Chapter 59 : Wandering with the Righteous Sword (2)

Chapter 59: Wandering with the Righteous Sword (2)

“Please tell him that my father wishes to meet him.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Then.”

Mun Eunji stepped out of the room. Wi Sanho quietly watched the closed door she exited through before sitting down at the table.

He let out a sigh as he looked at the half-destroyed meal before him. The beggar sitting across from him was patting his bulging stomach.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I am.”

They’d only exchanged a few words, yet somehow the beggar had already finished eating. Just how frantically had he been stuffing his face?

Well, he was a beggar after all.

“Are you eating food or drinking it?”

“Heheng! If a beggar leisurely sits and eats, he’s just asking for his bowl to be smashed.”

Wi Sanho gave a wry smile.

The Beggar Sect might be a martial sect, but it was still a sect of beggars. They, too, needed funds, so like other sects, they maintained businesses and operated an independent intelligence network to sell information.

However, given that the sect accepted countless beggars as disciples—so many that it was referred to as the Hundred-Thousand Beggars—it was perpetually short on money.

Jang Il should have been a fairly important figure in the sect, yet he looked every bit like a street beggar who hadn’t eaten in days.

‘Not a bad thing.’

If beggars started concerning themselves with appearances, maybe the leadership could live in comfort, but it would only mean more starvation for the vast majority of beggars—the formless beggars.

So Jang Il’s appearance was something to be praised, not scolded for lack of decorum.

“That aside, have you contacted your family?”

“My family?”

“I mean the Grand House of Wi in Guangdong.”

Wi Sanho shook his head.

“No, not yet.”

“Tsk tsk. Wi Yeonho has already sent a letter home. Things are probably in chaos over there, yet you act like you don’t care at all.”

“Then they might be on their way here already.”

Wi Sanho kept eating without concern. Watching him, Jang Il pounded his chest in frustration.

This man had raged like a madman over his younger sibling, yet now that it was about his family, he couldn’t care less. It was both frustrating and absurd.

“You’re not even worried about how shocked your family must be?”

“They’re the kind of people who would want Yeonho found as soon as possible. I’m sure they’re frantically looking for him right now.”

“Is that so?”

Wi Sanho knew well that his parents were scouring the world in search of Wi Yeonho. Finding him as soon as possible was his top priority. Only then would his parents find peace.

After finishing his meal, Wi Sanho lay down.

On the adjacent bed, Jang Il asked casually,

“What’ll you do when you find him?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s been a while. Maybe hug him or something… you know.”

Wi Sanho paused, as if pondering, then opened his mouth.

“I’m going to hit him.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t feel satisfied until I hit him at least once.”

“Kukuku, so there’s going to be a brawl between brothers. But I wonder if you’ll even be able to hit him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Your little brother’s really strong now.”

Wi Sanho smiled.

“That just means I need to hit him harder.”

In his mind’s eye, Wi Sanho could already see Wi Yeonho retorting bluntly with that usual gruff tone.

*         *         *

Once the patients stabilized to a certain extent, Jin Soa finally had a moment to think of something else.

Late at night, when he confirmed that the patients were asleep, he stepped outside. Most of the workers were nowhere to be seen, likely due to exhaustion from the hectic day. After pacing around in hesitation, Jin Soa seemed to steel his resolve and knocked on the door to the room where Wi Yeonho was resting.

“Are you asleep?”

Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Wi Yeonho was still lying on the floor, as if dead.

It hadn’t even been long since he’d eaten, yet there he was, belly exposed, sleeping as if he had not a single worry in the world.

“Are you asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“……”

Jin Soa took a deep breath to suppress the blood pressure shooting up to the top of his head. If he took Wi Yeonho’s antics seriously, he’d end up a patient rather than a physician.

“So you are asleep.”

“Told you I am.”

Jin Soa reached into his robe and pulled out a finely sharpened golden acupuncture needle.

‘Would it hurt a lot if I poked him with this?’

He was seriously contemplating using a sacred acupuncture needle as a weapon. If his late father saw this, he would foam at the mouth and collapse on the spot.

“If, by chance, you’re actually not asleep…”

“I said I’m sleeping.”

“You don’t seem like it…”

“If you can’t even trust people’s words, how do you work as a physician?”

Jin Soa tightened his grip on the golden needle.

‘Where’s the bloodletting point again?’

His eyes settled on the Hundred Meeting Point at the top of Wi Yeonho’s head, slick with oil. If he pressed it down even lightly, Wi Yeonho would find himself face to face with the King of the Underworld, begging forgiveness for his lifetime of laziness.

Suppressing this first-ever murderous impulse with desperate effort, Jin Soa spoke again, now with a serious tone.

“There’s something I’d like to discuss.”

“You want me to leave?”

“That’s not it. I have something to consult you about.”

Wi Yeonho peeked his head up.

“With me?”

“Who else is in here besides you, Young Master Wi?”

Wi Yeonho stared blankly at Jin Soa for a good while. Suspicion bloomed on his face before slowly turning into pity.

“You want to consult with me?”

“Yes.”

Ever since arriving at the Sacred Hand Grounds, Wi Yeonho had experienced all sorts of strange things. For the first time in his life, he was being treated with respect far beyond what he deserved. And now, someone even wanted to consult him about something.

