The True Cheonsimcho
The man approached with a chilling smile.
Moyong Sehui stared blankly as he drew near.
The Six Sword Palace Monster was no different.
Sweat trickled down his face from the tension brought on by the man's fierce grin backed by overwhelming violence.
'Good heavens! The Taesanbo!'
The earthquake-like trembling of the ground came from the man stomping the earth with his foot.
A single step so overwhelming that even the Six Sword Palace Monster, a master, couldn't catch his breath, its power leaving the hazy dust still unsettled.
They couldn't come to their senses for a moment.
But the Palace Monster rose and, as if by habit, nocked five iron arrows on his bowstring.
With a face full of wariness, he asked.
"Who are you!"
"……."
"You seem like a master, but we've never met. There shouldn't be any grudges between us."
"Do I really need to answer?"
"What did you say?"
"You're going to die anyway. Even if I don't lay a hand on you. Isn't that right?"
The man spoke softly, his words directed at Moyong Sehui.
She realized what that single simple sentence meant.
'That man knows I'm the daughter of the Moyong Clan main house.'
If the daughter of the Moyong Clan main house met her end, and that too in a cruel and miserable way, the Moyong Clan would chase them to the ends of the Central Plains to annihilate them.
If he said that deliberately.
'That means he's not my enemy.'
Even in the midst of unclear confusion, that one fact brought a slight relief to Moyong Sehui's heart.
But she couldn't figure out why he was helping her.
Shrrring.
The man drew his sword.
That was all.
But the Six Sword Palace Monster felt a chill run down his spine.
It really was just that.
"Da... damn it, Six Swords!"
"Yes!"
The Six Swords formed their formation.
They stepped toward the man, Dan Hyunwoo.
Their swift and clean footwork showed that their reputation was not in vain.
It would have been so if their opponent wasn't Dan Hyunwoo.
Crack!
With a single sword.
The Palace Monster's eyes trembled.
The six heads of the Six Swords floated into the air, scattering bright red blood.
From afar, the color was so vivid it could almost be called beautiful as it lingered in the air.
"Six Swoooords!"
If it weren't for the Palace Monster's anguished cry, the blood that hadn't yet fallen to the ground would have been beautiful.
Parararak!
The five iron arrows he had nocked flew toward Dan Hyunwoo.
The five iron arrows, each flying toward vital points on the body from different trajectories, were twice as fast as when they had targeted Moyong Sehui.
Just before the iron arrows, carrying the sound of tearing through the wind, embedded themselves in Dan Hyunwoo's vital points.
Kakang! Kakakakang!
Dan Hyunwoo's sword swept the iron arrows away.
With a face as indifferent as if it were slow and nothing special.
Whiriririk!
The iron arrows lost their way and flipped over from the overwhelming force of the sword strike.
The Palace Monster swallowed dryly.
That's right.
The iron arrows were flying toward him.
With several times the force he had sent them with.
Puh puh puh puh puk!
The Palace Monster laughed.
He couldn't help but laugh.
With blood-soaked lips.
The red blood soaking his body spread and soon fell to the ground.
Five iron arrows embedded in his vital points.
The arrows that had penetrated dyed his back with blood as well.
"You son of a b*tch....... Where the hell did a guy like you come from......"
Thud.
The Palace Monster couldn't finish his words, his bloodshot eyes rolled back.
His lips trembled with curses he had chewed but couldn't spit out.
'He's... insane. He took down the Six Sword Palace Monster with just two sword strikes?'
Moyong Sehui silently watched the series of martial arts the man displayed, and finally her eyes trembled.
The overwhelming violence the Six Sword Palace Monster had shown was trampled pathetically by another massive violence.
Blood was everywhere, and the scent of blood stung her nose.
The man standing alone in that terrible pool of blood inspired awe that went beyond to fear.
Moyong Sehui lowered her head.
Her stiff neck naturally turned toward the ground in the face of such formidable violence.
"I... I am deeply indebted to you, young master.
As you may have noticed, I am Moyong Sehui, daughter of the Moyong Clan, currently affiliated with the Murim Alliance."
"Dan Hyunwoo."
Though he possessed martial arts that left one speechless, Moyong Sehui tilted her head at the unfamiliar name, then realized she hadn't offered a proper greeting and quickly clasped her hands.
"Please forgive my rudeness."
"I'm not familiar with Murim etiquette. Don't worry about it."
A Murim person not familiar with Murim etiquette? It was a strange thing to say.
But Moyong Sehui didn't think deeply about it.
Because she didn't know why he had helped her.
"The Moyong Clan always repays received favors, and considers it shameful to turn away from a benefactor. The Moyong Jinhwandan that increases inner force is too much, but anything else, please tell me whatever you desire, young master."
"Hmm......"
A slightly troubled expression appeared on Dan Hyunwoo's face.
