Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 207 - Karma (3)
Chapter 207 – Karma (3)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk and Demon-Subduing Fist Warrior, had borne the dharma name Gate of Virtue during his days in the Buddhist school of Shaolin Temple, after being taken in by the current head of the Scripture Pavilion, Great Master Gongjeon, when the latter was one of the Ten Precept Monks.
Great Master Gongjeon, who took in Ja Geum-jeong after his parents died from the continuing famine and attacks by bandits, was a master of martial arts counted among the five greatest in Shaolin.
Among the children taken in by Shaolin, he thought highly of Ja Geum-jeong’s martial talent, accepted him as a direct disciple, and personally taught him martial arts.
Living up to those expectations, Ja Geum-jeong, in no more than ten years, earned recognition for such outstanding martial prowess that he was even spoken of as a future member of the Ten Precept Monks.
Yet despite such recognition and despite Great Master Gongjeon’s repeated recommendations, Ja Geum-jeong was excluded every single time from the list of candidates for the Ten Precept Monks.
Thinking this unfair, Great Master Gongjeon raised the issue as a point of debate during a grand assembly.
[Amitabha. I wish to ask the abbot and the assembled elders. Why is it that Gate of Virtue is left off the candidates every time you select the Ten Precept Monks?]
The one who answered Great Master Gongjeon’s challenge was Great Master Daedeok, head of the Discipline Hall.
[Amitabha. Surely the head of the Scripture Pavilion also knows that outstanding martial prowess alone is not enough to rise to the Ten Precept Monks.]
[Of course. However, in the judgment of this humble monk who taught the child directly, there is no child gentler of heart than he.]
At those words, Great Master Daedeok, the head of the Discipline Hall, let out a sigh and opened his mouth.
[Head of the Scripture Pavilion.]
[Amitabha. Speak.]
[There is a difference between being upright in character and being soft-hearted.]
[…….Head of the Discipline Hall. You know better than anyone that there were pitiable reasons whenever that child, Gate of Virtue, was summoned before the Discipline Hall.]
[That is precisely why he is all the more unsuitable to become one of the Ten Precept Monks who would represent Shaolin.]
[How can you say such a thing?]
[Do you truly wish this humble monk to mention it directly?]
At those words, Great Master Gongjeon realized in a flash that he had made a mistake.
He had only wanted to give his disciple Ja Geum-jeong a chance.
But because of this, a fact known only to the abbot senior brother, the head of the Discipline Hall, and himself within Shaolin was exposed.
[That the Spirit Gate opened and he sees things a living man should not see may be understood as the karma laid upon that child by the Buddha. Yet Gate of Virtue does not endure that trial through training in the Buddhist path, but by bearing it with the liquor placed upon the shrine altar.]
-Murmur murmur!
At the words of the head of the Discipline Hall, the high monks murmured in agitation.
Great Master Gongjeon tried to smooth things over.
[Head of the Discipline Hall, but that…]
[Yes. The world that child Gate of Virtue sees is different from the world of ordinary people. He lives within a world where the dead departed are visible. How could that not be agonizing?]
[And knowing that, how can you…]
[That is why it cannot be. He must overcome pain and suffering for his entire life, and yet already many times he has failed to endure it, sought drink, lost control of himself, and been confined to the wall-facing cave. How can such a one be given the seat of the Ten Precept Monks, who must serve as an example above all other monks? There must be no further discussion of this matter.]
At those words of the head of the Discipline Hall, every monk in the assembly nodded.
Seeing them like that, Great Master Gongjeon bowed his head with palms joined, his face full of sorrow.
He wanted to give that child a chance.
Yet while they all said they understood, they looked upon the child’s pain with the wrong eyes and only thought he should overcome it through the Buddhist path.
‘Amitabha.’
But Great Master Gongjeon thought differently.
How could one overcome everything merely by cultivating the Buddhist path?
In his eyes, it was little different from telling a cripple whose leg had been severed that if he refined the Buddhist path, he might one day walk.
‘All of them see only one side of that child.’
Great Master Gongjeon felt sincere sorrow.
Because Gate of Virtue saw what others could not, he was able to awaken even what Shaolin had lost.
Yet everyone focused not on his merit but on his fault.
Such was the Buddhist path.
Even as time passed, that would remain unchanged.
‘For the child’s sake as well, it may be right to let him go.’
* * *
-Papapapapapapapapapang!
Countless stray spirits burst and vanished in an instant.
“Ha!”
At this sight, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, opened his mouth wide, unable to hide his astonishment.
After leaving Shaolin, he had lived steeped in drink to forget even a little of the pain of seeing.
As he sank into drinking, he naturally lost control of himself, and as a result committed countless eccentric acts and earned the name of madman.
The one who pulled him out of that mire was the occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae.
[You have lived a truly miserable life.]
For the first time, Yi Mun-hae understood these cursed eyes of his, and with talisman arts drove away the stray spirits so that for the first time he could sleep peacefully without liquor.
