The Buddha's Palm Crushes the Demonic Head
The waves of the Yangtze River churned wildly as the fully unleashed power of the Eating Demon Army shook heaven and earth. To exaggerate only slightly, the sky trembled and the ground quaked. Five Jiangshi seemed to be the absolute limit he could control. The Eating Demon Army poured out his internal energy without restraint. One of the Heavenly Jiangshi was sent flying far away with a series of bounces. No matter how durable a Heavenly Jiangshi was, one crafted from a child’s body could never escape the constraints of mass.
Cheong felt as if her heart were being squeezed. Damn, even that pig is shaking like a leaf. What the hell are those kids made of to endure this with their bodies? Sooner or later, she would have to settle things once and for all with that obsessive, deranged final boss of a yandere. When that time came, those shield-like Jiangshi would probably turn on her as enemies too. Still, if today’s business went well, she might be able to shake off that persistent final boss for a while. In the meantime, whether by gathering training points or whatever else, the only option was to raise her realm as quickly as possible.
For now, she just needed to keep provoking him.
“Hey, did you know? Your manners are absolute garbage. Even those dirty bastards would be more polite than you.”
Cheong circled around the Demon Army, relentlessly fanning his rage.
“When you see your elder, you should greet them properly, you bastard. I’m a great senior of the Murim. A kid with barely any days left to live has no right to be this rude.”
“You bitch! That mouth of yours—!”
“Tsk tsk. The laws of the Murim are strict. How can you not distinguish between superior and inferior? Isn’t it precisely because of wild beasts like you that we even have a proper hierarchy?”
“You damnable—! If it weren’t for these Jiangshi—!”
“Anyway, my seniority is higher than yours. Do you even know who my master is?”
For a moment, the Demon Army’s eyes flashed. This was his chance to uncover the crazy bitch’s sect. The Society would repay this humiliation!
Cheong smiled sweetly.
“Not telling. It’s a secret.”
“Kuaaaaak!!!”
The Eating Demon Army clutched at his own head. Two fistfuls of innocent hair tore free and scattered in the wind. Looks like he’s completely lost it.
Cheong slowly brought up the main topic.
“By the way, did you do something wrong to Yeonyeong?”
“…What?”
“Do you really have to go this far…?”
Suddenly, the Eating Demon Army’s movements froze.
“You bitch, what did you just say…?”
“What? Are you actually trying to talk now? Fatty, come at me. You’re at a disadvantage so you’re pulling tricks, huh? Or should I just come at you?”
Cheong charged forward with her arms leading the way. Her attitude was incredibly aggressive for someone who had been dodging until now. As she swung her arms, twenty shadowy palms shot toward the Demon Army. The sound of hands clashing against each other rang out like metal striking metal. The Eating Demon Army kept stumbling backward. Sound transmission was a difficult technique, and the distraction made it hard for him to counter properly.
「You bitch, are you thinking of betraying the Society!」
Suspicion swallowed the Demon Army whole. It was certainly a situation open to misunderstanding.
「Suddenly saying something like that. What do you mean?」
「Or maybe you’re trying to get rid of me!」
「I really don’t understand what you’re saying.」
「If that’s not it, kill this bitch right now!」
Eon Yeonyeong frowned. Why was this stupid demonic head suddenly acting like this?
「Sigh. I already told you. Lady Seomun is involved for personal reasons…」
“Shut up! You think I’d fall for that?!”
The Demon Army leaped back to create distance and shouted.
“Bok Uncheok, you fool! You can’t even recognize your own son’s enemy standing right beside you!”
「Eating Demon Army!」
The Demon Army ignored the protest coming through sound transmission.
“……What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that woman called Eon Yeonyeong next to you! Do you think there are many necromancers in the world capable of creating such sophisticated Jiangshi?!”
“Even if you are a senior of the Black Path, watch your words. Lady Eon is my son’s benefactor.”
“That’s exactly why I’m calling you a fool!”
