Chapter 40

Chapter 40: To Go Far, One Must Rest (3)

"Ugh!"

When Bang Jin-bo opened his eyes with a soft groan, the first thing he saw was Dam Ho's face.

"Brother!"

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"You collapsed."

"I did?"

Bang Jin-bo shook his head slowly.

His head still ached. He remembered the agony of the high fever, but how he had come to be here escaped him.

"You're not fully recovered yet."

"Brother! Thank you."

Bang Jin-bo instinctively knew that Dam Ho had healed him.

Dam Ho rose with an impassive expression.

"Rest a little longer."

"Yes!"

Dam Ho left Bang Jin-bo alone in the room and stepped outside.

"How is the boy?"

At Geum Gwan-cheon's inquiry, Dam Ho nodded silently. Relief washed over the old man's face.

Awe shimmered in Geum Gwan-cheon's eyes as he looked upon Dam Ho.

He had asked Dam Ho to catch a Red-Scaled Strange Fish, yet Dam Ho had returned with its inner elixir. Though Geum Gwan-cheon knew little of the martial world, he understood that a creature capable of forming an inner elixir was no ordinary spirit beast.

Even an ordinary Red-Scaled Strange Fish was difficult to catch. One that possessed an inner elixir was beyond imagination.

Dam Ho was the man who had captured such a creature. He was a being that exceeded Geum Gwan-cheon's comprehension by far.

"Now rest. I'll bring Jin-bo some porridge."

A tray with porridge was in Geum Gwan-cheon's hand. At Dam Ho's nod, the old man entered Bang Jin-bo's room.

Dam Ho walked toward the vast grassland that stretched to the horizon. He felt no fatigue. For Dam Ho, who had endured twelve years in a living hell, the journey to catch the Red-Scaled Strange Fish was neither arduous nor extraordinary.

Dam Ho sat upon a flat rock that jutted from the grassland. The black horse approached as though it had been waiting.

Though it had traveled a great distance, the horse showed no signs of fatigue. Dam Ho lay upon the rock and gazed at the sky.

Across the boundless sky, clouds swept swiftly onward. They were a distinctly different sight from the clouds he had seen at Mount Hua.

Where Mount Hua exuded a certain stillness, this place radiated a dynamic energy.

Dam Ho suddenly reached toward the sky, miming the act of grasping a cloud. But nothing was caught.

He stared at his empty hand for a moment. His gaze then fell upon a wound that had faded to a mere trace.

It was the wound he had inflicted upon himself to catch the Red-Scaled Strange Fish. The cut that had required internal energy to make was already healing.

He did not know when it had begun. Wounds healed quickly, and eventually, they barely formed at all.

Whether this was due to physical training, or the combined effect of the moss and strange fish he had consumed to survive in the underground cavern, even Dam Ho could not say.

In those days, high fevers lasting several days had been commonplace. He had teetered on the brink of death dozens of times, yet Dam Ho had clung to life with tenacious resolve. And with each crisis overcome, he grew incrementally stronger. At some point, he had ceased to feel pain altogether.

Perhaps due to his long isolation, the boundary between good and evil had blurred. In the brief journey to this point, he had killed countless people. And yet, he felt no guilt.

'Am I still human?'

Dam Ho's gaze grew distant.

A thought struck him.

He had killed so many people just to get here. How many more would he have to kill while crossing the Central Plains with Bang Jin-bo?

When he had been at Mount Hua, such actions were beyond imagination. But now that he had begun, he could not stop.

Fwoo!

At that moment, the black horse, perhaps bored, blew a puff of hot breath into Dam Ho's face. This snapped Dam Ho from his idle reverie.

As Dam Ho sat up—

In the distance across the grassland, an enormous cloud of dust had risen. The dust cloud was approaching the ranch at tremendous speed.

Dam Ho sharpened his vision and looked toward the dust cloud. Within it, he could make out a vast number of horses. Men on horseback rode alongside the herd, maintaining the formation and preventing the horses from straying.

As they drew closer, the earth began to tremble.

Sensing the vibration, Geum Gwan-cheon opened the door and stepped outside.

"They've finally returned."

The light that shone upon his face was unmistakably one of joy.

His children and the horses that had been away all winter were returning. This was the moment Geum Gwan-cheon had so eagerly awaited while guarding the ranch alone.

"Father!"

At the head of the procession, a man shouted and galloped forward. He was a middle-aged man riding a pure white horse.

Geum Gwan-cheon waved toward him.

"Jung-gwang!"

"Hahaha! Father, we've returned!"

The moment Geum Jung-gwang dismounted, he embraced his father tightly. Geum Gwan-cheon closed his eyes and felt his son's warmth.

"You've worked hard. How is your health?"

"I'm well. There's no need to worry."

"And your wife and children?"

"They'll arrive soon. They all miss you terribly."

"As do I."

Geum Gwan-cheon smiled.

As he enjoyed the reunion, Geum Jung-gwang's gaze fell upon Dam Ho.

"Who is this?"

"A guest who arrived when I was lonely. His companion fell ill, so they've been staying here."

"Is that so?"

