<Episode 83: Demonic Beast (1)>
“Cheonma. “He is a heavenly demon.”
‘!?’
As soon as Mo Kyung-un finished speaking Ambassador Gongjeon’s expression which had been smiling kindly hardened.
“Thousand… Ma? “Huh.”
The Gongjeon line was a response to the word ‘demon’ that follows it.
And out of all the names how did they come up with the extremely ominous word ‘demon’?
If the name is interpreted literally it means the devil of the sky.
I was strangely concerned about this but there was no law prohibiting names that had the word “demon” in them and there was no reason to look at it negatively.
‘There must be a reason for giving the lord this name.’
At this Ambassador Gongjeon lowered his frown and spoke.
“Hehehe. Amitabha Buddha. Cheonma…what an extraordinary name. In Buddhism it is said that prestige and fame are nothing more than dust but I hope that the prestige of the poet will continue for a hundred and a thousand years.”
“Thank you for saying that. I hope it goes as North said. “My grandfather also said something similar.”
“Similar words?”
“yes. “They say there are two ways for a person to live forever.”
“How to live forever? Whoa. “What did you say?”
“The first thing is to leave a legacy for future generations to pass on the will of the future generations and the second thing is to leave a name and live on in people’s memories.”
“Hehehe. That’s correct. If that is not truly eternal life then what else is eternal? “Siju’s grandfather is truly wise.”
Mok Kyung-un smiled silently at those words.
While talking like that he finally reached the front of Hangma-dong.
Hangma-dong (降魔洞) was right next to Myeonbyeok-dong (面壁洞).
In front of him Hangmagakju was waiting saying he had something to prepare in advance.
“Amitabha Buddha. “Are you here?”
“Have you finished preparing Amitabha Buddha? “Hangma footnote.”
“yes. Even if that wasn’t the case I asked the monks guarding the cave where the Lord had to go just in case. “Binseung will follow so you don’t have to worry.”
“If so could you tell the lord if there is anything to be careful about?”
“yes. All right.”
Master Hang Ma looked at Mu Qingyun and then pointed to Hang Ma Dong with his hand and said.
“dole. When you enter the cave you will see several blocked cave entrances. The entrances to the caves are blocked but in front of them are Hangma monks reciting Hangma mantras so do not disturb them.”
“That means you just have to pass by.”
“Yes.”
“The cave the Lord will go to is the innermost one and there is a very vicious monster inside it. “That monster was captured from Sohamsan Mountain north of Daehamsan Mountain and its power was so strong and powerful that even the Arhat monks were mobilized and we had to use a green jade fire field and thirty-six river magic spheres to subdue it.”
“It looks like you had a very hard time catching it.”
Hearing Mo Qingyun’s words one of Hang’s eyebrows rose.
It seemed like something had touched his pride.
But soon Hangmagakju sighed and said.
“Whew. “That monster is so strong and ferocious that even Binseung who has faced countless monsters can never handle it alone.”
“It’s that dangerous but you managed to catch it and bring it back. Wouldn’t it have been better to just kill him?”
“Amitabha Buddha. Killing is the last resort. “As a Buddhist disciple how could you do such a thing without enlightenment?”
“Are you going to keep reciting sutras after locking them up?”
“exactly.”
“Are there any monsters that have been enlightened through that method?”
“…..”
To these words Hangmagakju made no reply.
This was a clear denial.
In order to edify the monsters anti-demonic monks took turns chanting anti-demonic mantras day and night to weaken the demonic nature but none of them changed in their essence.
On the contrary as the power of the spirits weakened along with the castle many monsters died before completing the hundred and eight mantras.
In the end it was virtually impossible to educate monsters.
Therefore the anti-horse monks still tried to reform but deep down they thought it was impossible.
‘That sense of leisure will soon disappear.’
Because he was also well-versed in legal power he was able to guess the magical power of the monster that fell at Arhat Square.
It is acknowledged that it is strong enough to be incomparable to ordinary monsters but it can be said to be on a completely different level from what we are about to see.
It wasn’t just strong and ferocious.
Because it has the intelligence to manipulate humans it was locked in a deeper cave than other monsters.
“what. “There’s no particular point in locking it up.”
To Mok Gyeong-un’s sarcastic words Hangmagakju responded by putting his hands together.
