Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 218

218. Shaolin Lay Disciple

Dawn at the Murim Alliance.

Leaving his quarters, Unhyun slowly began to walk. The Murim Alliance was currently filled with more shock and chaos than ever before, yet at this moment, it was as quiet as a deep mountain.

*Soggy.*

Unhyun, who had been leisurely walking, stopped.

The old monk in front of him, greeting him with a single hand in prayer, was none other than Taeheo, the current Abbot of Shaolin.

“Have you been well?”

Unhyun bowed in return to Taeheo’s greeting.

“Yes. Did you sleep well?”

Taeheo let out a hollow laugh and quietly chanted a Buddhist invocation [a short prayer or mantra].

“I have something to tell you. Would you mind?”

Taeheo asked politely. Unhyun, who had already anticipated his visit, readily nodded.

“I understand. Let’s go together.”

Regretting the breaking of the serene atmosphere of dawn, Unhyun walked with Taeheo.

The place they arrived at was an empty lot behind the Waryongheon [a building or hall within the Murim Alliance].

*Swish.*

The wind passed by, and the bamboos rustled.

Taeheo looked around and said.

“It’s a quiet place. I didn’t know there was such a place behind the Waryongheon.”

“I thought you might want to avoid people’s attention.”

At Unhyun’s words, Taeheo said with a sigh.

“…That’s right.”

It was only a few days ago that the leaders of the Eighteen Great Sects of the Murim Alliance had interrogated Unhyun.

From Unhyun’s point of view, he was already showing courtesy by responding to their questions.

“What is it that you wanted to say?”

At Unhyun’s question, Taeheo once again respectfully clasped his hands.

It was a Shaolin-style one-handed clasp.

“I have not properly paid my respects. Taeheo greets his granduncle again.”

Unhyun let out a low sigh. What the Shinseung [a high-ranking monk] had said had become reality.

‘Granduncle…’

The person with the highest seniority in Shaolin is the former Great Patriarch, Wabool.

Unhyun was Wabool’s disciple, Shinseung Bulyeong’s junior brother, and Shaolin’s current Abbot Taeheo’s granduncle—essentially, like an uncle.

Of course, there was a ‘just in case’ thought.

How could Shaolin’s seniority be a small matter? Unhyun thought that perhaps this was Shinseung’s improvisation.

But it wasn’t.

The reality that the current Abbot of Shaolin was bowing his head in front of Unhyun clearly demonstrated that.

“Please, put away the formalities, Great Master.”

Unhyun said.

The other party was an old monk with a white beard. Moreover, he was already Wabool’s grand-disciple and Shinseung Bulyeong’s nephew.

Unhyun couldn’t bring himself to treat him harshly.

However, Taeheo did not raise his head.

“It is a great mistake to be rude to the elders of the sect. Although I did not know, how can such a greeting be sufficient?”

Unhyun sighed softly.

“Are you saying this while wanting to avoid the eyes of others?”

That was a painful point.

If you are trying to avoid the eyes of others, how can that be called a sincere action?

However, Taeheo said nothing.

He was just waiting, with his head deeply bowed.

He was about to stand like that forever if Unhyun didn’t say anything.

“Huh.”

In the end, Unhyun gave up first.

How could he bear to see an old man with white eyebrows and beard bowing to a young man like himself?

“I understand. Please stop now.”

“Will you accept the apology of a foolish nephew?”

Unhyun sighed.

He couldn’t press him any further when the old man even lowered himself to call himself a foolish nephew.

“If that’s the only way you’ll raise your head, then I will.”

“Thank you, Granduncle.”

Taeheo raised his head.

His expression, calling Unhyun Granduncle, was as calm and natural as if it had been so from the beginning.

Unhyun was inwardly impressed by that sight.

How easy would it be to treat a young person as a superior?

It also meant that Shaolin’s master-disciple relationship was that strict, but it also meant that Taeheo’s cultivation was not low.

“There is no need for you to call me Granduncle, Great Master.”

