A Test with Thousand-Year Ginseng
It’s about time.
There was one clever trick to test Dan Hyunwoo.
The thousand-year ginseng he had promised when he saved her life on the mountain pass road. Hearing the words was one thing; seeing the actual item would be another matter entirely. His reaction to the Moyong clan’s ability to produce two roots of it on demand might reveal something.
“Any good at cleaning fish?”
Yu Sucheon approached while she was lost in thought, two large sea bass dangling from his hands. He was soaked to the bone.
It seemed his mother-in-law had nagged him into fetching fish again today. Though he really could have taken the seaweed out of his hair first. Just how terrifying was the woman that he had come running in such a state?
“Want me to try?”
“Not ‘want to try.’ Have you ever done it before? If you ruin them, you’re jumping in the sea to catch fresh ones yourself.”
“Hmm… I’ll leave it to you.”
“Watch carefully while I prepare them. Oh, and you can make the stew, right?”
“You taught me well.”
“Good. I’ll entrust that part to you today.”
Yu Sucheon carried the still-flopping fish into the kitchen. Moyong Sehui followed and rolled up her sleeves.
Chop chop chop!
Her knife work had improved dramatically. Mashing the sliced fish, mixing in seasoning, forming the balls, and simmering the stew—her skill had grown by leaps and bounds.
Yu Sucheon watched her progress and gave a small smile.
“At least you won’t starve wherever you go. Even when sleeping rough, you won’t be reduced to gnawing on jerky with a parched mouth before bed.”
“It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching.”
“Now that I think about it, Young Master Dan and I talked a few days ago about tips for sleeping outdoors. I was pretty confident since I have some experience, but he was several steps ahead of me.”
“Young Master Dan? He doesn’t look like the type who’d have any connection to rough sleeping…”
“There isn’t a corner of the Central Plains he hasn’t visited. He left home for twenty years, apparently wandering all across the land during that time. No wonder he became a master of outdoor living.”
“Twenty whole years?”
Yu Sucheon nodded. In truth, most of his answer was inference gathered from listening to conversations between Hwa Yuhwa and Dan Hyunwoo.
Moyong Sehui tilted her head, still holding a fish ball in her hand.
Traveling the Central Plains and sleeping rough for twenty years? If he possessed the Six-Horse Golden Plaque, there’s no way he would have lived like that.
The idea of an omnipotent figure sleeping under the stars was impossible to imagine. The question circled back to the beginning again.
Hmm… I really don’t understand. Still, I am a little curious about comfortable ways to sleep rough.
A master of outdoor living would be the person furthest from the owner of the Six-Horse Golden Plaque, wouldn’t he? Her thoughts flip-flopped without settling, and the fish balls in her hands crumbled absentmindedly as she sank deeper into contemplation.
The same recurring questions.
And whether the Six-Horse Golden Plaque truly existed.
Lost in those thoughts, Moyong Sehui formed the balls haphazardly and dropped them into the stew before asking Yu Sucheon.
“Could you teach me your method for sleeping rough too?”
“I already told you Young Master Dan is better than me. Ask him directly.”
“I will. The stew is ready.”
Moyong Sehui washed her hands and left the kitchen.
If she kept talking about sleeping rough, perhaps some clue about whether Dan Hyunwoo possessed the Six-Horse Golden Plaque would slip out. She hurried off to find him.
Meanwhile, Yu Sucheon, who had been ladling stew to set the lunch table, took one look at the fish balls Moyong Sehui had made and began to tremble violently. His face turned deathly pale with genuine terror.
“Hiiik! Those fish balls are only a quarter the size of a human head. If I serve these…”
One meal later, the table was overturned.
Dan Hyunwoo sat on the veranda with Hwa Yuhwa. When Moyong Sehui approached, they paused their conversation and looked at her with smiles.
It still felt strange to her how Dan Hyunwoo seemed uncomfortable around Hwa Yuhwa yet remained constantly by her side.
