Chapter 333
Chapter 333
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 333
Chapter Title: Homecoming to the Dang Estate
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The Nara group arrived in Chengdu shortly after leaving Zhuul Village. Dang Mujin was visibly tense, plain for anyone to see.
Namgung Myeong smirked at the sight.
"Relax. Someone might think you're a criminal being dragged to the underworld."
"Who said I'm tense?"
Dang Mujin took a deep breath and walked through Chengdu's streets.
Even on the outskirts of Chengdu, fairly distant from the Dang Estate, plenty of people recognized Dang Mujin and waved.
"I heard you went away to distant lands. Glad you made it back safe."
"Yeah. What trouble could I possibly get into?"
"Hmm. Better hurry along. Or would you like a quick bite first?"
"I'm good for now. I'll come back after settling my things."
There was no particular common thread among those chatting with Dang Mujin.
Innkeepers. Idlers lounging on the streets. Folks leading oxen and donkeys by. Even local kids just starting to sprout dark whiskers on their chins.
Those who didn't strike up a conversation still recognized him all the same. Most gave Dang Mujin at least a light nod.
Seolhwa, walking beside Hyeon-gong, asked.
"Is Dang Mujin famous?"
"In these parts, hardly anyone hasn't heard of him."
"Rich?"
"Not born into wealth, but he built it. Good things come to those who stay on friendly terms."
"Mm."
Unlike the cheerful rest of the group, Yeom Physician grew a bit glum.
A few years back, he'd arrived at the Dang Estate with Yang Physician upon hearing they taught medicine there. He'd left Chengdu to hone his skills alongside Yang Physician too.
But now he was alone. His friend lay buried in some far-off land.
"Huh?"
By the time they reached the vicinity of the Dang Estate, Dang Mujin was a touch flustered. An unfamiliar wall blocked their path.
Judging by the location, it looked like the Dang Estate's wall. But it enclosed a far larger area than before.
Just as it had every time Dang Mujin was away, the estate had expanded its territory again. The Dang Estate had this odd trait of growing whenever he looked away.
And then a minor issue cropped up. Namgung Myeong pointed at the wall.
"Wasn't the main gate around here originally?"
"Yeah."
No gate in sight. It must have shifted somewhere during the expansion.
"Hang on a sec."
In a situation like this, blindly following the wall in search of the gate was amateur hour.
The man most adept at scaling walls, Namgung Myeong, leaped atop it to scout the gate's new position.
But the instant Namgung Myeong crested the wall, something shot from inside at tremendous speed, aiming for his thigh.
"···!"
Twisting away in panic, Namgung Myeong dodged it by a couple of inches. He whipped his head back to see what had flown at him. It vaguely resembled an arrow.
Namgung Myeong was startled, but so were his friends below the wall.
Dang Mujin asked.
"What the hell? Who just shot an arrow out of nowhere?"
"It's your house—why ask me?"
"You're the one on the wall. Who shot it?"
What was most suspicious about the arrow was that it hadn't flown horizontally like a normal shot or arced down from above. It had surged up from below.
As if an archer lying prone on the ground had fired straight up at the wall top.
To check who'd loosed it, Namgung Myeong peered down. But no one was there. Just bare earth with a small hole.
"···No one's there?"
"Why wouldn't there be? Did a ghost shoot it and flee?"
But it was true. As Namgung Myeong stood atop the wall in bewilderment, a familiar voice called from afar. It was Dan Seolyeong.
"Namgung Myeong, why'd you climb up there and cause a ruckus?"
"Uh···. The gate moved. Just checking where."
"That way! South!"
Sure enough, an ornate gate stood in the direction Dan Seolyeong pointed. She added one more line.
"You don't wanna get shot? Then don't move on the wall—get down now!"
"Uh···."
Namgung Myeong carefully hopped down.
When the group followed the wall to the gate, it swung open, revealing Dan Seolyeong.
Despite the winter chill, she didn't seem cold, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
Dang Mujin grinned broadly, recalling their first meeting. Dan Seolyeong smiled back. Surprisingly, she didn't seem angry.
As Dang Mujin moved to embrace her heedless of the onlookers, her expression turned subtle.
"No way—you again···?"
Dan Seolyeong's gaze fell on Seolhwa.
Seolhwa had been curiously scanning the estate interior when her eyes met Dan Seolyeong's. No mistaking it for a friendly look.
Instinctively fearful, Seolhwa sidestepped—not toward Dang Mujin, but Hyeon-gong. He naturally extended an arm her way.
That reaction alone told Dan Seolyeong everything. True to their parting promise, Dang Mujin hadn't brought home another outsider woman.
