Episode 260: What are your names?
It’s been a while since I had a meal with my father.
I love this time. Play baduk or eat. This moment when I was quietly having a silent conversation with my father.
I usually joke around a lot, but it’s probably because this moment is the one that touches my essence the most. Because I’ve lived quietly my whole life.
“Wasn’t the training difficult?”
“It wasn’t physically hard, but it was hard to endure the boredom of repetition.”
“How did you endure it?”
“Afterwards, I cleared my mind. This repetition will be my task for the rest of my life, and if I get out of this boredom, another boredom will be waiting for me anyway, so let’s just do it. As a result, repetition and boredom seemed to have become one with me.”
My father smiled. It wasn’t ridicule. It was a smile of sincere congratulations on finding the right path.
I explained to my father in detail how I interpreted the First Chosik, the trials and errors I went through, and how I practiced it repeatedly.
Although he said it as if he was excited and boasting, he was actually giving information to his father.
Please note.
My father would compare my interpretation with his and try to come up with a better chosik. Please do it.
I did not return to become stronger than my father or to defeat him. I came here to survive with my father.
“If you’re done eating, let’s go digest it.”
I followed my father outside. My father said while looking at the top of Daecheon Mountain in the distance.
“Let’s compete to see who gets there first.”
For some reason, my father suggested a light attack competition.
“You didn’t forget that I said that if I achieved the speed walk feat, we should have a fight.”
“How do you feel? Are you confident?”
“Of course I’m confident. For your information, the Mazons all fell out with me.”
“Go first!”
“Then you just have to watch my back and run?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he ran away first. If I do this, even if I win, my father will have something to say.
He ran at a breakneck speed at a fast pace.
Can even his father, the speedster who has achieved great success, keep up with this speed? It was so fast that it raised questions.
It was right then. I thought I could hear the strong wind behind me.
When I turned my head, I saw my father next to me.
My father was standing upright in the air, flying with the hem of his clothes flapping. Speed wasn’t the problem.
‘stylish!’
While I was running as fast as I could, my father was flying arrogantly and proudly. The Cheonma flying technique that achieved great success suited him so well, as if it were a light technique for his father.
Yes, it’s not cool, but it shouldn’t be too slow.
I ran with all my might. I thought I ran as fast as light, but my father was the one who reached the top first.
“I lost. Lose in style and lose in speed. Even the God of Wind is no match for the Heavenly Demon.”
As I lowered my head, my father spoke.
“Even the speedboat is fast.”
Although he never acknowledged other martial arts, Poongsinsabo was a martial art that even his father recognized.
And then unexpected words came out of my father’s mouth.
“If you achieve great success in the art of flying the Heavenly Demon, you will achieve the same results.”
It was an acknowledgment of me, and there was a reason why my father said that to me when he asked me to compete in a light attack competition.
“I will teach you the art of flying the Heavenly Demon.”
I could tell. It was because of what I told you about Jeil Chosik earlier. Now that I’ve learned something, I should teach it to you too. This is my heart. My father never just accepts something.
“Thank you, father.”
I lay down on the spot.
“If you are at your current level and have realized the extreme meaning of light engineering, you will learn it without difficulty and it will not take long for you to master it. Now listen carefully.”
My father taught me the art of flying the Cheonma on the spot. After checking several times whether I had memorized it well, the teaching of the phrases was completed.
I bowed deeply to my father.
“I’m so happy, Dad.”
The reason for being so happy is not just because the Cheonma Flying Art is the best light fighting technique in the martial arts world. It was not because of the possibility of performing a faster light attack by combining the Cheonma Flying Technique and the Wind God Sabot.
I was happy because it was the moment for me to inherit all of my father’s German martial arts skills. From nine fire demon techniques, heavenly demon defense techniques, and heavenly demon flying techniques. This is the moment when I learn all the core martial arts my father learned. My heart was pounding.
“Stop standing up.”
“yes.”
I stood side by side on the cliff at the top of Daecheonsan Mountain with my father.
I could see the panoramic view of Cheonma Shingyo in the distance.
“When I became the head of a small church, I came up here with my father.”
I looked at my father standing next to me. I thought about my father’s youth and imagined my grandfather standing next to him.
