What, You Think Anything in This World Is Free? (1)
Jo Gul stared down at the frozen lake with a look of complete incomprehension.
“……What on earth is he doing?”
“How should I know?”
“He told us to go catch some fish, so why is he acting like that?”
“He’s fishing.”
“…….”
Chung Myung was perched on a chair, holding a fishing rod. The rod was several times thicker and sturdier than an ordinary one, and from its tip a length of rope was wound and dangling into the water.
“……What kind of fish is supposed to bite that?”
“If the lake’s this big, maybe there’s one crazy fish in there. A Chung Myung type.”
“……At least try to make sense.”
Baek Cheon let out a long sigh.
“Still, he’s actually seen fishing gear before, so he’s doing a decent enough imitation.”
After all, there was something that looked like a rod and something that looked like a line, wasn’t there?
But Jo Gul seemed to have a completely different opinion.
“Decent enough? Sasuk, haven’t you gotten way too soft on that bastard Chung Myung lately? If that counts as decent, then you and I look alike too.”
At that, Yoon Jong, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, turned to Jo Gul with a doubtful expression.
“Gul.”
“Yes?”
“Your metaphor went so far that I can’t even relate to it.”
“…….”
“Keep it reasonable. Reasonable.”
Jo Gul shot him a slightly wounded, pitiful look, but Yoon Jong offered him no comfort.
“But really, what is he doing?”
“Hm. Let’s go see, for now.”
Baek Cheon sighed and hurried over toward Chung Myung. Normally, the best course of action would have been to ignore whatever nonsense Chung Myung was up to as thoroughly as possible. But the situation was too urgent for that now.
He approached the humming Chung Myung.
“Chung Myung.”
“Hmm?”
“What exactly are you doing?”
“What, you can’t tell by looking? I’m fishing.”
“Fishing?”
“You told me to catch fish, didn’t you?”
At the casual reply, Baek Cheon’s brow twisted hard.
“Hey, you little punk! We’re in a race against time here—what kind of leisurely picnic is this? Do you really think fish are going to bite that?”
“Of course they will. It’s a fishing rod.”
“Fish or no fish, who in the world would bite that? That?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
When Baek Cheon thumped his chest in frustration, Chung Myung clicked his tongue. Then he shook his head and spoke in the tone of some enlightened old hermit.
“Dong-ryong, Dong-ryong. With thinking that short, how do you even manage to stay alive and eat?”
“…….”
“Fishing is not something to rush. You have to wait patiently, as if you’re fishing up the flow of time itself. The things meant to be caught will naturally be caught.”
“That’s not even remotely—!”
But then, at that very moment, the rod in Chung Myung’s hands began to bend sharply.
Seeing the stout branch-like rod curve in an instant, Baek Cheon’s eyes went wide.
“Hah! That’s a monster catch if I ever saw one! I told you, Sasuk!”
Grinning from ear to ear, Chung Myung clamped his hands down on the rod, and Baek Cheon’s face twitched violently.
“……It actually bit? That?”
No, this had gone too far!
No matter how you looked at it, even for a fish this was absurd.
“Heave-ho!”
Spreading his feet a little wider, Chung Myung braced himself and hauled up with all his strength.
Judging by how that thick, rugged-looking rod was bending, it must have been quite the monster indeed.
Did he hook a thousand-year fire carp or something?
A thousand-year fire carp was what they called a carp that had lived for ten thousand years and become a spiritual beast as big as a house. In the past, Baek Cheon would have scoffed and asked where such nonsense was supposed to exist. But after seeing a living flood dragon with his own eyes, what on earth was impossible in this world?
And if it was this bastard, maybe he really would reel in a thousand-year fire carp…….
That was when it happened.
“Hraaah!”
As Chung Myung pulled hard on the rod, the surface of the lake shuddered and bubbles began to gurgle upward.
Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Jo Gul stared at the water with tense eyes, swallowing hard.
And then.
Bloop.
“……Huh?”
As if a sun were rising from the sea, something round and bulbous pushed up through the water.
“Eh?”
“What?”
Three pairs of eyes widened at the sight of the round, wet shape glistening with water.
“An octopus?!”
“W-what’s an octopus doing in a lake?”
“……Or maybe it’s a spiritual beast?”
Before they could even identify what it was, Chung Myung yanked with all his might on the rod he was holding.
“Heave-ho!”
And in that instant, the three of them dropped their jaws so far they seemed ready to fall off.
“Pwaaaah!”
At the end of the taut line hung a very familiar shape.
A round shaved head, and a familiar yellow robe…….
“M-Master Hye Yeon!”
“Why is Master Hye Yeon coming out of there……?”
“No. That crazy bastard really—?”
The monster catch…… no, Hye Yeon was dragged up, clutching the fishing line in one hand and a huge net in the other. The net was packed to the brim with flopping fish, quite literally overflowing with them.
Thud!
He collapsed onto the ice, still gripping the net, and trembled violently.
