Chapter 33

Chapter 33: When Alive, Even a Thorny Path Is Walked (2)

Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo bade farewell to Bang Woo-gwang's grave.

"Father, I will come again."

Bang Jin-bo's eyes reddened once more. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve and headed somewhere.

There, the wreckage of a carriage remained—the very carriage in which Bang Woo-gwang and Bang Jin-bo had traveled.

Bang Jin-bo began rummaging through the debris. Dam Ho watched him in silence, assuming there must be a reason.

After searching for some time, Bang Jin-bo found a guo—a Chinese-style cooking pot—and various spices and seasonings.

These were the last remnants his father Bang Woo-gwang had left behind. They could not be abandoned in a place like this. Bang Jin-bo loaded the items he had recovered from the wreckage onto the horse's saddle.

As Bang Jin-bo mounted the horse, he spoke.

"Brother, let's go."

In the span of a single night, Bang Jin-bo's gaze had deepened considerably.

Dam Ho nodded.

Bang Jin-bo had undergone a shattering experience that uprooted his way of thinking and his outlook on life entirely. The eyes of one who had lived through such an ordeal could not help but differ from those of ordinary people.

Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo departed from the place where Bang Woo-gwang's grave stood.

Even as they rode, Bang Jin-bo whimpered intermittently. But as time passed, his weeping gradually diminished.

Throughout the journey, Dam Ho remained silent. Bang Jin-bo, too, said nothing. And so the two traveled the entire day without a word.

Occasionally, the black horse stamped its feet, eager to run but frustrated that Dam Ho would not quicken the pace.

Dam Ho patted the horse's neck to soothe it. He understood the horse's desire, but now was not the time for haste.

Thus they spent most of the day upon horseback. They finally dismounted when the sun was setting, arriving at a small nameless stream.

With nightfall, continuing the journey was impractical. Dam Ho decided they would camp here.

He tethered the horse by the stream and gathered nearby branches. Dam Ho built a campfire.

It was not for himself. Having spent countless years in the depths of the underground, Dam Ho could barely feel cold or heat anymore.

The campfire was for Bang Jin-bo. It was the minimum consideration he could offer.

Dam Ho sat by the fire and handed something to Bang Jin-bo.

"Eat."

What he gave the boy was dried meat—the same dried meat he had received from Bang Jin-bo before parting ways at Toro Banner.

Bang Jin-bo stared at it blankly. Then, as if suddenly remembering, he looked up at Dam Ho.

Dam Ho was chewing the dried meat slowly, his eyes half-closed. His expression, savoring the food, was almost reverent.

Bang Jin-bo suddenly tucked the dried meat into his robes and stood.

"Brother, just a moment."

Dam Ho opened his eyes and looked at Bang Jin-bo.

Bang Jin-bo pulled the guo from the saddlebag. He fetched water from the nearby stream, poured it into the pot, and set it over the fire.

Holding a burning branch, Bang Jin-bo began searching the brush along the streambank. By the light of the flame, he quickly gathered several herbs.

Just as the water in the guo began to boil, he chopped the dried meat and the herbs finely and added them.

Dam Ho watched Bang Jin-bo's actions without a word.

Bang Jin-bo opened a small pouch he had brought from the carriage wreckage. Inside was a fine, sifted grain powder.

He took a handful of the grain powder and added it to the pot. A fragrant aroma immediately wafted through the air. Bang Jin-bo added several spices to the mixture.

The dried meat, grain powder, and nameless herbs combined to form a respectable porridge.

"It should be edible."

Bang Jin-bo ladled a bowl of porridge and handed it to Dam Ho.

Dam Ho tasted the porridge Bang Jin-bo had made. A rich, savory flavor filled his mouth.

"This is delicious."

"It's a recipe my father taught me. When ingredients ran low, we would often make this."

"I see."

"It may not look like much, but it should be more than sufficient for a meal."

"I will eat well."

"Yes!"

Bang Jin-bo ladled a bowl for himself and sat beside Dam Ho.

Slurp!

The sound of the two of them swallowing the porridge echoed through the quiet.

Dam Ho ate the porridge with relish. It seemed he had never tasted anything so delicious in his life. Such was Bang Jin-bo's skill.

They quickly emptied their bowls. When the meal was finished, Bang Jin-bo looked at Dam Ho.

"Brother!"

"What is it?"

"Could you take me to Lake Dongjeong?"

"Lake Dongjeong?"

Dam Ho looked at Bang Jin-bo with a puzzled expression. Bang Jin-bo dropped to his knees before him.

"I know I'm being shameless. But there is no one else I can ask but you."

"Why do you want to go to Lake Dongjeong?"

"It was my father's dying wish."

"Very well."

Dam Ho did not ask for further reasons.

That was reason enough.

"Truly?"

"Rest well. You will need your strength for the long journey starting tomorrow."

"Thank you, brother. I will never forget this kindness."

Bang Jin-bo shed tears once more.

He was grateful that Dam Ho had agreed without even asking why.

To others, Dam Ho might appear a fiend of terrible aspect, but to Bang Jin-bo, he was an irreplaceable benefactor.

When everyone else had turned their backs on father and son, only Dam Ho had not. Though countless lives had been lost at his hands, Dam Ho did not seem cruel to Bang Jin-bo.

Had it not been for Dam Ho, far more people would have been killed or wounded by the bandits. And even more would have been swallowed by grief.

"Brother, thank you."

Bang Jin-bo expressed his gratitude once more. Dam Ho nodded and leaned his back against a small rock by the campfire.

Meanwhile, Bang Jin-bo carried the guo and bowls to the stream and washed them. This was all he could do at the moment. Still, he resolved to give it his best.

