Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Namgung Cheon, who was climbing the mountain early in the morning, panted continuously as he felt the cold wind.

He felt out of breath already, even though he did not seem to have climbed very far. In the past, this was something that could never have happened.

As he smiled absurdly at that thought, Jang Sam-tae, who was walking beside him, began to mutter complaints.

“How on earth are we supposed to find such a thing, dragging people out like this from the crack of dawn?”

“…They say spiritual herbs are originally found only when heavenly luck is aligned, but.”

Even Gwon Mu-jin, who was beside him, spoke up.

Because he had dragged them out as soon as they ate breakfast, they all seemed to have many complaints.

Furthermore, they had been climbing continuously for three hours on Mount Yuelu, which was famous for its rugged terrain.

“Be quiet and follow me. If it is this mountain, there will surely be at least a spiritual herb.”

“Can we even find it by wandering around like this?”

Considering that among herb gatherers, there were those who had never even laid eyes on a spiritual herb in their entire lives, finding it seemed impossible unless Namgung Cheon was born with heavenly luck.

“I do not know what you are looking for, but So-mi will do her best for Grandfather.”

So-mi, who was tired from walking, whispered while piggybacked on Namgung Cheon’s back.

Namgung Cheon, who had been listening only to the complaints of the two men, felt his ears cleansed and laughed heartily. He felt as if So-mi’s warm heart was being conveyed.

Of course, because she was piggybacked on the back of a powerless old man, it was draining his energy by that much.

They entered deep into Mount Yuelu. Because the mountain path was becoming increasingly rugged, even Gwon Mu-jin, who was trained, began to pant. It was because they had walked for a long time, and the road was rough, increasing their physical consumption.

“Pant, pant… We, we should have brought the master as well… Why are we the only ones suffering like this…”

“Haha, is the master the type of person who would move just because we asked him to go together?”

“Well, that is true…”

Jang Sam-tae broke out in a cold sweat.

It was definitely true.

The only thing that could move Dan Woo-hyun was his own will. Even if So-mi begged, Dan Woo-hyun had a firmness where he would not do anything he thought he should not do.

“Gasp… Gasp… Th-this place should do.”

Namgung Cheon took a rough breath and looked around.

It was a considerably rugged terrain. If they went a little to the west, there was a cliff, and around where they were, there were no traces, as if human feet had never touched it.

Namgung Cheon hoped that since even herb gatherers would not come to such a place carelessly, a spiritual herb might grow here.

‘He surely said it too…’

Dan Woo-hyun had said it. That heavenly luck was nearby.

Of course, it was nothing more than a very abstract statement, but he seemed to have the conviction that he would be able to obtain the spiritual herb. Although he could not know the reason for it.

‘If you think well, you will obtain it easily, and if not, you will obtain it with difficulty?’

Namgung Cheon also recalled Dan Woo-hyun saying that and caught his breath. He did not know what on earth he had wanted to say.

With a small sigh, he set So-mi down.

“Stay here. It is dangerous around here, so do not wander around carelessly.”

“Yes! Do not worry. So-mi will only stay in places that are not dangerous.”

So-mi, who burst into a beaming smile, ran toward Jang Sam-tae. This was because he had all the tools for digging up herbs.

“Are you going to look for it too?”

“Of course. It is for Grandfather.”

So-mi wore a small basket on her back and laughed merrily with a trowel in one hand.

Actually, So-mi did not know what a spiritual herb was, but she was here solely with the single-minded determination to help Namgung Cheon.

Jang Sam-tae and Gwon Mu-jin smiled awkwardly. Finding the spiritual herb would be exhausting enough, but having to look after So-mi as well made them feel faint already.

“You must not go to places that look dangerous!”

“I know!”

So-mi ran off quickly.

“Hmm, what should I do first?”

So-mi looked left and right with a deeply thoughtful expression. She saw Namgung Cheon, Gwon Mu-jin, and Jang Sam-tae scanning the surroundings and searching hard for something.

“But what is a spiritual herb?”

So-mi furrowed her beautiful brows.

She crossed her arms and thought deeply, but nothing in particular came to mind. No one at the academy or at home had taught her what a spiritual herb was.

All So-mi knew were a few types of edible herbs, like bloodwort and kudzu.

Rumble-

At that moment, a loud sound came from her stomach.

Although she had eaten breakfast before coming out, a considerable amount of time had already passed.

Since Namgung Cheon did not seem to have any intention of eating lunch right now, she could not complain about being hungry either.

So-mi decided that she should dig up and eat whatever she could find first.

Looking closely around, there was kudzu.

So-mi dug it up diligently. When one kudzu root came out, she searched around and saw another.

To begin with, So-mi was good at finding things to eat in the mountains. It was partly because she had learned from Dan Woo-hyun, and it was also her natural talent.

Like that, So-mi began to search the surroundings thoroughly to fill her stomach.

It seemed that for this young child, the thought of searching for a spiritual herb had long since vanished from her mind.

“Sigh, pant, i-is this thing really going to appear?”

Jang Sam-tae, who had returned after searching the mountain as far as he could, was a complete mess. His face was already drenched in sweat, and his clothes had become rags.

They had been torn and cut while he was searching and scanning the bushes thoroughly.

Of course, Jang Sam-tae was not the only one in such a state. It was the same for Namgung Cheon as well as Gwon Mu-jin.

