Chronicles of the Sword That Shook the Heavens

Chapter 2. Lee Jincheon, the Medicine Peddler

“Keuheoheoheong!!!!”

A shriek burst out from the man.

A powerful voice that echoed as if to cover the heavens and the earth. Seonwoo Byeok was startled and looked back at the man.

It was not just a shout. What was felt from that voice, which seemed to strike the very air, was unmistakably inner power.

And an immeasurably vast one at that.

Murmur, murmur.

Startled by the sound, the villagers began to gather one by one. They surrounded the man and Seonwoo Byeok from a slight distance.

The man looked around at the crowd.

A majestic figure like a giant tree.

Gasp, the man took another breath.

Plop.

“Come on, come on! Welcome, welcome!!! To all the residents of our Jugam Village, who would be sad to be called second in the world for its good water, good air, and good people!! This Lee will offer a deep bow!!”

The man suddenly prostrated himself on the ground.

Poke, the man’s elbow tapped the dazed Seonwoo Byeok behind his knee. Seonwoo Byeok’s body prostrated along with him.

“Ah, in this bright daylight when you must all be busy with public and private affairs, why has this one shamelessly stood before you like this! If I were to tell you the reason!”

And the man began to spin a long, rambling story.

“Ahem! It has been fifteen years since this one, through the art of medicine, set his heart on the relief of all the people in the world. While I was digging for medicinal herbs in the mountains, my foot slipped and I fell into a valley, and what do you know, at the very bottom, I met an immortal!”

“……”

“As they say, utmost sincerity moves heaven. The immortal, moved by this one’s efforts, passed down the recipe for a secret medicine that treats all illnesses to this humble one. Yes!”

A flimsy story that would be hard to fool even a three-year-old child, the man spun it out with great aplomb.

And he quickly took out a pouch from the wooden box he carried on his back.

“And so this is it! The mysterious Divine Immortal Pill! Eat just one pill and all illnesses disappear as if washed away! Grind it and apply it, and even lost flesh will grow back on its own!”

“What, he was a medicine peddler?”

“I thought he was a martial arts master.”

“You idiot, why would a martial arts master come to a rural place like this? He’s trying to scam someone.”

The villagers, who soon figured out the man’s identity, lost interest and began to turn away.

“Wait, wait! Everyone! My words!”

“We’re not interested. Go try another village.”

The panicked man reached out his hand.

Snatch.

And he suddenly snatched the coat that was draped over Seonwoo Byeok’s shoulder.

The boy’s bare upper body was revealed.

“Everyone! Look at this child!!”

Swoosh, dubious gazes turned towards Seonwoo Byeok. And low groans flowed out from here and there.

Seonwoo Byeok’s body was covered in scars. In truth, that was a natural thing for a child from a martial family.

However, the sword wound across the center of his abdomen and the wound pierced by an arrow were clearly no ordinary injuries to anyone who saw them.

They had begun to heal and scabs had formed, but they were so grotesque that just looking at them made one feel the pain.

“This child is one I took in during my mountain travels! He was caught by a band of mountain bandits and escaped by a stroke of luck, but what do you know, he was already stabbed and bleeding profusely, on the verge of death, you see! But who am I!”

Thump! The man slapped his chest.

“After feeding and applying this Divine Immortal Pill and taking care of him for a few days, have I not saved him with all four limbs intact like this? Now, everyone! Look. Is this a wound one can survive without dying?!”

“Well, now that you mention it?”

“It is severe….”

Murmur, murmur.

As if he wouldn’t lose the momentum, the man moved his tongue ceaselessly.

“But that’s not all!! The medicine’s effect was so outstanding that he has become excessively healthy, I tell you!!”

And the man gave a look.

Seonwoo Byeok nodded. As it happened, in front of the two of them, a block of wood was placed on a huge, flat rock.

As he had been told beforehand, Seonwoo Byeok took out a dagger from his waist.

It was a sword he had polished his entire life.

Despite all this situation, as soon as he held the sword, his mind calmed down as if by a lie.

Swoosh, thwack!

“Keuk.”

Seonwoo Byeok lost his grip on the hilt. The moment the blade dug halfway into the wood, a tearing pain shot through his right arm.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“It’s obvious. Can’t you see it’s a pre-arranged block of wood? He couldn’t even cut it properly.”

“My goodness, tsk tsk. I was going to let it slide because the kid looks pitiful, but to be so clumsy. Is he still running scams like that in broad daylight?”

Boo, jeers erupted.

“Wait, wait! Everyone! Just one more time! Just one more! Really, just one last time!”

As the people tried to disperse again, the man spoke urgently. But it was impossible to hold back those who had turned away.

