Chapter 49: Chapter 49
Upon hearing the news of the Small Restoration Pill, the monk managing the first gate hurriedly ran inside.
Had about half an incense stick of time passed since then?
“Where, where are they!”
“It’s those gentlemen, Senior Brother!”
The monk who had gone up was running down the stairs as if sliding, accompanied by a middle-aged monk who looked identical to him.
Feeling somewhat sorry at that sight, Song Yi-yeon spoke in a low voice.
“We should have just waited.”
“Mmh…”
Cheon Woo-jin, who had scolded him saying it was relying on luck and then brought up the Small Restoration Pill with his own mouth, merely cleared his throat.
Soon, the monk who approached as if sliding on ice cleared his throat with a cough, then spoke in a gentle, benevolent voice.
“I hear that you patrons found the Small Restoration Pill.”
Song Yi-yeon and Cheon Woo-jin clasped their fists in salute at the same time. Judging by the aura exuded, he appeared to be a scholar monk rather than a martial monk, but in any case, all monks of Shaolin were seniors.
“I am Song Yi-yeon, affiliated with the Black Tortoise Squad of the Martial Alliance.”
“I am Cheon Woo-jin.”
When the two revealed their identities, the monk hastily continued speaking with an expression of belated realization.
“Ahem, I forgot my manners in my sheer haste. I am ashamed. This humble monk is called Myeong-hye, a first-generation disciple of Shaolin.”
Song Yi-yeon’s eyes opened wide.
“If it is Master Myeong-hye… Aren’t you the Sutra Pavilion Head?”
“Ah, you know me?”
“Of course I do.”
Song Yi-yeon nodded his head repeatedly. Although Master Myeong-hye was a scholar monk, it was said that no one throughout all under heaven could match his insight into martial arts, so he was a monk who received treatment as the highest guest of honor among the various sects and noble clans.
Even just looking at the fact that he was entrusted with the Sutra Pavilion, which could be called the history of Shaolin, as a first-generation disciple rather than an elder, one could know his prestige.
Scratching his bald head as if embarrassed by that intense reaction, Myeong-hye guided the two inside.
“First, let us go inside and converse about the details.”
“Yes, understood.”
* * *
Cheon Woo-jin walked along the trail of Mount Song together with Song Yi-yeon. Because it was the main path heading toward Shaolin, there were very many people coming and going, and the road was comfortably paved as well.
It felt as though the energy inside his body stirred just by inhaling and exhaling. To that extent, the energy spreading throughout the entirety of Mount Song centered around Shaolin was quite extraordinary.
‘Master’s words were true.’
The world extolled the Shaolin Temple and the Wudang Sect as the two great sects of all under heaven, saying Mount Song in the north is Shaolin, and revered in the south is Wudang, but White Elder always said Shaolin was the greatest among them.
Just looking at the aura of the martial monks subtly felt from above, one could tell that those words were true.
Passing the first gate, until crossing the second gate, no one blocked their way. It was a natural matter since they were together with Myeong-hye, the Sutra Pavilion Head of Shaolin.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at Myeong-hye walking ahead. Although he seemed to be making an effort to maintain his composure, his footsteps were gradually speeding up. Apparently, the Small Restoration Pill was a more precious treasure than expected.
Seeing that his steps were not disordered even while walking quickly on the mountain path, the brief thought occurred to him that even the scholar monks of Shaolin had good balance.
Just how much had they moved their steps like that?
A familiar face entered his sight. It was Third Escort Leader of the Henan Escort Bureau, who had passed through the first gate earlier. Perhaps having had a hard time carrying the heavy luggage, the escorts and cart-pullers were sitting on the dirt ground, cooling off their sweat.
“Huh?”
Third Escort Leader opened his eyes roundly and pointed his index finger at Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon. Then Myeong-hye turned his head and asked:
“Could you perhaps be part of the same party?”
Instantly, Third Escort Leader’s eyes shone. As an escort leader of an escort bureau that constantly traded with Shaolin, he too recognized Myeong-hye’s face. If he helped, they would be able to enter directly into the interior of Shaolin.
If the work ended quickly, he would even be able to stop by a tavern and drink refreshing Dukang liquor before returning to the escort bureau.
Meeting that expectant gaze for a moment, Cheon Woo-jin said calmly:
“No, we are not.”
Strictly speaking, they were indeed not of the same party. However, Third Escort Leader glared at Cheon Woo-jin as if looking at an ungrateful subordinate.
In his head, the Longjing tea he had served to the two held a place. Befitting a merchant, he was thoroughly calculating every action.
Cheon Woo-jin merely shrugged his shoulders. Seeing this, Myeong-hye nodded his head and urged his pace further.