“Amitabha Buddha. “If you do so the Lord will prove to you that you can control monsters using magic that goes beyond logic.”
“All right.”
* * *
In this way Mok Gyeong-un entered the cave under the guidance of Hangmagakju.
-Oooooh!
As soon as he entered the cave Mok Kyung-un frowned.
-Why are you doing that? rebirth.
The young man asked:
-….It’s quite similar to when I came into contact with the Congenital True Qi.
-Congenital diagnosis? Could it be that inside the cave…..
-The legal power has become much stronger than outside.
Mok Gyeong-un was able to find the reason on the wall of the cave.
The entire wall was engraved with gold-lacquered anti-Masan mantra letters which caused the entire area to be overflowing with magical power.
However this magical power seemed to have a nature that was contrary to the death energy or demonic energy that could be said to be the energy of the dead within Mokgyeongwoon’s body and it caused the energy in Mokgyeongun’s body to boil.
I was even getting headaches that I had never had before.
-Do you think you can endure it?
-That’s okay.
My energy fluctuated but it wasn’t so painful that I felt like I was dying.
It was just unpleasant to be in this space.
furthermore
-Om Somani Somani Hum Arihanna Arihanna Hum Arihanna Banaya Hum Banaya Hum Baavam Baara Hum Batak.
As the master of Hangma had said in advance the Hangma monks were reciting the Hangma mantra in each cave within Hangma-dong so much so that even my ears were stinging.
I endured the discomfort and made my way to the deepest part of Hangma-dong.
On the way Hangmagakju said.
“The 36 caves located in the back garden of Shaolin are all connected. Therefore if you happen to take a wrong route that is not guided you may get lost. So please be careful.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
“And we’ll be there soon so go inside and yell loudly if you get in trouble. “It is said that the legs of the monster have been restrained with a Buddhist sphere but its magical power is so strong that it could be dangerous.”
“All right.”
Eventually he arrived at the cave located in the innermost part of the harbor.
The size of the entrance was so large that it could not be compared to other caves.
On the iron door that was blocked the anti-Masan mantra was also engraved in gold lacquer.
-Om Somani Somani Hum Arihanna Arihanna Hum Arihanna Banaya Hum Banaya Hum Baavam Baara Hum Batak.
In front of the entrance there was only one monk standing and reciting mantras.
When they arrived Hangma Seung stopped and put his hands together.
“Amitabha Buddha. Are you here? footnote.”
“I told you to stop reciting the mantra and wait for a moment in the communal area next to it. Deoksu why are you here?”
“I dropped a prayer beads at the entrance and the monster that I thought was asleep from exhaustion woke up and started making a fuss so I was trying to calm it down.”
“Huh.”
Hearing his words Hangmagakju looked at the cave entrance with worried eyes.
He had been warned in advance but the monster inside was truly dangerous.
So I tried to send Mokgyeongun in at the time when the magical power was at its peak and the monster was most tired with anti-ma mantra.
However if the monster woke up and caused a stir the situation could not help but be concerned.
This was because if I made a mistake I could have been punished.
At this Hangmagakju spoke cautiously.
“dole. Can you wait for now? “I think I need to memorize some more anti-demon mantras to calm the monster down.”
Hearing his words Mok Kyung-un shook his head.
“Would that make much difference? “Just let me in.”
“Huh. Donation…this is also for the donation. “Even if it’s just to prove something I can’t put the donor in danger.”
“I understand your concerns but we don’t have much time either.”
The Shaolin Temple here was quite close to the opening of the Imperial Capital.
It was a location that could be easily reached if the imperial palace sent troops or pursuers.
Therefore Mok Gyeong-un had no choice but to hurry.
“Can’t you just give up this angle?”
“If I think it’s too dangerous I’ll tell you so just let me in.”
“Huh.”
Hearing Mo Gyeong-un’s insistence Hang Ma-gak-ju clicked his tongue and then approached the lock of the tightly closed iron door.
Because the iron gate was so large it had a total of five locks.
Hangmagakju said taking out a key from his belt.
-Click!
“dole. This iron gate is made of iron so no matter how good your martial arts skills are you cannot cut it or break it. So if you think it’s dangerous shout right away.”
“I will do that.”
-Clap!
