Chapter 123
“Wait, just who are you, Old Monk, to be teaching me how to exert more strength than usual in a Sparring Match…?”
“Ah, well. I told you my identity is a secret.”
“…”
Faced with the Old Monk’s stubbornness, Dongryong-i kept his mouth shut for a moment. Then, he examined his appearance.
His clothing wasn’t entirely dirty, but it was so worn that it gave the impression of having endured the passage of a very long time…
Huh? Wait a minute…
Now that he looked at it, that thing draped over the Old Monk’s robes was so worn that he hadn’t recognized it at first, but… didn’t it look exactly like the yellow robes of Shaolin…?
‘Don’t tell me This Old Man is a Monk of Shaolin…?’
Just what kind of place was Shaolin?
The Big Dipper of the Righteous Faction is the foundation of the Murim World.
Countless sects originated from Shaolin, and it was said that the secret manuals of absolute masters were so common there that you could trip over them.
“Come to think of it, he told the Street vendor earlier that he would teach him Martial Arts in exchange for the meatballs… If so, could this Old Monk… be trying to teach me Martial Arts too…?”
It was incredibly absurd, but didn’t fortuitous encounters originally happen by chance?
“Perhaps the Old Monk right in front of my eyes is a Master of Shaolin.”
At that thought, Dongryong-i’s posture naturally became polite. And he quietly waited for the words the Old Monk was about to bring up.
“So, if you want to exert more strength than usual during a Sparring Match, what you have to do is…”
“…”
Soon after…, the Old Monk’s words continued…!
“When you use your Martial Arts, you just have to shout the name of the Martial Arts loudly.”
“…Pardon?”
…Dongryong-i could immediately feel all the energy drain out of him.
And rightfully so…
Just what was this old rogue Monk talking about…?
Even though Dongryong-i stared at him in disbelief, the Old Monk steadfastly continued speaking.
“Now, let me explain with an example. Assuming you were to unfold the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber’s Second Stance, Flying Tiger Kills Rabbit, rather than just unfolding it like this…”
The Old Monk stood up from his seat just like that. Then, he took the Initial Stance…
“Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber-!! Second Stance, Flying Tiger Kills Rabbit-!!!”
…He abruptly shouted and moved his body.
His voice was so booming that the gazes of the people around them gathered, making Dongryong-i unable to lift his head.
“Seriously…, if This Old Man is going to go senile, he should do it gracefully…”
…What was this? It was embarrassing to the person he was with.
However, whether he lacked tact or had truly gone senile, the Old Monk looked at Dongryong-i with a bright expression.
“How is it? Doesn’t it feel even stronger when you shout the name of the Stance?”
“No…, hah…”
Dongryong-i pondered over what he should say first to the Old Monk before asking.
“I mean…, what does it matter whether you unfold the Stance while shouting its name or just unfold it without doing anything? It’s all the same Martial Art…”
“No. There is a definite difference. Can you Understand the principle of the Stance I just showed you?”
“No, how could I possibly…”
“Flying Tiger Kills Rabbit.”
The Old Monk cut off Dongryong-i’s words and spoke in a Serious voice. In that instant, Dongryong-i naturally shut his mouth at the pressure he felt.
“A swift and brave Tiger (Flying Tiger) hunts a rabbit (Kills Rabbit).”
The Old Monk said so and demonstrated the movement again.
“…!”
As Dongryong watched the movement while listening to the Old Monk’s explanation, he felt as if he could somewhat Understand the principle of the Martial Arts.
“The creator of a Martial Art gains enlightenment from the forms of nature and applies those principles to the body. The creator of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber, that is, the Founding Family Head of the Hebei Peng Family, must have thought of this Stance after seeing a Tiger hunting a rabbit.”
“Ah…”
“Like this, the name of a Stance contains its meaning and principle. Therefore, try unfolding the Stance while shouting its name out loud. You’ll be able to Understand it even better then, won’t you?”
“…”
…It sounded plausible.
If it were as the Old Monk said, it would be more effective to train while shouting the name of the Martial Arts not just during a Sparring Match, but also when Training alone.
But wasn’t it too…, ridiculous?
Besides…
“…If I Attack while shouting the name of the Stance, wouldn’t the opponent notice it and move to Defense? No matter how I think about it, attacking while shouting the Stance’s name during a Sparring Match seems unreasonable…”
“Tsk, tsk, you only know one thing and not the other.”
“…Pardon?”
“You just have to shout the name of a Stance and actually unfold a different Martial Art than what you shouted!”
…What kind of nonsense was this now?
“Now, let’s take Shaolin Martial Arts as an example this time. If I were to Attack while shouting Hundred-Pace Divine Fist-!!, where do you think you would defend?”
“H-Hundred-Pace Divine Fist…?”
Wasn’t the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist a peerless Martial Art of Shaolin…! If so, was this person really from Shaolin…?
“Ah! Put that aside and answer quickly. If it’s the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist, where do you think you would defend?”
