"Let's go get some fresh air."
One day, when Jeok Yorap's physical condition had improved greatly, Old Man Ban said.
"Let's do that."
Old Man Ban told Hua Yunhui that he was going out and then went out of the Hua Family Clinic with Jeok Yorap.
After a long time, Old Man Ban, who had arrived at the market, slowed his already slow steps even more and slowly looked around the world where people lived.
Jeok Yorap, who was also seeing the world where the Han people lived for the first time, also looked around with interest and matched his pace.
"Let's go there."
The place where Old Man Ban, who had been looking around the market for a long time, took Jeok Yorap was a cloth and clothing store.
"Let's buy some clothes."
"Clothes?"
"That kid Myung has suddenly grown so much that the clothes that the head of the family bought for him have become small."
"Ah!"
"I'll pick out a set for myself, so you pick out a set for yourself too."
"I'm fine. I've run out of money."
"Don't worry. I borrowed some from the head of the family yesterday."
"Ah, so that's why you went to see the head of the family yesterday."
"I suddenly had that thought yesterday. If I could do even one of these small things before I die, that would be a great blessing."
"I understand. When I thought I was going to die not long ago, the thought I always had was that I wanted to teach Myung one more trick to get by in the world before I die."
"You live a long life. Live a long life and watch Myung live."
"What are you talking about? You have to live a long life too, big brother."
"I wish I could, but my body is at its limit."
"Big brother...!"
When Jeok Yorap was surprised, Old Man Ban smiled.
"It's not that something is going to happen right away, so don't make a fuss."
"How bad is it?"
"My body was already finished in the fight at Hundred Herb Forest last time. The reason I'm holding on like this now is thanks to the medicinal power of the Nine Treasure Pill that the head of the family gave me. Probably, when the medicinal power runs out, I won't be able to hold on any longer. I don't know if that will be a month or a year."
Jeok Yorap could not say anything.
He had thought he was fine because he had been moving more normally than himself, but it seemed that was not the case.
"So that's why you were so focused on the martial arts manual?"
Old Man Ban had been writing the martial arts manual for the past few days, thinking and thinking day and night.
It was no small headache to devise a training method that suited Cho Myung, who was different from him.
"The Hundred Strikes Art must be learned by physically clashing. You have to learn the knack of facing an enemy by clashing bodies with your master. But since I can't do that with this body, I had to find a way for Myung to learn on his own just by looking at my explanation."
"Did you find it?"
"Well... if Myung's body is in a similar state to my expectations, I believe it will be a great help."
"Myung will do well. Because that kid is a child sent from heaven."
"A child sent from heaven... yes, at least to me, it seems so."
"Have you already forgotten? Who met him first, and how we met."
Jeok Yorap had met Myung first. Just before Jeok Yorap was about to be eaten by beasts, he had fallen from the sky and saved him.
It was truly an event that made it impossible to shake off the thought that he was a child sent from heaven.
"Yes, you were first. Is that enough?"
"I thought you might have forgotten, big brother. Ahem, then shall I pick out some clothes?"
The two chuckled and picked out clothes for Cho Myung.
Old Man Ban was carefully examining various clothes and choosing.
Seeing the smile on his face, it seemed he was in a good mood just thinking about dressing Cho Myung in new clothes.
Jeok Yorap, who had roughly chosen his clothes, watched Old Man Ban's appearance with pity.
Old Man Ban chose the clothes only after nearly half an hour had passed.
"Since that kid Myung is as pretty as a girl, I deliberately chose a strong color. What do you think?"
Come to think of it, Cho Myung's appearance had changed a lot.
When he first met him, he was a small and ordinary-looking child, but now he had grown so tall that he looked much older than his age, and his skin was also fair, so if he were just dressed in proper clothes, he would look like a precious child who had grown up without knowing hardship.
"If a kid who looks like a girl wears clothes with a strong color, won't he stand out too much?"
Jeok Yorap asked with a smile.
"Then that's even better. Who knows, a young lady might fall in love with such a Myung at first sight."
"He's only five."
"Ah, that's right. He is."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
When they paid for the clothes and went outside, it was already around noon.
"Let's have a meal too."
