CLS-Chapter 88

Chapter 88

“Y-young master.”

Cold sweat began to flow down Gwak Do-san’s forehead.

Who could have known that this young brat was such a monster?

“Hmm, what should I do?”

“What… what do you mean?”

Wei Yan-ho smiled slyly and said:

“Master told me that there’s no need to catch and beat up every bad guy that passes by, but leaving alone a bad guy who touched me would be nothing short of disrespecting Master.”

Gwak Do-san’s legs lost their strength.

“It seems uncomfortable to just let this slide. I may not be a good disciple, but I still try to follow what our old man says whenever possible.”

“Hahaha, young master, now that you’ve become an adult, you should walk your own path.”

“That’s why I’m going.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s go.”

“…Where do you mean?”

“Back to where you came from.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled brightly.

“I was already feeling a bit uncomfortable after seeing what you did at Sacred Hand Hall last time. That person has such a kind heart that I just left it alone, but…”

Gwak Do-san turned his gaze toward ‘that person.’

Joageol was standing awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

Living long enough to hear that Joageol is kind, huh.

It really seemed like time to retire.

“…I think I made a mistake, but people can make mistakes once in a while, can’t they?”

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like a mistake though…”

“It really was a mistake.”

Gwak Do-san dropped to his knees right there and bowed his head.

“If you forgive me just this once, I’ll reform and live like a proper human being.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded gently.

“Reform is a good thing. But when people who’ve been sucking the blood and sweat of others suddenly say they’ll reform, asking us to believe that is a bit unreasonable, don’t you think?”

“Then what should I do…”

“Well, killing seems too excessive… Let’s go with the same method.”

“The same method?”

Gwak Do-san’s eyes turned toward the black-clad men collapsed on the ground.

Seeing the black-clad men lying there with their dantians sealed, his mind suddenly cleared.

“You mean you’ll seal my dantian?”

“You understand very well. I like people who communicate well.”

“…Isn’t there another way?”

“Actually, it’s very difficult to have a trusting relationship when we’re meeting for the first time today.”

Gwak Do-san bit his lips tightly and shot up from his spot.

“I can’t do that!”

For someone who had lived his entire life in the underworld, being told to have his dantian sealed was the same as being told to die.

Gwak Do-san charged at Wei Yan-ho without another word.

“Oh?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head as he watched Gwak Do-san charging at him with fierce momentum.

“You’re quite impatient.”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand.

“Urgh!”

At that moment, Gwak Do-san grabbed his lower abdomen and rolled on the ground.

M-my dantian…

Gwak Do-san gaped and drooled from the hollow feeling of his accumulated power draining away. Those who haven’t experienced the feeling of decades of cultivated power scattering in an instant wouldn’t understand.

Wei Yan-ho watched the scene quietly, then turned his head to look at Joageol.

“We meet again.”

“Yes? Yes! That’s right, young master!”

“When I saw you before, you seemed like a good person, so why are you hanging around with people like this?”

“…I had to make a living.”

“That’s a sad story.”

Wei Yan-ho approached Joageol and patted his shoulder.

“Then please guide us.”

“Where to?”

“To that Spider Web or Black Spider Web place.”

“…”

Cracking sounds came from Wei Yan-ho’s entire body.

“Hurry up.”

“…Yes.”

And on that very day…

The Black Spider Web, which boasted the largest scale in Hubei, was cleanly destroyed.

***

“Where did that kid go?”

Jin Ye-ran looked at the darkening sky with a stern face.

There were many patients to care for, but Jin So-ah had been missing since morning and hadn’t returned even as the sun set.

“To abandon patients like this.”

Jin Ye-ran suppressed her rising anger.

She could understand a child’s desire to play at such a young age. But no matter what, for someone who had taken up the profession of medicine to wander around outside without caring for patients was absolutely unacceptable.

“Why does he keep going astray…”

Jin Ye-ran sighed deeply.

“Mother.”

Touching her mother’s keepsake hanging around her neck, Jin Ye-ran wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes.

Thinking of her mother’s dying words to raise Jin So-ah into an excellent physician and revive the family, ‘Jin Ye-ran set her heart like steel.’

‘It was because I was lacking.’

It was natural for a child to become more opinionated as he grew older, but she had been treating him the same way as before, so going astray was an inevitable consequence.

‘I should have paid more attention.’

She knew that Jin So-ah might find the heavy mission assigned to him burdensome. But she had thought it was something he naturally had to endure if he was to inherit Sacred Hand Hall, so she had been strict with him until now.

Jin Ye-ran resolved to have a deeper conversation with Jin So-ah when he returned.

“Sister! Sister!”

Just then, Jin So-ah burst through the gate and entered.

“What’s all this noise at this hour!”

Jin Ye-ran slightly turned her head and wiped away the tears from her eyes. She also didn’t forget to be careful not to let any moisture show in her voice.

“Sister! Come out quickly! Hurry!”

At Jin So-ah’s commotion, Jin Ye-ran got up.

‘What’s going on?’

Although Jin So-ah was still young, he had a serious nature and wasn’t the type to make such a fuss over ordinary matters. If it were a patient, maybe, but Jin So-ah’s voice contained not urgency but joy.