Sure, capable men took concubines as a matter of course—but that applied to other women's husbands. Dan Seolyeong's patience extended only to Mok Wan-a.
With no apparent ties between Seolhwa and Dang Mujin, Dan Seolyeong beamed radiantly once more.
"Pleased to meet you. What's your name?"
"Seolhwa. Just call me Seolhwa···."
"Pretty name. Nice to meet you."
"Hello···."
Seolhwa's speech was a bit halting. Nerves had frozen her brain, it seemed. But the meaning came through fine.
Seolhwa realized one more thing. Her place in the pecking order was below Dan Seolyeong's.
Dan Seolyeong approached Dang Mujin and grumbled.
"Why're you tiptoeing around? It's confusing."
"I was pretty late, wasn't I?"
As Dang Mujin slyly took her hand, a faint smile played on Dan Seolyeong's lips.
He liked the feel of her curly yet soft palm and fiddled with it. Pretending reluctance, she let him while speaking.
"Not the first or second time you're late, so I expected it. Truth be told, I've been thinking you'd come back even later these days."
"Why?"
"You saw that arrow earlier, right? Wanted to finish it all before showing you."
So that arrow was indeed Dan Seolyeong's handiwork.
Dang Mujin surveyed the estate interior. About ten paces from the wall, the ground was dug up. Looked like burying something—or building underground.
"What's that?"
"If someone climbs the wall, it auto-fires an arrow. Reloading's a hassle, but the power's decent."
Namgung Myeong looked crestfallen.
Did this mean even nighttime jaunts required the main gate now?
Dang Mujin asked.
"What's it for?"
"Qingcheng Sect Daoists mentioned lots of places hit in this 'Righteous-Evil War.' Kongtong Sect got turned to rubble, they said. Figured I should prep too. Bit late already··· but who knows when it might happen again."
Classic Dan Seolyeong.
Once she set a goal, she neither dawdled nor stopped. Just pushed forward with uncanny efficiency.
Dang Mujin knew exactly what to say here.
"I'll help."
"Knew you'd say that. Anyway, everyone's tired—come in, wash up, and rest!"
Dang Mujin wasn't included in that "everyone."
The five excluding him—Hyeon-gong and Namgung Myeong, Hong Geolgae, Seolhwa and Yeom Physician—dispersed variously. The three sans Seolhwa looked right at home.
Walking with Dan Seolyeong, Dang Mujin chatted.
"The place got a lot bigger."
"Once I decided on wall mechanisms, I expanded enough to avoid redoing it. Gave generous compensation to neighbors and asked them to relocate."
"Not easy."
"That's not all. Planning a few more mechanism types, and if I find a skilled array master, I'll overhaul the building layout too. Arrays require repositioning structures, apparently."
"···Where's the money from? Clinic earnings alone wouldn't cut it."
They'd gotten a fortune from the Man-geum Merchant Lord, but even that had limits. Dang Mujin had spent plenty before leaving.
Expanding land, installing mechanisms, rearranging buildings—no way the remainder covered it.
But Dan Seolyeong waved it off casually.
"For one, clinic revenue exploded while you were gone. Even after discounting for Qingcheng and Emei folk. Patients flocked from afar."
Combining her words with vague Sa faction warrior tales from Zhuul Village, Dang Mujin pieced it together.
Just as Sa faction forces had pushed toward Kongtong or Beggars' Sect areas, they'd tried invading Sichuan too. Qingcheng and Emei repelled them, and the Dang Estate handled the wounded. In exchange for discounts, likely.
Dan Seolyeong continued.
"Not just clinic cash. External ventures bring in plenty too."
"Ventures?"
News to him. The estate had never earned beyond medicine.
"Qingcheng Daoists, owing us big, handed over a few profitable spots. Probably lacked managers···."
"Why'd managers vanish?"
"Huang Lingzi used to oversee them with the Qingcheng Chengdu Branch. But with so many Qingcheng masters dead, he returned to headquarters. Jin Song went too, so the Chengdu Branch'll be empty awhile."
Dang Mujin recalled Yeongheo-ja.
Before dying, Yeongheo-ja had asked him to be a good neighbor to Qingcheng. He intended to anyway.
But with Yeongheo-ja and countless Daoists gone, Qingcheng's momentum would flag for now.
Pushing to maintain scale amid that could ruin everything.
Knowing so, the Qingcheng Daoists had ceded tough-to-manage ventures to the estate—keeping relations smooth while showing goodwill.
A sudden thought struck.
"So, who's running those handed-over ventures?"
"Me, naturally."
Dang Mujin looked queasy.
Few could help Dan Seolyeong with mechanisms—maybe a skilled blacksmith or a few carpenters.
