Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: The Great Fortune of Protection (6)
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Cheon Gil-ryong dusted off his pipe into his palm and laughed.
It was a clear laugh that made him look not like an old man, but like he was the same age as Jin-hyuk.
"When your fate changes, you tend to feel that way. Didn't you change your own fate too? After hearing this old man's words, you must have had thoughts like that."
Even without Cheon Gil-ryong, he had experienced changing his fate that day at nine years old and felt that sensation. There might have been some emotion, but he had never thought of it as dying and coming back to life. He had felt like he woke up from a long sleep, though.
Jin-hyuk couldn't readily think of what to say. It wasn't a common situation, and he had never met someone like this before.
As they climbed the uphill path, Cheon Gil-ryong let out a deep sigh.
"Worrying is a privilege of animals with brains, but the more complicated it gets, the more it needs to be simple. People just need to eat well and live well. Aigoo, I'm out of breath."
"Shall I carry you if it's hard?"
"You punk, who do you take this old man for? It's just that I ate two breakfasts, that's why I'm out of breath."
If it weren't for Han Yu-young's earnest eyes, he wouldn't have eaten it. The people in this house were scarier than ghosts. They had a knack for softening people's hearts. He was a seasoned old man who thought there was nothing in the world to excite him anymore. Yet, facing this family's eyes made his cheeky heart flutter.
"Can I come find you again?"
"Do as you like. You can call too."
"Ah...?"
Do you have a phone too? Jin-hyuk mumbled in a crawling voice.
"What era do you think it is, you punk? You think I don't have a phone? Even though I look like this, this is the latest button-style!"
It's a cordless set, so it works even on the floorboards, you punk. Cheon Gil-ryong grumbled, displeased with Jin-hyuk's reaction.
I wonder if it's an ARS that picks up. Jin-hyuk only voiced the question in his head.
"I have a TV and VCR too. I'm the guy who borrowed and watched Predator 1 and Rambo on a scooter."
Cheon Gil-ryong adjusted his bamboo hat and walked slowly.
"Do you know what koan is?"
"Yes, sort of..."
"Do you like it?"
"No."
It was a question he could answer firmly and confidently.
Jin-hyuk preferred direct and efficient conversations. Talking to someone who beat around the bush like a snake over the wall or expressed things cautiously made him feel suffocated, like cancer cells growing in his solar plexus. A seasoned man who handled all worldly affairs bureaucratically without being swayed by emotions was usually like that.
"That's a relief. I like it. Sit here for a bit."
"What..."
"Sit down, you punk!"
He thought he was a nice grandfather, but now he seemed eccentric and grumpy.
Jin-hyuk followed Cheon Gil-ryong and sat on the roadside rock. There was time left until the makgeolli truck came anyway.
"A rabbit hops around well in the mountains. But it often bumps its head into trees. Yet a deer, which is bigger than a rabbit, never collides."
"Yes. I see."
It was a sudden fable, but he reacted sincerely since he was an elder.
"Do you know the difference?"
"No. I've never thought about it..."
As if he expected that, Cheon Gil-ryong burst into laughter.
"The rabbit runs looking at the trees. To avoid bumping into them and to hide anytime. But if you run while looking at the trees, you'll crash without knowing it."
"What about the deer?"
"It runs looking only at the path. It only keeps its escape route in sight and runs. It knows that running faster, farther, with all its strength to escape is better than hiding. So it doesn't lose direction even if it gets scratched by trees while focusing on the path."
"Yes..."
Jin-hyuk nodded, guessing the reason Cheon Gil-ryong brought up the fable.
"It's the interpretation rather than the dream, you punk. Fortune-tellers interpret it however they want. That's not wrong either..."
Cheon Gil-ryong pointed toward the town with his pipe.
"Don't those cross-believers interpret the scriptures however they damn well please too...?"
"Ah..."
Worried that churchgoers might get angry, Jin-hyuk looked around the empty field unnecessarily.
"Is life long? You're good at running, right?"
"Yes, sort of..."
