Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: The Myeongryeon Incident
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"Hah!"
In the dark, silent underground chamber of the Gold Pavilion, Dang Mujin extended his arm. It was a form from the Azure Mulberry Fist.
According to Myeongryeon, the Azure Mulberry Fist was a fist technique commonly taught even to the lay disciples of the Emei Sect.
He wasn't sure if it was right to call it a fist technique, though.
Fewer than half the forms used fists. Spear hands, knife hands, and palm strikes made up a larger share.
The real issue was how excessively simple and concise every form was. There were no intricate or complex movements, no special techniques hidden within.
Still, Dang Mujin practiced the Azure Mulberry Fist in silence. He had nothing else to do, and he didn't know any other way to shake off the heart demon.
As expected of Buddhist martial arts, though, he did feel a sensation similar to the White Lotus Divine Fist or Lotus Shadow Thousand Steps while training. Perhaps this was the nature of prajna realization infused in Shaolin techniques.
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
'What if I practiced the White Lotus Divine Fist instead of the Azure Mulberry Fist?'
It was a pretty convincing idea. The White Lotus Divine Fist was an advanced art, while the Azure Mulberry Fist was for beginners, so its prajna qualities might be stronger.
But he had no certainty. In the end, Dang Mujin quietly honed the Azure Mulberry Fist.
*
After training the Azure Mulberry Fist for over ten days, Dang Mujin felt something peculiar. Just once, a spear hand that unfolded faster and sharper than ever before.
'Huh?'
The sensation flashed by in an instant, but Dang Mujin knew what it was.
It was exactly the feeling when he first grasped the essence of the pierce and thrust out with his sword.
Why did it happen in an unfamiliar spear hand, of all things?
The answer was simple. If the pierce used a sword tip, a spear hand used the fingertip.
The essence of the two forms touched at their core.
Dang Mujin unleashed the spear hand again. The sensation from before didn't return.
But he didn't grow impatient. Just as he had mastered the pierce, that sensation would come back eventually.
Three days later, he unleashed the second spear hand. The next day, the third. After another week, all the spear hands satisfied him.
Only then did Dang Mujin realize it.
Until now, he had focused solely on learning complex, powerful forms packed with intricate techniques.
Was the freak stronger than him because it could unleash such amazing forms?
No. The freak had always used only the Heart-Piercing Sword, with most of its hand and leg strikes being basic techniques.
Yet even identical forms were always faster and more powerful from the freak.
The one form Dang Mujin could claim to match it on was just the pierce.
The profundity of the martial art itself mattered.
But even more crucial was drawing out the full potential of any form, no matter how simple.
His father's words came to mind.
'There are more illnesses treated with common plantain or licorice root than with expensive, rare agarwood or frankincense. If you know how to use every herb in the right place, there's no need to rely on rare ones.'
His father knew nothing of martial arts, and the advice was purely about medicine.
But just as the pierce and spear hand connected, so did medicine and martial arts share principles.
'Let's refine from the simplest forms again.'
In the dim underground of the Gold Pavilion, Dang Mujin immersed himself once more in the Azure Mulberry Fist.
*
Watching Dang Mujin, Dan Seoryeong and Namgung Myeong grew uneasy bit by bit.
Every five days, the first couple of visits, Dang Mujin had been full of complaints about life underground in the Gold Pavilion. He'd grumbled about dying of boredom or not knowing when he'd get out.
But at some point, he'd grown more relaxed, and now he acted like someone with no complaints at all. They wondered if he'd eaten some strange drug.
Dan Seoryeong asked,
"How is it? Is the heart demon starting to fade?"
"No. I don't really know."
"You're practicing the Azure Mulberry Fist diligently, right? No changes?"
"I get that it has properties to push out demonic qi, but I don't feel any demonic qi being pushed."
"...So, what are you going to do now?"
Dang Mujin thought it over.
The food came on time, even without meat dishes. No one bothered him.
He didn't need to work, training was fun, and when bored, Namgung Myeong and Dan Seoryeong visited. For now, he was reasonably content.
"Hmm. I think I'll just take it easy and train for a while. If I master the Azure Mulberry Fist or White Lotus Divine Fist, maybe it'll shake off the heart demon?"
"You're sure?"
"...No clue. But Myeongryeon didn't lock me up without reason."
Dan Seoryeong reached through the bars and touched Dang Mujin's hand. Her own situation felt pathetic somehow.
Like becoming a widow before even marrying.
