Chapter 156

While Nam Gang-ryong was responding that it was truly fortunate, Dang Ran-yeong just watched intently with his arms crossed. Cheong-ra continued to chatter as something else occurred to him.

"Young Master Dang, I heard from Yeon Jeok-san that there might be a way to remove the Demon Soul Insects. It's someone named Mun who can control all the insects in the world. He's trapped in a place filled with a thousand people and three hundred meters of water, and, um..."

Cheong-ra briefly felt his waist to check if his precious Dark Moon Sword was still attached. After reassuring himself that the sword was securely fastened, he continued,

"And also, they say I'm the Purple Subtlety Star... That's nonsense. I found Yeon Jeok-san's martial arts manual, and it seemed to be from an evil faction. He doesn't have a good relationship with his master..."

"You also found a Blood Cult obsidian token, and the Blood Cult is targeting Shaolin Temple next, so we should go there? I understand, but eat your meal first."

"...How did you know?"

Cheong-ra asked in bewilderment, but instead of an answer, Dang Ran-yeong scooped up a large spoonful of meatballs and shoved it into Cheong-ra's mouth. While Cheong-ra was busy chewing the meatballs, Dang Ran-yeong, who had been half-heartedly eating, disappeared somewhere. When he returned shortly after, he was holding a steaming black medicinal decoction. Just the thought of it looked bitter, and Cheong-ra instantly lost his appetite.

"Now that you've filled your stomach a bit, drink this first."

"What is this...? Poison?"

"Medicine that's good for your body."

Given his past experiences, Cheong-ra found it hard to believe that he hadn't been poisoned. However, knowing that Dang Ran-yeong would make him drink it anyway, he gave up futile resistance early on.

Taking the decoction, he squeezed his eyes shut and gulped it down. The terribly bitter taste jolted his foggy mind awake. The taste was so awful it felt like his whole body was twisting, and he quickly tried to put something else in his mouth, but the taste wouldn't easily go away. As Cheong-ra grimaced in agony, Dang Ran-yeong asked,

"Beauty, do you realize you're not in your right mind now?"

"...I think so."

Cheong-ra quickly answered, fearing that if he said no, he would be given more of the decoction. But unfairly, Dang Ran-yeong brought another dose of the decoction and made him drink it. Cheong-ra shuddered and cried out,

"I said I'm in my right mind! Stop feeding me poison!"

"It's not poison, I told you it's medicine."

"Last time you said it was medicine too, but it had poison in it..."

Cheong-ra retched and gulped down tea. Dang Ran-yeong handed him a piece of candy, as if giving medicine after causing illness, and Cheong-ra quickly put it in his mouth and chewed vigorously. Watching this, Dang Ran-yeong asked an unexpected question.

"Where did you pick up and learn the Moonlight on Snow, Mind and Heart Formula?"

"...Did I mention that too?"

Feeling as if the candy was stuck in his throat, Cheong-ra asked back with a pale face. After drinking the decoction twice in succession, his now clearer reason began to worry. How foolishly had he acted during the past three days he couldn't remember? To think he had even mentioned the Moonlight on Snow, Mind and Heart Formula, which he had never told anyone about. Even Nam Gang-ryong, with an unusually stern face, questioned him sharply.

"Before going to sleep, Devotee Baek, you got up and started muttering something, reciting a formula. From what this humble monk briefly heard, there was something evil about the chant. From which wicked and seditious person did you learn this?"

"My mother taught it to me when I was young..."

At the mention of his mother, Nam Gang-ryong was at a loss for words, as if he had never questioned sharply, while Dang Ran-yeong continued his interrogation without blinking an eye.

"Beauty, how old are you to still be singing about your mother?"

If he learned it from his mother, why shouldn't he say he learned it from his mother? Cheong-ra's lips quivered, feeling wronged. Dang Ran-yeong continued to question him sternly.

"You wouldn't say you didn't feel anything strange while reciting that formula for so many years, would you? Why do you think you were so entranced by that Blood Cult bastard's sound technique even without Demon Soul Insects?"

Feeling as if Dang Ran-yeong's words were piercing his lungs, Cheong-ra's body froze.

The Moonlight on Snow, Mind and Heart Formula. This was the formula his mother had told him to recite every day without fail to become beautiful, and he had been reciting it daily.

In fact, Cheong-ra had benefited greatly from the formula. Didn't it prevent unsightly body hair from growing and keep his skin always white and clean? Although there were side effects like worsening insomnia and difficulty concentrating during training, he thought it was worth enduring to maintain this appearance.

