Chapter 82: What’s a Monster King, anyway. -04
Danwi’s pupils shook.
Unlike his casual tone, the content carried within was razor-sharp.
There was no guarantee things would go exactly as Ban Hojin said, but the likelihood was undeniably high.
“……Even so, the fact that you’ve kept
alive ans you want sothing, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. In fact, it’s the opposite. From the start, I didn’t want anything. I know what kind of person you are. I rely accepted it because Master asked
to give him ti.”
Gulp!
Danwi felt it.
That from the very mont Ban Hojin entered the stone chamber, he had already made his decision.
No matter what he said, Ban Hojin would not reverse it.
“It’s a bit regrettable. The martial art you want. That doesn’t exist in the Sangguan Family.”
“W-what did you say?!”
“You were scamd from the beginning. Do you really think others wouldn’t know that you’ve been searching for that martial art for over ten years?”
“How do you know that?”
“There’s no reason for
to explain that. Just know this much. That way, you’ll feel wronged until the very last mont.”
Ban Hojin grinned.
But to Danwi, that smile looked like a demon’s grin.
At the sa ti, an enormous rage surged up from deep within his chest.
Realizing that he had been thoroughly used by the Sangguan Family, Danwi’s eyes beca bloodshot.
“If you spare my life, I’ll fight them.”
“Do you take
for an idiot? You’d secretly join hands with the Sangguan Family and co after . And you want
to let you go?”
Danwi ground his teeth and growled, but Ban Hojin rely let out a scornful laugh.
Knowing all too well that Danwi was the kind of man who sided with whoever benefited him, Ban Hojin had never trusted him from the start.
And those who were used once would inevitably be used again.
It might have been entertaining to set the Sangguan Family and Danwi against each other, but the outco was far too obvious to Ban Hojin.
“It would benefit you too, wouldn’t it?”
“How does it benefit ? I can just do it myself.”
“You wouldn’t have to dirty your hands. That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?”
“That may be true for others. But I’m different. I’m not so monk who must not violate the precept against killing.”
Thud.
The tip of Ban Hojin’s foot touched Danwi’s lower abdon.
It was precisely where the dantian lay—the second heart of a martial artist.
At the sa ti, veins bulged across Danwi’s face, neck, and the backs of his hands.
Veins stood out across every visible part of his body.
“Guhhh!”
An imnse pain that began in his dantian forced a suppressed groan from Danwi’s mouth.
Judging by his expression, he wanted to scream, but could not.
By reversing the internal power stored in his dantian and sealing his mute acupoint at the sa ti, Danwi writhed as he died in excruciating agony.
As with notorious villains of the past, Ban Hojin could have crippled his dantian and imprisoned him in the ditation Cave for life, but he did not.
Leaving behind future trouble was never the best option.
Those who would do nothing but consu food even if left alive were better off eliminated entirely.
“Perhaps having lay disciples exists for situations like this.”
By principle, Buddhist disciples were forbidden from violating the precept against killing.
But lay disciples were different.
Living in the secular world, they had no need to keep the Ten Precepts, so Ban Hojin thought it might be better for the ditation Cave to be managed by lay disciples rather than True Mountain Disciples.
Of course, it was unlikely that any lay disciple would choose to live deep in the mountains like this.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Co in.”
“Yes.”
Hearing Damhyeon’s warm voice from inside, Ban Hojin slowly opened the door.
At once, the characteristic scent of scriptures and tea unique to the office wafted out.
Seeing a teacup placed before the chair as if Damhyeon had known he would co, Ban Hojin sat down.
“You arrived just in ti, before the tea got cold.”
“Didn’t you reheat it?”
“That’s not it.”
Damhyeon let out a soft chuckle.
It was because, despite having dealt with the Monster King Danwi, there seed to be no change in Ban Hojin’s state of mind.
Feeling the unshakable composure essential for a master, Damhyeon wore a satisfied smile.
“Thank you for the tea.”
“Did you hear what he wanted?”
“He’s not soone who would open his mouth easily, is he?”
“He is cunning. That’s why he survived until now despite standing between the orthodox and unorthodox paths.”
Murim was not a place where one could survive on skill alone.
Especially for those without backing, social maneuvering was essential.
Danwi possessed not only formidable skill, but also exceptional tact.
“He tried to make a deal until the very end. He seed to think the card he held was useful, but unfortunately, it wasn’t of much use to .”
“Are you certain it’s the Sangguan Family?”
“It might not be. That’s why I plan to verify it starting now.”
“I’ll look into it as well.”
Damhyeon’s voice dropped.
Unexpectedly, ruining rising juniors was not uncommon.
It involved removing those who might obstruct the future for one’s children or disciples.
It was despicable and dirty, but undeniably effective.
“The main temple alone won’t be enough.”
“That’s why I plan to ask the Beggars’ Sect for help.”
“You must have already thought that far.”
“Of course.”
“And so I intend to request help from the Hao Sect and the Geum Family Estate as well.”
Damhyeon’s eyes glead.
Though the relationship between Shaolin and the Beggars’ Sect was strong, the Sangguan Family was also part of the Orthodox Martial World.
As such, there would clearly be limits to what could be uncovered.
If there was room for dispute, diation was also likely.
But the Geum Family Estate and the Hao Sect were different.
Though they might be publicly entangled, they would investigate more coldly and objectively than the Beggars’ Sect.
“A form of cross-verification, then.”
“We can’t rely solely on the Beggars’ Sect. To be honest, it’s soone else’s problem to them.”
“Indeed.”
