Chapter 158: When the Rain of Chaos Falls, the Sleeping Dragon Stirs (2)

Eum Yu-gyeong drew a ragged breath.

Her once immaculate attire was disheveled, and her face was flushed crimson. The mask she had worn had long since been discarded. Branches and fallen leaves clung to her hair and shoulders from her passage through the undergrowth.

The moment she had escaped from the Scripture Library, Shaolin's pursuit had begun. The warrior monks had pursued her with relentless tenacity.

She had used her wits to shake them off several times, but before she had descended even halfway down Mount Song, she was forced into a confrontation with the warrior monks.

Shaolin's warrior monks were terrifyingly strong. Their individual skill could not compare to Eum Yu-gyeong's, but their combined assault was more than enough to put her in dire straits.

If she had possessed the sword she had left at the mountain gate, she might have escaped more easily. Fighting empty-handed prolonged the battle.

In the meantime, a dragnet had been deployed across all of Mount Song. Eum Yu-gyeong had missed the optimal window for escape.

"I cannot afford to delay any longer."

Just as she was about to move again.

"Amitabha!"

A thunderous Buddhist cry rang out as a group of monks blocked her path.

An elderly monk bearing nine seal marks on his head led over a hundred young monks. Among them was So-cheon.

The elderly monk stepped forward.

"Amitabha! From where do you come, and who are you? Shaolin is not a common marketplace where one can enter and leave freely."

The elderly monk was Gwang-mun, Abbot of the Arhat Hall. The warriors behind him were the elite monks of the Arhat Hall.

The longer the delay, the greater Eum Yu-gyeong's disadvantage.

'I have no choice. I will fight with everything I have and break through.'

Having steeled her resolve, Eum Yu-gyeong rose into the air.

A frost-like killing intent emanated from her entire body.

Gwang-mun's expression hardened.

"Demonic energy? Are you from the Demonic Cult?"

He was a high monk of deep cultivation. It was only natural that he was sensitive to demonic energy.

"The Demonic Cult?"

"Amitabha! That a member of the Demonic Cult has infiltrated Shaolin itself."

Anger surfaced on the monks' faces.

At that moment, Gwang-mun cried out.

"Deploy the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation and subdue the demoness!"

The monks moved without delay, unfolding the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation around Eum Yu-gyeong. The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was an ancient battle formation of peerless power, renowned as the greatest anti-one-person formation in history.

Once the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was deployed, escape was impossible for Eum Yu-gyeong even if the sky split in two.

Whirrr!

The instant the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was activated, Eum Yu-gyeong spread both arms wide. A powerful energy burst forth toward the One Hundred and Eight Arhat.

It was the Demonic Cult's supreme technique, the Dark Heaven Blazing Hand.

"Gah!"

"Huh!"

The attack, launched at a perfect moment, disrupted the rhythm of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, strand by strand.

Eum Yu-gyeong seized the opening and plunged through.

Her white hand struck out with devastating force. She was deploying the Falling Moon Divine Sword with her bare hands.

Swish-swish!

Energy coalesced upon her white hand, taking on the form of a blade.

"Gahuk!"

"Argh!"

The monks fell in an instant.

"How dare you!"

Gwang-mun, in towering fury, deployed the Great Strength Diamond Palm.

Rumble!

A tremendous wave of energy surged toward Eum Yu-gyeong.

Eum Yu-gyeong bit her lip. Gwang-mun's martial skill was far higher than she had anticipated.

'In a direct confrontation, I am at a disadvantage.'

In the end, she abandoned the notion of facing him head-on and retreated.

In that instant, Gwang-mun's movement changed.

Swish-swish-swish!

His body seemed to multiply into nine in the blink of an eye, then coalesced in a stack before Eum Yu-gyeong.

It was the Lotus Throne Nine Ranks, one of Shaolin's greatest movement techniques.

Having closed the distance in an instant, he spread his palm wide.

Whoosh!

The Bodhi Jade Dragon Seal, a supreme art proudly ranked among Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts, was deployed.

As the leader of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat, Gwang-mun's martial skill was formidable.

Because it was launched at such a perfect moment, Eum Yu-gyeong could not mount a complete defense.

Crash!

"Ugh!"

A thunderous impact shook her body.

A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. She had sustained internal injuries. Her movements slowed.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat seized the opportunity and surrounded her.

Whirrr!

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation activated.

One hundred and eight Zen staffs struck at Eum Yu-gyeong.

Wham-wham-wham!

Eum Yu-gyeong deployed the Dark Heaven Blazing Hand to resist. But fighting the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation barehanded, without a sword, was impossible from the start.

