Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 300 – Diabolic Beast (3)

Outside the iron door.

Although not much time had passed since entering, the unusual silence made the Demon-subduing monk Deoksu open his mouth.

“Amitabha. monk. It’s strangely quiet, isn’t it? Is that patron really a Taoist priest?”

“He is indeed.”

“Don’t those Taoist priests use spells or something similar to chanting sutras or mantras like us Demon-subduing monks?”

“Why? Are you curious?”

At his question, the Demon-subduing monk Deoksu waved his hands and shook his head.

“No, that’s not it.”

Of course, he was inwardly curious about how Taoist priests would deal with demons.

So he was dying to take a peek, but he had no choice but to wait, fearing that something troublesome might happen if he did.

“Although magical techniques are said to originate from Taoism, it is a power that goes against principles. Don’t bother being curious about it.”

“Amitabha. I will keep that in mind.”

After instructing Demon-subduing monk Deoksu in this manner, the Demon-subduing Priest stared intently at the iron door.

Despite his instructions, the Demon-subduing Priest was also curious inwardly.

Except for the Grand Meditation Master, he possessed the highest dharmic power, but even someone like him couldn’t do anything alone against the demon beyond this iron door.

Yet how could a mere Taoist priest control the demon?

It was practically impossible.

At that moment.

-Bang! Bang!

Finally, noisy sounds could be heard from inside.

Judging from the brief silence followed by noise, it seemed like things weren’t going well.

Soon, the demon’s shout was heard.

-You damn human! Don’t you dare come out of there!

‘!?’

Don’t come out of there?

What the hell does that mean?

In the cavity beyond the iron door, there was no particular space to escape or hide.

***

At the same time, beyond the iron door.

‘Huh?’

This was completely unexpected.

Contrary to the expectation that the cave walls, engraved with sutras all over, would withstand this level of force by bouncing off the smoke spewed by the demonic beast Alyu, the hardness of the walls themselves wasn’t that sturdy.

-Crash!

Mok Gyeong-un’s body, which had pierced through the wall and entered the other side, slid down a narrow cave passage and fell somewhere.

Eventually, at the end of the slide, there was a pool of water, splashing and wetting his body.

As he fell like that, Mok Gyeong-un raised his head in disbelief, and…

‘!?’

In front of him, a massive dead-end stone wall was spread out.

“Ah…”

It was a scene that made one involuntarily exclaim in awe.

If it were just a simple wall, it would be one thing, but part of the cave ceiling was open, allowing bright sunlight to shine down and beautifully illuminate a portion of the wall.

As he was gazing at this absentmindedly for a moment, a furious shout was heard from behind.

-You damn human! Don’t you dare come out of there!

It was the voice of the demonic beast Alyu.

It was riding high, thinking it had blocked the entrance and driven him into a dead end, but an unexpected event had occurred, making it furious.

As Mok Gyeong-un was about to turn his head,

-The cave is connected to here…

At Cheong-ryeong’s voice, Mok Gyeong-un asked in puzzlement.

“What do you mean by that?”

-Do you remember what that Demon-subduing Priest or whatever said earlier, that the thirty-six caves in the back garden of Shaolin Temple are all interconnected?

“Ah. I think he did say that. But why bring that up?”

-Look at the top of the wall.

“The top of the wall?”

At Cheong-ryeong’s words, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the top of the wall where the sunlight was shining down.

Large characters were engraved there.

面壁洞

(Wall Contemplation Cave)

‘Wall Contemplation Cave?’

Come to think of it, there was a cave entrance next to the Demon-subduing Cave with the words “Wall Contemplation Cave” written on it.

If that’s the case, this place he had entered by breaking through the Demon-subduing Cave’s wall was the Wall Contemplation Cave, and it seemed that what the Demon-subduing Priest said about all the caves being interconnected was indeed true.

However, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes were drawn to something other than that fact.

It was none other than the characters “Wall Contemplation Cave” engraved on the wall.

‘Majestic.’

That was the feeling he got the moment he first saw the writing.

The calligraphy contained not a hint of arrogance or selfishness, and the force put into each stroke was even and incomparably majestic.

‘Ah!’

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes widened.

The characters were not engraved using fingers or any tool.

