Cho Myung, who had clenched his two fists.
The moment he decided to fight, a strong power surged through his whole body.
That power blew away even the last remaining hesitation in one go.
The Hundred Strikes Art that had created the fame of the Fighting Demon!
The punching that he had performed tens of thousands of times every day had tensed his muscles, and the training of running all over the mountain to face the red-eyed demon had made him lift his heels and be perfectly ready to fight.
"Beg! If you beg, I'll spare the old men."
Zuo Gu'e threw out words that the young Cho Myung might be tempted by.
"Don't be deceived by the demon's sweet words."
Old Man Ban shouted.
He was focused only on Cho Myung, without even glancing at the Ghost Blade Sect members who were rushing at him from both sides.
"You bastard!"
Zuo Gu'e drew his sword like lightning.
As soon as Old Man Ban's words ended, Cho Myung had moved, and as soon as he felt that movement, he had reflexively swung.
But this time too, there was nothing to hit with his sword.
He instinctively took a defensive posture and looked for Cho Myung.
At that moment, heavy hitting sounds burst out in succession.
Thud, thud, thud!
In Zuo Gu'e's quickly turning gaze, he could see the Ghost Blade Sect members being thrown back.
Cho Myung had sent the ones who were aiming for Old Man Ban and Jeok Yorap.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The punching that he had thrown tens of thousands of times every day, once it was unleashed, was pouring out like a flood.
'When?'
The surprised Zuo Gu'e.
In the blink of an eye, Cho Myung had moved a distance of three zhang (9m).
It was a speed that surpassed imagination.
And the punching that sent the Ghost Blade Sect members flying as if they were being bounced.
It felt like something was going wrong.
"All of you, attack! Die!"
While Zuo Gu'e was surprised, the leader of the Ghost Blade Sect shouted as if he were screaming and rushed in.
In front of him, Cho Myung, who had already moved, was clenching his two fists.
The leader of the Ghost Blade Sect first threw a hand axe with a sharp blue blade and then rushed in like a madman, gripping another hand axe.
At that moment, Cho Myung disappeared.
But in a split second, he reappeared. It was because the hand axe he had avoided was flying towards Old Man Ban and Jeok Yorap behind him.
Grab!
Surprisingly, Cho Myung caught the hand axe in the air. And he threw it at the leader of the Ghost Blade Sect.
Swish!
A hand axe that flew in a straight line with a sharp sound of cutting through the air.
The leader of the Ghost Blade Sect ducked low to avoid it.
Thwack!
The hand axe was embedded in the chest of a subordinate who was following the leader of the Ghost Blade Sect.
"Gak?"
The one who widened his eyes and fell.
At that, Cho Myung, who had widened his eyes, flinched.
At this time, the hand axe of the leader of the Ghost Blade Sect hit Cho Myung's waist.
Thwack!
If you are hit hard on the side of the head, your consciousness is disturbed and the world tilts.
That's what happened to the leader of the Ghost Blade Sect.
The world he saw tilted to one side.
It was so fast that he could not even see properly how Cho Myung had avoided the hand axe and hit him on the side of the head.
Thud!
He collapsed like a sack of barley and then lost consciousness.
The Ghost Blade Sect members who were following him were just moving scarecrows.
They could not even react properly to Cho Myung's movements and were knocked down one by one in one blow.
"Ugh."
Zuo Gu'e groaned.
Such a one-sided and futile fight?
The moment he blinked his eyes in surprise, Cho Myung had moved in front of him.
In that short time, all the Ghost Blade Sect members had been finished.
Zuo Gu'e, as if drawn by something, looked into Cho Myung's eyes.
The face of an innocent-looking child.
A pair of eyes as transparent as glass beads.
Deep in the two eyes that looked clean and clear, he felt an energy like a heat full of joy.
"Are you sneering at me!"
It is said that delusion is free, and that's what Zuo Gu'e did.
Seeing the look in Cho Myung's eyes, who was happy with the fact that he had done it, he had taken it as a sneer.
"You! You brat that I'll tear to pieces!"
Zuo Gu'e swung his sword wildly in anger.
As fast as lightning!
