YS 65
Side Story: Wild Ginseng Boy and Mr. Kim (Part 2)
The man, who had suddenly changed, locked me away in a dark shed where not a single speck of light could enter. He would peer in at me several times a day. Whenever he found that the bowl of healing water had not been filled, he would scream and rage terrifyingly. Sometimes he would put me in a sack and hang me upside down, or lock me inside a narrow rice chest.
Trapped in the shed, I spent every single day knocking on the door and sobbing.
I pleaded through tears to be let out, to be sent back, but all that returned to me was severe beatings. What on earth could have turned such a kind and gentle man into that? I simply could not understand.
Yes, humans were truly terrifying beings.
Only then did I recall the Mountain God’s words—that the joys and sorrows of humans bring about future disasters, and thus one must never become entangled with them. I finally came to realize the true meaning of that stern warning.
The man began to make an enormous amount of money by selling herbal medicine made from my healing water. As word of the medicine’s efficacy, which was practically a panacea, spread, people flocked from all eight provinces like a swarm of ants, and before long, the man was sitting on a cushion of gold. Day by day, his storehouse overflowed, his humble thatched cottage became a grand tiled-roof house, and he came to have dozens of servants under his command.
It was during those days of being forcibly squeezed for healing water, on a day when the cold winter arrived.
At that time, I was wasting away day by day. A Wild Ginseng Boy must see the sunlight every day and consume fresh dew to maintain their strength, but living trapped in a dark shed, the days I spent languishing in illness increased. I could feel it. My energy was depleting with each passing day.
I kept this fact a secret from the man.
As time went by, the amount of healing water I produced decreased, and even when I did produce it, the efficacy was not what it used to be. Not knowing the reason, the man [Read on Read BL Novels]scolded me and beat me, but nothing changed. Eventually, I lost even the strength to cry; I gave up on everything and simply waited for my life to end within the shed.
After all, this was a punishment from heaven for not listening to the Mountain God.
“Is the healing water finally running dry?”
He looked down at me, lying blankly in the shed, and clicked his tongue.
“What a useless thing!”
Then, with a loud thud, the door closed, and darkness returned.
I didn’t know how much time had passed since that day. I lay on the filthy floor, curled up, staring blankly into the darkness. I had nothing else to do.
However, around that time, I began to hear the man’s voice conversing with someone outside.
“I came after hearing rumors that any wound heals if one takes the medicine you make. Is that true?”
“It is.”
Curious about what was happening outside, I pressed my eye against a small crack in the door. I saw a strange guest wearing a worn-out bamboo hat and a tattered robe. He seemed to have come after hearing the rumors of the medicine.
“Is that so? I’d like to get some of that medicine. How much will you sell it for?”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve run out of medicine recently, so I cannot sell any. Please leave.”
“I’ll pay whatever you want. So please, give me some medicine. I beg you.”
“I told you, even if I wanted to sell it, I’m out of medicine.”
The man seemed to sigh and shake his head brusquely, and then—
“You there! What are you doing? Get this man out of here!”
It was at that moment, just as he waved his hand away with a cold attitude.
The strange guest, who seemed about to be kicked out, adjusted his bamboo hat once, and then, in the blink of an eye, wrapped his arm around the man’s neck. Then, he pulled out a dagger and aimed it at the man’s throat. I was so shocked that I instinctively covered my mouth. The razor-sharp blade looked as if it would pierce his throat at any second.
The man was equally terrified, letting out a startled scream.
“Hieeeek! W-w-what do you think you’re doing!”
At that moment, startled servants rushed in with weapons and surrounded the strange guest in a circle. Even so, the strange guest didn’t even blink; he tightened his grip on the man and spoke in a grim voice.
“If you don’t want your head to leave your shoulders, you’d unauthorized [unauthorized copy]copybetter hand over the medicine quietly.”
“I-I-I’m telling the truth! Even if I wanted to sell it, I’m out of medicine!”
The strange guest didn’t seem to believe him. Without withdrawing the knife, he spoke.
“Then at least tell me how to make the medicine.”
“Th… that is…”
“I can hear your gears turning. Decide quickly. As you can see, I lack patience.”
After the man whispered something while sobbing, the strange guest began to drag the man along, walking briskly toward my location. Before long, the closed door swung wide open, and the man in the bamboo hat appeared before my eyes. He stood tall, looking down at me. Because he stood with the sun behind him, he was obscured by the backlight, and I couldn’t see his features. I only got the impression that he looked quite young.
“What. It’s just a child.”
That was our first meeting.
“…”
Seeing my filthy, grimy appearance, my hair disheveled and my body shriveled and thin, he seemed speechless for a moment. Then, after a long while, he nodded and spoke.
“So, what you’re saying is something like this. If you squeeze this child, a miraculous healing water [stolen content]comes out, but at some point, the water stopped flowing, so you can’t sell the medicine…?”
“Y-y-yes, that is correct.”
The strange guest suddenly burst into laughter.
“What, that was all? And here I thought…”
Neither I nor the man understood why he was laughing.
“Hey. You there.”
He spoke to me as I trembled like an aspen leaf.
“From now on, turn around, cover your ears, and count from one to ten.”
“…”
“Can you do that?”
