BRDM 146

Wu Yong King (2)

“Why? Scared now that maybe they won’t actually come?”
Sun Wukong tossed out the teasing line without breaking his stride.

But his face didn’t show it. His voice didn’t carry much mischief either.

“……”
Lips pressed tight. Lee Hyun didn’t answer at once.

Plip.
Sun Wukong laughed.

“Are you worried they’ll get hurt now that our brothers have only just begun to gather?” he asked.

Lee Hyun finally exhaled and replied, “If I get hurt, it’s something that happens inevitably while performing missions. That part doesn’t frighten me.”

Lee Hyun had always lived with the threat of wounds and death. He had comrades who’d been laid to rest in the national cemetery at a young age.

“But the idea of the Grand Stars and the brothers—who’re only just starting to run—getting injured…”

“That’s a needless worry.”
Sun Wukong cut him off mid-sentence.

“Who’s worrying about whom? No matter how battered I might be, kid, you’re my disciple now.”

Lee Hyun’s eyes trembled.

“Do you think I, the Jecheon Great Sage Sun Wukong, would show a shabby face before my disciple?”

“…That’s not what I meant.”
“Then put that worry away.”

“……”
“If it was going to happen someday anyway, it would have been better if it was after I’d recovered more of my status, but it doesn’t matter. I have no regrets.”

No regrets.

Lee Hyun remembered the answer he’d always given when comrades asked whether he wasn’t afraid of taking up the axe again: he’d said he had no regrets. In the end, he and Sun Wukong shared the same mind.

“Push the long-term plans steadily, and change short-term plans according to the variables as they come up,” Sun Wukong continued.

Lee Hyun felt himself drawn into each of Sun Wukong’s words.

“If the Heavenly Realm starts to move, we’ll find the brothers far faster than they can. Regain status quickly, too.”

Sun Wukong tossed something. Lee Hyun caught it.

It was a note. Curious, he opened it—and was startled.

“Great Sage, this is—”

“It’s a gift left by that fellow Peng Jinghao. That’s the one, right? The guy you always bicker with.”

“…!”

―Ping Tian Great Sage Wu Ma King: Unconfirmed. Tracked by several organizations but capture failed. Currently reported to be somewhere building strength. There’s conjecture he joined the demon faction…

―Fu Hai Great Sage Jiao Ma King: sealed near the Challenger Sea off Guam. Multiple villain organizations that sided with the axis of evil are secretly involved. But management is difficult and things are in disarray. Recent earthquakes centered around the Ring of Fire also…

―Li Shan Great Sage: sealed in a desert near Palmyra, Syria. Palmyra, once a center of ancient civilization, is now ruins. Based on the myths around this place, it’s currently the arena of conflicts in the Near East…

―Zheng Dan Lion Jeo Neung: first observed in the Antarctic region and later…

The contents of the note contained extremely important information.

It listed the locations of the Seven Great Sages and the Three Elders. It even kindly described where they’d been discovered and how they’d moved since.

Was it true? — It was the truth.

“Yes. That’s the person.”
“That fellow’s bold, all right.”

Lee Hyun noticed Sun Wukong’s tone was very cold.

“He said he was the one who led the brothers into that state, and then handed this over while demanding my Touzhen-ryu as payment?”

“Did he give it?”
Lee Hyun swallowed dryly before he realized.

Sun Wukong drew a slow circle with his eyes. “What do you think I did?”

“…He must have given it.”
Lee Hyun managed a bitter smile.

“Why do you think that?” Sun Wukong asked.

“Because I would have done the same.”
“Huh?”

“I value my comrades’ safety more than my achievements or legacy. I would have taken revenge later somehow, but—”

“So you’d say securing the comrades now is more important?”
“Yes.”

Sun Wukong’s mouth twisted slightly.

Not long later, the pavilion where Wu Yong King rested grew close. A waterfall made a beautiful scene.

“If I said I gave it, wouldn’t you resent it?” Sun Wukong asked.

“No. I wouldn’t resent it.”

Sun Wukong’s fiery-gold pupils flickered.

The truth was indeed the truth.

“Why? You learned it with so much difficulty, didn’t you? You had to flatter me a lot to get it,” he said.

“It’d be a lie if I said I wasn’t saddened, but wasn’t the Touzhen-ryu originally yours, Great Sage?”

Sun Wukong looked at Lee Hyun with an odd smile.