Taeheo smiled gently.

“There is no granduncle who calls his nephew ‘Great Master’. Granduncle.”

Taeheo was about to not yield in this regard either.

Unhyun cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Ahem, is that all you wanted to say?”

“First of all, yes. And.”

After a moment of silence, Taeheo said.

“I came to inform you of Shaolin and the Murim Alliance’s decision regarding you, Granduncle.”

The word ‘decision’ somehow felt bitter.

Should he be glad that it wasn’t ‘disposal’?

Taeheo carefully continued.

“Shaolin, following the will of the former Great Patriarch Wabool and Seon Master Bulyeong, recognizes you as an official member of Shaolin, Granduncle.”

Unhyun had already guessed that from the moment Taeheo called him Granduncle.

“However, you are not an officially ordained monk. Therefore, you will have the status of a lay disciple.”

“A lay disciple?”

“That’s right.”

Taeheo answered politely.

“It refers to a person who is a disciple of Shaolin but cannot hold an official position or rank in Shaolin. Since you are not an ordained monk, you do not bear the obligations of a monk, and if you do not wish, you will not receive a Dharma name [a religious name given during ordination] or be branded.”

Unhyun nodded.

He had no intention of claiming Shaolin’s seniority now, so it was perhaps the most reasonable decision.

“But the fact that you are a disciple of the former Great Patriarch and a junior brother of Seon Master Bulyeong does not change.”

There were no practical rights. There were no obligations.

However, Unhyun’s seniority was no different from having the entire Shaolin as his background.

“With this, the Murim Alliance has dropped all suspicions about you. Also, in the name of the Murim Alliance, we have conveyed an apology to you.”

Unhyun gave a bitter smile.

Taeheo continued in a low voice.

“Please don’t take them too badly. As you know, everyone was on edge after the main house of the Gongson Family burned down. And in the case of Hyeokryeon, he had a particularly bad relationship with the Sword Saint.”

Unhyun realized why Hyeokryeon Cheolhu, the Sword Master, had been so overbearing.

In fact, even Taeheo in front of him had been cautious. The atmosphere became fierce largely because of Hyeokryeon Cheolhu.

“But there were many people in that place who respected the Sword Saint and were indebted to Bulyeong. Even in the worst case, things would not have progressed harshly. So…”

“So.”

Unhyun cut off Taeheo’s words.

“Are you saying that it’s nothing and I should understand on my own?”

Taeheo flinched at those words.

“A little while ago, you apologized to me for being rude, but now you’re telling me to understand on my own. Which is your true intention?”

Unhyun stared straight at Taeheo and continued.

“If you’re going to call me Granduncle, then act accordingly. If they had done that to Great Master Bulyeong, would you still be saying the same thing now?”

Taeheo was flustered.

But Unhyun’s words were right.

A little while ago, Taeheo was clearly speaking on the side of the Murim Alliance.

Even without abandoning his overbearing attitude.

“Huh.”

Taeheo sighed and chanted a Buddhist invocation.

“You make me ashamed, Granduncle.”

Taeheo said, bowing his head.

“This foolish nephew has once again committed rudeness to you.”

“I have already received the apology.”

At Unhyun’s cold reply, Taeheo hurriedly said.

“Regarding Hyeokryeon’s rudeness, I will entirely follow your judgment. If you wish, Shaolin will issue his official apology…”

“I don’t need his apology. I just wanted to know whose side you were on.”

“This nephew…”

Unhyun cut off Taeheo’s words.

“I have clearly heard the decisions of Shaolin and the Murim Alliance. If you have no further business, I will be on my way.”

*Thud.*

Unhyun turned around as he was.

“G, Granduncle!”

Taeheo called out, but Unhyun did not look back.

‘Hoo.’

Unhyun sighed inwardly.

He knew that it was too sensitive a reaction. He also thought that he might have been venting his anger on the ambiguous Taeheo.

However, Taeheo never asked Unhyun’s intentions. He had merely conveyed the words as if he were notifying him.

