It was dusk with the sun was already below the horizon. Despite the darkness, the mist-covered Eastern Sect(1)was illuminated by torches that were held by Buddhist monks. There was a s.p.a.cious chamber(2) with doors wide-open in front of a line of monks. A tied-up calf was offered on a decorated altar inside the chamber. Behind the altar were five individuals, each with a unique appearance that does not match the image of a Buddhist temple. There was an elderly Do-Yin(3) with crane-like white hair; a middle-aged woman wearing a So-Bok(4); a foreign-looking Buddhist monk; a hunched, middle-aged, bald man; and finally, a st.u.r.dy man wearing patched clothes. Their eyes reflected their nervousness and sadness.

In midst of the low hum of sutra chants, a man in his prime, wearing a scarlet Ga-Sa(5), had walked in. The Buddhist monks and the other five individuals who were standing upright behind the altar politely bowed to him. It seems the man who had just entered was the Buddhist priest.

The ritual soon started upon his appearance. The five who were behind the altar were restless as various sutra chants and strange procedures for the ritual were done. Two trembling Buddhist monks approached the altar, carrying a tied-up calf. They hesitated for a second, but when the priest beamed at them, they held up the knife. The priest’s face looked gentle, his eyes glowing with blue Ki.

One of the monks closed his eyes and slit the calf’s neck with the knife. The other monks trembled as they heard the cries of the calf in agony. Some had chosen to close their eyes while some tried to look away. The two monks drenched in calf’s blood tried to drag the twitching calf, but they were dawdling, perhaps due to their trembling hands.

The head monk scowled. Without any hesitation, he walked in front of the altar and yelled at the two monks.

“You! Do you think you perform this sacred ritual for Maheśvara(6) with such weak hearts?”

He pushed away the trembling monks, grabbing the head and neck of the calf, which was still gushing out with blood. He then ripped off the head with amazing strength whilst chanting Sanskrit.

A torch-bearing monk at the back of the line had his leg bent and started to vomit. The eyes of the five behind the altar, silently watching, trembled as well. The head priest continued to rip through the b.l.o.o.d.y calf with his other hand whilst holding onto its neck. The sound of bones cracking resonated with the gush of blood from it’s neck, spilling onto the altar. The chanting priest held up his blood-stained hand, but suddenly shouted.

“This is not enough! Maheśvara desires a bigger sacrifice! Stop the ritual!”

The monks lowered their heads and kneeled on the ground upon hearing that the ritual has ended. Displeased with the monks, the head priest started to swear at them again. However, the bald man with the hunchback behind the altar could not tolerate it any longer and shouted.

“Head Priest(7) Suh! What more do you desire when we have already started the sacrificial ritual of blood which was forbidden? Any more worshipping of blood and sacrifice is-······”

“Silence! Guardian(8) Jang!”

The man called Head Priest Suh’s face suddenly distorted. The room’s temperature seemed to have gotten colder.

“Without sacrifice, no power can be gained! Maheśvara, Shiva, is the one who possesses great power! Furthermore, he can only be satisfied through the sacrifice of life!”

Guardian Jang shouted back without any hesitation.

“Just for what and for whom is this sacrifice for?! In this perpetually holy place······”

The white-haired elder possessing the aura of Do-Yin grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from saying any more.Guardian Jang angrily turned away and walked out. Head Priest Suh fumed, he looked around, his eyes glowing with blue ki filled with killing intent. His eyes stopped where the two, blood-stained, trembling monks are. WhenHead Priest Suh gazed at them, they rose up, their eyes dull, as if possessed by something.

“You, follow me. There is work to do. As for the others, clean up this place and disperse!”

Head Priest Suh’s eyes burned. The people who stood behind the altar kept their mouths shut and started to clean up the place, hastening the monks who staggered.

How long had it been?

As if in a nightmare, not a single being dared to disrupt the temple grounds’ silence. A piercing scream escaped from a sealed cave, a cave among the many others which were empty, found on the mist-covered mountain.

The voice was rather thin, but Guardian Jang, who was listening with his ear at the door, could clearly hear the sound. Guardian Jang paled and trembled. The scream was soon overlapped by a man’s enthusiastic chanting voice, one that sounded familiar. The unsatisfiable ritual continued with a different sacrifice. The two monks who followed Head Priest Suh were never seen again.

Guardian Jang scowled, his pale face trembling with anger. As if he could not endure his frustration, he tried to run into the cave. Then, someone silently grabbed his shoulder. Guardian Jang turned.

“Young Master(9)!”

It was an elderly Do-In who stopped Guardian Jang. The elder silently led him into the forest. Once he checked that no one was nearby, he spoke to Guardian Jang.

