Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: A Questionable Good Deed
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“It's a miracle! She's perfectly cured!”
The physician checking Namgung Hyang's pulse cried out, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Father, that's enough. Doctor Dan already said I was all better.”
He was already the third physician they had called in this way.
“I know. It's just... I wanted to keep hearing those words, that you're completely cured.”
Namgung Baek's expression suddenly turned curious.
It was because of his daughter, who was gazing into the distance with a wistful look in her eyes.
After a moment.
Namgung Hyang let out a soft sigh.
“If only he had stayed a little longer...”
Realizing the reason a moment too late, Namgung Baek gave a wry smile.
“I kept trying to persuade him, but he said he had a patient to treat and couldn't delay.”
“And we couldn't even properly repay him...”
“I know. For his fee, he only requested an old wooden box. I had to practically force the travel money on him.”
“Someday..., we'll be able to see him again, right?”
“Of course. I'll arrange a meeting.”
Namgung Baek didn't miss the sunset-colored blush that settled on Namgung Hyang's face at that moment.
Seeing his daughter like this, Namgung Baek's feelings grew a little complicated.
* * *
An exclamation of awe erupted from inside the carriage, now on its way out of Wuhan.
“The Martial Alliance Lord sure has a lot of money.”
Beom Gye-wi, having confirmed the box was full of silver, was grinning from ear to ear.
“How much is all this? He said it was for travel expenses, so I thought he'd put in a little for meals, but there's enough here to buy a few houses!”
Han Seol-hwa let out a snort.
She could just picture Namgung Baek agonizing over how much to put in. Setting aside the treatment fee, he couldn't have offered a paltry sum, not with their connection.
Just then, Dan Ak-seon spoke with a smile.
“We won't have to worry about the cost of medicine for a while.”
Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa stared at Dan Ak-seon with incredulous eyes.
They knew all too well that despite his words, he would squander his entire fortune without hesitation if he came across expensive medicinal herbs.
“Anyway, this is all thanks to you two.”
At Dan Ak-seon's praise, Han Seol-hwa gave a slight nod as if it were nothing.
Beom Gye-wi, on the other hand, beamed and scooted closer to Dan Ak-seon.
“Right? Even I think I did a pretty good job. It's easier said than done. What was it called again? Dignified Fire... Anyway, that whatever-therapy isn't something just anyone can do.”
“That's right. You're amazing, Uncle Beom.”
“Heh heh. If you want to praise me, feel free to say more.”
“How did I end up with such an idiot...”
Beom Gye-wi glared at Han Seol-hwa, who had trailed off with a pathetic tone.
“I should be the one saying that! And what's wrong with getting a compliment? Acting all high and mighty like Brother Cho is even more pathetic!”
“Why did you suddenly bring up my name!”
Cho Ak-ryang shouted from outside the carriage.
*Clatter.*
Just then, the carriage jolted violently, as if a wheel had hit a stone.
Beom Gye-wi yelled toward the outside.
“Brother Cho! Drive this thing properly! Is this your first time driving a carriage?”
“It is! You bastard!”
“Then get down and pull it yourself! You're scaring our Doctor Dan! And here you are, able to use your internal energy again!”
“Hah...!”
Cho Ak-ryang, speechless with disbelief, looked as if he'd bitten into something bitter at Beom Gye-wi's next words.
“Didn't you say you were grateful? If you're grateful, you should show it. Don't think you can get away with just saying thanks! If you keep acting like this, I might not help with your treatment next time, you hear?”
Cho Ak-ryang, suddenly treated like a mere coachman, sighed as if the ground would collapse.
That damn mouth of his was the source of his trouble.
He had volunteered to sit in the driver's seat out of gratitude for Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa helping with his treatment, but it had only ended up boosting Beom Gye-wi's ego.
Just then, Dan Ak-seon tried to stop Beom Gye-wi.
“I'm fine. So please don't be too hard on Uncle Cho.”
“Well, *I'm* not fine. I'm trying my best to ensure our Doctor Dan has a comfortable journey. By the way... huh?”
Beom Gye-wi suddenly shouted.
