Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Shaolin Inquiry
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Midway up Lesser Chamber Peak on Song Mountain.
The panoramic view of Shaolin Temple unfolded before them, the most renowned site in the entire martial world.
Centered around the Great Hero Hall, the complex of buildings was so vast it rivaled any imperial palace.
If one counted even the hermitages hidden behind small peaks, boulders, and trees, it would easily surpass a hundred structures.
Among them, in a secluded corner, stood a tiny hermitage so small there was barely room for Baek Un and Beom Won to stand.
Seated in meditation there was a single elderly monk.
"So..."
The old monk's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet it was enough to put Baek Un and Beom Won on edge.
"You headed toward Heavenly Center Mountain and found corpses strewn everywhere along the way. And you even encountered the one responsible for the slaughter."
"Yes."
"Following his guidance, you reached a small village and met a woman claiming to be the Young Palace Lord of True Heaven Palace."
"Yes."
"You tried to persuade her to come here with you, but she refused, so you two returned alone?"
"That's right."
"In short, you came back empty-handed."
"Not exactly, monk."
Flash.
Within the dim hermitage, a pair of golden eyes gleamed sharply.
"Baek Un, are you trying to talk your way out of this with that three-inch tongue of yours again?"
"N-No, that's not it..."
"Planning to make excuses? Fine, go ahead. Let's hear it."
Baek Un, one of the top Eighteen Arhats—the pinnacle of Shaolin's martial monks—felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
He mumbled something under his breath before finally sighing in resignation.
"Please kill me."
"You fool, is that something a monk says to another monk?"
"I mean I'll gladly accept any punishment."
"Enough. It was the abbot's order that sent you unripe whelps there in the first place. Who is there to blame?"
"......"
"Blame the abbot."
"G-Great Monk!"
"Anyway, let me ask what I'm curious about."
The golden-eyed elder scratched his shoulder as he spoke.
"Why didn't you subdue that slaughter demon the moment you saw him?"
"Monk, as I explained..."
"Because the dead were villains hired by True Heaven Palace factions? That's something you learned later, and even then, its truth is uncertain. With your temperament, you wouldn't have thought that far from the start."
"......"
"Be honest."
"I wasn't confident I could win."
Beom Won, who had been silently watching from the side, turned to Baek Un with wide eyes in shock.
No one in Shaolin knew better than Beom Won how fiercely proud his senior brother was—or how many scoldings and reprimands that pride had earned him.
That's why Baek Un's admission of defeat hit so hard.
Baek Un never declared defeat without first clashing swords, no matter how unbeatable the foe seemed.
Even the golden-eyed elder looked slightly surprised.
"Heh heh. Your temperament couldn't have deepened in a single day, so if you say that much, you must have felt a truly vast gap."
"......"
"It seems the one you encountered wasn't some ordinary asura."
"Yes, it seems so."
"Were you afraid of dying?"
"I think so."
Baek Un answered honestly.
The golden-eyed elder gave a satisfied smile.
"Good thinking. The Killing Precept you must uphold includes not harming yourselves, so when you realize you're in deep trouble, the correct answer is to beat a hasty retreat—employ the Thirty-Six Stratagems' walk away."
"Thank you."
"Half of that was sarcasm, so don't get too pleased."
"Yes, sir."
The golden-eyed elder rose and stepped out of the hermitage.
His back was hunched, his frame diminutive—like a monk who had passed his eightieth year, with brows as white as snow.
Even tall, lanky Beom Won was double his size, and compared to Baek Un's massive, rock-like build, he seemed less than half.
One might think a mere touch from either man would crush his bones.
But that was merely appearance.
This elder was none other than Hong Gak Seonsa, the high monk leading the Ten Precepts Ten Monks under the Shaolin abbot.
While the Five Precepts were widely known in the Buddhist world, delving deeper revealed the Eight Precepts, and ultimately the Ten Precepts.
Monks overseeing each of those ten precepts held the second-highest rank after the abbot.
Among them, the foremost was the overseer of the Killing Precept: Hong Gak Seonsa.
In essence, Shaolin's second-in-command.
"We've heard the rumors too."
Hong Gak Seonsa spoke.
"The Palace Lord of True Heaven Palace, the foremost merchant house in Huguang Province, has died, sparking a fierce succession struggle."
"Yes. That's what Neung Palace Lord's explanation indicated."
"If that maiden truly is True Heaven Palace's Young Palace Lord, then those remaining in the palace are traitors who stole her position."
"So shouldn't we help her?"
"Why?"
Baek Un and Beom Won flinched at Hong Gak Seonsa's counterquestion.
"What? W-Well..."
"Wandering the outside world as one of the Eighteen Arhats has made you forget your essence?"
"......"
"Tell me. What is a monk's duty? Do we go around meddling like we're wearing armbands, interfering in every village?"
"B-But, Great Monk."
