"By the way, there are quite a lot of them. Is that okay?"
The owner, who was checking the various wooden figures loaded on the cart, was greatly surprised.
"I'm worried if I can sell all of these right away. Items worth five nyang of silver don’t sell that often."
"Then should I bring fewer of them?"
"No, I’ll buy them all. If I can't sell them here, I can take them to another village and sell them."
At that moment, someone approached the cart.
It was the owner of the woodcraft shop that Dan Ak-seon had visited earlier.
"What is the meaning of this! I said I would buy them all!"
Maybe because he was in a hurry, the man who came running frantically bumped into someone.
"Of all the luck, right in the middle of the road…."
The shop owner was about to spew out a string of curses but quickly held his tongue. He was momentarily overwhelmed by the imposing figure of Beom Gye-wi.
Beom Gye-wi glared at him steadily.
He had already heard the conversation between him and Dan Ak-seon.
"From now on, you’re banned from approaching this shop."
"But this is a shopping alley…."
"Go around the other way, unless you want your head cracked open."
Beom Gye-wi picked up a small stone lying by the roadside and gripped it tightly.
Crack.
In an instant, the stone crumbled to dust.
"...!"
The face of the shop owner, who had come to argue, turned pale.
Throughout his years of doing business, he had dealt with all kinds of people, but the giant standing before him was on a whole different level.
An abyss whose depth could not be fathomed.
It felt as if the darkness of that chasm was opening its mouth wide toward him.
Thud.
Seeing the other person collapse to the ground, Beom Gye-wi clicked his tongue.
"An adult wetting themselves, seriously."
Beom Gye-wi quietly laughed as he looked at Dan Ak-seon.
Dan Ak-seon, having successfully closed the deal, took the receipt. It was silver worth a whopping 150 nyang.
Dan Ak-seon headed straight to the herbal medicine shop.
"Uncle! I'm here!"
"Oh, okay. You’re he...!”
The owner of the herbal medicine shop was startled to see Beom Gye-wi appear behind Dan Ak-seon.
In his entire life, he had never seen someone so massive.
Dan Ak-seon whispered softly to Beom Gye-wi.
"He's a good person, so please treat him well."
Beom Gye-wi nodded and gave a wide grin to the shop owner.
The shop owner shuddered. It was because of a sudden, inexplicable chill that came over him.
Dan Ak-seon handed him the receipt.
"This is for the credit I promised to pay off yesterday."
"Oh? Oh, okay."
"The medicinal herbs you said you'd procure earlier, are they still not here?"
"I was just wondering when you’d come by."
The shop owner pulled out a box from under the table. As he opened it, a pungent, overpowering smell filled the room.
Beom Gye-wi grimaced.
"You're actually going to pay money for this?"
Dan Ak-seon replied with a smile.
"It's a medicinal herb that helps clear blockages and improve circulation."
Dan Ak-seon looked at the owner of the herbal shop.
"How much is it?"
"Take it instead of your change."
"What? But it's more expensive than gold of the same weight..."
"You're a valued regular at our shop."
Dan Ak-seon felt something was off.
No matter how much of a regular he was, the owner was still a merchant. There had to be a reason for him to take such a loss.
As Dan Ak-seon hesitated, the herbal shop owner practically pushed the box into his hands.
"Here, it's yours now since it's left my hands."
"Oh? Uh... I'll make good use of it."
It was certainly suspicious, but he couldn't exactly refuse it. After all, it was an essential medicinal herb needed to treat the two people.
"Ahem. Well then, I have some business to attend to."
The herbal shop owner, glancing around nervously, disappeared into the building.
Dan Ak-seon tilted his head at the sight.
"What's wrong? Isn't it good that you got it cheap?"
At Beom Gye-wi's question, Dan Ak-seon looked in the direction where the herbal shop owner had disappeared.
"Now that I think about it, this has happened a few times before..."
"You said he was a good person, didn't you?"
"He's definitely a good person, but... Hmm..."
Dan Ak-seon still felt that something was off.
* * *
The next morning, Dan Ak-seon woke up early, as usual.
"Sigh..."
Dan Ak-seon let out a sigh without even realizing it.
Normally, he would start his day by opening the window of the second-floor pavilion and enjoying the view of Shinmagok.
It was one of the few joys in his monotonous daily life, but lately, he hadn't been able to do that.
It was because Shinmagok's appearance had changed significantly.
