Longevity - Chapter 19

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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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Episode 19: Two Red Apricots
The three who heard Jin Ipchu’s words exchanged glances with one another.
If they were fruit, they should have hung from a tree. The claim that they’d come from inside a coffin in an ancient tomb was difficult to accept at face value.
Jin Ipchu offered no lengthy explanation. He reached into his robe and withdrew a flat, greenish object.
He had wrapped thick bandages around his chest and abdomen. No one had noticed the item concealed within.
The object was slightly longer than a palm. Its width spanned roughly two cun, and its height about one cun—perfect for hiding in one’s garment.
Yi Jungyong recognized it first.

“Isn’t that a Jade Pillow—the kind placed beneath a corpse’s head?”
“That’s right. Both fruits were inside it.”

Jin Ipchu split the Jade Pillow into two halves. What had appeared to be one object was actually two pieces fitted together.
From within, two red fruits were revealed.
Jang Saeng stepped forward without thinking. In size and shape, they looked no different from ordinary apricots.
Yet there was not a trace of orange or yellow to them. From stem to base, they were nothing but a clear, deep red.

“These aren’t objects carved from red jade.”

Jin Ipchu preempted the suspicion.

“I’ve examined them several times already. They’re genuine fruit. Smell them yourself.”

He extended the Jade Pillow, and Yi Jungyong leaned down to sniff. A moment later, his eyebrows lifted.

“They smell like apricots.”

Jeon Jingung stepped closer and caught the scent as well. When she hesitated to draw a conclusion, Jin Ipchu plucked one fruit and offered it to her.

“Touch it. The feel of the skin and flesh is just like an apricot’s.”

Jeon Jingung did not reach out her hand.

“There’s no need to risk damaging it with careless handling.”

Jin Ipchu turned toward Jang Saeng, but he too stepped back.

“I’ll content myself with looking.”

Yi Jungyong peered inside the Jade Pillow.

“Could the Jade Pillow have been sealing them—preventing decay?”
“That’s not possible.”

Jin Ipchu placed the red apricots back inside.

“Though jade from Hwajeon is precious, it’s not something that stops time itself. Haven’t you seen similar jade vessels many times before?”

Then voices stirred from beyond the forest.
Baturou approached slowly, pretending to survey the surroundings. After the quarrel with Jin Ipchu by the campfire earlier, he felt awkward about following at once.

“What are you all looking at so secretly over here?”

Jin Ipchu gestured for him to come closer.

“Take a look yourself, Captain. This is something that came from the coffin.”

Baturou’s eyes widened as he peered inside the Jade Pillow.

“We’ve barely passed the first month—where on earth did apricots come from?”

As he reached out, Jin Ipchu quickly pulled the Jade Pillow away.

“You mustn’t eat it. It came from the Tomb—we don’t know what might happen.”
“Who said anything about eating it? I only wanted to look.”

Baturou withdrew his hand with an aggrieved expression.
Yi Jungyong pointed toward the edge of the forest.

“It’s too dark here. Let’s go to the campfire. We might learn more by examining them in the light.”

The five of them returned to the campfire. When Jang Saeng fed the branches he’d gathered into the flames, the fire leaped higher.
Jin Ipchu picked up one of the Red Apricots and held it before the firelight. Fine, threadlike patterns glimmered within the skin.
Scarlet threads seemed to branch out through the flesh in multiple directions.

“There are markings like blood vessels.”

Jin Ipchu slowly rotated the apricot.
Jeon Jingung leaned forward to observe.

“It looks almost like feathers.”
“It’s probably coincidence.”

Yi Jungyong traced the direction of the markings with his eyes.

“It could be the fruit’s fibers reflecting the light in that pattern.”

Jin Ipchu gestured toward his waist.

“Yi, would you take out the Five Elements Measuring Rule?”
“The Five Elements Measuring Rule can only detect poison. Besides, just because this fruit seems strange doesn’t mean we can assume it’s poisonous.”
“I’m not asking to check for poison. I want to verify which of the Five Elements it belongs to.”

Yi Jungyong finally understood and unfolded the ruler that had been tucked away. He spread the five characters like a fan, holding the apricots in turn against each one and watching for a reaction.

“It belongs to Wood.”

He checked the other apricot in the same manner.

“Both are the same. At least these weren’t something else disguised as apricots.”
“So it’s safe to eat?”

