‘The sunlight is especially nice today.’
Sitting cross-legged on the platform in front of the pavilion, Cho Ak-ryang thought to himself. The breeze was warm, and the air was refreshing.
It had been a long time since he had enjoyed such pleasant weather.
‘That must mean I haven’t had much peace of mind.’
Reflecting on himself, Cho Ak-ryang flashed a deeply contented smile.
His complexion had greatly improved compared to how it had been before.
The same was true for Beom Gye-wi, who was hanging upside down from a large tree beside him, also looking relaxed.
Even the bloodshot eyes that had always plagued him had cleared up.
Crash.
The peace of the valley was shattered by a loud noise from somewhere nearby.
Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi turned toward the source of the sound.
"Oh dear. Fell again?"
Beom Gye-wi clicked his tongue, to which Dan Ak-seon responded with a laugh.
"It’s fine. I’ll just apply some medicine."
Quickly standing up, Dan Ak-seon began gathering the spilled medicinal herbs back into his basket. Hoisting the basket, which was nearly as large as he was, he started heading back to the pavilion.
However, his staggering steps still looked unsteady.
After Dan Ak-seon disappeared, Beom Gye-wi spoke.
"Looks like he's bleeding."
"The noise was loud, wasn’t it? There’s probably not a single part of him that doesn’t hurt."
Whoosh.
Bright red flames suddenly flared up in Beom Gye-wi’s hands.
“What are you trying to do?”
“How dare you trip up our doctor like that! I’m going to burn all those weeds you see over there.”
Cho Ak-ryang clicked his tongue.
“That’s not going to solve anything.”
“Then are you telling me to just stand by and watch as the doctor keeps tripping? If we burn down all the plants on this mountain...”
“Tsk, tsk. When will you ever grow up?”
Cho Ak-ryang glared at him with a side-eye and said,
“The doctor only gets hurt because he’s out there looking for medicinal herbs for us. So, the problem is actually with us, but here you are, trying to take it out on some poor plants.”
“Well…”
Beom Gye-wi scratched his head.
Cho Ak-ryang, who had been watching him, let out a low sigh.
“Yeah. You’re not entirely wrong. We need to have some sense of shame, too.”
“Shame?”
“What does the doctor spend all day doing?”
“Treating us.”
“And what else?”
“Gathering herbs, pulling weeds, cleaning, cooking… he does it all, doesn’t he?”
“So how could someone so young possibly endure all of that? Even if he doesn’t show it, his body has really weakened.”
After pondering for a moment, Cho Ak-ryang made up his mind.
“From now on, let’s make sure the doctor focuses only on treating patients.”
“And how do we do that?”
“We’ll take care of everything else besides his medical duties.”
“The mighty Blood Demon, pulling weeds and doing laundry?”
"Why are you subtly trying to get out of this?"
"Because I've never done anything like that before."
At Beom Gye-wi's confident attitude, Cho Ak-ryang shot him a disdainful look.
"Do you think I want to do it? I'm only doing it because it has to be done."
"Then you can just do everything, Cho hyung."
"Fine, I will. If it helps repay our benefactor, what's the big deal about doing a bit of menial work?"
Beom Gye-wi clicked his tongue, feeling like he was the only one being unreasonable.
"Should I just head to the village and round up a few guys to put to work for us?"
Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
"Are you trying to let everyone know we're here? Do you want to put even Doctor Dan in danger?"
"That would be... troublesome."
Cho Ak-ryang smirked.
"Anyway, living long enough really makes you see things. Who would've thought the mighty Mangsanchoja* would start worrying about what others think." (T/N: Roughly translates to 'Descendant of the Fallen Mountain'.)
In the end, Beom Gye-wi snapped in frustration.
"Then what do you want me to do?!"
"What do you think? We split the work, of course."
Faced with Cho Ak-ryang's firm tone, Beom Gye-wi let out a sigh.
"But, Cho hyung."
"What?"
"How do we clean? And what about cooking or washing dishes?"
"Well..."
Cho Ak-ryang trailed off. He, too, had no experience with such tasks.
"Well… if we keep doing it, won't we get better? Surely, it can't be harder than martial arts training, right?"
"True."
The two confidently began washing the bedding, but before long, they ran into trouble.
Rip!
They had only tried to shake the dust out of the blanket, but it tore to shreds.
