Chapter 26
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Child Ginseng
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“That damned bastard!”
Seeing Yu Hyun vanish below the cliff, Kwak So-san's twisted face flushed bright red.
It wasn't because of the cheek torn by the bastard's nails.
He had seen it. A clear sneer aimed right at him.
The bastard had deliberately hurled himself off the cliff.
And the direction he jumped in... the waterfall?
“Damn it! Woo Tae!”
“Yes, Boss!”
As Yu Hyun's figure dwindled to a mere speck, Kwak So-san bellowed harshly. The subordinate clutching the flail responded.
“Take the men and find that bastard's corpse. I won't rest easy until I've peeled the skin off that dead fucker.”
“Understood.”
The man named Woo Tae bowed his head and leaped down toward the base of the mountain. Then someone called out to Kwak So-san.
“B-Boss.”
“......?”
“T-The building where we locked up the kidnapped ones... there are only three charred bodies.”
“What?”
Kwak So-san's eyes trembled at the report from the subordinate who had returned after putting out the fire.
Only three burned to death? Then what about the ones inside?
In that brief instant, he reached a conclusion and ground his molars to the breaking point.
It was that bastard. That motherfucker he could chew up and spit out had let the goods escape, then deliberately stalled right in front of him.
He had been... completely played for a fool.
“Everyone... scour Mount Huang from top to bottom and drag them in. Don't miss a single one.”
* * *
Whooooosh.
Yu Hyun, who had leaped toward the cliff, righted himself in midair.
He had only one chance.
The cliff might be high, but how could it compare to the speed of the fall?
If he lost focus for even a moment, he'd smash into the ground and his body would burst apart.
Yu Hyun had resolved to flee because he trusted the massive gorge beneath Botap Peak's cliff.
The cliff abutted the watercourse that fed into the majestic waterfall below Botap Peak, the one he had seen with Elder Eok-su.
According to the elder, the water was fathoms deep at least.
The man had roamed Mount Huang his entire life, so his word was reliable.
He had gauged the rough distance before jumping, so he was sure to land somewhere close.
Fucking bandit scum.
They say no one who vows revenge is ever decent, but I'll be different.
But there was no time for vows of vengeance. Yu Hyun quickly scanned his landing spot.
Fortunately, it was over the watercourse. Not a bad position.
The problem was the speed.
Even now, wasn't the scenery below rushing up at him with terrifying velocity?
Yu Hyun circulated spirit energy through every part of his body to activate his Light Body Technique, then spread his limbs wide like the character for "great."
His body was now like an iron hammer, and he aimed to make it feather-light.
The lighter and more resistant to air, the more the speed would drop.
Whoosh!
With his body lightened and buffeted by the wind, he felt it lift suddenly.
The impact of resisting the air strained not just his arms but every muscle and bone in his body.
But he had slowed it down. This would do.
Flutter, flutter!
The long robe he wore billowed open, whipping in the wind.
Expensive stuff really was different.
It was riddled with sword cuts in places, yet it refused to tear.
For some reason, in this moment, he felt endless gratitude toward his wealthy father...
All that remained was to plunge safely into the water.
Swoooosh.
Amid the relentless roar of wind battering his ears, his body drew ever closer to the gorge waters.
Just before touching the surface, Yu Hyun took a massive breath and snapped his body straight upright like the character for "vertical."
Splash!
His body pierced the surface like a needle stood on end, and the force of the fall drove him deep into the water.
...Grahhh!
What... the fuck is this impact...
It wasn't water—it felt like slamming into soft ground!
Yu Hyun barely clung to his fading consciousness.
No, but how deep does this go... Eek!
At a certain depth, the water's resistance finally slowed his speed. Then the vertical force suddenly shifted horizontal.
No way... this is... rapids?
Damn it all!
Thinking he'd be done for if he just floated, he urgently circulated the Dragon Water Technique and thrashed in the water. But his spirit energy was depleted, and his stamina utterly spent.
Swiiiirl!
Before he could even swing his arms a few times, Yu Hyun was helplessly swept away by the rapids.
Rumble rumble!
Then, carried along with the thundering cascade of the waterfall, he plummeted downward once more.
Ah... if only this were a dream...
Crash!
The instant he collided with the pool at the waterfall's base, a colossal shock overwhelmed him, shoving him brutally beneath the surface.
Helplessly sinking deeper and deeper, Yu Hyun spewed curses in his mind.
It wasn't as if the water had layers, but after penetrating to what felt like the underground first floor, he hit this new level.