“Keuheoheoheong!!!”

“Oh my!, my eardrums!!”

“My word! That voice is at an absolute realm! It could split the main pillar of the Shaolin Temple in two, I tell you?”

“……”

Seonwoo Byeok could not understand.

The man’s qi was real. Although he himself had lost his inner arts, his sensitivity to qi was not gone.

This level of presence was not something that could erupt from an ordinary level of inner power.

He was without a doubt a master.

But what on earth was such a master doing, facing these villagers?

“Ehehe! This is truly, I have no excuse, everyone! The child is still recovering, and I failed to consider that. Oh my!~”

“That’s enough! I said we’re not buying!”

“Hey, don’t be like that! Then instead, what is it? Wouldn’t it be fine if this Lee personally shows you the effect instead of the child? Yes?”

The man, rubbing his hands together and bowing his waist. A sight that looked as if he had sold off the dignity of a master to a pawn shop.

“Of course, it’s a pill I made, do you think I wouldn’t have tried it? When I go on mountain trips, I practically ate it instead of rice, instead of water. And you know what happened then!”

Thud, the man’s foot pushed the block of wood to one side. And he looks down at the remaining flat rock in its place.

“Now, look carefully, everyone! What’s so special about a martial arts master? If you can split wood and break rocks, isn’t that a master?”

Heeup, and the man took another breath. He kneels down on one knee in front of the flat rock.

The moment the half-believing, half-doubting gazes turned to the man, with an exhale, the man’s fist struck the rock.

Puk!

“……”

And nothing happened.

Just like that, in the brief silence, the moment when jeers were about to spread.

Crack, a crack appeared on the surface of the rock. Like ripples spreading, web-like fine lines were drawn, and then.

Crack!

“Now, how about that, everyone?”

Pointing at the shattered rock, the man said triumphantly.

It was clearly a sight hard to believe even after seeing it with one's own eyes. It didn't seem like he had struck it that hard, yet it was a level that even someone with considerable expertise in inner qi techniques wouldn't dare to attempt.

“It’s, it’s obvious. He must have tampered with it before….”

“No, that rock was embedded there from the beginning, wasn’t it?”

“Well, you’re right?”

Murmur, murmur, a stir arose.

“Now, now! Just take it for three days and the wounds inside your body will be gone! The Divine Immortal Pill that makes even high monks break their wooden gongs and Taoists’ eyes flip! And its price is also amazing! Just five coins for one pill!”

“Should, should I buy one? It’s probably a scam anyway, but it’s interesting, right? It’s only five coins….”

“Buy ten and you get one free! Come on, the quantity is limited! This is not an opportunity that comes every day!”

“Give, give me one!”

“Wait! Me too! Ten for me!”

“Move! I was first!”

* * *

“Keuhaaa! This is great!”

Seonwoo Byeok looked at the man.

The man was sitting on a moving mule, constantly drinking from a wine bottle. He wipes his mouth with his sleeve.

Chew, chew.

“Ehehe, that’s right. This is what I live for. Becoming an immortal is bullshit, the feasts of this mortal world are a hundred times better~.”

The man who starts to chew on a piece of beef jerky taken from his bosom. Seonwoo Byeok couldn't understand it at all.

The man, Lee Jincheon, was his savior.

He had revived Seonwoo Byeok, who should have died several times over after falling from a cliff in a near-death state.

In a cave somewhere in the mountain range, the man had taken care of Seonwoo Byeok, who couldn't even move, for several days.

And thanks to his almost divine medicinal skills, Seonwoo Byeok recovered at an unbelievable speed.

His shattered qi center and inner arts could not be restored, but in just a few days, he was able to move normally.

Formidable inner power, and medical skill.

That's why he couldn't understand it even more.

“What? Should I give you a sip too?”

The man glanced at Seonwoo Byeok out of the corner of his eye.

Seonwoo Byeok, who was following behind while also leading a mule, hurriedly shook his head.

“Tsk tsk, I wasn't actually going to give you any~”

“……”

It had already been half a month since he started following the man.

But the closer he watched, the more the man's words and actions went far beyond the scope of Seonwoo Byeok’s understanding.

Riding on a mule, they passed through mountains and fields, stopped at inns in cities, and occasionally visited villages to sell medicine.

He really sold medicine.

With all his passion and sincerity.

“Benefactor… are you a martial artist?”

“Do I look like a martial artist to you?”

Pfft, Lee Jincheon snorted.

Well, he didn't look like one.

Although Seonwoo Byeok had never been outside of Kunming where his clan was located, let alone the Jianghu, he at least knew what a martial artist was.

Above all, the man's qi, which was revealed sporadically, was immeasurably profound, but usually, that presence was not felt at all.

