Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: The Old Monk of Repentance Cave
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A cremation rite tantamount to a living execution had been pronounced, yet Venerable Dam Jeong remained motionless, sitting still.
He occasionally twitched faintly, clearly waiting for an opportunity to send a transmission to Hong Geolgae.
But with his head not fully bowed to gauge the crowd's reactions and all eyes fixed on him, he couldn't move his lips.
Hong Geolgae pondered ways to rescue Venerable Dam Jeong when a sudden idea struck him, prompting him to slip into the village and emerge shortly after.
By the time Hong Geolgae returned from outside the village, the firewood collected by the villagers' contributions was piled high.
At least it was fortunate that no one had gone to Shaolin Temple to fetch the Precepts Master.
'It can't drag on any longer.'
As Hong Geolgae approached the limp Venerable Dam Jeong, the villagers' gazes turned to him.
Hong Geolgae met their burdensome stares and spoke up.
"Greetings, everyone."
An elderly man recognized him.
"Ah, you're Hong the young hero, right? What brings you here?"
"I'm here to take Venerable Dam Jeong back to Shaolin Temple."
The villagers seemed displeased with Hong Geolgae's words. He persuaded them.
"Venerable Dam Jeong is a senior monk of Shaolin Temple, so wouldn't it be proper to hold the cremation rite within the temple itself?"
"Even so, didn't he devote himself to our village until the end? To honor the deceased's wishes, it seems best to perform the rite here in the village."
A very faint smile appeared on Venerable Dam Jeong's lips, as if he were pleased by the argument unfolding over him between Hong Geolgae and the villagers.
'Even now, he hasn't come to his senses.'
Though he wanted to abandon Venerable Dam Jeong, he couldn't leave a living person to be burned at the stake. Hong Geolgae boldly approached and hoisted the monk onto his back.
"The will is important, of course. But since he has ties to Shaolin Temple, it would be right to consider their stance first. I'll consult the Precepts Master, and if permission comes to hold the cremation here in the village, we'll return."
The villagers hesitated to object forcefully in the face of Hong Geolgae's firm words.
Not only was his argument reasonably persuasive, but Hong Geolgae was also a proper martial artist.
It wasn't easy for ordinary folk to assert themselves before one of the jianghu.
While the villagers wavered, Hong Geolgae swiftly carried Venerable Dam Jeong toward Mount Song.
*
Once they were quite a distance from the village, Venerable Dam Jeong, riding on his back, finally burst into laughter.
"I nearly burned alive. You saved my life."
"What would you have done without me?"
"Well... I might have endured it. Even if it was painful, jumping up from there wasn't an option. I've got my dignity, after all."
Hong Geolgae considered setting the immature monk down but decided to keep carrying him since he was already on his back.
Venerable Dam Jeong's emaciated frame was so light that it wasn't much of a burden.
As they approached the temple gate, the head of Nahan Hall came into view.
Had the quick-witted hall leader not gathered the Shaolin monks to transport the Wall-Faced Elixir crates, they might still be struggling with them.
Hong Geolgae gave a slight bow in greeting to the hall leader, who responded with a kind smile.
Soon, Hong Geolgae entered Repentance Cave and set Venerable Dam Jeong down. The monk finally shuffled unsteadily to his spot and sat, looking exceedingly content.
"You saved my life, so I ought to repay you, but now even the Wall-Faced Elixir is gone. I truly have nothing to give."
"It's fine. I wasn't with you expecting anything in return."
"Then join me for some flower viewing this time. It's not much of a reward, but you won't be disappointed."
Venerable Dam Jeong approached the edge of the vertical cave and gripped a rock outcrop. The cliff face had plenty of handholds and footholds.
But Hong Geolgae wouldn't let the frail-limbed monk climb the wall alone. He feared Venerable Dam Jeong might fall while scaling it.
The monk's aged body had always lacked strength, but now even his spirit felt precarious.
It was that peculiar sense of exhaustion unique to someone who had let go of whatever they had clung to so tightly.
"Get on my back."
Venerable Dam Jeong obediently climbed onto Hong Geolgae's back.
