Episode 49. Feeling like a human being
After the late-night drinking party, the thieves dispersed to their lodgings.
Gumilbokgeom Sim Yang-gak, Doksimnangin Hwang Yeo-myeong, and Cheon Gi-deok also returned to their rooms and prepared to sleep.
But is it because things don’t go as planned that you feel upset?
Towards the end of the drinking party, Hwang Yeo-myeong, who had been mumbling, quietly approached Sim Yang-gak.
“Elder, what do you think about what Feng Chae-ju said?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What did you say about Park Ri-dam-mae? Didn’t you say to leave it alone even if the merchants cheated?”
“however?”
Sim Yang-gak looked at Huang Yeo-myeong with crooked eyes.
‘Wow! This idiot worked as a servant for four months and his liver is swollen.’
It seems that he still can’t get over his past memories. It’s a situation where the inaction of the Five Bong Ten Heroes may overtake him at any moment.
“You know that the merchant Naburangi is cheating Nokrim, and you want to just ignore that? Isn’t that really a problem?”
“If you don’t like the temple, you should leave.”
“yes?”
Huang Yeoming thought he had misheard.
Why did Sim Yang-gak, who always chewed on Chae-ju behind my back, suddenly do it?
“Are your ears blocked? If you don’t like the wind, get out of the mountain, you brat.”
“That’s not what I meant… … . I sincerely hope that you become the master… … .”
“This crazy guy!”
Sim Yang-gak kicked his feet out from his sitting position.
Kkudangtang.
Huang Yeoming, who had been rolling backwards for a couple of times, quickly knelt down.
“I was wrong! Please forgive me!”
“If you want to die, die alone and quietly. Why did you drag me into this? If you dare to play with your mouth like that again, I’ll cut your throat with my own hands. Just know that.”
“Yes, yes. I won’t do it again.”
Huang Yeoming banged his head on the floor and blinked.
Because I can’t tell the truth of what Sim Yang-gak said. How can someone who was eyeing the position of Chae Joo just a few months ago change like that?
***
next day.
Cheon Gi-deok finally opened his eyes around lunchtime.
The room was quiet, so I took a quick look around and there was no one there. Usually, if someone woke up later than me, Huang Yeoming would kick me awake. Judging from the fact that he left quietly, I guess he was quite shocked by what happened yesterday.
Cheon Gi-deok, who had been suffering from Hwang Yeo-myeong, felt relieved.
Gulp.
I suddenly feel hungry when I hear the sound of the boat.
Cheon Gi-deok went to a restaurant, ate whatever he could get his hands on, and then came out into the yard.
When you fill your stomach, you suddenly have nothing to do.
While he was wandering around, he happened to find his friend Lee Cheol-san in the backyard.
“Cheolsan-ah.”
“Hey, Gideok. What brings you here?”
Lee Cheol-san waved his hand with a happy face.
That’s because we haven’t been able to hang out as often as before since our accommodations changed.
“I was just wandering around and came across this. What did you do to make you sweat so much?”
Cheon Gi-deok asked indirectly even though he knew it was obvious.
“Yesterday, Master Chae told me to practice martial arts. You have to do as I say. Are you making any progress?”
Lee Cheol-san used the word ‘progress’ without thinking.
Progress is a word that can only be used when there is a martial art that you are mastering as your main skill.
A bitter smile appeared on the lips of Cheon Gi-deok, who had only learned the basics while moving from one military post to another.
“Well, I’ve already learned the Samjae Dobeop and Yukhap Dobeop. Do you know?”
Lee Cheol-san nodded.
The Samjae Do-beop, Yukhap Do-beop, Palsang Do-beop, Yongho Do-beop, etc. were taught as mandatory skills in minor military schools.
“What about you? I heard you learned martial arts from Brother Yeon. Did your skills improve a bit?”
Cheon Gi-deok looked at Lee Cheol-san with strange eyes.
The two grew up in the same neighborhood and knew almost everything about each other. Having been at odds with each other for over ten years, they were both well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Lee Cheol-san answered in a calm tone.
“It has increased a little, but… … . There is still a long way to go. Brother Yeon said he still needs to train for two or three more years.”
