Episode 361

“Leader! We have trouble!”

A man slammed open the door and entered the room.

Frowning at the incense which stung his nose, the man moved over to the person who was sleeping quietly… and shook them awake!

“Wake up! Wake up! Great Leader! Oh, Leader!”

“Ugh!”

The man who was lying down woke up, clearly annoyed, and responded by kicking the man who had shaken him.

“Ack!”

Without seeing the man sprawled out on the ground, he shouted,

“Why are you making such a fuss when the morning wind hasn’t even arrived?! I will die from your screams!”

“Isn’t that just because you were all drinking last night!”

“If you know that, then get out and let me sleep!”

The kicked man got back up as if this wasn’t the first time they had done this, and grabbed the man who had laid back down and shook him awake again.

“Now isn’t the time for this! Get up!”

“… what is wrong with you!”

Normally the guy would have quietly walked out, but he was making a fuss, which meant that something had happened.

“Ugh.”

The man finally grabbed his head and got up.

“Uh… my head might finally break.”

“Can’t you just detoxify your body? If the word got out that Yeom Pyong, the Red Snake Blade, is struggling with a hangover, the entire world will laugh!”

“They will laugh. Now, what is going on?”

“Southern Edge has closed its doors.”

“Right. Closed their doors… what?”

The one called Red Snake Blade was shocked.

“What did you say just now?”

“The Southern Edge Sect has closed itself off! It is said that there will be no activities with the outside world for at least a year.”

“… have they lost it? Why so suddenly?”

“Why do you think? It must have been so important that they suddenly decided to do this.”

“Is that so?”

The Red Snake Blade slowly raised his body.

“Open the windows.”

“Yes!”

Bang Seung, the Monster Fox, quickly opened the windows. And then the incense filling the room escaped outside.

“Ugh.”

As if the hungover feeling had been a lie, he calmly walked over to a chair and sat in it.

“Then tell me again in detail. Are you sure they closed them?”

“Yes! I am.”

Yeom Pyong looked at Bang Seung like he didn’t believe him.

“Apart from saying you are sure, tell me how many other things went right? If things go wrong again this time, I will tear your mouth apart! If I believe your words and those bastards eventually come out, you know that we will be in a mess, right?”

“I am sure this time!”

“… How?”

Bang Seung smiled,

“Now inside Xi’an are people from Mount Hua opening a sub-sect and accepting new disciples.”

“… Huh. Are they just watching it happen?”

“That is what I am saying! Mount Hua is moving in, and they cannot even do anything! This is what I meant!”

“… Southern Edge has no intention of breaking down their doors.”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Yeom Pyong touched his shaggy beard.

‘If it is Mount Hua, those bastards who hate them are sitting still and watching them enter Xi’an?’

If this was true, it meant that Southern Edge had really withdrawn.

“Leader! This is a chance we shouldn’t miss! Didn’t the branch leader tell us what we must do in Xi’an?! That is why we have been sitting around in Xi’an all this while.”

“Right.”

“We were only waiting because Southern Edge was so strong that we couldn’t break in. How could we have expanded our power into such a place?”

Of course, the world wasn’t as divided and pleasant as a map drawing, so the words of the branch leader must have meant to infiltrate in a very hidden manner.

The problem, however, was that the Southern Edge Sect had this obsession with holding onto their estates.

If they stepped in even a little bit, those people would run like crazy dogs to bite them, and Bang Seung would be the one who was bitten.

Bang Seung said this was because Southern Edge had taken something from him in the past, but he knew that couldn’t be all.

Anyway…

“So now is your best chance?”

“Right.”

“What do we do if Southern Edge opens up their doors later?”

“If they wanted to, they would have already done so, right? If they tell us to leave, we leave, it’s as clean as that.”

“Sounds good.”

Yeom Pyong felt hungry.

“But, you said Mount Hua is also moving. And isn’t Mount Hua known to be different from how they were in the past?”

“Those possible rising stars? How would they even be compared with a man like you, Leader? Everyone will pee when they hear that you are coming.”

“No one trembles you idiot. Moron.”

“Yes!”

