The revelation that Cheolsan knew dicine was quite unexpected. As we followed the village chief to his house, I couldn’t help but ask one of the Tang Clan warriors about it.
From what I had gathered during our ti together, the Tang Clan in Sichuan was a martial family renowned for its unique specialization: poison.
In essence, they were a clan that studied and honed thods to kill using poison.
It gave off the vibe of a legendary assassin family.
Because of that, my ntal evaluation of them had been steadily declining.
But if the Tang Clan were also proficient in dicine, that could balance things out. After all, instead of just developing ways to kill with poison, they could also channel their knowledge into healing.
Everyone’s path is their own to choose, right?
‘A Tang Clan that specializes in dicine… Now that would be sothing.’
[But is it true about their dical expertise?]
I glanced at the Tang Clan warrior, silently asking the question, and he smiled as he replied, clearly eager to make a good impression. It was as if he wanted to recruit into the Tang Clan at all costs.
“The Tang Clan’s martial arts focus on poison techniques, so naturally, we must be well-versed in dicine as well. dicine and poison are two sides of the sa coin.
Furthermore, martial arts begin with understanding the human body, so a certain level of dical knowledge is essential.
If one intends to harm soone else’s body, one must first understand it deeply.
For instance, our clan captures bad people to test how poison reacts in their bodies. Because of that, we naturally have a deeper understanding of dicine compared to other clans.”
“I see… Is that so?”
The warrior even used polite speech as if that would sway toward joining their clan.
But after hearing his explanation, my ntal image of the Tang Clan transford into sothing far more sinister—a clan of lunatics conducting human experints to perfect their poison techniques.
A group of psychopaths who studied the human body just to find better ways to kill, even developing poisons for mass murder.
‘Studying the human body to kill more effectively… ntal interview score: -50. Conducting human experints: -100. Complete psychopath clan. But I’ll give them 3 for community service.’
In the end, aside from their impressive qinggong and willingness to help the village, the Tang Clan’s ntal interview score was steadily plumting.
As I internally graded the Tang Clan, we arrived at the village chief’s house. Cheolsan placed his hand on the chest of the child lying unconscious and did sothing. The child’s rapid breathing gradually cald, and she let out a deep sigh.
Phew…
Whatever Cheolsan had done, it seed to stabilize her condition.
Wiping his forehead, he turned to the village chief.
“For now, I’ve infused so internal energy into her body to prevent her condition from worsening.”
“Th-thank you! Please… save her. She’s my only remaining granddaughter!”
After examining her for a while longer, Cheolsan frowned in confusion.
“This is strange. She has Bujo Pulse.”
“Bujo Pulse? What does that an?”
‘Bujo Pulse… That sounds like arrhythmia. Could it be a heart condition?’
While I wasn’t formally trained in dicine, my past life as a poison and venom specialist had given so familiarity with dical and toxicological terms.
So, I had a vague idea of what Cheolsan ant.
“It ans her heart isn’t beating properly. Was the child like this from birth?”
‘Ah, so he’s asking if it’s congenital heart disease.’
“No, no! This started half a year ago. It wasn’t just her—others in the village also fell ill. We’ve called it a plague. That’s why I told you to leave earlier, to avoid getting caught up in it.”
The village chief’s explanation shed light on why the normally hospitable Yuezu had treated us so coldly. It was because of their troubles.
Hearing this, Cheolsan nodded thoughtfully.
“It doesn’t seem to be a contagious disease, so there’s no need to worry. However, to save the child, I’ll need to examine others who might be suffering from the sa condition. Can you gather them here?”
“Of course!”
Relieved that it wasn’t likely a contagious disease affecting the heart, I relaxed a little.
At the village chief’s call, the sick villagers began gathering outside his house. Cheolsan took his ti examining each patient and jotting down their symptoms.
But after completing his evaluations, he shook his head in puzzlent.
“Fatigue, swollen eyes, irregular pulses, and mild fevers… But the symptoms aren’t consistent. For those with severe cases, it all seems to stem from problems with their hearts. It’s peculiar.”
So villagers had fatigue and fever, others swollen eyes and arrhythmia, and the most severe cases all seed to involve heart issues.
The village chief, alard, asked nervously, “Does this an… it can’t be cured?”
“For now, I’ll prescribe dicine that’s good for the heart. Please gather the ingredients as quickly as possible, and we’ll see if it helps.”
As expected of soone trained in dicine, Cheolsan avoided giving a definitive answer, instead focusing on symptomatic treatnt.
To the village chief and the villagers, even this brought hope. They imdiately scattered to gather the necessary herbs.
“Everyone, gather! The physician has asked for herbs to prepare dicine!”
***
The sight of the sick girl had reminded Cheolsan of Hwa-eun back in Sichuan.
"F-Forgive , Father... I've been unfilial..."
Her face pale and blue from poison after failing to complete her martial training, she had apologized to him with trembling lips.
That mory resurfaced, and he couldn’t bring himself to turn away.
It was with that thought in mind that Cheolsan devoted himself to examining the girl with utmost care.
He understood better than anyone the pain of a parent whose child or grandchild was ill.
Between tending to the child, Cheolsan also prepared dicines: washing the eyes of those with vision issues, applying ointnts, and administering fever-reducing powder (Haeyeolsan).
By the ti all the patients had been seen to, dusk had settled.
One of the Tang Clan warriors approached, handing him a damp towel.
"Clan Head, please wipe your face. You’ve worked hard."
"Thank you, Gu Pae."
"No need for thanks, Clan Head."
The man offering the towel was Gu Pae, vice-captain of the Poison-Blood Squad (Dokhyeoldae).
