Episode 33: Even a Thorny Path is Worth Walking When Alive (2)
Light Novel: Volume 2 Episode 33
Manhwa: Chapter 33
Chapter 3 Episode 33. Even a Thorny Path is Worth Walking When Alive (2)
Dam-ho and Bang Jin-bo bid farewell to Bang Woo-gwang’s grave.
“Father, I’ll come visit again.”
Bang Jin-bo’s eyes reddened once more. He wiped his tears with his sleeve and walked off somewhere.
There, the shattered remains of a carriage remained. It was the same one he and Bang Woo-gwang had ridden in.
Bang Jin-bo began rummaging through the remains of the carriage. Dam-ho silently watched him, believing Bang Jin-bo must have a reason.
After searching through the debris for quite some time, Bang Jin-bo retrieved a Chinese-style cooking pot and various spices which were ingredients for cooking.
These were the last possessions left behind by his father, Bang Woo-gwang. He couldn’t just leave them behind in a place like this. Bang Jin-bo loaded the items he salvaged from the wreckage onto the horse’s saddle.
Mounting the horse, Bang Jin-bo said,
“Brother, let’s go.”
In just one night, the look in Bang Jin-bo’s eyes had grown markedly deeper.
Dam-ho nodded.
Bang Jin-bo had gone through a life-altering, soul-shaking experience. The eyes of someone who has endured such a shock and had such an experience were bound to be different from those of ordinary people.
Dam-ho and Bang Jin-bo left the place where Bang Woo-gwang’s grave now stood.
Even as they rode on horseback, Bang Jin-bo sniffed quietly. However, as time passed, Bang Jin-bo’s crying gradually subsided.
Dam-ho remained silent throughout the journey. Bang Jin-bo too said nothing. And so, the two rode on in wordless travel the entire day.
Every now and then, Black Ghost let out a snort. It wanted to gallop freely, but Dam-ho held it back, which frustrated it.
Dam-ho patted Black Ghost on the neck to soothe and calm it down. He understood how Black Ghost felt, but now was not the time to run.
They spent most of the day on horseback. They only dismounted when the sun was about to set by the bank of a small, nameless stream.
It was impossible to continue on their way with the sun down so Dam-ho decided they would camp here for the night.
He tied the horses by the stream and gathered some branches from nearby. Dam-ho built a campfire.
It wasn’t for himself though. Having spent so many years deep underground, Dam-ho was now almost insensitive to any cold and heat.
The campfire was for Bang Jin-bo. It was the least Dam-ho could do for him.
As Dam-ho sat by the fire, he handed something to Bang Jin-bo.
“Eat.”
What he gave Bang Jin-bo was jerky. It was the same jerky Bang Jin-bo had given him before they parted in Turpan.
Bang Jin-bo stared blankly at the jerky. Then, as if coming to his senses, he looked at Dam-ho.
Dam-ho was slowly chewing on the jerky, eyes gently closed. The way he savored it made the moment feel almost reverent.
Bang Jin-bo suddenly put the jerky in his pocket and stood up.
“Brother, just a moment.”
Dam-ho opened his eyes and looked at Bang Jin-bo.
Bang Jin-bo pulled out the cooking pot from the saddle. He filled it with water fetched from the nearby stream and placed it over the campfire.
Then, holding a burning twig, he started foraging in the bushes. Using the light from the flame, he quickly picked several herbs.
Just as the water in the pot began to boil, he finely chopped the herbs and added them along with the jerky.
Dam-ho quietly watched his every move.
Bang Jin-bo opened a small pouch he had taken from the wreckage of the carriage. Inside was finely ground grain powder.
Bang Jin-bo scooped a handful of the grain powder into the pot. A fragrant smell spread throughout the area in an instant. He added a few spices as well.
With jerky, grain powder, and unfamiliar herbs, he made a rather respectable porridge.
“It should be edible.”
Bang Jin-bo scooped out a bowl of porridge and handed it to Dam-ho.
Dam-ho tasted the porridge Bang Jin-bo had made. A rich, savory flavor filled his mouth.
