novelraw Chapter 181 : Shaolin Temple
Chapter 181 : Shaolin Temple
Chapter 181: Shaolin Temple
The Emei Sect had a famous martial force.
An elite unit formed by selecting women with outstanding martial arts to carry out the Evil-Slaying Campaign and other external missions. It was called the Tiger-Subduing Monastery.
Just as the name suggested—subduing tigers—each of them possessed the strength of a hundred warriors. Their martial prowess was said to rival the Arhats of the Shaolin Temple, the warrior monks of that great sect.
And now, several members of that very Tiger-Subduing Monastery had taken on an extremely important mission and rushed all the way to Beijing, unleashing their Body Movement Technique without pause.
“The Yellow Dragon that fills the horizon. So this is Beijing.”
The gates of Beijing, where a painting of a Yellow Dragon was depicted soaring powerfully into the heavens.
A woman visiting the Imperial Capital for the first time seemed overwhelmed by its scale and majesty. Catching her breath, she murmured softly.
“It took nine days, but running day and night with Body Movement Technique was worth it, Gi Hyo.”
Standing beside her, Jeong Yo replied with a faint smile.
The two women of the Emei Sect had come to Beijing under the order of their Sect Leader to find a troubleshooter named Dan Mujin.
They removed their white robes, changed into ordinary martial attire, and blended into the bustling streets of Beijing.
After asking around for quite some time, they eventually learned that the troubleshooter’s office was located in the outskirts.
“Is this man named Dan Mujin really worth all this trouble?”
Jeong Yo muttered quietly, suspicion clear in her voice.
After all, in her mind, a troubleshooter was usually a low-class type—some half-baked martial artist from the Evil Sect who did whatever work came along simply to earn money.
“The Beggars’ Union operatives never speak with certainty about uncertain information. Let’s trust them for now and go inside.”
Gi Hyo replied calmly.
But even after making their presence known and knocking on the door, the inside of the office seemed completely empty.
Just as the two Emei Sect women—who had traveled such a long distance—were beginning to feel disheartened, a passing beggar spotted them and spoke.
“What brings you to this office?”
Though his appearance was shabby and ragged, he had a tassel tied to his waist, so Gi Hyo and Jeong Yo answered cautiously.
“We are people from a family in Beijing.”
“We are looking for Master Dan Mujin. We wish to entrust him with a request.”
The Beggars’ Union operative listened with a blank expression, then looked the two women up and down before letting out a short laugh.
“That breathing technique, that posture… and even the sword. Emei Sect, huh.”
“……”
Their identities exposed in an instant, the two women sealed their lips and remained silent.
“If you’re looking for that fellow Dan Mujin, go to the temple area. He should be somewhere near the entrance of an alley.”
Those Beggars’ Union operatives really did know far too much. It made conversation with them uncomfortable.
Following the directions, the two Emei Sect women entered an open lot in a back alley where the main street was clearly visible.
Unlike the main road, this place received no maintenance. Dust floated sparsely through the air, and nameless shrubs had grown thick and wild.
Gi Hyo and Jeong Yo looked around in confusion when they failed to see the troubleshooter the beggar had mentioned.
“They said Dan Mujin was here…”
“Even the Beggars’ Union information isn’t always accurate.”
Could they really be wrong about something as simple as a location?
At this rate, they even began to doubt the very reason he had been recommended in the first place.
At that moment, when the name Dan Mujin was mentioned—
Rustle.
Something moved in the bushes, and a strange man suddenly sprang up.
“Were you looking for me?”
“……Mother of mercy!”
The Emei Sect women cried out in shock.
First, they were startled by the bizarre sight of the man—his entire body covered with shrubs, leaves, and branches, as though he had merged with nature itself.
Second, they were shocked that they had not sensed his presence at all.
“That outfit… what on earth is it?”
Jeong Yo asked, staring suspiciously at the strange camouflage.
“It’s something I made myself. A ghillie suit. Anyway, you were looking for me, right?”
The young man introduced himself as Dan Mujin. The two women nodded absentmindedly.
“But what were you even doing here?”
Gi Hyo asked, still calming her startled heart.
“I was investigating an affair. What about you?”
Dan Mujin explained that almost no one came to this place, and from here he could clearly observe a secret entrance of the tiled house across the street—so he had been lying in wait.
“A Beggars’ Union operative told us that if we wanted to find you, we should come here…”
“Wait, they revealed my location too? …Ah, right. I did ask them to refer clients if they had any requests.”
It seemed he had some kind of arrangement with the Beggars’ Union.
Jeong Yo, who had been watching and listening to all of this nonsense with a baffled expression, finally spoke.
“A master of the Righteous Sect who made his name in the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament is spying on ordinary citizens like this… doing such a lowly task. Are you serious?”
The Emei Sect expert openly called his actions shameful and unorthodox.
An affair investigation?
For women who had spent their entire lives cultivating their minds and bodies in the mountains, such a livelihood was nearly impossible to accept.
“You ladies really don’t understand. This affair investigation is actually a process of restoring justice.”
Dan Mujin explained that it was a way to restore the client’s trust and bring peace back to their household.
“Does that make any sense? A husband and wife are built upon mutual trust. Suspecting your beloved in the first place already goes against the Way.”
Jeong Yo preached the Taoist teachings she had learned in the Emei Sect, claiming that even suspicion itself was unacceptable.
“What do you mean it makes no sense? Once the seed of suspicion sprouts, it grows uncontrollably. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to hire someone like me and remove the root entirely?”
Dan Mujin responded without backing down.
Jeong Yo made a displeased expression.
