Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 453

◈ 453. The Money Went to Someone

But the silver-haired one wasn’t the only person around, so the Lion Lord grabbed a passing eunuch and asked,

“Hey, where’s the Shaolin Temple located?”

The eunuch was walking silently when a realistic lion mask suddenly appeared before his eyes, startling him.

However, since the Lion Lord’s abrupt appearances were already well-known, the eunuch quickly calmed his surprise and replied,

“It’s a temple.”

“A temple?”

The Lion Lord put his hands together and mimicked a Buddhist greeting.

“A temple?”

“Yes, a temple. A place where monks gather.”

“Temple!”

The Lion Lord shouted, causing the eunuch to flinch and step back.

He gave a ‘What’s wrong with him?’ look, but the Lion Lord was already leaving, shaking his beard and drooping his arms.

‘What a strange person,’ the eunuch thought to himself as he walked on.

On the other hand, the Lion Lord was a little shocked and walked blankly.

But soon, the Lion Lord forgot the shock and smiled brightly.

‘If the silver-haired one came from a temple, it definitely wouldn’t be Ardor,’ he thought.

‘Right. There’s no way that pseudo-zealot would come here with monks.’

However, even while thinking that, the ‘just in case’ feeling didn’t easily disappear, so the Lion Lord asked around and went to the place where the guests from Shaolin Temple were staying.

Hiding behind a large tree a little away from the building, the Lion Lord waited for the silver-haired one to pass by.

How long had he been there? After some boring time passed, the door finally creaked open.

The Lion Lord focused his eyes. The person who came out beyond the door was…

‘That son of a bitch!’

The Lion Lord cursed inwardly. It was Ardor. That disheveled silver hair and hollow eyes.

‘You bastard.’

The Lion Lord dug his fingernails into the tree and ground his teeth.

He still ground his teeth when he thought about being caught by that guy and brought here.

Thanks to that, he couldn’t even see his mother’s face.

Thinking of his mother, he felt like tears would well up, so the Lion Lord briefly lifted his mask and wiped his eyes.

Then, the Lion Lord’s eyes flashed sharply.

‘This is a good opportunity. There’s no problem returning to Earth without that guy. I’ll gouge out his eyes.’

* * *

At that time, while the Lion Lord was constantly watching Ardor, and Ardor was wearing a sheep’s mask and diligently eating grass,

Rembrary also arrived at the 5th Fortress and met the troupe members.

“Leader!”

Duran, who had been wandering around solely responsible for Rembrary, was so happy to see Leader Nangil after a long time that he almost burst into tears.

“Leader, I missed you! And you guys too!”

Duran smiled broadly, opening his arms wide.

However, Nangil and the other members couldn’t hug Duran or hold his hand.

It was because of the tall, unfamiliar young man who was exuding a gloomy aura behind Duran.

“Who is that person…?”

The young man was the Great Disciple of the Demonic Cult, and like the Great Disciple of the Demonic Cult, he gave even non-martial artists the feeling of being a very violent person.

It was an inevitable phenomenon that the peaceful Hwachin-chin troupe members froze upon seeing the Great Disciple.

Duran, the most timid in Hwachin-chin, understood the others’ fear better than anyone else, so he suppressed his slightly disappointed heart and introduced the Great Disciple.

“He’s from the Demonic Cult.”

“The Demonic Cult.”

“The Demonic Cult?”

“Why did you bring, no, escort someone from the Demonic Cult?”

“I didn’t escort him… he’s following me. Rembrary.”

“!”

The members asked with their eyes, ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’, but they couldn’t tell their story in detail in front of the Great Disciple himself.

Duran muttered, “I don’t know either,” and Rembrary answered coolly.

“The Great Disciple needs to listen to a lullaby to sleep.”

“!”

Feeling like they had heard a truth they shouldn’t have, the members quickly lowered their heads and hurriedly started walking to find the Vice Lord.

* * *

Saying ‘The Great Disciple has insomnia’ doesn’t feel right, but saying ‘The Great Disciple needs to listen to a lullaby to sleep’ doesn’t feel right either.

The group tried hard to ignore the Great Disciple, who kept catching their eyes, and did their best to find the main fortress of the 5th Fortress.