“My father’s dream was to become a martial artist.”
That was a fact I didn’t know.
After a moment, I asked my father.
“What about your father?”
My father didn’t answer anything. I know. That my father is dreaming of unifying Moorim. Father knows too. That I know that.
I said something difficult to say. It was something I had to say at least once.
“Even if my father achieves the great work of unifying martial arts and receives praise and respect from everyone in the world… he will not receive my respect.”
It was something that could have made him angry, but my father didn’t say anything. Because now you know very well how your son feels.
In silence, we looked at the Heavenly Demon Church in the distance and the horizon and sky beyond it.
I spoke in a cheerful tone to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
“Father, please name my friends. I also thought about whether there was a cool name for it. With the theme of ghosts, I thought about naming them things like night ghost, blood ghost, white ghost, and heavenly ghost, but when I thought about it, it seemed too gloomy. So, in a more elegant way, we did it with the moon as the theme and called it the bright moon, the last moon, the silver moon, and the hyewol, or we did it with the theme of color…” That
was right then. My father blurted out.
“North, south, east and west.”
I flinched for a moment.
“Are you kidding?”
My father looked at me with a completely unsmiling face.
“At least it’s not Maelan Gukjuk or Cheongpungmyeongwol, but North, South, East, West?
I couldn’t tell if it was because he meant not to give unnecessary names to evil spirits, because I mentioned the martial arts unification earlier, or because he really thought that the East, West, South, and North are good.
“North, South, East and West!”
He said it again as if confirming it.
What can I do when my father appears like this?
Oh, I’m sorry. My demons!
“Oh, that’s good to hear. Donggwi, Seogwi, Namgui, Bukgui. It’s easy to memorize too. It’s just right. If anyone asks, my father gave it to me! “I’m also proud of it.”
They’re revealing everything that’s my father’s name! Still, my father didn’t even give up.
In the end, the names of the four demons are confirmed as East, West, South, and North!
* * *
After coming down from Daecheon Mountain, I headed straight to Tongcheongak.
It was to hear from Commander-in-Chief Sima Ming what I should do next.
As I entered Tongcheongak, the soldiers I encountered greeted me politely.
These are favorable eyes. Because of the nature of their work, these people know me better than anyone else, so you need to pay attention to the changes in their eyes.
When I entered the Tongtian Pavilion operation room after going through strict security several times, Sima Ming was meeting with the soldiers in the conference room.
After the soldier who greeted me told Sima Ming to leave it alone, I waited for the meeting to end in the strategy room.
It was really busy there.
Messages continued to arrive through a dozen holes in one wall, divided by region, and the soldiers classified them according to case.
Some soldiers were running around holding documents, while others were diligently writing something down. Another soldier was moving flags of dozens of colors planted on the topographical map of the central plains to another location. There was no one who wasn’t busy.
Murim was peaceful, but this place was a battlefield. No, because this is a battlefield, the martial arts world is probably peaceful.
After a while, Sima Ming came out from the meeting and was surprised to see me.
“Master Xiao, when did you come?”
“I came here a little while ago. “I told them not to disturb me because I would wait until the meeting was over.”
“Let’s go to my office.”
“Speak here. It’s great to see the soldiers at work. “I feel like I need to work harder.”
“This is not something someone who has just come out of a closed-down training facility would say. “Now get some rest.”
“That’s not something someone who has a lot of missions to give me would say.”
He looked at Sima Ming and smiled.
“How was your training?”
“As soon as I came out, I didn’t even shave my beard and ran to show off to my father.”
The word boasting contained all the results.
“We will reduce it.”
“It is thanks to the soldier who coordinated our external schedules. “I must have a lot of work to do. What should I do first?”
“The first thing you need to do is visit the Honam and Gangseo districts. The Honam region is the first place to clash when a war breaks out with the Murim Alliance, and Gangseo is a strategic point to deal with the Sado Alliance. So, the first thing the Sogyoju should do is to visit the two districts and meet the local leaders there.”
“All right.”
“I will send you the official mission letter tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, I’ll see you when I get back.”
As I was about to turn around and come out, Sima Ming said.
“The head of the school will have a great influence on the fate of our school in the future.”
I smiled and told him.