“C-cold…….”
Seeing his lips and entire body turned blue with cold, the three of them panicked and rushed over in a flurry.
“Blankets! Hurry, get blankets!”
“Aaaaah! Are you all right, Master!”
They grabbed several blankets from the cart and ran to Hye Yeon’s side. But Chung Myung barked at them.
“What blankets are you going to use for that? Bring them here!”
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“I told you to bring the fish, not freeze them solid!”
“You insane bastard! A person’s freezing to death and you’re worried about fish?”
“It’s fine. He won’t die, he won’t die.”
Chung Myung snatched the blankets away and wrapped the entire net in them. And even then, apparently still not satisfied, he hauled the whole thing onto the fur pelts piled on the cart and bundled it up tight.
“Good!”
He looked at the fish on the cart with a satisfied expression.
“M-Master! Please wake up!”
“B-Baek Cheon donor…….”
“Yes, Master.”
“I saw it…… I saw it…….”
“Saw what?”
Hye Yeon, his face deathly pale, offered them an endlessly benevolent smile. Then, in a voice fading to nothing, he murmured, “The Bodhisattva of Compassion was beckoning to me…….”
“Aaaaah! Master! Wake up!”
“If you follow that, you’ll die! Master!”
The three of them frantically shook Hye Yeon awake as he started losing consciousness.
“Why on earth were you in there?”
At Baek Cheon’s question, Hye Yeon shivered and answered, “I-I was told it was to save people…….”
“That demon bastard!”
“That devil!”
From Hye Yeon’s answer, the three of them pieced together roughly what had happened and turned to Chung Myung with murderous resentment in their eyes. But Chung Myung only looked back at them with total calm.
“What’s the big deal? This much is nothing.”
“You—you demon-spawn! Are you even human?”
“Hold it right there!”
Chung Myung cut off their outrage without hesitation. Then, in a deliberately stern voice, he launched into a grand lecture.
“A true Buddhist devotee is one who does not spare even his own life when saving sentient beings! What could be nobler than risking your life to save people dying from illness? This is the true path of a Buddhist!”
“Then at least keep your mouth shut! Just once, shut up!”
“Enough.”
Chung Myung jerked his chin toward the cart.
“Stop freezing the fish you worked so hard to catch and hurry up and take them to the village.”
“Grrr…….”
Faces twisted, the three of them finally nodded and ran to the cart. Right now, helping the villagers came first.
As they grabbed the cart, Hye Yeon, who had been sprawled on the ground, staggered to his feet and tried to make his way toward it. Chung Myung looked at him with utter confusion.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“……I should help as well…….”
“Not you.”
“Pardon?”
Chung Myung jerked his chin toward the large hole in the ice.
“You think catching just that much is enough? We’re going back in once more.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch them properly. As long as you hold the line right, you won’t die. It depends on you.”
“…….”
“Now, get in.”
“…….”
Perhaps……
Calling Chung Myung a demon was truly cruel to demons themselves, Hye Yeon thought.
* * *
Steam rose in little clouds.
Heat began to return to their damp bodies, and vapor drifted up from their clothes. The mist climbing along their garments and spreading from their heads looked almost like the halo around a Buddha.
“So in the end…….”
“Ascend to Buddhahood, Master. We won’t forget this.”
“Amitabha. Amitabha…….”
“……I’m not dead, donors.”
Hye Yeon looked at the Mount Hua disciples with a rather sour expression.
Sometimes he genuinely could not tell whether these people were on the same side as him or were his enemies.
“……It’s a miracle you’re not dead.”
“Why in the world did you do something like that? No matter that you were saving people, it was far too reckless.”
Baek Cheon, listening to him, nodded vigorously in sympathy.
“You can’t keep letting Chung Myung lead you around by the nose like that. This isn’t the first or second time, is it?”
Hye Yeon lowered his eyes a little sadly and said softly, “……I wasn’t going to go in…….”
“But?”
“……But then Daoist Chung Myung said that if I refused, he’d use Baek Ah as bait, dip it in the water, and reel in an enormous catch, so…….”
At words they could hardly believe, the eyes of Baek Cheon and the others twitched violently.
“……Is that man even human?”
“Where in the world did such a wretch crawl out of?”
“Primordial Celestial Lord…….”
“Amitabha…… Still, I’m glad it helped. If it’s for saving lives, why should I hesitate to throw my body into it?”
The Mount Hua disciples wiped at the corners of their eyes.
Not somewhere else, but here—here was a living Buddha.
And the start of all misfortune had been the fact that that living Buddha happened to be standing beside a demon.
Wiping away the moisture beading on his hair, Hye Yeon asked, “So, is there any sign of improvement?”
“We still don’t know.”
Baek Cheon frowned slightly and shook his head.
Dang Soso had fed the fish they brought to the patients raw.
Those unconscious were given mashed raw fish mixed into a thin porridge, and even those who were conscious were given finely sliced fish. The meat had been cut as thin as possible to make it easier to digest.
