Chapter 63: To Henan (3)
Chapter 63: To Henan (3)
To spread my reputation, I gave pointers on martial arts to the escort guards who were Third-rate or Second-rate. The wanderers had also subtly expressed their desire to join in, so I gladly welcomed them as well.
This tiresome, trivial act would later serve as the reputation and backing that proved the Post-Nut Clarity Sect was a righteous sect.
One by one, they demonstrated their martial arts, and I watched them and corrected their stances.
Normally, performing your martial arts in front of someone else was an act that gave them the first clue to how to counter you, so it wasn't something to be taken lightly.
But the men here were Third-rate or Second-rate, and the recruited wanderers had, at best, only just managed to set foot in the First-rate ranks.
The Golden Escort Agency was not a bad patron, but it didn't particularly cherish its individual escort guards. And those who were First-rate but still wanderers had no backing, so improving their own martial prowess mattered more to them. Unless you belonged to one of the Five Great Clans or Nine Great Sects, or at the very least some prestigious household whose name carried weight, your own martial arts were the most important thing, after all.
"Straighten your back a little more. The force isn't being transferred properly, so you're putting too much strength into your sword strokes and failing to execute your martial arts as they should be."
"Step your right foot half a pace farther forward. Your lower body, which should be braced against the earth, is weak, so all you're doing is swaying your upper body."
"Your qi isn't circulating smoothly. Follow the energy I'm channeling into you and practice Qi Circulation Breathing."
I gave pointers on the martial arts of dozens of escort guards and wanderers.
"No, an old injury is blocking your meridians. I'll cauterize them with Lightning Qi, so clamp your mouth shut and try to endure it."
"Wait, wha—?!.........!!!!!"
A few strange things happened along the way, but most of them thanked me and were genuinely happy. Having someone look over their stances or qi circulation wouldn't change much by itself, but they all knew very well how important even such a small improvement in their martial arts could be in actual combat.
Unlike hothouse flowers, they made their living with swords in the real world.
They knew very well how important this small improvement could be.
And so, as I began to receive the absolute highest honors during the escort journey, the meat in our meals increased.
It wasn't bad that the soup my women ate had more chunks of meat in it. That alone made it worth looking over those punks' martial arts.
As I was savoring the reward, Chi-chi leaned her upper body toward me from the seat beside mine and tried to tempt me with a bewitching pose.
"My Master is truly pitiable. What do you gain from correcting the stances of such ignorant fools? What is the point of building a reputation? Why not go with me to the Divine Cult and fuck some demonic women instead? The Heavenly Demon Cult has its laws, but it accepts anyone who possesses overwhelming martial prowess. I shall become the Heavenly Demon, and I will make all the arrangements so that you can fuck any demonic woman you please."
Her voice was like the bewitching whisper of an evil demon. It was a temptation tantamount to abandoning the righteous sect women and going over to the Demonic Cult to pursue the conquest of the Central Plains.
"If you lead the Divine Cult and conquer the Central Plains, I'll make every female of the righteous sects you desire into your playthings. Even if she's the granddaughter of the Murim Alliance Leader, I'll make sure to capture her alive and turn her into your cocksleeve. So come with me to the Divine Cult."
Turn every female in the Central Plains into a cocksleeve?
It was true that the offer was arousing, but if that was what I wanted, I would have headed for Xinjiang the moment I conquered Chi-chi.
Just as I had put in all that effort to make Seol Yu-ran submit to me, heart and soul, I preferred seeing women become females of their own accord and wish to belong to me. So Chi-chi's offer was tempting, but it didn't particularly appeal to me.
I was just about to refuse when—
A soft swell.
"Disciple, no matter what, the orthodox faction means legitimacy and power. Why was it that my disciple, despite being a Lust Demon, founded the Post-Nut Clarity Sect and walked the righteous path? Was it not so that you could shape the women of the Central Plains to your own tastes? Let's just keep spreading our reputation together, Master and disciple."
"Hah. Before you say that, shouldn't you change your own clothes so they're fit for the wife of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect's leader?"
"You said the clothes I'm to wear would be ready when we reached Henan. I'll wear them when we get there, so don't rush me when we're both wives."
"I am the principal wife!"
