The Miraculous Divorce Technique

Chapter 24

After Cheok Sagyeol left.

Lee Munjung and Yang Hong looked at each other and swallowed hard.

"Chief Steward Yang, can that charlatan-like monk really stop that monster?"

Lee Munjung had been deceived as Yang Hong had said, but he was not at all convinced.

The very words that a demon had possessed the spoons and chopsticks sounded like something a madman would say.

"My lord, he is still the Drunken Buddha, Grand Master Muheo, who is called the best master of the righteous faction. Although he commits eccentric acts, his skills can be trusted, so let's wait and see."

Yang Hong had brought in Cheok Sagyeol for a certain reason.

That's why he had hinted to his master and had him hold Cheok Sagyeol to stay for one night.

"As you say, how wonderful it would be if he took care of the monster. Phew..."

Lee Munjung clicked his tongue and shook his head.

The monster that had been circling and attacking for the past few days was so terrifying that the words 'invincible' came to mind.

It had shattered armed government soldiers as if they were reeds, and even skilled ronin were torn to shreds and killed by it.

For Lee Munjung, he was living day by day with his blood running dry.

"Since he received a gold ingot, he won't do it carelessly. You will be able to sleep with your feet stretched out from tonight."

Yang Hong reassured his master with a face like a cunning old fox.

* * *

SWOOSH. SWISH.

Cheok Sagyeol arrived at the place where the screams had been heard and scanned the surroundings.

Three security warriors were lying with their necks broken, and one handmaiden was sitting on the floor, trembling.

"What happened?"

"Th-there... a m-m-monster."

The handmaiden stuttered and pointed in one direction with her finger.

Cheok Sagyeol opened his hearing wide in that direction.

WHOOSH. WHOOSH.

'I can't hear any footsteps. To only hear the sound of cutting through the wind. Is it an assassin...'

He thought it was a top-class assassin who had concealed his presence.

'Don't tell me it was sent by Lee Munjung's political enemies? Damn it. Why did it have to be today of all days? Fuck, you're dead, you bastard.'

BOOM.

As he put strength into the tips of his toes with his fully exerted muscle strength, the ground exploded, pushing Cheok Sagyeol's figure up.

He approached the monstrous figure with an elastic movement like a bowstring shooting an arrow.

'There it is.'

While running, Cheok Sagyeol saw a whitish object moving over the roofs.

'What kind of assassin bastard wears white clothes?'

Assassinations are usually carried out at night when it is easy to hide one's appearance.

That's why assassins wearing black night clothes were the mainstream.

Not a conspicuous white like that.

TAP.

'Hmm? Where is it...'

When he got close, the creature's movement suddenly disappeared.

The sound of cutting through the wind that he had heard just a moment ago was also gone.

'But what's this beastly smell... Heuk!'

BOOM.

As he ducked his head at the fist that suddenly appeared from the darkness, the wall behind him collapsed.

It was a blow as if struck with fist energy.

The one who came into Cheok Sagyeol's sight after he had created a distance was not an assassin.

"A white monkey?!"

The one showing hostility with its fangs bared was a white ape that was said to live on the Great Snow Mountain of the western regions.

Since the Demonic Cult was in Xinjiang, which was close to the western regions, Cheok Sagyeol had also heard of it.

'It's definitely a spiritual beast also called a yeti... But why is this one here...'

The creature's size was about nine feet. It was nearly twice the height of his current old man's body.

"Gaaaaaah!"

The white ape rushed in, swinging a fist the size of a cauldron lid.

Cheok Sagyeol, who had dodged the offensive by turning to the right, planted a blow into the creature's side.

BAM.

"Grrr?"

"Huh?"

'Fuck, is my fist a water fist?'

'Was it because of the limitations of the old man's body, even though I had raised my muscle strength to the maximum?'

The white ape didn't seem to have received much of a shock.

WHOOSH.

As he retracted the fist he had extended, an elbow approached, aiming for Cheok Sagyeol.

Its movement was efficient, as if it were using a stance.

BAM. SCRAPE.

He blocked it with his palm and sent his figure flying back, but the force was so strong that he was pushed back about ten steps, scraping the ground.

Cheok Sagyeol grimaced and rubbed his wrist.

"You're saying a beast has some skills, huh?"

GRIND.

As he clenched his fist, a bone-grinding sound was heard, and the muscles of his arm and shoulder swelled.

He was changing his body to become younger while leaving his face in the state of an old man.

