A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 476

476. The Great Temple of Mount Tai

Taian is a small city nestled at the foot of Mount Tai. Though modest in size, this city, steeped in history dating back to prehistoric times, was renowned for the Great Temple (岱廟) [also known as Dai Miao], a shrine where emperors of dynasties past performed sacred rituals. Even as a shrine, the Great Temple was a massive palace complex. Boasting a formidable fortress, hundreds of pavilions, and the Tiankuang Hall (天貺殿) [Hall of Heavenly Gifts], one of the three great halls in the world, the Great Temple was an essential destination for anyone ascending Mount Tai.

“But,” No-gun said, his brow furrowed. “How can there be no one here?”

Clatter.

The group’s carriage halted before the Great Temple. The Great Temple, normally teeming with visitors, was eerily deserted. A dense fog blanketed the area, but the absence of people wasn’t solely due to the mist. Not only the Great Temple, but Taian itself was utterly devoid of life.

It was a truly unsettling scene. The remnants of daily life were evident on the streets, yet not a soul stirred. Shop flags fluttered in the breeze, and wisps of smoke even rose from some chimneys.

“W-Well? This is really strange,” Sohn-bin stammered with an awkward smile, a twinge of guilt in his voice.

“‘Well’ my foot…” No-gun scoffed. “Didn’t you ask the Jinan Inspector to restrict travel near Mount Tai to keep people out of harm’s way?”

“That’s true, but,” Sohn-bin replied with a wry smile. “I didn’t expect them to go this far.”

Sohn-bin’s request had been limited to the immediate vicinity of Mount Tai, intending to control access for those climbing the mountain, with the added stipulation that it was temporary. But who could have foreseen that they would evacuate Taian entirely?

“Well,” No-gun clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I wonder what they were thinking when they did this…”

“They took the minimum measures they could,” Princess Kyunghee’s voice came from behind. Sohn-bin turned to see her alighting from the carriage.

“‘Minimum’?”

Thud. Seo-rin hopped out of the carriage and asked, “‘Not maximum’?”

Princess Kyunghee responded coolly to the question that echoed No-gun’s sentiments. “It’s ‘minimum.’ Because that’s the least these officials have to do to avoid any responsibility for what happens here.”

Seo-rin tilted her head, puzzled. Princess Kyunghee continued, her gaze sweeping over the empty street. “If they empty the city completely, the officials can’t be blamed for anything that occurs. If they had tried to safeguard the residents and take full responsibility themselves, that would have been their maximum effort.”

“Oh, so doing something drastic is actually a way to minimize responsibility?”

“Exactly,” Princess Kyunghee said, turning to Seo-rin with a hint of amusement. “You’re quite astute, aren’t you?”

“I learned it from my brother,” Seo-rin replied with a bright smile. But then, she tilted her head again and muttered, “But it’s strange. Aren’t officials supposed to care for the people? That’s what my brother taught me.”

“That’s right,” Dang Wola said, stepping out of the carriage. “But in the end, they saved the lives of the people here. If people had stayed, the consequences would have been far worse.”

The thick fog enveloping the Great Temple was no ordinary mist. Had the place been bustling with its usual crowds, they would no longer be alive.

“But to evacuate the entire city like this…”

Clack. Sa Soo-yeon said, exiting the carriage. “It’s really astonishing.”

Sa Soo-yeon couldn’t conceal her astonishment as she surveyed the deserted streets and the desolate Great Temple.

Swish.

“Emptying a city isn’t that remarkable, but,” Sarasvati emerged from the carriage with an elegant flourish. To her, a former empress, an empty city held little surprise. “It’s a situation that warrants some suspicion. Oh, this is quite magnificent, isn’t it?”

Her eyes gleamed as she gazed at the imposing stone gate standing before the Great Temple. The stone gate of the Great Temple, Daemiaobang (岱廟坊) [Great Temple Gate], a grand archway without walls, was enough to inspire awe.

“Suspicious?” No-gun asked, frowning. Sarasvati looked up at the signboard and replied, “Yes. This situation implies that the military, administrative, and supervisory powers of this region are in a complete vacuum. I’m not familiar with the specific roles here, but I doubt a mere Censorate [an agency that supervises the bureaucracy] could achieve this much on its own authority. This could potentially be construed as treason under any dynasty.”

Sarasvati turned her head and looked at Princess Kyunghee. “This suggests a greater power is at play behind the scenes. Someone with enough influence to shield the officials from accountability, even for this level of action, for example…”

Sarasvati said with a subtle smile. “The emperor himself?”

“Who knows?” Princess Kyunghee met Sarasvati’s gaze with an indifferent expression. “I wouldn’t know. But one thing I can say for sure: the imperial family can’t stand idly by when the fate of the world hangs in the balance.”

