Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Youngho’s group freed the civilians who had been captured by the Waterway Stronghold and, after handing them money, spoke.

“This should be more than enough.”

The civilians’ mouths fell wide open.

“Y-You’re really giving us this much?”

“Yeah. It’s enough, isn’t it?”

“N-No, this is more than enough……”

The civilian who had been speaking quickly covered his own mouth. If he said anything more, Youngho might take back part of the money.

Youngho let out a faint chuckle.

“I won’t take back what I’ve given, so don’t worry.”

At those words, the civilians, who had been holding back their tears, all began to sob at once.

“Thank you… thank you!”

Adults and children alike cheered in gratitude.

“By the way, where have you come from? Perhaps the Martial Alliance sent you to rescue us……?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that. Not even my name.”

It was common in the martial world not to learn the name of the one who had helped you.

If someone remembered your name, that itself became information—and an asset. A martial artist’s name carried that much value.

Knowing this, the civilians spoke with undisguised regret.

“I see…….”

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again someday. When that time comes, you can help me.”

“Of course we will! You’re our savior!”

“Fortunately, there’s someone here who can operate a boat.”

Luckily, among the civilians was a boatman. However, they still seemed anxious, fearing another attack from water bandits.

“Don’t worry about the water bandits. Words have already been exchanged.”

“Thank you!”

The civilians continued to express their gratitude through tears, and Youngho, now growing weary of the repeated thanks, maintained the brightest expression he could manage and quickly sent them off the island.

After watching the boat carrying the civilians sail far into the distance, Youngho rotated his wrist—which was now almost completely healed—and said,

“Horyeung. We can start moving soon.”

“You truly are a monster.”

Gang Hosang and Kang Chowon also nodded as if in agreement.

“Oh please. Injuries like this heal after a few days of circulation and breathing exercises.”

To be honest, even Youngho hadn’t expected his recovery to be this fast.

‘With my internal energy being so refined, things like this happen.’

It was a recovery speed that couldn’t even be compared to before his regression.

“There’s no need to see a physician then.”

“No, we do need one.”

“Aren’t you fully healed?”

The sliced flesh had already been replaced with soft new skin, and the cracked wrist bone posed no problem even if he swung his sword.

After lightly loosening his stiff body, Youngho spoke.

“We’re going to be living a bit more roughly from now on. Shouldn’t we at least bring along a physician?”

“That’s true. Things are likely to get a bit difficult from here on.”

“By the way, we killed all the water bandits here, right?”

“Yes. Not a single one was spared.”

Youngho had sent every single water bandit in the Chief Stronghold Leader’s Waterway Stronghold to the afterlife without exception.

If asked why he killed them, Youngho would have answered like this:

‘Who knows which ones might be people from the Demonic Cult.’

Among the water bandits here, some were likely members of the Demonic Cult. The Demonic Cult was simpler than one might think, but it was not foolish.

To monitor Taemyeong, they would surely have planted some of their members among the water bandits. Though, since they would merely serve as observers, their martial prowess likely wouldn’t be very high.

So Youngho had simply killed all the water bandits. After all, they were part of the unorthodox faction; most of them were beyond redemption.

And even if there had been some worth redeeming…… he decided to think of it as settling the karma they had accumulated thus far.

“The Chief Stronghold Leader?”

“As instructed, we crippled his dantian and confined him. We sent a messenger pigeon to the Blood Ghost Hall, so someone should arrive soon.”

“Really? Then shall we head to Sichuan?”

“To Sichuan?”

“Yeah.”

“But the Golden Blood Branch isn’t there.”

When Horyeung asked with a puzzled expression, Youngho grinned.

“I told you. We’re going to find a physician.”

“Ugh!”

The man groaned in pain as he pushed himself up from where he had been lying down.

“……Those damned bastards.”

No matter that he was from a collateral line, he had never imagined the discrimination would be this severe.

The man, Tang Hyeon-gang, frowned as he rose to his feet.

“They never thought someone from the collateral line would surpass the direct line…….”

