Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Shaolin (3)
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From that day on, Ouyang Jue kept all his senses on high alert.
When he first heard it from Jin Mu-wol, he had thought the Eight Evils were interfering from outside Shaolin Temple, not from within.
Because it was Shaolin.
Who would ever imagine that the Eight Evils were running rampant inside the very heart of demon subjugation and suppression?
‘There’s a high probability that the Eight Evils have infiltrated the martial world far more deeply than I anticipated.’
While disguised as a handyman, Ouyang Jue carefully observed every single person who entered and exited.
He wasn’t just looking.
He exerted his utmost concentration to grasp their identities, memorize them, and send carrier pigeons to Liu Zhangming every dawn.
About two days passed like this.
Ouyang Jue received word from Liu Zhangming that the Iron Wind Hounds had arrived.
At the same time, he switched to a different carrier pigeon.
He also delayed the time by two hours.
A bird flying around the same place at the same time every day had a high chance of being discovered.
Considering this was Shaolin, someone might have already noticed.
‘I expected the risk to be great, anyway.’
Ouyang Jue wiped away his sweat as he sent off another list of names of those who had entered today.
Pressure.
An indescribable churning seemed to tighten around his neck.
It wasn’t the boundless confidence or power he had felt from the Black Dragon, but rather a clinging mud that seemed to ensnare his feet.
Of course, Ouyang Jue still didn’t know who among the Eight Evils was in Shaolin.
But he knew this one thing.
‘This is a different kind of evil from the Black Dragon.’
That the Eight Evils had their own separate factions, and the strategic cunning to hide that fact from the martial world.
Ouyang Jue unfolded the note the Iron Wind Hounds must have sent.
But soon after, with a click of his tongue, he tore it into shreds and concealed it.
“…Nothing out of the ordinary, huh.”
Ouyang Jue looked around, his body taut with tension.
For there to be nothing unusual, the air was far too damp and cold.
In truth, he still hadn’t been able to delve deep into the reason for the current internal conflict at Shaolin Temple.
Not a single person would tell an outsider like Ouyang Jue why they, who had lived as one Buddhist family for hundreds of years, had turned against each other.
But the common refrain was the same.
Somehow.
Before they knew it.
‘…Can words like these truly be seen as a natural conclusion?’
He had to investigate more thoroughly.
Ouyang Jue placed his right hand on his head.
He was getting enough sleep and drinking plenty of water, yet the surging suspicion was bringing on a headache.
There was even a slight regret, wondering if he had shaved his head and walked into a tiger’s den for nothing.
No matter how things turned out, he would get a huge scolding from Bai Duanxian.
‘For now, I hope the Iron Wind Hounds can find a clue based on the list I gave them.’
Would things really resolve so hopefully?
Ouyang Jue shook his head.
Almost nothing he had done so far had ever turned out as he wished.
Especially when it came to the Eight Evils.
The malice and schemes built up over hundreds of years were not something Ouyang Jue could resolve on his own.
A sudden wave of regret washed over him.
‘Should I have brought the Omniscient One?’
Ouyang Jue immediately erased the thought.
If he had brought the Omniscient One, he surely wouldn’t have tried to resolve this so quietly.
Above all, the Omniscient One was one of the top five sorcerers in the Central Plains.
Not only would Shaolin never tolerate him, but getting entangled with the Mount Hua Sect in this way would only create more enemies.
Ouyang Jue massaged his temples with his fingers, trying to soothe the headache.
“To feel like I’m playing right into the tiger’s jaws…”
Whether this was what the Eight Evils wanted, or an unforeseen variable even for them, he didn’t know.
Ouyang Jue clenched and unclenched his fist, gazing at the brightening sun.
“I won’t go down easy.”
To bring Shaolin Temple to the Mount Hua Sect’s side as an ally.
Such a notion was absurd from the start.
But if the Eight Evils were to seize control of Shaolin or inflict a fatal wound upon it, that would be a different matter.
Even if not an ally, it would mean one less comrade to fight alongside against the Eight Evils in the distant future.
The former scenario was even worse.
‘If this turns into a picture of Buddhists fighting Taoists… it will distort the perspective of many people.’
It would be seen not as a fight against the Eight Evils, but as a simple power struggle for supremacy in the martial world.
That would be bad in many ways.
Not just the government, but other sects would surely side with the Eight Evils or remain silent.
‘In my past life… how was it in my past life?’
Ouyang Jue frowned and closed his eyes.
He couldn’t remember.
He hadn’t seen everything that happened in the martial world, and before meeting the Heaven-Bearing Asura, his life had been a busy struggle just to survive day by day.
But to look at it another way, it meant that Shaolin had remained silent throughout the fall of the Mount Hua Sect and the rise of the Hebei Peng Clan.
Ouyang Jue felt a shiver, as if a snake were slithering up his arm.
‘Eight Evils, did you silence even Shaolin?’
Ouyang Jue’s gaze turned to the sky.
The sunlight was already brightly illuminating the world.
* * *
A low murmur.
With each passing day, the number of people passing through the main gate of Shaolin Temple gradually increased.
This wouldn’t be strange for other sects, but Shaolin was different.
Shaolin was a place that did not readily admit martial artists from other sects unless it was for a significant matter, and they lived self-sufficiently.
And that wasn't all.
Their pride in the martial arts passed down from Bodhidharma was incredibly high, so they minimized contact with other sects and focused on cultivating their own virtue and skill.
This was Shaolin’s strength, the very pride that had allowed them to stand as a great tree in the martial world for hundreds of years.
‘…This is not good.’
*Swish, swish.*
Ouyang Jue, sweeping the steps below the mountain gate with a bamboo broom, frowned as he watched.
‘Are they lining up?’
