Chapter 342 : Righteousness (4)
Chapter 342: Righteousness (4)
"Ngh...!"
Whether it was the humiliation of being forced to her knees or the strain of resisting Il-mok's pressure, Abbess Miejue's face had gone a deep red as if it were about to burst.
"You insolent bastard!!"
The nuns of Emei, who had been frozen stiff by Il-mok's display of force, finally snapped back to their senses and moved to draw their weapons. But then Il-mok turned his head, his gaze drifting over to them.
"I warned you."
"Draw your weapons, and you die."
His voice was almost bored when he said this.
He didn't even spare a single glance at the kneeling Abbess Miejue as if her existence was something not even worth acknowledging anymore.
It sent chills down the spines of all the martial artists present.
Even though his eyes were directed at the nuns, his Qi was still bearing down on Abbess Miejue. At this rate, she wasn't just going to be kneeling; she was going to be flattened against the dirt like a bug.
But even without that horrifying pressure actively crushing them, the nuns were too terrified to actually pull their swords.
"...Are you trying to threaten the Emei Sect?!"
Instead, a few of them just opened their mouths and stammered out childish empty threats.
Il-mok looked at them for a moment and decided they weren't worth his time before turning to Hwangbo Yeon.
"Fist Phoenix, what do you think? Does it look like the Emei Sect threatened these innocent people? Or does it look like I'm the one unjustly threatening the Emei Sect? Are these people telling the truth, or are those folks telling the truth?"
A flood of thoughts crashed through Hwangbo Yeon's mind all at once, but she let out a long breath and answered.
"...No matter how I look at it, it is painfully obvious that the villagers are telling the truth, and that man is lying through his teeth."
The moment her verdict fell, the Emei nuns erupted.
"So you've had this planned with the Hwangbo Family from the start!"
"Fist Phoenix! Is this truly the Hwangbo Family's intention?!"
"You treacherous bastards! You're using the Hwangbo Family's name to push us around!"
Although they were all screaming their heads off, none of them actually made any meaningful movement, or even had the courage to draw their weapons.
Instead, they were busy making excuses for themselves in their own heads, telling themselves they couldn't act recklessly while their Elder was being held like a hostage.
Thoroughly annoyed by these nuns who were all bark and zero bite, Il-mok unleashed a thunderous shout.
"Silence!!"
The second the nuns slammed their mouths shut, Il-mok shifted his attention to the Qingcheng’s Taoists.
"And Qingcheng? What will you do?"
"......"
The one who could be considered Qingcheng's representative, Taoist Master Cheongmok, was sweating bullets as he looked completely trapped and unable to make a decision.
Seeing that, Il-mok slowly swept his gaze across everyone present and spoke.
"Tell me, what was the reason the Buddhist orders and Taoist sects began learning martial arts in the first place? Was it not to protect the living? The common people and those who tread on the Way?"
He gestured toward the Maitreya Luminous Cult believers and the terrified residents of Wangchang County.
Aren't the martial arts taught in your sects famously known as arts specifically meant to save lives? Arts that are designed to shield the weak from evil. Arts meant to mercifully subdue your enemies, not ruthlessly slaughter them."
He then glared directly at the nuns of the Emei Sect.
"So is what I'm seeing right now, truly the conduct of people who've trained in those arts?"
His final gaze settled back on the Qingcheng priests as he asked.
And then—
"Kugh..."
Taoist Master Cheongmok suddenly coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.
"Elder!"
"You demonic bastard, what did you do to him?!"
The Qingcheng disciples panicked and lunged for their weapons. But Taoist Master Cheongmok flung out his arm to stop them.
"Stand down!!"
Despite his face being completely drained of color from vomiting blood, he then clasped his hands together in a martial salute and bowed toward the one who called himself the Incarnation of Maitreya.
"Thank you."
While everyone around them stood confused, Il-mok spoke. "Your condition looks critical. Sit down and heal your internal injuries first."
The second Il-mok gave him permission, Taoist Master Cheongmok sat cross-legged and sank into meditative exercise right there on the spot. What he had just done was the same as offering his own life to everyone present.
Freaking out over their Elder's sudden reckless act, the Qingcheng disciples scrambled to form a tight circular formation around him, drawing their weapons to act as his bodyguards.
