Chapter 373
Chapter 373
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 382
Chapter Title: Geongmok's Bequest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Deokjin eyed Namgung Hyeok intently as he entered the Heavenly Palace Hall.
‘...This layman is the Mad Dragon?’
He had a slender, almost frail build, even more delicate than the rumors suggested.
And unlike the tales, his eyes brimmed not with madness, but with clear, pure light.
Those clear eyes looked as pristine and pure as valley stream water melted from ancient snow.
The moment Deokjin laid eyes on him, a question arose.
How could a youth smiling with such compassion bear such a ferocious moniker?
‘...In all my life, I’ve never seen such a benevolent and pure aura.’
It was the kind of gentle warmth he’d only witnessed in his master or the generation above.
Deokjin was flustered by this Namgung Hyeok who defied the rumors, but he didn’t let it show on his face.
Once the initial shock faded, his mind cleared.
Watching Namgung Hyeok approach, Deokjin pieced together the situation.
‘The Golden Immortal Pills were given to us on this layman’s own initiative.’
Not even the Family Head or the elders in the Heavenly Palace Hall knew of it.
And no one was stopping him or raising questions about it.
On the contrary, they were watching with evident delight.
Look there.
Grand Elder Namgung Wuigyeong was beaming more fondly than if he were looking at his own grandchild, and Chief Steward Geum Gwangmo was humming a little tune, wasn’t he?
This had to mean they fully trusted Namgung Hyeok and viewed him positively.
‘Is this the extent of Namgung Hyeok’s influence in the family?’
Deokjin cupped his fists in salute.
“Greetings, Benefactor Namgung Hyeok. This humble monk is Deokjin of Shaolin...”
Before he could finish, Namgung Hyeok strode up, seized Deokjin’s saluting hands, and gripped them tightly.
“Hey, welcome! I’ve been waiting so long I thought my neck would snap!”
“...D-did you know this humble monk was coming?”
“I didn’t toss out that bait for noth— Of course! Your eyes were gouged— Er, no, our ties with Shaolin are so deep... Ahem, let me start over.”
Ah, damn it.
Too excited to mind my manners with a monk?
Namgung Hyeok cut himself off and chuckled softly.
“Seeing the Golden Immortal Pills, I figured you’d come. Took you a bit longer than expected, but hey, no big deal.”
“Uh...”
“Anyway, welcome! Must’ve been a rough trip, right? Man, if I’d known you were coming, I’d have laid out a feast to break the table! Ah well, no drinks at least!”
“D-drinks?”
“Barley tea, barley tea. What drinks?”
Deokjin stared at Namgung Hyeok, utterly dumbfounded.
What’s with all this noise?
How could one guy be louder than everyone around him?
They’d barely met for a moment, and already his head was spinning.
Namgung Hyeok naturally pulled Deokjin over and sat him down by the table.
“Haha, I really like Shaolin, you know? Seeing Shaolin folks just lifts my spirits.”
“Are you a Buddhist lay disciple too, Benefactor Namgung Hyeok?”
“Nah.”
Just looking at the pillars Shaolin’s produced makes me happy.
A Buddha-like smile bloomed on Namgung Hyeok’s face once more.
Deokjin gaped as he watched the ascending clown.
Amitabha.
A smile that naturally stirred Buddhist devotion.
Deokjin snapped to his senses and addressed Namgung Hyeok.
“Benefactor! Hold on, just a moment.”
“Hey, I’ll be right back. Have some barley tea while...”
“No, it’s not that.”
Deokjin finally pried himself away and gathered his thoughts.
He pointed to the casket.
“I heard you sent these Golden Immortal Pills through Yeorae Merchant Group’s Chief Manager Yeo.”
Yeo Manchu had clearly stated, along with the Sun Liquid Root, that they came from ‘Young Master Namgung Hyeok of the Namgung family.’
Deokjin gazed steadily at Namgung Hyeok.
Power gathered in his eyes as he circulated the Heart Sense Art, a Shaolin technique said to resonate with an opponent’s mind at higher realms.
