Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Repentance Cave
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Unlike ordinary buildings piled up entirely by human hands from start to finish, the Shaolin Temple's Repentance Cave was originally a cave formed by nature.
Its deep and spacious entrance was simply sealed with a thick iron door, and iron bars were installed inside to use it as a prison.
Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong prowled around the cliff face where the Repentance Cave was located. They had heard there was a second Repentance Cave nearby, but even Hong Geolgae didn't know its exact position.
As the two were stealthily searching for the second Repentance Cave, Dang Mujin finished his treatments and emerged from the cave.
"What's this? What brings you all the way out here?"
"Just passing time. No real work to do, so we figured we'd sightsee around the Shaolin Temple. Not like we'll be coming here often in the future."
"Yeah? Makes sense."
Namgung Myeong gave a half-hearted excuse, but Dang Mujin didn't suspect him at all. Hong Geolgae was right there beside him, after all.
This time, Namgung Myeong asked.
"Dang Mujin. How much longer do you think the treatments will take?"
Dang Mujin shook his head slowly.
"Way longer than I expected. So many patients, and plenty of them have twisted qi and blood from shattered dantians. Treating blocked meridians is tricky enough, but now I have to straighten out the qi flows while checking for other conditions too."
"Having to handle all those tough cases should sharpen your skills fast."
"The process is exhausting, that's the problem."
Dang Mujin grumbled as he stretched. He simply cracked his knuckles and raised his arms, but his shoulders and back popped with audible cracks.
"I'm heading down to the village below in a bit. If you're bored, don't just hole up in the temple—come check out the village. Nothing special, but it'll be more fun than the Shaolin Temple."
"We're good for now."
"Yeah? Alright. I'm off."
Dang Mujin left without a second thought.
Now there was no one to watch out for. Namgung Myeong and Hong Geolgae searched even more boldly.
But even after scouring the entire cliff section from start to finish, the second Repentance Cave was nowhere to be seen.
"No matter how much we look, nothing. We get played?"
"Nah, no way."
"The novice monk who mentioned the Repentance Cave—what was his dharma name?"
"Why?"
"If he lied and wasted our time, obviously we'd have to settle it with a life-or-death duel..."
Of course, no matter how much of a hothead Namgung Myeong was, he wouldn't actually challenge a novice monk to a death match.
Still, Hong Geolgae felt a twinge of unease at the thought that he might use sparring as an excuse to beat the kid senseless.
"Nah. Let's search a bit more. It must be hidden somewhere hard to spot. Like, say, over there... Huh?"
"What?"
"Over there—that. Isn't that a door?"
Hong Geolgae's finger pointed at the cliff wall, several spans off the ground.
A massive boulder protruded far up, at least seven times a man's height, and beyond it peeked a square iron door.
It looked like a door built into the cliff, with a sort of porch in front.
"For real?"
"Let's go!"
Namgung Myeong and Hong Geolgae soon reached the boulder.
The slight difference was that Namgung Myeong lightly hopped up the small protrusions with practiced ease, while Hong Geolgae struggled a bit more to climb the cliff.
Even for Hong Geolgae, that was impressive—if it had been someone without martial arts or with low attainment, they couldn't have made it up at all.
Hong Geolgae looked at the iron door and said.
"Doesn't seem like anyone's locked inside."
Rust covered the thick iron door, and the crossbar sealing it was thickly corroded too. It clearly hadn't been opened in years.
Certain no one was inside, Hong Geolgae let out a sigh of relief. No chance of Namgung Myeong running into a fiend and causing trouble.
But Namgung Myeong clenched his fist.
"Still, we should check it out. Might get lucky and snag some rare item or martial arts manual."
"Why would there be a manual in the Repentance Cave?"
"A manual... Yeah, probably not. But maybe they carved some technique formulas on the walls before dying."
That had some plausibility. Namgung Myeong confidently slid the bar free and entered the cave.
Hong Geolgae stared at the slightly ajar iron door, lost in thought. He could just bar it shut and trap Namgung Myeong inside.
Lock him in the Repentance Cave before he caused real trouble, preventing a lifetime imprisonment. It might even be true friendship.
But before Hong Geolgae could decide, Namgung Myeong called from inside.
"You coming in?"
"Uh, yeah, right away."
Hong Geolgae reluctantly left the bar as is and entered the cave.
*
Unlike the Repentance Cave holding the Sima Clan warriors, the second one was so narrow the two couldn't stand side by side, and the ceiling was low. There were no iron bars like in a typical prison either.
"This doesn't seem like a prison."
"A cave with unknown secrets is more fun than an empty prison anyway. Check the walls for carvings."
"Got it."
The two proceeded, stooped over.
How far had they gone? No technique formulas appeared, but an old wooden door blocked their path.