Even though he couldn’t use his internal energy, Cho Ak-ryang was still a master.
The body of a seasoned martial artist, trained for many years, had long surpassed the capabilities of an ordinary person.
"Why is this thing so weak?"
It was at that moment when Cho Ak-ryang looked bewildered.
Crash!
From the side of the valley came a thunderous sound as a giant tree was uprooted and fell.
"Huh? Was this the tree's root?"
Beom Gye-wi looked back and forth between the tree root he was holding and the fallen tree.
Startled by the commotion, Dan Ak-seon rushed out of the building with a shocked expression.
"What are you two doing?"
Beom Gye-wi grinned and continued what he was doing.
"From now on, Doctor Dan, you should focus solely on medicine. Leave the other odd jobs to us."
Rip!
"Ah, how is this fabric so weak?"
Dan Ak-seon looked at Cho Ak-ryang in disbelief.
"You're shaking the blanket, right?"
"Yeah, that’s right. I’m just not very good at it yet, so it's not going too well."
Riiip.
"Stop it. If you tear it any further, we won’t even be able to stitch it back up!"
Dan Ak-seon, who was trying to dissuade Cho Ak-ryang, froze on the spot. It was because of Beom Gye-wi, who was enthusiastically tearing up the ground.
"That’s medicinal herbs…"
"Huh?"
Beom Gye-wi awkwardly looked at the herbs in his hand.
"This? It looks just like any other plant."
Dan Ak-seon let out a sigh.
"That’s how the herb normally looks. You have to distinguish it by its smell."
"Then what should I do with this?"
Beom Gye-wi started replanting the herbs he had pulled out.
Seeing this, Dan Ak-seon shook his head.
"What you're planting right now are just weeds."
Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi stopped what they were doing and carefully watched Dan Ak-seon's reaction. However, Dan Ak-seon simply laughed off their mistake.
"What does it matter? I was planning to visit the herbal shop today anyway. While I’m there, I can also buy a blanket and more herbs."
With the growing number of people, they had already needed more supplies.
"Are you planning to go alone?"
At Cho Ak-ryang's question, Dan Ak-seon nodded.
"You guys need to stay hidden."
"When will you be back?"
"I’ll be back around evening."
"It’ll be dangerous traveling at night. There are likely to be wild animals."
"It’s fine. I’ll just carry some herbs that the wild animals hate."
"Still..."
"It's something I always do, no big deal."
At that moment, Beom Gye-wi stepped forward.
"I'll go with you."
"But the Murim Alliance members are looking for you."
"I can just disguise myself."
At Beom Gye-wi's assertiveness, Cho Ak-ryang felt uneasy. Just then, Beom Gye-wi rubbed his palm against his chin and cheek.
Chichijik.
Between Beom Gye-wi's palm and the skin on his face, a white smoke began to rise.
The pungent smell of burning animal hair filled the air.
In no time, Beom Gye-wi's spiky beard fell away.
Using the Sammae Jinhwa (the true fire of Samadhi), he had completely burned off his beard.
"Wow!"
Dan Ak-seon let out an exclamation at Beom Gye-wi's drastically changed appearance. Just the disappearance of his scruffy beard made him look like a different person.
Beom Gye-wi grinned broadly.
"How do I look? They won’t recognize me now, right?"
Dan Ak-seon nodded.
"Yes, you look so handsome..."
But as Dan Ak-seon continued speaking, Beom Gye-wi's face immediately twisted.
"...like a monk."
On the contrary, Cho Ak-ryang burst out laughing. Since it was clear there was no malice, the situation became even funnier.
"But are you really okay with this?"
Dan Ak-seon posed a question to Beom Gye-wi.
“What do you mean?”
“The beard. If you want to disguise yourself again, you’ll have to grow it back.”
“No problem. After a night’s sleep, it grows right back.”
Cho Ak-ryang snickered.
“If your beard grows that well, why doesn’t your hair?”
“What?!”
Beom Gye-wi flared up, and Cho Ak-ryang barely held back his laughter.
“At least you’re not making things up.”
“What are you talking about?”
"Remember last time when we were talking about Song Ok from Gangseo? You said you look better without a beard."
Cho Ak-ryang finally felt some relief.
Anyone who knew Beom Gye-wi would never recognize him in his current state.
And so, Beom Gye-wi accompanied Dan Ak-seon on his journey to the village.
“I hope nothing happens...”
