〈Chapter 175〉 It's a Coincidence. (3)
It's a Coincidence. (3)
In the endlessly spreading forest, purple-hued fog lay thick and dense.
So thick was it that one could not tell at all whether it was night or day.
Only the quiet scent of the mountains,
and the sound of crickets reaching my ears allowed me to vaguely guess that perhaps it was night.
Crack—
A brutal sound echoed between the trees.
It was the sound of something being crushed and uprooted.
The moment the sound rang out, birds hiding their presence in the forest flew up in a flurry.
—Hah.
Finishing a fierce battle, I let out the sigh I had been holding back.
I threw far away the neck of the demonic beast I had torn off while gripping it.
It was the neck of a green demonic beast resembling a wolf.
Thud.
The demonic beast's head that had flown far away fell to the ground.
And in front of it, someone was standing.
The moment I confirmed who it was, my expression twisted fiercely.
Because it was someone I truly did not want to face.
—Why.
The voice coming from my mouth was brusque beyond compare.
—...Did you get that tired from catching a single green demonic beast?
—Why are you picking a fight the moment you see me? You wanna die?
The woman speaking to me as if dumbfounded was none other than Seolbong.
As if she had been rolling around somewhere to her heart's content, her body was covered in dirt and leaves.
At my words, Moyong Huia snorted and replied.
—How nice it must be to be so carefree.
—Carefree? Does this look carefree to your eyes?
I fought desperately just to survive, and she calls it carefree.
This is why I hate that damned woman.
She thinks the world revolves around her.
Hating to talk further, I spat on the ground, but Moyong Huia continued speaking.
—You don't even know the situation and are just grappling with demonic beasts, so yes, you are carefree.
At those words, I raised my gaze and looked at Moyong Huia.
—What do you mean? Speak properly.
—I thought I had finally found someone... but of all people, it had to be you. Truly terrible luck.
—You crazy bitch, really.
She comes to me herself, yet why does she always pick a fight?
I'm dying of exhaustion as it is.
I glared and growled, but Moyong Huia's expression remained full of sighs.
—...How long has it been since you saw the rest of the group?
—What?
I asked back at Moyong Huia's out-of-the-blue words, but she didn't care and only urged me on.
—I asked how long. Don't waste words and speak quickly. It's an urgent situation.
—About three days, I think.
—Three days? Don't tell me you haven't found it strange for three whole days?
—What's strange? Speak properly.
At my words, Moyong Huia swept her hand through her hair.
She seemed quite frustrated.
—...They all disappeared.
At her words, my eyebrows furrowed.
It had been a year since being isolated in this damned world.
The survivors who had fallen into the demonic realm together had decreased from the beginning, but even so, the number was still large.
That was thanks to Jamryong and Wiseol working tirelessly without sparing themselves.
But they all disappeared?
—What do you mean? How big can this place be that they all disappeared?
This was the northern forest I had come to scout.
Though it was full of fog, I had gathered people separately, wondering if there might be food or an escape route.
All disappeared?
At least twenty people must have entered together.
At my question, Moyong Huia wore an expression that seemed equally incomprehending.
—That's what I'm saying. If you noticed people disappearing, you should have been searching for them. What are you doing here?
—Can't you see? I'm struggling to survive.
As you can see, I'm barely holding on while rolling around with demonic beasts in this shitty forest.
Honestly, it had been a somewhat dangerous situation.
Even if they were only green-grade demonic beasts, since I had been at this without sleep for three days, I had nearly died just now from exhaustion.
Hearing that, Moyong Huia laughed hollowly.
—If so, you should have been looking for people. What are you doing alone? Pathetic.
—I thought they had more or less abandoned me and left.
—...What?
Moyong Huia asked back at the words I had lightly spat out.
She had clearly heard me, so why was she asking back?
—It's not a very strange situation.
Perhaps because I had said it so easily, Moyong Huia lost her words for a moment.
Was it such a strange thing to say?
I had been thinking that it wouldn't be strange to be abandoned if push came to shove.
