He ran like a child rushing to meet a friend.
When was the last time he had run with such an excited heart?
After running for some time, he found them waiting at a roadside inn with tables and chairs set up outside.
“Over here, over here!”
As if he had been certain Bisain would come, Geom Mugeuk waved and welcomed him.
“You haven’t had your hangover soup yet, have you? Owner, another bowl here, please.”
Bisain sat down.
Han Seol, sitting across from him, slightly bowed her head to Bisain. It was an apology for having gone along with Geom Mugeuk’s proposal without telling him beforehand. She had fallen for the argument that this was the only way Bisain could join the outing too, but sorry was still sorry.
Bisain smiled faintly and nodded as if to say it was fine. He was rather grateful she had given in. Thanks to that, he was able to go on a trip together like this.
“I came without even sending word to the Alliance Lord.”
Bisain had a comrade named Jin Hagun.
“So did I,” Jin Hagun said.
Geom Mugeuk spoke to the two of them.
“You know it’s more exciting and fun to play when you’re bracing for a scolding. But Illang let you go willingly?”
“I found it strange too.”
He had seemed like he would jump up and adamantly refuse, but Illang gave his permission.
Had he judged that the young alliance lord’s fate, so entangled with Geom Mugeuk’s, was impossible to prevent?
“Looks like you’ve prepared to get scolded together with me.”
At Bisain’s words, Jin Hagun smiled faintly. Listening to talk of the Sado Sipsamrang, he was reminded of his subordinates in the Demon Extermination Corps. He wondered if they were all enjoying their leave. No, forget it!
Just then, the tavern keeper brought Bisain a steaming bowl of soup.
“The food here is good. Eat slowly.”
It was delicious, just as Geom Mugeuk had said. Spicy and refreshing, it settled his stomach.
“So where are we going?”
Geom Mugeuk told Bisain about the trip.
“The principle of this journey is to follow where our feet take us.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever lived like that.”
The same was true for Jin Hagun.
“Same here.”
Geom Mugeuk first asked the two young alliance lords who were pushing their luck the most on this trip.
“Is there anywhere you particularly want to go?”
Bisain and Jin Hagun shook their heads. They might think of somewhere along the way, but nothing came to mind right now.
“Then shall we go where my steps lead first?”
Everyone nodded. They could tell that Geom Mugeuk had a destination in mind.
“Do you happen to like bugs?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Jin Hagun asked with a puzzled look.
“Who in the world likes bugs?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke with an inscrutable smile.
“You’ll come to like them this time.”
***
At the sound of insects in the distance, Chung-ui raised her head.
“The Mingyinchong have been singing since morning. It seems welcome guests will arrive today.”
Pyo Gigwang, who had been warming up with a sword in the courtyard, looked toward the main gate and spoke.
“Bring a whole bundle of money!”
“You brat, why is a young one like you going on about money?”
“Who do you think I learned it from? And young? I’m practically an old man now.”
“That’s a habit of flattery you picked up for your old master.”
Pyo Gigwang set down his sword and brought Chung-ui some water.
“Since you’re up, please have a glass of water first.”
“My throat isn’t dry.”
“Even if you don’t feel it, your body wants it.”
Pyo Gigwang made her drink it by force. Then he kneaded Chung-ui’s shoulders. This was the beginning of the daily routine.
“Oh, that feels good.”
“Drinking a glass of lukewarm water right after waking up is so good for your health.”
“You rascal, if you care so much about health, why did you ruin your own body like that?”
“My body was injured doing great deeds.”
Pyo Gigwang was a person Geom Mugeuk had met while fighting the Fighting King in the Sado Alliance. After being used by the schemers behind the scenes, he had been taken to Chung-ui by Geom Mumeuk and accepted as her disciple.
Since then, Pyo Gigwang had lived like a newborn, serving Chung-ui as his master.
“I told you to train with me.”
Chung-ui was a master of martial arts. Her medical skills were as outstanding as those of a demonic physician or divine physician not only because of her deep knowledge of poison bugs, but also because she herself was a peak-level expert who understood the body of a martial artist better than anyone.
“You do more. I’m old, so everything is a bother. My shoulders are good now.”
“Just a little more.”
Pyo Gigwang kneaded her shoulders more.
“But aren’t you going to maintain the formation anymore?”
Normally, the Geungrakwon was surrounded by a formation. One had to give the password to the boy at the village entrance and reveal who had sent them in order to enter.
But Chung-ui had removed that formation. She said it was no longer needed since she had a dependable disciple, but Pyo Gigwang knew his master’s heart.
He knew that his master, feeling time was running out as she aged, was saving even the money to maintain the formation so she could raise and teach even one more child.
“What? Are you scared because there’s no formation?”
“I am. The world is a dangerous place these days.”
“Is that something a vicious man who was once the Black Dragon Division Leader should say?”
