Genius Martial Arts Trainer

After finishing his meeting with the abbot, Mujin continued to walk around Shaolin, exchanging greetings with several people he had been fairly close with.

People like Hyuncheon, the former abbot, or Hyegyeol, Muyul’s master, who had now become the Outer Hall Master.

However, he did not actually go looking for the three men of the Mu generation.

The reason was simple.

Because those three were not in Shaolin right now.

As the leader of the Zhengmu League, and now the son-in-law of the Tianliu Merchant Association, which had become the number one merchant association under heaven, news from all across the martial world was coming in to Mujin in detail.

Of course, it was not as though every little piece of information was passed on to Mujin, but news about the three men who had made their names as young heroes after the last war had been reaching him steadily.

“Mukyeong is someone I meet from time to time anyway, because of the karma he took on, so that is fine, but that guy worries me.”

Thinking of one of the two bastards currently roaming around the martial world together, Mujin let out a light sigh.

“Strategist Baek asked me to at least pass on his regards.”

Apparently, even Strategist Baek had not predicted that he would run away during the two days between the Zhengmu League and Shaolin.

***

A low mountain located somewhere in the martial world.

“Achoo!!”

A rough-looking giant of a man walking along a mountain path dyed green let out a grand sneeze.

“Is someone cursing me?”

It was not even a cold, yet he sneezed. Naturally, someone’s face came to mind.

Since thinking of it would only make his heart troubled, the rough-looking man hurriedly shook his head to drive away the idle thoughts.

The innocent-looking man who had been watching that asked.

“Senior Brother! Did you catch a cold?”

“Ooki!”

Despite being at an age now passing from his mid-twenties into his late twenties, the monk still possessed innocent, pure eyes. At Muyul’s question, Mugung twisted his rough face and smiled bitterly.

“I would rather I had caught a cold. Hahaha.”

“If you catch a cold, it hurts. But why would that be good? Sometimes, when I look at you, Senior Brother Mugung, I think you are stupid too. Right?”

“Ooki! Ookikiki!”

“......”

Mugung’s head began to hurt in a different sense. To think he was being called stupid by none other than Muyul.

Right then.

The area around the forest path where the two men and one monkey were walking began to stir.

Pat!

“Hwahahaha. This Daeyun Mountain is none other than the territory of our Red Sand Stockade!!”

“If you want to pass through alive, leave behind everything you have!”

Around a dozen men, less rough-looking than Mugung, sprang out while reciting typical lines and surrounded Mugung and Muyul.

And Nak Hwan, the leader of the Red Sand Stockade, was watching the sight from behind, arms crossed, setting the mood.

His naturally huge frame and rough face. On top of that, the scars that had formed here and there from years of bandit life.

He was a man who, even if he did not go out of his way to step forward, could extort money from passing travelers with his appearance alone.

But why was it?

Nak Hwan, who had crossed his arms and was deliberately crumpling his face fiercely, had his expression twist subtly.

“I feel like I have seen him somewhere...?”

The face of one of the two men surrounded by his subordinates was somehow familiar.

“Is he from another mountain stockade?”

His face was exactly the kind that felt like someone working in this line of business, but even so, something felt strangely uncomfortable.

On top of that, their attitude was far too relaxed. Unlike travelers surrounded by bandits.

And the two men surrounded by his subordinates. The moment Mugung and Muyul pulled off the wigs they had been wearing to hide their identities.

“!!!”

Nak Hwan’s eyes grew so wide they looked as if they would pop out at any moment.

“Hehehehe. Now that I look, you were bald bastards!”

“Since you have no money, are you planning to offer up even those wigs? Kuhahahaha!”

But his clueless subordinates were threatening the two of them as though they were simply enjoying themselves.

“S, stop!!”

“Yes? What do you mean, Boss?”

“I said shut up and stop! You idiot bastards!”

“!?”

At their leader’s sudden fit, the subordinates looked at Nak Hwan with expressions that said, Has that man gone mad?

But at the words Nak Hwan blurted out next, they too showed a reaction similar to the one Nak Hwan had first shown.

“T, they are Great Hero Strange Monk and Great Hero Flame Monk of Shaolin!”

“H, hiiik!”

A situation where two of the famous Three Shaolin Victors had suddenly appeared on a rural mountain path.