* * *
“Phew…”
Letting out a long, deep breath, Myeong-hye set down the teacups filled with tea before the two. Although it was not expensive tea like the Longjing tea served by the Henan Escort Bureau, the unique, clean pine aroma put the mind at ease.
Cheon Woo-jin immediately took out the Small Restoration Pill and placed it atop the tea table.
Having confirmed this, Myeong-hye repeatedly let out sighs of admiration, then asked the two in a serious tone:
“How did you patrons come to obtain this?”
“Senior. Please speak comfortably. Your far younger juniors feel uneasy at such formality.”
When Song Yi-yeon spoke as if his tongue were oiled, Myeong-hye nodded his head.
“I understand. So, how did the juniors come to obtain this Small Restoration Pill? Four months ago, while it was being sent in commemoration of Senior Sword King’s birthday, it vanished midway, causing such an ordeal…”
Moistening his throat with tea, Cheon Woo-jin calmly recounted the process of obtaining the Small Restoration Pill. From the mediation mission between the Yicheng Escort Bureau and the Heungsan Stronghold, to the epidemic when passing through Baokang County, and all the way to Dok-ra-su.
As the story continued, an extraordinary gleam gradually gathered in Myeong-hye’s eyes, and in the end, they were shining like stars.
“Heavens, how could the Martial Alliance have such great fortune…!”
With a truly touched expression, Myeong-hye was gazing at the two with warm eyes, as if looking at his own children.
He was not merely looking at them fondly. Pure admiration was lingering within his gaze.
These young Alliance members had subjugated a mountain stronghold, resolved an epidemic to save numerous lives of the common people, and even suppressed the public enemy of the martial world, Dok-ra-su, reclaiming the Small Restoration Pill from his clutches.
It was truly an incomparably astonishing feat.
“I cannot stay like this. I must hurry and tell the Abbot this fact to praise your efforts. No, no. Should I send word to the Martial Alliance first?”
Myeong-hye found the two exceedingly admirable. He heard that they had even waited for a considerably long time at the first gate despite having accumulated such merit and secured the Small Restoration Pill.
How could there be such upright children?
“Do you perhaps wish for anything from our Shaolin? If the juniors’ wish lies within reach of my power, I will naturally reward you.”
Then Song Yi-yeon suddenly put a Buddha-like smile across his face, and respectfully brought his two hands together in prayer.
“How could one practice virtue with the intention of gaining a reward?”
“What! How could you…!”
At the thought that proper martial artists had emerged in the Righteous Path of the martial world, Myeong-hye felt a thrill across his entire body. Even the children of Shaolin did not have thoughts this deep at this age.
“Are you perhaps a Buddhist?”
“Not myself, but my father is a Buddhist. I know he also occasionally visits Shaolin.”
“Oho, is that so? What is his esteemed name?”
Myeong-hye thought that if he were a man who raised such a son, he must surely be a great personage. After smacking his lips several times as if feeling shy, Song Yi-yeon spoke.
“He runs a small business in Anhui.”
“Anhui? You said your surname was Song, did you not?”
His thoughts reaching that far, Myeong-hye slapped his knee and said:
“Heavens, are you saying Patriarch Song Ha-baek is your father? Goodness, has that little boy from back then grown this big?”
Song Yi-yeon’s eyes turned round. He had only visited Shaolin a few times holding his father’s hand when he was young, yet he remembered that?
Reading his expression, Myeong-hye burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha, do not underestimate the scholar monks of Shaolin. Just as the martial monks temper their bodies, we do not neglect this training. Once seen, we rarely forget.”
Myeong-hye tapped his head with his index finger. At that sight, Song Yi-yeon hastily waved his hands.
“U-underestimate? That is a misunderstanding!”
“It was a joke, a joke.”
Stroking his startled chest, Song Yi-yeon let out a sigh of relief. Chuckling as if amused by that sight, Myeong-hye shifted his gaze to Cheon Woo-jin.
“Does Alliance Member Cheon have nothing you desire?”
Song Yi-yeon inwardly thought, ‘Oh no.’ He had babbled a bit to look good to Master Myeong-hye on this occasion, but because he spoke like that, Young Hero Cheon had been put in a difficult spot. Because even if there was something he wanted, it had become awkward to say it.
However, unlike Song Yi-yeon’s worry, Cheon Woo-jin was a person of firm resolve. Since he had retrieved the Small Restoration Pill, he considered it only natural to receive a corresponding reward.
“I have nothing I desire from you, Great Master. However, if possible, I would like to experience Shaolin’s staff art.”
“Oho, our staff art?”
