Chapter 247

Bo-gyeong, his collar grabbed, looked up at Seong-am.

“Mar… tial Uncle!”

“Speak. Who was it?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Not yet? You don’t even have a guess?”

Seong-am pressed Bo-gyeong like a furious lion.

Bo-gyeong dangled from Seong-am’s large forearm, only shedding tears. The sight of his only fueled Seong-am’s anger.

“What have you done to be crying like this?”

“Sob! I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough, Seong-am! The child is not at ease either.”

Finally, Monk Woon-hae, who could no longer stand by, intervened.

Only then did Seong-am release Bo-gyeong.

“Waaah!”

Bo-gyeong collapsed to the floor, wailing loudly.

For the past few days, as he guarded Seong-un’s body alone, his heart had rotted away.

The thought that Seong-un would not have died if he had not left his post tormented his all the more.

His Inner Demon plagued his day after day, and anger constantly boiled within his heart.

It was when his anguish had reached its peak that Monk Woon-hae, Seong-am, and the others arrived.

“You’ve suffered.”

Monk Woon-hae gently patted Bo-gyeong’s shoulder.

Bo-gyeong cried even more sorrowfully.

At the sight of him, the other Shaolin Temple disciples who had come along grew even more somber.

Monk Woon-hae opened the Ice Jade Coffin that Bo-gyeong had been guarding. Inside, Seong-un’s body was visible, lying just as he had been in life.

“Amitabha!”

The moment he saw Seong-un’s body, tears welled up in Monk Woon-hae’s eyes. He fought them back and caressed Seong-un’s corpse.

“You rascal! Why are you lying here? How could you go before this old Martial Uncle? You insolent brat!”

Monk Woon-hae scolded Seong-un as if he were still alive.

For a while, he couldn’t speak, merely composing his heart.

Once he had calmed down to some extent, he carefully examined the wound on the back of Seong-un’s neck. He took out Silver Needles from his robes and pricked various spots on Seong-un’s body.

There was no change in the other areas, but only where he had pricked the nose and neck did the Silver Needles turn pitch black.

Seong-am watched from the side as Monk Woon-hae conducted the examination.

After a thorough inspection, Monk Woon-hae carefully laid Seong-un’s body back down.

“How is it, Martial Uncle?”

Seong-am could no longer hold back and asked.

“It is true that he was struck down by an Assassin. Seeing how the poison is concentrated in his nose and mouth, it seems he inhaled it through his respiratory system.”

“Poison, you say?”

“Yes! The Poison Qi wasn’t strong enough to take his life, but it would have been enough to momentarily knock him unconscious.”

“Then they must have ambushed him when my Senior Martial Brother’s mind was clouded.”

“Correct! The wound looks minor, but all his heart meridians have been severed. It’s a killing sword that pursues extreme efficiency. Assassins primarily use this kind of swordsmanship.”

“Ass… assin!”

Seong-am clenched his teeth.

Ghost Fire flickered in his wide-open eyes.

Seong-am’s gaze turned to Bo-gyeong.

“Who is it?”

“Pardon?”

“You said there’s an Assassin in the Jin Clan, didn’t you? Who is it?”

“His name is… Pyo Wol.”

“Pyo Wol?”

Seong-am ground his teeth.

“Do not act rashly. There is no evidence anywhere that he killed Seong-un.”

Monk Woon-hae tried to calm Seong-am, but his voice no longer reached Seong-am’s ears.

Shhk, shhk!

Pyo Wol painstakingly sharpened the Ghostly Rain on a whetstone.

Though not cracked or broken, the blades were quite damaged. That was how roughly and harshly he had used them. If Tang Sochu hadn’t taken special care in crafting them, they would have shattered long ago.

With each pass Pyo Wol made on the whetstone, the dulled edges came back to life, sharp and keen.

Since there were ten daggers of Ghostly Rain, it took a considerable amount of time to tend to them all. Only after perfectly honing the last one did Pyo Wol finish his work.

After wiping them dry with a cloth, he sheathed them one by one in his leather belt.

The next thing Pyo Wol did was to inspect the various Hidden Weapons and equipment concealed inside his Dark Dragon Robe.

He took out the Hidden Weapons, Silver Thread, and poisons one by one, checked their condition, and then stored them back in the Dark Dragon Robe.

