Chapter 32: Even So, I Live

Since we had to avoid the attention of others, we had to leave Shaolin in a manner no different from fleeing under the cover of night.

Leaving Shaolin, where I was able to obtain many good things in various ways, in this manner left me with no small amount of regret.

For example.

“Beom-gak, we should have brought that guy along.”

Ah, those were not my words. They were the words of the thrifty housekeeper, Baek Mu-ho.

No matter how bad I was, I was not quite at that level.

“Isn’t it a bit much to treat a person like a convenient tool?”

“Weren’t you the one who first said that?”

Had I?

Indeed, the journey had been quite comfortable ever since we entered Henan.

In a way, I was now a Shaolin disciple too, but the problem was that it did not show at all.

I could not exactly shave my head just to get some free meals, either.

Should I have brought Beom-gak along after all?

Beom-gak, oh, Beom-gak.

It was indeed a waste. I should have dragged him along as planned.

“He must be happy, right?”

“I bet he’s probably dancing.”

“While laughing merrily?”

“Might he even be singing?”

“Suddenly my stomach hurts?”

“Hey, you too? Yeah, me too.”

“Next time, let’s squeeze a grand treat out of him.”

This was not a mistaken expression for getting treated.

“Agreed.”

And Baek Mu-ho chimed in brilliantly.

As expected, we were friends.

We got along so well.

Although I did not really want to admit it.

Sigh, to think I was on the same level as this guy.

I looked at Baek Mu-ho with lukewarm eyes.

Baek Mu-ho also looked back at me with the same lukewarm expression.

Soon, his mouth opened.

“Anyway, are we going straight home like this?”

If one said they were leaving Shaolin, the destination that came to mind first was, of course, home.

But judging by the way this fellow spoke, he seemed to not want to go home for some reason.

“Don’t want to go back?”

“Since we came all this way, wouldn’t it be a bit boring to just go back? It’s a waste. It’s a rare opportunity.”

Hearing a guy who had been running around since childhood under the pretext of escort missions talk like that felt a bit strange.

No, thinking about it, escort missions had to be considered work, so was this fellow’s first time freely traveling the martial world as well?

Thinking of it that way, I could understand.

“Hmm…”

Home. Home.

Though it had not been long since I left, I missed it a little.

Thinking about how Master Zhang Sanfeng would roast me in the near future, it would be good to have time to calmly focus on martial arts training.

Moreover, there was what Master Bodhidharma had passed down to me, and there was also what the ape had left behind. Since I had received so many things in such a short period of time, it would take a considerable amount of time just to fully digest them.

Thinking about it that way, it was not bad to return home and focus on training calmly.

However, there was one thing that bothered me. If what Monk Hye-won said was true, the Nine Sects would likely take an interest in me. In the worst case, it could bring trouble to my family.

Considering this, would it be better not to return home for a while?

I was troubled.

[If you are thinking of wandering the Martial World, how about going to Mount Hua?]

“Mount Hua?”

I recalled he had suggested it in a similar manner when he proposed going to Mount Song.

Was there something at Mount Hua too?

‘If it is a place like Mount Hua, there must be something.’

They were individuals who could point out all kinds of legends and fortuitous encounters with the precision of private tutoring.

The footprints of those in the heavens were no different from legends themselves.

If it was a travel destination recommended by Master Bodhidharma, one of those legends, it was highly likely that something would be there.

Mmm! For some reason, rather than going home, wandering the Martial World while eating whatever my masters tossed to me felt much more attractive.

“Mount Hua is great! I also have a deep connection with Mount Hua!”

As if he had heard my murmurs at Master Bodhidharma’s suggestion, Baek Mu-ho chimed in excitedly, making a fuss.

It was a reaction as if I had scratched an itch for him.

Was Mount Hua the place to recommend?

“Who knows? Maybe we can find something good like this time.”

Look at this guy.

From the way he spoke, he seemed to think I had some talent for finding and deciphering ancient documents.

His desire to enjoy his long-awaited freedom was sincere in its own way, but was this his true motive?