They were engraved with qi.

Yet how could it be so flawless?

If one had never learned martial arts or knew nothing about qi, they would have looked at it with a simple gaze, but this was truly amazing.

At Mok Gyeong-un’s reaction, Cheong-ryeong said,

-The mastery of qi has truly reached the level of divinity. As expected of the originator who created Shaolin Fist, known as the orthodox martial art of the Central Plains.

“Originator?”

-Bodhidharma.

“Bodhidharma? Ah… I’ve heard of him before. Isn’t he the one called the founder of Zen Buddhism?”

-Yes. He is the founder of Zen Buddhism and is also known as the origin of Shaolin Fist.

“Then did this Bodhidharma establish Shaolin Temple?”

-No, that’s not it.

“Then what is it?”

-Have you ever seen a Daruma doll?

“No.”

-When you look at a Daruma doll, Bodhidharma’s appearance gives off a quite exotic feeling.

“If he’s exotic, does that mean he’s not from the Central Plains?”

-That’s right. Bodhidharma was the third prince of the King of Xiangji in the Tianzhu Kingdom, but he renounced the world and cultivated the Buddhist way.

“Oh?”

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sparkled with interest.

It was surprising to hear that the one known as the origin of Shaolin martial arts was not from the Central Plains but a foreigner.

“But how did a foreign prince who renounced the world become the origin of Shaolin martial arts?”

-That, I don’t know. There are several theories, and one of them is right here, the Wall Contemplation Cave of Shaolin Temple.

“Did he train martial arts in the Wall Contemplation Cave?”

-When he entered deep meditation, he would face the wall and sit in meditation all day long, and when he came out of meditation, he would move his limbs without rest and train his body. That physical training is said to have become the foundation of Shaolin Fist.

“I see.”

-What’s even more amazing is that he repeated that wall-facing cultivation for nine years without rest.

The wall-facing cultivation that lasted for a whole nine years.

This became widely known among many Buddhist practitioners and even laypeople, and this Wall Contemplation Cave, where Bodhidharma was said to have trained, was called the Daruma Wall Contemplation Cave by outsiders.

At Cheong-ryeong’s words, Mok Gyeong-un stared intently at the characters “Wall Contemplation Cave” on the wall.

Shaolin Fist was born through Bodhidharma, whom she mentioned, and Shaolin Fist became the foundation for many orthodox martial arts in the Central Plains.

It was literally the very origin.

‘Impressive.’

Mok Gyeong-un inwardly expressed his respect for the fact that someone’s nine years became an origin, and through that origin, countless martial arts were born.

However, that respect was short-lived.

There was no time to leisurely gaze at the stone wall of the Wall Contemplation Cave here.

As Mok Gyeong-un was about to turn his head,

‘!?’

Mok Gyeong-un, who was about to turn his head, stopped moving at some point.

Then he stared fixedly at a certain spot on the stone wall.

It was a momentary unconsciousness.

The moment he blinked his eyes, closed them, and opened them again,

-Whoosh!

At that moment, a cold wind blew from the entire stone wall, and snowflakes were fluttering all around.

Faced with such a bizarre phenomenon, Mok Gyeong-un was momentarily at a loss for words.

Mok Gyeong-un raised his head and looked up at the sky.

Snow was falling through the open cave ceiling, and the falling snow was piling up on the cave floor.

‘What on earth…’

As he was puzzled, he noticed a spot where snow had piled up particularly high.

It was the point where the light from the stone wall was reflecting.

There, snow had piled up to the height of a sitting person…

‘Huh?’

He thought it was just snow, but someone was actually sitting in meditation, and snow had piled up on their head and shoulders.

Not understanding what was going on, Mok Gyeong-un tried to approach that person.

But then, footstep sounds were heard.

-Footsteps!

Puzzled by the sound, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head.

As he turned his head, a tall, bald man wearing a yellow kasaya was approaching from a cave at the back of the Wall Contemplation Cave.

Mok Gyeong-un tried to speak to him, but…

“Who…”

-Swish!

That bald someone, who seemed to be a practicing monk, passed by Mok Gyeong-un without even acknowledging his presence.

The practicing monk who had passed by like that soon approached the person sitting in meditation.

