Chapter 1599
I can’t even laugh. (4)
“Sahyeong!”
Hye Bang’s face hardened as he came down from repentance hall and looked down the mountain.
‘All the way here…!’
“The enemies are climbing Mount Song!”
Instinctively taking a defensive stance, Hye Bang chanted out of habit.
Even from the aura emanating from below the mountain, he could tell. The ones climbing were not ordinary foes.
The sheer killing intent, not hidden and brazenly exuded, felt as though it could cut through skin.
These individuals were very different from the rouges rampaging in Henan. This made their objective unmistakably clear.
“Sahyeong, what should we…?”
Shaolin was not a place suited for defense. It was open on all sides to accommodate numerous pilgrims and visitors, with not even a single defense formation installed.
This openness was, in fact, a point of pride. No one in the world would dare to target Shaolin.
But now, that pride was tightening around Shaolin’s neck like a noose.
“Sahyeong!”
“Amitabha.”
Hye Bang’s decisive chant calmed his fellow monk.
“I don’t know what the right course of action is either.”
“…What?”
“But it’s not hard to know what needs to be done.”
With a resolute face, Hye Bang spoke.
“Find all the pilgrims who might still be within the temple grounds and evacuate them. The innocent novices and scholar monks as well.”
“S-Sahyeong!”
Shaolin is a temple. Although it has gained fame throughout the world for its martial arts, not everyone in Shaolin has mastered martial arts. There were still many novice monks who had yet to learn martial arts, and many who devoted themselves solely to Buddhist teachings.
However, to evacuate them now…
“Do you really think we cannot handle them?”
“They are likely here on orders from Sapaeryeon,”
Hye Bang replied calmly, as he had already considered the matter.
“Do you think they stopped by just to offer prayers? If they weren’t confident in destroying Shaolin, they wouldn’t have come in the first place.”
“That’s… true.”
Indeed, if that Paegun, Jang Ilso, was involved, he would have sent people capable of erasing Shaolin from the start.
To make matters worse, the current strength of Shaolin left behind here is less than half of its full power. Considering the absence of elders and those who have gone out to defeat the rampant Evil Sect in Henan, the remaining force would barely be thirty percent of its total strength.
Even Shaolin would attract numerous sects willing to challenge them if they knew it only had thirty percent of its strength left.
“Ask the scholarly monks to take the scriptures from the Sutra Pavilion and carry them outside Shaolin!”
“The, the scriptures? But what about the secret manuals…”
Hye Bang looked quietly at his disciple. His gaze was calm.
“Are the secret manuals more important than the scriptures?”
His Saje, who had been silent for a moment, shook his head.
“No, Sahyeong. Compared to the teachings of Buddha, they are insignificant.”
“Good. Then proceed quickly.”
“Yes!”
As the monk moved away swiftly using his lightness technique, Hye Bang muttered a small prayer.
‘Oh, Tathagata…’
He had simply wanted to follow the path of Buddhism. He sought to escape from those who had become self-righteous and the Abbot who no longer upheld the true duties of a Buddhist, in search of the elusive ‘true way’.
But the world would not leave him be.
“Amitabha.”
Hye Bang considered this to be a natural course of events.
‘It is not the duty of a Buddhist to hide in this place.’
Many people were suffering. Buddhism, at its core, was about finding oneself through hardship. ‘Self’ could not be encountered through meditation alone. Just as Buddha watched over them, they too had to care for those who were in distress.
The chilling murderous intent rising from the foot of the mountain was a punishment from the Tathagata for those who confined themselves to this small temple under the pretext of repentance and respect.
To one who genuinely sought the true Dharma, the authority of the Abbot and the name of Shaolin were insignificant. Unjustified patience was merely a form of avoidance.
“Amitabha.”
If this was truly the fate of Shaolin, if it was the consequence of their deeds, they had to accept it humbly.
“You are a bit late.”
Enlightenment always comes late. However, knowing even belatedly is enough.
Hye Bang’s feet moved slowly.
A short while later, the assembled warrior monks watched the north gate with tense faces.
A dense, piercing murderous intent was approaching. Simultaneously, a thick scent of blood pricked their noses.
How many murders must one have committed to emit such a stench of blood?
“Amitabha…”
The sound of Buddhist chants to calm their minds flowed from various directions.
Bang!
At last, the firmly locked mountain gate burst open, and a multitude of warriors stormed through the broken gate or leaped over the walls into Shaolin.
Covered head to toe in dark red cloth, these warriors seemed more like a group of madmen rather than martial artists, with a bizarre aura and an unsettling atmosphere. Above all, the murderous intent they exuded was so intense it sent chills down the spine.
They were not easy opponents. In fact, those present might not be able to fend them off. Such was the extent of their fearsome presence.
Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of despair, Hye Bang unconsciously uttered a Buddhist chant.
“Amitabha.”
The gap could not be bridged simply by effort.
‘It was wise to evacuate the novice monks in advance.’
At least, innocent lives would be spared. Those who remained now were those who had to bear the burden of their sins.
But the weight of the punishment they had to endure was far too heavy for their crimes.
“Who might the guests visiting Shaolin be?”
At his voice, a few eyes turned towards Hye Bang. But among the many, it was only a few.
Their response was strangely inhuman.
“Shaolin is not receiving guests at this time, so please leave.”
Their reaction was dry, their faces pale, their expressions emotionless.