Princess Kyunghee spoke with conviction. It was, perhaps, the emperor’s duty.

“Stop talking and let’s go,” No-gun said, frowning. “The demonic energy emanating from the Great Temple has been irritating my nose for a while now.”

Passing through the Great Temple and exiting the north gate led to the path up Mount Tai. But the reason they had chosen this route, among the many leading up the mountain, was precisely because of the demonic energy. Demonic energy potent enough to make not only No-gun, Sohn-bin, and Seo-rin, but even Sarasvati, a former demon god, uneasy, was flowing from this Great Temple.

“Woo-oong, can’t we go somewhere else instead of here?” Seo-rin said, pouting. She still seemed to dislike demonic energy.

“It’s okay,” Sohn-bin said gently, stroking Seo-rin’s head. “It’ll be alright now.”

Seo-rin still had her lips pursed, but she nodded. Sohn-bin turned his head and looked at the Great Temple submerged in the fog. And he slowly began to walk toward the huge stone gate.

Step, step.

Following Sohn-bin, Seo-rin, No-gun, Sa Soo-yeon, Dang Wola, Princess Kyunghee, and Sarasvati entered the Great Temple.

Whooooong.

The thick demonic energy enveloped them like a viscous fog. However, unlike in the Western Regions or Tianzhu [ancient India], there was no sensation of being weighed down. There was no eerie feeling, nor even the unique malice. Even Princess Kyunghee remained unaffected by the demonic energy.

But it was undeniably demonic energy.

“Tsk,” No-gun clicked his tongue. Even No-gun, a master of external affairs, found it difficult to sense other presences in this fog. The dense demonic energy was clouding his senses.

The Great Temple, like a vast palace, was shrouded in perfect silence. Not even the chirping of birds could be heard, and not even small animals could be seen. In the heart of the Great Temple, as if they were the only beings in existence, the group quietly followed Sohn-bin.

***

How long had they walked through the thick fog? Just as the group arrived in front of a large main hall, an eerie voice suddenly echoed.

“Stop.”

No-gun frowned at the rough, metallic voice. After a moment, a man dressed as a Taoist priest emerged from within the main hall. Clad in black Taoist robes, he appeared to be a member of this Great Temple. But he couldn’t be a true Taoist, because the eyes of the man fixed on Sohn-bin’s group were a vivid, unnatural red.

“You are not allowed to enter this place…”

The monster’s voice abruptly ceased. And his red eyes began to dart around wildly.

“What? Why are you stopping mid-sentence?” No-gun said bluntly. However, the monster in the black Taoist robe didn’t even glance at No-gun. He didn’t have the luxury to look back.

“…Could it be.” The monster uttered, almost a groan. He stared at Sohn-bin as if in disbelief, then slowly spoke. “Are you perhaps a demon god from the Western Regions?”

It was the language of Tianzhu. No-gun frowned at the sudden burst of Tianzhu, but he recognized some words, particularly ‘demon god,’ which he had heard repeatedly in Tianzhu and Persia.

“Demon god? If it’s a demon god…” It was natural for No-gun to turn to Sarasvati. The gazes of Sa Soo-yeon, Dang Wola, and Seo-rin, who were fluent in Tianzhu, also turned to Sarasvati.

Smiling softly, Sarasvati said, “I’m not anymore.”

Sarasvati raised her head and addressed the monster. “Who are you?”

Her question was also in Tianzhu. After a moment of silence, the monster slowly replied, “I am a demon (魔人) [Majin, a demon-like being] serving the goddess.”

The monster had heard Sarasvati’s earlier response, but he couldn’t ignore the potent demonic energy radiating from her. If it weren’t for Sohn-bin, who emanated an incomprehensible aura, he would have questioned her about being a demon god instead.

“Goddess?” Sarasvati frowned slightly. “The goddess of the Demonic Sect?”

“That’s right.”

“What are you saying?” No-gun interjected, still unfamiliar with Tianzhu. But Sarasvati couldn’t answer No-gun, because the monster in the black Taoist robe spoke again, addressing Sohn-bin.

“Answer me. Are you a demon god from the Western Regions?”

It was a question directed at Sohn-bin. Sohn-bin also understood basic Tianzhu.

“No, I am not.”

The answer was in the local language. The monster’s red eyes continued to flicker.

“Then, are you someone who is with the Heavenly Demon?”

Sohn-bin smiled wryly. It wasn’t the time for humor, but the monster’s words reminded him of the previous Jade Dragon. Since he had usurped the Heavenly Demon’s divine seat, it was a natural assumption.

“No,” Sohn-bin replied succinctly. “I am not with him.”

The monster fell silent, his red eyes still fixed on Sohn-bin.

“Then, do you…”

Sohn-bin didn’t wait for the monster to finish.

