In my previous life, the Murim Alliance somehow managed to seize control of the situation.
But they only took the lead – they weren’t the only ones who entered the Sword Tomb.
That meant they got to go in first, but it also meant they took the heaviest losses.
Even though it was a Sword Tomb built by a monk, it had vicious Trap Formations set all through it.
But there was nothing left inside.
No, that wasn’t quite true.
There was one thing left.
A body believed to be Blood Staff Star Monk’s remains, seated in meditation as he entered nirvana.
The people furious over it searched the whole place like they were combing for lice, but what were they supposed to find when there was nothing there?
Either way, from the Murim Alliance’s perspective, it had to be enough to drive them insane.
They suffered the worst losses, gained absolutely nothing, and still had to pay the compensation they’d promised.
Come to think of it, there was at least one reward in going to Gansu Province.
I’d get to watch the Murim Alliance lose their minds in person.
“Eek! Young Master! What was that for all of a sudden?”
“What was what?”
“That smile just now was seriously creepy. It looked like you were enjoying somebody else’s misery…”
How did he figure that out?
Seriously, I could never fool this guy.
“Ahem, it’s nothing. Relax. I’m not thinking about you.”
“Whew! That’s a relief.”
“You’re my Attendant, aren’t you?”
Escort Guard Seo Wu smiled and said,
“So basically, you’re saying it’s dangerous, but you plan to keep us as far from the danger as possible, right? Understood.”
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am picked up where he left off.
“Well, our lord isn’t the type to go looking for danger on purpose.”
“Isn’t the real problem that danger has a habit of finding him?”
At Escort Guard Lee Pil’s words, everyone nodded.
That was… true enough.
If the Emperor hadn’t ordered it, I never would’ve gone to Gansu Province.
Then suddenly, I felt someone’s presence.
Rustle.
I didn’t sense any Unorthodox Sect Qi, but even so, running into people on a road like this was enough to make anyone tense.
The so-called righteous sects leading the Orthodox Sect side of the martial world didn’t casually take lives, but when it came to looking down on merchants, they were worse than the Unorthodox Sect.
And the ones who soon stepped into view were…
Hm?
Monks?
“Amitabha. Forgive us, benefactors, but would it be possible to borrow some fire?”
The way he held one palm forward in greeting, the robes they wore… Shaolin Temple monks.
We all rose, and I stepped forward to greet them with a cupped-fist salute.
“It’s an honor to meet Shaolin’s esteemed monks. I’m Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. Since fate has brought us together in the middle of the night, of course you may.”
The monks visibly brightened, and the one who seemed to be in charge thanked me.
“Thank you.”
They soon settled down beside us and used the fire we lent them to start their own campfire.
Even in summer, a forest like this got cold at night.
There were ten Shaolin monks in total.
The one who seemed to be their leader looked to be in his fifties and had reached the Peak Realm.
The rest were an even mix of First-rate and Second-rate warriors.
Which meant, in other words, that every one of them was a martial monk.
Then a stomach suddenly growled.
Grrr.
At the sound, one monk’s face turned red, and the monk beside him lowered his head and said,
“M-my apologies. I…”
“Hm…”
“It’s all right.”
“It couldn’t be helped, so don’t dwell on it.”
Judging from the situation, they hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
Ordinary martial artists could catch fish or hunt wild animals like we had, but they couldn’t do that.
That meant they’d have to forage for edible plants, and at this hour of the night, that wouldn’t be easy.
I rose and walked over to them.
“If you don’t have any food left, would you like some flatbread at least?”
“Flatbread…?”
“Yes. We’ve got more food than you’d think. Palgap!”
At my call, Palgap quickly got up, pulled out the flatbreads from a bundle beside him, and handed them out to the monks one by one.
“It’s nothing fancy – just flour dough baked hard for storage, so it doesn’t taste like much. But if you warm it over the fire, it gets a nice nutty flavor and goes down well enough.”
It had been dried as thoroughly as possible so it would keep for a long time, so naturally, it was rock hard for flatbread.
Even so, in times like these, when famine was everywhere, that still made it precious food.
But maybe because it was from strangers, they hesitated to accept it.
So I pulled out a flatbread myself and showed them how to heat it over the fire.
“Like this…”
Tap, crunch, crunch.
“And then you eat it like this.”
Once they saw me eating it myself, the suspicion faded from their faces.
