Fallen Taoist Practitioners

I did not want to get involved in some violent incident I had run into in Boushin. Things like this happened all the time, and normally soldiers would rush over and settle the commotion. Still, leaving something happening right in front of me alone would leave a bad taste when I woke up later. Just as I thought that, I noticed that the men committing the violence were giving off qi.

“Those men might be fallen Taoist practitioners.”

A fallen Taoist practitioner meant someone who had trained as a Taoist practitioner but quit and became an ordinary person. When Haoxuen and Seiran heard those words, the two of them observed the men.

“In times like this, use your Lone Awakening Eye.”

“Right.”

“Ah, qi.”

When Haoxuen and Seiran used their Lone Awakening Eyes, it seemed they saw qi rising from the men’s bodies. From now on, I would have to train them to use their Lone Awakening Eyes immediately whenever something happened.

“You bastard. Are you saying we ate and ran?”

“But I still haven’t received your payment.”

“You idiot! After saying something that rude, you still expect us to pay?”

Because they were shouting loudly, onlookers gradually began to gather. It would only be a matter of time before soldiers on patrol came. Then the dine-and-dasher tried to hit the dining hall owner again.

At that instant, Haoxuen and Seiran both sprang out.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

I saw the two of them nod. There were exactly two opponents as well, so it seemed they would fight one-on-one. Haoxuen chose the tall, lanky man as his opponent, while Seiran chose the solidly built man with a crooked nose.

“You bastards, are you defying us?”

“You ate and ran, and now you’re even resorting to violence. I can’t forgive that.”

Haoxuen said that to the lanky man.

“Hmph. Foolish brat. It seems you think we are mere dine-and-dashers.”

“You’re fallen Taoist practitioners who ate and ran, aren’t you?”

“Shut up!”

The lanky man shouted, leapt toward Haoxuen, and unleashed a straight punch with his right hand aimed at Haoxuen’s stomach. It was the thrust of someone who had learned martial arts. Haoxuen parried that attack with his left hand and deflected it. The lanky man endured his broken balance and unleashed a straight punch with his left hand.

Haoxuen shook his head aside to dodge that straight punch while driving a straight punch into his opponent’s stomach. It was the moment when Thunder Technique Fist’s Hammer Strike, which launched a straight punch at the same time as dodging, landed.

Meanwhile, Seiran was watching for an opening while dodging his opponent’s attacks. The instant his opponent carelessly stepped in, Seiran drove a low kick into his shin. The opponent screamed and became unable to move as he held his leg.

“What is going on here?”

Town soldiers pushed through the crowd of onlookers and came out.

“We are Taoist practitioners of Gyorei Cave. Those two seem to have eaten and run, so please arrest them.”

After I explained, the soldiers also heard the circumstances from the dining hall owner, then bound the dine-and-dashers and took them away. After seeing them off, I praised the two.

“Well done. It seems you’ve become able to fight a little. Next, shall we train in how to fight using Moment of Foam?”

“Thank you very much.”

“Haoxuen is grateful, but that means the training is going to become even harsher, doesn’t it?”

I shrugged and laughed.

“Well, yes. But it’s a necessary technique when facing ogre demons.”

I told the two of them about what it had been like when I fought an ogre demon in the royal capital. I had previously told them that I had fought an ogre demon in the royal capital, but I had not told them the details of the fight.

“Ogre demons are frightening beings, aren’t they?”

Seiran said that, but it felt like he still did not truly understand. That might be unavoidable. I thought he would understand once he actually encountered one.

“By the way, were those dine-and-dashers just now Taoist practitioners of Gyorei Cave?”

Haoxuen asked me a question.

“No, I don’t think they were from a nearby sect.”

Former Taoist practitioners who had left a sect almost never did bad things near that sect. If rumors of it reached the sect, the sect leader of the sect they had belonged to would order their subjugation. After finishing our shopping, we returned to Gyorei Cave satisfied.

The season changed from autumn to winter, and it reached the time when snow would probably start falling before long. I was summoned by Elder Shanshi.

When I went to the training ground where Elder Shanshi was waiting, Kanru, Yulong, and Ryuuho were waiting together with Elder Shanshi.

“You’re late. You’re the last one.”

Yulong said with a displeased expression. He must have been annoyed from being made to wait. Even after his master Daaren had died, Yulong did not seem to have changed.

“I apologize. I was training in the mountains.”

Elder Shanshi nodded and began to speak about the reason he had summoned us.

“There is a post town called Toban north of the royal capital, and near it is a mountain called Mount Iriga. It seems bandits have settled on that mountain.”

North of the royal capital meant it was quite far away. From what I had heard so far, it did not seem to have anything to do with Gyorei Cave.

“There has been a report that there is a fallen Taoist practitioner among those bandits.”

Ryuuho, the oldest among Elder Shanshi’s direct disciples, took on a grim expression.

“Don’t tell me that the fallen Taoist practitioner was someone from Gyorei Cave?”

Elder Shanshi nodded with an expression like he had bitten down on something bitter.

“The report included the appearance of the fallen Taoist practitioner. It appears to be Dumin, who was once my disciple.”

I had never met the Taoist practitioner named Dumin. It seemed he was a Taoist practitioner who quit before I entered Gyorei Cave.

“What kind of Taoist practitioner was this Dumin?”

When I asked that question, Ryuuho explained.

“Dumin was a talented Taoist practitioner. But that talent made Dumin arrogant. He killed a fellow Taoist practitioner in a quarrel and fled from Gyorei Cave.”

Apparently Dumin’s qi level was at the Thirteenth Tier, and he was a user of Dragon Qi Sword Art.

“If anyone among you can defeat Dumin, it would be Kanru or Ryuuho. I want the two of you to work together and defeat Dumin.”

If possible, Elder Shanshi himself wanted to go and punish Dumin, but apparently Sect Leader Wei had told him to leave it to his disciples. If he wanted to raise his disciples, then leaving things to them was also important.

“Senior Brother Dumin is a user of Dragon Qi Sword Art. Will we be able to defeat him?”

Kanru’s qi level had reached the Twelfth Tier, the same as mine, and it seemed his training in Dragon Qi Sword Art was also progressing. However, the number of years he had trained in Dragon Qi Sword Art was short, and apparently Dumin had trained in it for a longer period. I could understand why Kanru felt anxious.