Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Kwak Yeon startled at the sound of Danmok Seong’s voice calling him.

“Ah! Elder Danmok!”

Danmok Seong had opened his eyes and was looking at him, still lying in the same position.

“If you’re not too busy, could you undo the point sealing? This old man has tried and tried, but it won’t budge—so stifling I feel I might die of it.”

Only then did Kwak Yeon realize that in giving emergency aid, he had sealed the elder’s acupoints.

“My apologies.”

He hurriedly released the meridian points and carefully helped Danmok Seong sit up.

Then he bowed three times.

“Elder Danmok, I am deeply grateful for your life-saving grace.”

To his surprise, Danmok Seong also inclined his body in a bow toward him.

“Elder?”

When Kwak Yeon quickly bent at the waist in alarm, Danmok Seong gave a faint smile.

“Daoist Kwak, don’t refuse the courtesy—accept it. I, too, have received the grace of having my life saved; this much return is only proper, is it not?”

“...!”

In that smile, Kwak Yeon saw a bitterness that not even deep layers of wrinkles could conceal.

Such regret must weigh heavily upon him.

His chest resonated with a dull ache. He had glimpsed the darker side of human bonds and karmic ties.

When the heavy silence settled, Danmok Seong spoke.

“The invading qi is gone, and I feel a new current within me. How did this come to be?”

“The qi that had penetrated your meridians was removed thanks to a certain perfected realm of Wudang cultivation I have mastered.”

He could not bring himself to say it had been a Western master’s demonic art, so he left it at “a perfected realm of Wudang.” But about the new current, he was candid.

“What you now sense is the effect of the Sokmyeongdan from the Sangwan Clan. You should at once circulate your qi to treat the internal injuries.”

Danmok Seong’s eyes widened.

“The Sangwan Clan Head parted with a Sokmyeongdan? And you gave it to this old man?”

“By fortune, the Clan Head looked generously upon this humble one.”

“That stubborn man of the world?”

Danmok Seong shook his head.

“It must have been your character that moved him.”

“You flatter me.”

“In any case, I am the third party who reaped that benefit.”

With a faint smile, he added,

“When the Clan Head learns he’s given away a treasure as if feeding it to a dog, it will be worth seeing. I’ve long wanted to put that nose of his out of joint—now I’ll have something to tease him about for quite a while.”

“...”

“Still, that Wudang perfected realm is truly formidable. Lady Hong’s palm technique is one of the most venomous in the world, and you unraveled it.”

Since the subject of the White-Haired Demon Queen’s palm had come up, Kwak Yeon asked,

“Elder, may I inquire about the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm?”

Danmok Seong was taken aback.

“How did you learn that the technique’s name was the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm?”

“Sojeo Ju told me.”

“Sojeo Ju?”

For a moment, Danmok Seong looked startled, then nodded.

“So she was a disciple under Lady Hong’s tutelage. No wonder she seemed so uneasy with me. And why do I not see her now?”

“I asked her to guard the cave entrance.”

Knowing the treatment must have been dangerous, Danmok Seong nodded without question.

“I am in her debt as well. It cannot have been easy for her to act against a senior of her sect.”

“In truth, she did something even greater.”

“...?”

“I should have told you immediately upon your recovery, but there was no time.”

“...?”

“Sojeo Ju brought the Young Lord from the shrine. He is now deeper inside the cave, circulating his qi.”

Danmok Seong’s eyes widened.

“Ah! So that’s why you came alone. You volunteered to fight together with me to buy time for that.”

But soon his expression turned grim.

“For our Danmok Clan, this is an immense blessing, but for her... it is the crime of betraying and destroying her sect, one she cannot bear. Ah! What have I done? To spare my danger, I have thrust an innocent life into an inescapable pit.”

Hearing his lament, Kwak Yeon felt his respect deepen. The man reminded him of Elder Hyeonmun and Daoist Hyeonhae—true seniors in the martial world. And now he understood why the elder bore the title Danmok the Dragon.

“I knew you would be concerned, but I first thought of saving the Young Lord. I am sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize to me for. It is the hardship awaiting her that I find truly troubling.”

“As for that, I have prepared something—please set your mind at ease.”

“...?”

“My wish to ask about the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm is connected to that.”

“I can’t begin to guess what you’re thinking. But if it will help your plan, how could I refuse? Ask what you will.”

Kwak Yeon described without omission the discord he had noticed: the pure, upright qi before the palm was unleashed, and the turbid qi within the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm itself.

“As one with shallow experience in the martial world, I have never seen such a case and hoped for your insight.”

“To discern that, your cultivation is remarkable indeed. They say Wudang’s study is as high as Mount Tai, and it seems true.”

Danmok Seong’s eyes shone with admiration.

“So the reason you were so deep in meditation earlier was to ponder this?”

“Yes. No matter how I thought, I could not deduce the cause.”

“That is only natural. You have trained in Wudang’s vast and upright mind cultivation. One cannot know all of another sect’s affairs, but I can offer my conjecture.”

He sighed quietly, then continued,

“I suspect it is due to the unique martial art of Lady Hong’s sect, the Moonlight Palace (Wolhagoong).”

