Chapter 5

“I’m back. What were you doing?”

See? I told you not to let your guard down.

He had sensed it from the bottom of the mountain. The child had woken while he was away. Pushing open the estate’s flimsy gate, Cho Yoon called out in a low voice.

I’m home. I’m heading out. I need to make sure I say these things, as a basic rule.

No reply came from inside. Since he had told the boy not to speak until his throat healed, the silence was natural.

But with Cheon-oh, the quiet carried a slightly different weight.

Cho Yoon opened the wooden door and looked in. The small boy sat blankly on the bed, his raven-black hair in disarray. It was heartbreaking, seeing him stare into space without sparing Cho Yoon so much as a glance.

“You are awake. How does your throat feel? Does your chest feel tight?”

Cho Yoon sat beside the bed and gently placed his fingers on the boy’s wrist, then his throat. He gauged the faint vibrations pulsing from his acupoints, then pressed firmly along the child’s thin back.

Cheon-oh’s pitch-black eyes stayed fixed on the floor without a twitch. Still, a true educator had to be persistent, even when met with no reaction at all.

Cho Yoon pulled a wooden comb from a small drawer and began to detangle the child’s hair, speaking in a soothing, even tone.

“Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon have gone down the mountain to purchase ingredients for dinner. For the time being, I plan to feed you chicken broth to restore your vitality. If there is anything you cannot eat, or any flavors you particularly enjoy, I will do my utmost to accommodate you. Tell me now if you have any preferences.”

“…”

“It seems your body can handle pills now, so starting tomorrow, I shall give you pills alongside your decoction. They will be astringent and sour, but you must hold them in your mouth and let them melt so they can coat your torn throat on the way down.”

The child remained silent.

Without pausing, Cho Yoon combed through the last of the knots, gathered the top half of the boy’s hair, and tied it back with a white silk ribbon. As he had realized while fixing Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon’s hair earlier, Cho Yoon was surprisingly deft.

If he’s this good at it, why did he leave the kids’ hair like a rat’s nest? Seriously, martial artists are the worst.

Hayoon clicked his tongue and mentally scolded his predecessor. Remembering the horribly tangled messes on the siblings’ heads when they first met, he felt a fresh surge of irritation at the original Cho Yoon’s “hands-off” approach to parenting.

How badly had he neglected them, for them to get that excited over something as basic as having their hair combed? The thought of Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon practically glowing with joy at neat hair made his stomach twist with guilt.

Fine. I’ll just treat them properly from now on.

Having settled himself, Cho Yoon patted the boy’s shoulder.

“Simply sitting or lying down all day is not the best method for recovery. If you feel up to it, would you be willing to help me with something?”

For the first time, the child reacted.

Cheon-oh turned, silent, and stared straight at him. Looking down into those pitch-black eyes, Cho Yoon offered the warmest, gentlest smile he could manage.

As the saying went, the best prescription for a depressed child was self-directed sensory learning.

***

Stepping outside for the first time in days, the boy staggered. Walking was still difficult. Cho Yoon moved naturally to his side, taking his shoulder and letting him lean against his hip. When the child reflexively squinted against the glare, Cho Yoon spoke.

“I shall find a place with good sunlight up ahead. Go into the courtyard and fetch the rolled bamboo mat. Be careful not to fall. It would be disastrous if you reopened the wounds on your knees.”

Without a word, the boy wobbled off to find the mat.

So he does respond when you ask for help. He doesn’t seem like a bad kid…

Then again, even in the original novel, Joo Cheon-oh was a “cool villain.” Overwhelmingly powerful and cold-blooded, yes, but never petty or underhanded. He had even executed a subordinate for trying to hinder the protagonist with dirty tricks. He had charisma, a strict creed of his own, and his reasons for despising the White Chivalry Alliance and the orthodox factions were justified.

If that’s the case… if I raise him well, maybe he won’t turn into a villain. They say early childhood education shapes a person for life, right?

His mind raced as his feet carried him to a sun-drenched spot among the trees. In truth, he already had one in mind: a flat boulder a short walk past the estate fence.

The morning sun was crisp and bright. In its warmth, Cho Yoon turned to check on the child.

Cheon-oh was making his way back, clutching the rolled bamboo mat tight against his chest, looking as if he might topple at any moment. Cho Yoon could feel those large, pitch-black eyes on him. Was it simply because the boy was all instinct, still? For some reason, a corner of Cho Yoon’s heart fluttered with unease.

Hiding it, Cho Yoon pointed to the boulder.

