Chapter 295
Chapter 295
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 82
>Chapter Title: Shaolin Temple (1)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Om somani somani hum arahanna arahanna hum arahanna banaya hum banaya hum baa bam baara hum batak.
The solemn recitation of the sutra rang out.
It was the Demon-Subduing Mantra from the Buddhist tradition, used to subdue demons.
At the mention of the Demon-Subduing Mantra, Mara-hyeon widened his eyes and said,
“Demon-Subduing Mantra? Isn’t that a Buddhist scripture? No way...”
“Damn freakish bird. Of all places, you had to fly toward the Shaolin Temple up above?”
‘!!!!!!’
No one could hide their shock at Defrocked Monk Ja Geum-jeong’s words.
‘Sh-Shaolin?’
It was an incredibly unfortunate coincidence.
They had to head to the Sichuan Tang Clan to find the granddaughter of the Seonghwa Commandery Lord, who held the prayer beads, so the demonic beast Heumwon had flown southwest from the imperial capital Kaefeng.
But no one could have predicted this.
On the route southwest from Kaefeng lay Song Mountain, the central peak of the Five Great Mountains.
If it had been just any mountain, there would have been no issue, but Song Mountain was home to the Shaolin Temple, the sacred ground of Buddhism and the birthplace of orthodox martial arts.
“Damn it.”
A rough curse escaped Seop Chun’s lips.
Even if their luck was rotten, how could this happen?
Who could have foreseen they’d get tangled up with the Shaolin Temple, the heart of the orthodox sects, out of all places?
And yet,
-Om somani somani hum arahanna arahanna hum arahanna banaya hum banaya hum baa bam baara hum batak.
The recitation of the Demon-Subduing Mantra grew louder.
As it did, Heumwon, already wounded in its right wing by the Vajra Staff and in agony, twisted its body with a scream of torment.
-Kikikikikikikikeg!
“Eek!”
“E-Everyone, grab the carriage!”
As Heumwon thrashed, the carriage tilted, and everyone panicked, clutching at it desperately.
“Uwaaaak!”
In that moment, the overturned food cart nearly spilled the Seonghwa Commandery Lord out.
But in the nick of time, someone grabbed her wrist.
-Pak!
It was none other than the masked Mara-hyeon.
His eyes took on a strange glint as he saved her at the perfect moment.
‘Damn it.’
Deep down, he wanted to just let her die.
But this damn old woman was the only one who knew how his wretched father had died.
So he couldn’t let her plummet to her death like this.
At that moment, the demonic beast Heumwon, unable to endure the wound from the Vajra Staff and the Demon-Subduing Mantra any longer, began plummeting downward.
“Th-This!”
“Whoooaaa! It’s falling!”
Even a martial arts master could die from the impact of a fall from this height.
“L-Lord!”
Seop Chun called out to Mok Kyung-un, who was gripping the feathers on Heumwon’s underbelly.
Only his lord could tame and control the demonic beast Heumwon, so he cried out in desperation, grasping at straws.
-Mortal. You must pull out the Vajra Staff.
At that moment, Cheongryeong urgently spoke to Mok Kyung-un.
Mok Kyung-un turned his head amid the chaos of the freefall and looked at Heumwon’s right wing.
With his Ghost Eye open, Mok Kyung-un could see the majestic aura of the Vajra Staff.
It was spreading through Heumwon’s body like poison, evaporating its demonic power.
-This seat cannot touch that thing.
-I see.
The majestic aura clashed thoroughly with yin energies, so even the soul spirit Cheongryeong couldn’t touch it.
Mok Kyung-un gripped the fur on Heumwon’s underbelly tightly with both hands.
Stabilizing his stance and locking onto his target, he kicked off powerfully.
-Pak!
His body shot forward like a coiled spring, hurtling toward Heumwon’s right wing, which flapped weakly, drained of strength.
Mok Kyung-un reached out to grab one of the wing feathers.
But in that instant, Heumwon spun sideways, and he missed.
‘Ah?’
His body veered past the wing, drifting away from Heumwon.
-Shoooo!
-This is bad!
Realizing it was hopeless, Cheongryeong tried to emerge from the wooden doll.
It was right then.
Mok Kyung-un twisted his body midair, spinning around before kicking off the empty sky.
-Paang!
As if kicking a solid wall in the void, his form rebounded in the opposite direction, flying back toward Heumwon’s right wing.
‘This mortal?’
Cheongryeong couldn’t hide her inner astonishment.
What Mok Kyung-un had just demonstrated was none other than the profound technique of Void Stepping.
She hadn’t expected him to pull off such an astonishing feat in a crisis.
But the important thing now wasn’t that he had mastered Void Stepping.
Having kicked off the air to reverse course, Mok Kyung-un seized a wing feather and thrust his other hand toward the source of the spreading majestic aura.
-Puk!
-Kikikikikikikikeg!
Heumwon let out a hideous screech in agony.
Ignoring it, Mok Kyung-un plunged his hand deeper into the flesh until he found the Vajra Staff.
Grasping the Vajra Staff, Mok Kyung-un yanked it out.
In that instant,
-Chiiiiiik!
A searing pain burned through his palm as if it were scorching.
The majestic aura from the Vajra Staff burrowed into his hand, affecting his deathly and demonic qi.
‘Annoying.’
Mok Kyung-un surged with even stronger deathly qi, suppressing the Vajra Staff’s aura.
With that, he finally wrenched it free from the wing’s flesh.
-Pak!
He hurriedly flung the extracted Vajra Staff away.
Freed of it, Heumwon, which had been writhing and plummeting moments ago, vigorously flapped its left wing, struggling to regain balance.
