Chapter 390

It was a small-statured old man. His hair had fallen down from the rain, covering his face.

Beom-hae climbed over the broken wall and iron structure to look down at the old man.

“Who are you?”

The old man twisted his mouth.

“Shaolin monks are born for demolition. I came out seeing thirty percent destroyed, but they’ve broken even more in the meantime.”

“Who are you?”

But the old man said something else.

“I thought about setting fires, but if they perform this well, I should be grateful.”

Beom-hae glared at the old man and walked forward without hesitation.

He walked up to the old man and raised his hand. The old man only came up to the middle of Beom-hae’s waist. Beom-hae struck down at the old man with his fist.

The old man had his hands behind his back but met Beom-hae’s hand with his palm.

Thud.

It should have been loaded with internal energy, but surprisingly it looked like he simply extended his hand and received it without much recoil.

But that was only momentary.

WHOOOOOM!

A tremendous wave of energy spread out centered on the two people. All the falling raindrops, surrounding puddles, and even mud were completely pushed away from around the two men.

Moisture completely disappeared from both men’s clothes, instantly drying them completely. The old man’s hair stuck out in all directions as if struck by lightning.

After the energy wave disappeared, the continuing rain made the dry clothes wet again, and the old man’s hair that had stuck out also drooped as it got wet.

Beom-hae raised his hand again with the same fierce expression. This time he struck down with his blade-hand at the old man.

The old man moved his hand slightly to block the blade-hand falling toward his head.

Again, after a brief moment, an energy explosion occurred.

WHOOOM!

Moisture was pushed from the old man’s head down to his feet, and the ground beneath his feet burst.

Beom-hae continuously struck the old man’s head.

Bang! WHOOOM!

The old man’s body blocking with his palm was fine, but the ground below kept bursting and caving in. The earth he stood on burst away, creating a pit. As the pit deepened, the old man’s body gradually sank lower.

Bang bang bang!

Dirt clumps burst and scattered in all directions.

The old man was buried in the ground to the point where he could barely be seen.

Beom-hae knelt and continued punching downward.

Bang bang bang bang!

Now from behind, the old man was completely buried in the ground and couldn’t be seen. Only his hand reaching upward was visible.

Beom-hae got up.

Then he stepped firmly on the old man’s upraised palm and passed over him.

As if nothing had happened.

He passed over the old man and went his way.

Prick!

Suddenly, Beom-hae felt pain in his lower back.

There was no sound or noise at all.

Beom-hae frowned and reached behind to find the hidden weapon that caused the pain. But the moment his hand touched it, it crumbled so he couldn’t tell what it was.

Beom-hae slowly turned around.

The old man who had somehow crawled out of the pit was standing looking at Beom-hae.

The old man swept back his hair that had been covering his face from the rain. His eyes were much smaller and rounder than ordinary people’s, like dots. And above all, his mouth was split so long it reached his earlobes, making him look grotesque.

Opening his small round eyes wide and splitting his torn mouth even wider in laughter, the old man, King of Hell Tang Qing, said.

“Wicked monk. You know who I am yet dare step over my head with your dirty muddy feet?”

Beom-hae looked at Tang Qing with cold eyes and opened his mouth.

“King of Hell.”

“That’s right. I am King of Hell.”

Beom-hae took out Tang Qing’s personal letter from his sleeve.

“Do you remember what conditions you wrote?”

“You came to take my head in exchange for surrender?”

“You had no intention of surrendering from the beginning.”

Beom-hae glared at Tang Qing and tore up the letter.

Rip! Rip!

Tang Qing laughed.

“Giggle giggle! You knew yet still wanted to confirm? You worked hard bringing that utterly useless letter all the way here!”

“King of Hell. Your crime of deceiving our temple is not light. Not only you, but all of the Tang family will pay the price.”

“You know what? The inner courtyard is sturdier, more complex, and full of all kinds of mechanical devices compared to the outer courtyard. It’s completely different from the outer courtyard. But why do you think I came out this far to greet you?”

“Whether inner or outer courtyard, the Tang Family Main House will be left with only ruins today.”

Tang Qing asked mockingly.

“What’s your dharma name?”

“Beom-hae.”

“Beom-hae, so you’re a disciple of the Invincible One Hui-neung. Even if Hui-neung himself came it wouldn’t be enough, yet you dare face me King of Hell as his mere disciple?”

Beom-hae glared at Tang Qing with frosty eyes and strode toward him again.

Suddenly Tang Qing’s eyes flashed.

Tang Qing’s body became blurry and moved backward as if extinguishing.

Beom-hae stamped the ground with his foot. Bang! Beom-hae’s body also became equally blurry and instantly approached in front of Tang Qing.

Beom-hae’s figure that appeared right in front of Tang Qing instantly threw five punches.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Tang Qing’s hair stood up like a lion’s mane. Tang Qing quickly ran his hand through his hair and extended his hand to match Beom-hae’s punches.

Tap tap.

Tang Qing leaped backward and landed while Beom-hae also retreated two steps and stopped.

Beom-hae looked at his hands. Both fists had five stiff strands of hair embedded in them. He applied force but his clenched fists wouldn’t open. His fists trembled unintentionally. When the trembling fists rubbed against each other, the hair crumbled and scattered. What was embedded in his back must have been hair too.

Beom-hae scattered all the hair embedded in his fists and clapped his hands forcefully.

Clap!

His stiff hands loosened and he could move his fingers freely. But the parts where hair had been embedded were discolored as if badly bruised.

Tang Qing giggled.

“The hair just now was poisoned. For reference, that poison has the effect of harming the five organs: liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. All your internal organs will split and develop holes, bleeding until finally your organs fill with blood and you die.”