Any ordinary woman might have teared up at the injustice.
But Dan Seoryeong wasn't so fragile. In desperate straits, she gripped her head and found solutions instead of collapsing.
She squeezed Dang Mujin's hand and said,
"Just wait a bit. I'll get you out."
*
Five days later, Dan Seoryeong appeared at the Emei Sect with Namgung Myeong and the Yellow Spirit Master in tow.
No matter how bold Dan Seoryeong was, she couldn't raise her voice alone at the Emei Sect.
She shouted at Myeongryeon,
"Give me back my husband! He's not getting any better, so how can you lock him up indefinitely?"
"...I heard Donor Dang hasn't held the wedding ceremony yet."
"We didn't have the ceremony, but we're basically married! Do you think I came from Henan to Sichuan without something to rely on?"
The Yellow Spirit Master chimed in hesitantly.
"We at the Qingcheng Sect will look after Young Master Dang again, so could you release him?"
Truth be told, no one was as awkward in this situation as the Yellow Spirit Master.
He'd brought Dang Mujin to the Emei Sect to repay a favor, only for it to look like he'd delivered a criminal.
Fortunately, Dang Mujin hadn't complained yet, but that might not last.
Myeongryeon refused firmly.
"Once possessed by a demon, no exit. One who harbors a demon may enter the Emei Sect but cannot leave."
"What nonsense is that? Last time, Elder Yellow Spirit said there's no demonic qi in Mujin's body!"
Myeongryeon didn't twitch an eyebrow.
"Would someone without demonic qi fall to a heart demon? It's just seeped in so subtly it's hard to detect. That makes it all the more dangerous."
Dan Seoryeong cried out in exasperation.
"If there's demonic qi, you won't release him because of it. If there's none, it's hidden, so still no release. What am I supposed to do?"
"Drive out the demonic qi and escape the heart demon."
"That Qing-something Fist has no effect!"
The Yellow Spirit Master corrected from the side.
"Young Lady Dan, it's not Qingcheng Fist, it's Azure Mulberry Fist."
"Whatever!"
Myeongryeon remained stubborn.
"If he hadn't set foot in the Emei Sect, it might be different, but we can't allow someone connected to us to go out and cause trouble."
"Myeongryeon, consider my position too. Young Master Dang has much to do."
The Yellow Spirit Master pleaded again. He held sway in the martial world by name, but here, Myeongryeon held the authority.
Dang Mujin's roles were too many to gloss over.
Blacksmiths, having heard rumors, wandered around Master Seok's forge with mouths flapping. They gave Jin Song and the Yellow Spirit Master sidelong dissatisfied looks whenever they met.
Even Dang Jesun fretted daily, fearing greater disaster for his son.
Jin Song was a problem too. The Yellow Spirit Master had at least received his sword, but Jin Song sat uneasy without his.
"No."
Myeongryeon shook her head.
Of course, Myeongryeon wasn't doing this out of malice.
From the previous Gold Pavilion Master's time to now, Dang Mujin was the only one who'd entered the underground claiming heart demon possession.
Worse, the previous master had died a miserable death without passing on knowledge, so no one knew the exact method to dispel heart demons.
In this situation, Myeongryeon had only one path.
Rely on scarce records and strictly follow codified rules.
Practice the Azure Mulberry Fist and enforce no exit once entered.
The talk circled endlessly.
Unable to bear the frustration, Dan Seoryeong clenched her fists, on the verge of swinging in anger.
Namgung Myeong calmed her.
"Hold it."
"Hold wha—!"
"Trust me. Shortest five days, longest ten, and Mujin will be out."
"How?"
"I have ways."
Dan Seoryeong reluctantly backed off.
But Myeongryeon scoffed as if it were nonsense. Unless Dang Mujin fully expelled the heart demon, she wouldn't release him in ten days—or even ten years.
Namgung Myeong, however, knew someone who could solve it.
*
Ten days later, Namgung Myeong entered the Emei Sect with a person wearing a bamboo hat.
The hat-wearer was short, dressed plainly and modestly.
The only standout feature was the white hair spilling from under the hat.
The hat-wearer kept glancing around.
"It's been over fifty years, and nothing's improved. If anything, everything looks more worn. See that half-collapsed building over there?"
"Yes. I see it."
"That's the Myeongnyeon Pavilion. They said they'd repair it right away, but it's still not done. Or did they repair it and it fell apart again?"
"Either way, it looks precarious, so the result's the same."