"You should be glad I'm bare-handed today, Whitey."

SWOOSH.

Cheok Sagyeol kicked off the ground and rushed in, as if sticking to the floor.

The white ape, as if conscious of the speed, extended its palm instead of its fist.

It was a movement as if it were trying to catch him because it was difficult to hit him.

BOOM.

As the white ape's hand came close, he kicked off the ground hard again.

Cheok Sagyeol's fist, which had dug into its chest with an accelerated movement, cut through the air.

BAM.

"Gaaah!"

The blow that landed on its side was different from before.

But Cheok Sagyeol was not satisfied.

'Tsk, I drew a scream from it, but is this all?'

The basic physical difference between a human and a beast was too great.

WHOOSH.

In the moment he hesitated, the white ape swung its hand, and Cheok Sagyeol dodged it and jumped up lightly.

"Then how about this?"

CRUNCH.

A gale raged from Cheok Sagyeol's fist, which twisted and untwisted beyond the limit of the joint's range of motion.

BAM. CRACK.

Although there was no Sa-wang, the Gale Explosion Kill, which was loaded with rotational force, was enough to make the white ape's head snap back.

"Grrr. Grrr."

Perhaps due to the shock, the creature, which had sat down on the floor, grabbed its head and shook it from side to side.

Its vision was distorted due to its brain being shaken, and it was difficult to maintain its balance.

"You took that and that's your only reaction? Hah..."

It was a strong blow that would have made even a first-rate master who could use a protective aura lose consciousness.

The white ape, after taking a few breaths, was getting up.

"Gaaah, Gyaak!"

THUMP, THUMP.

The white ape, as if angry, beat its chest with both arms and emitted a crimson light from its eyes.

"You're pissed, huh? Come on!"

A beast and an old man rushed in and clashed.

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM. BAM, BAM.

Of course, it was a one-sided attack by Cheok Sagyeol.

No matter how fast and efficient the white ape's offensive was, it was ultimately at the level of a first-rate master.

Cheok Sagyeol's fist stances, which dodged everything and landed punches, had not a single mistake.

"Kyak! Gyaaaak!"

Was it because it was annoyed that it couldn't land a single hit and couldn't catch Cheok Sagyeol?

The white ape clasped its hands together and raised them high into the sky.

It was the largest movement it had made so far.

"Do you think I'll be hit if you bring that down? If you raise your hands like that, you become defenseless."

The current white ape was full of openings.

Moreover, it was also a posture where its advantage, its toughness, was at its weakest.

The muscles of its upper body had relaxed, and the muscle armor that had covered its whole body was removed.

"Hooooo."

On the other hand, Cheok Sagyeol exhaled and tensed his muscles.

SQUEEZE.

The force that started from the tip of his big toe, pressing down on the ground, went up through his calf muscles and thigh muscles.

Then, the force that was transmitted to his upper body through his erector spinae muscles was amplified by his latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major muscles and gathered in his twisted right arm.

RUMBLE.

A Gale Explosion Kill as if unleashed with the muscles of the whole body.

The blow, which was a linkage of the entire body's muscles, not just the arm muscles from before, hit the chest of the white ape, which had taken off its armor.

BOOM. CRUNCH.

Along with the sound of the blow, a bone-breaking sound was heard, and Cheok Sagyeol's fist was buried in the white ape's chest.

The white ape's chest muscles were wrinkled as if being sucked in by the fist that had dug in, crushing its breastbone.

SLUMP. THUD.

The white ape, which had raised its hands, fell backward in that posture.

A stream of blood flowed from its mouth, and its unmoving chest announced its death.

Cheok Sagyeol approached the white ape and examined its chest and lower abdomen.

"Tsk. No inner core. It's not a spiritual beast, huh?"

When a beast lives for a long time, it comes to possess an inner core full of energy, like a martial artist's dantian, and beasts that possess an inner core are called spiritual beasts.

The inner core of that spiritual beast is also called an elixir and is of great help in increasing internal energy.

"But, for a white ape that lives in the western regions to appear here in Luoyang... Hmm."

Of course, there was no law that said it had to be only in the western regions.

There had been cases where white apes were discovered in the remote jungles of places like Yunnan.

"Huh? Sniff, sniff."

A familiar smell was detected by Cheok Sagyeol's nose.

It was because his senses were still sharp right after the battle.

"This isn't its smell..."