“Thank you very much for sharing such precious food with us.”
“How could I ignore people in need right in front of me?”
They didn’t have food, but apparently they still had tea. They filled a pot with water and started brewing it.
Then they began lightly toasting the flatbread I’d given them over the fire and eating it.
Crunch, crunch.
Sluuurp.
Crunch, crunch.
Sluuurp.
Listening to the sound of them eating flatbread and drinking tea, I smiled to myself.
They must’ve been starving.
One of the most unforgettable kindnesses in life was giving food to someone when they were hungry.
Shaolin Temple was one of the greatest sects among the great sects.
So if I put them in my debt now, they wouldn’t pretend not to know me later.
It wasn’t as though we were short on food.
To be exact, we’d packed our usual amount, but because of the River-Crossing Horse, our travel time had been cut down so much that we had food left over.
“Where are you headed, benefactor?”
Maybe because we’d shared both fire and food, the monks fully lowered their guard and asked us.
“We’re on our way to Gansu Province.”
“Gansu Province? Forgive me, but may I ask what business takes you there?”
“My mother’s family lives in Lanzhou. It’s been a long time since I visited, and I finally had the chance, so I’m going.”
“I see.”
“And where are you headed?”
“We’re going to Yanzhi Mountain in Gansu Province.”
“So our destinations aren’t too far apart. But if that’s the case, how is it that I don’t see any food packs with you?”
And there was something else strange too.
If they’d set out from Shaolin, they could’ve gone by boat straight from Luoyang to Lanzhou.
So why were they here, at this midpoint?
“To be honest… there were circumstances.”
Scratching the back of his neck, he continued,
“We were traveling by boat, but somehow our food bundle fell into the river.”
“Oh no.”
“So we got off the boat to replenish our supplies, but then of all things… we left behind the bundle carrying most of our travel money.”
It really was one disaster on top of another.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
A monk dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground as he apologized.
So he was the one who’d made that catastrophic mistake.
Now I finally understood why they still hadn’t had dinner this late.
And why they’d devoured that hard flatbread so desperately.
“So that was what happened.”
I put on a sympathetic expression while inwardly smiling in delight.
What incredible luck.
Shaolin monks in trouble!
Just because someone was a Shaolin disciple didn’t mean they stayed at Shaolin for life.
A good number of them eventually left the mountain and made their way in the world.
Some opened small martial academies, some worked as guards, and some found work in fields that had nothing to do with the martial world.
Which meant they had connections all across the empire.
And if Shaolin ever said, “Take good care of these people,” there was no one who would answer, “No.”
So if I put them in my debt here, it would definitely help me – and the merchant group – down the road.
“From the looks of it, you were probably planning to go ask a nearby lay sect for support. Am I right?”
“That is correct.”
“They’d probably help without much trouble, but given the times, they can’t be in great shape themselves.”
It was now late in the Seventh Month.
This should’ve been the season when the granaries were full of wheat, but the harvest had been poor again thanks to the continuing famine.
“And if you ask them for help, wouldn’t that also hurt Shaolin’s dignity?”
“That is true. But we don’t have many other options.”
“In that case, would you allow me to cover your travel expenses?”
“Your travel expenses?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Have you ever heard of the Eunhae Merchant Group?”
“Even at Shaolin, we’ve been putting the Windcraft Fan to very good use.”
So he knew who we were.
“We’re not lacking in money, so I can lend you enough to cover what you need.”
The monk fell silent in thought.
I could guess what he was worrying about.
He was probably wondering what kind of price a merchant like me might demand later.
“There’s no need to worry so much. Once you return to Shaolin, you can simply send someone with the money.”
“And how much interest do you intend to charge?”
“I don’t need any interest.”
At that, his expression turned even more suspicious. That alone told me he was no easy man to fool.
Which was probably why he’d been entrusted with leading this group of disciples to Gansu Province.
Then one of the monks carefully asked,
“Um… are you, by any chance, the Handsome Young Hero – the hero of the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering?”
At that, Palgap answered from beside me.
“That’s right! Our Young Master is the Handsome Young Hero!”
“Ah! I thought so! You looked so much like the appearance record in the book I saw that I had to ask.”
Right.
That book called [Rising Heroes of the Thirty-Sixth Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering].
It had a description of my appearance in it.
Damn it.
At that, the monk in front of me brightened and nodded.