During the half-day that passed after they ate a simple lunch, Gwon Mu-jin even climbed cliffs to search, but nothing like a spiritual herb was visible. Although there were occasionally edible herbs, those were not what they were originally looking for, so he did not even look at them.

“Sigh- I thought there would be one here.”

“In the first place, it is not as if a spiritual herb would appear easily, is it?”

Crunch, crunch-

Although what they were searching for was nowhere to be seen, the day was already setting. It was now time to go down urgently.

The sun sets faster in the mountains than on flat ground. Considering those things, there was no more time to spare.

Namgung Cheon, who sighed, shook his head.

Indeed, although he had not thought he would be able to find it easily in the first place, he did not expect that he would not be able to find even a trace of it like this.

Crunch, crunch-

At that moment, the sound that kept disturbing Namgung Cheon’s thoughts was heard continuously. Turning his gaze to look at the place where the sound came from, he saw So-mi putting something into her mouth continuously.

The gazes of the two met directly.

So-mi, who had been chewing something continuously with an innocent expression, made a swallowing sound and then held out her small hand.

“Would you like some?”

“Haha, what is that?”

“Kudzu.”

So-mi smiled brightly as she handed over a basket of kudzu. It seemed that when told to look for a spiritual herb, she had dug up only kudzu.

In the basket, there was quite a lot of other things besides kudzu. Indeed, since this place was deep enough to be untouched by human hands, there would be quite a lot of wild greens, including herbs.

Namgung Cheon burst into a short laugh.

“You have gathered a lot.”

“Yes! I am going to give this to Father.”

“Is there nothing for this grandfather?”

So-mi groaned slightly.

She slowly examined the things in the basket one by one, seeming to contemplate what to give.

Then, suddenly, So-mi reached out and placed one of the things in the basket into Namgung Cheon’s hand.

“This!”

“What is this?”

“So-mi does not know either. It was just pretty…”

She laughed.

It was not something to eat, but it did look pretty. The root was shaped like a wild ginseng, but the leaves were red, giving a completely different feeling from wild ginseng.

Namgung Cheon stared at it.

It was a shape he had heard of somewhere before.

Something that had a shape similar to wild ginseng but had red leaves. The root also had a light red tint, as if it contained fire.

This…

“This is… the fire ginseng?!”

“Yes?”

At the single word 'fire ginseng', Jang Sam-tae and Gwon Mu-jin were also shocked.

Originally, wild ginseng was full of yang energy, but this fire ginseng had even greater yang energy.

Because it was rarer than wild ginseng and difficult to obtain, it was not something that could be easily seen.

In short, it was the spiritual herb that Namgung Cheon had been searching for so desperately.

“Fire ginseng?”

“Y-yes! W-where did you find this?”

“I found it over there.”

So-mi pointed to a place with her finger. It was the very place where So-mi had first started digging up kudzu.

Namgung Cheon, who was looking at that place, shut his mouth, and Gwon Mu-jin and Jang Sam-tae twitched their lips.

‘What kind of dog struggle did we do then?’

‘How baffling.’

But who could be as baffled as Namgung Cheon?

He reached out his hand, lost for words. Then, he stroked So-mi’s cheek and soon pulled it.

“Ouch! It hurts!”

“Hahaha- you did very well, very well.”

It was clear that he had received help from the young So-mi, but why was this situation somehow so displeasing? Namgung Cheon also seemed to be slightly angry inside because he had struggled like a dog for half the day.

“Grandfather! So-mi is in pain!”

“Hahaha, yes, yes. I know well.”

So-mi made a crying face and swung her small fists, tapping him. Only then did Namgung Cheon let go of his hand and stand up. Then, he reached out again and stroked her head. Warmth was felt in his touch this time.

“You are my heavenly luck.”

“Huh?”

So-mi tilted her head at the words she could not understand.

What was heavenly luck?

She tilted her head back and forth, but nothing in particular came to mind. However, it did not seem to be a curse word, and Namgung Cheon’s expression was also soft, so she wore a beaming smile.

“You were lucky.”

“Hahaha-.”

That night, Namgung Cheon, who returned to the manor, placed the fire ginseng in front of Dan Woo-hyun and smiled. Hope was embedded in it, believing that this would be able to detoxify the energy-dispersing poison.

“As you said, the heavenly luck was nearby. It was my fault for not recognizing it.”

“It is a mere coincidence.”

Namgung Cheon nodded his head.

He really had to think of it as a mere coincidence. If So-mi was born with heavenly luck and could obtain what she wanted this easily, the value of using her according to one's desires would be enormous.

Furthermore, if such a fact were to reach the ears of others, it was all too obvious that a bloodbath would occur.

It was just good luck, and everything was a coincidence. There would never be such luck again.

It seemed comfortable to think that way.

“Is treatment really possible with this?”

“It can drive out the energy-dispersing poison. However, I cannot guarantee that your internal energy will return.”

At those words, Namgung Cheon swallowed a groan.

If his internal energy did not return, it would indeed be a pity. However, the urgent matter was the energy-dispersing poison, and if he could only detoxify this, recovering his internal energy was something that was entirely possible through the efforts of the Sword Emperor.

“Sit cross-legged and begin to circulate your energy. It might be a little painful.”

Namgung Cheon grit his teeth and nodded.

It was the heavenly luck bestowed by heaven.

He could easily endure such pain.