Chapter 94

Before leaving for Kunlun.
He’s the head of the Eighteen Kingdoms.
He was the one who summoned the Eighty-Nine, one of Shaolin’s eight great golden powers.
At his call, three of the eighteen Arahans came running.
Gakmun, Gakshan, and Gakbang.
All three were eighteen years old.
Eighteen.
Eighteen Arahants gathered together to defend Shaolin.
Furthermore, those who possess the spirit of the Arahants, based on the enlightenment gained from their cultivation, defend the Zheng Sect.
They concentrate on the search for the eighteen nahans, endeavoring to concentrate and magnify the spirit of Shaolin and the energy of Buddhism.
When a generation of eighteen nahans comes to an end, they pass on all of their enlightenment to the next generation of eighteen nahans and step down.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the previous generation’s eighteen nahans, the one who led the eighteen nahans, became the current Shaolin master, remaining as a monk to lead the Shaolin.
“Namu Amitabha. I apologize for interrupting your training.”
“Not at all, Master.”
“I have a difficult favor to ask. To the three of you.”
“Please.”
At Hyeon-yeon’s words, Gak-moon stood in a posture as if he would jump into the fire at once. At the same time, the other eighteen or nineteen people also wore stern expressions.
“Go to Kunlun. Go and help Kunlun with their difficulties and lend a hand.”
“I will do so.”
“Also, we need to see if anyone has appeared who is being followed by those who have defied the fate of the heavens. Namo Amitabha.”
“Namu Amitabha.”
“Namuamitabha.”
“Namu Amitabha, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.”
These were the three people who chanted according to Hye-yeon’s wishes.
Those who defied heavenly destiny.
In Shaolin, there is only one such group of people.
Those who are martial artists, those who walk the path of the Dao.
“The sign of the Dao, please confirm it.”
“I will certainly do so.”
Hui Yan smiled, and Gak Mun and Gak San bowed their heads in unison. At the sight of that, Gakbang followed suit, only to meet Hye-yeon’s gaze.
“Something’s bothering you, Gakbang.”
“Oh, no.”
“You must be bothered by someone from a free Taoist family.”
At that, Gakwang flinched.
“Perhaps he sensed something was up as soon as he arrived. Still.”
At Hye-yeon’s words, Gakbang lowered his head as if he didn’t know what to do. He felt helpless at the sight of Jang Mun, who was calling him a wise man for having such a good sense.
He had obviously told Mutak, the priest, but even he, a man of great wisdom, was a different kind of person.
His disappearance to go eat rice at the temple was not what he had been told, but it was something that made him puzzled when he thought of Kwangsang, who was considered the best in the spirit of Taoism.
“The learning and reflection of Taoism is something we should also learn in Buddhism. I want you to go along with it and put down your discomfort. If you have his intuition and nonchalance, this Buddhist monk will also be at ease.”
The three bowed their heads at Hye-yeon’s words.
“Gakmun, Gaksan, and Gakbang. The three of them are confident that this is a good experience and a moment that will be deeply etched in their hearts as practitioners of Buddhism. Shaolin is the Buddha, Chengsheng is the Tao, and although they are different directions, their meaning is never different, so see and realize how to save people’s lives, how to show mercy, and how to reach out.”
With those words, the three men agreed.
They believed that Hui Yan, as a divine monk and Shaolin master, meant well.
They also took to heart her words of recognizing the great master.
* * *
I’m sure it was.
Reflection?
Learning?
Hmmm.
It was a far cry.
The gap between Buddhism and Taoism, the gap that I thought would never be bridged, had to be tongue-in-cheek many times.
At every stop along the way.
“Everyone, open your pockets. I’m craving for some five-spice pork.”
“Namu amitabha. We don’t have any money.”
The monk’s eyes widened at the answer.
“Look at him,” he said, ”I would rather deceive the Buddha. To fool my eyes. Don’t you think I don’t know that sound you make when you walk?”
It was a ghost. Hye-yeon had paid for it with her old money. He refused, but she insisted that he would need it.
The warmth of Hye-yeon’s heart, which she had given him to wish him well on his way, was repeatedly broken by the ghost.
Even the meat.
Isn’t it one of the basic ideas that Buddhists and Taoists alike should refrain from eating meat as much as possible?
“Oh, no……!”
“That’s why Buddhists don’t do it, because there are so many pleasures in the world, and how can you deny yourself all of them!”
As soon as the scolding burst out, the sleeves of his robe moved like the wind.
Boom!
The gray robes he wore creaked.
“Eh, that’s all you got for me, eh, eh, eh, eh. I’m so tired of being such a jerk. I’m so sorry.”
Everyone’s faces hardened as they watched him pull the pouch out of Eighteenahan’s arms with a few flicks of his sleeve.
He was about to say something when he saw his executioner shake his head, and his mouth fell open. He sighed, and could only stare in disbelief at the sight of the man who had made him drink.
“No alcohol!”
“Of course not.”
Gakwang’s expression was one of disbelief as he gulped down the bottle of alcohol Jumsoi offered him.