“It’s delicious.”
“It’s a recipe my father taught me. When we didn’t have much ingredients, we used to make meals like this sometimes.”
“I see.”
“It may not look like much, but it should be enough for a meal.”
“Thanks for the food.”
“Yes!”
Bang Jin-bo scooped another bowl for himself and sat beside Dam-ho.
Slurp!
The sound of the two men slurping their porridge echoed gently.
Dam-ho ate the porridge with relish. It felt like the most delicious meal he’d ever had. That was how good Bang Jin-bo’s cooking was.
The two quickly emptied their bowls. After the meal, Bang Jin-bo looked at Dam-ho.
“Brother!”
“What is it?”
“Could you take me to Dongting Lake?”
“Dongting Lake?”
Dam-ho looked at Bang Jin-bo with a puzzled expression. In response, Bang Jin-bo dropped to his knees in front of him.
“I know I’m being shameless. But I have no one else to ask but you.”
“Why do you want to go to Dongting Lake?”
“It was my father’s final wish.”
“All right.”
Dam-ho didn’t ask anything further.
That reason alone was enough.
“Really?”
“Get some rest now. We’ll be traveling far tomorrow, so you’ll need to conserve your strength.”
“Thank you, brother. I’ll never forget this kindness.”
Tears welled up in Bang Jin-bo’s eyes again.
He was deeply grateful that Dam-ho had agreed without even asking for an explanation.
To others, Dam-ho may have seemed like a Demonic God of Massacre, but to Bang Jin-bo, he was his one and only benefactor.
When everyone else turned their backs on him and his father, Dam-ho was the only one who didn’t. Even though countless people had died by his hands, Bang Jin-bo couldn’t see Dam-ho as cruel.
If it weren’t for Dam-ho, more people would have been killed or injured by the bandits. And even more people would have been plunged into grief.
“Thank you, brother.”
Bang Jin-bo expressed his gratitude once more. Dam-ho nodded and leaned against a small rock near the campfire.
Meanwhile, Bang Jin-bo took the pot and bowls to the stream and began washing them. It was the only thing he could do right now but he intended to do it with all his heart.
He couldn’t bear to sit still. So Bang Jin-bo kept himself moving without a moment’s rest.
Dam-ho didn’t say a word.
Overcoming grief was something one had to do alone. And Bang Jin-bo already seemed to understand how.
Dam-ho closed his eyes.
The next morning at dawn, Bang Jin-bo woke earlier than Dam-ho and began preparing breakfast. Even with the limited ingredients and spices they had, Bang Jin-bo quickly whipped up a meal.
Dam-ho did not stop Bang Jin-bo.
When cooking, a healthy color would return to Bang Jin-bo’s face. That passion for food was what would become the driving force in his life.
After they finished eating, Dam-ho and Bang Jin-bo set off on their journey. Perhaps the grief had eased a little, as Bang Jin-bo gradually began to talk more.
Bang Jin-bo talked about everything from his childhood to when he went to the Western Region with his father, Bang Woo-gwang and many other trivial memories. Dam-ho listened to all of his stories.
Even if Dam-ho didn’t respond, it didn’t matter. Bang Jin-bo spoke endlessly, and as time went on, his expression brightened.
But Dam-ho knew. It wasn’t because he had forgotten his father’s death. Rather, it was his own way of processing and suppressing the grief.
Bang Jin-bo still missed his father.
Suddenly, Dam-ho lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
‘I wonder what Master is doing right now?’
He missed Sage Hyun-so.
He wanted to go to Mount Hua, where his master was, right away. But he couldn’t do that yet.
His master had told him to return only when he was certain he could remain unshaken, even in the face of a raging storm. He had to determine whether he had reached that point yet first.
Silently, Dam-ho urged Black Ghost forward. How long did they go like that? Soon, a small village came into view.
Bang Jin-bo’s eyes lit up.
“This is perfect, brother! Let’s stop there and buy some ingredients.”
“Ingredients?”
“Yes! We’re running out of things to cook with. I only need to buy a few things, so it’s just a quick stop.”