Namgung Hyeok grinned.
Monk, Old Tree was better at Heart Sense Art than you.
I got so good at reading that guy, tsk!
Namgung Hyeok nodded.
“Yes. And?”
“Our temple and I have many questions about these pills. Do you know what they are or where they come from? Did you send them knowing that?”
“Yeah, I know.”
Deokjin’s eyes sparkled at the casual nod.
Namgung Jangcheon and everyone else in the Heavenly Palace Hall perked up their ears.
They too were curious about the pills’ origins.
They’d assumed Namgung Hyeok had brought them, but such wondrous elixirs didn’t just appear out of thin air.
Deokjin glanced around briefly.
The Heavenly Palace Hall held only the Namgung family’s heavyweights who had come to greet the Shaolin monks.
It was something that would spread anyway.
Deokjin thought they should know for sure too.
“These Golden Immortal Pills came from Shaolin. Do you know that, benefactor?”
Namgung Jangcheon and the elders’ eyes widened.
That elixir filling the hall with its profound fragrance was from Shaolin?
Did Namgung Hyeok steal from Shaolin?!
Even the elders, who rarely batted an eye at Namgung Hyeok’s antics and always watched fondly, had their eyeballs nearly popping out.
No way?
It couldn’t be, right?
No matter how wild Namgung Hyeok got, touching Shaolin’s treasures?!
‘He already beat up those Wudang Taoists plenty!’
As they silently screamed for it not to be true.
“Yeah, I know.”
Boom!
“Y-young master!”
“Ahem!”
“Th-that...!”
The elders panicked and clamped their mouths shut.
Deokjin was a bit taken aback too.
Namgung Hyeok had admitted it so readily.
Deokjin composed himself and asked.
“Where did you obtain these Golden Immortal Pills, Benefactor Namgung Hyeok? Can you tell us? If there are more from Shaolin, this is a grave matter for us.”
Exactly, very important.
Namgung Jangcheon and the elders prayed it wasn’t stolen goods.
But Namgung Hyeok smirked.
‘They must be dying inside.’
They were just now trying to revive the Great Return Pill recipe, only for these Golden Immortal Pills to pop up like ant footprints, trivializing it.
‘Sorry, Old Tree. Guess I’m just a helpless martial artist.’
Hey, I’ll apologize in the afterlife... Oh, wait, I’m ascending, so we won’t meet.
If you’re mad, crawl out of paradise or something.
“That’s all of them.”
“...Pardon?”
“I said that’s all.”
“...N-no, that can’t be!”
Deokjin’s eyes bulged.
That’s all?
No, really?
“Th-then! Where did you get them? Is there any more around...”
“Hey, hold up.”
Namgung Hyeok shrugged.
He raised his palm to halt the approaching Deokjin.
Deokjin flinched and stared at the hand.
One more step, and he’d have walked right into a slap.
But with excitement still flushing his face, Deokjin pressed on.
“There has to be more. Surely he made arrangements to pass them to Shaolin’s descendants...”
“No, no.”
Namgung Hyeok glanced over Deokjin and the two Shaolin disciples accompanying him.
“It’s from Shaolin, sure. But not Shaolin’s.”
“...Wh-what does that mean, benefactor? It’s Shaolin’s, but not Shaolin’s?!”
What kind of nonsense was this!
And he just admitted it!
Namgung Jangcheon blinked, watching the scene.
What was the kid getting at?
As everyone stared in confusion at Namgung Hyeok, he spoke in a low, clear voice that rang with heavy weight.
“Shaolin’s connection to it is already over, isn’t it?”
“Wh-what do you...”
“I mean with Senior Monk Geongmok.”
Deokjin shut his mouth.
Hearing ‘Geongmok’ from Namgung Hyeok’s lips was ominous in itself.
Namgung Hyeok continued.
“First. The link between Shaolin and the Golden Immortal Pills was severed long ago.”
“...”
“Second. Senior Monk Geongmok’s legacy passed to the Namgung family.”
“...T-to the Namgung family?”
This was entirely different from just saying the Namgung family had sent the pills.
“What... what do you mean?”
Namgung Hyeok smiled faintly and casually turned to glance at Namgung Jangcheon.
Namgung Jangcheon, who’d been watching curiously to see what ‘medicine’ he was selling the Shaolin monk, met his gaze—and his pupils shook violently.
Why’re you looking at me all of a sudden?
Before the thought finished.
“Senior Monk Geongmok’s legacy was found in Huangshan’s secret cave.”
“H-Huangshan secret cave!”
“What does it mean that it was found in Huangshan’s secret cave?”
...Damn kid, tying it together like that?
Namgung Jangcheon’s pupils quaked.
Deokjin looked at him as if to say, really?
Namgung Jangcheon’s eyes darted left and right.
Uh...
So...
His second son was glaring murderously at his father—what now?
“...Yes, our family’s Huangshan secret cave was recently discovered.”
Facts were facts.
Now Deokjin’s pupils shook.
For real?
Had Geongmok’s legacy truly passed to the Namgung family?
“...D-do you have proof? I’m not doubting you. Don’t misunderstand. I just want to see the legacy if it exists...”
“Oh, proof. Proof?”
Namgung Hyeok coolly raised a hand to calm Deokjin.
“Yeah, we do.”
We do?
You have it?!
Deokjin and Namgung Jangcheon’s pupils dilated simultaneously.
Namgung Hyeok shrugged.
“Of course we’ll hand it over. It’s Senior Geongmok’s legacy, after all.”
“...C-can we see it?”
“Naturally!”
Namgung Hyeok’s grinning smile looked somehow sinister.
A memory flashed through Namgung Hyeok’s mind.
— ...If you survive—and you will, since you’ll outlive me—take this to Shaolin.
That’s what Geongmok had requested at the end.
But Geongmok had overlooked a few things.
‘He wouldn’t have known I’d perfect it even further than when he entrusted it to me on Heavenly Summit Mountain in his final years, nor that I’d awaken again in this body.’
So...
Thud!
Namgung Hyeok pulled a booklet from his bosom and set it on the table.
All eyes turned to the booklet on the table.
“Th-this is?”
Namgung Hyeok grinned.
“Senior Monk Geongmok’s legacy!”
His booming voice startled Deokjin and everyone else.
Especially Namgung Jangcheon, who’d scoured the secret cave top to bottom—his pupils dilated more than anyone’s.
He unconsciously bent at the waist to peer at the table.
‘There was no such thing!’
The booklet’s cover, visibly aged, bore a single bizarre character.
It was hard to tell if it was a letter, a symbol, one glyph, or three.
Even accounting for that, it was no ordinary book, and the marks of time were undeniable...
‘It came from the cave?’
Did this punk hide it, or get it from somewhere else?
Namgung Jangcheon stared blankly at Namgung Hyeok.
Wink.
...Huh?
Wink wink.
...What?
Ah.
‘Keep quiet.’
Namgung Jangcheon stealthily swallowed.
Deokjin grabbed the cover with trembling hands.
“Th-this... is the book left by Senior Geongmok?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
Deokjin’s wavering pupils scanned the cover, grasping at straws even more.
“...Yes. This irregular script resembles the cipher we know Senior Geongmok used.”
Of course.
It was written by the real Geongmok.
‘Cipher, huh?’
Namgung Hyeok smirked.
If they knew the scribble on the cover was the character for ‘Zen,’ they’d foam at the mouth.
Monk, your Shaolin disciples still mistake your terrible handwriting for a cipher.
He’d burst out of paradise in frustration.
‘Well, thanks to that, my plan’s going smoothly.’
Namgung Hyeok eyed the Golden Immortal Pill manual with a sly expression.
He said.
“Yes, you’ll see it’s genuine once you check.”
“Ch-check it...”
“Yeah, take your time.”
Namgung Hyeok waved lazily, and Deokjin hurriedly opened the booklet.
“This is...”
His voice leaked out.
The moment everyone strained to listen.