He would have helped several times without expecting anything in return.
But the Moyong Clan's nature wouldn't let it pass.
They were people who had learned from a young age the family tradition of repaying grudges tenfold and favors twentyfold.
'So Hwa Yuhwa's wild dream came true like this. As expected of the Moyong Clan.'
Since he had never received compensation for saving someone, his lips felt a bit ticklish.
"If possible, could I receive Cheonsimcho or thousand-year ginseng?"
Moyong Sehui answered readily.
"We don't have Cheonsimcho in our clan either. However, two roots of thousand-year ginseng are possible."
Dan Hyunwoo nodded.
Seeing that he had obtained it in a way he hadn't thought of, it seemed Hwa Yuhwa's wild dream was sometimes useful.
'In the dream, it said we'd get both Cheonsimcho, but that was really just a wild dream.'
Having received the promise that the thousand-year ginseng would be sent to the Dan Manor, Dan Hyunwoo turned to head home.
But he felt Moyong Sehui looking at him with a worried expression.
"Um...... young master, if I may say one more thing, please give up on the Cheonsimcho. It doesn't exist in this world. It's nothing more than a mythical herb someone made up."
Moyong Sehui caught her breath as if troubled and continued.
"Even the Moyong Clan searched the entire Central Plains for the Cheonsimcho but couldn't find it. The Murim Alliance searched for it too. But they only wasted decades."
"The last time it appeared in the world was fifty years ago."
"Even then, it was said that some medical family bought it for ten thousand gold coins, but no one ever saw the Cheonsimcho they supposedly bought. The Moyong Clan is still searching, but whenever we go thinking it's Cheonsimcho, it's all fake. For example......"
Moyong Sehui pointed to the grass with her finger.
"That common weed over there, if called Cheonsimcho, would easily fetch over a thousand gold coins. That shabby yellow-flowered weed over there would be worth about two thousand gold coins. That's the truth about Cheonsimcho."
"That one? Two thousand gold coins would make it seem plausible."
The particularly eye-catching wildflower swayed gently in the wind as if asking to be picked.
Drawn by that tempting sight, Dan Hyunwoo dug up the roots cleanly and held it in his hand.
The flower was heavier than it looked.
"Plant it at home and look at it every day to let go of the desire to find the Cheonsimcho. Even though it's just a weed, if it helps you not have vain dreams, it could become a Cheonsimcho of the heart. I'll give it to you thinking of it as repaying the favor."
"......Thank you, I'll gratefully accept it."
Dan Hyunwoo silently examined the wildflower he held.
His expression gradually hardened the more his gaze met the flower.
And the more he looked closely at the flower, the more his body froze coldly each time he touched the stem.
That rapidly changing expression made even Moyong Sehui feel something was off.
"Young master? Why...... are you like that? What is it that makes you act this way?"
Dan Hyunwoo didn't answer for a moment, then replied in a slightly cracked voice.
"......Cheonsimcho."
"You're joking, right?"
"No....... It's real. I just couldn't recognize it quickly because it was in bloom."
"Huh? Huh?"
Moyong Sehui's eyes shook as if an earthquake had truly struck.
The fact that his heavy single word revealed the truth was something she felt even more in her heart.
He was still holding the wildflower with finely trembling pupils.
"That's the one I found......"
Moyong Sehui tried to continue but swallowed and stopped.
'Damn it.'
Just a moment ago, she had clearly said it.
With her own mouth, she said she would give that yellow flower thinking of it as repaying the favor.
She had uttered those words.
'Why did I say that......'
That one sentence that had scattered into the air drained the strength from her legs.
Moyong Sehui plopped down on the ground.
She was so shocked that she even forgot about the blood flowing from the arrow-pierced left shoulder.
Dan Hyunwoo, holding the Cheonsimcho, turned his gaze toward Moyong Sehui.
She wore the expression of someone whose world had ended.
'So Hwa Yuhwa's wild dream was all true. Hmm......'
It was good that he had obtained the Cheonsimcho, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for Moyong Sehui.
"Come to the Dan Manor. There's a quite skilled physician there. I'll have that guy treat your shoulder. And...... hmm....... I'll serve you a meal too. Do you need alcohol as well?"
"Alcohol....... A lot. A lot!"
Perhaps due to the shock, the speech of a Murim person from a prestigious clan disappeared, and casual speech flowed out.
Dan Hyunwoo helped her to her feet.
"It's said that Cheonsimcho dries quickly once separated from the soil, so I'll go ahead first. You should come before your wound festers."
"That was the one I found...... *sob*......"
"I'll have expensive alcohol ready."
Dan Hyunwoo left the place.
Moyong Sehui stared blankly at his retreating figure disappearing with light footwork.
The Cheonsimcho that, if a Murim person consumed it, would increase their inner force by one cycle, if an ordinary person ate it, would extend their lifespan by twenty years, and could even revive the dead.
