Chapter 99
Chapter 99
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: People on the Cliff's Edge
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The village's food situation had improved considerably, but in terms of the fundamentals, people's lives hadn't changed at all.
They moved around a bit more instead of just lying there blankly, but no one moved with any clear purpose.
Every now and then, when it was their turn, they'd pull a cart, and otherwise they'd just wander around looking for food. They seemed like people simply trying to stay alive.
Deep down, Dang Mujin didn't like seeing them like that.
A physician's heart is a strange thing—they can't be fully satisfied just seeing people's illnesses cured.
Physicians want to see people not only shake off their sicknesses and get up, but live lives far better than before. Dang Mujin was no exception, so he hoped the villagers could live more satisfyingly than this.
But at the same time, it wasn't something Dang Mujin could force.
'Not everyone lives with goals. Things might change with time.'
Dang Mujin reflected on why he had come to Nokgun Mountain in the first place.
He had only come at Haryeong's request to treat the villagers' conditions. There was no reason for him to care about how they lived, or to feel any greater sense of duty.
On the contrary, hadn't he stuck around after checking their conditions and done several more things? Haryeong would surely be satisfied with this much.
Lately, Dang Mujin had started thinking it was about time to leave Nokgun Mountain.
However, he couldn't leave the village because of one patient. An elderly woman with snow-white hair—Granny Ju.
"Give it to meee!"
"Elder, calm down!"
Whenever the village got noisy, it was for one of two reasons. Either the kids had gotten into a fight while playing, or Granny Ju was causing a ruckus.
Dang Mujin glanced out the window of his hut. Sure enough, the expected scene unfolded. Granny Ju was throwing a fit to grab even a handful more food.
Granny Ju was prickly in many ways. Unlike the others, who were hungry and unwell but still mentally sound, she had dementia and a clouded mind.
And like the demented often are, she had an intense obsession with food. No, far worse than most. Sometimes she seemed less like a person and more like a beast.
It was the same now. Even as people said they'd give her more, she just let out a mindless shriek.
"Give it to meee!"
Even living alone in her small hut, Granny Ju was always desperate to hoard food for two or three people.
If the people of Nokgun Village weren't kind-hearted enough to consider others even in tough times, there would have been serious trouble multiple times over.
In the end, only after securing meat portions for at least three people did Granny Ju head back to her hut satisfied. Dang Mujin clicked his tongue inwardly at the sight.
A moment later, Granny Ju came out of her hut again and headed somewhere. Off to wander Nokgun Mountain in search of fruits without poison.
Her persistence and greed were so intense that Dang Mujin sometimes thought it fortunate she had dementia.
If she understood how to mix the fruits to suppress their toxicity, she would have hoarded every fruit growing nearby.
Of course, like the demented often do, Granny Ju occasionally regained her senses.
But unlike others who would regain clarity, realize what they'd done, and berate themselves, Granny Ju grew even fiercer.
With clear eyes and a face full of rage, she'd clamp her mouth shut and prowl around the village outskirts.
But what troubled Dang Mujin most wasn't her dementia. No physician in the world could cure dementia that severe.
The problem was that, despite hoarding food like that, Granny Ju was skin and bones.
Her frame suggested she hadn't always been so slight, but now her wrists and limbs were gaunt, her eye sockets sunken like a skull.
It was odd to chalk it up to just a constitution that wouldn't gain weight. The others had mostly recovered from blood deficiency symptoms, yet Granny Ju's showed no sign of improvement.
"Elder. Are you really eating your meals properly?"
"What, you trying to steal my food too?"
"...That's not it."
Dang Mujin suspected someone else was eating the food she hoarded, so whenever he passed her house, he'd peek inside. Sure enough, no one else was there.
He wanted to leave Nokgun Mountain, but with just one last step remaining, he couldn't bring himself to go.
*
One day, as he fretted over not being able to leave with peace of mind.
The morning was muggy, the flying insects unusually quiet, when dark clouds gathered from the southern sky.
"It's gonna rain!"
People hurriedly gathered the things they'd left out front and rushed indoors, and Dang Mujin returned to his hut.
There lay Namgung Myeong, sprawled on the floor asleep.
Lately, Namgung Myeong vanished every night, bringing back sacks of rice from unknown sources.
Judging by his not asking for the money Dang Mujin had, he'd probably stolen them from Nakseong Village. It was prosperous enough that a few missing sacks wouldn't hurt.
No one to talk to, only the sound of rain.
Dang Mujin left the hut door half-open and silently watched the falling raindrops. Memories of his time in Zhongqing surfaced, along with Hong Geolgae's face. His mind filled with all sorts of random thoughts.
He thought the rain would stop soon, but the drops only grew thicker.
'Good thing the village is on high ground.'
Just as it felt less like raining and more like pouring, Dang Mujin spotted someone outside.
Since learning martial arts, his eyesight had sharpened far beyond a normal person's. Squinting, he peered through the wind and rain to see who it was. Small stature, graying hair—it looked like Granny Ju. She clutched a fairly large jar.
'Out scavenging for food even in this weather?'
What consistency.
Dang Mujin thought that and stayed put, but soon let out a light sigh and stepped outside.
He might not like Granny Ju, but wandering alone in such heavy rain could be dangerous.
"Elder! It's dangerous to wander in the rain!"
His voice was swallowed by the downpour, not reaching her.
