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C53. I Am a Great Peng
Shim Yanggak, the Immortal Sword Demon, reacted sensitively to the word "hell," feeling a twinge in his conscience.
"Hell?"
"Just as there is the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens, there is also hell. The technique you memorized was taught to me directly by the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens."
"Is that true?"
Shim Yanggak looked at Yeon Jeokha skeptically.
The Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens was a female immortal in legends. Learning directly from her was incredible. But since Yeon Jeokha said it, it was hard to completely deny it.
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. Just know that if you recover your internal energy with the three hundred characters, you should live thinking, 'Ah! Hell awaits me.'"
"Why?"
Shim Yanggak felt happy thinking about recovering his internal energy, but the mention of hell made him uneasy.
"I told you. If there are immortals, there is also hell. You wouldn't think you could kill anyone and get away with it, right? If you think losing your internal energy was a punishment..."
"..."
An uncomfortable smile appeared on Shim Yanggak's face.
He had never felt guilt in his life. From a young age, he had only seen and experienced stealing, hitting, and killing. If he hadn't fallen into internal deviation, he would never have known.
However, after being scorned even by someone like Hwang Yomyung, he began to feel something. Something like the bitterness of the weak being crushed defenselessly by the strong.
Although he didn't know if there really was a hell, as Yeon Jeokha said, he began to glimpse the difference between good and evil. It wasn't the same as the division between the righteous path and the path of evil.
"Brother Yeon."
"What?"
"That child who was locked up in a warehouse for ten years, was it you?"
Looking at Yeon Jeokha conveyed an unblemished purity. In him, there was warmth like the spring sun and ferocity like a summer storm.
Yeon Jeokha was someone distant from the disordered ambition of humans. It was as if he was observing pure, untouched nature.
"What are you saying? Do I look that weak?"
"Hehe..."
Shim Yanggak laughed softly.
Seeing Yeon Jeokha boast like young people his age was something new.
"Old Shim."
"Yes."
"Do you know what technique we are practicing?"
"The True Classic of the Nine Heavens as One, right?"
"Yes, at the end of the classic it says: 'When the golden flower blooms in the seated place, the fish will become a Great Peng [天花亂墜 鯤化爲鵬]'. Once, the Sage of Heaven and Earth told me about this transformation from fish to Peng. He said it is a rather painful process. Think about it. Fish and birds are very different in appearance."
"Ah!"
Shim Yanggak nodded with understanding.
He understood that pain better than anyone.
He might die before becoming a Great Peng.
"Old Shim, it won't take you ten years like it did for me."
"Yes..."
Finally, Shim Yanggak understood how Yeon Jeokha viewed those ten years of confinement.
"Looking back, it really felt like being underwater. Breathing was suffocating, it seemed like being alone in another world, and I couldn't see far."
"..."
"Old Shim, do you feel like that now?"
"Hehe, honestly, not that much."
"The Ten Heroes of Five Peaks Mountain learned one hundred characters, you learned three hundred. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
"The Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens taught a complete classic of nine hundred characters. One hundred characters give the power of one hundred, three hundred characters give the power of three hundred."
"I see."
"Old Shim, you will be at least three times stronger than the Ten Heroes of Five Peaks Mountain."
At that moment, Shim Yanggak felt a chill.
The Ten Heroes of Five Peaks Mountain would become experts with just one hundred characters.
But, to be three times stronger than them?
"Don't get too excited. You might die of old age before that."
"Oh! I don't think the heavens would have allowed me to learn three hundred characters if that were the case."
"Do you really think a demon like you believes in 'the will of heaven'?"
"Hehe, calling me a demon in my current state is too much."
"Damn it. Don't laugh like that. That's why they call you the Immortal Sword Demon."
Shim Yanggak, with an embarrassed expression, stroked his beard and asked.
"Brother Yeon, have you bloomed the golden flower?"
"Of course. I am a Great Peng."
"I respect you, brother."
Yeon Jeokha shivered.
It was strange to hear such words from an old man with white hair.
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Yeosu.
Bogwang Temple.
Bogwang Temple was bustling with the visit of Master Gong Baek and five Arhats from Shaolin. The abbot, Mugwang, and the main monks rushed out to greet them.
"Namu Amitabha. Master Gong Baek, what brings you here...?"
Mugwang didn't understand why Master Gong Baek had suddenly appeared. Bogwang Temple was an ordinary monastery with no connection to Murim. The monks didn't even do basic physical training, so why were Shaolin warrior monks here?
Master Gong Baek responded with a greeting gesture and said:
"I understand that Monk Yangwon is registered at Bogwang Temple."
"Ah, Monk Yangwon left ten days ago and hasn't returned yet."
Mugwang looked puzzled at the main monks, as he didn't know the relationship between Master Gong Baek and Monk Yangwon.
But the main monks also shook their heads, indicating they knew nothing.
"Monk Yangwon is my elder brother. Only Monk Jeong Myeong, with whom he shared a room, knew."
"Ah, I see."
"I received a letter from Monk Jeong Myeong a few days ago. He said that Monk Yangwon had disappeared."
"Disappeared? I thought he had only gone away for personal matters..."
Mugwang's face turned pale.
