Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 91 - Repent
Chapter 91 – Repent
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Ju-seong passed through the mountain gate and flew across Emei Sect’s grounds.
A bhikkhuni who recognized him approached and scolded him.
“Young Hero, how can you run so noisily within the mountain gate? Please show some restraint. Where are you headed?”
Ju-seong hastily pressed his palms together and asked.
“My apologies. It’s urgent business. The sect leader took my senior brother to Golden Summit, didn’t she?”
The bhikkhuni nodded.
“Yes, that’s correct. When the sect leader has a private audience with an important guest, she goes to the hermitage on Golden Summit.”
Ju-seong nodded and hurried past the Buddhist nun.
On the path leading to Golden Summit stood a shabby gate, guarded by two before it.
They wore vermilion kasaya embroidered with golden dragons.
They were the Grand Lai Sword Hands, who were counted among Emei Sect’s elite. They were the bhikkhunis who guarded Golden Summit where the sect leader resided.
When Ju-seong arrived before the gate of Golden Summit, the Grand Lai Sword Hands blocked his path.
“The sect leader has not summoned you, Young Hero. If you wish to see her, please wait. She is having a private audience with an important guest, and we will inquire on your behalf once it concludes.”
Still, Ju-seong’s standing within Emei Sect wasn’t so bad that he was turned away outright.
Ju-seong responded calmly.
“The sect leader summoned me through her heart. Have you heard of the Wisdom Light Mind Speech?”
“…”
The expressions of the two bhikkhunis, who had looked as hard as steel, cracked.
They were martial artists who had reached the pinnacle of Buddhist martial arts. Only enlightened masters who had accumulated dharmic power to the level of being called living Buddhas could employ the Wisdom Light Mind Speech.
The two bhikkhunis exchanged awkward glances.
‘The sect leader?’
‘Even so…’
No matter how much pride they had in their sect and sect leader, Master Jeong-hwa was not at that level.
The taller, gaunt bhikkhuni shook her head and said.
“Young Hero… This is not the time for jests. No one may enter Golden Summit without permission. No matter that you are a benefactor who has aided Emei Sect, we cannot let you through.”
“Ah, you people are so frustrating…”
Ju-seong’s eyes narrowed slightly as he drew up his internal energy.
Never mind that this was the grounds of the great Emei Sect; it was not the time to weigh pros and cons.
His senior brother’s life was on the line.
“Good heavens, has this man lost his mind!”
The two Grand Lai Sword Hands drew their swords in alarm.
Even startled, their sword-drawing motions were identically flawless.
‘Quick and decisive. At the same time, I must not take their lives.’
The Grand Lai Sword Hands were all first-rate or on the threshold of peak level.
In truth, whether they were peak level or not didn’t particularly matter for their selection.
What mattered was their understanding of Emei’s swordsmanship; that was the qualification for becoming a Grand Lai Sword Hand.
-Shwak!
They wielded the Grand Lai Sumeru Wisdom Sword.
When wielded alone, it was but a single thread swaying in the wind.
When two wielded it, it became a great casting net.
When all the Grand Lai Sword Hands wielded it together, it became a net that covered the heavens.
The way wispy techniques intertwined and became solid resembled the bonds of karma spoken of in Buddhism.
-Clang! Tat-ta-tang!
Sharp sword strikes caged Ju-seong. When he thrust out his gauntlets to defend, yellow sparks flew.
The tall, gaunt bhikkhuni held his upper body and responded defensively.
The relatively short bhikkhuni attacked aggressively, targeting his lower body.
From time to time they switched offense and defense, adding variation.
The harmony was profound and complex.
There are two ways to escape a net.
Either tear the net, or slip through the gaps.
To tear the net, Ju-seong would have no choice but to injure the two Grand Lai Sword Hands.
If that happened, there would be no fixing things.
He had to become a small fish slipping through the mesh of the net.
Of course, a full-grown man the size of a mountain couldn’t exactly become as small as a minnow…
Ju-seong slowly extended his hands and began executing the Red Lotus Palm technique.
