Chapter 182

Fifteen hundred li from Dayi.

The carriage ran without rest through winding mountain paths and high plateau regions.

As they climbed to higher ground, the slope became gentler and roads close to flat terrain began to continue.

The carriage kept moving forward along the Min River flowing between not-so-deep valleys, with the Min Mountain range alongside.

Occasionally, merchants passing through for trade with Tibet brushed past them. They could also see Tibetan people living in villages scattered here and there.

Due to several days of forced marching, both the carriage and people were all exhausted.

Particularly, Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s condition, who had not received proper treatment, was serious. Because of the poison, she couldn’t properly deploy her internal energy, so her severed shoulder had festered and pus was flowing down.

“We should rest.”

Bian Bu suggested. He thought that by now they had bought enough time to temporarily shake off their pursuers. No, even if they hadn’t shaken them off, they really needed to rest.

The evil faction member driving the carriage said.

“There’s a Tea Horse Ancient Road here with a large village where merchants gather.”

“Go that way.”

Jin Ja-gang briefly lifted the carriage curtain. Though it wasn’t time to turn his attention to scenery, the surrounding landscape was beautiful like a painting. Particularly, the color of the water was a unique blue reminiscent of jade.

“This place is called Mirror Sea.”

The lake was truly like a mirror. The appearance of the mountains surrounding the lake was reflected in the lake as well, making it seem as if there were mountains below the water surface too.

“There are nine large Tibetan villages nearby. Since this is Tibetan territory, it’s not bad for avoiding the eyes of Sichuan martial artists. It would be good to rest here briefly.”

Not long after passing Mirror Sea, a bustling village where Tibetans, Tibetan people, and Central Plains people had gathered together appeared. It had a prosperity that was hard to see in a village situated in the leisurely plateau region.

Because there were so many people traveling the long and treacherous trade routes all the way to Tibet, the group’s shabby or dirty appearance didn’t particularly stand out.

They secured lodging at an inn and immediately began to rest. Dan Ryeong-gyeong continued breathing exercises alone in the adjacent room, suppressing the worsening of her wounds.

The evil faction member went out saying he would dispose of the carriage they had ridden and obtain a new one. Meanwhile, Soso gestured to Jin Ja-gang with hand and foot signals that medicine was needed.

Currently, among the group, only the evil faction member and Jin Ja-gang could move properly.

It wasn’t that Jin Ja-gang hadn’t been injured during the fighting, but he was the most intact. More precisely, it would be correct to say he had recovered at a surprising speed.

Soso wrote down the medicines and medicinal materials needed. Soso’s understanding of medicinal materials was much higher than Jin Ja-gang’s. It was embarrassing for Jin Ja-gang, who was supposedly from the Medicine Sect.

Moreover, she didn’t forget the meticulousness of bringing money when leaving the manor.

“She’ll manage the household well when she gets married later.”

At Bian Bu’s idle joke, Soso blushed.

Jin Ja-gang received the money pouch from Soso and tucked it at his waist.

“I’ll be back.”

When Jin Ja-gang left the inn, Bian Bu sighed enviously.

“That fellow is always lively. No, he fought like that and became bloody, but after it passes, only that fellow is always fine. Even his eyeballs were red until the day before yesterday, but look how fine they are now.”

Bian Bu was suffering because his foot injured at Lan Family Village still hadn’t healed due to his age.

Woon-jeong also scratched his head. Jin Ja-gang’s amazing recovery ability was something even he couldn’t match.

Soso came and cared for Woon-jeong’s wounds. She wiped his wounds with clean cloth. Soso’s expression wasn’t good. Woon-jeong’s pierced abdomen wasn’t healing easily and the wound kept festering, perhaps due to the bad energy contained in the Non-Killing Sword.

“Ah-eo-eo.”

Soso gestured for him not to overdo it and to rest. Woon-jeong nodded embarrassedly.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang left the inn and walked through the bustling streets.

All kinds of people with slightly different appearances and different clothing filled the streets and bustled about. Donkeys and horses loaded with cargo passed through the streets without rest.

Voices of bargaining could be heard from various places, and rough curses or fighting words could also be heard.

