Chapter 232
Unlike Jeokcheongang, who was short in stature, Fa King Hongdoo was a very tall old man.
His eyes were full of playfulness, and his steps on the mountain path were full of energy.
‘By the way, where are you going?’
It was only natural that I would have such a question as I left the well-paved roads and went only to places where no one would ever pass.
After walking for so long, the terrifying steps finally stopped.
“So shabby guests have come to a precious place. It will be a burden, but please come in without reservations.”
Jeokcheongang, who was staring at the ‘precious place’, opened his mouth.
“Did you ever get kicked out of Shaolin Temple?”
“huh? why?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? Why are you in this shape?”
Surrounded by overgrown weeds and trees like the words of the Jeokcheongang River, the place looked too shabby to be called the chief of Shaolin Temple and the residence of the pope, the northern head of Mount Taesan in Moorim.
“Tell me honestly. Master of Shaolin Temple, have you been fired?”
No, the owner of Shaolin Temple isn’t even a part-time job at a convenience store.
Dumbfounded by Jeokcheongang’s words, I asked.
“Could it be cut?”
“Have you seen such a narrow-minded guy? Shaolin Temple can’t bring down an emperor because of a rebellion?”
When it comes out like that, I have nothing to say.
Actually, I’m also a guy who used to beat monsters in modern times, so what? This side may be a demon king or gate, but the head of Shaolin Temple may be a non-regular worker.
Hearing our questions and answers, Kengdo laughed out loud.
“The room where I am is the head of the room. Our Shaolin Temple doesn’t follow that formality. Isn’t that right, disciple?”
Anonymous replied.
“He is staying here, ignoring the request of Gye Yul-won.”
I don’t think anyone’s friends, that guy is not easy.
However, Guengdao chuckled and took out a staff from his bosom and waved it.
“Are my guys any different? Who entrusted the position of host to a person who said no?”
It was an absurdly short staff.
No matter how many times I touched it, the smooth surface, as if lubricating oil had been applied, had a soft green light.
‘There’s even a strange-looking stone embedded in it.’
In a way, it is similar to the staff used by wizards.
However, there was something different about the green wand. In addition to the traces of the years, I felt the unique aura that only it can have.
‘What is that?’
The question was resolved the next moment.
“Green Jade Buddha’s Field. Entrusting a thousand-year-old sacred object of Shaolin with great authority to such a person. Everyone’s eyes are tight.”
Jeokcheongang clicked his tongue.
“It’s going well like Shaolin Temple.”
“Even if you say Mundo, it’s much better than Yeolhwamoon, who only has one disciple.”
“What!”
“Your fiery temper is still there. Please be born as a good and calm person in the next world.”
“My life! You’re still fine, why are you already killing me!”
“Hey, the corpse is talking. Amitabha.”
“You idiot!”
I looked at the backs of the two as they entered the courtroom while bickering, then turned my head.
Anonymous smiled and looked at me.
“It seems like you two are in a good mood seeing your best friend after a long time.”
“… … I have no idea how we became close.”
The eccentric head of Shaolin Temple and the gatekeeper of the dirty-tempered yeolhwamun.
Even if their personalities match, it’s not a combination that makes them friendly. Furthermore, isn’t Jeokcheongang a person who committed many killings that are forbidden in Buddhism?
Anonymous who was pondering something at my careless words tapped his gleaming forehead.
“Ah, I remembered.”
“I’m surprised, I thought I was using the solar fist… … But what?”
“The moment when the two of them became close. Master was secretly drinking alcohol and meat at the time of Jeongma Daejeon, and after being found out by an enemy donor, they became drinking friends.”
”yes?”
In an instant, I felt that way.
I thought that my ears were wrong.
“Did you eat alcohol and meat?”
“yes.”
“Aren’t you the head of the Shaolin Temple back then?”
“you’re right.”
“Ah, the monks here eat meat. Well, since you have to bulk up while learning martial arts, of course… …
“It’s not like that. In Buddhism, killing is forbidden. Livestock is no exception.”
“……?”
“…..?