Yeom Pyong stopped stroking his chin and narrowed his eyes.

‘But he didn’t say anything that was incorrect.’

It was said that they might possibly be the strongest in the future, those kids from Mount Hua, but they were still growing. Could he be called one of the Big Five of Shinzhou, Red Snake, if he didn’t try something?

“Xi’an…”

Yeom Pyong smiled,

“Branch leader will really like this. Get ready. We are moving to Xi’an.”

“Yes!”

From the Forces of Evil’s side of things…

One of the Big Five’s troops began to move to Xi’an, aiming to fill the void left by the Southern Edge Sect.

“… Amitabha.”

Hae Yeon, who sat in the waiting room of the sect, quietly mumbled. In the meantime, he forgot even to look around.

“Please drink.”

“Thank you.”

He grabbed the cup of tea which Chung Myung had offered with both hands. And he stared at Chung Myung.

“Haha.”

Hyun Young smiled lightly.

“Right. Did you say you have been to Mount Hua?”

“You can speak comfortably, Elder. I am just a monk from Shaolin.”

“Is that alright?”

“Yes.”

Hyun Young smiled and nodded.

‘I’m sure he learned his manners properly.’

Be polite or not, no one cared here, and he turned to the disciples of Mount Hua, whose eyes were wide and shocked at the disciple of Shaolin.

Of course, that didn’t mean Hyun Young liked Hae Yeon.

“Yes, you were at Mount Hua?”

“Yes. The sect leader told me the path you were heading. What I want is here, so I came to ask permission to be here. Amitabha.”

Seeing Hae Yeon chant it, Chung Myung narrowed his eyes,

“Well, that seems like a waste. So why did you come here?”

“Generous person.”

Hae Yeon turned to Chung Myung.

“I would like to stay here for a while.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung tilted his head.

“Why?”

“Amitabha.”

Instead of answering, Hae Yeon chanted.

Actually, there was a lot he wanted to say, but speaking those words in front of so many people didn’t seem right.

“Because I thought that was my best way forward.”

“What did you say?”

“… Uh?”

Chung Myung’s face contorted,

“These bastards never answer the question right, even after opening their mouths! I will send him off and teach him how to speak properly…up!”

“Ahahahaha!”

Hyun Young smiled, covering the mouth of Chung Myung,

“Haha. I hope you understand. As you know, our Chung Myung is too straightforward.”

“I-It is fine.”

Cold sweat ran down the back of Hae Yeon.

‘He is far worse from what he looked at the time of our spar.’

At that time, he thought it could just be because he was angry, but now that he looked at him, Chung Myung was just this vicious.

And Hyun Young said,

“But I don’t understand either. Did you say that this is your way?”

Hae Yeon nodded,

“Yes. I saw and felt things, a lot of things, during our previous spar. And… I felt that even my teachings, which I once felt were the most honorable, weren’t actually so straightforward.”

“Um.”

Hyun Young nodded with a heavy face.

“I felt that I couldn’t go any further without addressing this issue. So I am here to see and learn the path which I should take.”

“Wait, what is this?”

“… to watch and learn…”

“In here?”

“…”

Seeing Hyun Young a bit shocked, Hae Yeon tilted his head.

Was that such a strange thing to say?

“… So…”

Hyun Young glanced at Chung Myung’s face and then looked at Hae Yeon.

“Learn from whom?”

“…”

Chung Myung proudly held out his stomach.

‘This insane bastard!’

Hyun Young was a bit embarrassed at his words.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

And Baek Cheon, who knew that each side was misunderstanding the other, said,

“Uh… Monk Hae Yeon.”

“Please speak, Generous Man, Baek Cheon.”

“Why do you that guy… no, what do you want to learn from here?”

Hae Yeon took a deep breath,

“To feel righteous, to walk straight.”

“Walking straight?”

When Baek Cheon asked, he nodded his head,

“As with the case of other similar sects, walking on the same path as the Buddha is like fighting delusions. It is by no means easy to carry out one’s own path in front of so many topics in the world. I, too, am a monk who trembles and shatters.”

