Chapter 23: Journey to the Coast

By midday, Taro and his group of four finally reached the nearest town.

 "Hmm... are we there yet?" Yumeko, who had been sleeping soundly in her mother's arms on the Flying Nimbus, woke up, rubbing her eyes. Spotting the town ahead, Fanfa jumped off the cloud, carrying Yumeko in her arms.

 "I want to stay on the cloud!" Yumeko pouted, leaping out of her mother's embrace. She grabbed the tail of the Nimbus and climbed back on, rolling around comfortably as her large eyes blinked curiously at the townsfolk who stopped to gawk at the unusual sight.

 "Yumeko, be a good girl and walk on your own!" Her mother urged, feeling a bit uneasy under the stares of so many strangers.

 "No! I'm staying right here!" Yumeko replied with a mischievous grin, sprawled on the cloud as it lazily drifted forward.

 "Let her be.";Taro said from ahead without turning back.

 Trailing behind the group, Aragon staggered like a dying dog, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through, his eyes bloodshot, and his lips parched. The muscles in his legs were swollen and trembling, causing his steps to wobble with each move.

 Let's find a place to eat and rest for a while before continuing.

 Taro glanced around, scanning for a small tavern or eatery. The curious townsfolk along the road continued pointing and whispering about the Flying Nimbus, their faces filled with awe. Taro, however, paid them no mind, walking forward as though he neither saw nor heard them.

 Aragon, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable under their gazes. Their scrutiny made his movements awkward, and he lowered his head, following closely behind his master.

 Before long, Taro stopped in front of a tavern.

 "Here."

 He led his wife, daughter, and apprentice inside, calling out to the owner:

 "Just serve us some simple home-style dishes. I'll leave the menu to you."

 The group quickly took their seats around a table.

 "Oh yay, food!" Yumeko cheered, leaping off the Flying Nimbus. Her antics caught the attention of the waiter, who couldn't help but glance curiously at the golden cloud floating beside the table.

 Other diners in the tavern also turned their heads, whispering among themselves and casting furtive glances their way.

 Taro, unfazed by the attention, calmly picked up his chopsticks and began eating, occasionally teasing Yumeko, making her giggle uncontrollably. By the end of the meal, Yumeko's mouth was smeared with grease, which Fanfan carefully wiped away. Meanwhile, Aragon kept his head down, eating voraciously.

 After paying, Taro led the group to rest for a while. Once the sun's rays became less intense, they set out again. Fanfan retrieved a black umbrella from her bag, sitting on the Flying Nimbus to shield her daughter from the sun. The little girl, now full and content, dozed off peacefully.

 "Hmm?"

 Taro's senses suddenly alerted him as he noticed a few tails trailing behind them from a distance.

 Even after leaving the town, the sneaky figures continued to follow.

 "Pay attention to your breathing. Your muscles need to work in harmony, forming a unified motion. That's proper technique. Using brute force alone is not martial arts—it's stupidity." Taro instructed his newly accepted apprentice as they walked.

 Although their pace was brisk for an average person, it was significantly slower than the speed they'd maintained earlier in the day. At most, it was a leisurely stroll to aid digestion.

 Aragon respectfully absorbed the teachings, adjusting his movements accordingly.

 His talent was extremely high. Wherever Taro had pointed out something, Aragon could immediately understand it, learn it quickly, and soon master it. Taro secretly marveled at the boy's cleverness, thinking that his martial arts potential was probably not much worse than the original Goku.

 Son Goku could learn the Kamehameha technique with a single glance—who knew how far this boy could go?

 However, it was a shame that, despite his age, he seemed a bit too crafty. His mind wasn't pure enough. He probably wouldn't be able to sit on the Flying Nimbus.

 Taro often tested Aragon while traveling, launching surprise attacks to train his reflexes and adaptability, gradually teaching him how to counter. When Aragon's movements were wrong, Taro would occasionally slap or tug at him, correcting his technique. He would also demonstrate basic concepts of attack and defense.

 In teaching his disciples, Taro's philosophy resembled that of Master Roshi in the original story. Instead of following the traditional style of Master Mutaito's martial arts teachings, Taro focused more on developing the physical attributes of his disciples. As long as a disciple's body was strong, agile, fast, flexible, coordinated, and reactive, any martial arts move could be learned and used with ease.

 The specific martial paths, however, would depend on each disciple's personal practice.

 "Are these guys in a hurry to die?" A few shady characters following Taro's group muttered under their breath. They had been trying to discreetly track the group, but Taro's pace was too fast. Now, they were forced to hastily follow, blatantly trailing behind.

 They didn't look like thieves wanting to rob anyone. Instead, they resembled justice-driven pursuers chasing after criminals.

 "They stopped!" One of the sharp-eyed men noticed that Taro's group had paused by a river. He couldn't help but exclaim. - They're really looking for trouble! We've been chasing them for so long, and now they stop right here!

 "Heh, I thought they had noticed us, but now it looks like… that magical cloud is going to belong to us!" He said, drooling at the thought. "We'll sell it to those rich landowners. With gold and jewels, we'll be rolling in wealth!"

