Chapter 327: Star, Teachers and Students (2)
Chang-Sun’s reaction surprised the old man since not one soul on Earth had ever dared treat him like that. After all, Thousand-Eyed Overlord Carl Malone held great significance in this world.
The Five Great Clans were the leaders in the world of Players. However, the Council, the biggest organization on Earth, kept them in check. Even the Nine Evils, the worst demonic beings, were reluctant to engage in direct conflict against Carl, and just being in the same room with him made the Ten Overlords uneasy.
People either respected Carl or felt uneasy around him, but Chang-Sun did neither. Rather, he completely ignored Carl, seemingly unable to care less that he was in the latter’s presence. To top it all off, Chang-Sun seemed to be very well acquainted with Avalokitesvara, Carl’s Guardian.
Carl knew that Chang-Sun was a Celestial now, but he had just finished his <Exuviation> and <Transcendence>, while Avalokitesvara was already comparable to Great Celestials. That was why he couldn’t help but be surprised when Chang-Sun walked all over her. Unfortunately, her reaction to it did nothing but deepen his shock.
‘L-Lady Bodhisattva…!?’ Carl was bewildered. Whenever he spoke to his Guardian, she would always smile gently and quietly listen to what he had to say with her eyes closed. She never once failed to appear holy before him. Hence, the message about her shoulders drooping like a scolded puppy haunted him.
“Why are you here?” Chang-Sun asked, his voice filled with hostility.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ answers that it is because she missed you, with whom she shared a deep connection.]
“Save your crap for someone else.”
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ droops her shoulders.]
“It’s not going to work.” Chang-Sun enunciated his every word.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ wipes her tears away with her index finger.]
Avalokitesvara tried to seem pitiful, but Chang-Sun just found her annoying.
Chang-Sun frowned. “Don’t do—!”
Smack!
Cha Ye-Eun struck the top of Chang-Sun’s head with a knife-hand strike. “That is no way to talk to the elderly.”
“… Ye-Eun,” Chang-Sun murmured.
Ye-Eun was holding a big fruit basket in one hand. She seemed to have left to buy it.
“Why are you acting so sensitive around her? Lady Avalokitesvara has been looking out for us all this time.” Ye-Eun tilted her head in confusion.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ nods, saying that she is right.]
“That bas—!” Chang-Sun pointed at Avalokitesvara and was about to cuss again when he noticed one of Ye-Eun’s eyebrows was raised. Retracting his words, he said, “That guy did?”
Though dumbstruck, Ye-Eun soon nodded. “Lady Avalokitesvara is the Council’s Guardian. When the Gates first appeared, demonic beings could have thrown the already chaotic world deeper into chaos if she didn’t stop many of them. She’s one of the few Guardians who used up her own Causality and directly helped people on Earth.”
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ watches the Player ‘Cha Ye-Eun,’ touched and grateful by the fact that someone acknowledges her hard work!]
Carl also nodded in agreement.
Chang-Sun’s frown deepened in disbelief. “What? That guy helped the people on Earth?”
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ looks down at the floor, feeling daunted by all your cussing.]
“Yes. Why do you hate Lady Avalokitesvara so much anyway?” Ye-Eun asked.
Also quite curious, Carl quietly looked at Chang-Sun. For a moment, Chang-Sun glared at Avalokitesvara’s Channeling, threatening her to spill first.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ furtively looks away from you, feigning ignorance.]
Chang-Sun sighed deeply and massaged his aching temples. With Avalokitesvaraseemingly Chang-Sun began to reveal their past.
“Do you know about the [Golden Sutra Headband]?” Chang-Sun asked.
“[Golden Sutra Headband]? Ah, is that the one Sun Wukong wore on his head?”
“No, that’s the [Head Sutra Headband][1].”
“Huh…?” Ye-Eun tilted her head in confusion.
“They’re not that different from each other. The [Golden Sutra Headband] is like the shackle Guanshinyin uses when someone from the <Saha World> doesn’t listen to her.”
Ye-Eun recalled the storyline of 《Journey to the West》, which she read when she was young. Sun Wukong’s story was very famous in both the eastern and western regions of Earth. According to it, Sun Wukong was an uncontrollable troublemaker, so whenever he didn’t listen to Tan Sanzang the Monk, the latter would recite a special magic spell that tightened the headband around Sun Wukong’s head, giving him a severe headache. That made the [Golden Sutra Headband] one of Sun Wukong’s most famous items along with [Ruyi Jingu Bang] and [Nimbus].