"Since you're buying, big brother, I'll eat with gratitude."
"I don't have much money left, so we'll have to make do with noodles and a bottle of wine."
"That's enough."
The two found a nearby inn and ordered two bowls of noodles and a bottle of cheap wine.
"Actually, there's something I want to ask of you, younger brother."
"Please speak."
"You'll do well on your own, but if I die, please take good care of Myung's heart. Since he's a child who has been through so much hardship, it might not be easy for him to handle the death of a close person."
"Yes."
"The past few months. I'm satisfied enough with just that time. I'm grateful to the heavens for letting me meet Myung. I just hope that Myung will also be grateful for our meeting and accept our parting well."
Old Man Ban, who had revealed a slight regret, turned his gaze out the window.
"He will endure it well."
Jeok Yorap also answered briefly and then turned his head.
Old Man Ban, who was approaching sixty, and Jeok Yorap, who had just passed fifty.
The two were preparing for the changes in life that could come at any time.
***
Cho Myung, who had come down from the mountain, brought the basket full of herbs to the pharmacy and then returned to Longevity Hall and washed his hands first.
"Grandfather, I'll massage your legs."
As always, after washing his hands, he ran to Jeok Yorap.
But Jeok Yorap, unlike usual, waved his hand.
"Thanks to Myung, my body has gotten much better. Now is the time when it's important for me to move on my own, so Myung should go to your master and massage his legs and shoulders."
"Really? Have you really gotten much better?"
"Of course, really. I'll be doing muscle strength exercises, so Myung should go to your master."
"I understand."
Cho Myung smiled and ran to the backyard where Old Man Ban was.
"Master, I'll massage your legs."
"What about your grandfather?"
"He's gotten much better, so he's doing muscle strength exercises now."
"Hmm, I see."
"Master, please sit down."
But Old Man Ban did not sit down and just called Cho Myung.
"Myung."
"Yes?"
"From today, I will tell you the stories of the fights I have had in the past, to teach you the attitude to face a fight and the knack of how to fight."
"Really?"
"Yes, let's sit here together."
"Okay."
When Cho Myung sat down excitedly, Old Man Ban also sat down next to him.
"The first opponent this master fought after leaving was a person called the Life-Ending Whip."
The fight with the Life-Ending Whip was not even a fight.
Just two punches.
Because it had ended with Old Man Ban's one-sided victory. But even in that fight, there was something to teach Cho Myung. It was the perception and attitude of the martial artists towards external martial arts.
The Life-Ending Whip had laughed and sneered when he heard that Old Man Ban had learned external martial arts, and all the martial artists who were watching at that time had also sneered.
Until Old Man Ban had sent the Life-Ending Whip flying with just two punches, looks of contempt had been poured on him.
Old Man Ban began to tell the story of that day, which was now a distant memory, and Cho Myung, with round eyes, was completely engrossed in the story.
Since there was nothing more fun for a child than an old story, Cho Myung had even forgotten that he was hungry.
***
"It seems you've read all the basic medical books, do you want to learn medicine in earnest now?"
"No."
Hua Sochen was somewhat puzzled by Cho Myung's answer.
Seeing him read the medical books with concentration, it seemed he was very interested in medicine.
"You don't want to learn medicine?"
"No. I want to learn medicine and become like big brother Yunhui."
"Then why don't you want to learn?"
"My master said so. He said that since big brother Yunhui and big brother Cheong are doctors, they can heal sick people, but they can't protect people. So he told me to become a strong martial artist and protect everyone."
"......"
Hua Sochen could not say anything.
Since he was Old Man Ban's disciple, it was natural that he should walk the path of a martial artist.
"I also know how to defeat the demon, so I have to practice more. So I can't learn medicine."
"A demon?"
"Yes. My master taught me to fight at my own distance when fighting a demon. To get close and give him a good beating."
Cho Myung said with an excited face, showing his fist.
Hua Sochen thought that Old Man Ban must have brought up the story of a demon to teach Cho Myung and nodded.
"Yes, Myung will be able to defeat the demon."
"When I defeat the demon, I'll tell you first, sister, head of the family."
"Yes, thank you."
"Hehehe."