“You cannot act rashly. Do you think you can win against the Head Priest with vigor alone?”

Guardian Jang cried out in sorrow and kneeled while grabbing onto the end of the elder’s clothes.

“Young Master······ Just how did this happen? Head Priest Suh, what has made Head Priest Suh to become like that······ He was intelligent and had a strong sense of justice, but now-······”

“It is the result of his obsession with power······ Be calm. I’ve heard you two studied under the same teacher. Have you?”

“Head Priest S-Suh, how did he-······”

Guardian Jang could not finish what he was saying due to a sudden surge of emotion.

The elder spoke with an unsteady breath as he looked towards the night sky with shining eyes.

“ A person’s heart cannot be completely comprehended. The more training an individual goes through, he shall bear more greed and suffer greater temptations.

The elder stopped and shook his head for a moment. He then pulled Guardian Jang to his feet.

“There’s no other way now. We have to think of our own missions. We came from different religious branches, but we are all Guardians who protect this Hidden Eastern Sect.”

“Then, what should we-······”

“There is a job you must do.”

Guardian Jang raised his head. His eyes were burning with determination as if he had made up his mind. The elder continued.

“We need the help of an outsider with a strong power who the Head Priest do not know of.”

“By an outsider, do you mean-······”

“I have heard of this one person. This priest has been carrying out miracles for a long while. This excommunicated priest······”

Hyun-Ahm felt a sudden disturbance. Someone was releasing a strange ki inside the bus. The origin of that Ki was not from one, but two locations.

Hyun-Ahm closed his eyes and focused, but it was for naught. Even the weak insight he got while learning the art of ki(10) was almost gone. He could only vaguely sense Ki. Hyun-Ahm leaned his head back and sighed.

‘How did I end up like this.’

Thinking back, Hyun-Ahm’s past was too wild. It was series of events no one would ever believe······

‘Hyun-Ah······’

Now Hyun-Ah, his only younger sister, was no longer by Hyun-Ahm’s side. It had already been six years since then. Hyun-Ah, who became a victim of a supernatural being······

Hyun-Ahm pursed his lips. A teardrop rolled down his cheek.

‘Please forgive this Oppa(11), Hyun-Ah-ya······’

After almost going mad, Hyun-Ahm promised to avenge Hyun-Ah’s death, however he could not meet anyone that believed in the supernatural, let alone help him. They only showed him pity.

Hyun-Ahm began his training after stealing the secret technique of Tae-Geuk-Ki-Gong(12), which was pa.s.sed on secretly. However, his whole body became paralyzed from learning the technique incorrectly. Then, disciple(13)Han-Bin, an extraordinary person living in the middle of a mountain, fatefully appeared in front of him. He saved the nearly-dying Hyun-Ahm and taught him ancient martial arts like Divine Phantom Sword(14), Lion Roar, and Adamant Heart(15). However, when the Ki path all over his body became twisted once more······ another savior appeared. Do-Hye bhikkhu(16) handed all his Jin-Won-Ji-Ki(17) that he’d been stacking of for past 70 years to Hyun-Ahm······

Hyun-Ahm woke up from wandering in his past with the bus coming to a halt and the people busily getting their stuff.

Hyun-Ahm felt strange spiritual power once more. He slowly turned his head and observed the people seated at the back. Most of them were normal tourists, but two people caught his eyes. Two different streams of spiritual power were emanating from them. One of them was a tall man with a st.u.r.dy build, wearing eyegla.s.ses, with a few white hairs, possibly around his fifties. The other one was of similar age and was sitting in a hunched position as if his back was bent. He had very sharp eyes and only half of his hair remained.

They did not appear to be abnormal, but Hyun-Ahm could detect very strong spiritual power from them.

Hyun-Ahm turned his head back to the front. Since last year when he came down from the mountain after learning from disciple Han-Bin and bhikkhu Do-Hye, there was no place he hadn’t been to in attempt to fix his twisted Ki path. And now, he was on his way to the Eastern Sect, which is said to have pa.s.sed down its techniques in secret.

He heard that the Eastern sect was a secret religious group that came directly from India to Korea during theGaya period(18), unlike the esoteric sects(19) of China or j.a.pan, and has continued to have its tradition pa.s.sed down in secret until today. This Eastern Sect was said to have formed its peculiar system even long before Mahayana Buddhism settled down during the period of the Three Kingdoms(20), but any details about it are under lock and key. Hyun-Ahm learned about the Eastern Sect only because he coincidentally heard of it frombhikkhu Do-Hye. According to Do-Hye bhikkhu, the Eastern Sect possessed higher spiritual power and performed greater miracles than the esoteric sects that still live in present day India or Tibet. bhikkhu Do-Hye hinted to Hyun-Ahm about how he still had hope of fixing his twisted Ki path using the ancient method of theEastern Sect and fully using the Ki his teachers have handed to him.

