An Unexpected Big Fish

“Ugh…”
“Kh-hurk…”
“Aaugh…”

The inside of the building was full of the moneylenders’ groans. Their arm and leg tendons cut, the bastards squirmed across the floor like worms.

I kept my promise.

Treated in time, they would not die. They simply would never again beat or threaten a man the way they had until now. Begging was all that was left to them, though whether even that was possible in Qingzhou was another question.

They brought it on themselves.

They had made others weep tears of blood all this while; now it was their turn to take the same. You reap exactly what you sow.

I stepped out of the building and shook the blood from my spear.

So Geodobang’s men have caught on already.

If my memory of my past life was right, Spot was one of Geodobang’s own. I remembered him as a gifted collector, which was why he had been given sole charge of their moneylending business. In this life I had never so much as laid eyes on him.

And yet he had picked a fight with Doctor Yu, my own man. That was hard to write off as mere coincidence. Every circumstance pointed to one fact.

The leader of Geodobang has worked out that Linqu County was my doing.

Black Leopard, the leader of Geodobang.

He was a first-rate martial artist, head of one of the three unorthodox sects that carved Qingzhou up between them. The reason a man famed for his greed had turned his sights on me was obvious. He was after the two hundred taels of gold I had made selling the lightning-struck jujube wood. Now that he had marked me, he would plainly be a nuisance over every little thing from here on.

He has to go.

Of course, that was out of the question for now. Judged objectively, my martial prowess at present was no more than third-rate. I had not yet crossed even the threshold of second-rate; going up against a first-rate martial artist like Black Leopard would be no different from throwing an egg at a rock. On top of that, he had dozens of gang members under him.

On my own, I am not enough.

I needed people to serve as my hands and feet. One man’s face rose in my mind. He was one of the few comrades I could trust to watch my back, a fellow skilled at every kind of trick there was. Last I heard, he was in Guantao, in Hebei Province.

If I bring Duho in, Geodobang is worth taking on.

He was said to have a fair number of men following him, so he would be a great help when the time came to deal with Geodobang. But I could not bring him here just yet. Two problems had to be solved first. One was to raise my own realm to second-rate; the other was to secure a solid source of funds.

Once my constitution is improved, the realm will climb on its own. So for now, securing the money is what comes first.

The method was simple. I had only to sell the healing pills and wound salve Doctor Yu made. Anyone who used them even once would come back for more, of that I was certain. I had used them many times myself, so when it came to their effect, I knew better than anyone.

The problem was how to get people to use them. However excellent the medicine, there was no way to know without trying it.

Hmm…

I sank into thought for a moment. At Blood Sand Plain the wounded had come to Doctor Yu without his lifting a finger, so this worry had never arisen; now the situation was different. I turned it over in my head.

Who gets hurt as often as men on a battlefield, and would use my medicine trusting me without a doubt?

One sort of people came to mind. They fit the conditions exactly. I found myself nodding. Now I had only to secure enough medicine to give them.

I set out for the inn where Doctor Yu was staying.

One week later, I called at an inn.

There I walked up to an escort runner who was deep in preparations for a run.

“Escort Runner Shim.”
“It has been a long time, young master.”
“Did the run go well? Looks like you are heading out again the moment you got back.”
“There is no telling how long I will be able to do this work, so I have to keep at it while my body still holds up. With bandits swarming the Central Plains these days, my worries are no small thing.”

Escort Runner Shim let out a sigh. I drew a small white porcelain bottle of wound salve and a paper-wrapped healing pill from my robes and held them out.

“Take them.”

He looked at the medicines and asked,

“What are these? The color is lovely — they look rather expensive.”
“Healing pills and wound salve made by my house. They work better than most medicines, so try them when you get hurt.”
“May I truly accept something so precious?”
“It is for doing so well with the favor I asked of you last time — spreading the word. Take them.”
“Goodness, young master. I will accept them with thanks.”

He bent at the waist to me, tucked the healing pill and wound salve carefully away, and went on,

“If there is ever anything else you would have me do, say the word. I will help with all my heart.”
“Good. Get your preparations done and come back safe.”
“Thank you, young master.”

Seen off by Escort Runner Shim, I went around looking for the other escort runners I knew. When I handed them the medicines as well, every one of them bowed his head in thanks. Between one runner and the next, the sun had gone down before I knew it, and as the dark came on, lanterns began to come alight here and there around me.

The seed is sown.

Now I had only to wait for it to sprout. Until then, the work was the same as it always was.

Training.

I went back to the house and took up my spear. The memory of wrecking the moneylenders came rushing back to me.

Lan, Na, Zha.

With those three alone I had overcome being outnumbered. I had properly tasted the fruit of my training. How, then, could I ever let it slacken?

I will get stronger.

For my family, for my house, and for my people. I would go on growing stronger. I swore it to myself and swung the spear.

Shim Deokbae, out on the escort run, felt as though he were dying. That was no figure of speech and no exaggeration; he truly was a hair’s breadth from death.

“Kraaagh!”
“Hold them off! They are after the cargo!”

Ear-splitting screams and the clash of steel on steel filled his ears.

How did it come to this?

He could not make sense of it at all. There were almost no bandits in the country around Qingzhou, and only a short while ago, coming back from a run, the road had been safe. He knew bandits were swarming the Central Plains, but he had never imagined a band of them could dig in this deep in the space of a few days. And there were a great many of them besides.

“You dogs! Get out of here!”
“We will make you regret ever coming after us!”

