Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: People on the Precipice
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Traitors. Rebels who plotted insurrection.
Just those two words were enough to tighten his chest.
Getting entangled with people plotting treason was no different from throwing one's life onto a gambling table. Success might earn merit and reward, but failure meant utter ruin.
No, could it even be called mere ruin? Entire families and even villages could vanish without a trace—and that wasn't uncommon.
There were more than a few who couldn't enter government service simply because they hailed from regions where rebellions had erupted decades or centuries ago. Taxes in those rebel lands were far heavier than elsewhere. Officials turned a blind eye even as people starved to death in droves.
One could easily imagine the steep price those who plotted treason paid.
That was why Dang Mujin hesitated, unable to answer rashly.
The Old Man Three Swords didn't press him. If anything, they seemed surprised he hadn't refused outright.
Namgung Myeong poked Dang Mujin and whispered.
"If it's too much, just turn it down. I'll invent the Mountain Goat Step."
Dang Mujin nearly snapped back not to talk nonsense but held his tongue.
Namgung Myeong's words meant he wouldn't blame Dang Mujin even if they refused and remained trapped on the cliffside.
". . .Hmm."
Dang Mujin's deliberation dragged on. It must have been at least the time it took to eat a leisurely meal.
The Old Man Three Swords waited for his response before retreating to the top of the cliff, murmuring among themselves. He was curious what they were saying, but their voices were too soft to make out.
A moment later, they lowered a rope down the cliff.
Since he hadn't accepted the proposal, Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong stared up in bewilderment.
The round-faced one among the Old Man Three Swords peeked over the edge.
"Just come on up. Forget about the medicine."
"Pardon?"
"Just like the first offer— we'll pull you up for a small fee."
". . .But didn't you say there were sick people?"
"It's fine. We don't want to ruin young fellows' lives with unreasonable demands. Pretend you never heard the second proposal."
That was for the best. Still, Dang Mujin found the situation odd and hesitantly asked.
"Then what about the patients?"
"Don't worry about it. Someone who can heal them will come soon enough."
"In that case, that's a relief."
Namgung Myeong cast off his burdens and gripped the rope tightly.
The Old Man Three Swords pulled him up without any tricks. The rope came down again.
But unlike the carefree Namgung Myeong, Dang Mujin sensed something fishy.
Would they drop a request to treat traitors and back off so easily?
No. If an outsider discovered traitors' existence, extermination should follow as a matter of course.
Moreover, why had Haryeong asked him to heal the traitors? Did she think it was fine if he got caught up in treason while treating them and died?
That couldn't be. Haryeong knew his medicine surpassed ordinary physicians'. She even understood that his death would set Central Plains medicine back several steps.
Those two questions gnawed at him, but something even more pressing demanded answers. A mystery he had to unravel.
The rope swayed gently before him. The Old Man Three Swords and Namgung Myeong peered down from the cliff top.
"What's on your mind? Hurry up and climb."
Dang Mujin didn't grab the rope. Instead, he asked the Old Man Three Swords.
"That person who'll come soon— what's their name?"
The round-faced man smirked.
"No need to worry. A physician far more skilled than you."
". . .Could it be the Eccentric Physician Yi Chung?"
The man didn't reply, merely twitching his eyebrow. Silence was sometimes affirmation.
Only then did Dang Mujin seize the rope.
"I'll treat them. Take me to the patients."
The Eccentric Physician who would never return to Mount Nogun.
The people waiting for their elder.
'What would Elder have done?'
The answer was simple. He'd treat them without a second thought.
Haryeong's request no longer mattered.
In the vast Central Plains, if there was one physician who had to seek them out, it could only be Dang Mujin.
Of course, Dang Mujin couldn't feign perfect detachment.
". . .But don't spread word that I came."
The Old Man Three Swords chuckled as if amused by his reaction.
*
The Old Man Three Swords briefly introduced themselves. The plump, round-faced one was Ladybug. The tall, skinny one was Praying Mantis. The short, hairy, sturdy one was Mountain Boar.
Ladybug, Praying Mantis, and Mountain Boar. No one would mistake those for real names. Nicknames drawn from their looks, no doubt.
That suited Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong just fine. Easy to remember.
The Old Man Three Swords led them along precarious paths.
Even on crumbling ledges that seemed ready to collapse, their steps were light and fearless.
They even naturally glanced back while traversing the treacherous trails. How many years had they walked these paths?
". . .So, they're not the kind of traitors you imagine."
"Understood."
The traitors Ladybug described differed slightly from what Dang Mujin had pictured.
They weren't "those plotting rebellion," but "those imprisoned on Mount Nogun for the crime of having rebelled."
"You've survived admirably."
"We're not the ones who actually staged the treason. The plotters themselves and their closest kin were all executed. The people on Mount Nogun are distant relatives so far removed you can't count the villages between, folks from the same hamlet or neighboring ones. . . that sort."
"Some commit crimes and live to a peaceful old age, while others pay the price without guilt. A cruel world."
Namgung Myeong trailed off, pitying their plight.
Ladybug gave a melancholy smile.
"No. The real cruelty is they never even lived in the same village as the true traitors."
". . .Pardon?"
"The people in the village we're heading to aren't those exiled to Mount Nogun— they're the descendants of the exiles."
"Descendants? How long ago was this treason for that to be the case?"
"I wouldn't know. And even they don't know precisely."
Come to think of it, Dang Mujin hadn't heard tales of recent treason or rebellion. He didn't catch every whisper from across the Central Plains, but still.