"If he had planned to be absent for so long, he would have informed Monk Jeong Myeong. Apparently, he went out begging as usual and didn't return."
Master Gong Baek saw no need to continue talking with Abbot Mugwang. He couldn't get more information from him.
"I want to speak with Monk Jeong Myeong, who shared a room with Monk Yangwon."
"Ah, yes. Monk Jeong Myeong should be in his quarters."
Mugwang quickly led Master Gong Baek to the quarters.
"Ah, you have arrived."
Monk Jeong Myeong, who was reading sutras in his quarters, didn't seem surprised to see Master Gong Baek.
"Thank you for informing me. Is it true that Monk Yangwon disappeared while begging?"
"Yes. He didn't mention going anywhere else."
"Do you know where Monk Yangwon usually begged?"
"He mainly roamed Maesan and Shangha. He liked the scenery of Maesan and the people of Shangha."
Master Gong Baek's eyes lit up with new hope.
Finally, he seemed to have found a clue.
Master Gong Baek quickly said goodbye to Jeong Myeong and headed with the five Arhats to Maesan.
However, they roamed the entire Maesan area all day without finding anything.
The next day, Master Gong Baek and his group moved to Shangha.
They spent the entire morning searching in Shangha, but no one remembered seeing the begging monk in the past ten days.
When Master Gong Baek was beginning to lose hope, an old beggar at the entrance of an alley beckoned them.
The old man looked around and then quickly whispered something unintelligible.
"He went to the Yeoha River."
"What did he say?"
"The Yeoha River."
The old man impatiently pointed towards the river and then picked up his begging mat and walked away.
Knowing they couldn't get more information from the old man, Master Gong Baek and the Arhats headed to the riverbank.
The reeds, just beginning to sprout, swayed gently in the spring breeze.
Although they arrived at the riverbank, they didn't know where to start searching.
There were no fishermen or even a single boat in sight.
Master Gong Baek and the Arhats scattered to search along the riverbank.
They spent two hours searching.
Arhat Mungok, who was exploring among the reeds, shouted:
"Master! There's something here!"
Master Gong Baek and the Arhats hurried to gather around Mungok.
A piece of cloth, buried shallowly, peeked out from the soil and reeds, dragged by rain and wind.
Master Gong Baek signaled to Mungok, who pulled the cloth with force.
With a dull sound, the cloth came out a bit from the soil.
It was part of a large sack.
The sack seemed to be stuck in something and didn't move further.
Mungok and the Arhats dug with their hands around the sack until they finally unearthed it.
Mungok untied the knot of the sack.
Surprisingly, what came out of the sack was a torso and a severed head.
Master Gong Baek carefully examined the head.
"Ah! Brother..."
The head, although in an advanced state of decomposition, was the missing monk Yangwon.
Master Gong Baek's robe fluttered violently in the wind.
After calming his anger, Master Gong Baek carefully examined Yangwon's torso.
"Hmm... Yoomyung Cult."
The body was as dry as a mummy.
This was a sign that it had been used as a sacrifice by the Yoomyung Cult.
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Luoyang.
Samhyangjuru Restaurant in Gong District.
Four men sat around a large round table, drinking. They were Lee Sechang, leader of the Baekse Chamber of Commerce, and his second-in-command, Lee Yeonbok, along with Cheon Taesang, leader of the Samjin Chamber of Commerce, and his second-in-command, Cheon Yaksoo.
On a decorated stage in front, a beautiful geisha played the pipa, trying to lift the mood, but the men's faces did not reflect joy.
Behind them, nine bodyguards watched with serious expressions. Four were warriors from Waryong Manor, and the other five were warriors from the Military Academy.
As the leaders' and their seconds' faces grew more serious, the tension among the bodyguards also increased.
Finally, one of them slammed the table and shouted.
It was Cheon Yaksoo, the second-in-command of the Samjin Chamber of Commerce.
"This is unacceptable! Do you intend to take over our Gongxian ceramics center for free?"
Gongxian is known for producing famous ceramics called Tang Sancai, a type of glazed pottery in green, white, and brown, which is a specialty of Luoyang.
Lee Yeonbok, the second-in-command of the Baekse Chamber of Commerce, laughed sarcastically.
"Ha! For free? Do you know how much money the Samjin Chamber of Commerce owes us? We asked for the management of the ceramics center in exchange for waiving the debt, is that for free?"
Cheon Yaksoo retorted furiously.
"Damn it! Do you intend to take control of Gongxian for a debt of only ten thousand taels of silver? We can pay that debt in three or four years by managing the center ourselves!"
From the perspective of the Samjin Chamber of Commerce, this was outright robbery.
The revenue from the Gongxian ceramics center exceeded three thousand taels a year. Taking control of the center for a debt of ten thousand taels was practically robbery.
"Wow! Do you call others thieves when you are the one who doesn't want to pay your debt?"
With Lee Yeonbok's insults, the situation quickly deteriorated, and it wouldn't be surprising if fists flew at any moment.
Cheon Taesang and Cheon Yaksoo of the Samjin Chamber of Commerce glared at Lee Yeonbok with fury. It was like the thief getting angry first, it was incredible.
The tension increased, and the possibility of a physical conflict seemed imminent.