Episode 21. Piece of Sky
As one month and two passed, Song Myeong-cheon’s health deteriorated further.
It was clear that he was being encroached upon by the Great Law of Hongmong to a miserable degree.
Now I couldn’t endure it without taking a break every two days.
On the other hand, Han Yi-bi’s martial arts skills were gradually improving.
All of this can be said to be thanks to the advice of a great teacher named Song Myeong-cheon and the insightful help of the system.
Anyway, Han Ibi went out alone that day.
If you do anything for a long time, you will have a history. Now Han Ibi could be said to be an excellent herbalist who surpassed the duties of one person.
That day too, Han Ibi clung to the rock to pick the fruits of the Four Flowers growing precariously at the foot of the cliff.
Unless the work radius was expanded, the number of medicinal herbs was bound to gradually decrease.
So we have no choice but to be driven into even more rough terrain… rough terrain.
At first, doing something acrobatic like this was something I couldn’t even dream of, but as I became able to use my inner energy and my muscles gained strength, I gradually became more confident.
So isn’t it possible to hang from a cliff like this and work with one arm?
This feeling of giving electrical power to each and every one of your fine muscle cells.
I enjoyed this exhilarating sensation so much that I was able to enjoy even this difficult process of collecting.
Isn’t this in itself another great practice?
Then, suddenly, I saw a flower blooming on the cliff on the other side of the canyon.
‘omg!’
I almost missed the edge of the rock at the edge of the cliff that I was holding on to.
A flower that blooms red and purple.
It was a beautiful flower that bloomed in a variety of colors that did not suit the end of fall.
And the appearance of the leaves and stems.
ah! This shape could be said to be the exact description of ‘Geummyeongcho’ that Song Myeong-cheon told us about last time.
Han Ibi was so happy that she cried.
‘I… I guess… I think I’ve really “tried” now.’
He was so excited that he wanted to shout ‘I saw it’ three times like he saw in a soap opera.
But just in case… Tak Buyong’s henchmen might hear it, so you should be careful.
However, the location was somewhat ambiguous. The place where I am currently working is a place where cliffs face each other… but it is still a cliff in name.
When I looked down, the fog was thick and the valley water was flowing as thin as hair.
There is a safe way.
Climb back up, go down the mountain, find a way up to the cliff on the other side, then go to the top and climb down the cliff again.
But… what if someone takes it in the meantime?
Han Ibi thought for a moment while trying to calm her non-stop pounding heart.
And decided.
‘Shit. ‘Let’s give it a try.’
He hung on to the cliff with one hand, took a deep breath, and began to circulate true energy.
He had been performing well without missing a beat. This was because I had nothing to do anyway, so it was extremely boring.
‘Would this… work on a cliff? If I die here… it’s a real death. It’s not like I’m going to die in a fight…’
But while he let his guard down for a moment, the delusion that someone else would dig up Geummyeongcho pushed him.
Han Ibi held on to the edge of the rock with both hands. Then, he manifested Jong-ri Pyo-pyo-haeng.
He started swinging his body back and forth in the air as if he was doing a bar.
It’s kind of like…a manual closing method.
Han Ibi’s face turned red due to the continued movement. I feel like my body has improved a bit now.
Still, there was hesitation…
‘Okay. Shit. You can just run like you’re doing guerrilla training. There are teaching assistants above. There are teaching assistants. There are teaching assistants.’
He suddenly moved his legs to his feet, activated the technique of Zhongli Pyopyohang, and kicked the cliff.
‘Owl Jump No. 1!’
Han Ibi’s body, which received strength, rose into the air. He twisted his body in the air like a diver and flew toward the opposite cliff.
That moment when just two seconds felt like an eternity.
Han Ibi stretched out her hands in search of a landing spot. It was a tree branch extending from a gap in the cliff.
‘it’s okay!’
His arms grasped the tree branch violently as if it were a life rope.
But….
Psuk.
I never thought the branch would have rotted.
The tree branch’s appearance and healthy appearance immediately shattered any expectations that it would have strong roots to support Han Ibi’s body.
Just fell.
“Ugh-!”
A sharp scream escaped my mouth without me realizing it. My body was sinking down towards the incontinence-like valley water.
‘It’s done.’
Han Ibi started struggling in the air even in a panic. The body was falling further and further away from the cliff.
When I fell, my head was tilted downward, probably because I couldn’t keep my balance properly. While she was thinking pointlessly
, ‘Is my head really heavy…’,
Han Ibi caught sight of a bunch of vines and plants in disarray.
Han Ibi reached out her hand and attempted to grasp it, as if grasping at a straw.
Whisk!
However, the distance from the cliff had already widened, so his fingers could only scratch the air.
‘ruined.’
Han Ibi instinctively stretched out her right foot without realizing it. A few vines began to break.
However, when you get to the area where many layers of vines are tangled together, you end up…
chin.
The fall stopped with a sound.
His legs got entangled in vines and he came to a halt.
“Huh. “Huh.”
In the quiet mountains, only the sound of Han Ibi’s heavy breathing was heard.
He was hanging upside down.
‘ah…! Shit. ‘You really almost died this time.’
Water entering your eyeballs without your knowledge.
But… there is something in front of me.
Small, bluish fruits sticking out between the vines.
Seeing that made me hungry.
After escaping from the clutches of death, the hunger I had completely forgotten about hit me hard.
Han Ibi reached out for the fruit without realizing it. Hanging upside down.
However, its shape was quite strange.