Where is this wrong?
I couldn’t speak for a while and stared blankly at the nameless.
And looking at the muscles wriggling in his loose robe, I was convinced ‘This guy eats meat too.’
look at those muscles It’s not a physical that can be raised to the extent of sanchae bibimbap.
If you’re bored, even if you grill a pig and eat bibimbap, you can eat it with yukhoe bibimbap.
‘It wasn’t Shaolin Temple, it was Juji Yulin Temple.’
Someone said that Moorim cannot predict the future.
I shook my head and followed the two into the temple.
* * *
The inside of the temple was narrow and old, but it had an antique charm.
A clean floor without a speck of dust and large and small Buddhist statues.
Moo-myeong left for a while, and me, Jeok-cheon-gang, and Hong-do sat facing each other and emptied our teacups. Brewed with an unknown grass, it was astringent and bitter.
“It’s not like treating a guest of honor. What is this?”
“Well, these are tea leaves that I cultivated myself.”
“tea leaves? Are you?”
“Now that I am old enough, I should stop drinking grain tea. It’s been decades.”
For that matter, I think I’ve already had enough to drink.
Unlike me, who was unable to speak and only tilted my teacup, Jeokcheongang opened his mouth wide.
“Where are you sick? Did you get a fatal disease?”
“It’s a fatal disease, it may or may not be. I don’t know either.”
It was a calm reply, but for some reason Jeokcheongang’s face hardened.
“That means maybe… … “
“We’ll talk about that later.”
He waved his hand lightly to cut off the words, then turned his head and stared at me.
“Okay, so… … Is the donor the owner of that divinity?”
master of divinity
It was the first word I heard through an unknown mouth half a day ago.
It seems that the rumors of hooligans saying that a god appeared in Murim has been passed on through mouth.
‘Did rumors spread this far already?’
Although the alias Shanseo Jamryong is eating rice cakes every day these days, I didn’t know that he would even recognize the Shaolin master.
I, who suddenly became world class, smiled awkwardly.
“It is overrated. It’s not quite like that yet.”
“Your words are darker than you look.”
“yes?”
“Didn’t Binseung say he was the owner of the divine?”
no, so what is it?
Seeing me bewildered, Goong Do smiled.
“Donor, do you know what divinity is?”
“Uh, that’s it. People who stand out are usually called divinities, aren’t they?”
“and?”
“…… star?”
“You got it right.”
He nodded and continued speaking in a calm voice.
“Binseung has been observing the sky for a very long time. Maybe it wasn’t a very futile study, but I’ve come to be able to see and read the celestial spirit quite a bit.”
“Cheonggi… … “
Suddenly, the events of the past half day flashed through my mind.
cotton. He came to us according to the instructions of his teacher, Gueng Dao, and as soon as he saw me, he spoke the words, Master of Divinity.
And what did Jeokcheongang say? Oh yeah.
‘It’s like a crazy idiot. It’s still the same to sit and look out for a thousand miles.’
That meant that he guided us by reading the heavenly gi, not information from a person.
‘If that’s true, it’s definitely not at the level of a pseudo-fortune teller.’
No, it’s more than fair to call it a prophecy.
Sensing an unusual sign from Goeng-do, I swallowed my saliva.
“So what?”
“Divinity is a star like firecrackers. It brightens up the night sky, but fades over time. However, it was different this time.”
Guengdo’s fingers pointed out the door of the Buddhist hall. The place he pointed to was beyond the north where Shanxi was.
“One day, a new divinity emerged from the north. And that divine light has not faded to this day. No, the brightness is increasing day by day.”
“The people of the world often compare people and stars. Binseung thinks that divinity is you.”
People rejoice and lament whenever someone who has accomplished great things is born and dies.
A new star has risen. Or that a big star has fallen.
‘But the divinity that appeared this time points to me?’
If you interpret the meaning of the word, it is clear that it is a good meaning.
But well, I’m not sure.
That time when I was scratching the back of my head with a puzzled expression. A loud voice pierced my ears.
“That was four months ago.”