Myeong-hye’s gaze naturally turned to the dark iron staff resting behind Cheon Woo-jin.
Cheon Woo-jin calmly nodded his head. Even Master Black Elder, who hardly ever acknowledged the Righteous Path, had said that Shaolin’s staff art was exceedingly outstanding.
* * *
“Mmh…”
Standing blankly atop Shaolin’s grand martial arts training ground, Cheon Woo-jin cleared his throat. Master Myeong-hye was an even more proactive monk than expected. To think that when he had merely requested to see Shaolin’s staff art with his own eyes, he would even arrange a sparring match.
A short distance away from Cheon Woo-jin, a martial monk who appeared to be of similar age was standing with his head shining. The intelligence brimming within his eyes seemed to represent the prestige of Shaolin.
After spinning a wooden staff in the air several times, he took a stance. Even from that short movement, one could instinctively tell that his staff art was quite outstanding.
However, Cheon Woo-jin felt uneasy.
‘Is it all right to do this?’
Around them, there were already many young martial monks who had come out to watch. Moreover, Master Myeong-hye kept nodding his head with quite a pleased expression.
The problem was that the wooden staff was far too frail compared to the Crescent Moon Staff. It was obvious that a light tap would split it in half, so he worried whether it was all right to break a monk’s staff like that inside Shaolin.
When Cheon Woo-jin stood hesitantly, the young monk taking his stance spoke.
“Why are you doing that?”
Cheon Woo-jin scratched his head, then pointed to the wooden staff.
“I am holding an iron staff, so isn’t it unfair?”
“Haha, thank you for your concern, but Shaolin’s staff art is not that weak.”
Confidence brimmed in his eyes. Considering that his realm was quite outstanding compared to his age, it was understandable, but…
Cheon Woo-jin was not keen on it at all. Soon, Myeong-hye, who was watching, noticed Cheon Woo-jin’s concern and spoke.
“It is all right, so you may unfold the sparring match to your heart’s content.”
“Yes, if you say so…”
Cheon Woo-jin trailed off. Then the aura of the monk facing him changed in an instant. The heavy, upright energy unique to Shaolin martial arts pressed down on the grounds.
Cheon Woo-jin also took a stance. Dragging it out any further here was not courteous either.
“Judging by the looks of it, it seems Alliance Member Cheon’s realm is by no means low. I will not bother conceding the first move.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head. Soon, without anyone leading, the two took a step forward simultaneously.
If there was a difference, it was that Cheon Woo-jin merely took a single step forward, while the opposing martial monk instantly closed the distance and entered into an offensive.
If Wudang was softness, Shaolin was ferocity. While domineering, it had a sense of weight without being excessive.
Cheon Woo-jin watched the wooden staff rushing before his eyes in an instant, and merely shook the Crescent Moon Staff lightly.
Crumble.
The wooden staff shattered weakly in half like a stick made of charcoal.
“…”
“…”
A peculiar silence settled over the training ground.
“I-I have lost.”
Staring blankly at the halved wooden staff, the martial monk lowered his head. Although it was immensely baffling, it was clear that he had suffered defeat.
Within the eyes of the martial monk who had been full of confidence, only dismay and a sense of shame were dwelling.
Seeing this, Cheon Woo-jin felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
– If someone asks you of the future of the Righteous Path, have them raise their head and look at Mount Song.
One day, Master White Elder had taken the Small Restoration Pill sent from Shaolin, and feeling immensely good, had uttered those words.
For some reason, Cheon Woo-jin could not shake off the feeling that he had shattered the future of the Righteous Path with his own hands.
Amidst the awkward atmosphere, Myeong-hye suddenly snapped back to his senses and spoke.
“I-I am sorry. It seems I underestimated Alliance Member Cheon too much. Consider this sparring match a warm-up, and now a proper…”
Myeong-hye swiftly searched for the next sparring partner. If the sparring ended like this, it would be a disgrace to Shaolin. Soon, the martial monk chosen by Myeong-hye stepped onto the training ground with resolute eyes.
At that sight, Cheon Woo-jin instinctively realized that something was going wrong.
‘I brought up an unnecessary topic…’
He had merely wanted to see Shaolin’s staff art with a pure heart. However, at this rate, he would have no choice but to trample on the dreams and hopes of at least three or four people.
Even if he wanted to go easy, it was not easy. Because if the opponent swung with full force anyway, the wooden staff would shatter just by touching the Crescent Moon Staff against it.
Before such contemplation could even finish, the martial monk who introduced himself as a third-generation disciple charged toward Cheon Woo-jin.
“Mmmh…”
Cheon Woo-jin’s low groan merely echoed sorrowfully across the training ground.