The orthodox faction, led by Abbot Munjeong.
And the radical faction, led by Master Hyeonjong, who dreamed of a new Shaolin.
And even a neutral faction, who wanted no part in the current situation.
The inside of Shaolin Temple was currently a tangle of these three factions.
The stance of the neutral faction, in particular, was ambiguous.
They followed the scriptures of the orthodox faction in their teachings, but supported the radical faction in their future course of action.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand.
With the transition from the Yuan to the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was casting a rather unfavorable eye on the martial world.
The Imperial Court’s backing of the Wudang Sect supported this.
‘Push the martial world out of the grand scheme, but affirm its symbolic aspects.’
It was a flexible attitude that no previous dynasty had ever shown.
In other words, it was a preliminary action to ensure that sects without such value would be left to decline in the future.
‘In fact, the Wudang Sect is close to the government, and I heard that a folk belief is spreading, centered on Wudang’s Yuanwu God.’
All to justify the northern conquest.
It was a terribly political and thoroughly transactional method.
Having thought that far, Ouyang Jue recalled what he had felt while observing Shaolin Temple for the past few days.
‘It seems they’re being pressured by the government.’
He didn’t know the details, but among the people loitering around the mountain gate recently, there were quite a few government officials.
No matter how much Shaolin cut itself off from worldly affairs, they couldn’t have ignored it.
In that respect, Ouyang Jue considered the radical faction to be dangerous.
A rash move would be perceived as a threat by the government.
If that became a pretext, it would give the government a reason to interfere in the martial world, and other sects would also become entangled.
For instance, the unwritten non-aggression pact with the government would be broken.
This meant that the martial world could no longer be maintained as the martial world.
‘That would be troublesome for me as well.’
Fighting the Eight Evils and growing the Mount Hua Sect were already giving him a headache, and now the government might get involved?
That must never happen.
If the government were to step in, the negatives would far outweigh the positives.
As Ouyang Jue was lost in thought, sweeping with his bamboo broom for a long while.
A young monk suddenly approached him.
“Patron, you are very diligent!”
“Not really.”
Besides, he hadn’t given anything to Shaolin Temple, so why was he being called a patron?
Ouyang Jue saw how young the monk was and chuckled.
But in the next moment, the smile vanished from Ouyang Jue’s face.
*Vrrrr.*
The Diamond Fist-Seal Armor was vibrating fiercely.
“…”
Ouyang Jue was greatly startled for a moment, but his actions were swift.
*Whoosh!*
Without any hesitation, he grabbed the young monk’s head with his free hand.
Then, he channeled his Purple Mist True Qi into the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor, stimulating the young monk’s entire body with fire ki.
A groan escaped the young monk’s lips.
“…Ugh.”
With a rustling sound, the young monk crumbled where he stood.
Immediately catching the young monk by the waist to hold him up, Ouyang Jue looked around.
‘Thankfully, it seems no one knows this young monk.’
There were no martial monks who looked like Shaolin disciples in the vicinity.
Nor were there any highly skilled martial artists who could sense the fire ki of the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor.
Was it luck, or a trap to lure him into action?
Ouyang Jue pondered the various possibilities, but shook his head as if he had no choice.
If he backed down now, he would have to continue as a handyman, waiting for contact from the Iron Wind Hounds without any gains.
‘More importantly, if I get caught before the information from the Iron Wind Hounds arrives…’
That would be the worst-case scenario.
In an instant, the prestige of the Mount Hua Sect would fall to the level of an unorthodox sect.
His title of Plum Blossom Divine Dragon would likely change to Plum Blossom Shadow Dragon.
Ouyang Jue let out a natural, hollow laugh.
“Zhangming, you rascal! You should’ve told me you were tired!”
Quickly improvising a name, Ouyang Jue hoisted the young monk over his shoulder and started up toward the mountain gate.
Then, in a place with few people, he changed direction and entered the forest.
Someone might be watching, but finding out why the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor had reacted to the young monk was more urgent.
“Hoo…”
Ouyang Jue let out a deep sigh, relaxing his stiff muscles.
Then, he tightened his slackened tension once more.
‘The child’s energy is rapidly fading!’
After checking the young monk’s pupils, Ouyang Jue immediately circulated his internal energy into the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor.
What had the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor reacted to?
His plan was to find that out first, provide treatment, and then uncover the truth.
As Ouyang Jue thought this and raised his hand, the child’s lips parted slightly.
“Mas… ter Museong…”
“…?!”
At those words, Ouyang Jue nearly shouted out loud.
Master Museong!
Why was the name of the high monk that Bai Duanxian had warned him about several times, the very reason Liu Zhangming was called here, coming from this young monk!
Realizing things were taking a serious turn, Ouyang Jue carefully opened the young monk’s mouth.
Soon, Ouyang Jue’s teeth gritted together.
“…Damn it.”
The mark he had seen on Jeok Sang.
It was carved on the roof of the young monk’s mouth.
Like a nightmare.
Ouyang Jue struggled to calm his trembling hands.
‘You did such a vicious thing even to a child like this…!’
Ouyang Jue sat the young monk upright and pressed both his palms against the boy’s back.
*Swoosh…*
He then began to use his Purple Mist True Qi to push the demonic energy out of the young monk’s entire body.
* * *
“The connection is severed.”
The Demonic Doctor looked at his own palm.
He remembered who it was.
The young monk who was supposed to deliver a letter written by Master Museong.
He had been the one to intercept it and change its contents, and he had carved the mark to conceal that fact.
‘So, have I failed?’
Asking himself this, the Demonic Doctor smiled darkly and shook his head.
“For the Eight Evils.”
The Demonic Doctor’s gaze turned to the sky.
“…And for myself.”