After entering her lodging, Yeon unpacked lightly and sat cross-legged on the floor. The rest of the group had already gone off to their own rooms.
Being in the quiet grounds of Shaolin made it easier to focus. Like a student settling into a brand-new study room for the first ti, Yeon—brimming with motivation—imdiately began circulating her internal energy.
“Imagination is a kind of talent, too.”
Ever since picking up that hint from Grandpa Gwang, her mastery of the Thunder King Divine Art had steadily progressed.
In the universe of her imagination, she had discovered a golden pillar surrounded by seven planets—each one representing a stage of realization.
Each planet symbolized a key principle of the Thunder King Divine Art. Every ti she grasped a concept, she would reach the core of one planet. Right now, she had already arrived at the fourth.
“Maybe the day I reach the seventh planet is the day I truly beco great?”
Finishing a full cycle of breath control, Yeon slowly opened her eyes. Perhaps because of Shaolin’s unique atmosphere, she had just barely managed to take another step forward—but the higher the level she reached, the slower her progress beca.
Then a question popped into her mind.
“Just how strong is the Master of the Fla Cult right now?”
Naturally, she thought of Yi Baeksan—Cheongang’s father. The more she considered it, the more convinced she beca that the person he once fought must have been the Master of the Fla Cult.
They’d supposedly been equals back then, so it stood to reason that not much had changed. After a certain point, improvent ca hard.
“But sothing about that assumption feels off. I don’t like it.”
She let out a breath and cleared her thoughts. What was certain was this: at her current level, she didn’t stand a chance against him. At the very least, she needed to get her hands on the Ice Crystal.
Just then—
“Lady Yeon, are you in there?”
“Cheongang?”
“Yes.”
There was a slight urgency in his voice. It sounded like he had sothing to say.
“Just a second.”
Yeon quickly pulled out her small mirror to check her face. Since all she’d done was ditate, her complexion was even better than usual. She smoothed down a few stray hairs and opened the door.
“What’s going on?”
“I just spoke with Master Damdeok. There’s sothing I should tell you...”
“Do you want to co in for a minute?”
“...Excuse ?”
Cheongang’s handso face froze with mild panic. The lodging was a single-room annex. A lone monk stood at a distance near the entrance.
“Ah, well then...”
Yeon smiled at his flustered hesitation and slipped on her shoes.
“Kidding. Can you imagine that monk’s face if we were in a room alone together?”
“Ah... Right...”
Still, when Yeon shut the door behind her and stepped outside, Cheongang looked ever so slightly disappointed. That amused her more than she expected.
“So? What is it?”
That finally snapped him back to focus, and he explained his conversation with Master Damdeok. As the story unfolded, Yeon’s expression gradually turned serious.
“You’re saying they found traces of a mysterious fire... in the past?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it a stretch to link that to the black flas?”
“If I thought it was a stretch, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
Yeon had already been wondering about the overlapping tilines. She couldn’t be sure yet, but a strange intuition whispered to her that this journey might not just be about finding the Ice Crystal after all.
“And Lady Yeon—”
“Yes?”
“About Master Myoeun, the one who... passed away. I think we need to look into it more closely.”
“Look into it...?”
“I plan to start now. Would you co with ?”
Yeon was about to ask where, but Cheongang answered her unspoken question.
“To Shaolin’s Hall of Repentance.”
Yeon followed him there. On the way, she stopped by Soso’s room, but the girl had already fallen asleep, likely exhausted.
“The Hall of Repentance? A place where you atone for sins?”
Even the na sounded ominous. Was it really okay for her to go there? When she asked, Cheongang assured her that he’d already gotten Master Damdeok’s permission.
Yeon had noticed this before, but Cheongang was surprisingly efficient. That wasn’t typical of clan heirs. Was he really planning to act as her assistant, just as Grandpa Gwang had arbitrarily decided?
Thanks to him, they skipped all the bureaucratic steps and arrived at their destination: the mouth of a massive stone cave.
A young monk guarding the entrance pressed his palms together upon seeing them.
“I was inford. Please, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
The monk led them inside. Yeon couldn’t help noticing that he seed to be trying very hard not to look at her.
As they entered the cave, the atmosphere changed. Despite its appearance from the outside, it didn’t feel dark or oppressive. She could sense human presence and care throughout the space.
Eventually, they reached a fork in the path. At the split stood a small wooden hut, almost like a ticket booth. There were no windows—just a lone chair with a backrest placed in front of it.
Curious, Yeon finally asked the question she’d been holding back.
“What is this place for?”
By this place, she ant the entire Hall of Repentance, though it could’ve easily referred to the hut alone. Fortunately, the monk understood.
“You know this place is called the Hall of Repentance, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then it is exactly what it sounds like. A place where those who have sinned co to atone. Do you see that?”
He pointed toward the wooden hut, directing her gaze to a tiny hole, no bigger than the palm of a hand, like an overturned rice bowl. It was positioned at waist height if soone were seated in the chair.
“Anyone who wishes to confess cos here. They speak their sins into that hole. True repentance begins with honesty—by not hiding your wrongdoing.”
“Then... is soone inside?”
“Yes, there is. Though he’s currently practicing silent ditation. He rarely cos out unless it’s truly necessary.”
Yeon couldn’t help but marvel.
“So it’s like a Buddhist version of confession.”
She dipped her head slightly toward the monk in thanks, but he cleared his throat and looked away. Then, as if to shake sothing off, he motioned toward the two paths ahead.
“Those who confess follow the right path. There, they begin the process of purging their sins. They must confront and subdue the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion before they’re allowed to leave.”
Yeon glossed over the difficult terminology.
