Episode 15: Jueul Village
The path upstream was rougher than expected, with no signs of human passage.
“Seems like no one comes this way,” one of them remarked.
“Unless you’re an herb gatherer seeking solitude, there’s no reason to. There’s no village upstream, after all.”
The three of them walked in silence, scanning their surroundings. Occasionally, the cries of wild animals echoed through the air.
A low, rumbling growl suggested a large creature was nearby. In this remote area, with its abundance of wildlife and treacherous paths, it was no wonder there was no village upstream.
After walking for some time, a strange smell began to invade their nostrils. At first, it was faint, but as they moved further upstream, it grew stronger. Dang Mujin wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“Do you smell that? Or is it just me?”
“I was just wondering what that smell is. Should we check it out?”
“No need. It seems to be coming from the same direction we’re headed.”
The stench intensified, becoming so overpowering that they had to cover their noses. Even Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae, who were used to foul odors, shook their heads in disbelief.
“I’ve never smelled anything this bad. Not even a pigsty in the height of summer reeks like this.”
“Something must be causing it. Let’s keep going.”
Soon, they found the source of the stench: a seemingly ordinary clearing by the stream. Yet, the smell lessened both upstream and downstream from this point. There was no need for any special techniques to sense it—this was the epicenter of some unknown malevolence.
But nothing was visible to the naked eye.
Hong Geolgae turned to Ma Jeonga. “Master, do you know where the smell is coming from?”
“No, I can’t tell. It’s so strong it’s giving me a headache.”
Dang Mujin noticed something odd nearby: a mound of earth swarming with flies.
“There’s something here.”
“I’ll dig it up.”
“Let’s do it together.”
They hadn’t brought any tools, but the ground, covered in fallen leaves over soft brown soil, didn’t seem too hard. The three of them began digging with their hands. Fortunately, the overpowering stench numbed their senses, sparing them from its full assault.
After digging about three feet down, Hong Geolgae felt something strange—a soft, unpleasant sensation under his fingers. He instinctively pulled his hand back.
“Ugh, what the hell!”
Ma Jeonga asked, “What is it? Did you find something?”
“Something squishy.”
They peered into the hole. Something was visible beneath the dirt, but it was hard to make out. They widened the hole, revealing the source of the squishy sensation: a half-decayed animal carcass.
There were many different kinds—wild boars, goats, foxes, dogs, cats, and birds.
“Why are there so many?”
“More than we can count on our fingers.”
Not only were there various types, but the number was staggering. Everywhere they dug, more carcasses appeared.
Hong Geolgae stomped on another mound nearby. “Feels like there’s more buried here.”
The situation was clear. The miasma and corpse poison from these carcasses had seeped into the stream, making the villagers sick.
Corpse poison is one of the deadliest toxins. Unlike plant or mineral poisons, it doesn’t kill with a tiny dose. But its malevolent energy can cause all sorts of ailments in those nearby.
Villages avoid having cemeteries within their boundaries to escape such poisons and miasmas.
Hong Geolgae looked puzzled. “Why are these carcasses buried here?”
“Look over there,” Dang Mujin pointed to a corner of the pit.
There lay a pig’s leg, its cut clean and sharp, not the work of animal teeth but a blade.
”…Someone buried them.”
Whoever buried these carcasses by the stream had a clear, sinister purpose. Perhaps to wipe out the people of Jueul Village.
Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae’s faces hardened. Ma Jeonga’s beard quivered with barely contained rage.
“Who would do such a thing?”
“Let’s get these carcasses out first. Now that we know it’s corpse poison, we can make an antidote.”
They silently removed the carcasses and tossed them far from the stream, hoping wild animals would dispose of them. Even if not, at least the poison wouldn’t seep into the water.
But no matter how many they unearthed, there seemed to be no end.
“Just a little more effort.”
As they diligently dug, a sharp clucking sound interrupted them. Cluck.
It was a small sound, but too distinct to ignore.
They turned toward the source. A man with a round face and a thin goatee stood there.
“Well, well. You shouldn’t be digging up what someone else went to the trouble and expense to bury.”
A stranger, yet Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae seemed to recognize him.
“Yom Physician. Was this your doing?”
“Wild animals wouldn’t have dug themselves in, would they?”
Yom Physician. The man supposedly serving as the village doctor. Dang Mujin clenched his fists, glaring at him.
Ma Jeonga, still in disbelief, questioned the physician.
“Why would you do such a thing?”
“Why? Because I can’t spend my whole life stuck in this mountain village.”
“If you wanted to leave, you could have just left! Was anyone stopping you?”