One might have argued that it made no sense, but the subordinates could not ignore their leader’s words.

At the very least, their leader was a man who had personally met the Flame Monk.

Perhaps because they were men who had rolled through a fairly harsh life. Contrary to their seemingly stupid appearance, they quickly finished judging the situation.

Thud.

“We are sorry!”

“Please spare our lives!”

“I, in the countryside, I still have a rabbit-like wife and a fox-like daughter alive!”

Mugung swept his gaze over the bandits who had thrown away their weapons and surrendered in an instant, then cracked his neck left and right like a back-alley thug and said.

“First, let us start with a beating.”

Bandits who had popped out when he was already troubled, and after he had even been called stupid by Muyul.

They could be called perfect targets for venting his anger.

***

The bandits, their faces swollen puffily and blood streaming from their mouths and noses, had their heads planted in the dirt floor.

And beside them, Mugung moved with heavy steps, frowning.

An expression as though he were wondering how he should kill these bastards to feel satisfied.

For now, it was a face that could absolutely not be believed to belong to a monk.

In truth, it was not a coincidence that Mugung and Muyul were attacked by the Red Sand Stockade.

In a nearby village, the two had heard news that bandit bastards called the Red Sand Stockade had recently settled here on Daeyun Mountain.

Since the very pretext for Mugung and Muyul frequently going in and out of Shaolin was to guide evildoers, naturally, they had come to clean up the Red Sand Stockade.

Since they had become too famous after the war two years ago, they had changed into peddlers’ clothes as a suitable disguise and had even worn wigs on their heads.

And after looking for a while at the bandit bastards who had now been suppressed.

Muyul, who had been playing with Lingling beside him, asked with an innocent face.

“Senior Brother! Are you going to kill all these uncles?”

“Hiiik!”

Before Mugung could answer anything, the sound of air leaking came from the mouths of the bandits whose heads were planted in the ground.

“P, please spare our lives!”

The bandits hurriedly went from planting their heads in the ground to kneeling, then grabbed Mugung’s trouser legs and clung to him.

“Oh? You move?”

But at Mugung’s gaze, which was far rougher than a bandit’s, they began planting their heads again.

In truth, though he had threatened them, Mugung was also thinking it over.

Whether to kill these bastards or let them live.

Whatever the case, they were Shaolin monks, and Shaolin placed its meaning in making sentient beings repent. Not in killing everyone indiscriminately just because they had committed a little evil.

It was just that Muyul, Mugung, and Mukyeong, thanks to being with Mujin for a long time, had realized that it was better to kill madmen who crossed the line.

In other words, Mugung was thinking over whether these bastards were still the sort who could be made into something by being beaten moderately and admonished, or whether they were the sort who had to be killed.

And perhaps having noticed that sign, the bandit leader who had been planting his head into the ground. Nak Hwan knelt again and said to Mugung.

“P, please spare my life!”

“I believe I told you to plant your head.”

“I, I know very important information! I will tell you that, so please, just my life......”

Nak Hwan, who, unlike his huge frame and rough face, was shedding tears and snot as he clasped his hands and begged.

“I will decide after hearing what kind of information it is.”

Mugung did not find him particularly trustworthy, but contrary to Mugung’s expectations, Nak Hwan’s answer was rather interesting.

“I, I know the place where the former Chief Bandit Commander hid his treasure.”

“Chief Bandit Commander? Surely, you mean that Chief Bandit Commander who fought me?”

“Yes! Of course! The truth is, I belonged to the Wind Forest Stockade that Chief Bandit Commander led! That is why I recognized Great Hero Flame Monk at once!”

He did not know why the man’s way of speaking had suddenly turned crafty, but Mugung focused on what Nak Hwan had said.

“Even if you belonged to the Wind Forest Stockade, how would you know the place where that Chief Bandit Commander hid his treasure? There is no way that bastard would have gone around telling people that here and there.”

“Heheheh. Truth is, while I was standing guard, I had to take a piss, so I secretly slipped out and was relieving myself near the cliff. While doing that, I saw the Chief Bandit Commander flying here and there and entering a cave hidden in the cliff.”

At that man’s answer, Muyul smiled with an expression as though it would be fun. But Mugung, too, had now rolled around the martial world in his own way, so he did not easily believe the other party’s words.

