Chapter 306 |
Unity Survives, Division Perishes
Sparkle!
Mu-jin frowned as the head of the Red Tiger Leader ahead of him reflected the light once more.
It wasn’t because the sight was unappealing, but because the light was too intense.
However, he felt no guilt, only sorrow for that pitiful scene.
It wasn’t necessary to obtain herbs or water.
Mu-jin hadn’t shaved the Red Tiger Leader’s head to such a bald state in the first place.
“Why did he shave it so clean?”
Mu-gyeong, who was running beside him, lifted his sword with an awkward smile in response to Mu-jin’s question.
Mu-jin, looking at the sword Mu-gyeong was holding, nodded understandingly.
Since it was sharp enough to slice through his Vajra Immovable Body Technique and Golden Turtle Technique like tofu, it must have been incredibly sharp.
“…I hope it didn’t cut off the roots as well.”
As Mu-jin muttered his concern.
Flash.
The Red Tiger Leader’s head reflected the light once more.
Following the Red Tiger Leader’s headlight, they arrived at a nearby village.
The village had a chaotic atmosphere. It wasn’t just because there had been a battle nearby.
“Damn barbarians!”
“If anyone is hiding hypocrites of the orthodox sect, we will never forgive them!”
The villagers were being intimidated by the Demon Cultists.
It was a ridiculous scene. They were threatening people who didn’t even speak the same language with weapons.
While repeating their meaningless threats, they suddenly looked confused.
“!?”
Twenty people dressed in Shaolin monk robes and Wudang Taoist robes were openly approaching from afar.
Seeing them, the Demon Cultists, who had been intimidating the villagers with confidence, quickly fled.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But Mu-jin wasn’t about to let them go so easily.
If he let them go, soon a swarm of Demon Cultists would descend upon the village.
After quickly dealing with the five Demon Cultists, Mu-jin spoke to Hyun-hyeon.
“We need to quickly handle this, buy herbs and water, and get out of here.”
Hyun-hyeon nodded.
If they delayed, the Demon Cultists would swarm into the village.
Though their goal was to draw attention, if a battle broke out in the middle of the village, the villagers could get caught in the crossfire.
Following the Red Tiger Leader’s guidance, they headed to a small herb shop in the village.
The herb shop owner, having seen their battle with the Demon Cultists earlier, greeted them trembling.
Though Mu-jin wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, there was no time for that.
While the Red Tiger Leader, who spoke the local language, was busy ordering herbs.
A woman holding a boy who appeared to be around ten years old rushed in.
“!@#!#$”
She said something in the local language, to which the herb shop owner responded in a hurried tone while glancing at Mu-jin and his group.
“What’s she saying?”
Curious, Mu-jin asked the Red Tiger Leader, who briefly translated their conversation.
“She says the boy is having a feverish seizure and is asking for medicine. The herb shop owner is saying that the boy has a peculiar constitution and the medicine might not be very effective, so she should wait a bit.”
Hearing the Red Tiger Leader’s explanation, the Shaolin and Wudang disciples frowned.
It seemed the boy’s treatment was being delayed because the herb shop owner was afraid of them.
“Hmm. A peculiar constitution, you say. Let us take a look at the child.”
Hyun-hyeon said, looking at the Red Tiger Leader, who sighed and translated Hyun-hyeon’s words.
The Red Tiger Leader thought it was a bit meddlesome given the urgent situation.
After he translated Hyun-hyeon’s words to the woman and the herb shop owner, they looked at Hyun-hyeon.
The herb shop owner’s eyes were filled with fear, while the woman’s eyes were a mix of fear and hope.
Ignoring their stares, Hyun-hyeon took the boy’s pulse and spoke with a surprised expression.
“He indeed has a peculiar constitution! He possesses the body of the Great Yang, which means he could become a great warrior if he learns techniques that harness Extreme Yang energy.”
Everyone watching without much expectation was surprised by Hyun-hyeon’s words.
Having the body of the Great Yang meant the boy already had strong Yang energy flowing through him, which was like having a natural elixir in his body for those who practiced martial arts that harnessed Extreme Yang energy.
Without consuming any elixir, he could accumulate internal energy several times faster than others.
And Shaolin had several techniques that harnessed Extreme Yang energy.
The Tathagata Palm technique mastered by Mu-gung and Hye-dam, and the Vajra Divine General technique mastered by Hyun-gong, the head of the Jurisdiction Department, were such techniques.
Realizing this, Hyun-hyeon seemed to have an idea and said,
“Come to think of it, it’s about time to take in new disciples.”
“You mean selecting new third-class disciples?”
“Indeed, new third-class disciples, but not of your generation.”
Mu-jin finally understood Hyun-hyeon’s words.
When he first woke up in the novel, his body was twelve years old, and at that time, the second-class disciples were mostly in their mid to late twenties.
In two or three years, he would be the same age as the second-class disciples were back then.
‘If this boy joins Shaolin, he will become my junior?’
While Mu-jin was pondering this, Hyun-hyeon spoke to the Red Tiger Leader.
“Could you tell that woman? If she allows us to take this boy as a Shaolin disciple, we can cure his fever.”
The Red Tiger Leader sighed and translated Hyun-hyeon’s words.
However, the reaction was not favorable.