“Then naturally, the front…”
Dongryong-i raised his hands and took a Stance To Block the front. At that, the Old Monk nodded and continued speaking.
“Right, if I say I’m using the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist, nine out of ten people will try To Block the front like that. But what if I use the Tathagata Divine Palm instead of the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist…?”
“T-Tathagata Divine Palm, you say?”
“The Tathagata Divine Palm is a Palm Art that attacks from above, not the front. The opponent will only hear the sound of the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist and focus entirely on blocking the front, leaving their top exposed.”
“Ah…”
“If you Attack while shouting the name of the Martial Arts, you can use deception like this to gain the upper hand in a Sparring Match.”
“…”
…This also sounded somewhat plausible.
In the urgent situation of a Sparring Match, if one hinted at attacking the Middle Stance, the opponent would naturally take a Stance to defend the Middle Stance.
But what if they attacked the Upper Stance or Lower Stance instead at that moment?
“It could induce panic in the opponent, or perhaps the probability of a successful Attack would increase.”
The method was underhanded, making it an unsuitable tactic for a Disciple of the Righteous Faction, but Dongryong-i was a Bandit, so it didn’t really matter to him.
“It does seem like I could use it in Actual Combat…”
It was a bit Ambiguous and Strange, but regardless, the Old Monk had given Dongryong-i a small teaching. It could be seen as having sufficiently paid the price of the meatballs.
At this, Dongryong-i bowed his head toward the Old Monk.
“Thank you, Old Monk. Your words seem like they will be of help to me.”
“Uahahahaha-!! I’m glad it was of help!!”
The booming voice, fully mixed with Internal Energy, filled the Street once again.
Even though everyone was staring, the Old Monk didn’t seem to care at all and didn’t stop laughing.
“He truly is an eccentric Master.”
Because of this, Dongryong-i couldn’t bear his curiosity about the Old Monk’s identity.
“Then, if it wouldn’t be rude, may I ask for your name, Old Monk?”
“Hmm…, a name… I threw something like that away a long time ago…”
Originally, when monks devoted themselves to the Buddhist Order, they abandoned their Affiliated Family name and received a dharma name.
“I was naturally asking for his dharma name too, though…”
However, the Old Monk ultimately didn’t give an answer and stood up from his seat.
“Anyway, I’ve paid for my food, so I’ll be going. I actually wanted to meet you once, so it’s quite lucky that we ran into each other like this!”
“…Why did you want to meet me?”
“Because it was funny seeing someone who isn’t even from the Righteous Faction pretending to be a Righteous Faction member when it doesn’t even suit them.”
“…!”
As the Old Monk’s words continued, Dongryong-i was momentarily left speechless.
Tap.
The Old Monk placed his hand, which felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, on Dongryong-i’s shoulder again and gave a short farewell.
“We’ll likely have a reason to meet again soon. I’ll see you then.”
“…”
And with that, he turned around and set off down the road, chanting a Buddhist invocation as if singing a song.
“Amitābha Buddha~, Amitābha Buddha~. Where must I go to meet you! Amitābha Buddha~.”
“…”
Frozen by the Old Monk’s final words, Dongryong-i could only watch his retreating back as he left.
‘Don’t tell me my identity was discovered…? How…’
He hadn’t hidden his identity meticulously, but he still thought he was hiding it well so far.
Didn’t the Sect Leader of Zhongnan also firmly believe Dongryong-i was their Disciple?
“But how did that Old Monk…!”
At first, he thought he was just a senile old man, but he wasn’t. That Old Monk was an eccentric Master.
As Dongryong-i was momentarily lost in shock, his Leader, having finished his business, approached him.
“Hey, Dongryong-a. I told you to wait in front of the restaurant, so why are you here?”
“Leader…”
Dongryong-i hesitated for a moment before telling his Leader everything that had just happened.
At that…
“…Does that make any sense?”
“…Pardon?”
“No, you’re saying a person presumed to be a Monk of Shaolin ate meat and unfolded a Stance of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber in front of you?”
“…Ah? Wait a minute.”
Now that he thought about it…!
‘Now, let me explain with an example. If you were to unfold the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber’s Second Stance, Flying Tiger Kills Rabbit, rather than just unfolding the Stance like this…’
The Hebei Peng Family’s Inherited Martial Art, the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber, was only passed down to the Bloodline of the Peng Family, so Dongryong-i had never learned it.
However, he had seen it many times.
And what the Old Monk had just unfolded earlier…, was definitely the Second Stance of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber, Flying Tiger Kills Rabbit.
“H-how did that Monk know the Saber Art of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber? H-how…!”
Come to think of it, out of all the many sects, why did that Old Monk specifically use the Hebei Peng Family as an example?
Could it be…
“Does he know about the connection between me and the Peng Family…?”
“…”
As he thought that, Dongryong-i felt as if goosebumps were breaking out all over his body.
It was a bizarre encounter, as if he had come face-to-face with a ghost that had been wandering the Netherworld for hundreds of years.