Dan Ak-seon stepped out of the pavilion and looked around.
As expected...
The meadow, which used to be full of blooming flowers, was now messily dug up in various places.
Moreover, clotheslines stretched between the trees were covered with rags that were hard to recognize.
It was the result of the efforts of Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.
Dan Ak-seon missed the old, picturesque Shinmagok.
But he couldn't outright tell them to stop.
He didn't want to throw cold water on their well-intentioned efforts.
Dan Ak-seon headed to the pond to wash his face.
"Huh?"
It was then that he noticed a fish floating on the surface of the water.
He reached out and picked up the fish.
But from the mouth of the dead fish came tiny pieces of cloth.
They had mistaken the piece of cloth floating on the water for food. Upon closer inspection, there were fish carcasses floating all over the pond.
"This can't go on."
Splash.
Dan Ak-seon, with a determined look on his face, jumped into the pond.
While Cho Ak-ryang was struggling to focus his energy for meditation.
Tap, tap.
Someone tapped his knee.
"Cho hyung, wake up."
It was Beom Gye-wi.
Cho Ak-ryang opened his eyes and glared at Beom Gye-wi.
As their eyes met, Beom Gye-wi raised his hand and pointed outside the hut.
"Doctor Dan's acting strange."
"Doctor Dan is?"
Beom Gye-wi nodded.
"He suddenly jumped into the pond and started doing something. He's been coughing non-stop, but he just won't come out."
"Why all of a sudden?"
"If I knew that, would I have come looking for you, Cho hyung?"
Cho Ak-ryang stepped outside the hut.
It was just as Beom Gye-wi had said. Dan Ak-seon was moving around the pond, pulling something out of it.
"Cough, cough."
His face was pale, and he was coughing.
And that wasn't all.
After coming out of the pond and wringing out his wet clothes a bit, he immediately started cleaning.
Cho Ak-ryang approached Dan Ak-seon.
"We said we'd do the cleaning, didn't we?"
Dan Ak-seon forced a smile.
"It's okay. I'll just do it. I think it's better this way."
Cho Ak-ryang clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Of course, he understood why.
Beom Gye-wi and he weren't good at chores. Dan Ak-seon just hadn't said anything and kept doing it all along.
When Cho Ak-ryang returned, Beom Gye-wi looked puzzled.
"Why did you just come back? You should have persuaded him."
"Persuade him? Even if we keep doing it, it will only cause trouble."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He’s not happy with the way we clean and do laundry."
"Why? You and I both put in a lot of effort, didn’t we?"
"Yeah, and that’s the problem."
Cho Ak-ryang sighed.
"When someone is bad at something, even if they try hard, it doesn't mean they’ll succeed."
Hearing Cho Ak-ryang's lament, Beom Gye-wi also became sullen.
"Who would've thought that these simple chores would be harder than martial arts training?"
For a moment, they were silent.
Beom Gye-wi glanced worriedly in Dan Ak-seon's direction.
"So are we just going to leave it like that? How is he going to perform acupuncture properly if he keeps coughing like that?"
“It seems like we’ll have to bring in a specialist.”
“Hold on. I’ll catch one right away.”
As Beom Gye-wi was about to lose his temper, Cho Ak-ryang stopped him.
“Not kidnapping, but inviting!”
Cho Ak-ryang continued to explain.
“We need a valid reason. One that even a doctor would accept.”
“So, how do we do that?”
“We need to bring someone who, like us, needs treatment. Someone who can clean up well.”
After thinking for a moment, Beom Gye-wi recalled someone.
“How about that guy?”
“Who?”
“You know, the one who calls himself ‘Divine Thief’ and likes to boast about it.”
“Phantom Demon Kid?”
Cho Ak-ryang nodded.
“With his agility, he could finish the cleaning in no time. But does he have any health problems?”
“Damn it! He’s annoyingly healthy!”
Beom Gye-wi mentioned another person.
“Then how about that old tree monster? That guy lost one of his hands, didn’t he?”
“No matter how skilled a doctor is, they can’t make a lost hand grow back, can they?”
Beom Gye-wi snapped.
“Why not? If he’s truly a divine doctor, he should be able to make even a lost hand grow back!”
“Setting that aside, do you think he’d come just because we call for him?”
“……?”
"Do you think he would listen to the person who cut off his wrist?"
"That was... me?"
Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
"How can you not even remember what you did?" Beom Gye-wi shouted in frustration.
