OGHOU C26

Chapter 26

“I brought Shaoxing wine, since I heard you favor it.”

Somyeong’s gaze shifted to the wine bottle in Cheongyeon’s hand. He closed his book and gave a quiet nod.

“The child is asleep. Let us move elsewhere.”

They went down to the first floor and took seats at a table. When they lit the lamps, the dim inn brightened.

“How did you know I drink this wine?”

“Jeha told me.”

“He does go on about everything.”

Amber wine filled the cups to the brim. Somyeong picked his up and tipped it straight into his mouth. They said masters drank well; seeing him drink like water without a flicker on his face no longer surprised.

“How is it?”

“Bitter.”

“I thought you would say it was sweet.”

“It has never been sweet.”

He drew a handkerchief from his robe, pressed it to his lips, and looked at Cheongyeon.

“Was there something you wished to say to me?”

“Ah… nothing of the sort.”

He didn’t truly have anything to say. His heart was in knots and he wanted a drink—he only needed someone to share it with.

Cheongyeon lifted the cup before him and drained it. The bitter burn felt like it scorched his throat.

“It really is bitter.”

“For your health, it would be best not to drink at all.”

“……”

“Let us call tonight an exception.”

“A good thought.”

Trading cups back and forth, they drank several more in succession, and the flush came on quickly. Cheongyeon chewed the peanuts served as a snack and grumbled,

“It seems nothing goes the way I want.”

“……”

“I tried in my own way; perhaps it was simply not enough.”

“…What happened?”

“I tried to protect them. That child’s life. My own life. And countless others. Yet rather than protect anyone, I brought innocent people into it and left them hurt.”

“……”

“I truly want to do nothing anymore. No more getting caught up in anything. No more stepping forward thinking to change someone’s life.”

“When you said you would run away, you meant this…”

“Yes. I will simply run.”

His head throbbed, and his words felt slurred. Propping his chin, Cheongyeon fidgeted with peanut shells, worrying them to pieces.

Meanwhile, looking as composed as ever, Somyeong seemed to sink into thought, then poured a few more cups and spoke.

“Do you know why I drink Shaoxing wine?”

“Uh… no?”

He looked down at the empty cup and turned it with a fingertip.

“In the Shaoxing region, when a daughter is born, they brew this yellow wine, place it in a jar decorated with flower motifs, and bury it in the ground. When the child grows and it is time for marriage, they unearth the wine and share it with the village. That wine is called ‘nu’erhong’—daughter’s red.”

“Ah, I think I’ve heard of it.”

He remembered nu’erhong cropping up often in wuxia tales.

But why tell this story now…

“It was the same when my sister was born. We brewed wine to unearth when she married and buried it in the yard.”

“You have a sister?”

This, too, wasn’t in the original. The original focused on Jeha and Somyeong in the present; the backstories of all characters were summarized in four or five lines. Somyeong’s family wasn’t mentioned at all.

“To be precise, I had one. She passed early.”

“Ah…”

“It must have been around the age you are now.”

He rarely spoke of personal matters; after a brief hesitation, he continued calmly.

“It rained heavily that day. Raindrops hammered the window, and thunder rumbled now and then.”

At the time, he too was a student under his master, studying acupuncture late into the night by lamplight. The rain outside was loud, and he was so engrossed in his studies that he did not notice someone climbing the wall.

He only noticed the uninvited guest in the middle of the night when a faint groan reached his ears.

Taking an umbrella, Somyeong left his room. Following the suspicious sound, he spotted the hunched silhouette of a man beneath the wall.

The man was grievously wounded, bleeding all over, trembling in spasms. As soon as the rain washed the blood away, more pooled, soaking the ground.

What is this, at this hour? Should he report it to the authorities?

A suspicious man, bearing sword wounds, entering another’s courtyard—this was no ordinary matter.

The bleeding was so severe the man would surely die if left there. Yet it felt wrong to bring a stranger blindly into the house. Somyeong stood there, wavering.

“Spare me… save me…”

Trembling pitiably, the man stretched a hand toward him. Drained of strength, it fell to the ground.

No. He had to save the man first.