The bus entered a terminal. Hyun-Ahm turned his head back once again. The two weren’t saying anything. It seemed that they still hadn’t noticed that Hyun-Ahm had been glancing at them. It was obvious that they wouldn’t notice as Hyun-Ahm’s Ki path was twisted and had his Dae-Ju-Teon and So-Ju-Teon(21) moved at the outer path contrary to the norm, and even his Third Eye(22) was messed up, which made his condition very unique and made him unable to use normal spiritual power. So, normal spiritual power users could not see Hyun-Ahm’s spiritual capability without observing him in detail. Hyun-Ahm dismissed the two as spiritual power users he met coincidentally and proceeded to get off from the bus, no longer caring about them.

The two also got off and silently walked the same way. Their faces were grim. The man with st.u.r.dy body opened his mouth first.

“What a terrifying incident. To think a head priest of an esoteric sect would turn as violent as to not mind offering a live human······”

With fiery eyes, the bald man with the bent back replied.

“We decided to use the last resort: to oppress the head priest, take away his power, and bring him down.”

“However, is that not the matter of the sect? I am not a person involved in it.”

“Though I’ve heard that Priest Bak uses your power for people, disregarding religion or sect. That is also why we ask Priest Bak for the help.”

“I am sure the other guardians also possess similar powers as mine. Not to mention you as well, Guardian Jang.”

The man called Guardian Jang answered.

“However, the head priest’s power is immense. He has forgotten about the original purpose of the sect, which was to help people, and is completing the power by summoning power of evil from old Brahmanism. We cannot win against him with power alone. It is because the head priest knows our power too well. Therefore, we need someone with a power of completely different origin.”

“Still, the head priest is still a human. Is there really no other way to change him back to the way he was?”

“That would be the best solution. However, he is already drunk with power in the name of evil. He rejects all except power and even holds rituals for Shiva or Asura which are prohibited, and he rejects the base of the sect.i.tself, the mercy and dogma. Not only that, he is even thinking of gaining force using chaos throughout the world. Ultimately, he is trying to create a world of evil spirits ruled by spiritual power, not a world of humanity.”

“Is that possible?”

“If we do not stop him, it will become possible even if it is not at the moment. The problem lies in what the head priest is targeting for now. If the head priest’s power spreads and this world has forgotten about the value of life, mind, and spirit, head priest’s ideals will spread fast.”

“Hmm······”

The largely built man called Priest Bak thought for a moment, and spoke.

“a head priest of a sect should’ve went through rigorous training. I don’t understand how he became like that.”

“I don’t either. We studied under the same master before. He possessed great ability and a merciful heart, but he changed after becoming a head priest.”

“Is it possible that the head priest is being controlled by some evil power?”

“It is hard to imagine that someone with the spiritual power as strong as to make him a head priest would be controlled by a mere evil spirit or evil G.o.d. I think the problem lies within himself. I think with his tendency to become obsessed, he became overly focused on power and became like that.”

Guardian Jang stopped with a saddened expression, but continued to speak soon after.

“In any case, please help us. The 5th generation of guardians of the Eastern Sect already agreed upon this.”

The two whispered to each other as they walked. The direction they were going was coincidentally the same way Hyun-Ahm is heading.

Hyun-Ahm had been searching around the mountain several times before. Even bhikkhu Do-Hye, who told him about the existence of the Eastern Sect and the approximate location of it, only told him that it’s at the Mt. Ju-Ahk. Hyun-Ahm hot-headedly went to the Mt. Ju-Ahk, but he couldn’t find the way.

Hyun-Ahm trained his body with gymnastics ever since he was small. Plus, he practiced the art of ki to heal his ill body. So, even without using the Ki-Gong-Lyuk(23), bhikkhu Do-Hye has pa.s.sed onto him, he is stronger than average people and didn’t get tired even if he wandered around the mountain for a while. However, Hyun-Ahm’sKi-Gong-Lyuk can only be extracted through his right arm, so he could only use it to harden his body near Ki-Hae-Hyul. As to how he can move around like any other people even when all his Ki path has been twisted was a mystery that not even masters like disciple Han-Bin or bhikkhu Do-Hye could figure out.

Anyways, Hyun-Ahm was agitated. It was unthinkable that he, who trained in a mountain for six years, to lose his way in this small mountain.

