Chapter 542

Chapter 542

Jin Ja-gang looked at the acolyte for a moment before asking.

"Are you the devout Buddhist?"

"What is that?"

"Great Master Mu-gak said that he almost attained enlightenment in a manure pit, but a devout Buddhist saved him."

The acolyte smiled.

"Ah, a devout Buddhist. I'm truly grateful you put it that way."

"But he didn't say you were a Shaolin Temple monk."

"That's correct. I am not a Shaolin monk."

Jin Ja-gang frowned.

"Then why did you block my path?"

"Because I fear that if I let the benefactor in as is, innocent people will be harmed."

Not a Shaolin Temple monk. Yet fears harming Shaolin Temple.

A strange implication.

The acolyte said.

"I am originally from beyond Qinghai, the Sole Surviving Demon."

Sole Surviving Demon, not an alias Jin Ja-gang had heard. In pure linguistic meaning, it meant the one remaining demon.

Something suddenly occurred to Jin Ja-gang.

"Three thousand demons."

At Jin Ja-gang's words, the acolyte was impressed.

"The benefactor's wisdom is truly admirable."

Demon-Exterminating Monk Mu-gak killed three thousand demons in his prime. However, for the sin of excessive killing, he was captured and brought to Shaolin Temple where he suffered the punishment of having his muscles torn.

The acolyte smiled and said.

"Mu-gak wanted to travel beyond the frontier and kill all demons, but the last remaining demon stopped him."

The one Demon-Exterminating Monk Mu-gak couldn't kill.

The Sole Surviving Demon!

"I asked Mu-gak: Is your action right? If you kill everyone on the opposite side, in the end there will be no one left for you to enlighten and guide. Mu-gak still said he was right. So I came to Shaolin with Mu-gak. I asked Shaolin: Is Mu-gak's action right?"

The Sole Surviving Demon said.

"Shaolin answered my question with Mu-gak's punishment of torn muscles. And I took refuge in Buddha and have lived in Shaolin ever since."

Mu-gak's age is one hundred thirty. Then just how old is the Sole Surviving Demon!

But that wasn't what mattered now.

"I understand why you're here. What does that have to do with blocking me?"

"Because I have something to say to the benefactor."

The Sole Surviving Demon pointed at the ground with his finger. A long line was drawn on the ground. The line precisely divided the main gate from the outside.

"Those within this line all live bearing a yoke. No matter what thoughts they hold, in the end they cannot escape the yoke of being monks. The same goes for Beom-bon."

Jin Ja-gang listened to the Sole Surviving Demon's story. The Sole Surviving Demon continued.

"Beom-bon chose financial power as part of enlightening sentient beings. He suppressed the opposing Breaking Sect by force. However, the greed he wielded was done within a monk's duty, as a Shaolin disciple. It was achieved after decades of anguish. Just as Mu-gak's unrestrained killing spree was ultimately caught by his responsibility as a monk, Beom-bon's actions also had limitations."

"Even if the reins are loosened, in the end you're saying he's still caught by them?"

"Beom-bon didn't desire fulfillment of greed itself. He used greed for a purpose. Wrong beliefs merely created bad situations, so he shouldn't be called a hungry ghost."

Jin Ja-gang listening to the Sole Surviving Demon's story smiled with the corners of his mouth raised.

"By that logic, there would be no hungry ghosts in the world. Everyone is the same. They would say they're not hungry ghosts because they were greedy for their sect, for family, for honor."

"That's right. However, desiring higher things even with sufficient abundance, desiring more than necessary, we call that greed. Greed calls more greed, and when greed comes first and they forget what they even wanted, we can say they've become hungry ghosts."

The Sole Surviving Demon pointed at Jin Ja-gang with his finger.

"Right now, the benefactor is another hungry ghost devouring hungry ghosts. You're devouring and trying to devour even those who aren't necessary. Even Hae-wol wouldn't have done as the benefactor does. Just how many more do you intend to kill?"

Jin Ja-gang had been standing on a very thin line for a long time. A precarious tightrope walk where even a slight mistake could cross the line of humanity.

"Honestly speaking, whether I cross the line or not, I didn't care. But you're saying I've already crossed the line?"

"That's right. You crossed it long ago, and you'll cross it again now."

Jin Ja-gang nodded.

"I'd like to ask what Shaolin Temple did while I was crossing the line. According to your words, didn't they only create a bad situation?"

"Benefactor. There is no absolute good in the world. Shaolin is not absolute good, nor is the benefactor absolute good. Everyone possesses both good and evil, and only when one becomes aware of having both good and evil within can they become a good person. Those who don't recognize the evil within themselves become evil people. Beom-bon became evil because he didn't recognize his own evil. The benefactor will soon become that way as well."

The Sole Surviving Demon continued speaking.

"You probably already know what state Shaolin is in, seeing that the Righteous Dharma Walk hasn't resumed. Though it will take long to acknowledge, Shaolin is striving to find the correct good within itself."

Jin Ja-gang sneered at the Sole Surviving Demon.

"If you thought I'd turn back believing those words, you're mistaken. Moreover, shouldn't a monk from the main temple have come out to say such things?"

"Shaolin's will is not shallow. The reason I came out is simple. Among those remaining, I am the strongest."

Grrrrrr.

The Sole Surviving Demon's clothes swelled and dirt and stones from the ground rose. Jin Ja-gang's hair and collar fluttered. He was creating external wind with his internal energy.

The stone fragments that floated spinning whirled fiercely. It was tyrannical energy, but no demonic qi was felt. Rather, Buddhist internal energy was felt.

"If you're strong enough to block me, it would have been better to come kill me in the first place."

Jin Ja-gang raised his hand and swung it forcefully as if slapping.

