Chapter 100: Heavenly Working Environment
If Beom-gak, a direct disciple of Shaolin, had descended from the mountain, it was highly likely to be on official business.
This was because the possibility of this fellow coming here voluntarily was slim.
Indeed, listening to the reason Beom-gak stated, my prediction was correct.
Although that reason sounded a bit like bullshit to my ears.
“Buddhist scripture study?”
“They said the Shaolin monks these days are focusing too much on physical training, so they lack mental cultivation. They said there is a wonderful person named Yeon Ja-yeom in the secular world, so I should go there and study what Buddhist scriptures really are. They also told me to open something like a martial arts hall in a place called Samyang County to remind the secular world of how great Shaolin is.”
According to what I felt from the outside recently, the extent of my grandfather’s connections was immeasurable. It wouldn’t even be awkward if he had connections in Shaolin.
However, the more I heard it, the more it seemed my grandfather was not the actual target.
[It’s probably you.]
‘Right?’
Agreeing inwardly with Master Zhang Sanfeng’s words echoing in my head, I nodded.
It seemed Shaolin was very interested in me. It felt like they were keeping their antennae raised for my every move.
That must be why such bullshit was coming out.
“So they basically want you to stick close to my grandfather?”
“Well, for now.”
“Then why don’t you just stay at our house altogether?”
“I’d rather bite my tongue!”
Just listening to this answer, I could easily tell what Beom-gak’s true feelings were.
“Ah, and. It’s a message from Great-Great-Grandmaster.”
“The Divine Monk Elder?”
“Yeah, him.”
The word ‘Great’ was attached twice.
Usually, above a Great-Grandmaster, they say ‘grandmaster of the Nth generation,’ but since that is typically used for those who have passed away, he seemed to have spoken that way.
Anyway, why him?
“He asked why Great-Great-Grandmaster’s name isn’t being mentioned in the Martial World when he told you to use it? He said you should actively make use of his name.”
They say people grow childish as they age.
The Divine Monk Elder was the oldest person I knew, yet his behavior was somehow like a youth in his prime.
[That fellow Bodhidharma, he will have to suffer a bit for a few days with rookie training when that guy Gong-ryo comes up.]
Amused by something, Master Zhang Sanfeng chuckled.
He spoke as if it were a foregone conclusion that the Divine Monk Elder would ascend to the heavens.
“Will a few days… be enough?”
A person’s personality doesn’t change that easily.
Master Zhang Sanfeng asserted confidently.
[A few days is plenty.]
“……”
It was terrifyingly firm.
At this point, I was scared to hear what he was going to do.
But unfortunately, there was no option of not listening.
[You’ve experienced a phenomenon where the surrounding environment appears slower as your speed of perception increases when you heighten your senses, right?]
Master Zhang Sanfeng started explaining on his own.
I understood immediately. I had experienced that when raising Master Zhang Sanfeng’s Listening Force and Master Heavenly Demon’s synesthesia, rapidly incoming attacks appeared much slower.
[What do you think it would be like if these masters of yours unleashed that?]
Considering the level of my masters’ martial arts, wouldn’t it feel like time had practically stopped?
…Huh?
‘……Fuck?’
Scary stories have a strange addictiveness. You don’t want to hear it, yet you open your ears. Strangely, you can’t shake it off.
[If you heighten your senses properly, a duration you think of as a single quarter-hour will be similar to about fifteen days felt by an ordinary person. If we say you work all day, including overtime, a day is twelve double-hours, which divides into ninety-six quarters. Multiplying fifteen days per quarter gives a total of one thousand four hundred and forty days.]
“……”
Roughly four years.
Horrible.
But as if this was not the end, Master Zhang Sanfeng’s words continued.
[When work piles up and becomes unmanageable, we slightly warp the flow of the time axis. Then, time flows several times slower. Well, there are some side effects though…]
“……”
Roughly speaking, it meant one day of mine could be ten years to my masters.
Oh my god!
[Well, it might be hard for a newly arrived rookie to do that much work… but we can just manipulate the time axis flow a bit more nicely for them.]
‘What is that! That’s terrifying!’
If I had to classify this story into a genre, it would be horror.
‘The darkness of the heavens is too deep, Master.’
I couldn’t tell whether I was listening to a description of the working environment in the heavens or a lecture on torture methods of hell.
I understood why my masters ground their teeth at overtime.
Then, something suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Uh… so did I just shove the Divine Monk Elder into a place like that…?’
Somehow, I felt like I could hear the Divine Monk Elder’s screams in my ears.
If my ears suddenly itch intensely after the Divine Monk Elder attains liberation someday, I should probably understand that he is cursing me.
[I don’t think the guy who will be my successor will have it that long. Well, I’ll have to manage him well. Hehehe.]
Ah! Come to think of it, there is one more person I plan to shove in there…
Suddenly, my solar plexus throbbed with pain.
“My sins are indeed deep…”
“What kind of nonsense have you been muttering since a while ago?”
Beom-gak looked at me warily as if I were a madman.
However, I let Beom-gak’s words go in one ear and out the other.
What Master Zhang Sanfeng said next was truly frightening.
[So while you are on earth, try to send up as many as possible. That… will be good for you too.]
Since I was learning from such grand masters, I felt I too would reach the heavens someday.
Suddenly, a sense of mission welled up.