Not knowing when it happened implied one thing.
It was so long ago that no one alive remembered clearly.
"If even the date is forgotten, it must predate the current dynasty's founding, right?"
"Probably."
Dang Mujin had just been feeling sorry for these people confined to Mount Nogun. He asked Ladybug.
"Then since it's not rebellion against the current imperial house, couldn't they be pardoned?"
Ladybug shook his head.
"Pardoned? No. They're examples. Stark warnings that rebellion won't be forgiven even if the heavens change hands. Or maybe not even examples anymore. Perhaps the court has simply forgotten they exist. I've never heard of imperial envoys visiting, so odds are they've been erased from memory."
Dang Mujin finally understood.
He'd heard stories of people banished or vanished for rebellion, but never of exiles returning.
No one knew what became of them. No one cared.
And now, Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong approached the reality behind those tales. Generational punishment.
A tragic story. Yet at the same time, Dang Mujin felt a small relief. If they'd been utterly forgotten, treating them wouldn't bring reprisal.
Namgung Myeong asked Ladybug.
"If forgotten, couldn't we petition for amnesty?"
"Petition how?"
"There must be officials nearby. I heard there's a county magistrate governing this area."
Ladybug burst into laughter as if it'd heard a fine joke.
"If you were the magistrate, would you relay a plea to pardon traitors to the emperor?"
". . ."
It offered no gain, only risk.
Even if not treason against the current dynasty, no official would step forward for traitors' descendants.
"Then how about quietly asking others? There's Nakseong Village at Mount Nogun's entrance. I even have a slight acquaintance with the village head."
Praying Mantis cut in sharply to Namgung Myeong's question.
"Nakseong Village? The one at Mount Nogun's gateway?"
"Yes."
"Ever seen them work?"
Who in the world lived without labor?
Yet Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong had never witnessed honest toil in that village. Looking back, it was suspicious.
". . .No."
"Then how do you suppose that village thrives?"
Namgung Myeong rolled his eyes in confusion, and Dang Mujin asked Praying Mantis.
"Is Nakseong Village's prosperity tied to the people living inside Mount Nogun?"
"Exactly. They exploit the fact that Mount Nogun's folk can't leave, buying herbs dirt cheap and selling them outside. Leeches, the lot."
Ladybug chimed in.
"They treat Mount Nogun's residents like livestock. Like keeping chickens penned for eggs, they keep Mount Nogun's people confined for their herbs."
Dang Mujin cried out as if unable to believe it.
"We must tell the county magistrate at once!"
"Half the coin Nakseong Village rakes in lines the magistrate's pockets. What good would telling do?"
As Ladybug replied, Praying Mantis continued.
"The magistrate would sooner report anything to cram people back into Nakseong Village if Mount Nogun folk escaped. 'Traitors fleeing, lest innocents be tainted'. . .' That sort of tale would suffice. Nakseong Village and the magistrate are in cahoots."
No allies, only watchers. A suffocating bind.
Dang Mujin asked Ladybug.
"Then must Mount Nogun's people live imprisoned forever, without hope?"
"Hope?"
Ladybug cocked his head.
"It's not entirely hopeless. Though whether anyone would call a path everyone's abandoned 'hope' is another matter."
*
Their trek halted midway up a peak, on the flattest spot available. Now the village of Mount Nogun's dwellers came into view.
"Welcome to Nogun Village."
Nogun Village folk lived in ramshackle huts. Roughly two hundred souls, perhaps.
Lacking space, homes weren't clustered but scattered like spilled rice grains, haphazardly strewn about.
Some hugged cliffs so closely they looked perilously unstable at a glance.
Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong followed the Old Man Three Swords into Nogun Village.
Every resident was gaunt, as if starved for at least ten days. Their clothes were filthy rags, their faces devoid of spirit.
". . .Of all the villages I've seen, this is the most wretched and impoverished."
"If Mount Nogun were livable, they wouldn't have dumped a horde of traitors here."
At least the children's eyes sparkled. Some stared wide-eyed, curious about the strangers; others fled to parents, frightened by outsiders.
Yet none feared the Old Man Three Swords. Bandits mingling freely with villagers. An odd sight.
The Old Man Three Swords led Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong into a small hut.
"Hungry?"
They'd nibbled herbs along the way, but that scarcely filled the belly.
Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong nodded, and Ladybug stepped out, returning with a handful of coarsely ground grain flour.
He mixed it with water into dough, lit a small hearth, and baked it flat. No particular flavor. But hunger was the best sauce, so they ate readily.
While Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong filled their stomachs, Praying Mantis and Mountain Boar took the loot from the seven bandits outside.
A few villagers approached timidly, and Praying Mantis and Mountain Boar distributed the goods. They'd plundered the bandits intending to share from the start.
Dang Mujin asked Ladybug.
"By the way, elders, why do you linger on Mount Nogun? From your words, it seems you're not confined here like the villagers."
Instead of answering, Ladybug grinned and rose.
"Stories later. Patients first, no?"
Turning, Dang Mujin saw people lined up at the hut's entrance.
No one in Nogun Village looked healthy, but these newcomers appeared gravely ill. Even Dang Mujin, proud of his experience, let out a low groan.
Yet he showed no sign. Patients wouldn't trust a hesitant physician.
Dang Mujin spoke with feigned confidence.
"Right, then. What's troubling you?"
No, perhaps it was genuine confidence. No physician in the world could cure what Dang Mujin couldn't.