Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Injury
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#041: Injury
Along with Lee Jeok-ha, Dan Un and I entered the Hyeongcheon branch fortress.
The injuries I’d sustained while fighting Mak Ju-gwang were more severe than I’d thought.
Ogoksan immediately summoned all the renowned physicians from within a hundred-li radius.
Considering Dan Un’s and Lee Jeok-ha’s statuses, it was the expected course of action.
The problem was…
“This is a poison I’ve never seen before, so there’s little I can do. I’ll try what I can, but…”
“For now, we should focus on brewing a tonic to restore his energy…”
“Hah! What good will replenishing the patient’s energy do now? Are you preparing for a funeral?!”
“What was that?! Are you suggesting we do nothing?”
I couldn’t trust any of them.
Having experienced modern medicine, how could I possibly trust the words of a medieval physician? It would be a different story if it were someone like Cheong So-so.
Still, what could I do?
It felt like I would die if I just lay there, so I had to accept whatever treatment they could offer.
Even after a week of treatment, the severe damage to my meridians from recklessly circulating my ki showed no signs of healing.
They hadn't even been able to touch my broken ribs.
All they had managed to do was barely weaken the poison that had seeped into my body.
‘Am I really going to die like this?’
As I was waging a difficult battle on my sickbed with such thoughts…
*Clack.*
The door opened to reveal Cheong So-so and Myo Hyang.
Their faces were tear-streaked.
“Huh? How did you get here…?”
I struggled to lift my head and look at them.
“Waaaaah!”
Myo Hyang burst into tears, wailing as if an oil well had just erupted.
“…Let me see your wounds.”
Cheong So-so, her eyes red, approached with her medical tools.
* * *
Ten days later, thanks to the devoted care of Myo Hyang and Cheong So-so, I managed to survive.
My condition had improved significantly since yesterday, and I was now able to perform simple activities.
To think she healed in a week what three physicians couldn’t fix.
‘So this is why they talk about the Cheong family.’
From now on, if I’m ever in pain, I won’t hesitate to go straight to Cheong So-so.
“Ah, that stings!”
“Stay still. The wound keeps opening because you’re moving.”
“But it hurts, what am I supposed to do?”
“A warrior can’t even endure this? Wait, are you even a peak master? What kind of master gets beaten up all the time?”
“Fights between masters are always fierce.”
“Oh, please. I’m the youngest daughter of the Cheong Family Head. You think I haven’t seen a master or two?”
“Ahem! When a man says something, you should just accept it as… Ack!”
After finishing the bandage, Cheong So-so stood up, dusting off her hands.
“For a while, you should even be careful when you breathe. And of course, no running.”
“That’s just common sense, isn’t it?”
“Of course, but…”
Cheong So-so glanced somewhere outside the window.
Following her gaze, I saw Dan Un, his face not just pale but ghostly white, swinging his sword.
To think he’d be pulling that stunt so soon after cheating death. He was truly an incomprehensible fellow.
“…That’s what I’m worried about.”
“Don’t worry. I avoided training even when I was perfectly healthy.”
“…”
“Well, I’m just saying.”
I asked Cheong So-so, who was looking at me with a pathetic expression.
“So, how did you get all the way here? And how did you know I was injured?”
Even if Sichuan was Nine Dragons Fortress territory, the place was crawling with bandits and riffraff from the unorthodox factions.
For two women to traverse such a place was like crossing the waters off Somalia in a sailboat.
“Warrior Yong assigned disciples from the Two Immortals Gang as our escorts. He’s the one who told us you were hurt.”
After her explanation, I spoke with a slightly playful look.
“By the way, closing down your clinic must have resulted in quite a loss.”
According to our contract, Cheong So-so’s loss was my loss too.
“Is that all you have to say to someone who rushed a thousand li, worrying sick about you?”
“…Thank you.”
“Feels like I had to twist your arm for that.”
“Still, it’s really good to see you alive.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, it’s much better than being dead.”
“…I see.”
A brief silence followed before Myo Hyang entered with a tonic.
“You’ve worked hard today, my dear.”
Myo Hyang smiled brightly and handed me the tonic she had brewed.
“Not at all. Please, drink up.”
As I took the tonic, Cheong So-so explained.
“It’s a tonic made from snow ginseng. It will not only heal your internal injuries but also provide a slight boost to your internal energy.”
“What?!”
Even if I was ignorant about medicinal herbs, I knew what snow ginseng was.
Though not quite a legendary elixir, it was an herb that could grant a normal person ten years of life free from illness. In modern terms, it boasted a price higher than a decent imported used car.
“Where did you get something this precious?”
“We heard some snow ginseng was found nearby, so we bought it.”
“Where did you get the money?”
At my question, Cheong So-so answered with an amused look.
“My dear Myo Hyang has a lot of money. Probably much more than me.”
“…What are you talking about?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
No matter how well Cheong So-so treated her, her monthly wage was five nyang. How could she have saved up a fortune after only a few months of work?
Especially while covering all her living expenses.
As I stared at her with a questioning gaze, she averted her eyes and said.
“I’ll explain in detail later. For now, your recovery is the priority, so please drink the tonic.”
A strong scent wafted from it.
The smell of money.
‘There’s something going on here…’
But if she wouldn’t tell me, I had no way of finding out.
I’d just have to dig into it when I got back.
Steeling my resolve, I drank the tonic.
“Ah, that’s good. I can feel the heat rising from within.”
Expensive things really were better. I could feel the effects immediately after drinking it.