The same went for Moyong Huia right in front of me. There was no way that crazy woman trusted me.
I was certain that the moment a crisis struck, she would throw me as bait and run.
Perhaps my calm state of mind had been conveyed; Moyong Huia let out a deep sigh.
—...Let's leave this aside for now. You haven't tried to get out of the forest, have you?
—Not yet?
Come to think of it, I hadn't thought to try getting out.
—You can't get out.
Just as I had that thought, Moyong Huia answered firmly.
—Can't get out?
—I kept heading toward the entrance we came in from, but I only circled the same place over and over. I couldn't get out of the forest.
—Couldn't you just not be able to find the entrance?
—Do you think I'm as deficient as you? I obviously left marks.
This was really pissing me off. Should I just charge at her?
The urge to beat her down surged to my throat, but I forcibly held back.
I couldn't beat her even normally, and if I charged at Seolbong in this situation, I might really die.
—Anyway... you're saying we can't get out of the forest?
—If you don't believe me, go see for yourself.
So I decided to go see for myself.
The marks Moyong Huia said she had left fortunately had not disappeared.
If I steadily followed that path, the entrance should have appeared, but.
—...Why am I back here?
After circling around, I had returned to the forest where I had met Moyong Huia.
No matter how thoughtlessly I lived, the path I had just taken with Moyong Huia was a straight line.
I could at least tell that it wasn't a path that could circle back here.
—That's what I told you.
Moyong Huia, who had been quietly following behind, spoke as if she had proven her point.
—I told you, you can't get out.
I surveyed my surroundings with somewhat tired eyes.
The fog still filled the forest and the sky.
The crickets were chirping as if nothing was wrong, but.
Remembering that this place was the demonic realm, I had to wonder if those crickets were truly insects.
I quietly stared at Moyong Huia before spitting out a remark.
—So, all the others have disappeared. You and I are trapped in this forest?
At my words, Moyong Huia's expression distorted, but she didn't refute them.
It must have been because the words were correct.
To roughly summarize:
The party that entered the forest to scout had all disappeared.
It was just me and that crazy woman. And we couldn't even get out?
Having thought that far, I rubbed my face and quietly muttered.
—We're fucked.
Once again, Moyong Huia didn't answer.
I wished she would please deny it.
Reality was still cruel.
Thinking back on it later,
this was the beginning of a long ill-fated relationship.
The stairs leading up to the Shaolin Temple were not particularly high compared to those of the Mount Hua Sect.
To begin with, the location was what it was. It was a place that received far more visitors than Mount Hua.
Of course, I had to give advance notice that I would be visiting.
That was simply something to be done.
In fact, before even making plans to flee from Muyeon, I had already sent word to the Shaolin Temple.
I had planned to return to the secular world not long after the Martial Arts Tournament ended.
It was something I had prepared in advance for handling affairs.
'What's with her?'
Why was Moyong Huia here?
Moyong Huia standing nonchalantly in front of the Shaolin Temple looked extremely alien, ill-fitting with the background.
As I looked at Moyong Huia with a bewildered expression,
Moyong Huia lightly adjusted her clothes and smiled brightly at me.
"What a coincidence, Young Master Gu."
It was absolutely not a coincidence. Intuition aside.
The word "coincidence" coming from that woman's mouth was the least believable word in the world.
"...Why are you here?"
"What do you mean? I also had some business at the Shaolin Temple."
"Business... what kind of business?"
At my question, Moyong Huia pointed this way with her fingertip.
It was quite unnerving how much dignity she exuded even in such a small movement.
"You've arrived now. My business."
" "
For a moment, I felt a throbbing headache.
It seemed Moyong Huia had no intention of lying to my question from the start.
"I believe I clearly refused your proposal earlier, however..."
"If we met by coincidence, wouldn't that be fine?"
"Didn't you just confess that it was not a coincidence?"
"It is a coincidence. While my business is indeed with you, young master, how would I have known that you would come to the Shaolin Temple at this very moment?"
That's exactly what I'm saying.
How the hell did you know, you crazy woman.
'She couldn't have intercepted the letter midway.'