One corner of Beom-hae’s mouth slightly rose.

He had already prepared sufficiently for poison with the effects Tang Qing just described.

Beom-hae took out a small box from his bosom. Then taking out a pill from the box, he said.

“It must be very severe extreme poison.”

“That’s right. You probably saw it. Recently the Demon Exterminating Monk was poisoned at an inn in Runan, wasn’t he?”

Beom-hae paused while trying to put the pill in his mouth.

“You must have been very surprised. A supreme master with deep internal energy like the Demon Exterminating Monk getting poisoned by some strange poison. It’s natural. It’s poison I spent decades of effort creating.”

Tang Qing gestured with his chin toward the pill Beom-hae held and said.

“That’s Heaven Color Melting Pill, isn’t it?”

Beom-hae stared at Tang Qing.

Heaven Color Melting Pill was a precious pill, but not used often, so many within Shaolin Temple didn’t know about it.

But Tang Qing knew this poison-resisting pill?

“Heaven Color Melting Pill prioritizes protecting the liver to increase poison resistance and has the effect of preventing poison from seeping into other organs. When taken by those with deep internal energy, it’s very effective for expelling residual poison. That’s why it’s also used as an antidote, one of Shaolin Temple’s best tonics.”

Residual poison is lingering poison remaining in the body. Heaven Color Melting Pill is a tonic that concentrates on protecting internal organs to preserve vitality and heightens recovery by expelling poison as quickly as possible.

“When the Poison Sect Blood Incident occurred ten years ago, you mass-produced about three hundred pills and stockpiled them, probably.”

Beom-hae’s raised mouth corners fell. Tang Qing saying he knew even the manufacturing date and quantity of Heaven Color Melting Pills wasn’t empty words.

“Probably Demon Exterminating Monk Mu-gak also took Heaven Color Melting Pills and his condition greatly improved. So he would have sent Heaven Color Melting Pills with the Stone Vajras. With those, you can repel most poisons anyway.”

Tang Qing looked at Beom-hae.

“Now, here’s the question.”

Tang Qing asked with his mouth split in laughter to his ears.

“When I heard news of the Stone Vajras departing from Shaolin Temple, did I think you would naturally carry Heaven Color Melting Pills… or was I unaware?”

Beom-hae’s face completely hardened.

Tang Qing shouted playfully.

“I guarantee it! Even after taking Heaven Color Melting Pills, every time you use internal energy your lower abdomen will hurt and poison will stick more severely to your internal energy. I made the poison for Shaolin monks to have compatibility with materials used in Shaolin Temple’s pill refining methods from the start. So the more you use internal energy, the more vigorously poison spreads throughout your body and kills you!”

Beom-hae gritted his teeth and asked.

“What would you have done if we hadn’t prepared Heaven Color Melting Pills?”

“The most foolish question of the day! Whether you eat Heaven Color Melting Pills or not!”

Tang Qing’s small eyes opened wide.

Either way you die.

Tang Qing raised his eyes and laughed loudly.

“Invincible One Hui-neung! You learned the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic, didn’t you? Then his disciple Beom-hae, you must be the same. Hehehehe! Hehehehe! Thank you for coming. This will be a good experiment!”

Beom-hae’s expression became terrifyingly distorted.

Beom-hae threw the pill on the ground. He stepped on it and crushed it.

Beom-hae silently raised his internal energy to the maximum. His golden kasaya swelled tautly and reddish energy gathered at the crown of his head. Golden light appeared around his eyes.

Tang Qing plucked one strand of white hair about a span long.

The hair filled with internal energy stood stiff like a needle.

“Block it just once. Then I’ll give you my head.”

Tang Qing lightly swept his arm as if throwing a dagger. The hair floated in the air then flew toward Beom-hae’s brow like a beam of light.

This was the Tang family’s hidden weapon technique, Flash Severance.

Beom-hae activated Golden Orchid Iron Pillar and crossed both arms in front.

The hair penetrated Golden Orchid Iron Pillar without sound or sensation.

It was unbelievably powerful for mere hair.

The hair that penetrated the robe sleeve imbued with Golden Orchid Iron Pillar pierced through Beom-hae’s left forearm. Then it penetrated another blocking robe sleeve and embedded in his right palm. But it still didn’t stop.

It even passed through his right palm as if passing through water.

Then it lodged in the pupil of Beom-hae’s wide-open right eye.

Beom-hae’s upper body bent greatly backward and his body swayed. He covered his eye and retreated several steps before kneeling.

Tang Qing mocked Beom-hae.

“Hehehehe! Hehehehe! Why block it? You should have dodged, you idiot!”

Beom-hae covered his right eye, looked at Tang Qing, and gritted his teeth.

Tang Qing laughed as if possessed by madness.

“When I decided to devour the martial world and establish our family as the world’s greatest! What bothered me most then was your Shaolin Temple. So I agonized and agonized over how to penetrate that damn Golden Orchid Iron Pillar that deflects all hidden weapons!”

Grind. This time it was Tang Qing who gritted his teeth.

“Look. Now see the result.”

Then Tang Qing plucked a whole handful more hair. Beom-hae kicked off the ground and charged at Tang Qing like an enraged tiger.

“Roaaaaar!”

* * *

Unbelievable news struck the martial world.

Despite the old rainy season causing floods that cut off roads and blocked passages everywhere, the news spread throughout all of Central Plains through people’s word of mouth.

Rumors about the eighteen Stone Vajras Shaolin Temple sent to Sichuan’s Tang Family Main House.

The Stone Vajras completely destroyed thirty percent of the fortress-like Tang Family Main House’s outer courtyard… and were all annihilated!