Through that connection, he had followed the occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae and lived at his side.
Yet he could only click his tongue at what he was seeing now.
‘What kind of bastard is this?’
The occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae had once said this while drinking with him.
[If your skill is so good, why do you keep watching your sect’s face?]
[Yes. If an occult practitioner is as skilled as you, shouldn’t you receive far better treatment wherever you go?]
[Heh heh heh. Hearing you say that does lift my spirits, Brother Ja. But if a mere tomb-tender like me goes around calling himself the best, the occult practitioners of the world would only laugh.]
[Hmph. Listen to you feigning humility.]
Back then, he had thought that no matter how skilled an occult practitioner was, it could not amount to much.
He had thought they were all the same.
But once he saw Mok Gyeong-un’s occult skill, killing countless stray spirits simply by forming hand seals without even using talismans, he was left dumbfounded.
The man’s skill was so overwhelming that Yi Mun-hae could not possibly compare.
‘What in the world is this bastard?’
Judging by the aura one could feel from him outwardly, he was clearly a martial artist.
Then how had he mastered occult arts to such a level as well?
While he was thinking that,
“Haa… haa…”
“Miss? Have you come back to yourself?”
Wu Hyang, the manor owner’s daughter who had been suffering under the stray spirits, regained consciousness.
She looked around in bewilderment.
‘How did this happen?’
Ever since her father became like that, every single day had been so painful that even breathing felt difficult.
But now it was not like that at all.
It felt as though her whole body had grown light again, as though she had returned to how she once was.
“Miss, your complexion…”
“My body feels easier. How did this happen?”
At that question, the stout man supporting her hesitated, then gestured with his chin toward Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, and Mok Gyeong-un, and said,
“It seems those guests did something.”
“Those gentlemen?”
“Yes.”
He could not say exactly what they had done.
But after Mok Gyeong-un had done something, the body that had felt so heavy suddenly became much lighter.
Even the strange phenomenon that had occasionally sent chills crawling down her spine had disappeared.
At that moment, Wu Hyang refused the support of the guard who held her up and bowed with both hands clasped toward them.
“Thank you. Thanks to you two great heroes, my body feels much lighter.”
At her thanks, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, snorted and said,
“This bald monk did nothing. If you are going to thank anyone, thank that gigolo-faced…”
-Thud!
“Ungh!”
Before he could finish speaking, pain struck him, and Ja Geum-jeong clutched his nose.
-Drip.
‘!?’
At the warm wetness he felt in his palm, Ja Geum-jeong’s eyes widened.
Blood was running from his nose.
Although the fierce rain instantly washed away the blood wetting his palm, that was not what mattered.
‘What was that?’
He had not even seen it.
Only after it touched him did he know from the pain.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,
“If you do not know my name, you may call me young master. That phrase, gigolo-faced, is not much to my taste.”
“You… what exactly are you?”
-Pak!
Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, removed his hand from his nose and took up the stance of a fist art.
Until now, he had thought the other man’s martial skill was only that of a mature peak expert at most, whatever his occult arts might be.
Yet just now he had not sensed even the strike that touched his nose.
That was enough to arouse his competitive spirit.
However,
-Pat!
Seop Chun stepped between them, gripped the hilt of Gwangmu, and said,
“Demon-Subduing Fist Warrior. Do not show disrespect to my lord.”
Of course, he was not the only one.
Mong Mu-yak also came up beside Seop Chun and half-drew his sword.
-Srrrng!
Seeing them, Ja Geum-jeong furrowed his brows.
From the moment he saw them, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, had realized that these two were masters of transcendent peak.
Yet young men with this level of martial talent were serving that gigolo-faced bastard as subordinates.
Because of that, he grew even more curious about the fellow’s identity.
-Gooooooo!
Aura gathered into Ja Geum-jeong’s two fists.
Then a blue light shimmered around his fists and fist astral energy took shape.
At that, a glint appeared in Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak’s eyes.
‘Fist astral energy?’
‘His aura circulation is fast.’
They had known he was no ordinary expert, but they had not expected him to circulate his aura so quickly and form fist astral energy.
Unlike their astonishment, Mok Gyeong-un was focusing on something else.
Once again, Ja Geum-jeong was forming astral energy by drawing in the surrounding aura.
‘How strange.’
He was clearly seeing it with his own eyes, and yet it was hard to understand the principle.
The way aura moved through acupoints within the body was close to a principle of circulation and thus comprehensible, but this was like the Society Leader’s sword-riding technique and lay beyond the realm of ordinary understanding.
It seemed to be a method one could not easily steal unless accompanied by insight.
That only made him more interested.
“Both of you, fall back.”
Mok Gyeong-un gave the order to Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak.
“But my lord…”
“It is fine, so step back.”
At that, Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak withdrew to left and right at the same time.
Yet Ja Geum-jeong still did not release his stance, looking ready to throw a punch at any moment.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“That fist-art stance you are using now, is it a Shaolin martial art?”
