Chapter 45

Even after hearing the answer, Jin Yuanshang's bewildered expression did not fade.

"…Tai Chi? Where did you…"

"Is that important?"

Jin Yuanshang, bewildered by Zhang Jian's unchanged attitude and posture, gradually regained his composure. That is to say, he started to emit a menacing aura from his eyes again.

"…Right, that’s true. It doesn’t matter where or from whom you learned it… Even if it’s a strange technique, such slow movements won’t be able to stop me."

Zhang Jian chuckled.

"Slow? I’ve been faster than you all along."

Jin Yuanshang didn’t say anything more. He just distorted his face and lunged forward again. His tightly clenched fist tore through the air, aiming for Zhang Jian’s head.

Zhang Jian neither retreated nor dodged from the fist. Instead, he gently pushed away the incoming fist and arm with his palm and took a step forward to get even closer to Jin Yuanshang. Jin Yuanshang, not flustered, attacked Zhang Jian while still in close proximity, recalling the push he had received earlier.

The space between them was too narrow for the fist to reach, but that didn’t make Jin Yuanshang powerless. There were many other means of attack, such as elbows and shoulders. Jin Yuanshang immediately aimed an elbow at Zhang Jian’s face with his left arm.

The elbow didn’t connect. Zhang Jian circled around Jin Yuanshang, avoiding the elbow’s impact point, and kicked the back of his knee.

Jin Yuanshang almost collapsed as his knee buckled. However, he shifted his center of gravity to the other foot, regained his balance, and continued to attack Zhang Jian. With no room for his fists to move, he tried to strike Zhang Jian with his elbow, forearm, and shoulder.

But he couldn’t connect. Jin Yuanshang’s attacks were full of power and had the momentum to shatter even a rock, but they couldn’t land properly on Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian, like a reed, swayed and deflected, pushed, grabbed, and redirected Jin Yuanshang’s attacks, sometimes being pushed back and then returning to his original position like a spring, letting the attacks slip away.

The two, in close proximity, moved using elbows, shoulders, knees, waists, and backs. The difference was that Jin Yuanshang tried to move quickly and directly to land a hit, while Zhang Jian used circular movements to unbalance Jin Yuanshang.

Strangely, Zhang Jian, who moved in curves, was always a moment faster than Jin Yuanshang, who moved in the shortest distance. Jin Yuanshang began to suspect that Zhang Jian could read the future. After a long struggle without landing a single effective blow, Jin Yuanshang became increasingly frustrated. He felt as if he were floundering in a swamp or drowning in water.

"K-aa-aa-aa-!"

Finally, with his head boiling with rage, Jin Yuanshang began to move recklessly, shouting. He forgot the Shaolin martial arts and principles he had been using and started to pour out the internal energy surging within him.

Of course, as a result, his movements became simpler and he lost his balance more easily. After dodging his attacks a few times, Zhang Jian gently caught Jin Yuanshang’s forehead with his right hand and flipped him over. Jin Yuanshang flew away as if thrown and tumbled on the salt ground.

"Kuek!"

This time, he couldn’t immediately jump up from the ground as he had before. The internal energy inside his body, which had been stirred by Zhang Jian’s gesture, was out of control and raging. He rolled on the ground and suddenly lifted his head to glare at Zhang Jian. His face was so distorted by the uncontrolled internal energy and pain that it seemed impossible to become any more contorted.

He roared.

"Are you—! Do you also think I was wrong? Should I not have held them accountable? Do you think I shouldn’t have sought revenge for Xiaoxiao?"

Zhang Jian, who had thrown him, returned to his initial posture and looked at him calmly without saying a word. Feeling the calm gaze, Jin Yuanshang, who was about to shout more, suddenly felt as if the calm eyes were reflecting his own image like a still lake.

And at that moment, he felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

At the same time, a question arose. Why wasn’t he more curious about the child? Even though the child’s illness had been cured, he should be more curious about the circumstances. Was it because he felt that the child was the daughter of the man who had abused Xiaoxiao? But if that were the case, why did he need to steal the Great Revitalizing Pill from the main temple? After all, saving Xiaoxiao from her husband’s abuse would have been enough.

"Oh."

That was it. The only person who mattered to him was Xiaoxiao. He had brought the Great Revitalizing Pill to cure the child’s illness because he thought Xiaoxiao would be happy. That was all. There was no compassion for the Buddha he had learned for over ten years, nor respect for his master and fellow disciples. It was just a shallow thought to win back his old lover’s favor.

And now that she was dead, and he could no longer win her heart, the child had no meaning to him. From the moment he decided to rush to this new continent after reading the letter, he was no longer the Shaolin monk Jin Chao but a foolish man, Yuan Shang, who had gone mad trying to win back his lost lover.

But even after discarding Jin Chao’s appearance and the past ten years, the foolish appearance of Yuan Shang lost its luster when he finally faced Xiaoxiao’s death. Now, all that remained was a demon who used revenge as an excuse and just randomly killed people, knowing nothing but himself.

"…Haha, hahaha! Hahaha-!"

Jin Yuanshang, who had been standing with a dazed expression, suddenly started laughing as if he had gone insane. With his laughter, the blood tears that had momentarily stopped began to flow again, the veins in his neck bulged, and his face and body turned red and purple. Black blood gushed from the wound on his chest. He looked like a vicious monster, but his mouth continued to laugh, making him a demon in his own right.

Zhang Jian, who watched this, remained completely unmoved in his initial posture. However, his eyes, which looked at Jin Yuanshang, sank deeper.

Jin Yuanshang, who had been laughing madly, suddenly stopped and said.

"The Sword Dragon Sect must all die."

