Chapter 51. Hah, So We’ve Got Some Big Shot Coming, Do We? (2)
"No, I mean—"
"How is it?"
"There’s an order to these things, you know."
"Isn’t this the most urgent matter?"
"We came a long way, and I’m hungry."
"If the treatment goes well, I’ll have a feast prepared for you."
"...And I’m completely drained."
"Should I bring you some tonic while I’m at it?"
Chung Myung glanced sidelong at Hwang Jong-ui.
The man’s eyes were blazing.
Right now, Hwang Jong-ui was a man drowning and clutching at a straw. And that straw was Chung Myung. He practically radiated the determination that, if he failed to cure Hwang Mun-yak, he would not be let off the hook.
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"Fine, then let’s take a pulse first."
"Hurry!"
"...All right. Don’t rush me."
Chung Myung turned and looked toward the bed. Someone was lying beneath a thick silk quilt.
"Hmm."
As soon as he saw the face of the person lying there, Chung Myung’s brows drew together slightly.
It does look like the symptoms of Mahwa, all right.
To be certain, he needed a closer look. Chung Myung stepped forward and pulled back the blanket.
Then, without meaning to, he frowned a little.
Though he was still dressed, there was no hiding how gaunt his body had become.
The old man was as shriveled as a mummy, drawing in faint breaths that seemed on the verge of snapping at any moment.
This is worse than I thought.
Chung Myung stroked his chin.
It is Mahwa, but not the real thing.
If he had been struck by a high-grade demonic art, he would never have lasted a full year. In fact, even those who had spent their whole lives in devoted cultivation often lasted no more than three days once Mahwa took hold of them.
This was not a condition an old man like this could have endured.
Then...
"Let me take a pulse."
"Yes."
Chung Myung reached out and took Hwang Mun-yak’s wrist.
Then he sent a sliver of qi into the body. As his pure internal energy flowed into Hwang Mun-yak, the dense cloud of turbid energy inside him recoiled in surprise and pulled back.
Amateurish.
Chung Myung frowned.
The symptoms were definitely Mahwa. But they were not the result of any properly mastered demonic art.
Removing his hand from Hwang Mun-yak’s wrist, Chung Myung fell into thought with his chin propped on his hand.
Hwang Jong-ui watched him anxiously, unable to hide his unease. Anyone would feel the same if the physician who had taken the pulse withdrew his hand and then wore such a grave expression.
In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Hwang Jong-ui spoke.
"...How is it?"
"Well, that is..."
Chung Myung scratched the back of his head.
"Is it difficult?"
"No. The treatment itself doesn’t seem all that difficult."
"I knew it. That’s all right, then. Everyone... Huh?"
Hwang Jong-ui’s body trembled.
"What did you just say...?"
"I said the treatment isn’t very difficult."
"R-really?"
"Yes. But I can’t start right away. I need to prepare a few things."
"What kind of preparation would that be...?"
"First!"
Chung Myung said with a grin.
"Let’s eat before we do anything."
"... "
Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop.
Chung Myung’s mouth reduced everything that entered it to shreds. Hwang Jong-ui stared at the sight in complete disbelief.
He had dealt with many different sects and seen many priests and monks in his time, but without a doubt, this was the first time he had ever seen a daoist who could tear into meat like this.
Even now, a long strip of duck leg vanished into Chung Myung’s mouth as if it had been sucked into a void, disappearing as if it had never been there at all.
And that wasn’t all.
Glug, glug, glug.
As soon as the expensive Yantai liquor filled the cup, he hurled it back into his mouth with desperate speed.
"Kraaaaah! Now that’s it! This is it!"
"... "
That, too, was a first — a daoist who drank so happily.
Under any other circumstances, Hwang Jong-ui might have laughed and said, I met a very spirited daoist today, but the present situation left him in no mood to laugh.
"A-About the preparation, Young Daoist."
"Hm? What was that?"
Chung Myung asked with his mouth full of meat. Hwang Jong-ui took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm.
"Th-the preparations for treatment?"
"I’m doing them right now."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, it’s nothing complicated."
Chung Myung set down his chopsticks.
"This treatment takes a lot of energy, so it’s important to eat well and build up strength. And this cook here is really good."
Well, of course he was.
He was the finest chef in Xi'an.
"After eating nothing but things that barely counted as food at Mount Hua, my stomach’s finally feeling better."
Chung Myung patted his belly.
"Are you done?"
"No. I’m just getting started."
"... "
Had a goblin crawled into his stomach?
He had heard Mount Hua was in difficult straits these days, so perhaps he really was starving... No, even if someone was hungry, could a human stomach hold that much? The body could only take so much, after all.
He was a priest who astonished people in more ways than one.
"You didn’t come here just to eat."
"Well, eating and all that are part of it."
"Still, there has to be a main purpose."
"Those who pursue the Dao live as the flow carries them."
"You’re flowing a little too freely..."
"I’m keeping to the current, more or less."
In what universe?
Unable to suppress his frustration, Hwang Jong-ui let out a sigh.
"Young Daoist. I know very well that it would be against propriety to rush you after you’ve come all this way. But surely you can understand a son’s feelings when his father lies in bed gravely ill?"
"I understand plenty."
Hwang Jong-ui shot up from his seat.
"Hey! Young Daoist! My father is—"
"He’s not dying."
"...What did you just say?"
"I said he’s not dying. Sit down."
Chung Myung casually poured himself a drink and drained it in one go.
Even after seeing Hwang Jong-ui’s anger, his face didn’t so much as twitch.
"I already took some measures a little while ago, so he won’t die. It’ll take some time to fully treat him, but the immediate crisis is over."
He had treated him?
When?