In the end, Somyeong brought him inside and treated him with utmost care.

The man regained consciousness after about a fortnight. He explained that he had been threatened and pursued by a bandit he encountered on the road, and thanked Somyeong over and over for saving his life.

He boasted that he would repay him greatly in due time; even as he left, he did not cease expressing gratitude.

“So—were you repaid?”

Somyeong shook his head slowly.

“No. The opposite.”

“The opposite…?”

“My sister was murdered by his hand.”

“What?”

“It turned out he was a notorious bandit.”

Murdered by the very man he had saved—how could such a thing happen?

At a loss for words that might comfort him, Cheongyeon kept silent.

“After that, I abandoned medicine. My conviction—that whether saint or sinner, if they were human, they must be saved—was broken. I became someone who could not place even a single needle.”

“But… you returned to it.”

“It took many long years. I wandered all across the Central Plains and did things I cannot now imagine. In the name of avenging my sister, I vented my rage upon innocents. Thinking back, I feel like a stranger to myself.”

“How did you regain your resolve?”

Somyeong pointed at the wine bottle on the table.

“Upon returning home after a long time, I dug into the earth and found the wine we had brewed when the child was born, just as it was. There was no longer any wedding to send her to—so I dug it up and drank.”

“……”

“The wine was bitter beyond belief. I drank the bitter wine to excess, fell asleep drunk—and for the first time, my sister came to me in a dream.”

Elder brother, you were born good; the path of saving lives suits you better than that of harming them. So end your wandering and follow the conviction you believe is right. That was what she said.

“She was a kind child, even in dreams. If not for her words, I would have wasted away in the streets.”

He took up the bottle and poured the final dregs.

“Because the guilt has not been erased entirely, I still drink this Shaoxing wine after seeing a patient—hoping, if only in dreams, to apologize to my sister.”

“I didn’t know you had gone through such a thing.”

“There is something I say to Jeha as a matter of habit.”

Downing the cup, he spoke.

“No matter how inherently good one is, good and evil cannot be cleaved cleanly like a blade’s stroke; thus one must ever be wary of the evil slumbering within. Be someone who strives always toward the good.”

“……”

“I believe you are one who moves toward the good. Though you speak of running away, your actions are entirely otherwise.”

“……”

“I mean the cup you broke the other day.”

“Ah…”

So he knew. Since when had he been watching?

Cheongyeon offered a sheepish smile at Somyeong’s impassive face. The wine-befogged head felt suddenly clear.

The next morning, Dogyung was, as expected, the first down to the dining hall and ordered breakfast for three.

It must be no small task for a child to rise early and appear so impeccably groomed. Dogyung smiled leisurely, greeted politely, and sipped tea while waiting for his brothers.

Soon, Geon and Hwan finished their preparations and came down.

“Dogyung.”

“Yes, brother.”

“We have business outside. You are to remain here and do not cause trouble.”

“May I not accompany you?”

At that, Hwan cut in to scold him.

“If your elder says stay, you stay—must you prattle?”

“Yes. Then I shall finish the painting I left unfinished.”

Dogyung did not lose heart; he smiled brightly and agreed.

“You’d do better to practice martial arts than spend time painting. Tch.”

Just then, having prepared breakfast ahead of time, Cheongyeon brought out the dishes. As he set each dish on the table, he once more clipped Geon’s teacup with his wrist, sending it tumbling.

But this time, Geon moved faster. He reached out and caught the falling cup lightly.

“Quick hands.”

“…Will you not be careful?”

Geon answered with an annoyed look.

“Now that I see it, there’s dust on the cup. I’ll replace it with a new one.”

“It looks fine to me.”

“It looks dirty to me.”

Cheongyeon snatched the cup from his hand. Then, standing straight where he was, he looked at Dogyung’s face.

Smiling again?

Feigning ignorance with that gentle smile, Dogyung received a warning glare. Don’t try anything foolish in my inn.

Footnotes

• Shaoxing wine/nu’erhong: A famed Chinese yellow wine; “daughter’s red” is wine buried at a girl’s birth and unearthed for her wedding, often appearing in East Asian literature and wuxia contexts.