He said this like a madman and suddenly got up and rushed towards the Sword Dragon Sect warriors. The warriors, who were hugging each other’s injured bodies and had moved away, were startled by his sudden rush and screamed.

"What the hell! Why are you doing this all of a sudden!"

"S-Save me! Please! No!"

Seeing Jin Yuanshang’s sudden charge, Jin Jian, who had been sitting on the ground, hurriedly got up and blocked the warriors.

"Stop, Junior Brother Jin Chao!"

However, his arms, injured earlier, couldn’t even be raised. Jin Yuanshang, as if he didn’t care about Jin Jian’s condition, extended his claw-like hand as if to tear him apart. Jin Jian didn’t back down even when he saw the hand. He had a face that said he would block with his body rather than step aside. There was no hesitation in Jin Yuanshang’s bloodshot eyes.

Just before the hand grabbed Jin Jian’s neck, Jin Yuanshang was pulled back by a force that grabbed his waist from behind. The force tried to spin him around and throw him to the ground.

But Jin Yuanshang, while being pulled, violently twisted his waist in mid-air, shook off Zhang Jian’s hand, and spun around to land on the ground. He immediately threw a right punch at Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian, as in the previous clash, raised his left hand to push away the punch. However, when the punch and palm met, his eyebrows twitched. The internal energy contained in it was incomparably powerful.

He swayed his body like a reed again, dodging the punch. Immediately after, the internal energy that hadn’t been completely dissipated from the punch burst out with a puff, leaving a deep fist mark on the white salt ground.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Jin Yuanshang continued to attack Zhang Jian. His punches, movements, and steps were filled with unbelievable power, tearing through the air and shattering the ground as they aimed at Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian’s movements in response were similar to before, swaying and spinning, but they also looked incomparably precarious.

The white salt ground and sand crumbled and rose like dust under the steps of the two and the storm of internal energy.

Jin Yuanshang, who had been floundering until a moment ago, pushed Zhang Jian with movements that were hard to believe and shouted.

"How long do you think you can keep blocking and dodging!"

After the shout, a murky gray aura gathered in his fist. The internal energy that exceeded the limit of his skin and fist was revealed, like the sword qi that arises from a blade. If it had to be named, it could be called fist qi.

"Die-!"

Seeing the light, Zhang Jian felt that he could no longer block and dodge Jin Yuanshang. Of course, he could continue to do so. Having digested all the elixirs he had obtained from the valley spirit the previous day, Zhang Jian could now match the raging Jin Yuanshang by forcefully pushing internal energy into his limbs.

However, Zhang Jian felt something else. The overwhelming internal energy of this Jin Yuanshang was his life force. The demonization had finally consumed everything. It was probably a fierce fire that wouldn’t last long, like burning a straw.

At the same time, Zhang Jian looked into Jin Yuanshang’s eyes.

Despite the viciously distorted face and the demon-like laughter, Jin Yuanshang’s eyes were surprisingly calm and clear, looking straight at him. Zhang Jian understood what those clear eyes were saying.

"Ha-ha-ha! Die, die-!"

Jin Yuanshang, laughing like a madman, extended his right fist, wrapped in a gray aura, straight forward. It was a direct, straightforward punch, unlike the demon-like face, pure and simple.

Zhang Jian’s left hand reached out to meet the punch. His hand gently deflected the incoming punch like flowing water and penetrated Jin Yuanshang’s guard. At the same time, a subtle rotation started from Zhang Jian’s toes, moving up through his ankles, knees, waist, shoulders, elbows, and wrists, reaching his fingertips. And those fingertips touched Jin Yuanshang’s chest as if a feather had landed.

After a slight delay, a thud echoed from Jin Yuanshang’s body. After the thud, neither Zhang Jian nor Jin Yuanshang moved. The dust that had risen from their confrontation slowly settled on the ground.

The sky was still blue, and thin clouds floated here and there. The vast salt plain, white and bright, looked peaceful. The scenery seemed no different from before they started fighting.

Then Jin Yuanshang spoke.

"…Warrior Zhang, did I tell you the child’s name? Xiaoxiao’s daughter."

He asked in a slightly hoarse voice. It was a tired voice, but it was better to hear than his mad laughter.

"No. You didn’t."

"That’s right. The child’s name is Jin Xiahua…"

He paused as if something was rising in his throat.

"…The character 真 (zhen) has been intertwined with my life. It was the surname of the man who took Xiaoxiao, my dharma name when I received it, and, of course, the surname of Xiaoxiao’s daughter… And it was the character I should have realized about myself."

At that moment, a stream of bright red blood flowed from his mouth without a gurgle. He smiled faintly at Zhang Jian while bleeding.

"Warrior Zhang, I’ve caused you a lot of trouble these past few days. And I’m sorry, but please take care of Xiahua."

"I’m a wanderer with no home."

"She has lost both her parents in a short time. Whether you send her to Shaolin Temple or somewhere else, please don’t leave her alone."

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Jian nodded. Jin Yuanshang, seeing this, nodded slightly and, in the next moment, fell backward.

"Jin Chao! Junior Brother Jin Chao!"

Jin Jian rushed to Jin Yuanshang, who had fallen. But he was already dead, lying on his back, looking at the sky. Jin Jian, kneeling in front of the body, closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head in sorrow.

"…Namo Amita… Buddha… Guanyin, Bodhisattva…"

Zhang Jian turned his head, hearing the suppressed chanting mixed with sobs. The salt plain, where they had fled from Yanhucheng to the west in one night, was so barren that not a single blade of grass or animal could be seen, only the dry wind whistling through the air. The white landscape could be seen as desolate or pure, depending on the observer.

From the distance, Cao Cao was approaching, leading another horse. Zhang Jian, noticing this, couldn’t help but smile bitterly.