Chapter 68: I’m Doing This for My Own Good.

When he turned his head, he saw the mother Sky Mountain Panda approaching Jin Cheon with heavy steps.

Covered in wounds and bleeding profusely, her injuries seemed quite severe.

“Heong, heo-eong.”

The mother Sky Mountain Panda placed her baby at Jin Cheon’s feet.

“What does this mean……?”

“Heong, heo-eong.”

“……?”

Soon, the mother Sky Mountain Panda collapsed.

It seemed that the wounds inflicted by the Forest Killing Ghosts were so severe that she had lost consciousness.

“Oh no.”

Jin Cheon hurriedly felt around the mother Sky Mountain Panda’s body.

“Her pulse is weak.”

“What should we do?”

“First, we need to stop the bleeding, then disinfect and stitch the wounds. That’s all we can do.”

“We will take emergency measures first and then move her to the mountain stronghold.”

“Yes, do that.”

Jin Cheon nodded at Danmok Cheong’s words.

‘I don’t know if she’ll be able to live.’

Jin Cheon did not rate the mother Sky Mountain Panda’s chances of survival very highly.

She had lost a lot of blood, and her wounds were so deep that it wouldn’t be strange if she died right away.

“……Did she mean to entrust her baby to me.”

Jin Cheon picked up the baby Sky Mountain Panda.

“Kkingkking!”

The baby Sky Mountain Panda, knowing that its mother was in danger, couldn’t hide its anxiety, whining and struggling.

“Don’t worry. I will do my best to save your mother.”

“Kkingkking!”

“I’m not trying to hurt you. Calm down.”

“Kkiiing……”

While Jin Cheon was comforting the baby, Danmok Cheong disinfected and stitched the mother Sky Mountain Panda’s wounds as an emergency measure.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like she has sustained any fatal injuries, but she has lost too much blood.”

“Move her to the mountain stronghold for now. If we leave her here, she’ll die in all likelihood.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Following Jin Cheon’s orders, the members of the New Demon Squad lifted the mother Sky Mountain Panda and moved her to the mountain stronghold.

***

A few days later.

“My lord, the Sky Mountain Panda has woken up.”

“Has she recovered?”

“It seems so.”

Hearing Danmok Cheong’s words, he went to see, and the mother Sky Mountain Panda was drinking water given by the members of the New Demon Squad.

“Kkingkking!”

The baby Sky Mountain Panda, which had been in Jin Cheon’s arms, started to struggle upon seeing its mother.

“Yes, your mom is not dead.”

“Kkingkking!”

Jin Cheon placed the baby Sky Mountain Panda next to its mother.

Although the mother Sky Mountain Panda looked very weak, as soon as she saw her baby, she held it in her arms and licked it continuously.

“Cut some bamboo and bring it. She’ll need to eat something to regain her strength.”

“Yes, my lord.”

However, the mother Sky Mountain Panda did not touch the bamboo that the members of the New Demon Squad brought, and instead approached Jin Cheon.

“Heong, heo-eong!”

“……What is she saying?”

“Heo-eong! Heong!”

“Thank you?”

“Heongheong!”

“Yes, yes. You need to get well soon. You have a baby too.”

“Heong, heo-eong!”

“……?”

“Heo-eong!”

The mother Sky Mountain Panda took a step, then looked back at Jin Cheon, then took another step and looked back at Jin Cheon again.

“My lord, I think she wants you to follow.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s how I see it.”

“If she wants me to follow, I’ll have to go.”

Without much thought, Jin Cheon and the members of the New Demon Squad followed the mother Sky Mountain Panda.

Perhaps because she was weak, the mother Sky Mountain Panda repeatedly walked for a while and then rested, and the sight was so pitiful that he felt a natural desire to help.

After moving slowly like that for almost two hours, a field of white flowers unfolded before their eyes.

“N-no way.”

Danmok Cheong was startled upon seeing the flower field.

“This is absurd……”

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Th-that’s what I mean.”

At Jin Cheon’s question, Danmok Cheong pointed at the flower field with a trembling hand.

“What about it? It’s just a flower field.”

“It’s fleeceflower.”

“So what? It’s just a medicinal herb.”

Jin Cheon frowned as if it were no big deal.

