Chapter 58

“I ordered the Second and Third Dukes to get the ingredients.”
“I told them to work for the family, not to play with themselves, so what’s the problem?”
“I’ll listen.”
“You’d better listen, or it’s not them, it’s their background.”
They were born with clan rivalry in their blood.
Nana.
2Gongja Nam Gung-hyeok Inna.
3Gongja Namgunggal Ina.
Whether they like it or not, they were known externally and known internally from birth. Therefore, you have to give up a lot of attention, interest, and expectations to escape or put aside the Gaju competition simply by your own choice and determination.
At least the Nam Goong Hyuk and Nam Goong Gal I know.
“Tang Miyan, Mo Yongye, if they find out, they’ll be furious, and they’ll do anything to stop me from coming.”
If his second wife, Tang Miyan, or his third wife, Mo Yongye, were to find out, they would do whatever it took to stop him from coming.
“They know the limits themselves. You’ll have no choice but to accept my offer if you don’t want to tighten things up yourself.”
“……Wow. What a coincidence.”
“A twist of fate, I suppose.”
“Well, it’s only good for you.”
“Eat pheasants and eggs, or lie down and eat rice cakes. It’s good for your sister and good for your brother-in-law.”
My uncle clucked his tongue at my impassive face. I wondered for a moment if I should rescind my declaration of guardianship.
“Sailing to the Beihai.”
I heard an excited voice say. It was Kang Woo-moon.
“…… also. We’re following the Grand Duke, so our movements are different. Only at this level can I be called Feng Wun’er, who travels on the Great Lake.”
“You like Fengyun. You’ll freeze to death.”
As Dong Hui said, the Beihai was literally a different world from Zhongyuan. It was a distance of at least five thousand li.
“Five thousand li…….”
Kang Wumun looked dizzy at the vague number. It was natural for him to feel unrealistic when a number he had never heard of popped up.
It was the same for me. No matter how many battlefields I had traveled, I had never dreamed of going outside.
The good news is.
Fuhihiiing, dag-dag, dag-dag.
It was fortunate that I had gotten some horses that could fight. When it was clear that someone needed to explain the five thousand li figure, the quick-thinking Black Tiger was the first to speak.
“Roughly speaking, at a rate of one hundred and fifty li a day, or two hundred and fifty li at most, it would take nearly a month.”
“Hah.”
It didn’t matter whose sigh it was. Everyone felt that way.
Even if it was.
“Okay, let’s move.”
I silenced their grumbling, but not the tension.
“We’re going to …… in search of the Bicentennial Ginseng. That’s our only purpose. Don’t think about anything else.”
Stepping foot in the North Sea was uncharted territory, even for the most experienced of us.
* * *
“…… Is this right?”
“I don’t know, but I didn’t realize my fate was to freeze to death.”
Rattling.
The white frost on his brow crackled and melted in the air. Whenever a gust of wind blew in, everyone tensed up and simultaneously pulled themselves together, or else they would literally die.
“I’m going to die, no, I’m going to die.”
When we’d go behind a tree to pee, we’d have to quickly hold our crotches up to the freezing stream of water as soon as we did.
“… … I, I… … This, my mouth… … is, about to fall off…”
With his mouth stuck in the freezing cold, he had to pour out all the liquor he had brought with him, and a group of grayish men huddled around a fire made of firewood to warm themselves.
“What’s the big deal about being a little out of the center?”
“If he doesn’t know, we all don’t know, what he’s doing at his age.”
“You’re old, you must know a lot.”
“I’m not bragging about what I don’t know!”
Black Ho sighed as he looked at the two arguing, then opened his collar and opened his eyes. At this rate, they’d be dead before they found the white ginseng.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t prepared.
It wasn’t.
He sold the horse he had ridden before reaching the mouth of the North Sea and used the money to retool. Wrapped in clothes made of deer skins, padded with deer hides, and stitched together from the fur of various beasts, and shoes woven from old-growth trees to keep them from slipping in the snow, he made his way without difficulty.
Just the wind from the North Sea.
It was just extraordinary enough to shatter their expectations of normalcy.
“Ugh. Well, it’s still spectacular. I didn’t expect to see such a beautiful snowy landscape.”
Echoing Dong Hui’s admiration, Black Tiger turned to look around.
The vast plain was filled with pure white salt fields. If only he could remember the first time he’d walked on it, with no footprints and a dusting of snow on top.
“North Haegeo, Nabaligo.”
“White ginseng, red ginseng. Nabal.”
“I’m freezing to death.”
“I’m freezing to death.”
Black Ho and Dong Hwi were still bickering, and their emotions were overwhelmed and broken. Just when they were wondering how long they were going to fight like this, the Grand Duke shouted, “Enough is enough.
“Let’s change our strategy. We’ll stop at every village in the North Sea, heal ourselves as best we can, and move on to the next. It’s absurd to search for white ginseng in such an endless place. Let’s change it to gather information.”