“Unroll the mat completely over this rock.”

Cheon-oh’s steps wavered, but he kept his footing. The soft-soled shoes he wore were too large.

Are those Sa-yeong’s old shoes from when she was eight? Kids grow like weeds at that age. Still, if he trips on the mountain path… I need to get him a pair that fits.

The same went for the clothes. It was a set Cho Yoon had only managed to scrounge up after turning the cabin upside down. On a seven-year-old as severely emaciated as Cheon-oh, they inevitably hung loose.

Cho Yoon kept a close eye on him. To foster independence, he couldn’t snatch the task away just because the boy looked unsteady.

Cheon-oh managed the walk anyway. At last, when the distance between them closed to a single zhang, and the boy’s small feet stepped into the halo of sunlight around Cho Yoon…

Trip.

The rugged mountain path finally claimed its victim. Perhaps Cheon-oh had relaxed, thinking he was almost there. His foot caught on a jutting rock, and he pitched forward.

If he hit the dirt, he would tear open the nearly healed scabs on his knees and shins. Cheon-oh squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the agony.

But he did not hit the ground.

Cho Yoon moved in a blink, stepping in and catching the boy against his chest.

“Your shoes seem a bit too large.”

He gave Cheon-oh a few steadying pats, then gently took the bamboo mat from his arms. Even as he fell, the boy had refused to let it go. Cho Yoon spread it wide across the boulder.

“Come here.”

When the child drew near, Cho Yoon pulled handfuls of rhododendron leaves from his sleeves and scattered them in a rustling pile over the mat. The boy blinked a few times, faintly startled, but his face remained expressionless.

As Cho Yoon casually spread the mound with his hands, he spoke.

“These are rhododendron leaves. Because they have so many uses, they are literally called the ‘herb of ten thousand cures.’ The leaves themselves are known as Stone South Leaf. In the summer, they bloom with white flowers that resemble azaleas. Have you ever seen an azalea?”

“…”

“This is how we make it into a raw medicinal ingredient. We dry it thoroughly under the sun like this.” Cho Yoon gestured to the mat. “Spread them out carefully so that not a single leaf is hidden from the light. Be gentle. If you grip them too tightly, you will bruise them.”

Cho Yoon’s gaze flicked to the child’s bandaged hands.

Cheon-oh froze for a beat, then hesitantly shuffled closer. With trembling fingers, he began to arrange the dark green leaves one by one, meticulous even through the bandages.

Cho Yoon smiled, pride clear in his voice. “You have delicate hands. You will be a great help.”

How does ‘Aww, look at our little cutie doing such a careful job’ turn into that? Is this seriously the best you can do, Immortal Healer?

Hayoon bit the inside of his cheek. Still, Cheon-oh did not seem upset by the remark. Or perhaps he was simply doing as instructed. Either way, it was a relief.

Cho Yoon moved to the opposite side of the mat and began sorting in tandem with him.

“When its flowers reach full bloom in the summer, it produces a wonderful fragrance, so it is also called the ‘Fragrance Tree.’ It grows twice as tall as I am and is characterized by its evergreen leaves,” Cho Yoon explained.

“…”

“Even when the entire world is buried in snow, this tree stands out, surviving alone in vibrant green. Perhaps it became a medicinal herb capable of curing ten thousand diseases because it possesses a vitality that refuses to die, no matter what happens.”

Other benefits include restoring exhausted energy, tonifying the spleen and stomach, treating joint inflammation, reducing pain and fever…

Cho Yoon’s lecture continued for quite some time. He wasn’t sure whether any of this was truly engaging for a child. It felt less like a story and more like forcing someone to sit through a pharmacology text.

But once he started talking about herbs, he could not stop.

By the time the leaves were neatly arranged, Cho Yoon had already rattled off explanations for two subspecies of rhododendron. Only then, for the first time in nearly a quarter of an hour, did he say something unrelated to medicine.

“This is enough. Your energy is heavily depleted, so basking in the sun for too long will exhaust you. Let us go inside.”

The boy gave a small nod and stepped back.

See? I told you self-directed sensory learning works best.

Pleased, Cho Yoon scooped Cheon-oh into his arms. The boy stiffened for a brief moment, then relaxed, entrusting his weight to Cho Yoon’s hold.

Now I just need to take him inside, feed him some porridge, and put him back to sleep.

If they took it slowly, moving forward one step at a time every day, a path forward would surely reveal itself.

That was Cho Yoon’s hope-filled plan.