Chapter 79
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: A Year-Long Slumber
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After the midday meal, the novice monks cleared away the bowls. A short while later, they brought out tea.
It was Lotus Tea, a renowned specialty of Shaolin.
As they were savoring the profound aroma of the tea and awaiting Great Monk Hyegong's response, Beob-yeon came to see them again. Seeing Dan Ak-seon's welcoming expression, Beob-yeon hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I have a favor to ask.”
Han Seol-hwa furrowed her brow.
“For a monk, you’re far too shameless, aren’t you?”
Beob-yeon's gaze wavered slightly at Han Seol-hwa's criticism. He himself found the current situation utterly awkward and shameful.
Holding Han Seol-hwa back, Dan Ak-seon asked,
“What kind of favor?”
Beob-yeon sighed and met Dan Ak-seon's eyes.
“Do you know anything about an illness where someone falls asleep and cannot wake up?”
“You mean narcolepsy?”
A rare disease where one falls asleep suddenly, regardless of their will.
But Beob-yeon shook his head.
“It’s not a symptom that comes and goes suddenly, but a case where someone falls asleep once and never wakes up.”
“How many days has it been since they woke up?”
Dan Ak-seon was stunned by the answer.
“In exactly five days, it will have been a full year.”
“A year?”
After a moment of collecting his thoughts, Dan Ak-seon wore a troubled expression.
“Well. This is the first time I’ve heard of such a case…”
“I see.”
Though he tried to appear calm, Beob-yeon couldn't suppress the sigh that escaped him.
He had been secretly hoping that Dan Ak-seon, the successor to the Divine Physician, would know something...
“I think I’ll have to examine the patient’s condition myself.”
A ray of hope pierced through Beob-yeon's eyes, which had been sinking into endless gloom.
Looking at Beob-yeon, Dan Ak-seon smiled gently.
“It seems that patient is the cause of the Abbot’s heart-fire.”
Beob-yeon was surprised once again.
“How did you know that?”
“The area below your eyes was twitching.”
“...?”
“It’s one of the typical symptoms when fire energy starts to build up in the heart.”
It wasn't difficult to guess that his affliction, the heart-fire, was because of the patient just mentioned.
Dan Ak-seon rose from his seat.
“Please lead the way.”
Seeing this, Han Seol-hwa let out a soft sigh.
“We can’t have the Abbot’s illness, which we worked so hard to treat, relapsing.”
Dan Ak-seon gave a plausible reason.
If they just treated the unknown patient causing the heart-fire, everything would be resolved.
A short while later.
Guided by Beob-yeon, they arrived at the farthest room in a corner of the Hall of the Medicine King.
Upon entering, they saw a person lying on a bed.
A tall stature and a handsome face.
He was a monk whose strong eyebrows matched his gallant spirit.
But he was so pitifully emaciated that, were it not for his faint breath and the slight rise and fall of his chest, one might have mistaken him for a wooden mummy.
After briefly checking his pulse, Dan Ak-seon frowned.
One mountain after another, as they say.
That was exactly the situation now.
It was a wonder the monk before him was still breathing.
No, it was more accurate to say that the flame of his life was flickering out even at this very moment.
“He lost consciousness while training in martial arts and hasn’t regained it for a year.”
At Beob-yeon's explanation, Han Seol-hwa asked,
“Did he fall to a heart-devil?”
“According to the senior monk of the Hall of the Medicine King, he is in a deep sleep.”
As if finding something suspicious, Dan Ak-seon checked his pulse once more. Then he tilted his head.
“I’ve never seen a case like this.”
Dan Ak-seon looked up at Beob-yeon.
“His body’s energy is weakening, but his internal energy is immense. In terms of internal power alone, he could be called the greatest under heaven.”
Of course, Han Seol-hwa was an exception.
Just then, Han Seol-hwa gazed intently at the monk lying on the bed.
She had found a clue about the patient through Dan Ak-seon's words.
“Beob-ryo.”
Dan Ak-seon asked in surprise.
“You mean the one who is one of the Five Absolutes Under Heaven?”
The absolute master who was named among the Five Absolutes alongside Cho Ak-ryang.
He was the martial arts genius who, at a tender age, had perfectly mastered more than half of Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts. To think that the man called the Walking Sutra Repository, for being a living library of scriptures, was lying here in such a haggard state!
Beob-yeon nodded.