He mustn't resist. No—even if he had the strength to resist, he needed to conserve it.
For now, all he could do was entrust himself to the current.
Until the flow slowed enough for him to control his body, until his feet touched something solid.
And so it went, for a long while.
When he could no longer hold his breath, his feet finally felt the bottom.
The bottom...
Before he could feel joy at having reached it, water poured endlessly into his mouth and nose.
With no breath left to exhale, he had no choice but to swallow.
But did they think he'd give up like this? He would've done it ages ago.
He drank. Even if it meant shedding flesh again...
“Glug glug glug.”
Gulping down water as he endured, the moment his soles fully touched bottom, he kicked with all his might.
Splurt!
The surging force launched his body out of the water. After several more struggles, he finally reached the shallows.
“Urk... kehok!”
Water gushed from his mouth and nose in torrents, his body utterly drained...
But he was alive.
He had fallen from the sky and plunged into the water, yet miraculously survived.
However... having lost so much blood, his head spun and his body refused to move.
He wanted to rest.
Child Ginseng, 환란, whatever—let him die here.
He didn't want to do anything. It was all too much hassle. Just... like this...
Thump.
“......?”
The moment he was about to abandon everything, his heart suddenly sent a signal.
Thump, thump-thump.
“...!”
The beating quickened.
But the sensation wasn't blood flow... it was spirit energy?
Why the hell are you...
In that instant, something flashed through Yu Hyun's bewildered mind like lightning.
W-Wait. Is that you?
Clinging to a faint hope, he immediately circulated the Spirit Heart Core Method. The spirit energy, teetering like water pooled in a leaky bucket's bottom, suddenly erupted wildly.
This reaction... there's no such thing as destined death for a man.
His hazy eyes began to sparkle with ecstasy.
Child Ginseng. Child Ginseng. It had to be nearby.
Yu Hyun slowly raised his head, following the pull of the spirit energy.
“......Where is this?”
He had clearly fallen into the waterfall...
What met Yu Hyun's eyes was a cavern.
A vast cavern illuminated by a single beam of light squeezing through a small hole in the ceiling.
What in the world?
In the next moment, his gaze reached the end of the light beam.
“Th-That...?”
Even in his near-death haze, Yu Hyun's eyes widened like saucers.
A plant with three slender stems, sparkling as it bathed fully in the thin light.
How could he forget? He had memorized that shape so well.
Child Ginseng.
Damn it all. Swept along the waterfall's watercourse into a massive cavern, and there was a stalk of Child Ginseng.
Who'd ever seen such a stroke of fortune?
“Ah......”
The long-awaited supreme treasure nearly brought tears flooding out.
“......”
Then, irritation suddenly bubbled up.
No wonder he hadn't found it. No fucking wonder...
Those goddamn beggar scum. They should've gotten proper intel.
A glowing red stone, my ass.
At the very least: dive into the nearby waterfall, find a cavern like this, and the guy ate the Child Ginseng there. That's the bare minimum to even attempt a search.
Lazy bastards...
No, wait. Back then, the Beggars' Sect was practically wiped out, wasn't it?
Whatever. He had found it.
With eyes alight in rapture, Yu Hyun mustered every ounce of strength to move his arms.
He clawed at the ground with his fingers, endured on the power of his bones rather than muscles, and crawled, crawled onward.
And at last, he arrived.
Having lost so much blood, he could pass out any second—there was no time to wait.
He seized the Child Ginseng's stems like a ponytail and yanked it up in one go.
Scraaaape, plop!
The Child Ginseng, uprooted from the soil, finally revealed its cute, lovely form.
And...
「Kiiiiiaaah!」
“Shut your trap! You accursed Child Ginseng bastard!”
「....」
Yu Hyun bellowed so fiercely the cavern shook, then panted as he rubbed both ears.
Fucking Child Ginseng brat. It had screeched out of nowhere—nearly cost him his hearing... screeched?
Nah, no way. What weed screams...
Must've been a hallucination.
Shaking his head, Yu Hyun stared fixedly at the Child Ginseng.
Child Ginseng. Named for its childlike appearance.
And it truly looked the part.
“......”
Small wonder he felt reluctant to eat it. It was like devouring a kid...
But eat it he must.
He had endured all this hell to find and consume it.
Right? Hadn't his masters said he needed to become ruthless?
Brushing aside the fleeting guilt, Yu Hyun shoved the entire Child Ginseng into his mouth and chewed.
Crunch, crunch.