"Damn it! Then what are we supposed to do?"
"Well, there is someone I have in mind..."
"There is?"
"It's just that..."
Cho Ak-ryang, deep in thought, sighed once more.
"Ha... She really is the perfect fit, but..."
In the end, Beom Gye-wi's patience reached its limit.
"Who is it? Just say the name! I'll go get her right away!"
"Ice Jade Fairy."
Beom Gye-wi flinched.
"Who?"
"Han Seol-hwa."
"That woman who makes both orthodox and unorthodox factions shudder?"
Cho Ak-ryang nodded.
"Are you out of your mind?"
Beom Gye-wi raised his voice.
"Of all the people, why would you bring that crazy woman here?"
"Are you really one to talk?"
"Of course! I may lose my mind sometimes, but I come to my senses from time to time!"
Beom Gye-wi shook his head.
"No! I can't do it! No, I won't! If you want to bring her, then you go yourself, Brother Cho. I won't stop you from doing that."
"I have things to do here."
"What kind of things?"
"I need to make money."
Beom Gye-wi gulped nervously.
There was no way out of this tight spot.
* * *
After finishing the cleaning, Dan Ak-seon immediately moved on to the rest of the day's tasks.
He carried a large basket on his head and began wandering around different parts of Shinmagok.
It was to collect herbs that grew naturally in clusters.
Having stayed in the cold pond for so long, his face was pale, and he coughed occasionally.
But he did not stop working.
When the basket was about halfway full, Dan Ak-seon sensed a presence and turned his head.
He saw Beom Gye-wi approaching with confident strides.
"You hardly ever take a break, do you?"
Dan Ak-seon smiled softly.
"If I keep moving, my body stays warm."
It felt pitiful to see him like that. Beom Gye-wi felt sorry, as if Dan Ak-seon was enduring more hardships because of them.
"Is that a medicinal herb too?"
Beom Gye-wi pointed to the red flower in Dan Ak-seon's hand.
DanAk-seon nodded.
"Yes, it’s called silk flower. There's nothing better for managing pain and fever."
"Is it good for the body?"
Dan Ak-seon stopped Beom Gye-wi, who was reaching out to grab the flower.
"Don't eat it!"
"Why not?"
"To use it as medicine, it has to go through a complex preparation process."
"What kind of process?"
"The process of removing the poison."
"So it's a poisonous plant?"
"Yes. That's why it's also called flower of the underworld."
Dan Ak-seon then asked Beom Gye-wi.
"Do you have something to say?"
"Oh, right."
Beom Gye-wi, who nodded, suddenly put on a serious expression.
"I'm thinking of making a trip to Heilongjiang Province."
"Why there?"
"There's a patient. But can you treat someone who's crazy?"
"It depends on the situation. What are the symptoms?"
"Hmm... the personality is terrible, and the behavior is even worse."
"I don't think it will be too difficult. I'm quite used to it now."
"Hehe. Well, it's true that Cho hyung can be quite difficult, huh?"
Dan Ak-seon smiled ambiguously. There was no need to point out the facts right in front of the person concerned.
"It will take a long time if you're planning to travel all the way to Heilongjiang Province, won't it?"
"At most, about a month? If I find what I'm looking for, it won't take that long."
"Then, please give me a few days."
"Why?"
"I'll prepare some medicine for Uncle Beom to take. It will surely help."
Beom Gye-wi nodded agreeably.
"Alright. Before that, it looks like I need to chop down plenty of wood for Cho hyung to use."
As soon as he finished speaking, Beom Gye-wi started walking toward the entrance of the valley. Dan Ak-seon cautioned him.
"Please, don't touch that on your way back and forth."
Beom Gye-wi looked at the pile of stones that Dan Ak-seon was pointing at and asked with a puzzled expression.
"What is that?"
"It's a formation set up here."
"A formation?"
"Yes. It's currently deactivated, but if you move the stone placed at the highest point, the formation will immediately activate. If it does activate..."
Beom Gye-wi chuckled lightly.
"Heh, if it's just a formation, can't I just smash it to pieces?"
Dan Ak-seon smiled bitterly.
"It's not just an ordinary formation meant to obscure sight. And even if you could, please don't."
At Dan Ak-seon's continued words, Beom Gye-wi flinched.
"It's something my parents left for me. If possible, I'd like to preserve it as it is."
"Understood. I won't touch it."
Beom Gye-wi deliberately took a long detour around the pile of stones.
