Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Thousand Faces Venerable (1)
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"Mm. If that's what you want."
Hwan-gyu didn't particularly mind.
Temple food or Taoist temple grub—it was all the same.
"Elder."
"What's up?"
"Why don't you take the kids and head down first?"
"Huh? You sure you'll be okay?"
Gu Hwan-gae was a master of lightness skill.
If the fake Divine Hand showed up, they'd need someone who could chase them down.
"We'll be fine."
"Alright. Suits me... but you're really sure?"
"Yes."
Though he looked reluctant, Gu Hwan-gae took the others and went down the mountain.
Dang Yu-wol watched them go, then turned around.
-When will it show up?
'Shouldn't be long.'
"Aren't you all heading down?"
As he returned to the lodgings, one of the monks tidying up asked.
"Yes. We want to soak in a bit more of Shaolin Temple's good energy."
"The temple fare probably doesn't suit your tastes..."
"It's fine."
"Still, if there's anything inconvenient, please let us know anytime."
The monk bowed politely and left.
Once everyone was gone and it grew quiet, Dang Yu-wol naturally assumed a cross-legged position.
"Guess I'll do some training."
"Sounds good."
* * *
It was the third day of their stay at Shaolin Temple.
Late into the night, as Dang Yu-wol meditated, cries reached his ears.
"Fire!!"
"It's the Divine Hand!! The Divine Hand has appeared!!"
"Where are the warrior monks?!"
"We need to put out the fire now!! The Sutra Pavilion's ablaze!!"
The commotion grew louder.
As the warrior monks and arhats rushed about, the door burst open.
"Are the guests alright?"
"Shaolin Iron Fist Monk Seong-ban."
The burly warrior monk leading the arhats had a face twisted in fury.
"The Divine Hand has struck again!"
"What?"
"That mad bastard set the Sutra Pavilion on fire and stole treasures from the Treasure Hall before fleeing!!"
"I see."
"Please check if anything of yours is missing!!"
"Understood."
"And stay in your lodgings as much as possible!!"
So urgent he didn't even bow, Seong-ban dashed out.
Outside, the flames were quite large.
"Shouldn't we help out too?"
Dang Yu-wol stood up.
Hwan-gyu grabbed his weapon and headed for the mountain gate.
That was where the warrior monks were going.
"Daoist. We're going somewhere else."
"Where to?"
"To catch the one aiming for the Three-Faced Phantom Armor amid this chaos."
"But why head inward? Didn't the Divine Hand flee outward?"
"The Three-Faced Phantom Armor is here."
"How do you know?"
A cold smile crept across Dang Yu-wol's lips.
"I coated the Three-Faced Phantom Armor with Thousand-Li Tracking Scent."
"What?! Is that okay?!"
"It's fine if they don't catch on. And this is an emergency anyway."
Neither Dang Yu-wol nor Ye-ui believed the Blood Cult would ever give up on the Three-Faced Phantom Armor.
-Those bastards.
'I've had a bad feeling since the fake Divine Hand appeared.'
"So, where to?"
"Let's go."
Dang Yu-wol walked through the chaotic Shaolin Temple.
Perhaps due to the Divine Hand, most of the murim folk staying at the temple had come out.
-Makes it easier to move around.
"W-wait. Little brother. Stop. This is..."
"Yes. Where the scripture monks reside."
Shaolin Temple, the pillar of the orthodox murim.
But at its core, it was still a temple.
And in a temple, studying Buddhism was essential.
If not, would it even be Shaolin Temple? It'd just be Shaolin Clan.
"This isn't a place for murim folk like us."
Hwan-gyu seemed extremely hesitant to enter.
It was the same in Taoist temples.
"Even in our Geomchang, there are daoists who study the Way."
He mentioned murim's unwritten rule.
"Warriors like us shouldn't interact with them often."
"Why not?"
"Because of the temperament warriors have."
Hwan-gyu gazed toward it with eyes full of respect.
"They devote their entire lives to their beliefs."
In temples and Taoist halls, never meet those studying scriptures.
Lest you corrupt their convictions with worldly taint.
"They build up martial prowess nearby and earn the acclaim of many."
But they study to uphold their beliefs.
Even when others bask in admiration.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. If warriors don't respect them, who will?"
-Really?
'The Blood Cult didn't have that.'
The Blood Cult was a cult, but still a religious sect.
Thus, there were those who studied its history, laws, and the Blood God.
-But those guys actually got closer to warriors.
'They preached that blood and power were the greatest offerings to the Blood God...'
-Yeah, comparing those unhinged fucks to these folks is an insult.
Anyway, the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent wafted from deep inside.
"Afraid of breaking the unwritten rule?"
Hwan-gyu flinched, shoulders twitching slightly.
"Then stay here, Daoist."
"Who said I was scared?!"
Such words stirred a man's pride, and Hwan-gyu bristled.
"Fine. Let's go in. But not a word to anyone."
He moved quickly.
And when he returned, Shaolin Iron Fist was at his side.
"I heard you're entering the scripture monks' quarters."
"Yes."
"This is no small matter."
"I know."
"So you must be that confident?"
"Yes."
At Dang Yu-wol's firm words, he bowed his head.
A crossroads lay before Shaolin Iron Fist.
