Episode 52: If I hate you like you do.
The first place I stopped by was a guesthouse in the village below Hongsan Mountain.
The guesthouse was crowded with people, and the workers were also very busy.
I stood at the entrance for a while, but no one came to me.
At that time, I saw a kid carrying dishes back and forth between the kitchen and the customers. The moment I saw that child, a smile came to my face.
In my pre-return life, when I came here to rescue Yin Laizhong, that little boy became a grown man and greeted me. His face was the same as it was when he was young.
The child who found me too late ran over to help me.
“Hello, warrior, as you can see, there are no seats available right now.”
“Do you have a room?”
“No, there is no room. “There are a lot of customers because of the Blood God Festival.”
“When is the Blood God Festival held?”
“Exactly ten days later. “There is another guesthouse at the end of that street, and things will probably be no different there.”
The hectic child left those words and ran after being called by another customer.
It arrived at the right time, 10 days before the Blood God Festival.
The Blood God Ceremony is the biggest ceremony to honor the Blood God once a year at Pungcheon Bridge.
This was the reason why two months were needed for the third method to block the magic of the Soul Mazon.
Blood god.
This is because only on the day when this Blood God Festival is held can one obtain a way to subdue the Subsoul Mazon. Fortunately, the Blood God Festival was two months later, so if the timing wasn’t right, it could have been a year later before they killed the Seobhonmazon.
In the past, it took several years to infiltrate the seat of power of the Pungcheon cult leader where the Yin Lae Bell was kept.
This was the time it took for the leader of Pungcheon to find out the secret route to escape in case of emergency.
In fact, it took less than half an hour to infiltrate and retrieve the sacred object, but it took that long to figure out the passage.
Even though I discovered the secret passage with difficulty, it was still not easy to steal the sound bell.
The problem was the Pungcheon religious leader.
He spent most of his time in the seat of power.
I ate there and even slept there. He couldn’t take advantage of the short time he had to resolve his physiological phenomenon.
This is because there is an iron bar made of iron that lasts 10,000 years where the sacred objects, including the sound bell, are kept.
Moreover, not only was there a Pungcheon religious leader here, but there was also someone who guarded the shrine.
He was wearing shackles made of iron for 10,000 years and living around the Eumrei Bell like an earthly spirit. Not only was he excellent at martial arts, but he was also a person born with an excellent sense of smell. If someone approached, I noticed it right away and warned the Pungcheon religious leader.
Therefore, it was impossible to steal a sacred item while avoiding the eyes of the Pungcheon religious leader.
How could I bring a sound bell under these circumstances?
Just once a year, there is a moment when the iron bars go up and the Pungcheon religious leader leaves the place for a moment.
It is the day when the Blood God Festival is held.
On this day, according to established rituals, the head of the Pungcheon Church leaves his throne and holds a ceremonial ceremony at the main banquet hall.
At that time, the shackle master guarding the sound bell rang the bell 36 times according to the law, and what I was aiming for was the moment when the last 36th bell was rung.
After the last bell rings, the time it takes for the head of the Pungshin Church to return from the grand banquet hall to the throne is 1 day.
In the short time I had to drink a cup of tea, I achieved a miracle.
Because I practiced escaping dozens of times, I was able to run away from the Pungcheon believers’ pursuit.
Investigating, infiltrating, recruiting, fighting, practicing… so many things that happened back then passed by like a flash of light.
What I was targeting this time was stored in the same place as the sound bell. Since it was a simpler task than stealing a bulky sound bell, this trip to Pungcheon can be seen as a gift to me from my hard life.
I stood in front of the guesthouse for a moment and watched the crowds coming and going.
When the Blood God Ceremony was held, congratulatory envoys were sent from numerous Bangpas that interacted with Pungcheon Bridge, so not only the guesthouses but also the streets were filled with people.
It was also what I wanted. Because there are so many people, no one will remember that I exist. Of course, even in this situation, I was hiding my identity thoroughly, even wearing bamboo gloves. I will come quietly and disappear without a sound.
At various stores in the area, I bought some supplies needed for camping, basic food, and a medicine boiler needed to brew medicine.
And the last place we arrived at was the pharmacy.
“Are you asking for vaporizer?”
The old man in the pharmacy looked at me with a surprised face.
“Vaporative candles are expensive.”
Gihwacho is a medicinal herb that only grows here in Sae-Oe and cannot be found in the central plains.
“How much does one geun cost?”
“How much do you need?”
“I need two pounds.”
“You have to pay 80 nyang per geun. “I don’t know if you know this, but it’s a very precious herb.”
“All right. “I’ll buy two pounds for that price.”
“But what are you going to use the vaporizing candle for?”
The old man looked at me again, as it was an herb that was not commonly used.
However, since I came here, I had been wearing bamboo rags so deeply that I couldn’t see my face. The voice was also different from mine.
“I don’t know either. “I live because I ordered it from above.”
The old man didn’t ask any more questions and brought some vaporizing candles. After confirming the medicinal herbs, the old man gave me some well-packaged medicinal herbs. I paid the old man and left.
After leaving the pharmacy, I went to another pharmacy located far away. This time, what I found were guiryong trees and silica flowers.
After obtaining the two medicinal herbs there, I went to a pharmacy in another village far away and purchased datura and sandalwood.
There was one reason to get medicinal herbs from so many places. The purpose was to prevent others from knowing what these herbs were made from. There won’t be any problems if we all live in one place, but we were prepared for one emergency.
