Chapter 360
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## Chapter 360. Look at Destiny
Early in the morning, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors washed her body in the valley and then headed towards the rocky cliffs.
Although there wasn’t even a breeze, the mountain in late summer was cool.
After taking several deep breaths, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors took a golden bell (金晃子) from her chest.
“Om Na Nen Kaya Nebata De Chum!”
After reciting the sacred mantra once aloud, once in a low voice, and finally a third time, the bell began to ring.
Ting. Ting. Ting-.
Then, a familiar voice reached her ears.
-Did you call me?
“Yes, I thought you would have already returned, so I called you.”
-…….
Not hearing what she expected from Cheong Ryushin, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors sighed silently.
These things are not solved by pressing, you have to know how to be patient.
As expected, after a moment, Cheong Ryushin spoke.
-I met the Demon Son of Heaven, the king of the realm of desire in the ‘Heaven of the Kings’. At first, he was very angry.
“Angry?”
-Yes, he said that my mother’s soul was useless because it belonged to King Yama.
“Ah, I didn’t know that. So, is there no other way?”
-He said that if we offer a worthy sacrifice, he will allow us to control the kings.
“What I want is not that, but immortality. What did he say about that?”
-He said that among those kings there is one who knows the secret of immortality. Wouldn’t it be better to learn from him?
“I thought I had to offer my soul to the Demon Son of Heaven to obtain immortality. Are you saying that it’s possible without doing that?”
-From what I saw, all the beings in the ‘Heaven of the Kings’ are immortal. There must be a way without going through the Demon Son of Heaven. All the kings seemed similar to him.
“Really? Then, what does it mean to offer a worthy sacrifice?”
-Offer a human who is worthy of the kings. Then, a king will descend in his place.
“Do you mean that they kill him on the altar?”
-No. If he stands in the center of the Star of the Five Destinies, the king will take him. And then, an incarnation of the king will manifest.
Finally, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors understood Cheong Ryushin’s words.
‘Depending on the value of the sacrifice, the king who descends to this world could change.’
However, she didn’t understand why they didn’t kill the sacrifice, but took him with them.
“Where does the sacrifice go?”
-…He is exchanged with the incarnation of the king. You won’t lose anything, mother. You won’t be the sacrifice. In fact, the incarnation of the king will serve you.
Although Cheong Ryushin subtly diverted the conversation, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors was not fooled.
“I asked you where the sacrifice goes.”
-To the ‘Heaven of the Kings’.
“Hum! So you lend an incarnation and take a living sacrifice.”
-Something like that.
“Is that what the Demon Son of Heaven wants?”
-In the ‘Heaven of the Kings’ there is always a shortage of sacrifices.
With a burning gaze, the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors spoke with determination.
“If I offer myself as a sacrifice, can I go to the ‘Heaven of the Kings’?”
She was willing to do anything, even more than being a sacrifice, for immortality.
-Did you already forget? You were offered to King Yama, so you can’t be a sacrifice. And in the ‘Heaven of the Kings’, sacrifices are treated worse than dogs. It’s better to learn the secret of immortality from another king.
“Which king knows that secret?”
-I don’t know that either. You have to ask the king who manifests directly. I’ve talked too much and I feel exhausted. I think I should rest for a while.
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors’ eyebrows arched.
A demonic creature like her telling her owner not to look for her for a while?
She felt that something was wrong, but she didn’t rebuke her. She still needed Cheong Ryushin, who traveled between the ‘Heaven of the Kings’.
Punishing Cheong Ryushin could wait until she got more information about the realm of desire.
The bell, which had been ringing clearly, suddenly fell silent.
Cheong Ryushin had disappeared.
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors wrapped the golden bell in silk and kept it in her chest.
‘Cheong Ryushin, even if you can enter and leave the realm of desire at will, you will not escape my hands.’
That is the destiny of a demonic creature.
‘By the way, a living sacrifice. Who could be a worthy sacrifice in the eyes of the Demon Son of Heaven?’
As she was lost in her thoughts, the figure of the Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors disappeared in an instant.
***
Hubei Province.
Wudang Mountain.
Five Dragons Palace.
1:00 p.m.
After lunch, Yeon Jeokha strolled leisurely through the Five Dragons Palace.
He had already met the Medicine Buddha, Bai Ilun, so he didn’t need to go to Namamgung.
Although he knew the cause of the horrible sores on his face, he didn’t descend from the mountain immediately.
He decided to fulfill his promise to the leader of the Yoomyung Cult after learning mystical arts.
He thought that, if he wasn’t poisoned, there wouldn’t be any major problems for him to live.
His master, Cheongbulno, told him that it was better to learn mystical arts before meeting the leader of the Yoomyung Cult.
Yeon Jeokha agreed.
He could fall back into the mystical arts of the Yoomyung Cult.
Unless he took the Three Immortals of Kunlun and Namgung Yeon, the Incomparable Among Ten, what else could he do?
It was better to learn mystical arts before climbing Wind and Rain Mountain (풍지산, Pungjisan) alone.
Gradually, people who wanted to learn the art of talismans began to arrive at the Five Dragons Palace.
Among them, surprisingly, there were also some Taoists.
It seemed that they had many occasions to use talismans, so they were interested.
‘Should I learn it too?’
As Yeon Jeokha pondered, two men approached from behind.
They were Man Hwangju and Cheon Sangdong.
Although they were from the same region, Man Hwangju was the first to greet him in a friendly manner.
“Younger brother, aren’t you going to Namamgung today?”