"I know. You were sent to Heavenly Center Mountain on the abbot's orders. Still, shouldn't you consider what kind of people you are before acting?"
"Yes. B-But what about the abbot...?"
"He's visiting Repentance Cave."
"...!"
Baek Un and Beom Won's faces paled.
Repentance Cave was where precept-breaking monks were imprisoned.
Unlike other Shaolin structures, it lay in a valley called Songyang Valley, about twenty li from Lesser Chamber Peak—a secluded cavern.
But if that were all, the two wouldn't be so tense.
"The monks imprisoned in Repentance Cave are... uh..."
"The maddest killers and slaughter demons under heaven."
They called it "breaking precepts," but...
Petty offenders would be defrocked or beaten and done with—no need to lock them in a mountain prison.
These were criminals whose crimes warranted death, but out of adherence to the Killing Precept, the monks had chosen eternal imprisonment instead.
Monsters—that's what filled Repentance Cave.
"Word is, we won't see his face for days."
"Wh-Why would the abbot go to Repentance Cave?"
"How should I know? Has he ever explained himself to me before acting?"
"......"
"Frankly, I don't even know why Go Hye sent you to Heavenly Center Mountain. A bunch of monk riffraff couldn't have fallen for omens or astrology."
Foreseeing the future or reading the stars...
Such acts violated one of the Ten Precepts: the Precept Against False Speech, which forbade seductive or misleading words.
"Wh-What if the abbot did read the future?"
"We depose him."
Hong Gak Seonsa's answer was resolute.
Baek Un and Beom Won knew it stemmed not from petty grudge or jealousy.
"Well, if Go Hye were that small-minded, he never would have become abbot in the first place."
"Exactly."
"Anyway, return and focus on your cultivation. Forget about True Heaven Palace or whatever."
"Understood."
The two monks bowed deeply and withdrew.
Only after putting sufficient distance from the hermitage did Beom Won cautiously speak.
"Is it really okay to let it go like this, senior brother?"
"What else can we do? You heard the Great Monk."
"But..."
"Their fate is out of our hands now. Dwelling on it will only breed vexation."
Baek Un's curt tone somehow mirrored Hong Gak Seonsa's.
'He's the one senior brother respects most, so maybe it's natural.'
In any case, the two were right.
They had parted ways with Jeok Muryong's group at a fork in the road.
Chasing after them would be mere obsession.
'We probably won't meet again.'
"Hoo!"
Neung So-hwa stretched her back after cresting a long ridge.
Her spine creaked audibly.
Staring at the rugged mountains ahead, she asked,
"Is that Song Mountain?"
"No, just some nameless local hill."
"...How much farther to Song Mountain?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Jeok Muryong replied indifferently.
"We're matching your pace from the start. No way we'd reach Song Mountain this fast."
"Er, um. At this rate, how long until Song Mountain?"
"Who knows. About twenty rabbits?"
"Five days? And now you're counting days in rabbits?"
"This lord's whim."
"Hmm. But still, isn't five days too generous?"
"We're not following the main roads."
Jeok Muryong clicked his tongue.
"We just crossed one mountain, right? Well, more like a hill."
"Yes."
"How far do you think we advanced crossing that little peak?"
"Uh, well? Maybe twenty li?"
"Twenty li, my ass. We moved three li at best."
"...Only that much?"
"Yeah."
The terrain wasn't treacherous, but it was uneven, and with no well-trodden paths, their route twisted and turned.
Thus, detours were common just to cover a few dozen paces.
Lightness skill could leap it in a bound, but neither Neung So-hwa nor Jin Choyoung boasted exceptional prowess there.
Progress was inevitably slow.
Neung So-hwa pondered.
Meanwhile, Jin Choyoung, bringing up the rear, eyed the two cautiously.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. But why are you dawdling? Unlike Neung So-hwa, you've at least trained in martial arts."
"I was gathering things along the way."
Jin Choyoung held various wild fruits in her grasp.
Jeok Muryong nodded approvingly.
"Good mindset. I'll eat well."
Jin Choyoung yanked her hand back.
"No way. These are for the young lady."
"Give some to this lord too."
"Then will you share jerky with us?"
"No."
"Then I can't share either."
Jeok Muryong furrowed his brow.
"Petty."
"Pardon? Petty? Sorry, but am I in a position to hear that?"
"Just hand it over."
"You could gather a whole basketful in half a shichen with your skills."
"A basket? I could fill a whole jar and then some."
Jeok Muryong declared proudly.
"But a Heavenly Demon can't sit around picking mountain berries."
"Stealing from a pitiful woman's hands is fine, though?"
"You're not pitiful to begin with. If I wanted to take them, I would have. And above all, stolen food tastes better."
"......"
"Just give it to him, Choyoung."
Neung So-hwa said.
"And Jeok hero, could I ask one favor?"