Chapter 61: To Henan (1)
Chapter 61: To Henan (1)
If you asked people to name the sect that represented Henan, everyone would think of Shaolin Temple.
The Northern Dipper of Mount Tai.
Thousand-Year Shaolin.
A sect boasting a history of over a thousand years, with such a wide variety of martial arts that it was said all martial arts began at Shaolin. It was an order of monks who cultivated inner energy of extreme purity, even more so than the other Daoist or Buddhist sects, while also training their bodies.
In Henan, where they wielded Buddhist Qi, which, like Lightning Qi, had the property of dispelling evil, and whose ultimate goal was to become Buddhas, there were no martial artists from the unorthodox faction.
The moment word spread that a bandit stronghold had sprung up in the mountains of Henan, the monks of Shaolin would pour out, beat the bandits into submission, and hand them over to the authorities. How could there possibly be anyone from the unorthodox faction there?
For small-time bandits, the second-generation disciples would use the 18 Arhat Formation. If the bandits seemed to be of a slightly larger scale, the first-generation disciples would go out and deploy the 108 Arhat Formation, beating them into submission with their staffs.
How could mere bandits possibly defeat the 108 Arhat Formation, which was said to be difficult even for Peak Realm masters to counter?
Besides, in Henan, the principle of Separation of Government and Martial World was rendered half meaningless. After all, when Shaolin monks who revered justice caught a martial artist who had committed a crime and handed him over to the authorities, he would receive the maximum sentence.
That was only possible because the authorities had Shaolin Temple as their backing when enforcing imperial law.
Entering Henan meant that even I, as the Thousand-Faced Lust Demon, would have to take a fair amount of risk. If the Shaolin monks deployed the 108 Arhat Formation, things would get quite dangerous, just as they had when I was trapped in the Murim Alliance's net of heaven and earth.
"So, Chi-chi, you especially need to be careful not to let your Demonic Qi leak out. If you need to use martial arts, use the Holy Fire."
"Is there any need to worry that much? The Shaolin monks may have a fairly weighty force, but they should not even be able to touch this woman."
"You still need to be careful. It'd be a nuisance otherwise."
It was a remark that looked down on Shaolin, but Chi-chi and Seol Yu-ran paid it no mind.
Two at Super Peak, and one at the Peak Realm. With strength like that, we could inflict damage on Shaolin approaching the point of annihilation through guerrilla warfare, striking and retreating.
No matter how enormous a sect Shaolin Temple was, its overall quality was not all that high.
Even if the abbot of Shaolin Temple, known throughout the world as the Venerable Buddha, stepped forward—the man who called himself Buddha's Son—it would be no different.
His realm was Super Peak, just like mine and Chi-chi's, but defeating the two of us would be a distant prospect. No—in fact, Chi-chi could have beaten him even without me.
In the original story, Buddha's Son really did fight Chi-chi to the death during the Righteous-Demonic War.
Because of the favorable matchup between Buddhist Qi, which possessed the power to dispel evil, and Demonic Qi, Buddha's Son was able to stand against her alone. Of course, even so, he inflicted no small amount of injury on Chi-chi, the story's final boss, before losing and dying.
But that had not been meaningless.
Thanks to him, the original protagonist, Namgung Gang-o, and his heroines had time to build up the strength to defeat Chi-chi.
While the injured Chi-chi recovered, the Righteous-Demonic War was temporarily put on hold, and later, the protagonist Namgung Gang-o and his heroines all rushed in and ganged up on the Heavenly Demon.
'That future may no longer exist.'
Even if Chi-chi was a demonic martial artist harboring Demonic Qi, I would make sure she did not become a public enemy of the righteous martial world.
That was my own Path of Lust: taking responsibility for my woman.
"Maybe you're the only ones who can be so confident when talking about taking on Shaolin Temple."
"You're the one to talk. You're Master's wife, and you're still stuck at the Peak Realm. Hurry up and reach our level."
"...That hit a nerve."
Seol Yu-ran, who had not even been aware of what the realm of Super Peak entailed, gave a bitter smile at Chi-chi's remark.
I wrapped my right arm around Seol Yu-ran's waist, pressing her side close to mine, and comforted her.
"Don't worry. I'll work myself to the bone to help you reach Super Peak too, Master."
"Disciple, I'm touched that you'd say that, but you do have wandering hands."
"You're still the wife of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect Leader, after all. Get used to it."
"...Sigh."
The hand that had slipped beneath her armpit fondled her enormous Big Mommy Boobs. Seol Yu-ran's face flushed at the lewd touch.
After I had fondled her for a while, I tucked the two of them under my arms. With the two beauties on either side of me, each of whom deserved to be called Transcendent in terms of looks, I visited the Huayin branch of the Golden Escort Agency, arm in arm with them.
As the number-one courier service, the Golden Escort Agency was always busy.
To avoid losing their customers' trust, they accepted and carried out requests even for small long-distance deliveries, or for items that were not important.
