Chapter 477 - 477 (2/2)
When Sun Wukong asked that, Su-hyeun contemplated his answer for a bit before shaking his head, ”No, brother. It's too difficult for me.”
”Really? But I thought you'd be fine with it, though.”
”It looks like a sword is a better fit for me rather than a staff, Third Brother. My stance is just too unstable, and honestly speaking, I'm far more proficient in handling the sword.”
He wasn't wrong there.
It was indeed true that Su-hyeun's primary weapon was a sword. Even Cheon Mu-jin's martial art stances were all primarily focused on swordsmanship as well, not to mention the fact that even during his current life, a sword was the weapon he most relied on and used for the longest time.
But that didn't strictly mean that a staff didn't suit him either.
He might not be able to control it to the same degree as Sun Wukong, but even so, he probably didn't need too long to reach the Monkey King's level of proficiency.
”I'll need around two, maybe three years, tops,” Su-hyeun inwardly guessed.
Sun Wukong's staff technique was genuinely excellent, yes, but Su-hyeun already had prior experience of wielding staves as his primary weapon, all thanks to a particular martial artist who had almost attained the position of the number one under the heavens by relying solely on his staff technique.
He was Jang Chun, the Crimson Hill Staff, a staff-wielding mass murderer.
Thanks to his indiscriminate killing spree, he was designated the enemy of all Murim. Every member of the subjugation force dispatched to kill him ended up as a broken corpse at his hands, turning the battlefield, a nameless hill, into an ocean of blood.
That man was no saint since, well, he was a mass murderer. In a way, he could be an even worse villain than Cheon Mu-jin, who drove his world to the brink of destruction for no good reason.
As such, Su-hyeun was less than keen to utilize the martial techniques of Jang Chun if he could help it.
Most importantly of all...
”If I say it's fine, he will probably give me the staff for real,” Su-hyeun thought.
The last thing the Bull Demon King said to Sun Wukong was his request to look after Su-hyeun.
The Monkey King might be an immature and recklessly fearless individual, but his love and sense of duty toward his family were perhaps stronger than anyone else out there.
Someone like that suddenly asked Su-hyeun to try using Ruyi Jingu Bang.
The reason for that seemed rather obvious.
”He's probably trying to look after me no matter what it takes.”
However, Su-hyeun didn't wish for that. Sure, having Ruyi Jingu Bang as a weapon would be pretty good, but that was just about it.
Not only was he not confident of lugging around a staff this heavy on his back just as Sun Wukong did, but he also didn't feel much of a need to do so.
More importantly, rather than spending two or three years just to get proficient with Ruyi Jingu Bang, it would be a far more efficient usage of his time to search for another way to become stronger.
”Third Brother, what are your plans from now on?”
After losing his first family from the Mountain of Flower and Fruit, Sun Wukong always stayed next to the Bull Demon King. But the Bull Demon King was no longer around. He had ascended, and the Roc Demon King had settled down in a human village.
Since Sun Wukong was very good with the transformation technique, he would probably have no problem living among the humans.
But whether he would do that or not was still unknown. Also, whether or not Sun Wukong would stick around in this house alone was another unanswered question.
”For now, I'm thinking of going along with uncle.”
”You mean, Master Subhuti?”
”Well, yeah, he doesn't have many years left, after all.”
Su-hyeun flinched a little when Sun Wukong said that, then he cautiously gauged the latter's mood.
As it turned out, the Monkey King wasn't bluffing here. He knew the truth already.
”Huh. What was I supposed to keep as a secret, again?”
Subhuti requested Su-hyeun not to speak of his dwindling lifespan to anyone, yet it seemed that it had been too easy to see through the old god's ruse.
But then again...
The Bull Demon King already knew the truth, so there was no reason why Sun Wukong wouldn't have figured it out by now, too. Not only that, but he even had a sparring session with Subhuti not too long ago as well.
”I noticed that uncle has gotten a lot weaker. He seemed to be trying to hide it from me, but even so, I can tell that he's not hung up on extending his lifespan.”
”Are you alright with that?”
”I can see First Brother again in the future, but uncle... Well, the dude himself wants it this way, so we are in no position to stop him.”
Now that was surprising.
What Sun Wukong said just then seemed entirely at odds with his usual manner of speech or mentality. Since the Bull Demon King's ascension, Su-hyeun had been getting a feeling that the Monkey King, despite his behavior, seemed to have matured a lot recently.
”No, wait,” Su-hyeun quickly corrected his opinion. ”It's not that he's gotten more mature.” He then sneaked a glance at Sun Wukong's expression. ”Right, he's already a mature person, to begin with.”
Even though he acted as the youngest of the brothers and fooled around like a spoiled kid, he was much older than Su-hyeun's estimation.
It would probably be difficult to find a god among the ones alive right now that was older or at least as old as Sun Wukong.
As it turned out, Su-hyeun had been the one acting like a kid all this time.
”We've rested enough, so should we get going again, Third Brother?”
When Su-hyeun got back up while dusting his clothes, Sun Wukong looked up at him and asked, ”Ng? Will you be fine, though?”
”Yes, don't worry. Honestly, it's not like I was exhausted, anyway. Oh, and this time,” Su-hyeun pulled out his sword, ”I'm going to use my sword instead of the staff.”
The sparring just now was to learn staff-wielding techniques from Sun Wukong, who was proficient with using a staff as a weapon.
But the sparring session this time would be where they get to pit their real strengths, which was something Sun Wukong earnestly wished for.
”Now that sounds like fun,” Sun Wukong replied and jumped back up to his feet while lifting Ruyi Jingu Bang.
But something else happened around the same time.
Ku-rururu, rumble...
The white fluffy clouds floating around in the sky suddenly changed into dark storm clouds, and lightning and thunder began cracking within them.
”Huh?” Sun Wukong stopped moving and muttered while looking up at the sudden gathering of the storm clouds, ”It's uncle.”
Flash—!
A lightning bolt struck down and split apart a nearby tree in half. At the same time, Master Subhuti using a well-made wooden stick, made his appearance there.
”Sir, that seems like an unnecessarily flashy entrance.”
Subhuti, who had been absent for the past few days, reappeared on the scene while being accompanied by thunderclaps and storm clouds. He might be famous for commanding nature itself, but it was still questionable whether or not he needed to make such a grand entrance just now.
”It couldn't be helped since I wanted to get here sooner. Apologies if I ended up being a bit too noisy.”
”Uncle, First Brother—”
”Don't worry. I saw it all, Wukong,” Subhuti nodded at Sun Wukong, then shifted his gaze over to Su-hyeun. ”Both of you, you need to come with me to a particular place.”
Sun Wukong tilted his head at that.
Su-hyeun likewise made a puzzled face at that sudden announcement of them needing to go somewhere. ”Where are we going, sir?” he asked.
Subhuti heard Su-hyeun's question and used the walking stick to tap the ground below his feet.. ”To the 'Hell of Scorching Heat.'”