My whole body trembled as if I had been electrocuted.
My mouth is dry and my heart is pounding. Only one word was spinning in her head.
‘Four months ago?’
At that time… … It was the time when I had just opened my eyes in Moorim.
Goongdo smiled at me as I swallowed only dry saliva.
“Looks like you’ve noticed something.”
“Oh, oh, no. at all.”
Jeokcheongang, who had been silently listening to the story, intervened with a pitiful expression.
“Everything is visible, you bastard.”
“No, not really.”
“What? Hit that tongue, just.”
“Why, why are you like this?”
Damn, my tongue keeps getting tangled.
Guengdo chuckled as he saw me sneaking out of his butt to avoid Jeokcheongang’s fierce gaze.
“It seems that the giver is in a hurry. It’s good to go out and see.”
“good. If you want to get stuck in the back.”
I looked back and forth between the two and sprinted toward the door.
From behind, I could hear the loud laughter of Goengdo and the shouts of Jeokcheongang.
“Uh ha, ha ha ha!”
“Because he looks like a guy with no hair. Dare to say Master… … Hongdo looked at the grumbling Jeokcheongang and asked.
“Are you the disciple you brought in this time?”
The hot Jeokcheongang hurriedly let out a cough.
“Ugh kuchhom! not a disciple I begged him to teach me a lesson, so I only took it for a short time. huh. Something like that.”
“is it?”
“Ah, that’s right!”
“Then why are you screaming? Make the Buddhas angry.”
“Huh, look at what this idiot is saying.”
Ignoring Jeokcheongang’s reaction, Hongdo frowned as he emptied the teacup at once.
“Great, write. You should go ahead and drink it.”
“A drunk horn. What do you eat bitter things for?”
“Shouldn’t the glass be empty before we can pour it?”
“What?”
“I have something prepared for a day like today.” Goengdo, smiling uncharacteristically for a monk, rose from his seat and approached the Buddha statues standing side by side.
Among them, he lifted the biggest Buddha statue and moved it.
“It’s snake wine that has been left for thirty years.”
“Snake wine?”
“It’s called the Thousand Years of Doggaksa. Have you heard?”
“Thousand-year poison history!”
Jeokcheongang’s eyes flashed open.
I hurriedly opened the tightly sealed jar and saw that it was actually a snake, bigger than a serpent, with horns attached to its triangular head.
On top of that, there was even poisonous air that made the tip of the nose tingle in an instant. Jeok Cheongang stuck out her tongue.
“Isn’t it a poison with great poison! Where did you get this from?”
Goong Doo stared at the distant mountains.
“Walking.”
“… … I must have searched the whole mountain for the purpose of making snake wine in the first place. It’s okay to be hungry, are you going to kill yourself to have a drink now?”
“If you don’t like it, don’t. What to eat empty seung alone?”
“Uh huh.”
Jeokcheongang muttered after deliberately firing a gun.
“But this guy, this poison isn’t a joke… … “
“yes. One drop of poison squeezed out of the Millennium Dokgak Temple can kill a hundred cows.”
“It’s been 30 years since I put it in, so it’s not alcohol anymore, it’s poison level.”
“Just by opening the seal for a moment, this amount of miasma spread. What more can I say?”
“If this is enough, even a decent master will go to the goal, right?”
“This is crazy. You can’t eat it.”
The eyes of the two collided in midair. And almost at the same time, he opened his mouth.
“Then you should drink.”
“cancer. No way.”
“I don’t think I should die.”
“Drink, drink unconditionally. After reading the heavenly flag, today is not the day to go.”
Both of them were over 100 years old, but they couldn’t escape the simplicity and recklessness that was deeply engraved in the man’s bones.
Soon, they began to drink, passing jars back and forth as if possessed.
After half an hour passed, early darkness descended on the mountain and the jar was broken.
“Oh, the poisonous air stinging the tip of the tongue is very savory. Thanks to Yeolyangkeeper, I can’t get along.”
Gingdo looked at the Jeokcheongang, which was licking every last drop, frowning.
Even though they are the same Ten Kings, there is a subtle difference in skill.
