Chapter 4

About twenty days had passed since Danwooseong became engrossed in recovering…

His walks had gradually turned into runs.

His posture gradually straightened, and the pace at which his inner strength accumulated accelerated. It was proof his body was transforming correctly. The sources of illness, once too numerous to pinpoint individually, were gradually being subdued by the rebel force of his inner strength.

Unify the world through martial might.

It suited Dan Woo-sung’s temperament.

Even when he felt his physical condition had returned to normal, Dan Wooseong did not push himself.

Martial arts must be cultivated steadily over a long period.

The higher one’s level, the more important it was not to grow impatient.

Training like a madman for a single day would only damage the body. Moreover, Dan Wooseong’s body was exhausted by illness, so a slow recovery was the right path.

In that sense, running was a giant leap forward.

It meant his body had grown strong enough to support such intense movement.

Danwooseong changed his diet again.

He supplied nutrients, then immediately combined training to break them down.

His digestion steadily improved, and his complexion surpassed even the healthiest period of Lee Jin-eon.

The kitchen staff found the Crown Prince’s meticulous demands peculiar but prepared his meals without complaint.

When Dan Woo-sung returned from running until he felt hungry and ate, the servants couldn’t take their eyes off him as he devoured his meal with such relish.

That evening, just as dinner was ending, the gray-haired councilman Gongsun Ming visited Danwuseong for the first time in a long while.

“Master Kong, it is Gongsun Ming. May I come in?”

Dan Wooseong, who was rinsing his mouth with Gyeonsu Jeonggwa (乾枾水正果), replied.

“Come in.”

Unlike his usual demeanor, Gongsun Ming walked in with his head held high, observing Dan Wooseong.

“Master, it is truly fortunate to see you recovering so rapidly, day by day.”

Dan Woosung smiled at the audacious remark and replied.

“Thank you. Please sit.”

“Yes.”

He had been thinking of visiting the physician anyway, but the physician had taken the initiative and come to him.

He hadn’t eaten soup, refused moxibustion and acupuncture—he must have had nothing to do all this time.

Only then did Danwooseong properly look at the physician.

He scrutinized his gaze, expression, movements, and even the balance of his body. It seemed Gongsun Ming had mastered martial arts sufficient to thoroughly look down upon the former Crown Prince. As Dan Wooseong stared intently, Gongsun Ming swallowed once before asking.

“……Your Highness, might I take your pulse once more after all this time?”

Dan Wooseong replied in a cold tone.

“It’s unnecessary.”

“Hmm…”

Regardless of skill level, Dan Wooseong considered any physician without conscience to be a quack, so there was no need to entrust him with taking the pulse.

Gongsun Ming spoke with a flustered expression.

“By the way, your complexion has changed beyond recognition. I’m sorry. All my efforts over this time have truly been in vain.”

Dan Wooseong uttered words contrary to his thoughts.

“I ruined my own body. You needn’t concern yourself.”

“Oh, no, that’s not true.”

“It’s the truth.”

Lee Jin-eon ruined his body first, and the physician only made it worse. Dan Woo-sung continued.

“Of course, the dragon-phoenix soup you brewed acted like poison in my body. Since it boosted my vitality, I nearly died from overconsumption. You’re a physician yourself, so you should understand well. Medicine unsuited to the situation is no different from poison…”

Gong Sun-myeong couldn’t respond to the subtle sarcasm in his tone.

‘Hmm…’

He had only come to check on things, but the atmosphere felt like an interrogation, causing him to keep clearing his throat uncomfortably.

Danwooseong asked what he had been curious about.

“Who do you receive your salary from?”

“My salary? Of course, it’s handled by the main family’s finances…”

Dan Woo-sung shook his head.

“Ah, not that kind of compensation. I’m asking if there’s someone else who takes care of you separately.”

Gong Sun-myeong’s face flushed redder and redder.

“What reason would I have to receive separate compensation?”

Dan Woo-seong said with a smile.

“If I die, won’t you at least receive a generous reward?”

“Huh?”