As fierce as a storm!
He madly unleashed the strongest sword technique he could.
The shadow of the sword slashed all over the place.
But Cho Myung's speed was faster.
Flashing in the east, flashing in the west!
He was circling around Zuo Gu'e.
"Myung, don't avoid it and face him! Believe in the Hundred Strikes Art and believe in the power within you!"
Old Man Ban shouted.
At that moment, Cho Myung stopped.
And Zuo Gu'e's sword strikes, which had been cutting in all directions like a storm, attacked such a Cho Myung.
It seemed that his arms and legs would be cut off and blood would spurt out like a fountain at any moment.
But a surprising thing happened.
Cho Myung's body was shaking precariously, but he was avoiding Zuo Gu'e's sword strikes.
Seeing that, Old Man Ban laughed loudly.
"That's right! That's how you do it! Your two feet are as firm as a thousand-year-old tree that supports Mount Tai! Your waist is as free as a reed in the wind!"
It was really so.
Cho Myung, who was standing tall like a deeply rooted thousand-year-old tree, was avoiding Zuo Gu'e's storm-like sword strikes well by shaking his upper body here and there like a reed.
"You bastard!"
Zuo Gu'e was even more angry.
But he was called the Battle Ghost.
He was not one to ruin a fight by being caught up in the emotion of anger.
'Legs!'
Zuo Gu'e saw that Cho Myung's center of gravity was in his two legs and brought his storm-like sword strikes down to Cho Myung's lower body.
"A weakness is only effective when you don't know about it. To be fast is to move one step ahead of the opponent and to go beyond the opponent's prediction!"
When Old Man Ban shouted loudly, Cho Myung reacted to it and began to perform the footwork.
"Big brother, the blood..."
Jeok Yorap was so surprised that he interjected.
Red blood was flowing from Old Man Ban's nose.
"I'm fine. Look at Myung. That kid must have worked really hard. His body movements are very good. He's already become a martial artist. He's very admirable."
Old Man Ban made a satisfied face.
Then he coughed up blood.
"Big brother, get on my back, we have to hurry back to the clinic."
Jeok Yorap, who was trying to carry him in a hurry.
Old Man Ban pushed such a Jeok Yorap.
"Get out of the way. Where do you think you're going when your disciple is fighting?"
"Big brother, you'll be in big trouble if you do that."
"Stop talking nonsense and look at Myung. He's getting more and more perfect. It means that he's completing his own movements through real combat. He's my disciple, but he's a really amazing kid. He's an amazing kid! Umhahaha!"
Old Man Ban laughed heartily.
In the meantime, Cho Myung's fight was heading towards the end.
Although Zuo Gu'e had persistently aimed for Cho Myung's legs, he had only made futile sword strikes every moment due to the unpredictable direction changes of the footwork that moved quickly in all directions.
The problem was not just that.
As time passed, Cho Myung was gaining more leisure. As his mind was at ease, his movements became free. He was moving without hesitation, reflexively and consciously, as he wanted.
"You can't catch a demon just by avoiding it! If you're moving ahead, you can strike ahead! Don't hesitate!"
The moment Old Man Ban's words ended, Cho Myung's fist stretched out, avoiding Zuo Gu'e's storm-like sword strikes.
Thwack!
A fist was embedded in Zuo Gu'e's side.
At the heavy punch that had been trained against logs and rocks, Zuo Gu'e's breath was momentarily choked.
"Keok?"
As befitting his fame as the Battle Ghost, even in that state, Zuo Gu'e's sword aimed for Cho Myung's head and cut through the air like lightning.
Cho Myung's upper body, which was standing with his two feet on the ground like a deeply rooted tree, bent greatly, and as soon as the blade passed, it shot up and his left fist stretched out.
Thwack!
This time it was the right side.
Before Zuo Gu'e could react to the strong shock, his right fist was embedded in his left side.
That was not the end.
A series of blows that poured down on the left and right alternately.
As he threw them without a break like a shower, Zuo Gu'e's face turned black.
His body was rapidly collapsing to the point where he could no longer do anything.
