Chapter 447
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 447
Chapter 447. To Shaolin Temple (3)
They tilted their heads at my words and asked again.
“Rumors?”
“What rumors are you talking about?”
“How can you not know about the rumors... Aren't people like you usually very knowledgeable about rumors?”
“What rumors are you talking about?”
As I kept hesitating, they urged me impatiently.
“What? You really don't know?”
“How can you not know... Tsk, tsk, you're not fit to kill for a living.”
“That's right.”
As expected of Pal-gap and my bodyguards.
As we had been working together for a long time, they naturally agreed with me.
The monks of Shaolin Temple also seemed to understand and remained silent.
“Come on! You're really playing hard to get!”
Now it was time to tell them the truth.
“The elixir that was inside the body of the late Grand Master Xue Gong is no longer here.”
“What?”
“It's gone? What do you mean?”
I opened the box containing the remains of the Great Monk of Hyeokgon.
Clunk.
“Can you see the mark here on the chest?”
Then I pointed to a scar that was already there.
Thanks to the corpse drying up, the scar looked like it had been made recently.
“The elixir was originally here. However, it disappeared while it was being kept by the Martial Alliance.”
“What?”
“According to those who were guarding it, a colorful light showered down in the middle of the night. They said that Buddha himself descended and took the elixir.”
“....”
"I don't know if the rumor is true. But it is an indisputable fact that the elixir disappeared. Are you really unaware of the rumor?“
”I have never heard of it!“
”That is strange... The rumor is spreading throughout Luoyang..."
They look confused by my words.
However, when I show them the sacred object and explain, they have no choice but to believe me.
The operation is a success.
.
.
.
As we headed toward Songshan, we were attacked six times.
But each time, I spread rumors I had quickly made up and sent them away.
Just as I sent away the sixth group of attackers, a monk said with concern,
“By the way, I'm not sure if this is okay.”
“That's how rumors start. And later, these rumors will be embellished.”
I continued.
“And most rumors have no basis in reality. That's because many rumors are created by people for their own purposes. So, monks, you must not be misled by rumors.”
“This is a journey full of lessons.”
In fact, in Buddhism, we are wary of deceiving others.
But I am not a monk.
As we continued on our way, we were attacked again by another group of black-clad men.
But they were different from the ones we had encountered before.
They rushed at us without saying a word.
“It's them! Because of them, we had no choice but to leave Songshan.”
The monk's words made me think that something was definitely wrong. But right now, we had to deal with them first.
We calmly began to fight them.
Chung!
Chae-chung!
The sound of cold weapons clashing was loud.
They were not weak.
But the problem was that they were facing me and my bodyguards.
The attackers began to fall one by one, and their leader looked defeated.
I crossed swords with him and asked,
“What do you want?”
“Of course, it's the sacred body!”
“For someone who is after the sacred body, you don't seem very interested in it.”
I deliberately created an opening to approach the sacred body.
However, they did not approach the Holy Body.
It seemed as if their only goal was to push us out of there.
That meant they were not after the Holy Body.
Then...
“Is there a reason why we cannot go to Shaolin Temple?”
He flinched at my question.
Huh... Is this real?
No matter how I thought about it, something was strange.
If there was a rumor that the body of the Great Master Hyeokgon contained a magical potion, it would have spread before we arrived at the Martial Alliance.
However, I have not received any reports of such a rumor. That means the rumor has not been around for long.
So... it means the rumor started when we left Luoyang with the Great Master's body.
Is there really something there?
Why would someone go to such lengths to prevent the body of the Great Master Xue Gong from reaching Shaolin Temple?
To find out, I must take the body of the Great Master Xue Gong to Shaolin Temple.
With that in mind, I raised my inner arts to a higher level and swung my sword.
In less than an hour, I was able to subdue all of the attackers.
Hmm... There are monks here, so I can't just kill them.
“Pal-gap, can you get the rope?”