“He is the Head of the Disciplinary Hall.”
Within Shaolin, the most powerful martial group is the Arhat Hall.
The only place with martial arts surpassing it was the Disciplinary Hall. For it was the place that pursued and punished monks who had committed sins.
A strange light flickered in Dan Ak-seon's eyes.
Beob-ryo, the Head of the Disciplinary Hall, was of the same 'Beob' generation as the Abbot. Yet he looked exceptionally young. Mid-thirties at most? In fact, he looked more than ten years younger than Ryo-gong, the Head of the Arhat Hall, who was of the generation below him.
Perhaps he had read Dan Ak-seon's expression.
“Beob-ryo was a disciple whom my martial uncle, Hyegong, took in his later years. Therefore, although he was registered as a monk later than the 'Ryo' generation, he uses the monastic name of the 'Beob' generation, which is one level higher.”
Dan Ak-seon nodded.
Right now, his generation and background were not important.
Finding out why the patient couldn't wake up was the priority.
“One day, Beob-ryo volunteered for closed-door training, saying he was on the verge of a great enlightenment…”
Beob-yeon explained the situation at the time.
“About a month after he entered seclusion, a novice monk who was refilling the water in the training chamber found Beob-ryo in that state. And he has not regained consciousness since.”
“Enlightenment?”
Dan Ak-seon's eyes sparkled.
Taking out an Immortal Reverence Needle, Dan Ak-seon inserted it between Beob-ryo's eyebrows.
As he carefully watched the needle, a strange light shone in Dan Ak-seon's eyes.
He had confirmed that the needle was trembling faintly.
“He’s conscious.”
Beob-yeon's gaze shook violently.
“Conscious? Then why can’t he open his eyes?”
“He’s in a state of selflessness.”
“...!”
“His consciousness is currently wandering in a state of samadhi.”
Samadhi is a state of deep meditation, also known as one-pointedness of mind, where the mind and body become tranquil through focused concentration.
In other words, it is the most ideal state of practice in Buddhism.
“You mean a state of no-thought, no-mind can last for a whole year?”
“In fact, he is likely unaware of the passage of time. He is in a state of perfect freedom, liberated from all such constraints.”
There was no other way to explain it.
Before the connection between his body and spirit was completely severed, they had to act.
“Is there a way?”
Faced with the old monk's gaze, which held a desperation that belied his long years of training, Dan Ak-seon pondered deeply.
After a long time passed in stifling silence, Dan Ak-seon finally spoke.
“There is one way.”
“...!”
“We need to awaken all of his body’s senses and nerves with a strong stimulus. It’s about forcibly strengthening the weakened connection. It’s the only method I know. But…”
Dan Ak-seon trailed off, looking up at Beob-yeon with concern.
“The Abbot might be surprised.”
“Any method will do. Please, save this child, Beob-ryo!”
Nodding, Dan Ak-seon took out a wooden case of needles from his robes.
“I will use these to pierce his vital points and shock his body.”
The needle held in Dan Ak-seon's hand.
The moment Beob-yeon saw the jet-black needle engraved with the image of a demon, he asked in shock,
“The Demonic Spirit Needles? Isn’t that the sacred object of the Life and Death Demonic Physician?”
“Yes. She’s my mother.”
“...!”
Eyes wide, Beob-yeon was momentarily stunned and couldn't speak for a long time.
How much time passed like that?
“The Divine Physician… he, who hated villains so much, got married? And to none other than the Demonic Physician?”
“My mother is not a villain.”
Beob-yeon was unusually flustered by those words.
“Of course, the Life and Death Demonic Physician is not a villain. It’s just…”
Suddenly recalling the distant past, Beob-yeon let out a long sigh.
How bewildering it had been when a master from the Unorthodox Faction, whom they thought they had defeated, would reappear perfectly fine a few days later.
And it wasn't just once or twice.
The bewilderment the Orthodox Faction felt upon later realizing it was because of the Life and Death Demonic Physician was beyond words.
The Divine Physician treated the injured of the Orthodox Faction, and the Demonic Physician treated the injured of the Unorthodox Faction.
As long as they were still breathing, they would somehow be saved, which only prolonged the fights. In the end, some even started to grumble and blame the opposing side's physician.
It was around that time that the reputations of the two spread throughout the martial world.
“To think those two, who were like mortal enemies, would marry and even have a child…”
Moreover.