And Il-mok watched it all with a blank expression.
That was when the kneeling Abbes Miejue suddenly launched herself at Il-mok without any warning and swung her sword at him.
During the time when Il-mok’s attention was being distracted by the nuns and his exchange with Taoist Master Cheongmok, Abbess Miejue realized that the suffocating pressure around her had lessened a lot.
But she waited for the perfect moment to launch her attack rather than rushing in.
She wanted to make him pay for the humiliation of being forced to her knees.
Even after everything that had happened, she still believed the man who called himself the Incarnation of Maitreya wouldn't dare harm her.
She was fully convinced that murdering an Elder of the Emei Sect was a line he would be way too terrified to cross.
And so, she seized the moment when she judged Il-mok to be completely off guard and launched her sneak attack.
Her blade made a sickening slicing sound as it cut through the air.
Shk.
And within that split second of time, Abbes Miejue didn't miss it.
The mockery in the masked man's eyes.
‘A trap!’
But by the time she realized something had gone very wrong, it was all too late. Her mind tried to open her mouth, but her mouth refused to move.
Because by then, her body and her head were already no longer connected.
Thud.
Abbes Miejue's head hit the ground, and an eerie silence blanketed the space.
But the silence didn't last long.
"You vile bastard, how dare you!!"
"Kill him!!"
Driven into a total frenzy, the nuns of the Emei Sect began screaming wildly.
The warning Il-mok had given them had completely left their minds.
"Stop!!"
Hwangbo Yeon threw herself between them.
She moved so fast that her brain only caught up a moment later.
And immediately after, her blood ran cold.
Without her even registering the movement, the masked man's sword had already stopped just centimeters from the bridge of her nose.
‘If I had been even half a second slower, he would have slaughtered every single nun here.'
Realizing she had just practically brushed shoulders with the realm of the dead, she swallowed hard and forced herself to speak.
"What happened here is undeniably Abbess Miejue’s own fault. How could an esteemed Elder of a famous Orthodox Faction’s sect pull something as cowardly as a treacherous sneak attack? Therefore, the Emei Sect needs to drop this issue and return home immediately."
"This was Abbes Miejue's fault, plain and simple. What kind of Elder of a righteous sect resorts to a cowardly surprise attack? So please, Emei, let this go and return home."
Even as she officially delivered her ruling, Hwangbo Yeon secretly gave the nuns a desperate telepathic warning.
—Listen to me, if you all attack him right now, all it amounts to would be more dead bodies in the ground. Go back to your sect and reflect on what you've done.
But unfortunately, her sincerity didn't reach them.
"Fist Phoenix!! So you're siding with them to the very end!!"
"The Emei Sect will absolutely not let this matter go!!"
Hwangbo Yeon swallowed the sigh building in her chest and answered.
"You'll need to return regardless, if only to collect Abbes Miejue's body."
Reminded that they actually needed to collect their elder's body, the Emei nuns furiously gritted their teeth and finally sheathed their swords.
They carefully gathered up Abbess Miejue's severed head and body while glaring daggers at Il-mok's group before finally marching out of Wangchang County.
Watching them leave, Hwangbo Yeon waited until they were completely out of sight before turning around to check on the situation behind her.
"Incarnation, how’s your wound?"
"Your wound needs attention first."
The women who always stayed by the Incarnation's side had already swarmed him with their cares.
And indeed, his side was soaked red. It was the wound he took when Abbess Miejue ambushed him.
But the cut wasn't very deep at all.
"Don't worry. The bleeding has already stopped."
He claimed he had simply stopped the bleeding, but from the start, it was nothing more than just an incredibly shallow graze.
A sudden suspicion instinctively flared up within Hwangbo Yeon's mind.
She wondered if the Incarnation of Maitreya had allowed himself to be wounded on purpose to give himself grounds to strike back at Emei.
'Tsk. Doesn't matter now. Regardless of the intent, the fault still lies with Abbes Miejue for the ambush.’
She shook off the thought.
By then, Taoist Master Cheongmok had risen from his recovery session.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
He said it softly to his disciples with a gentle smile, then stepped forward and approached Il-mok.
"Thank you for gifting me with such profound enlightenment."
When he bowed and offered another martial salute, Il-mok smoothly returned the gesture.
