"Ah...mi..."
The unfinished Buddhist prayer slipped from his lips.
The hand of the head monk trembled. Beok Jeong now fully realized what was happening.
"How... How could this...?"
But realizing it didn't change anything. He could only tremble, feeling the depth of his irretrievable position.
How could they have known?
The Zhuge Family and the Moyong Family were his hidden trump cards. How much effort had he put into ensuring they couldn't reach this battlefield?
It was the careful leak Beok Jeong had allowed. Jang Ilso had clearly tried to exploit that vulnerability.
But it was Jang Ilso's fang, deliberately driven into the gap Beok Jeong had created, that pierced through his guts.
"How?!"
Beok Jeong shouted in frustration. Jang Ilso shook his head slightly.
"No. It's not about that. Rather, I should be asking you."
He then smiled at the pensive Beok Jeong.
"What confidence did you have?"
"..."
"You were confident that I wouldn't know, that I could be easily deceived, and that you were above me. What made you think that?"
Beok Jeong's eyes wavered.
Jang Ilso's face bore a mocking smile, making Beok Jeong realize his mistake.
To those observing the game from the outside, everything was as clear as day.
While many others fell victim to Jang Ilso's schemes, Beok Jeong, who had kept himself slightly apart from the flow, gained confidence.
Falling for such an obvious move is foolishness. Beok Jeong believed he would never fall for Jang Ilso's tricks.
Yet here was Jang Ilso, asking him with a penetrating gaze what gave him such confidence. His eyes, at this moment, seemed more like those of a sage than of Jang Ilso.
"Do you want to know why you lost?"
"I... I..."
"Because you were scared."
Jang Ilso stared at Beok Jeong as if dissecting his inner thoughts. It was a gaze that seemed to lay bare his soul.
At this moment, Jang Ilso's eyes were far more profound than Beok Jeong's.
"You thought you were being courageous, but no... You were just groaning under a huge shadow. The moment you thought you could step out of that shadow without looking back, you were consumed by blind confidence. But in reality, it was just a form of escape."
"What nonsense are you spouting! I..."
"You know."
Jang Ilso spoke to Beok Jeong as if scolding a child.
The screams ringing in his ears, the deaths of countless people.
Amidst the tumultuous chaos engulfing the world, a chilling silence descended between the two of them.
"You know, don't you?"
Beok Jeong's hand trembled slightly.
He couldn't deny it. As soon as Jang Ilso spoke, the image of a person appeared vividly in his mind.
"Think about it. Why would I have dragged him all the way here?"
Beok Jeong froze.
"Out of fear? To swallow up the Heavenly Friendship Alliance while he was absent?"
Jang Ilso's eyes traced a gentle arc.
"It's not just for such a simple reason."
"Shut your mouth!"
Beok Jeong clenched his fist, emitting a powerful aura.
But his rash authority couldn't topple Jang Ilso. It collided with the verdant true qi, veering off course and only digging up barren ground.
*Kwaaaang!*
A massive explosion erupted, and Beok Jeong charged forward with a roar.
Not yet. It wasn't over yet.
If he could just kill Jang Ilso, if he could just defeat that demon, he could turn everything around. He was not defeated, he was not cornered!
"Ahhhhh!"
A deluge of authority poured towards Jang Ilso. But Jang Ilso, without any urgency, calmly received the attack. And then, he spoke the words that Beok Jeong didn't want to hear.
"That's why you'll come to me."
"Shut up!"
"You can't afford to miss this opportunity. Can you? There's no other chance that won't be compared to him, no other way to escape the shadow looming over you."
"Can't you shut up?!"
*Kwaaaang!*
Explosive authority pushed Jang Ilso back, further and further. But Beok Jeong's eyes began to show signs of unease.
Shaolin's martial arts were originally created not to kill but to subdue. It was the first time he felt so frustrated by this fact.
He had to become stronger. He had to become faster. More! More!
He didn't want to subdue, he wanted to kill that demon. He had to stop that vile tongue from mocking him any longer!
"The truth is, you knew it better than anyone else, didn't you? That you're just a petty human being. So..."
Jang Ilso grinned with a childlike face.
"That's what you're standing here for."
"Arghh!"
Explosive authority emanated from Beok Jeong.
But it wasn't as resolute or heavy as before. It was fast and strong, but it deviated from the fundamental principles of Shaolin.
Eventually, only killing intent, filled with the desire to kill the opponent, enveloped Jang Ilso.
"Hahaha!"
Jang Ilso laughed heartily as he received Beok Jeong's strike.
The endless surge of power and the soaring killing intent.
