Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 460

◈ 460. Shocked Elder Sunwoo

While the Emperor went to meet the Shaolin Temple guest who was looking for him, Ardor caused a ruckus, demanding, ‘Bring the Emperor!’

Hwasa, who was the cause of this whole mess, was dodging Ardor’s gunfire, moving from place to place, and decided to return to his room for some rest.

He needed to find some peace there and think of a new way to deal with that son of a bitch, Ardor.

Even when changing locations with instant movement, the gun muzzle followed him right away.

It seemed that guy’s ability was just incompatible with his.

‘What’s that?’

As he was moving to his room, Hwasa noticed a strange scene.

The Emperor’s Shadows [elite personal guards], dressed in black uniforms, were unusually gathered around a certain room.

Hwasa compared the location of his room with the room surrounded by the Shadows and decided it was too close to ignore.

It’s good to check things that happen nearby in advance. You never know how it might affect you.

‘They don’t usually do that, right? Who’s inside?’

Hwasa didn’t bother suppressing his curiosity and immediately moved into the room.

“!”

As soon as he moved, Hwasa was so surprised that his heart pounded.

Hwasa covered his mouth with his hand to prevent any sound from leaking out.

Surprisingly, it was Rembrary who was there. Rembrary, whom he had parted ways with on the way here.

Hwasa blinked, looking at Rembrary, who was even sitting at the table and diligently eating a feast, and unconsciously muttered.

“He’s not frozen.”

He was frozen when I last saw him.

Rembrary swallowed what he was chewing and greeted him as if he knew him too.

“Hwasa, isn’t it?”

It was a natural greeting, as if they had just parted ways.

“Are you eating?”

Hwasa asked as usual and ended up sitting across from him.

“I’ve almost finished. Should I ask for more? Are you hungry too?”

“No. I’m okay.”

This isn’t the time to be eating.

He was too flustered to feel happy about the sudden encounter.

While Hwasa was in a daze, Rembrary put down his chopsticks, reached out, and tugged at his masked beard a few times.

“You’re still the same. I’m glad you seem to be doing well, Hwasa.”

“That beard has nothing to do with my health.”

Rembrary wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

Hwasa lifted his elaborate mask.

As the mask went up, his reddish-brown hair, gaunt eyes, and haggard look, which he usually hid, were revealed.

But even though he looked calm on the outside, the sharp atmosphere from before was somewhat suppressed, showing how surprised he was by the current situation.

“You seem to have gotten a lot rounder, Hwasa.”

“Did I gain some weight?”

“Not your cheeks. Your mouth.”

“Ah. That’s because I’m surprised. I was looking for you, but I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

“I didn’t expect you to show up here on your own accord either.”

Rembrary, who had been thinking of finding his companions through Hwachin just 10 minutes ago, laughed in genuine surprise.

“I didn’t expect to meet you first when I came here.”

“Oh? You haven’t seen Shin Jo-woon yet?”

“Anchovy?”

“I saw Shin Jo-woon first. I thought you met Shin Jo-woon too since you’re here. You haven’t seen him yet? How are you here then?”

“……”

“Ah, Rembrary. Shin Jo-woon lost his memory. He barely remembers anything properly.”

Perhaps because his surprise had subsided a bit, Hwasa picked up an apple from the table.

Then, Hwasa felt Rembrary’s pitiful gaze and protested, stopping himself from biting into the apple.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? My memory is fine. Shin Jo-woon is the one who lost his memory, okay?”

Rembrary clicked his tongue. That fake anchovy was fooling other people well too.

He had guessed that the fake anchovy would have met one of his companions first.

But Rembrary hadn’t guessed that the companion he met would be Hwasa.

Besides, he had lied to Hwasa that he was Shin Jo-woon.

‘When he was deceiving me, he at least had information he got from Hwasa.

But when he was deceiving Hwasa, he didn’t have any prior information, yet he deceived him so well. Hwasa is quite perceptive.’

Of course, Hwasa wasn’t very close to the real Shin Jo-woon, so even if he was perceptive, it would have been difficult to distinguish the fake from the real.

Rembrary gestured for Hwasa to eat the apple quickly.

Hwasa nodded and took a big bite of the apple he had picked up earlier.

While doing so, Hwasa was fiercely debating whether or not to tell Rembrary about Ardor.

If he didn’t tell him, he would eventually find out anyway.

But if he did tell him, Rembrary would definitely try to take Ardor back to their original world, which he didn’t want.

“Hwasa?”

Rembrary, who saw the scheming look in his eyes, called out to Hwasa, and Hwasa reluctantly told him about Ardor.

“I met Ardor too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was with someone who got shot.”

“Someone who got shot?”

* * *

When the Emperor went to the place where the commotion had occurred, a young man with white hair was holding Elder Sunwoo and was surrounded by layers of soldiers.

But despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, he didn’t seem intimidated at all.

“Bring the Emperor.”

He just kept saying to bring the Emperor. Then, the white-haired man’s gaze reached the Emperor, and his brow furrowed slightly.

“He says he’s looking for you.”

The Emperor took another step forward without hesitation and said.

But surprisingly, the white-haired perpetrator who saw the Emperor mumbled sullenly instead of stating his demands.

“What? Did you change your job?”

“Your Majesty, how rude!”

The Emperor’s close aide, the Chief Eunuch [a castrated male servant in the imperial court], was furious and burst out from the side.