Whoosh!

A powerful vortex of energy formed around the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. An immense pressure was concentrated upon Eum Yu-gyeong alone.

"Hah!"

Eum Yu-gyeong's complexion turned ashen.

'If only I had my sword…'

If she could deploy the Falling Moon Divine Sword, she might not have been able to break the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, but she could have bought time.

The power of the Falling Moon Divine Sword deployed barehanded was limited, and it was insufficient to shatter this ancient formation that had endured for a thousand years. On top of that, So-cheon and Gwang-mun had blocked her retreat.

Eum Yu-gyeong was being cornered ever further.

Wounds accumulated one by one across her body, and her meridians seethed, preventing her from properly circulating her internal energy.

Gwang-mun watched the scene and spoke.

"The moment we capture the demoness, we will deploy the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique."

"Is that really necessary?"

So-cheon countered.

The Ten-Direction Suppression Technique was a method created to seal the internal energy of a demon. The problem was that the one who received the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique would not only have their internal energy sealed but would also suffer such thorough damage to their mind and body that they would become a cripple, never to recover.

"We show no mercy to demons."

"I understand."

At Gwang-mun's resolute voice, So-cheon replied with a look of resignation. He still found the deployment of the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique distasteful.

Though he was a member of the Nine Heavenly Dragons, the greatest prodigies of the Murim, in truth, he had almost no experience fighting other warriors directly.

In an ideal world, rather than watching the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation fight, he would have preferred to fight himself. But Gwang-mun did not permit it.

Shaolin was investing such great effort in nurturing So-cheon. Not merely as a member of the Nine Heavenly Dragons, but for something greater.

So-cheon was the one who would lead the Murim into the future.

Not a single defeat, not a single blemish, was permitted.

That was why Gwang-mun had allowed So-cheon to observe the battle, but could not permit him to fight directly.

'Once the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation is deployed, even if the sky falls, there is no path for the demoness to escape.'

Within the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, a thousand years of Shaolin's essence was distilled. In all of Shaolin's history, no individual had ever shattered the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation.

Whirrr!

As time passed, the power of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation grew exponentially. This was another of its formidable attributes.

Attacks followed one another with the precision of interlocking gears, growing ever more powerful as time wore on, driving the opponent into a corner.

In truth, Eum Yu-gyeong was now being pushed to her absolute limit.

'The spiritual energy permeating the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation is severing my internal energy, strand by strand.'

For that reason, Eum Yu-gyeong was finding it extremely difficult to circulate her internal energy.

Unable to properly channel her power, her techniques could not display their full strength. Moreover, without a sword in hand, she could not even发挥 thirty percent of her true ability.

Wham!

In that instant, a staff struck her shoulder.

The Zen staffs, forged from tempered iron, were more terrifying than any divine weapon. The moment the blow landed, she twisted her body to deflect the impact as much as possible, but her shoulder swelled immediately.

Cold sweat trickled down Eum Yu-gyeong's spine.

'Should I use my final technique?'

What she was displaying now was not her full strength. Beyond the Falling Moon Divine Sword, she possessed a trump card.

The problem was that using her trump card came with severe aftereffects. She would be unable to move for several months.

In times like these, a gap of several months could prove fatal.

'There is no choice, then…'

She bit her lip and gathered what remained of her energy.

Whirrr!

The air around Eum Yu-gyeong churned wildly.

Sensing the unusual shift in atmosphere, Gwang-mun shouted.

"The demoness's movements are suspicious. Change the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation to the Creation Shaking the Heavens!"

The Creation Shaking the Heavens was the most powerful offensive technique within the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. No demon had ever survived its power.

Whirr-whirr-whirr!

A vortex formed around the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. An enormous pressure was generated, and all of it was concentrated upon Eum Yu-gyeong alone.

Grrrk!

Overwhelmed by a pressure beyond imagination, Eum Yu-gyeong dropped to one knee. Every blood vessel on her body bulged outward, and the tiny vessels in both eyes burst, turning them entirely red.

"Cough!"

Eum Yu-gyeong's face turned pale, and she vomited blood. Yet she endured, preparing to use her trump card.

It was at that moment.

–Relax your strength and yield to the pressure.

Suddenly, a telepathic transmission echoed in her ear.

In that instant, Eum Yu-gyeong felt tears welling in her eyes.

'He's come.'

She released the energy she had painstakingly gathered and relaxed her entire body.

"The demoness has gone mad with the desire to die."