 The man nearly couldn't contain his excitement.

 As the group of rogues got closer, Taro patted Aragon on the shoulder by the river and said,

 "Go ahead, give it a try." He pushed Aragon toward the approaching thugs.

 "Is this child okay? - Fanfan, despite having practiced martial arts with Master Mutaito for a few years, was still quite inexperienced. While she knew some basic self-defense, she didn't have the skills to evaluate someone's combat abilities.

 "Don't worry." Taro motioned for his wife not to be concerned.

 The one who wasn't worried at all was Yumeko. She was laughing on the Nimbus, thinking it was all great fun.

 "Go, Aragon-nii, beat them! Oh, oh!"

 She had learned his name and began calling him "Aragon-nii."

 The leader of the thugs snorted, pointing at the yellow Nimbus beneath Yumeko with a menacing voice.

 "Listen up, you lot! Hand over that cloud of yours and we might spare your lives! Otherwise, out here in the wilderness, no one will be around to collect your bodies!"

 "However, to their surprise, after Aragon bowed to them, he charged forward!"

 "Hey, you little brat, are you looking for death?!" The thug swung his sleeve and charged at Aragon, aiming to strike. But Aragon, as he was running, swiftly crouched and dodged the attack.

 Aragon, using the momentum of his charge, aligned his entire body's muscles and bones. In an instant, his muscles pushed against each other, and the immense force surged into his right fist, which then struck the thug's chin with incredible power!

Boom!

 The thug was sent flying by Aragon's punch, crashing far away before slamming to the ground with a loud thud.

 "Oh, oh! That's amazing!" Yumeko, sitting on the Nimbus, clapped her hands in excitement, thoroughly enjoying the sight of the fight. She found watching battles so much fun!

 Boom, boom, boom, boom...

 Aragon's strikes became more fluid as he moved through the group of thugs, attacking with both fists and feet, taking down whoever he encountered. In no time, he had knocked out all of them. Aragon wasn't new to martial arts. Technically, for the past six months, he had been training under Taro, running up and down the mountain every day, making him almost like Taro's disciple.

 Aragon was surprised at himself. These people seemed tough, yet he easily defeated them. Back in the village, even the local bullies would make him nervous, but now, he had effortlessly knocked out these big thugs.

 He stared blankly at his own palms. After realizing what he had just done, he quickly turned to Taro and bowed.

 "Master."

 He knew this strength had come from his master's teachings. It was martial arts that would change his life.

 Taro's expression turned serious as he noticed something behind Aragon. The thug leader, lying on the ground, pulled out a tube-like object from his pocket, aimed a round black hole at Aragon's back, gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger.

 Bang!

 There was a loud noise, followed by a flash of fire and a puff of black smoke.

 The thug screamed as the recoil nearly broke his wrist. The most startling part was that the smoke from the gunpowder blackened his face, making his eyes water.

 Aragon froze and quickly turned around, only to see Taro had already appeared behind him in the blink of an eye.

 Taro casually held a bullet between his fingers, which was still faintly hot. He examined it for a moment before squeezing it into various shapes: a strip, a ball, and a thin sheet, and then finally crumpled it into a metal lump, which he threw to the ground.

 The gunman was now frozen in fear, his mouth wide open, unable to say a word. His face was blackened, but his teeth gleamed white in the contrast. Even the thug lying nearby, groaning in pain, had stopped making any noise, staring at Taro with wide eyes, afraid that Taro would do the same to them.

 "Get lost."

 Taro didn't even glance at the thugs. He simply walked over, grabbed each of them, and tossed them one by one, sending them flying out of sight.

 "Let's go. We need to reach the coast and rest."

 With that, the group continued their journey.

 They traveled through the wilderness, eating on the go, but they were all content. Even the youngest, Yumeko, who had grown up in the mountains, was enjoying this life of sleeping under the sky, with the earth as her bed. She was having so much fun looking at the scenery during the day, and at night, she had the energy to explore the woods, the fields, and the valleys—scaring Aragon, who had to carefully follow her.

 Whenever Yumeko wasn't sleeping on the Nimbus, she was always smiling and laughing, clearly enjoying herself.

 Aragon, on the other hand, had it tougher. He had to practice his physical conditioning during the day and spar with Taro at night. Occasionally, he also had to play the role of Yumeko's little bodyguard. Taro didn't intend to make things hard for him, but he believed this direct sparring method was the best for a martial arts genius like Aragon. It was through practical combat with experts that Aragon could quickly identify his mistakes and make rapid progress.

 Before they knew it, days passed, and the sound of the waves was right ahead.

———

 The scene shifts back to the earlier path where Taro's group had been.

 The thugs that Taro had thrown into the air were now lying in the spot where they had fallen, their bodies torn apart by wild beasts. Their forms were barely recognizable, with bloodshot eyes bulging from their sockets, their lips and cheeks shriveled and purple, and their hands still tightly gripping their necks. Their death was gruesome, as if they had endured unbearable pain in their final moments.

 Nearby, several wolf carcasses lay on the ground. They had died after mistakenly consuming the thugs' flesh.