“…”

“But then I felt an unshakable will from Disciple Chung Myung. So I wanted to see and learn with my own eyes how one can have such an unshakable will.”

“Hmmm.”

Chung Myung gently pushed his stomach inside. Seeing that, Baek Cheon’s face turned red.

‘Those who have no thoughts in their head will not shake, you idiot!’

This isn’t a good thing!

People sometimes turn right and left and shake. That will naturally happen!

In Baek Cheon’s eyes, the present Hae Yeon looked like he was jumping with a smile into the pit of fire. Was there any reason for him to walk into such difficulty on his own feet?

Hyun Young, who had been listening, asked again,

“Did the Abbot allow this?”

“He didn’t give me permission, but neither did he stop me. The path one takes is something one has to decide alone. Even if the Abbot stopped me, I wouldn’t hesitate to follow this still.”

Chung Myung rubbed his ears,

“Speak short, Shorty!”

“… I came. Despite him stopping me.”

“Right. How nice that sounds.”

Chung Myung smiled happily, but the disciples of Mount Hua who saw this had to soothe their anger.

‘It started already?’

‘That monk is not sane either. Who the hell wants to learn the shortcut to hell?’

‘This is how we lose another person.’

As they watched this, Hyun Young asked,

“So… you mean you have something to learn while staying with Mount Hua?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“And you said you came after asking the permission of the Sect Leader?”

“Yes. He said that the permission to watch and learn comes with a heavy burden.”

“Hmm.”

Hyun Young turned to Chung Myung,

“What would you like to do?”

“Well, there is nothing to think about. I am going to roll him on his feet anyway, so there is no need to push him away.”

‘Roll?’

Hae Yeon tilted his head,

‘Did I say that?’

But before he could even ask, Chung Myung approached him and put his arm on his shoulder. With a more gentle expression,

“Welcome. Welcome.”

“…”

“Ugh. This is a relationship between two people. If we get to know each other somehow, then we will be able to find out how to roll on our own… no, let’s have a good relationship with each other, right?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Instead!”

“…”

Chung Myung’s smile softened as he looked at Hae Yeon.

“There is no such thing as free food on Mount Hua. Instead of giving you free room and board, you will have to work.”

“Amitabha. That is expected. Shaolin also doesn’t give free food and shelter to those who don’t do their jobs.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Chung Myung smiled and tapped Hae Yeon on the shoulder.

“Then it is simple. Instead of staying here, you work here. We have no problems then!”

“Are you giving me permission?”

“Is there any need to give you permission? Between us.”

“Ah…. Amitabha! Thank you!”

Hae Yeon’s face turned red.

He had come without any plans or thoughts, so he didn’t expect things to happen so easily. If Chung Myung didn’t accept him, he was prepared to stay months together to make him say yes, but this was solved a lot easier than he thought.

‘Such a wide and spacious place.’

If the disciple of Mount Hua had swapped positions, then what would Shaolin do?

It was Hae Yeon who was thinking about that.

“Then what do I do?”

“Ah. Not much. It is quite simple. And very easy for you.”

“… Easy in what sense?”

Chung Myung giggled,

“Don’t worry, we will start right away, so you will soon find out.”

“…”

Seeing Chung Myung smile wickedly, Hae Yeon put on an awkward smile.

The next morning…

Hae Yeon got up to look at the sky. His face was burning red, and water dripped from his eyes.

“Ahhhh! The winner of the sparing contest! The best in the world! This is Monk Hae Yeon of Shaolin! Everyone! For those who enter Huayoung Gate, he will teach you the combat of Shaolin!”

Instead of pollen, plum blossoms were fluttering around.

The crowd gathered and cheered for him.

“The real monk Hae Yeon from Shaolin?”

“Would anyone try to lie about that?”

“Oh my. What kind of sect is Mount Hua that a monk from Shaolin comes to learn? What is happening?”

“How can we even know? If they teach, then we learn. That is all!”

“My son, he will have to go and learn it! Shaolin is in Xi’an!”

Thunderous shouts made Hae Yeon close his eyes.

‘Please bless me.’

He desperately felt that something was happening, but it was too late to turn around.