novelraw Chapter 183 : Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
Chapter 183 : Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
Chapter 183: Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
If the regular sound of the wooden moktak echoed from the Dharma Hall as monks cultivated the Buddhist Way,
then here at the mouth of the alley, irregular sounds of beating were flowing out.
A chaotic beating mixed with curses and shouting.
A slick-looking young man repeatedly shouted that there had been some misunderstanding, but the “delinquent” lay disciples of our Shaolin Temple seemed to know no forgiveness.
“Just a lowly merchant’s brat.”
“You dare sell our names for your own gain?”
“This is why people who play with money are like this!”
They stomped, screamed, and sneered at him. They were nothing but bundles of worldly afflictions soaked in secular greed.
“Those are all kids from rich families, yet they’re still like that even after coming to a temple.”
“When people gather together, they always start comparing superiority and showing off their strength, Captain.”
Ilhong spoke as if it were simply human nature, saying that whether they were the sons of wealthy families or lay disciples of Shaolin Temple, they were all the same.
Since I had always moved alone after coming here, I had never experienced something like that.
Ah, maybe not completely alone. I did have subordinates now.
“Namu Amita Bul.”
I raised my voice among the Shaolin Temple delinquents who were absorbed in their group beating.
They were startled and turned to look at me.
“What are you?”
“Why are you suddenly saying ‘Namu Amita Bul’?”
“You’ve barely been here, so why are you pretending to be a Shaolin monk?”
The bastards abandoned the guy they were beating and quickly surrounded me and Ilhong as their new target.
The youths who had just begun learning martial arts swaggered and threatened us, while Ilhong beside me snorted quietly.
“You benefactors are rather violent. However, in the Central Plains, one should not recklessly swing one’s fists…”
Even if you tried to solve things with words, the Murim was a place where everything ended with violence.
Yet they had already formed the habit of using violence from the very first move.
I clasped my hands together and offered some advice.
“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard.”
“We told you to stop pretending to be a monk.”
Perhaps my clumsy imitation only angered them further. They cursed viciously as they slowly approached.
Judging from the way they clenched their fists, it looked like they would swing at any moment.
And the young man who had been surrounded and beaten stared at me with a strange expression, as if wondering what kind of lunatic had suddenly barged in.
“Why shouldn’t we swing our fists? Explain it, you pretty-boy bastard.”
The largest youth shoved his nose right up to my face as he provoked me.
They had ganged up on someone cowardly and were even attacking appearances.
These benefactors clearly needed their character disciplined through a method other than the Buddhist Way.
“Because the Buddha said such violence—”
But it seemed they had never intended to listen. The moment I opened my mouth, the youths rushed at me from all sides.
“—only invites even greater violence!”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
My palm strikes flashed like lightning, repeatedly striking the tops of the lay disciples’ heads.
Having been beaten for years by Hwang Geolgae, the refined principles of beating were embedded in my strikes. The Shaolin delinquents howled in agony as if their eyes would flip over.
“Ugh!”
“C–ugh!”
Their skulls felt like they were splitting apart, yet not a single mark of violence remained.
In other words, the perfect crime.
“Y–you bastard… guh!”
He tried to curse through the pain but rolled his eyes and fainted.
“Namu Amita Bul.”
I pressed my palms together again and prayed for their peace.
While watching my little act of teabagging, Ilhong spoke with half-lidded eyes.
“Captain, that tone of yours is really irritating.”
“That’s the point.”
A ridiculous act like that was meant to provoke anger in others.
And I had always enjoyed messing with people who ganged up on someone weaker.
“So, you there—the nameless guy who was getting beaten. Are you okay—”
“Friend! Thank you so much for helping me!”
Before I could even finish speaking, the young man grabbed my shoulder and shouted his thanks.
Calling me “friend” when we had just met? This guy had no sense of distance.
From afar he had looked like a timid scholar, but up close he had a surprisingly sly side.
“Annoyingly handsome.”
When he heard my blunt mutter, the young man exaggeratedly made a shocked expression.
“Friend, that’s a bit harsh. Wait… thinking about it, is that a compliment? Fine, I’ll take it as one!”
He had quite the cheek. He laughed cheerfully as if he truly took it as praise.
Hard to believe he was the same guy who had been beaten like a rag moments ago.
“I am the second son of the Hanrim Trading Company here in Henan Province. My name is Jo Gon. Nice to meet you, friend.”
“…Yeah, sure. Nice to meet you. First time seeing you, friend. I’m also the second son of a trading company in Yangzhou. The name’s Muhong.”
After my introduction, he grabbed my hand and smiled as if he liked me.
“Oh! Finally someone similar to me has arrived! Everyone else here is either from great families, powerful regional clans, or prestigious households that have produced many government officials. It’s been very hard to even start a conversation.”
They were all from proud and famous families, so someone who was merely the second or third son of a mid-sized trading company had nowhere to stand.
Especially since many of those high-and-mighty types looked down on commerce, even among the lay disciples.
So that was why they had called him someone who just played with money earlier.
“Let’s do well together, fellow son of a middling merchant. Friend Muhong.”
Overflowing with a sense of camaraderie, he even slung an arm around my shoulders.
Letting him do as he pleased, I started to find his over-familiar attitude slightly annoying.
No wonder those guys had surrounded him and beaten him earlier. It seemed there had been some self-inflicted cause as well.
“By the way, who is this incredibly handsome and delicate-looking friend beside you?”