Geum Jung-gwang approached Dam Ho and offered a fist-and-palm salute.

"I am Geum Jung-gwang, the young master of this Gold Horse Ranch. If you are a guest of my father, you are a guest of mine. Please, rest well and stay as long as you like."

"My thanks!"

"Thanks? Hahaha! Today is a most joyful day. You should enjoy it too."

Geum Jung-gwang laughed heartily.

He seemed to possess the same generous temperament as his appearance suggested.

"Father!"

"Grandfather!"

Before his laughter had even subsided, his family arrived in succession.

A composed-looking woman, presumably Geum Jung-gwang's wife, greeted Geum Gwan-cheon. A dignified young man and a girl of perhaps twelve years hastily dismounted.

"Ah, you've all come."

"Grandfather. Hye-a is here too."

"Oh my! My precious!"

Geum Gwan-cheon embraced his granddaughter. A blissful smile spread across his face.

It was a reunion long overdue—the moment he had so eagerly awaited through the winter.

Dam Ho watched the family's reunion in silence. For the first time, a flicker of interest appeared in his otherwise emotionless eyes.

Their sight stirred memories of his own past, almost entirely forgotten. He, too, had once known such happiness. That time had ended as swiftly as a midsummer night's dream.

Dam Ho knew all too well how abruptly the peace of everyday life could vanish.

He prayed silently that such misfortune would not befall this family. One such experience was more than enough.

Following the Geum family, an enormous number of horses and workers entered the ranch.

"We've finally arrived."

"Lodge Master, have you been well?"

"You look even younger, Lodge Master!"

The workers greeted Geum Gwan-cheon with bows. The old man returned each greeting with a smile.

Though they could only be together half the year, they had shared a bond for decades. It had transcended an employer-employee relationship and come to feel like brotherhood.

"But who is this fine fellow? Did you acquire him, Father?"

Geum Jung-gwang's gaze was fixed upon the black horse.

Geum Gwan-cheon shook his head.

"It belongs to the Great Hero who is staying with us."

"What a magnificent creature. It seems to have the bloodline of the Dayuan Steed."

"I think so too."

The Dayuan Steed was a horse native to the Western Regions' Dayuan Kingdom. Known as the Heavenly Steed, it was also called the Red Blood Horse. It was said that the famous Red Hare horse that Guan Yu once rode had been of this breed.

"If only we could get this one to breed with our mares. That would be truly wonderful."

Unconcealed desire gleamed in Geum Jung-gwang's face.

A ranch's income came from selling horses. Naturally, the finer the bloodline, the higher the price and the greater the profit.

Though his family had run this ranch for generations, they had never raised a horse as fine as the one Dam Ho rode.

Geum Jung-gwang approached Dam Ho.

"Great Hero!"

"……"

"Might I trouble you to allow this horse to mate with ours during your stay? I will compensate you fairly."

Dam Ho's eyes flickered momentarily.

The intensity of his gaze made Geum Jung-gwang flinch and retreat.

'What kind of gaze…'

Only then did Geum Jung-gwang realize that the man before him was no ordinary person. Cold sweat trickled down his back without his noticing.

Dam Ho's gaze shifted to Geum Gwan-cheon, who stood behind his son.

He was the man who had provided them shelter and cared for them without asking anything in return when Bang Jin-bo was ill.

"If the horse consents."

"I-I would never force a mating. Please, rest assured. I will take the utmost care of the Black Steed."

Dam Ho nodded.

Only then did Geum Jung-gwang release a sigh of relief.

Geum Gwan-cheon expressed his gratitude to Dam Ho.

"Thank you! It was not an easy request."

Dam Ho simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"Sir!"

At that moment, someone seized Dam Ho's hand.

At the unfamiliar warmth, Dam Ho looked down to see Geum Gwan-cheon's granddaughter gazing up at him.

The girl with the unusually large eyes—Geum So-hye.

"Sir! Sir!"

Geum So-hye blinked her large eyes and called to Dam Ho repeatedly.

"So-hye, you must be polite to our guest. You mustn't be rude."

Her flustered mother tried to restrain her. But Geum So-hye paid no heed, pursing her small lips.

"Can't So-hye ride that horse too?"

The horse she pointed to was the black horse.

Even among hundreds of horses, the black steed stood out. The herd had been so intimidated by its presence that none dared approach.

'It's magnificent!'

Geum So-hye had been raised alongside horses since birth. Though young, her eye for horses was that of an adult.

In her eyes, the black horse was incomparably magnificent.

Dam Ho stared at Geum So-hye. Her large, dark eyes gazed up at him without a trace of fear.

Dam Ho feared no one under heaven, yet strangely, he found it difficult to meet this child's gaze.

Dam Ho turned his head to look at the black horse.

The black horse still stood with quiet dignity. The countless other horses watched only the black horse, waiting for its reaction.

"Some other time…"

"Sir?"

Dam Ho released the girl's hand.

His hand still reeked of blood. That was why Bang Jin-bo had fallen ill.

But Geum So-hye, knowing nothing of this, watched Dam Ho's retreating figure with eyes that seemed on the verge of tears.