“Rope?”
“Yes, if we hang them from the trees, they won't chase us for a while.”
My words made their faces pale.
“If you tell me the truth about why you were after the holy body and why you tried to stop it from going to Shaolin Temple, I'll tie you up under the tree instead of hanging you from it.”
“...”
They rolled their eyes and looked at each other.
Seeing this, I chuckled.
“First come, first served!”
“Me!”
“I'll tell you!”
I chose the one who raised his hand the fastest.
“You speak.”
“Actually, I was asked by someone. Soon, the monks of Shaolin Temple will take the body of the Great Master of the Martial Alliance to Songshan. I was told to stop them from going to Shaolin Temple.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“Yes. It's better for us not to know the identity of the person who asked us to do this.”
That makes sense.
If you find out who the person is, you could be killed to keep you quiet.
“But he seemed very dangerous.”
“Really?”
Living by the sword means you are often in danger.
That's why I'm relatively good at sensing danger and killing intent.
Dangerous atmosphere...
Anyway, it seems like we've found out everything we need to know about them...
“Let's go.”
“Yes!”
“I... I...”
I smiled at the black-clad man.
“I keep my promises.”
I told the black-clad man about the request I had received, as promised, and tied him to a tree.
I tied him upside down, though.
By the way, this is harder than I thought.
It's hard enough to tell the same story once or twice, but six times is exhausting.
On top of that, I got mixed up with these scumbags.
This won't do. I'll have to get Shaolin Temple to pay me well for this.
.
.
.
We walked for several more days.
The monks of Shaolin Temple do not ride horses.
We had to match their pace, so we moved very slowly.
“Hee-ing!”
Perhaps because of his strength and stamina, Joo Kang-ma disliked walking slowly.
Perhaps because of that, he often acted impatiently.
However.
- Kwi!
When Geum-ryeong made a sound, he immediately calmed down and bowed his head.
To me, Geum-ryeong is a very lovable creature, but I guess he's not like that to others.
The monks of Shaolin Temple looked deeply troubled after hearing the story earlier.
However, their eyes were also shining with a sense of responsibility to bring the body of the Great Master Xue Gongcheng to Shaolin Temple.
By the way, no uninvited guests came looking for us, probably because the rumor I spread did not spread nearby.
That's good.
“From there is the territory of Shaolin.”
Hearing that, I was able to relax a little.
Of course, I couldn't guarantee our safety, but there wouldn't be a large-scale attack here.
Had we been walking for about an hour? We met a group of monks.
Huh? They look familiar...
Ah, Master Jeong-Myeong!
Some of the monks around him also looked familiar.
They were the monks from Shaolin Temple we met on our way to Lanzhou.
“Hey! Senior Brother! Senior Brother Jeong-myeong!”
The monk who was traveling with us also seemed to recognize them and greeted them warmly.
“Jeong-cheong!”
Judging from his Buddhist name, Jeong-cheong, he must be in the same group as Senior Brother Jeong-myeong.
When they saw us, they ran over with surprised expressions.
“No! Who are you? Aren't you Master Seon and Master Dao?”
“It's been a long time. Did you make it back to Shaolin Temple safely?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we returned safely and spoke with the Abbot and the others. I realized once again how much you did for us.”
“No, it was all thanks to the mercy of Buddha watching over this place.”
After exchanging brief greetings, Monk Jeong-myeong asked the monk called Jeong-cheong.
“What is going on? It is long past your arrival time, and we were looking for you.”
The Martial Alliance must have sent a message when they left.
Then they would have known your approximate arrival time, but it must have been long past that time.
The monk called Jeong-cheong let out a deep sigh and said.
“Well... we were attacked by those who were after the Grand Master's body and were chased eastward for quite some time.”
“What?”
“However, thanks to Master Sun and Master Dao, whom we met by chance, we were able to arrive here safely. And... we also learned that there are people who are after us.”
“After you?”