The Cheonsimcho that was no longer hers was leaving like that.
From the carriage, Magistrate Song Wolun poked his head out and said.
"Is it...... over? Is everything okay now?"
Moyong Sehui shouted loudly.
"Does it look okay! It's not okay! *sob sob*!"
* * *
"You won't ignore my dreams anymore, will you, Commander?"
Hwa Yuhwa jumped up and down on the floor.
Though she looked a bit foolish, Dan Hyunwoo smiled.
When he told her that he had obtained even the thousand-year ginseng through the Moyong Clan, Hwa Yuhwa even danced with joy.
Her skills were terrible, though.
"Fifty years ago, Grandfather bought the Cheonsimcho for ten thousand gold coins and grew it for research. In the end, since the flower didn't bloom and the Cheonsimcho died, he dried it and stored it, but."
According to Grandfather's research, unlike ordinary flowers, Cheonsimcho cannot be propagated by pollen.
However, this Cheonsimcho had bloomed.
Grandfather's conclusion was that if you take this flower and plant it in the ground, another Cheonsimcho would grow.
The conclusion was that there would be two Cheonsimcho.
'Moyong Sehui would cry even more if she knew this fact.'
Dan Hyunwoo decided to keep his mouth shut.
"This isn't the time for me to be like this. I need to quickly create an environment for the Cheonsimcho to grow."
Hwa Yuhwa called Yu Sucheon, Jeon Akgwan, and Cheon Ilseong.
The three, who had barely finished work and were resting, came out with sullen faces.
"Build a house. A small hut-like house will do. And Lord Yu Sucheon, go scoop up some soil from the mountaintop. You need to bring a lot."
"Soil from the mountaintop? Does it have to be from there?"
"Other soil is fine too."
Yu Sucheon's complexion, which had been full of difficulty, brightened.
Until Hwa Yuhwa continued.
"Not the mountaintop, but soil gathered in the crevices of the cliff where clouds settle next to it. There won't be much, so you'll have to make several trips diligently? Since you need to bring at least ten sacks of rice worth."
"Soil from the cliff that's piled up only as much as a chick's tear...... scoop and gather ten sacks?"
"Why? It's not that you don't like it, is it? So you're not asking back, right?"
Using honorifics was even more annoying.
If it was going to be like this, she might as well speak casually and hit him.
But Yu Sucheon quickly smiled at Dan Hyunwoo's expression.
Dan Hyunwoo's silent expression telling him to listen to Hwa Yuhwa permeated his entire body with a shudder.
Sh*t.
Recalling the loyalty etched in fear, Yu Sucheon dashed off to the mountains.
The remaining Jeon Akgwan and Cheon Ilseong built the house.
Since it was their first time building a house, the structure being built haphazardly looked unstable.
"By the way, Yuhwa, wasn't it said that Cheonsimcho only grows on mountaintop cliffs?"
"I heard that too...... It's strange that the Cheonsimcho is growing among weeds on the official road."
"Where was the Cheonsimcho Grandfather obtained found?"
"It was on a mountaintop cliff in Huangshan, Anhui Province, right?"
"All other records also say it was found on cliffs."
"Since Cheonsimcho has rarely been discovered, the stories might have been distorted. Hey, former Merchant Group Leader Cheon Ilseong? Are you going to keep breaking the house you're building?"
"I-I'm thowwy."
Cheon Ilseong bowed his head with a swollen mouth.
Dan Hyunwoo stood beside him with his arms crossed.
Something that scratched at his heart unpleasantly stimulated his chest.
* * *
A day later, on the official road of Makgansan where rain poured from the overcast sky.
An odd old man holding a fishing rod that didn't suit the mountains stared intently at the grass.
"It should be here, but it's not, the Cheonsimcho."
Whoosh!
The old man swung the fishing rod horizontally with force in his wrist.
The old man handled the fishing rod with near-divine skill.
It wasn't an ordinary fishing rod but the Eoryongcham, a peculiar weapon that launched the tough line called Eoryongsak.
It was the weapon used by the eight great masters of the Janggang Water Sect.
As the Eoryongsak swept past, the grass scattered into the air.
Thud!
Five thick trees fell.
The old man, Eo Gwan, scanned the ground where the grass had scattered with a sharp gaze as if glaring at it.
His gaze followed the traces.
"Hangzhou. Is it Hangzhou. Did those guys break their promise and hide the Cheonsimcho, or did someone steal it."
Eo Gwan didn't ponder for long.
His steps were already heading toward Hangzhou.
The Eoryongsak swaying on his back.
Tududuk.
Tuduk.
The sharp fishing line eerily sliced through the rainwater.
The severed rainwater scattered into a drizzle in the air.
He muttered.
"I didn't intend to turn Hangzhou into a sea of blood."