He couldn’t even drink half of the liquor because he was pushed back from Geumnasu trying to snatch the jar from each other.
“He’s a strong old man, and he’s got a long string.”
“Did you even want me to die?”
“At least I knew you were going to roll over on your stomach.”
Jeokcheongang, who was getting drunk, laughed.
“Chungi is like that, Cheongi. What can I do with a name given to me by heaven?”
“Cheongira… “
Goengdo, who had been quietly brainwashing, threw a word.
“That’s a lie.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“It is literally. I have been going blind for thirty years already.”
“Now, wait a minute. So you’re saying you can’t read the heavenly gi?”
Jeokcheongang’s heart sank at the sight of Goengdo silently nodding his head.
“What happened? Is it because of your age?”
“At first, Binseung thought so too. But I was mistaken. Even if I gave up drinking, which he liked so much, and tried to control his mind by shutting himself in the early night, nothing changed.”
“then… … “
“It’s not because this old man’s gun is blurry.”
Kung Do raised his head with a sigh.
Even though the ceiling of the Buddhist hall was blocking it, the old monk’s deep eyes penetrated beyond it.
“The spirit of heaven is distorted. Getting closer, faster.”
“……!”
“In the midst of that, divinity came to mind. Even in the dizzy sky, I could see that light clearly.”
Jeokcheongang’s eyelids trembled.
“and?”
Thinking deeply, the head shook his head.
“This is all Binseung can say. Although it is confused, the heavenly spirit maintains its shape, and even the giant trees rooted in the world will not be shaken easily. However… … .”
An unknown light seeped into the pupils of the sword.
The words that followed were those of a sage who was known as the northern head of Mt. Moorim for a thousand years, a master of Shaolin, and a sage who could only be seen by those who had mastered astronomy.
“An unknown calamity is coming. Dark clouds from somewhere will cover the sun and cover the stars.”
The sky is dark with not a single light coming through.
Recalling the scene, Jeok Chun-gang was possessed by a single word like a moan.
“Dark sky?”
“Amcheon. Yes, it will be like what you just said… … “
Jeokcheongang hurriedly cut off Guengdo’s words.
“No, that’s not what I meant, it was because I remembered what I heard from Jin Wi-gyeong, the owner of the small house in Jinga, Taewon.”
“Truthful? I don’t know who it is, but did he even predict this situation?”
“It would be more accurate to say that he appeared in front of them. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Jeokcheongang explained in detail what happened seven days and nights ago, right before he left Taewon Jinga.
The remnants of the elders who survived while under the ban and the situation so far. And even the mysterious Danhwan called the Jamnyeokdan, which was stolen from the Jeokpungdanju Poongyang.
So Jin Wei-gyeong told Jeok Chun-gang, and Jeok Chun-gang told Hong Dao all the facts.
“It’s just surprising. The ban on them was so complex that even I couldn’t easily break it, and the drug effect of the latent force group was bizarrely powerful.”
“Something like that.”
“Those who have been controlling Hwayang Sword from behind for decades are the Dark Chun.”
“her.”
After the story was over, Hong Doo, possessed by a quiet voice, was deep in thought.
It was after a long time that his mouth finally opened.
“Leave right now.”
“I don’t think now is the time to do our own thing. Binseung will prepare for the tribulation with all his might, and you…”
Jeokcheongang, who was looking at his friend with deep eyes, continued.
“I should be next to the divinity. so that it does not turn off easily.”
Jeokcheongang knew that his work did not end there.
At the same time, the light should shine even brighter.
Realizing each other’s mission, the two did not hesitate any longer.
“I’ll go and see.”
“I can’t go far. Let’s put off the unfinished bags for later.”
The parting was long and the meeting was short.
Lastly, Jeokcheongang smiled at Goengdo and walked out of the temple with unstoppable steps.
Remembering what I couldn’t say before.
‘It was a short meeting, but it was fun.’
At midnight, the young man and the old man left Sosil Peak of Songshan Mountain.
Their steps continued until the sun rose and set again.
