Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Shaolin

Mu-gyeong, who had buried Hye-gwan’s body, left the place with the woman.

Although he wanted to give a proper funeral or take the body back to Shaolin, he couldn’t risk it due to the potential attacks from the assassins of Salmak.

As Mu-gyeong anticipated, they were ambushed multiple times by assassins on their way back to Shaolin.

However, perhaps because many assassins had been deployed in the previous large-scale attack, the number of assassins attacking Mu-gyeong and the woman each time ranged from three to five at most.

After a day and a half of protecting the woman while traveling, Mu-gyeong finally ascended Mount Song and reached Shaolin’s mountain gate.

* * *

Covered in blood and with a headband inscribed with “Hanging on to Buddhist Resolve,” Mu-gyeong returned, carrying a woman on his back.

But despite the additions, something vital was missing.

Feeling an inexplicable foreboding, Abbot Hyun-cheon dismissed everyone except the key Shaolin figures and Mu-gyeong, leading them to the Abbot’s quarters.

The woman Mu-gyeong carried was evidently exhausted, so she was sent to the guest house for rest.

After everything was prepared, Hyun-cheon asked, “What happened to Hye-gwan Sasook?”

Mu-gyeong hesitated for a moment, then replied with controlled emotions, “He has entered Nirvana.”

He had entered Nirvana, implying enlightenment, but for someone like Hyun-gwang, it simply meant death.

“What do you mean Hye-gwan Sasook has entered Nirvana?” Hyun-cheon asked again in disbelief.

Mu-gyeong then detailed the events: pursuing the killer known as the Silent Blood Demon, learning about Salmak’s headquarters from him, being chased by Salmak, his own outburst, and Hye-gwan’s death while protecting the unconscious Mu-gyeong and the woman.

Mu-gyeong confessed that he had drunk blood, preferring to be punished for it.

Though Hye-gwan had forgiven him, Mu-gyeong believed it was better to be punished, thinking it would allow him to forgive himself afterward.

However, the Abbot and the elders of Shaolin did not punish Mu-gyeong after hearing his story.

It wasn’t that they forgave Mu-gyeong.

“…”

They were still in shock over the unexpected involvement of Salmak and Hye-gwan’s death.

Just as Abbot Hyun-cheon was about to speak, a voice called from outside the Abbot’s quarters.

“Abbot! Urgent news!”

“What is it?”

As if the current crisis wasn’t enough, what urgent news could there be?

The words from the disciple who entered the Abbot’s quarters turned Hyun-cheon’s expectations upside down once more.

“Mu-jin and the disciples are being pursued by the Martial Alliance!”

“What do you mean Mu-jin and the disciples are being pursued by the Martial Alliance?”

The Abbot, in shock, accepted a letter from the disciple.

The letter, sent by Jegal Muhwan, detailed that the newly formed Four Divine Units had set a trap to kill the promising students and ignite a great war between the righteous and the demonic factions. Mu-jin had prevented this, but in the process, he was framed for collusion with the Demonic Cult and was now being pursued by the Martial Alliance’s Tianluo Network. The letter requested support in Nanyang County, Hunan Province.

Hyun-cheon felt dizzy. Such terrible events occurring simultaneously.

But this was no time to lose his wits.

“We must gather the disciples immediately and head to Nanyang County!”

Though Hye-gwan’s death was grievous, they could not let other disciples perish.

However, the head of the guest house voiced concern.

“But Abbot, it is dangerous to take everyone. Given our conflict with Salmak, if we leave Shaolin unguarded, they might attack.”

“Are you suggesting we abandon the disciples being chased?”

“No, I mean we should divide our forces, Abbot.”

After a brief heated discussion on how to allocate their numbers, Hye-dam, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“Abbot, may I speak?”

“Go ahead, Hye-dam.”

“I think it would be fine to leave only the One Hundred Eight Arhats behind.”

It was a bold proposal.

Salmak was considered on par with the Nine Great Schools and the Five Great Families. Leaving only the One Hundred Eight Arhats seemed risky, but Hye-dam’s face, though usually calm, betrayed suppressed fury to those who knew him well.

* * *

Given the urgency, the discussion in the Abbot’s quarters concluded swiftly.

Hye-dam’s proposal wasn’t fully accepted. The One Hundred Eight Arhats would remain as the core defense, along with fifty others responsible for various tasks, bringing the total defenders to around a hundred and fifty. The rest of the monks would leave Shaolin to rescue Mu-jin in Nanyang County.