After accepting Pyo Gigwang as her disciple, Chung-ui had completely shaken off the loneliness and depression that had often tormented her. Because life with this disciple was quite enjoyable.
Only after kneading a while longer did Pyo Gigwang return to the courtyard and swing his sword again.
Pyo Gigwang, who had once risen to the position of Black Dragon Division Leader in the Sado Alliance, had been severely injured during an operation and rendered unable to use martial arts.
But now, Pyo Gigwang was swinging his sword using internal energy.
He had given up on martial arts and devoted himself solely to serving Chung-ui, but she had healed him with a treatment method using poison bugs.
Though not to his prime, he had now recovered considerably.
But an even greater fortune for him was this.
“Your waist is sagging. Bend your knees more.”
Not only had Chung-ui treated him, but she had also passed on her own martial arts. The martial arts she had mastered were stronger than his. She had acknowledged Pyo Gigwang as her true disciple.
“Breathe deeper. Hold your breath, yes.”
While instructing Pyo Gigwang like that, Chung-ui spoke as if she had just remembered something.
“Gigwang.”
“Yes, Master.”
“If I die, release all the bugs here, and you go far away and live your own life. Don’t suffer trying to carry on my work for no reason. Just do what you want and live.”
The gaze of Pyo Gigwang swinging his sword deepened. His quick-witted master had read his heart completely.
“Why would taking care of the children be suffering?”
“It is suffering.”
“Do you regret it, then? Spending all the money you earned in your life on caring for orphans? Living a life called the Money Bug?”
Chung-ui raised her head and looked at the sky. Did she regret her life? Not a chance.
“Yes, I regret it.”
“Then in your next life, don’t live like this. Live splendidly. Earn money and buy a big tiled-roof house like a whale’s back. I’ll live like that in my next life too.”
Pyo Gigwang intended to continue her work even if Chung-ui died. That was why he was doing his best to learn her medical arts.
At that moment, the main gate burst open, and two martial artists entered without permission. It was clear they had not come with good intentions.
“It seems the Mingyinchong couldn’t tell who the precious guests were after all.”
Pyo Gigwang seated her in a chair positioned to face the courtyard.
“Please stay right here without moving. I will handle them.”
“I can’t stand it as I get older. My anger is boiling.”
“Don’t blame your age. It’s your temper.”
“You brat!”
Meanwhile, the two martial artists approached them.
The middle-aged man walking in the lead was Cao Tang, the sect leader of the Gongshengmen.
The man standing beside Cao Tang was his right-hand man and the foremost swordsman of the Gongshengmen, Huang Chun.
“Who might you be?”
At Pyo Gigwang’s calm question, Huang Chun stepped forward on behalf of his leader.
“We sent people here a few days ago.”
Pyo Gigwang rebuked him in a low voice.
“Since when have we met that you speak so rudely? Mind your manners.”
Huang Chun scowled.
“What use is age in the martial world? Skill is what matters.”
Then the sect leader, Cao Tang, stepped forward.
“Impertinent.”
At his rebuke, Huang Chun stepped back. It was clearly a perfunctory scolding.
If Cao Tang truly knew manners, his subordinate would not have spoken like that in front of him in the first place.
“I am a man called Cao Tang who leads the Gongshengmen. I should have come personally from the start. My apologies.”
“Welcome, Sect Leader Cao.”
Pyo Gigwang greeted him courteously.
Chung-ui sat in the chair as told, watching the courtyard.
“To what do we owe the honor of your visit?”
“I sent people here a few days ago.”
“I remember. If I recall, I politely conveyed that their proposal was refused.”
The reason Cao Tang had come was that he wanted to buy some land in another region.
Learning that the owner of that land was the master of this Geungrakwon, he had sent several martial artists under his chief manager, telling them to negotiate a price and buy the land.
The chief manager and martial artists returned with their whole bodies swollen red from bug bites. Of course, no deal was made.
Because it was an urgent and important matter, the sect leader had come in person.
“Since this is a meeting with an important person, I should have come from the start. My apologies.”
After apologizing, Cao Tang spoke with a pleasant face.
“I will buy that land at a price better than the market rate.”
Pyo Gigwang refused without even asking the price.
“I must refuse.”
“Deals always fall through because the amount doesn’t match. I’ll pay double the land price.”
He had obtained information that a large sect was planning to relocate near that land. If he could buy that land and sell it to the relocating sect, he would make many times the profit.
“It is not land for sale.”
“Very well. I’ll pay triple. I absolutely cannot go higher.”
“Even if you offered ten times rather than triple, I have no intention of selling.”
These guys? Had they heard the relocation rumors too?
“May I ask the reason?”
“Do you know what building is on that land?”
“I heard there is a place called the Qing’eryuan where orphans are gathered and raised.”
Cao Tang made an expression of disbelief.
“Surely you are not saying you won’t sell because of that?”
Whoever bought the land would undoubtedly tear down that unprofitable place first.
“Ridiculous.”