The second technique of the latter half of the Three Yang Fist, the Red Lotus Palm.
This technique contained the subtlety of “grafting a flower onto another tree,” creating a kind of repelling force with its intense heat to deflect the opponent’s weapons.
He pushed his open palms into the gap between the two trajectories forming the net.
As he spread his arms apart, the trajectories warped and the mesh widened.
“Oh!”
“Ugh!”
When the chain of techniques that had flowed like a great river buckled in an unexpected direction, the two sword hands furrowed their brows and groaned.
The moment energy is infused, a sword becomes like an extension of the swordsman’s body.
What they had just felt was similar to spraining a wrist or ankle.
The profound harmony created by the pair’s linked techniques shattered.
Two needles shot from Ju-seong’s sleeves and embedded themselves in the sword hands’ insteps.
-Tok, tok!
As the needles pierced the pressure points that disrupted energy flow, the force behind their sword strikes drained away in an instant.
Ju-seong easily swept his arms to knock their swords aside, then pressed their numbness points to subdue them.
Ju-seong tried to hurry toward Golden Summit, leaving them behind, but Emei disciples who had heard the commotion were already running toward him with weapons drawn.
“…Ah, this has gone sideways.”
Ju-seong muttered while scratching his head vigorously.
Just as Emei’s disciples were surrounding him, the sound of two people descending from Golden Summit reached his ears.
‘Two sets of footsteps.’
Ju-seong turned to look and saw Master Jeong-hwa and Physician Seo-baek coming down in single file.
Physician Seo-baek was perfectly fine, without a scratch.
He barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before his gaze fell on Master Jeong-hwa behind him, and his eyes darkened.
‘Senior Brother told her everything.’
Master Jeong-hwa, having reached the center of the commotion, swept her servants with a chilling gaze.
Her gaze, which had been moving, came to rest on Ju-seong.
“Did you know as well?”
She who had always called Ju-seong “Benefactor” now used “you.”
That she could no longer maintain even proper Buddhist speech and behavior told him how furious she was.
Ju-seong met Master Jeong-hwa’s eyes squarely and nodded.
“I knew.”
Master Jeong-hwa turned her gaze to glare at Ok-wol and So-so as she asked.
“And you as well?”
“…”
Ok-wol and Yang So-so deeply bowed their heads and could not answer.
The wrinkled hand gripping her sword hilt trembled violently.
Soon, the aged bhikkhuni’s voice rang throughout the courtyard.
“Hye-jeong! Step forward!”
-Ziiing…
With Master Jeong-hwa at the center, the flagstones trembled, and her voice echoed off the surrounding halls and peaks several times over.
A bhikkhuni with her head bowed pushed through the disciples and stepped forward.
‘That bhikkhuni is the one who gave the pill to the sect leader.’
Master Jeong-hwa stared at Hye-jeong and asked.
“Did you not tell me you obtained that pill from some unknown Taoist?”
At the first words, Hye-jeong’s body shook like an aspen leaf. She was none other than Emei Sect’s chief disciple.
Past forty, she was at the prime of her martial career. Her footing was steady and her bearing was weighty.
Yet such a person was shrinking and trembling.
Master Jeong-hwa spoke to her utterly shaking disciple.
“I trusted your words absolutely. Looking back now, it was laughable nonsense. Had I doubted you even once, it was a lie I would have immediately seen through.”
“…”
An angry voice pressed down upon the courtyard.
“You are my disciple. As one who has renounced worldly life I cannot bear children, but you are a child I bore in my heart. And yet you.”
Master Jeong-hwa squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before continuing.
“No, it won’t have been just you. All the Grand Lai Sword Hands of the Hye generation of first-generation disciples, step forward. Since you have all gathered thanks to Benefactor Ju-seong, it is rather fortunate.”
Hye-jeong was also a Grand Lai Sword Hand, being an outstanding talent.
Naturally, the bond between Hye-jeong and the other Grand Lai Sword Hands was extremely close.
If Hye-jeong was implicated, it was fair to assume the rest of the Hye generation Grand Lai Sword Hands were involved as well.
Indeed, Master Jeong-hwa’s thinking proved correct, as all the Hye generation Grand Lai Sword Hands stepped forward with heads deeply bowed, as if acknowledging their wrongdoing.
The two bhikkhunis who had clashed with Ju-seong also came forward voluntarily, their faces looking as if they might cry.
Hye-jeong had already dropped to her knees.
-Shik.
Something silver was drawn from Master Jeong-hwa’s waist.
The smooth blade reflected the sunlight and stung the disciples’ eyes.
“Must I cut you all down myself?”
“…”
Master Jeong-hwa glared down at the Grand Lai Sword Hands of the Hye generation with fierce eyes, then called out to the disciples who were blinking in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
“You all know that I recently restored my aging, failing body with the help of a miraculous elixir.”
The disciples nodded in unison.
Hye-jeong, who had been kneeling, hastily raised her head and tried to interject.
“Master! If you reveal that…”
“Silence!”
Master Jeong-hwa pressed her sword point toward Hye-jeong to stop her, then continued.
“The elixir Hye-jeong brought me… she told me she happened to meet a renowned Taoist who gave it to her. Sounds absurd to anyone’s ears, doesn’t it? Yet I foolishly believed her. Because this child had never once lied to me.”
“Sect Leader…”
“Physician Seo-baek of the All-Living Clinic visited today and revealed the pill’s true nature. He brought a sample… identical in color, fragrance, and essence… and explained it to me. He said this pill was made by grinding up human lives.”
The disciples’ eyes darted quickly between Physician Seo-baek and Master Jeong-hwa.
Could they take this physician’s words at face value?
But the somber expressions on the kneeling Grand Lai Sword Hands, including Hye-jeong, proved the truth of the matter.
They couldn’t even bring themselves to feign ignorance. Their conscience alone had held out this long. They had persevered through respect for their sect leader, through responsibility to their sect.
As if commanding her to speak directly, Master Jeong-hwa’s glare bored into Hye-jeong as she confessed the truth from her kneeling position.
“We… feared that someday Qingcheng would push Emei out of Sichuan and take its place.”
Qingcheng Sect was always a step more pragmatic than Emei Sect.
They accepted both male and female disciples. Additionally, they were a famous holy site of Taoism.
Perhaps because of these conditions, they were more connected to the secular world. Emei had always been ahead in terms of righteousness, but was said to fall a step behind in power, authority, and wealth.
In the past, Qingcheng had also helped White Lotus Cultists who survived the White Lotus Bloodshed, just like Emei. But not as openly or actively.
Ju-seong recalled what he had heard while staying on Emei Mountain.
‘At the time, the period of gate-sealing the imperial court ordered for Qingcheng was shorter than Emei’s.’
Emei Sect had openly defied the imperial court’s persecution of White Lotus Cultists.
Meanwhile, Qingcheng had walked a fine line, watching the situation while secretly providing aid.
From the imperial court’s perspective, the latter would have looked far less troublesome.
As a result, the first-generation disciples who joined Qingcheng as soon as their gate-sealing ended were older and more fully-developed martial artists than Emei’s first-generation disciples.
They were already old enough to become elders.
Furthermore, the generational ages between the two sects were staggered by about ten years.
Qingcheng’s elder generation was younger than Emei’s elders.
With all of Emei’s elders aged and secluded in training chambers, only Master Jeong-hwa remained on the front lines as the only fierce warrior.
From their perspective, it must have been purely worry about Emei losing its prominence.
The first-generation disciples needed to age and mature until they could contend for the jianghu’s peak; until then, the sect leader had to hold on.
Master Jeong-hwa, who had reached the pinnacle of Emei’s martial arts and earned the title of Sichuan’s Number One, had to hold the line to maintain the balance of power against Qingcheng.
“In such circumstances, a black market dealer made us an offer.”
She said a relic left behind when an ancient heretical cult was destroyed long ago could restore the consumer’s true essence and true energy.
Of course, the truth was different.