When he thought about it, Taeheo might have had no choice.

He was the Abbot of Shaolin, but he had that many things to consider and that many things he was bound by.

That was exactly what made Unhyun uncomfortable.

It wasn’t that he disliked Taeheo, but that he disliked these kinds of meetings themselves, where he had to meet with all sorts of calculations and intentions.

“Dokgo Je.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Dokgo Rang, who had been hiding, appeared.

It was to avoid disturbing Unhyun’s dawn training, but he already knew that he was always by his side.

“…Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Yes.”

Dokgo Rang replied.

There was no complaint, not even a conversation, but just having him there seemed to lighten his heart.

Unhyun thought that it was truly fortunate to have Dokgo Rang.

***

“The Azure Dragon Sword Lord?”

A faint smile hung on the King Moon’s lips.

“That’s right. It has been revealed that he is the same person as the successor of the Sword Saint, and he is currently staying in the Murim Alliance as a junior brother of the Shinseung.”

A subordinate wearing a scholar’s robe replied.

King Moon nodded.

“So, he’s the one who went to the Northern Sea last time.”

“That’s right.”

“It’s too coincidental to be a coincidence. Could it be that he has noticed my plan?”

The subordinate smiled.

“There is no one in the world who can see through the wisdom of King Moon.”

“Hoo.”

The corners of King Moon’s lips curled into a smile.

“What’s the basis?”

“Pardon?”

“You just said it, didn’t you? That there is no one in the world.”

King Moon said, smiling at the flustered subordinate.

“I didn’t realize you knew everyone in the world.”

The subordinate’s complexion turned pale.

“I, I was just…”

“Get out.”

King Moon said coldly.

“I hate flattery. And I hate even more the trash who spout nonsense without any basis.”

King Moon turned his head as if there was nothing more to see.

The subordinate wearing the scholar’s robe slowly retreated with a pale face. His eyes were soon filled with fear of what was about to happen to him.

“What do you think?”

King Moon asked the man in black uniform standing next to him.

“I am only following your orders.”

“Yes.”

With a satisfied expression, King Moon said.

“What I want is not your own trivial judgment, but only a subordinate who absolutely obeys my orders. I don’t need horses who try to think for themselves and move.”

*Clack.*

The small hand fan, which had been quietly swaying, made a sound as it folded.

“Even if it’s a net covering the sky, it’s useless if there’s a hole. It would be good to prepare for the Azure Dragon Sword Lord. Even if he’s not the owner of the document.”

King Moon stretched out his slender, white fingers and picked up a small grape.

“What is the state of the Ironclad Cavalry?”

The man in black uniform replied.

“It is stable. However, there has been a slight problem in the Hwangcheon Troop [Yellow Sky Troop].”

“A problem?”

King Moon asked, rolling the grape in his mouth as if savoring it.

“The condition of those who have taken the Gihondan [a type of elixir or pill] for a long time has deteriorated earlier than expected.”

“Is that so?”

*Pick.*

The grape burst in King Moon’s mouth.

“The power of the Silhon Troop [Crimson Cloud Troop] will increase. The Gaepadaejeon [a martial arts competition] of Surochae [a location or group] is in ten days, right?”

“That’s right.”

The man in black uniform paused for a moment and asked.

“Shall we take action on the Hwangcheon Troop?”

“No need.”

King Moon said lightly.

“There are plenty of people anyway. Rather, make sure there are no disruptions in the supply of medicinal ingredients for the Gihondan production. If necessary, you can put more pressure on the merchants.”

The man in black uniform bowed his head silently.

*Tok.*

A ripe grape disappeared again into King Moon’s red lips.

***

Late at night, Murim Alliance.

Unhyun, who was reading a book in his quarters, suddenly raised his head at the presence felt outside.

“Lord.”

Dokgo Rang’s low voice was heard from outside.

“People from the Moryong Family have come to see you.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Unhyun put away the book, got up from the desk, and opened the door.

*Clunk.*