84. The Meaning of Being Trusted
Namgung Jinbaek swept aside the barrage of flying needles, his eyes flashing with sudden intensity.
The needles formed dozens of lightning-like threads that filled his entire field of vision, blazing like a storm of light.
When he finally repelled every last one and opened his eyes wide, he was left speechless.
He had never imagined that the great monster who had fought nearly two hundred battles without retreating would scatter needles and flee in such a shameful, disgraceful manner.
Even the legendary Namgung Jinbaek found himself stunned.
“From Anhui, you cause a bloodbath and then run away?”
Namgung Jinbaek shouted.
“Chase him! From now on, track the bastard!”
But trouble arose. Namgung Do spoke in a stiff, formal tone.
“Lord, the young master…”
“What?”
Namgung Jinbaek’s eyes widened in shock.
He quickly turned his head and saw Namgung Muyoung, pale and bleeding profusely.
Namgung Jinbaek rushed over in alarm.
Namgung Cheonyeong beside him spoke in a heavy, remorseful voice.
“I should have protected him… but I couldn’t even protect myself…”
“No face left to show,”
Namgung Jinbaek’s expression showed clear confusion.
It had not been a killing intent. The monster had simply scattered needles to flee.
Of course, every one was coated in poison and infused with strong qi, so they could not be ignored.
Yet Namgung Muyoung was already a warrior standing at the very threshold of the Peak Realm.
It was not merely because he was Jinbaek’s son that Jinbaek viewed him with such fondness; as a senior in the murim world, he had always believed Muyoung’s skill was more than sufficient.
This trivial rain of needles should not have left him so severely injured.
Geumgak, standing nearby, spoke in a gloomy tone.
“The young master threw himself for this insignificant disciple of mine…”
Only then did Jinbaek understand what had truly happened.
He unconsciously bit his lip hard.
When the flesh tore and blood seeped between his teeth, his mind cleared instantly.
‘This foolish boy…’
Namgung Muyoung had always been like this—upright and frustratingly rigid, nothing like his own father.
In the Namgung family, revenge was the only correct path.
Repaying blood with a thousand times more blood was the clan’s eternal principle.
The battle against the Sama-ryeon had forged this ruthless, domineering Namgung family.
Mercy and compassion held no place in revenge.
One sometimes had to ignore them to achieve it.
But Muyoung was different.
People whispered that he was too weak-willed to truly embody the Namgung spirit.
Namgung Jinbaek had always dismissed such nonsense.
Whenever the clan shouted for revenge, the young Muyoung had still advocated compromise even at his tender age.
That was proof of how unyielding and strong his will truly was.
‘Even so, is the direct disciple of the Wudang Sect really that important?’
Namgung Jinbaek hurriedly checked Muyoung’s body, pressing acupoints and beating him frantically.
He applied the golden wound medicine brought by Cheoncheondae and staunched the bleeding.
But the injury was severe.
The needles had pierced the meridian connecting to the danjeon.
The meridian had been badly damaged.
Internal energy was gushing out from the lower abdomen.
‘This foolish brat…’
What did being the direct disciple of the Wudang Sect mean?
‘You are the successor of the Namgung family.’
Namgung Jinbaek infused qi desperately into the torn meridian, trying to repair it.
It was not easy.
Soon his eyes widened in discovery.
“This isn’t…”
It was not ordinary qi.
A sinister, evil aura seeped between the meridians, disrupting the flow of internal energy.
‘Diabolical evil qi.’
Namgung Jinbaek’s lips trembled.
Realizing it was no simple injury, a chill ran down his spine.
The terrifying thought crossed his mind that Muyoung might never open his eyes again.
“Like a demon lurking in the abyss,”
Namgung Jinbaek bit his lip.
He could not save the monster now.
He himself had to chase after him.
But how, with Muyoung collapsed like this?
At that moment, Sun Wukong suddenly stepped in.
“Step aside, Lord.”
Sun Wukong pushed Namgung Jinbaek back and examined Muyoung.
His face immediately hardened.
The demon in the abyss.
The reason Namgung Jinbaek had described it that way was now clear.
‘Yoryeok.’
Sun Wukong swallowed hard.
No matter what anyone said, it was clearly yoryeok.
Baek-an-magun had used yoryeok before, bursting his latent potential.
But it had been only an extremely tiny amount mixed into his internal energy.
More accurately, it had been an even more vicious and poisonous form of neiryok.
‘This is unmistakably yoryeok.’
It was not as potent as the yoryeok wielded by demons, yet it carried a primitive aura that could not be called ordinary qi.
Sun Wukong’s eyes sank low.
‘That guy knows how to handle yoryeok.’
Pure yoryeok without bursting latent potential.
‘Not a yorago, but a human.’
It was certain.
Sun Wukong was the king of yorago; he could not fail to distinguish human from yorago.
‘Using yoryeok with human flesh.’
So.
‘He thinks I’m a yorago?’
Sun Wukong’s eyes gleamed with a dark, ominous light.
He felt the urgent need to capture him.
He was not worried.
Myodu-eung was already chasing after him.
No matter how strong the target, he could not escape the gaze from the heavens.
Sun Wukong’s hand moved with lightning speed.
Only he could handle yoryeok.
At least here.
“Lord, go chase him first.”
“Teacher Sun, perhaps for Muyoung…”
“No doctor can help. But this Teacher Sun can.”
Namgung Jinbaek’s eyes sparkled.
In an instant, he grabbed Sun Wukong’s hands with both of his own.
“I entrust my son to you. Please help me.”