However, hearing Dang Ran-yeong's words and thinking about it anew, this formula also contained the word "moon." As if it had some connection to the Blood Cult... Cheong-ra, who had been chewing his lips, shook his head firmly in denial.

"In the end, there were no Demon Soul Insects in my body, right? Doesn't that mean my mother has no connection to the Blood Cult? Even if this formula has some side effects, that's..."

"Beauty, you're still not in your right mind. Have you forgotten that you have the Blood Cult's sacrifice mark on your body? Who do you think left that? You should know best."

That was probably... his mother...

Cheong-ra sighed deeply. After learning there were no Demon Soul Insects in his body, he had vaguely hoped that perhaps his mother was just a bit mentally unstable. But thinking back to his time at the Baek Ri household, it was highly likely that his mother had made the sacrifice mark. When he was young, he always fell asleep or fainted near his mother.

'Do I need to visit the Baek Ri household once...'

Cheong-ra's face darkened at the thought of having to visit his mother at that very place, the source of his nightmares. Dang Ran-yeong lifted the empty decoction bowl and ordered,

"From today on, don't recite that formula."

I understand, I won't recite it from today... He tried to answer like that, but for some reason, his lips felt glued shut and he couldn't speak. As Cheong-ra frowned deeply, Dang Ran-yeong, perhaps interpreting it in his own way, stood up and said,

"Come here, you need to drink more of the decoction."

Cheong-ra immediately tried to escape, but Dang Ran-yeong caught him and made him drink the decoction. It was so bitter that he couldn't help but retch, and Dang Ran-yeong even pressed his acupoints to prevent him from vomiting. It was pure torture. Even Nam Gang-ryong, who was watching, told Dang Ran-yeong to stop tormenting Devotee Baek. Thanks to this, his mind became even clearer.

"Don't recite that formula. Understand?"

It would have been simple to just agree and do so. But the resistance rising from within his body at being told not to recite the Moonlight on Snow, Mind and Heart Formula was so intense that even Cheong-ra himself was surprised.

He barely managed to nod and say he would do so. Only then did Dang Ran-yeong release Cheong-ra and pour him tea as if bestowing a favor. And to Cheong-ra, who was grimacing as the bitter taste wouldn't go away even after gulping down the tea, he said,

"Beauty, we're going to Shaolin from now on."

Chapter 6

The Great Shaolin Temple. The weight its name carried in the martial arts world was considerable.

Living up to its name as the Thousand-Year Shaolin, it had always produced outstanding experts of the righteous faction, and including those in seclusion at Lesser Shaolin Peak who didn't venture into the martial arts world, its strength was formidable. So much so that one might wonder if there was any danger to Shaolin, even if the Blood Cult was targeting it.

When Cheong-ra expressed such doubts, Dang Ran-yeong cut him off,

"The Blood Cult would lose in a direct confrontation not just with Shaolin, but with any of the Nine Sects and One Clan. That's why they always hide like rats and play tricks."

"That's true..."

Based on Cheong-ra's experience so far, the skills of the lay disciples themselves weren't much of a problem. Only the executives named after the Big Dipper stars, or the unidentified expert who had threatened Cheong-ra's life last time, would be real threats. The most threatening, of course, were the Demon Soul Insects, followed by the dangerous monsters made from dead spirit beasts.

"So if they've played tricks on Shaolin, they'll surely start with an attack from the inside."

"Lord Dang's words are correct. That's why we plan to secretly contact the main temple near Mount Song."

Nam Gang-ryong nodded with a serious face. Only then did Cheong-ra understand why Hwan-hong, not Nam Gang-ryong, had accompanied Wi Je-ho. Shaolin was a strictly no-women zone, so Hwan-hong couldn't enter.

That's why, while Cheong-ra was out of his mind, Wi Je-ho and Hwan-hong had left for Suzhou to confirm the location of Mun, who could supposedly remove the Demon Soul Insects. This was because the place that most closely matched Yeon Jeok-san's description of a thousand people and a hundred zhang of water was in Suzhou. It was the Flower Moon Pavilion of Yangcheng Lake, one of Suzhou's famous attractions.

The Flower Moon Pavilion was always crowded with people and surrounded by water. Its nickname, "The Pavilion of Hundred Waters and Thousand People," matched Yeon Jeok-san's description perfectly. Cheong-ra was inwardly pleased that his act of pretending to be controlled by Demon Soul Insects to gain information had paid off, but Dang Ran-yeong denied Nam Gang-ryong's words.

"What do you mean, plan to contact secretly? I'm thinking of walking right in through the main gate."

"...What?"

Nam Gang-ryong, who had been nodding seriously, let out a dumbfounded sound.