Thud! Thud! Crack! Thud!
The whole mountain was being devastated.
A small figure was running through the mountain, smashing rocks and trees without distinction.
It was Cho Myung.
He was expressing the emotions that had exploded in his chest in that way.
Nothing was left in the path that Cho Myung ran. Even a rock the size of a house was shattered in one punch.
Like a mad boar that had gone crazy and was digging up a whole reed field, Cho Myung, who had been running wild all over the mountain, suddenly stopped at some point and then ran like a storm to one side.
After a long time, the place where Cho Myung arrived was in front of the cave where the red-eyed demon was.
"I'm going to fight!"
Cho Myung, who had shouted one word, ran straight into the cave.
As he ran to the depths of the cave like a flash of lightning, the red-eyed demon began to attack, screaming.
Thud!
Cho Myung's fist, which had avoided the demon's downward strike, stretched out strongly.
Thud!
Something like an unknown iron pillar was shattered.
Kiaaaak!
The demon let out a scream as if in pain.
Cho Myung, intending to finish it in one go, rushed at the demon's body.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
At that moment, the demon with a white face and red eyes spat something from its mouth.
It was spitting a lot, as if it felt a crisis.
Cho Myung, whose emotions were running wild, rushed forward and was covered in something sticky.
Regardless, Cho Myung rushed at the demon.
No, he was about to.
But his two legs did not move.
The sticky thing that was stuck all over his body had bound his whole body.
The problem was that that was not the end.
The demon spat out the sticky thing once more. Then it suddenly approached and wrapped Cho Myung's body with a sticky thread-like thing.
Cho Myung's body was instantly hidden inside a cocoon-like ball of thread.
Kikikiki!
Was it laughing?
Or was it the roar of a victor?
The demon let out a strange sound and then suddenly lifted something huge and struck down strongly at Cho Myung, who had turned into a cocoon.
Thwack!
There was a feeling of being hit, but there was no feeling of the prey being torn.
The demon continued to strike.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
It was at some point when it had been striking for a long time.
Pfft!
Something black suddenly shot out from the side where Cho Myung's head, which had turned into a cocoon, was.
It was the snake-shaped Immortal Demonic Aura.
Kiak, kiak!
When the Immortal Demonic Aura shot out, the demon screamed.
It was close to a cry crushed by fear.
The Immortal Demonic Aura, which was facing the demon, shot out in a straight line at some point.
The demon, which had felt a sense of crisis, struck down strongly, but it was useless.
The Immortal Demonic Aura shot out as fast as a flash of lightning and dug into the demon's body.
The demon screamed and struggled.
Pfft!
When the Immortal Demonic Aura shot out of the demon's body, the demon's struggle stopped.
And it soon sat down weakly.
Thud!
The cave vibrated violently for a while.
The Immortal Demonic Aura circled around the demon once and then returned to Cho Myung.
But in the mouth of the snake-shaped Immortal Demonic Aura, there was a bead-like thing with a red light.
It was something it had brought out from inside the demon's body.
The Immortal Demonic Aura swallowed the bead with the red light.
The red bead that had entered the snake's shape burst with a red light.
And it soon assimilated with the Immortal Demonic Aura.
The Immortal Demonic Aura began to emit a faint dark red light.
The Immortal Demonic Aura, which had been swimming in the darkness as if enjoying the joy of a victor for a while, soon returned to Cho Myung's body.
The inside of the cave was submerged in silence.
Only the intermittent sound of Cho Myung's breathing, who had turned into a cocoon, could be heard.
Was it a dream?
It must be. It must be a dream.
Cho Myung was watching a small spider.
After spinning a web and eating insects, the spider, which had been attacked by a small bird and had fallen into a bush, wandered here and there and then went into a cave.
As if drawn by something, it went to the depths of the cave, and there was a person there.
It was the corpse of an old man sitting in a cross-legged position.
The spider began to spin a web on the corpse's body.
Although it had spun a strong web, there were no bugs or insects in the cave.
But the spider survived.
A mysterious energy was flowing from the corpse's body and was raising the spider.
Cho Myung examined the old man.
But the dead corpse's eyes suddenly opened.
Cho Myung was sucked into those eyes.
- Master, do I have a Taoist name too?
A very small child asked.
Then the old man with a clear and pure appearance smiled and said.
- Do you want a Taoist name?
- Yes.
- Hahaha! Then I will give you the name Yoryo (了燎), hoping that you will be enlightened as brightly as this bonfire.
- Yoryo.
- Do you like it?
- Yes. I like it very much.
The child, who had grown into a boy, asked his master.
- What does 'all things are one' mean?
- It means that the essence of all things in the universe is ultimately connected as one.
- It's difficult.
- What's difficult? It's difficult because you're trying to understand. Don't try to understand. It's originally like that, so why do you try to understand? You just have to think that it's like that.
- I see, it's originally like that.
- That's right. It's originally like that. All things are one, and it's originally like that. Beasts, people, and the universe are all originally like that. So you just have to live like that. There is nothing special. There is just originally a difference. Just as you and I are different, everything is originally different.