Gu Pae was a man of outstanding character, highly respected by the clan’s warriors. His presence in Hainan was due to injuries he’d sustained saving his comrades during the capture of the Blue-Spotted Centipede.
"And the young one?"
"Ah, he seed exhausted after helping, so I laid him down to rest in a room."
"I see. He’s not trained in martial arts, so traveling with us for days must have been tough. What do you think of him, having observed him these past few days?"
Cheolsan was asking for Gu Pae’s honest impression of Wei Su Long.
Though Su Long’s talents were important, so too was his character. After all, this was soone who might marry into the Tang Clan.
"Since he’s not yet part of our Tang Clan, may I speak freely?"
"Of course."
Nodding, Cheolsan gestured for Gu Pae to continue.
"First, it’s remarkable that he managed to live alone in Hainan’s jungle, raising venomous creatures. At his age, it’s only natural to long for human companionship."
"Indeed, Su Long is unique in that regard."
"Yes, but he doesn’t have the eccentric personality of the other martial world’s so-called ‘oddballs.’ While he isn’t ordinary, he doesn’t seem cruel or malicious either."
"Before coming here, he even released so of the venomous creatures he had raised, knowing he might not survive the journey. That alone suggests he doesn’t have a cruel nature. So, would you say he’s fit to be my son-in-law?"
Gu Pae lowered his head slightly.
"Yes, but there is one concern..."
Though Cheolsan had been assured monts ago, the ntion of a concern made him tilt his head in curiosity.
"And what would that be? You said he was fine."
"It’s his aptitude…"
Cheolsan was already aware of this.
At fourteen or fifteen, Su Long was a bit late to start martial arts training, and his natural talent wasn’t particularly impressive either.
But Cheolsan shook his head. Martial prowess wasn’t what gave Su Long his value to the Tang Clan.
The young man’s unique abilities had the potential to significantly advance the clan’s poison techniques. In fact, it was almost certain they would.
"Don’t worry about that. Su Long’s value lies elsewhere. We’ve all seen the venomous creatures he raised, haven’t we?"
"Even so… For the young lady’s partner, soone more exceptional might be preferable…"
"Haha, you’re acting like you’re Hwa-eun’s father. Be careful, Gu Pae."
"Apologies, Clan Head."
Gu Pae’s concerns stemd from his care for the Tang Clan and Hwa-eun.
Seeing this, Cheolsan smiled warmly. It was a testant to Gu Pae’s loyalty to the clan.
As the conversation turned to the Tang Clan and Hwa-eun, Cheolsan’s gaze shifted to the unconscious girl.
"This child remains a problem."
Though he had lowered her fever and prepared restorative dicine, the root cause of her condition remained a mystery.
If the issue with her heart wasn’t resolved, her Bujo Pulse would return. And once Cheolsan left, her survival couldn’t be guaranteed.
"Still no clues about the cause?"
"Not at all. As you know, there are few in the Tang Clan who’ve studied dical texts as much as I have, yet I’ve never seen or heard of a disease like this."
"If we can’t stay here indefinitely, that’s a problem."
"Indeed. Would you like to take a look yourself?"
With a faint hope, Cheolsan had Gu Pae examine the girl’s pulse, but he, too, shook his head.
"I don’t know either."
The two continued to deliberate, but no solution ca to mind.
By now, the sky had gone completely dark, and insects were drawn to the lanterns, buzzing incessantly.
"I should check on our young guest. With all these bugs flying around, he might need to be covered. This place is as teeming with insects as the jungles of Yunnan."
"I’ll escort you. This way, Clan Head. You two, keep an eye on the young lady."
"Yes, Vice-Captain."
Leaving the girl in the care of other warriors, Cheolsan and Gu Pae went to check on Su Long.
Inside the room, by the flickering lantern light, Su Long was fast asleep.
Smiling warmly, Cheolsan watched the young man.
Then—
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
A bug flew in and landed on Su Long’s forehead. It slowly crawled down to his cheek and began making its way toward his lips.
‘You insolent creature!’
If Su Long were bitten, it could be catastrophic. Hainan was ho to countless poisonous insects, many unknown even to Cheolsan.
Without hesitation, Cheolsan dashed forward and swatted the insect with all his strength.
Smack!
He couldn’t forgive the bug for daring to approach his future son-in-law.
"Argh!"
But in his determination to kill the insect, he had forgotten it was crawling on Su Long’s cheek.
The slap jolted Su Long awake. Holding his reddened cheek, he stared at Cheolsan with a mix of pain and disbelief.
"Wh-what’s going on?! My face hurts!"
Caught off guard, Cheolsan scratched his head awkwardly and explained.
"My apologies… A bug was crawling on your face, and I… acted without thinking."
"Wait, Elder, did you just swat instead of the bug? My poor face!"
"I’m truly sorry! But look at this enormous bug I managed to catch—it was on your cheek!"
To defend himself, Cheolsan held up the insect still stuck to his palm.
Su Long’s glare shifted from Cheolsan to the bug.
But then, sothing odd happened.
Su Long’s bleary eyes widened as he brought his face closer to the insect.
Dragging Cheolsan’s hand closer to the lantern, he examined the bug carefully.
"This… Why is this here?!"
His voice trembled with surprise and unease.
"What kind of bug is it?" Cheolsan asked cautiously.
Looking up, Su Long replied, "It’s a kissing bug… No, in the Central Plains, it’s called Jeopmunchung. This is a Jeopmunchung, Elder."
"A… kissing bug?"
The na made Cheolsan’s eyes widen in shock.
Such an obscene-sounding na for an insect—it was scandalous!
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