"To spectators, the race ends quickly. How did it feel running yourself?"
"..."
He hadn't thought that far.
From the preparation commands to the starting gun felt surprisingly long. But looking back after crossing the finish line, the race was a very short moment. And during the actual race, he strangely felt impatient, and that time seemed long.
"Is running long, or is life long?"
Cheon Gil-ryong laughed at Jin-hyuk, who listened with a sullen expression.
"A guy who runs straight looking ahead, if he turns around like a dumb beast amazed by his own shadow, he's useless."
"Yes, I won't turn around."
He decided to think about what it meant later. Affirmation was the only way to escape the nagging barrage.
"That's good then. From afar, you seemed to think too much."
What a strange way of speaking. It was like he heard it from someone else.
"Zhuge Liang was great not because he thought a lot. He pulled all things into his own thoughts. He dated, made money, lived enjoyably. Nothing flows faster than yesterday."
Ugh-. Cheon Gil-ryong stood up, supporting his knee. It was before Jin-hyuk could even mull over the words.
Jin-hyuk gathered his courage and asked.
"Can I call you Grandpa?"
"Am I not your grandpa then? Would I be grandma? You healthy-looking punk are so bland-."
He grumbled, but laughter came with it.
Jin-hyuk mentally bid farewell to Cheon Gil-ryong, who vanished from sight in an instant.
He was grateful on one hand, but frustrated on the other.
'Frustrating.'
A simple yes or no would have been nice.
Was he too accustomed to believing only what he saw and calculating based on that, making his head dull? Was it because he couldn't accept it with his heart that he worried and conflicted? Maybe because he was used to reports.
'But did he come just to do koans?'
In Jin-hyuk's view, that grandpa was the bland one.
No matter how much it was a koan, wasn't it just grasping at clouds and leaving?
When he reached a place out of Jin-hyuk's sight, Cheon Gil-ryong let out a long breath, whoosh-.
It was utterly inexplicable.
'Damn it. I'm lacking in training too. There's definitely a scent, but.'
Other than the chilling reaction from the Ming azure staff, nothing was visible or felt.
Yet his breath caught.
Cheon Gil-ryong stopped walking for a moment and glared at the Ming azure staff.
'Is something stronger than a divine attached to him?'
There was no other explanation. No matter how great the boy's spirit, a human couldn't harbor such bizarre power.
If his brother were here, he'd know what it was.
He pushed up his bamboo hat and looked up at the sky dotted with fluffy clouds.
It felt like his brother was throwing punches of potatoes and teasing him. Mocking him as the incompetent one.
"Damn old man. I'll live longer than you."
He flipped off the sky.
"Fuck you!"
In Predator 2, which he rented on video recently, the gangs cursed at the police like this.
Cheon Gil-ryong's legs moved briskly. Carrying a body that resolved to enjoy life from now on.
Maybe go to church... They give noodles at lunch, I heard.
Nowadays, even wedding receptions are in town, so it's hard to get free noodles.
Even after Cheon Gil-ryong left, Jin-hyuk sat on the rock with a sullen face.
There was nothing unsatisfactory. He just needed time to think.
'What was he trying to say?'
Petting General, who came late trotting up, da-da-dak-, all of Cheon Gil-ryong's words vanished, leaving only a smile on his lips.
Indeed, nothing healed Jin-hyuk more than General.
Heh-heh-hek-.
"Ogu-ogu, our General-."
Aeng-aeng-aeng- kuh-geuk-kuh-luk-kuh-luk-!
Finally, with the sound of an old man dying, the makgeolli truck appeared. Even without raising a hand, if you stand by the road with a kettle or bucket, it stops on its own. The driver stuck his arm out the window and greeted.
"Are you the uncle from that big house? Hello?"
"Yes, hello."
It was a truck running from the brewery in the township past the Gu-bong Mountain entrance, going to Lee Hae-won's store in An village at this time every day.
"Want some?"
"Yes. Fill it up please."