It was full of vitality that Jin Ja-gang had never experienced before.

Even in alleys that looked like red-light districts, women of various ethnicities in unique clothing could be seen. The women were smiling at passing merchants and competitively grabbing and pulling their arms.

Jin Ja-gang became a little dizzy.

This was Jin Ja-gang who recognized all surrounding environments in advance to prepare for any situation. However, now there were too many new things that Jin Ja-gang had to accept.

Several women also approached Jin Ja-gang. They grabbed and pulled Jin Ja-gang’s arms. Some looked much older than Jin Ja-gang, but some appeared to be similar age or younger than Jin Ja-gang.

This was Jin Ja-gang’s first time in such a situation, but he didn’t panic and pulled his body away. He couldn’t be pleased with unknown people carelessly touching his body.

In the world Jin Ja-gang had lived in until now, it was hard to imagine strangers touching one’s body. However, the people passing through this place were somehow different.

‘Is this what’s normal?’

Only then did Jin Ja-gang realize that the martial world and ordinary people’s lives were more distant than he thought.

Jin Ja-gang passed the red-light district alleys and merchants bargaining in various places to find a pharmacy. Inside the pharmacy, many unique materials that were hard to see in the Central Plains were also visible. There were things that even Jin Ja-gang, who had grown up in Yunnan, was seeing for the first time.

The elderly pharmacy owner looked at the names of medicines and medicinal materials that Jin Ja-gang presented and shook his head.

“Several are medicinal materials that don’t grow here, so they’re not available here… You’d probably have trouble finding them even if you went around this entire neighborhood.”

The pharmacy owner casually asked.

“Are you a martial artist?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t know what to answer, but soon realized there was no need to tell the truth.

“No. I’m running an errand.”

“That’s right, you’re too handsome to be a martial artist. Your skin is clean too. As you can see, the people here are all dark or reddish from being tanned.”

The pharmacy owner laughed heartily. Jin Ja-gang bought only the materials available at the pharmacy and left. He went around several pharmacies and obtained medicines even by paying extra, but several medicinal materials still couldn’t be obtained.

“I’ll have to go back first and deliver the urgent medicines, then find substitutes for the remaining medicinal materials.”

While going around looking for pharmacies, he had come quite far.

As Jin Ja-gang was about to turn the corner ahead and return to the inn, suddenly a boy about Jin Ja-gang’s age who had popped out bumped into Jin Ja-gang.

“Oops!”

The boy wearing a uniquely colored headband cried out as if flustered. Jin Ja-gang reflexively twisted his body to avoid.

Thanks to Jin Ja-gang avoiding, the boy was caught trying to steal the money pouch from Jin Ja-gang’s waist. However, the money pouch was already in the boy’s hand.

He had avoided the collision but in the meantime had cut the string tying the money pouch.

When the boy was caught with the money pouch in his hand, he smiled awkwardly and immediately began to run away. When Jin Ja-gang tried to follow, suddenly Tibetan men blocked Jin Ja-gang’s path.

As many as five Tibetan men threatened Jin Ja-gang by cracking their knuckles and taking off their upper garments.

“If possible, just quietly go on your way.”

“Why did you come all the way here showing off your money?”

“Looking at you, you seem like a wealthy family’s son with your neat appearance, so think of it as charity and go.”

When Jin Ja-gang looked at them with calm eyes without answering, the men’s expressions changed slightly.

“What. Are you saying you want to try?”

“A cripple dares to want to die?”

“If you die here, you could become cow feed without anyone knowing.”

Cow refers to large cattle with horns and long black hair commonly seen in this area. Whether cows eat people was unknown, but it was certainly a threatening statement.

Jin Ja-gang surveyed his surroundings.

Even though people were passing by, they weren’t paying much attention to Jin Ja-gang’s situation. This wasn’t where merchants were, but a neighborhood where local natives lived. Seeing that there were even onlookers, it seemed to be something that happened quite often.

In this place, Tibetan influence was greater than that of the Central Plains.

Jin Ja-gang stared at the men and asked.

“Are you in cahoots with that pickpocket from earlier?”