Seol Yu-ran stared fixedly at Chi-chi, who had boldly shouted those words. Without stopping her Big Mommy Boobs from rubbing against my arm, she gazed at Chi-chi, then let her eyes drift slightly downward.
And then—
"Heh."
Now brimming with confidence, she jiggled her breasts even more vigorously as she rubbed them against my arm.
"......Ha!"
A cross-shaped vein bulged on Chi-chi's forehead. As a woman with large breasts herself, she was confident in her own boobs, but she knew all too well that she couldn't beat Seol Yu-ran, the owner of the biggest boobs in the Central Plains.
What's more, if Seol Yu-ran took in semen brimming with yang energy, she would even start producing breast milk. Her breasts would be elevated from the biggest in the Central Plains to the biggest in the world.
Perhaps she thought there was no need to pit her own lacking tits against an opponent like that.
Swish. Swish.
Having stopped eating midway, Chi-chi sat on my lap and rubbed her ass against my crotch. She stroked King Cock through my clothes, its shaft hanging slack.
Even without an erection, it was so huge that its outline showed through my clothes, so it wasn't all that difficult for her to stroke it with the world's biggest ass.
It was while the two women were competing with their Big Mommy Boobs and Big Asses that—
"It's the Fallen Monk!────────── Prepare for battle!"
The mood was ruined.
And then—
"That clueless monk bastard..."
"We'll have to teach him some manners."
I could see a future in which the Fallen Monk was about to get wrecked, too.
***
When the Fallen Monk who bore the Buddhist name Mu-jeong ran into the party from the Golden Escort Agency, his face twisted at his bad luck.
His body was already in poor condition from having to shake off the pursuit of the Eighteen Arhats, and now he had run into them.
Although he was a First-rate martial artist on the verge of reaching the Peak Realm, Mu-jeong was aware that, on his own, it would be difficult to shake off all of them.
If he hadn't been capable of judging his own abilities objectively, escaping from Shaolin Temple in the first place would have been impossible.
The one mercy was that, being an escort caravan, they were just individuals who didn't know how to form sword or battle formations.
What was particularly unlucky was that, true to the Golden Escort Agency's reputation, they must have been throwing money around for fun: Mu-jeong could sense three more First-rate masters besides the escort chief.
Considering that even a mid-sized sect had only a handful of First-rate martial artists, this showed just how frightening the Golden Escort Agency's wealth was. Only the Golden Escort Agency could afford to spend so much money on a single escort job.
"Shit—Buddha! Ah, no... Amitabha. Patrons, judging by your faces, you seem to have heard the false rumors about this monk... How about we each go our own way?"
The escort chief's expression hardened at the suggestion that they settle things through compromise right away.
"Shaolin Temple sent a request to the Golden Escort Agency to detain you if we came across you, monk. I'm sorry, but I can't let you pass."
The escort chief and the escorts drew their swords. There was one First-rate martial artist, along with a number of Second-rate and Third-rate martial artists, but together they were more than enough to hold back one First-rate Fallen Monk.
Realizing this, Mu-jeong shouted as though his frustration were about to burst out of him.
"It's all a misunderstanding! It's true that this monk has sampled meat, but—"
"It's the Fallen Monk!────────── Prepare for battle!"
"...Shit—Buddha."
Just as Mu-jeong decided to shake them off as quickly as possible, before the Eighteen Arhats arrived—
Fwoosh!
"Gah?!"
"Hup!"
A burst of qi seized control of the entire area.
The Qi Wave alone froze the escorts in place, while Mu-jeong, its target, went deathly pale.
Just what kind of master could unleash a Qi Wave like this? Mu-jeong instinctively knew that its owner was at least in the Peak Realm—or had reached a level on par with Buddha's Son, the abbot of Shaolin Temple.
He was confident that he ranked among the most skilled of Shaolin Temple's second-generation disciples. That was why he had thought that, even if he couldn't win, he could at least break away from the party from the Golden Escort Agency and escape.
But the face of Mu-jeong, who instinctively sensed that he could never defeat the master—or masters—behind this Qi Wave, grew thoroughly contorted.
"Shit—Buddha... It seems today is the day this monk meets his end."
Rustle.
The carriage curtains were drawn aside, revealing a man. The identity of the man presumed to be the source of the Qi Wave was—
"What an interesting fellow."
