Chapter 138
Chapter 138
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Jin Mu-wol (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Before answering Ouyang Jue, Jin Mu-wol looked up at the brightening moon.
It had been too long.
Long enough for Dan U-ryeong, whom he considered a friend, to become an old man, Jin Mu-wol had remained in the Plum Blossom Cave.
Dan U-ryeong described it as being bound, but Jin Mu-wol thought of it as a path he had chosen himself.
A life lived alone in youthful form while everyone he cherished grew old and died.
Jin Mu-wol turned his head toward the plum blossom tree that was gradually beginning to bloom.
Behind it, he could see Ouyang Jue.
“I trust you've heard about the Eight Evils from the Omniscient One.”
“Have you met him?”
“Very briefly, yes. Though we parted ways quickly.”
Jin Mu-wol was lost in thought for a moment.
The Omniscient One he remembered was a very cold and dispassionate sorcerer.
A cold-blooded man who would stop at nothing to kill the Eight Evils.
He had even fought the Omniscient One because of it.
Perhaps his personality had softened by now.
Having finished his thoughts, Jin Mu-wol continued speaking.
“I learned of the Eight Evils not from the Omniscient One, but from the previous Plum Blossom Cave Dweller.”
“Who was the previous Plum Blossom Cave Dweller?”
“It's a name you wouldn't know even if I told you. He wasn't from the Mount Hua Sect to begin with.”
“...What?!”
At those words, Ouyang Jue wore a look of bewilderment.
The Plum Blossom Cave was the sacred ground of the Mount Hua Sect, the very source of the Plum Blossom Sword Arts.
To think the celestial being guarding it wasn't from the Mount Hua Sect!
As Ouyang Jue looked ready to press the matter, Jin Mu-wol's expression turned serious.
“How long do you think the Plum Blossom Cave has existed?”
“That would obviously be...”
Ouyang Jue, about to answer that it must have been since the founding of the Mount Hua Sect, clamped his mouth shut.
The era when the Eight Evils were active was at least two hundred years ago.
Considering their time overlapped with the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin, it must have been even longer.
No matter how ancient and prestigious the Mount Hua Sect was, it couldn't compare to the Eight Evils in age.
*‘In that case, what Grandmaster is trying to say is...’*
Ouyang Jue asked in a trembling voice.
“Are you saying the Plum Blossom Cave existed before the Mount Hua Sect?”
“...”
Before Jin Mu-wol could answer, Ouyang Jue had already found the answer.
Even if he tried to deny it, after hearing that, there was no other possibility.
*‘Was the Mount Hua Sect... just a smokescreen to hide the Plum Blossom Cave?’*
What had he seen while working with the Omniscient One?
Nameless, who had mastered the Heavenly Escape Mind Arts.
The Forgetting Sword in the Sword Immortal's Cave.
Though the branches were different, the Heavenly Escape was left behind by a disciple of the Quanzhen School, which traced back to orthodox Taoism and Lü Dongbin.
Their sect leader was Wang Chongyang, and Hao Datong was Wang Chongyang's disciple and the founding master of the Mount Hua Sect.
There was no way they weren't connected.
Ouyang Jue felt a weight settle in a corner of his heart.
“Was the Mount Hua Sect also... just a means to stop the Eight Evils?”
“That's not it.”
Jin Mu-wol denied it, but Ouyang Jue's mind was already reeling.
“It's because of those great predecessors of yours that the Mount Hua Sect is in danger now, isn't it!”
“...”
“And what's more, not even the Sect Leader knows about the Plum Blossom Cave, the very reason for it all, only the celestial being...”
Ouyang Jue glared fiercely at Jin Mu-wol.
The harsh reality that the Eight Evils would have annihilated the Mount Hua Sect even if he hadn't attacked it in his past life felt incredibly cruel.
And only Jin Mu-wol knew this fact.
Even giving a hundred concessions, even if Dan U-ryeong or Bai Duanxian knew, it was something that shouldn't have been.
Ouyang Jue recalled the bitter smile Nameless had shown.
“Passing on the homework the predecessors couldn't finish to a later generation that knows nothing, you call that the Dao?!”