“Frankly, if the Sangguan Family simply denies everything, it could end right there. That’s why I plan to ask those two discreetly.”
Slurp.
Damhyeon drank his tea in silence.
But countless thoughts surfaced and sank within his mind.
He had no intention of letting this matter pass.
Because it involved none other than his disciple Ban Hojin, Damhyeon fell into deep thought with calmly sunken eyes.
“It might actually be better not to say anything to the Beggars’ Sect.”
“Yes.”
“You thought that far from the beginning?”
“To be precise, I thought it wouldn’t matter whether the Beggars’ Sect stepped in or not. I believed both had their own pros and cons.”
Damhyeon let out a hollow chuckle.
His ability to read the board truly was extraordinary.
But now, he simply accepted it.
He no longer tried to prejudge Ban Hojin.
“Alright. Do as you wish. Just rember one thing. I, and Shaolin, are always on your side. Whenever things are hard, you may rely on us.”
“I understand.”
Although the disciple had slipped from his embrace far faster than he had expected, it was unavoidable that he still worried and cared.
Even though he was already fully grown.
Knowing that this was a master’s heart, Damhyeon smiled gently.
“Good. That will do.”
“Since the topic ca up, I also have one request for you, Master.”
“Go ahead.”
Damhyeon showed a slightly surprised expression.
At so point, the disciple who had soared freely into the sky had beco Ban Hojin.
So when he said he had a request, Damhyeon felt both puzzled and pleased.
“I hope you live long and stay healthy. Taking care of Shaolin is important, but I wish you would also take care of your own health. Only when you are healthy can Shaolin remain strong as well.”
“Heh heh heh. I appreciate the sentint, but it’s hard for
to agree with all of that. Even if I were gone right now, wouldn’t you still be here? And Beopmu as well. To be honest, my heart has never been more at ease. There’s no need to worry about Shaolin’s safety.”
Letting out a hearty laugh, Damhyeon shook his head.
In many ways, he was in a good mood.
He was grateful and pleased that Ban Hojin and Beopmu had grown so well, and that he was being cared for like this.
“Still, it’s ti for you to pay attention to your health. They say that if you wait until you’re sick to take care of it, it’s already too late. It’s best to take care of your health when you’re healthy and nothing is wrong.”
“Alright, alright. I understand.”
Hearing the sincerity in Ban Hojin’s words, Damhyeon replied with a gentle smile.
However, he did not know.
He did not know how much aning was contained within Ban Hojin’s words.
But since he could not say it outright, Ban Hojin had no choice but to repeat it again and again.
At the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, Seo Joun sat at his desk with a single lamp lit.
Dressed in his sleeping robes, Seo Joun sank deeply into thought.
Recalling the confrontation that had taken place earlier that day between Ban Hojin and Danwi.
“The Ten Great Masters Under Heaven.”
Seo Joun murmured the words to himself.
As he did, his body trembled under their weight.
The Ten Great Masters Under Heaven.
In other words, one of those known as the Murim Ten Kings had fallen today.
And it had been by Ban Hojin’s hand.
Because of that, Seo Joun felt shock and a strange excitent at the sa ti.
“To think he had already risen that far.”
He had admired him from the start, but after today’s events, Seo Joun ca to revere Ban Hojin even more.
At the sa ti, it crushed the arrogance that had been slowly creeping up.
No, the arrogance vanished entirely.
And he resolved to beco humble.
“But that’s not the important part.”
Seo Joun’s gaze turned cold.
Ban Hojin’s victory was sothing to be celebrated, but the important question was why Danwi had co in the first place.
While everyone focused only on the outco, Seo Joun believed the reason needed to be examined.
“There are three suspicious places. Among them, the one Big Brother suspects is the Sangguan Family.”
Seo Joun tapped the table.
Even to him, the Sangguan Family seed the most likely.
They had a clear motive, having suffered humiliation at Ban Hojin’s hands.
The problem was that the Sangguan Family would never admit it willingly.
“There’s circumstantial suspicion, but no concrete evidence. And both Big Brother and the Abbot must be aware of that.”
Even if there were evidence, the Sangguan Family was a prestigious family.
Although they did not make it into the Five Great Families, they had enough influence to easily rank among the Ten Great Families, wielding considerable power in the Jianghu.
In other words, they could not be punished easily.
“The Sangguan Family knows that too, which is why they used the sche of killing with a borrowed blade. That must be as far as they calculated.”
In that instant, goosebumps rose along Seo Joun’s skin.
At the sa ti, he felt just how cold and terrifying the world of the Jianghu truly was.
In the end, Murim was a world governed by the absolute law of the strong preying on the weak.
So in order not to be devoured, one had to grow stronger.
Clench.
“……I have to beco stronger.”
If Ban Hojin had been weak, he would have been utterly ruined by Danwi.
Not only that, the rest of the group would have suffered the sa fate.
Seo Joun himself had been there when Sangguan Jeok was humiliated.
And even now, Seo Joun vividly rembered the look in Danwi’s eyes as he stared at him.
“To protect myself, to grow the Seo Family Estate, and to be of help to Big Brother.”
Seo Joun did not know what Ban Hojin was thinking.
But there was one thing he knew for certain.
That Ban Hojin was seeing sothing others could not.
And in reality, events were unfolding exactly as Ban Hojin had feared.
“I need to work even harder.”
Until now, he had simply worked to beco stronger.
But from now on, it was different.
A clear reason and purpose took root in Seo Joun’s heart.
And the sa was true for others as well.
Seo Joun’s room was not the only one with a light on.
Every other room was lit with lamps as well.
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