“Really? Let’s have a fight for the first time in a while.”
Cheon Gi-deok looked at Lee Cheol-san with eyes burning with a sense of victory.
I wanted to see how much I had improved by learning from Yeonjeokha.
“I wonder?”
Lee Cheol-san was also curious about his own abilities.
There is no one better than Cheon Gi-deok to find out. The two were rivals until a few months ago.
The two men stood facing each other, holding wooden swords.
“Cha-ha-ha!”
Cheon Gi-deok started the attack first with a strong spirit.
Tata-tata-dak. Exactly.
Cheon Gi-deok moved the wooden sword faithfully according to the teachings of the Yukhap Do-beop.
Cheon Gi-deok, who had been swinging his wooden sword for a while, was overcome by a strange feeling.
The two men’s wooden swords clashed ‘clack clack’ in the middle, as if they were moving together.
Even by chance, there is no way it can go astray.
Normally, when fighting with wooden swords, one or two out of five attacks would result in a miss. However, the wooden swords of the two were interlocked and rotating with a creepy precision.
Of course, that wasn’t his intention.
Tata-tata-tata.
After storming his opponent, Cheon Gi-deok was out of breath.
My heart felt like it was going to burst.
Percussion.
Cheon Gi-deok nervously struck Lee Cheol-san’s wooden sword and then distanced himself from him.
“Haa! Haaak! Let’s stop. I can’t do this because it’s too hard.”
Lee Cheol-san nodded his head as he watched Cheon Gi-deok breathing with his shoulders shaking.
“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”
“… … .”
Cheon Gi-deok could not bear to meet Lee Cheol-san’s eyes and turned his head to the distant mountains. Only half a year ago, they had been neck and neck, but Lee Cheol-san seemed to have become a real martial artist.
Can a person change this much in just half a year?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand it.
“Oh my, I think I need to quit drinking and practice some cultivation. I’m out of breath like this.”
Cheon Gi-deok shook his head and left the backyard.
As soon as he disappeared from sight, Lee Cheol-san changed his stance to Park Do again.
And then he performed the Japanese dragon ascension.
The path started from the lower part of the body and rose in a zigzag shape until it reached its peak above the head. From there, the path drew a smooth arc and then fell to the ground.
For a moment, a fresh blue energy gathered on the sword.
Tsk tsk tsk-.
Lee Cheol-san stood up and calmed his breathing, which was getting heavier.
The heavy energy that had been clinging to the sword quickly dissipated like smoke.
Next up is Yongmucheonsang, which I recently learned.
Lee Cheol-san attacked from the left and right from the upper part and then stabbed deeply into the front at the end.
The moment I lifted my heel slightly, the tip of the sword began to vibrate.
But unfortunately, the wind of change did not blow as fast as Yeonjeokha did.
“ah!”
If I just try a little harder, I feel like my energy will just pour out all over the place.
‘What a pity. What a pity!’
After two or three years, I will be able to get this ticklish energy out.
After that?
Suddenly I felt strange.
If Hasobaek’s dream was to open a tea house, Han Chaeyeon’s dream was to run a small inn in a big city. To do that, she had to first go down from Mt. Obong.
How long will the Five Families of the Five Heroes maintain their name?
Becoming an expert is a happy thing, but thinking about parting makes me a little sad.
***
Around dusk.
I was practicing the nine-thousand-year-old law at the highest peak of Mt. Obongsan. As I watched the red-tinged sunset, I felt a sense of emptiness today.
On days like this, it would be good to extend one’s heart to the nine heavens, but the human mind is not like that.
I headed to the backyard to comfort the emptiness I felt.
The five great warriors who had been engaged in a heated debate about martial arts rushed to Yeonjeokha.
The oldest and largest, Pungyeoncho, spoke first.
“You know, Yeon-ah, we found something a little strange. We’d like to hear your opinion on it.”
“What is it?”
“Young Au taught us the first and second rites of the nine heavenly laws.”
“Yes, it was.”
“But if you use the Japanese dragon ascending to heaven, a bluish aura forms on the sword? It’s a aura that only those experts can achieve. It’s ridiculous for our level. In any case, a real aura forms.”
“So?”
