Tangmunjeon - Chapter 322



Only Noblemtl

Episode 322: Fighting

“Toohee… I think I’ve heard it somewhere.”

It was a story that conveyed the exact meaning of the expression.

Dang Mu-jin had heard about Tu-hee somewhere, but did not know the details.

However, just from the nickname, Toohee, I could guess two things. Since a short and plain nickname would not be given to someone who was not well-off, it would have to be someone with a high reputation, and since the nickname included the character “姬,” it must have been a woman with a very beautiful appearance.

Dang Mu-jin felt pure curiosity. How beautiful must she be to be given such a nickname?

The woman looked delighted just from hearing that Dangmujin had given her the nickname, Tuhee.

“Thank you. Could you help me? Oh, by the way, my name is Kang Ji-so.”

“Of course. Are you planning to leave today?”

When Dang Mu-jin answered immediately without hesitation, the woman who revealed herself as Kang Ji-so was embarrassed.

In situations like this, you usually ask a few things first: where the person is, what the symptoms are, how much the treatment will cost, etc.

Kang Ji-so answered hesitantly.

“Actually, our circumstances are not good, so it is difficult to give you enough money for treatment. We will try our best to procure the medicine, but…”

“You don’t have to worry too much about the treatment costs.”

In the past, medical expenses were set to a certain amount and received, but after the financial situation became more stable, one more standard was added to the treatment expenses of the Dangmujin. Patients should not have difficulty making a living while paying the treatment expenses.

Sometimes, there are people who sell their worldly lives to pay for medicine to cure their illness.

From what Dang Mu-jin had observed so far, all such people, without exception, were destined to suffer from illness again.

It is said that illness does not visit anyone, but it is a clear fact that it visits the hungry and the suffering more often.

“···Not only is the treatment expensive, but is it okay for you to travel a long way without even listening to your symptoms?”

“In my experience, it’s more accurate to go and see the symptoms yourself rather than just hearing about them. Symptoms may seem easy to convey at first glance, but there are many symptoms that can be easily confused.”

Representative Yeom, who was standing next to him, also nodded. He couldn’t help but sympathize, having experienced similar situations many times.

Dang Mu-jin stood up from his seat and spoke.

“I will relay the situation to the group, so please come out to the west of Dongjing Lake in two hours.”

Kang Ji-so looked at Dang Mu-jin’s back as he left the guest house with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Since I had to invite the world’s best doctor for a small amount of money, I thought I would be rejected nine times out of ten.

The fact that Kang Ji-so immediately mentioned Toohui’s nickname was also an action to lower the chances of being rejected even a little.

However, looking at the atmosphere, I thought that even if the opponent had not been Tuhee, Yiryong would not have reacted much differently.

And that was certainly true. Dang Mu-jin had never neglected a patient because he didn’t have enough money, and he intended to continue to do so.

*

Kang Ji-so and his group left Dongjeongho and headed south.

Moving south meant entering the realm of Sapa’s power, but Namgung Myung was rather satisfied. If he entered the realm of Sapa’s power, wouldn’t the probability of being captured by Namgung Jinya and taken to Namgung Se-ga decrease?

Not only Namgung Myung, but Hong Geol-gae’s expression also brightened slightly, but no one noticed it.

While heading south, Dang Mu-jin and his party noticed something strange.

“You don’t know what kind of person Tuhee is?”

“okay.”

Everyone in the group except Seolhwa had heard of Tuhee’s nickname, but no one knew anything more about him than that.

Rep. Yeom said.

“Well, I don’t have many opportunities to talk to people in the martial arts world, so it’s hard for me to know much about Toohui. I think I heard the nickname Toohui in passing at a guest house.”

The circumstances of Dang Mu-jin and his friends were similar to those of Assemblyman Yeom. They were not from the martial arts world, but I had only heard of them once in a guest house or a bar. They were famous, but it seemed they were not very active.

Of course, if you ask Kang Ji-so, who was acting as a guide, you will get an answer, but Dang Mu-jin did not specifically ask her to tell him about the fight.

The party’s general opinion was that an ideal doctor should not show much interest in aspects of the patient’s illness that were not serious.

*

Contrary to the story that it would take about two days, the group arrived at their destination in just one and a half days. This was the result of hastening their pace as much as possible so that no one would fall behind.

