Chapter 1591
Even the Buddha has abandoned you. (1)
“A… Mi…”
An incomplete chant fades away in his mouth.
The fingertips tremble uncontrollably. Only now does Beop Jong fully realize what is happening.
“How… how could this happen?”
But even realizing it didn’t mean he could do anything about it. All he could do was tremble, bitterly feeling the irreversibility of his situation.
How did he know?
Zhuge family and Moyong family were his secret trump cards. How much effort had he put in to ensure it seemed like they couldn’t arrive on this battlefield?
It was a gap that Beop Jong had deliberately left open. Jang Ilso had undoubtedly tried to exploit that gap.
But Jang Ilso’s fangs, sunken in that deliberately made gap, had pierced all the way into his entrails.
“How!”
Beop Jong screamed desperately. Jang Ilso shook his head slightly.
“No, that’s not it. The real question should be mine.”
Then, looking at the pale Beop Jong, he smiled faintly.
“What made you so confident?”
“…”
“What made you believe I wouldn’t know, that you could deceive someone like me, that you were above me? What gave you such confidence?”
Beop Jong’s eyes wavered.
The clear ridicule on Jang Ilso’s face made Beop Jong realize his mistake.
For those watching the match from the outside, everything was as clear as day.
That’s why, while countless others were toyed with by Jang Ilso, Beop Jong, who had stepped away from that flow, gained confidence instead. He thought those who fell for such obvious tricks were foolish. He believed he would never fall for Jang Ilso’s schemes.
Yet here was Jang Ilso, asking him directly. What gave him the confidence to hold such certainty? How could someone who had never walked with their feet stuck in the mud believe they could move freely even in a swamp?
“I, I…”
Beop Jong believed he had endured and bided his time, waiting for the right moment. He called all those times of waiting patience. But now, all that time was pushing him into a hellish swamp.
Minor defeats usually come from insufficient skill. But a monumental defeat, one that is remembered for ages, starts from groundless confidence. Not knowing that fact – or rather, knowing it but believing he was different – was Beop Jong’s mistake.
“Do you want to know why you lost?”
“This, this…”
“It’s because you were scared.”
Jang Ilso’s piercing eyes stared at Beop Jong as if to see through him, dissecting his innermost thoughts.
In this moment, Jang Ilso’s eyes appeared far more like those of a venerable monk than Beop Jong’s ever had.
“You might have thought you were being brave, but no… you were merely groaning under a huge shadow. The moment you thought you could escape that shadow, you recklessly embraced what you called certainty. Without even realizing that it was actually an escape.”
“What nonsense are you spouting! I…”
“You know it.”
Jang Ilso spoke as if he were reprimanding a child. Amid the ear-piercing screams and the deaths of countless people, a chilling silence settled between the two of them in the flickering space that felt like it was engulfed by a gigantic hellfire.
“You know it, don’t you?”
Beop Jong’s hand trembled slightly. He couldn’t deny it. The moment Jang Ilso spoke, the image of a certain person vividly came to his mind.
“Think about it. Why do you think I lured him so far away?”
Beop Jong’s body froze.
“Out of fear? To take over Cheonumaeng while he was away?”
Jang Ilso’s eyes curved into a gentle arc.
“Could it be for such a trivial reason? No, it wasn’t.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Beop Jong angrily thrust his fist, unleashing a formidable force.
It was as if he wanted to silence Jang Ilso before he could utter those words. However, the hasty attack couldn’t topple Jang Ilso. The fierce energy was deflected and merely gouged the ground.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted, and Beop Jong charged forward, gritting his teeth. It’s not over yet. This isn’t the end.
If he could just kill Jang Ilso, if he could just bring down that demon-like man, he could reverse all of this. He wasn’t defeated yet, nor was he cornered!
“Paeguuuuuuuuuun!”
The power, like a torrential downpour, fell upon Jang Ilso. Yet, he faced the attack with a relaxed composure, not showing any urgency. He finally spat out the words Beop Jong didn’t want to hear.
“It was so that you would come.”
“Shut up!”
“You couldn’t possibly miss this opportunity, right? The only way to escape the shadow cast over you, to avoid being compared to him, was this.”
“Shut up!”
Boom!
The explosive force pushed Jang Ilso back, further and further. But a sense of unease began to creep into Beop Jong’s eyes.
Shaolin’s fist techniques were originally designed to subdue, not kill. Never had this fact felt so frustrating.
He needed to be stronger. Faster. More!
More!
Not to subdue, but to kill that demon. To cut off his breath. To stop that wicked tongue from wagging any longer!
“In fact, you always knew best, didn’t you? That you are just a pathetic human being. That’s why…”
Jang Ilso’s face twisted into a sinister smile.
“…you are standing here right now.”
“Ahhhh!”
An explosive force erupted from Beop Jong.
But it was neither grand nor heavy like before. It was fast and strong, yet deviated from the fundamentals of Shaolin.
Ultimately, the killing intent-laden fist, aimed solely at killing the opponent, enveloped Jang Ilso.
“Hahaha!”
Jang Ilso laughed heartily as he met Beop Jong’s fist head-on. The unrestrained energy and rising murderous intent clashed violently.
Even amidst this, the scene of the battlefield entered Beop Jong’s eyes. He didn’t want to see it, but he couldn’t help it. The disciples of Gupailbang were being thoroughly ravaged, torn apart by the frenzied attacks of Sapaeryeon.