Amidst it all, the scene of the battlefield entered Beok Jeong's eyes.
He didn't want to see it, but he had no choice. The disciples of the Nine Sects being thoroughly defeated, and the evil sect martial arts tearing them apart with manic movements.
He had never thought that the Nine Sects, especially those led by him, would face such a scene. And... it was even more horrifying than he could have imagined. All of this, he had caused with his own hands.
The face of his master contorted like an asura. The image of the Buddha he believed in was nowhere to be found. The yellow robe, the shaven head—all failed to hide the boiling resentment inside him.
"Jang Ilsooo!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Despite the pouring authority, Jang Ilso continued to laugh.
He couldn't contain his joy.
Just a human being.
Wrapped in an aura of orphanhood, yet harboring desires that could not be hidden.
In the end, war was something done by humans.
Many mistakenly believed that understanding their opponent's moves required superior skill.
But in reality, if one understood their opponent's heart and the desires within, their actions could be easily predicted.
The trap Jang Ilso set was not about the South Sea Sun Palace.
Leading Mount Hua's Chivalrous Knights to Anhui itself was the trap.
To the world, it might not mean much, but to Beok Jeong, it was a fatally effective trap.
Jang Ilso saw it in his eyes. The inferiority filling him, the pressure to surpass the Mount Hua's Chivalrous Knights, and the greed to monopolize all the glory for Shaolin.
All of it led everyone to this point.
"Shut up! I said shut up!"
And so, Jang Ilso couldn't help but laugh.
How ridiculous and pathetic it was that this supposedly noble monk was, in fact, the most desire-ridden person under heaven?
Truly despicable and ridiculous!
"Ahahahahahahaha!"
Tears welled up in degrees of laughter.
Beok Jeong's fist began to exude an even denser killing intent. Amidst the storm-like surging authority, his youthful face stood out, filled with particularly pronounced killing intent.
Suddenly, Jang Ilso felt curious.
Does that person know? What their face looks like now. When they realize that the devil they wanted to kill is none other than inside them, what expression will they make then?
"Ahhhhh!"
The veins burst, turning Beok Jeong's eyes crimson like demon eyes. He relentlessly rained down punches towards Jang Ilso's head.
The form, the intent, and even the style vanished in the indiscriminate punches. Just swinging fists driven by the determination to kill, not even resembling martial arts, just fists.
Jang Ilso's head was barely grazed by the fist as it swung through the air, but the blow struck Jang Ilso's shoulder. However, Jang Ilso continued to laugh even amidst the pain.
The laughter was the problem. That mocking laughter drove Beok Jeong even more insane.
"Shut your mouth! Before I rip it apart, shut your—"
At that moment, Beok Jeong uttered words he could never have imagined as a Buddhist practitioner.
*Thud*
A sudden spurt of blood gushed from Beok Jeong's mouth.
"Ku... ku... ku..."
His fist froze in mid-air.
'What...'
An ambush? Poisoning? No, it wasn't.
Beok Jeong's gaze slowly lowered. The blood flowing backward from his body, pouring out through his mouth, steadily stained the front of his robe.
The color of the blood was dark, but it wasn't tainted by poisoning; it was transparently dark.
This was evidence of severe internal injuries.
'From... from my mouth...'
"Hmm?"
With a smirk as if he understood everything, Jang Ilso looked at Beok Jeong. It was a mischievous smile.
"Oh, dear. Qi deviation, huh..."
*Step*
Jang Ilso took a step towards Beok Jeong.
"It's quite trifling."
"*Cough* *Cough* You, you..."
Beok Jeong tried to say something, but he couldn't even muster the strength to resist due to continuous coughing and pouring blood.
Then, Jang Ilso asked in a calm voice.
"Do you understand what this means?"
Beok Jeong slowly raised his head. Jang Ilso said.
"Even Buddha has abandoned you."
That statement struck Beok Jeong's ears like thunder.
"Ugh..."
Shaolin's martial arts could never coexist with such malice.
Everything Beok Jeong had just done violated the essence of Shaolin martial arts. Under the thick malice, he indiscriminately poured out the martial arts that should have been most righteous, so it was only natural that qi deviation occurred.
The words that Buddha had abandoned him were not just incorrect; they were shockingly true.
"If your Buddha truly does not allow evil, then perhaps what he wants to destroy is not me but you. Seeing that you didn't even allow me a short time to kill you."
"*Cough*"
Beok Jeong tried to speak, but he was consumed by continuous coughing and the pouring of blood.
At that moment, Jang Ilso's true qi, which overflowed like a Buddha painting, seemed almost amusingly ironic.