“Hye-yeon, that bastard also put alcohol in his mouth once. You guys.”
I couldn’t believe it. This crazy martial artist spreading rumors.
Everyone was sighing in disbelief as they watched the madman’s crazy behavior.
“Hello, you’re here.”
“Senior, I’m here.”
The young man who identified himself as the Grand Duke of the Southern Gongxue Clan, Xiao Zhi, who introduced himself as the incense of the Hebei Fang Clan, and three other people who, at first glance, looked out of place in their black robes.
The young man looked familiar.
He was called the Thunder Sword Saint for his age, and I had heard that he had distinguished himself with the sword from a young age.
He had attended the Southern Palace’s sword council and heard the stories of Shaolin’s death penalty and the priests talking about it, but to see this child grow up and become a swordsman before his eyes was nothing short of astonishing.
He had defeated the Green Forest of Shandong, fought in the North Sea, survived a battle with Huang Bo Gong of the Netherworld, and until recently had faced the Green Forest King, Bai Guang.
“I heard that you have encountered Bai Guang. Your lineage is indeed long. His pride is too strong to back down.”
“You’re …… lucky.”
“The heavens are indifferent, why would they bestow so much luck on someone like you?”
The young man from the Southern Palace clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Again, again. You’re being mean, senior, don’t be. That’s why those monks aren’t suffering.”
The young man from the Southern Palace, whom they had just met, patted Kwangseung on the back and took care of him. Each of them could only stare at this with wide eyes.
“Don’t talk. They’ve been spending money in front of me, and they’ve been wasting money on me.”
“……Crazy malko dosa.”
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“What, you should have taken off your monk scab before you talked to me, and now you’re asking monks to buy you drinks? You’re crazy, you’re crazy.”
The young man’s words made me feel like a decade-old traffic jam had been lifted, and the other two eighty-nine-year-old monks standing next to me had brightened up.
From then on.
It was none other than the self-appointed Grand Duke of the Southern Palace, who cracked down on the unruly berserker wherever he went.
“You like alcohol. You’re using your freedom as an excuse to humiliate everyone in the city. I’ll go to Qingcheng and tell them everything.”
“You, you……!”
From then on, Kwangseung became a dying man.
“Meat? Good, meat. But I wonder if the Primordial Heavenly King and the Taoist Lord will be angry. I wonder.”
“…….”
He became very quiet.
It wasn’t until he saw Mount Kunlun, which had arrived shortly afterward, that he and the eighteen others thanked the young man from the Southern Palace.
“Namu Amitabha, thanks to you, the lord of the Southern Palace, we have come in peace, and we cannot thank you enough.”
“You’ve suffered physically and emotionally, so how can I thank you for taking things for granted? There’s a lot of work ahead, and I hope we can get through it together.”
The Grand Duke of the Southern Palace was a polite young man. Among the stories told by the courtiers, there were quite a few who said that he was unscrupulous and ungrateful, but the rumors were not to be believed.
“By the way, what has happened in Kunlun that is so serious that it requires the eighteen Shaolin masters to accompany the three of you?”
At the words of the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace, the three monks could only stiffen their expressions.
Just as they were about to speak, the sight of Mount Kunlun in front of them left them all speechless.
They had finally arrived. The Grand Duke of the Southern Palace turned and spoke up as the monk stretched.
“Why have we come here, and now we know why.”
The young man of the Southern Palace, the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace, spoke up.
“Mado. It’s the call sign of Mado. Or perhaps I should say, the manifestation of the Heavenly Horse.”
……Mado’s signature.
And the manifestation of Heaven.
The words were tossed lightly, but the story they contained was like a blade of grass in a dry sky.
Looking at the top of Mount Kunlun, a mountain with an ethereal aura and no end in sight, I could not help but think.
And then.
“……Who are you?”
Compared to the man who was only a Taoist in appearance.
“Muryangsu Buddha.”
Approaching while chanting the mantra was Inyoung, who was clad in a plain gray robe and had a neat and steady expression.
“You must be from Kunlun.”
The master’s face hardened as he spoke, obviously offended at being called a K’un-Lun’s man.
“……What the hell are you?”
“This, you don’t even know my face since you’ve been stuck in the Deep Mountain Valley. I’m the Light Emperor of Qing Shui.”
“……Who is this, the Berserker?”
The rabbit-eyed tutor stares at the man and the others in surprise. When they all nodded their heads in agreement, he let out a huff and opened his mouth.
“Is it true that the madman is crazy about martial arts and the Tao, that he is as wild as any drunkard you’d find in the streets, and that he’s full of meat, drink, and eyes?”
“…….”
At that, the men burst out in unison. Laughter.
“Phew.”
“How can he know so much so accurately?”
“Namo Amitabha, there are some things you can’t hide if you try to hide them.”
And the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace.
“Fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.”
He laughed out loud. As if he couldn’t hold back his laughter. Or as if he didn’t have to.
“……What, what did I say wrong?”
The Taoist’s bewildered response made the group laugh even harder.