Chapter 47
When Sowol was half-conscious from the pain, she remembered Dok Go-ryong and Dang Jinak saying something to each other. Then, Jinak picked her up and used light footwork to carry her somewhere.
And… after that, she remembered nothing.
“Umm… am I all better now? I still feel a little cold…” Sowol asked in a hoarse voice.
“We only calmed your unstable energy. You’re not completely healed yet. You just woke up after five whole days,” someone replied gently.
“I slept that long?” Sowol asked with a pout.
Dangpa and Dang Jinmyeong both nodded.
“Where’s my uncle?” she asked.
If it were Dok Go-ryong, he would never have left her side. It felt strange that he wasn’t there.
“Uncle just went to wash up!”
“Wash up?”
“He stayed by your side for days wearing the same blood-stained clothes. When we said you might get scared waking up and seeing all that blood, then he finally went to clean up.”
That sounded just like her uncle, and Sowol chuckled without realizing. But then a dry cough burst out.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“Sowol, are you okay?”
“Her fever’s still not going down. I’ll need to make another batch of medicine. Jinmyeong! Don’t go near the patient! Sowol needs full rest!” Dangpa shouted.
Jinmyeong flinched and lowered his hand that had been reaching out toward Sowol.
Then he quickly ran to Dangpa, who was making medicine, saying he wanted to help. Dangpa grumbled that the boy would just get in the way, but he smiled kindly anyway.
Sowol watched the warm moment between grandfather and grandson, then looked around and muttered quietly, “So this is the Dang family’s estate…”
“Hey, kid.”
She froze when she heard a familiar voice. Turning her head with a smile, she said, “Uncle… Ah! Cough, cough!”
Still weak from being sick so long, Sowol broke into a fit of coughing. Dok Go-ryong rushed to her side and gently patted her back, then handed her some water.
“Phew… That’s better. I feel alive again.”
“You sound like an old man with a hangover.”
“Uncle! Your lovely niece just came back from the brink of death, and that’s what you say? You’re the worst!”
Sowol puffed her cheeks and glanced at her uncle. Normally by now, he’d squint or flick her forehead, but this time he didn’t. Instead, he smiled and gently pinched her cheek.
“You’re chatting away just fine. Guess you’re better now.”
His hair was still dripping wet—he must’ve run over after washing. Sowol tapped his head.
“You’ll catch a cold like that. Dry your hair properly!”
“She’s right. Get a bad cold, maybe then you’ll come to your senses. You’re not fully recovered either!” Dangpa barked, throwing a towel straight at Dok Go-ryong’s face.
The towel smacked into his face with a loud smack. When he peeled it off, he glared with narrow eyes.
“What’s with the squinting? Want me to jab a big needle in your head?”
Dok Go-ryong just dried his hair silently.
“Here, drink this. It’ll bring your fever down.”
Sowol grimaced at the sight of the black herbal medicine. It looked terrible.
‘Bitter medicine is always good for the body,’ she told herself.
Screwing her eyes shut, she gulped it down.
“Blegh! It’s awful.”
Just then, something popped into her mouth. A sweet taste filled her mouth, and Sowol’s eyes lit up.
“You’re good at taking medicine! Jinmyeong takes forever!” said a cheerful voice.
“Huh? Mister!” Sowol spotted Dang Jinak waving with a smile. He must’ve slipped the candy into her mouth.
As she chewed it, she studied him again.
He was already good-looking when they first met, but now in green martial robes, he looked even more elegant and sharp, like a cold, handsome man with a tragic story.
‘Not better than Uncle, but still… really handsome.’
Wait… that scar?
“Mister, did you fight?”
Jinak flinched, then laughed. “Yes. Like your uncle, I fought to protect my people. You’ve got sharp eyes.”
“Uncle? Who’s your uncle?”
“This guy here—Brother Gwangryong.”
He casually pointed at Dok Go-ryong. Sowol’s eyes widened.
“A secret family connection…?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. What’s going on in that tiny head of yours?”
Flick!
Dok Go-ryong flicked her forehead. She clutched it with a whine but still looked confused.
‘But just the other day they were calling each other names and fighting…?’
Dok Go-ryong then asked Jinak, “Is it done?”
“Yes, Brother. It’ll all be wrapped up by tomorrow. I won’t make things difficult for you like last time.”
The respectful tone Jinak used and how naturally Dok Go-ryong accepted it… it made Sowol tilt her head.
“What happened while I was asleep…?”
Later…
“Huh? Mister, does that mean you’re the next head of the clan?” Sowol asked, wide-eyed in Dok Go-ryong’s arms.
“I’m a strong candidate, but not yet.”
“But you beat the eldest and second sons! Who else is left?”
“No one! My big bro’s the strongest now!” Jinmyeong declared proudly.
In the five days Sowol slept, Jinak had entered the competition to become the next clan head. He never cared about it before, but now he had reasons—to protect Jinmyeong and avenge his mother.
When he captured the leader of the Hongwol Guild, he learned the truth: Dang Hyo and Dang Gang were involved in the accident that killed his mother and the kidnapping of Jinmyeong.
‘Everyone wants you to fall into despair! They’ll take everything you care about! Don’t think killing us ends it—we’re just pawns in their greedy games!’
After saying that, the guild leader died. Rage exploded in Jinak. It reminded Sowol of the flames of madness she’d once seen in Dok Go-ryong.
‘If he’d rushed straight to the clan then, wouldn’t the story have followed the original—him killing everyone and taking over?’
But that didn’t happen.
Surprisingly, Dok Go-ryong stopped him.
‘Don’t lose yourself in rage. Once you let go, there’s no coming back. Are you going to play into their hands?’
Dok Go-ryong wasn’t the best one to give that advice, but… maybe because he had changed, or maybe because Jinak had come to trust him during their journey—Jinak listened.
So, he acted within the clan’s rules.
He paid back his debt to Dok Go-ryong and Sowol twofold.
And those who wronged him? He made them suffer ten times worse.
He didn’t kill them, since it would disqualify him, but he broke them.
He cut off Dang Gang’s right arm and ruined his left eye.
He crippled Dang Hyeok, making him limp for life.
And the worst betrayer, Dang Hyo, was poisoned—forever cursed to live as a mindless fool.
The top three candidates were destroyed. Only Jinak remained.
He was basically the new clan head now.
‘…He’s a lot scarier than I thought.’
Still, compared to the original story, he seemed much gentler now.
Sowol watched him affectionately stroke Jinmyeong’s head.
“I’m sorry, Sowol,” Jinak said. “You got dragged into our family’s mess and suffered. As an apology, I asked my father to do everything he could to heal your illness.”
Sowol looked up. “Right! Mister, Grandpa Dangpa said I’m not fully cured yet. What illness do I have?”
She remembered that a doctor once said she could be healed by meeting a divine doctor from Sichuan. But her pain had only eased, not vanished.
Dok Go-ryong frowned. “…Yin-Yang Severed Pulse.”
“Yin-Yang Severed Pulse?”
“Yes. That’s the name of the illness inside you.”
Finally, Sowol learned the name of the disease that had tormented her for so long.