When Hua Sochen stroked his head, Cho Myung let out a happy laugh.
***
Before digging for herbs, Cho Myung went up to the top of the highest mountain in the vicinity.
His master had told him to get close to the demon's body when facing it, but he couldn't do that when facing the red-eyed demon.
Because its attacks were so fast and scary.
So he had to be able to move faster than the red-eyed demon.
Cho Myung, who had thought that far, came to the top of the mountain to practice the footwork that his master had written in the martial arts manual.
"He told me to run as fast as I can with all my might."
Cho Myung looked down at the sloping mountain.
Among the densely spread green trees, there were large and small rocks and stones everywhere.
"My master said so. If I'm not scared, I can do anything."
So far, his master's words had never been wrong.
He had said that if he was with the energy in his body, he could break the log, and it really happened.
He had said that as long as he was with the energy in his body, there was no limit, so he should try to punch the rock with all his might, and his fist was fine and the rock was not broken.
So it was the same now.
He just had to trust his master and do it.
"I'm going!"
Cho Myung ran down the sloping mountain.
He ran at the fastest speed he could muster.
Even as the scenery in front of him rushed at him, he kept his eyes wide open. He quickly ducked his upper body to avoid a tree branch that suddenly blocked his way, jumped over a bush, and avoided rocks by making a sharp turn to the side.
But he was running so fast that his body's center of gravity tilted forward. He tried to catch his balance in a hurry, but it was already a speed he could not handle.
"Ugh!"
Cho Myung fell forward.
After rolling a few times, he hit his head on a large stone and was thrown into the air. And he soon hit a large tree head-on and went limp.
"Aigoo, it hurts..."
Cho Myung rubbed his head, so hurt that he was about to cry.
At that moment, the energy in his body moved at a high speed, and the pain in his head and his whole body disappeared in an instant.
"Good job. Hehe."
Cho Myung, who had grinned, shot up and examined his body.
No matter how he looked, there was not a single wound.
"My master was right. I'm fine."
Cho Myung ran towards the top of the mountain.
'Dadadada!' As he ran, the top was soon there.
"I'm going again!"
Cho Myung, who ran down the sloping mountain as soon as he stood on the top.
His body was about to fall forward, but he put a lot of strength into his two legs and ran faster before he fell.
While doing so, he avoided the obstacles that blocked his way by making sharp turns to the left and right.
After running for a long time, he fell again, but he shot up and ran to the top.
And he soon ran down the mountain.
Cho Myung's training continued for an hour.
Old Man Ban had written in the martial arts manual that he had to be able to run as if it were flat ground. Not only that, but he had said that he had to be able to examine the surrounding scenery in detail while running at full speed down the mountain slope.
How the trees were spread out, where the rocks were, where the startled beasts were running. He had even said that he had to be able to examine the insects.
Through this training, he had also had the maximization of his dynamic visual acuity in mind.
But this was a very difficult thing, so right now, Cho Myung did not have the capacity to look around.
For now, not falling was the top priority.
Nevertheless, it was a sight that would have made anyone who saw it unable to hide their surprise. That's how amazing the speed of Cho Myung, who was running at full speed down the mountain slope, was.
If that someone had known that Cho Myung was wearing a hundred-catty iron armor and ten-catty vambraces, they might have been afraid of Cho Myung, calling him a demon.
After finishing the footwork training like that, he went to the place where he usually trained and practiced the Hundred Strikes Art.
He moved his upper body here and there, moved like lightning in all directions, front, back, left, and right, and threw his two fists as if a shower of rain were falling.
Since he had done this for an hour, he must have thrown tens of thousands of punches.
Cho Myung ate lunch only after training without a break like that.
After lunch, he dug for herbs, and after digging for herbs, he went to the valley where the red-eyed demon was.
And he fought with the red-eyed demon.
Cho Myung tried countless times to get close to the red-eyed demon's body, but he did not succeed today either.
"When I finish my footwork training, I'll be able to defeat you. I'm ready for you."
Cho Myung left a word, twitching his lips, and then turned around.
Cho Myung's daily life had changed a little like this.
They were days that were just fun with the thought that he could protect his current happiness.
(End of Chapter)