========================
Translator: thursdays Editor: Sasha
While Bae Hu-ryeong and I chatted, the Medicine King boiled the Evian-like bottled water. Meanwhile, on the other side, he laid out a frying pan and a cutting board and started cooking.
A savory smell filled the cave.
“Huff, hut.”
The Medicine King’s hands were quick. Mussel soup, white fish grilled to a crisp like a crusted steak and served on asparagus, a stir fry dish consisting of a mysterious fish and long clams garnished with parsley, a porridge-like dish with clams and chopped mushrooms, and even a lamb leg cooked whole—all these dishes were cooked and served in just 15 minutes.
“Hey, everyone! It’s not much, but eat it. Young’uns should eat a lot and be well. Tsk.”
Seeing the dishes lined up in front of him, the Murim Lord opened his eyes wide.
“Oh, no, but I am over thousands of years old… “
“What, did you eat something that gives you eternal youth? Ah, if it were Silicon Valley, I would have patented it! If you’re old, eat as much as your age! That’s how you stay strong.”
The image of the Medicine King talking as he poured the mussel soup into a large bowl was similar to that of a foul-mouthed grandmother or grandfather.
I also received a bowl of mussel soup. It smelled all right. Mussel soup was mussel soup, after all, but just as I thought that—
Oh my god.
‘It’s so delicious!?’
Was it because I’ve only been eating scraps of food like a Breatharian or something?[2]
First of all, there was no trace of the usual fishy odor. And the soup wasn’t just boiled with water. The broth was red, as some crimson vegetables had been added to it, and it was a little sour and savory, so the broth alone was delicious. The mussel meat was also chewy, so it was fantastic to bite into it and let the juice burst in my mouth and create an exquisite mixture with the broth as it wrapped around my tongue and teeth.
It was like the pinnacle of taste.
Even after winning the Sangryun lottery, I had only limited myself to the luxury of a white mocha frappuccino venti quadra shot java chip half and half chocolate drizzle, which was enough of a shock to me.
The Alchemist, who was rolling in the slum as she hadn’t yet become famous, seemed to be in the same position as me. Her eyes widened.
“Oh my god. It’s delicious…”
The Alchemist savored the taste and went on to explain.
“This shrimp. It’s plump and solid. And even though it tastes like shrimp… There’s no fish odor… H, how can shrimp taste like this? In addition, the mille-feuille served for this dessert tastes like the nobility of Nuneddine[1]. And not just regular nobility but a high ranking noble. The yogurt ice cream underneath is fresh and seems to be mixed with passion fruit juice, so it feels refreshingly sour… H, how does it taste this good?”
The Medicine King’s nose haughtily pointed upward.
“That’s because when I was in my 50s, I was awarded the three Michelin stars as the owner and chef of a restaurant! Ey. If I had a proper burner instead of something like this, I would have made something that would really fill up your stomachs.”
Could it be that the Medicine King wasn’t just good at making some medicine but was actually a really amazing person?
Was he not bluffing about Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and being a boxing champion?
“Why did such a great man come to the tower?”
The Venomous Snake also asked as if he was curious about it, with a mouthful of seafood porridge (the official name which seemed to be abalone truffle risotto).
The Medicine King snorted.
“Why? Is it forbidden for someone like me to enter the tower? That Marcus came to the Tower too!”
He had a point.
“Did you know each other from outside?”
“Know? Ha. He was just a filthy, nasty guy born to a filthy rich conglomerate. Compared to a self-made man in Silicon Valley like me, he’s just a lucky guy. That guy ran out of that luck in his final years, and he came to the tower with a sword…”
His words, which began with a snort, ended in a whisper.
The Alchemist, the Venomous Snake, and I all looked at the Medicine King as if we were reconsidering our opinions of him. Maybe that gaze irritated him, as the Medicine King shook his ladle as if shaking off a bird.
“Just eat!”
So we ate. It was really delicious.
It was the moment when the culinary director of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon was decided.
“It’s really the best taste.”
The Heavenly Demon, the protagonist of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon, said, as she constantly poured dishes into her mouth.
“Are you imperial guardians? Hmm, no. It’s different from Chinese cuisine.”
The Murim Lord sprayed his saliva while sucking on the cream pasta like a vacuum.
