Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 447

447. Keep it Down

“What’s wrong? What is it?”

The guard looked in the same direction as Rembrary, who was staring at something with a serious expression.

There was nothing there. Just a cave wall. A cave wall without even graffiti.

The guard looked back at Rembrary.

Rembrary was still staring intently at the empty cave wall.

“Hey?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary raised his hand, signaling ‘wait a moment,’ and approached the wall, raising a finger.

On the surface, he seemed to be standing still, but he was channeling divine power.

“…….”

However, his serious expression deepened as he channeled divine power.

Rembrary stared beyond the wall, at some unseen depth, his brow furrowed.

‘There’s divine energy here. It doesn’t react to the divine power of other gods.’

Rembrary had already seen how gods from other dimensions reacted to his divine power.

They were either wary or curious.

But the god here had a faint presence, yet no reaction at all.

‘Why?’

Even sending stronger divine power made no difference.

‘Strange. I don’t know the principle, but is the Young Lord affected by this?’

“Hey you. Do you feel anything here?”

The guard bristled at Rembrary’s use of ‘you,’ but seeing Rembrary’s serious expression, he relented and asked back.

“What?”

“A god.”

“…….”

The guard looked at Rembrary as if he were crazy.

In fact, he was thinking, ‘Is that priest out of his mind?’

Suddenly staring at the wall with a serious face. And now he’s asking if I feel a god there?

“Are you practicing asceticism or something?”

“So, you don’t feel it.”

“Hey. Aren’t you a priest?”

Whether the guard looked at him strangely or not, Rembrary continued his careful exploration, but eventually, finding no results, he turned around.

But the moment he turned his body about 50 degrees.

[Shall I take a look?]

A voice spoke to him from somewhere, the Demon King.

As if there was a deep sea or a high sky in a corner of his brain, and the voice was thrown from there.

What was certain was that the sound did not come from outside.

Rembrary paused. The Demon King’s laughter was heard again.

“I thought you were asleep. So, you were awake.”

The guard turned around as Rembrary turned, and then said, “Huh?”

“What? I wasn’t sleeping. I was watching you.”

[I was watching how my vessel would handle this situation.]

The guard’s answer was drowned out by the Demon King’s voice, which came almost simultaneously.

Of course, the guard could not hear the Demon King’s voice.

Rembrary knew that the Demon King was good at shaking people with words, so he abandoned his usual gentle high priest demeanor and replied a little stiffly.

“You can’t do anything but watch, right?”

The guard frowned.

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly picking a fight? I was just standing here because you were staring at the wall strangely, okay? Do you think I’m standing here because I can’t do anything?”

[I’ll ask again. Shall I take a look?]

“How can I trust you?”

At Rembrary’s words, the guard touched the back of his neck, and the Demon King laughed leisurely.

“Wow… is this priest for real? Suddenly picking a fight with someone for no reason? Hey, priest. I guess you’re acting like this because you trust the Young Lord—how long do you think I’ll put up with you?”

[The god here is asleep. Strangely enough.]

“You can’t sleep deeply?”

“Wow! Are you saying you won’t let the Young Lord sleep if I don’t put up with you?”

[That’s why it’s strange.]

The guard was furious, taking Rembrary’s words to the Demon King as if they were directed at him, while Rembrary became serious, wondering what the Demon King fragment was up to, suddenly speaking here.

However, the Demon King fragment immediately fell silent when Rembrary rejected his offer.

As if he had never woken up and spoken.

“Hey, priest. You, you’re so arrogant because the Young Lord falls asleep with one lullaby, thinking, ‘The Demonic Cult Young Lord? Nothing special. I’m the martial arts master who puts the Demonic Cult Young Lord to sleep’—”

“What are you muttering about by yourself? Let’s go.”

The guard kept getting on his nerves by himself, but Rembrary was walking while thinking about the Demon King fragment, so he didn’t pay any attention to what the guy was saying behind him.

However, when they returned near the pit they had climbed down, Rembrary had no choice but to forget about the Demon King fragment and ask the guard.

“How do we get out of here?”

“!”

* * *

Just when the Shaolin Temple’s Chief Monk was about to have his patience broken before the Young Lord’s guard broke Rembrary’s legs.

The Chief Monk was watching Ardor helping to restore the Scripture Depository with a pleased heart.

He was more and more impressed with Ardor, who handled each book with care and attention.

“His first appearance was rough, but he’s a very solid young man.”

That admirable thought became a sound and came out of his mouth, causing damage to the mind and body of the Changpyeong Pavilion Lord next to him.

“Since when did we start evaluating someone who suddenly destroys buildings and hurts people as solid, Elder? I don’t know, so please tell me.”

The Chief Monk only laughed at the Changpyeong Pavilion Lord’s sarcastic words.

The Changpyeong Pavilion Lord became even more furious at the sound of that laughter and openly mocked Ardor.

“That guy is pretending, Elder. Please don’t be fooled.”

“Don’t judge a person by just one thing, Un-ryeon.”

“One thing? If you add up the number of people and buildings that guy has destroyed, it’s over ten, is that one thing?”

“Those are just branches. The action was one thing.”

The Changpyeong Pavilion Lord let out a hollow laugh at the Chief Monk’s repeated praise.

“You’re evaluating that guy too highly, Elder.”

“Everyone has goodness in them.”