Baturou asked again.
Jin Ipchu shook his head immediately.

“You’ve had nothing but thoughts of eating since earlier, haven’t you?”
“You keep saying not to eat them, so I’m asking.”
“If you truly only meant to look, then wipe your mouth first.”

As Baturou wiped his mouth, Jeon Jingung looked away. Yi Jungyong cleared his throat and set the two apricots down away from the firelight.

“Let’s not touch them tonight. We’ll leave them outside the Jade Pillow and examine them until tomorrow.”

Jang Saeng asked a question.

“So if they rot by tomorrow, the Jade Pillow is the special one, and if they remain unchanged, the apricots are?”
“That’s one way to look at it.”

Yi Jungyong nodded.

“At the very least, we’ll know which one to examine first.”

Jin Ipchu arranged two Red Apricots side by side on a flat wooden block.
Each time the firelight touched them, the red deepened. The fine veins beneath the skin remained visible.
Baturou squatted before them for a while, but soon yawned. He curled up with the Bin Cheolkon and lay down some distance from the campfire.
Not long after, the sound of deep breathing drifted across the camp.
Yi Jungyong sat beneath a tree, cleaning his Sunggyun Sword. He drew the blade slowly from its sheath, examined the edge, then wiped it with cloth.
Jeon Jingung climbed into the branches to keep watch over the distant flames. Concealing herself among the limbs, she rested the Flying Blade Disc across her knees.
Only Jin Ipchu and Jang Saeng remained by the campfire.
Jin Ipchu swallowed his dry provisions with cold water. When Jang Saeng warmed some water and poured it into a bowl, only then did he produce the rice cake.
Jang Saeng handed him the bowl and caught sight of the Red Apricots.

“Brother.”
“What is it?”
“If those apricots truly are of use to the Master, wouldn’t they spoil overnight if left as they are?”

Jin Ipchu stilled the hand holding the water. He glanced toward the cart once before lowering his voice.

“He’s coughed three times since we returned.”

Jang Saeng’s gaze turned toward the cart as well.

“Is he not sleeping?”
“He’ll hear every word we say.”

Jin Ipchu cradled the bowl in both hands.

“If he were certain those fruits had value, would he pretend not to notice?”

Jang Saeng had no answer. The cart remained silent.
That silence did not feel like peaceful sleep.

“Is there nothing we can do for him?”
“He comes from Domun. His knowledge of medicine and pharmacology far surpasses ours.”

Jin Ipchu shook his head.

“If he could have treated this with medicine, he’d have acted long ago.”

Jang Saeng lowered his gaze into the flames. A charred branch collapsed inward, scattering crimson sparks.
Na Yangja had sought a physician immediately after being struck by poison-laced Hidden Needles, yet the cough never ceased.
Jin Ipchu held the food in his hand but did not eat. The usual playfulness had vanished from his face as he stared into the water in the bowl.
Jang Saeng pressed the rice cake back into his hands.

“Please eat, at least. You’ve had nothing all day.”

Jin Ipchu looked at Jang Saeng. After a moment, he steadied his breath and forced the corners of his mouth upward.

“You’ve noticed I went hungry? If you’re that observant, the women won’t leave you alone when we return.”

Jang Saeng let out an awkward laugh, unsure how to respond.
Jin Ipchu ate half the rice cake. Jang Saeng waited until he took a sip of water before speaking again.

“Brother, you said those stable keepers came from Namjo, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“Wouldn’t there be an antidote at their lair?”

Jin Ipchu did not answer at once. He set down what he was eating and searched his memory.

“The chances are slim.”
“Why is that?”
“The needle that pierced your master wasn’t fired deliberately by Jong Agyeong. It erupted from his body in all directions just before he died.”

Jin Ipchu spread his fingers to show the scattering pattern.

“It must have been Hidden Needles he kept hidden to die together with his enemy in a crisis. If it was something made from the start with the intention of dying together, there’s no reason he would have prepared a separate antidote.”

Jang Saeng recalled the night the fight broke out. When Jong Agyeong collapsed, the white light that poured forth didn’t spare even his own allies nearby.
It was less a means of survival than a means of dragging his opponent down with him in death.

“Even if an antidote existed, we couldn’t reach Namjo.”

Jin Ipchu continued.

“It’s very far from here. More than eight thousand li to the southwest. We’d need at least a fortnight of riding without rest, day and night.”