Even they couldn't design them. Most of the work fell squarely on her.
Managing external ventures atop that? Days wouldn't suffice. And Dan Seolyeong wouldn't neglect the girls.
Catching his worry, Dan Seolyeong chuckled.
"No need to fret. No one's forcing me—I'm making the work myself. Plus, it's fun. Duty and hobby in one."
"Then that's a relief···."
"And now you'll help too, right?"
Work slyly delegated. But Dang Mujin had no intent to dodge.
Duty as husband and estate lord.
Strolling the interior, Dang Mujin and Dan Seolyeong conversed intimately.
She chattered like a tiny bird, pointing here and there. This spot for such-and-such mechanism, that for another.
Nor was it just her talking. She had much to share with him, but he had a year's worth of tales for her too.
Those who knew Dang Mujin—young or old—cupped fists and bowed as the pair passed. Strangers asked neighbors who he was.
Soon they gawked. They'd heard the Dang Estate Lord's Healing Dragon was young, but Dang Mujin exceeded expectations.
Dang Mujin slowly took it all in.
In his absence, the estate had changed dramatically in many ways.
Patients, for one.
War's aftermath, it seemed—Qingcheng Daoists and Emei nuns dominated the injured. Even murim folk from beyond Sichuan abounded, unlike before.
After a full lap, Dan Seolyeong said.
"A bit late, but you should greet Father."
"Right. He's in the clinic?"
"Yeah."
At last, Dang Mujin's steps led to the central clinic.
Called estate lord or not, after wandering afar, he owed his father a face-to-face.
Dang Mujin's father, Dang Jesun, was in his prime as a physician. Naturally, he spent most time there treating patients.
Dang Mujin opened the clinic door. Fortunately, the spacious central room was patient-free.
Dang Jesun sat center, Mok Wan-a to his left, Chu Sam—the clinic overseer—to his right. Dang Yeong sprawled on her grandfather's lap, playing.
Seemed they'd snacked during the lull—three plates dusted with mung bean crumbs sat among them.
Dang Mujin bowed to his father.
"I'm back."
Dang Jesun nodded contentedly.
"Dang Mujin!"
Mok Wan-a rose with a bright smile to greet him. Dust-covered as she was, she showed no hesitation.
But Dang Yeong, playing on Dang Jesun's lap, either didn't recognize him or hid shyly behind her grandfather.
"···."
Dang Mujin contemplated his karma. Leaving at three, back after a year—she'd forgotten his face, understandably.
Before resuming talk, a commotion erupted nearby.
"Waaah—"
Dang Mujin glanced left, belatedly spotting three more.
Two one-year-olds clutched a low table, standing and bawling. Jang Il-nam reached to steady them from falls.
Jang Il-nam nodded greeting to Dang Mujin, then explained to the kids.
"They grab things and stand fine, but can't sit yet. Set 'em down, they stand and cry; sit 'em again, up they go bawling. Till they learn, it'll be like this."
"You've worked hard."
"Hardship? Best time I've had···."
No empty words. Jang Il-nam's face shone, complexion excellent.
Finally, the two toddlers twitched their knees to sit, released the table, and toppled backward.
Jang Il-nam swiftly caught them. Routine mishap—the kids giggled instead of startling.
Dang Mujin asked Jang Il-nam.
"Where's Elder Samanbul?"
"Brother's been away on important business for months. But he visits monthly, so you'll see him soon."
"I see."
Brief silence.
For a moment, Dang Mujin sensed subtle glances exchanged among everyone but him.
Jang Il-nam nodded, scooped up the pair, and sat center. They wriggled nonstop on his lap.
The central room fell quiet. Only the babbling of the two one-year-olds sounded.
Dang Mujin's father, Dang Jesun, spoke gravely.
"Mujin."
"Yes."
"Do you remember your daughters' names?"
A tad hurtful to Dang Mujin. What father forgets his girls' names?
"How could I? Dang Yeong, Dang Iryeong, Dang Haewon."
Eldest Dang Yeong turned four this year.
Mok Wan-a's Dang Iryeong and Dan Seolyeong's Dang Haewon were just one.
Iryeong born a touch before Haewon, but nearly simultaneous.
"Mujin."
Dang Jesun spoke, tension thickening the air.
Dang Mujin, oblivious to the cause.
"Yes."
"Guess. Of the two, which is Iryeong and which Haewon?"
Dang Mujin's eyes went to the squirming toddlers on Jang Il-nam's lap.
Same gender, similar build.
No further clues.
Pure fifty-fifty odds.
Fifty-fifty chance of doom.
Dang Mujin's palms grew slick with sweat.