It wasn't impossible, but I didn't think Moyong Huia would do such a thing.
So at times like this, just asking outright was the answer.
"What I am curious about is this. How did you know I was coming to the Shaolin Temple now?"
At my question, Moyong Huia's eyes curved like crescent moons. It was an eye-smile that looked as if it could make a man's heart burst.
"A hunch."
"What?"
"My hunch told me so. That the young master would go today."
I thought it was nonsense, but when I thought of my past life, it couldn't be.
Moyong Huia acted very rationally and calculatingly, but.
Occasionally, when she said her hunch was bad and told me not to go, mostly terrible things accompanied it.
Before long,
I had come to believe what she said based on her senses
more than the rational strategies she devised.
As I just looked without saying much, Moyong Huia continued.
"As expected, you are a peculiar person, young master."
"...What do you mean?"
"If I said it was a hunch, you wouldn't normally make that expression, would you?"
"It is because I am too surprised. I have never heard such nonsense before."
"I see."
Her giggling was an expression of absolute disbelief. I was simply doubtful.
Why is she doing this to me?
The proposal during the day was the same. I had thought Moyong Huia's goal was that bastard Nyoryong.
Was that not it?
That couldn't be.
"Young master."
"...Yes."
"Since meeting by coincidence is also a connection. Shall we go to the Shaolin Temple together?"
"First of all, the fact that it is not a coincidence is a problem, but can we even enter together?"
"Why?"
"I had sent advance word to the Shaolin Temple, but didn't you come here without notice?"
You needed to give notice at least a day in advance.
Shaolin was relatively open compared to other sects, but this had to be observed.
I had spoken thinking that was obvious, but Moyong Huia replied with a slight laugh.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"Excuse me?"
Just as I uttered those words, asking what she meant,
someone came down the stairs and pressed their palms together toward us.
It was a boy monk who looked even younger than me now.
"I am called Huiyeong. Though I am lacking, I have been entrusted with guiding the two of you."
At the words of this Buddhist disciple named Huiyeong, I was about to nod, but a subtle point was hidden in his words.
"Huiyeong... Monk."
"Yes, that is correct. Ah, are you perhaps Patron Gu Yangcheon?"
"I am Gu Yangcheon."
"Your letter was received. The Abbot said that if I were to meet you, to convey his congratulations."
"...Ah, yes. Thank you."
I was bewildered for a second time by the sudden mention of the Shaolin Abbot, but that was not the important thing right now.
"Monk, did you just say two people?"
At my words, Huiyeong tilted his head.
"Yes, I said the two of you before me."
At Huiyeong's words, as if asking if something was wrong, I looked at Moyong Huia with surprised eyes.
Moyong Huia was still smiling.
How enchanting that smile was; even Huiyeong, who had lived his whole life as a Buddhist disciple, had slightly reddened cheeks.
"I told you not to worry."
Moyong Huia tucked her hair behind her ear. Her scent brushed the tip of my nose in the softly blowing wind.
"I am someone who doesn't move without a plan."
" "
The words "that's the biggest problem" pushed to the tip of my tongue, but I barely held them back.
Whether Moyong Huia knew my feelings or not—no, she probably knew but was pretending not to—she spoke.
"Shall we go then?"
At that confident smile, I eventually lost my words.
Shaolin had originally been Sinnoya's destination,
but contrary to plans, I ended up ascending to Shaolin without Sinnoya.
The Shaolin I ascended following the Buddhist disciple Huiyeong still exuded a dignified atmosphere that fully retained the traces of time.
Broad, large buildings that seemed to be roughly twice the size of the Mount Hua Sect's.
This was not to say that Mount Hua was small, but rather that Shaolin Temple was simply too large.
This was a detail that showed how much sponsorship and support they received in Henan.
'What was that old man trying to find out here?'
I thought of the old swordsman who had left behind his heroic deeds and remained in this land, becoming a ghost.
I meant the Mount Hua Divine Sword, Sincheol, who would be sleeping deeply right about now.
"This is the place most frequented by visitors."