Perhaps he thought the reason I was growing so rapidly lay there.

Sharp bastard.

But even in my opinion, this was quite good.

Wandering the Martial World and landing a fortuitous encounter?

If I could land even a fortuitous encounter like the one I got at Mount Song, it would be a jackpot.

No, it would not just be a jackpot, but a super jackpot.

Since I was already showing a sufficiently rapid growth rate, wishing for something bigger might be greed.

But I was different.

If I were to live a mediocre life, what I had now would be enough, but the goal I had to look toward was the highest, towering peak.

One day, I had to rise to a position where even the Nine Sects had to bow.

To correct the wrongdoings of the Nine Sects, which could be called the foundation of the Orthodoxy, I had to be at least at that level.

That would be the repayment of kindness I could offer to the masters who were giving me their generous teachings.

To do so, I had to grab and eat even one more thing to grow right now.

“Let’s go to Mount Hua.”

“Alright!”

By the way, how should I squeeze this guy, Beom-gak, when we meet later?

***

Meanwhile, at that time.

Startle!

“I smell… I smell a thug.”

Beom-gak, who was joyfully ‘dancing and chanting scriptures,’ trembled at an unknown chill.

***

It was time to go to bed to rest for tomorrow after spending a grueling day.

However, the people of the Jungshin Merchant Group could not easily fall asleep.

Clang!

It was because the sound of something shattering continued to be heard from somewhere.

This was by no means a sound made by mistake.

It was the sound made when throwing fragile and soft things with all one’s might.

“Aaaaargh!”

The beast-like howling that accompanied it proved that fact.

Jong In-geol was venting his anger, having completely cast aside his dignity.

The people of the merchant group had to tremble in anxiety.

The source of that anxiety.

“Huff… Huff…”

Jong In-geol’s face, from which his good-natured smile had completely vanished, was the very picture of a malevolent deity.

“Baek Family Escort! Seo Yun-geon!! Rotten!! Bastards!!”

Seo Yun-geon, who had noticed many things due to the Baek Family Escort’s actions, acted according to his declaration at the birthday feast.

After the Baek Family Escort withdrew, Jong In-geol tried to entice Seo Yun-geon in various ways, but not a single one worked.

Seo Yun-geon was a stubborn man; once he made up his mind, it did not easily change.

Jong In-geol knew this type of person very well.

If one was not in a superior position in the dynamics of power, one should not approach them recklessly.

In particular, actions attempting to force a change of mind had to be avoided at all costs. It would not work well, and would instead only provoke a strong backlash.

Once things reached this point, even if it was a situation where they should withdraw due to losses, their stubbornness would block their own path of retreat.

In such cases, it was better to aim for the future instead.

Therefore, Jong In-geol had to withdraw on his own.

But the best choice was not always to one’s liking.

Jong In-geol’s current feelings were exactly like that.

“The bastards of the Bright Fate Escort are also a headache…”

If he had it his way, he wanted to absorb the Bright Fate Escort—whose main force had vanished due to the Hongmu Gate—and suck dry its foundation, but now, Jong In-geol was in a position where he had to protect the weakened Bright Fate Escort instead.

This was because of what he had declared in front of Seo Yun-geon.

If he devoured the Bright Fate Escort as he usually would, he did not know how Seo Yun-geon would move.

Thus, he could not touch the Bright Fate Escort.

Fortunately, however, he had found a target for his anger.

“Yeon Cheong-un, is it.”

The grandson of the fellow who had been mentioned alongside him to the point of irritation since long ago. When he thought that it was essentially because of that bastard that Seo Yun-geon was standing against him, he wanted to tear him to pieces right this instant.

Of course, he could not do anything about it right now. This was because the boy was in Shaolin, which was one of the safest places under heaven.

But it was not as if he would stay in Shaolin forever. There would come a time when he would step out of Shaolin.

“When that time comes…”

No matter how talented he might be, he was at an age where he could not have properly blossomed that talent.

Although there were occasional rising stars who transcended their age, if he were such a talent, his name would have been known long ago.