Cao Tang’s expression, which had been polite until then, turned cold.
“A mere Money Bug.”
Cao Tang revealed his true colors. He had come knowing that the master of the Geungrakwon was a physician called the Money Bug.
“A physician mad for money. Rumors about you are widespread. Are you perhaps selling those orphans at a high price?”
“Are you being this rude knowing our elder is Chung-ui?”
“Yes, I hear you use poison bugs well?”
Cao Tang had something to rely on. He took something from his bosom. What he held was Blood Poison. Not just any Blood Poison, but the highest grade.
Not only that, Huang Chun also took out Blood Poison. The two had come fully determined.
“If you know why only the two of us came, it would be best not to show useless stubbornness.”
It was a blatant threat. A threat that they might be killed if they did not sign the contract.
He took out a contract from his bosom.
“Stamp the contract. Don’t forget that a seal can be stamped even with a severed arm.”
Since he was officially buying it for three times the market rate, he would be able to make excuses later if problems arose. The Money Bug demanded three times the price, so he paid three times the market rate!
“You worms worse than bugs!”
At Pyo Gigwang’s anger, Chung-ui, who had been sitting still until then, spoke in a languid voice.
“You rascal, how dare you compare precious bugs to the likes of them?”
Chung-ui turned her head slightly to look at Cao Tang and Huang Chun and asked.
“You know, don’t you? There are bugs that go crazy for Blood Poison?”
Having said only that, Chung-ui groaned and struggled to her feet.
“Oh dear, my back.”
It was Pyo Gigwang who interpreted her words for the two men who did not understand what she meant.
“It means there are poison bugs that cannot be stopped by something like Blood Poison.”
***
Geom Mugeuk was walking alongside his friends.
“Now, watch closely.”
Geom Mugeuk, walking ahead and explaining, was in high spirits.
“Once you turn that corner, there’ll be a boy sitting on a bench. The next time you come, just say this to him: ‘Boy, go and bring me a bottle of liquor brewed from insects.’
Then the boy will ask who sent you. When he does, answer like this: ‘I came on the recommendation of the dashing and handsome Young Cult Leader Geom.’ Got it?”
When they turned the corner, there really was a bench there.
A boy was sitting on it, reading a book.
“You’ve grown so much.”
The boy, who had shot up in the time they had not seen each other, recognized Geom Mugeuk as well.
“It’s been a long time since you came.”
“Remember the people standing behind me, and if they come next time, guide them properly. They’re hard to forget once you’ve seen them, so you’ll recognize them right away. That scary-looking older brother there is actually kind once you get to know him, so guide him well too. Hey, friends. If not for me, you wouldn’t even be able to get in here.”
Just as Geom Mugeuk was putting on airs for all he was worth—
“You can reach Geungnagwon by going straight down this path.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The elder has removed the formation.”
The five of them passed by Geom Mugeuk as he stood there blankly. The scary-looking older brother said a word as he went by.
“Friend, bring me a bottle of liquor brewed from insects.”
“They said you don’t need the liquor anymore!”
Left alone, Geom Mugeuk gave the boy some pocket money.
“You’re giving me this much?”
“I’m giving it to you because I admire how you’re always reading. Buy lots of books and read them. That will surely become your way to live! Hey, friends, wait for me.”
Geom Mugeuk ran after his friends.
The boy, looking down at the banknote, bowed politely to Geom Mugeuk.
After they had walked for quite some time and Geungnagwon came into view up ahead, Geom Mugeuk introduced Chungui.
“You probably don’t know how remarkable Elder Chungui is. She is a noble person who has devoted her entire life to children. She is kind yet dignified, her medical arts are on the level of a divine physician, and she has learning and refinement besides.
Why do you think this place is called Geungnagwon? It means she is like a fairy banished from paradise. Elder, I’m here.”
Geom Mugeuk and his friends opened the main gate of Geungnagwon wide and stepped inside. They could not say a word at the scene unfolding within.
As it happened, Chungui was in the middle of trying to make a large insect in her hand bite into Jodang’s bare upper body. Perhaps he had already been bitten by other insects, for his entire body was covered in wounds.
Just as Chungui looked over with a delighted expression at Geom Mugeuk’s visit—
Chomp.
When the insect she was holding bit savagely into his body, Jodang screamed.
“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!”
At that scream, Hwang Chun, who had been lying collapsed, came to his senses and crawled toward the entrance, grabbing the leg of the person who had just entered and pleading. Unfortunately, that person happened to be Bisain, but Hwang Chun was in no state to tell whose leg he was holding.
“...Please save me!”
Whether he had been beaten or bitten by insects, Hwang Chun’s face and body were swollen so badly they were nearly unrecognizable.
Seeing Chungui looking their way with a blood-smeared face and smiling brightly, Bisain whispered quietly into Geom Mugeuk’s ear.
“Seems more like she was banished from hell, if you ask me.”