“Why the surprise? It’d be best if I died of natural causes. Even if investigators come and comb through the entire mansion like they’re hunting rats, they won’t find any poison. Ah, maybe a trace of hallucinogenic herbs. But that’s not poison, after all.”

Gong Sun-myeong bowed his head as he spoke.

“Master, please refrain from such talk. How could that be possible?”

Though he thought things had gone awry, Gongsun Ming felt only bitter disappointment.

Even if this sick man tried to lay a hand on him, it wouldn’t hurt, and even if investigated, there was no evidence anywhere that he had worsened the Crown Prince’s health.

It was merely the reckless speculation of the foolish young master.

Dan Wuseong saw right through Gongsun Ming’s scheming and burst out laughing. In the awkward silence that followed, Gongsun Ming forced a laugh too.

“Hahaha…”

Gongsun Ming replied in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

“Anyway, since Your Highness has recovered like this, the head of the merchant guild must be overjoyed.”

“I suppose so. A father’s heart—he must be overjoyed that his son has risen from his sickbed.”

Gongsun Ming remained silent, offering no reply to these words. The conversation he was having with the Crown Prince felt entirely different from before, leaving him with an uneasy feeling that made it hard to control his expression.

Gongsun Ming spoke.

“If you find the pulse diagnosis unwelcome, I shall take my leave now. Rest well.”

“Minister Gongsun.”

“Yes.”

“I never told you to come, yet you came. I never told you to leave, yet you say you’ll go. Don’t do that again. Come when I call you, and leave when I tell you to. You’re doing nothing, yet you’re receiving a large sum from the main house. You should at least do that much.”

Gong Sun-myeong stared at Dan Woo-seong in shock. He wondered if this was really the Lee Jin-eon he knew. It was even more absurd that he was picking a fight with him.

Dan Wooseong continued.

“Isn’t that so?”

“Ah, yes. I will do as you say.”

As Gongsun Ming rose unsteadily, his mind half-frozen, Dan Woosung said,

“I never told you to go.”

Gongsun Ming sank back down, his face flushed bright red.

“Yes, speak.”

Dan Wooseong was deliberately provoking Gongsun Ming. Pointing to the desk, Dan Wooseong said,

“I need to send a letter. Bring me the writing utensils on the desk.”

“Yes.”

It was a task fit for a servant.

Gongson Myeong stood up, picked up the brush, ink, and blank paper from the desk, and returned.

Dan Wooseong said.

“This is a letter to be sent to my family home. I will dictate it to you; you write it down.”

Gongsun Ming took the brush and replied.

“Yes, please dictate. I shall write it.”

Dan Wooseong spoke as if recounting someone else’s story.

“Prince Lee Jin-eon’s illness is severe, so he will likely need to remain at the residence for the time being.”

Gongsun Ming transcribed Dan Wuxing’s words as he spoke. Dan Wuxing continued.

“His life is truly hanging by a thread. Please advise me on the next course of action.”

Gongsun Ming’s brush tip paused, then began to tremble violently.

The content was utterly impossible to transcribe. It resembled a letter sent to a collaborator.

Dan Wooseong bowed his head slightly, observing Gongsun Ming’s expression as he spoke.

“Why? Why not finish writing it?”

“The content is a bit… prone to misunderstanding.”

Gongsun Ming stared with a stiff expression, and Dan Wuseong said.

“Hey, old man…”

“Huh.”

After hearing the insult that crossed the line, Gongsun Ming set down his brush and looked at Dan Wooseong. No, it was now a glare.

It wasn’t the feeling of a merchant’s heir and a councilor facing each other, but rather a young man and an old man glaring at each other as if they wanted to kill one another.

Gongsun Ming replied in a stiff tone.

“Speak.”

Dan Wooseong spoke words laced with truth.

“I am not the same Li Zhenyan of before.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m not some scoundrel who drank the dragon-phoenix soup you gave me and then acted like a lecherous fool. I’m more like a prodigal son who dipped his toes in the afterlife and returned to this world.”

“Huh huh huh. I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. And the dragon-phoenix soup is not poison.”

