Dark clouds billowed ominously in the sky, and it felt as though eerie wails echoed from all directions.
"How could the leader of the Sahyang Clan learn the Prajna Great Power?"
The secret arts of Shaolin had never once leaked to the outside. Moreover, the Prajna Great Power was a martial art that ordinary disciples couldn't even learn.
That meant Master Mun Dae was a disciple of considerably high status, and perhaps even Shaolin was aware of this fact.
"Does that mean Shaolin is behind the Sahyang Clan?" Bu Eunseol shook his head.
There was no chance that Shaolin, the pillar of the righteous sects, was the backing force of a mysterious assassin sect passed down through generations. If that were the case, at the very least, Monk Honghyeon wouldn't have said anything about protecting the martial world.
—I, too, abandoned my status and returned to the secular world...
But Master Mun Dae had referred to Shaolin as the 'main temple' and claimed himself to be a Shaolin disciple. If this wasn't nonsense, it meant he had deliberately abandoned his identity and joined the Sahyang Clan.
'Was Master Mun Dae a lay disciple?'
Shaolin accepted the most lay disciples among the Nine Sects and One Union, and depending on the circumstances, they generously imparted the temple's secret arts to lay disciples.
'Or perhaps, the Blood Shaolin.'
It was said that when a crisis befell the martial world, another Shaolin existed to break through that calamity—the Blood Shaolin.
The warrior monks of the Blood Shaolin all hid their identities, and with the abbot's permission, they secretly practiced destructive variations of the Seventy-Two Consummate Arts. However, very few knew of the Blood Shaolin's existence, and Bu Eunseol himself had only heard tales of it like folklore during his time on a Gapho mission with the Nine Deaths Squad.
'But I can't just sweep through Shaolin like I did with the Five Poisons Sect or the Evil Lotus Union.'
If Bu Eunseol's mindset had been immersed in the demonic path as before?
He would have, without hesitation, immediately concentrated all his forces and intelligence networks on Shaolin. But now, he had regained his original serene mindset. He was calmly analyzing the situation and devising countermeasures.
'Investigating Shaolin must not be done recklessly.'
Shaolin was a great pillar supporting the righteous sects, with many eminent monks possessing outstanding martial arts and mysterious abilities. It was far more perilous than investigating the interior of the Martial Alliance, requiring utmost caution.
'It's just a matter of order anyway.'
Originally, Bu Eunseol had intended to meticulously investigate not only the Martial Alliance but also all the righteous sects, including the Nine Sects and One Union.
Because, based on all the evidence so far, the culprit seemed closer to someone from the righteous sects. However, since Shaolin was a place that couldn't be touched lightly...
He couldn't investigate it immediately; it would require the most preparation and meticulous planning.
"Let's head back for now." Bu Eunseol weakly turned his body.
For now, he had to be satisfied with having dealt with the Sahyang Clan. Just as he gathered his internal energy to execute his movement technique,
"...!" His eyes wavered like ripples on water.
As he circulated his energy, the dispersed aura of the Prajna Great Power in his meridians subtly clashed with the true qi in his dantian.
The root of Bu Eunseol's power was the demonic Anti-Extreme Heart Method.
But he had accumulated true qi through the Muscle-changing Sutra's life-nurturing secrets since childhood, and now his meridians had even absorbed the Prajna Great Power.
In the end, not only his mindset but even the things engraved in his body were now straddling the line between demonic and righteous paths.
"Hoo." A deep sigh escaped Bu Eunseol's lips as he grasped the entire situation.
If this continued...
Whether he wanted it or not, he would have no choice but to deeply master and develop the martial arts of both righteous and demonic paths.
Zing.
But at that moment, Bu Eunseol's senses picked up a faint sound. It seemed to originate from deep underground, creating a subtle vibration that traveled up through his feet.
'The children?' Only then did Bu Eunseol recall that the kidnapped children had been connected to the Sahyang Clan all along.
That meant the abducted children were surely imprisoned somewhere in the Sahyang Clan.
After pondering deeply for a moment, Bu Eunseol maximized his senses with the Beast Way.
And at the same time, he stomped his foot hard.
Boom.
As the ground vibrated and spread out, the Void Wave Mind Eye was activated.
Simultaneously, the range of his senses began to expand underground up to about a hundred zhang.
'Underground again.' Bu Eunseol's eyes flashed as he analyzed the sensations of the Void Wave Mind Eye spreading in all directions. He discovered a massive space beneath where the Sahyang Clan was built.
'I need to find the way down.' As Bu Eunseol scanned the village, his eyes suddenly caught the well prominently located in the center.
The well was dry, and inside was a large bucket connected to a rope, big enough for a person to ride.
"...." The well was so deep that even Bu Eunseol's gaze, which pierced through darkness, couldn't see the bottom.
Tap.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol rode the large bucket down inside.