“If you knew that place, then since the Chief Bandit Commander is dead anyway, you could have simply looted it yourself. Why have you hidden it until now and told me about it?”

“Wow! Senior Brother Mugung, you are smart!”

At Mugung’s point, Muyul burst out in admiration.

Mugung felt strange. Because even if he heard from Muyul that he was smart, he was not happy at all.

And at Mugung’s point, Nak Hwan answered without delay.

“T, truth is, I did try to go there once. But that cliff is so steep and rough that, with my lightness skill, it was at a level I could not even dare attempt. But if it is Great Hero Strange Monk and Great Hero Flame Monk, you should probably be able to cross over sufficiently!”

Having heard the explanation up to that point, Mugung seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. In any case, if those words were true, that was good, and even if not, there was no great problem.

“Hmm. Good.”

“Hehet. Then I will tell you.”

“There is no need to say it now. Since you will be going with us anyway.”

There was no need to receive directions. They could simply use that bastard as their exclusive guide.

If everything he had just said was a lie, they could punish him then.

While Nak Hwan’s face turned pale at Mugung’s decision.

Mugung also finished deciding the treatment of the rest of the bandits.

“Junior Brother Muyul.”

“Yes, Senior Brother!”

“We will take this leader bastard with us. And as for the rest of them, since there does not seem to be any need to kill them, let us simply make it so they cannot do banditry from next time.”

“Hehet. I understand!”

At Mugung’s declaration, the bandits who had been planting their heads into the ground let out sighs of relief.

But they were misunderstanding.

The meaning of “make it so they cannot do banditry.”

***

Mugung and Muyul destroyed the dantians of all the bandits except Nak Hwan, and suitably cut the tendons of their arms and legs. To the degree that daily life would be possible, but it would be difficult for them to go somewhere and fight or harm others.

And after finishing the handling of the bandits, Mugung and Muyul headed to Zhejiang Province together with Nak Hwan. Because Xianxia Ridge, the base of the Wind Forest Stockade, was in Zhejiang Province.

After traveling for several days while holding Nak Hwan as both guide and hostage.

Having arrived at Xianxia Ridge, they followed Nak Hwan’s guidance and moved while making a path through places that could hardly be called paths.

“N, now you only need to move along this cliff.”

And Nak Hwan, who had arrived near the final cave, finally let out a sigh of relief that it was over, but.

“You speak as though it were someone else’s business.”

“T, that is because my lightness skill is lacking for climbing that cliff, is it not?”

At Nak Hwan’s answer, the corners of Mugung’s mouth rose fiercely.

Pat!

In an instant, he swung his arm and struck Nak Hwan’s numbing acupoints one after another.

“I did not seal your mute acupoint, so explain with your mouth.”

“!?”

While Nak Hwan wore a puzzled expression, unable to grasp the situation.

Mugung hoisted the completely paralyzed Nak Hwan onto his shoulder and said to Muyul.

“Junior Brother. Tie this bastard tightly behind my back.”

“Yes. Senior Brother!”

Only then did Nak Hwan grasp the situation, but he prayed inside his head.

“No way. It cannot be. Surely not. Ha. Hahaha.”

However, the affairs of the world always flow opposite to one’s wishes.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

In the end, Mugung jumped down the cliff with Nak Hwan on his back.

***

Mugung, Muyul, and Nak Hwan were ultimately able to arrive at the cave hidden between the gaps in the cliff.

“Phew. If it had been in the past, I might have fallen to my death on the way.”

Mugung, who had reached the cave, wiped his forehead with a sigh.

To begin with, among the four men of the Mu generation, Mugung had the weakest lightness skill.

However, it was not terrain so rough that he absolutely could not come.

It was just.

“Uweeeek.”

That bastard currently vomiting busily was the problem.

One moment he would scream, then his eyes would roll back and he would faint; when they forcibly woke him, he would babble unidentifiable nonsense as though having a seizure.

When they were already taking a rough road, it had been a mentally distracting situation in many ways.

But now the danger had passed, and all that remained was to take the reward.

“The treasure warehouse hidden by that Chief Bandit Commander bastard, huh......”

Recalling the Chief Bandit Commander, whom he had barely managed to deal with through a pincer attack together with Mukyeong, Mugung entered the cave together with Muyul.