- They are one, but they are different?
- That they are one means that they are connected, not that they are the same.
- I see. But, it's still difficult.
- Didn't I tell you? It's difficult because you're trying to know. Just let it be. All the streams of the world are different, but they eventually flow into the river and then gather in the sea, don't they? So if you understand, you understand, and if you don't, you don't, just let it go. Because even if you walk with your own steps, you will eventually reach the sea.
To Cho Myung, it seemed like a very difficult Zen dialogue.
What did it mean?
As he thought about it, the years passed quickly.
The child became a young man, and the young man became a middle-aged man, and eventually an old man.
Cho Myung watched that long period of time one by one.
- Master, since all things in the universe are ultimately one, it is right to return this body to where it originally was, but since the merit of this body is not light, I will leave it here for the sake of the future generations who have a connection.
The old man, Taoist Yoryo, said with a laugh and sat down in a cross-legged position in the depths of the cave and quietly closed his eyes.
Cho Myung, who was watching the scene, felt something solemn and bowed his head without realizing it.
Then Taoist Yoryo, who had closed his eyes, smiled and nodded.
- All things have their own reason for existence. Since those reasons are connected and form the heavens and the earth, the roots of all things in the universe are ultimately one, and the world full of all things in the universe is ultimately one flower.
Taoist Yoryo's words were not difficult.
But he could not understand the deep meaning that those words contained.
- Do not find it difficult. If you see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and act with your body, you will eventually reach the principle.
It was the moment Cho Myung raised his head as if he understood and did not understand Taoist Yoryo's words. Suddenly, the surrounding scenery changed.
- Taoist grandfather, shall I clean from here? If you just give me a broom, I can sweep it clean!
- Shut up!
- H-hello! I'm Myung. Cho Myung is my name. I eat little, and I work well. If you just tell me what to do...!
- Shut up!
- Now, when the yang energy is strong, is the right time. Let's start right away.
- It is a matter of sacrificing one soul to save hundreds of millions of lives.
Mount Tai, Shandong Province, Jade Emperor Temple.
Cho Myung was at that terrible place.
He was facing the terrible moment he had experienced.
- Child, do you know what these old things are trying to do? These old things are trying to kill you and this sovereign together. When the Ten Orthodox Heavens of the Orthodox Faction could not do anything to this sovereign even with a joint attack, they mobilized even the techniques of the Demonic Path that they had ignored to stop this sovereign, and now they are going to kill this sovereign by mobilizing all those techniques.
Everything was as he remembered.
Cho Myung watched the terrible moment he had experienced and trembled all over.
But now, something was different.
It was not because he was scared and afraid.
It was because he was angry.
At that time, he had been so afraid that he had trembled, but now it was completely different. He was so angry that he was trembling.
"Why? What did I do wrong?"
He wanted to ask.
Why did they do that, what did he do wrong?
But the old men, far from answering, were busy performing the great law, driving the young body to the brink of death.
It was at that moment.
Dugu Wujung, the master of the Immortal Demonic Aura, looked back at Cho Myung.
- What are you so angry about?
"Then shouldn't I be angry?"
- Does being angry make it as if it never happened?
"......?"
- If you're so angry, get revenge. You have the Immortal Demonic Aura, don't you? Become the second Immortal Divine Demon and get your revenge to your heart's content. Kill, kill, and kill again. How satisfying would it be to kill them all? Kuhahahaha!
"I'm going to kill them."
There was no answer.
"I said I'm going to kill all of you!"
There was still no answer.
The old men who were performing the great law did not even look back.
"All of them...!"
The moment Cho Myung shouted again in anger, everything in front of him disappeared.
- Grandfather?
- Yes, grandfather.
- Good. It's grandfather. From now on, call me grandfather.
Jeok Yorap, who was smiling with satisfaction, was visible in front of Cho Myung.
The moment he was peacefully digging for herbs with Jeok Yorap passed before his eyes.
At that sight, the anger in his heart that was about to explode slowly subsided.
The events of meeting the Eun Family Merchant Guild and coming to the Hua Family Clinic, and the happy days he had spent with his master and his two big brothers at the Hua Family Clinic, unfolded in a very peaceful manner.
Cho Myung felt the anger that had filled his chest wash away. But soon, when it came to the matter of Hundred Herb Forest and his master's death, the embers of anger revived.
Although it was still weak, it was an ember that could become a flame at any time and spread into a terrible fire that would swallow everything.
Cho Myung used that ember as a catalyst and swung his fist.
After swinging once or twice, he began to perform the Hundred Strikes Art.
Starting from the basic movements, he performed all the movements he had learned from Old Man Ban one by one, and he also performed all the things he had tried irregularly while running all over the mountain and training alone.
The more he threw his fist, the deeper his understanding of the movements he was performing became.
He was also gradually understanding how his fist, upper body, and two legs should be in harmony.
Training in a situation where he could not even tell if it was a dream or reality.
It was truly a state of selflessness.