Originally, Tang Hyeon-gang had been in a position where he could neither seek refuge with nor even approach the Sichuan Tang Family.

But there was one reason—and one alone—why a collateral member like Tang Hyeon-gang had been able to rely on the Sichuan Tang Family.

His outstanding medical skill.

Even when compared among both the direct and collateral lines, the level of Tang Hyeon-gang’s medical expertise stood in a league of its own, without equal.

Thanks to that, despite not being of the direct line, he had been specially allowed to learn medical techniques reserved only for the direct descendants under a master who highly valued his talent.

Of course, that had only been after much pleading from his master.

Tang Hyeon-gang briefly reminisced before stepping out of his room. Every time his body moved, his joints screamed in pain, but that was unavoidable.

This was the crime of possessing exceptional talent while not being of the direct line.

‘Was it a club yesterday? Why does it hurt so much today?’

“Hey! Tang Hyeon-gang!”

At the sound of someone calling his name, Tang Hyeon-gang turned his head. Upon seeing who it was, he quickly forced a smile.

“What is it?”

The one who had spoken to Tang Hyeon-gang was none other than Tang Cheon-ju, known to have the second-best medical skill right after him.

“Did you make it home safely yesterday?”

At the slick tone, Tang Hyeon-gang clenched his fist tightly. The ones who had beaten him the day before were none other than Tang Cheon-ju and his group.

And now what? Asking if he got home safely?

There were many things he wanted to say. But knowing his own position all too well, Tang Hyeon-gang merely smiled weakly.

“Thanks to you, I was able to sleep soundly at home.”

When the desired response did not come, Tang Cheon-ju’s expression twisted sharply.

“At least you know your place…….”

Tang Cheon-ju deliberately struck Tang Hyeon-gang’s shoulder as he passed by and said,

“We’re out of medicinal herbs, so go buy some.”

It was blatantly rude behavior, yet not a single person nearby stepped in to help Tang Hyeon-gang.

It was a familiar sight. There was nothing different from usual. And yet, for some reason, Tang Hyeon-gang felt that there had never been a day as unpleasant as today.

Surely the same blood flowed through both him and them. Yet because of this nonsense about direct line and collateral line, his outstanding abilities were not being acknowledged.

Grit.

His teeth ground together on their own. Still, he could not afford to lose his composure.

If he wavered even slightly, vile bastards like Tang Cheon-ju would dig into that gap, and if the instability deepened, he would eventually collapse.

And then they would say it—what could someone from the collateral line possibly accomplish?

‘Let’s not think negatively.’

Tang Hyeon-gang lightly slapped both of his cheeks with his palms and headed out to purchase medicinal herbs.

As expected, the bustling district was nice. It made him feel, even if only a little, that he was alive. He liked this noisy liveliness. It felt as though it offered some small comfort to someone as alone as him.

As always, he met a merchant, inspected the herbs, paid the money, and bought them.

Originally, this was not work he needed to do. With such a small quantity of herbs, at best he could only produce a minor wound salve with negligible effect.

This was merely for show. A pretext to torment someone from the collateral line like him.

Just as Tang Hyeon-gang was about to return to the Tang Clan—

“No, you little brat, are you serious!!”

“Horyeung, was I wrong? This is rotten. Anyone can see that.”

“Even if you ask me……”

Tang Hyeon-gang turned his gaze toward the source of the commotion. There, a handsome young man with refined features was pointing at the merchant’s herbs with his finger as he spoke.

“No, this is rotten. If you make a wound salve with this, you’ll get tetanus and die.”

His words were a bit crude, but……

‘What? It really is spoiled?’

Ordinary people might not know, but Tang Hyeon-gang, being a physician, could tell. Those herbs were indeed rotten.

At first, he had assumed it was some rich family’s son ignorantly belittling a merchant. It was a fairly common sight.

“Can you prove it’s rotten? Are you even a physician?”

“I’m not a physician, so I can’t prove it. But is it right for a merchant to cheat people with herbs meant to save lives?”

“Then prove it! These herbs just came in yesterday!”

