Chapter 116
Before I knew it, he had come over and taken a place beside us.
“Leader…!”
Despite Daoist Woonhak’s attempt to stop him, Liyeon paid him no heed and slowly continued speaking.
“You’re right. If it were a sect of any significant size, its name would already be well known. But the reason Pleasure Pavilion isn’t known yet is that it hasn’t been long since they expanded their influence.”
“They expanded their influence?”
“They were originally nothing more than local hoodlums. But at some point, they suddenly began to grow. From then on, they started moving more cautiously.”
“Hmm…”
Even Daoist Woonhak, who had been standing beside him, eventually added an explanation.
“We suspect they grew by amassing money through illegal activities. We’re investigating because we believe those illegal activities may be connected to the Demonic Cult.”
‘They aren’t the Demonic Cult, but there’s definitely something suspicious about them.’
“But after they clashed with the Seonghwa Cult, they became even more secretive, so we have no idea where to look for them…”
Daoist Woonhak sighed deeply as he muttered.
I rubbed my chin and thought for a moment. Then I casually said,
“One of the important factors in determining victory or defeat in a war is cutting off the enemy’s source of funding, right?”
“What?”
“Large-scale unorthodox sects usually have subordinate organizations under them, and they run their sects by collecting tribute from them. Even if Pleasure Pavilion is hiding, I think they’d still secretly be operating subordinate organizations…”
I grinned.
“If we cut off their source of income by shaking down the unorthodox sects in this area, don’t you think they’ll eventually crawl out?”
***
At my suggestion, the Inspection Team held another discussion.
‘They’re surprisingly democratic, aren’t they?’
The decision was made quickly.
Since friction was inevitable if they investigated the unorthodox sects anyway, and everyone was at an age where their blood ran hot, nobody backed down.
“All right. Let’s do that.”
They quickly reached a conclusion and this time began investigating in a different direction. They started looking for unorthodox sects that had connections to Pleasure Pavilion in the past.
That part was relatively easy. They simply narrowed down the relevant sects through the Murim Alliance’s informants. Among them, they first visited an unorthodox sect that was relatively nearby.
It was called the Water-Mother Sect, a bunch of small-time thugs who made their living primarily by robbing travelers and extorting protection money from nearby villages.
Apparently, they had made quite a bit of money through extortion, because their front gate was enormous. Although that gate was promptly kicked apart by Paeng Mirang.
Bang!
“Come out, you bastards!”
“What the hell, you– Aaaagh!”
The fight unfolded in an instant.
I hurriedly ran behind a pillar and watched them with a pounding heart.
‘How well are they going to fight?’
Until then, I had been harboring a strange sense of anticipation.
After all, the entire Inspection Team had gathered this time. Surely things would be different.
Things had been a little questionable when it was just Zhuge Ye and Paeng Mirang, but now there were seven of them. Surely they would show me something? Maybe they would even form a joint formation?
I had heard that a well-trained joint formation was incredibly cool!
…Or so I hoped.
“Master Paeng, you mustn’t kill them. You mustn’t kill them!”
“If I don’t take them out, they’ll take me out! What am I supposed to do?!”
“Argh! Hee, you have to watch where you’re throwing your throwing knives! How could you throw them at me?!”
“Sorry! But who told you to stand there?”
‘What the hell is this?’
Why did this look so familiar?
As I stood there dumbfounded, I soon remembered.
Right. It was similar to when I first saw Zhuge Ye and Paeng Mirang.
Their martial prowess was by no means weak. The Wudang Sect’s Taiji Swordsmanship was based on the principle of overcoming hardness with softness. From a distance, it looked as though they were simply drawing circles, but they naturally received their opponent’s sword and used its force to push the enemy away.
And what about the Emei Sect’s Golden Summit Swordsmanship?
Like the Shaolin Sect, the Buddhist Emei Sect based its martial arts on the principle of compassion.
In particular, Miss Ju’s swordsmanship had a peculiar aspect to it. Though it looked as if she were cutting, she primarily used thrusting techniques. The tip of her sword was blunt, probably because she intended to strike pressure points with the tip and subdue her opponents.
The Tang Clan’s throwing knives were also worthy of their reputation. On top of that, the various hidden weapons concealed within their sleeves would strike at the enemy’s openings one by one and bring them down.
Yes, it was really cool.
It really was cool, but…
“Brother Paeng, what are you doing throwing a person over here?!”
Their coordination was absolutely, completely, utterly nonexistent!
Somehow, it seemed even worse than when it was just Zhuge Ye and Paeng Mirang.
At least those two had assigned roles when they fought together. These people weren’t even trying to cooperate… they were too busy fighting individually!
They even occasionally got in each other’s way because they were so focused on defeating the enemies in front of them.
