Chapter 60

I thought about it every time I was on the battlefield. What the hell are they doing?
Why do they give us such inferior equipment and armor and force us to go out and fight?
Isn’t it logical that if you sucked the blood of so many people, you should produce equipment and armor to protect them.
When I would see the shoddy equipment and armaments and express my anger, Huang Tianhou, my teacher in my previous life, would say
“Ban, in the Zhongyuan, where you were staying, you lived by the rule of the strongest, so why should it be any different here? This is a world where the strong fill their stomachs with what suits their tastes and appeals to them, and the weak and hungry are left with the scraps. It is a world built on the logic of power.”
I couldn’t admit it. No, I didn’t want to admit it. But I nodded at Huang Tianhou’s next words.
“So, be strong. Be stronger than ever and do what you want to do. Do what you want to do with a single step rather than a single complaint, with a single bead of sweat rather than a single complaint about the world, and you will be strong. And then you will be able to go where you want to go. ”
So, according to my logic, I needed to get stronger in order to change the world.
But I said.
“Master, getting strong and then moving is something anyone can do, but if I don’t move now, nothing will change.
Not yet mature,
not yet young.
Even as I am, I intend to take the plunge. Because that’s the responsibility and mission of the name Namgung that I want.
* * *
Chunshik, and his father, Kangseok, set the cart aside, wrapping it in the swaddling cloth they had brought and covering it with a layer of snow to cover the tracks.
The footprints quickly disappeared in the scattering blizzard.
As I stood there, I looked at the men in the clearing and remembered a conversation we’d had a few days earlier.
“……is it true?”
“He needs medical attention as soon as possible. My guess is that they’ve taken all the Simmani and herbalists in this village, as well as others.”
I felt a twinge of doubt. What I thought was food was poison.
“You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to, but the timing of the handing over of these as food is suspicious. It seems to coincide with my deteriorating health.”
The middle members of the group, especially the youngest, looked at each other with concern.
Kangseok couldn’t argue with his words. They were North Sea men. They were North Sea people who could stand up to the bitter cold, and they were proud of the tolerance they had built up over the years.
However, the townspeople have recently begun to notice a number of people with bone ailments and dry coughs. Some of them were even coughing so hard that the blood that seeped through the gaps in their teeth made them frown.
“I’ve heard that the herbalists and simmanis were taken away around the same time these poisons were given to them, is that correct?”
“Yes. ……First they took them one or two at a time, and now they’ve taken everyone left in the village.”
“I guess.”
Kang-seok grunted. I blurted out what I’d been thinking.
“They must be testing something on the North Sea people.”
At that, Kang-seok and the other North Sea people said that the Nara would never do such a thing. But I didn’t argue with them, rightly or wrongly.
If they were curious and suspicious, they should check it out.
“You can check it out.”
“Check ……?”
I blurted out, staring at the gaunt Kangseok and the North Sea men.
“What kind of tyranny is this country you’re talking about. We can check each village to see if it’s like this.”
If it’s the same in other villages, then I won’t have to say anything.
Kang-seok bit his lower lip at that.
“You’re being too kind.”
“……that.”
“…….”
“I hope I don’t fall victim to such unreasoning malice, and I’m the only one who sees the outcast.”
The South Palace Wall of the previous life was abandoned, but it was not the South Palace Half of the current life.
Kang Seok, Chun Shik, and the other villagers nodded in agreement. “The bottom is the main hall.
* * *
“Did you hear, Mr. Zhao, the one who was captured, still hasn’t returned.”
“Mr. Zhao is not the most expert in this area.”
The failure of Mr. Zhao, who was well-regarded among the Symphonies and recognized as a skilled master, to return meant that something had been done to him.
The Simmanis’ anguish deepened by the day.
“What in the world are we doing here? I have never seen anything like this in all my life!”
“It’s the nations, there must be a reason.”
“You’re the only ones who give us food every month and think of us.”
“What a pity.”
As the Simmanys praised the Beihai Ice Palace, insults crept in.
“You still haven’t gotten your act together. You won’t make it out of here with such weak minds. Everyone.”
“Guan Guo, what’s wrong with you?”
The Simani called Guan Guo gritted his teeth and spoke to the other Simani through clenched teeth.
“It’s not you, it’s them. Why do you give them respect when you’re so busy looking out for your own interests? Food? You like food! Are you truly Simmani? I could smell it from the scent, and it was more like poison than food!”
Guan Guo had seen the food they had given him before he was captured here. The people of Binggong had brought Guan Guo to this place because he was furious that they had given him the wrong food.
At Guan Guo’s words, all the Simurghi fell silent. Some of them were about to question whether or not it was a mistake, but were silenced by the rumbling of the crowd and all bowed their heads.
