Chapter 20
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Do Pyeong-su was watching Geom Woo-bin with concern.
Geom Woo-bin’s attitude to learning martial arts has changed after he stopped the blood-lions from going to Dongssi-doga.
Even before that, he thought that he was working hard enough.
Except for the time he delivers liquor and has his meals, most of his time was spent on training martial arts. However, after stating that he would become stronger soon, Geom Woo-bin was different from before.
First of all, the attitude to face martial arts became much more serious.
Before that, there was also an atmosphere where he enjoyed when Do Pyeong-su loosened him up and he had moderate breaks in between.
However, there was no more enjoyable martial arts training.
He swung the sword without a break until he masters the stances Do Pyeong-su taught him.
When his breathing reaches up to his chin and he loses his breath, Do Pyeong-su had to stop him. Some cases frequently occurred where Do Pyeong-su had to forcibly interrupt when Geom Woo-bin did not rest.
Geom Woo-bin who was smart and prominent in martial art skills practiced intensely, and the word ever-advancing was realistically developing at a fast pace.
However, the term ‘more is just bad as less’ did not happen for no reason.
Geom Woo-bin’s current Neigong was rising rapidly that an ordinary Moorim person couldn’t imagine.
That alone puts a considerable strain on the body, and Jang Man-dok was having a hard time trying to control it. But, if he goes beyond the limit of martial arts training, something would go wrong.
Despite being said that to Geom Woo-bin, his reply was, ‘I can control it.’
Of course, one knows his body the best.
However, just after the New Year, Geom Woo-bin turned to be only nine years old. They felt insecure about leaving it up all to Geom Woo-bin.
“We have to do something about this.”
The blood-lions gathered while Geom Woo-bin was exhausted from training and fell asleep.
“What should we do? Other than staying beside the abolition and taking care of him so that nothing happens.”
Yeon Geum-hong was furious at Seo Seok-san’s words.
“What would you do if the abolition coughs up blood and collapses?”
“The abolition is not that stupid. He’s the one who made us catch all the bad guys. What couldn’t the person who makes a blood-lion do a good deed be able to do?”
They competitively caught the fugitives, and, Seo Seok-san eventually joined the ranks. Now, thanks to Geom Woo-bin’s hard work in martial arts, that he can’t even praise them or buy them presents for doing a good deed.
Nevertheless, they did not stop catching the fugitives.
If three of them do a good deed by catching a fugitive and only one person backs off, that one person could be hated by Geom Woo-bin.
Of course, they knew that Geom Woo-bin was not that cheap, but not a single one of them were participating even with a slightly uneasy feeling.
“That’s different from this. The abolition has already reached the level of Baekyoungchim.”
“What? That’s something you reached three years after you entered ‘Art of Memorization’. The master praised you saying even that was fast.”
“That’s right. It’s due to the high level of the Neigong, but, the abolition is six times faster than I was. The problem is that he doesn’t know how to stop. You know it too. That he needs time to dwell on his realization. If he just keeps running, all the martial arts that he practiced so far might get tangled up, and if things go wrong he could even get caught by the devil. Moreover, it’s not like the abolition is practicing only my martial arts.”
Yeon Geum-hong’s ‘Art of Memorization’, footwork, and Qinggong, Do Pyeong-su’s Taoist Martial, Seo Seok-san’s ‘Art of Music’, Jang Man-dok’s poison & Kenpō and blood & iron martial arts. Geom Woo-bin is practicing eight martial arts at once.
No matter how genius one is, there is a limit for humans.
“The abolition needs to rest a little. Isn’t there any better way?”
The gaze of the three of them gathered one by one on Jang Man-dok.
-Why look at me?
An expression anyone could read was seen on Jang Man-dok’s face.
“Isn’t there any medicine that would make the abolition unconscious and let him rest for about ten days?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s question, Jang Man-dok firmly shook his head.
“There are such medicines, but the side effects are high. And by doing that, for sure we’ll be extremely hated by the abolition.”
“Is being hated more important than the abolition himself!”
“Why are you yelling at me? It’s Jang Man-dok who thinks so.”
“Don’t we need to believe in the abolition a little more?” Said Seo Seok-san.
“It’s not like we don’t believe in him.”