“Ah! So Sojeo Ju’s sect is Moonlight Palace?”

Danmok Seong nodded.

“It is a sect composed solely of women. They rarely act in the martial world, and even when they do, they seldom reveal their sect name—so they are little known.”

Kwak Yeon realized that Ju Yeoryeong’s silence about her sect was not ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) out of mere willfulness.

Danmok Seong’s voice grew more subdued.

“As for Lady Hong, long ago she made her name resound far and wide—thus the vile epithet she now bears.”

From his somber expression, it was clear that “resounding” meant a blood-soaked affair. Such a dreadful nickname as White-Haired Demon Queen would not have come otherwise.

“At any rate, Moonlight Palace seems to train an unusual mental discipline, selecting only certain disciples.”

“What sort of certain disciples?”

“This is only my guess, but perhaps women who bear deep grudges. That is the case with Lady Hong.”

“...?”

“They say a woman’s poisoned heart is something even Heaven cannot undo.”

He sighed again.

“With a mental art built upon such poison, its power is naturally formidable. But focusing so much on that bitterness may have cost it its purity.”

Kwak Yeon understood at once.

The balance was broken—hence the turbidity.

From Danmok Seong’s words, he grasped that Moonlight Palace’s mental discipline, broadly speaking, was akin in principle to the Honwonmusang Technique.

All currents return to the source.

In the ultimate stage, all is one—there must have been a great master of martial learning among the palace’s ancestors.

But unlike the Honwonmusang Technique, which sought to transcend the five desires and seven emotions, theirs relied upon emotion itself.

When, after a long silence, Kwak Yeon’s half-lidded eyes snapped open, Danmok Seong spoke.

“So you’ve found the clue?”

“Thanks to your words, I have gained great enlightenment. I am truly grateful.”

“I was only speaking idly. You needn’t give me such grand thanks.”

Studying the elder’s somber face, Kwak Yeon asked cautiously,

“Elder, may I presume to ask about the matter between you and her?”

“...”

“I have heard there is a history between you.”

Even as Danmok Seong’s expression darkened, Kwak Yeon did not retreat.

He judged this matter would not be resolved unless the root of the enmity was addressed. Since he was involved already, he might as well do all he could.

“If you tell me, I believe it will greatly help in relieving Sojeo Ju’s plight. I cannot speak of the details, but I ask that you trust me this once.”

“...!”

Looking into Kwak Yeon’s earnest eyes, Danmok Seong thought of the Grand Scholar.

“Elder, if the chance comes, cast off your regrets. To me, even ties of regret are precious.”

He had intended to keep it buried in his heart until the grave. It was his own crime, and he meant to carry its suffering into death.

But if he continued to cling to it, the bright-eyed Sojeo Ju would fall into the pit of the crime of betraying her sect because of the Danmok Clan’s affairs.

What does an old man’s regret matter? That fair Lady Hong bears the filthy title of Demon Queen is my doing. To confess my crime to someone might lighten her resentment, if only a little.

At last, Danmok Seong opened his eyes and spoke.

“At this point, there is no reason I cannot tell you. But promise me one thing...”

****

At the cave entrance, Ju Yeoryeong was staring at a single red light flickering in the distant darkness.

Flick, flick.

Perhaps a lantern swayed in the wind, for it blinked ceaselessly.

It seemed to scold her—

Why do you not come at once to confess your crime?

Sajo, this disciple cannot do that now.

The lives of three people at a critical moment depended on her.

She still could not understand why she had done such a thing. She, who had received nothing but boundless love from her Sajo.

No matter how urgent the moment, to forget that so completely was beyond belief.

“Sojeo Ju.”

The hermit Daoist’s voice came from behind, but Ju Yeoryeong did not turn.

Step, step.

Kwak Yeon came to stand beside her, gazing at the lone lantern adrift in the sea of darkness.

“Sorry to trouble you with such a task.”

“It’s fine. In the end, I chose to do it.”

Hearing the dejection in her voice made Kwak Yeon feel all the more apologetic.

“How is the elder?”

“He’s recovered enough to begin circulating his qi. I came out to stand guard.”

Ju Yeoryeong looked at him in surprise.

“You unraveled Sajo’s Annihilation Palm?”

“Elder Danmok’s inner cultivation was profound, and the Sangwan Clan’s Sokmyeongdan also had great effect.”

“Even so...”

She looked at him anew.

“Truly, you never stop surprising me.”

“I’m surprised myself.”

“...”

“In any case, I’ll ask you to keep watch here.”

“You don’t mean to go to Sajo alone, do you?”

“I promised to meet her and withdrew—so of course I must go.”

“But...”

She couldn’t bring herself to say that going alone meant death.

“Thank you for your concern. But even this hermit Daoist has a few methods—there’s no need for such worry.”

“Who says I’m worried?”

“Now that sounds like the Sojeo Ju I know.”

With a faint smile, Kwak Yeon added,

“In any case, there’s something I must say to you.”

“...?”

“Thank you.”

While she stood there startled, he lightly leapt into the air.

—Whoosh!

His form was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Only then did Ju Yeoryeong realize the reason she had acted as she did—

It was because of that hermit Daoist.