Chapter 13

When the tide comes in, you can see the seawater rising, but just as you can't think of a way to stop it, that's exactly how Ryeon's situation was now.

He also learned the identity of Jung Young, the warrior guarding his quarters. He was supposed to take one of the positions among the Yu Seong Ship Pal, the elite of the future clan, but due to a lack of manpower, he was filling in the vacant position...

"Money? Is it money?"

Indeed, it's money, isn't it?

Ryeon admitted to himself that he had been thinking too easily.

He thought that since he was a living medicinal herb and Danmokbi had the potential to become the best in the world, it wouldn't be too difficult to revive the family.

The decline of the Danmok family was due to the unhealed injuries of the Grand Patriarch Danmok Cheon-gi and the death of the young master Danmok Hyun-sung. This would naturally be resolved if Danmokbi made a name for himself in the martial world.

It's not easy for a family or sect with a strong, young, and living best in the world to not flourish.

However, looking at the state of the family, it seemed they wouldn't be able to hold on until Danmokbi grew up.

'Right, that's true. Even in the future I saw... we couldn't hold on... even if my medicine was a bit expensive.'

Danmokbi tried his best to take care of his frail sister and didn't show the difficulties inside and outside the house, but now, looking back...

Ryeon tried to squeeze out his hazy memories and then slumped, feeling drained. Reflecting on the past was now pointless.

Ryeon suddenly stood up from his seat.

"I need to... make money."

There was a reason why other families were higher in rank than the current Danmok family, even though they didn't have a high-level expert like Danmok Cheon-gi.

Even without an expert of Danmok Cheon-gi's level, they had healthy, injury-free experts of a decent level, and... money!

They had money!

So what the Danmok family needed now was also money.

Money was needed to take in disciples, raise them, and grow the family!

Ryeon sighed with a gloomy expression. He felt at a loss about how to make money with his small body.

* * *

Martial families usually have their own herbal medicine halls.

Since they undergo rigorous training and sparring every day, the demand for medicine is naturally high.

Therefore, the best medicines, like Jin Chang Yao, are made by martial families or sects, not by famous medical institutions. These medicines have been tested through millions of clinical trials, so how could they not be effective?

The Danmok family also has a medicine hall. It was separated from the medical institution a few decades ago when the family began to decline.

Even though the hall head, Danmok Hyun-woo, had been neglecting everything to focus on closed-door cultivation until recently, the medicine hall was still struggling.

"How could you come here dressed so thinly!"

Danmok Hyun-woo, who had been inspecting the medicine hall and the herbal storage room before sunrise, felt guilty for not taking better care of it.

When he went out to see a guest at the herbal storage room, he found his young nephew standing there with only a thin quilt and a single fur vest, his nose red from the cold.

The guard standing beside him looked at a loss, suggesting the vest belonged to him.

Startled, Danmok Hyun-woo quickly took off his cloak and wrapped Ryeon in it, then picked him up.

"How could you wander around so thinly dressed at this hour of the morning? If you catch a cold, what will you do? If I hadn't been here... "

"Achoo!"

Before he could say more, Ryeon sneezed, and Danmok Hyun-woo stopped talking and hurried inside.

Although it wasn't warm, it was better than outside.

"Why did you come here? Is something wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Danmok Hyun-woo asked with a slightly anxious voice. Ryeon shook his head and replied.

"The sneeze was because of the fur vest, and I came because I memorized the Thousand Character Classic. You said you would give me a reward if I memorized all the characters."

"What? Even so, you could have come during the day for the lesson."

"I was worried that if I received the reward alone, Bia and Ryeon might be upset... "

Hearing this, Danmok Hyun-woo blinked for a moment, then nodded and carefully wrapped Ryeon in the cloak again before heading to his quarters.

He instructed a servant to bring charcoal to stoke the fire in the brazier and, with an anxious look, closed all the windows. He then placed a hand warmer in Ryeon's arms before sitting opposite him.

