'I wish I could become an adult quickly. So I can protect big brother Yunhui and big brother Cheong from sad things happening to them.'
'How can I become an adult quickly?'
While thinking, Eun Soso of the Eun Family Merchant Guild suddenly came to mind.
'Sister Soso said that if you think big thoughts, you become a great man. A great man is an adult. Can I become an adult quickly if I think big thoughts?'
'But what are big thoughts?'
Cho Myung's thoughts became many.
He had been so happy every day that he had forgotten.
Being with the people who cared for him, every day was just fun. It was also fun to run around the mountains and dig for herbs. He just hoped that this happiness would not be broken.
But something happened to Hua Yunhui, and that became the trigger.
He recalled the words that Eun Soso had said and was lost in that thought for a long time.
Of course, it wasn't that he could get the answer on his own.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"I have something I'm curious about."
"Tell me."
"What are big thoughts?"
"Big thoughts?"
"Yes."
It was a very sudden and out-of-the-blue question.
But Old Man Ban did not take Cho Myung's question lightly.
"Can I know where you heard that?"
"Yes, sister Soso said so. She said that if a woman thinks pretty thoughts, she becomes pretty, and if a man thinks big thoughts, he becomes a great man."
"She's a good sister."
"Her face is pretty too."
"Myung likes sister Soso."
"Yes. I like my sister. And I like the uncle too."
"Uncle?"
"He's my sister's dad. He saved my grandfather. He also told us to go to the clinic here."
"So that's what happened. Can you tell me in more detail?"
"Yes."
Cho Myung told the story of how he had met Eun Yijeong and Eun Soso of the Eun Family Merchant Guild.
He said that he had run away from that place because he didn't want his grandfather to entrust him to the Eun Family Merchant Guild.
After hearing everything, Old Man Ban nodded.
'That's right. If one's life is only entangled with vicious people, how can that be a person's fate? If there are heinous people like the Ten Orthodox Heavens, there are also upright people like the Eun Family Merchant Guild and Yunhui and Cheong.'
Old Man Ban made a satisfied face.
"Myung."
"Yes."
"In this master's view, a big thought is to be unshakable."
"To be unshakable?"
"Yes. To be unshakable. To stand firm no matter what storms the world throws at you. To firmly hold on to the thought of protecting the big brothers and grandfather here no matter what difficult things happen, that is the big thought that this master thinks of."
"I will definitely protect my big brothers and grandfather. That's how we can be happy together."
"That's right."
"Then am I thinking big thoughts?"
"Of course. If your current thoughts are unshakable and firm, then our Myung is also thinking big thoughts."
"I want to be firm!"
"Yes, Myung will be able to be firm. This master believes in Myung."
"Then I'll become an adult quickly too, right?"
"Why do you think so?"
"I will firmly hold on to my big thoughts. Then I will become a great man, and a great man is an adult."
Old Man Ban was at a loss for words for a moment.
But he soon had a flash of inspiration and was able to encourage Cho Myung's wish.
"So that's why Myung has grown so much these past few days."
"Ah, that's right! I'm not much different from big brother Yunhui now."
Cho Myung clapped his hands and was happy.
It wasn't just because their heights were similar. It was because he thought that since he was growing so fast, he was also becoming an adult.
"Yes. If you eat well and train hard like now, you will become bigger than big brother Yunhui and even bigger than big brother Cheong."
"Yes. I'll train hard today and dig up a lot of herbs."
"Go ahead."
It was when Old Man Ban was smiling with satisfaction, looking at the brightly smiling Cho Myung.
"Can't Myung go alone today?"
Seokcheong was returning.
When the two who were talking in the front yard of Longevity Hall looked back, Seokcheong had a gloomy face.
"Are you worried about Doctor Hua?"
"Yes. He didn't even eat breakfast and went straight to Healing Hall. He's examining the patients with a smiling face, so I'm even more worried. I think I should be by his side to make sure he eats something at the right time."
That's right.
A person who has fallen into a deep sense of loss cannot do anything for themselves unless someone is by their side to take care of them.
"I'll go alone."
Cho Myung suddenly said.
Seokcheong and Old Man Ban looked back.
"The clinic smells a lot like medicine. So no matter how far I go, I can find my way back."
There was no need to worry about beasts.
Although he hadn't confirmed it, he probably wouldn't get a single scratch on his body even if he fell from a decent height.
Old Man Ban nodded without thinking for long.
