Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: A Favor to Ask
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After Jeong Hwa went up to the main hall, Neung Un-bi looked for a place to talk with Hyang-i.
They could have used telepathy, but if the two of them suddenly stood silently for a long time, Gong Mun, who was standing by as a sort of guard, would surely find it strange.
“Hoo, Master Gong Mun.”
“Yes.”
“May I stop by the Pagoda Forest?”
“The Pagoda Forest?”
“Yes. I think I had too much to drink, and I'm feeling dizzy. I'd like to meditate quietly for a bit...”
“Hmm.”
Gong Mun hesitated for a moment.
The Pagoda Forest was where the sarira and remains of past Shaolin high monks were enshrined. It wasn't a restricted area, but this was the first time someone from the Demonic Cult had visited...
But what did it matter? As he said, wasn't it the perfect place for meditation?
“Very well, I shall guide you to the Pagoda Forest.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
The Shaolin's Pagoda Forest was truly immense.
“Wow!”
Hyang-i couldn't hide her surprise at the sight of large and small pagodas filling a vast plain. Despite her incredible martial arts, this was the first time she had seen such a spectacle.
“Are all of those graves?”
“That's right.”
“So it's like a cemetery. I didn't know monks made graves... I'd only heard they just burn the bodies.”
“...”
The problem was, she had no filter.
“Hyang-i, that's rude.”
“Ah!”
At Neung Un-bi's cue, Hyang-i glanced at Gong Mun and finally shut her mouth.
“My apologies, Master Gong Mun. This child is unfamiliar with Shaolin's sacred grounds. Please be understanding.”
“Not at all. It is quite alright.”
“...”
“She is not entirely wrong, is she?”
Shaking his head, Gong Mun smiled and looked at Hyang-i.
“Benefactor. If I may clarify one thing, there are no corpses beneath the pagodas.”
“...”
“After the cremation ceremony, the unburnt remains and sarira are collected and enshrined in those pagodas.”
At his kind explanation, Hyang-i laughed awkwardly and scratched her head.
“Then, I shall withdraw while you meditate. I hope you find peace of mind... Amitabha.”
As Gong Mun bowed with one hand and retreated, Neung Un-bi responded with a prayer gesture.
“Hmm... he's a good monk.”
“Hm?”
“My grandmother said all monks are trash you shouldn't associate with.”
“...”
This girl, this girl. Spouting nonsense again.
Though she had muttered it quietly, Neung Un-bi whipped his head around, checking to see if Gong Mun had overheard.
“What are you doing? I made sure he couldn't hear, so don't worry about it.”
“...Phew.”
Only then did Neung Un-bi let out a sigh of relief.
She's the type to live without any regard for the law.
Since she wouldn't follow it anyway.
“Wait, did you put up a ki barrier?”
“Yeah.”
Neung Un-bi frowned in disbelief.
No wonder her energy felt so clear.
[Take down the ki barrier. Do you think Gong Mun is such an idiot that he wouldn't notice a disturbance like that?]
[Why does that matter?]
[Why? You came to the Pagoda Forest saying you wanted to meditate. If you put up a ki barrier, he'll obviously think we're having some kind of secret conversation. It'll just raise unnecessary suspicion.]
[Ah!]
[Please! Let's be a little more careful. Okay?]
[Tch, what's there to be careful about? Who cares if he's suspicious or not.]
Hyang-i pouted.
Of course, it wouldn't matter to you. But it matters a great deal to me.
[Anyway, why Shaolin? I went back to the Orthodox Murim Alliance and was surprised you weren't there. What were you thinking, wandering around without me? What if something happened?]
[Ah, about that... there were too many people watching.]
[And you just let them?]
[What, should I have slit their throats like you would?]
[If it were me... I wouldn't let guys who watch me in secret without permission get away with it.]
[You're one to talk.]
[It's fine for me. They wouldn't even know I was watching.]
[And yet you got caught by Jeong Hwa just fine.]
[That's... because he's strong. Damn monk, how is his spiritual sense so sharp? I was even using Breath Concealment, just in case.]
[Breath Concealment?]
Holding your breath?
[Yes, Breath Concealment. A breathing technique on a level incomparable to what you call Turtle Breathing. True masters of stealth learn it.]
Does she have to be so obnoxious when she explains things?
Neung Un-bi shot a small glare at Hyang-i and let out a soft sigh.
[Jeong Hwa is one of the Central Plains' representative martial artists.]
[Hmph, I see. Then that means he's stronger than Great Protector Yang.]
[Great Protector Yang?]
[The difference is minuscule, but I've never been caught by him at a distance of thirty feet.]
[Ah...]
Neung Un-bi was inwardly amazed by Hyang-i's words.
If he's only slightly different from Shaolin's greatest master, Jeong Hwa, just how strong is Great Protector Yang?
But Neung Un-bi quickly cleared his mind, sat down in a meditative posture, and closed his eyes.
[Anyway... what about the task I gave you?]
[I looked into it... but I couldn't find out much.]
Neung Un-bi nodded imperceptibly.
Thirty years. How could she possibly uncover such a long period of time?
Besides, she hadn't been given much time...
[Still, seeing as you came back so quickly, you must have found something, right?]
[Mmm... there was something a little strange.]
[Strange?]
[Yeah. The first day I secretly left the Orthodox Murim Alliance, I followed Hwang Byeong-chan, who lives on the outskirts of the Alliance, to his house...]
Hyang-i explained in detail what she had seen.
[He really didn't do anything. He went into his house, read a book until late, and then went to sleep.]
“...”
