Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Gamjatang (1)
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I, Maban, and Hui walked for about two hours with the leisurely flowing river at our side.
Then we arrived at today's first destination, the butcher shop.
It was a thatched-roof hut with crude mud walls haphazardly topped with straw, and a sign reading 'Meat' hung crookedly at the entrance.
Even before reaching the door, the metallic stench of blood assaulted our noses. A swarm of bloated flies, fat from feasting, buzzed noisily to greet us.
"Butcher chief, you here?"
As I gently pushed open the half-open door and slipped inside, Maban and Hui followed behind.
Under the eaves hung strips of meat drying for jerky and hefty pork ribs lined up in rows.
"Aiyo, come on in, customers."
Thud. The butcher chief from the Ma family stabbed his cleaver into the meat table as he finished dressing a goat.
Then he approached us, baring his blackened teeth in a wide grin.
"What can I get for you?"
Ma wiped his blood-caked hands on a rag that could have been a cloth or a mop.
His eyes flicked to the cart behind us, and his nostrils flared with excitement.
"Aiyo, you're back again."
Only then did Ma notice Hui and hastily bowed his waist.
"How is Elder Jang faring well?"
"......"
The butcher chief Ma and Hui seemed to have met faces multiple times before.
He must have come here often on Master's errands to buy various meats.
Despite Ma's welcoming greeting, Hui merely nodded curtly without a word.
But this being far from the first time, Ma's face remained unperturbed, a grin spreading across his lips.
And who could blame him? Two sturdy men had shown up pulling a cart.
How much meat would they buy? His heart must have been fluttering with anticipation.
"Butcher chief, do you have any pigs that haven't been deboned yet?"
As I scanned the surroundings and asked, Ma pointed to one of the pillars.
"Aiyo, of course. Freshly slaughtered this dawn. How would you like them prepared?"
I headed toward the pillar he indicated. There, four pigs hung upside down, half-split open.
I carefully rummaged through them, sniffing closely. It was to check the meat's freshness.
"Hmm."
This was an era without refrigerators.
So food poisoning or diarrhea from pork was commonplace.
Yet true to the medieval Central Plains, most commoners just shrugged it off. Truly, only the strong survived in this world.
"The blood's been well drained, and the condition looks good."
At my positive remark, Ma raised his cleaver high as if he'd been waiting.
"Butcher chief, these four pigs here..."
"Aiyo, the four pigs..."
"Debone them and cut out just the neck bone sections separately. Oh, and make sure plenty of meat stays attached around the neck bones."
"......Did you just say neck bones?"
Ma tilted his head in confusion, then shot a glance at Hui behind me, as if asking, 'Is this really okay?'
A chill suddenly ran down my spine.
I couldn't tell if it was from the cold air or from Hui standing there with arms crossed, silently glaring at me.
"Yes, neck bones. We'll pay plenty for them."
"What are neck bones even worth...? Alright, customer."
The Central Plains' love for lean meat was truly intense.
That said, they didn't avoid pork spine bones entirely. They were usually simmered for broth in soup dishes.
The section from the cervical vertebrae to the thoracic vertebrae was collectively called the 'backbone.'
One pig yielded two long lines of these bones, weighing about six kilograms each.
"Heavens, has Elder Jang fallen on hard times? He always demanded cuts with plenty of meat, but today..."
Ma's face soured, but his hands moved with practiced speed nonetheless.
He dismantled the pigs with swift cuts and neatly lined up eight backbone sections on the meat table.
The most curved parts among them were the neck bones, making up about a third of the full spine.
"Nice rosy hue, and the flesh springs back taut when pressed."
I inspected the broken-down neck bones and casually lifted the corner of my mouth.
Neck bones, where the neck meat attached, had exceptionally tender texture and superior flavor.
That's why some modern restaurants used only neck bones for gamjatang, even at a premium price.
"Ah, you're buying this for the beast, I see."
As Ma wrapped the neck bones in broad leaves, he nodded as if it all made sense.
His gaze fell on Maban.
'No, not for Maban. It's for us.'
It was just Ma muttering to himself anyway.
No need for a petty explanation.
And right then.
Whoosh—
A heavy sword sliced through the air toward my nape.
The blade tip halted precariously, leaving just enough gap for a thread to pass.
"You wretch. Master gave you a fat purse on your word of medicinal cuisine."
A familiar voice thick with fury.
The one wielding the sword was none other than Hui. Veins like earth dragons writhed slowly across his forehead.
This wasn't personal anger.
It stemmed from fierce loyalty to Master and his granddaughter.
"......Are you taking cheap cuts like these and pocketing the rest?"
His killing intent pierced like an awl, choking my breath.
Clang—
"Aiyo, sir! I-I'm innocent!"
Ma, startled mid-wrapping, flung his cleaver away and scurried into the hut.
And rightly so—the heavy sword aimed at me was clearly a fine blade fit for one well-versed in martial arts.
Hui hadn't uttered a single word the entire way here.
Yet the moment I bought neck bones at the butcher, madness flickered in his eyes as rage surged.
As I said before, the obsession with lean meat here was extreme.
Using cheap neck bones for Ryeongwol's nourishing dish must have seemed incomprehensible to him.
"I don't know how the successor let a worm like you steal her heart, but I still don't acknowledge you."
The blade he aimed wasn't mere threat—it was a killing strike.
He seemed ready to sever my head and brush it off with some excuse.