Jo Gon pointed at Ilhong, who was standing next to me with a pout.
At that, Ilhong narrowed her eyes, grabbed my arm away from Jo Gon, and spoke.
“My name is Geumhong. Please don’t get too close to my Hyungnim. You’re making him uncomfortable.”
I explained that we had met on the way here and become close.
“Is that so? Geumhong, was it? From my perspective, it seems you are the one clinging much more tightly to him.”
Indeed.
Seeing Ilhong marking her territory as if refusing to let me be taken away, Jo Gon scratched his temple.
“What’s the problem? I’m fine with it. We’re close.”
She had gotten quite shameless too.
Jo Gon alternated his gaze between us with a strange expression, then suddenly struck his palm with his fist as if realizing something.
“Ah, I see. So you have that kind of inclination(?)”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
I shook off Ilhong’s arm and frowned.
“No, no, don’t worry. I don’t think such things are strange. There are many different inclinations in this world.”
Jo Gon winked playfully. The strange understanding in his eyes made me slightly irritated.
“I said what nonsense are you talking about?”
“So this male-forbidden sacred domain, a symbol of abstinence, must look like a well-prepared garden to you.”
I was starting to regret saving him.
And I could also understand why those guys had beaten him earlier.
Because I suddenly wanted to punch him too.
“Just don’t come too close to me. Otherwise, to protect my pure body, I’ll shout—!”
Thud!
Jo Gon was silenced by a single punch.
He seemed broken, so I hit him once to reset him.
“Now he’s finally quiet.”
After morning physical training ended, during a short break,
Jo Gon, the second son of the Hanrim Trading Company whose misunderstanding had been cleared up last time, thumped my back loudly.
“Hahaha! This Jo Gon made a huge misunderstanding. Since I committed a discourtesy, I must apologize.”
Whether it was his tone or his actions, everything about the guy was excessive.
He looked like he would do well as a street vendor drawing customers.
“In the Central Plains, if two men walk around linking arms like that, misunderstandings are inevitable. Be careful next time.”
At his advice, I looked at Ilhong with a “You heard that, right?” expression.
Perhaps having nothing to say, she scratched her cheek and quietly looked away.
“By the way, is this your first time at Shaolin Temple, friend?”
“Could an outsider possibly come here twice? Of course it’s my first time.”
At my answer, Jo Gon laughed loudly and plopped down beside me.
“Then I’ll tell you this and that. Even though Shaolin Temple seems like a closed space, there are surprisingly many places and types of people here!”
He began explaining the major places and organizations.
Starting with the famous Scripture Pavilion that stored Shaolin’s great martial arts manuals and Buddhist scriptures,
then the Yangsim Hall of the Precept Hall monks who cultivated Buddhist law,
and the Discipline Hall, which supervised Shaolin’s rules and was most closely connected to lay disciples’ lives.
Finally, the Arhat Hall, the residence of Shaolin Temple’s elite masters, the Eighteen Arhats.
“And the flower of organizational life is connections. Connections! Since we donated a large sum to enter here, shouldn’t we build relationships with important people in Shaolin?”
As expected of a lay disciple who entered with a large donation, Jo Gon spoke smoothly as if he had thoroughly researched everything beforehand.
Which true disciples held real power, and whose faction one should join to have an easy life as a lay disciple.
“Be sure to get close with Beopgwang. He’s a true Shaolin monk. Soon he’ll be teaching us martial arts as well.”
He even explained which Arhat had the worst personality, who we should impress, and which promising young Shaolin monk had the brightest future.
If I had truly come here as a lay disciple, it would have been extremely useful advice.
But even if I listened to all of this, it wasn’t something I could use.
“Don’t you have other information?”
“What other information? I think I’ve already told you everything I know.”
Jo Gon tilted his head as if wondering what else there could possibly be.
“You know… like suspicious people.”
“….”
He stared at me silently, the same man who had swept away the delinquents earlier with suspicious martial arts.
“Not me, you idiot.”
“Ahem.”
He cleared his throat and changed the topic.
“Are you looking for someone? I won’t pry, but…”
Since I had helped him, he said he would keep his mouth shut.
Of course, even if he didn’t, I would make sure he did.
“Anything unusual is fine. Just tell me whatever you know.”
“Hm. Something unusual… Now that I think about it, there are a few words that are considered absolute taboos among the Shaolin monks.”
What? Words that were taboo among monks cultivating the Buddhist Way?
Clinging to even a straw of hope, I asked him what they were.
“The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament and the name Dan Mujin.”
“…Ah.”
Memories from the past suddenly flashed through my mind.
Due to misunderstandings piling up, we had developed a bit of a bad relationship.
“The reason is actually quite deep—”
“Ah, it’s fine. You don’t have to explain.”
I already knew the reason without hearing it.
Ugh.
The hour when humans sleep the deepest—Hour of the Ox.
Unable to endure the rumbling of my stomach, I finally got up.
“This won’t do.”
A decision made in the dead of night.
I had to go out and grab something to eat. Or maybe raid the storeroom.
After all, the Shaolin monks guarding the lay disciples probably weren’t anything special.
I decided to take a short nighttime adventure.
Step. Step.
My footsteps slipped silently through the darkness.
But in this faint night, there was another suspicious presence wandering around Shaolin Temple besides me.
‘Hm?’
A familiar face I felt like I had seen somewhere before.
The Shaolin monk Jo Gon had said earlier was the most powerful figure and someone we must befriend.
It was Beopgwang.