“That’s exactly what I mean. I have eaten various dishes as a lord, but this is my first time eating something like this.”
“Such strange dishes, and the appearance of abundance… I wonder where you come from, and why you came here…”
“Did you find a new way to cure Jiangshi’s disease?”
The two martial artists’ eyes lit up.
It was natural. From their standpoint, we were the first humans they had met in many years. Of course they found us fascinating, and of course they wondered if we had a cure.
I felt sorry for them, but I shook my head.
“We haven’t. We, too, are still looking for a cure.”
“Hmm. I guess it is like that…”
Were they as disappointed as they had been expectant?
Their complexions became grim.
“Well. All of Kang Ho’s doctors and experts rushed and tried to fix the mysterious disease, but none of them succeeded.”
“Because even the experts of Jiangshi, the masters of the Mosan Sect, had been turned, the circumstances would not have been different even if they were here now…”
“Is there really no cure?” I said. “We’re not bragging. You just saw the results of our cooking. We have different knowledge from you. This Alchemist here, especially, is superior to anyone in curing diseases and making medicines.”
The Alchemist, who was eating the lamb in big bites, blushed.
The Medicine King’s murmurs of ‘She’s just lucky’ that sounded next to us were… Well, I did feel a little sorry for him after he gave us such delicious food.
“This person over there is more than enough to assist the Alchemist. If you help us a little, we can develop a cure.”
“…….”
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord looked at each other.
“Cure… What are you saying…?”
“Well. It’s not like there’s no way…”
The Alchemist’s face turned red.
“What, what is it?”
“…Wait here.”
After a while, the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord brought out a large coffin.
When they opened the casket, there was a zombie lying there.
-…….
Like the time when he talked about the warm body of the Murim Lord, the Sword Emperor sealed his lips tight and furrowed his brow.
The zombie was as calm as if it were under the sun. Maybe it was because it was tightly tied with chains or because of the spiky acupuncture needles embedded in each joint, but the zombie was lying immobile.
I raised my head.
“This is…?”
“One of the monks of the Righteous Sect,” the Heavenly Demon said flatly.
“Right after being bitten by Jiangshi, he entrusted his body to us to study. But there is only one thing we figured out. It was to block the chi of the whole body with needles.”
The Heavenly Demon reached into the coffin.
“Be careful.”
The Heavenly Demon pulled out a large needle from the zombie’s neck.
-Ahhhhhh!!
At that exact moment, the zombie, who was as quiet as if it were sleeping, opened its eyes.
“Woah!?”
The Alchemist was startled and fell back. The zombie opened its mouth as if to bite the frightened Alchemist. Chul-kung! Chul-kung! Because of the chains, the zombie’s attack ended in vain, but the Alchemist couldn’t help but sweat.
“As you can see.”
Puk!
The Heavenly Demon stabbed the zombie’s neck with the needle again. Then, the zombie slowly closed its eyes once more. The zombie’s complexion relaxed, as if it had never even struggled. “If you block the chi flow between the brain and spinal cord, you can calm the Jiangshi. It’s the point where the cervix meets the spinal column. However, this is a stopgap measure rather than a cure.”
“Anyone who is bitten by the Jiangshi becomes stained with takgi that spreads through the blood and respiratory tract.”
Takgi, or murky energy.
Did he mean the virus?
“This takgi cannot be defeated no matter how much you meditate or try to starve it out. Even the demons, who cultivated magical power from the very beginning, and martial arts masters, who have clear spirits like streams, are finished once bitten. The whole body gets hot like a fire, and they soon become Jiangshi.”
The Heavenly Demon slowly covered the coffin.
“This Shaolin monk lasted the longest. Even though his arm was bitten by the Jiangshi, he kept his mind clear for a year. But that’s one of the exceptions, and it’s usually hard to last beyond 15 days, no matter how great one’s mastery is.”
The Heavenly Demon sighed.
“Children of the outside world. Can you really find a cure?”[3]
“…….”
The Alchemist could not answer. Even the Medicine King, who had a bad temperament, was speechless.
The Heavenly Demon smiled bitterly when none of us could respond.
“That’s all right. I thought there were only two people left in the world, the old man and me, but just seeing new people makes this old woman want to take care of you. Stay here for as long as you want.”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login