“Even though it’s natural that we are concerned, abolition is abolition no matter what. Although he’s learning martial arts from us, he’s anyways our great abolition. The age doesn’t matter. And he is stronger and wiser than we think. Just like parents might be the ones who don’t know their children the most, aren’t we trying to commit such a mistake?”
They’ve never had someone they’ve felt affectionate towards.
Master was an awe-inspiring person and they were like family to each other, and there was no need to worry.
With that being said, Geom Woo-bin is the first lump of affection they’ve ever had in their lives.
When that kind of a being strains himself, their worries could even obscure their vicinity.
“Let’s, first of all, believe in the abolition. And, it would be better for us to actively help him instead of dissuading him.”
“How can we help any further?”
“How about each one of us take turns and do the Moxibustion therapy every day to the abolition?”
Do Pyeong-su snapped his finger at Seo Seok-san’s suggestion.
“Oh! That’s a good idea.”
Moxibustion therapy, which awakens the muscles and the meridian points of the opponent is often more toxic than the medicine that’s spread roughly. Moreover, the energy of the caster is pretty much consumed.
The greatest expert who can skillfully spread out sacrificing himself was Moxibustion therapy.
Of course, it was not a problem to conduct the Moxibustion therapy to the blood-lions, and they were rather happy to accept self-sacrifice for Geom Woo-bin.
“I’ll go first.”
At Seo Seok-san’s words, Jang Man-dok raised his hands and stopped him.
“He said he will do it first. As we enter the next stage of the blood & iron martial arts today, he will have to do that.”
Instead, Do Pyeong-su, Yeon Geum-hong, and Seo Seok-san were also surprised.
“Hardening of small bones? Have you already gone up to that? Do you want to see the abolition suffer?”
All the blood-lions have tried to learn blood & iron martial arts.
So, they know how tough that process is. That stage is accompanied by intolerable pain even after seven years of mastering martial arts.
Seo Seok-san who was the first to give up blood & iron martial arts gave up at the last gateway of that critical stage. Do Pyeong-su was the next to give up, and Yeon Geum-hong gave up after enduring it for three more months.
Only Jang Man-dok was able to succeed in the blood & iron martial arts by passing through the deadly gateway of ten years.
But, at the current speed of Geom Woo-bin, it seemed that the ten-year thorny path Jang Man-dok walked on could be reduced to four years.
“The abolition is holding up well.
“Sigh, how painful he must’ve felt.”
Yeon Geum-hong’s heart was broken that she seemed like she was going to burst into tears.
They gathered to find a way to slow down Geom Woo-bin’s seniority, but in the end, they decided to help him.
Nevertheless, Yeon Geum-hong promised to stop Geom Woo-bin if she thinks it’s certainly dangerous.
Geom Woo-bin who made the blood-lions’ hearts full of worries, was pushing himself ahead to the limit every day.
The blood-lions are the first-ever family of Geom Woo-bin.
He could never cause any inconvenience to such blood-lions. It is rather better to stain his hands with blood than making the blood-lions sin.
Fortunately, neither the blood-lions’ interference nor did Geom Woo-bin feel miserable that he hurt people occurred.
There was no latest news about Dong Chang-min after the news about him focusing only on the training.
“I’ll try opening the channels of the microcosmic orbit once again.”
Yeon Geum-hong sighed and said.
“Be careful about practicing Neigong. It must be continuous and uninterrupted. If things go wrong in practicing Neigong you might even get caught to the devil.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Yeon Geum-hong took a seat in front of Geom Woo-bin who was five fields away.
Geom Woo-bin said as she grabbed a handful of paper scraps from her pouch.
“Priestess, you also be careful. You could get hurt.”
“Oh no! If only our abolition could hurt me, I would have no wishes.”
Yeon Geum-hong threw the paper scraps into the air while she was speaking.
The thirty square pieces of paper in the length of the index finger which was well overlapped, spread out in white.
At that moment Geom Woo-bin’s arms moved.
The movement was simple, and the needles that left his hand were quick.
Most masters die by piercing a hole without even seeing the needle. However, the fear of opening the channels of the microcosmic orbit is not a circulating memorization.
The memorization that pierces through a piece of paper could be seen.
However, there is one needle, which is exceptionally faster than the other needles, it is a needle that has no sound wave and is difficult to see.
That needle is mixed with other things, so, it’s difficult to sense its existence.
Thirty needles flew towards the paper scraps, while a single fatal needle almost touched Yeon Geum-hong’s shoulders.