A gleam of triumph appeared on Gwang-mun's face.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a long rope snaked through the air like a serpent and coiled around Eum Yu-gyeong's waist, lifting her upward.

"There is an accomplice!"

"She is trying to rescue the demoness! Stop her!"

The monks who had been deploying the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation cried out in alarm and intensified their assault on Eum Yu-gyeong.

Crack-crack-crack!

In that instant, the rope coiled around Eum Yu-gyeong whipped violently from side to side. The monks near her were struck by the rope and sent flying left and right. But they used their Zen staffs as anchors and barely managed to maintain the formation.

In the meantime, the rope lifted Eum Yu-gyeong skyward.

"Not so fast!"

Unable to stand by any longer, Gwang-mun launched himself forward. The One Hundred and Eight Arhat followed behind him.

Eum Yu-gyeong's form was on the verge of being seized.

"Blood Slaughter Rain."

Suddenly, a voice of thunderous authority rang out, and rain began to fall. Rain made of energy.

Wham-wham-wham-wham-wham!

"Gahuk!"

"Impossible!"

Horror appeared on the faces of Gwang-mun and the One Hundred and Eight Arhat.

A warrior who could generate even a single strand of energy was regarded as an absolute master in the Murim. Even in Shaolin, the foremost of the Nine Great Sects, there were not many who could generate energy.

And now, a rain of energy?

A sight beyond all imagination had appeared before them, and their faces drained of color.

Kraa-boom!

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation and the rain of energy collided.

The earth shook as though an earthquake had struck, and the atmosphere churned wildly. As though caught in a massive storm, ancient trees were uprooted from the ground, and enormous boulders rolled across the earth.

After the violent storm had swept through, the scene that emerged was truly catastrophic.

As though a volcano had erupted, the area had been reduced to a wasteland, and monks lay scattered everywhere.

By a stroke of fortune, no one had died, but the expressions on the One Hundred and Eight Arhat's faces were utterly desolate.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, which they had believed to be invincible, had been broken.

The legend of invincibility had crumbled.

"How can this be!"

Gwang-mun's white beard quivered.

The one who had rescued Eum Yu-gyeong was clearly a single individual. By one person alone, their legend of invincibility had been shattered.

"Who in the world is that man?"

For the first time in his life, an intense sense of crisis descended upon him. The appearance of an absolute master he had never even dreamed of. The thought of what aftershocks his arrival would bring to the Murim was terrifying even to contemplate.

Gwang-mun looked around.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat were there. But So-cheon was nowhere to be seen.

'Could it be that So-cheon…'

Soso came in as usual to change bandages and clean his body with medicinal water.

However, Jin Ja-gang felt uncomfortable with Soso and could no longer accept her care.

“From today on, I’ll do it myself, so just bring me the bandages.”

When Soso tried to make Jin Ja-gang lie down as if asking why, Jin Ja-gang grabbed Soso’s wrist and refused. Soso was flustered and opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.

Soso looked at Jin Ja-gang with an anxious expression, unable to understand the reason, then left the room.

* * *

A little later, Dan Ryeong-gyeong came to see Jin Ja-gang.

“So. Have you thought about it?”

Jin Ja-gang conveyed his thoughts concisely but clearly.

“I will go my own way.”

Not adding any excuses meant his thoughts had become firm.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong was slightly disappointed but respected Jin Ja-gang’s thoughts.

“It seems your mind is made up. To dismiss it as youthful impetuosity would be inappropriate given all you’ve experienced. But don’t think this is knowing the will of heaven.”

Youthful years refers to a young age, around twenty years old, and knowing the will of heaven refers to age fifty. She was metaphorically saying that while she wouldn’t call Jin Ja-gang’s thoughts childish impetuosity, it wasn’t necessarily the correct answer.

“Part of the truth is often hidden.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong threw out this topic, and Jin Ja-gang continued.

“Part of the truth is often hidden, and what you’ve experienced isn’t the entirety of truth. Those were your words from before.”

“That’s right. Those words remain valid even for me who looks toward knowing heaven’s will, and they will never change even when I reach the age of looking toward old age and becoming elderly. The martial world always tries to hide the truth, and we are beings who must live eating the martial world’s rice until our dying day.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong smiled slightly.

“So perhaps in this treacherous martial world… living relying on a single sword without complicated thoughts could be one wise method.”

“Thank you for the advice. I will take it to heart.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong didn’t say she would help or anything like that. There was no need. Jin Ja-gang had clearly expressed his opinion that he would no longer accept help from the evil faction.