Yeon Jeokha didn’t like to mingle with them, but he nodded his head.
“I don’t need to go anymore.”
“Aha! It seems you decided to get the medicine from brother Cheon. Good decision. After all, that medicine also comes from Namamgung, so it’s practically the same.”
“I won’t buy it.”
Then, Cheon Sangdong intervened abruptly.
“You won’t buy it? Are you going to keep going like that with that face?”
“Hey, my business is my own. So don’t get involved.”
“Don’t you realize that that face is causing inconvenience to others? If it’s because of the twenty nyang, I can give you a discount.”
Hearing the words “inconvenience”, Yeon Jeokha felt his insides boil, but he didn’t retort.
Even though the rumor of the “sores” had spread, the practitioners of the Eight Immortals Pavilion avoided him.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to buy it, since I lose nothing?’
Thinking that, Yeon Jeokha looked directly at Cheon Sangdong.
“What will you do if I take your medicine and it doesn’t cure me?”
“What? If the medicine doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. What do you want me to do?”
“Promise to give me back the money if it doesn’t work, and then I’ll buy it.”
“Give you back the money if you don’t get cured?”
“Yes. If you have confidence in your medicine, do it. If not, get away.”
Yeon Jeokha waved his hand as if he were fed up.
Biting his lips, Cheon Sangdong hesitated, but finally turned around and left.
Man Hwangju, who had been wavering, also left with him.
As he watched the two of them walk away, Yeon Jeokha let out a sigh.
“What a pair of leeches! Why do they insist on bothering me?”
A moment later, as Yeon Jeokha walked towards the Five Dragons Palace, Cheongbulno passed by him and murmured in a low voice:
“Follow me.”
Yeon Jeokha followed his master, keeping a certain distance.
He didn’t understand why Cheongbulno, who had insisted on keeping their relationship secret and acting as if they didn’t know each other during the day, was suddenly calling him.
Cheongbulno left the Five Dragons Palace and went into a deep valley.
Finally, he stopped in a remote and steep place, far from any human presence.
In the middle of a dense forest where barely the front could be seen, he spoke calmly:
“Last night I reflected on you. Just as Bai Ilun immediately knew that you weren’t poisoned, I should have also noticed that you were under the spell of a verbal enchantment. But I only listened to your words and attributed it to the effects of the poison.”
Yeon Jeokha listened silently to his master’s self-critical words.
From the perspective of his master, who had reached a high level in mystical arts, it was understandable that he thought that way.
“…So I reconsidered. Is it right to teach you only mystical arts? Maybe it’s like giving a sharp sword to a child. The arts of your ancestor and my ‘Law of the Word’ (言法, Eonbeop) are treasures of the legacy of the Wudang Sect, and they must be used for the good of humanity.”
“…”
“Before teaching you that, there is a process that every Wudang disciple must follow.”
“A process?”
Yeon Jeokha looked at Cheongbulno with a confused expression.
Apart from reciting sutras at dawn and listening to lectures, what else was there?
“You must see your destiny in the Cave of Darkness (黑暗洞, Heukamdong).”
“See my destiny?”
“Yes.”
As if the idea pleased him, a smile of satisfaction appeared on Cheongbulno’s face.
All Wudang Taoists enter the Cave of Darkness at some point.
It’s due to a mysterious legend passed down orally.
-By entering a deep and dark cave, without realizing it, one sees his destiny.
Only the practitioners of the Eight Immortals Pavilion were the exception.
That was because they climbed Mount Wudang to learn mystical arts.
Yeon Jeokha was intrigued, but he didn’t ask how it was possible.
He trusts his master.
After going into the dense forest for about half an hour, a cave appeared that looked like a bear’s den.
The small clearing in front of the cave was clean and tidy, as if someone had prepared it.
Cheongbulno pointed to the cave and said:
“Go in and reflect on who you are and why you were born into this world. Eventually, something will appear before your eyes. Don’t think about leaving until you see it.”
“Are you sure something will appear?”
“Of course. Our ancestor saw a golden dragon, and I saw a rock.”
Yeon Jeokha’s mouth gaped in astonishment.
Of all things, a golden dragon and a rock?
He wasn’t sure if it was a metaphor or if they had really seen it with their own eyes.
“Master…”
When Yeon Jeokha tried to ask more questions, Cheongbulno silently pointed to the cave.
“When you experience it for yourself in the cave, you will understand.”
“…”
Yeon Jeokha swallowed the words that were rising in his throat and entered the cave.
The cave was deeper than it looked from the outside.
After walking for a while, the dim light disappeared and everything was filled with darkness.
‘What a strange place.’
Since he left the warehouse, even at night, everything was as bright as day.
He didn’t need to use his internal energy to distinguish between day and night, but now it was different.
Although he had only entered a cave, he couldn’t see a step ahead.
It was as if he were enveloped in the fog of an illusion formation.
As he tried to go further in, he tripped over a rock and staggered.
‘Is this Heaven’s will to stop me?’
Of course, that didn’t make sense, but Yeon Jeokha sat down roughly in that spot.
Since he arrived at Mount Wudang, he had been so busy that at first he was just stunned.
Then, belatedly, he thought about food and water.
‘Since the master didn’t say anything about it, I guess it’s okay.’
If necessary, he would have prepared it before entering.
From there, all sorts of trivial thoughts began to arise.
He remembered his life at the Waryong Manor, his aunt, and his half-brothers.
‘Will I really be able to see my destiny this way?’
Despite his worries, the scattered thoughts didn’t cease and continued to flow stubbornly.