Following Huiyeong's gesture, I looked over the large lake in the Shaolin Temple.
In the lake so clear that the bottom was fully visible, a very white carp was swimming about.
Since there seemed to be only one, I was looking at it strangely, but Huiyeong explained.
"That is our Shaolin Temple's precious creature, the Baekauieo (White Elegant Righteous Fish)."
"That carp is a precious creature?"
"Yes, that's correct. It is a precious creature that was placed in this lake by Hwang-ah Bullyeong, who blocked the blood tribulation of the Blood Demon in the distant past."
Then it had lived for hundreds of years.
At that point, wasn't it basically a demonic beast?
I couldn't bring myself to ask if something being a precious creature of Shaolin meant it wasn't a demonic beast, so I simply nodded.
'Did such a thing exist even in my past life?'
Back then, I didn't have much interest in the Shaolin Temple, and I didn't particularly remember hearing about the carp either.
I simply found it amazing that a living creature could be called a precious creature.
'By the way, is it okay to just leave it in the lake like that?'
If they just left it there and a Divine Thief appeared and stole it, what then?
As I looked at the carp with such eyes, Huiyeong added an explanation as if he had been waiting.
"In case those with ill intent come, the Abbots of successive generations have deployed a formation around the area. You would know immediately if you went near it."
At Huiyeong's words, I suddenly recalled the formation deployed at the Mount Hua Sect.
Having heard that, I drew ki into my eyes to examine, and indeed, I could faintly see something deployed at the lakeside.
"I have one question, Monk."
"Yes, I shall listen attentively."
"Do monks guide people like this normally?"
"Ah."
This was purely out of curiosity.
No matter how many monks Shaolin had, they shouldn't have enough to grab visitors one by one to guide them.
Huiyeong hesitated for a moment before answering in a slightly lowered voice.
"It is not normally so... The Abbot ordered it personally."
"You mean Cheonan?"
"Yes, he said a precious guest would come soon and to treat them well..."
A precious guest.
It was quite subtle because it was said by the Shaolin Abbot, who was said to read the heavens.
'Does that baldy know that I have defied time?'
I didn't think so.
If that were the case, wouldn't he have appeared already?
Perhaps because I had used more power than expected, the fact that I seemed to have caught the Shaolin Abbot's eye made me feel unpleasant for no reason.
This was why I should have held back a bit.
I let out a slight sigh and looked ahead again.
The reason I deliberately didn't look back was because the gaze was frightening.
From behind, I could already feel a relentless gaze boring into me.
It was because Moyong Huia was staring holes into me.
'If you have nothing to say, why did you ask to come together?'
From the moment we entered Shaolin, Moyong Huia hadn't spoken to me.
Instead, she had just been looking at me with an incredibly intense gaze.
It felt as if she was openly scrutinizing me, trying to figure something out.
We walked along the lakeside following Huiyeong in silence for a long time.
Moyong Huia still said nothing.
I walked for a long time, enduring the discomfort of the gaze.
'...I really can't take this.'
In the end, unable to bear it, I quickly turned around and looked at Moyong Huia.
"Lady Moyong, why the hell are you doing this to—"
I tried to ask as if demanding an answer, but stopped dead.
Because Moyong Huia had stopped.
Not in a strange way, but truly stopped completely.
The tips of her feet that had been walking softly were floating in the air.
Her hands that had been neatly folded and moving, and her eyes that had been subtly watching me.
Even the leaves swaying in the wind around us had stopped.
"...What the hell is this now."
The world had stopped.
Except for me alone.
At the situation that had suddenly befallen me, I instinctively raised my ki.
It was an extremely bizarre situation.
Was it an attack by someone?
Did that mean there was a being capable of using such a bizarre power?
Then.
[...Cheol.]
A voice was heard from somewhere.
[...Sincheol...]
The gentle voice of an old man.
I quickly turned my head in the direction the voice came from.
There,
the Baekauieo that had been swimming in the lake earlier was looking at me.
[...Sincheol, you bastard.]
It was extremely aggressive language.