The village was situated on the side of a fairly rounded hill, and seemed to be in a pretty good location.

Looking at the large trees growing thickly on the hill, it seemed that the hill would not collapse and be swept away by landslides even if it rained, and it seemed that it would not be difficult to obtain drinking water thanks to the small stream flowing at the bottom of the hill.

Dang Mu-jin crossed the stream, dipped his hand in the water, and took a sip. Kang Ji-so, who saw him, told the story.

“It looks like your throat is parched from moving in a hurry.”

“That’s not it. Sometimes symptoms can originate from water or land, so I checked the condition of the water just in case. There doesn’t seem to be any problem with the water.”

The group followed Kang Ji-so into the village.

The rest of the town was not much different from any other village, but there was one thing that was unusual.

‘···What is that?’

The village was located on the side of a hill, so one side of the village was adjacent to the slope of the hill, and there was a part of the slope that was sunken inward. In front of that sunken part was a large rock.

If it were just a simple rock, I would have thought so, but it wasn’t like that. There was a slightly smaller rock in front of the large rock, and another rock in front of that. It was as if something was hidden in the rock.

Dang Mu-jin’s curiosity was directed towards the rock, but Kang Ji-so ignored the rock and guided the group to an empty house.

For an abandoned house, it had a sense of life, and it didn’t have the chilliness that comes with a house where no one lives.

“You can stay here.”

Dang Mu-jin asked back at Kang Ji-so’s story.

“Stay? Can’t you see the patient right now?”

“It’ll probably take two days at the shortest, or three or four days at the longest. Thanks to arriving earlier than expected… If there’s anything you need, please let me know. I’ll try my best to get it.”

Kang Ji-so’s voice was filled with regret, as if she thought she had taken up the precious time of those people.

“Is the patient out of town?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why-”

Just as Dang Mu-jin was about to ask another question, a voice pierced his ears.

– Just wait for now.

It was Namgung Myung’s voice.

Namgung Myung is basically a guy who lives without thinking much, but unlike Hong Geol-gae, he is a guy who knows how to think sometimes.

Since now seemed to be the right time, Dang Mu-jin nodded without asking any further questions.

“···Okay, I understand. Please let me know when you’re ready.”

“yes.”

Kang Ji-so bowed slightly to show respect to the group and disappeared out of the house.

After waiting until Kang Ji-so’s footsteps had gone far enough away, Dang Mu-jin asked Nam Gung-myeong.

“Why did you suddenly send a message?”

“If you rush like that and finish the treatment right away, the opportunity will be lost. If you’re going to rush, it would be better to rush tomorrow.”

“···What opportunity?”

“Did you see the rock lying in one corner of the village earlier?”

Dang Mu-jin nodded. It was the only suspicious part in an ordinary village, so he couldn’t ignore it.

“I saw it.”

Hyun-gong and Hong-geol-gae, as well as Yeom-ui and Seol-hwa, nodded. Most people are the same.

“But why that rock?”

“There were three in a row. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“In what way?”

“To anyone who looked at it, it looked like the entrance was blocked.”

It’s an entrance. What entrance are you talking about?

After a brief moment of thought, Dang Mu-jin understood the situation. There was only one situation where there would be an entrance on the mountainside. A cave.

“There’s a cave behind it? I didn’t see it at all.”

“I haven’t seen it either. But not everything in the world exists unless it’s visible. I have a feeling. There’s definitely a cave beyond that, and there’s something precious inside the cave.”

Why was Namgung Myung thinking about this? As expected, it seems he had an intuition that it was related to his main job.

However, it is rare for Namgung Myung’s intuition to go astray in this direction.

Dang Mu-jin clicked his tongue.

“So, you want to steal something precious inside that cave?”

Normally, he would have nodded immediately, but now Namgung Myung was startled and waved his hand.

“What do you mean steal? I just wanted to take a look because I’m curious. You know how curious I am, right?”

I wondered why he suddenly reacted like that, but upon thinking about it, I realized that Seol-hwa and Assemblyman Yeom were next to him.

The two men do not know what kind of connection there is between Namgung Myung and theft. Even in the vicinity of Dongjeong Lake, Namgung Myung was seen wandering the streets at night twice.

Dang Mu-jin took a step back after considering whether to ruin Namgung Myung’s social reputation.