"All I did was give you a harsh scolding. If you managed to gain enlightenment from that scolding, it just means your capacity for the Dao is immense, Taoist Master Cheongmok.”
"Haha... I wish that were true. My capacity was so pitifully small that I let myself be entirely paralyzed by cowardice all this time."
Locking eyes with the Taoist Master who was suddenly speaking in riddles, Il-mok asked him plainly.
"What will you do now?"
"Return to Qingcheng. I must return and properly correct all the things that have gone wrong."
He was fully prepared to discipline his students and forcibly stop the Sect Leader and the other Elders of his generation.
Even if his actions triggered a massive civil war that tore the Qingcheng Sect in half, he didn't care anymore.
Qingcheng's sword was a sword of life.
He was confident he could beat some sense into his martial brothers without actually killing them.
And if he failed and died in the attempt, then that too was heaven's will.
His only real regret was having to watch the glorious sect he dedicated his entire life to becoming so deeply stained with greed and sins.
Seeing the clarity in Taoist Master Cheongmok's eyes, Il-mok asked again.
"You do realize this might trigger an all-out war between you and the Emei Sect, right?"
"I can only pray that the Emei Sect realizes their sins and repents."
"Hm. And if they don't repent? What if they ultimately choose to wage war against us?"
"...I cannot say yet that I would stand with the Maitreya Luminous Cult and fight alongside you. But at the very least, so long as the Maitreya Luminous Cult remains as merciful as it is now, Qingcheng's sword will not be pointed at you."
Having said that, Taoist Master Cheongmok looked at Il-mok as if hoping for a particular answer.
Il-mok caught that look and smiled.
"Likewise, as long as Qingcheng's intentions remain the same as yours, Taoist Master Cheongmok, the Maitreya Luminous Cult will have no cause to raise its sword against Qingcheng."
As if that was the answer he was hoping for, Taoist Master Cheongmok broke into a warm smile and clasped his hands.
"Take care of yourself."
He offered his farewell to Il-mok and walked back to his disciples.
"Let's head back."
The Qingcheng disciples followed after him, each wearing a different expression.
Hwangbo Yeon watched them go, then carefully stepped toward Il-mok.
"Your broad-mindedness is truly incredible. Not only did you willingly enlighten me, a complete outsider to your order, but you even went out of your way to guide Taoist Master Cheongmok back to the right path."
Looking at Hwangbo Yeon's totally starstruck face, Il-mok bit down on a bitter smile inside.
"It was just a coincidence."
Half of that was true. Half was not.
While he was casually watching the drama unfold today, Il-mok had managed to pick up on a very interesting detail.
He hadn't missed the fact that the more Abbess Miejue acted like a psychotic tyrant, the darker Taoist Master Cheongmok's expression had become.
'He was battling a severe Heart Demon.’
Il-mok instantly recognized that highly dangerous, cloudy energy swimming in the Taoist's eyes.
After years of watching countless unhinged souls in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult spiral into Qi Deviations from the side effects of their own arts, Il-mok had become more than well-acquainted with the signs.
The only problem was this.
‘I wasn't trying to give him enlightenment. I was trying to push him over the edge’.
The only reason he gave the Taoist that grand philosophical lecture was to intentionally trigger him into a Qi Deviation. The more reckless the Taoist became, the easier it was for Il-mok to dispose of him. Not to mention that it would have been a perfect chance to pull the Hwangbo Family into his side, while simultaneously taking out two sects from the Nine Great Sects and One Gang that could've become thorns in his side later.
But ridiculously enough, instead of violently snapping from his Heart Demon, Taoist Master Cheongmok accidentally achieved spiritual enlightenment.
When Il-mok had casually scanned the guy's energy during their chat just now, he realized Cheongmok was standing right at the threshold to the Realm of Truth.
He was just one step away from entering the realm and becoming Sichuan’s Greatest Sword.
‘Hard to say whether that's good news or bad.’
On one hand, a master of that caliber now considered him a benefactor, which wasn't bad at all. On the other hand, once it came out that he was actually from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, that might turn into a problem very quickly.
‘So long as the Maitreya Luminous Cult remains as merciful as it is now... I can only hope that promise holds even after the truth comes out.’
Replaying the Taoist Master's honorable vow in his head, Il-mok just let out an exhausted chuckle.