“I think the decision of who you give it to, or whether you use it as negotiation, should be yours. Also,” Lee Hyun smiled lightly, “I honestly don’t think I’d lose if others learned it. Mastering the senses of yokai isn’t easy, and I’m not going to stay idle.”

“Finally I hear answers I like for once,” Sun Wukong said with a smile, then continued,

“To conclude, that bastard took the Touzhen-ryu, but he couldn’t read it.”

“Kak kak kak! Even if he wanted to read it, I plucked out his eyes—how could he read? Ha! That brother’s taste is truly vicious! Kak kak kak kak!” Sa Ojeong cackled from the side. The laughter and his remarks sounded more like a yokai than a human now.

Lee Hyun widened his eyes in surprise. “Is that true?”

“Yes. But be on guard. There’s definitely something behind that fellow—something much bigger and incomparable to him.”

Peng Jinghao has another backing? Lee Hyun hadn’t expected that. Sun Wukong, too, seemed troubled and not fully sure.

“And the Tang Priest (Samjang) was with him.”
“…!”

“If trouble keeps falling on you, it might be that fellow. Better be careful.” Lee Hyun nodded.

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind. I was already looking for his whereabouts because I need to settle things with Chairman Peng separately.”

“That filthy fellow will do bigger filthy things. Better kill him as fast as possible before he becomes more of a nuisance.”

Lee Hyun quickly tapped his phone and messaged two places: Lee Gunsan and Michael Shepherd—asking them to look for information related to the disgraced Peng Jinghao.

Both replied ‘OK’ almost immediately.

Tap.
Lee Hyun checked the responses and slipped his phone back into his back pocket.

“So you’ll focus on finding the brothers for now, before the Jade Emperor acts,” Sun Wukong said, nodding.

“For now, yes. Luckily, that guy used up a lot of causal energy in this incident, so it’ll be hard for him to intervene with the Celestial Sect in the Lower Realm for some time.”

They soon arrived at the pavilion. When the doors swung open, a long corridor appeared.

“And the Jade Emperor is a schemer; he won’t show himself before he’s prepared something solid,” Sun Wukong said. They stopped at the end of the corridor.

“He’s greedy about that kind of thing. He won’t try to reveal us to society; he’ll hoard information himself and hush his subordinates.”

Lee Hyun pushed open the door at the far end, and a rush of incense scent hit them.

“There’s quite a time difference between the Lower Realm and the Heavenly Realm. If we use that well, we’ll have plenty of time to prepare.”

As the door opened, Sun Wukong’s gaze rose to be almost level with Lee Hyun’s—no longer a baby monkey but a white-haired handsome man with his hands behind his back smiling.

“You’ll still have to work hard, but I’d like you to keep helping me.” The more Lee Hyun acquired karma and strength, the faster Sun Wukong’s status recovered. The same applied to retrieving the brothers. Because they were bound together as the Seven Great Sages, the faster the remaining brothers were reclaimed, the more Sun Wukong and they could grow together. Regaining Wu Yong King now—recovering his second name—was proof of that.

“I should hurry to find the Cloud Somersault (Kundunun) and the remaining armaments,” Lee Hyun said.

“That would be good.”

Lee Hyun stared at the golden key sleeping in his inventory. Even if Sun Wukong hadn’t asked, he planned to go look for the Cloud Somersault soon. Like the Ringo Staff, Fiery-Face Golden Altar, and Ruyi Staff, it was one of the four holy relics symbolizing Sun Wukong. He was already excited to see what it looked like.

“You’re back?”
“Where’s the sixth brother?”
“As you can see. He hasn’t regained any energy.”

On a wide bed, a gaunt man lay sleeping. He was so emaciated he almost seemed a mummy. Large and small pins and moxibustion devices precariously covered him.

Bungmawang sighed long.

Before being a demon king, she’d come from the Gandharva and was an excellent physician. Even she felt Wu Yong King’s condition was very serious.

“We’re trying to treat him with curse-imbued scripture stuff to help Madam, but it seems the collapse of his status was the fatal blow.”

Sa Ojeong slid his glasses down and rubbed the back of his head. “That immortal’s essence thing the kid brought—wouldn’t that work?”

Sa Ojeong shook his head. “If it had been before, maybe we could have done something, but once it’s been damaged like this, just applying it won’t make it heal by itself.”