“I see. Curiosity… I know. Anyway, I want to see what’s inside that cave, right?”

“That’s right. I’ll have to leave town right after I finish my treatment today, so I won’t be able to find out what’s inside that cave.”

In short, it means that I postponed my schedule with my group to pursue my hobby.

I wanted to tell him to bring Kang Ji-so right away, but unexpectedly, Hyun-gong stopped Dang Mu-jin.

“Yes. I think it’ll be okay to take a day or so off. Lady Kang asked me to wait a bit, so let’s do that.”

There was a simple reason why Hyun-gong took Nam-gung-myeong’s side.

This is because Namgung Myung’s rank in Hyungong’s mind was slightly higher than Dang Mujin’s.

In fact, Hyun-gong wanted to immediately report Namgung Myung’s location to Namgung Jin-ya and send Namgung Myung back to Namgung Se-ga.

It is better to have the Namgung family as the de facto head of the household rather than the Namgung family as the de facto head of the household. It was just that there was no way to contact Namgung Jinya without Namgung Myung’s attention.

In any case, the fact that ‘the Namgung family is actually the head of the household’ was also an excellent background, so Hyeon-gong had been showing a very humble and friendly attitude in front of Namgung Myung recently.

As soon as Hyun-gong clearly stated his opinion, the atmosphere shifted in his favor.

Although Rep. Yeom also seemed to want to check the patient’s condition as soon as possible, he could not overcome the opinions of the other four people.

*

It was late at night. As Namgung Myung, who seemed to be sleeping, slowly raised his upper body, the four people except for Assemblyman Yeom also got up and sat down.

Congressman Yeom also seemed curious about what was inside the cave, but he was completely exhausted from enduring the forced march of the past day and a half and was in a deep sleep.

Namgung Myung, his friends, and even Seolhwa. The five of them quietly left the house. Naturally, the villagers did not notice their movements.

The five approached the rocky slope. Even when they looked closely, they could not see the cave.

However, Namgung Myung put his ear to a large rock and held his breath.

After a while, Namgung Myung spoke in a pleased voice.

“···I can feel the sound of the wind blowing.”

Namgung Myung would not lie about such a matter.

There is only one problem: how to clear that rock and get into the cave.

The group looked around the rock.

And before long, I noticed that there were round iron handles embedded in either side of the rock.

Namgung Myung spoke with confidence.

“Good. As expected, that rock was brought there on purpose. Am I right?”

Judging by the height, it seems likely that the rock was moved by pushing or pulling using animals.

Anyway, it became clear that the large rock served as a kind of door.

The party leader answered.

“So how are you going to move the rock?”

“well···.”

Just because a rock has a handle doesn’t mean you can push or pull it easily.

But since Namgung Myung seemed unable to let go of his obsession with the handle, Dang Mujin spoke to Namgung Myung.

“Are you going to sneak out of other people’s houses and open it? Like a cattle thief?”

“Oh my, that can’t be!”

I thought you were going to reveal your hobbies in front of Seolhwa, but it turns out that wasn’t the case.

In the end, Namgung Myung proposed the simplest solution.

“There are five people who have learned martial arts, so we can move the rock by ourselves. Let’s put in some effort.”

Seolhwa took a slight step back and yawned unnaturally.

“Okay, I’m sleepy.”

Hyun-gong seemed to hesitate for a moment between Nam-gung-myeong and Seol-hwa, but soon took Seol-hwa’s side.

“I’ll bring you Seolhwa.”

Of course, Namgung Myung had no intention of quietly letting Seolhwa and Hyeon-gong go, so he blocked Hyeon-gong and Seolhwa’s path like a third-rate troublemaker.

“Where are you going? Since you’re up, let’s use some strength.”

Hyun-gong looked displeased.

Namgung Myung changed his mind and decided to attack Seolhwa. If he could persuade Seolhwa, Hyeon-gong would naturally follow.

“If something great comes out of this, I’ll give you my share. What do you think?”

Seolhwa hesitated for a moment, but then quietly approached the rock. Namgung Myung’s weak persuasion had worked. Hyungong also took a stance next to Seolhwa as if he had never opposed her before.

Five people worked together to push a large rock. The position was extremely uncomfortable because there were so many people clinging to the rock compared to its size.

But learning martial arts means learning how to use your strength even in uncomfortable positions.