The Demon Army sneered at Bok Ha-un.
“Kuk kuk, your son already died and went to the afterlife long ago, yet you look at a monster wearing his skin and think it’s your child. What a pathetic idiot!”
“No matter how much of a senior of the Black Path you may be—”
“The enemy who killed him is right beside you!”
The Eating Demon Army’s shout carried such raw grievance that everyone’s attention shifted elsewhere.
“Lady Eon?”
Eon Yeonyeong took a step back and shook her head.
“This is an absurd slander. Are you really trying to suspect the Grand Inspector of the Murim Alliance?”
“Don’t be fooled! We were the ones who pushed that bitch into the Alliance!”
“A mere demonic head dares to insult the Murim Alliance.”
“We showed them the Blood Jiangshi, so of course they’d come straight to the Eon Clan. Did you think it would be hard to fool those stupid White Path bastards?!”
“The opponent is a terrible demonic head. A little lie like that—”
“That bitch is the truly terrible one.”
The Demon Army cackled.
“She’s the one who massacred her entire family and turned them into Jiangshi.”
Eon Yeonyeong pleaded with a desperate expression.
“You mustn’t fall for such lies.”
“Call a physician right now and have him check your son’s pulse! He’ll immediately tell you whether that’s a human or a Jiangshi!”
“Young Master Bok only recently recovered. Of course if you take his pulse now…”
“Bok Uncheok! In all your years of living, have you ever once heard of someone returning from being a Jiangshi to a human being?!”
Bok Ha-un let out a pained groan. The Eating Demon Army’s final words had pierced straight through him like a chilling blade. Bok Ha-un made his decision.
“……If Lady Eon is truly innocent, she will not resist even if we ask her to step aside for a moment.”
“Wait, Great Hero! That’s exactly what he’s aiming for. If I’m not here, how do you plan to deal with the Living Jiangshi?”
Jiangshi. Bok Ha-un’s expression hardened. However, he did not reverse his decision.
“If, by some extremely slim chance, the young lady is an enemy spy controlling the Jiangshi, it would be better for the heroes of the waterway to face them. There would be less damage that way.”
“Great Hero!”
“……Escort Lady Eon away.”
“Great Hero, you can’t do this!”
Eon Yeonyeong was dragged away. Cheong watched the scene with extreme tension. That was a real monster that even the Eating Demon Army treated as nothing. What if she explodes and kills everyone? Fortunately, even while pretending to be wronged, Eon Yeonyeong obediently let herself be taken. After all, an investigation would expose her identity anyway. Cheong just hoped she would run away like this.
Now the only remaining obstacle was the Eating Demon Army. If she just kept pushing like before…
“Listen, Bok Ha-un. I have a proposal. If you make that bitch kneel before me, I will obediently withdraw just like this. My subordinates as well.”
Huh? I didn’t see that coming.
Cheong clenched and unclenched her fists, reading the room. The fact that an immediate refusal hadn’t come meant things had already gone wrong. She knew exactly what kind of people those bandit bastards were. Cheong gritted her teeth. She still needed to expend a bit more internal energy. There was no choice.
“Don’t play your dirty tricks!”
Cheong charged at the Demon Army once again. The Demon Army’s Flame Demonic Hands filled her entire field of vision with red. The exact moment the four Heavenly Jiangshi were sent flying far away in her place, Cheong slipped through the gap. The Demon Army’s outstretched arm shot toward her heart. Cheong dropped down as if kneeling. The Demon Army’s palm wrapped in Gang Qi barely missed the top of her head by a sheet of paper. Cheong’s body slid forward while still on her knees.
Recalling her conversation with her master, Cheong reached out her hand.
Huff, huff, huff. Master. If I only dodge, huff, I’ll be the one who gets exhausted and collapses first.
That is only natural. Inducing the enemy to exhaust themselves and collapse is the art of delaying battle and a technique of joint attacks.
Then, huu. What if I have to face an ultra-super-expert alone?