Hong Geolgae carried him up the vertical cave.
Atop it lay an uninhabited clearing, overgrown with flowers and vines just as Venerable Dam Jeong had described.
Too late in the season for the purple wistaria blooms, but in their place, bright yellow sea orchid grass bloomed thickly from ankles to knee height.
Hong Geolgae wasn't one to care much for flowers, yet the sight stirred an odd emotion in him. It felt strangely detached from reality.
"A view worth scaling the cliff for."
"Isn't it?"
Venerable Dam Jeong, delighted as if praised himself, took a few steps.
Hong Geolgae asked,
"What will you do now, elder?"
"Well... I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"People need attachments to keep moving. But now, I have none left."
Venerable Dam Jeong sat down as he spoke.
"In the past, I starved the Shaolin monks to feed the villagers, but this time, no one went hungry. The villagers below will remember me, and you've lifted the debt from my heart. What could be better?"
Hearing that no one had gone hungry brought a sudden thought to mind. For the past few days, Hong Geolgae hadn't seen Venerable Dam Jeong consume any Wall-Faced Elixir.
"Elder, aren't you hungry?"
"Why would I be? I've never been this full in my life."
"If you're that full, you probably can't even drink."
"Drink?"
Hong Geolgae held a bottle of liquor. Venerable Dam Jeong smiled unwittingly.
"Another gift. Where'd you get it?"
"When the villagers went for firewood earlier, I sneaked into an inn and grabbed the first thing I could."
"You're more light-fingered than you look."
"You said you'd teach me martial arts for liquor, but I learned it without giving you any. Time to repay that debt."
"I never meant to collect on such a debt."
Venerable Dam Jeong took the bottle and asked,
"By the way, what kind of liquor is this?"
"I don't really know. I thought you might, being the elder."
"I don't know liquor well either. I only drank a few times when I left Mount Song for the jianghu, but I still vividly remember the buzz..."
Venerable Dam Jeong gently shook the bottle, releasing a peculiar aroma unlike any liquor—dense and reminiscent of parched grains. It was new to Hong Geolgae too.
The monk murmured,
"I like liquor. It's good while drinking, but good things always happened after as well."
"Today, the good thing came first, then the liquor."
"True."
Venerable Dam Jeong brought the bottle to his lips.
He coughed several times yet gulped it down. He truly wasn't accustomed to liquor—or perhaps it was far stronger than expected.
Only after downing more than half did Venerable Dam Jeong set the bottle aside.
Hong Geolgae poured the rest into his own mouth. Indeed, it was potent stuff. Soon, a pleasant dizziness set in.
It was still early. Half-reclining, he saw not the sun high in the sky but a pale daytime moon. The moon that hadn't yet dipped below the horizon.
An old man who had missed his time, like the daytime moon. Venerable Dam Jeong rose from his seat.
"Where are you going?"
"Where would I go?"
Venerable Dam Jeong walked slowly.
His dragging steps gradually lightened.
Soon, his gait resembled a dance.
Hong Geolgae stayed seated, watching the dance without rising to follow.
Beneath the white daytime moon, amid the yellow sea orchid grass, a wrinkled old man danced.
Hong Geolgae easily recognized it as the clumsy martial art Venerable Dam Jeong had taught him.
He had once dismissed it as worthless, but now, intoxicated, its true value emerged.
It was an utterly unfamiliar art. No trace of Shaolin's signature power and rigidity. Nor was it as soft and flowing as Wudang's.
Not straight and swift like Jecheon Sect's, nor ferocious like Kunlun's.
It even seemed fundamentally different from typical martial arts.
Unlike those emphasizing upright posture and precise movements, Venerable Dam Jeong's shoulders sagged, his gaze hazily unfocused.
More irregular and sloppy than any art he'd seen, yet therein lay movements that defied prediction at every moment.
In that art, Hong Geolgae saw Venerable Dam Jeong's life.
While all pursued perfection relentlessly, he saw the monk who had fallen behind, confronted his own frailty.
Endless regret and self-reproach, yet the figure of a man yearning to be better. The childlike longing to be loved. The youth reciting compassion.
