By Zephyria Is this living? (2)
At those words, Seong Mu-yeon scowled.
“Seriously, do you think I’m crazy enough to rob that guy’s room? Forget it! Go right now and get some hot water and a medicine pot.”
“Hey, what’s this beggar saying? Why should I…?”
“Are you sure you want to risk facing something terrible if you don’t bring it right away?”
The employee’s face turned pale. He sensed an irresistible force in the fierce gaze.
Confirming that the employee was hurrying downstairs, Seong Mu-yeon returned to the room.
Baek Ryeo-il’s pupils contracted as he saw him burst through the door.
“Why are you…?”
“You should be grateful I have medicine. Huh?”
He took out a bundle of medicinal herbs from his pocket. It was what Il-gwang had told him to take twice a day without fail.
Coincidentally, it was a medicine used for the same symptoms. It wasn’t very effective for Seong Mu-yeon, but it could be a miracle cure for Baek Ryeo-il, who was suffering from temporary symptoms.
Seong Mu-yeon was very uncomfortable. He knew very well that he was doing something irrational. But he couldn’t ignore someone in need, so if this was a disease, then it was a disease.
“I told you to bring a medicine pot, why are you so late? Annoying!”
Seong Mu-yeon threw the medicine down and stomped around, kicking his feet. Instead of cutting the herbs neatly, he tore them apart roughly.
Soon, when the employee brought the medicine pot, he brewed the medicine. Even while doing so, he grumbled non-stop.
“I’m crazy, I’m crazy. What’s so pretty about that guy that I’m doing this?”
“……”
“Oh, what a fate.”
“……”
Baek Ryeo-il stared at Seong Mu-yeon as if he were looking at a three-legged bird.
Soon, Seong Mu-yeon brought the steaming decoction.
“Drink.”
“……What is this?”
“It’s medicine, medicine!”
Baek Ryeo-il suspiciously examined the medicine closely.
“What, you think I’m going to poison you or something? Come on! After what happened last time, you looked like you were going to chase me to hell, do you think I’m stupid enough to do it twice? Now, open your mouth.”
“……Why should I trust you?”
“Ah, just do it!”
Seong Mu-yeon roughly grabbed and opened his mouth. Then he recklessly shoved the hot decoction in.
“Keuhup!”
“I’m doing this much for you, huh? Have some gratitude, huh? When you’re about to kill me, think about this! ‘Ah, Seong Mu-yeon gave me medicine back then,’ remember that!”
Baek Ryeo-il thrashed around like someone being waterboarded. But after moving a long distance with a poisoned body, and then overexerting himself again, he had no strength left in his body.
“Hey! It’s all going into my nose! Keuheup!”
“Your nostrils are all connected to your throat, so it’s fine.”
“Keok!”
“Swallow it all without spilling. Good. That’s right.”
After feeding Baek Ryeo-il the medicine, he laid him down on the bed. He took off his coat and shoes, wiped away his sweat, and called someone to order a soft porridge that was easy to digest.
Baek Ryeo-il only rolled his eyes and glared at Seong Mu-yeon.
“……What are you up to, Seong Mu-yeon.”
“I’m not up to anything. I just…”
He trailed off.
A person with distorted qi and blood feels both cold and heat at the same time. As the symptoms worsen, they suffer from nausea, dizziness, and a fainting sensation.
Seong Mu-yeon knew very well how painful that was.
That was why. The reason why he couldn’t just leave him there.
Baek Ryeo-il ate a little of the porridge but threw it all up and lay limp.
“……I don’t trust… a guy like you.”
“Whatever.”
With those words, mumbled as if in a daze, Baek Ryeo-il fell asleep as if he had fainted.
After a moment that felt like a war, a quiet silence descended.
“……”
Seong Mu-yeon quietly looked down at the sleeping Baek Ryeo-il’s face. His brow softened as the medicine began to take effect. He looked much younger than when he was awake.
‘How old is Baek Ryeo-il now?’
The Finger Sword Lone Battle begins when Baek Ryeo-il is around forty or fifty. No, that’s just a guess, no one knows his exact age. Because outwardly, he looked like his aging had stopped in his early thirties at best.
What’s so important about age in martial arts? What matters is how well the protagonist beats up the enemies.
He left the inn, leaving behind his uneasy feelings.
Then, a beggar popped out of the alley as if he had been waiting.
“Seong, hyung! Seong, hyung! What’s going on! Are you okay? What did the Hwasan Sect Taoist do to you!”
“……You bastard. It’s all your fault!”
Seong Mu-yeon glared. He was the beggar who had reported Seong Mu-yeon in the back alley earlier.