The childlike flesh melted away like snow upon ice the instant his teeth ground down.
Ah, such invigorating freshness...
But now was no time to savor the texture. Without absorbing the spirit energy, it was all for naught.
Yu Hyun hurriedly sat cross-legged and circulated the Spirit Heart Core Method to suck in every last drop of the Child Ginseng's spirit energy.
Wait for me, Kwak So-san. And you Nine Dragons Stronghold bastards. I'll come back and flay every last one of you.
The former Hwamun County wastrel is reborn!
* * *
“Yes? A guest did come, but that wasn't the name...”
“Wasn't that name?”
“Yes. He clearly said his name was Jin Wi-gang.”
“Jin......”
At the innkeeper's words, the warrior Guard Huang's face clouded with deep disappointment.
One day after Yu Hyun had left Yu Clan Manor.
Guard Huang had raced straight to the Nangong Clan with his escort warriors but failed to catch up.
It was only natural. How could anyone keep pace with a divine steed that covered three times the distance of an ordinary horse in a day?
He arrived at the Nangong Clan after six days of nonstop riding, only to find Yu Hyun gone.
Yu Hyun had left a letter saying he was heading to the Nangong Clan, so he waited in hope, but after two more days with no sign, anxiety set in.
That was why he had come to Mount Huang.
With the cooperation of the Nangong Clan's Azure Heaven Troops Leader, he had scoured villages around the mountain and reached Gam-eop...
But Jin Wi-gang?
A name he had never heard in his life.
“Damn it... where the hell did he go? If anything happens to the Young Master, the elder won't let it slide...”
Suppressing his mounting panic, Guard Huang was mounting his horse to hurry to the next village when he spotted a child carrying a feed bucket.
“Huh?”
Carrying feed wasn't odd in itself, but the problem was that the bucket held not just straw but heaps of vegetables and fruit as well.
Wasn't that strange? Feeding a horse fruit-mixed fodder in such a rural backwater?
“Guard Huang, where are you going?”
“Wait just a moment. I have something to check.”
The moment he followed the child to the stables and laid eyes on the tethered horse, Guard Huang's eyes bulged like lanterns.
“Th-Thousand...”
The Thousand-Li Colt. No doubt about it.
There couldn't be two such steeds in the world, gifted personally by the Emperor.
“Y-Young Master!”
“......?”
The child stared in bewilderment at Guard Huang, who rushed over and began speaking to the horse.
What was this? A madman?
Calling a horse "Young Master"?
“You! Where did this Young... er, this horse come from?”
“Yes?”
As Guard Huang seized his arm and pressed urgently, the child looked terrified.
“Guard Huang, you're scaring the child. Let go of his arm first...”
Realizing his mistake at Nangong Chu's remonstrance, Guard Huang steadied his breath and asked.
“Ah, sorry. I was too frantic.”
“......It's fine.”
“Truth is, we're looking for this horse's owner. Do you know where he went?”
“Um......”
The child hesitated, glancing warily.
“It's all right. I'm a warrior of the Nangong Clan, and this is the horse owner's guard.”
“Ah.”
When Nangong Chu flashed the Azure Heaven Plaque, the child finally relaxed and spoke.
“That gentleman headed to Botap Peak.”
“Botap Peak?”
“Yes. Word is, it's where the Nine Dragons Stronghold is, and the adults tried to stop him, but he said he had to find something... It's been over four days now.”
“What! Nine Dragons Stronghold—that means bandits!”
Guard Huang gasped in shock.
“Yes.”
“Th-This!”
What in the blazes was this?
Bandits? Why would Yu Hyun go to a bandit lair?
In an instant, an image flashed in Guard Huang's mind: Yu Hyun surrounded by bandits.
Hair a tangled mess like the wastrel he was, money stripped away, temper flaring pointlessly until he knelt with his head chopped off...
The grim vision made the sky itself spin.
As if bandits would tolerate that arrogant fool!
“Damn it! Young Master!”
Before anyone could stop him, Guard Huang whipped his horse toward Mount Huang.
“G-Guard Huang! Where are you—Huh?”
Nangong Chu called out in alarm, but Guard Huang, who had sped off at breakneck speed, suddenly wheeled around and came racing back to the inn.
“Botap Peak! Where is Botap Peak!”
“......”
“......”
The child and Nangong Chu stared at Guard Huang in stunned silence.
This man... even accounting for excitement, he seemed a bit dim somehow.
......But they couldn't bring themselves to say it.