"The more urgent the situation, the more you should slow down. Treating the noble lord right this second isn’t what matters. What really matters is why he collapsed in the first place."
"...You really did treat him?"
"Do you live your whole life getting fooled?"
Chung Myung shrugged.
"If you don’t believe me, go take a look at the noble lord yourself. I’m sure the black qi between his brows has faded a lot."
Hwang Jong-ui stared at Chung Myung for a moment, then nodded.
"I don’t doubt you, Young Daoist. Still, it’s best to be certain about these things, so I’ll check immediately."
"Go ahead."
Hwang Jong-ui hurried outside. A short while later, he shoved the door open and stormed back in, staring at Chung Myung in utter disbelief.
"W-What on earth did you do?"
"I told you, I treated him."
"When, exactly?"
Chung Myung did not answer. Instead, he casually pointed to the seat across from him.
"Aren’t you going to sit?"
"... "
Hwang Jong-ui looked at Chung Myung with eyes full of suspicion.
He had lived as a merchant and seen all manner of people, but he could swear he had never met anyone like this before in his life.
At times, he looked like a childish brat; at others, he gave off the air of someone old, deeply seasoned, and cunning.
It’s almost as if an old man has been put inside a child’s body.
That couldn’t possibly be the case, so it meant this boy had experienced far more than his age should allow.
Can I trust him?
And yet he had no choice but to trust him. As he had confirmed for himself, Hwang Mun-yak’s condition had clearly improved.
Whether he understood Hwang Jong-ui’s complicated thoughts or not, Chung Myung poured liquor into his cup and spoke.
"If you don’t want to sit, stand there and answer me. I’ve got a few questions."
Hwang Jong-ui sat back down.
"Who was the person closest to the noble lord?"
"The person closest to him, you say?"
"Yes. Someone who stayed at Hwang Dae-in’s side. Someone who followed him everywhere, from his sleeping quarters to his business trips. If not that, then at least someone who wouldn’t be suspected no matter what they did."
"...Why do you ask?"
"Let’s just say it’s necessary for the treatment."
Hwang Jong-ui tilted his head, then answered.
"That would naturally be me. Taking care of my father is my duty."
"Exclude you."
"If you exclude me, then..."
After thinking hard for a while, Hwang Jong-ui shook his head.
"I’m not sure. My father was a man who handled many matters, so naturally there were many people assisting him. There are at least five people who fit the criteria you mentioned, Young Daoist."
"More than I expected. Hmm. I see."
Chung Myung scratched his cheek, looking troubled.
But then he merely shrugged and gave a faint smile.
"If there are five of them, then finding the right one among them won’t be easy."
"What exactly are you trying to find?"
"You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you? Come on. Surely not."
"... "
Hwang Jong-ui’s face hardened.
Of course he wasn’t asking because he didn’t know. He simply didn’t want to admit it.
"Are you saying the culprit is inside the guild?"
"At first I thought he’d been attacked from outside, but after looking at Hwang Dae-in’s condition, it doesn’t seem that way. In my opinion, this was done by someone on the inside."
Hwang Jong-ui’s expression grew rigid.
"Watch your words, Young Daoist! Everyone in the Eunha Merchant Guild is like family! They’ve spent their whole lives with the guild, and they all respect my father! They—"
"Then I’m wrong."
"...Huh?"
Chung Myung casually patted his stomach.
"If I suspect them and it turns out false, that’s good, right? Isn’t it?"
"...Well, yes, but—"
Chung Myung yawned extravagantly.
"So don’t worry. If we investigate, everything will come out."
Hwang Jong-ui nodded heavily.
Watching him, Chung Myung clicked his tongue inwardly.
For a merchant, he’s awfully naive.
There were hardly many people who understood just how ruthless human beings could be as well as Chung Myung did.
He had watched monks who preached compassion smash a man’s skull and go berserk, and he had also watched daoists devoted to the Way agonize over how to cut a man’s throat more cleanly.
Human beings were two-faced creatures.
They could be good to one person and wicked to another.
But that isn’t the important part.
What mattered was that there was someone in this Eunha Merchant Guild who had tried to murder Hwang Mun-yak.
Judging from the condition, it was clear that someone with only a half-baked grasp of demonic arts had been steadily seeping demonic qi into Hwang Mun-yak. At first it probably hadn’t caused any major issues, but after prolonged exposure over a long period, it had driven him into Mahwa.
Even someone who knew a fair bit about Mahwa would never understand how this particular condition had arisen unless they had seen it directly and experienced it with their own body, the way Chung Myung had.
The old man must’ve lived a pretty decent life.
Luck had fallen into place.
If Chung Myung hadn’t seen the contents of the letter... no, if he hadn’t taken any interest in Hwang Dae-in to begin with, Hwang Mun-yak would have been destined to slowly waste away and die.
Kraah. Now that’s what you call doing a good deed.
Save a life and make money too.
Kill two birds with one stone... ah, no, the birds weren’t really the point.
"But how exactly do you plan to carry out this investigation?"
"I’m already doing it."
"...Hm?"
Hwang Jong-ui blinked at him blankly.
"You’re already investigating?"
"Yes."
"You mean eating is part of the investigation? Or the cook...?"
"Come on. That’s not it. The fact that I’m sitting here talking with the young guild leader in this room right now is the investigation."
Hwang Jong-ui tilted his head. He simply could not make sense of what he was hearing.
"Just watch. Something interesting is about to happen. All you need to do, Young Guild Leader, is sit back and observe. Though, there is one thing I do need you to do."
"What is it? I’ll do my utmost."
Chung Myung picked up the wine bottle beside him.
"Another bottle."
"... "
"Hurry up."
"... "
Deep gloom settled over Hwang Jong-ui’s heart.