“Hehe, it was worth the trouble of getting it.”
“Thank you so much, my dear.”
“Not at all. Compared to what you’ve done for me, Squad Leader Jin, this isn’t even a tenth of it.”
“No, what have I done for you? I’m always the one receiving help.”
Though I received a fair bit of nagging too.
“That’s not true.”
Myo Hyang smiled brightly and continued.
“When I heard you were gravely ill, I rushed here for ten days straight.”
What is this? Is she about to start nagging again?
A wave of tension washed over me, but my worries were unfounded.
“The whole way here, I was filled with terrible thoughts. What if something happened to you? How would I go on living? I kept thinking things like that.”
“Come on, you don’t have to go that far…”
Myo Hyang’s voice choked up as she continued.
“I’m so glad you’re all right. Truly.”
“…My dear.”
Seeing her tears overflow like an oil gusher, my heart ached.
Who dared to call her a tigress? She was such a warm-hearted person, worrying about me so much.
*Sniffle. Sniff.*
Cheong So-so’s eyes also reddened as she struggled to stop her nose from running.
A scene straight out of a melodrama unfolded in the room.
A warm emotion rose from deep within my chest and swirled in my heart.
‘Is this… another family?’
*Clack.*
“Um… I believe you took the wrong tonic. I’ve brought the correct one.”
That is, until a maid from the branch fortress brought in the tonic brewed with actual snow ginseng.
* * *
Another week passed.
Myo Hyang and Cheong So-so announced their intention to return to Nine Dragons Fortress, saying they had been away for too long.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Of course. Warrior Yong provided us with a very reliable escort.”
“Black Path scoundrels are all the same.”
“That’s not true when there are a hundred of them.”
“What?!”
Is that man insane?
As I stared wide-eyed in disbelief, Cheong So-so handed me a bundle of herbs.
“Don’t forget to brew and drink this. And don’t you dare sell it.”
“Miss Cheong…”
Was it because she was so kind to me when I was sick?
She looked like an angel in white.
As I gazed at her with heartfelt emotion, Cheong So-so’s eyes hardened, and she whispered quietly.
“And, about the profit-sharing ratio. Since I made a house call this time, if you could lower it a bit from forty percent…”
“Stop. Do not ruin my touching moment.”
“No, that’s not what I…”
“Ahem! Why do you keep bringing up a matter that’s already settled? Are you a leech?”
“What! This man!”
After that peaceful farewell, I returned to my room.
As I tried to lie on the bed, a throbbing pain shot through me.
“Ugh… when will this thing heal?”
According to Cheong So-so, it would take at least another ten days to mend.
It was truly frustrating.
‘Still, I should be glad my internal organs didn’t rupture. If they had, I’d be on trial in hell by now.’
There was nothing I could do.
I just had to wait patiently for my body to recover.
Just as I lay on the bed and was about to close my eyes, I heard a wailing sound from outside.
I opened the window and saw Dan Un and his physician arguing.
“Your wounds are getting worse because you insist on training. Please, just lie down for a month, no, even just for two weeks. I promise I’ll make sure you’re fully healed.”
“I can overcome an injury of this level through training.”
With him spouting such nonsense and swinging his sword day in and day out, of course his body wouldn’t heal.
Thanks to him, the physician was on the verge of going mad.
For the past two weeks, Dan Un’s physician had been visiting the branch fortress every morning and evening just to monitor him.
Making house calls was no easy task in this era.
Because of the ridiculously large world, even the next village was at least a couple of hours away on foot.
As a result, the physician, who was now walking two hundred thousand steps a day without a pedometer, grew more gaunt with each passing day.
Despite all this, I was cheering for Dan Un.
‘That’s right, keep it up.’
I hoped the fool would become permanently crippled and bedridden for three years.
Then he wouldn’t be able to challenge me to a fight.
And Dan Un wasn’t the only one being this stubborn.
“Oh, Young Master! You’re really going to get yourself into serious trouble!”
The physician dispatched from Martial Emperor Fortress also cried out, his face pale as he watched Lee Jeok-ha emerge with his sword.
“I know my own body best, so do not worry.”
This guy had only woken up a day ago.
Yet the moment he opened his eyes, he came out to train.
‘Good for you.’
It was a sight that truly made me shake my head.
“I should just get some sleep.”
It wasn’t like they would listen if I tried to stop them anyway.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
Doing nothing and sleeping was the best, I thought.
And that evening.
“What?! Someone’s here to see me?”
The Ogoksan branch master rushed into my room, making all sorts of fuss.
“The, the Eldest Young Master of Martial Emperor Fortress is here!”
Who was the Eldest Young Master of Martial Emperor Fortress?
Wasn’t he the prodigy born with the Heavenly Martial Body, whose fame had resounded throughout the northeast since birth?
Moreover, he had reached the transcendent realm at the age of thirty and was the designated successor to the Lord of Martial Emperor Fortress.
“Why would someone like that come all the way here?”
“That’s because…!”
Just as Ogoksan, looking frustrated, was about to answer while thumping his chest…
“I came to see my brother’s savior.”
*Whoosh.*
A man exuding a suffocating aura entered, carried in by the biting wind blowing from the late autumn mountains.
*Thump.*
His aura was sharp and profound, as befitting the Eldest Young Master of Martial Emperor Fortress.
His toad-like face was a clear indicator that he and Lee Jeok-ha were brothers.
“Um… it’s cold, so could you please close the door?”