“And that bast—that guy tried to put the [Golden Sutra Headband] on me.”
“Ah…” Ye-Eun’s jaw dropped.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ whistles, furtively glancing in your direction.]
Ye-Eun finally understood the relationship between Chang-Sun and Avalokitesvara. Chang-Sun was a very notorious fiend in Arcadia. Since he also played the biggest role in the outbreak of the <Myth War>, Avalokitesvara couldn’t leave him alone while saving and reforming sentient beings from hardships.
Avalokitesvara herself participated in the <Myth War> during its early stages to subdue the chaos, so she likely tried to put the [Golden Sutra Headband] on Chang-Sun and control him just like she had done with Sun Wukong in the distant past.
Chang-Sun gave Ye-Eun a very abridged version of what happened, but there had to be more stories behind the incident that he couldn’t tell her. Chang-Sun likely went through so much hardship during that time. Thinking about it made Ye-Eun well up.
Chang-Sun initiated the <Myth War> because of her previous reincarnation’s death. Considering the incident between Avalokitesvara and Chang-Sun wouldn’t have taken place if it weren’t for the <Myth War>, Ye-Eun wasn’t totally unrelated to the matter. With her eyes turning cold and sharp, Ye-Eun scowled at Carl and Avalokitesvara.
“Cough, cough…! Cough! S-something bad must have happened in the p-past. Cough, cough, cough!” Carl cleared his throat, hurriedly looking elsewhere.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ looks away from everywhere!]
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ sweats bullets!]
* * *
Ye-Eun officially introduced Carl to Chang-Sun.
“Cough! Cough, cough! My Guardian and you have gotten off on the wrong foot, but let’s forget about the past and start anew. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Carl Malone.”
“Lee Chang-Sun,” Chang-Sun briefly replied.
He still had not forgotten the grudges he had against Avalokitesvara, so he couldn’t be kind to Carl, her apostle. However, Chang-Sun couldn’t be rude to him either because Ye-Eun told him Carl was like her teacher when she introduced him.
Ye-Eun said that if it weren’t for Carl’s noble ideals, she wouldn’t have actively taken a part in this world. Carl was the one who influenced her to lead her life as Ye-Eun, not Ithaca, so she deeply respected Carl and Avalokitesvara. Hence, Chang-Sun stopped himself from cussing out her lover’s teacher. Amid it all…
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ silently stares at you.]
‘… What’s wrong?’ Chang-Sun asked.
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ asks you to learn to respect your teacher like her.]
‘You’ll never be able to find a student like me, you know.’
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ asks you where you sold your conscience off to.]
‘I stand by my words.’
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ shakes his head and says that you have a long way to go before you mature.]
Despite Mephistopheles’ criticism, Chang-Sun shamelessly held his head high as if he didn’t do anything wrong. His response dumbfounded and rendered Mephistopheles speechless, but instead of paying him any more attention, Chang-Sun focused on the situation at hand.
“You’re not here just to meet Ye-Eun, are you?” Chang-Sun asked in an odd tone that was neither formal nor casual.
He spoke casually to Avalokitesvara, so it would be strange to talk formally to her apostle. Nevertheless, it wasn’t as if Chang-Sun could talk to his lover’s teacher casually, hence the odd tone.
Fortunately, Carl didn’t mind. “I’m here because I was hoping to ask for your cooperation.”
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ nods in agreement.]
“Cooperation? Why should I?” Chang-Sun asked with a sullen look.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ cautiously says that considering how close you two are, you should help her out.]
“Close? Just stay quiet, would you?” Chang-Sun growled.
[The Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ becomes as gloomy as a soda can that got stomped on.]
Watching his Guardian, whose holy image was currently being pulverized, with pity, Carl quickly changed the topic. “Cough, cough, cough! Why don’t you hear us out first before deciding?”
Chang-Sun quietly nodded.
“It’s about this.” Carl pulled out a crystal orb and dropped it on the floor.
As the orb shattered, the world around them changed.
[Playing the memory stored within!]
Chang-Sun was familiar with the place.