A thin-built man with a scar on his face approached threateningly.

“Hey, calling him a pickpocket even after we told you. Huh? He’s a kid who lives next door to us. Why are you making an innocent kid into a pickpocket? Did you see him steal money?”

“I saw it.”

The thin-built man was flustered.

“You saw it?”

The men murmured among themselves.

“What, is he a martial artist?”

“He said no earlier, didn’t he?”

“What can one guy do alone? Just bury him!”

The men surrounded Jin Ja-gang.

One of the men, who seemed to have learned some martial arts somewhere, attacked Jin Ja-gang with a technique. He swayed his body left and right, then struck Jin Ja-gang’s stomach with his fist.

Thud!

When Jin Ja-gang was hit in the stomach and crouched, he grabbed his head and struck with his knee.

Jin Ja-gang staggered backward as if bouncing and stumbled. He blinked after being hit above the eye. Soon a bruise formed blue above his eye. However, he didn’t fall.

“This b*st*rd has some endurance?”

The man aimed for Jin Ja-gang’s temple and threw a punch. As Jin Ja-gang dodged, the man’s fist mistakenly hit the upper part of Jin Ja-gang’s forehead.

Crack.

With the sound, the man screamed. His knuckle bone seemed to have fractured.

“Ow!”

When the man screamed while holding his fist, the other men rushed in. One kicked Jin Ja-gang’s thigh. When Jin Ja-gang lifted his leg, the man’s shin hit Jin Ja-gang’s knee.

A dull sound occurred and the man made a pained expression. Though it didn’t break, he limped as if his shinbone had at least cracked.

The other men began hitting Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang was helplessly beaten. When Jin Ja-gang stepped backward, the man standing behind pushed Jin Ja-gang’s back hard.

Jin Ja-gang was pushed forward and headbutted the man in front’s nose.

Crack!

With the sound of the nose collapsing, blood burst from the man’s nose.

“Aaaaah!”

The man fell backward holding his nose.

“This b*st*rd!”

Someone punched Jin Ja-gang’s face from the side. The punch missed and the knuckle bone rather than the finger joints hit Jin Ja-gang’s head. The one who screamed was the man who had hit. His fingers were pressed inward and he couldn’t open his fist.

“Uuugh!”

Still, perhaps because there were many of them, Jin Ja-gang continued to be beaten. When Jin Ja-gang fell, the men kicked and trampled him. Jin Ja-gang’s face quickly swelled and blood came from his lips.

Thud thud! Thud!

But in the midst of this, the foot of the man who had kicked Jin Ja-gang’s face with his bare foot was pierced by Jin Ja-gang’s front teeth. The top of the foot is where pain is concentrated and where the muscles that move the toes pass through.

Blood spurted from the man’s foot.

“Ow!”

The man couldn’t step properly and limped. The remaining man continued kicking Jin Ja-gang, who was fallen and crouched, as if venting anger.

“This b*st*rd! This b*st*rd!”

The man who had kicked Jin Ja-gang until exhausted drew a knife.

“I’ll cut his throat and…”

At that moment, the man saw the eyes of Jin Ja-gang who was crouched. Eyes that were looking at the man clearly despite being beaten like that.

The man swallowed dry saliva and stepped back.

“I was going to cut your throat and throw you as cow feed, but I stopped. You should know you’re lucky today. If you show your face here again, you’ll die.”

But none of them were unharmed. The men had done the hitting, but they were all injured or bleeding somewhere. Limping and groaning, the men returned to the village.

Jin Ja-gang dusted himself off and stood up.

One of the passing people brought well water for him. Jin Ja-gang nodded his bruised and swollen face to express gratitude.

* * *

“What’s this?”

Bian Bu, Soso, and Woon-jeong were dumbfounded seeing Jin Ja-gang enter the room.

Jin Ja-gang had appeared severely beaten up.

Looking at his condition, it didn’t seem like he had met pursuers, but rather like he had been beaten up in a street fight somewhere.

Bian Bu asked with a bewildered face.

“Did you meet some master somewhere? Why did a kid who went out fine come back beaten up?”