It was just as Pyo Wol finished all his checks.

“Hyung-nim!”

“Brother Pyo!”

Suddenly, Jin Si-woo and Namgung Wol entered his residence.

The grim expressions on their faces suggested the atmosphere was serious.

“What is it?”

“We have a big problem. People from the Shaolin Temple have arrived.”

“And?”

“It seems they suspect you, Hyung-nim.”

Jin Si-woo’s face was filled with urgency as he spoke.

Namgung Wol added.

“The atmosphere is tense. It would be best for you to leave, Brother Pyo.”

“They seem to suspect I’m the culprit?”

“That’s right. No matter how much we say it’s a misunderstanding, they refuse to listen. Clashing with the Shaolin Temple will do you no good, Brother Pyo, so please leave for now. We’ll handle the aftermath.”

Namgung Wol spoke out of genuine concern for Pyo Wol.

If he had come on official business, he would have used the name of the Thousand Water Society to mediate. But he had come in a personal capacity and was not in a position to use the society’s name.

If he invoked the Thousand Water Society and things went wrong, his relationship with the Shaolin Temple could be ruined. Thus, Namgung Wol’s options were limited.

“There’s no need to face a fierce storm head-on. The truth can be sorted out after the storm has passed. It won’t be too late, so please leave for now.”

“That’s right, Hyung-nim! They’re too agitated to make a rational judgment right now, but with time, they’ll realize you’re not the culprit. So please, leave for now.”

Jin Si-woo also urged Pyo Wol to leave.

Having personally met the monks from the Shaolin Temple, he knew just how grave the atmosphere was.

Pyo Wol said.

“It seems we’re already too late.”

“What do you mean?”

BOOM!

At that moment, the door to Pyo Wol’s room exploded with a deafening roar.

Someone had blown it away with a fist strike.

Looking outside, he saw a massive monk with his fist extended in their direction. It was Seong-am.

Next to Seong-am were the other monks who had come with him.

Monk Woon-hae, who had rushed after him, tried to stop him.

“Stop it, Seong-am!”

“I apologize. I will gladly accept the punishment for disobeying my Martial Uncle’s command when I return to Shaolin. But please, do not tell me to be patient when an Assassin is right before my eyes.”

Seong-am glared at Pyo Wol, Ghost Fire flickering in his eyes.

A formidable Qi undulated from his body.

Even Monk Woon-hae was not confident he could completely subdue Seong-am. To do so, it was clear that one of them, either himself or Seong-am, would be gravely injured. As much as Seong-am had disobeyed his command, he did not want to go that far to restrain him.

Perhaps, deep in his own heart, there was a latent anger toward Pyo Wol.

On their way here, he had heard a few people whispering. They thought they were whispering so he couldn’t hear, but they couldn’t deceive Monk Woon-hae’s ears.

“They say he might have killed Monk Seong-un.”

“There’s a rumor he’s an Assassin.”

“Turns out he’s a famous Killing Star, they say.”

Most of it was nothing more than baseless speculation.

Monk Woon-hae knew this, but being only human, he couldn’t help but be bothered.

Above all, one of the reasons Monk Woon-hae couldn’t actively stop Seong-am was Pyo Wol himself.

The moment he saw Pyo Wol, he felt an involuntary chill run down his spine, a primal sense of revulsion.

Looking into those black eyes, from which no emotion could be read, Monk Woon-hae was reminded of a great serpent.

Whether it possessed venom or not, a snake evokes a feeling of disgust in humans. It was the same for Monk Woon-hae.

Even as a monk, he felt an instinctive aversion to snakes.

Because of this, he couldn’t bring himself to actively stop Seong-am.

While he hesitated, Seong-am let out a lion’s roar.

“Come out! Assassin.”

Ruuuumble!

His lion’s roar made the roof tiles of the great hall tremble.

It was a formidable Internal Energy, befitting his massive frame.

“W-wait a moment, please. There seems to be some misunderstanding.”

“Step aside, Young Clan Head!”

Jin Si-woo quickly intervened, but Seong-am paid him no mind. Namgung Wol also tried to approach Seong-am but was blocked by Bo-gyeong and the other Shaolin disciples.

“Damn it!”

He couldn’t understand the current situation.

