Chapter 27: Through a Thousand Years of Night
Setting aside the prejudice(?) about gender mentioned by Master Bodhidharma for now.
In any case, this giant-sized ape boasted a magnificent presence.
By the way, for Master Bodhidharma to personally know her, just how old was this esteemed ape?
[I wondered why she hadn’t come up even though it was about time.]
She was a spiritual beast.
And one capable of ascending to heaven at that.
Indeed, considering the time Master Bodhidharma stayed on this land, the age of this esteemed ape numbered in the thousands of years. She was an existence that could appear in legends.
Perhaps because I realized the essence of her existence, I could subtly feel a powerful energy.
That powerful being reached out a hand.
That tough hand grabbed me and Baek Mu-ho.
We came into contact skin-to-skin, but strangely, there was no gamey smell typical of beasts.
“We’re going to be okay, right?”
As the giant ape that suddenly appeared picked us up, Baek Mu-ho grew restless with worry.
No matter how bold one’s personality, it was only natural to act that way when encountering such a situation without knowing the context.
“Don’t worry. She won’t harm us.”
Prrr.
Did she understand my words? As soon as I finished speaking, she exhaled while flapping her wide lips, looking almost as if she were laughing.
The giant ape put us on her back. Then, she began to move somewhere.
The speed at which the ape moved was immense. Although we were not fully grown adults, she carried two males on her back without showing the slightest burden from our weight.
Simply hanging on was an ordeal. Not even a normal person, but a martial artist trained in martial arts had to grit his teeth at the rapid speed.
As if it wasn’t only difficult for me, Baek Mu-ho was also gritting his teeth to avoid falling off.
“Just bear it for a bit. There will be something wonderful.”
“Something out of a legend?”
“Could be.”
I did not know what was waiting either. I only knew that there was something that would raise my level by a step.
“Just so you know, this has the original owner’s permission.”
It might have been an unnecessary thought, but thinking that from Baek Mu-ho’s perspective, it could look like using information obtained from the bamboo scroll of the Heavy Earth Divine Art to steal Shaolin’s property, I said a word.
“As long as it’s free, anything is fine!”
“I guess I am not the one who should worry about my hair.”
Looking at the jubilant Baek Mu-ho, I realized it was a needless worry.
Prrr.
Amused by our conversation, the golden-furred ape also let out a long laugh.
The place the ape reached after moving at such speed was an area where steep, rugged mountains continued, rendering it inaccessible to human footsteps.
In the middle of that area, a passage large enough for this big ape to enter was open.
It was a cave.
The entrance of a cave situated in a place rarely visited by humans.
It strongly exuded the atmosphere of a cave where fortuitous encounters would pop out in old tales.
The golden-furred ape strode into the cave.
The inside presented a scene different from what I had expected.
“Oh!”
Before I could, Baek Mu-ho let out an exclamation of admiration.
The first things I imagined when entering the cave were a musty smell and darkness where it would be hard to see an inch ahead.
However, the interior of the cave was neither musty nor dark.
A sight that anyone would admire was there.
Although it was a cave, the ceiling above was dotted with gaps. The moonlight streaming through those holes gathered to illuminate the center of the cave.
Those holes, which someone must have artificially carved, filled the wide space inside the cave with the light of the outside world.
Putting us down, the ape went deeper into the cave by herself.
It seemed she meant for us to wait here.
I could feel her consideration.
Is it okay to feel this way toward a non-human creature?
[She is not human, but she is better than humans. It has been that way since the old days.]
To think Master Bodhidharma would say such a thing.
It was not just a mere feeling.
‘By the way.’
“Somehow, it seems only Master Bodhidharma is speaking.”
I whispered, barely moving my lips, so softly that even someone right next to me would find it hard to hear.
[Sanfeng is a bit busy. He slacked off a bit to look after you, so he is covering for that now.]
“…”
I knew that the place called heaven smelled highly suspicious, but hearing such words from those who had become transcendent beings like immortals or Buddhas felt somewhat awkward.
To deflect the awkwardness, I carefully scanned the surroundings for anything of note.
“Hmm?”
Baek Mu-ho was staring intently at a part of the cave. Looking at a wall of the cave as if possessed, his gaze resembled that of someone staring at a mortal enemy.
“Huh?”
Wondering why he was looking at that wall, there was indeed something strange about it.
Perhaps because light entered, some nameless plants could be seen taking root inside the cave here and there.
However, there was absolutely nothing of the sort near the wall Baek Mu-ho was staring at.
It was as if only that spot was a different space.
As I also stared at it, wondering why that was.
“Gasp!”
Tak!
For a split second, I felt as if the wall was collapsing upon me.
Throwing myself backward to dodge reflexively, I carefully examined the wall again.
Examining it carefully with a different gaze, I noticed a unique feature.
Was it a sword mark? A trace left behind by something sharp slicing through remained.
Was that trace the identity of this sense of disharmony?
“…What is that?”
[Something left behind by a ill-tempered fellow.]
According to Master Bodhidharma’s words, that trace meant it was created back during his time.
A sword mark whose energy remained even after a thousand years!