-Flutter flutter!
Though the Vajra Staff was gone, the right wing was too damaged to use, making it impossible to ascend with one wing.
However,
-Flutter flutter!
Thanks to its frantic wingbeats, it at least reduced the speed of its descent.
Before hitting the ground, it managed to slow down just enough and landed with a rough thud.
“Urk.”
No sooner had they touched down than the Seonghwa Commandery Lord and Defrocked Monk Ja Geum-jeong vomited on the ground, while the others who had clung to the carriage collapsed pale-faced.
-Thud!
“Haa... haa...”
“We almost died for real.”
They had planned to travel comfortably on Heumwon, only to tour hell instead.
But even safely on the ground didn’t mean it was over.
The place they had landed was none other than,
-Rumble rumble!
‘Ah. We’re screwed.’
The heart of the Shaolin Temple.
Dozens of Demon-Subduing Monks in kasaya robes, along with orange-robed warrior monks wielding staffs, had surrounded them.
-Murmur murmur!
The monks, encircling Heumwon, spotted Mok Kyung-un and his group and whispered in surprise.
“What’s that?”
“Who are they?”
Then, from among the Demon-Subduing Monks emerged an elderly monk with white beard and a seasoned air.
In his hand were three Vajra Staffs, and the majestic aura emanating from him was so overwhelming it enveloped the surroundings.
-Ooooooo!
‘So it was him.’
Mok Kyung-un instantly realized he was the one who had hurled the Vajra Staff into Heumwon’s wing.
The aura he exuded was on another level entirely.
If one compared scopes, this majestic aura surpassed the Fangil realm by far, vast and encompassing like the sea.
-That’s no ordinary dharma power.
-Dharma power?
-Yes. While exorcists and Taoists cultivate spirit power, I’ve heard some Buddhist monks cultivate dharma power. This seat has never seen such an aura before—it seems extremely troublesome.
-...I see.
Heumwon cowered under the dharma power emanating from the old monk and the Demon-Subduing Monks, its wariness at an extreme peak.
‘Or maybe not.’
Mok Kyung-un scanned the surroundings.
It wasn’t just their dharma power—the temple itself exuded a majestic, pure, and pristine aura.
Even the stray ghosts or weak evil spirits commonly found nearby were nowhere to be felt.
‘No wonder it’s called Buddhism’s sacred ground.’
Mok Kyung-un inwardly clicked his tongue with an annoyed glare.
Who could have known that after barely escaping the imperial palace, they’d get caught here of all places?
At that moment, the old monk stepped forward, clasping his hands and speaking.
“Amitabha. Who might you benefactors be, traveling with a monstrous evil that brings harm...”
“Demon-Subduing Hall Leader!”
Before the old monk could finish, someone stepped forward.
It was Defrocked Monk Ja Geum-jeong.
The old monk frowned upon seeing his broken prayer beads and robes similar to the monks’.
“A dharma vessel? So you’re a dharma vessel.”
Ja Geum-jeong’s Buddhist name from his monk days had been Deokmun.
The old monk hadn’t recognized him at first due to the rough changes time had wrought.
But now that he did, he couldn’t fathom the situation.
“Deokmun, why are you with a monstrous evil?”
“It’s a misunderstanding, Demon-Subduing Hall Leader. This beast isn’t harming people—it’s been tamed.”
“Tamed? What nonsense is that?”
Then, a middle-aged monk stepped out from among the warrior monks and spoke.
Recognizing him, Ja Geum-jeong clasped his hands in greeting and bowed.
“Amitabha. Greeting the Arhat Hall Leader...”
“How dare a defrocked disciple clasp hands in greeting? Withdraw them.”
“...”
At the Arhat Hall Leader’s firm words, Ja Geum-jeong bitterly unclasped his hands.
As the man said, as a defrocked monk, he had no right to greet with clasped hands.
The Arhat Hall Leader then pointed at Heumwon and asked,
“How could you have tamed that thing? It’s no beast—it’s a man-eating demon. How...”
“It’s my shikigami, Venerable One.”
‘!?’
The Arhat Hall Leader turned his head.
The interloper was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
“Shikigami?”
Unfamiliar with the term, the Arhat Hall Leader looked puzzled, but the Demon-Subduing Hall Leader spoke.
“Amitabha. Did you say shikigami just now, benefactor?”
-Swish!
Mok Kyung-un clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute and replied.
“Yes. Though it’s a monstrous evil, it’s a being I command as my shikigami. So it’s under control and not dangerous as it appears...”
“Gal!”
Before he could finish, the Demon-Subduing Hall Leader bellowed.
He then pointed at Heumwon and said,
“Shikigami refers to the exorcists’ method of forcibly binding a pact to subjugate monsters, does it not?”
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes gleamed at his words.
He hadn’t expected a Buddhist monk to know so much about exorcism arts.
“Correct. But why the stern shout?”
Puzzled, the old monk trembled his white eyebrows and said,
“Exorcism arts derived from Taoist sorcery deviate from nature’s laws and principles—a dangerous practice. How could a young benefactor learn such an evil thing?”
“...Are exorcism arts evil?”
“I’ve said it, benefactor. Exorcism arts defy principles. Even shikigami is ultimately forcing a pact to enslave a being. It violates the will of another. How could that not be evil?”
Mok Kyung-un snorted at his words and said,
“So what are you trying to say?”
The Demon-Subduing Hall Leader aimed a Vajra Staff at Heumwon and replied,
“Amitabha. These words are for your own good, so listen without offense. Exorcism arts that defy reason will surely harm you. Cease using them and sever the forced pact with this monster.”