Paang!

At Jin Ja-gang's gesture, the wind the Sole Surviving Demon raised was torn and a hole pierced through space. The Sole Surviving Demon received fierce wind as a reverse gust. His body flinched as he almost stepped back.

A stream of blood flowed from the Sole Surviving Demon's nose. Not bewilderment but a feeling of excitement appeared on the Sole Surviving Demon's face.

Jin Ja-gang charged at the Sole Surviving Demon. Leaping like lightning, he drove his knee into the Sole Surviving Demon's face. The Sole Surviving Demon pushed away Jin Ja-gang's knee while bending his waist forward. His back foot bent flexibly and came up behind the Sole Surviving Demon's waist to kick Jin Ja-gang's philtrum.

Jin Ja-gang blocked the foot with his forearm while pressing down with his elbow to strike the Sole Surviving Demon's head. The Sole Surviving Demon shook his body like a loach and slipped out right before Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang grabbed the Sole Surviving Demon's shoulder firmly. The Sole Surviving Demon shook his shoulder off, dodging Jin Ja-gang's hand.

In that moment, Jin Ja-gang's foot was already piercing the Sole Surviving Demon's abdomen. The Sole Surviving Demon blocked Jin Ja-gang's foot with his palm. Jin Ja-gang leaped up while continuously kicking the Sole Surviving Demon.

Pang! Papang!

The Sole Surviving Demon's fingers, unable to bear Jin Ja-gang's strength, broke. The Sole Surviving Demon twisted his body sideways and kicked the airborne Jin Ja-gang at an angle.

A sharp curve cut through the air.

Jin Ja-gang didn't evade and poked the Sole Surviving Demon's shin with his fingers. It looked like Jin Ja-gang's fingers would break or get cut off, but instead his fingers pierced the shin.

Puk! When he pulled his fingers out, four holes appeared in the shin. The Sole Surviving Demon limped while stepping back.

In that instant, Jin Ja-gang's killing intent thickened.

Puk! Blood burst more severely from the Sole Surviving Demon's nose. The Sole Surviving Demon covered his nose while stepping back.

Jin Ja-gang said coldly.

"If you want to die, you can keep blocking. I'm going up to Shaolin Temple to confirm Shaolin's will with my own eyes."

"No, there's no need for that."

The Sole Surviving Demon wiped his nosebleed and shook his head.

Then he reached back. A long wooden case lying behind flew to the Sole Surviving Demon's hand. The Sole Surviving Demon held his broken finger and opened the case.

Inside was a long Buddhist staff.

The Jade Buddhist Staff!

Shaolin Temple's sect leader's sacred treasure, the Jade Buddhist Staff!

"The benefactor can do two things. Take this Jade Buddhist Staff and return to save tens of thousands of lives, or go up to Shaolin and fight five hundred demon heads locked in Repentance Hall and a thousand monks."

Jin Ja-gang immediately took a big step forward.

"I inherently greatly dislike threats."

Jin Ja-gang emitted killing intent toward the Sole Surviving Demon.

Though the Sole Surviving Demon was an ancient master of a previous generation who had even achieved rejuvenation, he couldn't receive Jin Ja-gang's poison head-on. Spewing blood heavily from his nose, he had to step back another half step.

"Wow..."

Admiration didn't leave the Sole Surviving Demon's eyes.

The greatest killer of all ages.

Truly, terribly strong.

The words heard from the world are never wrong.

Still, the Sole Surviving Demon didn't stop speaking.

"Poison Dragon benefactor. Your using the Persian Ancient Sword as pretext for great massacre was a very unreasonable treatment. You turned not only those who don't trust the benefactor but even those who hate the Demonic Cult into enemies, so that was wrong."

The Sole Surviving Demon threw the Jade Buddhist Staff toward Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang caught the Jade Buddhist Staff.

This wouldn't mean they're telling Jin Ja-gang to become a monk.

So now Jin Ja-gang held in one hand Zoroastrianism's sacred object and in the other hand Shaolin Temple's sacred treasure simultaneously.

The Sole Surviving Demon shouted.

"Great Evil! And Great Good! If you wish to purify the world, don't trust your own goodness but contain both good and evil within yourself and maintain balance between the two!"

Jin Ja-gang drew the Persian Ancient Sword and looked at both the Jade Buddhist Staff alternately while falling into thought.

The Sole Surviving Demon's words that just Jin Ja-gang receiving the Jade Buddhist Staff could save tens of thousands of lives weren't lies.

Shaolin Temple was even willing to bear the stigma of having their sacred treasure taken by Jin Ja-gang.

If Jin Ja-gang returned with the Jade Buddhist Staff, Shaolin Temple and Jin Ja-gang would be bound in a strange relationship.

If Shaolin Temple acts wrongly, Jin Ja-gang would discipline Shaolin Temple with the Jade Buddhist Staff; if Jin Ja-gang acts wrongly, everyone related to Shaolin Temple would rush to retrieve the Jade Buddhist Staff from Jin Ja-gang.

After pondering for a while, Jin Ja-gang didn't throw back the Jade Buddhist Staff but lowered his arm holding it.

He decided to accept the Jade Buddhist Staff.

"Just because I received the Jade Buddhist Staff doesn't mean I'll show mercy."

At Jin Ja-gang's answer, the Sole Surviving Demon panted and said.

"The mercy the world needs is not in saving those who should die, but in saving even one more person who shouldn't die. Justification is needed not only for the killer but also for those who die."

Jin Ja-gang unknowingly repeated the Sole Surviving Demon's words.

Justification is needed not only for the killer but also for those who die.

Perhaps the world Jin Ja-gang had hoped for was also such a world.