“What about the left path?”
“The left path is for those who could not atone. I heard... you have business down that way?”
“I do,” Cheongang answered, turning to the monk.
“We’ve co to see Master Myoeun. Could you guide us?”
“...Yes.”
The monk hesitated a beat, then quietly led them down the left tunnel. As they walked along the long, narrow path, Cheongang spoke up again.
“I used to think the Hall of Repentance was a kind of prison.”
“A prison?”
“Yes.”
“You an, they keep people locked up here?”
The monk looked puzzled. After a mont of silence, Cheongang explained.
“If soone commits a grave sin, they deserve appropriate punishnt. But since Buddhist law can’t enforce sentences, I thought perhaps they confine the sinner here until repentance cos.”
The monk smiled, like he’d just heard sothing intriguing.
“You have a point, Sir. I, too, believe that anyone who truly repents deserves forgiveness. But forcing it through confinent? That’s not how it works, is it?”
“No, I suppose it isn’t.”
Yeon had been quietly listening to the exchange between the monk and Cheongang, but her thoughts were caught on one particular phrase.
“Anyone who truly repents deserves forgiveness.”
At that mont, the Master of the Fla Cult ca to mind.
In the original novel, the infernal flas he unleashed had engulfed the entire martial world—and Shaolin hadn’t been spared. She imagined countless monks being slaughtered in the most grueso ways.
“Even then... would that monk still say sothing like that?”
She was still lost in thought when the monk ca to a stop. They had arrived at a dark cavity carved into the tunnel wall.
“This is where Master Myoeun attained enlightennt. Just in case, let clarify—”
“It’s all right, sir. Master Damdeok already explained.”
“I see. Then I’ll wait over there.”
The monk stepped back, giving them space. Yeon wondered what he had been about to say.
Just then, Cheongang turned to her.
“Lady Yeon, have you heard the term sarira body before?”
“I’ve heard of it, yes.”
“I’m glad. Please don’t be too startled. Master Myoeun... attained enlightennt in that way.”
Yeon gave a slow nod, and the two of them ducked one at a ti through the low gap in the wall. It was narrow enough that they had to bend at the waist.
Inside the small stone chamber, Yeon saw it: the preserved sarira body of Master Myoeun.
“...Ah.”
His remains, encased in gold, were seated in a ditative pose.
Where his eyes, nose, and mouth would have been, there were only smooth indentations. Had he been enshrined in a formal hall, perhaps it wouldn’t have looked so haunting—but here, inside a humble grotto, it resembled a mummy more than a revered relic. Only the crimson kasaya draped over his shoulders softened the stark impression.
Yeon couldn’t take her eyes off him. It was the first sarira body she’d ever seen.
“To beco a sarira, one {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} must either starve oneself into enlightennt... or perform self-immolation. I heard Master Myoeun chose the latter.”
“Self-immolation...? What does that an, exactly?”
“It’s when soone soaks their own body in oil and sets themselves on fire.”
“While still alive?”
“Yes.”
A faint gasp escaped Yeon’s lips. Was that even sothing human will could endure?
She rembered reading once, back in the modern world, about the most painful sensations a person could experience. Of all the choices ranked from one to ten, being burned alive was number one. It might not have been scientific, but it wasn’t baseless either.
“Why would anyone...? To repent for their sins?”
A thousand questions swirled in her head when Cheongang spoke again.
“I ntioned this to Master Damdeok, but... there are things about Master Myoeun’s death that don’t sit right with . I had to see it with my own eyes.”
His gaze, fixed on the sarira, grew clouded with mixed emotion. There was bitterness in his voice.
“Now that I have... there’s nothing left to say.”
“Sa here.”
The Ice Crystal. The Northern Sea Ice Palace.
The only person who might’ve held the key to those mysteries was now undeniably gone. Gone in a way that left no room for debate. Gone in pain.
Even just standing here, entertaining thoughts like this in front of his remains—it filled her with guilt.
“Forget the Ice Crystal.”
Yeon repeated the words in her mind like a vow, but it didn’t banish the unease.
If this were just about not being able to obtain the Ice Crystal, it wouldn’t have weighed on her like this. But the deeper she looked, the clearer it beca—this was no simple errand. The nagging feeling that she had missed so trace of the Fla Cult’s master refused to leave her alone.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah, probably should.”
“If we linger too long, the monk outside might grow anxious. Technically, outsiders aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Right...”
“I should return to the clan and draw up a new plan.”
Yeon tried to collect herself. Cheongang ducked through the narrow passage first and stepped outside.
As Yeon bent to follow, the necklace hidden beneath her robe shifted, glinting faintly in the dim light.
The blue gemstone caught the golden hue of the sarira’s coating—and in that mont, it scattered a subtle chill into the air.
Then—
[Wait.]
“...Yes?”
Yeon replied reflexively, thinking it was Cheongang.
But he was already gone.
A chill crept up her spine.
“Did I... just hear sothing?”
She didn’t want to look back. She knew the sarira would still be sitting there, just as it had been. And yet, just the thought made her skin crawl.
Yeon instinctively moved to hurry through the tunnel—when the voice ca again.
[Hey.]
She heard it. Clearly this ti.
She couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Slowly, Yeon turned her head.
Everything looked exactly the sa.
But sohow, it felt like the hollow eye sockets in that golden face were looking straight at her.
“A ghost...? Don’t tell this is a ghost.”
Yeon had been afraid of ghosts ever since she was little. You couldn’t punch a ghost. If one hurt you, there was nothing you could do.
And now, the sarira—that eyeless, mouthless body—spoke directly to her.
[How did you end up with that necklace?]
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