Right now, he could not bear to remain idle. So Bang Jin-bo kept his body in constant motion, never resting for a moment.

Dam Ho said nothing.

Overcoming grief depended solely on one's own efforts. And Bang Jin-bo knew how to overcome his sorrow.

Dam Ho closed his eyes.

The following dawn, Bang Jin-bo rose before Dam Ho and prepared a meal. With only a handful of limited ingredients and spices, he produced food with remarkable speed.

Dam Ho did not try to stop him.

When cooking, color returned to Bang Jin-bo's face. That passion for cooking would become the strength that kept Bang Jin-bo alive.

After the meal, Dam Ho set out with Bang Jin-bo. The boy's grief had somewhat subsided, and he began to talk little by little.

Bang Jin-bo chattered endlessly, from tales of his childhood to his journey to the Western Regions with his father. Dam Ho listened to every word.

It did not matter that Dam Ho did not respond. Bang Jin-bo talked without cease, and as time passed, his expression grew brighter.

But Dam Ho understood. This was not because the boy had forgotten his father's death, but because he was processing his grief in his own way.

Bang Jin-bo missed his father.

Dam Ho suddenly raised his head and gazed at the sky.

'What must Master be doing now?'

He missed Sage Hyeon-so.

He wanted to go to Mount Hua, where his master was, at once. But he could not.

Sage Hyeon-so had told him to come when he was certain he would not be shaken, even by the fiercest storm. He had to verify that fact first.

Dam Ho silently urged the black horse onward. After some time, a small village appeared ahead.

Bang Jin-bo's face brightened.

"That's wonderful, brother. Let's stop there and buy some ingredients."

"Ingredients?"

"Yes! We've run out of ingredients. If we buy a few things, we should be able to manage. Let's stop briefly."

When Dam Ho nodded, Bang Jin-bo spurred his horse ahead toward the village. Dam Ho watched the boy's retreating figure and saw in it a reflection of his own childhood.

Too anxious to leave alone, and thus unable to turn away…

Perhaps Sage Hyeon-so, his master, had felt the same emotions back then.

The village was exceedingly small. Had it not been for Bang Jin-bo, they would have passed it by without stopping.

There were barely thirty households, and even counting the children, the population fell short of a hundred. One might wonder what food ingredients could possibly be found in such a place.

But Bang Jin-bo's perspective differed from Dam Ho's. He knocked on the doors of ordinary homes and haggled.

Through this, Bang Jin-bo acquired a piece of smoked pork, dried fish, and similarly sun-dried herbs of indeterminate identity.

Bang Jin-bo wrapped his hard-won ingredients carefully in a cloth and stored them with care. Though he had never formally trained as a cook, he had learned a great deal by watching over Bang Woo-gwang's shoulder.

He understood how vital ingredients were. For a skilled cook, nothing was more important than quality provisions.

"Let's go."

A smile graced Bang Jin-bo's face for the first time in a while.

The two departed the village immediately. They could sense the villagers' discomfort.

In such small settlements, suspicion of outsiders ran deep. Once their purpose was fulfilled, it was best to leave quickly for everyone's sake.

Dam Ho was not accustomed to sleeping outdoors. In his youth, he had lived in remote villages, and when he came of age, he had spent most of his time at the Mount Hua Sect.

But twelve years in an enclosed subterranean space had transformed him into someone who could adapt to any situation with ease.

Dam Ho was convinced that no circumstance could be worse than the one he had endured. Having survived that, there was nothing he could not adapt to.

Sleeping outdoors was not a significant problem for him. The same was true of Bang Jin-bo. Though young, he had accompanied his father on countless camping trips and was in fact far more capable than Dam Ho in this regard.

The problem was Bang Jin-bo's stamina.

Until now, they had traveled comfortably in the carriage his father drove, so their stamina had not been greatly taxed. But riding horseback was an entirely different matter, draining their energy at an alarming rate.

Naturally, they could not travel as fast as when Dam Ho was alone. But Dam Ho did not grow impatient.

When Bang Jin-bo showed signs of fatigue, they rested. Sometimes they stopped briefly, other times they remained for quite a while.

Bang Jin-bo grew progressively brighter and soon regained his former liveliness.

"Brother, let's camp here tonight."

It was Bang Jin-bo who first proposed they spend the night.

When Dam Ho nodded, Bang Jin-bo grinned as though he had expected as much.

"Hehe! Brother, just rest for a moment."

Without waiting for Dam Ho's response, Bang Jin-bo set to work with bustling energy.

He gathered scattered twigs and kindled a fire, then fetched water from the stream he had spotted earlier.

He set the guo over the campfire and heated it. When the pot had warmed sufficiently, he added the pig fat he had obtained from the village.

Sizzle!

Smoke rose as the fat melted. Into the heated guo, Bang Jin-bo placed the smoked pork, kidneys, and liver he had acquired in the village and stir-fried them vigorously.

The dish Bang Jin-bo presented was a Huizu traditional dish known as Pao San Yang. Normally lamb was used, but he had ingeniously substituted pork.

Dam Ho's eyes gleamed with interest at this unfamiliar food.

"Where did you learn this?"

"I followed a recipe my father jotted down in his spare time. How is it?"

"Delicious."

"That's a relief. Hehe!"

At Dam Ho's response, Bang Jin-bo let out an embarrassed laugh. For the first time, Dam Ho smiled as well.

Bang Jin-bo clenched his fist tightly.

"I will absolutely become the greatest chef under heaven!"

Bang Jin-bo believed that was the way to honor his father.