‘There must be some barrier.The main temple of the Eastern Sect must be hidden where no one can see.’

Hyun-Ahm headed to the peak again. Even if it is of a small religious group, as long as it’s a head temple of something, it would be quite huge. There’s no way the temple can be hidden inside a cramped place like a cave.

Hyun-Ahm quickly reached the head of the mountain. The mountain wasn’t so big, but even someone as st.u.r.dy as Hyun-Ahm would get exhausted from searching through the mountain all day. He searched around before noon, but the sun was already near the horizon. As Hyun-Ahm thought of the few heads of the Mt. Ju-Ahk, he observed the terrains.

‘What is that?’

Hyun-Ahm felt something strange. When he was climbing during the day, he saw thick fog, clouding the bottom of the eastern peak. Since the sun was rising from the east, it was not unusual for the fog to gather under the shadow of the mountain. However, isn’t the sun going down toward the west now? The sun was shining on it, and yet the place was still foggy.

‘Let’s go there.’

Hyun-Ahm thought than in this small mountain, a temple can only be hidden inside that foggy place.

Priest Bak was inside the head temple of the Eastern Sect. The five guardians of the temple were gathered at one place. There was Guardian Jang, who has led him here, a old man dressed like a Dosa(24) with long snow-white hair, a middle-aged, aquiline-nosed man who looks to be of Indian descent, a middle-aged woman wearing white So-Bok, and a young man with st.i.tched clothes.

Guardian Jang introduced Priest Bak to the elderly man dressed like a Dosa.

“This is a man who goes by the Buddhist cognomen of Byuk-Gong. He is the highest of the guardians, and the one who has succeeded highest seats of both Volcano Clan of China and the line of Do.”

Do-Yin Byuk-Gong, who is also the high guardians, silently gave Priest Bak a nod, as he gave off an aura of a wise man. Priest Bak couldn’t even guess how old he is from his aged look, and acted very politely toward him, who was the eldest of the guardians.

“This is a man who calls himself Ma-Ga. He is the third of the guardians, and succeeded the hidden temple in India.”

Guardian Jang spoke of the third guardian Ma-Ga who was the only foreigner there. Guardian Ma-Ga shared greetings with Priest Bak in imperfect Korean.

“This is the fourth guardian, Eul-Lyeon. She succeeded the family of Mu.”

The middle-aged woman wearing So-Bok bowed to him. She seemed like she would’ve been quite beautiful in her younger years. Priest Bak greeted the fourth guardian, Mu-Dang Eul-Lyeon with a smile.

“And this is the fifth guardian, Huh-Huh-Ja. He’s a man talented at the talisman of Mo-San Clan.”

The fifth guardian Huh-Huh-Ja with st.i.tched clothes was the youngest among them. Was he about thirty years old? He seemed like an honest man. Huh-Huh-Ja greeted Priest Bak with a grin, and Priest Bak replied accordingly. Priest Bak never knew that people of old root would still exist when an Olympic has just taken place in Korea.

As a priest, Priest Bak did not feel comfortable interacting with people who was clearly of a different religion. However, he carried a mission. Fourteen years of exorcising and saving those who were tormented by supernatural happenings that did not bound by religions or beliefs······ Priest Bak strongly believed that saving people through exorcism as his destiny and as the only way of reducing the burden of his heart that came with the death of Mira.

The five guardians showed serious expressions. The Eastern Sect had belief of helping people in the emergencies, so they were tolerant toward other religions. Rather, the sect had the tradition of gathering people of different religion, learning their technique, and having them be one of their guardians. Thus, Priest Bak already heard from Guardian Jang about how the masters of each field are forming the five guardians. However, he did not come here to become the sixth guardian. It was to retire the head priest who has become so evil and will cause greater harm in the near future······

“The reason why we have invited you is very complicated, but······”, said Guardian Jang.

“The most primary reason would be because head priest knows our techniques and spiritual strengths. No matter how much we work together, there is no chance of winning against the head priest who knows us well. And,head priest has several followers.”

“Will I be of help as you expect me to be?”

“This may rude to say, but it is very hard to find anyone who has greater power than you in the Catholic. head priest probably did not prepare for your arrival. This is the biggest reason we have rudely involved you.”

“And?”

“Secondly, head priest has a secret weapon in hand.”

“A weapon?”

“Of course it is not a normal weapon. It is a person.”

“A person?”

“A child. Nine year-old child.”

“A child? How can a child be a secret weapon?”

“I am ashamed to say, but he is my son. His name is Joon-Hu.”

Priest Bak could only watch Guardian Jang lower his head, his eyes surprised and filled with worry.