Urrrrrr…

The rock moved slightly, and a low rumble was heard.

It was confirmed once again that there was a cave inside. I felt curious and empowered.

“One, two!”

The group pushed the rock hard again.

Gurrung···.

The rock moved quite a bit, and a cave was visible beyond the rock. The rumbling wasn’t very loud, so fortunately, the villagers didn’t seem to wake up.

The rock wasn’t pushed all the way in, but there was enough space for one person to fit through.

Namgung Myung shook his hands with a satisfied expression.

“Okay. I think we can fit in. Let’s go in.”

Just then, the low ringing sound was heard again.

Grrrrr···.

“···?”

There’s no way this kind of sound could come from not even pushing a rock.

‘What the heck? Is there a beast in the cave?’

The group did not enter the cave hastily, but instead looked around inside.

Then, something came running from the darkness.

He is a person.

A woman who looks a little young for her age, perhaps in her early middle age.

But looking at his hair, which was all messed up, it was obvious to anyone that he wasn’t in his right mind.

But it seemed a bit odd to simply see him as a madman. Anyone could tell that he was a person who had mastered martial arts.

The way he ran was unusual. He ran while performing an unfamiliar stamina technique whose name I don’t even know. It looked like he was running on two legs, or like he was running on all fours like an animal.

What’s important is that the momentum is extremely ferocious.

When the distance between us and the group finally came closer, the woman’s left shoulder lifted slightly and her arm seemed to be strengthened. I wanted to close the rock door, but I couldn’t just close the door that I had worked so hard to open and leave.

Hyun-gong shouted.

“Seolhwa, Namgung Myung! Hide behind me!”

Hyun-gong leapt forward and extended his sword to block the woman.

The woman’s left hand pushed away the side of Hyun-gong’s sword, while her right hand hovered around his waist.

The party knew what that meant. It was the habitual motion of someone who had mastered the sword to reach for it.

Fortunately, there was no sword around the woman’s waist.

Then the woman changed her attitude, curled the fingers of both hands, and performed an elaborate claw technique. The claw technique was so sharp that it seemed to be no easy task for even Hyun-gong.

Hyun-gong shouted.

“Hong Geol-gae! Dang Mu-jin! Help me!”

Unlike Namgung Myung and Seolhwa, Hong Geol-gae and Dang Mu-jin were clearly being discriminated against. However, it is clear that they were in a situation where they needed to be helped.

Dang Mu-jin drew up his venom from his poisonous body. He was about to apply the venom to Bi-ryun, but then changed his mind and opened the container containing the blood-curdling insect.

Unfortunately, all the bloodworms were dead because Dang Mujin forgot to feed them.

“···.”

Although he thought he might get scolded by Mokwan-ah, Dangmujin took out a needle from the needle holder and applied paralytic poison as if nothing had happened.

As Dang Mu-jin flicked his fingertips, three needles flew in a graceful curve and aimed behind the woman.

The woman was not of sound mind, so she did not notice that Dang Mu-jin’s needle was moving.

As soon as three needles were embedded in the back of the woman’s neck, her movements slowed noticeably.

At that moment, Hong Geul-gae quickly jumped out, flew into the sky, and kicked the woman. The woman rolled into the cave.

“Close it now!”

If Dang Mu-jin and his party were the protagonists of an old legend or tale of heroism, they would have pushed rocks and blocked the cave as if they had been waiting for such a story. However, Dang Mu-jin and his party were not those kinds of people.

So Hong Geol-gae went to the other side of the rock first and started pushing it. Soon, Seol-hwa and Nam-gung-myeong joined in, and they used their strength until their faces turned red.

The rock moved with a low noise, and soon the cave entrance was blocked again.

“···.”

Instead of talking, the group put their ears to the rock.

I heard a growling sound like an animal inside.

There was silence for a long time.

And finally, Dang Mu-jin opened his mouth.

“that···.”

I don’t know what to say.

So Dang Mu-jin just said whatever came to mind.

“Doesn’t that lady seem like a troublemaker?”

No one raised an opposing opinion. It’s rare to find a female high school student like that in the world.

Hong Geol-gae added a word, perhaps feeling burdened by the subtle atmosphere.

“It’s fortunate that the person who collapsed looks healthy.”

Contrary to Hong Geol-gae’s expectations, the atmosphere became a little colder.