Dan Hyunwoo spoke first.
“You look like you have something on your mind.”
Are you the owner of the Six-Horse Golden Plaque?
She wanted to ask outright. Instead, Moyong Sehui held back and smiled brightly.
“I heard you’re knowledgeable about comfortable ways to sleep rough, so I came to ask for advice.”
“Sucheon must have told you. It’s not bad to know. For people of the Murim, sleeping outdoors is practically our fate.”
Dan Hyunwoo and Hwa Yuhwa explained the finer points of comfortable outdoor living. Moyong Sehui listened in growing amazement.
Just how much rough sleeping have they done to come up with such ingenious ideas?
Every method left her impressed. She also learned they had slept through countless rainy nights and on muddy ground. They had lived that way for nearly ten years.
If he possessed the Six-Horse Golden Plaque, he could have rented an entire inn and still had room to spare, yet he slept rough for ten years…
Her thoughts hardened into certainty.
Dan Hyunwoo was not the owner of the Six-Horse Golden Plaque.
As she listened, one new question occurred to her.
“By the way, why does Physician Hwa call Young Master Dan ‘Captain’?”
“Hmm? Oh ho ho. When you travel together for a long time, someone has to take the lead, right? It became a habit.”
“I asked because it isn’t a common title. And thank you again for teaching me those comfortable outdoor sleeping methods.”
She had wondered whether the physician followed him constantly because he possessed the Six-Horse Golden Plaque. But that didn’t seem to be the case either. The casual way she spoke was clearly the result of ten years of habit.
Calling someone equal in status to the Emperor ‘Captain’?
That would be blasphemy.
She had tested the theory several times. No matter how many times she circled the question, the conclusion remained the same.
Dan Hyunwoo could be removed from suspicion entirely.
Now she would have to begin searching for the true owner of the Six-Horse Golden Plaque again.
Two days later.
Knock. Knock.
Someone was rapping on the Dan Manor gate. Moyong Sehui, who happened to be nearby, slid the bolt open.
Seven men wearing Moyong clan martial uniforms stood outside and bowed deeply with perfect respect. They were the people she had been waiting for.
“Young Lady, have you been well? We have brought the two roots of thousand-year ginseng as you ordered.”
“It took longer than expected.”
“It is a precious item. The steward took time to grant permission.”
“How is the steward… I mean, how is Uncle?”
“He is well. He also asked us to confirm that you are doing fine.”
“I am, as you can see.”
“Are you… truly well?”
The man’s expression grew awkward. Moyong Sehui was holding a chicken. She had caught the bird that had fled toward the main gate and was about to wring its neck, so her right hand still gripped a kitchen knife.
Why is the young lady of the Moyong clan—one of the three great prestigious families of the Murim alongside the Namgung and Jegal clans—holding a chicken…?
The bird was nearly lifeless in her iron grip. Clearly not her first time.
Moyong Sehui shook the flapping chicken and asked, “Would you like to eat before you leave? I was about to fry this one.”
“Gasp! No, thank you. How could people like us possibly eat food prepared by the Young Lady?”
“It would be delicious.”
“We are satisfied with inn food. Here, please accept the thousand-year ginseng.”
The man offered a black box. Moyong Sehui set the chicken down and opened it. The bird, which had been trying to escape again to enjoy a second life, had its brief reprieve ended by Jeon Akgwan’s hands.
They laid good soil and placed the ginseng on top.
Sprayed with water to keep it from drying out, the thousand-year ginseng still looked alive.
“Thank you.”
“Then we will take our leave. Please stay healthy, Young Lady. And… I will not report the chicken to the steward.”
“You may report it. What’s wrong with holding a chicken?”
“No, I will keep silent!”
If he reported the Young Lady’s current appearance truthfully, the entire Moyong clan might erupt in chaos. They might even storm the Dan Manor for daring to make her hold a kitchen knife. The steward’s temper was rather vicious, after all.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Ah, and one more thing…”
The man glanced around once, then handed her a letter.