“Still, to use the martial prowess of someone in the Transcendence Realm for something like romantic entanglements between men and women… it’s utterly trivial.”
As he spoke with her, Dan Mujin felt that she was so rigid it was difficult to have a proper conversation.
“So then, you honorable and incorruptible members of the Emei Sect—what kind of request did you come to entrust to someone as crooked as me?”
Since they had come because of a request, Dan Mujin asked about their business.
“Ah.”
“……”
The two Emei Sect women suddenly hesitated, unable to say the contents of the request, their expressions clearly saying they had dug their own graves.
Well, well.
A short while later. At the troubleshooter office on the outskirts of Beijing.
Warm tea for guests filled the room with a gentle fragrance.
The two Emei Sect women, Gi Hyo and Jeong Yo—having revealed the entire story—were quietly avoiding my gaze.
“So in short…”
Roasted peanuts crunched between my teeth.
Swinging one leg idly, I continued.
“The greatest genius of the Emei Sect and a candidate for Sect Leader ran away to the Shaolin Temple because she fell in love with a man?”
That was a catastrophic disaster.
The sect had lost both its martial foundation and its next Sect Leader at the same time.
“Th-the sacred relic of the Emei Sect, the Yitian Interspatial Sword… also disappeared…”
Jeong Yo added weakly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Now this was a complete mess.
“And you people still lecture others about their livelihoods while bringing requests like this? Really?”
“Ahem.”
At my words, the two women lowered their heads, unable to respond.
The backs of their necks turned red with embarrassment.
“We were short-sighted. Please forgive us.”
When a client paying good money apologizes like that, you’ve got to let it go.
I snorted and grabbed another handful of peanuts.
“Captain, then what about the previous request?”
Ilhong asked.
It was the resentful request of a client who wanted us to find the affair partner of their cheating spouse.
Since Ilhong insisted we uphold the motto written on the sign in front of the office, failure was not an option.
“It’s almost finished. I just need to go tell the client who the affair partner is.”
Once that happened, the client would storm off in a fury to confront the lover.
That was the most entertaining part of these kinds of requests—but since a new client had arrived, it seemed I would have to leave quickly this time and miss the show.
They said the situation was urgent, so I’d have to sprint at full speed using Body Movement Technique.
“Mujin, then you’ll be making good money for a while again, huh?”
“Yeah. Like rain during a drought.”
When people become blinded by love, they stop fearing even the Imperial Household.
The Trading Lord of a famous trading company had handed me a huge sum and begged me to find her immediately.
The requests I took were either to accumulate good karma or to earn a living.
This one fell into the latter category.
“Anyway, Shaolin Temple. I’ve heard a lot about it and seen it a few times. Ilhong, do you know much about it?”
“Of course I do. It’s the Shaolin Temple.”
Even Ilhong—who seemed to know everything except the things she didn’t—spoke confidently about it.
Right.
The Shaolin Temple.
The head of the Nine Sects One Gang, and the pillar of the Righteous Sect with a long and illustrious tradition.
And we were going to sneak into such a place with a rather improper objective and fish someone out.
“For now, Harang and Ilhong will have to stay.”
The two employees of the office immediately protested.
“What? Why?”
“I’m coming too. Why are you going alone?”
Why go alone?
“The place forbids women entirely. It’s a male-forbidden sacred domain.”
I answered while stuffing the necessary items into my travel bundle.
Ilhong suddenly leaned close and whispered into my ear.
“This time, I’m definitely coming with you.”
“Didn’t you hear me earlier? It’s far away, and only men can go there.”
“You’ve always treated me like a boy anyway. Why change now?”
Hmm.
That was hard to argue against.
Ilhong strongly insisted on joining, and soon began packing her own things beside me.
Watching this, Jo Harang suddenly slapped her knee as if realizing something.
“That’s it, Ilhong. Since you’re good at disguises—like when you made that Human-skin Mask last time—just disguise me as a man.”
She suggested cross-dressing so she could come with us to Henan Province.
At that moment, both Ilhong and I instinctively glanced at her chest.
“That would be hard to hide, wouldn’t it?”
“…Yes. Probably.”
It’s easy to make something appear when it isn’t there.
But making something disappear when it is there?
That’s difficult.
Disguises are like that.
“Stop staring, Captain.”
“Ahem. I was just confirming the feasibility.”
My intentions were pure.
“Then I’m guarding the house again? That’s boring… Ilhong’s lucky.”
At those words, Ilhong glanced down at her own chest.
She bit her lip slightly before lifting her head again.
“W-well… you’re still in your growth period, Ilhong. Don’t worry about it.”
“Please be quiet, Captain.”
“Alright then.”
I nodded and quickly headed out of the office.
One of the greatest landmarks in the Central Plains throughout both past and present—the famous Shaolin Temple.
Located in central Henan Province, and further up from the mountainside where we previously visited, once you reach Shaoshi Peak, the most famous great sect in martial arts stories reveals itself.
The full view of the Shaolin Temple unfolded before our eyes.
“Oh, so this is the Shaolin Temple.”
After crossing the rugged mountain terrain, the sect that stood at the peak of the Murim appeared.
The vast temple complex, carrying a thousand years of history, seemed naturally embraced by the mountain ridges, as if it were one with the mountain itself.
“So that Emei Sect woman is hiding here, right?”
Though the spirit of the Righteous Sect flowed through this place, the purpose of our visit today was anything but righteous.
“And the warrior monk who lured her here must be hiding somewhere too, Captain.”
I nodded at Ilhong’s remark.
Today, we were not ordinary visitors.