“Yes, it is a medicinal herb, but…… the flowers of fleeceflower are not that big. Usually, several small, pinky-fingernail-sized flowers bloom…… if the flowers are that big……”

“……?”

“There is a high possibility that it is a very old fleeceflower.”

“Don’t tell me.”

Jin Cheon’s expression hardened.

He remembered that although fleeceflower was a commonly used medicinal herb, a very old one was also treated as a rare spiritual medicine.

“It’s just my guess, but…… this is at least a hundred years old.”

“A-a hundred years?!”

“We’ll have to pull out the root to know for sure, but…… there’s a high probability.”

Jin Cheon whipped his head around and looked back at the mother Sky Mountain Panda.

“Is this a gift?”

“Heong!”

Surprisingly, the Sky Mountain Panda nodded as if to say yes.

Then, as if to demonstrate, she began to dig up the ground, unearth the root of the fleeceflower, and munch on it.

“It is…… a spiritual medicine.”

Jin Cheon instinctively knew that Danmok Cheong’s prediction was not wrong.

The fragrance that wafted every time the Sky Mountain Panda chewed on the root of the fleeceflower was so refreshing and fragrant that he could tell it was a spiritual medicine just by the smell.

“Dig one up. See if it’s really a spiritual medicine.”

“Yes, my lord.”

At Jin Cheon’s command, Danmok Cheong dug up one root of the fleeceflower.

Then he knelt on one knee before Jin Cheon and offered it to him.

“In my opinion, it is a fleeceflower that is about a hundred years old.”

“Haha, hahaha……”

Jin Cheon was so surprised that he couldn’t even be happy.

A flower field of this size would have at least several dozen roots, and to think that they were all hundred-year-old fleeceflowers, the sight was dazzling.

Of course, although a hundred-year-old fleeceflower was close to the bottom among spiritual medicines, the overwhelming quantity was enough to dilute that drawback.

“What should we do?”

“Let’s leave it for now and ask Senior Brother Wi when he comes. Spiritual medicines are not necessarily good just because you eat them recklessly.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Since Wi Mu-rin would bring food and daily necessities once a month, he meant to ask him then.

Coincidentally, the Evil Spirit Guardian Clan, to which Wi Mu-rin belonged, was a family that had a reputation not only for sorcery but also for the production of pills such as spiritual medicines, so it was appropriate to ask for his advice.

Munch munch!

Regardless of whether Jin Cheon’s party was surprised or not, the mother Sky Mountain Panda and her baby were just busy devouring the hundred-year-old fleeceflower.

***

A few days after that.

“This is absurd……”

A gasp of astonishment escaped Wi Mu-rin’s mouth.

He had visited the Black Bamboo Forest with his guards, leading several carts as usual, but upon seeing the fleeceflower field that Jin Cheon showed him, he was at a loss for words.

“Is it a hundred-year-old fleeceflower?”

“It can’t be anything else. Just by the size of the petals, it’s between a hundred and a hundred and twenty years old.”

“Then this field is……”

“It looks like there are at least a hundred roots…… with this much, we can make about fifty Soma Pills.”

“Fifty, you say?”

“Yes.”

Wi Mu-rin nodded.

“The most difficult ingredient to obtain when making Soma Pills is a hundred-year-old fleeceflower. This is an incredible miraculous encounter.”

“Haha……”

“Leaving it alone was also an excellent choice. Although a hundred-year-old fleeceflower is a spiritual medicine, chewing on the root is not a very efficient way to consume it. You can get the greatest achievement when you make it into a Soma Pill and eat it.”

As someone from a family with a reputation for producing pills, Wi Mu-rin seemed to know very well about hundred-year-old fleeceflowers.

“What about the production of Soma Pills?”

“It’s not difficult. It’s just that the ingredients, specifically the hundred-year-old fleeceflower, are hard to come by.”

“Then could you perhaps take these and make Soma Pills for us? I will pay you a sufficient price.”

“Alright.”

Wi Mu-rin readily accepted Jin Cheon’s proposal.

“Then I will take them, make as many Soma Pills as possible, and then we will divide our shares. The ratio will be……”

Wi Mu-rin pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Eight to one. You get eight, and I get two. That is the price for the various medicinal herbs and the labor required to make the Soma Pills.”

“Excellent.”

