Chapter 78

Shaolin pt . 1

“Did you two spend the whole night fighting?” Scarlett asked the next morning when she saw the two men had become a lot closer . Nangong Heewon laughed aloud and gently pounded Sung-Min’s shoulder with his fist .

“Alcohol, a night together and a friendly competition is all men need to become friends . ”

“That sounds good and all, but the part about ‘spending the night together’ sounds strange to me . I hope you didn’t do anything weird . ” Scarlett remarked, squinting her eyes as she glanced them over . Sung-Min looked disgusted and shook his head feverishly .

Unlike Sung-Min who had caught on quickly, Nangong Heewon looked confused .

“We just spent the night together . What does she mean by doing something weird?” He asked .

“Senior brother . Please don’t ask pointless questions . ”

“No, seriously . I’m asking because I don’t understand . Do you know what she means, younger brother?”

Sung Min didn’t answer . Nangong Heewon still didn’t understand and looked confused, and Scarlett didn’t explain what she had met either .

“But anyways, we’re brothers now . ”

“Lucky you,” Scarlett said, turning to Sung Min, “you’ve bonded with the young master of the Nangong household . At least you won’t starve . ”

Being the prestigious family they were, the Nangong household had influence all over the land of Eria . It was to the point where one would be treated well if they claimed to be from the family and was able to prove it . Of course, this didn’t apply everywhere . In the areas where the Shafa had risen to power, having connections with the Nangong household wouldn’t be deemed upon as favorable .

The three headed out the West Gate in the direction of Mount Song . Mount Song was not very big, nor was it dangerous to approach . Sung -Min couldn’t understand why the monk Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin, would want to name such a small mountain ‘Mount Song’ and build Shaolin there .

“Old age must have made him senile,” Scarlet muttered, taking a sip of water . Sungmin couldn’t help agreeing to himself and Nangong Heewon burst out laughing .

It had only been a day since they had met and become companions on this journey but Sung-Min liked this so-called Nangong Heewon a lot . Despite being a young master of a prestigious household, he was easygoing .

“You said you were committed to an old promise with Great Master Bul-Young . May I ask what he did in your favor?”

“Looks like you were curious . Why didn’t you ask me before?”

“I thought it would somewhat be rude to ask when we weren’t even friends yet . ”

“Right . And I wouldn’t have given an answer either if you had asked . But I will now . ” Namgoong Heewon smiled .

“The family lines of Nangong, Zhuge, Murong, and Tang have heirs in each family . We’re all similar in age and skill . ”

“Right . ”

“When we were a lot younger, the head of each household decided to unite us in one group . Kind of like those martial sects . We had a name too . The Sky Dragon Sect . But a problem arose as soon once we tried to form our group . All the heads of the families had similar skills . The other households could rise up if there was to be a leader, but there wasn’t one good enough to choose as a leader either .

Being a master of a prestigious family meant being the head of the household with the best skills . Just as Nam Koong Baek of the Heavenly Swords was the grandmaster of the Nangong family, other households had masters of their own .

“So this is what they decided to do . They decided to leave it to the next generation . They all had children, so they decided to raise their kids well and choose the best as the head of the Sky Dragon Sect . And our witness of that vow is the currently the Grand Monk of Shaolin, ‘monster’ Monk Bul-yeong .

Sung-Min hadn’t known any of this had happened, even in his previous life . That was because he didn’t have any connections with the prestigious households in his former life, nor did the Sky Dragon Sect exist until his death .

‘That means they’ll be competing against each other for at least eight years . ’

Who would win and become the master of the Sky Dragon Sect? Just like the proverb that says men are blind in their own cause, Sung-Min secretly hoped that Nangong would be the master of the Sky Dragon Sect .

Before they knew it, they arrived at the doors of Shaolin located in Mount Song as they were having this conversation . Mount Song was small, but the gates to the mountain weren’t . Sung-Min felt overwhelmed by the tall gates and hesitantly took a few steps back . Scarlett let out a sound of exclamation and nodded .

“If the gates are that big, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable trying to close them?”

“We’re not the ones closing it, so it doesn’t matter . ” Nangong said and walked up the stairs . Sung-Min and Scarlett followed . Sung-Min gripped the Hundred Step Manual, the Ahrat Step Manual and the Dharma Cultivation manual, which he had taken out of his bag in beforehand .

“It’s been a while . Young Master Nangong . ”

The monk that had been guarding the gates bowed deeply . Light shone on the perfectly hairless head and hit Scarlett in the eye, making her scowl .

“So I have . Have the other heirs arrived?”

“They have all arrived yesterday . You, Young Master Nangong, have arrived the latest . ” The monk said, twirling his beads . It wasn’t a sneering tone, but it was true that Nangong had arrived late .

Sung-Min stole a glance at Nangong, thinking he himself was to blame . Nangong, however, didn’t seem to be bothered at all and smiled as if he didn’t care .

“I had my reasons . There was an enjoyable interaction . ”

“Is it because of these two you have brought with you?” The monk stole a glance at Sung-Min and Scarlett . He didn’t seem to care about Scarlett, who was female, but looked at Sung-Min differently . Sung-Min felt the monk’s attention was on him and couldn’t help greeting him with a bow .

“That’s right . ”