“If the goddess you’re referring to is Dan Sim-hwa, Young Miss Gongsun Ji,” Sohn-bin said, looking directly at the monster, “I have come here to defeat her.”

The red eyes widened in shock. It was clear he was stunned.

“Why are you standing there like that?” Sarasvati said to the monster. “You’ve already heard the answer. So…”

The beautiful eyes of Sarasvati shone with determination. “Come down immediately and kneel before Raja.”

The monster’s body twitched. He felt an overwhelming urge to prostrate himself before Sohn-bin’s feet as she commanded. Gritting his teeth, however, he resisted.

“I do not know Raja.”

Swoosh.

The monster took a step back. “So if you oppose the goddess,” the monster said, retreating into the fog, “we have no choice but to oppose you as well.”

Whooooong.

As the monster’s figure vanished, the fog surrounding the group slowly began to dissipate. No-gun saw that numerous monsters were arrayed around the main hall. The monsters hidden in the fog had revealed themselves.

Swish.

Sa Soo-yeon and Dang Wola immediately drew their swords, and Seo-rin took out his Buljin, Hongjinmanri [a type of Buddhist weapon].

“We,” the monsters in black clothes said in unison. The eerie voice echoed before the main hall like ominous thunder.

“Oppose you.”

Numerous red eyes gleamed simultaneously. Surveying the unsettling scene, No-gun laughed.

“Oh, really? What a coincidence.”

Sreung.

No-gun’s sword, Soryeong, was drawn. No-gun grinned and said, “I didn’t like you guys either.”

Woo-woo-woo-oong.

A chilling aura began to emanate from the blade of Soryeong. As if in response, Sa Soo-yeon’s sword Myeong and Dang Wola’s sword Sowol also resonated softly. Woo-oong. A blue aura already enveloped Seo-rin’s Hongjinmanri.

A tense atmosphere, ready to explode, settled over the scene, but it didn’t last long.

“I’m sorry, but,” Sarasvati said in a clear voice, “you don’t have to do that.”

“What?” No-gun frowned and turned around, but Sarasvati stepped forward. Swish. The black-robed monsters with their shining red eyes were everywhere, but Sarasvati showed no fear.

Swish. Her white hand extended toward the monsters. And she began to speak in an unfamiliar language, moving her red lips. It was a language unknown to anyone present, an ancient and forgotten tongue. But the unfamiliar language resonated in everyone’s hearts like the mantra of a high priest or the song of a peerless singer.

Suddenly, Sarasvati stopped speaking. And a low voice escaped her lips. “Collapse.”

It was a voice so soft it could barely be heard. But the effect was anything but subtle.

Thud.

The monsters began to fall. Like puppets with severed strings, they lost consciousness and collapsed helplessly. Thud, thud, thud. The monsters that had been everywhere fell to the ground without exception. Sarasvati had neutralized them all with a single word.

“Hmm.” No-gun groaned and frowned, an expression of surprise, not displeasure.

“Wow!” Seo-rin jumped and approached Sarasvati. “How did you do that? Can I do it too?”

“How did you do it?” No-gun also asked. Sarasvati smiled. “I can’t be called a demon god if I don’t have this much skill.”

“You’re a (former) demon god. You said you’re not anymore.”

“But it’s a little disappointing.” Sarasvati ignored No-gun’s words. She slightly furrowed her beautiful eyebrows as she looked at the fallen monsters. “If they were pure demons, they wouldn’t even be able to maintain their form and would have collapsed. They’re too weak to be called demons, aren’t they?”

Sohn-bin smiled wryly at her disappointed tone.

“Can I do it too? I want to do it too,” Seo-rin asked, looking at Sarasvati with sparkling eyes. Sarasvati smiled. “Well, who knows.” Sarasvati, pausing as if in thought, said, “Maybe it’s possible, if Raja allows it.”

“Me?” Sohn-bin was startled by the sudden attention. But Sarasvati said nonchalantly, “Yes, Raja.”

“Brother, I want to do it too!” Seo-rin immediately clung to Sohn-bin. Not only Sa Soo-yeon and Dang Wola, but also No-gun and Princess Kyunghee looked at Sohn-bin with surprise. Sohn-bin was flustered. “No, well, I don’t…”

“Brother, please.” Sohn-bin didn’t know what to do with Seo-rin’s pleading. Only then did No-gun realize it was Sarasvati’s prank.

“Tsk.” No-gun frowned and clicked his tongue. Sa Soo-yeon and Dang Wola also smiled wryly. But Sarasvati was looking at the flustered Sohn-bin with a gentle smile. Only Sarasvati knew what she had said in that unfamiliar language a little while ago. It was a secret that even Raja, who was addressed in that language, didn’t know, a secret that was hers alone.

(Author’s words) The reason why you should learn a foreign language.