“Yes. There were people who tried to prevent the Grand Master of the Blood Demon Temple from going to Shaolin.”
“What? Who would do such a thing!”
The angry monk Jeong-myeong calmed down and turned to me.
“Thank you very much. You have helped us again.”
“It is the grace of Buddha.”
I had gone through quite a lot, but I was too embarrassed to say it was thanks to me.
“From here on, we are in the territory of Shaolin. You can rest assured. Let's go.”
“Yes.”
Our party followed the monks led by Jeong-myeong up the mountain. Among them were monks I had seen before, and they were clearly happy to see us.
There are five famous mountains in the empire.
They are Mount Tai in the east, Mount Hua in the west, Mount Heng in the south, Mount Heng in the north, and Mount Song in the center.
Most of these famous mountains are extremely rugged.
It was fortunate that this was the territory of Shaolin, otherwise it would have been even more difficult if the Green Forest Bandits had built their nests everywhere.
Even so, they made the path passable by digging the mountain below or building a footbridge on top of the mountain, even though it was impossible for humans to walk on.
“The disciples of Shaolin must have worked very hard to build this road.”
The monk Jeong-myeong smiled gently and replied.
“We are grateful for your appreciation of our efforts.”
After climbing up the mountain, we finally arrived at Sosilbong and entered the temple grounds.
Someone approached us.
“...!”
I was startled by the prayer I felt from him. At this level, he must be a master monk?
Wait a minute, a master monk from Shaolin Temple...
The monk approached me and greeted us.
“Amitabha! What a happy day, with two such distinguished guests visiting us. Welcome. My name is Jiseong.”
Jeong-myeong replied.
“This is the Abbot.”
I quickly clasped my hands together in a greeting.
“Greetings, Abbot. I am Eun Seo-ho, Captain of the Eunhae Trading Company. Thank you for inviting us here.”
Then the monk Jeong-cheong said,
“We received a lot of help from Master Seonhyeom and Master Dae during this mission. Without them, we would not have been able to complete our mission.”
Then, with a serious expression, he continued.
“I have a lot to tell you.”
“I will call you later.”
“Yes, sir.”
After saying that, the abbot turned toward the body of Master Hyeokgon, which was behind me.
The Abbot had come out personally, not to greet me, but to greet the body of the monk Hyukgon.
My companions and I quickly stepped aside.
The monks quickly opened the lid of the box containing the body.
Light shone into the box, and everyone could see the body.
But it looked a little different from when I first saw it in the sword case...
I tilted my head and looked up at the sky.
Ah!
I know what's different. It's the direction.
Unlike before, when it was facing east, now it's facing northwest.
Is it the direction that makes it look sad?
At that moment, the Abbot seemed to read my mind and said to me,
“You look very tired.”
“No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for my rude behavior.”
“You must be tired.”
“You are too kind to me. Please treat me normally.”
“If that is what you wish, then so be it.”
“Thank you.”
“But it seems like there is a reason for this...”
I replied honestly.
“I felt that I wanted to have the body of the late monk Hyegonseong face east.”
“East?”
“Actually, when I found the body, it was facing east. I think this has some meaning.”
The abbot nodded and gave instructions.
The cart turned, and the body of Master Hyukgon Seung faced east.
My guess was right.
It looked the same as when I saw it before.
No, now it was even more captivating than before.
Was it because of the peaceful expression on his face? Or was it because he had returned to Shaolin Temple?
I couldn't explain why.
My heart fluttered, and I felt as if something was sprouting inside me.
At that moment, the abbot smiled at me.
What?
I saw the same hallucination twice...
As I rubbed my eyes to wake up from the hallucination, the abbot shouted.
“Amitabha!”
At the same time, several monks behind him vomited blood in shock.
At the same time, there was a whirlwind of ki!
Could it be... He has attained enlightenment?
And then, another amazing thing happened.
Even my bodyguards felt the whirlwind of ki.