When Dam-ho nodded, Bang Jin-bo spurred his horse ahead and galloped toward the village. As Dam-ho watched his figure grow distant, he saw a glimpse of his younger self in Bang Jin-bo’s back.
A lingering worry about leaving him by himself… and that’s why he couldn’t turn away.
Perhaps his master, Sage Hyun-so had once felt the same emotions Dam-ho was feeling now.
The village was tiny, so small that Dam-ho wouldn’t have bothered to stop if not for Bang Jin-bo.
There were probably no more than thirty households in the whole village. Even counting the children, the population likely didn’t exceed a hundred. It made Dam-ho wonder what kind of ingredients could even be found in a place like this.
However, Bang Jin-bo saw things differently from Dam-ho. Bang Jin-bo knocked on the doors of ordinary houses and bargained with the residents.
Eventually, he managed to acquire a chunk of smoked pork, a piece of leathery dried fish, and some unknown grass that had been dried in the sun.
Bang Jin-bo wrapped the hard-earned ingredients in a cloth and stored them carefully. Though he had never formally learned to cook, he had picked up quite a bit watching over his father’s shoulder.
Because of that, he knew just how important good ingredients were. For any cook, nothing was more vital than quality foodstuffs.
“Let’s go.”
A smile appeared on Bang Jin-bo’s face for the first time in a long time.
The two of them left the village immediately. They could sense that the villagers were uncomfortable with them.
The smaller the settlement, the more wary people tended to be of outsiders. Since they had accomplished their goal, it was best for everyone to move along quickly.
Dam-ho was not someone who was used to traveling or camping outdoors. In his youth, he had lived in a remote village, and after that, he spent most of his life in the Mount Hua Sect.
But the twelve years he had spent in the sealed underground space had changed him into someone who could adapt to almost any situation.
Dam-ho was certain that there could be no situation worse than the ones he had already endured. And having survived such dire circumstances, there was nothing he couldn’t adapt to.
Roughing it outdoors was no real issue for him. The same was true for Bang Jinbo. Though he was still young, he had often camped out under the stars with his father, and in some ways, he was even more experienced at it than Dam-ho.
The real problem was Bang Jinbo’s stamina.
Up until now, he had ridden comfortably in a wagon driven by his father, so he hadn’t experienced much physical exhaustion. But riding a horse was a completely different story—it drained one’s strength far more rapidly.
Naturally, their pace was slower than if Dam-ho had been traveling alone. Even so, Dam-ho didn’t rush.
Whenever Bang Jinbo showed signs of fatigue, they would stop to rest. Sometimes it was a short break, other times they stayed for quite a while.
Bang Jinbo gradually grew brighter, eventually regaining his former liveliness.
“Brother, let’s sleep here tonight.”
Bang Jinbo was the first to suggest camping out.
When Dam-ho nodded in agreement, Bang Jinbo broke into a smile as if he’d expected it all along.
“Hehe! Brother, take a break for a while.”
Without waiting for a reply, Bang Jinbo began bustling about.
He gathered twigs scattered nearby to build a fire and drew water from a stream he had noticed on his way there.
He set a wok over the flames and let it heat up. Once it was hot enough, he tossed in some pork fat he had gotten from the village.
Sizzle!
As the fat melted, smoke began to rise. Into the heated wok, he added the smoked pork, kidneys, and liver he had obtained from the village, stir-frying them together until fragrant.
The dish Bang Jin-bo served was one of the traditional dishes of the Hui people called Triple Stir-Fried Delight. It was originally made with lamb, but he skillfully substituted it with pork.
Dam-ho’s eyes lit up as he tasted the dish for the first time.
“Where did you learn to cook this?”
“I tried cooking it according to a cooking journal my father wrote down in his spare time. How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
“I’m glad. Hehe!”
Bang Jinbo laughed sheepishly at Dam-ho’s reply. And for the first time, Dam-ho smiled as well.
Bang Jin-bo clenched his fist.
“I will definitely become the best chef in the world.”
Bang Jin-bo believed that would be the best way to honor his father.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
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