“…”
To suddenly turn around and count… I was so unfamiliar and terrified by the situation that I couldn’t [Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels" style="display:none;" aria-label="Read on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL stolen contentNovelsmove a finger, remaining frozen and shaking. Then, he spoke in a flat voice.
“It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
At those words, after hesitating for a moment, I raised my hands to cover my ears and squeezed my eyes shut.
Though my ears were covered, I thought I could faintly hear shouting and screaming. Was a fight breaking out? Fear surged over me, but the only thing I could do was count.
Then, everything became silent. When I regained my senses in a deathly stillness, the surroundings were drenched in blood. People, including the man, were sprawled here and there, bleeding.
The strange guest stood blankly in the middle of the yard, holding the blood-stained dagger in his hand.
“…”
At the gruesome sight, my legs gave out, and I collapsed right where I was.
It was because I was so terrified.
“Ah, I see. You…”
Then, a voice chilled with frost flowed from beneath the bamboo hat.
“You’re that child ginseng I’ve only heard about?”
Overwhelmed by his aura, I flinched and recoiled.
Because he was covered by the bamboo hat, I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel him looking at me. A very dangerous scent emanated from him. It was the scent of a sinister assassin. That aura alone was enough to make my legs shake and my knees tremble.
“You probably lived in the mountains originally; how did you end up coming down here?”
Since I didn’t answer and only shivered, he soon shook his head with a disinterested voice.
“No, forget it. Why do I care?”
As he spoke, he flicked the blood off the dagger.
“Anyway, I don’t know what story led to you being captured, but let me give you one piece of advice…”
After scanning the blood-soaked yard once, he tilted his head and said,
“See this? Humans are all rotten to the core.”
“…”
“So don’t wander around for nothing and go back to your home.”
“…”
“Don’t trust anyone, and stay as far away from humans as possible.”
“…”
“I’m leaving then.”
Leaving those words behind, he turned and began to walk away. After a few steps, he stopped and seemed to think for a moment. Then, he didn’t he suddenly stride back toward me?
“Hey.”
He lifted the hem of his jacket and spoke.
“Since I saved you, can you treat this?”
The moment he showed me his side, I was shocked. There was a horrific wound on his side. It looked like a deep stab wound from a blade; the blood had clotted, so the bleeding had stopped, but the wound was in a bizarre state, not healing at all. A foul stench emanated from it, as if maggots had laid eggs in the wound, and there were signs of suppuration and bursting.
I instinctively looked up and stared at his face.
Seeing him up close, the face hidden by the bamboo hat finally became visible.
He was a youth with a boyish face, appearing to be around twenty. His hair was short, as if cut roughly with a knife, and he wore no topknot. His pupils were dead and black. Within those eyes, where no vitality could be felt, I read a deeply sunken sadness, pain, and a piercing sense of emptiness.
What on earth was the story behind this person?
For an ordinary person, it was a wound that would have undoubtedly taken their life. Yet, he was perfectly alive. It must have been a pain nearly impossible to endure, yet he had a calm expression, not even blinking.
“H-how did this…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence and covered my mouth.
Ah, how much must it have hurt?
“My master did it. I don’t know what kind of curse he cast, but the wound won’t heal…”
As he spoke, he looked somewhat gloomy.
After contemplating for a moment, I stood up. I felt that the affected area needed to be cleaned before healing. I hurriedly drew water from the well, wiped the wound, and pulled out the clump of cloth that was stuck viscously to the injury.
Anyone else would have struggled and screamed in pain, but he clenched his teeth and endured the agony with a clear mind. After clearing away the maggots and eggs crawling around the wound and finishing the disinfection, I reached out my hand.
Though my healing power was depleted, he was the benefactor who had helped me, so I desperately wanted to cure him.
Heal… please heal…
Perhaps my earnest heart reached him, as a faint glow of light barely poured from my palm. When the wound closed in an instant before his eyes, the youth wore a surprised expression.
“It’s done!”
I was so happy that I hopped up and down. Seeing me rejoice, the youth looked at me with a mysterious gaze. He reached out as if to pat my head, but then hesitated. His hand lingered in the air for a moment. Then, without patting my head, he lowered his hand and spoke.
“Thank you.”
At those words, I paused and looked into the youth’s eyes.
“…”
They were infinitely deep and honest eyes.
“T-this sort of thing… is nothing!”
“Is that so? Anyway, I’m leaving now.”
“E-excuse me, p-please wait a moment!”
I instinctively grabbed the sleeve of the youth’s robe, then, startled, I quickly let go and stepped back. The youth looked back at me, puzzled. I suppressed the tears that were about to fall and spoke with my head bowed.
“Could you please take me back to my home?”
“What?”
“I don’t know where I should go, and I’m afraid I’ll be captured by humans again on the way…”
“Where is your home?”
I fidgeted with my fingers and answered in a tiny, shrinking voice.
“S-Sobaeksan…”
The youth then looked into the distance, as if gauging the distance.
“You came from far away.”
Muttering softly to himself, the youth looked at me and spoke.
“Fine. Let’s go, I’ll take you. Consider it payment for the healing.”
“I-i-is that really true?”
“Yeah. We should be able to get there in about a week.”
And so, a week-long journey with the terrifying youth began!
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