"Go ahead. Go alone today, and if you think it's okay, you can go alone from now on."
"Okay."
Cho Myung answered bravely, put on the iron armor that weighed a hundred catties, and then ran off to get his basket.
"Will he really be okay?"
Seokcheong asked, staring at him.
He seemed to be worried about sending Cho Myung alone.
Old Man Ban smiled and said.
"He'll be fine, so don't worry and go to Doctor Hua."
"Okay."
Seokcheong headed to Healing Hall again.
Old Man Ban watched until Seokcheong was out of sight and then turned around.
***
Cho Myung crossed four mountains.
Although he was wearing an iron armor that weighed a hundred catties, he was so nimble that he looked like a squirrel, and it didn't even take half an hour.
"First, I have to dig for herbs."
Right now, he couldn't think of a way to help big brother Yunhui. So he had to work even harder at what he could do now. Cho Myung twitched his nose and began to look for herbs.
It was a good thing he had crossed four mountains.
He was able to find many precious herbs. The herbs he had dug in half an hour filled his basket.
"Now, let's train."
Cho Myung, who had put down his basket, began to perform the basic movements of the Hundred Strikes Art.
He made two fists, held them to his upper body, and then moved quickly in all directions, front, back, left, and right, in a slightly bent posture.
He threw punches alternately, as if there were an opponent in front of him.
Faster, more powerfully.
Although he was wearing an iron armor that weighed a hundred catties, there was no problem at all.
The muscle strength of the body that the Immortal Demonic Aura had reconstructed was enough to lift and throw even an ox.
Cho Myung did not know how to be lazy.
It was because he was so happy just not having anyone to bother him. He couldn't spend a single moment lazily, thinking that he had to become a strong great man and protect everyone.
A moment became two, and two became half an hour. Even when half an hour became an hour, he showed no signs of stopping. Only then did sweat begin to form.
After another hour, he stopped training. It wasn't because he was tired. It was because he was hungry. Cho Myung took out water and fist-sized dumplings from his basket and ate. There were three fist-sized dumplings, including Seokcheong's share, but even after eating all of them, he was not full.
Cho Myung, who had licked his lips, drank all the water in the bamboo container.
Only then did his stomach bulge.
"Hehe."
Cho Myung patted his stomach and smiled happily.
It was a shame that big brother Cheong was not by his side, but he was in a good mood.
Cho Myung, who was sitting on a rock and resting, dangling his feet, suddenly shot up from his seat at the scent carried on the wind.
It was a sweet scent that made his mouth water even though he was full.
Cho Myung, who had picked up his basket, began to run in the direction where the scent was coming from.
At the entrance of a deep valley that looked as if a heavenly god had chopped it with an axe at the foot of a nameless high mountain.
Cho Myung appeared with the nimble appearance of a squirrel.
"Here it is!"
Cho Myung, who was twitching his nose.
A sweet scent that made his mouth water was strongly wafting from inside the valley.
"It looks delicious."
Cho Myung ran into the valley as if possessed by the sweet scent.
Although he was wearing a hundred-catty iron armor, his speed was very fast.
Nevertheless, after running for almost half an hour, he could see the end of the valley.
"There it is!"
Where Cho Myung was looking, a large cave was visible.
The entrance was so large that a two-story building could fit in it.
Cho Myung, who had smiled with a twitching nose, was drawn by the sweet scent and headed straight into the cave.
An unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar cave, and alone.
It might have been right to be scared.
But Cho Myung, who was becoming more and more brave thanks to the Immortal Demonic Aura, did not feel any fear.
Moreover, the temptation of the sweet scent was stronger than the wariness that came from the unfamiliarity.
Cho Myung walked further in, drooling.
Before half an hour had passed, the inside of the cave became as dark as pitch.
But for Cho Myung, whose eyesight had become extremely high, it was not a big obstacle.
Cho Myung continued to go in.
After going in for about an hour, the sweet scent was vibrating.
But Cho Myung could not run to find the scent and had to stop.
It was because a terrible darkness that even his extremely developed eyesight could not penetrate was blocking his way.
The sweet scent was flowing out from that darkness.
It seemed that a sweet fruit was in the darkness in front of him.
"Smack! It looks delicious."
Cho Myung licked his lips.
But it was at that moment.
The darkness moved.
It wasn't that something in the darkness had moved.
The entire darkness moved.
Soon, what appeared before Cho Myung's eyes was a pale white face and a pair of crimson eyes.
"......!"