There were five walnut-sized fruits hanging there, but their shapes were all irregular.
The color was also closer to sky blue, not deep blue like blueberries.
‘What is this strange fruit?’
It was not a color that exists in nature. It would be impossible for artificial coloring to exist in this day and age.
‘It’s not poisonous, is it?’
He hesitated for a moment, then eventually picked the fruits and held them in his fist.
It was then.
[Information about one of the ‘108 (108) bases’ has been captured. You can check the information through the ‘Status Window’. Would you like to check now?” (Y/N)]
Huh? what’s this? Why is this coming out now?
Could it be that the ‘Encyclopedia of Medicinal Herbs’ came out incorrectly?
Anyway, I’m curious so I’ll check it out. yes.
[This is a search result from the Korea Foundation DB system.]
Name: Cheonpyeongwa (天片果)
Classification: Level 2 Series
: Elixir
Characteristics: Because of its light blue color, it has been given the nickname ‘broken piece of the sky’. The habitat conditions for Cheonpyeongi are very strict and fragile. The fact that seeds can only be moved through the feces of certain birds adds to their rarity. Moreover, if these fruits are attached to the stem and not connected to the roots, they oxidize at a rapid rate and turn into ooze….
That was the time.
Han Ibi could see blue water dripping from the fruit she was holding in her hand.
‘No… Is it melting?’
Han Ibi was confused as she did not know what to do.
Should I throw it away? Should I eat it?
But…
‘Ah! ‘How did this happen?’
I felt my palms becoming tingly cold, as if I was holding ice.
When I looked at my palm in surprise, I saw that my hand was absorbing the Cheonpyeonggwa at a rapid rate as if it were some kind of cotton ball.
Or should we say that Cheonpyeonggwa absorbs Hanibi?
‘Is this… is this okay? Are there any side effects or something like that? Hey DB. Please continue with the rest.’
[…it turns into ooze. The biggest characteristic of Cheonpyeonggwa is its extremely negative energy…]
Wait! what?
[…If an ordinary woman eats it, she can turn into a beauty, and a beauty can turn into a celestial woman…]
Han Ibi was worried that she should at least wash her hands quickly.
[… Even if a man eats this Cheonpyeon-gwa, he may develop ice crystals and give a strange feeling, so he should be careful.]
Uh-huh… This is a really big deal.
[It has the tendency to be extremely negative, and despite the side effect of converting all of the body’s internal energy into negative energy, it has the characteristic of quickly improving energy when used, so it is a top-class elixir that is highly prized among powerful people.] So… no, it is absorbed
. I did it already….
Is it because of my mood? I felt my whole body becoming very cold.
It feels like I’m getting goosebumps, as it sends shivers down my spine.
Could it be that after eating this… like in some martial arts novel… why… it’s not like I’m becoming a woman?
Probably not. no. Ahaha. They cut it themselves, so it’s different from something like this. Hey, I don’t know. Let’s quickly climb up the cliff and pick some goldenrod.
Han Ibi slapped herself several times and then lifted her upper body to free the vines tangled around her legs.
He began climbing backwards up the cliff, sticking his fingers into the cracks in the rock.
News articles about ‘chemical castration’ kept popping into my head.
‘Oh my. I guess I’m overreacting too.’
Because the mountain terrain was so rough, there was no use trying to climb or climb. The only way was traditional rock climbing.
It was easy to fall, but going up wasn’t easy at all. It was only about half a hour before I was able to reach the point where I first started to fall.
‘Phew. If I hadn’t eaten that strange fruit earlier, I would have lost strength and died.’
And finally…
I was able to reach Geummyeongcho.
Of course, no one took it and it stayed there.
‘Damn it. ‘If I had known this would happen, I would have just gone back.’
Han Ibi approached Geummyeongcho and carefully prepared to collect it.
It’s the same gathering technique I learned from Song Myeong-cheon.
* * *
Song Myeong-cheon was sitting down and practicing luck.
The stinging pain in the lower anterior region had now transformed into a stabbing pain.
Should I call it phantom pain?
This was because I used excessive force with a body that was not equipped with all of these things.
He sensed that his luck would not last long.
The dream of revenge seems far-fetched… Will the new life I received with such difficulty end in vain like this?
While he was lost in thoughts.
A familiar voice was heard from outside.
“Master!”
The voice seemed excited about what was so good about it. A guy with no hair.
Han Ibi suddenly stuck her head into the cave.
“Master!”
Song Myeong-cheon frowned and answered as if he was annoyed.
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
Han Ibi said with a big smile.
“I found it.”
“what?”
“It’s Geummyeongcho. Indeed, it matched the teacher’s description. “I could recognize it at a glance!”
Han Ibi put her hand into her arms. In particular, it was Geummyeongcho that was not put in a bag, but wrapped in a cloth and placed in the arms.
He took it out and began to carefully lift the cloth. The quiet cave suddenly became filled with tension.
Song Myeong-cheon was also looking at it with a stiff face.
Han Yi-bi lifted the last layer of the cloth and held it up with both hands as if offering it as an offering to the emperor.
In an instant, an expression of joy appeared on Song Myeong-cheon’s face.
He carefully lifted the goldenrod from the cloth and watched it closely.
Suddenly he started laughing out loud.
“Good job. good job!”
Hanibi also laughed along. The inside of the cave was filled with the crackling sound of laughter.
But something was strange.
Song Myeong-cheon’s laughter was as sad as crying.
(Continued in the next part)