Black Lake nodded. In the town where they had stopped to reorganize before entering the snowy fields of the North Sea, the lumber store owner had said.
“White ginseng? I didn’t know about that, and there are simmani in the North Sea, too. Each village has its own famous simmani, so why don’t you follow them? Oh, by the way. Don’t go wandering around and meet any of the Binggung people. They hate the Zhongyuan. We’re camped here just in case. Don’t meet them and talk to them about us.”
I didn’t think the North Sea Ice Palace or anything else would be too frightening.
Facing an ice archery based on this kind of climate and cold, and fighting against those who utilized extreme geomancy, the odds would be stacked against them. It would be wise, then, to travel from village to village, as the lumberjack had suggested, to ask the Simmany for the whereabouts of the white ginseng.
“……And there it is, the village. It’s the first village we’ve seen since we entered the North Sea.”
The Grand Duke’s words were met with a brief expression of excitement.
“The sky hasn’t abandoned us after all.”
“If you hadn’t insisted that there was a good Simmany on the side of that mountain you see over there, we would have stopped at the villages we’ve already passed.”
“Again, again. You’re talking about the past. I’m done. Don’t use the cold as an excuse to drink and leave us some food!”
Black Ho led Donghui and Kang Woo-moon away, knowing that they were the kind of people who could survive hell on their own.
As Black Ho, Donghwi, and Kang Woo-moon picked up their pace and started walking, the sound of grumbling followed closely behind.
“No, I’m sure the Simmany will eventually find them near the mountains, and I’ll find them by the water somewhere.”
“You fool, where is the water here, it’s all frozen.”
“The North Sea, the North Sea, you don’t know what that means!”
“The lakes are all frozen, so the North Sea means the lake in the north. I’m sure there are people who fish smelt for a living, so it would be quicker to search for them and ask around. Let’s get busy making a living.”
They were two men who never stopped talking, but Black Tiger listened to them because they never said anything wrong.
“Really, Black Tiger, you’re a great diplomat. How can you listen and move without changing your expression when the two of them are begging you to do so?”
Dong Hui was greatly impressed. If it weren’t for Black Lake taking the center stage and leading the group, they would have been in trouble. Even though they were screaming behind him, “Let go of the persimmon, let go of the boat,” he was still moving according to what was right.
But there was no response.
“Black Tiger?”
“…… will not.”
Huh?
Donghui shook his head and quickened his pace to hear what Black Lake was saying. It was hard to hear him in the cold wind, but he strained his hearing to hear what he was saying.
“…… won’t come.”
Huh?
“Even if I die with these humans, and I will die soon, I will not come back.”
Dong Hui sighed as he slowed his pace, looking at Black Lake in the lead, Kang Wumen in a daze, and the Grand Duke and Master still bickering nonstop behind him.
Then he looked up at the sky.
“Is this right?”
* * *
“Yun Kang.”
“Chong!”
“Your work in Shandong is finished.”
“Yes. From what I’ve been able to find out, it appears that you’ve razed twenty-five mountain houses in Shandong and distributed all kinds of goods, wares, and provisions to the people. You’ve also survived the battle with Huang Bo-sei and condemned them. All in the name of the Southern Palace.”
The recipient of the report remained impassive despite Yun Kang’s seemingly proud expression.
“And the process?”
“Apparently, Guan Kun was involved.”
“Guan Gun.”
At Jia Zhu’s question, the man who called himself Yun Kang lowered his head and opened his mouth as he traced the scar across his left cheek.
“Monkfish Master Huang Tianhou, he made the move himself.”
“Yan Yu.”
“He said there was a request from the Grand Duke. Also…….”
“Also?”
“He and…….”
Yun Kang paused, and Jia Zhu’s expression changed mysteriously. Demanding an answer, Yun Gang bit his lower lip and told a story that even he couldn’t quite believe.
“They say I’m a half-brother.”
“Brother-in-law of ……?”
The patriarch of the Changcheng Southern Palace Family, Nan Gong Mu Bai, knitted his eyebrows.
“What is the contact between the two of them?”
“……Sadly, there were none. It can only be assumed that the Grand Duke initiated the meeting with Huang Tianhuo and that it developed into a good relationship…….”
“Where is the Grand Duke?”
“I’ve been informed that he’s headed for the North Sea.”
“The North Sea? Why?”
“They say he’s moving to refuel his fleet for the rest of the year.”
The corners of Nangong Mubai’s mouth twitched at the words. As he pondered the words, “refueling the river for a year,” he smiled to himself.
“You’ve already roasted Shandong.”
“What?”
“I’ve made those people in Shandong my own.”
“……What.”
Recalling the look in the Grand Duke’s eyes as he stared down at him at the Sword Council, Nangong Mu Bai shook his head.
“I’m not one to waste my time.”
Yun Gang’s jaw dropped as he listened to the Grand Duke’s words.
He didn’t know if he was being dismissive or suspicious.
His words made her sigh softly.