Namgung Myeong gripped the handle and muttered.
"Please, a martial arts manual!"
He flung the door open, and it half-shattered.
But what lay beyond was utterly unexpected.
A vertically pierced cavern fit the description best.
Its diameter easily exceeded a hundred spans, ringed by sheer cliffs dozens of spans high that divided interior from exterior. No ceiling meant looking up revealed the blue sky.
Unlike a cave, the floor was covered in soft soil.
Grass, vines, and small trees grew thickly, with traces of tiny farming plots. A hidden garden or vegetable patch seemed apt.
"What the..."
The scenery was so out of left field that Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong stood speechless, taking it in. Then, a low voice came from far off.
"Who might you be, coming all this way?"
Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong turned toward the voice.
Its owner sat with his back to them, face unseen.
His rough, wrinkled skin suggested advanced age.
He wore only pants, no upper garment. But the pants were so ragged they were near rags—poorer beggars wouldn't wear such.
He was also the skinniest person Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong had ever seen.
Skin stretched taut over bone. Hong Geolgae recalled a famine victim's corpse he'd once seen.
The old man kept fidgeting with his hands, still facing away.
"Didn't you hear me?"
Hong Geolgae finally snapped to and replied.
"We were just sightseeing and wandered in. Who might you be, elder?"
"Who else in the Repentance Cave? A sinner locked away for crimes."
Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong belatedly remembered this was the Repentance Cave. The landscape felt too alien for one.
"The other sinners are down in the main cave—why are you alone up here? Are you really imprisoned..."
The old man let out a deflated chuckle.
"My crimes were exceptionally grave. No one's ever committed the same before, nor will anyone after."
Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myeong flinched. Isolated like this meant not just heinous acts, but extraordinary power.
But seeing his skeletal back and limbs eased their tension. High skill or low, his condition was so dire it was a miracle he lived—hard to stay wary.
With that body, they could subdue him easily, even if he were a Three-Eyed Buddha or Divine Monk.
"What crime landed you here?"
"I stole from the Shaolin Temple."
"Not for petty theft... Caught swiping some peerless martial arts manual?"
"No. Stole goods and lives. Killed dozens of monks and novices."
A fiend after all—and a particularly vile one. Even most villains spared novices.
Makes sense they wouldn't fully abandon someone otherwise.
Namgung Myeong squared his shoulders.
"Looks like you've got some skills and wanna brag. Don't pick a fight. I'm no slouch myself—might habitually cut you down."
"Skills? Decent ones, yes. But unlike what you think, I didn't beat or slash them."
"Then how?"
"Starved them."
That was the end of his tale. Hard to imagine how.
Namgung Myeong approached to see what he fidgeted with so busily.
A wooden bowl brimmed with yellowish dough—mixed grain and pine nut flours, kneaded with water or honey.
The old man pinched off bits, shaping small round rice pills, placing them in sunny spots to dry. But the number was staggering.
'I’ve eaten plenty of rice pills, but first time seeing them made.'
And that wasn't even all.
Several large wooden boxes lined one corner, seemingly packed with rice pills—enough for decades of seclusion.
But the situation was odd. Rice pills fattened you up well. No reason for their maker to be emaciated.
Namgung Myeong asked.
"So many rice pills—why're you skin and bones, old timer?"
"I eat just three a day."
"Did the Shaolin monks ration you? I'd sneak extras without getting caught..."
The old man chuckled dryly.
"No. No appetite. No need for more."
He finished shaping all the dough into pills, then braced his hands on his knees and stood.
Namgung Myeong and Hong Geolgae found his form profoundly strange.
He clearly cultivated martial arts, but his level was impossible to gauge.
Seemed weak, yet immensely strong.
Not utterly ordinary, though.
The old man stared piercingly at Namgung Myeong.
"Fine talent, but shallow cultivation."
Namgung Myeong crossed his arms, scowling askew. Not the words he wanted from a monstrous fiend.
"Hey, old man. Spot-on diagnosis, but not exactly flattering."
"Why?"
"Provoke someone with shallow cultivation and poor patience, and you'll face consequences you can't handle."
"Gonna swing your sword?"
"No need. While you're asleep tonight, I'll strip your pants and hang 'em on the cliff. Look forward to it."
The old man chuckled at the veiled threat.
"Do it if you can. But the key one's not you—it's the young hero beside you."
He addressed Hong Geolgae.
"You're the opposite of your friend. Deep cultivation, fine character, but lacking talent. Deep cultivation makes learning talent easy, though."
The old man hesitated, lips twitching, then seemed resolved.
"Listen. Bring a bottle of fine liquor? I'll teach you a useful martial art."
"A good one?"
He grinned.
"Yeah. One your friend would envy. A secret unknown to the world. What do you say?"