Jang Saeng exhaled slowly. The method he’d considered was blocked the moment he spoke it aloud.
Jin Ipchu, avoiding his injured left side, tapped him on the right shoulder.

“Don’t be afraid. Even if something does happen to your master, we four are here.”

Jang Saeng nodded, but his heart found no ease. Na Yangja was the one who had brought him out of the village.
No matter how well Baturou and his other seniors treated him, they could not take that man’s place.
For a moment, only the sound of fire crackling continued.
Jang Saeng glanced between the cart and Jin Ipchu, then voiced a question he’d long harbored.

“Do you know what our master is searching for, Third Brother?”
“No.”
“Has he never spoken of it?”
“Not once.”

Jin Ipchu set the remaining flatbread down near the fire.

“Only that he’s been searching for something since his youth. When he took in the Eldest Brother, he was already wandering through many places, or so I’ve heard.”

Jang Saeng asked abruptly.

“Did you hear what Jong Agyeong said that night?”
“That our master was driven out from Gakjosan?”
“Yes. Do you know why he was expelled?”

Jin Ipchu flipped the fire with a stick once.

“I’m not certain. My guess is it likely relates to his searching in tombs.”

He pushed the ash away with the end of the stick.

“Desecrating others’ graves is said to damage one’s karmic virtue greatly. And Domun’s precepts are sometimes stricter than the laws of the mundane world.”
“Then what was it our master found in those tombs?”
“I just told you I don’t know.”

Jin Ipchu gave Jang Saeng a sidelong look.

“But you can still speculate, can’t you?”
“You hold on like a dog with a bone.”

Jin Ipchu fell silent for a moment, then lowered his voice further.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it was likely an Elixir of Life Extension.”

Jang Saeng lifted his eyes.

“Do you have evidence for that?”
“Everything my master spends and owns has been earned through his own effort. Even when he was hard pressed, he never once took treasures from the tombs.”

Jin Ipchu glanced in turn at the Hanwol Blade resting by the campfire and at Baturou’s Bin Cheolkon lying in the distance.

“He obtained countless military weapons and secret technique manuals from the tombs, but he’s never wanted to keep them for himself. He’s never even practiced or chosen among them.”

He turned to look at Jang Saeng.

“If it’s not wealth, not martial skill, and not magical weapons, then what remains is Elixir—medicine to heal ailments or extend life.”

Jang Saeng followed the reasoning slowly. He couldn’t know why Na Yangja had been searching for tombs all these years.
But if you subtracted everything he hadn’t taken, there wasn’t much left—just as Jin Ipchu suggested.
Jin Ipchu added one more thing.

“I think my master seeks that Elixir because of a woman.”

Jang Saeng looked at him, caught off guard by the words.

“For a woman?”
“It’s a feeling I have.”
“You can tell such things just by feeling?”
“I’m rather skilled at matters of that sort.”

Jin Ipchu tried to slip back into his usual expression, but the smile didn’t last long.

“My master has fine looks and refined bearing. Everywhere he goes, there are plenty of women who show him their hearts—yet he’s never been swayed once.”

He glanced toward the cart.

“So there might be someone he’s had on his mind for a long time. Of course, it’s only my guess.”

Jang Saeng couldn’t easily agree.

“But at my master’s age, it’s hard to believe it would be because of a woman…”
“How old does my master look to you?”

Jin Ipchu asked at once.
Jang Saeng recalled Na Yangja’s white hair and gaunt face.

“Around forty-five or forty-six, perhaps?”
“You really can’t read people at all.”

Jin Ipchu clicked his tongue.

“My master isn’t that old. He’s probably in his mid-thirties at most.”

He gestured toward the sleeping Baturou.

“Didn’t your senior brother mention it before? When he first followed my master nine years ago, he was a young man with black hair.”

Jang Saeng also looked toward Baturou. He had heard that Baturou had been following Na Yangja for nine years now.

“Can all of someone’s hair turn white in just nine years?”
“Ordinarily, it would be difficult.”

Jin Ipchu looked toward the cart and fell silent. As the flames grew lower, shadows deepened around his eyes.

“I believe there are two possibilities.”

Jang Saeng waited.

“One was that his longing ran too deep.”

Jin Ipchu’s voice dropped lower still.

“The other was the Reverse Heaven Method

itself…….”

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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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