“It can be poison, depending on the circumstances. A physician like you surely knows that…”

“Now I see, Master must have held a lot of resentment toward me. I am not a member of the Eunha Trading Company. I’ll let today’s outburst slide.”

Dan Woo-seong pointed at the letter with his finger.

“Enough noise. Finish writing that letter. And make sure to write the name of the bastard who ordered this on the bottom. I’ll keep it as evidence. If you don’t want to write it, you can die right here.”

Gong Sun-myeong sighed deeply at Dan Woo-seong’s blatant threat.

“Huuuuu…”

But as the sigh ended, Gongsun Ming smiled as if shedding a mask and nodded several times. Lee Jin-eon truly looked pathetic.

‘That piece of trash. Lying in bed too long must have scrambled his brain. I was trying to send him off with the utmost consideration, and this is what I get…’

It was the worst possible move, but at least Yi Jin-eon could return to his family home as a corpse. He could just kill all the servants to silence them. Whether the servants lived or died was of no concern to Gongsun Ming anyway. Besides, Gongsun Ming couldn’t understand why this sickly invalid was acting so brazenly. Gongsun Ming knew better than anyone that Lee Jin-eon had never properly mastered martial arts. If he were at least good in a fight, it might be different, but as far as Gongsun Ming knew, he was the type who got beaten up.

Gongsun Ming scratched his head and glanced behind him.

“Huh, well now…”

It was an instinctive gesture to check if the troublemakers were outside.

Understanding the meaning of this gesture, Dan Woo-sung clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“That bastard, the physician…”

Gongsun Ming thought that only by strangling Yi Jin-eon to death would the corpse remain somewhat intact, then turned his head again.

“Hey, Your Highness…”

The moment Gongsun Ming looked back, Dan Wooseong was already poised to split the log with the edge of his hand. Immediately, Dan Wooseong’s right hand fell like lightning onto Gongsun Ming’s head.

Thud!

Dan Wooseong’s words followed.

“All you think about is killing people.”

Gongsun Ming, his skull shattered, slowly collapsed to the side. After several convulsions, his breath ceased abruptly.

Danwooseong gazed at Gongsonmyeong’s corpse, then looked at his own hand.

This pitiful body showed a stinging reaction merely from striking the old man’s head. Even though he had deliberately struck with the edge of his hand because he hadn’t cultivated martial arts, it still reacted that way.

Dan Woo-sung stared at Gongsun Ming, whose breath had ceased, with a cold gaze.

‘Checking for witnesses before launching a surprise attack…’

To the Martial King, it was utterly laughable.

He didn’t care much about who had ordered the hit. After all, once his strength was restored, it wouldn’t matter if the entire Eunha Trading Company was behind it. He planned to find out upon his return.

Danwooseong, who had been about to pick a fight, frowned briefly and clutched his forehead. A peculiar headache he’d never felt before was washing over him.

“Hmm…”

It was a strange phenomenon.

In truth, Gongsun Ming was the very culprit who had directly caused Lee Jin-eon’s death. With Gongsun Ming’s death, it was as if Lee Jin-eon’s memory vault had opened, and past events flashed by like a galloping horse. Of course, these were Lee Jin-eon’s memories.

Was this the price of revenge?

The memories of Yi Jin-eon, the original owner of this body, were unclear, as if shrouded in fog.

But now Danwooseong could observe Lee Jinyun’s memories as if contemplating them. Since this wasn’t a common occurrence, the headache was perhaps only natural.

The faces of people he had seen only in portraits were now etched clearly in his mind, along with their names. Only now, as Lee Jin-eon relinquished his own memories, Dan Woo-sung felt as if he was acknowledging Jin-eon’s reincarnation.

Tears, not Dan Woo-sung’s but Lee Jin-eon’s, streamed down from just one eye and fell onto the floor.

Thud-

Danwooseong spoke, as if tapping into Lee Jin-eon’s heart.

‘Jin-eon, show me. What was inside you, what was in your heart, what was your pain… Reveal it all to me. Now I will remember.’

As Jin-eon’s memories poured forth like a waterfall, Danwooseong quietly closed his eyes.

ⓒ Yoo Jin-seong

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