“Hmph. I was expelled from the sect. By what shamelessness would I use Shaolin’s fist arts? This is Demon-Subduing Attack Fist, created by this bald monk himself.”
At those words, Seop Chun snorted.
He spoke as though it was not a Shaolin fist art, but no matter how one looked at it, it resembled Shaolin Demon-Subduing Fist.
Derived from Hundred Step Divine Fist, one of the five branch fist arts, Shaolin Demon-Subduing Fist was a high-level martial art famous for fist forms that were both fierce and fluid.
Mok Gyeong-un, who knew none of that, cared not at all which was the original.
He only wanted to understand Ja Geum-jeong’s method of internal power operation.
‘Was it called the Supreme Great Ability?’
The Supreme Great Ability.
That legendary cultivation method Bodhidharma was said to have created as his final enlightenment before ascending.
If one could command the surrounding aura without having to gather internal power into the body, nothing could be more efficient.
That was why he wanted even more to grasp its principle.
So Mok Gyeong-un provoked him.
“The murim says one yields three moves to an inferior opponent, does it not? Come at me.”
“What?”
Ja Geum-jeong scowled fiercely.
From that one strike earlier, he knew the boy was no ordinary opponent, but he himself had been one of the Three Mad Ones and had long spread ill repute across the murim.
For such a youngster to provoke him by saying he would yield three moves naturally stirred his anger.
“Fine. If you are that confident, let us see…”
It was at that very moment.
-Boom!
Before Ja Geum-jeong could finish speaking, a tremendous crash erupted from inside the main hall.
At once, everyone’s gaze turned there.
Wondering what had happened, they saw that a wall of the main hall had been smashed open, and in the gap staggered a man in a gray daoist robe marked with the yin-yang diagram.
At the sight, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, shouted in alarm,
“Yi Mun-hae!”
He immediately tried to hurl himself toward the man.
-Pak!
But Mok Gyeong-un blocked him and shook his head.
That was only natural, because
-Bulge bulge!
the condition of the man called Yi Mun-hae, wearing the robe of an occult practitioner, was anything but normal.
Black veins were standing out all over his face, and both his eyes had rolled back so that only the whites showed, in the form of white eyes.
“Kekekekekek!”
The man laughed grotesquely toward them.
Both his appearance and the sound of his laughter were enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Thinking his condition ominous, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, shouted harshly,
“Move!”
Mok Gyeong-un snorted and said,
“If I move, what can you do?”
-Crunch!
“Then are you saying I should simply stand here and watch?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
-Pat!
No sooner had the counterquestion ended than Mok Gyeong-un’s figure blurred, and in an instant he stood before the one called Yi Mun-hae, now clearly in a possessed state.
-Flinch!
Yi Mun-hae, who had been laughing grotesquely, started in fright at Mok Gyeong-un’s sudden appearance and tried to slash at his throat with sharpened nails.
However,
-Pak! Crack!
Mok Gyeong-un seized the wrist and twisted the arm in a single movement.
He twisted it so savagely that the bone burst out through the elbow.
Ordinarily, pain that severe should have drawn a scream, but Yi Mun-hae only laughed harder.
“Kekekekekek! Do you think this body would feel pain from something like this?”
“No. I suppose not.”
“You seem to be an occult practitioner too, but this body’s already bec…”
-Smack!
Before the words finished, Mok Gyeong-un slapped Yi Mun-hae across the face.
Yi Mun-hae’s head snapped to the side, and his eyes widened.
He had felt no pain at all even when the arm was broken, yet from that slap just now, his face burned as if it were on fire.
“It seems this hurts.”
The being that had taken over Yi Mun-hae’s body turned its head in surprise.
“You… just what?”
-Wham! Crack!
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un kicked Yi Mun-hae in the shin.
With the shin broken, one of Yi Mun-hae’s knees was forced to the ground.
-Thud!
Mok Gyeong-un slapped the opposite cheek.
-Smack!
“Hnghk!”
A scream burst from Yi Mun-hae’s mouth at the burning pain.
Only then did the being occupying Yi Mun-hae’s body realize that something was terribly wrong.
This bastard could directly inflict pain on it.
So,
‘I have to get out.’
The being tried to leave Yi Mun-hae’s body.
However,
-Grip!
Mok Gyeong-un seized the shoulder.
-Pak! Pak! Pak!
Combat. Split. Display.
He formed simplified hand seals.
Then the being trying to escape from Yi Mun-hae found itself trapped inside the body as though in a prison and could not get out.
The being cried out in panic,
“You… what are you doing…”
-Smack!
“Agh!”
Before it could finish, its cheek snapped to the side.
The being in control of Yi Mun-hae’s body turned its head in bafflement at the sheer pain.
And then, in Yi Mun-hae’s white eyes, Mok Gyeong-un’s face came into view.
-Flinch!
‘He is… smiling?’
That was not the sort of expression one wore when trying to save the body’s owner from something like it.
Rather, the smile was filled to the brim with malice.
Without realizing it, the being swallowed dryly.