“No one stopped me. But I’ve invested too much here not to take what I can.”
“What exactly are you taking…?”
“What else? Money, of course.”
Suddenly, Dang Mujin recalled something Woorip had said.
The herbs aren’t from around here, so they had to buy them from a supplier, and the cost was steep.
The physician initially provided medicine cheaply, but now he charges because he needs money to buy more herbs when the supplier returns.
Recently, the physician only treats those who can afford the medicine.
Dang Mujin spoke in a hollow voice.
“The money you took from the villagers wasn’t for herbs. It was all going into your pocket.”
“They owe me for saving their lives with my medicine.”
“Owe you? You caused the illness in the first place! If you’re going to talk about debts, you should at least cure them completely!”
Yom Physician chuckled.
“Looks like you’re a physician too, but you don’t know how to make real money.”
“Real money?”
“You have to keep them just alive enough to keep paying. Healthy people and corpses don’t pay.”
A vile notion. Dang Mujin’s blood boiled.
“You’re no physician, not even human.”
Enraged, Ma Jeonga stepped forward with a club.
“How much money do you think mountain villagers have? You took dozens of lives for a bit of profit?”
“That’s just a side income. The real money comes from elsewhere.”
“Still talking about money! Let’s see if you can keep talking after I beat you!”
“You think I came unprepared?”
As Yom Physician stepped aside, two men emerged from behind him, one wielding a sword, the other an axe.
Both men had rough appearances and murderous eyes, as if they’d killed before.
But their confidence didn’t last long. As soon as they noticed the knots on Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae’s belts, they took a step back.
“Hey, Yom Physician. You said there were only small fry in the village. Why are there Samgyeol and Sagyeol from the Beggars’ Sect?”
“Samgyeol, Sagyeol? What’s that?”
“You idiot…! Don’t you see the knots on their belts?”
“So what about the knots?”
“Samgyeol means branch leader, Sagyeol means guardian… Damn it, why am I explaining this?”
The atmosphere shifted. The two men hesitated, retreating slightly, ready to flee.
Sensing the tension, Yom Physician shouted.
“So, you’re going to run? If I can’t pay off your gambling debts, you’re dead anyway.”
“Damn it.”
The two men hesitated, then whispered to each other before stepping forward.
“Even if they’re branch leaders, they’re just from a mountain village. We might be able to take them.”
“Forget the branch leader, what about the guardian?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Their knees trembled.
Judging by the atmosphere, Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae were the more skilled. Relief surged in Dang Mujin’s chest.
Feeling emboldened, Dang Mujin turned around.
“Ma Jeonga, Hong Geolgae! Take them down!”
But at that moment, Dang Mujin saw something he wished he hadn’t.
Ma Jeonga’s knees were shaking even more violently than those of the men Yom Physician had brought.
‘What the…?’
Before Dang Mujin could fully grasp the situation, a man wielding a sword and another with an axe charged at him, screaming wildly.
“Behold the might of the Jayang Twin Killers!”
A rather unimpressive nickname tied to their local reputation, and even more so because it was shared between two people.
Dang Mujin didn’t know much about martial artists, but he was aware that such nicknames were often the hallmark of mediocre fighters.
‘Please, no!’
As the swordsman of the Jayang Twin Killers closed in to within a few paces, Ma Jeonga’s eyes widened with determination. For a moment, it seemed as if his trembling had ceased.
With his white beard fluttering, Ma Jeonga took a powerful step forward, raising his wooden staff with fluid grace.
“Fierce Dog Blockade!”
Like a stick intercepting a rabid dog’s bite, Ma Jeonga’s staff intercepted the sword of the Jayang Twin Killers.
The blade bit into the wooden staff, but Ma Jeonga’s weapon was thick and sturdy. The sword couldn’t slice through it in one go.
“Damn it!”
As the swordsman hastily withdrew his weapon and retreated, the man with the hand axe lunged forward.
“Take this! Die!”
The axe swung horizontally, this time targeting Hong Geolge instead of Ma Jeonga.
Hong Geolge quickly dove to the side, rolling on the ground to evade the axe.
Then, rising smoothly to his feet, he delivered a swift kick to the side of the axe-wielding man’s torso.
“Crushing Kick!”
“Ugh!”
The man with the axe staggered back, clutching his side in pain.
After a brief exchange of blows, the Jayang Twin Killers and the two defenders glared at each other.
A tense silence hung in the air.
Then, the axe-wielding man of the Jayang Twin Killers cautiously spoke up.
“These guys… they don’t seem like much, do they…?”