* * *

Having heard the story, Bian Bu came to visit and chattered away.

“Disappointing, disappointing… In the end, the dark path is the dark path. You can’t mingle together in muddy water, is that it?”

“Didn’t you tell me to establish standards for judgment myself?”

“I did.”

“I’m going to learn from now on.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. You can’t play with us people, something like that.”

Bian Bu grumbled.

“I don’t really know. How I should act. Whether the path I’m taking is right. But I don’t want to add prejudice to my revenge.”

“The Lord might be fooled by that, but you can’t fool my eyes. Look at me.”

Bian Bu stared sharply at Jin Ja-gang and asked.

“Your eyes changed after hearing that the Medicine Sect attacked the Poison Gate first. Then you started feeling uncomfortable looking at Soso. Am I wrong?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t deny it.

“You’re right.”

“Huh.”

Bian Bu lamented.

“Don’t think foolish thoughts. Even if the Medicine Sect were the aggressors and villains, that child isn’t bad.”

“But I don’t know how to look at Soso. Every time I see Soso, I keep feeling troubled. It becomes difficult to judge whether my revenge is justified.”

Bian Bu couldn’t continue speaking for a moment.

He had come to know to some extent how terrible and arduous the experiences Jin Ja-gang had endured to get here.

He had endured thinking only that the Poison Sect was evil, but now he had to completely overturn that thinking, so how great must the shock be.

Every time he saw Soso, past events would continuously come to mind and the sight of the Hundred Flower Valley family dying would resurface.

“I don’t fail to understand. But…”

“Soso… treats me too well. I’m afraid that while receiving such devotion, I won’t be able to neutrally and selflessly establish my will and look at the world without prejudice.”

At that moment, there was a clanging sound from outside.

When Bian Bu went out to look, Soso was standing outside the door with a broken teapot and teacup fallen at her feet.

She had probably been bringing tea when she was shocked by hearing the conversation from outside.

Soso was restless, then hurriedly cleaned up the broken pieces and left.

Bian Bu looked at Jin Ja-gang.

“Listen here. Soso heard that you’re from the same Medicine Sect background. So she knows you’re in the same situation as herself. That’s why she treats you well. What other meaning is needed there?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t answer. He only became more confused.

Bian Bu clicked his tongue with a pitying expression.

“Tsk tsk. This damned turbid world… Is establishing firm resolve such a difficult thing?”

* * *

That evening, while bringing bandages and medicine, Soso didn’t make eye contact with Jin Ja-gang.

“I’m sorry.”

At Jin Ja-gang’s words, Soso paused briefly.

Soso hesitated, then raised her head to look directly at Jin Ja-gang. This was the first time they had fully made eye contact.

“Ah…”

Soso tried to speak but made a sound like a groan and closed her mouth again.

She continued looking at Jin Ja-gang in that state. She seemed to want to say something, but it was impossible to know what.

After thinking, Jin Ja-gang asked.

“Do you want to ask how I got these wounds?”

Soso shook her head to indicate no.

“Did Guizhou Medicine Sect and Yunnan Medicine Sect know each other?”

Shake shake.

Jin Ja-gang thought again.

“Do you mean you won’t take care of me anymore?”

Soso smiled and shook her head again. Anyway, since she was smiling, it probably wasn’t a bad meaning.

“Are you saying what Uncle Bian Bu said was wrong?”

“Do you want to talk about something related to the Lord?”

She shook her head to all of them.

Now she was sparkling her eyes as if it was fun and grinning.

But Jin Ja-gang, who was being subjected to this, was sweating. He had never looked directly into someone’s eyes for so long. Especially not a girl’s.

Looking at eyes full of goodwill without malice, Jin Ja-gang felt strange.

But he also became stubborn.

He was determined to find out what she was trying to say. It would be convenient to write it down, but since she was deliberately doing this, it was also annoying.

“Are you trying to talk about tonight’s dinner?”

“Or do you want to know how I lived before?”

“Do you want me to ask about Guizhou Medicine Sect?”

When he mentioned Guizhou Medicine Sect, she did show somewhat sad eyes, but she quickly smiled brightly again.

Jin Ja-gang had been asking questions like riddles for almost half an hour. Since he had almost no connection with Soso, his questions eventually had limits.

“Ha…”

Jin Ja-gang finally raised his hands. He had asked dozens of questions but hadn’t guessed a single one correctly.

“I really don’t know. I give up. Is that enough?”

But Soso shook her head again.

“What on earth is it? Are you angry because I spoke carelessly during the day?”

Soso shook her head even more vigorously at those words.