The bottom was a naturally formed large cave. And there were traces of many people coming and going. Torches were placed here and there on the walls, but they weren't lit, so the interior was filled only with thick darkness and damp air.
"Hmm." Bu Eunseol frowned.
He felt faint hostility from all sides.
It was like beasts in the dark eyeing their prey.
Swish!
With a sharp whistling sound, something keen flew toward Bu Eunseol's temple.
He lightly tilted his head to dodge it, and a shadow gripping a sharp metal object descended from the ceiling.
"Hmm." Bu Eunseol didn't evade and stared at the shadow holding the metal object.
But it was a trap.
While his attention was focused on the shadow in front, a shadow that had approached stealthily while crouching low slashed fiercely at Bu Eunseol's ankles with a sharp metal object.
Swish!
At the same time, sharp metal objects pierced into his side, back, and chest.
Thud.
In the end, four sharp metal objects were deeply embedded in Bu Eunseol's body.
"If it were an ordinary martial artist, they would have died here." Though metal objects were stuck all over his body, he stood calmly and smiled faintly.
Drip.
As he exerted his internal energy, the sharp metal objects turned to powder and scattered in all directions.
Thud!
When Bu Eunseol unleashed finger winds infused with Blazing Fire True Qi, the torches on the walls ignited.
At the same time, the shadows crouching in the darkness revealed themselves.
"They're doing the same thing as on Hell Island." Bu Eunseol clicked his tongue.
The shadows revealed under the torchlight were young boys who hadn't even lost their childish features.
There were thirty of them.
Their bodies were emaciated, as if they hadn't properly washed or eaten, and grime covered their entire bodies. But their eyes, reflecting the torchlight, emitted a blade-like sharpness, showing no trace of fear.
"They've been fed human flower." Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
All these boys had been forcibly steeped in vicious drugs like human flower. Thus, though they had no internal energy, their bodies were agile like martial experts, and their natures had turned ferocious like beasts.
'Fortunately, they haven't learned internal cultivation yet.' The boys seemed not to have formally learned martial arts, as there were no signs of internal energy cultivation.
"Then there's a way."
Whoosh!
As Bu Eunseol extended his hand, the boy in the front row floated into the air and stuck to his palm. If a martial artist had seen this, they would have been utterly shocked.
Pulling a teacup or weapon through the air with Void Grasping wasn't too difficult.
But pulling a boy's body from five or six zhang away with Void Grasping was a level that could be called a divine skill.
"Uh..." Overwhelmed by Bu Eunseol's martial prowess, the boy trembled without even thinking of resisting.
"There's no need to fear." Bu Eunseol spoke calmly and began infusing internal energy into the boy's Great Hammer acupoint.
Whoosh!
Then, white smoke rose from the boy's entire body, and his ashen skin and yellowed eyes regained their natural color.
By injecting powerful Ban-geuk Energy, he had expelled all the absorbed drugs from the body.
'His bone structure is good.'
If the boy's bone structure hadn't been good and his meridians sturdy, he wouldn't have been able to properly accept Bu Eunseol's true qi. But in the time it took for half a stick of incense to burn, the boy had properly accepted the Ban-geuk Energy and penetrated all his meridians.
"Do you feel alright now?" At Bu Eunseol's words, the boy nodded with clear eyes.
"The dizziness and confusion in my mind have cleared up."
"Good. The rest of you, come here one by one."
Bu Eunseol sequentially infused Ban-geuk Energy into the thirty boys, burning away the drugs in their bodies. They all had excellent bone structures, but the boy to whom Bu Eunseol had first infused energy was the most outstanding.
"Are you the leader of this group?" At Bu Eunseol's words, the boy standing at the front nodded.
"Yes."
"Your name."
"I am… Akwi." The boy seemed to have become an orphan at such a young age that he hadn't even been given a proper name.
Just like Bu Eunseol in the past.
"Do you have a place to return to?"
"What do you mean..."
"The ones who kidnapped you are all dead. I came to rescue you." Then, about half of the boys behind Akwi brightened up, while the other half darkened.
"Half of us are orphans. Like me, without proper names."
Half of the kidnapped boys were orphans.
They had simply been captured for their good bone structures. No one would care or notice them.
"Take this." Bu Eunseol took out a money pouch from his bosom, along with a black stone engraved with a wolf, and gave it to Akwi. "Take those without a place to return and go to Chengdu. Place this stone in front of the inn closest to the post station. Then, people will appear to take you."
"Where will they take us?"
"Iron Staff Mountain, Nangyang Pavilion." Bu Eunseol said calmly. "Once you arrive there, you'll meet Master Iron. Tell him everything that's happened and say I sent you."
"What is your name, great hero?" As Akwi asked with bright, sparkling eyes, Bu Eunseol replied calmly.
"Bu Eunseol. Just tell him that."
"Bu Eunseol..." Akwi murmured softly.