“That’s why I plan to visit you often.”
* * *
It was when I came out of Tongcheongak and was walking towards my residence.
On a quiet street, a masked man appeared in front of me. The person who came out of hiding was Hwi, the head of the Cheonmajeon Guard.
“mister!”
“Master Xiao.”
“Please just call me Geuk-ah like you used to call me when I was little.”
“You can’t do that.”
I was thrilled to see him after a long time.
“How long has it been since I last saw you? “You have a lot of gray hair on your head.”
“I’m getting older too.”
“It’s because it’s hard to take care of my father. You’re being very picky, aren’t you? “You’re just harassing me, right?”
“It’s the most enjoyable thing in my life.”
The Hwi I knew was truly that kind of person. A person whose only mission is to escort. A person whose father is everything.
“You carried me on a snowy day.”
When Hwi laughed, the eyes inside the mask were curved like the moon.
“Do you remember that?”
“sure. “How great was it back then.”
After exchanging greetings, Hwi revealed the reason why he came to see me.
“Please take escorts with you when you leave school this time.”
I couldn’t answer readily. I originally planned to go alone. He came to me expecting that to happen.
“To be honest, it’s not for Master Xiao. “I also know that my skills as an escort are such that it actually becomes a burden.”
Hwi did not say anything back.
“I stand up for my juniors. Those kids will grow up to be great escorts if they stay with Master So. I have been watching Sogyoju’s actions recently. The Sogyoju that I saw was the sea. “It was a sea big enough to accommodate all of my juniors.”
Given his personality, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to come to me and say something like this. That’s how much he cared about the Cheonma Guard and his juniors.
They all died with us that day.
If this is a request from Hwi, who devoted his entire life to his father, then yes, he should take at least twelve hundred people, not twelve.
“I will go with you.”
Hwi bowed his head politely.
“thank you.”
“No, uncle.”
I also bowed my head politely to Hwi.
When I looked up again, Hwi had disappeared. He was not the type of person to repay with words, so one day he will try to repay today’s debt.
Uncle Hwi, you don’t need to do that. You and your juniors have already paid with their lives.
* * *
My guards were training in the training hall.
After watching them practice for a while, I went inside.
They stopped practicing and greeted everyone in unison.
“See you, Lord Xiao!”
There was a lot of spirit in the loud greeting.
“Have you been practicing continuously for the past hundred days?”
Jeokyeon stepped forward and answered.
“Yes, I practiced without missing a single day.”
“But why are there only six?”
“I don’t know when I will be deployed for escort duty, so I am splitting my time into day shift and night shift. And we change day and night once a month.”
In other words, the night shift meant training from evening to morning. I thought it was really great.
Since it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, I looked into Jeokyeon’s eyes first.
Knowing that it was useless to refuse, Jeokyeon obediently took off the blindfold.
He said while looking into bright red eyes.
“The level of demonic arts has risen to the next level.”
Then Jeokyeon was surprised.
“you’re right. “Did you really recognize that just by looking at the color of my eyes?”
“The color is different than before.”
“In fact, even though I saw Tokyo every day, I didn’t recognize it.”
The difference was distinguished using Shinan-sul.
The reason I kept being drawn to his eyes was also because of the Shinan technique. I practiced divine eye art for myself, but he practiced ghost eye art for others. That other person ended up being me.
Although it is all one’s choice and fate, sacrificing one’s eyes for others is never easy.
I injected true energy into his eyes and controlled them.
“It feels different.”
“how?”
“There is a lot less pain.”
If so, it may be due to a change in internal strength. Because it has become much more solemn and pure.
“You will leave school with me tomorrow. An official mission letter will come from Tongcheongak early in the morning.”
The expressions of the Red Army and the escort soldiers brightened. Finally, I had my first mission.
A feeling of excitement and joy that could not be hidden was conveyed. I love it so much that if I had left it behind, I would have been in big trouble.
“Thank you for trusting us.”
“Take care of me starting tomorrow. “I’m just going to trust you guys.”
With a loud answer, the Red Army and the escort soldiers bowed their heads in greeting. That’s right, let’s go out now, let’s grow up and come back.
The next morning, two carriages left the bridge.
It was his first expulsion as a small religious leader with an official escort.