If Wi Jeonghan and Baek Muhan heard of this, they’d likely shed tears of joy.

But Wi Yeonho was someone who understood his place better than anyone.

He never believed himself to be a reliable person to consult. If that was the case, the outcome was obvious.

Wi Yeonho cautiously opened his mouth.

“Hey, do you… not have any friends?”

Grit.

The sound of Jin Soa grinding his teeth escaped through clenched lips.

Wi Yeonho laughed awkwardly.

“Ah, sorry. I guess I hit a sore spot.”

Jin Soa grabbed his thigh and held back his fury, face trembling. His body shook so visibly that even Wi Yeonho could see it.

‘You’re not supposed to ask people without friends if they have any…’

Wi Yeonho sank into self-reproach.

“That’s not it. It’s just… I wanted to ask you something, thinking you’ve probably seen more of the world than I have.”

Wi Yeonho answered nonchalantly.

“I haven’t seen that much.”

“Still, surely more than I have, right?”

“I stayed home until I was twelve, spent the next five years in a cave, and came out just a couple of months ago to end up here.”

“……”

Jin Soa weakly stood up.

He felt so pathetic for trying to consult Wi Yeonho that he wanted to bite his tongue and die right then and there.

“Well, I’ll still hear you out.”

Jin Soa stared blankly at Wi Yeonho with unfocused eyes, then slumped to the floor.

“So, what is it?”

Jin Soa smacked his lips as if unsure, but eventually decided there was nothing to lose and spoke.

“What do you think is the biggest problem with our clinic right now?”

“A problem?”

“Yes. As someone from outside, what do you think our issue is?”

Wi Yeonho leaned on his elbow and frowned. After thinking long and hard, he finally shook his head.

“That’s too hard a question.”

“So there’s no issue?”

“No, it’s that there are too many. I don’t even know where to begin, or which is the most pressing.”

“Th-that many?”

Wi Yeonho looked at Jin Soa as if to say, ‘Why even ask?’ Jin Soa, unable to meet his sly gaze, hung his head.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Cheer up. That’s how the world is.”

“Then what do you think is the most important thing in running a clinic, Young Master Wi?”

Wi Yeonho answered without hesitation, as if it were obvious.

“Money.”

“Excuse me?”

“Money. I said it’s money.”

“Shouldn’t medical skill be the most important thing in a clinic? Isn’t money just a secondary matter?”

“You can just hire a physician with money.”

“But what if the physician you hire lacks skill?”

“Then hire one who’s skilled.”

Jin Soa opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again in the face of Wi Yeonho’s blunt words.

Then Wi Yeonho struck where it hurt.

“Honestly, you think the same too, don’t you?”

“……”

Jin Soa couldn’t respond.

Wi Yeonho clicked his tongue.

Jin Soa finally raised his voice, unwilling to accept it.

“My late father taught me that medicine is the art of benevolence.”

“Right.”

“Medicine is the art of saving lives. To say that money is the most important thing in performing that art is…”

Wi Yeonho turned his head aside and clicked his tongue again.

“Then let me ask. Do you think this clinic, which can’t even afford to function, is doing well?”

“That’s…”

“If you keep treating poor people for free like you are now, maybe you can keep saving lives for another year.”

Jin Soa nodded.

“But if you charge money, you could keep saving lives until the day you die.”

Jin Soa’s eyes trembled.

“If you think about it, some people act like treating others for free is some grand, noble act. But how many can you actually treat that way? A few hundred at most. If you treated people for money your whole life, you could save thousands, even tens of thousands.”

“That may be true.”

“You should only treat those who can’t pay as long as the clinic can sustain it. If you keep giving away everything like now, do you really think that’ll fix anything? You all seem to think those you’ve healed are incredibly grateful. But when your clinic collapses, the best they’ll do is click their tongues and say, ‘They were good people.’ That’s it.”

Jin Soa’s face flushed red.

“That’s not true. They were sincerely grateful!”

“Of course they were. Of course they were grateful. You treated them for free. Even I’d be grateful. But how many of them gave up eating or wearing things just to pay you back?”

“……”

“Sure, they’re grateful in their hearts. A lot of them probably think, ‘I’ll definitely repay them if I ever succeed.’ The question is—when will that be?”

Jin Soa couldn’t argue.

“If they were really grateful, they’d find some way to give something back now—even just by cutting back on meals. But how many people actually do that?”

Wi Yeonho’s words were cutting.

Yet Jin Soa couldn’t refute a single one of them.

“Do you think others treat people for money just because they’re heartless and greedy? You act like you’re doing some great righteous deed, but you’re not. Self-sacrifice might seem moving at the time, but twenty years from now, no one will even remember that the Sacred Hand Grounds existed.”

Wi Yeonho’s words pierced Jin Soa’s chest like a blade.

He wanted to say it wasn’t true—but deep down, he knew everything Wi Yeonho said was likely to come to pass.

“But medicine is…”

Jin Soa trailed off, unable to let go of his lingering sense of justice. Wi Yeonho snorted.

“You can’t practice medicine if you don’t have food to eat. If I’m about to starve to death, what good is medicine then?”

Wi Yeonho’s sharp voice lodged in Jin Soa’s ears.

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