It was to this extent because Cho Myung had not raised a killing intent and the Immortal Demonic Aura had not reacted properly. If not, it would have been difficult to avoid instant death in the first blow.
Thwack!
This time it was the center of the chest.
Cho Myung's fist was embedded on the iron armor with the awls.
"......!"
While feeling a shock as if his heart were being shattered, Zuo Gu'e examined Cho Myung's fist.
It was different.
Unlike Old Man Ban, Cho Myung's fist was fine.
Thwack!
Cho Myung's fist was embedded again.
It was Cho Myung who had clearly seen the sight of his master's fist being broken from a distance.
The punching that his master could not finish.
Cho Myung gritted his teeth and focused on hitting Zuo Gu'e's chest.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
It was a punch that had broken a rock the size of an ox.
There was no way that an iron armor made of just an iron plate could withstand it.
Due to the continued punching, the awls were broken, and the iron plate was shattered.
The shattered iron armor.
Where would all those fragments go?
Some fell off, and some were driven into Zuo Gu'e's chest by Cho Myung's punching.
Thwack!
"Keok?"
At the last blow, his chest bone was shattered and the fragments of the iron armor were deeply embedded in his body, and Zuo Gu'e, with a pale dead face, collapsed.
Thud!
A fighter!
The Battle Ghost, Zuo Gu'e, finally knelt down. The storm-like fight had ended one-sidedly. Cho Myung, who had done it himself, made a surprised face. Then he soon turned around with an excited face towards Old Man Ban.
"Master, I did it!"
"Yes, you're admirable! You're really admirable!"
Old Man Ban nodded. He made a satisfied and pleased face. And with that appearance, he collapsed.
"Master!"
"Hurry and take him to the clinic!"
At Jeok Yorap's shout, Cho Myung lifted Old Man Ban and ran to the Hua Family Clinic like a storm.
***
Hua Family Clinic.
Hua Yunhui and Hua Sochen came running to examine Old Man Ban's condition, and even Teacher Bai, the head of Healing Hall and now the best doctor at the Hua Family Clinic, was brought in.
It was a life-and-death struggle that lasted for an hour and a half.
All the medical skills of the Hua Family Clinic were mobilized, and all sorts of medicines were used.
Nevertheless, all they had done was to barely bring him back to consciousness.
"Doctor Hua."
"......Yes."
"Pull out the needles."
"Old man?"
"I can't meet my disciple in this state. Please pull them out."
Hundreds of golden needles were densely inserted all over Old Man Ban's body.
When Hua Yunhui hesitated, Hua Sochen began to pull out the golden needles.
"Sister!"
"We have to send him off as he wishes."
"......!"
When Hua Yunhui could not speak, Old Man Ban smiled brightly.
"Head of the family, thank you."
"I'm sorry. Our medical skills are lacking. If my grandfather were alive, we wouldn't have to send you off like this..."
"No. My body has already passed its limit, so even if the divine doctor came back to life, it would have been no use. Don't blame yourself at all."
Hua Sochen nodded silently and pulled out the golden needles.
Hua Yunhui also began to pull out the golden needles.
"Only after coming here did I first learn that I could live differently. If I am reborn, I would like to learn medicine under you, like that kid Cheong."
"If you act foolishly, I will hit you on the head."
"I will accept it with gratitude."
Although Old Man Ban answered with a smile, Hua Yunhui could not answer any more.
It was because after pulling out the golden needles, Old Man Ban's complexion was rapidly worsening.
Hua Yunhui and Hua Sochen, who had looked at each other's faces, hurriedly pulled the sheet and covered Old Man Ban's body.
Then Hua Yunhui shouted towards the outside.
"Myung! Come in quickly! Quickly!"
At Hua Yunhui's shout, the door burst open and Seokcheong and Cho Myung came in.
The room was vibrating with the smell of medicine.
Hua Yunhui and Hua Sochen, who were making heavy faces, and Teacher Bai and Jeok Yorap.
"What are you doing, come here."
Only Old Man Ban said with a smile.
"Master."
Cho Myung quickly approached the bed.
"Yes, were you very worried?"
"Yes."
Cho Myung nodded and examined Old Man Ban's face.