“Brother Cho! Did I tell you to drive properly or not? This is the wrong way!”
“What, you punk?”
“To get to Chang'an, you have to take the right road! Why are you steering the horses to the left? That's the road to Lanzhou!”
“Why are we going to Chang'an?”
“Didn't we say we'd stop by Chang'an when we were planning the trip?”
Dan Ak-seon answered for him.
“You said someone named Sa Mu-sim was waiting. We don't know what might happen, so we should see the patient first.”
“Ah! Right.”
Beom Gye-wi, feeling needlessly embarrassed, blamed Cho Ak-ryang.
“See, if you'd just told him to go to Chang'an instead of Lanzhou in the first place...”
“Fine! I'm the one who deserves to die! I've committed a grave sin!”
“If you know, then repent. And stop being so snappy.”
Though he couldn't see his face, Dan Ak-seon could easily imagine the expression Cho Ak-ryang was making at that moment.
“It's okay if we don't stop by Chang'an. I'm having a wonderful time as it is.”
“Really?”
Beom Gye-wi smiled and casually broached a topic.
“Then should we just live like this forever, traveling around?”
“That sounds nice, actually.”
Surprised by the unexpected reply, Beom Gye-wi asked again with a look of shock.
“Really?”
“But there's something I need to do.”
“What is it? If it's something I can help with, I'll do anything.”
“I'm planning to take this opportunity to combine my mother's and father's medical arts into one.”
“That's... not something I can help with.”
Seeing Beom Gye-wi's slightly deflated look, Dan Ak-seon smiled and spoke.
“I can't leave the valley until I finish it. The materials are so vast that I've only just managed to organize them in order.”
“So your parents' medical arts will be reborn as your own, Doctor Dan.”
Dan Ak-seon nodded at Han Seol-hwa's words.
“It's like homework they left for me.”
As he said this, Dan Ak-seon glanced at the wooden box resting in a corner of the carriage, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
“By the way, what do you think is inside that box?”
“Why? Curious? Should I break it open?”
At the sight of Beom Gye-wi grabbing the box, Dan Ak-seon waved his hands in refusal.
“No, it's alright.”
Dan Ak-seon quickly continued.
“You said there's a mechanism inside, and the contents could be destroyed if it's opened without a key, right? Isn't that why the Martial Alliance left it alone?”
“Did I say that?”
Leaving Beom Gye-wi to tilt his head in confusion, Dan Ak-seon voiced his curiosity.
“Still, it's really fascinating. To install a mechanism in such a small wooden box.”
“Just a waste of money, is what it is.”
“I hope we get to Lanzhou soon.”
What on earth could be in that box that he would cling to it, even risking his life?
More than anything, Dan Ak-seon was curious about that.
* * *
The carriage traveled far past the border of Gansu Province and entered Lanzhou.
“Well then, I'll be returning to my clinic. I've been away for too long.”
Pung Jin-seong, who had taken over the driver's seat from Cho Ak-ryang, promised they would meet again soon before driving the carriage away.
“So, how do we find him?”
Cho Ak-ryang flinched at Dan Ak-seon's question.
He had only told him to go near the Jinseong Clinic in Lanzhou, without setting a specific appointment or meeting place.
But if he told the truth here, it would only delight Beom Gye-wi.
He didn't want to give him any unnecessary leverage.
“Let's head to a crowded place first. Meeting him shouldn't be too difficult.”
Having said that as a cover, Cho Ak-ryang led the group to the market.
But not long after they entered the market, Cho Ak-ryang couldn't help but smile.
“There he is.”
The moment made his worries about not being able to find him seem foolish.
“Where?”
In response to Dan Ak-seon's question, Cho Ak-ryang raised his hand and pointed.
Beneath a large tree by the roadside. A crowd of people had gathered around a small, makeshift table.
“Hey! I'll bet on the middle one!”
“I'm going with the right!”
“No, it's the left. I saw it with my own two eyes!”
The people, caught up in a strange fervor, raised their voices, each insisting their choice was the right one.
A gambling game was underway.