"...Understood. I'll guide you."
The interior they entered following him was serene.
No matter the frenzy outside to extinguish the fire.
Or the arhats swarming to catch the Divine Hand.
-It looks utterly detached from the mortal world.
'Coming here. Smart move.'
The one posing as the fake Divine Hand to steal a demonic artifact.
Would such a fiend care for unwritten rules?
Dang Yu-wol walked amid the sounds of sutra chanting and prayers from all around.
"How far in?"
"There."
"That's where the most elite scripture monks reside...!!"
Shaolin Iron Fist paled in shock.
That place was also home to Hwal-gong, the dharma master and current Shaolin abbot's teacher.
"Can we resolve this quietly?"
"Doubt it."
Dang Yu-wol answered flatly, then flung the door open.
In the vast space with a large Buddha statue sat several elderly monks and a few novice monks.
"Layman. What is the meaning of this?"
The gentle voice carried a hint of anger.
"My apologies, monk. There was evil here, so I had no choice."
At "evil," the elderly monks frowned.
Shaolin Iron Fist beside him merely bowed in embarrassment.
"Hmph. Very well, then..."
"Thank you, Hwal-gong Monk."
Seong-ban clasped hands in relief toward the elderly monk, Hwal-gong.
Permission granted.
Now, one thing left to do.
"...Little brother. Wait, no?"
As Hwan-gyu looked on anxiously, Dang Yu-wol grinned.
He headed toward the novice monk attending Hwal-gong.
"Monk."
"Y-yes...? W-what...?"
He met eyes filled with anxiety and fear.
He looked utterly innocent.
The moment Dang Yu-wol reached for his robes—
"What insolence is this!!!"
A fierce shout.
A sacred cry imbued with Buddhist might halted Dang Yu-wol's hand.
"This is no place for outsiders to approach!! How dare you...!!"
-A powerhouse.
'Indeed.'
He appeared just an aged monk.
But Dang Yu-wol and Ye-ui could sense it.
The aura emanating from him.
'At least transcendent realm.'
-Prepare. It's coming.
"To lay hands on a scripture monk!! Unforgivable!!"
-Doooong!!
The heavenly bell toll shaking the Saha world.
The Buddhist dharma repelling evil and malevolence.
Shaolin's ultimate art: Tathagata Divine Palm.
-Be careful!!
One mistake, and that immense palm force would sweep him away.
Dang Yu-wol swiftly swung his Black Ghost Sword.
-Don't take it head-on!
'I know.'
Never clash directly.
His sword found the gap in the palm force surging like a tidal wave.
"What?!"
Everything has a flow.
Finding it, Dang Yu-wol slashed through swiftly.
"W-what is this...!!"
The palm force targeting him naturally dissipated.
Everyone gasped at the result.
"My... goodness..."
"The Tathagata Divine Palm... how?!"
Of course, the elderly monk's strike aimed to subdue.
But blocking it so easily was no small feat.
"Forgive me, monk, but I must confirm something."
"What do you mean?"
"This monk has the Three-Faced Phantom Armor."
"What? What's that...?"
"An artifact sent from Geomchang. What the Blood Cult fiends were after."
"How could... how could Dam-yu have it?"
"No idea. But he definitely has it."
"Waaah!! Monk! Scary! So scary!!"
Called Dam-yu, the novice monk whimpered and bolted up.
He looked like a terrified child to anyone.
"Monk!! Dangerous!!"
Dang Yu-wol shouted.
But he only fussed over the frightened novice Dam-yu.
-This is why monks are no good.
'Can't be helped. Exclude that monk from combat.'
As the novice moved to a perfect ambush spot, Dang Yu-wol readied poison and hidden weapons.
"Waaah! Monk!"
"...Don't worry. I'll check properly... Ack!!"
The monk, shielding the novice behind him and speaking kindly, vomited blood.
A sharp dagger was embedded in his side.
"W-what... Dam-yu... why..."
"Monk... thank you. For making a path for my escape."
As the novice grinned grotesquely and moved—
"Kuh!!"
Dang Yu-wol's Black Ghost Sword flew.
His dagger had struck the novice's back.
But it didn't pierce.
"Kuhuhu... Think this Thousand Faces Venerable, bearer of the Three-Faced Phantom Armor, would fall to mere flying dagger arts...?"
"Thousand Faces Venerable!! The archfiend of old!! He's alive?!"
Hwan-gyu and Shaolin Iron Fist recoiled in horror.
Master of face-changing and bone-shrinking arts.
And practitioner of the vile demonic art, Demon Heaven Machine Emperor.
-Thousand Faces Venerable, huh.
'One of the possibilities. Didn't expect this one, though.'
-Did he want the Three-Faced Phantom Armor too?
Dang Yu-wol stared at the hideously grinning figure.
'The Blood Cult probably tempted him: deliver the Three-Faced Phantom Armor, and we'll guide you to the Flower Realm.'
-In that state? No chance.
The Thousand Faces Venerable had absorbed the essence blood of countless people.
Reaching the edge of transcendent realm through such madness.
But could such a lunatic transcend to Flower Realm?
At Ye-ui's point, Dang Yu-wol burst into laughter.
'What do you expect from a madman?'