They were feeding them raw fish with every meal, but since they had only just begun, it would naturally take time before any effects could be seen.
“Tsk. I’d feel better if I could at least help with feeding them.”
They wanted to help badly, but these villagers were extremely wary of outsiders, so they couldn’t simply walk up to them.
They had no choice but to listen when Dang Soso said that right now, the best help they could give was to stay out of the way and not stir up trouble.
“Soso’s working herself to the bone like that…….”
“So she is.”
Everyone let out a long, collective sigh.
Just then, the door opened and Dang Soso stumbled inside, looking completely drained, the shadows beneath her eyes sinking all the way down to her chin.
“Soso!”
“Are you all right?”
Dang Soso slowly nodded.
“Yes. I’m fine, Sasuk.”
“How are the patients?”
“I’ve fed them all for now. If it really is a closing-door illness, they should be able to shake it off soon. Closing-door illnesses usually respond to treatment quickly.”
“Is that so?”
Baek Cheon’s expression turned a little complicated.
Which meant that if the diagnosis was wrong, they’d find out the result quickly too.
We’re nearing the limit…….
No matter how skilled Dang Soso was, treating an illness when they didn’t even know its cause was impossible. And especially if she had to do it alone for so many people.
Still, Baek Cheon kept those thoughts hidden and said, “All right. Rest for a while.”
“I came because I had something to take back. Just a little longer…….”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who had been crouched motionless by the brazier like a dead thing, suddenly sprang to his feet and strode quickly toward her.
“S-Sasuk?”
Then he seized Dang Soso’s hand and yanked it up in front of his face. She looked at him blankly, still not understanding what was going on.
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung examined her fingertips and clicked his tongue sharply, scowling.
Just as he’d expected, her fingertips had turned red. No—looking closer, a bluish-black tint was swirling beneath the red.
The early symptoms of frostbite.
“You didn’t know?”
“…….”
“You’ve been running around sticking needles in people without even wearing gloves. Nice one.”
“…….”
Chung Myung lightly held her wrist and began pouring his energy into her.
“Ah…….”
At the warm yet refreshing sensation flowing up her wrist, Dang Soso flinched slightly. Chung Myung’s bright energy completely enveloped her hand, circling through it several times before returning to its owner.
“Rest.”
“…….”
“If the patients don’t show any improvement, then we have to start over from the beginning. You weren’t planning to be too tired to do that when the time comes, were you?”
“Of course not.”
Dang Soso looked straight at Chung Myung with determined eyes. Chung Myung nodded.
“Good. Then rest. That’s the right thing to do.”
“…….”
By then, Dang Soso no longer argued and quietly returned to the brazier.
“Then just a little…….”
She covered herself with the blanket Chung Myung had brought, and the moment she put her head down on the floor, she fell asleep at once. It was almost no different from fainting.
“……Shouldn’t we move her to a bed…….”
“Leave her.”
Chung Myung stopped Baek Cheon.
“It’s better if she gets even one more hour of sleep.”
Giving up his place by the brazier, Chung Myung found a spot elsewhere, sat down, and leaned back. Then he took Baek Ah, who had been obediently tucked in his arms, and set the creature on the floor.
“Go over there and cover her.”
Baek Ah’s black eyes glinted as it nodded twice in a flurry, then dashed off and settled itself atop Dang Soso’s hand.
“……So what are we supposed to do now?”
“What else?”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“We wait. By tomorrow morning, we should be able to tell whether it’s working.”
“Hmm.”
“So everyone should get to sleep as soon as possible. If there’s no improvement, tomorrow is going to be hell.”
At that, everyone nodded and settled down wherever they could. Not long after, the sound of steady breathing began drifting from one place and then another. They must have been utterly exhausted.
Chung Myung watched them in silence for a while, then gave a low snort of laughter.
It was a truly difficult problem.
If he only considered Mount Hua’s safety, there was no time to waste here.
But if he thought about Mount Hua’s duty, there was no way they could simply leave the villagers behind.
It’s not easy, is it, Sasuk?
Chung Mun must have lived like this every day.
Even the small things that seemed trivial to Chung Myung must have been weighed over and over in his mind. One choice could change Mount Hua’s future.
Thinking once again of what an extraordinary sect leader Chung Mun had been, Chung Myung quietly closed his eyes too.
“Mmm…….”
The Mount Hua disciples, who had been sleeping as though dead, began to open their eyes one by one and lift their heads.
“……Morning?”
“What about Soso?”
“She’s still asleep.”
The disciples, checking on the youngest the instant they woke, turned their heads toward the window. The blizzard that had raged through the night seemed to have stopped, and brilliant sunlight was now spilling through the cracks of the window frame.
“What about the patients…….”
That was when it happened.
Bang!
The door flew open violently, and several people with faces ashen pale rushed in, gasping for breath.
“Y-you need to come see this!”
The voice was urgent. Instantly, tension flashed in the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples.