Volume 5 Chapter 25 – Movement in Stillness

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Then, General Yeom. I only hope to have the opportunity to see you again next time.”

Putting their cloaks back on, Jeong Ryung and the Silk Road Guerrilla Unit bowed politely to Elder Yeom.

Though they had talked about following Elder Yeom to Luoyang and such, they were in a position where they had to return to Xi’an as quickly as possible to relieve the next shift.

Since the Port Opening Decree, a massive amount of maritime trade was taking place by now.

However, the volume of trade on the Silk Road was still increasing smoothly every year as well.

Xi’an, as a gateway city connecting the megacity Luoyang and the Silk Road, was fulfilling various responsibilities.

The Silk Road Guerrilla Unit was one of them.

“Yes. Give my regards to your esteemed mother…”

Hesitating for a moment, Elder Yeom continued speaking with a parent’s heart.

“Even for your esteemed mother’s sake, how about settling down now?”

Although he was the eldest son of the family, the man who loved the desert and wilderness smiled.

“My elder sister will make a far better Governor of Xi’an than I. Me being in Xi’an will only cause trouble.”

“…Please take care of yourself.”

Jeong Ryung clasped his hands politely.

“We only need to deal with mere bands of bandits, but it seems you are facing greater enemies, General. I wish you victory.”

* * *

“Wow, indeed, the name of the Sword Family as the world’s number one family was by no means empty!”

As Tang Go-gyu, the sage of the Tang Family, made a sincere fuss, Yeon Ha-eung also waved his hand fussily.

“Oh, not at all, not at all. If this were Sichuan, wouldn’t the Tang Sect have shown something even beyond this?”

“Oh, what are you saying. If that were true, wouldn’t that mean the Tang Sect is also the world’s number one family?”

“Ah, was it not?”

“Uh, is that so?”

A moment later, the two burst into laughter together.

Fitting for two people dedicated to diplomatic and social matters in their respective families, they mutually flattered each other and hit it off perfectly.

The others belonging to the investment delegation, the atmosphere was not bad either.

Being attacked in a foreign land was a terrible thing.

It was hard to hope for help anywhere, and in many cases, there were no connections to reach out to.

Even worse, there were many cases where it was hard to even know the reason for the attack, just like now.

Nevertheless, the enemies were all dead, and there was not a single casualty on their side.

The presence of the Luoyang Sword Family’s armed forces along with the renowned Sword Mountain Splitting Peak carried something more than simply guaranteeing safety.

* * *

The investment delegation’s procession began to move again, but contrary to the others, there were those whose atmosphere had sunken completely.

It was the Emei Sect.

“…”

If someone who did not know the situation saw them, they would look like some defeated soldiers.

Whether combat or non-combat personnel, they could not help but feel intimidated by the power of the Luoyang Sword Family they had just witnessed firsthand.

As members of what was once one of the Nine Great Sects, they too possessed infinite pride in their own martial arts.

Even now, if told to contend with a warrior of the Luoyang Sword Family, any martial nun would willingly roll up her sleeves and step forward.

But.

‘…The Luoyang Sword Family is indeed different from the Sichuan Tang Family. They have transcended the scale of a mere family or sect.’

No one replied to the martial nun’s sound transmission.

Even in this state with their eyes still open, the scene they had just witnessed arose vividly in their minds.

First, the armored transport carriages.

The grandeur of the carriages running even now while carrying the arrows shot by the assassination group like medals made them let out a hollow laugh.

The prompt response displayed by the drivers for arrow defense was, in itself, shocking enough.

The sight of the sword unit maintaining composure despite the heat of battle and playing with the enemies through collective tactics rather than individual martial arts was already a terror in itself.

Furthermore, what on earth was the iron-armored cavalry?

Seeing heavy-armored warriors riding iron-armored cavalry was something that should only happen in a military outpost on the border.

Yet, a single family was training such troops collectively and operating them collectively.

On top of that, there was even a strategist.

In the past, before the collapse of the Martial Alliance.

It was not a strategist that tacticians back then called each other to elevate their status, but a strategist for real war and combat!

Although those once called noble families now mostly possessed far mightier power.

Nevertheless, from this single battle alone, they could not help but vividly feel what the world’s number one family was.

* * *

‘Sword Mountain Splitting Peak, that fellow’s realm has grown even deeper.’

Grit.

It was a carriage dressed up in utmost luxury.

‘Did he gain some realization in the Northern War?’

However, due to the dirt dust from the long journey and the ugly, embedded arrows, the carriage now appeared rather like a monstrosity instead.

Grit.

Moreover, even the Emei Sect’s flag had been damaged, so she was now sat isolated inside the carriage running without even a flag.

Grit.

Inside the carriage plunged into darkness with the blinds fully drawn, the old woman with graying hair grit her teeth.

‘Why have we and they come to have such a difference?’

Just how many times, dozens of times, hundreds of times, thousands of times had she chewed over this question?

Since when was it?

From what point did things like financial power and authority, which the great sects of the martial world once sneered at, come to surpass the traditions and history accumulated over one or two thousand years?

‘Money, money, money, money, money, money, money!’

She had tenaciously ground down everything in her life and offered it to the Emei Sect again and again, to the point where her moniker Purple Voice Divine Nun became Starry White Hair, the Old Poison Fiend.

She had sacrificed and sacrificed again.

She bartered her own notoriety for the success story of the Emei Sect.

Nevertheless.

Why does the gap that had already opened in past history not narrow in the slightest!

Why does it widen and keep drifting further away!

Crack.

Her gums tore, and scarlet blood ran down.

An injury occurred on the iron-like body of one who had crossed the wall and reached her realm.

However, her heart, which had nothing but wounds left, could no longer feel even pain atop the age-old hatred passed down through generations.

‘The Tea Fan Maiden is a treasure raised in the embrace of our Emei. It belongs to the Emei Sect!’

The old woman’s eyes seemed to burn intensely.

Within that inner image filled only with resentment, Buddhist devotion had long since vanished.

No.

Coming to this point, whether such a thing had even existed in the first place was merely faint amidst illusions and oblivion.

‘The Tea Fan Maiden is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will lead my Emei Sect to become the hegemon of Sichuan in the future.’

Veins bulged on the old woman’s forehead.

‘Do not even think that this poor nun will hand them over easily.’

Carrying the old woman who had lived her entire life as a dog of wealth and power, the carriage of vanity and hatred rattled toward Luoyang.

* * *

Elder Yeom sat inside the armored transport carriage with a calm expression, maintaining his great sword.

Even inside the swaying carriage, not a single trace of shaking could be found in his touch.

However, his inner self was gradually heating up with the scent of war he had smelled after a long time.

‘The battle has ended, but the war is merely beginning;’

He controlled the fighting spirit boiling quietly within his chest.

He was the Sword Mountain Splitting Peak.

He was the very person who had defeated the Sword Lord of Mount Hua in the past, dragging the prestige of the Orthodox Faction—which was seeking a time for resurgence—down to the dirt.

* * *

Luoyang Sword Family, Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

“Amitabha, thank you again today.”

“Haha. The warm hearts of the Bodhisattvas are like the heart of the Buddha.”

As always, the old monks in beggar-like states were receiving alms in the kitchen of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

They were old monks who had not been seen for a while.

It seemed they had taken advantage of the slightly quiet interval, since Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment had been noisy in the meantime.

I-ryeong, who was still watching them with suspicious eyes, spoke.

“Monks. Did you perhaps really come from the Shaolin Temple?”

Thereupon, did the old monks not look noticeably flustered?

“Hmm? Since this poor monk is old, my ears do not hear well these days.”

“Haha. Amitabha. Amitabha.”

Sam-ryeong narrowed her eyes into triangles.

“I clearly saw you emerging through that Demonic Realm Forest earlier? Doesn’t that forest lead to Mount Song?”

Another old monk hurriedly waved his hand.

“This poor monk is merely, you know, what is it, a monk from another temple on Mount Song.”

Il-ryeong sighed.

“What other temple is there on Mount Song besides the Shaolin Temple, which is currently in closed-door cultivation?”

There was none.

“I-is that so? Actually, it is not M-Mount Song, but…”

He was so bad at lying that any desire to interrogate him completely vanished.

“Sigh.”

Il-ryeong sighed, handed them a bundle containing tea leaves, and spoke.

“I was not trying to interrogate you, I only asked because I was curious.”

They were probably afraid that leaving the closed-off Shaolin Temple and coming down like this would become known to the outside.

At that, the old monks let out explicit sighs of relief.

“Amitabha. Amitabha.”

“These precious tea leaves… Thank you.”

The triplet maids intended to see the old monks off as usual, but for some reason, the old monks were lingering today of all days.

“Well, Amitabha. The thing is…”

“Ahem.”

Il-ryeong asked at the exceptional behavior shown by the old monks, who usually vanished as if using the Earth-Shrinking Art.

“Do you have more business?”

The old monks wore sheepish smiles.

“Could we perhaps meet the young master?”

* * *

The two old monks, who shared a polite greeting with clasped hands with Yeon So-hyeon, wore gentle smiles.

For some reason, the triplet maids could catch a faint scent of lotus from that smile.

“O Mahamoggallana, in the end, that Divine Eye prevents one from turning away from the suffering sentient beings of the Mortal Realm…”

“O Subhuti, in the end, that wisdom and compassion lead you to the abyss of the Eight Sufferings…”

Mahamoggallana and Subhuti were the names of Sakyamuni’s ten major disciples.

Yeon So-hyeon slowly shook his head.

“I am merely bearing the responsibility now that I have carried since birth.”

At that, the two old monks beamed with benevolent smiles.

“Since you are a Bodhisattva, do not consider your suffering as the price of sin. For it is eventually nothing more than the Noble Truth of Suffering.”

Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.

“…The Noble Truth of Suffering. How could someone like me dare walk the path of the Four Noble Truths?”

At that, the other old monk comforted Yeon So-hyeon.

“Do not think that because the darkness binding you is infinitely deep, it will have no end. Even if it is the duration of a Nayuta, could it have no end?”

“…”

Yeon So-hyeon received no small comfort from the words of the two Seon Masters.

“Please do not forget liberation.”

“Please do not forget Nirvana.”

Looking at Yeon So-hyeon, the two old monks clasped their hands in a long bow.

“This is a small gift we can offer on your path.”

“I only hope it will be of some help.”

The triplet maids, who had momentarily lost their wits to some irresistible, massive energy, came to their senses.

However, the old monks had already vanished.

“Young Master, this is…?!”

Yeon So-hyeon picked up the old book lying on the floor.

“…I have received a gift whose value I dare not measure.”