For my comfortable life in the heavens, I had to shove at least one more person into that heavenly prison (?).
Swallowing the truth that could not be revealed, I earnestly scanned my friends before me.
‘Let’s see each other for a long, long time, my friends.’
I will raise you well.
So let’s see each other for a very, very long time, both below and above.
“Hehehehehe.”
“W-why are his eyes like this?”
“Hey, you crazy?”
***
We returned home quietly without any particular disturbance.
Perhaps because my grandfather had explained it properly, it ended with just a few smacks to my back from my mother.
However, her staring intently at Yi Hwa, who had followed along, also looked like she was reading Yi Hwa’s countenance.
“I need hand-stwaps… a vewy sturdy one.”
The younger brother, who welcomed me warmly, suddenly muttered a subtle monologue as I headed toward my grandfather. Though he seemed to think I wouldn’t hear it…
‘…Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear it.’
There are times when a person must pretend not to hear even if they did.
“The little master says he needs hand-straps. Should I look into it?”
“……No, don’t.”
Yi Hwa, who was following me at a certain distance like a shadow, suddenly asked.
‘The kid is quite sharp and smart, but she has a blank side sometimes.’
She was clearly clever, but sometimes I felt she lacked common sense.
Glancing back, Cheong-u, whose face had turned red, ran away in a hurry. Since it was by no means a favorable reaction to anyone, Yi Hwa’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
“It seems it was something I shouldn’t have said.”
“It’ll get better gradually.”
Seeing that she understood immediately, she was definitely quick-witted.
Walking through the house that remained unchanged, the place I reached was where my grandfather was.
In an appearance that recalled when I had descended from the Wudang Sect, my grandfather, who occupied his spot like an unchanging giant tree over long years, smiled warmly upon seeing me.
“It seems you met Hudo.”
“Yes.”
As if seeing the Songmun Ancient Sword at my waist, my grandfather smiled bitterly.
“Then Teacher Emerald Bamboo must have had a hard time in this matter.”
My grandfather spoke as if he knew everything that had transpired in Sichuan.
I had felt it before, but my grandfather seemed to possess a broad vision and information network, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
As if he had some organization under his command.
An official who had laid down everything and retired to the countryside. His only peculiarity was that he met widely and shared friendship with like-minded people regardless of status or affiliation, building a massive network of connections.
That was the grandfather I had known until now.
However, as I traveled the world and my horizons broadened, I began to think that what I knew was not all there was.
Was it because my thoughts showed on my face? My grandfather smiled warmly and explained.
“With that friend’s personality, he would have preferred to avoid meeting you as much as possible. Your meeting him means there was an event that prompted him to step forward. Furthermore, receiving that sword means you did something to be acknowledged by him. He is not a friend who would give away a sword lightly just because you are my grandson, so your talent for martial arts must be outstanding beyond imagination.”
It was clear.
Knowing Taoist Master Hudo’s personality, he deduced his actions, and seeing Hudo’s Songmun Ancient Sword on me, he inferred the process.
“I feel like I understand anew why you have so many friends, Grandfather.”
“It is a skill anyone can do if they can calmly observe the opponent. It is simply seeing without missing anything. There is nothing particularly special about it. Special refers to something different that cannot be acquired through learning.”
Though he spoke with modesty, what was felt in his voice was absolute sincerity.
‘It seems impressive enough.’
Calmly observing. It was a skill I would definitely want to learn if it could be acquired.
My grandfather’s gaze directed beside me.
“Is this a child you met in Sichuan?”
“Yes, I am called Yi Hwa. Due to circumstances, I have come to rely on Brother.”
Yi Hwa bowed politely.
My grandfather’s gaze lingered on Yi Hwa for a long time.
“You are no ordinary child. To my eyes, you look very special.”
‘Sharp.’
Perhaps because he had just mentioned the criteria of being special, weight was added to his words now.
“There are many such girls around you. Even until not long ago, the girl with the surname Jang who often visited me was also a very special child.”
“Ah… Lady So-wol visited here.”
“I am glad you remember her name and haven’t forgotten. Making a woman cry is not a cool thing.”
“Haha…”
Since it was a word that subtly poked my inside, I passed it off with a laugh.
“Whether in the past or now, the place where I set my heart does not easily change.”
“Is that so. Well, that’s fine too. Though in my view, it lacks style a bit.”
Lacking style.
He will make someone cry.
“Does one’s heart change easily? If it is a heart that changes easily, there is no need to be serious.”
This was a talk directed at myself.
And to others as well.
Yi Hwa also sat quietly and listened intently to those words.
My grandfather nodded.
“Yes, yes. You will handle it well on your own. I trust my grandson.”
“Yes.”
“You went through much trouble for your grandfather’s request. Go and rest.”
***
Watching the space where Yeon Cheong-un had left, Yeon Ja-yeom laughed heartily.
“Seeing that no shadow is visible on his face, it means he has done his part, so he seems to have resolved the matter of Sichuan well. Did he save a drowning mountain spirit there, or did he finally receive the blessings of saving a nation in his past life? All the blessings visible in his physiognomy have bloomed. Hahaha.”
Perhaps possessing face reading skills as well, Yeon Ja-yeom shook his head as he recalled Yeon Cheong-un’s greatly changed features.
“Yet, since he himself still has a harsh side, there will be many kids who will shed tears. I only hope that blessings do not turn into disasters. Hahahaha.”