“What’s all this noise!”
“……Sorry.”
“Forget it. You, you, you, and you, you. All four of you I just named, come out.”
The four Simmanis the man named included a man named Guan Guo.
Guan Guo followed the man as he walked away. This time, he felt himself being led down a different path than usual, but he couldn’t help it. What power.
Sabak, Sabak.
Once they reached the icy path, Guan Shuang was surprised by the unusual environment. Normally, the only thing he was asked to do was categorize poisonous plants.
“……You’re crazy.”
In the freezing, bitter cold, Guan Shuang could see a towering iceberg, and many familiar faces dotted around it.
There were many Simmanys and herbalists, and supervising them were the men of the Ice Palace, mercilessly cracking their whips.
Guan Guo was surprised twice.
First, the size of the iceberg. He had only followed the passageway inside the ice palace, and yet there was an iceberg in the middle of such a huge cavity.
The second was the predicament that Sima Mani and the herbalists were in.
Sting, sting, sting!
The floggings and other harshness directed at the Simmani were literally mortifying.
“You pick this pile of poisonous herbs. Sort them into good, medium, and yawning!”
Some of the group sorted and categorized the poisonous herbs they had found.
“You fools! How is it that you have spent your entire lives trying to make a living, and you can’t even find such a thing!”
“My lord, my lord, please help me!”
“I mean to find a man with twelve roots in one, not three or four!”
“Alas, my lord…… I have never seen such a fellow in all my life, nor have I ever made a living from this…….”
“You worthless wretch!”
They were being whipped and kicked, shivering in the cold, wearing tattered clothes, and being forced to search for what they wanted with broken hoes.
As the two groups were being separated and abused, something caught Guan’s eye.
“We should gather up everything that is inferior or inedible and feed it to them.”
The bastards.
The expression made them squirm.
“Be sure to check on them periodically!”
“Don’t worry, my lord, I’ve been keeping an eye on them with a yawn of frozen grass. I’ve been giving it to them for nearly a year now, and if they consume it regularly, the toxicity overcomes their tolerance and immunity and spreads throughout their bodies. They will feel full by mistaking it for making them lose their appetite, and the five organs of the human body will lose their function.”
……This was Mr. Cao’s father.
Guan Guo gritted his teeth. This man, who was considered an expert among the Simmany, was now in league with the countrymen and was actively looking out for his own interests.
“You are very useful.”
“My family is enjoying a warm time with the money and food you provide, how can I thank you more?”
“If you continue to do this for me, I will give you all the food I give to the others.”
“I will be loyal!”
It was like seeing another hell, seeing that I was participating in selling out and harming others for my own comfort. Seeing Mr. Zhao squirm, Guan Shou clenched his fists.
“Shit!
A whip flew out at just the right time and struck Guan Guo’s back.
His mouth dropped open in bitter pain, but he endured it. For the words he heard were even more bitter than the pain.
“From now on, you will have to tolerate everything you see, hear, and feel. If you don’t, all the people of the North Sea will die.”
Guan Guo despaired.
And he blamed himself. How did I end up with this view of the North Sea in my eyes?
If there is a heaven, please.
Help me.
* * *
As if they had been waiting, Donghui and Kang Wu-moon switched clothes with the two fallen guards.
At the same time, their hats were pressed down tightly, transforming them into the guards of the fearsome Northern Sea Ice Palace.
“Please.”
At my words, the two young men nodded without complaint.
“Don’t worry, just go.”
“They’ll probably come for a shift.”
“We’ll take care of it and make sure we have a way out in time.”
When you run away, you have to run away safely. Otherwise, I might end my life here before I can save the white ginseng.
I took Eunuch, Black Lake, Chun Shik, and Kang Seok with me.
We decided to split up so we could move as planned.
“Black Ho, follow the two of them, pretend to be Sim Mani, and approach inside.”
“I see, what are you two planning to do?”
“Who cares about who right now.”
Hagi.
They’re two people who would come back alive no matter what.
I smiled at Black Ho, who was giving me a look, and then looked at Kang-seok and Chun-sik.
I wanted them to face the reality of Nara, not me, and that’s why I took the risk of bringing them here.
“Trust Black Ho. Don’t worry, if you’re in danger, I’ll come running.”
“……I will.”
Kang-seok and Chun-sik had already followed me to more than a dozen villages, discovering the same phenomenon and following me as representatives. Their eyes were full of determination to find out what was happening in the North Sea.
I am ready to accept and fulfill their will.
If they were corrupt, punishment.
Mercy, if there was room.
I will mark the footsteps of the Southern Court far beyond this place.