Chapter 174: Master Gonghyeon
“The Abbot... has been consumed by demonic qi.”
Master Baekheo's words echoed coldly through the room.
I looked at Master Gonghyeon, who sat cross-legged in meditation.
At a glance, he looked like an eminent monk immersed in deep contemplation.
But that was only on the surface.
A faint black aura flickered around his body.
It was so murky and oppressive that merely looking at it made breathing feel difficult.
I turned toward Master Baekheo.
“How did this happen?”
Baekheo couldn't answer immediately.
For a long while, he simply stared at Gonghyeon.
Deep shadows had settled beneath his aged eyes.
Eventually, he spoke in a heavy voice.
“On the same day that the young warrior monk lost his mind and attacked his fellow disciple...”
The prayer beads in Baekheo's hand trembled faintly.
“the same thing happened to the Abbot.”
"..."
It was shocking.
But I kept my expression calm and waited for him to continue.
Baekheo slowly began explaining what had happened that day.
Master Gonghyeon had been sharing tea with Baekheo and several other senior monks of Shaolin.
It had been an ordinary gathering.
Nothing unusual.
They were talking over tea when—
“The Abbot's eyes suddenly turned black.”
Baekheo released a short sigh.
“At first, I thought I had seen it wrong.”
His voice grew heavier.
“But I hadn't.”
His fingers tightened around the prayer beads.
“Because the killing intent coming from him was impossible to mistake.”
The usual warmth had vanished from Gonghyeon's face.
In its place...
there had been only murderous intent.
“If there was one fortunate thing about that day...”
Baekheo lowered his gaze.
“it was that the people present were not ordinary disciples.”
Then he added,
“If I and the other senior monks of Shaolin had not been there together, we would never have been able to stop him.”
I nodded.
Had things gone even slightly differently...
all of Shaolin might have been drenched in blood.
At the hands of its own Abbot.
“Fortunately, the Abbot soon managed to regain control of himself through sheer force of will.”
Baekheo looked toward Gonghyeon.
“He managed to suppress the killing intent and told us that demonic qi was consuming him.”
His expression turned bitter.
“He warned us that no one was to come near him.”
Baekheo looked up into the air.
“And since then, he has remained exactly as you see him now.”
“Sitting in meditation and suppressing the demonic qi without rest.”
His jaw tightened.
“I believed the Abbot would never fall to something like demonic qi.”
Then his voice weakened.
“But instead of fading...”
“the demonic qi surrounding him has only grown denser with time.”
Baekheo gritted his teeth.
“If the Abbot ultimately fails to control it...”
His voice dropped helplessly.
“Shaolin will face a catastrophe beyond anything we can contain.”
I looked at Gonghyeon.
Only now did I fully understand why Shaolin had kept the matter hidden.
The Abbot of Shaolin had been consumed by demonic qi.
If word of that spread through the martial world...
Shaolin's prestige would be shaken to its foundations.
The entire righteous faction would be thrown into chaos.
Shaolin was standing at the edge of an enormous disaster.
Like a cracked dam being held together by force.
The moment that dam collapsed...
a horrific future would unfold.
The Shaolin Bloodbath.
The calamity that had shaken the martial world before my regression.
The name surfaced in my mind again.
If this continues, the same future will happen again.
I had to stop it.
No matter what.
Then Master Baekheo spoke again.
“There is only one reason I allowed you in here despite the objections of the other elders.”
His gaze settled on me.
“We have run out of ways to save the Abbot.”
"..."
“If there is any possibility left...”
His voice became desperate.
“it lies with the Righteous Alliance.”
“As you said, that is where the greatest amount of information regarding medicine, poison, demonic arts, and strange techniques from across the righteous martial world has been gathered.”
Then Baekheo asked,
“Commander.”
His eyes held a faint trace of hope.
“Do you believe the Righteous Alliance can save the Abbot?”
I looked at Gonghyeon for a moment.
Then answered.
“No.”
Baekheo's face immediately darkened.
I continued calmly.
“It would probably be impossible for them.”
His shoulders sagged.
“I see....”
He murmured weakly,
“Then there truly is no other way.”
His head lowered.
“What will become of Shaolin....”
He looked like a man who had lost his final hope.
So I spoke again.
“I didn't say there was no other way.”
Baekheo's head snapped up.
“What do you mean?”
He stared at me.
“Didn't you just say it was impossible?”
“I said it would be impossible for the Righteous Alliance.”
I smiled faintly.
Then slowly placed my hand on the hilt at my waist.
“I never said it was impossible for me.”
Baekheo's eyes narrowed.
“W-What are you saying...?”
I tightened my grip.
“I think I've found a way.”
Shing!
I drew the Heavenly Law Sword.
Then immediately swung it toward Master Gonghyeon.
“Kunlun’s Young Hero!”
Baekheo's shout shook the room.
But the Heavenly Law Sword had already cut past Gonghyeon.
Of course...
I hadn't actually struck his body.
What the blade cut was the empty space surrounding him.
More precisely...
the black energy wrapped around his body.
Baekheo's eyes turned cold.
“You bastard! How dare you draw a sword before the Abbot!”
He surged toward me in fury.
Then—
Fwoooosh!
He froze.
Baekheo's eyes locked onto the Heavenly Law Sword in my hand.
“H-How...?”
He stared at it in disbelief.
Blue flames were burning along the blade.
And then—
Hissss....
The black energy surrounding Gonghyeon trembled.
At first, the movement was barely noticeable.
But as the blue flames on the Heavenly Law Sword burned brighter...
the murky energy clinging to Gonghyeon's body began to fade.
It almost looked as though the black aura was recoiling from the blue flames.
Baekheo stared in shock.
“What... is this...?”
I kept the Heavenly Law Sword raised as I looked at Gonghyeon.
“Let me try.”
Baekheo turned toward me.
I met his gaze and spoke firmly.
“I will remove the demonic qi consuming Master Gonghyeon.”
Just as I thought.
I quietly stared at the Heavenly Law Sword in my hand.
Something had felt strange from the moment I approached the room where Gonghyeon was staying.
The Heavenly Law Sword at my waist had been trembling faintly.
At first...
I'd thought I was imagining it.
But I wasn't.