The swindler, having collected the bettors' money, lifted the three teacups neatly arranged on the table at once.
In that brief instant, the people's reactions were starkly divided.
A few cheered while the majority lamented.
It was truly a moment where joy and sorrow crossed paths.
“I told him to hide quietly.”
Beom Gye-wi grinned at Cho Ak-ryang's words.
“Well, his disguise is decent enough.”
Dan Ak-seon asked with a curious expression.
“What are they doing?”
“It's a shell game. They put a bead under one of those three teacups and shuffle them around. You bet on one, and if you guess right, you get double your money.”
“And if you guess wrong, the person moving the cups gets to keep it?”
“That's right.”
“Then isn't it much more advantageous for the person running the game? Why do people make such an unfavorable bet?”
“Most people believe their luck can overcome the odds.”
It was then.
“Isn't this a scam?”
“Give me back my money!”
The people who had lost money shouted in anger.
“My, my. You were quiet enough when you were winning earlier, weren't you?”
A few people blushed at the swindler's words, but no one is in a good mood after losing money.
“Get him!”
When someone rushed at Sa Mu-sim, disguised as the swindler, everyone else scrambled to do the same. In an instant, the marketplace became a chaotic mess as people tangled together.
All sorts of curses, shouts, and screams flew through the tumbling crowd.
But Sa Mu-sim, the very person who had caused the commotion, had already slipped away like an eel, taking only the money.
Then, in a flash, he leaped over a wall and vanished.
“Oh? We lost him!”
At Dan Ak-seon's dismay, Beom Gye-wi let out a relaxed laugh.
“Heh heh. Don't worry, Doctor Dan. A jumping flea can't get far.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Beom Gye-wi's figure shot into the air.
In an instant, Beom Gye-wi soared to a dizzying height before dropping straight back down.
“He's heading toward the alley where the grain merchants are.”
“Let's go too.”
Beom Gye-wi lifted Dan Ak-seon onto his back and leaped away. In a flash, they arrived at the market alley lined with grain merchants.
“Should I go and grab him?”
Dan Ak-seon shook his head at Beom Gye-wi's words.
“Let's just watch for a moment.”
He was half curious, but Dan Ak-seon was also being serious.
After all, this was a person he might be spending time with in the future.
Sa Mu-sim went around the grain merchants, loading a cart with the grain and food he purchased, and headed for the outskirts of town. Then, he distributed the goods to the beggar children living in the back alleys of Lanzhou.
The moment he finished and turned to leave.
A figure dropped down in front of Sa Mu-sim.
“Hah!”
Sa Mu-sim, who had gasped, soon recognized Cho Ak-ryang and breathed a sigh of relief.
“You've arrived?”
Cho Ak-ryang, who had been staring blankly at Sa Mu-sim, spoke abruptly.
“A question just occurred to me.”
“What is it?”
“Are you a bad guy? Or a good guy?”
Finally realizing his actions had been discovered, Sa Mu-sim gave an awkward laugh.
“I was just bored of waiting around, so I was having a little fun.”
Just then, Beom Gye-wi set down Dan Ak-seon, whom he had been carrying on his back.
“Introduce yourself. This is the one who will be treating you.”
“Pardon?”
Wondering what he meant, Sa Mu-sim glanced back and forth between Beom Gye-wi and Dan Ak-seon, who stood beside him.
Neither of them looked like someone who could treat him.
“Surely you don't mean this kid is going to treat my qi deviation?”
In that instant, Sa Mu-sim was engulfed by a horrifying sensation, as if a chillingly sharp energy was tearing his entire body to shreds.
It was because of the killing intent pouring from the eyes of Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.
“*Hiccup.*”
A sense of crisis he had never felt even when being chased by the Martial Alliance made him hiccup involuntarily.
Sa Mu-sim quickly bowed his head toward Dan Ak-seon.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time. My name is Sa Mu-sim.”
“I'm Dan Ak-seon. It's nice to meet you.”
As he raised his head, Sa Mu-sim was startled.
He had just noticed the wooden box tucked under Dan Ak-seon's arm.