Beop Jong never imagined that Gupailbang, especially under his leadership, would face such devastation. It was even more horrendous than the stories he had heard. And it was a catastrophe wrought by his own hands.
As his heart wavered, so did the hand that extended his fist. The inner strength, which should have flowed like water, broke off and deviated from its path.
Something inside Beop Jong was collapsing. He wanted to turn his head, cover his ears, close his eyes, and deny it all. But there was no escape from this scene. The harsh reality, born from his overconfidence and shortcomings, was destroying everything he had built.
The face of the old monk twisted into that of a demon. The image of the Buddha he believed in and followed was nowhere to be found. The yellow robe that once gave him an air of dignity, the shaved head that signified purity, could no longer hide the murderous intent boiling within him.
“Jaaaang Ilsoooooooo!”
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
Even as the fists rained down, Jang Ilso kept laughing. He couldn’t contain his joy.
This is all he was. A man who wrapped himself in a facade of nobility, yet inside, teemed with unquenchable desires.
In the end, war is something conducted by humans.
People often mistakenly believe that reading an opponent’s moves requires being superior to them. In reality, if you understand your opponent’s heart and the desires within, their subsequent actions become clear.
The trap Jang Ilso had set was not something like the Southern Sea Sun Palace. Leading Hwasan Geomhyeop to Anhui itself was the trap. It was meaningless to anyone else, but to Beop Jong, it was a deadly trap.
Jang Ilso saw it all. The inferiority complex that filled Beop Jong, the pressure to achieve greater feats than Hwasan Geomhyeop, and the greed that Shaolin should monopolize all the glory. All of this had led everyone to this point.
“Shut up! I said shut up!”
So, Jang Ilso couldn’t help but laugh. How amusing and pitiful it was that this supposedly noble monk was, in truth, the most desire-driven person in the world. Truly ugly and ridiculous!
“Hahahahahaha!”
It was so funny that it brought tears to his eyes.
Beop Jong’s fists began to emanate an even darker murderous intent. Amidst the storm-like power, his face twisted with malice stood out.
Jang Ilso suddenly felt curious. Did Beop Jong realize? Did he know what his face looked like right now? What expression would he make when he discovered that the demon he so desperately wanted to kill was none other than himself?
“Paeguuuuuun!”
Beop Jong’s eyes were blood-red, like those of a Mara [마라(魔羅)], as he repeatedly struck at Jang Ilso’s head with his fists.
The punches lacked form, intent, and even technique – wild, uncontrolled blows driven solely by the desire to kill. They were not even proper punches, just frenzied swings.
His fist narrowly missed Jang Ilso’s head, landing instead on his shoulder repeatedly. Despite the pain that should have shattered his shoulder, Jang Ilso’s laughter never ceased. That laughter drove Beop Jong further into madness.
“Shut up! Shut that mouth before I tear it apart…”
Just as Beop Jong, who should have been an example of a Buddhist monk, uttered these unimaginable words, it happened.
Puhwoosh!
A fountain of crimson blood gushed from Beop Jong’s mouth.
“Cough, cough…”
His fist stopped abruptly in mid-air.
‘What…’
An ambush? Poisoning? No, it wasn’t that.
Beop Jong’s gaze slowly dropped. Blood, having reversed its flow, spilled from his mouth, soaking the front of his robe. The color of the blood was dark, but it was a clear color, not muddied by poison.
This was a sign of severe internal injury.
‘In… Inner demons…’
“Mm?”
Jang Ilso, seeing Beop Jong frozen in place, smiled knowingly. It was a sinister smile.
“Oh dear, oh dear. Inner demons, you say…”
Step.
Jang Ilso took a step toward Beop Jong.
“How pathetic.”
“Cough! Cough! You… you…”
Beop Jong tried to speak, but he could only manage coughs and spurts of blood, unable to voice any objections.
At that moment, Jang Ilso asked in a soft voice,
“Do you understand what this means?”
Beop Jong slowly lifted his head. Jang Ilso continued.
“Even the Buddha has abandoned you.”
The words struck Beop Jong’s ears like thunder.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Shaolin martial arts could never coexist with murderous intent. Everything Beop Jong had done moments ago went against the core principles of Shaolin martial arts. Engulfed in murderous rage, it was inevitable that he would suffer from inner demons [입마(入魔) – or also 주화입마(走火入魔)].
The statement that Buddha had abandoned him was not entirely false.
“If your Buddha truly does not permit evil, then it seems he wishes to destroy not me, but you. Seeing as he doesn’t even allow you the briefest moment to kill me.”
“Cough!”
Beop Jong put his hand over his mouth.
Yet the backflow of blood showed no signs of stopping. Every attempt to draw upon his energy resulted in his inner strength breaking into fragments, and the pain in his dantian felt like it was being torn apart.
‘I…’
Succumbing to inner demons. In Buddhism, it signifies that a practitioner has strayed from the path of the Buddha.
For Beop Jong, the cause of his current state was more shocking than the fact that he had succumbed to inner demons at this critical moment.
“A…mi…”
His lips could not utter even a single syllable of the Buddhist chant. The continuous flow of blood and his crumbling body betrayed his every intention.
In indescribable agony, Beop Jong could only watch as Jang Ilso approached, his blue aura surging around him.
Ironically, that aura looked almost like the halo from a Buddhist painting.
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