It was a face full of sickness. So he could not even ask if he was okay.
"I thought I could live for a year, but it's a little regrettable."
"......!"
"Myung."
"Yes."
"This master was happy. I was really happy to have met you. So don't be sad."
"Master?"
"This master is satisfied enough just to have been your stepping stone. So you live your life. Meet new people, dream of happiness with them, and protect that happiness."
Old Man Ban's words became many.
It was because he instinctively felt that he did not have much time.
"Myung, don't be sad about our parting, and please remember that this master was happy."
"Master! Don't go!"
Cho Myung, who had realized that his master was dying, burst into tears and clung to his hand.
"Myung, look around."
"Master!"
"Hurry."
At Old Man Ban's urging, Cho Myung began to look around.
"Big brother Yunhui and big brother Cheong. Sister, the head of the family, and Teacher Bai are doctors. I told you, right? A doctor can save a patient, but they can't protect them. Your grandfather is a hunter, but he's very old. So now you have to protect him. Everyone here is a person you have to protect. To be happy with everyone, you have to be strong."
"I'm strong, I'll become strong. I'll protect you too, master, so don't go. Please!"
Cho Myung said, crying.
"Myung."
"Yes, yes. Just say the word. I'll do anything."
"When you fight with demon-like villains, don't hesitate. When you defeat that person, you are saving the many people that that villain could have harmed. So don't hesitate and send them flying with one punch. Got it?"
"Yes, yes. I will do that."
"Good boy."
"Master, please..."
"Myung."
"Yes."
"Hug me one last time."
"Master."
Cho Myung hugged Old Man Ban's upper body.
Old Man Ban also raised his arms with all his might and hugged Cho Myung.
"This master is really happy. To have been able to meet Myung..."
Old Man Ban's breath, who was speaking in Cho Myung's ear, stopped.
Cho Myung, who had realized that fact after a long time, turned his head.
"Master...?"
Old Man Ban had closed his eyes with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Master!"
Even when Cho Myung called, there was no response.
"Master... has passed away."
Hua Yunhui forced himself to say the words he did not want to say.
"N-no. It's not true, big brother."
Cho Myung shook his head.
Hua Yunhui did not say any more.
Cho Myung looked around at the other people.
Hua Sochen was holding back her tears with a face full of them, and Seokcheong was shedding thick tears.
Teacher Bai sighed heavily and then went outside.
Cho Myung finally looked back at Jeok Yorap.
"He passed away coolly, like a big brother. Don't worry about here and may you attain Buddhahood."
Jeok Yorap, who had approached the bed, neatly arranged Old Man Ban's arms.
"Grandfather..."
"Yes, it's sad. It would have been nice if he had lived with us a little longer."
"Really..."
"Yes, he's really gone. But thanks to our Myung, he said he passed away happily. So don't be too sad."
"I don't want to! Like this... I don't want it like this! I don't want it!"
Cho Myung's emotions were exploding.
After enduring the days of fear that were worse than hell, he had finally come to live a happy life, but the sudden death of Old Man Ban brought a sense of anxiety as if the days of fear would attack again.
Those terrible moments came flooding back.
"Ugh!"
"Myung, what's wrong?"
Jeok Yorap shouted in surprise.
Cho Myung sat down on the floor, cringed, and began to make a groaning sound.
"No! No! I don't want it!"
The memories he had forced himself to forget and live with.
Cho Myung screamed to shake off those terrible moments that had clearly come to mind.
He scratched the wooden floor with his fingernails and shouted desperately.
"No! I don't want it! Go away! I said go away!"
An explosion of emotions.
At that, the Immortal Demonic Aura reacted and began to circle his whole body.
Black veins bulged like worms, and a strong energy was emitted from Cho Myung's whole body.
"I'm going to fight! I'm going to fight! I said I'm going to protect my master! Aaargh!"
Cho Myung, who had shot up, screamed and ran outside.
"Myung!"
"Where are you going!"
Jeok Yorap, Hua Yunhui, and the others ran out after Cho Myung.
But in that short moment, Cho Myung's figure had already disappeared.
(End of Chapter)