The fact that Pyo Wol was an Assassin was a secret known only to a very few in the Jianghu. But for some reason, a rumor that he was an Assassin had been secretly spreading within the Jin Clan.

It was as if someone had intentionally spread the rumor.

All of this had happened in just a few days.

Namgung Wol had tried to find the source of the rumor but had ultimately failed.

Seong-am let out another lion’s roar.

“Come out! Assassin.”

The entire area shook with his roar.

Pyo Wol, still holding his Dark Dragon Robe, draped it over his shoulders and stepped outside.

As he emerged, the Shaolin monks swarmed to surround him.

Pyo Wol paid them no mind and looked at Seong-am.

“What is it?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“You cur! Do you dare mock Shaolin?”

“Mock?”

“That’s right. Are you not feigning ignorance after doing that to Senior Martial Brother Seong-un?”

“Do you really think so?”

Pyo Wol’s gaze deepened.

Though that gaze felt strangely chilling, Seong-am ignored it.

Right now, his mind was so full of rage that he was incapable of rational thought.

“Who else but you could have harmed Senior Martial Brother Seong-un?”

“Why would I kill him? What would I gain?”

“Who can know your sinister heart? I don’t want to know, either. If you truly did not kill Senior Martial Brother Seong-un, then obediently get on your knees and surrender. We will then escort you to the main temple and judge you fairly.”

“Is that how it always is?”

“What?”

“No, you don’t have to say it.”

“What are you talking about? You pale-faced bastard.”

“Looking at you, I think I understand why Shaolin had to remain Closed-off for so long.”

“How dare you!”

In that instant, Seong-am’s anger exploded.

Just as it was for Wudang, the very word ‘Closed-off’ was a taboo for Shaolin. It was a shameful part of their history.

They had been forced to close themselves off to avoid the annihilation of their sect, and because of it, they had lost a significant amount of their influence in the Jianghu.

Although they had somehow managed to restore their strength to a level similar to before, they had not been able to reclaim their former, unrivaled status.

The prestige and glory that Shaolin had once enjoyed were now held by the Two Powerhouses.

The sense of loss felt by some Shaolin members, having been demoted from the unrivaled number one to one of many second-in-commands, was immense.

Seong-am was one of those people.

That was why he couldn’t contain his fury at the word ‘Closed-off’ that Pyo Wol had uttered.

“I’ll smash that mouth of yours.”

Kwwaaaa!

Seong-am threw a punch straight at Pyo Wol.

Great Vajra Fist.

It was a fist art known to possess power a level above the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, one of Shaolin’s signature techniques.

However, while its power was immense, maneuvering the Internal Power between Technique Forms was tricky, making it difficult to use in actual combat.

For that reason, many learned the Hundred-Step Divine Fist instead of the Great Vajra Fist. But Seong-am had achieved Complete mastery of the difficult Great Vajra Fist. Moreover, he had reached a state where he could use it freely in real combat.

The Technique Forms connected as naturally as flowing water.

Kwa-kwang!

Fist Qi struck repeatedly where Pyo Wol had been standing.

The floor, made of bluestone, shattered, and fragments scattered in all directions. But Pyo Wol was no longer there.

He had executed the Serpentine Steps and was retreating backward.

“Do you think you can escape?”

Seong-am shouted loudly and pursued Pyo Wol.

In his hand, a staff made of steel had appeared.

Demon-Subduing Divine Staff.

The staff art created to fight demons was now unleashed against Pyo Wol.

Kwwaaaaaah!*

An energy like a tempest raged toward Pyo Wol.

Meanwhile, the Shaolin monks tightened their encirclement, and the commotion drew nearby martial artists, who surrounded them in layers.

“Kill him!”

“Surround him so he can’t escape.”

The crowd cheered for Seong-am.

The reason why Seong-am was attacking Pyo Wol was not important.

A Shaolin monk wouldn’t attack without reason, so they supported them emotionally.

That was the power of Shaolin.

The reputation and virtue they had built in the Jianghu for over a thousand years made the crowd cheer for Shaolin.

Here, Pyo Wol was the public enemy.

The mob mentality had branded Pyo Wol as the enemy.

A faint white smile bloomed on Pyo Wol’s lips.

He had now clearly grasped Lee Yul’s intention.

“Do you want me to become the public enemy of the Jianghu? If so, I will gladly become your public enemy.”