Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Master Myeongryeon
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Dang Mujin woke up in an unfamiliar room. It wasn't lavish, but it was remarkably spacious.
The bedding was simple yet meticulously crafted, and a bitter scent reminiscent of medicinal herbs wafted from somewhere.
But there was a more pressing issue. Jin Song was sitting cross-legged, staring at Dang Mujin.
Since Dang Mujin had been avoiding Jin Song lately, he felt a pang of guilt deep down.
'He isn't here to complain about the sword taking so long, is he?'
When making a sword for the Yellow Spirit Master, Dang Mujin had pretended there was much to prepare and dragged it out for several months before delivering it. In reality, crafting the sword had taken barely three days.
There were two main reasons for the delay. Showing off his fast workmanship would undoubtedly bring a flood of orders, and items obtained with effort felt more valuable.
Just as with the Yellow Spirit Master's sword, he had no intention of investing extra time into the one for Jin Song. He figured shaping the blade would take about two or three days at most.
In any case, Jin Song had been waiting nearly half a year for his turn. It was about time for impatience to set in.
Dang Mujin quickly came up with an excuse.
'I'll say I haven't found any steel to my liking yet.'
But Jin Song wasn't there to interrogate Dang Mujin.
"Young Hero Dang, you're awake. Please wait a moment."
Jin Song rose from his seat and stepped outside, soon returning with quite a few people in tow.
There was one unfamiliar face among them, but most were familiar: the Yellow Spirit Master, Nangong Ming, Dan Seoryeong, his father, Seok Jiseung, and others.
With all eyes on him, Dang Mujin felt deeply uncomfortable, like a child forced to perform tricks.
"What is this about?"
When Dang Mujin asked, the Yellow Spirit Master replied.
"What is this about? Young Hero Dang, do you not remember what happened yesterday?"
"Last night? There was a minor disturbance in front of the house."
"No, what happened after that."
Dang Mujin pondered deeply, but nothing came to mind clearly—it teased at the edge of memory.
"I don't really know."
"Hmm. Is that so."
The Yellow Spirit Master gestured toward the outside. Six more people entered the room. Seeing Ban Yonggweol and Hu Wanqing among them, they must have been the ones waiting in front of the house yesterday.
Five of them looked much as usual, merely a bit tense in the Yellow Spirit Master's presence.
But Ban Yonggweol was clearly not in a normal state. His legs trembled from the moment he entered, and he kept his head bowed low to avoid meeting Dang Mujin's eyes.
Ban Yonggweol stood there unsteadily for a long while, fidgeting, before suddenly dropping to his knees before Dang Mujin as if steeling himself. He ignored the gazes of the others entirely.
"I'm sorry! Please forgive me just this once!"
Considering how arrogantly Ban Yonggweol usually carried himself, this posture was strangely humble. Even with his own gang right beside him.
Though Dang Mujin had inwardly planned to give him a scolding, there were too many onlookers now.
Refusing the apology here would make Dang Mujin look like the villain.
Dang Mujin reluctantly accepted it.
"Well... it's fine. No one was seriously hurt. But don't ever do it again. If I hear you've pulled something like that on anyone else, I won't let it slide quietly."
Ban Yonggweol, who had been prostrated, lifted his head.
His expression was incredibly complex—relief at being forgiven mingled with something like resentment at an unjust tale.
Dang Mujin couldn't make sense of the situation.
Waking up in a strange room was odd enough, but gathering so many people, including the Yellow Spirit Master, just to watch Ban Yonggweol's gang apologize? And there was even an unfamiliar Daoist standing beside the Yellow Spirit Master and Jin Song.
"So, why has everyone gathered like this?"
"Wait just a moment."
The Yellow Spirit Master beckoned to Hu Wanqing, one of Ban Yonggweol's gang. Hu Wanqing left the room with a deeply uneasy expression, then returned dressed in black robes and wearing a black mask.
Everyone stared fixedly at Dang Mujin. The atmosphere grew even more awkward than before.
'What am I supposed to do?'
The uncomfortable silence stretched on.
Then Dang Mujin felt a bone-chilling cold pierce through him.
*
In front of Hu Wanqing, Dang Mujin lay unconscious, pinned down by the Yellow Spirit Master's knee.
"Uh... ugh!"
Hu Wanqing, terrified, lay flat on the floor and tremblingly tore off his mask with shaking hands.
The Yellow Spirit Master let out a sigh of relief. If his reaction had been a moment slower, Hu Wanqing would have been torn apart.
When Hu Wanqing first entered wearing the mask, Dang Mujin showed no reaction.
But in an instant, the mood shifted, and he lunged at Hu Wanqing.
Dang Mujin's killing intent was thick and vivid, beyond words.