“Because the Eight Evils will surely come to destroy us!”
Jin Mu-wol said in a firm voice.
“Simply forgetting doesn't solve anything. That's why Founding Master Hao Datong and Lü Dongbin had no choice but to agonize over it endlessly!”
Ouyang Jue couldn't help but shrink back slightly from the aura Jin Mu-wol was emitting.
The centuries of conflict he spoke of were by no means a light matter.
Wasn't the very reason Jin Mu-wol fought Nameless a misunderstanding, thinking he might be one of the Eight Evils?
Jin Mu-wol softly chanted a Daoist phrase, calming his internal energy.
“At first, I too was enraged and wandered the martial world with the sole intention of finding and killing all the Eight Evils. My connection with Nameless was formed back then.”
Though they were never able to meet again, he had a good match at the time, Jin Mu-wol recalled in a low voice.
However, with his next words, Jin Mu-wol's aura intensified.
“But the Eight Evils were already deeply rooted in the Central Plains. It wasn't something I could win by acting alone.”
“...Do you perhaps know about the war with the old Demonic Cult?”
At those words, Jin Mu-wol frowned.
“At that time... I was so busy chasing the Eight Evils that I failed to notice.”
“Is that so.”
“I investigated belatedly after the war ended, but I found nothing other than the fact that the Nangong Clan and the Hebei Peng Clan, who led the war, were suspicious.”
Ouyang Jue realized that Jin Mu-wol's words and the words left by Jeok Sang connected.
*‘Is Nangong Cheon the clue?’*
As he was thinking that, Jin Mu-wol continued.
“Be especially wary of Shaolin.”
“...?”
When Ouyang Jue tilted his head in confusion, Jin Mu-wol rolled up his left sleeve.
There was a hideous scar, as if he had been struck by something like a hard rock.
While Ouyang Jue was startled, Jin Mu-wol lowered his sleeve again.
“Not only are they operating in the shadows against Shaolin, the very source of demon-subjugation and the banner-bearer of demon-destruction, but the Eight Evils are opponents who use martial arts skillfully there.”
Using martial arts.
Ouyang Jue imagined the Black Dragon using martial arts, then quickly erased the thought.
If he started with a mindset of defeat, he was bound to lose.
Ouyang Jue decided to ask the most important question.
“Are they inside? Or outside?”
“They were inside Shaolin.”
“...!”
At those words, Ouyang Jue's expression soured.
A fiend operating from within Shaolin Temple, and one of the great evils collectively known as the Eight Evils at that.
Jin Mu-wol, as if guessing Ouyang Jue's thoughts, spoke again.
“The fiend I saw did not appear evil, at least on the surface. Like an old monk of Shaolin Temple, he was a man who spoke wise and righteous words.”
“A fearsome enemy.”
Ouyang Jue said, glancing at the Plum Blossom Cave beyond Jin Mu-wol.
What on earth was in there?
He was terribly curious what was hidden there to warrant all this.
*‘I suppose I have no choice but to ask the Omniscient One later.’*
Even as he thought this, Ouyang Jue opened his mouth, just in case.
“Grandmaster, what exactly is the Plum Blossom Cave? What is it that must be protected so fiercely?”
He didn't expect Jin Mu-wol to answer.
It was a question thrown out with the intention of at least remembering his reaction.
But contrary to Ouyang Jue's expectations, Jin Mu-wol answered with a very serious demeanor.
“You seem to think of the Plum Blossom Cave and the Mount Hua Sect as separate entities, but that is not the case.”
“...?”
“The Plum Blossom Cave is the final bastion protecting the Mount Hua Sect, and a weapon left by Founding Master Lü Dongbin to counter the Eight Evils. That is why the previous Plum Blossom Cave Dwellers and I have protected it with our lives!”
“Can't you just tell me plainly?”
At Ouyang Jue's words, Jin Mu-wol shook his head as if he had no choice.
“The laws of causality do not yet permit it.”
“...”
“You should be on your way. I have nothing more to say to you.”
Ouyang Jue showed a dissatisfied expression at Jin Mu-wol's words, but there was nothing he could do.