The woman did not show a cold reaction but began trembling with fear, holding the boy tightly, as if they were child kidnappers.
“…It seems we have no choice but to give up.”
“Yes, Elder of the External Affairs Department.”
Shaolin wasn’t a sect that forcibly took children from their homes to raise as disciples.
Of course, they wanted to take the boy because of his potential and illness, but this was not the time to leisurely persuade the woman.
“Tell her that to alleviate the boy’s illness, he needs to either consume an elixir with strong Yin energy or practice Ice Arts to balance out the Yang energy. Alternatively, he could learn Yang Arts to manage the excessive Yang energy in his body.”
However, Hyun-hyeon couldn’t ignore the child’s illness simply because they refused to take him as a disciple.
“If it’s difficult to obtain those, as a temporary measure, tell her to place the boy in cold environments or in cold water whenever he has a fever.”
After offering this advice to the woman, they collected the herbs and water prepared by the herbalist and left the village.
* * *
The Red Tiger Leader, Mu-yul, and one first-class Shaolin disciple took the herbs and water back to their hideout.
The rest, according to the original plan, left noticeable traces all over the southern region to draw the attention of the Demon Cultists.
The reason Mu-yul was sent back with the Red Tiger Leader was simple.
While they drew attention, the Red Tiger Leader and Mu-yul were to find those hiding in other shelters.
Of course, after two days, it was almost impossible for Mu-yul to find the hiding places of the Shaolin disciples using his sense of smell.
Although the scent would be detectable at close range, their scent was no longer lingering in the forest.
But the Red Tiger Leader knew the locations of the shelters.
Mu-yul was there to avoid encounters with the Demon Cultists during their secret movements.
At the previously found shelter, the Red Tiger Leader and the disciples of Shaolin and Wudang took care of the seriously injured.
Meanwhile, the remaining seventeen Shaolin and Wudang disciples continued to relentlessly harass the Demon Cultists.
Without a specific direction or destination, they wandered around, attacking any signs of Demon Cultists they detected and quickly fleeing the scene before new Cultists arrived, alerted by signals or sounds of battle.
This overwhelming guerrilla warfare was possible not only due to the efforts of Mu-jin, Mu-gyeong, and Mu-gung, but also because of significant flaws in the Demon Cultists’ deployment.
The Cultists were spread out, searching for hidden renegades in small groups of about a dozen, moving through the vast southern forests.
Even Ilgongja (First Young Master) and Igongja (Second Young Master), along with the Daoist and Hwan Clan elders, remained at ease in the villages instead of moving with the search parties, leaving no one capable of stopping the Muja Trio.
That evening,
Bang!
Once again, the table at Ilgongja and Igongja’s quarters was smashed to pieces.
“Those despicable orthodox sect bastards!”
Ilgongja, his face red with rage, struck the table and shouted.
“Calm yourself, Ilgongja.”
Watching his outburst, the Daoist elder Yan Huan spoke up.
This was a meeting to discuss countermeasures, so not only were the two Young Masters present, but also the elders.
If it were a gathering of only Daoist elders, it might have been different. But displaying such a disgraceful appearance in front of the Hwan Clan elders was not a good thing.
However, Ilgongja’s anger clouded his judgment.
“Now is not the time to calm down! Over a hundred have died in just two days! Our great Demon Cult members can’t even handle a few orthodox sect hypocrites, and this is the result!”
The total force from the Demon Cult was about five hundred.
Nearly eighty had perished on the first day, caught in Ou-yang Pae’s trap during the initial engagement.
Yet, over the past two days, they had suffered even greater losses than in the first battle, largely due to the damn hypocrites from the orthodox sects, including the Shaolin Dragon.
But aside from the damage, there was an issue with his words.
Yan Huan, who intervened, was a Daoist elder and an uncle to Gouyang Cheon, the son of a Daoist woman. In terms of rank within the Demon Cult, Yan Huan, as an elder, held a higher position than Gouyang Cheon, who was not yet the sect leader.
Witnessing Ilgongja’s reckless behavior, Igongja sneered.
“If you are so aggrieved, instead of resting here, why not go out and patrol with the cult members, brother?”
Gouyang Cheon, whose eyes were burning with anger, glared at his half-brother with fiery eyes.
“Aren’t you just resting here as well?”
He was right.
Both Young Masters and the elders were waiting here to finish off the renegades once the cult members formed an encirclement.
They believed that as the top fighters of the group, they should act accordingly.
The difference between Ilgongja and Igongja was that Igongja at least tried to think of solutions when things went wrong, rather than just blaming others and getting angry.
“Unlike you, brother, I organized this meeting to find solutions instead of just blaming others and getting angry.”
“Do you really want to die here today?”
Unable to contain his rage, Gouyang Cheon started to rise, but the elders intervened.
“Ilgongja, you must calm yourself.”
“If you move any further, we will not stand by.”
The Daoist elders and the Hwan Clan elders faced off, creating a tense atmosphere. Igongja chuckled.
“There’s no need to worry about this, as we’re used to it. Instead, how about discussing our future plans?”
The Daoist elders sighed deeply inside, seeing the composed Igongja contrasted sharply with the Ilgongja they supported.
Despite the Demon Cult’s law of survival of the fittest and Ilgongja’s superior martial arts skills, seeing him act this way made them question if they were on the right path.