"Good heavens. What in the world..."
The most shocked person there was Dang Jesun.
He had heard his son had learned martial arts, but he never imagined he had become strong enough for even the Yellow Spirit Master to subdue him.
Much less that his son would try to kill without hesitation.
Nangong Ming tossed a jest at Ban Yonggweol.
"Brother Ban won't be able to wear a mask anymore. Quite the pity."
Ban Yonggweol had a fierce face and massive build, yet he trembled pathetically. Memories of last night's terror and pain resurfaced.
"...Last night, I wasn't wearing a mask."
"So even without one, you're not safe. You'll have a hard time with your neighbor from now on. But what can you do? You brought it on yourself."
As Nangong Ming mocked him, Hu Wanqing and the rest of Ban Yonggweol's gang darkened noticeably.
Their leader, Ban Yonggweol, bore no visible wounds.
Yet he seemed too fearful to even recall last night, unable to explain it properly.
From his demeanor, all they could infer was the terror he had felt yesterday.
The thought that Dang Mujin might suddenly appear and inflict some horrific ordeal made his gang unable to shake their unease.
And one more person watched the scene intently.
The Daoist beside the Yellow Spirit Master: Master Gongryeong.
Master Gongryeong was the Yellow Spirit Master's senior brother, usually residing on Qingcheng Mountain.
But he often visited the Qingcheng Chengdu Branch to see the Yellow Spirit Master. The distance between Qingcheng Mountain and the Chengdu Branch wasn't far.
The Yellow Spirit Master asked Master Gongryeong.
"What do you make of this situation?"
"Hmm."
Master Gongryeong approached the unconscious Dang Mujin and placed both palms on his back.
There were several peculiarities within Dang Mujin's body.
First, an amount of internal energy disproportionate to his age.
He must have consumed some incredibly rare spiritual elixir, though what kind was unclear.
Next came the thick poison qi settled in his dantian.
Having traveled with a poison expert, it was surely a poison core cultivated with that master's aid.
Yet no trace of demonic qi could be found, no matter how he searched.
'That's strange.'
When a martial artist suddenly exhibits aggression, it's lumped together as qi deviation or heart demon.
And qi deviation almost always occurs when demonic qi accumulated from practicing demonic arts seeps into the brain and marrow.
But Dang Mujin harbored not a speck of demonic qi. On the contrary, his internal energy was purer than that of most orthodox sect martial artists.
The poison didn't seem to be the issue either. The poison qi in his dantian was extremely stable, showing no sign of leaking out.
"I have no idea."
"Master Gongryeong, is there anyone on Qingcheng Mountain familiar with these symptoms?"
"Our sect leader isn't versed in such matters, and Elder Jeokryeong knows all sorts of trivia but likely not this."
Such cases might be better known among the unorthodox paths. Qi deviation could even be said to be their specialty.
But naturally, neither the Yellow Spirit Master nor Master Gongryeong had friendly ties with any unorthodox folk.
After brief deliberation, Master Gongryeong spoke up.
"Why not seek help from outside Qingcheng Sect? Sichuan isn't home to Qingcheng alone."
"You mean ask the Emei Sect for aid."
"Yes. They might know something."
The Emei Sect was a Buddhist-affiliated sect.
Unlike the purely Buddhist Shaolin Temple, it had some Daoist influences, but its roots remained Buddhist.
The defining trait of Buddhist martial arts was their property of repelling evil and revealing righteousness—breaking evil to manifest truth.
Thanks to this, Shaolin and Emei martial arts countered demonic qi perfectly.
There were even cases of demonic cultivators lost to qi deviation regaining sanity mid-battle with high monks from Shaolin or Emei and entering the Buddhist fold.
It was wiser to seek Emei's help than for the Yellow Spirit Master and Master Gongryeong to rack their brains here.
Though admitting Qingcheng's limits and begging aid from Emei weighed on him, the Yellow Spirit Master clearly remembered the debt he owed Dang Mujin. Prioritizing face in this situation would be ungrateful.
The Yellow Spirit Master nodded decisively.
"I'll contact Emei immediately."
*
Heading southwest from Chengdu stretches toward Emei Mountain, where clouds cloak the mountainside.
Emei Mountain has one feature distinguishing it from other peaks.
Like other famed mountains, it bristles with sheer cliffs, yet no matter how high or treacherous a peak appears, closer inspection reveals at least one path to the summit.
These aren't even man-made trails. All have existed since ancient times, unblocked to wild beasts or herb gatherers.
Whenever people saw Emei's myriad side paths, they thought of immortals' presence or Buddha's compassion.
That must be why Emei ranks among the Middle Kingdom's premier sacred mountains.
Perhaps because of it, Emei holds a peculiar history.