"Since a promise is a promise, let's see if you've memorized all the characters."

He quietly wrote down a few random lines from the Thousand Character Classic and handed them to Ryeon. Ryeon calmly read what he was given.

"Guo zhen li nai, cai zhong jie jiang (果珍李柰 菜重芥薑) - Among fruits, the best are plums and pears; among vegetables, the most important are mustard and ginger. Zhi guo bi gai, de neng mo wang (知過必改 得能莫忘) - If you know your faults, you must correct them; if you have learned something, you must not forget it. Wang tan bi duan, mi shi ji chang (罔談彼短 靡恃己長) - Do not speak of others' faults; do not rely on your own strengths."

"..."

Danmok Hyun-woo looked at Ryeon and the characters he had written with a face full of surprise. Since he had written them randomly, it seemed Ryeon had really memorized the entire Thousand Character Classic.

He wrote a few more lines just to be sure, but his nephew recited them without hesitation.

"Ah... already, amazing... amazing. Incredible. Very well. So, what is your wish? I'll grant you anything."

What could he not grant to his nephew, who had only been awake for less than a year? Moreover, his nephew's intelligence was a great joy to him.

Ryeon looked up at him and smiled.

"I want to try making something small in the medicine hall."

"What? In the medicine hall?"

"Yes!"

* * *

He made an excuse that he didn't want the others to feel left out, but Ryeon didn't even believe it himself.

If it were his sister, she would have been delighted that her sister had already memorized all the characters and received praise from their uncle, and Huayun would...

'She's definitely not interested in this at all.'

What's the problem with her?

Ryeon groaned inwardly and shook it off. So, the reason he came to Danmok Hyun-woo in the early morning to say he had memorized the Thousand Character Classic was to look at the materials in the medicine hall at a time when no one else was around.

Danmok Hyun-woo, standing behind him, looked bewildered and curious but granted Ryeon's wish.

'I need to make money. Right now.'

How could he make money?

The simplest way was to make something here and sell it. The market was already established.

This is Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

As the saying goes, "Heaven has a paradise, and the earth has Suzhou and Hangzhou." It's a beautiful and luxurious city with many people. Hangzhou is so wealthy that there's even a saying that you shouldn't show off your wealth here.

Having many rich people means there are many people who will buy good products.

So, what could he sell?

Ryeon racked his brain. It should be something small, easy to distribute.

It should be easy to make to keep labor costs low.

The raw materials should be easy to supply. And it should have superior performance or effectiveness...

Then, an idea struck him: his own power.

He didn't need to make a medicine that would make a great immortal marvel. Just something a bit better than what was already on the market would do.

He thought about making a folk remedy, so he first thought of ginseng syrup.

Ginseng is also known as "white medicine," so he could call it "White Medicine Syrup."

He wasn't good at cooking, but who would complain about a medicine tasting bad?

Also, since the Danmok family all wore white, the name would fit perfectly.

However, when Ryeon entered the medicine hall's storage room with Danmok Hyun-woo, he had to abandon his idea.

"Ah..."

He deliberately used his insight to scan the storage room, and information floated up among the neatly arranged herbs.

The names and levels appeared, with very few showing a clear blue light, most being average or below, and ginseng showing a red light, labeled as "low-level."

"Uncle, where do you get these herbs?"

"We receive them from Hosun's medical institution. That's what we agreed on when the family separated the medical institution."

'Hosun's medical institution? Is that the problem? Or is it the family's inability to manage inventory?'

In any case, it would be worse to make anything with this withered ginseng. As Ryeon's face darkened, Danmok Hyun-woo was at a loss.

"Would you like to visit an herbal shop outside next time?"

"Is that okay?"

If it's a supplier issue, I have to change it.

As Ryeon was thinking, his eyes caught a shelf with small sealed jars.

"Hey, what's that?"

"Essential oils? Do you want to see them? I can show you."

Seeing Ryeon's interest in something other than the withered ginseng, Danmok Hyun-woo quickly took out one of the jars.