“We’ve only been practicing for half a year, is this possible? Does this make sense? Everyone is saying, ‘We’ve become experts,’ and ‘No.’”
Han Chae-yeon said something.
“That’s right. Please tell me exactly what our level is. I don’t want to show off and get stabbed to death thinking I’m an expert.”
I understood the confusion felt by the five rivals.
That happened because of a lack of understanding of Baekjagugyeol and the Nine Thousand Tax Law.
“It is true that the speed of Baekja Gugyeol’s accumulation is fast, but you have not yet reached the level of sword energy extraction. I told you at Po’s Shrine last time. The correct posture of the Nine Heavenly Laws will fully draw out your strength. If you try using the Hangma method, the Heavenly Way method, or the Six Harmony method, nothing will happen.”
Poongyeoncho asked with a face that seemed to know something or the other.
“So you’re saying that pottery only comes out when you spread the Nine Thousand Laws?”
“Yes, to be exact, it is when the nine-thousand-year law is unfolded through the power of Baekja Gugyeol.”
“Ah! So you’re only a half-baked expert after all.”
“Don’t be discouraged. If you keep practicing, one day you will be able to create Taoism using your brother’s Heavenly and Earthly Dharma.”
The eighth, Lee Cheol-san, spoke cautiously.
“Brother Yeon is right. I had a fight with Cheon Gi-deok earlier, and his movements were so clear to my eyes. I was able to deal with him easily even without using the Nine Heavenly Laws. It seems that as the Nine Heavenly Laws and Baek Ja-gu-gyeol deepen, one’s martial arts skills also become more advanced.”
The five great heroes nodded.
This is because they also felt that the martial arts contained in the Nine Heavenly Laws contained the principles of ascension, and that their skills increased as they practiced them.
Suddenly, the third son, Ma Hyeong-do, turned his gaze to Poongyeon-cho.
“But big brother, are you aware that there is a rumor going around that you have let go of the mountain?”
“Huh? I never said I was letting go.”
The fourth, Heo Im-dal, spoke up.
“I heard it last night too. They were gossiping that my older brother let go and stepped back.”
“But is it because I don’t go hiking?”
The second son, Tak Go-myeong, nodded his head as if he agreed.
“It makes sense that such talk would go around since we keep leaving it to Hwang Yeomyeong.”
“I see. Do you want to go hiking again?”
Poongyeoncho swung his sword around at the Five Peaks and Ten Heroes.
The five Bongsipgeol who met his eyes shook their heads as if they had made a promise. If you don’t want to live in the mountains for the rest of your life, you shouldn’t sell your face as a thief.
Ma Hyeong-do and Heo Im-dal, who had no other specific goal, also opposed it. Of course, in their case, it was because they did not want to run around the mountains in the cold weather of midwinter.
“Third and fourth, when the weather clears up, will you go hiking?”
“yes.”
“That’s what I’m going to do.”
The two men, who had a history of thieves and robbers, were content with their lives in the green forest.
Poongyeoncho, who had been nodding, turned his gaze to Yeonjeokha.
“What about Yeon Ah-woo?”
“I do not know.”
Yeonjeokha shrugged her shoulders.
He didn’t have any special plans for his life, so he didn’t worry about hiking. Up until now, he just went when he wanted to go and rested when he wanted to rest.
Tak Go-myeong intervened.
“Then Yeon-ah, you should also stop hiking now. Why are you stealing for nothing? It’s like using a slaughter knife to kill a chicken. I think it would be better to just teach us here and now. What do you think?”
“Yes, Brother. I want to learn more from you. If you want to live a long life in the world of martial arts, you need to learn a lot while you’re together.”
He nodded in agreement with Hasobaek’s plea.
In fact, I didn’t say anything, but I liked watching my brothers’ achievements more than stealing.
“I will do that.”
When Yeonjeokha agreed, the five great heroes erupted in cheers.
Amidst the noisy and chaotic chatter of brothers, the lover snickered.
Now I finally feel like a human being.
In the Gocheonyeoiljingyeong, it says, “The Gocheon period comes in the midst of nothingness, so wait with an empty heart,” but for now, it’s better to be noisy.
I don’t necessarily want to become a big fish.
Wuxia,
