Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 56: Blooming Even in Mud

V.

The sea off the coast of Eogu, which had been churning with fierce waves until yesterday, was now unnaturally calm.
The whims of the sea were a terrifying thing. Eulsu was clever enough to be the only literate man on Eogu, but he doubted he would ever truly understand the logic of the ocean.
‘It is foolish for a mere human to think they can comprehend the laws of nature anyway.’
Though losing himself in pointless thoughts, his arms moved busily as he hauled in the fishing net.
“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”
“Put some real strength into it! It’s not like you’re saving it for your wife back home anyway!”
“Are you insulting my marital bliss?”
The rowdy chatter and grunts of exertion created a noisy din. Soon, the net was hauled up from beneath the surface. The weight pulling against their arms felt heavy. The fishermen’s faces lit up with joy.
“This is more than enough to make up for the days we couldn’t fish because of the storm.”
“Heh. No wonder I felt so good from dawn today.”
An unusually large number of fish were thrashing inside the net.
Eulsu also flashed a wide grin. If they kept up this streak of good luck, the next time he went to Ganam Province to buy supplies, he would be able to afford pretty new clothes for his son and a brand-new hairpin for his wife.
It was around that moment, as Eulsu looked up with a beaming smile, that a strange sight caught his eye.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Eulsu?”
“Isn’t that a person over there?”
Following the direction of Eulsu’s finger, the men turned their murmured attention toward the spot. Thanks to the clear weather, they could see much farther out than usual.
“Something black is floating out there.”
“Oh, it really does look like a person…”
“Did a boat capsize because of the storm a couple of days ago?”
“No way. Who would be foolish enough to launch a boat in that weather?”
“Let’s go check it out first.”
The ship’s owner steered the vessel forward. As they drew closer to the black object bobbing in the water, the commotion among the crew grew louder.
It truly was a person. A large man wearing clothes so drenched they appeared black was drifting, clinging to a shattered plank of wood.
“Oh dear… Is he already dead?”
“L-Let’s pull him out first!”
The man was quite large, and his waterlogged clothes made him incredibly heavy. The fishermen combined their strength to haul him aboard.
“Look at how blue his lips are. He really looks like a corpse.”
“Tsk, tsk. What a miserable fate, to be born only to end up as fish food…”
He must have been drifting for at least a full day. His lips and face were bloated and blue, and his skin was as pale as a ghost’s.
Eulsu placed his fingers right beneath the man’s nose. Though faint, there was a breath.
“He’s still alive.”
“Oh, really? What a relief. Someone bring something to cover this gentleman with.”
They happened to be just finishing up their haul and preparing to head back to the island anyway. While Eulsu pumped the water out of the man’s lungs, the others quickly found a blanket and turned the boat around.
It wasn’t until the evening of the following day that the man, who had been moved to Eulsu’s house, finally regained consciousness.
“Groan…”
The man let out a deathly groan as he forced his eyes open. His dimly blurred vision took in crude, mud-plastered walls and a low ceiling.
‘What? Where is this?’
The man blinked. His memories began to resurface sluggishly.
He had staged his own death to flee, but he had been plagued by anxiety. Knowing he couldn’t keep up the deception for long, he feared he would be truly murdered if he stayed on the mainland any longer. He remembered forcing the captain—who had been reluctant due to the worsening weather—to launch the boat by throwing all his wealth at him.
‘The further we went into the open sea, the rougher the waves became… Right, the ship ended up wrecking. Then, could it be!’
Instantly, a chill ran down his spine at the thought that he might have been captured.
‘I have to run away quickly!’
Urgency gripped him. The man groaned, trying desperately to move his limp, powerless limbs.
Just as he managed to scramble into a sitting position with great effort, the door swung open abruptly. Thinking it was his pursuers, the man’s heart dropped into his stomach.
“Ah, you’re awake?”
The person who stepped through the door was a large, gentle-looking young man.
Beside him, a young child poked his head out. No pursuer would carry a child around with them.
The man barely managed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“W-Who are you?”
“I’m the person who pulled you from the sea. Sit tight for a moment while I fetch you some water. Dong-i, go inside and sit quietly next to the uncle.”
“Okay!”
Toddling into the room, the child stared blankly at him while biting his own finger. Ignoring the child’s clear, unblinking gaze, the man rolled his mind for answers.
‘It seems this man rescued me while I was drifting after the shipwreck. Is this a nearby island? Ganam Province? Surely I haven’t been brought back to the mainland?’
“Ahem. Hey, kid. Where is this place?”
“My house.”
“Not your house. The island must have a name, right?”
“There’s lots of ocean.”
The child, who appeared to be around three years old, did nothing to resolve his questions.
The man simply shut his mouth and waited for the youth who seemed to be the master of the house. He was still anxious, but he felt significantly better than he had moments ago.
Before long, the young man returned carrying a large bowl filled with clean water.
“I told my wife that you’re awake, so she’ll be bringing up some rice gruel shortly. You must be terribly parched, so please quench your thirst first.”
The man drank the water ravenously. Never before had cool water, gulping down his throat, tasted so sweet.
Only after emptying nearly the entire bowl did he finally regain a fraction of his strength.
“Thank you. Thanks to your rescue, I avoided the fate of becoming fish food at the bottom of the sea.”
“It was a stroke of luck that the day broke clear so we could see far out.”
“I need to contact the mainland. Where exactly is this place?”
“This is a place called Eogu, located near Ganam Province. Is it an urgent message? No boats head to Ganam Province until the summer. To contact the mainland, you’ll have to find a way from Ganam Province first.”
Though he didn’t recognize the name Eogu, he understood that it was a far more remote and destitute place than he had anticipated.
The fact that contacting the mainland was difficult was actually welcome news. It meant the chances of his information leaking out were just as slim.
“Ahem, cough. Well, it can’t be helped then. I am merely a peddler working for a small merchant group, so a delay in communication shouldn’t pose much of an issue. Since it was an accident, the chief merchant will understand.”
“It is a pity you lost all your luggage as well.”
“Saving my life is what matters.”
The man chuckled, feigning a carefree and easygoing attitude. He secretly gloated that he had successfully deceived the youth, but he was mistaken.
Eulsu did not believe a single word he said.
‘There is no way a peddler, who wanders the entire country relying solely on his physical body, would have such pale skin and a thick layer of belly fat like this man.’
Just looking at those plump, soft hands proved he was absolutely not someone who had ever done hard, manual labor.
“Dong-i’s father, please open the door.”
“Ah! You’re here already?”
Hearing his wife’s voice from outside, Eulsu bolted to his feet. Quickly opening the door, he took the small dining tray from her.
“I told you to call for me.”
“It’s barely any distance from the Banbitgan to the room. It isn’t even heavy.”
“Still, what if you trip and fall?”
They were an affectionate couple, possessing a deep martial harmony that even lovebirds would envy. It was a sight that should have warmed anyone’s heart, but the man let out a silent, internal scream of sheer horror.
Fixing his gaze upon the wife’s face, the man’s eyes trembled violently.
‘Gyeong Won-yeong?! Sh-She wasn’t dead?’
The woman, possessing a luminous and elegant appearance that made it impossible to believe she was a mere village peasant, was Gyeong Baek-jong’s daughter, Gyeong Won-yeong. There was no mistake. He had definitely not misidentified her.
As if proving the five years that had passed, her appearance had changed slightly, but it was undoubtedly Gyeong Won-yeong.