It wasn't as if he could overpower Jin Mu-wol with his skills.
*‘Must I retreat for now, having only gathered this information?’*
The Eight Evils are ultimately the enemy of Mount Hua, and the Plum Blossom Cave is a legacy from Lü Dongbin.
*‘What on earth is in the Plum Blossom Cave?’*
What could be so incredible that Jin Mu-wol would call it the final bastion?
Ouyang Jue, clearly showing his disappointment, turned his back and started heading back to the Mount Hua Sect.
After Ouyang Jue had disappeared from the Plum Blossom Cave, Jin Mu-wol spoke aloud.
“How long have you been watching?”
At his words, Dan U-ryeong, who had been hiding behind a tree, revealed himself.
A shadow was cast over Dan U-ryeong's face.
“Since you said it was the final bastion.”
“...Is that so.”
“That's not the issue. The problem is that you acted improperly as the Plum Blossom Cave Dweller!”
Dan U-ryeong approached Jin Mu-wol with an uncharacteristically angry expression.
“What in the world is that brat that you tried to tell him so much? Do you not wish to live a long life?”
“Regardless, Junior Ouyang has accomplished a great deal.”
He had pretended not to hear when Ouyang Jue spoke, but in truth, he remembered everything.
Beyond that, Jin Mu-wol believed every word Ouyang Jue had said to be true.
“He killed the Black Dragon, one of the Eight Evils, and brought joy to Nameless, to whom I was indebted. I can at least do this much.”
“I can't believe you.”
Dan U-ryeong clicked his tongue and then suddenly gazed beyond the Plum Blossom Cave.
A deep sigh escaped him.
“Even so, you've told too much to someone who isn't even your successor.”
At those words, Jin Mu-wol murmured in a self-deprecating tone.
“The safety of the Mount Hua Sect and the Plum Blossom Cave is more important than my own death for defying the laws of causality.”
“Do you believe Ouyang Jue has such an ability?”
Dan U-ryeong frowned, as if he couldn't quite understand.
At only eighteen, his level of martial arts was outstanding, but not comparable to the Eight Evils.
It would have been better for Jin Mu-wol to send carrier pigeons to his friends and join forces to face the Eight Evils.
*‘And yet, why does Mu-wol...’*
As Dan U-ryeong bit his lip, Jin Mu-wol gazed in the direction Ouyang Jue had disappeared.
“Do you think I'm foolish?”
“I think it's a stupid thing to do.”
“Is that so?”
Jin Mu-wol looked at Dan U-ryeong and gave him a gentle smile.
“I believe in the Mount Hua Sect.”
His gaze rested on a plum blossom that had just begun to bloom.
* * *
“Is something wrong?”
“I don't know... It's like the Sect Leader left him with some homework.”
Watching Ouyang Jue darting in and out all day, the Daoists began to whisper all sorts of things.
Even Gwak Un-pae asked Ouyang Jue, but...
“I'm sorry, Martial Uncle, but I'm quite busy. Can we talk later?”
“Oh, I'm sorry.”
Gwak Un-pae stepped back with a disappointed look.
But for Ouyang Jue, it couldn't be helped.
He was leaving tomorrow, and to prepare for anything, he had to start today.
For example, even if he were to ask Iron Wind Dog for information on Shaolin Temple, he had to send a carrier pigeon today to hear back tomorrow.
Therefore, unlike last time, Ouyang Jue had no time to talk with Liu Zhangming or the other elders.
*‘I should probably talk with Senior Brother.’*
He thought vaguely, but it was difficult to tell him directly that Shaolin Temple was dangerous.
When it came to martial arts, it was one thing, but in terms of everyday behavior and meticulousness, Liu Zhangming was extremely vulnerable.
*‘If I say something and it leaks to Shaolin Temple... that would be the worst.’*
Thinking this, Ouyang Jue ultimately decided to plan the route to Shaolin Temple by himself.
*‘Picking up the Dragon's Tear Sword from the Golden Ring Merchant Guild is a must...’*
Lost in these thoughts, he found that the next day had already dawned.