Yeon Geum-hong snatched the needle with her left hand.
The power the needle held was much heavier than she expected.
As it was her, it was easy to catch, but it was never an attack that could be easily stopped. There were almost no errors in the needles that were piercing through the thirty pieces of paper.
Whether it’s fighting with one person or many people, if it’s for Geom Woo-bin, it will not be a big deal.
“Abolition, this is amazing!”
Usually, when a master teaches his students, he mostly rebukes them a lot, but the blood-lion was different.
She said he did well when he was really good, and that he did well even if he was somewhat lacking.
It was because of the expectation that the speed of the unstoppable Geom Woo-bin might even slow down, but Geom Woo-bin never did that.
“Nope. It should be faster. I aimed the thirty needles at the center of the paper, but I missed seven. I’m lacking in training.”
“Abolition, even this speed is extremely fast. You can be proud of yourself.”
“I still have a long way to go.”
“I’m betting my life on it, you have now achieved the fastest achievement in the history of Moorim.” Said Do Pyeong-su with a determined expression.
It could or could not be the truth, but he said so since Geom Woo-bin cannot verify it.
“Being fast is pointless. I have to be stronger.”
“How strong do you want to become? Don’t tell me, do you want to surpass these priests already, don’t you?” Asked Do Pyeong-su earnestly.
“If I want to become strong like you priests then even if I train for twenty years like now, I won’t be able to do it.”
“Mmmh…. it will be similar.”
Considering Geom Woo-bin’s developmental speed, after twenty years, Geom Woo-bin may even easily fight for the best in the world with them, the blood-lions.
“Except for you priests, I have to be the strongest at least in this Hangzhou.”
He wanted to say, ‘you’re strong enough right now!’. But, it wasn’t that easy to assure.
Hangzhou is not a very big city, but many experts were hiding there. Isn’t it so, just by looking at Dongssi-doga right now? In Moorim, strength has nothing to do with money and the number of disciples.
No matter how many years have passed and the tide has changed, the foundation of Moorim must be a force. Moorim is a place where people can never be treated unless they are strong in martial arts.
“Priest Do Pyeong-su, except you priests am I the strongest in Hangzhou?”
It has been two years since he had been training like crazy, and although he had grown surprisingly strong, it was too early for Geom Woo-bin who was only ten years old to ask such a question.
“I can’t be sure of it yet.”
“Right? So, I cannot stop.”
Geom Woo-bin is risking his life to practice martial arts, but he couldn’t stop selling the liquor either.
As he was returning home after delivering the liquor to the Wolha Kisaeng house, Mr. Jang, a fruit vendor ran after him and held out a basket of apples.
“I was going to leave but you just arrived. I brought this to give Ms. Bing Hwaseon. I’m sorry it’s so little.”
The blood-lions were no longer blood-lions here in Hangzhou.
Instead, they got a much cooler (which Geom Woo-bin thinks) nickname called Hangzhou Sa-seon.
The people who did bad things to the point of a bounty in Hangzhou have now been dried up, so they caught the fugitives to look good in front of Geom Woo-bin.
The period the kind Geom Woo-bin praises them and gifts them was prolonged, and the blood-lion who hated it thought it was something worthy of praise from Geom Woo-bin and set out actively.
“Some time ago Bing Hwaseon went to the mountains and found my son who was lost. The weather is also cold these days, if it had been few more hours he would’ve frozen to death with no way out.”
Bing Hwaseon was Yeon Geum-hong’s nickname.
“Sorry that the compensation is very little, but since I don’t have much….”
“Your thought is what matters. You’re giving the best ones among what you have got. There are no bigger gifts than that. My aunt would feel grateful too.”
“Thank you for telling me that.”
Along the way, the fruit basket given by Mr. Jang was not the only thing Geom Woo-bin received.
Mr. Ha who runs a restaurant wrapped dumplings, and Mr. Wang, a silk store owner gave him five pairs of silk socks.
Geom Woo-bin who comes out once every five days, always had an armful of gifts whenever he returns home.
Although both hands were heavy, Geom Geom Woo-bin’s heart became lighter.
Whatever the reason may be, it is because the sins of the blood-lions were disappearing little by little.
‘This is the best I can do for the priests.’
However, around then, Geom Woo-bin did not know that the small dark clouds were gathering.