"What a vicious brat. To think he didn't miss that opening......."
"Well, indeed. The eldest son of the Shandong Moyong Clan nearly lost his life, didn't he?"
The Guardian Monk sitting in the seat of honor among them, bearing a clear precept scar upon his forehead, suddenly wore an expression of admiration.
"The might of the Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique is truly remarkable. Were it not for this, that ruthless brat would have taken several lives by now. To think the prohibition seal activates without fail the moment he tries to kill—truly befitting a seal personally performed by the Shaolin Sage-Monk."
One Guardian Monk wore an extremely displeased expression.
"But I find it utterly disagreeable. To think that the Sage-Monk, who possesses the most profound internal energy in our Shaolin, would expend his internal energy for the sake of that demon's bastard child....... I simply cannot understand it."
"Hah! Who could bend that one's stubborn will? It is a stubbornness already renowned throughout all of Shaolin Temple......."
The chief Guardian Monk turned his head with a sidelong glance. The hunchbacked boy was being subjected to a merciless group beating even while barely conscious. The Guardian Monk spat out his words as though particularly unwilling.
"We should break up the fight soon. One misstep and that venomous wretch will breathe his last."
"Shall we?"
As the Guardian Monks intervened, the group beating came to a temporary close. Perhaps thinking they had vented enough, the boys retreated one by one and began dusting off their clothes. But the blue-robed boy bearing the surname Moyong seemed still unable to quell his anger. He aborted turning away and instead kicked the abdomen of the hunchbacked boy sprawled and writhing on the ground.
Thud.
"You turtle-like bastard. How dare you splatter blood on my face......."
The blue-robed boy took a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his face. Then he turned around to the boys with a bright expression.
"Now. Let's go."
As the boys swarmed away, the Guardian Monks let out bitter smiles.
"What a temperament. With that personality and outstanding aptitude to boot....... It is truly a shame he is merely a secular disciple."
"Now, now, enough chatter and help treat this lad. If the Sage-Monk finds out for no good reason, we'll get a severe scolding......."
"Understood."
A small, frail figure staggered along a narrow path as the sun was setting. It was none other than the hunchbacked boy, dragging his severely injured leg and barely moving his feet. His face was so swollen that his features were indistinguishable, yet the uniquely venomous, murderous glint in his eyes had not subsided in the slightest.
"Urk."
Tripping over a stone, the hunchbacked boy ended up falling right there. From his mouth leaked a voice steeped with strands of venomous killing intent.
"Cowards. Ganging up on me together, urgh."
Blood flowed ceaselessly from his lips cut by a blade. The hunchbacked boy spat out blood and phlegm with a splat and barely raised himself up. His lodging was already endlessly far in normal times, but with his body in such abnormal condition, today it seemed even more distant.
A crude thatched hut visible only after crossing over a mountain. That was precisely the hunchbacked boy's lodging. And the boy knew it. Though they could not be seen, the Guardian Monks were secretly following behind him. Curses burst from the boy's mouth once more.
"Dog-like bastards. You're all the same lot."
Muttering incessantly, the boy nonetheless mustered his strength and began to move his feet. His name was Dokgo Seong. The hunchbacked boy was recalling the cause of how he had ended up in such straits.
The absolute ruler of the Demonic Path, dying under the combined assault of the Orthodox Path's renowned experts. Though he was still a young child unable to comprehend the world, Dokgo Seong had never forgotten that moment. Though he had not known at the time that the man was his father, Dokgo Seong had at least been aware that he had loved him dearly.
In that very place where his father died, Dokgo Seong had the prohibition seal of the Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique performed upon him by the Shaolin Sage-Monk. Dokgo Seong lost consciousness from the severe pain occurring during the procedure, and before he knew it, he was moved to Shaolin Temple.
The circumstances of his stay at Shaolin Temple were as follows. Surprisingly, the Bae Cult, despite knowing of Dokgo Seong's confinement at Shaolin Temple, made no attempt whatsoever to rescue him. Even though he was the sole heir of the former Cult Leader, Dokgo Mugi.
Shaolin Temple had originally harbored ulterior motives. Having gotten the former Cult Leader's son into their hands, Shaolin Temple dreamed of exchanging him for the captured disciples of the Orthodox faction held prisoner at the time. Since it was a matter of rescuing disciples, it was a situation the Shaolin Sage-Monk could not oppose either. The Shaolin Abbot wrote out the temple's intentions in full in a letter and sent it to the Bae Cult.
At the time, the Bae Cult was newly reorganized under the hands of the Martial Commander, Sajunhwan. He had swiftly settled the chaos caused by the demonic factions following Dokgo Mugi's death, rising as the new ruler of the Bae Cult.
However, contrary to expectations, he showed no reaction whatsoever regarding Dokgo Seong. Even after receiving the letter, he gave no response whatsoever.
Shaolin Temple was greatly bewildered by this fact. It was because they had already performed the prohibition seal on Dokgo Seong, so they had no reservations regarding future troubles.
But for the Bae Cult to not take Dokgo Seong back. Having nowhere to go, Dokgo Seong had no choice but to continue staying at Shaolin Temple, and he simply fell into becoming an outcast.
The problem began once he grew old enough to understand words. It stemmed precisely from his grotesque appearance and the background of being the son of the Demonic Path's absolute ruler. It was precisely the time when the power struggle between the Orthodox and Demonic Paths was reaching its peak. The eyes with which the Shaolin monks and training disciples looked upon Dokgo Seong could hardly be kind.
"Filthy mongrel hunchback."
"Son of a demon who killed countless people."
From the time he began to comprehend the world, the contempt and scorn poured upon him were beyond imagination, and it was utterly impossible for Dokgo Seong to grow up normally under such contempt—indeed, not even a possibility. In particular, his father, Dokgo Mugi, had been a master of the Demonic Path of tremendous prowess, and countless Orthodox warriors had lost their lives at his hands.