Venerable Dam Jeong's steps couldn't conquer impulse, wandering aimlessly.
Knees and waist lost center, swaying occasionally—the old man's impulses disrupting his life's path.
Gestures clumsy and blunt. Far from guiding sentient beings, barely holding himself together. The elder embodied every trial of his life in motion.
Too slow for fists, too weak for kicks, too sloppy for footwork. Yet all converged into a flower.
"I see why you said no other monk would recognize it."
Venerable Dam Jeong, executing the art, naturally turned his head to look at Hong Geolgae.
"Is that so?"
"It's not Shaolin martial art. It's your martial art."
"Right. No Shaolin monk could invent it, nor should they. It can't be taught to monks, nor learned by them."
"Is it fist technique? Leg technique?"
"Well... I don't know. But if anything, closest to footwork."
Hong Geolgae stood and overlapped his left foot with Venerable Dam Jeong's print in the dirt. Then extended his right toward the next.
Fearing to crush the yellow flowers, the prints had imprinted while avoiding their stems.
An art infinitely free, unbound by anything, able to evade even such trifles.
Hong Geolgae had never conceived such an art, so he couldn't comprehend it.
Yet he could feel it, and strangely followed the prints with ease.
No, "followed" wasn't right.
At every spot where Hong Geolgae impulsively stepped, the old man's print awaited unfailingly.
Hong Geolgae asked,
"What's this art's name?"
"Never thought of one. Why name an art never to be passed on?"
Hong Geolgae nodded and, yielding to the faint buzz, took steps.
After a few, Venerable Dam Jeong asked,
"Young Hero Hong, ever thought of taking Buddhist vows someday?"
Hong Geolgae shook his head, drawing a sigh from the monk.
"A shame. I just thought of 'Eight Divine Hosts Steps'."
"Eight Divine Hosts?"
"The eight deities guarding the Dharma. Sounds cool, doesn't it?"
"It does. But I can't become a monk just for a martial art's name."
"Then 'Drunken Eight Immortals Steps'. If not a monk, become an immortal."
"Elder, I'm a beggar, not a Daoist..."
"Overlook that. No offense to Beggars' Sect doctrine, but 'beggar' in a name kills the flair."
Venerable Dam Jeong laughed as he spoke. After bustling through the night, sleep weighed heavy in his eyes.
His steps slowed further.
"You've learned Drunken Eight Immortals Steps. How about Ghost Eats Great Method next?"
"Would I ever need that?"
"After seeing me use Ghost Eats Great Method twice effectively, you think so?"
Of course, if Venerable Dam Jeong were ordinary, he'd never have needed it twice.
But Hong Geolgae didn't point that out. His circle already brimmed with oddballs rivaling the monk.
"Well, true."
"Some call Ghost Eats Great Method mere grappling, but isn't it the most natural art? A talent for following the natural flow."
Venerable Dam Jeong took three more steps.
With those three, his prints circled the sea orchid grass back to the start.
He entered the circle of prints, sat in lotus position.
Not the solemn face of a meditating monk, but a childlike smile graced Venerable Dam Jeong's features.
"You'll leave Shaolin now, right?"
"Yes."
"See you again someday."
Venerable Dam Jeong closed his eyes and murmured softly.
"Feels unburdened..."
His breathing gradually slowed.
Unlike the two prior Ghost Eats Great Methods, his chest finally stilled completely.
Hong Geolgae endlessly retraced the footprints Venerable Dam Jeong left amid the sea orchid grass.
Circling the motionless monk, Hong Geolgae felt no sorrow.
Venerable Dam Jeong would surely not escape the six realms of reincarnation. He was too human to attain enlightenment and enter nirvana.
Someday, he'd reincarnate as a human again, and as the monk said, they'd meet anew. Thus, no reason for grief.
The daytime moon vanished. Time passed, the western sky reddening.
Only then did Hong Geolgae halt and exit Repentance Cave.
Dusk settled over Shaolin Temple as a heavy bell toll resounded.
The vast sound filled the temple grounds and lingered far beyond.
Thus, it overflowed to the village below, reaching the people's ears.