But as soon as the Emperor heard those words, he realized that this white-haired man was a companion of Rembrary and the Masked Lion.

Come to think of it, the Masked Lion was looking for someone with white hair and gaunt eyes. It seemed like it was him.

“Well, it’ll be easier to talk to him. Bring the High Priest.”

The Emperor immediately understood that the ‘High Priest’ the white-haired man was talking about was Rembrary.

The fact that he had Rembrary with him probably meant that the Elder Sunwoo he was holding had told him.

Just as he had heard from Hwasa and knew the appearances of Hwasa’s companions, Elder Sunwoo must have heard from this white-haired man and knew the appearances of his companions.

“What to do.”

But the Emperor hadn’t yet decided how to appease Rembrary, so he didn’t want to hand Rembrary over to him.

However, it was clear that Elder Sunwoo was dying, even from a distance, so he was a bit concerned.

Wasn’t Elder Sunwoo a friend who had prayed for the Empress Dowager for many years?

“Chief Eunuch. If Grand Master Sunwoo dies, will the Empress Dowager be sad?”

“Yes?”

She would probably be sad. The Emperor clicked his tongue and offered a compromise to the white-haired man.

“Hand over the Grand Master to me. I will heal him.”

Ardor refused dryly.

“I said bring the High Priest.”

The Emperor asked the eunuch next to him again.

“Chief Eunuch. If Grand Master Sunwoo dies, will the Empress Dowager be sad for a long time?”

“Yes?”

The eunuch’s eyes widened, wondering, ‘What does that mean?’ and the white-haired man managed to pull out something similar to a weapon while holding Grand Master Sunwoo.

“Where is the High Priest?”

The surrounding soldiers raised their weapons even more and became alert.

The white-haired man, with his eyes rolling, was about to shoot when a voice came from behind.

“I’m here.”

The white-haired man’s pupils seemed to widen, and then he turned his head back and smiled brightly.

“High Priest!”

The white-haired man, whose eyes had been devoid of light, saw Rembrary and, not even noticing the Masked Lion next to Rembrary, began to chatter quickly.

“The High Priest has answered the call of this lowly one. The High Priest’s gentleness descends upon me, who has been rolling around in the gutter, like sunshine, making me dazzled. Ah! The High Priest looks so good in this attire too. As soon as I came here to find the High Priest-”

The Masked Lion next to Rembrary was so disgusted by the praise, but Rembrary reached out, took Grand Master Sunwoo, gently laid him on the ground, and began to heal him.

Ardor, who had been muttering with a blissful face, quickly hardened his expression when Rembrary didn’t even look at him.

The Masked Lion rolled his eyes back and forth between Ardor and Rembrary, but Rembrary didn’t even glance at Ardor as he was healing Grand Master Sunwoo.

“It’s done.”

Then, as he muttered, taking his hand away from the area around the Grand Master’s stomach, Grand Master Sunwoo, who had been closing his eyes, opened his eyes wide and shouted in surprise.

“It doesn’t hurt!”

The surrounding soldiers were bewildered, wondering what was going on.

They were dumbfounded when the monk, who had been so limp that they were confused whether he was conscious or not, suddenly jumped up and shouted.

The Emperor, who had been trying to keep Rembrary’s abilities a secret, clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Whether it was fortunate or not, thanks to Grand Master Sunwoo’s blood-soaked clothes, the affected area and the state of treatment were not visible at all, so the surrounding soldiers seemed to think that the Grand Master hadn’t been seriously injured from the beginning.

But Sunwoo himself, who had almost died and came back to life, knew Rembrary’s healing abilities better than anyone else, so the Emperor frowned.

However, unlike the Emperor’s feelings, Grand Master Sunwoo was just surprised and happy about this situation.

He was sure he was dying.

Not only did his consciousness suddenly become clear and the pain in his stomach disappear, but even his hearing, which had been hazy due to excessive bleeding, returned properly, so he couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Ardor. The person you were looking for is truly amazing!”

Grand Master Sunwoo praised Ardor, forgetting that he was surrounded by layers of soldiers.

However, when Ardor looked at his blonde companion, whom he had been diligently searching for, with a face that had lost all color, Grand Master Sunwoo quietly lowered his hand, which he had raised to pat him on the back.

Hwasa also noticed the change in Ardor’s expression and whispered to Rembrary from the side.

“Rembrary. This guy’s eyes are getting weird again.”

Rembrary lightly flicked Ardor’s wrist to stop him from pulling out a gun and aiming it at Hwasa in a split second.

“Don’t do that, Ardor.”

“But High Priest-”

“I’m glad to see you all again.”

Ardor lowered his gun and looked at Rembrary with teary eyes and smiled brightly, and Hwasa spat inwardly.

“I was so sad for a moment because the High Priest wasn’t paying attention to me. I was sad even while thinking that it was disrespectful to dare to be sad about the High Priest. I must be punished. Please punish me, High Priest.”

Grand Master Sunwoo’s eyes widened as he saw Ardor acting like this for the first time.

On the other hand, Rembrary smiled, feeling certain that Ardor wasn’t a fake Ardor, as he heard Ardor’s nonsense after a long time.

“It’s nice to hear you say that after a long time. I was worried when we were scattered. I’m glad that at least the three of us met.”

“Three?”

“Isn’t it four?”

Hwasa and Ardor simultaneously pointed to the Emperor with their eyes, and Rembrary sighed with the same smiling face.