NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15
“It’s a blend of essential oils from the medicine hall. I named it Cheongryeonsu.” As he tilted the small bottle, about the size of two fingers, a clear liquid flowed out. It looked like water but released a sharp and refreshing scent. It even seemed to have a hint of something rugged.
As Dan Mok-cheon-gi rubbed the oil on his temples, Dan Mok-hyeon-woo suddenly jumped up and ran behind his father.
“I experimented a bit and found it works much better when applied to specific pressure points. If you press the Tianzhu point at the top of the neck…”
“You rascal…!”
“Oh, Father! Just stay still for a moment.”
Dan Mok-cheon-gi was about to scold him for his lack of decorum, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Hyeon-woo had been born as the talented youngest son of a prestigious family. Until he was seventeen, he was a lively boy who didn’t know what it was like to be disliked. Even when he was scolded for being impulsive and unruly, he would smile and charm his father, brothers, and sisters, making it impossible to stay mad at him.
When he begged for something, they would eventually give in and buy it for him. If he pouted and stomped his feet, they would sigh and give in, despite scolding him for still acting like a child. But one day, that charming recklessness and playful spirit vanished completely.
The loud laughter that used to carry beyond the walls had disappeared entirely. Since he believed it was his fault that his niece had fallen apart, Hyeon-woo couldn’t overcome his guilt and shut himself away in seclusion. When his eldest son, Dan Mok-hyeon-seong, died, his youngest son withered like damp ashes.
“How is it? Feels refreshing, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“Father, that child is extraordinarily bright. She’s already memorized the entire Thousand Character Classic.”
“…”
The cool sensation spread slowly from the back of his neck. The hands he remembered from his youngest son were those of a seventeen-year-old boy, but now, the hands on his neck belonged to a grown young man. It made his heart ache.
“I watched her write, and she mimicked my movements exactly. She doesn’t have the strength yet, so her handwriting is different, but I’ve never seen someone so quick to learn.”
“No matter how bright she is, how could she create something like this overnight…?”
Dan Mok-cheon-gi trailed off, noticing his son’s expression darken again.
“I think… I’ve made her worry.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She must have seen that her only uncle wasn’t happy. She’s so bright, she would have figured it out.”
Dan Mok-hyeon-woo spoke with a heavy voice, lowering his eyes, remembering his niece’s anxious face as she tried to comfort him.
‘Actually, the celestial beings were so fun to be with that I forgot I needed to come back sooner.’
The little one blinked and hurriedly added an apology. Hyeon-woo thought that if that lie were true, he could laugh about it. He would have said, ‘It’s never too late, I’m just glad you’re here now,’ and laughed. But he knew it was a lie. The idea of a celestial realm was something even three-year-olds wouldn’t believe these days. But for his niece, those three years were lost. No, it was seven years.
Because he couldn’t protect her…
“Well, Ryeon is talented and has a great sense for these things, so she created this right away! She’ll learn anything you teach her. We’ve decided to continue studying medicine together.”
“Hmph. As the head of the medicine hall, you’ve spent years in seclusion. It’s about time you started studying again. With something like this, there’s probably nothing left for you to teach her. You’d better learn together.”
“Exactly. We’ll study together. And about Cheongryeonsu, Father, how about we send it as a gift to those around us? To the Huashan Sect, the Tang family, and even the leader of the Mansong Merchant Group?”
Hyeon-woo spoke eagerly.
Dan Mok-cheon-gi listened quietly before waving his hand dismissively.
“For now, we shouldn’t send anything to the Tang family.”
“What? Why?”
“If we start sending gifts saying the child has awakened safely, what will the Tang family think? They might believe we want to reopen the marriage discussions.”
Hyeon-woo puffed up, ready to argue, but then his shoulders sagged. Cheon-gi and Tang Yubyeok had been close friends in their youth and trusted each other deeply as they grew older.
With their hearts so well aligned and each at the head of their respective families, they decided to unite their grandchildren. This meant my grandfather, Dan Mok-cheon-gi’s newly born granddaughter, me, Dan Mok-ryeon, and Tang Yubyeok’s four-year-old grandson, Tang Yesul.
In the martial arts world, where bringing in a son-in-law wasn’t uncommon, it was quite a bold engagement, especially for the Tang family, who rarely let their bloodline marry outside their territory in Sichuan.
Since I, as the eldest grandchild of the Dan Mok family, couldn’t leave, it meant Tang Yesul would come to us.
The engagement started to become questionable around the time I was three months old. Everyone noticed something unusual about my condition. At the same time, Tang Yesul began to show extraordinary talent, even by the standards of the Tang family, which made everyone reconsider the engagement. What were they to do?
The girl was in a state between life and death, while the boy was too valuable to send away. Even if the girl were perfectly fine, it would be a tough call, but a promise was a promise. Yet, that wasn’t the case…
Ultimately, the engagement was broken. Tang Yubyeok provided all the secret remedies and herbs needed for my care, and Dan Mok-cheon-gi felt he had honored their bond. This way, no one could accuse the Tang family of breaking the promise out of belated greed for their talented grandson.
“Ryeon is so talented, we can’t send her to the Tang family, and Tang Yubyeok won’t let go of Tang Yesul. Let’s not make things difficult.”
“Yes… Then how about the Huashan Sect?”
“We can send something to the Huashan Sect after Qing Yun-jin finishes his seclusion training. It won’t be too late then.”
“Sending anything now would just seem like we’re mocking them.”
“How could that be?”
“If a bandit sends you flowers as thanks, would you be happy about it?”
“But we’re not bandits…”
“The head disciple of the Huashan Sect lost his internal energy because of an outsider’s child. If that’s not robbery, then what is?”
Performing the sacred ritual required secret recipes and potent poisons mixed with medicine, and it also needed the deep internal energy of at least one highly skilled martial artist. This process drained a significant portion of the martial artist’s energy, which meant that obtaining the secret method without a person to perform it, or vice versa, was almost impossible. Most martial sects didn’t even consider it, and only wealthy families focused on bloodline inheritance could dream of it.
However, through some miraculous alignment of circumstances, it worked for me. One of the two people who performed the ritual was Qing Yun-jin, the previous head disciple of the Huashan Sect. He had a deep bond with my mother, having been saved by her when he was young, and he never forgot her kindness.
Even though saving me was a noble act, the loss of decades of internal energy couldn’t be ignored. If the Huashan Sect leader had a forgiving heart, he would have ascended to immortality by now.
“Qing Yun-jin went into seclusion to recover his lost internal energy. We should wait until he finishes before sending anything.”
“Yes…”
“If Ryeon says it’s okay, we can send Cheongryeonsu to the Mansong Merchant Group as a gift.”
Hyeon-woo’s eyes lit up, and he raised his head.
“Yes! I’ll get it ready. And now you’ll teach Ryeon martial arts, right? You promised to teach her once she learned the Thousand Character Classic from me.”
His eyes sparkled with excitement. He was thrilled by the prospect that I might spar with him in a few years, joy and hope evident on his face. Dan Mok-cheon-gi watched his son’s face for a moment and then waved his hand. Hyeon-woo jumped up and rushed outside.
But their hopes were soon dashed. The news came first that I had collapsed.