“I made it by combining the essential oils bought from the Medicine Hall. I named it Cheongryeonsu.”
When he tilted the small bottle, barely the size of two fingers, a clear liquid flowed out.
True to its name, it looked like water, yet a sharp, refreshing scent immediately filled the air. It even felt as if it contained some mystical quality.
While Danmok Cheongi rubbed his temples with the Cheongryeonsu on his fingers, Danmok Hyeonu suddenly sprang up and ran behind him.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and the effect is much better when applied to specific acupoints. If you press the Cheonju point at the top of the back of the neck like this…”
“You rascal…!”
“Oh, come on, Father! Just stay still for a moment.”
Danmok Cheongi intended to scold him, asking what kind of undignified behavior this was for a man long past the age of majority, but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.
Danmok Hyeonu was born as the talented youngest son of a renowned clan. Until he turned seventeen, he was a vibrant boy who didn’t know what it was to be hated.
Even when people lamented that he was mannerless and unruly, he would simply grin and act cute—calling out —and massage their shoulders, leaving them no choice but to shake their heads with a smile.
If he begged for something, they would pretend to lose the argument and buy it for him. If he stamped his feet in tears, they would chide him for acting like a child when he was about to become an uncle, all while signaling the attendants to find out what was wrong.
Then, one day, that lovable frivolity, the whining, and the playfulness vanished overnight.
The laughter that used to be so loud he had to be scolded for letting it leak over the walls disappeared as if washed away.
It started from the moment he believed his niece’s broken condition was his fault.
Overcome by guilt, Danmok Hyeonu entered closed-door training, and no one could stop him. Then, when the eldest son, Danmok Hyeonseong, passed away, the youngest son withered away like damp ash.
“How is it? Refreshing, right?”
“…”
“Father. That child is so brilliant there is nothing to compare her to. Would you believe she has already memorized the entire Thousand Character Classic?”
A cold, refreshing sensation slowly spread from the back of his neck.
The hands of the youngest son he remembered were those of a seventeen-year-old boy, but the realization that the hands currently touching his neck belonged to a fully grown young man made his chest ache.
“I watched her writing, and she mimicked my movements exactly. Her grip strength is still lacking, so the handwriting is different, but I have never seen a child so bright.”
“No matter how bright, how could she create something like this overnight…”
Danmok Cheongi trailed off as he muttered. It was because the complexion of his son, who had sat back down facing him, had darkened again.
“I think… I made her worry.”
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
“Since her only uncle looked so grim, a clever child like her must have tried to figure out why. Being that smart, she probably realized everything.”
Danmok Hyeonu spoke in a complicated voice, lowering his eyes. He recalled his niece’s face, looking desperate to comfort him.
The small child had blinked her eyes and hurriedly added an apology.
Danmok Hyeonu thought that if that lie were actually true, he could have laughed as much as he wanted.
He could have smiled and said,
But he knew it was a lie. A realm of immortals? Looking at his niece’s face as she spun that tale, Hyeonu felt his heart tearing apart.
These days, not even a three-year-old believed such stories.
However, for his niece, those three years simply didn’t exist. No, not just three years—seven years were gone.
Because he had failed to protect her…
“Anyway, Ryeon has talent and excellent senses, so she must have whipped this up right away! I’m sure she’ll learn anything I teach her in the future quickly. We decided to continue studying medicinal herbs together.”
“Hmph. The one who calls himself the Head of the Medicine Hall abandoned it for years to go into closed-door training, so you certainly should study, even now. Seeing that she made something like this, I doubt you have anything to teach her. Perhaps you might learn together.”
“That’s what I’m saying, I intend to learn with Ryeon. And about this Cheongryeonsu Ryeon made—what if we sent it as a gift to the people around us? Wouldn’t it be good to send one to the Mount Hua Sect, one to the Tang Clan, and also to the Leader of the Mansong Merchant Guild?”
Danmok Hyeonu chattered enthusiastically.
Danmok Cheongi, who had been listening quietly, waved his hand dismissively.
“First of all, nothing must be sent to the Sichuan Tang Clan for the time being.”
“Huh? Why!”
“If we send this and that saying the child woke up safely, what do you think the Tang Clan will think? They’ll assume we intend to reinstate the marriage arrangement.”