They wanted to quickly go to the main fortress, pretend to be busy preparing for the performance, and shake off this awkward atmosphere.

It would be even better if that Great Disciple, who was leisurely following behind, got tired of watching the practice and went somewhere else.

Fortunately, thanks to Seol-ryu’s good words, the group was able to pass through the main fortress gate, the waiting room, and the guards blocking them without any problems.

However, the group was blocked when they actually met the Vice Lord of the 5th Fortress.

“So you’re the Hwachin-chin that Seol-ryu mentioned.”

The Vice Lord of the 5th Fortress had an unpleasant expression from the moment he saw the group.

He crossed his legs and looked around the group with a nonchalant attitude, and it was too obvious that he didn’t like them.

“Yes. It’s an honor to be able to see the Vice Lord with the help of Young Master Seol-ryu.”

Leader Nangil gave a suitably plausible greeting, but the Vice Lord’s expression didn’t change.

“Hmm.”

Then, he looked at the group with dissatisfied eyes and asked.

“How will you prove that you are the real Hwachin-chin?”

“Yes?”

Nangil was embarrassed by the absurd question and asked back, and the Vice Lord repeated clearly.

“How can I believe that you are not another troupe impersonating Hwachin-chin?”

Nangil blinked and muttered.

“We are an unknown troupe. There is no benefit to be gained from another unknown troupe impersonating our troupe, Vice Lord.”

“No benefit? You have the opportunity to perform in front of the Lord. Isn’t that a benefit?”

However, the Vice Lord seemed determined to pick a fight.

Nangil opened his mouth in absurdity.

Regardless, the Vice Lord narrowed his eyes and instructed the person standing next to his chair.

“Then let’s check if you are the real Hwachin-chin first. Song-go.”

“Yes, Vice Lord.”

“Go find Young Master Seol and have him confirm their faces.”

Nangil felt bad about the sudden misunderstanding of being a fraud, but he could not show such feelings to the Vice Lord, so he just pursed his lips.

Besides, even if he felt bad, it might be better for the future to go through a confirmation once, as the Vice Lord said.

“Hwachin-chin.”

“Yes, Vice Lord.”

“One or two of you should follow Song-go to get your identity confirmed. It would be difficult for the busy Young Master Seol to come all the way here in person.”

Before he could even decide who to send, the Vice Lord waved his hand and signaled them to leave.

Nangil came out of the Vice Lord’s room with the members and cursed him inwardly for being arrogant.

The only good thing was that Rembrary was deeply thinking about something today and was distracted.

Thinking about what Rembrary might have said to the Vice Lord if he had been in his right mind, Nangil’s anger subsided a little.

‘Right. It’s better to have your identity confirmed.’

Nangil tried to think in a positive direction and looked around the group.

“Quickly choose who to take.”

Song-go, who was as arrogant as the Vice Lord, urged them, but Nangil carefully chose a member that Seol-ryu would remember.

‘Seol-ryu probably remembers Rembrary. He’s the person who misunderstood, and he’s originally noticeable. But Rembrary is so out of it that it’s hard to ask him to go to the Murim Alliance [a martial arts association].’

Nangil pondered over who to send so that Seol-ryu would remember their face.

But then. Rembrary, who had been lost in thought, raised his hand.

“I’ll go.”

“Huh? Are you sure you’re okay?”

Nangil asked, relieved but also worried.

It seemed strange that Rembrary, who had been deeply lost in thought until just now, suddenly raised his hand.

“Yeah. I’ll go.”

However, when Rembrary volunteered again, Nangil thought it would be better and didn’t object further. Instead, he asked Duran.

“Then Duran, you go to the Murim Alliance with Rembrary.”

“Leader? Why me?”

“You’re the closest to Rembrary.”

“No!”

Duran denied desperately in surprise, but Rembrary was already holding his arm.

When Duran looked at him with a ‘Why are you doing this?’ expression, Rembrary smiled gently and told him.

“Let’s go see Seol-ryu.”

“!”

As Rembrary followed Song-go and Duran trudged after Rembrary, Nangil felt a little sorry.

But he couldn’t send Rembrary alone because he was worried about his lack of common sense and free mouth, so he couldn’t help it.