Long ago a Daoist sacred mountain, it gradually became one of Buddhism's four great peaks.
Wandering Emei's nooks reveals Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries coexisting.
Even buildings of ambiguous identity abound—neither fully temple nor monastery, but somewhere in between.
The Emei Sect's main headquarters, Fuhu Temple on Golden Summit Peak, was one such place.
Originally built as a Daoist chapel, it had at some point become a temple.
Not just any temple, but one of the twin pillars of Buddhist martial arts. Truly inscrutable.
Dang Mujin, Nangong Ming, and the Yellow Spirit Master entered Fuhu Temple.
"Where are we headed?"
"To the Golden Purity Hall. Follow me."
The Yellow Spirit Master strode through the temple grounds, with Dang Mujin and Nangong Ming trailing. Nangong Ming looked around with keen curiosity.
Unlike Shaolin, a women-only space, Fuhu Temple, Emei's base, allowed men. Nuns dominated, of course, but male monks dotted the grounds.
The nuns varied too: some with shaved heads, others with short hair. A fitting reflection of Emei's complex identity.
Golden Purity Hall perched at one edge of Fuhu Temple, a golden building.
Not large, but its garish color and sharply upturned eaves made it stand out.
As the three arrived, a nun in gray robes with closely cropped hair appeared.
Unlike the soft-eyed nuns, her gaze held a subtle sharpness and strictness.
The nun slowly pressed her palms together toward the Yellow Spirit Master.
"It's been a while."
"Hmm... Master Myeongryeon, I presume?"
"I still have much to learn, but yes."
Master Myeongryeon smiled faintly, her face full of pride.
In Emei, one needed to reach the supreme realm to be called Satae.
From the atmosphere, she had recently broken through that wall.
Master Myeongryeon looked at Dang Mujin and Nangong Ming.
"Which of you two is the Young Hero Dang possessed by heart demon?"
Dang Mujin awkwardly raised his hand. Master Myeongryeon nodded.
"No telling how long it will take, so best to start now."
"Understood. I leave him in your hands. Young Hero Dang, hopefully we'll meet again soon."
Dang Mujin gave a light fist salute in thanks, and the Yellow Spirit Master smiled warmly before turning away.
But Nangong Ming didn't follow.
"Young hero, what brings you?" Master Myeongryeon asked him.
"Ah, I'm this guy's friend. I want to stay and see how he escapes the heart demon. May I have permission?"
Master Myeongryeon nodded reluctantly.
"Well, no reason not to. Follow along."
She led Dang Mujin and Nangong Ming onward.
But instead of into the Golden Purity Hall, she headed for stairs beside it.
The stairs descended underground, the walls built of massive stones.
"...The vibe is odd," Dang Mujin remarked.
Nangong Ming added, "If I may be bold, it resembles a dungeon."
Master Myeongryeon didn't deny it.
"Correct. It was originally built to hold prisoners. But as time passed and Emei stopped detaining them, it became a place to treat those gripped by heart demon."
Dang Mujin nodded unwittingly.
A prison sturdy enough to hold criminals suited a space where heart demon victims could rampage safely.
"This way."
Master Myeongryeon led Dang Mujin to the innermost underground room. Sturdy iron bars stood out.
But something more concerning caught his eye. No other patients anywhere in the underground.
"Go in."
As Dang Mujin entered the innermost room, Master Myeongryeon locked the door.
Clank. The metallic sound echoed underground.
Dang Mujin spoke leisurely.
"Seeing I'm the only one receiving treatment underground in Golden Purity Hall makes it all the more trustworthy."
"What do you mean?"
"Doesn't it mean everyone else recovered in a flash and left?"
Master Myeongryeon shrugged.
"Not quite."
"Pardon?"
"It's just been ages since we had a guest. Truthfully, those gripped by heart demon rarely come to Emei..."
Demonic cultivators seldom admit they're lost to heart demon, so they have no reason to seek Emei.
Nor do many kindly escort such a person to Emei. Encounters with heart demon victims usually end with one side dead.
Dang Mujin reaching here while afflicted made him an extraordinary case.
"By the way, how does the treatment work?"
"I'll teach you the Azure Mulberry Fist, known for its ability to expel evil qi. Practice it until the heart demon releases you."
The phrasing—"known for its ability to expel evil qi"—unsettled Dang Mujin. It sounded like no one had actually seen it cure heart demon.
Master Myeongryeon continued gently.
"Meals twice a day, and visits from outsiders every five days."
"...How long until I can leave?"
"No set time. You can't leave until the heart demon is gone anyway, so no need to worry."
"Pardon?"
As Dang Mujin instinctively gripped the bars, Master Myeongryeon replied matter-of-factly.
"Surely we can't release someone still gripped by heart demon among the innocent?"