Hearing this, Hyeonu puffed out his chest as if to fire back a retort about how absurd that was, but soon his shoulders slumped.
The Poison Immortal Tang Yubyeok and Danmok Cheongi had been close friends in their youth and, in their later years, comrades who entrusted their lives to each other to practice chivalry.
Since their minds matched so well and they both sat at the peak of their respective families, they decided to unite their future grandchildren. Those grandchildren were Danmok Cheongi’s newborn eldest grandchild, Danmok Ryeon, and Tang Yubyeok’s four-year-old second grandson, Tang Yeseol.
In the Murim clans, where it was common to bring in a son-in-law if a daughter was born, this was an unconventional engagement—especially considering the Sichuan Tang Clan rarely let their bloodline leave the Tang Family Town.
Since Danmok Ryeon, the eldest grandchild of the Danmok Clan, could not leave the clan, it meant the Tang Clan was willing to give up Tang Yeseol as a son-in-law.
This engagement became awkward around the time Ryeon passed her hundredth day. By then, everyone had noticed Ryeon’s condition was strange.
At the same time, as Tang Yeseol began to display talent that was above average—frankly, shocking even within the Sichuan Tang Clan—everyone reconsidered this engagement.
The girl was in a state neither dead nor alive, while the boy had become too precious to send out of the family.
If the girl were at least healthy, they might have said, and accepted the loss. But that wasn’t the case…
Consequently, the engagement was effectively broken.
Tang Yubyeok provided all the secret prescriptions and medicinal ingredients needed for Danmok Ryeon’s Marrow Cleansing, and Danmok Cheongi considered that enough to fulfill their moral obligations to each other.
By doing this much before breaking the engagement, no one could point fingers at the Tang Clan for neglecting a promise because they suddenly found their grandson too precious to give up.
“As you said, Ryeon is so brilliant that we cannot give her to the Tang Clan, and there is no way the Poison Immortal would give up Tang Yeseol now that he has embraced him. So, let’s not make things difficult for each other.”
“Right… Then what about the Mount Hua Sect!”
“It isn’t too late to send something to the Mount Hua Sect after Taoist Cheongyun finishes his closed-door training and comes out. Sending something now would be no different from mocking them.”
“How does it become that?”
“If a robber sends you flowers saying thank you, would you be happy?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it robbery…”
“The Sect Leader’s direct disciple lost his internal energy because of a child from another clan. If that isn’t robbery, what is it?”
Marrow Cleansing required a secretly passed-down prescription combining elixirs and deadly poisons, along with at least one master who had cultivated profound internal energy.
A portion of that master’s internal energy would be consumed and lost during the grand technique. Thus, there were countless cases where one could find the prescription but not the person, or find the person but not the prescription.
Therefore, ordinary sects didn’t even pay attention to it. Marrow Cleansing was something only wealthy clans centered on bloodline succession could even dream of.
Yet, Ryeon’s case had somehow miraculously come together to make it possible.
One of the two people who performed the technique was Taoist Cheongyun, the direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sect Leader.
Taoist Cheongyun, who had been saved by Ryeon’s mother, Wi Jicheong, when he was young, had formed a bond of sworn siblings with her and never forgot his debt of gratitude.
However, even if he followed the greater cause of saving a life, he was swayed by personal affection he couldn’t control. Seeing decades of his direct disciple’s internal energy vanish into thin air, if the Sect Leader felt good about it, he would have already ascended to become a deity by now.
“Since Taoist Cheongyun also entered closed-door training to restore his lost internal energy, it would be better to do something once he breaks his seclusion.”
“I see…”
“If Ryeon, who made this, says it’s okay, let’s send it as a gift to the Mansong Merchant Guild.”
Danmok Hyeonu raised his head sharply.
“Yes! I will prepare it. Then, you are going to teach Ryeon martial arts now, right? You said you would teach her once she learned the Thousand Character Classic from me.”
The youngest son’s eyes sparkled. Joy and hope were visible on his face, anticipating how smart she was and perhaps imagining debating sword arts with her in a few years.
Danmok Cheongi stared at his son’s face for a moment before waving his hand. Danmok Hyeonu jumped up and ran outside quickly.
However, the hopes of Danmok Cheongi and Danmok Hyeonu could not be realized immediately.
Because the news that Ryeon had collapsed reached them first.