The escorts of the Shandong Escort Bureau swung their swords and fought hard. As time passed the advantage tilted toward the bureau, which was only to be expected. Most of the escorts were second-rate martial artists, while the greater part of the bandits were third-rate or worse, and so long as they did not let their guard down there was no way the escorts would lose.

But on a battlefield there was always a variable. The bandits’ chief, resolved to take his man down with him, charged one of the escorts.

— Crunch!

With the sound of something boring into flesh, the escort who had taken the blow tumbled across the ground.

The man who had gone down was Jo Yeonggwang, son of the head of the Shandong Escort Bureau.

“Young master!”
“Escorts, protect the young master!”

The escorts nearby swarmed in, cut down the bandit chief, and saw to the wounded man.

“Cough! Cough!”

Jo Yeonggwang coughed up blood. His condition was grave. His side had been torn open deep, and blood surged out of the wound in gouts.

One of the escorts pulled wound salve from Jo Yeonggwang’s robes and sprinkled it over the wound. But the effect was slight. Far from stopping, the blood kept pouring out.

“Kh-hurk!”

Jo Yeonggwang spat up dark red blood. He had clearly taken internal injuries as well. They fed him a healing pill, and it made no difference.

An escort shouted urgently to the others,

“Is there no medicine left? Bring every last bit of it!”

They used up all the other escorts’ medicine as well, and still his condition only grew worse. Jo Yeonggwang’s breathing turned ragged. At this rate he would surely bleed to death.

“Damn it! The bleeding will not stop!”
“Is there no other way? He is going to die on us!”

They all racked their brains, but men who were no physicians were never going to come up with anything.

While everyone else was wringing their hands, Shim Deokbae’s hand groped inside his robes without his meaning it to. His fingertips found the smooth feel of a medicine bottle.

The medicine young master Mujin gave me!

Yang Mujin’s words came back to him: they worked better than most medicines.

Clutching at straws, Shim Deokbae shouted,

“Try this, please!”
“Man alive! Our own medicine is doing nothing — what good is some nameless stuff going to do?”

One of the escorts barked at him, but Shim Deokbae paid no attention and pulled out the stopper. A bitter grass scent came wafting out of the bottle. He tapped the bottle and shook the powder out over the wound.

— Hsssssss!

The instant the medicine touched the wound, a burning sound rose with it and white foam boiled up.

“Ugh!”

Jo Yeonggwang let out a groan of pain.

“What in the—!”

At the sight, an escort was on the point of grabbing Shim Deokbae by the collar.

“The bleeding has stopped!”

At someone’s shout, every eye swung back to the bureau head’s son. The blood at his side had stopped as if by magic. Seeing that, Shim Deokbae drew out the paper-wrapped healing pill as well and fed it to the bureau head’s son.

“Haah— Haah—”

After a little while, faint color returned to the pale face and his breathing began to steady.

“He is all right! He will live!”
“Everyone pack up what you can — we head back to Qingzhou! Quickly!”

The escorts gathered up the cargo and cleared the ground, then hurried off toward Qingzhou. On the road back they crowded around Shim Deokbae with questions.

“I say, where did you get that medicine just now?”
“The effect was astonishing — could I get hold of some myself?”
“Do not keep it to yourself. Tell us.”

At the escorts’ questions, Shim Deokbae opened his mouth.

“Ah, well… I had it from young master Yang Mujin, the eldest son of the Yang manor.”
“The Yang manor? You mean the house of Iron Lion Yang Taejun, the Great Hero?”
“That is right.”

The escorts looked at one another and nodded.

I have to get some, no matter what.

With that medicine, it is as good as carrying a second life.

What every one of them was thinking was written plainly across their faces. Small wonder, when they had watched with their own eyes the miracle of the bureau head’s dying son brought back. For men who lived by the blade, there was nothing in the world more precious than this. Money you can always earn again, but a man has only the one life, does he not?

Perhaps I should have kept a little back…

With a pang of regret, Shim Deokbae ran his fingers over the empty bottle inside his robes.

As usual, I finished my dawn training and then my meal in my room. I was drinking tea at my leisure when a commotion started up outside.

A visitor, this early?

I heard Elder Kang’s voice. He had it hard, taking on every matter of the house, great and small, himself.

Just wait a little longer, Elder Kang. Before long you will not have to labor like this.

Once a market for the healing pills and wound salve was secured, the house would have no more need to take on cargo.

Because I would be shutting the escort bureau down.

It is about time some response came back.

Six days had passed since I handed the medicine out to the escort runners. It was about time someone who had used it turned up.

As I lifted my cup again, Elder Kang knocked at the door.

“Young master! You had best come out for a moment!”
“What is it?”
“Well… it will be quicker if you see for yourself.”

At Elder Kang’s urging I set the cup down and opened the door. From men in silk robes to martial artists with weapons at their waists to escort runners whose faces I knew, the manor grounds were as thick with people as the market street.

“Young master! Please, sell us some of the medicine.”
“I came because I heard that medicine could be bought here.”
“I will pay whatever you ask — only sell it to me!”

Every one of them was shouting for medicine. The word seemed to have spread far faster than I expected. There was no question that the medicine Doctor Yu made was outstanding.

Then one man caught my eye among the jostling crowd.

A middle-aged man in silk robes. I knew that face.

Jo Mansik, head of the Shandong Escort Bureau, the foremost bureau in the province.

Well, well—

The corners of my mouth crept up.

An unexpected big fish had taken the bait.