[I searched all over his house and found things like corruption ledgers and bribery account books.]
[I don't need that... anything else?]
[I figured as much, so I didn't bring them. What you wanted to know was how he lived for the past thirty years. So, I decided to check his room.]
[And?]
[A few guys were guarding it, but who am I? I got in without much trouble.]
“...”
[But this is where it gets weird.]
[Oh?]
[I thought he was sleeping... but he wasn't there.]
[What?]
[Ah, well, someone was there. But his scent was different, so I took a closer look, and what do you know? It was a different guy.]
[He had a body double?]
[Yeah. Strange, right? I looked at him while he was sleeping, and he looked exactly the same.]
Neung Un-bi's expression hardened.
Why?
What reason could there be for putting a body double in his bed?
[Then where was the real one?]
[I couldn't find him. Which means...]
[A secret passage in the room?]
[Exactly. But I couldn't find it, no matter how hard I looked.]
[Hmm...]
There's something going on.
A body double is clearly meant for others to see. A way to make them believe he is sleeping.
In that case, it means he knew someone was watching him.
[Keke, but who am I?]
[Huh?]
[I hid in the room and waited patiently. You know, my patience is second to none.]
It was clearly a boast, but Neung Un-bi's heart pounded.
Right, she has the right to boast about that.
So! So what did you see!
[And then, Hwang Byeong-chan popped out from behind a folding screen.]
[And then?]
[What do you mean, 'and then'? I saw the body double who had switched with him enter the secret passage.]
[And?]
[...After that, I went back to following Hwang Byeong-chan.]
Neung Un-bi opened his closed eyes and stared intently at Hyang-i.
[Is that... all?]
[Isn't it strange? A body double... why would he use one? Maybe we'd get something if we just tortured Hwang Byeong-chan?]
It felt as if his furiously beating heart had stopped.
That's all...
And what? Torture Hwang Byeong-chan for a confession?
[Hyang-i, isn't it common sense to investigate the secret passage in a situation like this?]
[Why would I?]
[What?]
[What you asked me to do was look into Hwang Byeong-chan's past, not investigate some body double.]
[Ah...]
I overestimated Hyang-i.
Because her martial arts are so strong...
Come to think of it, she had no reason or responsibility to meticulously investigate every aspect of Hwang Byeong-chan's life, had she?
Should I ask her again?
No, now he wanted to see it with his own two eyes. In other words, he would have to go himself.
The reason Hwang Byeong-chan used a body double, the secret passage...
There must be something there.
[I get it for now. We're done with Hwang Byeong-chan. Just do me one more favor.]
[Again?]
[You don't want to?]
[Sigh, fine. What do you need?]
[Switch with me.]
[Huh?]
[Be my body double for a while. So everyone thinks I'm staying at Shaolin.]
“...”
At Neung Un-bi's request, Hyang-i stared at him for a moment before shaking her head firmly.
[I can't do that.]
[What?]
[You're trying to use me as a double so you can sneak off to Hwang Byeong-chan's house, aren't you?]
“...”
[Don't be ridiculous. Do you not know what my mission is?]
“...?”
[You have to become the Cult Leader, for the sake of the favor I'll ask. What if something happens to you if you go alone? You are absolutely not going alone.]
Hyang-i turned her head sharply, driving the point home as if to say, "Don't even dream of persuading me."
Dammit...
I didn't think of that.
The Cult Leader's order to her was to protect him.
Moreover, she was the one trying to make him the Cult Leader. Of course, she would never allow him to go alone without the Lunar Eclipse Squad.
He wasn't confident he could shake her off, and it would be a problem if she didn't act as his double. If he suddenly vanished, everyone would start looking for him.
[I can go with you, if we go together.]
[Hmm...]
Neung Un-bi frowned deeply.
An unexpected brake had been put on his plans.
What should I do about this?
Someone has to create the illusion that I'm still at Shaolin...
“Ah! The favor!”
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and Neung Un-bi blurted it out.
[Huh? What favor? I already told you I can't do that one.]
“...”
Hyang-i frowned at him, but Neung Un-bi, having found a solution, was all smiles.
Not you...
A way to make everyone believe he was still at Shaolin had just occurred to him.
“Hyang-i.”
“Huh? No, yes?”
When Neung Un-bi called her name out loud, Hyang-i, conscious of Gong Mun, quickly corrected her response.
[It's fine if I go with you, right?]
[Well...]
After being called out loud, he was now using telepathy again. Hyang-i couldn't hide her bewildered expression.
But Neung Un-bi just kept smiling brightly.
The secret passage.
It wouldn't be easy for him to find a place that even she couldn't discover at first.
[If you went now, do you think you could open that secret passage?]
[Of course. I've seen it.]
At those words, Neung Un-bi shot to his feet.
“Alright, let's go. I'm sober now.”
“...”
Unable to understand why he was grinning so happily, Hyang-i could only tilt her head as she watched Neung Un-bi leave the Pagoda Forest.
Sober?
I don't think he was ever drunk in the first place...
* * *
After leaving the Pagoda Forest, Neung Un-bi headed for Shaolin's main hall. The meeting seemed to be running long, as the hall was brightly lit despite the late hour.
Neung Un-bi went to find Jeong Hwa immediately.
“Benefactor Neung, what is it? We are in a meeting.”
“I know.”
Jeong Hwa frowned at Neung Un-bi's bold attitude.
He hadn't thought him so rude as to come knowing that...
“Do you have something important to say?”
“Yes.”
“...?”
Neung Un-bi grinned and said.
“That favor you promised me earlier, I need you to grant it now.”