‘Their child saved my life.’
And he was also the only hope for saving Beob-ryo.
Finally, Beob-yeon looked into Dan Ak-seon's eyes and nodded.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Then please, everyone, leave the room. If my concentration is broken even slightly, the consequences could be irreversible.”
A flicker of conflict appeared in Beob-yeon's eyes.
If Dan Ak-seon were to make a mistake, Shaolin would lose its greatest master. But this hesitation did not last long.
He decided to trust Dan Ak-seon's determined gaze.
“I’m counting on you.”
With those words, Beob-yeon left the room, leaving Dan Ak-seon and Beob-ryo behind.
Time passed, and evening arrived.
The sun had set, and darkness began to descend upon the temple grounds.
Having skipped his evening meal, Beob-yeon was pacing anxiously in front of the Hall of the Medicine King.
“What troubles you so, Martial Nephew Abbot?”
“Ah! Martial Uncle!”
Belatedly noticing the old monk walking towards him, Beob-yeon politely clasped one hand.
“This disciple, Beob-yeon, greets the Grand Elder.”
Great Monk Hyegong, his long eyebrows fluttering as he walked, also raised a hand to his chest and bowed his head.
“The Shaolin disciple, Hyegong, greets the Abbot.”
After exchanging greetings, Beob-yeon spoke cautiously.
“I apologize for disturbing your deep retreat, Martial Uncle.”
“It is fine, Abbot.”
Shaking his head, Hyegong turned his gaze towards the Hall of the Medicine King.
“My spirit was already free, but my body kept holding me back. I thought it strange, but it seems it was so I could meet the child inside.”
He then showed a faint smile.
“It must mean that even if it is my time to depart, I should first settle my old debts.”
“I wish I could send a message inside, but…”
Hyegong shook his head, cutting Beob-yeon off.
“What could be more important than saving a life? Since we are already late, we can wait a little longer.”
Hyegong turned his eyes to Han Seol-hwa.
“It has been a long time, Fairy. It is good to see you looking as unchanged as ever.”
Despite Hyegong's greeting, Han Seol-hwa merely gave a single nod, her gaze remaining fixed on the Hall of the Medicine King.
Beob-yeon wore a troubled expression at her arrogant demeanor.
To this, Hyegong smiled and said,
“It is fine. She has never known how to be warm to people.”
Beob-yeon felt strange.
His martial uncle before him was of an age approaching a century, looking towards his natural lifespan. The situation, with Hyegong referring to the youthful-looking Han Seol-hwa with such respect, felt incredibly awkward.
‘Just how old is she, really?’
Putting such questions aside, Beob-yeon began to wait with Hyegong for Dan Ak-seon, with no idea when he would emerge.
Before long, the night dew began to settle on the two men's shoulders.
* * *
Early dawn.
Beom Gye-wi, pacing around a tree trunk with an anxious expression, abruptly asked Cho Ak-ryang,
“Brother Cho, doesn’t it seem like something’s wrong?”
Cho Ak-ryang’s face contorted in annoyance.
He was already sick and tired of Beom Gye-wi's incessant nagging for the past several hours.
“No, just think about it, Brother Cho. All they had to do there was meet one person and come back. Is that something that should take this long?”
“Calm down.”
“No, I can’t. Something has definitely gone wrong.”
As if about to dash off at any moment, Beom Gye-wi gathered his true energy.
“I’ll go take a quick look and come back.”
“Sister Han went with him. Nothing will have happened.”
“Brother Cho, I think you’re gravely mistaken about something…”
“...?”
Cho Ak-ryang’s gaze wavered at Beom Gye-wi's next words.
“Do you trust that witch?”
Cho Ak-ryang suddenly felt uneasy.
‘Come to think of it…’
Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa.
Two peas in a pod.
They were people unparalleled in their ability to cause trouble without a second thought.
‘Should I check?’
Once doubt began to creep in, he started to feel intensely anxious.
“Brother Cho. Over there!”
While pondering, Cho Ak-ryang looked in the direction Beom Gye-wi was shouting and pointing.
At the tip of Beom Gye-wi's finger was a group of pilgrims heading to Shaolin Temple.
“We can just mix in with them.”
“Then… should we just go check?”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Beom Gye-wi shot towards the pilgrims, and Cho Ak-ryang, casting aside his worries, followed suit.