Hangmagakju who had opened all the locks except for the last unusually shaped elongated lock handed Mok Gyeongun a torch hanging on the wall.
“It will be dark inside so take this and go in. “There is a hook inside to hang the torch.”
“All right. But why can’t I open one of the locks?”
“Just in case.”
“if?”
“This lock is specially designed to open the iron door just enough for a person to enter.”
“iced coffee.”
“If it exceeds that size a monster may come out. “The monsters inside are not only ferocious but also clever so be careful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Then come back safely. Amitabha Buddha.”
-Kkeeeeeek!
The large iron door opened creating a gap large enough for people to pass through from the side rather than from the front just as Hangmagakju had said.
Through this Mo Kyung-un went inside with a torch.
As soon as I could get inside the horseman outside immediately closed the iron door.
-Kkiik! thud!
I closed it as carefully as I could but since the door was so big the closing sound was quite loud.
Since Mokgyeongun didn’t care about this he lifted the torch and illuminated the cave’s cavity.
‘Is it big?’
The cavity was much bigger than I expected.
It was so large that the torch could not illuminate the entire area.
Part of the cavity was cast in shadow.
-widely!
Mok Gyeong-un did not take the torch there but put it on a hanger next to the iron gate.
Then he looked at the shadowed area.
There was no need to look for it; a strong magical power was emanating from there.
-Can you see it?
-yes. I can see it.
Although it was faint he could see the blinking eyes of the beast looking at him.
The red light in the eyes was fluttering and just looking at the size of the pupils gave me an idea of how big they were.
“Giggles.”
At that time an eerie laughter was heard from the shadows.
The sound of laughter was of course quite different from that of a human voice; it was closer to a sound like scratching one’s throat.
Accordingly Mok Gyeong-un held the sword in his right hand and prepared his technique.
He said that he had gone through the process of controlling the castle using the anti-ma mantra for 99 days but it seemed as if the spreading magical power had weakened.
-How much do you see?
-It looks like it’s more than a beast.
-Yeosu or more?
-yes.
-If you say that does it mean that it is a demonic beast?
The name of a monster or imaemangryang varies depending on its level of risk.
The lowest level was a vicious beast and the higher it gets the more it rises to a monster beast.
It could be said that Heumwon who had become a food spirit was also included in this beast but the level of witch power he felt now was much stronger than that.
At that time a voice came from the shadows along with laughter.
“Giggles. I guess I should thank the damn people. “I was stuck here for 99 days and memorized a lot of sutras and for the first time in a while I was given such a delicious meal.”
Surprisingly this monster could speak using sounds.
The sound like scratching my throat was very scary but I knew how to convey my thoughts accurately.
-thud!
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the cave.
-thud!
The cave floor trembled.
Eventually it appeared within the radius illuminated by the torch.
‘ah?’
It had horns on its head and resembled a dragon.
The fur on its entire body was red and its body looked like a cross between a dog and a cow but it had the hooves of a horse.
Its size was so grand that you had to look up.
As soon as Cheongnyeong saw this he spoke in a surprised voice.
-Rebirth…Al-Judas.
-Ryu?
-When you said it was Sohamsan I thought it was impossible but these crazy people have trapped their demons.
Cheongryeong was dumbfounded.
This magical beast was so dangerous that even dozens of skilled warriors could fight it.
Considering that such a being was captured and imprisoned it was clear that Shaolin’s power was not normal but the situation became quite serious.
-…It’s a big deal. Aside from being strong the demon beast is also intelligent.
-We have to at least try to suppress it first.
Controlling it and using it as a food spirit was only possible by subduing it.
However the good news was that the magical power that this demon beast gave off was not the worst among the evil spirits I had encountered recently.
Should I say that it is thanks to having experienced something worse than this?
It was right then.
“Giggles!”
-Kukukukukukuk!
The demon beast Alyu who was slowly walking out suddenly launched his body towards Mo Kyung-un with a quick movement.
‘He’s too fast for his size.’
In response Mok Gyeong-un moved the new model to widen the distance and tried to form a six-square formation.
But the demon beast Alyu who was running suddenly stopped.
-Pot!
Then he soon widened his distance and opened his mouth with trembling eyes.
“Kiriririk. What are you…? “Why do you smell like that monster fox?”
‘!?’