“Ah, no. What did I do… I didn’t know the person he was looking for was you, hyung. But it doesn’t look like you’re hurt anywhere.”
He mumbled, looking Seong Mu-yeon up and down.
His stomach was churning, but he had to endure it.
They left the main street and moved into the alley.
“How did you earn Master Baek’s hatred? Tsk tsk. Poor guy.”
“Something happened… What did you say your name was?”
“……It’s Hong-gae, Hong-gae! How many times do I have to say it for you to remember!”
“Ah, right. Hong-gae. Do you happen to know how old Baek Ryeo-il is?”
“Well? Why are you curious about that? What’s so important about age? What matters is how strong he is.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
The two nodded.
“Anyway, I’m leaving.”
Seong Mu-yeon headed in a different direction from the beggar’s den. Hong-gae hurriedly followed him.
“Where are you going! We just became friends. Don’t go.”
“Baek Ryeo-il will come after me again! Ugh… The beggar’s den is cozy and nice. Ah, don’t follow me!”
“The world is dangerous these days, it’s dangerous to walk alone, hyung. People keep disappearing these days, it’s a mess? You’re weak and have no strength, hyung.”
Seong Mu-yeon kicked Hong-gae in the butt.
“Ugh!”
As expected, the person who was hurt was himself.
“See?”
“……You, don’t say anything to Baek Ryeo-il. Don’t even mention where I went! Got it?”
“Ah, where are you going!”
Seong Mu-yeon turned around and quickly walked away.
“Hyung!”
The morning sun stung his eyes. He could hear birds chirping outside the window.
Baek Ryeo-il opened his heavy eyes. After blinking for a moment, he remembered what had happened the day before and suddenly got up.
As expected, there was no one in the room except himself.
Only the medicine pot and porridge bowl left alone proved that there was another person in the room.
“……”
Baek Ryeo-il just sat there blankly, staring at the rolling medicine pouch.
What should he call this feeling?
He had never been defeated by anyone in his life. But if he were to be defeated so badly that he couldn’t even protest, would this be how he felt?
It was like being hit hard on the back of the head.
“……”
His condition was much better. No, he had completely recovered.
Why did he carry such medicine around?
Why did he help him?
He would have felt less miserable if he had just punched him and ran away.
Baek Ryeo-il lay back down on the bed.
He hugged the blanket and tried to soothe this unpleasant feeling.
Baek Ryeo-il stayed indoors for a while. He didn’t go anywhere and just hugged the blanket. He didn’t want to drink alcohol, and he didn’t want to return to the headquarters either. He just lazed around like a lazy person, and empty bowls piled up in one corner of the room.
“Haa…”
A long sigh was what came out when he opened his mouth. An unknown emotion tormented him.
It was as if a small voice was whispering in his heart.
‘You’re doomed.’
Baek Ryeo-il scratched his head roughly.
He didn’t know what was doomed.
He had been hit by an unknown weakling, but it wasn’t a big problem. He was healthy without any injuries, and he hadn’t lost anything. Moreover, that guy wasn’t a terribly bad guy either. He could just let him go. Then he could just forget about it.
But he kept hearing the voice.
‘I’m telling you, your life is doomed?’
“Agh! What is it! Why is it so unsettling!”
Baek Ryeo-il finally threw off the blanket after seven days. He was going to go out to the marketplace and pour down some cheap alcohol.
‘The sun is nice.’
It was dazzling to walk under the sun after a long time.
As Baek Ryeo-il passed by a begging beggar, the beggar recognized him and hurriedly followed him.
“Hiek! Master Baek! Why does your face look like that? Did something bad happen?”
“Why my face! But who are you to recognize me?”
“I saw you a few days ago. It’s Hong-gae! I thought you had returned to Hwasan Sect since I hadn’t seen you for a while, but you’re still here?”
After thinking about it for a while, he remembered gathering the beggars a few days ago.
Baek Ryeo-il waved his hand.
“Don’t worry about other people’s business and go.”
“……Is it because of Seong hyung?”
Suddenly.
Baek Ryeo-il stopped. Thanks to this, Hong-gae, who was following behind him, crashed his nose into his back. His nose bone felt like it was broken, but after seeing Baek Ryeo-il’s murderous face, he couldn’t even protest.
“……It’s not.”
“Ah, never mind then… But where are you going?”
“To drink alcohol.”
“I see. When are you going back to Hwasan Sect? Do you know what people call Master Baek these days? They call you Heartless Sword! Even a swordsman who is the Heartless Sword isn’t that busy. I thought if you joined a righteous Sect, you’d be busy training every day…”
Hong-gae, who had been talking non-stop, shut his mouth after receiving a glare from Baek Ryeo-il.