If Cheong Myeong had reincarnated not into the body of a beggar, but into the body of a saint? A saint who had been blessed by the heavens in the distant past, when he was a beggar child, and the temple, having learned of this, quickly took him away.
"Who is that?" asked one of the disciples, pointing at a group of people who didn't particularly look like martial arts masters, who had only just arrived and were discussing something with the Abbot. And if they weren't masters, then what had they forgotten at the Shaolin tournament?
"Ah. Those are the keepers of the Temple of the Heavenly Saint. Despite the fact that he went missing several years ago, they haven't lost hope of finding him," said Tang Soso, and everyone nodded.
The news that the saint had disappeared had shaken the plains and still haunted many, even though quite a few years had already passed.
"Where's Cheong Myeong?.."
Looking around, they noticed a strange person wrapped in many mantles and covering his face with a mask. He was standing in the very center of the Mount Hua Sect group.
"Cheong Myeong! What's wrong with you now?"
"Nothing, Sasuk! It's just... Um. It suddenly got cold! Haha!"
Baek Cheon raised a brow.
"You knooow... I was just thinking, why don't we head down to the city?"
"What's gotten into you!.."
Ignoring the questions, Cheong Myeong abruptly turned around and disappeared.
The Five Swords carefully watched Cheong Myeong, who was acting far too nervous. He had refused the noticeable mantles and put on a cloak with a hood, with which he constantly covered his face and glanced around.
'Maybe he really is a fugitive from some family?' flashed through everyone's heads, but no one said it out loud.
Until someone unexpectedly grabbed Cheong Myeong by the hand.
"It's you! We've been searching for you for so long! Why did you run away?!" Traces of tears could be seen in the man's eyes, but his gaze expressed more anger.
Without thinking, Cheong Myeong tore his hand free and disappeared as fast as possible. Seeing his reaction, none of the Five Swords could object when he locked himself in the pavilion assigned to Mount Hua until his round.
The final battle between the monk and Cheong Myeong was bound to attract a lot of attention a priori. And it did, when Cheong Myeong unfurled the plum blossoms, trampling Hye Yeon into the ground, and in that very second, the head keeper of the Saint rode straight onto the platform, and everyone froze.
"We've finally found you, Saint! Let us quickly leave this place and return!" All those present gasped, and the man hurried to drag Cheong Myeong off the platform, but he was too weak.
"I will not return there," Cheong Myeong said firmly, despite the reaction of his body, which would not stop trembling. Another sign.
"Why?! It is your destiny!"
"Why? In your opinion, is it normal to starve a child for no reason and force him to give his blood to some scoundrels? He wasn't even 15. He was a child. You didn't even give him a name." His voice grew weaker and weaker, as if all the life had been drained out of him. Cheong Myeong's face itself turned pale, and his hands began to tremble even worse.
When he had taken over the body of this child, everything was so horrible that he thought the war with magyo hadn't ended yet and that children were still being tormented by the cult's followers. Even now, he is haunted by phantom sensations all over his body. It had taken him an entire month just to escape from the temple.
"You're delirious, child. Come, we must return you home..."
The man's body was thrown back, and Yu Iseol was already standing next to Cheong Myeong.
"Everything's fine, thank you, Sago."
He glanced once more at the pitiful man, who deserved a horrible death.
Without a doubt. As soon as they left Shaolin, he would deal with him... But for now, he was already surrounded by the disciples of Mount Hua.
"Cheong Myeong? Is everything alright?"
"Should we take care of that guy for you?"
Now, he was already home, so there was nothing to worry about.