He was a golden-haired, tanned punk.
***
Actually, Chi-chi and Seol Yu-ran had been about to beat the Fallen Monk senseless for ruining the mood, but when I heard something interesting, I held them back and stepped forward myself.
As I emerged from the carriage, the muscular, bald monk stared at me in surprise. Had he mistaken Chi-chi and Seol Yu-ran's presence for my own?
I had no particular desire to correct his misunderstanding.
After all, I couldn't deny that their presence was about on par with mine.
He admits to eating meat, but everything else is a misunderstanding?
It was possible he was lying just to save his life.
But to me, with my sixth sense sharpened from handling electrical signals, his desperate, heartfelt cry didn't feel like a lie.
Perhaps thanks to this meat-eating monk, I might learn something interesting.
With that thought in mind, I stepped forward and spoke to the escort chief.
"I'll deal with this monk, so please carry on with the escort. I'll subdue him quickly and catch up."
"...Young Hero, are you sure?"
"Haha. I may not look it, but I'm a martial artist who's broken through the wall. I wouldn't say you can afford to underestimate a First-rate expert, but as long as I don't let my guard down, I can subdue him without trouble."
"Very well. I wish you good fortune, Fist Hero."
The escort chief clasped his hands in salute, then led the group past us.
I'd thought the monk might take advantage of the opening to try to escape.
But the Fallen Monk didn't move a single step. He simply stood where he was.
His gaze never left me for even an instant. Was that instinct? Or was he simply very perceptive?
Either way, the fact that someone like him was a second-generation disciple showed that Shaolin Temple's strength was indeed no small thing.
There was just one thing I couldn't understand: I didn't know this fellow's identity at all.
With talent like his, you'd think he would've appeared at least once in the original story.
Even amid the great war in which the righteous and demonic factions clashed, a battle involving every expert of note, there hadn't been so much as a single mention of him. An extraordinary genius who could rise to the Peak Realm at any moment if only he had the right opportunity—and yet here he was, a Fallen Monk. The thought piqued my curiosity.
And since some of what he'd said didn't quite match Shaolin Temple's account, my curiosity only grew.
"First, let's at least introduce ourselves. I am Geum Tae-yang, master of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect. Overly generous people in the Shaanxi region have given me the epithet Lecherous Fist Hero."
"I'm Mu-jeong, a second-generation disciple of Shaolin....Wait, lecherous?"
"That's because the Post-Nut Clarity Sect's ultimate goal is to attain enlightenment through the Bedchamber Arts and Ascend to Immortality."
"...I see."
He nodded as though he understood, though his expression said he hadn't understood a thing.
What does a bald monk who's never even had sex think he understands?
Still, watching the bald man nod after even putting on an act, I had to admit his social skills weren't bad. It was strange that someone like him had been driven out of Shaolin Temple and become a Fallen Monk.
If all he'd done was eat meat, wouldn't the baldies' usual punishment have been to lock him in the repentance hall and make him meditate facing a wall?
And yet they'd gone so far as to frame the Fallen Monk for murder and try to drag him back. Surely he'd either made off with something important to Shaolin—or else...
He'd learned a secret he wasn't supposed to know.
If it was something important to Shaolin, it might be a Great Rebirth Pill. As for a secret he wasn't supposed to know... I had no idea.
There was nothing for it but to ask him directly.
"Say, Monk Mu-jeong. You're clearly a bald monk, but you don't seem like a Fallen Monk. Why don't we go somewhere and have an honest conversation?"
"I refuse—"
"If you don't want to, then we'll have a conversation with our bodies instead of an honest one."
I raised my fist and summoned Fist Qi. Lightning crackled around it, and Mu-jeong broke into a cold sweat as he looked at my iron fist, which seemed capable of sending him straight to his grave if it landed a blow. He hurriedly changed his answer.
"—That wouldn't be proper conduct for a monk, either. Listening to the concerns of the common people is one of the roles I was originally meant to fulfill. I'll agree to talk."
"...Uh. Yeah. Good."
I knew it was a strange thing to say, considering I'd just threatened him, but as I watched the bald man with his insanely good social skills, I thought:
How had someone this entertaining really never appeared in the original story?