“Indeed! Now I see that the title Handsome Young Hero is no empty name.”
Thank you for misunderstanding me so thoroughly.
The title was embarrassingly cheesy, but I had to admit, it had done me a lot of favors.
“Very well. I will accept the Handsome Young Hero’s offer.”
So I lent them travel money and gave them the rest of our flatbread as well.
As we introduced ourselves properly, I learned that the monk’s Dharma name was Jeong Myeong.
“By the way, may I ask what brings you to Gansu Province?”
At my question, Monk Jeong Myeong thought for a moment before nodding.
“Well, it isn’t exactly a secret, so I can tell you.”
The Sword Tomb on Yanzhi Mountain was no longer secret.
What was secret was the Emperor’s order for me to keep watch on the group of Embroidered Guard men sent there.
“The truth is, Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb has been discovered on Yanzhi Mountain in Gansu Province.”
“What?”
“Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb?”
Everyone reacted with shock.
Mm. My people really were good at acting.
“Could you tell me more about it?”
At that, Monk Jeong Myeong looked concerned.
“Benefactor, are you thinking of going there? That place is extremely dangerous right now.”
“Oh, I have no intention of going there. I’m someone who values his life quite a bit. I only need to know so I can warn my mother’s family and keep myself from walking into trouble.”
“If that is all, then… yes, I’ll explain.”
What he told me wasn’t much different from what I already knew.
“Blood Staff Star Monk was officially expelled from Shaolin for breaking the precepts, but if there is anything there that belongs to Shaolin, we cannot allow it to fall into others’ hands.”
“That makes perfect sense.”
As I agreed with him, something occurred to me.
“But wasn’t he expelled in his later years for becoming too stained with blood? Then why do you still call him a Monk?”
At my question, Monk Jeong Myeong answered,
“He was officially expelled, yes, but even so, everyone at Shaolin still calls him a Monk. It is a sign of respect for a man who devoted his entire life to destroying evil.”
Something about that felt off.
No matter how blood-soaked he had become, he was still a man respected enough at Shaolin that they called him Monk even now.
And they expelled someone like that?
At the height of his power, no less?
Not because he had fallen to evil. Not because he had been corrupted by demons. Just because he was stained with blood?
A man who had spent his whole life drenched in blood while fighting the Demonic Cult – and only in his later years was that suddenly a problem?
And once that started to feel strange, something else felt strange too.
The Trap Formations inside the Sword Tomb had been far too cruel and merciless for the work of a Buddhist disciple.
Countless people had died or been maimed because of them.
Then, all at once, something flashed through my mind.
It was what Blood Staff Star Monk had supposedly said when he built the Sword Tomb.
He had built it with the resolve that even after death, his spirit would go on fighting the Demonic Cult.
But what if that had not merely been a vow?
What if he had actually put that plan into action?
If Demonic Cult followers had entered the tomb, then most of the damage would’ve fallen on them.
Blood Staff Star Monk had arranged for himself to be expelled just in case. If that happened, Shaolin would lose its claim to the Sword Tomb. In other words, it was his way of protecting Shaolin’s disciples.
But the Murim Alliance, blind with greed and too stupid to see what was in front of them, had ruined Blood Staff Star Monk’s final plan.
And since Shaolin had suffered the greatest losses of any single sect back then, they hadn’t just ruined it – they’d ruined it spectacularly.
“Is something wrong?”
I must’ve let my expression grow too serious without realizing it, because Monk Jeong Myeong tilted his head.
“Ah, my apologies. It’s just that the Sword Tomb suddenly struck me as ominous.”
“Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb?”
“Yes.”
“And why would you say that, benefactor?”
There was a faint edge in his response.
I had never even met the man, but if Blood Staff Star Monk’s true intention had really been that, then I felt like I ought to help see it through.
And if warning them kept them out of danger and saved their lives, then the travel money I’d lent them would come back to me many times over.
“What I’m about to say is only speculation, so you’re free to hear it and dismiss it.”
Of course, I called it speculation, but personally, I was sure of it.
When I combined what I remembered from my past life with what I had just learned, there was only one conclusion.
So I began to explain.
“In my opinion…”
But then, while listening to me, Monk Jeong Myeong suddenly dropped to his knees in front of me.
“Amitabha…”
N-no, wait. Why are you doing that all of a sudden?
–TL Notes–
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