Free Web NovelYeon Ryang asked so calmly, and his color was so good, that it was hard to believe he was someone who had been unconscious for over ten days.
For a moment, seeing him sit on the bed as if nothing had happened and grin broadly filled me with relief.
Then I shouted.
“No, why did you wake up so late? Seriously, this man—there’s a limit to how much you can make a person worry herself sick!”
“Ahaha, sorry. Sorry. I guess once the tension loosened, I slept deeply without even realizing it.”
“What? Slept deeply? You slept deeply? If you were going to sleep deeply for over ten days, why didn’t you just crawl into a coffin and sleep there? Should I bury you myself?”
“Uh, uh? S-Sister! Wait, I’m a patient—aaagh! Sohae!”
After we exchanged our warm greetings, I checked Yeon Ryang’s pulse.
I had expected as much, but his qi and blood were not flowing smoothly. Congested blood had clotted here and there, blocking his meridian channels.
Even if he was pretending to be fine, moving around would be extremely uncomfortable for him. I swallowed a sigh and asked, “Is your dantian all right?”
“It’s not as if my qi and blood have only gotten twisted once or twice.”
“You must be dizzy, so lie down more. Are you hungry?”
“Well. I’d like some meat.”
“This is a temple, you know? And what kind of patient asks for meat? Stop talking nonsense and eat thin gruel. I’ll cook some right away.”
“My, I ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ feel like my sister has grown even colder while I haven’t seen her.”
“I told you to lie down.”
“...Yes, ma’am.”
Yeon Ryang obediently lay facedown on the bed, hugging the pillow as he chuckled. It was a strange thing to say, but he looked a little happy.
“Furball. Have you been well?”
“COO.”
“You didn’t get any meat either, did you? Your fur’s gotten dry.”
“KYYYUUU.”
“There, there. Tomorrow, let’s go catch a wild boar or something together. It’s time we greased our stomachs.”
Seeing him flirt with Cane when his face had thinned so much was ridiculous.
A wild boar, my foot. He looked like he would keel over if he so much as stepped over the threshold.
Even so, a laugh slipped out of me. Hearing that nonsense made it finally feel real that Yeon Ryang had woken up.
I glared at him and lifted Cane by the scruff of its neck.
“KII?”
“You have work to do. Come with me. Brother, don’t move from that bed until I come back. If you get up, I won’t let it slide.”
“I’ll bear that in mind. Go on, sister.”
Yeon Ryang waved lightly, as if telling me not to worry. The familiar voice put my heart at ease.
Once I came out of the room, I set Cane down in the courtyard.
“Cane. Go catch me some centipedes.”
“KII?”
“Ones that are three years old. I’m putting them in a medicinal decoction, so catch at least four. Bring them back within forty-five minutes.”
“...”
“And don’t even think about sneaking one down your throat. Come back as soon as you catch four. Be careful the legs don’t fall off. The medicinal effect drops if the legs come off. Got it?”
“KYYYUU...”
Cane lowered its head and trudged out of the hermitage.
After sending it off, I hovered around the Buddha Hall looking for Nun Wolam.
Nun Wolam, who was just coming out after finishing preparations for prayers, saw me and asked, “Benefactor, is there something you need?”
“Nun. If you have any medicinal herbs, may I have some? I’d like to brew a medicinal decoction.”
“What herbs do you need?”
“It would be good if you had dalbergia and borneol... but those are precious, so I feel bad asking. Would you happen to have red peony root and wild jujube seeds?”
“We have dried peony root. I believe we also have wild jujubes gathered last autumn. I will look and bring them to you shortly.”
“Thank you, Nun.”
I respectfully pressed my palms together, then began preparing to brew the medicinal decoction.
*****
Yeon Ryang emptied two bowls of thin gruel in the blink of an eye, then kept smacking his lips as though it had not been enough.
“Couldn’t I have just one more bowl?”
“No. If food goes in all at once, your stomach will turn inside out. Drink the medicinal decoction instead.”
When I scolded him and held out the bowl of medicinal decoction, Yeon Ryang grimaced.
Apparently displeased by the smell, he glared at the bowl for a long while before pinching his nose and downing the decoction in one gulp.
Then he wiped his mouth with an uneasy look and asked, “Sister, what exactly is in this decoction? The smell and taste are both unusual.”
“You’re better off not knowing.”
“When you say it like that, it only makes me more curious. What is it?”
“Centipede.”
“Centipede, huh. The sharp taste is distinctive.”
Yeon Ryang nodded, then suddenly shouted.
“...Wait. Centipede? A centipede? Are you saying I just ate a centipede?”
“It’s the best thing for breaking up blood congestion. They call it a heavenly dragon, don’t they?”
“...Sohae. Your brother thinks he’s going to throw up.”
Covering his mouth, Yeon Ryang turned his head toward the window.
“Hey, hey. That’s expensive. Do you know how long it takes to raise centipedes? In the Tang Clan, they raise those over three years. Swallow it. Swallow!”
“BLEEEGH!”
After a round of bickering, both Yeon Ryang and I were exhausted and sprawled flat.
“It’s still good to be alive, isn’t it?”
“It is. It’s good.”