Just what kind of martial artist left such a trace?
[More than that, your friend’s talent is better than expected. It is no easy task to obtain something from that mark.]
“Well, he is…”
[But we must stop him. It is not something he should immerse himself in when his vessel is not yet ripe.]
If Master Bodhidharma said no, it was a no.
Even a fortuitous encounter is poison if excessive.
Sure enough, a chillingly sharp aura of a sword was flowing around Baek Mu-ho.
As if he had become a sword himself.
I had a premonition that he would draw a sword against me too if I recklessly tried to stop him.
It was just a hunch, but it would definitely happen.
“How do I stop him?”
Should I try fighting him once?
As that decision was taking hold.
Kwaaaaang!
Instantly, a colossal sound shook the inside of the cave.
It was a rough and powerful sound that battered the inside and outside of the body.
It was a sound so loud that it wouldn’t be strange if my eardrums ruptured.
Yet, I did not feel any pain at all.
It cleanly washed away only the evil energy.
“Huh?!”
Having came to his senses, Baek Mu-ho stumbled backward and sat down with a thud.
He looked confused, like someone who had just visited another world for a moment.
“Did you get something?”
“…I don’t know?”
Seeing that he didn’t say no, it seemed he did obtain something, though he didn’t know exactly what it was.
The ape, who had driven away the sinister energy just by shouting toward the still-confused fellow, approached and held something out.
It was a bowl containing a sloshing liquid.
In one hand, the ape held a jar, and in the other, a soup-bowl-like container filled with the contents scooped from the jar.
Perhaps because the situation was bewildering, Baek Mu-ho took the bowl unconsciously and gulped it down without hesitation.
[Do not let him spit it out. It is precious.]
Master Bodhidharma left a warning as if anticipating the next situation.
Sure enough.
“Pffft…!”
“It’s precious! Don’t spit it out, drink it all!”
At my words, Baek Mu-ho, who was about to spit it out at any moment, exerted all his strength to swallow the contents in his mouth.
Though he coughed with his mouth sealed as if it had gone down the wrong pipe, it seemed he managed to swallow it somehow.
Prrr.
The ape flapped her lips and laughed as she watched him, finding it amusing.
Then, she scratched the floor with her finger.
Friend.
Friend.
It seemed she saw Baek Mu-ho and me as very close friends.
Laughing, the ape held out the contents of the jar to me this time.
I wondered if this was indeed what Master Bodhidharma had left behind.
Then, it had to be extraordinarily precious.
It meant it was something fermented for a thousand years.
“…It isn’t rotten, right?”
[Hahaha.]
I flinched slightly at Master Bodhidharma’s laughter.
Well, seeing that Baek Mu-ho didn’t go wild, it wasn’t something that would kill me if I drank it.
Taking the bowl from the ape, I also took a sip.
An intense taste and fragrance that I hadn’t felt before drinking it instantly filled my insides. The scent and taste that violently forced their way in rummaged through my body.
It was not a very good taste, but I could definitely tell it was a precious item.
Shaking out the last of the jar, the ape held out the remaining half-bowl or so to me once more.
It felt as though she was paying more attention to me since I had traces of cultivating the same Heavy Earth Divine Art as Master Bodhidharma.
I stared at the contents of the bowl.
If it was precious to a martial artist, it would also be precious to this spiritual beast.
Yet, she had guarded such an item for a thousand years without touching it.
She is not human, but she is better than humans.
Now I understood why Master Bodhidharma spoke that way.
I wrote letters on the floor.
Friend.
For the dedication of this pure spiritual beast.
“This is yours.”
May this small consideration be a reward for you.
If you have silently guarded it for a thousand years, isn’t it about time you received a reward?
At my action, the ape, who had been staring at me blankly with her large eyes.
Prrrrrrrrrr!
She laughed much longer than at other times.
And emptied the bowl in one gulp.
Drrrrrrrrr.
Then, the surroundings suddenly became strange.
The air trembled.
Like when the ape had roared to drive away the evil energy.
No, it was more than that. If the air trembled then, now the space itself was fluctuating.
It was not difficult to tell where the center of that change was.
The golden-furred ape. She was emitting a light as bright as the color of her fur.
[Sadhu, sadhu. Amitabha.]
The ape, who was being dyed in gold, soon turned into something sparkling and soared upward, going against the moonlight that filled the space.
Watching that sight, I could tell.
This was shedding the mortal coil.
The moment a terrestrial being knocks on the gates of heaven is like this.
[Accept it.]
Amidst that realization, Master Bodhidharma’s voice suddenly rang out.
As if he had something to give.
Hearing those words, I could realize one more thing.
What Master Bodhidharma truly wanted to pass down to me at Shaolin.
The result woven from such a vague guess that things might turn out this way.
The remnants created at the moment a great existence sheds its mortal coil to open the gates of heaven.
They began to sweep through the surroundings like a storm.
Power to the point of making one’s mind grow distant raged in all directions in search of a new master.
Was it the ape’s consideration?
They found a new master all too easily.
[I hope you will reach here too someday.]
As my consciousness grew distant, Master Bodhidharma’s voice echoed in my head.