“Ah, this is troublesome……”

At that moment, Youngho’s eyes met Tang Hyeon-gang’s. The two looked directly at one another and, for a brief moment, neither could avert their gaze.

Tang Hyeon-gang wondered why he was being stared at and continued looking at him, while the man—no, Youngho—regarded him without any particular change in expression.

Soon, Youngho stepped right up in front of Tang Hyeon-gang and spoke.

“Are you perhaps from the Tang Clan?”

“Ah, yes.”

Caught off guard by the sudden address, Tang Hyeon-gang was slightly flustered but quickly composed himself.

“Yes, that’s correct. How did you know?”

He did not know the other party’s identity. So Tang Hyeon-gang chose to lower himself first. He was also genuinely curious how the man had known he belonged to the Tang Clan.

“You’re wearing green clothing, so I thought you might be from the Tang Clan. Thankfully, I was right. If you’re from the Tang Clan, you must be confident in your medical knowledge. Could you tell us whether those herbs are fine or rotten?”

It was an absurd statement. Not every member of the Tang Clan possessed medical knowledge. But the young man before him did not appear to have even reached coming-of-age.

‘He must have some childish fantasy about the Tang Clan.’

For some reason, people believed that anyone from the Tang Clan knew everything about poison and medicine.

Half of that was true, but……

‘The other half is false. There are plenty of bastards who only know how to throw throwing knives.’

After a brief moment of thought, Tang Hyeon-gang opened his mouth.

“As I am a physician, I can at least do that much.”

“Ah! I see. Then I offer my thanks to you, Great Hero.”

“It is merely identifying herbs. There is no need to go that far.”

Still unaware of the other’s status, he remained humble.

Watching Tang Hyeon-gang, who did not realize he had taken the bait, Youngho smiled inwardly.

‘As expected, this method is the most reliable.’

Honestly, it did seem like a rather forced encounter. There were countless people wearing green clothes besides Tang Hyeon-gang.

To single him out so precisely…… it was the kind of coincidence one would not even find in a children’s story.

But Youngho knew many things about Tang Hyeon-gang.

First, he did not discriminate among patients. Orthodox Sect, Unorthodox Faction—well, not quite the Demonic Cult—but he treated patients regardless of whether they were orthodox or unorthodox.

Second, he was obsessively attached to the tools used to save patients.

More precisely, he was fanatically meticulous in managing herbs, instruments, and various tools that could kill a patient if misused.

Some even called him a mad physician for the way he saved lives as if possessed.

‘I’m sure he once treated up to a hundred patients in a single day.’

And that was limited to the severely injured.

If that tendency still remained……

“They’re rotten. It’s the kind of herb where spoilage is hard to notice, so you must have made a mistake.”

“Is, is that truly so?”

“I do not lie in the name of the Tang Clan.”

At the invocation of the Tang Clan’s name, the merchant’s mouth snapped shut as if by magic. In Sichuan, the Tang Clan was virtually king.

If someone from the Tang Clan asserted something so firmly, anyone would react as the merchant did.

If the merchant tried to verify his identity, things could grow complicated—but in this situation, it was the merchant who had received a favor.

Had the rotten herbs been sold and used as they were, someone might have suffered side effects, worsened in condition, or in the worst case, died.

Because of this incident, his credibility might take a slight hit, but no one had died. Knowing this, the merchant stood before Youngho and spoke.

“I apologize for my earlier rudeness. It seems there was an issue during distribution. And I extend my thanks to the member of the Tang Clan as well.”

“It’s nothing. Then I shall take my leave.”

Disliking involvement in such matters, Tang Hyeon-gang left immediately, while Youngho purchased different herbs in place of the rotten ones.

Since it was one of the common incidents seen in the bustling district, hardly anyone paid it any mind.

“Chowon. Did you manage it?”

“Yes. But is it really okay to do it like this?”

“Whether he suffers over there or suffers by my side, it’s all the same.”

Youngho licked his lips as he watched Tang Hyeon-gang walking farther away.

“Now we just need to wait a little.”