‘They look like corpses.’
Though they were certainly not jiangshi, they were disturbingly strange enough to make cold sweat run down Hye Bang’s neck.
“Sahyeong…”
At the groaning voice of someone unable to hold back, Hye Bang sighed.
Knowing it was useless, but without the Abbot, they had to uphold the dignity of Shaolin to the end.
But before Hye Bang could speak again, someone else did.
“Buddha’s will shines everywhere.”
The chilling voice sounded like rusty metal scraping on glass. Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to the speaker.
A man wrapped in red bandages, was staring directly at Hye Bang.
“If Shaolin is drenched in blood, everyone will know that your words are just nonsense.”
At his muttering, Hye Bang unconsciously clenched his fists. The strange aura emanating from the man made him instinctively shrink back.
“Amitabha.”
Hye Bang, desperately trying to steady his trembling voice, spoke to the strange man.
“I have heard that there are those Evil Sects in the distant Western Regions who follow a religion different from that of the Central Plains.”
“Heh.”
The strange man let out a low chuckle at those words.
“Monks sure have a knack for twisting their words. Using a term like ‘evil cult [사교(邪敎)]’ so lightly.”
“…Amitabha.”
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever you call us, the fate of Shaolin won’t change today. You will follow in the footsteps of the senior monks who went before you.”
At that moment, Hye Bang flinched.
“Gone… before?”
“Of course. What do you think allows us to be here?”
Unconsciously, Hye Bang bit his lip.
It must be a lie. News from such a distant place couldn’t have reached them first.
But even within that lie, there was truth. If they were sent by Sapaeryeon, they wouldn’t have chosen to target Shaolin without absolute certainty.
‘Abbot…’
Hye Bang’s fingertips began to tremble. This wasn’t fear of death. It was regret.
‘How could it come to this in the end…’
Hye Bang let out a short sigh, almost as if lamenting. Then, the strange man spoke.
“Indeed… you seem to have a bit more sense compared to that foolish Abbot.”
The strange man, the Blood Cult Leader, slowly walked forward.
“But if the result is the same, it makes no difference.”
“Even so, Shaolin will not back down.”
“Of course you shouldn’t.”
The Blood Cult Leader gestured forward with his chin. Immediately, the blood cultists who had been standing like corpses unleashed a burst of murderous intent.
The overwhelming scent of blood and intense killing intent swept through in an instant.
Hye Bang’s face darkened with despair.
“Die. Today, the name Shaolin will vanish from the world.”
The jiangshi-like blood cultists charged towards Shaolin monks, making bizarre and eerie noises.
❀ ❀ ❀
“…Shaolin?”
“Yes.”
Hyun Jong’s eyes trembled.
Hye Yeon grasped his right wrist tightly, his face as if his soul was about to leave.
“Are you saying Sapaeryeon is targeting Shaolin?”
Chung Myung gritted his teeth and nodded.
“That’s how he operates. They’ll go for the weakest point.”
Shaolin. There is no stronger name in Gangho.
But isn’t everything in the world relative? Trusting in their strength and sending their main forces to the battlefield, leaving only a few behind at Shaolin, would make it an irresistible prey for Jang Ilso.
There is no reason Jang Ilso wouldn’t target that weakness.
“Then Shaolin is…?”
“D-Doja…!”
Hye Yeon’s shout sounded more like a scream. But Chung Myung shook his head.
“No.”
“…What?”
He then glared into the distance with sharp eyes.
“We can read the enemy just as well.”
❀ ❀ ❀
Kwoooom!
A streak of light shot downward.
“Wait!”
The blood cultists, who had been charging with fierce momentum, suddenly halted as if frozen in place.
The Blood Cult Leader’s gaze also shifted to the spot where something had struck.
It was a sword. Ordinary, without any special features. However, the Blood Cult Leader’s keen eyes quickly caught a small emblem engraved on its hilt.
His gaze then moved to the rear pavilion, specifically to its roof.
From the roof, a man descended powerfully like a bird of prey.
Thud!
The white martial robe, which had billowed like wings, slowly settled.
Hye Bang’s eyes widened, and he unknowingly shouted the name of the figure standing before him.
“Baek Cheon Dojang!”
Thud.
Grabbing the sword that had been planted in the ground, Baek Cheon spoke without even glancing at Hye Bang.
“I’ve come to repay a debt… No.”
He then looked back slightly and smiled.
“I’ve come to save a friend, Monk.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a group of martial artists leapt out from behind the pavilion.
“Yaaahhhh!”
“…Don’t waste your energy too soon, you idiot.”
Jo Geol and Yoon Jong arrived, leading the disciples of Hwasan and Namgung.
Hye Bang’s legs gave out from the overwhelming sense of relief.
“Just in time, damn it! What do you think you’re doing, you bastards!”
“…You’re the one causing trouble, Geol.”
Seeing the usual demeanor of the disciples, Baek Cheon chuckled briefly before turning serious as he looked at the Blood Cult Leader.
“You intend to erase the name of Shaolin?”
“…”
“I owe nothing to Shaolin, but I owe its people. Come on. I’ll take you on first.”
The tip of Baek Cheon’s sword pointed directly at the Blood Cult Leader’s throat.
“…That’s a different story.”
Even through the bandages wrapped around his face, the Blood Cult Leader’s displeasure was evident as his expression twisted in dissatisfaction.
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