‘Isn’t this ‘Doomsday City’?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
He already cleared the Dungeon, so why was it being mentioned now?
‘No, this is R’lyeh.’ Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.
As the Dungeon collapsed, the space distorted, and the <Myths> that Chang-Sun, Ye-Eun, Munseong, and Lie Si left behind dissipated. Chang-Sun wondered how they managed to record that moment, but it didn’t take long for him to get his answer. Avalokitesvara had the [Thousand Eyes], an Authority that allowed her to observe the world. She likely used it to observe R’lyeh.
“I see nothing wrong with it.” Chang-Sun tilted his head.
“I’m not saying that this place itself is the problem. Focus on this part.” Carl reached out toward the paused memory and enlarged it by spreading his hands vertically. The memory zoomed in on a region shrouded in darkness. In the gap of the wide-opened door, <Darkness> raged like a storm so strong that even a Celestial would have trouble standing still inside, yet someone was standing tall in the middle of it. They were holding [Ryu Jingu Bang,’ which glowed gold. Activating [Fiery Eyes of Truth], their eyes also emitted golden light.
Chang-Sun immediately identified who the person was.
‘Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong!’
Most of the White Tiger Council of Elders had died, though. Did Hyeon-Ryong survive? If so, why was he just standing in front of R’lyeh’s door instead of fleeing?
‘No, that isn’t Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong.’
Behind Hyeon-Ryong was a human with white waist-length hair. He, too, held the [Riyu Jingu Bang], and his eyes also glowed because of the [Fiery Eyes of Truth]. Smiling coldly, the man watched Chang-Sun and the others as if to say that he knew someone was watching him in secret.
This was the first time Chang-Sun had seen the man, but he couldn’t be more certain about who the latter was. The Stone Monkey of the Bloom Mountains, Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, Sun Ascetic, Handsome Monkey King, Great Sage of Heaven's Equal, Victorious Fighting Buddha… the man had made so many outstanding accomplishments and <Myths> that he gained a myriad of titles. The man even reached the great rank of Buddha…
‘... A symbol and face of <Supreme Light>.’ Chang-Sun recalled.
It was Sun Wukong, Hyeon-Ryong’s Guardian. That didn’t explain why he was in the area back then, though.
“We’ve been hunting demonic beings for quite a long time now because we believe that Earth would never be at peace for as long as there are people who abused their power,” Carl said, catching Chang-Sun’s attention.
Carl was scowling at Hyeon-Ryong and Sun Wukong, no longer looking like the gentle grandfather who lived next door. His eyes filled with murderous intent as if he just ran into his mortal enemies.
“That is why I exterminated countless demonic beings, but it got me thinking. No matter how hard I tried, eradicating them all seemed impossible because they just kept popping out of nowhere like cockroaches. Even if I cover the place with bug traps, they would just find a different hole to crawl out of.” Carl breathed deeply for a moment, trying to suppress the fury that was trying to get the better of him. “Those cockroaches have to come from some ‘root.’’”
Ye-Eun nodded in agreement. Chang-Sun’s eyes slightly widened.
“Someone out there is hiding somewhere, playing with the world as they please. We initially thought that that someone was the White Tiger Clan, so we struck it down along with the Jaynix Company. Unfortunately, interrogating them revealed that they were just the root’s covers that it played around with.”
“Then the root is…” Chang-Sun asked, finally understanding what Carl was trying to say.
“Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong and Sun Wukong.” Carl nodded, pointing at Hyeon-Ryong with his index finger as if he wanted to pierce through the hologram image and attack him and Sun Wukong.
Carl turned to Chang-Sun and opened his palm, revealing a golden headband that soon floated above. Chang-Sun was quite familiar with it. After all, it was the very accursed item that Avalokitesvara tried to put on him in the past using whatever means necessary.
“Making him wear this [Golden Sutra Headband] and eradicating all evil from Earth are my and my Guardian’s final goals,” Carl said with determined eyes.
1. The raw for Golden Sutra Headband is 금고아, and the raw for Head Sutra Headband is 긴고아. The two Korean terms are often used interchangeably to refer to Sun Wukong’s golden headband, but the correct term is 긴고아(Head Sutra Headband). To sum up, they are the same, but they mean two different items in TDTR. ☜
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