There is a saying: resolutions last three days.
No need for a long explanation—the saying means a person’s resolve rarely lasts three days. Baek Cheon agreed with it. Human willpower isn’t as strong as one thinks, and sustaining what one decides is extremely difficult.
But no matter how that is…
“Don’t even talk about three days—you should at least go for three decades, you madman!”
“These things happen in life.”
“Why do you have so many of those ‘these things happen’ moments…?”
And why doesn’t that same mercy apply to others?
“Anyway, it’s settled, see you later. I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait!”
“Ah, what?”
Baek Cheon forced down the boiling anger and spoke.
“Just checking—you’re aware that when a disciple of the main sect leaves the gate, you need the Sect leader’s permission, right?”
Hearing that, Chung Myung smiled broadly.
“Pshaw. How long have I lived off Mount Hua? You really think I’d not know that?”
“Right?”
Then he nodded complacently and said.
“So I’m asking you to handle it properly.”
“Do you think I can do that? You madman!”
Baek Cheon sprang to his feet, and Chung Myung snorted, smiling as he casually raised a hand.
“The man is asking so politely.”
“The ‘politeness’ you know seems different from the ‘politeness’ I know.”
“Then I’m right.”
Grrr.
Baek Cheon’s teeth ground together involuntarily.
“So what? You gonna catch me? You can’t catch me anyway—no need to make a fuss. Sasuk’s head may have thickened a bit, but not that much yet.”
“Right. I’m definitely not at that level yet.”
“Good to know.”
“So I prepared.”
“Huh?”
“Ambush!”
Before the words were finished, a table flipped and something leapt through the window.
“Waaaah!”
Chung Myung reflexively jabbed his heel into Jo Gul’s solar plexus as Jo Gul lunged.
“Gah!”
“Ah, you startled me!”
Chung Myung grabbed and threw Yoon Jong who rushed in from behind, then shoulder‑checked Yu Yiseol who was diving from above, sending her flying; he gasped and wagged his finger furiously.
“This man doesn’t trust people and sets traps? People should have loyalty!”
“Whose loyalty was trampled into the dirt because of whom, you bastard!”
“Still, sasuk is all about believing people! In my day it wasn’t like this!”
Seeing that truly aggrieved face, Baek Cheon for a moment almost doubted whether he had done something wrong.
But at that moment.
“Soso!”
Shwoooosh!
“Huh?”
Something dark spread out before Chung Myung. A net woven of black chains instantly covered him.
“Ha. Showing off little tricks, huh.”
No matter how old and (?) ailing he was, he wasn’t someone to fall for such nonsense. As Chung Myung flexed his toes to push off the floor—
“Now! Monk!”
A bright, clean, round… something that looked holy appeared before his eyes like a vision.
“A monk?”
“Ooooooh!”
Hae Yeon suddenly hugged Chung Myung without warning.
“Has this monk gone mad?”
If anyone else had wrestled Chung Myung like that with no proper technique, their head would have been split open instantly. But the one clinging to Chung Myung now was none other than Hae Yeon, a prodigy at Shaolin who might appear once in a hundred years.
Even the same bite—if a cat does it, you get a little blood, but if a tiger does it you end up wondering, “Huh? My hand was just here a moment ago,”—isn’t that the way of the world?
So Hae Yeon’s grappling should rightfully be named something like the ‘Diamond Indestructible Fist’ or ‘Heavenly King Grand Skill.’ His Fist excellently bound Chung Myung—until the dark net completely covered both Chung Myung and Hae Yeon.
“Oh!”
“Got him!”
But even Hae Yeon wasn’t exactly in a good situation.
“Let go! Or not?”
Smack! Smack!
“You octopus head! Where’d you get those suckers!”
Smack! Smack!
As Chung Myung repeatedly patted Hae Yeon’s head, it truly flushed red like an octopus. But Hae Yeon was hurt more in heart than in head.
“A‑ah, aren’t your words a bit extreme?”
“What are you saying! A boiled octopus and all! Let go now!”
Somewhere, someone seemed to murmur, ‘Octopus? Oh? Now that you mention it?’…
“Wraaaaargh!”
At that moment, Chung Myung flung Hae Yeon away and tore apart the net that had wrapped him.
“Wow.”
“He tore that.”
“At that point, isn’t he a bear?”
“Hoo. Hoo. Hoo!”
Breathing hard, Chung Myung rubbed his mouth with an expression of admiration.
“You brats… to think you’d make my breath quicken.”
“….”
“But this won’t stop me. If you want to stop me you’d have to risk your life… huh?”
Then Chung Myung’s vision shook violently. At the same time his body tottered to the side.
“Huh? Why is this… alcohol… did I drink too much? I didn’t drink that much… gurgle.”
Thud!
Chung Myung collapsed forward.
“I‑I defeated him…”
“Hwaaaaargh!”
No sooner had Jo Gul spoken than Chung Myung sprang to his feet.
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
Plop.
Chung Myung immediately fell forward again. Everyone looked at Jo Gul, who was clinging to the ceiling, with disdain.
Tang Soso picked up the torn chain net with a triumphant smile.
Clink.
Black residues tumbled down from the net.
“To hide a tree you must hide it in a forest.”
“Excellent! Soso!”