“They say even rolling in a dung field is better than the afterlife. So live.”
For a long, long time. Don’t die.
When I turned my head after murmuring that, Yeon Ryang was smiling silently.
His face gave nothing away.
I pretended not to notice and looked up at the ceiling.
Hoping that both he and I would be able to live for a long, long time.
*****
For the first time in a while, I slept deeply.
It was a peaceful night in which I did not have to stay on edge in case Yeon Ryang’s breathing stopped, and I did not have to fear that someone might attack the hermitage.
When I opened my eyes to the faint scent of incense, I heard the sound of a wooden moktak, along with the sound of a sword being swung.
...Hm? The sound of a sword being swung?
Horrified, I threw on my outer robe more or less properly and dashed out of the hermitage.
Beyond the settled darkness, atop the peak, Yeon Ryang was swinging a thick tree branch.
Had that man lost his mind?
“Hey! Yeon Ryang!”
“Ah, sister. You’re awake already? I guess I lay around too long. My whole body feels stiff—”
“Are you insane? Get over here right now! Lie down! Lie down now!”
After dragging Yeon Ryang back and laying him down, I could not control my temper and stabbed thick needles into him one after another.
“Do you want your back to split open again? Are you some invulnerable body of diamond? What? Should we just burst your dantian while we’re at it? If you weren’t a patient, I really would have hit you!”
“Agh! Sister, I was wrong, I was wrong! Be gentler with the needles—aaaagh!”
Yeon Ryang screamed at the top of his lungs and trembled all over. The bed shook with heavy thuds as though it might collapse. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Belatedly, I worried that we might have disturbed the prayers, but the nuns did not seem especially bothered.
Nun Wolam, who kindly smiled and brought breakfast for us, was the very face of the benevolent Buddha.
“I’m sorry, Nun. We were too loud, weren’t we...?”
“Not at all, Benefactor. It is good to see that the male benefactor’s health seems to have improved a great deal.”
“...I’m sorry.”
My head lowered on its own from embarrassment. If there had been a mouse hole nearby, I would have wanted to crawl into it and hide.
“I’ll keep my brother properly confined in the room so he won’t inconvenience you. If anything bothers you, please tell me right away.”
“Haha, it is all right, Benefactor. The male benefactor should also stay comfortably.”
Nun Gakmun waved her hand and smiled, then transferred Yeon Ryang’s meal onto a tray.
As she handed the tray to me, Nun Gakmun carefully asked, “Um... by any chance, are you a physician, Benefactor?”
“Pardon? No, I’m not skilled enough to be called a physician. I’ve only picked up a little here and there.”
“That is enough. Benefactor, could you perhaps take a look at Nun Hyeo’s illness?”
“Nun Hyeo? There was another nun besides the three of you?”
My eyes went round. It was the first time I had heard that name since staying at the hermitage.
Nun Wolam nodded with a worried face.
“Yes. Nun Hyeo is ill, so she cannot come out of her room. She has not been able to eat properly either, and I am worried something may happen at this rate.”
“I don’t know whether I’ll be of any help, but I can at least check her pulse...”
“Yes, yes! Then let us go right now.”
Before I could even finish answering, Nun Wolam brightened and took the tray from my hands, passing it to Nun Gakmun.
“I will bring the male benefactor his meal.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Underst—whoa!”
Then she grabbed my hand and began striding away.
It was unlike the nun, who was always calm.
At the edge of the hermitage, Nun Wolam stopped before a room that received plenty of sunlight and lightly knocked on the door.
“Nun Hyeo. May we enter?”
“Yes. Please come in...”
A weak voice came from inside the room. When Nun Wolam opened the door, I saw a woman with a pale face leaning against the bed.
She was clutching the blanket with hands tinged blue.
On the table beside the bed sat an untouched meal, dried onto the dishes.
“Your Grace, something truly terrible will happen if this continues. You must eat.”
“How can you call me Noble Consort, Nun? I told you not to call me that. I truly am all right without food. I simply have no appetite.”
“Your Grace...”
Nun Wolam trailed off with an anguished expression.
Noble Consort?
At the unfamiliar form of address, I glanced at the woman again and again. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Unlike the other Buddhist nuns, the woman’s hair was long.
Her brows were thin and long like crescent moons, and her eyes shone as serenely as starlight.
But when I looked closer, illness was plain on her face, and her hair was as dry and brittle as straw.
Seeing the woman’s white, cracked lips naturally made me think of Tang Un.
Eyes that looked as if she had let everything go. A face that had already settled her heart.
This person, too, was waiting for death.
After studying the woman’s complexion, Nun Wolam spoke as if coaxing her.
“Your Grace. This benefactor says she has some knowledge of medicine. Since she has come this far, why not let her check your pulse once?”
“It is all right, Nun. What kind of luxury would a deposed consort, driven from the inner palace and made to enter religious life, have that she should receive a physician’s treatment? If His Majesty finds out, he will be furious.”
The woman smiled sorrowfully. Her smile was beautiful, but there was something precarious about it, like a flower on the edge of a cliff.
I swallowed a sigh.
Nun Hyeo was a deposed consort confined to a hermitage at the top of a mountain.
