"It is not fit for other than serpents and scorpions. I am surprised Kojong saw fit to end his days in such a place."
"Ko Jong Oh, my father once told me, came from a place of cold and bitter seasons. He had journeyed far through snow and ice and year-round winters. Along the way, they say, his marrow froze solid. He vowed then never to end his trail until he came to a place so warm it unfroze his bones to the core. This was the place."
"Your language is not Korean."
"We have words in common."
"The stars in your sky are the same as the stars in my sky."
"Sure. Arizona and Korea are both above the equator."
Chiun pointed to a group of seven stars very low on the horizon. "What is your name for those seven?"
"Those? That's Ursa Major—the Great Bear."
"Do you not have a Sun On Jo name for them?"
"Around here they're called the Seven Squaws."
Chiun made a face. "We call them Ch'il-song, the Seven Stars."
"That's about right, chief."
"Please do not call me 'chief.' You may address me as Ha-ra-bo-ji, which means 'grandfather.' Or you may call me Hymong-min, which means 'elder brother.'"
"What's wrong with 'chief'?"
"I am not your chief but your distant cousin, many many times dislocated."
"Not that many. Ko Jong Oh was your ancestor, as well as mine," Sunny Joe stated.
"Agreed. But he married badly, and the blood we have in common has been diluted. Thus, we are distant cousins."
"If that's the way you see it."
"That is the way I see it. I am Reigning Master. As such, I am paramount among my people. Among my people my word is law."
"Here, since the last chief died a few years back, I've been in charge."
"You are the son of this chief?" Chiun asked.
"No."
"Therefore, you are not the new chief?"
"Nope. Here the chief is the tribal leader. He's descended from Ko Jong Oh, too. But that's different from being a Sunny Joe. The Sunny Joe is taught the ways of Sun On Jo and charged with protecting the tribe. The chief rules it."
"In my village the Master of Sinanju is both chief and protector."
"We do it different here. Ko Jong Oh was the only chief who was also a protector. He wisely saw that if one man were both, his loss would devastate the tribe," Sunny Joe explained.
"Tell me the tales of Kojong as they have come down to you."
"Ko Jong Oh married an Indian woman and had three sons. One died a'borning. The other two grew to manhood. Because he had been exiled from the land of Sun On Jo to avoid a succession fight, he decreed that one of his sons would inherit his mantle of authority while the other would be taught the magical arts of Sun On Jo."
"Ah. Show me some of your Sun On Jo magic."
"Hell, I'm kinda rusty to be doing that stuff now," Sunny Joe answered.
"I am older by far than you, but my eye and my arm and my brain are as sharp as they were when my hair was dark and full."
"Okay." Sunny Joe lifted his right hand, displaying his broad palm. "See this hand?"
"Of course. I am not blind."
Sunny Joe moved his hand closer to Chiun's face. "Watch it."
"I am watching it."
Sunny Joe moved the hand even closer so that it filled Chiun's entire field of vision. "I'm going to tick your earlobe before you can stop me."
"Impossible."
"Not for a Sunny Joe." And Sunny Joe moved his hand even closer.
"Very well. Do your best."
"Are you watching closely?"
"My eaglelike eyes are fixed upon your hamlike hand," Chiun declared.
"Good. Don't look away, because the hand of a Sunny Joe is as swift as the hawk, stealthy as the fox and sharp as an arrow."
"You talk when you should strike."
And the Master of Sinanju realized his left earlobe was stinging.
He blinked. Had he imagined it?
Then the lobe of the offended ear began to go numb.
"You tricked me!" he howled.
Sunny Joe dropped his hand, and a twinkle came into his deep brown eyes. "How?"
"You told me to watch your right hand. You used your left."