The punching and the movements of his two feet and upper body, which he had thrown tens of thousands of times every day, became as natural as flowing water, and in the end, he was even overflowing with leisure.
How much time had passed like that?
When Cho Myung's whole chest was filled with a feeling as if he could shatter even Mount Tai, he stopped everything.
The embers in his chest were still there, but they were not enough to shake his emotions.
Cho Myung was in a daze like that.
The deep understanding of the unity of all things that had been passed down for hundreds of years, the Hundred Strikes Art, and the Immortal Demonic Aura.
Cho Myung realized that something amazing had happened to him. But he still could not know how amazing it was.
***
Screech! Screech!
The sound that echoed in the darkness was the sound of Cho Myung tearing at the balls of thread that were wrapped around him like a cocoon.
The tough balls of thread were torn off so easily.
Soon, Cho Myung got up from his seat.
Looking around, he saw a giant spider that seemed to have been dead for a long time.
A white face in the shape of a person and legs like iron pillars.
It was a human-faced spider that had lived for hundreds of years.
Cho Myung, who was looking at the human-faced spider, thought of the Taoist named Yoryo who had ascended to heaven in this place before and respectfully put his hands together and bowed his head.
"Thank you for your teachings."
Cho Myung spoke politely as if Taoist Yoryo were in front of him and then turned around.
He headed out of the cave with calm and heavy steps.
In the place where Cho Myung had disappeared, the corpse of the human-faced spider, the unraveled balls of thread, and the shattered pieces of iron were scattered.
The hundred-catty iron armor and the ten-catty vambraces that Cho Myung had been wearing were shattered into pieces. They had been broken as his body had grown, but Cho Myung had not even realized that.
When Cho Myung went out of the cave, a ray of sunlight was coming into the valley.
Cho Myung received that sunlight and headed out of the valley.
After walking for a long time, he saw familiar scenery.
Well, the entire area of the mountains beyond the back mountain of the Hua Family Clinic would probably be like that.
It was because he had run around every day looking for herbs and training.
Cho Myung walked slowly, taking in the places where he had run around like the wind.
It was the same scenery he always saw, full of green.
He had only looked at one thing, happiness, but now his mind was complicated with how he should live in the future and what he should do with the anger from the past, but the world was the same peaceful and leisurely scenery he always saw.
Was it because of that? He suddenly felt betrayed.
He felt that the things that had always been with him did not know his pain.
- That's right. It's originally like that. All things are one, and it's originally like that. Beasts, people, and the universe are all originally like that. So you just have to live like that. There is nothing special. There is just originally a difference. Just as you and I are different, everything is originally different.
What suddenly came to mind was the words of Taoist Yoryo's master.
"I know too. You said that 'one' means that they are connected, not that they are the same."
The mountain is the mountain, and he is himself.
To want it to know his heart, it was a foolish thing.
There was no one to lean on. He just had to do it himself.
He just had to live as he wanted.
Just as all the streams of the world do, he too would eventually reach the sea.
Without caring about anyone's opinion, as he wished, as he wanted to do, like that, like that.
'Yes, I want to be free like that! But... but I'm not alone!'
There are people he wants to be happy with.
The Hua Family Clinic, his grandfather, and his master.
Cho Myung, who had thought of Old Man Ban, ran towards the Hua Family Clinic with all his might, with a startled face.
***
Longevity Hall was quiet.
There was not even a sign of anyone.
Cho Myung sat down in the chair where Old Man Ban often sat.
'Where did they take my master?'
A dead person cannot come back to life. So his master must have entered eternal sleep.
Cho Myung, who had suddenly become depressed, felt his chest tighten.
As he sat quietly, thinking about the conversations he had had with Old Man Ban, the sun had completely set.
"Who's there?"
The first to return was Hua Yunhui.
Cho Myung got up from his chair.
"Big brother Yunhui..."
Cho Myung trailed off and scratched the back of his head. Then he said with an embarrassed face.
"It's me."
"Huh?"
Hua Yunhui stopped walking and tilted his head.
He had not recognized him.
Although his face had changed quite a bit, it was because his long hair was covering his face.
"Who are you... huh?"
Hua Yunhui, who suddenly widened his eyes as if he had seen a ghost.
Cho Myung, wondering why he was like that, looked behind him, but there was nothing that would have surprised Hua Yunhui.
"Why?"
"I-is that really Myung?"
"Yes. It's me. Where did you take my master?"
"Myung! You rascal, why are you... no, why are you so big?"
Hua Yunhui, who had approached in one step and was happy, made a surprised face again and examined Cho Myung from top to bottom.
At that sight, Cho Myung also widened his eyes.
Come to think of it, Hua Yunhui looked smaller than him.
"Why did you get smaller?"
"You got bigger!"
"Me?"
"Yes!"
Cho Myung, who was looking at himself, tilting his head as if to say "is that so?".
"Where on earth did you go to come back only now?"
"Where did I go? I was just in the mountains."
"What mountain, to come back only after three years?"
"What?"
Cho Myung's eyes widened as much as they could.
He had just fainted in a cave for one night.
Three years?
(End of Chapter)