Which made sense, because…
“Master Paeng, I told you to cover the left! What are you doing coming all the way over here? That almost turned into a disaster!”
“Aw, damn it, I survived, didn’t I?! Just watch what’s in front of you!”
A guy who absolutely refused to listen.
“But where did Miss Ju go… Miss Ju! You can’t just go off by yourself! Miss Ju!”
“……”
One who refused to speak.
“Ugh, this is annoying. Can’t I just release poison here?”
“You think that’s okay?!”
Another who was simply reckless and overbearing.
‘Is this seriously the “bunch of bastards” squad?’
And then there was something else that was even more absurd.
“If countless sentient beings, boundless as the sands of the Ganges, suffer anguish and call upon the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva shall hear their voices and grant them all liberation…”
I looked to the side with a dumbfounded expression.
For a moment, I saw a smooth, bald head. A young monk in yellow robes, with a completely hairless, octopus-like head. He was the one who had been hiding behind the pillar with me from the beginning.
“Monk… what are you doing here?”
It was Monk Xu Jae.
“What? I-I was reciting Buddhist scriptures…”
“……”
“Ahaha…”
When I stared at him as if to say ‘That’s not what I was asking’, the monk scratched his cheek awkwardly. Then, as if confessing his sins, he finally admitted to me,
“Actually, I… am not good at fighting.”
“What?”
I widened my eyes in surprise.
“But didn’t you say you were the chief disciple of the Shaolin Arhat Hall? One of the future Eighteen Arhats…”
“Th-that, that’s…”
Monk Xu Jae hurriedly explained, his cheeks turning red.
“They were just saying that to tease me. Calling me a chief disciple is merely an empty title. I’ve been under Shaolin’s protection since I was young, so all I’ve really done is read various martial arts texts…”
“You said you can’t fight?”
“That’s…”
He lowered his gaze.
“It’s fine when I practice martial arts, but I can’t use them against people. Just imagining my fist hitting someone makes my stomach churn and makes me feel like I’m going to throw up… I even fainted once during a sparring match after making my senior brother’s nose bleed.”
“Ah…”
“B-but when you consider the Buddha’s teachings that we must not kill, isn’t it right not to fight? I think it should be enough to practice martial arts simply to keep the body healthy…”
I stared blankly at the monk.
‘Yeah, I suppose that’s possible.’
There were all sorts of reasons to learn martial arts. Someone could learn it out of a desire for knowledge, or simply to keep their body healthy. There was no reason one had to use martial arts for fighting.
But…
“Then why did you join the Inspection Team?”
“……”
At my fundamental question, Monk Xu Jae smiled sheepishly.
“My master told me to please go out and toughen myself up…”
I smacked my forehead at his answer.
‘Unbelievable.’
I had been so nervous hearing that he was the chief disciple of the Arhat Hall and a future Eighteen Arhat, only to find out he couldn’t fight at all.
So he had joined because his master had practically pushed him into it too?
The guy who refused to listen.
The guy who refused to speak.
The guy who did whatever he pleased.
And now a guy who couldn’t fight?
‘There’s no hope. Absolutely no hope!’
Daoist Woonhak, what kind of fighting have you been doing all this time?
As I pitifully watched Daoist Woonhak desperately trying to control his team members from afar, Monk Xu Jae, who had been watching the chaotic scene beside me, smiled faintly.
“They all seem a little lacking, don’t they?”
‘Is that really something you should be saying, Monk?’
“Actually, we’re the lowest-ranked, Fifth Team in the Inspection Division. It’s a team made by gathering only the people the other team leaders found difficult to take responsibility for.”
That certainly seemed to be the case.
“Fortunately, Daoist Woonhak, who is renowned as a disciple of the Wudang Seven Heroes, agreed to serve as the leader of the Fifth Team. But after losing to this young master who joined later, he ended up giving up his position as leader.”
‘So that’s why Daoist Woonhak seemed like the one actually calling the shots.’
“They all have their own circumstances. They’re people who each have something they lack.”
Monk Xu Jae gazed into the empty air in the distance. At that moment, a person happened to be flying through the air there.
The monk smiled gently, as though he were watching a bird flying through the sky, and quietly said,
“But who in this world has no shortcomings, and who has no wounds? Even though we all know our own shortcomings, we help one another and live our lives together. We, too, despite our shortcomings, help each other like this and move forward…”
The monk looked at me.
“Wouldn’t that make us the most wonderful team of all?”
“Everyone, please listen to me!”
“Monk…”
I looked at Monk Xu Jae with deep admiration.
Monk Xu Jae also nodded with eyes brimming with kindness and compassion.
Amid the gentle silence, I secretly thought to myself.
‘The monk seems to be the craziest one of all…’
Seriously, is this not a completely insane team?!
The enemies’ screams echoed faintly in my ears.
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