Going outside the room, she saw Jin So-ah and Wei Yan-ho, who was half-exhausted, entering through the gate.

Wei Yan-ho was wearing decent silk clothes from somewhere, but the silk clothes were white with dust.

‘What a beggar’s appearance.’

Not only Wei Yan-ho, but Jin So-ah also looked no different from a beggar. She thought they had really wandered around looking like that.

“Let go! Let me go!”

Wei Yan-ho shook off Jin So-ah’s arm that was dragging him along, then rushed toward his room at an inappropriately fast speed.

“I did everything I had to do! Even if I freeload here for another ten years, you have nothing to say! Don’t bother me anymore! I’m going to sleep!”

Wei Yan-ho shouted, then entered his room with a loud bang as he shut the door.

But what was puzzling was Jin So-ah’s attitude.

Even though Wei Yan-ho had shown behavior that completely ignored etiquette, Jin So-ah kept bowing toward the room Wei Yan-ho had entered as if he was delighted.

“Wei So-hyeop! Please rest comfortably! Would you like to skip dinner?”

“I’m not eating!”

“Yes, yes.”

Jin So-ah grinned foolishly and then quickly ran to Jin Ye-ran.

“Sister!”

“What’s all this commotion?”

“Sister! Sister! Do you know what I did today?”

“Hm?”

Usually, Jin So-ah would shrink back when she raised her voice like this, but today it wasn’t working at all. Rather than being angry, she was curious. What on earth had happened to make Jin So-ah so happy?

“What happened?”

At Jin Ye-ran’s words, Jin So-ah smiled brightly and said:

“I paid off all the debts.”

Jin Ye-ran couldn’t understand Jin So-ah’s words for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I paid off all the debts under Sacred Hand Hall’s name.”

“…You must have had a dream.”

“That’s not it, sister!”

Jin So-ah explained what had happened since this morning, spitting as he spoke. The incident of breaking into the gold exchange and winning money through gambling, and everything that happened after. Finally, when he finished telling about Wei Yan-ho breaking into the Black Spider Web and turning it upside down, Jin Ye-ran’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“Is… is that really true?”

“I’m telling you it’s true, sister! I saw it all with my own two eyes.”

“Ah…”

Jin Ye-ran touched her white jade necklace and covered her eyes.

“Now we’re free. We won’t have to suffer from debt anymore. This is all thanks to Wei So-hyeop.”

“I see. That’s truly fortunate.”

Jin Ye-ran glanced at the room Wei Yan-ho had entered and expressed her deep gratitude to him.

“We owe him a great debt.”

“Yes. Wei So-hyeop is a good person. Who would have known he’d step forward like this?”

“Yes, that’s right. However…”

“Yes?”

“Trying to pay off debt through gambling was wrong.”

“…Sister.”

“It’s something a gentleman shouldn’t do. This time it couldn’t be helped, but never go near a gambling house again. Just the fact that you went to a gambling house makes me want to punish you, but since you didn’t actually gamble, I’ll understand just this once.”

Jin So-ah’s face contorted.

“Is the method that important?”

“Those who don’t walk the righteous path are bound to hit walls. There’s a reason for the saying ‘A gentleman walks the great road.'”

“If I had insisted on being a gentleman this time, Sacred Hand Hall would have gone bankrupt by now, and sister might have been dragged to a brothel. Even so, you say the method is the problem?”

“That’s right.”

Jin Ye-ran spoke in a tone as cold as frost.

“Especially a physician must walk the righteous path. Someone who can endanger a person’s life with a single mistake must walk the righteous path. Don’t you know well what happened to father who fell into gambling?”

Jin So-ah looked at Jin Ye-ran with a face full of dissatisfaction, then sighed deeply.

“You’re too rigid.”

“So-ah.”

“I did my best for sister. But instead of saying one word of praise, you only look for things to scold me about.”

“It’s all for your sake.”

“Look.”

Jin So-ah pointed around them.

“If I live the life sister talks about, I’ll spend my entire life here treating patients. Is that really the path for me?”

“What other life should a physician desire besides dedicating himself to medicine?”

“I don’t want that.”

“So-ah!”

Jin So-ah shouted with a resolute face:

“I don’t want to live like that. I want to try gaining fame, and I want to try making money. I don’t want to live a life where I just treat patients and die of old age.”

“How can you say such things!”

“In the first place, wasn’t Sacred Hand Hall famous not because of excellent medical skills, but because of its great influence? No matter how excellent one’s medical skills are, if you live a life of only giving like this, who would recognize those medical skills? Our ancestors wouldn’t have wanted this kind of life either.”

Jin Ye-ran’s body trembled.

For the first time, Jin So-ah was rebelling against her.

She had thought this day would come someday, but it was far too early than she had expected. Moreover, since Jin So-ah was rebelling over something she had never thought of, Jin Ye-ran couldn’t get her bearings.

“I learned a lot from watching Wei So-hyeop this time. I no longer want to live according to sister’s wishes. I want to live my own life, not in the shadow of Sacred Hand Hall.”

Moonlight slowly cast over Jin Ye-ran and Jin So-ah as they faced each other.