"Hero Hui, hate me all you want. But I too feel pity for Ryeongwol, Master's granddaughter."
"What?"
"I'm saying I sincerely wish for Ryeongwol to recover from her illness. So, though you may disapprove, can't you trust me just this once?"
"......"
Inside, my limbs trembled and knees buckled in terror.
But thanks to my stoic face that rarely showed emotion and a voice that calmed amid fear, I managed to continue as if unfazed.
'Such a handsome face... scarier than that bandit chief we met recently.'
I stood frozen like flash-frozen meat, staring at my reflection in his icy eyes.
"......"
Perhaps an illusion, but Hui's brow slowly furrowed. A faint wavering seemed to stir.
From what I could guess, this refined man was undoubtedly a master martial artist of high realm, if not quite Master's level.
"Your eyes don't waver—you don't seem to be lying. I'll trust you this once, chalk it up to being fooled."
"Thank you."
"But... don't forget. I'm always watching your back."
"Yes."
Hui sheathed his sword. Then he quietly loaded the wrapped neck bones onto the cart.
'Hmm, how delicious and nourishing gamjatang is.'
I kept a calm facade, but sweat poured down my back like a waterfall.
Yet oddly, I found myself wanting to see Hui taste 'Woonsik Oh-style gamjatang' and acknowledge it.
'I'll definitely make gamjatang with heavenly flavor and effects. If he asks for more... I'll pretend to hesitate then.'
Today's events gave me a glimpse of Hui's sincere devotion to Master and Ryeongwol.
A deep-rooted bond existed between them, one I couldn't fully grasp.
'That's why this old disciple like me is such an eyesore.'
My goal was a natural death, but this day made me question if I was on the right path.
Lately, a chill crept up my neck more often.
But what could I do? A man couldn't go back on his word.
No matter the reason, I was determined to shatter Hui's suspicion that I was toying with them through food.
"Ah, come to think of it, Maban. He usually leaps into action without being told... sleeping?"
For some reason, Maban was sprawled atop the cart Hui pulled, snoring away blissfully.
"Hey, Oh-Maban."
"Hero Hui, we need vegetables. The market's not far—let's head there."
"......"
I led the taciturn Hui and one freeloading raccoon dog toward the Liu family's vegetable stall.
Brother Liu ran a veggie shop not far from my stall.
"Woonsik Oh taking a few days off?"
"Yes, brother."
Brother Liu welcomed me warmly.
I glanced toward the back of his shop and smiled meaningfully, signaling my purpose.
Sure enough, Brother Liu hauled out a heap of them and loaded the cart.
Thud—
"Saved these for you, Woonsik Oh—no tossing 'em."
"Thanks, brother."
Hui, watching, trembled from his thick forearms.
His pale, long fingers thickened at the knuckles in an instant, blue veins bulging across the back of his hands.
Fortunately, his earlier 'just you wait' seemed genuine—dozens of 'endure' characters seemed to flash above his head.
'Seriously, how delicious is dried radish greens...'
Yes. The ingredient testing Hui again was none other than dried radish leaves and stems—mucheong ssiraegi.
Drying cabbage or radish greens into tough strands was a unique Korean food culture.
They ate cabbage and radish greens here too, but fully dried mucheong like this was mostly discarded or fed to livestock.
"Aiyo, how could I throw away anything when our Woonsik Oh asks to dry every scrap of mucheong or cabbage?"
Oblivious Brother Liu spat enthusiasm as he chattered on.
"Brother, we'll be off then."
To Hui, gathering such things must look utterly distasteful right now.
They'd seem like outright trash to him, bound to irk him more.
Worried he might even behead Brother Liu, I hurried away.
I then headed straight to the perilla field next to the market.
"Whoa, it's huge."
I let out an exclamation gazing at the vast perilla field stretching like an ocean.
Over twenty years on Central Plains soil, but facing such expansive land still swelled my chest with grandeur.
For reference, this was a regular customer's field from Waiting People's Restaurant.
He'd given permission to take as much as needed whenever, so my conscience felt a bit lighter.
'So vast... even if I take a ton, it won't show.'
I grinned widely at Hui.
"Hero Hui."
"What?"
"Master said to ask you for anything requiring strength."
"And?"
"......From now on, pick as many leaves as possible from this perilla field. That's what makes it medicinal and gamjatang delicious. So really, a whole lot—please."
"......?"
Hui glared, thinking it a joke, then his brows twitched like crashing waves upon realizing it was serious.
Yes. Eating perilla leaves—kkannip—was unique to Korea too.
"......I'll trust you once. Just once, just once..."
Hui suppressed his killing intent and stepped into the field.
"What are you doing, Hero Hui? Those leaves over there look good—hurry and pick them before sunset."
At my urging, Hui dashed across the endless perilla field—thousands or tens of thousands of pyeong, impossible to tell—using his lightness skill, plucking leaves as he went.
"Young Hero Woonsik Oh, just to confirm... you're not having me do this to mess with me, right? I've never heard of eating leaves like these in my life."
"Goodness, no, Hero Hui."
What kind of life had Hui lived to be so suspicious?
He looked pitiful to any onlooker.
In truth, perilla leaves here were livestock fodder. So Hui's reaction was understandable.
"Pick a ton. You can take every leaf in this field—really, a ton."
In reality, gamjatang needed just a handful of perilla leaves.
'The rest can be pickled into perilla leaf kimchi for long-term eating.'
One corner of my mouth quirked up toward my ear for no reason.