“It’s not that you’re deliberately playing a prank, and it’s not that you want to torment me, so I’d like you to stop now.”

Soso looked disappointed. Jin Ja-gang was generally patient, but he had no way to deal with stubborn goodwill.

“Stop. Let’s stop. I really don’t know.”

Then suddenly Soso nodded vigorously.

“Huh? To stop?”

Shake shake.

“Then…”

Jin Ja-gang had a suspicion.

“My way of speaking?”

Soso nodded more quickly.

“You want me to change my way of speaking? Not to use formal speech?”

Soso smiled brightly.

Jin Ja-gang felt completely deflated. After struggling for over half an hour, what he found out was just not to use formal speech.

But that wasn’t the end. Soso pointed alternately at Jin Ja-gang and herself with her finger.

“Ah…”

“That’s…”

This time it was even more difficult. Wasn’t it about formal speech? Or was there something else related to formal speech?

Soso gestured to Jin Ja-gang with hand and foot signals. Then, as if that wouldn’t work anymore, she took Jin Ja-gang’s hand and placed it on top of her head. Then she made Jin Ja-gang pat her head with his hand.

Jin Ja-gang had something come to mind and pointed alternately at himself and Soso as Soso had done.

“Older brother… younger sister?”

This time he seemed to have gotten it right.

Nod nod!

“But…”

Jin Ja-gang wondered how she could approach him so closely. She had seen how messed up his body was. Anyone who saw such a body would find it hard to get close due to disgust.

“Aren’t my wounds disgusting?”

Soso shook her head. From Soso’s eyes, Jin Ja-gang felt a strange sense of kinship.

Soso, like himself, had gone through harsh adversity.

Guizhou Medicine Sect, like Yunnan Medicine Sect, had suffered terrible treatment, and Soso too would have seen all kinds of horrific scenes.

That’s why she could nonchalantly clean his wounds, Jin Ja-gang could feel.

Because those were scenes she had become accustomed to seeing.

So Bian Bu’s words that she cared for Jin Ja-gang because he was from the Medicine Sect were half right and half wrong.

Soso, seeing Jin Ja-gang who had arrived in terrible condition, recalled what she had experienced at Guizhou Medicine Sect. And she identified Jin Ja-gang with the people of Guizhou Medicine Sect who had been brutally tortured and slaughtered.

But rather than avoiding because it was painful, she was doing through the process of caring for Jin Ja-gang what she should have done but couldn’t do in the past.

That’s why she could care for Jin Ja-gang with such seemingly incomprehensible devotion. As if caring for her own family and sect members…

That was Soso’s own way of overcoming the past.

Realizing this, Jin Ja-gang’s heart ached.

If he could, he wanted to erase the terrible things remaining somewhere in this young girl’s memory.

No, but actually Jin Ja-gang didn’t need to do that. In some ways, Soso was better off than Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang thought silently for a moment.

Actually, he had been thinking of leaving soon.

The burden of having a new relationship where they would call each other brother and sister and become close was great, and he didn’t have enough time to maintain it.

However, looking at Soso’s expression as she looked at him with eyes both fearful of rejection and hopeful, he couldn’t bring himself to say words of refusal.

Jin Ja-gang opened his reluctant mouth and said.

“Alright, So… So. Is this how I should speak?”

Soso looked very satisfied.

Watching the happy Soso, Jin Ja-gang was overwhelmed with complex emotions.

He thought that people could be happy and joyful over such small things, and at the same time felt somewhat overwhelmed.

While he couldn’t even understand and notice this small girl’s heart, could he really find his own path and truth in this complex martial world?

* * *

It had been more than ten days since coming to the manor.

Jin Ja-gang expressed to Bian Bu his intention to leave soon. Bian Bu naturally objected, saying it was nonsense.

“No, what are you talking about? The doctor said it would take at least half a year before you could do daily activities. I understand your feelings, but first focus on treatment. Whatever you do, it’s not too late to think about it after that. You have plenty of time…”

Jin Ja-gang’s physical condition, having learned Mad Acupoint Piercing, an assassin’s technique, wasn’t very good. The more he used Mad Acupoint Piercing, the more his lifespan would gradually decrease.

So saying Jin Ja-gang had plenty of time didn’t fit. Of course, if he moved before fully recovering, it would worsen even more.

“Hmm. Anyway, I’m opposed. If you go around with bandages wrapped all over your body like that, you’ll easily catch people’s attention.”

Beside them, Soso also nodded, agreeing with Bian Bu’s opinion.

Then Jin Ja-gang began unwrapping his bandages.