Sun Wukong’s eyes narrowed.
The hand he was holding now belonged not to the iron-blooded lord Namgung Jinbaek, but to the father Namgung Jinbaek.
With those sincere eyes, Sun Wukong smiled bitterly.
The iron wall of mental defense he had hidden behind cunning had finally lowered.
He was no longer concealing his true self.
The warrior body that had stood like an iron fortress had crumbled.
In its place stood only a father filled with pure paternal love.
“Help me.”
At the sincere plea, Sun Wukong’s eyes flashed.
The soul beyond his fiery golden eyes grew clear.
***
Nyaoong.
“Wha?”
Sun Wukong turned his head.
A yellow-striped cat approached meowing.
Sun Wukong’s eyes narrowed.
Namgung Sanzang beside him smiled.
“You came to see me, huh.”
“Hmph. I came to see you, ah, this troublesome guy. The path to chasing all the way to Tianzhu is dangerous—why keep following?”
It was the cat he had saved from the flames not long ago.
“Saved” was perhaps too grand a word.
Sun Wukong had simply clicked his tongue and poured a little water on his palm.
Since then, the cat had followed him relentlessly.
Then, after sleeping and waking recently, it had vanished.
Now it had suddenly reappeared.
Sun Wukong rudely pushed the cat away.
“Go.”
“You were hurt because I disappeared without a word last time?”
Sanzang asked.
Sun Wukong glared at him.
“Stop with the nonsense, master. Cats can’t talk. Trivial beast.”
“Eh, look at this. So there was a reason you left back then.”
Sanzang exclaimed while watching the cat.
Sun Wukong glanced sideways.
A small bloody lump lay in the bushes, unable to open its eyes.
The cat picked it up in its mouth and placed it on Sun Wukong’s thigh with a thump.
Sun Wukong stared blankly, then finally opened his mouth.
“Yo, what is this?”
Nyaaaar.
The cat cried while licking its own pup.
Sanzang burst into laughter.
“Cats entrust their pups to those they trust and believe in. They think it’s the safest place. This cat believes in you.”
“…”
“It’s not just cats. All living beings want to entrust their children to those they trust most, don’t they?”
“Hmph. Funny talk.”
Sun Wukong let out a fart.
Yet he did not push the pup off his thigh.
Sanzang smirked.
“Not funny? A trivial beast cat entrusting its pups to you, the king of yorago.”
“Hah, what’s so funny about grinning like that? Just a dumb animal. I am the king of yorago. The monkey king who drinks blood and chews meat.”
The rude tone carried a subtle trace of embarrassment.
After spending so much time together, Sanzang had learned to catch the emotions Sun Wukong tried to hide.
Sun Wukong was embarrassed.
He laughed willingly.
When they had first met, the fierce golden monkey had not been visible anymore.
“Trusting someone and being trusted is not simple, Wukong. You have become a Buddha.”
Sun Wukong shouted angrily.
“Ah, stop with the nonsense, master.”
“Nonsense? Anyone can become a Buddha. Even a trivial beast can become one if they gain trust. Could a yorago not?”
“Stop it already, Sanzang!”
Sun Wukong shouted while avoiding his gaze.
Sanzang laughed happily.
***
“Teacher Sun?”
The voice stuck in his ear, Sun Wukong woke from his short reverie.
He unconsciously looked at Namgung Jinbaek, then faintly smiled.
The soul beyond his fiery golden eyes was clear.
The form that had been nothing but a hazy shadow was now visible.
“I’d love to drink some deep wine, but…”
Sun Wukong turned his body.
“I’ll take care of Muyoung. Go catch the bastard.”
“I trust you, Teacher Sun.”
“I’ll follow soon. I have business with that guy too. Lots to talk about.”
“I won’t kill him, just cut off his limbs.”
“That’s good.”
Namgung Jinbaek looked at Sun Wukong with trusting eyes, then immediately rushed off with full power.
Sun Wukong glanced at his retreating back and focused on Muyoung.
‘Catch yoryeok with yoryeok.’
Yoryeok has predation.
It swallows and chews everything.
Even when facing the same yoryeok, the principle applies.
No doctor can fix the torn meridian.
Until that yoryeok is removed.
Sun Wukong could do it.
Only he could.
He possessed pure yoryeok—the primitive yoryeok that had existed since the world opened.
Sun Wukong’s hand checked Muyoung’s meridian, then suddenly stopped.
‘Will it be okay?’
Even if all yoryeok is recovered, traces will remain.
In a human body.
The previous situation with Muhwa had been similar.
Muhwa had not yet shown any special issues.
But back then, expelling only the poison had been enough, so a tiny amount of yoryeok had sufficed.
This time it was different.
He needed to act with more precision.
‘This might be risky.’
But there was no other way.
Sun Wukong decided to observe first and then infused yoryeok.
After some time, the pale face of Namgung Muyoung slowly began to regain color.
It was not an easy process for Sun Wukong either.
As soon as yoryeok entered Muyoung’s body, it showed signs of going wild.
It intended to swallow the neiryok in the danjeon and even devour the innate qi.
It had to be killed.
Controlled so it could not deviate from Sun Wukong’s will.
Controlling yoryeok was the key factor that distinguished great yorago from ordinary ones.
Sun Wukong moved with meticulous care, controlling every detail thoroughly.
‘Whether you are Sanzang or not, I don’t know yet.’
Sun Wukong’s eyes sank low.
But one thing was certain.
‘My fate cannot be harmed by anyone, violated by anyone, or killed without my permission.’
That was Sun Wukong’s fate.