There is nothing wrong with being careful. Annoyances in life come back as financial losses, but in martial arts, annoyances cost lives.
After getting all the necessary herbs, I climbed the mountain that way.
Deep in the mountains, where there were no people, there was a cave where I had once lived. I cleaned up the place and boiled the medicine first.
Depending on the ingredients, some herbs need to be boiled separately, while others need to be boiled together. It had to take at least a few days.
This medicine was an elixir that could paralyze the sense of smell of a master wearing shackles. It is said that he has been held captive for his entire life since he was young, so he must still be there now. At the time, the time and cost it took to discover this secret was significant.
While the medicine was brewing, I sat cross-legged and practiced the Cheonma Self-Defense Technique.
I almost died when I first learned it, but now I have become a helper I can’t live without. The more I practice, the more I feel the specialness of Cheonma Self-Defense Technique.
Is it because of the characteristics of the Heavenly Demon Tiger God? When a crisis comes, it wakes me up and activates on its own, so there were many times when it felt like the Cheonma Protectorate was a living martial art. I know that it will become even more powerful if it gets along with the Nine Flame Demon Lord, so I just hope that day comes soon.
After practicing late at night, I came out of the cave and looked up at the stars in the night sky.
Even before my return, I stood here and looked at the night sky, and there is one thing that feels decidedly different from then.
At that time, I only had the thought of going back, but now the longing for the people I want to see is taking the place of going back. In particular, I was curious about whether Seo Dae-ryong was learning martial arts well from Hyeolcheon Doma.
They may both deny it, but they are secretly similar.
‘You must be doing well, right?’
* * *
On the first day of training, Seo Dae-ryong was waiting for Hyeolcheon Doma in the yard.
I arrived on time, but the blood chopping block had not come out yet.
Learning martial arts from Hyeolcheon Doma really felt like his heart was going to explode.
I swung the sword alone.
If you don’t use your inner strength, it’s still too heavy.
Thinking not to lose his strength for no reason, he waited for the Hyeolcheon chopping block.
Even after waiting for a long time, no one came out, so Seo Dae-ryong carefully approached the living quarters of Hyeolcheondoma.
As I was looking inside through the closed window, I felt a cold air next to me.
I was startled and turned around to see Hyeolcheon Doma, who had already appeared, peering into the window.
“Why are you spying so much?”
“Ugh!”
Seo Dae-ryong, startled, screamed.
“I’m sorry! “I was waiting to see if you were inside.”
“I heard that Lee Gongja was expelled from school?”
“yes.”
“It takes about two months, right?”
“You heard me.”
“That would be enough time for someone to go missing or die in an accident.”
Seo Daeryong spoke quickly.
“Mr. Lord, you are such an intelligent person that you would not believe that something so tragic could happen in just two months.”
“He is an intelligent person, so he will quickly forget the tragedy that has already occurred.”
Hyeolcheon Doma pretended to dig out an eyeball with his long, thin fingers.
“I will never steal from now on!”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Ah yes. going!”
Seo Dae-ryong quickly ran to the center of the yard.
Hyeolcheon Doma taught Seo Dae-ryong how to hold and wield the sword.
Then he said as he went inside.
“A thousand times!”
Seo Dae-ryong was swinging his sword with his whole body wet with sweat.
“Eight hundred and fifty-three, eight hundred and fifty-four…”
The weight was so heavy that it felt like my arm was going to fall off.
‘Ugh, I can’t do this anymore!’
Seo Dae-ryong lay down on the floor. Even if Hyeolcheon Doma was watching, he couldn’t do it. I didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.
Normally, I would be at home eating snacks and lying in bed reading a book.
‘Did I do something for nothing?’
As I was physically tired, I felt regret.
‘No, no. ‘I already made up my mind!’
If you don’t complete the training from the first day and are kicked out, you won’t have the honor of watching the sword dance.
Seo Dae-ryong jumped up and swung his sword. Just like that, we barely filled a thousand.
“I did it!”
Seo Dae-ryong, sitting down on the floor, looked down at the sword in his hand.
This feeling of cold and heavy Tao! Yes, if you follow this feeling, it will definitely lead you to a better life than a life of wallowing.
At that time, the window opened and the blood vessel appeared.
“If it’s hard, quit. “I won’t stop you.”
Seo Dae-ryong suddenly stood up. It felt like his arm was going to fall off, but he spoke firmly.
“I won’t quit.”
“why?”
“Because you will never get an opportunity like this in your life.”
“I will never pass on my German martial arts skills?”
“I don’t even want that. The opportunity I’m talking about is the opportunity to learn martial arts from Mazon. I’ll tell you later when I have children. This father learned martial arts from Master Hyeolcheondo when he was young. That’s enough. “It’s enough to have those memories while living as an unmanned person.”
“You are thinking of getting married.”
“Yes, I would like to.”
“why?”
“I want to raise my children. So, I want to give you the paternal love that my father never gave me.”
There was a story and sadness that could be felt in his words.
“What if your child hates you like you do?”
“Then… would you please give my child this training as well?”
At Seodaeryong’s words, Hyeolcheondoma chuckled.
Seo Dae-ryong felt happy and smiled brightly at the thought of making Hyeolcheon Doma laugh.
Hyeolcheondoma said as he closed the window.
“A thousand more times!”