At this point, the boys didn't know.
That the man standing before them would become the grand master of martial arts, reaching the pinnacle of both righteous and demonic paths. And that they themselves would later become the ten saviors who would rescue the Nangyang Pavilion from crisis.
The boys all rode the bucket and left the Sahyang Clan. After all, this place was a secret passage leading to a hidden location far from Huitang Mountain.
They could quietly go to Chengdu without issue from the authorities.
"Now I really must return." Bu Eunseol gazed at the empty cave and walked back to where the bucket was.
"...."
Bu Eunseol suddenly stared intently at the bucket. It looked like wood on the outside, but it was actually made of hard metal. Moreover, the chain connected to the bucket was metal yet soft like rope and elastic like rubber.
'A hidden weapon...'
This was the Sahyang Clan, called the grand sect of hidden weapons.
Then, there must be a secret warehouse somewhere storing finely crafted hidden weapons.
Including the one used to kill his grandfather.
'Let's search.' Bu Eunseol immediately raised his Void Heart Command. He intended to scour from underground to above ground.
"So it was here." As he activated the Void Heart Command, he saw white light leaking from far in the darkness.
After walking a considerable distance, he saw a wall emitting faint light. It looked like solid rock, but it was actually made of iron, a secret door with hidden mechanisms.
Click.
As he placed his hand on the wall, with a mechanism sound, the secretly hidden iron door slowly revealed itself. Entering there, he found over thirty unique hidden weapon devices stored on metal boxes.
"Not here." The hidden weapon devices concealed here were incredibly intricate, but very small in size and shape.
"Thirty... I see." Upon closer look, these thirty devices seemed to be hidden weapons to be equipped on the boys being raised here.
"Hmm." Bu Eunseol picked up a wrist guard-shaped hidden weapon device, shook his head, and put it back down,
Click.
Suddenly, a faint mechanism sound came from above the metal box.
It was so small that even he felt he had heard it by chance. Bu Eunseol examined the metal box closely, then suddenly raised his internal energy.
Whoosh!
At the same time, he lifted all the hidden weapons from the thirty metal boxes into the air,
Zing.
With a low mechanism sound from the floor, a large metal box began rising to Bu Eunseol's waist height.
Click.
Opening the box, there was a bizarre glove inside.
It was shaped like an intricate human hand.
From wrinkles to pores and hairs, it was so perfect that it looked less like a glove and more like human hand skin peeled off whole.
Swish.
As if entranced, Bu Eunseol put the glove on his right hand.
Then, his right hand's middle, ring, and little fingers were compressed by the glove,
Making them appear completely gone.
Seven Fingers.
Wearing this glove made Bu Eunseol's hand look as if only seven fingers remained.
"...!" Bu Eunseol's eyes were filled with shock.
There were countless treasures in the martial world, but nothing that deliberately made intact fingers appear as seven. And there was only one famous martial artist with seven fingers.
"Seven-Finger Demon Blade..."
This glove must surely belong to the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang.
He hadn't cut his fingers to practice blade arts; he had worn this glove to pretend to have seven fingers.
Why on earth?
Bu Eunseol couldn't understand at all.
Why had he deliberately pretended to have seven fingers? And why was his glove stored in the Sahyang Clan's secret hidden warehouse?
"Was the Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang an assassin of the Sahyang Clan?"
It was nonsense.
Before his disappearance, he had been the second-in-command of Majeon.
The man holding the second most prestigious position in the demonic path wouldn't engage in assassin work.
Even if he wanted a dual identity, there were plenty of other ways.
"But..." Bu Eunseol shook his head.
One of the best ways to disguise identity is to completely hide physical characteristics.
'He used that.'
The Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang had exploited the blind spot of unchangeable physical traits. He had deliberately let the world know he had seven fingers.
And when using his disguised identity, he would use all ten fingers. That way, no one would suspect he was the Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang.
Bu Eunseol's eyes lost focus.
Perhaps the Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang wasn't his grandfather's identity? That thought flashed by.
Plop.
At that moment, a drop of blood on Bu Eunseol's body touched the glove.
Then, faint letters appeared where the blood had stained.
But Bu Eunseol, staring into space, didn't notice it.
As he put the glove into his bosom, a flame-like heat rose in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
"I must find him." Something more important than finding the head of the Sahyang Clan had arisen.
The Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang.
The blade master with the most outstanding blade arts in the martial world at the time, a killing star. And a master who was the vice-lord of Majeon. But now, he had to find this man who had vanished so completely that not even his traces remained.
Bu Zhanyang, affiliated with the Huangzhou Prefecture's constabulary.
The man who, for over thirty years, had performed funerals for the wandering dead without kin, living quietly and peacefully.
A warm, affectionate, and wise person who taught the beauty of nature and the principles of life.
He had to compare the actions of these two figures to approach the truth.
Comments