“Even with that strange weapon he has? Would you have evaluated him so well even without that?”

The Chief Monk opened his mouth as if to say ‘Of course!’, but closed it conscientiously, and the Changpyeong Pavilion Lord stuck out his lips and huffed, saying, ‘See?’

The Chief Monk wanted to retort to the Changpyeong Pavilion Lord, ‘If you don’t like Ardor, just ignore him,’ but he thought it was beneath him, as an elder, to argue with his junior disciple, so he just shut his mouth and went to see the Sinhae Pavilion Lord.

The Sinhae Pavilion gathers, combines, and verifies various information, and the pavilion lord there was originally calm, and he was not present when Ardor was rampaging, so unlike the Changpyeong Pavilion Lord, he was relatively friendly to Ardor.

Moreover, at the request of the Chief Monk, he was also helping to find Ardor’s companion, the ‘handsome blond with red eyes.’

The Chief Monk was now visiting the Sinhae Pavilion Lord to ask about this.

“Welcome, Elder.”

The Chief Monk waved his hand, saying it was okay to sit down to the Sinhae Pavilion Lord, who was about to get up from moving his brush busily, and approached him and asked.

“Sorry to bother you while you’re busy, but have you found anything about the blond man with red eyes?”

The Sinhae Pavilion Lord put down his brush and apologized with a regretful face.

“There’s no news yet, Elder.”

“I see. I thought it would be easy to find him because of his unique appearance….”

“The Eun country is vast, so it’s not easy to find one person.”

“Indeed. He’s not a well-known person either.”

“Still, it’s fortunate if we can find him within the Eun country. We have to hope that he hasn’t gone abroad.”

The Chief Monk seemed too busy, so he said to take care and left the place immediately.

But this time, the Abbot called the Chief Monk, who was about to leave.

Worrying that he was going to say something about Ardor again, the Chief Monk visited the Abbot with concern.

However, the Abbot’s business was not related to Ardor at all.

“Elder. The Imperial family has invited you again this year to pray for the Grand Empress Dowager.”

“Is it already that time?”

“Yes.”

The Chief Monk nodded immediately at the Abbot’s words, as he used to go to the palace once or twice a year to pray for the Grand Empress Dowager.

“I will.”

“The Grand Empress Dowager will be pleased.”

“I’m happier. However….”

The Chief Monk’s expression became gloomy as he recalled the Grand Empress Dowager, whose body was weakening day by day, and the Abbot quickly changed the subject.

“Who will you take with you this time?”

Saying that this was also an experience, the Chief Monk always took his three top disciples with him when he entered the palace.

Sometimes he took two, but usually he tried to take three different disciples each time.

This was what he was asking.

Fortunately, the Chief Monk’s expression became a little calmer when the story of the disciples came out, and he opened his mouth.

“I’m going to take Jun-eon and Jun-gwon this time.”

“Yes? Are you sure it’s okay to take both troublemakers?”

“They’re active, so it’s good to let them get some fresh air.”

“Yes. So, you’re only taking two this time?”

“Hmm… should I take Ardor with me too?”

The Abbot nodded without thinking, but then belatedly startled and asked back a little louder than usual, “Yes?”

“That Ardor?”

The Abbot’s head reflexively turned towards the Scripture Depository.

“Yes.”

At the Chief Monk’s answer, the Abbot immediately objected.

“That’s not a good idea. You’d rather take another troublemaker.”

Jun-eon and Jun-gwon are also prone to causing accidents among the monks, but they don’t destroy the Scripture Depository or hit the monks.

But suddenly Ardor. Decisively, that guy is not a Shaolin Temple monk, not even a lay disciple.

“If I’m not there, Ardor will be treated unfairly. Isn’t that pitiful?”

However, the Chief Monk seemed to have already made up his mind firmly in that short time.

“The unfair treatment is what that guy is doing to us, Elder.”

“I’m a little worried that Ardor will cause another disturbance if I’m not there. Besides, the Scripture Depository is almost completely restored, isn’t it.”

The Abbot was about to stop him, saying it wouldn’t work, but he closed his mouth after seeing the Chief Monk’s expression.

The Chief Monk generously shared his enlightenment and knowledge with his junior disciples, and he took good care of even the youngest disciples who were struggling with their strict lives, so he was well-liked.

However, the Chief Monk was so immersed in his research that he did not have a direct disciple.

He gave advice to those who asked for it, but he never took one person and meticulously educated them.

The previous Abbot, worried about this, had spoken to him, but the Chief Monk openly said about it.

That he had no intention of having a disciple.

But now, the Chief Monk, according to his own expression, was taking Ardor, who was ‘treated unfairly,’ even that outsider, to the Imperial Palace, so the Abbot was secretly suspicious.

Could it be that the Chief Monk likes that guy?

He certainly seems to like that guy’s weapon. Does he see that guy as okay too?

It is rare to accept an adult as a disciple, but it is not impossible if his skills are high and his talent is outstanding.

In the Abbot’s eyes, Ardor was not good at all, but the Chief Monk had a history of turning away all the disciples who were kind, sincere, and talented.

Then, could it be that his eye for disciples is a bit unique?

In the end, after much thought, the Abbot reluctantly nodded.

“I understand. Then take that guy to the Imperial Palace. After all, the Sinhae Pavilion Lord hasn’t found his party yet.”