Chapter 489

Jin Ja-gang gathered tree branches to start a fire and hunted to catch birds. There was much to prepare for camping outdoors.

However, Son-bi just watched what Jin Ja-gang was doing from start to finish without lifting a finger.

Jin Ja-gang didn’t rebuke Son-bi at all and silently made preparations.

Son-bi’s expression, sitting still and watching, gradually became sullen.

Son-bi jumped up and grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s hand.

When Jin Ja-gang looked at her as if wondering why, she wrote on Jin Ja-gang’s palm.

Why don’t you ask?

“Ask for what?”

Do this, do that. Help me. You could say those things but you don’t say a word to me.

“So you were angry?”

Son-bi’s cheeks flushed red.

That’s not it.

Son-bi turned her head slightly then wrote.

I felt good when you asked me.

Jin Ja-gang looked at Son-bi with a calm smile.

“I had some things to think about.”

That’s why I was angry. I…

Son-bi, who was about to write more, stopped her finger and looked at Jin Ja-gang.

I’m right beside you but you pay no attention to me…

Jin Ja-gang guessed what Son-bi was trying to say.

“I’m sorry.”

Son-bi shook her head.

At times like this, it would have been better to be angry than to apologize.

Somewhat deflated, Son-bi held Jin Ja-gang’s hand and wrote.

If I had met you sooner, would you have looked at me?

Jin Ja-gang answered immediately.

“Probably not.”

Son-bi let out a feeble laugh.

I thought so.

Since she was up anyway, Son-bi began working together with Jin Ja-gang. She prepared firewood and fixed the sleeping area. Martial artists often camped outdoors, so Son-bi was accustomed to it.

While the two were eating a quiet dinner, Yeong-gwi came to find them.

Yeong-gwi’s work handling was very fast and accurate, completing what Jin Ja-gang ordered without mistakes.

However, Yeong-gwi’s expression when she arrived wasn’t very good.

Yeong-gwi looked at Jin Ja-gang and said.

“The Namgung Family’s trap formations… were breached.”

It had only been one day since Shaolin Temple attacked the Namgung Family.

In the end, the Namgung Family couldn’t hold out.

***

When Beom-bon destroyed all the trap formations, broke through the formations, and reached the front of the Namgung Family’s estate.

The Namgung Family’s estate was wide open.

People from the Namgung Family came out to greet Beom-bon and the Arhat monks.

The Arhat monks who had passed through formations for a long time were filled with killing intent, unbecoming of monks. They were excited as if they would rush in and smash the Namgung Family as soon as an order was given.

Beom-bon looked down indifferently at the Namgung Family members who came out front.

“Namo Amitabha Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. What is the reason benefactors are blocking my front?”

Asking why they’re blocking the front when the estate’s owners are out!

An old elder from the Namgung Family came forward and clasped his fists. Then he silently gestured backward.

Then the Namgung Family head and several elders were dragged out bound.

“Oho. Is this the Namgung Family’s answer?”

“That’s right.”

The family head’s eyes sparked as he looked around at Beom-bon and the Namgung Family traitors.

“To bring disgrace to the Namgung name! You will receive heavenly punishment!”

The old elder and those who betrayed rather scolded the family head.

“Shaolin Temple already neutralized our trap formations in one day. You already know what happened to those who resisted the Righteous Dharma March! Don’t you know that fighting more will only destroy our family!”

However, Beom-bon tilted his head.

“As benefactor says, I have decided not to leave demon followers who resist alive in this world. Preserving lives by sacrificing a few in their place will be a difficult matter.”

The old elder and the traitors bowed their heads.

“We merely needed time to make a decision. We haven’t resisted yet. That’s why we hurried out to greet you as soon as the abbot arrived, to avoid misunderstanding.”

An utterly petty answer.

Beom-bon slowly nodded.

“Indeed… that makes sense.”

Then with leisurely steps, he walked toward those who were bound. The family head and others looked up at Beom-bon with burning eyes. Beom-bon raised his hand holding prayer beads to the sky.

Then he struck the family head directly.

Kwang!

The family head, being restrained, couldn’t dodge and took Beom-bon’s single strike. Instantly all the bones in his body broke and twisted as he was slammed into the ground. Though life remained, even if healed, he would never return to a sound body!

“Keok…”

The family head vomited blood. Arhat monks grabbed the trembling family head and shaved his head with a precept knife. Long hair rustled as it piled on the ground.

Beom-bon looked over the Namgung Family members who had betrayed. Then he suddenly chanted a Buddhist invocation and flicked his finger.

Ting!

A prayer bead flew and hit the leg of a martial artist gritting his teeth and swallowing anger. The martial artist’s leg shattered and he collapsed to his knees.

“Uaaaak! Uaaak!”

Beom-bon flicked prayer beads several times. Each time, Namgung Family members’ legs shattered and they collapsed. If they moved even slightly, prayer beads flew without fail.

The Namgung Family members clenched their teeth and fists tightly.

When those with hostility or resentment in their eyes were no longer visible, only then did Beom-bon smile.

“Namo Amitabha.”

Arhat monks dragged out the Namgung Family members with shattered legs and began forcibly shaving their heads.

***

Word that Jin Ja-gang was going to meet Great Buddha had already reached King of Hell Tang Qing’s ears.

While Tang Qing was causing a disturbance in Sichuan in the west, Jin Ja-gang struck at Great Buddha in the east, making it literally a feint to the east and strike to the west.

It was truly an action befitting Jin Ja-gang.

He stabbed the enemy’s weakness, the most dangerous heart, in one blow.

If Great Buddha was the Hungry Ghost King, he would be stabbed as is, and even if not, it could stop Shaolin Temple’s indiscriminate actions acting like the Hungry Ghost King’s blade.