“The Alliance Leader sent this to the Moyong clan with instructions to deliver it to you.”
“From Father?”
Moyong Sehui tilted her head as she accepted the letter. Her father had probably used the errand warriors to maintain secrecy.
In that case, this must be an order…
A sudden ominous feeling swept over her. If he had gone to such lengths to keep it secret, it was likely related to the Six-Horse Golden Plaque.
As she took the letter, the man bowed quickly.
“We will depart now.”
The seven men fled with impressive speed. They felt they would get indigestion if they exchanged any more words with the young lady they normally dared not even address. In fact, they already felt ill.
Stop waving from behind and go inside already… She’s still waving.
It’s going to be a painful journey back.
After seeing them off, Moyong Sehui slipped the letter into her sleeve. She turned to bring the box to Dan Hyunwoo and froze.
Huk?!
Yu Sucheon had appeared out of nowhere. He was licking his lips, eyes glazed over. His gaze locked onto the box like a rabid wolf. As if possessed, he drifted closer.
“Is that the thousand-year ginseng? Just… even one tiny root… No, two tiny roots… Kugh!”
His words never finished. Dan Hyunwoo’s palm struck the back of his head, and Yu Sucheon’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed dramatically.
Martial artists really do lose their minds over thousand-year ginseng. It’s excellent for increasing internal energy and purging impurities.
Jeon Akgwan kicked the fallen Yu Sucheon a couple of times. When he didn’t stir, he dragged him off to the corner and poured water over his face. Look at that—after getting hit recently, he was deliberately aiming for the nostrils. Their behavior was exactly like a pair of villains.
Yet—
“Pfft!”
She had tried to hold it in, but the laughter escaped anyway.
She had been lost in thought a few days earlier and accidentally made the wrong fish balls, earning Yu Sucheon a thorough scolding from his mother-in-law. Now he had craved the ginseng, fainted, and been dragged away. She had never experienced anything like this in the Moyong clan, where everything was always serious and solemn.
Before she knew it, she had grown far too fond of the Dan Manor. The realization made her heart ache.
Because this was a place she would eventually have to leave.
She wished time would slow down.
She stood there, thinking exactly that.
“Here are the two roots of thousand-year ginseng I promised. I’ve managed to repay at least a small part of the debt for saving my life.”
Dan Hyunwoo’s hand reached out. Moyong Sehui stiffened in surprise. What was he going to do?
But his hand simply ruffled her hair vigorously. She felt the size of his palm and the calluses on his long fingers.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“My hair is a mess now.”
“…Thank you for the ginseng.”
Dan Hyunwoo took the box and left with only those words.
Moyong Sehui watched his retreating back.
“What… what was that all of a sudden?”
Her face had turned slightly red. She hadn’t even had time to observe his reaction to receiving the ginseng.
Moyong Sehui hurried into her room and opened her father’s letter. There was only a single sheet inside, and not many words had been written on it. As she slowly unfolded the paper and read, her eyes began to tremble.
Cease the mission to locate the Six-Horse Golden Plaque at once. Proceed to Gaewon in Shaoxing near Hangzhou and track down Jeok San, the Mad Sword Flying Death—a Sapa villain who has committed countless atrocities. He is a high-level expert who has slain no fewer than forty Murim Alliance warriors single-handedly. He is extremely dangerous; remember that you must never face him alone. The Murim Alliance has dispatched the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes as a pursuit team to the area. The meeting place is the Sorong Inn in Gaewon County. Take care of yourself.
— Your Father —
It was written in her father’s hand. And the content was indeed about the Six-Horse Golden Plaque—ordering her to abandon the search.
Why? Why now?
Jeok San was one of the most notorious villains in the Sapa. Tracking him down was certainly important. But was it more important than finding the Six-Horse Golden Plaque? Why had the search been halted?
Her hands shook.
Her gaze drifted beyond the paper door toward the Dan Manor.
The moment of farewell was closer than she had thought.