Just what is this ‘ultra-super-expert’ expression…
Ack!
How can a maiden who should speak gracefully bark like a wild colt? Tsk tsk…
When facing a high-realm expert alone, one must prepare a single move. Poison, hidden weapons, strange secret techniques—anything. Since her disciple had an overflowing amount of internal energy, if she prepared one move, it would become an internal strike technique.
Internal strike technique. It was an art that directly struck the enemy’s interior with internal energy. A method of stupidly hammering internal energy into the opponent the moment contact was made. There were also martial arts specialized in this principle.
Cheong’s palm touched the Demon Army’s thigh.
Buddha’s Palm, Sixth Form.
Yeouiryun Gwaneum.
Cheong made up her mind, and so the energy flowed.
The sternness of the Nine Heavens Mystic Woman, the burning purification of Emperor Yan Shennong, the grace of his daughter Yaoji, and the profound internal energy of the Dao veins all intertwined to sing the teachings of Buddhism.
Yeouiryun Gwaneum
Guuuung…!
The sound of a temple bell enveloped the entire world. In Buddhism, the character for “beom” in temple bell means purity. Purity is a state without even the slightest speck of defilement. It signifies being clear and clean, untainted by worldly afflictions. Therefore, the sound of the temple bell is pure. It is a grand sound, yet not noisy. It is a majestic teaching, yet not overwhelming. Because it is the clearest yet also the heaviest, it is a resonance felt not by the ears but by the body.
The Demon Army’s entire body began to bulge out in lumps. Then, it swelled explosively. It formed the shape of a giant sphere, as if it would burst at any moment. But soon, like a deflating balloon, it shrank. The shrunken form became the Demon Army once more, and he collapsed powerlessly onto the ground.
A massive crater appeared where the corpse of the Eating Demon Army lay. From that giant crater, dozens of long furrows stretched outward. It looked exactly as if six enormous palms had simultaneously pressed down on a single point. Perhaps this was what the handprints of Yeouiryun Gwaneum, who was said to have six arms, looked like…
Only a heavy silence hung over the ground. A powerful demonic head who had reached the late stage of Transcendent had met his end. And the opponent was a young woman whose name wasn’t even known yet. It was a sight so unbelievable that even seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn’t accept it.
—And then someone broke that silence.
“Really now.”
It was Eon Yeonyeong. Standing on the hill and looking down at the world, blood dripped from her entire body. Her gaze was so natural that it pressed down on everyone like an inescapable heavenly law. The martial artists were seized by an inexplicable anxiety and could not open their mouths.
“This way… the plan is completely ruined, isn’t it? Truly. How cruel. My Seomun Sojeo…”
Her tone was filled with exhaustion.
“If you ruin the plan so openly like this, how can I take Seomun Sojeo with me? Everyone will try to devour you.”
Eon Yeonyeong gave a faint smile.
“Still… I learned that you aren’t that fragile. At least not to the point where I can’t leave you alone for a while.”
At the same time, she took something out from her bosom. It was a bundle of bells tied together.
“Then… I suppose I must withdraw now. Will those belonging to the Society please gather as well?”
A group of martial artists burst out from the main camp. At the same time, the bells jingled and tinkled mischievously, and Jiangshi began leaping after the people with bizarre, hopping movements. Even among the bandits led by the Waterway Fortress Lord Bok Ha-un, more than twenty Jiangshi broke away. Realizing that their calm-faced comrades had been Jiangshi hiding their identities all along, sighs and murmurs of shock spread everywhere.
“Congratulations, everyone of the Waterway Fortress. Since you have avoided a great disaster today, you have managed to prolong those worthless lives of yours even a little. You may rejoice.”
The five Heavenly Jiangshi politely lifted Eon Yeonyeong and carried her away. As she slowly disappeared beyond the hill, only her voice remained vividly ringing in their ears.
“Please… be grateful for your luck and enjoy the remaining moments of your life. Because there will be no next time.”