YCHW Ch 14

I couldn’t help but feel powerless and heavy-hearted, seeing such a state and being unable to do anything about it. Though everyone visible was dressed in worn, dirty clothes, it was the stark despair etched on their faces that struck me more painfully.

I knew poverty and the poor existed, but encountering it so directly was a first. It was completely different from merely reading about it or vaguely sympathizing from afar. Was reality this cruel…?

Yoonso swallowed a sigh, unable to even let it out, and noticed a very small house by the roadside, pulling on the reins.

“That’s…”

“A shrine.”

The house, built with stacked stones for walls and broken tiles for a roof, was crude but seemed the best-maintained structure in the area. Around the shrine were stone cairns scattered here and there, and inside stood a carved wooden dragon statue and an altar for offerings.

It seemed they had built the shrine to hold rain-making rituals and pray frequently due to the prolonged drought. As Yoonso hesitated in front of the shrine, Hwi asked.

“Will you offer a prayer?”

One person’s prayer wouldn’t bring the rain that hadn’t come all this time. But Yoonso nodded, dismounted, and entered the shrine.

The wooden dragon statue was quite intricately carved. Standing before it, Yoonso was reminded anew that he was a fugitive, the Yeong춘화.

Is the Dragon God watching me? If so, he probably isn’t looking kindly.

Hiding a bitter smile, Yoonso bowed and knelt before the Dragon God to pray. Please send rain, so those children no longer go hungry. And… please show mercy.

After the short prayer, Yoonso stood, gazed at the dragon statue for a moment, and turned to leave.

As he exited the shrine, a young man approached. Thinking he was there to pray, Yoonso stepped aside, but the man brushed past, bumping Yoonso’s shoulder.

The path was wide enough… Before Yoonso could finish the thought, he instinctively raised his hand to his waist.

It was gone.

The money pouch tied to his waist was missing. Frantically patting himself, he whipped his head around to see the young man sprinting away.

“Hey!”

Yoonso hurriedly chased after him. That pouch held his entire fortune. True, he had trinkets in his pack, but they weren’t particularly valuable, and since selling them would leave a trace, he planned to use them in Araksa.

He had thought keeping the money on his person was safest, tied securely, but he couldn’t believe it was stolen so easily. Yoonso ran with all his might, but the young man had already vanished swiftly beyond an alley.

“Oh, oh, the horse, the horse…!”

He’d foolishly left the horse behind to chase on foot. Yoonso stopped, turned to go back, but tripped and fell.

“Ah…”

As his knees and palms hit the dirt, a heavy wave of despair crashed over him. There was no way he’d catch the thief now. The village was small, but nestled at the foot of a mountain—if the man climbed it, it was over. If he was a local, he’d return eventually, so waiting might work, but Yoonso didn’t have that kind of time.

It was money he’d painstakingly saved, working through sleepless nights until his fingertips were calloused. There were times he despaired, wondering what the point was, but mostly he’d planned his future with hope, thinking of what he could do with it.

To lose it so stupidly, so foolishly… He loathed himself. There was no one else to blame.

As tears fell onto the dry ground, leaving round marks, large hands slid under his armpits and lifted him up.

As Yoonso hurriedly wiped his tears and nose, Hwi knelt on one knee, lowering himself to brush the dust off Yoonso’s dirt-covered pants.

Flustered and stepping back, Yoonso felt Hwi place a hand on his head.

“Wait here.”

With that, Hwi brushed past him. Yoonso, slowly processing Hwi’s words, steadied his wet cheeks and turned around.

“I’m fine…”

But the path behind him was empty.

Yoonso’s eyes widened as he looked around, but Hwi was nowhere to be seen. How could he vanish so quickly? Yoonso didn’t know. Hesitating, he gathered himself and stood by the horse to protect what remained.

Did he go to catch that man? He knew Hwi was skilled in martial arts, but how would he know where the thief went…? Yoonso felt guilty for wasting Hwi’s time because of him. Hwi had said there was no rush, but still.

It seemed best to let it go. Even if he couldn’t recover the money, he shouldn’t dwell on it and move on. So far, Hwi had generously covered their travel expenses. He could sell the trinkets for passage fare, and with his limbs intact, what couldn’t he do in Araksa? Settling there would just take a bit longer.

As he resolved himself, he heard footsteps. Turning with a lighter expression, Yoonso was stunned to see Hwi dragging the young man by the scruff of his neck.

It hadn’t even been a quarter of an hour. How could he catch and return with the man so quickly? Even seeing it, Yoonso couldn’t believe it.

Hwi shoved the young man down in front of Yoonso.

“Spare me, please spare me! I’ll return the money. I’m sorry!”

The young man produced Yoonso’s stolen pouch and bowed repeatedly. Up close, he seemed barely of age, likely around Yoonso’s own age.

“My younger brother, he’s starving, so I had no choice but to steal. Please, just this once, show mercy, my lords…!”

Yoonso glanced at Hwi, wondering what he’d done to make the man beg so earnestly, but Hwi watched the young man calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Yoonso opened the pouch to check its contents. Finding nothing missing, he let out a relieved breath.

“It’s fine.”

Relief brought tears welling up again. Suppressing a sob, Yoonso took three coins from the pouch and placed them in the young man’s palm.

“It’s all I can give…”

Yoonso’s face fell, but the young man, checking the money in his hand, was overwhelmed with gratitude, thanking him repeatedly. It wasn’t something deserving of praise, and Yoonso’s face flushed. Waving him off, the young man took it as a dismissal and hurriedly left.

Yoonso pulled the pouch’s strings, securing it tightly. As he pondered how to keep it safe to avoid another theft, Hwi approached.

“Why give him money instead?”

Having caught the thief only for Yoonso to give him money, it was a fair question. Yoonso hesitated, then shrugged.

“Just… I felt sorry for him. How desperate must he have been to steal?”

“Charity like this doesn’t always yield good results.”

“I… don’t know about that. But for now, shouldn’t he at least fill his empty stomach?”

“You’ll squander your entire fortune on the road at this rate.”

Meeting Hwi’s steady gaze, Yoonso pursed his lips and glanced back.

The food and fruit on the altar remained untouched. If people were hungry, they’d naturally reach for food, yet everyone was desperately praying for rain.

“It wasn’t really out of kindness. I hope that by showing a little goodwill, it’ll come back to me someday… It’s selfish.”

He had been taught that the Yeong춘화 must pity the people and protect them from suffering. Yet here he was, fleeing for his own safety. His actions were a laughable deception, a mere attempt to atone for some of his guilt.

“That’s usually called providence.”

Hwi muttered softly and mounted his horse with ease.

If this feeling was providence rather than selfishness, had Hwi ever felt it too? Yoonso watched Hwi, who sat upright and stroked the horse’s mane, with a subdued expression before mounting his own horse.

Perhaps if they left this area and Hwi sent a petition, it could help alleviate the villagers’ plight. Though Yoonso knew he had neither the position nor the right to do anything, leaving like this left a lingering debt in his heart.

Only after exiting the village could he focus solely on looking ahead without glancing around.

Trying to calm his still-turbulent heart with a small sigh, a cold drop landed on his eyelid. Yoonso squinted and tilted his head back. At the same time, droplets pattered onto his cheeks.

“Huh…?”

Despite the blazing sun, gray clouds were rolling in. The few drops soon became a stream, pouring down with a refreshing sound.

Shaaaa…

Yoonso stared blankly at the sky, then turned at the sound of cheers behind him. Villagers spilled onto the street, embracing each other under the rain, overcome with emotion. Staring at them in a daze, Yoonso soon broke into a radiant smile and turned to Hwi.

“It’s raining!”