Besides, it’s true that Duran is the closest to Rembrary among them.

Anyway, thinking that he just had to wait until they came back, Nangil looked towards the Great Disciple to ask for understanding.

“Huh?”

But he was gone. The Great Disciple had disappeared with him.

“Is it okay?”

Nangil rubbed his arm for no reason, feeling uneasy.

* * *

They easily entered the main fortress by selling Seol-ryu’s name, and they easily entered the Murim Alliance by selling the Vice Lord’s name.

Contrary to Duran’s worries, they were able to meet Seol-ryu surprisingly soon after following the Vice Lord’s aide.

“Ah, we meet again here.”

Moreover, Seol-ryu recognized Rembrary before Song-go could even convey the Vice Lord’s words and immediately greeted him kindly with a smile.

“I see this person again too.”

Not only that, but Seol-ryu immediately recognized Duran and greeted him, which made it clear that they were the real Hwachin-chin, so Song-go felt a little embarrassed to convey the Vice Lord’s words.

“But what’s going on, Sir Song?”

“As you know, the Vice Lord is meticulous. He told me to come and confirm if the Hwachin-chin troupe members that Great Warrior Seol mentioned are these people.”

“Ah.”

Seol-ryu immediately understood and said they were right. Song-go was embarrassed and immediately turned around, saying thank you.

But Rembrary didn’t follow him and instead told Song-go to go first and remained there.

Seol-ryu asked, puzzled.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

“Actually, I came to ask you something separately.”

The reason Rembrary volunteered to come to Seol-ryu was because of the conversation he had with Duran.

Duran was slumped like a depressed squid, but when he heard Rembrary’s words, he finally remembered the advice he had given him and widened his eyes.

He had forgotten about it because it was his own advice but not his own problem.

Seol-ryu nodded with a friendly smile.

“Yes, please ask.”

“It’s about Yoo Mae-na’s disciples.”

Seol-ryu raised his eyebrows.

“You said you were interested in Yoo Mae-na’s disciples before. Were you serious?”

“One of my companions is being chased by them.”

“There must be more than one or two people being chased by them. They’re originally strange people.”

“It seems my companion was mistaken for their successor.”

“Successor?”

Seol-ryu widened his eyes and muttered seriously.

“I’ve heard such rumors recently. That Yoo Mae-na’s successor has appeared. And that person is your companion?”

At the word ‘companion,’ Seol-ryu’s gaze turned to Duran.

It was clear that Seol-ryu was interpreting the companion Rembrary was talking about as an artist like Duran, so Duran quickly waved his hand.

“That person is probably not an artist. He’s not a member of our troupe.”

“Then…?”

“My companion is a foreigner. He can’t be Yoo Mae-na’s successor. He hasn’t been in this country for long, so there’s no way he can be a successor.”

Seol-ryu asked about his occupation or status, but Rembrary knowingly glossed over it.

“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”

However, even after hearing Rembrary’s words, Seol-ryu said with a flustered expression.

“But the reason that person is being called Yoo Mae-na’s successor is because there is clear evidence.”

“Evidence?”

“He had Yoo Mae-na’s token.”

“Token?”

“It’s not a rumor. He brought the token and took the money.”

“!”

Rembrary was shocked. ‘I was buried in the desert sand, barely eating a bowl of noodles. Mullet [slang for a person with a mullet hairstyle, referring to Shin Jo-woon] received money from Lady Lumena as soon as he came here? What’s going on?’

Rembrary felt a little sad.

So that’s why Mullet gave so much gold, because he received even more.

“Young Master Rem?”

Rembrary, who had been spacing out, came to his senses only after hearing Seol-ryu’s call.

Anyway, since Shin Jo-woon had received both the token and the money, it seemed difficult to clear up the misunderstanding with just Rembrary’s words. But…

“Why are you glaring so intensely?”

Looking at him with a sharp mind, Seol-ryu was looking at Rembrary suspiciously, unlike before.

When their eyes met, Seol-ryu asked in a suspicious tone.

“You were performing in front of Yoo Mae-na’s disciples before. Now you’re looking for Yoo Mae-na’s successor. Young Master Rem. Are you really not related to them?”