“Truly the Tang Family’s precious gem!”
“There’s no one else like you!”
Everyone, eyes watering, gave Dang Soso a thumbs up. Without this method, none of them would’ve dared try to catch this guy.
“But didn’t you say you wouldn’t use poison anymore?”
“I don’t use it on people.”
“Ah…”
That’s not a person. That would be right.
“There’s no time. Tie him up quickly now. The poison can put a bear under for ten days, but for a sahyung it might barely last half that.”
“Ah, got it!”
The disciples rushed at Chung Myung and began wrapping him tightly with thick iron ropes.
“Works for sure.”
“This is why it’s Tang Family, Tang Family. Without the Tang Family’s special potion, where would you even send this guy?”
“Exactly. If it could be bought with money I’d like to buy some too…”
Yoon Jong, who had been speaking, suddenly froze as if he remembered something.
“But this… it’s not just Chung Myung who’s been affected, is it?”
“Huh?”
“No, the monk too…”
Yoon Jong’s head subtly turned back.
And Yoon Jong saw Hae Yeon collapsed on the floor, foaming at the mouth and convulsing intermittently. It would have been less frightening if he had been trembling, but he was jerked in sudden spasms in time, like keeping a beat.
The sight was not just bizarre—it was outright terrifying.
“That…”
“Looks like he’s gone, right?”
“He seems already halfway gone.”
Everyone clasped their hands together as if by agreement.
“May you be reborn in paradise, monk.”
“Primeval Heavenly Exalted.”
“We will not forget you.”
The unconscious one gave no reply.
“So… where were you planning to go?”
Chung Myung rolled his eyes.
He was a proud man. So proud that even in the moment of dying his neck remained stiff.
That pride did lead to the misfortune of his body being split where it should’ve been one, but then again even the Heavenly Demon who severed his arm had experienced that, so it wasn’t a big issue.
In other words, neither the Heavenly Demon who half ruined the world, nor the famed Sect leader in Mount Hua’s history, nor the most powerful Abbott of Shaolin could take his dignity from him.
But even Chung Myung could only wriggle like a fish on a grill under Hyun Jong’s gaze that said, ‘Yes, it’s all my fault. What wrong could you possibly have done?’
“Well…”
“Alright. Where were you going?”
“To… Shandong, for a bit.”
“Shandong?”
“….”
“You mean the far eastern end? Why not say you went to the foreign lands? You’ve seen Yunnan to the south and the North Sea to the north—now you plan to go all the way east and west too?”
“It’s not exactly like that…”
“What restless spirit possessed you to go that far without telling me?”
Chung Myung awkwardly scratched his head—with his foot, since his hands were tied.
“Because I could be back quickly.”
“Quickly?”
“….”
“Quickly? Did you say ‘quickly’ now? Going to Shandong?”
With nothing left to excuse himself, Chung Myung ground his teeth and turned his head.
He clearly saw the despicable ones who had dared deceive him and caused this situation furtively averting their eyes.
“…I raised a tiger cub.”
He had expected a coordinated attack. He was no stranger to war. Teaming up against an unbeatable foe wasn’t cowardly or dirty—it was about winning first.
But using poison while brawling with fellow sect members?
That crossed the line. Even the Heavenly Demon in the afterlife would think, ‘Ah, that’s a bit…’ and spin his severed head around at such an act.
“Where are you looking now? Can’t you even see the Sect leader?”
As Chung Myung’s mouth began to protrude, Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes like an axe.
“Get back in line.”
Chung Myung snapped his mouth shut.
His words were measured, but Hyun Jong’s expression made it clear he was genuinely angry.
Frankly, it wasn’t incomprehensible. A sect disciple packing up and planning a trip that would easily take ten days without a word? Hyun Jong, being the benevolent man he was, dealt with it verbally—but if Chung Myung had been on the opposite side, he’d have chopped off his head without hesitation.
Honestly, they should be grateful if he were locked in the penance chamber and fed only wall decoction tablets for three months and ten days.
But that only applies when on the other side.
“So.”
“Yes.”
“What were you going to do in Shandong?”
“It’s… really a trivial matter.”
“You need to go all the way to Shandong for a trivial task? You expect me to believe that? Say something that makes sense.”
“I’m serious…”
Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes.
“Chung Myung.”
“…Yes.”
“It’s not been long since you returned from the North Sea. And you know better than anyone that there’s plenty left to do, don’t you?”
“R‑right?”
“I cannot permit it.”
“No. Sect leader!”
“If it’s trivial, then this time you will drop the idea. This is an order from the Sect leader. Understand?”
“….”
“Your answer?”
“Um…”
Chung Myung’s face twitched as if broken.
One must obey the Sect leader’s command. That’s the duty.
“Answer!”
“I understand…”
Just as Chung Myung was about to nod weakly—
“Sect leader—there is…”
The closed door burst open and a person poked his head in.
“What’s all this gathering about?”
“Ah, Elder. It’s nothing other than…”
“Well, what a fuss… huh?”
Hyun Young, peering in, fixed his eyes on one spot.
At the same time, the flowing time itself froze.
“…That bastard.”
“Yes?”
“Which wretched bastard wrapped our kid up like a dried fish? Can’t you undo it at once?”
Rage blazed from Hyun Young’s eyes.