Five years ago, the voice of Won-yeong pleading on her knees before him resurfaced, ringing vividly in his ears. To see Won-yeong, who was rumored to have died in Ganam Province, hovering right before his eyes made him feel as though he were possessed by a ghost.
Setting the tray down on the table, Eulsu called out to the man, whose mouth remained hung wide open.
“Please have a spoonful before it gets cold.”
“I, I will eat well.”
It would be disastrous if Won-yeong happened to recognize him. Burying his nose into the bowl as if hiding his face, he ducked his head and began scooping up the rice gruel.
‘How did she survive? Does she not know that a Rebellion took place? Or that her elder brother is alive?’
Even while ravenously consuming the warm gruel, the man, Cui Shecheng, found his mind completely flooded with nothing but questions.

* * *

“Ughhh, this is the very last of the rice cake.”
Enshrining a single chunk of Baekseolgi as if it were a sacred treasure, Kkot-bun twisted her body in agonizing sorrow.
The food that Yoo Seo-hwa had brought back from the banquet house had been shared among their acquaintances in the Sewing Room and the Banbitgan. After spending a few days savoring every delicious bite, this precious piece of Baekseolgi was all that remained.
Dal-rae rolled her eyes with deep annoyance.
“Stop making a fuss over nothing and just cut it.”
“There’s only one piece of food left that she brought us, so we ought to eat it more reverently.”
“Cut the crap about reverence. Rice cake is just rice cake.”
“I’m saying this because that rice cake is so precious that it’s hard to eat it even a few times a year! Besides, it had a luxurious flavor that never trickles down to lower-class folks like us. That was the first time in my entire life I tasted Baekseolgi stuffed with so much honey. I’ll probably never get to eat it again until the day I die…”
“Hey, stop talking nonsense and hand over the knife.”
“No way! I’m going to be the one to cut the final Baekseolgi!”
Though childish, a faint smile gently drifted across Yoo Seo-hwa’s lips as she watched the two of them bickering with absolute seriousness in their own way. Kkot-bun’s eyes grew round.
“Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen her smile!”
This time, even Dal-rae looked astonished. For some reason, a dark, ominous premonition struck her upon seeing that smile, but Kkot-bun was simply thrilled without a care in the world.
“Seeing you smile makes me happy too. Hehe, you look so pretty when you smile.”
“Since you bothered to reheat the rice cake, cut it quickly before it gets cold.”
“Ugggh, it’s such a waste, but it’s better than letting it get cold and tasteless…”
Staring at the Baekseolgi with a face practically dripping with lingering regret, Kkot-bun resolutely picked up the kitchen knife.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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