Dang Mujin approached Granny Ju. Despite hugging what looked like a heavy jar, she moved with far more vigor and strength than usual.
'Doesn't look like she'll trip and hurt herself.'
Apart from her gait, her actions differed from normal. Edible fruits hung nearby, yet she didn't even glance at them, heading somewhere specific.
Her destination even seemed clear. She left the peak where villagers stayed and headed to the adjacent one.
'Where's she going?'
Had she hidden some treasure?
Curiosity overriding worry, Dang Mujin followed.
Granny Ju walked a good while before suddenly stopping.
It was an unremarkable spot. The middle of a narrow, precarious mountain path.
Granny Ju opened the jar in her arms and tossed its contents over the cliff.
Dang Mujin watched closely to see what she threw.
It was food. Jerky dried with rock salt, some grains and baked flatbreads, and fruits in pretty good condition.
Nokgun Village's food situation had improved, but not to the point of discarding food like that.
As Dang Mujin moved to stop her, a hand from behind grabbed his arm. Turning, he saw Pyo Choong's face.
"...You startled me. When did you get here?"
"I've been following from the start. You must not have noticed because of the rain."
"What brings you here?"
"Worried something might happen to Granny Ju."
Granny Ju clutched the jar again and resumed walking.
No idea why, but since Pyo Choong wasn't stopping her, it seemed purposeful.
Dang Mujin glanced at Pyo Choong and followed Granny Ju. Pyo Choong walked beside him.
Granny Ju climbed another peak and discarded the remaining food.
Twice on the paths, and finally once near the cliff where Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong had been stranded.
Once the jar was empty, Granny Ju sat blankly in place, letting the rain soak her. Her mind seemed clouded, yet also clear.
It wasn't cold, but too long in the rain could cause problems.
As Dang Mujin stepped forward, Pyo Choong approached and took her hand.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
Pyo Choong's voice was brighter than it should have fit. His expression, though, was deeply troubled.
Granny Ju looked at him with cloudy eyes.
"Uh?"
"Mom's not coming back, so Seok and Hwan aren't eating, waiting for you."
"Who's that. Deok?"
"I'm Deok, who else?"
"Yeah, right... Son, nothing happened?"
"What would happen. Must've had another weird dream. Hop on quick."
Pyo Choong crouched, showing his back to Granny Ju. She hesitated a moment, then climbed on.
Granny Ju's face lit up brighter than ever. The soft, kindly expression typical of elderly folk her age. Just the change in expression made her seem like a different person.
Riding on Pyo Choong's back, Granny Ju chattered on about this and that, and Pyo Choong earnestly responded and played along. Dang Mujin silently followed the odd pair.
When Pyo Choong finally brought Granny Ju home, she wore a puzzled look.
"Deok. Where'd Seok and Hwan go?"
"They got tired of waiting and went out to play for a bit. They'll be back soon."
Pyo Choong wiped the moisture from her body, laid her on the bedding in the corner, and covered her with soft fur.
Granny Ju anxiously looked around but soon nodded off and fell asleep. Walking mountain paths in the rain is exhausting.
As Pyo Choong emerged with a dark expression, Dang Mujin asked.
"Was Granny Ju your mother?"
"No. All of Granny Ju's children are dead. The places where she tossed the food earlier—that's where her three sons died."
"They died on the paths?"
"To be precise, they died below the paths. They fell while building them. The food Granny Ju scattered was death offerings for her sons."
Dang Mujin realized anew. The paths crisscrossing Nokgun Mountain weren't made on their own.
Whether carved into cliff faces or built with pillars driven into walls for footholds, someone had risked their lives scaling sheer drops to forge those routes.
He just hadn't known it was the people of Nokgun Village who'd done it.
Actually, on second thought, of course it was. Who else in this remote Nokgun Mountain would build paths?
A sudden thought struck him.
"Earlier, she scattered offerings on the cliff too, didn't she?"
"That's where Granny Ju's eldest son died."
"No path there—how did he...?"
"That's..."
Pyo Choong hesitated, then added.
"Come with me. There's something you need to see before I explain."
Pyo Choong led Dang Mujin to a protruding peak behind the village. A small cave he'd never noticed before was there.
Pyo Choong lit the damp torch, and acrid smoke filled the air as the surroundings brightened.
With it, numerous spirit tablets came into view. All made of chestnut wood, each a little over half a handspan tall.
"These—are these ancestral tablets?"
"Yes."
Nokgun Village had just over two hundred people. But a quick glance showed over a thousand tablets in the cave—easily two or three thousand.
Arranged in tiers with spaces between, likely one set per family.
Dang Mujin examined a nearby one.
[Yang Deokjo. Age at death: 41. Fell to death from path.]
[Seon Jaryang. Age at death: 13. Died of illness.]
[Chu Yeohye. Age at death: 19. Starved to death.]
The tablets bore only the person's name, age at death, and cause, plainly stated. Over half the men died falling from paths, followed by illness and starvation. Very few reached old age.
Pyo Choong picked up one tablet and handed it to Dang Mujin.
"This is Granny Ju's eldest son's tablet."
Dang Mujin looked. The cause of death was unusual.
[Seo Songdeok. Age at death: 29. Died by a warrior's blade.]
Pyo Choong murmured lowly.
"That warrior was me. I killed Granny Ju's eldest son.