match her.
As Seo-hwa thrust her index and middle fingers forward, a large needle emerged from her sleeve.
The Fourth Form of the Demon Flower Secret Art: Single Point Killing Flower. The needle, wrapped in a red current, spun and shot forward.
Kwang!
The needle struck the center of the booger, crushing it to pieces. Without stopping, it continued to fly toward the renegade monk’s throat.
Sensing danger, the renegade monk utilized his movement technique and slid to the right.
But Seo-hwa was already there, unleashing a palm strike wrapped in a dark current.
Kwang!
With a dull boom, the renegade monk stumbled backward. Though he managed to block it, his wrists were scorched black.
“It hurts! It hurts! Hehe!”
“You’re dead today.”
Since her retirement from the Jianghu, no one had managed to anger her this much.
Becoming the incarnation of wrath, Seo-hwa began to unleash a relentless barrage of attacks on the renegade monk.
Her hands, wrapped in a dark current, appeared to multiply into hundreds. It looked as though the Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara had manifested in this place.
Crack! Crack!
As the brutal attacks continued, the renegade monk shrieked.
He tried to block them by executing Shaolin’s Great Strength Thirty-Eight Palms, but it was futile.
A moment later, Seo-hwa’s left palm struck his chest.
Jjeong!
Launched into the air, the renegade monk flew fifty feet and crashed hard against a tree behind him.
Kwang!
“Hehehe. It hurts! Bad mommy! Don’t hit me!”
The renegade monk, fallen into a heart demon, was completely out of his mind.
But no matter what, Seo-hwa had no intention of letting him live today.
As she took slow steps toward the renegade monk, she suddenly stopped. She had spotted a small, brilliantly glowing bead on the ground.
‘A Buddha relic?’
It seemed the renegade monk had dropped it during the impact earlier.
The Buddha relic flew into the air as if a sun were rising and was caught in her grasp.
“M-My treasure! Give it back, my treasure!”
The renegade monk wailed, reaching out his hand, but there was no reason for her to return this relic, which was scarcer than the finest medicine.
Seo-hwa tucked the Buddha relic into her robe and stepped forward.
“You have more, don’t you? Shut up and hand them over. Every single one.”