The doctor had never seen such a phenomena his whole life.
“This is a miracle!”
The doctor checked every nook and cranny of my body. He even closely inspected my good thick dingdong, something that I was very uncomfortable with.
“You don’t have to check there.”
“I should. Yang energy is the secret to most recoveries. The secret to your healing could be here.”
Thankfully, before he could try to touch it, the Squad Leader dragged him away to the yard.
“Please tell me that he still can’t move.”
“He’s perfectly fine. You can see from his taut muscles that he’s been healthy for weeks. Aside from that, he looks so much younger. Isn't he 29 this year?”
“That, I agree with. He definitely looks younger."
The Squad Leader nodded in agreement.
"Doctor, please tell him that he can’t move yet, otherwise he’ll get paralyzed again.”
“But he’s really doing well. Didn’t he kick the door down? Can you kick the door yourself?”
"It's probably rusty."
The Squad Leader grabbed the doctor by his neck and pulled him down to whisper.
“I’ll give you 10 silver coins. Just tell him he's still sick so he can’t go out yet.”
“10 silver coins?”
“Yes. Please tell him.”
“No problem!”
The doctor went in and talked to Kim Sheon. Meanwhile the Squad Leader spoke to Jin Taekyung and Wong Yonhi.
“No matter what, we can’t let him out. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Scare him with something. Knowing him, he's easily scared by small stuff. Yonhi, I’ll file a sick leave for you. Make sure you keep him here at all costs.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
I could die at any moment. Not because I wanted to kill myself again but because of boredom. The kid I knew before was no longer the same wuss that he was. He was even courageous enough to defy me, his senior.
“Hey kid, let me out.”
“You can’t. The Squad Leader told me to keep you here at all costs.”
“Aiya, why'd he give you such a troublesome order? I’m not his son for him to worry about me. I’ll treat you to a meal if you let me out.”
Bribery should work. Poor warriors like us could easily be tempted by a simple meal.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Then can I borrow your sword?”
"If I let you borrow this, can you agree to stay here?"
"No problem."
"You promise?"
After several assurances, he let me take his sword. Aside from the want to go outside, I was itching to grab a weapon too.
I slashed from top to bottom; it was the horizontal slash. Then from right to left, a vertical slash. Lastly, I thrust forward, a stab. These three strokes were the basis of the Weaponship Art, the only martial art that I knew of, and in my opinion the best. Nothing beats mastery of the basics.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
998...
999...
1,000...
"Whew."
On the side, Wong Yonhi clapped when I finished. Not even a bead of sweat broke out.
"You're amazing!"
“My body is perfectly fine. Can I go out now?”
But Wong Yonhi adamantly shook his head.
My eyes moved to the sword and back to him.
“Wong Yonhi, come here.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, please don't do it.”
“Dahyun is getting married today isn’t she?”
“How did you?”
He looked like he saw a ghost.
“I heard everything.”
I stood up and patted his shoulder.
“It’s alright. I should have told you earlier. It's been two years. I’ve already moved on. A man has to let go of the past and move on into the future. If she left me for a better man, then that is her fate.”
I walked past the stunned man and opened the repaired door.
***
Celestial Dragon City. Nothing really changed within the two years that I was gone. Except for one thing.
"Who's that man?"
"He's so handsome."
"Do you think he's married?"
"A married man wouldn't look as handsome as that young man."
The women around me, both mothers and maidens, whispered as I passed by them. Even the blind beggar said so.
"It's been two years, handsome lad. Can you spare me some alms?"
'Now that I think about it, is she really blind?'
I stopped in front of her. I never really looked closely at her before but now, I did. With her bony hand holding a silver cup, she was smiling. Her cloudy irises stared long and deep against mine.
'A Master?'
"Hoho, I'm not who you think I am."
"Can you read my thoughts?"
"How could I? I'm just an old beggar."
My reader senses screamed at me that she was definitely one of those hidden masters.
"Do you know me?"
"Can you spare me some alms?"
"I actually don't have money right now."
"Then you can go there."
The beggar pointed at the direction of the inner city.
"There?"
"Can you spare me some alms?"
The beggar ignored me as she turned to another person.
Clink.
A passerby dropped her a piece of copper.
"Ma'am, can you answer my question?"
"First, a gold coin."
Realizing that she wouldn't answer me, I left for the inner city.
***
Do you pledge to help each other to develop your hearts and minds, cultivating compassion, generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiasm, concentration, and wisdom as you age and undergo the various ups and downs of life and to transform them into the path of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity?
"We do."
Recognizing that the external conditions in life will not always be smooth and that internally your own minds and emotions will sometimes get stuck in negativity, do you pledge to see all these circumstances as a challenge to help you grow, to open your hearts, to accept yourselves, and each other; and to generate compassion for others who are suffering?
"We do."
I now pronounce you, man and wife.
With that, the marriage ceremony held publicly in front of the palace ended. The crowd burst into cheers as the couple walked towards the inside of the palace where another ceremony would be held.
“Dahyun, let’s both live a good life.”
Saying that, I concluded my remaining feelings for her.
***
The bulletin board for commissions was now bigger. Naturally, more commissions were posted.
For a second, I took interest in joining a Dungeon exploring group. I genuinely felt that I could do anything and everything now. My dreams as a reader could finally come true.
However, I quickly shook my head at the thought of venturing into the unknown. Between having fun and staying alive, my inclination was with the latter. I had just recovered so why would I want to die again.
‘I need work but the work should be safe and pays good.’
Looking at the other commissions, none of them particularly piqued my interest. Just as I was about to leave, a little boy posted a piece of paper on the bulletin board. Being around four years old, he struggled for a minute before he was able to pin a piece of paper at the corner of the board.
[Looking for a master to teach me martial arts. Reward: 1 gold coin.]
It was a barely legible handwriting. If it weren’t for the reward, I would never even attempt to talk to the boy.
“Do you really have a gold coin?”
The value of a single gold coin can feed a single person for a whole year. For third rate warriors, it would be equivalent to their salaries for 10 months.
“Yes mister.”
The kid flashed an enthusiastically innocent smile.
“Is someone bullying you?”
“No, mister.”
“Then why do you want to learn martial arts?”
“To protect mommy. Mister, are you a master?”
“No, I’m just an ordinary warrior.”
“Warrior? So mister is a master?”
“Not quite. But I can teach you how to protect your mother.”
“Then, can you be my master?”
His eyes gleamed with so much brightness. It won't be a scam if I teach him a thing or two right?
‘Did the beggar know that this will happen?’
I couldn’t help but wonder. Nothing in particular happened inside the inner city except for this encounter with the little boy.
“Okay. I'll be your master and help you protect your mom."
“Suwon!”
A woman arrived. The look of worry was etched on her as she scolded the little boy.
“I told you to not to let go of my hand.”
Then the woman turned to me.
“Thank you for taking care of my son.”
“But I didn't. We just met.”
“Mommy, he knows martial arts. He’ll help me beat up those kids talking mean about you.”
The woman gave me a strange look when the little boy said so.
“Ma’am, it’s a misunderstanding. I don’t know anything about beating kids.”
But if I can get a gold coin for beating them up, I could also consider it.
“Mommy, he's lying. He told me that he will be my master so I can learn how to beat those kids.”
'Wait, kid, you're making me look worse.'
“Hmph. Suwon, he’s taking advantage of you.”
The woman walked away, dragging her son with him.
“Ma’am, wait.”
Just as fate brought me that kid, fate also brought him away.
“My gold coin!"