While Abbot Hyun-cheon and the elders gathered and prepared the departing disciples, Hye-dam instructed his disciple, Beop-hwi, to gather the One Hundred Eight Arhats in the Great Training Hall. Then he headed to the guest house.

There, the woman whom Hye-gwan had sacrificed his life to protect was resting. Fortunately or unfortunately, she hadn’t slept despite her exhaustion.

Hye-dam asked her, “How were my disciple’s final moments?”

She immediately knelt and began to beg for forgiveness.

“I’m so sorry. I’m truly sorry. Because of someone like me, I’m so sorry. Hhuu…”

She wasn’t terrified by Hye-dam’s imposing figure.

“He was gravely injured protecting me and the young monk. Those evil assassins kept targeting us, and he shielded us with his body, getting wounded in the process. Hhuu.”

Recalling the events, the woman cried sorrowfully.

“Even though his body was covered in blood, he protected someone like me…”

She was a courtesan from a brothel, not one who entertained with arts but one who sold her body. Not by choice; her gambling-addicted father sold her off to pay his debts and disappeared.

Though she didn’t want to die, she had no choice but to live as a courtesan, mixing with men who would deride her afterwards despite seeking her out in desire.

She felt dirty, as did everyone else, but a monk with sublime martial skills had died protecting her. She was grateful and felt deep remorse.

Hye-dam spoke as he listened to her sobbing recount.

“Don’t demean yourself, Shiju.”

“But I… I was just a courtesan…”

“The past doesn’t matter. You can live a new life. Please value yourself. It’s the life he protected with his last breath.”

Hye-dam bowed and stood up, leaving the guest house with thoughts swirling.

‘He truly followed Hyun-gwang Sa-baek’s teachings until the end, you foolish disciple.’

Hearing that Hye-gwan had protected the unconscious Mu-gyeong and the woman by taking the assassins’ blows, Hye-dam remembered a day forty years ago.

When hundreds of the Demonic Cult’s elite troops attacked an empty Shaolin, Hyun-gwang protected the second-generation disciples of Hyun-ja and the third-generation disciples of Hye-ja, despite mastering sublime martial arts, and ended up crippled.

Hye-gwan, who joined the Exorcism Brigade vowing to kill all demons after seeing Hyun-gwang wounded, fought and died in the same way.

‘Are you happy now?’

Living as brothers for decades, Hye-dam knew Hye-gwan wasn’t a man who enjoyed killing. Bearing the burden of Shaolin’s sins alone was too much for him, so he turned to alcohol. Hye-dam could only nag but not force him to quit because he knew the heavy burden Hye-gwan carried.

Now, Hye-dam could no longer see his disciple.

‘Regretting the past and living a new life…’

Perhaps those words he said to the woman were also meant for himself.

‘I might have to open the Great Confession Hall soon.’

He hoped it would be so. He suggested leaving only the One Hundred Eight Arhats out of confidence in their training but also because he thought it might draw Salmak’s attack.

* * *

Soon after, the Shaolin monks, led by Abbot Hyun-cheon, departed from Shaolin’s mountain gate.

Even though around two hundred monks remained, the atmosphere felt eerily quiet with the absence of hundreds.

Fortunately or unfortunately, nothing happened on the first day.

On the second morning, uninvited guests arrived at Shaolin.

“Master, there seems to be a disturbance in the formation,” said Beop-hwi.

Hye-dam, who had been meditating, stood up.

Around Shaolin, there was a formation set up by the Jegal Family. The only unaffected area was the path leading from the entrance of Mount Song to Shaolin’s gate, used by visitors and disciples.

Anyone trying to bypass this path, like the current intruders, would trigger the formation.

“Should we go down?” Beop-hwi asked.

“No. The forest at night favors assassins, even if it’s familiar to us,” Hye-dam replied.

“Understood. I’ll prepare the torches for their approach.”

“Do so.”

The One Hundred Eight Arhats gathered at a location overlooking the mountain gate, ready with torches. Hye-dam stood at the center, arms crossed, eyes closed, waiting.

After a while, Hye-dam opened his eyes and said, “Light the fires.”

At his command, the monks lit the prepared lanterns and

torches, revealing the shadows approaching the gate through the previously dark forest.

As the assassins who had avoided the formation and approached the gate were illuminated, Hye-dam’s lips curled into a peculiar smile.

The man, accustomed to enduring and suppressing emotions, smiled through the pain.

Hye-dam, the leader of the One Hundred Eight Arhats and the guardian of Shaolin, could not leave Shaolin.

And so he smiled.

“Thank you for coming.”

Because they had given him the chance to avenge his fallen disciple.

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