As time went by, Seonwoo Byeok became increasingly unable to even guess the man's identity.

“And what’s with ‘benefactor’. How long are you going to call me that? It makes my hands and feet cringe, you brat.”

“But how can I, benefactor….”

“Well, that's up to you to decide.”

Lee Jincheon’s face turned towards Seonwoo Byeok.

He guessed he was around thirty.

Though he couldn't guess his actual age, at least from his outward appearance, the signs of youth had not yet faded.

His appearance was somewhat shabby, but it couldn't hide the handsome impression on his face, which was always smiling.

“What. You still haven't decided?”

The man had introduced himself as a ‘miraculous encounter’. Well, just being saved was a miraculous encounter if there ever was one.

But after Seonwoo Byeok had recovered to some extent, he said he would give him the choice of whether to follow him or not.

Saying that even a miraculous encounter is no good if one doesn’t want it.

He told him to answer after sufficient deliberation, when he had made up his own mind.

“As you can see, I'm a medicine peddler. Well, I do have a few other side jobs. Anyway, if you follow me, I can at least make sure you earn your keep.”

“……”

“Or else, what do you want to do?”

“…I don’t know.”

He had pondered for half a month.

But he still didn’t know.

To diligently practice the sword, polish his martial arts, protect his family, and one day lead the clan to a higher place.

Seonwoo Byeok had lived such a life.

But now, that past had been torn out whole along with the qi center in his stomach.

The current Seonwoo Byeok had become unable to know not only what to do in the future but even who he himself was.

A feeling of being thrown into a vast ocean.

“Do you want revenge?”

Lee Jincheon said.

“I’m asking if you want to slaughter and wipe out all the blood relatives of your family who betrayed you or failed to protect you, including your younger brother who stabbed you in the gut.”

“That too… I don’t know.”

Should I aim for revenge?

Seonwoo Byeok thought. Thinking about the past, his heart was strangely calm.

Hyeop, who had ordered his execution with a twisted face he had never seen before. Hyeop, who as a child, had followed him around, dragging a sword bigger than his own body.

The two images did not overlap into one. If they met again, could he drive a sword into that child?

“You’re hopelessly dense.”

Yawn, Lee Jincheon yawned.

“From the looks of it, you seem to know a little bit about swordplay, but other than that, you’re truly a complete fool.”

“I suppose so.”

Seonwoo Byeok smiled.

I really don’t know anything.

“I don’t know about revenge. But I know well about the grace I have received.”

“……”

“If benefactor wishes, I will gladly follow. If you tell me to become a medicine peddler, I will gladly serve—”

“Ha!”

Thwack!

For a moment, with a snort, an empty wine bottle flew in. It tapped Seonwoo Byeok on the forehead and fell to the ground.

“Do you look down on medicine peddlers?”

“…Pardon?”

“Killing a person is easy with a single swing of a sword. But saving a dying person is not an easy task even for a physician. Reviving the dead is impossible even for Hua Tuo and Bian Que. The weight of a pill is the weight of a life.”

“……”

“Don’t get me wrong. A slow-witted guy like you can’t become a medicine peddler even if you die and come back to life.”

“Th-then benefactor, to me….”

“What else? If the only talent you were born with is swordplay, then you’ll have to learn that diligently to earn your keep.”

Sword.

It was something that had been Seonwoo Byeok’s guidepost, something that had never once wavered.

He had the talent and the will.

But… Seonwoo Byeok lowered his head. Now Seonwoo Byeok had become a body that could not even easily cut a block of wood.

“Tsk tsk, look at that face. You don’t have a qi center, but do you not have hands? Do you not have arms? Or were you planning on becoming some damn number one under heaven?”

There was nothing he could say.

Even so, Seonwoo Byeok thought.

Even in this state, there was a part of him whose heart pounded when he thought of the sword.

Or what other path there was for him besides the sword, Seonwoo Byeok did not know.

Can I continue?

Do I still have the right?

A brief silence flowed. The day was gradually getting dark. Birds sang, and the two mules meekly followed the path.

“Well, depending on how you do it, it’s not impossible.”

How much time had passed?

Lee Jincheon let out the words as if talking to himself. And suddenly, his mule that was leading the way stopped in its tracks.

Startled out of his thoughts, Seonwoo Byeok looked ahead. In front of him, a forked path had appeared.

“There’s not much I can teach you. I’ll teach you how to use a sword, and as a bonus, a little about how to live. But it’s not free. You’ll have to pay the price someday.”

“…Benefactor.”

“So choose now. Whether you'll take this life you've managed to save and face the world on your own terms, or accept this strange fate.”