Jin Cheon accepted Wi Mu-rin’s proposal.

Since Wi Mu-rin and the Evil Spirit Guardian Clan also needed to gain something to make the Soma Pills, he judged that it was a mutually satisfactory deal.

“However, I would be grateful if you would take only about half.”

“Only half? Why?”

“If you take all of them, the Sky Mountain Panda will have nothing to eat.”

“For such a trivial reason?”

“We have to live together.”

“Hmm.”

“For now, I would like it to be that way.”

“Very well.”

Wi Mu-rin readily nodded.

“It’s not my property anyway, so it’s up to you what you do with it.”

“Haha.”

“By the way. You said you killed a Forest Killing Ghost that could speak?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you have formed a bad connection with ‘him’.”

“Him, you say……”

“The Ghost King of the Sea of Trees. The king of the Forest Killing Ghosts.”

“Is he a person?”

“At one time, he too was a person. But now he has become a being beyond human and reigns as the king of the Forest Killing Ghosts here in the Sea of Trees.”

“Is he strong?”

“Well. I’m not sure, but there is no doubt that he is among the top ranks of the beings in this Sea of Trees. So it would be best to be careful for a while.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Thus, Jin Cheon handed over half of the fleeceflower field to Wi Mu-rin and requested the production of Soma Pills.

***

One month later.

“Here, the promised Soma Pills.”

Wi Mu-rin handed Jin Cheon a total of thirty Soma Pills.

“There were many that were over a hundred years old, so we were able to make more than we initially expected.”

“You have worked hard. Here, your promised share, Senior Brother Wi.”

Jin Cheon handed Wi Mu-rin six Soma Pills.

“Well received. It was a good deal.”

“I was also satisfied.”

“For your information, the Soma Pills made this time are much more effective than ordinary Soma Pills.”

“Pardon……?”

“It seems to be because they are fleeceflowers that grew in a place full of spiritual qi.”

“Aah.”

“I hope you will use them well.”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

“Since you haven’t said anything, it seems there have been no particular incidents since that day.”

“Yes, well. It has been quiet.”

“That’s a relief. But just in case, never break the taboos from now on. The Sea of Trees is a more complex and dangerous place than you think.”

“I also wish to just train quietly.”

Jin Cheon also did not want to get involved in any incidents or accidents.

He was conducting closed-door training in the Black Bamboo Forest with the purpose of improving his martial arts, so he did not want to get involved in other matters and have his training interrupted.

“Is the training going well?”

“Yes, it’s going reasonably well.”

“Does His Holiness come to give you teachings often?”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

“How often?”

“Usually about once every three days. The last time she came was yesterday.”

“I’m envious.”

“Pardon……?”

“No one would have received as many and as frequent teachings as you. Not even the Eldest Senior Brother.”

“Uh, hmm.”

Jin Cheon, not knowing how to react, could only keep his mouth shut.

Since he was in a position of receiving something of a favoritism, he even felt a sense of apology on the one hand.

“There is no need to be embarrassed. I just said it out of envy.”

“……”

“Take care, and see you next time.”

“Please travel safely.”

After Wi Mu-rin left.

“Alright, everyone, take one.”

Jin Cheon opened the box containing the Soma Pills in front of Danmok Cheong and the members of the New Demon Squad.

“M-my lord.”

Danmok Cheong was so surprised that he even stuttered.

“How can you give us something so precious? Your consideration for us is overwhelming, but we dare not receive it. It is only right that you take them all and achieve great mastery.”

“That’s right.”

The other members of the New Demon Squad also did not dare to covet the Soma Pills.

Of course, since they were also human, it was true that they wanted to eat the Soma Pills.

However, the most important thing right now was for their lord, Jin Cheon, to achieve great mastery in his martial arts, so Danmok Cheong and the members of the New Demon Squad boldly refused the offer.

“It seems you are all seriously mistaken about something.”

Jin Cheon said with a slight smile.

“I’m not sharing these Soma Pills for your good, but for my own good.”

“Pardon……?”

“You have to get stronger for me to be able to use you without worry. With your current skills, you’re not useful anywhere. You can’t even properly take A-rin to the market.”

At Jin Cheon’s words, Danmok Cheong and the members of the New Demon Squad became like mutes who had eaten honey and could not say anything.

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