Cho Myung, who was terrified by the crimson eyes that were glaring at him, turned around and ran away.
Thud!
The rock at the spot where Cho Myung had disappeared was split as if it had been hit by something.
Cho Myung, who was surprised by the sound from behind, screamed "Aaargh!" and ran even more frantically.
As soon as he got out of the cave, he ran with all his might towards the entrance of the valley, and he did not stop even after he got out of the valley.
He ran frantically, as his eyes saw, as his feet took him.
He jumped over a stone, jumped over a mound, and then jumped over a large rock he encountered. As he jumped over everything he saw, he ended up in a place he didn't know.
After half an hour had passed like that, Cho Myung, who had stopped, looked back.
No one was chasing him.
"I'm alive!"
Cho Myung, who had sighed in relief and caught his breath, slumped down on the ground.
Then, as if he was not reassured, he looked back once more. As expected, nothing was chasing him.
"It was a demon! A demon! A red-eyed demon!"
Cho Myung, who had shuddered at the thought of the red eyes he had seen in the cave, finally looked at his basket after a long time.
Fortunately, the herbs were still there.
"Hehe, that's a relief."
Cho Myung, who had laughed, saying it was a real relief, got up from his seat.
As the surroundings began to darken as if a shadow had been cast, he saw that the time to return to the clinic was approaching.
Cho Myung twitched his nose.
Then he soon made a difficult face.
The characteristic medicinal smell of the Hua Family Clinic was not there.
If the location changed and the wind changed, it was impossible to smell even a terrible smell.
Cho Myung looked around and thought, then ran to the top of a high mountain he saw.
Cho Myung, who had reached the top in a quarter of an hour, looked at the sun hanging over the western mountain.
"Um... I think it's that way."
When he returned to the clinic with Seokcheong, the sun setting over the western mountain was always on his left.
It was a method that could not be said to be absolutely right because it would change depending on the location, but he had only crossed one or two more mountains than before, and when he had run away from the valley, he had not gone in a very strange direction, so the direction of his return was not greatly off.
As soon as Cho Myung had set his direction, he jumped down from the top of the mountain in one go. Then he ran down the steep slope quickly.
When he went down, he went up again, and when he went up, he went down again.
After crossing two mountains like that, he began to see a familiar mountain range.
And the familiar medicinal smell of the clinic was also faintly wafting.
Cho Myung ran even faster, and after another hour, he was able to arrive at a place where he could look down on the Hua Family Clinic.
Cho Myung raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
"Hehe, it's home."
***
When Jeok Yorap, who had been slowly circling the front yard of Longevity Hall to recover his body, came back, Old Man Ban was sitting blankly at a table with a brush, ink, and paper.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking of leaving a martial arts manual."
"A martial arts manual?"
"I'm thinking of making it so that Myung can finish his training on his own, in case I can't teach him until the end."
At Old Man Ban's words, Jeok Yorap made a pitiful face.
"Big brother..."
"Don't make that face. I'm always grateful that meeting Myung is a blessing."
Knowing Old Man Ban's heart, Jeok Yorap did not make a pitiful face anymore.
"But is there a problem?"
"I can't start. I don't know how to write it..."
Old Man Ban made a frustrated face, as if he were blocked by a huge wall.
Jeok Yorap, who was staring at him, smiled.
It was because he seemed to know Old Man Ban's state of mind right now.
He must have had the desire to leave something for his disciple, Cho Myung, as a master.
"Big brother, did you want to make a plausible martial arts manual and have it passed down for generations? Or did you want to make it so that Myung can train on his own?"
"Well...!"
Old Man Ban was about to answer right away but stopped. It was because he felt something.
"Just think that Myung is in front of you and write comfortably. Myung will like the advice that contains your heart more than a plausibly packaged martial arts manual."
At Jeok Yorap's words, Old Man Ban nodded greatly. And he took the brush and began to write in one go.
- Myung, did you run around a lot today? As this master has always said, the foundation of the Hundred Strikes Art is in the feet. It is because the feet must be firm to exert proper power. That's why there are no techniques that attack with the feet in the Hundred Strikes Art. It is because you must firmly step on the ground at any moment.
Old Man Ban wrote slowly, as if talking to Cho Myung, and Jeok Yorap watched the scene for a moment and then quietly turned around.
'It's not comparable to big brother's Hundred Strikes Art, but I also want to teach him how to hunt... I wonder if that day will come.'
(End of Chapter)