Therefore, the contempt and cold treatment inflicted upon Dokgo Seong inevitably grew worse. Under such abuse, Dokgo Seong's disposition gradually became more and more twisted.
Today's group lynching was also due to such a background. As Dokgo Seong silently hurried his steps, his eyes caught sight of a small snake crawling across the path. Wearing a cold smile, Dokgo Seong silently approached where the snake was.
Crunch.
The hurriedly crawling snake's head was crushed flat under Dokgo Seong's foot.
Along with it, a certain amount of pain was reflexively transmitted to his mind. Of course, it was pain caused by the Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique. However, it was so slight as to be incomparable to the case just now—to a degree Dokgo Seong could easily endure. Suddenly, curses burst from his mouth. Foul curses unfit to emerge from a boy's mouth.
"Damn it. If it weren't for this blasted prohibition law, that bastard Moyong Jin would not have survived today."
The Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique. It was an enormously powerful prohibition art designated by Shaolin Temple as second only to the Killing Precept. As a forbidden law that annihilated the killing intent of the subject, one who received this great law was said to be incapable of murder itself. Dokgo Seong had already received this prohibition law directly from the Shaolin Sage-Monk. The very reason he had been unable to sever Moyong Jin's life today was because of this.
"Damn. It's only that damned pain that I absolutely cannot endure no matter what......."
The Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique fundamentally activated when killing intent toward a human was aroused. Dokgo Seong had killed countless insects and animals until now to experiment with it. As a result, he learned that when killing an animal, only relatively bearable pain was transmitted. But when killing intent was directed at a human, an unimaginable agony—like his brain being set ablaze—was inflicted, causing him to fail in his aim several times already. Thinking of this, killing intent abruptly flared in Dokgo Seong's eyes.
"The day this prohibition law disappears, I will kill every last one of them without rema—, argh."
He was unable to finish his words and rolled about on the ground. The cause was that, in his surging emotions, he had momentarily forgotten about the Sevenfold Golden Prohibition Technique. He desperately tried to forget his killing intent. Though he prided himself on having considerable endurance, this pain alone was truly unbearable.
A short while later, Dokgo Seong raised himself with a defeated look and silently moved toward his thatched hut. All that remained in that spot was the snake's corpse, its head horrifically crushed.
A short while later, a voice seemingly extremely angry could be heard from the darkness.
"Truly, the mere sight of him makes me nauseous and unable to bear it. Why does the Sect Leader keep such a fellow residing at the Main Temple? I simply cannot comprehend the reason."
"Shh. Your voice is too loud."
"Do not mind. To so cruelly trample a snake without the slightest sin, even if it is but a lowly creature—truly, he is the son of a demon. I simply cannot fathom why we must lose sleep night after night for days on end to guard such a fellow?"
"It is the Sect Leader's strict order, so what can we do? We have no choice but to obey."
"If it were up to my thoughts, I would wish to simply kill him."
The voice in the darkness suddenly turned cold.
"Dare you attempt to break the Killing Precept? We are monks. Even if the opponent is an irredeemable villain, you must not rashly kill him."
As if daunted by his senior's rebuke, the voice in the darkness was heard no more. With those words as the final note, the night at the mountain temple deepened.
"Damn it, another nightmare?"
Dokgo Seong muttered as he awoke from sleep. It was a past he never wished to remember, never wished to recall, yet dreams that reminisced about the past came to him like fate—or rather, periodically.
After waking, Dokgo Seong's mood could not possibly be good. Had this been the Central Plains, he would surely have vented his anger on someone. But here, there was absolutely no chance of a target for his rage. To erase such thoughts, Dokgo Seong looked around his surroundings. His pupils were filled with light of doubt.
"But where is this?"
The place he had originally been in was an inner chamber of incomparable splendor. A space even more magnificent than his own residence in the Central Plains. But the place he was in now was entirely different. A structure completely different from a bedchamber. At a glance, one could tell it was a prison for holding heinous criminals. Gazing at the door made of sturdy iron bars, Dokgo Seong muttered.
"It seems they've finally lost interest in me. Seeing as they've sent me to such a prison......."
From its appearance, it certainly looked like a prison. But the place he was confined in was a spacious prison large enough to hold at least about a hundred people. Dokgo Seong first examined his surroundings thoroughly.
The most eye-catching thing was a long sword placed on the floor. A shield was also lying nearby, but Dokgo Seong ignored it and picked up the sword. When he flicked the blade with his finger, a somewhat dull sound was heard. It did not look particularly high in quality, but its thickness and length were truly monstrous. Seeing a long blood groove engraved in the center, it seemed to be a longsword meant for thrusting.
"A sword so thick it's crude. But why did those bastards place this here?"
Issuing a sword to a prisoner locked in a prison was utterly absurd. Therefore, Dokgo Seong had to rack his brains over the intentions of those who had confined him here.
However, there was no need to ponder long. From beyond the iron bars, a fierce beast-like growl suddenly rang out.
Grrrr.
In Dokgo Seong's eyes as he reflexively turned his head, four lantern-sized lights flickered beyond the iron bars. He was already aware that these were the eyes of beasts. But shrouded in darkness, their forms were impossible to guess.
Then, as the barred iron door rumbled and rose, Dokgo Seong was finally able to grasp the intentions of his captors. Realizing the situation, he clenched his teeth fiercely.
"Are they trying to test me?"
While he stood blankly, the lattice gate opened fully, and something with a green hue shot out like an arrow from within. They ruthlessly pounced upon Dokgo Seong.
"Urgh."
Dokgo Seong hurled his body forth with all his might.