“It’s like ceramics—once it’s broken, no matter how good the glue, you can’t restore it to its original state. If you’re going to restore it…”

“You’d have to smash it entirely to powder and then remold it.”

Sun Wukong answered, and Bungmawang sighed. This case was completely different from when she was rescued. She’d faced the danger of obliteration but still retained a structure—an ‘outline’—enough that absorbing the Three-Legged Crow’s flame could resurrect her. But Wu Yong King’s ‘outline’ was completely shattered. That required a bigger plan.

Lee Hyun sat in front of the bed and looked at Wu Yong King quietly. Although this was his first time meeting the man, he felt some familiarity—perhaps because he’d met remnants of the man’s thoughts in the <Song of the Sun and Moon>. Seeing Bungmawang so sorrowful, Lee Hyun wanted to help.

Is there a way?

He pondered.

“As you can see, the sixth brother is in that state. Not good.” Lee Hyun returned to reality with Sun Wukong from the pocket-dimension.

“I don’t have any healing arts among the techniques I’ve learned, so I can’t be of much help. We’ll find a way for the time being… But you’ve been worrying about something since earlier—what is it?” The baby monkey Sun Wukong hung over Lee Hyun’s crown and tilted his head.

“Great Sage, is there any holy relic left that the Wu Yong King used?” Lee Hyun asked.

“Well, there is one… You aren’t thinking of becoming the sixth brother’s apostle in your impatience, are you?” Sun Wukong’s face flushed red as if his cheeks were on fire.

“No matter how greedy you are, that’s just greed! Besides, if you become the apostle of a deity whose form is barely sustained, the apostle could collapse together with them—huh?” Sun Wukong broke off, puzzled, as he watched Lee Hyun smile.

“Yes. That’s it.”

“You want to gather the scattered myths of the sixth brother?”

“If possible. The more my status rises, the more Ojeong and Bungmawang’s status recovered, right? I thought maybe Wu Yong King’s would, too.”

“…”
“So if I, as you said, recovered Wu Yong King’s myth too, recovery might be faster. Or maybe another good method will come up.”

“Do you know how dangerous what you’re saying is?” Sun Wukong said, his face sinking.

“I told you, becoming a fractured deity’s apostle is risky—the apostle’s soul could collapse too. You’re already linked to me, Ojeong, and Ryeo; you’re building a status rock-solid compared to similar people. You might be even more solid than I was in my youth. A laboriously built tower.”

Sun Wukong’s face blushed red again, but now in a different way.

“If you link with the sixth brother, you’d be cracking that tower yourself! Still want to do it?” he said.

“If I can build it, it’ll be wider and more solid than before. Maybe I’ll build a temple while I’m at it,” Lee Hyun said lightly.

Sun Wukong’s pupils shook. “I’m just doing this for myself too—if I get more relics, I’ll be stronger.”

“…” Sun Wukong smiled bitterly.

He knew this was just an excuse to spare Lee Hyun’s feelings. Lee Hyun’s growth was already gaining momentum without taking unnecessary risks. Moreover, taking on a shattered deity’s fragments meant sharing in the overload of soul and status—bringing enormous pain. Lee Hyun surely knew that but still offered. Sun Wukong was grateful for that heart.

“All right. Apostle contract… no, partner contract, I’ll matchmake it,” Sun Wukong said. He decided not to reject Lee Hyun’s care any longer; to do so would be to slight Lee Hyun.

“Take this. It’s the old spirit token the sixth brother used.”

Sun Wukong handed Lee Hyun a jade token with a pattern like the wind; its surface was slightly cracked, symbolizing the broken divinity.

Lee Hyun’s fiery-gold gaze flickered.

“The sixth brother’s epithet, ‘Gu-shin’ (Drivener of Gods), means to drive out gods. Before meeting the eldest brother and becoming wise, he was the yokai king who devoured the most saints and Buddhas in the world.”

“……!!”
Just hearing that sent chills down his spine. The thin, slow-looking man concealed a mythic other face. Indeed, that was the Seven Great Sages for you.

“So Wu Yong King’s power is extremely violent. At one time, in battle, he could go toe-to-toe with me,” Sun Wukong said—remarkable, coming from his prideful mouth.

“Because of that, obtaining the power of a shattered status won’t be easy. So—”

Sun Wukong looked at Lee Hyun with deeply sinking eyes.

“Swallow that relic. Let its power harmonize with you completely.”