The pill was not an ancient artifact. It was something the Ten Thousand Ears Gang had made in the present day by grinding up living people.
Master Jeong-hwa felt inward relief that the first-generation disciples hadn’t committed this act knowing all of that.
Of course, finding relief in such a thing was itself a weak and cowardly sentiment.
‘Blade of Extinguishing Evil… What am I to do?’
The beloved sword in her hand. She had wielded it for decades, but never had it felt so foreign.
Blade of Extinguishing Evil hummed softly.
Those kneeling before her were the evildoers. The demons.
Those who had fed their master a foul thing made by sacrificing innocent lives.
Cut them down.
Cut them down…
It was the inertia of decades. This blade thirsted for the blood of evildoers.
Long ago, Zhuge Liang had executed a subordinate dear as a son when that subordinate committed a transgression, had he not?
Since ancient times, great rulers had always placed discipline and order above affection and attachment.
Master Jeong-hwa was not a ruler governing a nation, yet she was still a leader guiding a massive faction.
The way she had led the great Emei Sect had always been through uncompromising rule of law.
Therefore, what this aged bhikkhuni felt now was the height of cowardice.
“…”
Master Jeong-hwa silently gazed at the first-generation disciples weeping and kneeling before her sword.
It was decades ago now.
The moment their gate-sealing ended, she had left through the mountain gate and headed to the marketplaces.
Together with her martial sisters, she had rescued beaten and abandoned children from Chengdu’s back alleys.
It had been cold winter, just as the year of their gate-sealing ended.
She remembered when those children had gripped swords with tiny, tender fingers and swung them clumsily.
Their delicate features had been so small and precious, as if they might crumble if held.
The children who had awkwardly mumbled sutras, and when they dozed off, had been switched by the stern, younger Master Jeong-hwa and wailed.
During those times of hardship after the long gate-sealing, she had run here and there performing heroic deeds.
She had received investments from wealthy merchants and notables, and had participated in numerous battles against evil path sects to live up to the fame of being one of the Seven Sects.
‘When I think about it…’
It had all been to feed those little bhikkhunis meat side dishes, to clothe them warmly.
Master Jeong-hwa felt bitterness as she slowly closed her eyes.
‘I will never become as decisive as the great rulers of old.’
Her eyelids rose, forcing her to see the reality she couldn’t turn away from.
Master Jeong-hwa spoke to the first-generation disciples.
Her voice was resolute. Cold as frost.
None of the deep affection in her heart seeped into that stern voice.
“You have shamed me and defiled the spirit of Emei. I should cut you down with my own hands, but…”
Master Jeong-hwa turned her gaze to her sword. And she spoke to it in her heart.
‘Blade of Extinguishing Evil… The evil you must destroy lies elsewhere. There is one who harbors an immense evil within her own body… Be satisfied with punishing her. Let us do it that way today.’
-Wwoom…
Blade of Extinguishing Evil trembled finely.
No, was it her own hand that trembled?
The sword point that had been aimed at the disciples wheeled around and now pointed at Master Jeong-hwa’s own body.
“Master!”
“Sect Leader!”
Hye-jeong and the other first-generation disciples shot to their feet in shock.
But they had already been frozen stiff, crushed by the martial presence Master Jeong-hwa had released.
In other words, they could not stop Master Jeong-hwa from driving the sword into her own dantian with all her strength.
-Thuk.
“Aah…”
Hye-jeong’s mouth hung open, unable to close from the sheer shock.
Master Jeong-hwa stood ramrod straight.
Even as she felt her life scattering through her fingers with each passing moment, she met eyes squarely with the daughter she had borne in her heart.
Until the very end, she could not give Hye-jeong a warm look or a single word of forgiveness.
She only hoped the weight of guilt would someday be lifted from her, and so she cried out in a resolute, clear voice.
“Repent!”
Those were her final words.
Sichuan’s Number One.
The iron-willed woman who had led Emei Mountain’s revival.
It was the moment the Blade of Extinguishing Evil, Master Jeong-hwa, ended her life.