"Right. That's exactly what I mean. You catch on quick."
"Heh."
Namgung Myeong carefully flattered his companion with a sly air.
The one Namgung Myeong brought was Ha Ling.
Ha Ling had left the Emei Sect and abandoned the Buddhist path. No longer a nun, she discarded the title Flower Blaze Immortal.
Even so, her authority held weight at the Emei Sect inevitably.
She hadn't fled as an enemy, and tracing back, many would have learned from her. Connections were powerful everywhere.
Soon, they reached the stairs descending to the Gold Pavilion underground.
An old door blocked the two intent on going down.
"Please wait a moment. I'll fetch Myeongryeon."
"Myeongryeon?"
"Yes. She's the Gold Pavilion Master, dharma name. She has the key."
"...No need."
"Pardon?"
Ha Ling bowed her head toward the door, and Namgung Myeong eyed her expression.
Hidden by the hat, her face was invisible, but she seemed deeply displeased.
"Look at this. So neglected the door's rusted to pieces."
"Indeed."
"How much could a new door cost that they leave it like this? No money needed. Just some well-dried wood and a diligent monk— one or two days, and it'd be replaced. Has the Emei Sect no diligent monks left...?"
Ha Ling grumbled for a while, then lifted her right foot and stomped in a true stance.
Boom—
A low vibration spread, shaking the ground around.
The tremor was so light most passing Emei Sect monks didn't notice the stomp.
But the door to the Gold Pavilion underground was different.
It shattered into pieces, as if smashed by a giant wielding a massive iron weight.
Ha Ling said in satisfaction,
"Better to make a new one while we're at it."
"Wise words. But before freeing Mujin, we should inform the Gold Pavilion Master."
"Why?"
"She might misunderstand. Think Mujin, gripped by demonic qi, escaped somehow. They might come recapture him."
"I want to check Donor Dang's state first... No, fine. Hurry and call her."
As Namgung Myeong moved to fetch Myeongryeon, a figure dashed over using lightness skill.
Speak of the tiger—the Gold Pavilion Master Myeongryeon.
She'd sensed the sudden stomp and rushed to the source.
Her eyes caught the wrecked door, the now-familiar Namgung Myeong's face, and white hair trailing from under the hat.
Myeongryeon tensed sharply.
Those with white hair were one of two: elders or demonic heads.
Depigmentation was a common side effect of demonic arts. Skin or hair turning white. Hence demonic nicknames like Pale-Face Blood Sword, White-Eyed Ghost, White-Haired Yama—many with "white."
Myeongryeon shouted,
"Halt! What is this in the temple grounds?"
"You're Myeongryeon, right? I was just about to send for you—"
White hair. But not an elder's voice. Myeongryeon's mind raced.
'So that's what he meant by Donor Dang out in ten days? Bring in a demonic head to force him out?'
Judgment made, Myeongryeon roared like a lion.
"Begone!"
Myeongryeon's cultivation was at the peak's threshold. A considerable expert, but not absolute. The opponent might surpass her.
Yet this was the Emei Sect grounds. Even a notorious demonic head couldn't face all alone. Myeongryeon pressed confidently.
"Insolent wretch! Dare you set foot here? You won't leave alive!"
Emei Sect experts who'd sensed the stomp, and nuns drawn by the lion's roar, surrounded the three.
Things had escalated unintentionally. Namgung Myeong tensed and explained,
"Myeongryeon, calm down a bit. We were coming to see you anyway."
Ha Ling's impression differed.
She'd come expecting to reunite with familiar faces, nostalgic for the Emei Sect of memory.
But reality was insults hurled before a crowd. The gap between imagination and truth was vast.
Ha Ling muttered,
"...Dare? Insolent? Won't leave alive?"
Ha Ling stepped forward. A small step.
But Myeongryeon and onlookers reeled back as if shoved by an invisible wall, retreating a step in unison.
Ha Ling pointed a finger at Myeongryeon.
"You, Myeongryeon? Go fetch Jongsoon right now."
"Jongsoon? Who's that?"
From her nun days, Ha Ling had been far from mild-tempered.
She'd gained enough poise as Flower Blaze Immortal for face-saving decorum, but her innate nature hadn't vanished.
And fifty years. Mingling with the lowly, caring for them.
She changed them, but they changed her a bit too.
Or rather, restored her to her original self.
Like her speech habits, for instance.
"Bring yer sect leader, Wi Jongsoon. Ya bitch."