However, Jong In-geol had never heard of a genius named Yeon Cheong-un. It meant he was not a genius worthy of attention.

The young child of the Chief of the Baek Family Escort who accompanied him was just a bonus.

“Eyesores. I will make every single one of them shed tears of blood. Hehehe.”

He would pay them back as much as he suffered. Letting out a laugh that did not suit his public reputation at all, Jong In-geol began to move down a twisted path.

***

The journey toward Mount Hua was mustier than expected.

It was a journey filled with the smell of sweat.

How could there be any heart-fluttering romance in a journey taken by two guys?

Besides, in the Martial World, a heart-fluttering occurrence was synonymous with a dangerous event.

Walking toward Mount Hua like that, we found a suitable place to rest at sunset and practiced martial arts.

I refined the fortuitous encounters I obtained at Mount Song, the new martial arts I received from Master Bodhidharma, and the Wudang Fist that still felt lacking.

Baek Mu-ho, for his part, was busy grasping the traces of the sword marks obtained from the cave.

“Hup! Hap! Hup!”

Baek Mu-ho seemed to grow every time he swung his sword. Although my growth was rapid, this fellow Baek Mu-ho was no pushover either.

Perhaps due to the energy the Gold-furred Ape had left behind, both he and I grew so fast that it was visible day by day.

‘Though I was still faster.’

I felt it every time I practiced the martial arts passed down by Master Bodhidharma, but Master Bodhidharma’s martial arts gave the sensation of transforming myself with every repeated training session.

It felt as if my bones and muscles were being made as tough as sinews and as solid as steel. Not as a joke, if my body truly became stronger in this manner, I felt I might even be able to deflect an energy like sword qi, which sliced through iron as if it were clay, with my bare body in the future.

In addition, there was also the bracelet I received from the Divine Monk Gongryo.

Apparently, it was an item Master Bodhidharma had used even back when he was a human.

It was said to be a fragment of a mystical treasure used by immortals, left behind from the time when celestial beings walked the earth without any restrictions.

I realized the moment I wore it, but it was an item that possessed an strangely perfect compatibility with me.

Master Bodhidharma had currently left to investigate what kind of efficacy would manifest when this item achieved compatibility with me.

Since both masters had left and it became quiet, it felt quite empty.

…Or so I thought, but.

[I’m back, disciple.]

Master Zhang Sanfeng had arrived.

Would it be too much of a leap to think that he had brought a bunch of things to torment me to make up for being away for a while?

[Looking at that expression of yours, I think it is truly unfortunate that humans lack the ability to learn.]

“What a coincidence. I also had a similar thought pass through my mind just now.”

What a feeling it was to have the emptiness I felt just a moment ago completely evaporate.

[Anyway, roasting you can wait for later. Today, I have someone to introduce to you.]

Uh?

I expected the returned Master Zhang Sanfeng to start by thoroughly crushing my limbs, but he suddenly said he would introduce someone to me.

I remembered he had quite disliked the fact that Master Bodhidharma found out about me, so what was going on?

It felt somewhat unlike Master Zhang Sanfeng.

It was almost as if he had been threatened.

Since he had lamented before about having a minor official post, was he pushed aside by seniority and rank?

[I am called Heavenly Demon.]

“…”

…Uh?

For a moment, my ears—no, my head—felt a bit strange. Or perhaps the reception was extremely poor.

Because I felt like I had just heard the name Heavenly Demon.

Surely not?

Ah, right. It might be a spiritual beast.

Like a horse that runs through the sky, perhaps.

[It is indeed me.]

“…”

I had not even said anything yet.

[Because that is the expression fools who come to hell often make. So do not make such a stupid face. It is annoying.]

Judging by the tone, this was of the same disposition as Master Zhang Sanfeng.

It meant he had a nasty temper.

But hell.

Thinking it over carefully, I recalled the words Master Zhang Sanfeng had once spoken to me.

“Is it true that you have been carrying a manure bucket and frying demons these days?”

[……]

Suddenly, it became quiet.

But it was strange.

Why was it cold?