Moreover, Tang Qing heard the time Jin Ja-gang presented to Great Buddha Beom-bon and realized Jin Ja-gang wanted to buy time.

The Namgung Family was one of the greatest pillars of the Yangtze River Sword Gate and a comrade sharing intentions with Taoist Haewol. If the Namgung Family could be saved, it would greatly help in handling the situation afterward.

Making multiple moves in one action was Jin Ja-gang indeed.

However, for that very reason, he was greatly surprised when he heard news that the Namgung Family collapsed faster than expected.

“Oh no…”

Tang Qing could tell Jin Ja-gang would be in trouble.

“This brat! So if you had a plan, you should have at least hinted to me.”

Tang Qing stamped his feet.

While traveling around Sichuan and nearby regions collecting information, there had been no particular results. The Hungry Ghost King continued erasing tracks. Numerous witnesses disappeared and whereabouts became unclear.

He only confirmed that most of those whose tracks disappeared were related to the higher realm, as Jin Ja-gang said.

In this situation, no clever method to help Jin Ja-gang came to mind.

To Mount Song in Henan Province where Shaolin Temple was located was four thousand li.

Even rushing diligently, catching up would be difficult.

The opponent was Great Buddha.

“All martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin!”

Shaolin Temple was a place where no one could raise objections even to such a tremendously arrogant statement. He was going to meet that Shaolin Temple’s highest leader.

An opponent he might not be able to defeat even in perfect condition. Perhaps the greatest mastermind behind this fight, going to meet him battered and broken, if the plan was disrupted, it would obviously become even more disadvantageous.

Even if the opponent was caught off guard unexpectedly.

However, this wasn’t Jin Ja-gang’s fight alone.

It was a fight staking the Tang Family’s, and furthermore the martial world’s future.

He had to help Jin Ja-gang somehow.

Tang Qing urgently had a letter prepared.

“I don’t like it, but bats exist to be used at times like this. Poison Heaven, buy some time hard for daddy.”

***

An Clan Medical Family was also one of the sects embroiled in internal strife.

Within the An Clan family, the side wanting to surrender to Shaolin Temple attempted to poison Divine Physician An Yul-jin with cooperation from other sects.

An Yul-jin quickly settled the family turmoil, gathered remaining personnel, and finished taking revenge by going to sects that helped the rebel forces.

Though considerable losses were suffered, by eliminating both internal and external troubles, An Clan Medical Family finally had leeway to organize internally. They also established face by punishing traitors.

But then…

While barely catching his breath, a letter of unknown sender arrived for An Yul-jin.

An Yul-jin looked at the letter, specifically the phrase written in the very first line, with puzzlement.

Thanks for saving me.

He could tell immediately who it was.

“King of Hell. At least he knows to say thanks…”

However, the moment he read the next phrase, An Yul-jin’s expression greatly twisted. His pallid complexion from not fully recovering from poisoning became even paler.

Below the words of gratitude, one more sentence was written.

I’ll tell you in return. Great Buddha is the Hungry Ghost King.

“You crazy!”

The letter crumpled in An Yul-jin’s hand.

So what!

An Clan Medical Family had already killed several Arhat monks to repay the blood debt for Physician Bell Healers. Already marked badly by Shaolin Temple, why send such a useless letter?

If the letter’s contents became known to others, one hundred out of one hundred would get entangled, and getting involved in unnecessary matters was what An Clan Medical Family most worried about.

Tang Qing couldn’t not know.

He knew and sent it.

It absolutely wasn’t a letter sent to give thanks.

An Yul-jin had previously tried to establish connections with the Tang Family but withdrew midway when Tang Qing went wrong.

In Tang Qing’s view, this was no different from betrayal.

At this time when rumors were rampant that Jin Ja-gang was going to meet Great Buddha, Tang Qing was forcing An Yul-jin by informing him of a secret that might not even be true.

This is your last chance. Will you be on my side, or will you die?

That’s why he wrote at the end of the letter that Great Buddha was the Hungry Ghost King.

In other words, it meant to help Jin Ja-gang strike Great Buddha.

Jin Ja-gang recently surpassed the Two Martial Venerables and defeated Unbreakable Heavenly Sword and the Righteous Alliance. Among martial artists currently active in the martial world, those who could defeat Jin Ja-gang could be counted on one hand.

However, Jin Ja-gang’s martial arts were focused on hidden weapons and poison, so there were limits to attack methods. On the other hand, Great Buddha was unquestionably Shaolin Temple’s greatest expert. Moreover, he was evaluated as having mastered the most perfect defensive techniques in Shaolin history. Furthermore, the existence of Arhat monks backing him couldn’t be ignored.

If An Yul-jin had assessed Jin Ja-gang’s chances of victory before receiving this letter, it would have been about twenty to thirty percent. If the An Clan Medical Family’s power that learned Imperial Palace martial arts was added, the chances might increase a bit more.

However, An Yul-jin had no such intention.

For An Yul-jin, the greatest purpose was preserving the family. He couldn’t jump into a losing matter and let the family go wrong. That’s why previously he abandoned the Medicine Sects and attached to the Poison Sects, and even after attaching to the Tang Family, immediately withdrew when the Tang Family faced danger.

“King of Hell. That you sent this letter is proof that Poison Dragon will have difficulty defeating Great Buddha. Moreover, you even guessed wrong. I won’t be angry that you made such a threat. Rather, thanks to you I’ve grasped a good opportunity to protect my family. I should thank you.”

An Yul-jin urgently gathered all the elites within the family. Then immediately dispatched them.

Like ten years ago, An Clan Medical Family this time too had laid groundwork to survive in the chaotic martial world.