It was not the dead white ape's, but a similar beastly smell.

Cheok Sagyeol enhanced his sense of smell and followed its source.

"Don't tell me the male is nearby..."

Since the dead one was a female, it might be so.

Cheok Sagyeol, who had gone around the building, stood in front of a warehouse.

The monkey smell was coming from here.

CREAK.

Cheok Sagyeol, who had broken the lock, opened the warehouse door and entered without hesitation.

In the gloomy warehouse, large and small boxes were stacked.

'Is it this...'

Cheok Sagyeol, who had detected the beastly smell from one corner, opened the lid of the box.

"Was it because of this..."

In the box, there were four baby monkeys sleeping as if they were dead.

As if proving that they were the white ape's babies, their fur color was white, and they were adorable.

"Phew..."

It had not hesitated to travel a thousand li to save its babies that had been caught by hunters.

And without knowing that, Cheok Sagyeol had killed the white ape.

"Damn it..."

The white ape's attack had been fierce, and he had no choice but to act, but it was true that he felt bitter inside.

Although he didn't know, he had killed a creature that was trying to save its babies with his own hands.

"But what are all these?"

Cheok Sagyeol opened other boxes, and in them were various kinds of white animals, from a white snake to a crocodile with white scales.

When he touched the animals in the boxes, he found that they were not yet dead, like the baby monkeys, but were in a state of suspended animation.

'He's collected things that are hard to see in a lifetime.'

White animals were not commonly seen in the natural world.

It was because they were conspicuous and it was difficult for them to survive until they became adults.

It was then, as Cheok Sagyeol was looking at the animals with a frown.

"Grand Master."

When Cheok Sagyeol turned his head, Lee Munjung and Yang Hong were standing there.

"Thank you. For you to have caught that monster, Grand Master, I really don't know how to express my gratitude."

At Lee Munjung's words, Cheok Sagyeol noticed.

'Fuck, was I used?'

They must have brought him in to catch the white ape.

But since he was the one who had played the fraud, mentioning the demon, he couldn't even complain.

"I think an explanation is needed."

At Cheok Sagyeol's question, the one who stepped forward was the Chief Steward, Yang Hong.

"The things here are offerings to the imperial family. The mother monkey outside probably followed the babies you saw, Grand Master."

"Imperial offerings..."

He had heard of it.

That the current emperor was obsessed with Taoist magic, neglected state affairs, and was deluded by things like immortality.

The things gathered here were surely for the emperor.

Because animals with white colors were considered auspicious since ancient times due to their uniqueness.

"Governor."

Cheok Sagyeol, who had been contemplating for a long time, opened his mouth to Lee Munjung.

"These baby monkeys, would you not give them to this old monk?"

Cheok Sagyeol wanted to prevent the babies from becoming ingredients for an elixir of immortality.

The guilt of killing the mother also played a part.

"Grand Master, this is an offering to the emperor. How can you..."

"By the way, why are those offerings in your private residence, Governor? It's not a government warehouse."

At Cheok Sagyeol's words, which cut him off and asked back, Lee Munjung's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

'He must have kept them in his private residence so he could sneak a few out.'

'If the water upstream is like that, how can the water downstream be clean?'

He had heard that there were not just one or two officials who were obsessed with magic.

Judging by his reaction, Lee Munjung was surely not much different.

"Hoho, Governor. Let's consider these babies to be tainted by a demon and remove them from the list of offerings. Isn't it better for everyone?"

"..."

Lee Munjung sensed that he could not refuse the words of the old snake-like Cheok Sagyeol.

Not only were his skills in dealing with the monster monkey impressive, but his background of Shaolin could not be ignored either.

"Hahaha. How can we offer tainted goods to the imperial family? I will do as you say, Grand Master, so please take care of the aftermath."

Lee Munjung accepted Cheok Sagyeol's proposal with a nonchalant expression and a smile.

The fact that his inner thoughts were not revealed in his expression seemed to say how he had risen to the position of Prefectural Governor.

"But there is one thing I would like to ask. The one that died earlier was the mother, but what happened to the father?"

At Cheok Sagyeol's question, Yang Hong answered.

"I heard that it was killed by hunters in the process of capturing the babies. We thought the mother had also died at that time, but it seems she recovered and appeared late."

'I was wondering, but as expected, the father was also dead.'

Cheok Sagyeol, who had thought that the father monkey might appear later, couldn't help but feel disappointed.

(End of Chapter)