Around thirty, the tanned man who got out of the driver's seat grabbed the hose.
He only got makgeolli when Hong Gi-jun's family came, so he was somewhat distant with Jin-hyuk.
'Until last year, he used to speak informally.'
Looks like being tall makes you look like an adult.
Fragrant makgeolli poured out gushingly from the gun-like pump, quickly filling the bucket.
'Tsk. Looks delicious.'
When he was nine, filling a 6-liter kettle cost 2,000 won; now five years later, it's 5,000 won. Interestingly, for a bucket over three times the size, it's 10,000 won. No bargaining.
On the way home, he got a bit of makgeolli on the bucket's outer lid.
He suppressed the urge to drink it. Truly tremendous self-control.
"General, you followed because you wanted some of this, right?"
Heh-heh-hek-.
Seeing the tail wagging like it would fall off, it seemed so. General waited for Hong Gi-jun's family visits to get makgeolli.
Jin-hyuk smacked his lips while petting General licking the makgeolli.
When Jin-hyuk got home, a movie scene was unfolding in the yard.
'Looks like a happy ending scene.'
Hong Su-jeong sat under the cherry tree, having Yu-jin hold henna dye in her hand. The little hands grinding henna flowers, leaves, and white rice paste together and wrapping in plastic were deft.
"Next time, let's dye it Udini and billiards too."
"Yeah, ehehe-."
The adults sat around the platform, engaged in heated debate.
"My fortune was the best, right?"
"Yeah, unnie's fortune was good."
"Nah, mine's better. According to the reading, I'm presidential material, aren't I?"
"Yeah. Gi-jun, be president. I'll vote for you."
Just... Yu Se-ra and Hong Gi-jun flailing in the honey jar of Cheon Gil-ryong's blessings, with Mom and Dad pressing their heads down firmly. But if they're happy, that's fine.
"You'd be too soft to be president!"
"Yeah, the pretty and feisty unnie should do it."
"Then I'll stage a coup."
"Yeah. Gi-jun, do a coup. I'll make you Molotov cocktails."
Indeed, pampering without thought is the best. Mom and Dad realized that early. Unconditional empathy—truly wonderful people. Their timing in eating watermelon without missing a word was especially impeccable.
Jin-hyuk climbed the plum tree and watched the adults, thinking.
Isn't desire the purest energy?
The earnest wish to achieve dreams. The reason for living that you never forget and always pursue, no matter where you are or who you're with now.
'Feels like I'm a dung philosopher.'
Maybe Cheon Gil-ryong didn't come to give any specific teaching. Don't get confused, don't be chaotic, just look ahead and live straight.
He also said to protect the family that his brother died protecting in his place. Choi Mi-kyeong's grandma said something similar.
Since Cheon Gil-ryong didn't state his purpose, Jin-hyuk inferred that much. As he said, interpretation over the dream—he led his thoughts in a direction favorable and comforting to himself, even a little.
'So what if there's a ghost. As long as it doesn't harm our family.'
He leaned back with his arms as a pillow on a thick branch.
He had weird thoughts wondering if meditation might bring out a ghost from within him, but that was foolish after all.
"I was told I'd raise my name high."
"Yeah. Unnie has a pretty name, so it's fine."
"Mine said I'd command the world."
"Yeah. Gi-jun, command. I'll buy you a megaphone."
When will those child-adults grow up?
Hong Su-jeong and Yu-jin looked more mature.
"Dang-gun-ah-! Come here!"
"Kahaha-!"
Heh-heh-hek-.
The kids ran around trying to put henna on General's claws but collapsed from exhaustion. No matter how drunk, General wouldn't let kids catch him.
"Who will Udini compete with?"
"With our oppa, right?"
"Hey! You damn thing! Wanna eat dirt for ignoring unnie?"
Sigh, after all, General is better than immature people...
He turned his gaze to General, who had come under the plum tree at some point and lay protecting Jin-hyuk.
Go-ro-long- kki-ing-.
This guy's asleep.
Alcohol scent wafted from General's mouth.