As he saw them off, Cho Ak-ryang mumbled to himself.
That afternoon, the two returned much sooner than expected.
While it seemed like nothing had gone wrong, the problem arose from an unexpected place.
It wasn’t Beom Gye-wi, but Dan Ak-seon who caused the issue.
* * *
Cho Ak-ryang greeted the two, who had come back earlier than expected.
“Huh? You’re back early.”
"Yes, Uncle Beom gave me a ride using his qinggong*!" (T/N: It refers to techniques of "lightness" or "floating" used to move quickly and lightly, often associated with martial arts allowing characters to leap great distances or move swiftly.)
Dan Ak-seon, whose cheeks were flushed red, was brimming with excitement.
Beom Gye-wi grinned.
"Just let me know anytime. If you wish, I can even run as far as outside the world!"
"Hehe, thank you. I've always wanted to visit other places someday."
Until now, Dan Ak-seon had only traveled between Shinmagok and the nearby villages, which made him always dream of going on a journey.
Dan Ak-seon jumped down lightly from Beom Gye-wi’s shoulder.
Cho Ak-ryang looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"But you don't have much luggage?"
He had heard that there were many things to buy before their departure, but the luggage Dan Ak-seon brought was quite minimal.
"Oh!"
As if suddenly remembering, Dan Ak-seon untied the bundle he had been carrying.
"Look at this!"
Cho Ak-ryang, upon checking the item Dan Ak-seon held out, nodded.
"Isn't this fleeceflower root?"
"It's not just any ordinary fleeceflower root. This one is a thousand years old!"
"Oh! Such a rare treasure?"
"I'm on good terms with the herbal shop owner."
Dan Ak-seon beamed brightly.
"This will greatly help in both of your treatments. Now, I'll go ahead and get things ready."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dan Ak-seon rushed off toward the pavilion, carrying the fleeceflower root.
After Dan Ak-seon disappeared, Cho Ak-ryang looked at Beom Gye-wi.
"So, did you not manage to buy the things you needed?"
Beom Gye-wi nodded.
"How much did that fleeceflower root cost?"
“We used all the money I had.”
“What?”
“And it still wasn’t enough, so he went into debt.”
“You just watched that happen?”
Beom Gye-wi grumbled at Cho Ak-ryang’s reproach.
“Well, that's because you didn’t see the look on Doctor Dan’s face when he was happy.”
“He was happy?”
“He didn’t know what to do with himself, he was so pleased. Said the treatment would be quicker.”
Cho Ak-ryang was at a loss for words.
“So, because of us?”
Beom Gye-wi looked toward where Dan Ak-seon had disappeared.
“You know what’s really sad?”
“...What?”
“He was scanning the mountains the whole way back, saying he needed to find some fruit or something.”
When Cho Ak-ryang asked with his eyes why, Beom Gye-wi answered.
“He said we don’t even have enough food to eat.”
“And yet, you seem so calm about it.”
“Well, what does it matter? As long as Doctor Dan is happy.”
“And tomorrow, we go hungry?”
“I can go hunt a wild animal or something, can’t I?”
“Food aside, what about the other things? We don’t even have blankets to cover ourselves with tonight.”
"Just sleep roughly. You used to sleep just fine back in the day, even with flea-infested straw mats."
"When was that? And didn’t I tell you not to bring up the past?"
"Ah, whatever. Anyway, we’re going back tomorrow to pay the rest of the money for the fleeceflower root."
"Do you have the money?"
"He said we could sell off some valuables from the house."
Cho Ak-ryang let out a sigh.
"I’ve had a bad feeling ever since I sent you off."
Beom Gye-wi chuckled.
"That’s because you weren’t there to see it. Even if you had been, you couldn’t have stopped it."
"Well, Doctor Dan is skilled in medicine, but he’s not exactly wise to the ways of the world."
"He's twelve years old. What do you expect? And don’t worry about the money. If it’s needed, I’ll go and get it."
"From where?"
"There are plenty of rich folks around."
Cho Ak-ryang frowned, sensing Beom Gye-wi's intentions.
"And if you get caught? Do you want to be branded a villain?"
"I won’t get caught."
"What if he finds out later? What if he realized that you used that money to buy food and medicine?"
"Then he’ll never find out."
"Is there any secret in the martial world that lasts forever?"
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"Huu... Let's find another way."