I heard that they had nearly gone under several times at first because they suffered so many losses, but as time passed, the trust they had built up brought them more and more requests, and they were able to prosper greatly as a result.
For that reason, the Golden Escort Agency had plenty of transport work wherever it went, and it kept martial artists on its payroll at all times.
The moment we entered the agency's branch, all the martial artists' eyes turned toward us. With Chi-chi appearing in a bunny suit that revealed a shocking amount of skin, and Seol Yu-ran possessing an explosively voluptuous figure, the men's dicks pointed right at them, as you'd expect from men.
But when they saw me squeezed between the two of them, they immediately looked away.
Blond hair and tanned skin.
A bunny girl and a peerlessly beautiful woman.
Those unmistakable features were enough to let even those ignorant bumpkins guess who I was.
"Lecherous Fist Hero and Lewd Spear Rabbit, are they? Just as I'd heard, their appearances and outfits are extraordinarily unusual."
"I've heard that Post-Nut Clarity Sect, the martial sect founded by Lecherous Fist Hero as a One-Person Inheritance, is a little unusual. They say all the women of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect's leader wear bizarre garments brought over from the West. That must be one of them as well."
"That really is quite a proper... Ahem. Quite an improper rule."
"Indeed. To go around dressed in such an outrageous outfit. I can't imagine how they expect to face their ancestors after they die."
After you die, you'll need to buy a ticket for the journey to the underworld so you can be reborn through reincarnation. What the hell do your ancestors have to do with it?
Those rustic bumpkins would have to work in the hell where King Yama resided for at least five hundred years after they died before they'd earn a chance at reincarnation.
I'll keep taking my wives through Bone Transformation Rebirth, and when I've had enough, I'll head for the Immortal Realm.
There was an Immortal Realm here, too. Immortals themselves didn't appear, but in an extra story, there had been a passing mention of someone who'd succeeded in Ascending to Immortality.
It wasn't definite proof, but the very fact that there were traces of such a thing was a cliché that meant the Immortal Realm existed.
There was no way immortals would age, so I'd go there and begin a second life with my wives, one filled with cock-filled debauchery.
Even as I thought that, I could still hear the people around us whispering.
"Dressing so indecently, they'll be snatched up by Green Forest bandits in no time—"
"Shh. Keep your voice down. They may be lewd, but they're skilled enough to be counted among the Hundred Great Masters."
"What? What do you mean?"
"My goodness. With news that slow, how do you expect to make a living?"
"No, what on earth are you talking about? Stop being so frustrating and just tell me! I'll buy you drinks for the evening."
"Very well. Then I'll tell you."
A few others nearby who hadn't heard the news were listening in, but since it wasn't particularly important information, the man spoke freely.
"They say Lecherous Fist Hero and Lewd Spear Rabbit are masters who have broken through the wall."
"What? What do you mean...? They haven't even reached thirty yet, have they?"
"That's right. You know I have a friend who's a low-ranking member of the Hao Clan, don't you?"
Everyone knew about him, since the man was always cursing him as no friend at all but an information broker who bled him dry. Of course, no one was tactless enough to point that out.
"I read it in one of the reports classified as general information. Those two have released their internal energy outward, or cut with it."
"Gasp!"
The phenomenon of releasing internal energy outside the body and sustaining it, despite being not yet thirty.
The most common example was Sword Energy Projection, and only Peak Realm masters, who could release their internal energy and maintain it as martial energy, were capable of performing it.
"Lecherous Fist Hero doesn't care much if people slander him as lecherous. But I hear that if you insult his woman, either through your actions or the way you speak, he'll punch the hell out of you so badly you'll be laid up for at least a week. That's why Kang Chang-i hasn't come to the wanderer office to pick up any jobs for the past few days."
"......"
"You're lucky. If I hadn't cut you off, Lecherous Fist Hero would've beaten you to a pulp without anyone knowing. Look now. He's glaring at us."
"What?...Gasp! H-he really is."
My five senses were different from an ordinary person's, as befitted a Super Peak master. Peak Realm and Transcendent masters had the same physical capabilities, so I might not catch a Peak Realm master's whispers—but these were just low-level martial artists.
So I gave them a warning glare. The one with the Hao Clan friend zipped his lips, while the man drinking beside him looked horrified and broke out in a cold sweat.
As a warning, I sent them a Voice Transmission.
[If I hear you talking behind my back and insulting my woman, I won't let you off. This is your one and only warning.]
"Gasp?!"
"Urk!!"
Perhaps they were afraid I'd change my mind and beat them up anyway. The two men scrambled to their feet and rushed out of the Golden Escort Agency's building.
"Don't go too hard on the bugs. It affects your reputation."
"A reputation that suffers because I protect my woman isn't one I'd bother keeping."
"Such a way with words."
Her tone was reproachful, but there was an unmistakable smile on Chi-chi's lips.
Soon, we walked over to the notice board where the requests were posted, and it didn't take long to find what we were looking for: an escort job from Huayin County to Henan.
But—
"Why's the reward so high?"
It wasn't all that far, yet the fee for escorting the caravan had been set quite high.