Despite the snow piling up on their head and shoulders and someone approaching, the person sitting in meditation didn’t make the slightest movement.

-Thud!

The approaching practicing monk knelt on the ground.

Then, bowing his head to the person sitting in meditation, he spoke in an earnest voice.

[Please give me your teachings.]

[…]

Despite his earnestness, the person sitting in meditation remained still, not uttering a single word or showing any disturbance.

Nevertheless, the practicing monk bowed his head to the ground once again and said,

[Open the path for me.]

[…]

The practicing monk maintained that prostrated posture.

He showed the determination to never move until he received an answer from the person sitting in meditation.

Like that, both the person sitting in meditation and the one prostrating behind remained motionless, and snow piled up more on their bodies.

As Mok Gyeong-un let out a soft sigh, wondering what this was all about,

-Swish!

At that moment, the surroundings darkened and brightened repeatedly, and then…

‘!?’

Suddenly, snow had piled up heavily on the body of the prostrating practicing monk, and the person sitting in meditation had risen to their feet.

The person who had risen from meditation spoke while still keeping their gaze on the stone wall.

[Receive it.]

As soon as those words were heard, the prostrating practicing monk staggered to his feet.

No, he couldn’t even stand up straight.

Having prostrated for a long time while being hit by snow, he stumbled forward.

Even though he fell forward and his nose was bleeding, the practicing monk struggled to get up.

But the person who had been sitting in meditation threw something behind them without even looking.

The practicing monk stretched out both hands to catch it.

-Splash!

The moment the practicing monk caught it, it wet his hands and flowed down to the ground.

It was none other than water.

Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sparkled with interest.

‘He threw water?’

It was truly a strange occurrence.

Did he lightly pack some snow and throw it, and it melted in the hands?

Or did he really throw water?

Is it possible to throw water with bare hands like that?

As he was puzzled, the practicing monk tried to scoop up the water that had fallen to the ground with his hands.

But how could he possibly scoop up the water that had already soaked the ground?

[Ah… Aah…]

A sigh escaped from the practicing monk’s mouth.

Then, the man in the kasaya who was staring at the stone wall said,

[I gave it to you. So go back.]

At those words, the practicing monk, who had been scraping the wet ground to the point of breaking his nails, pleaded with tears in his eyes.

[This humble monk is still lacking and couldn’t receive what you gave. So please, give me your teachings.]

[…]

[Even if I have to die here, I cannot leave.]

[…]

Despite the practicing monk’s determined resolve, the one staring at the wall did not turn his head even slightly.

However, eventually, the one in the kasaya staring at the stone wall opened his mouth.

[Unless red eyes fall and pile up here, I will never accept you.]

At his words, Mok Gyeong-un snorted.

How could red eyes possibly fall?

In the end, it was just a roundabout way of saying he wouldn’t accept him.

It was at that moment.

-Bam!

At that moment, the practicing monk got to his feet.

Then he ran somewhere in the cave and came back with a knife.

Mok Gyeong-un thought he might do something reckless upon hearing that he would never be accepted as a disciple, but…

-Slice!

At that instant, the practicing monk cut off his own left arm.

‘!?’

Then he sprinkled the blood flowing from his severed arm onto the piled-up snow.

As the practicing monk’s blood scattered, the snow gradually turned red.

Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth twitched.

This practicing monk had created an answer that couldn’t be made through the sacrifice of cutting off his arm.

It could indeed be called a truly remarkable will.

‘Will he still keep staring at the wall even after this?’

Mok Gyeong-un looked at the person in the kasaya who was staring at the stone wall.

At that moment, the one who had been staring at the stone wall opened his mouth.

[Receive it.]

With those words, the person threw something behind him.

It happened so quickly that the practicing monk unconsciously stretched out his arm to catch it at all costs.

But the arm he stretched out was none other than the severed one.

However,

-Whoosh!

At that moment, a handful of water formed a shape in the air as if grasped by a hand, and it floated there.

‘!!!!!!’

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes trembled as he watched this.

The act of trying to grasp something with a non-existent arm actually made it possible.

This amazing sight rang loudly in Mok Gyeong-un’s mind like a bell, and that sound brought about a crack.