Needles pierced the skin, one after another, in a rhythmic dance that lasted for over an hour.
“Uh…?”
At that moment, the physician in charge of the anesthesia spoke up, his voice tinged with confusion.
“The patient is waking up. No, the pulse… What is this?”
“Since the body becoming active during the Opening Golden Needle Great Method is a natural phenomenon, it is acceptable for now,” another physician replied efficiently. “Rather, it should be viewed as a preliminary reaction to the Metamorphosis. However…”
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes narrowed.
The moment he paused his hand to check the pulse, a sound echoed from within the patient.
Snap.
Something inside the body twisted in a bizarre, unnatural manner. Just by that singular sound, the five Senior Physicians realized the gravity of the situation.
“It got caught at the carotid artery,” the Granite Senior Physician noted, his voice grim. “It looks like he is slipping into Qi Deviation, doesn’t it?”
Jin Cheon-hee checked the pulse immediately and replied, his voice calm.
“Yes. The patient’s carotid artery is indeed the problem.”
“Execute Plan One?”
“Yes. Go with that plan.”
“I knew this would happen. When you said in the letter to prepare for artificial blood vessel replacement surgery in secret, I suspected it would come to this.”
It was a strange sight to behold.
The patient’s carotid artery was blocked, a fatal condition by any standard, yet the expressions on everyone’s faces were calm beyond measure.
However, the hands of the ‘five pebbles’—his trusted disciples—moved with frantic precision.
The anesthesia physician quickly sealed the acupoints, while the other physicians rapidly withdrew the inserted needles.
Jin Cheon-hee issued his command.
“Since this is an emergency, we will proceed immediately with the carotid artery artificial blood vessel replacement surgery.”
“Will the five of us die if we disclose this?”
“It is not your first day working for the Imperial Family. You all know the rules.”
“Geez, what kind of Royal and Imperial bastards threaten physicians with their lives even when we’re the ones saving them… Tsk. Do I even receive a salary for this hazard?”
“You know everything anyway.”
At Jin Cheon-hee’s retort, the Basalt Senior Physician nodded.
“The artificial blood vessel is made from Ice Crystal and the Thousand-Year Giant Clam, correct?”
“Yes. I created it by mixing two Spiritual Elixirs, not just one. Due to the volatile nature of the Nine Yang Severed Meridians, Ice Crystal alone is incomplete. For now, I have forcibly halted the Metamorphosis that had begun to occur.”
“We should hope a cerebral infarction doesn’t occur.”
“Hah… Failure, success, or half-success. Those are our only options.”
“For the brain, even half-success usually means getting screwed. Losing memory or becoming paralyzed.”
Jin Cheon-hee nodded solemnly. “It is fine. Since I felt I haven’t been particularly lucky lately, I called you guys to prepare for exactly this one-in-ten-thousand chance.”
To put it conversely, these were the five disciples he trusted most among all the physicians receiving a salary in the Imperial Palace.
“Wow, you’re driving me crazy. Our Young Pavilion Master.”
The five physicians forced their facial muscles into strained smiles. It was a sign of their nervousness. It was also a habit picked up from their teacher, Jin Cheon-hee.
“Ah, the Young Pavilion Master takes full responsibility if things go wrong this time, right?”
They had learned even his sly yet meticulous attitude perfectly.
“Anyway, you learned well. Who taught you to be this cheeky? Aigoo. You aren’t easy to deal with.”
“Didn’t you say we could descend the mountain since there was nothing more to learn?”
The five pebbles grumbled at Jin Cheon-hee, but their hands moved with blinding speed.
“Young Pavilion Master. Time limit?”
“Hm. Judging by the current state, it will become critical after one mealtime.”
Thirty minutes.
“Is there any way it can be done within that window?”
With that question hanging in the air, they began to hurry even more.
“You are entering from the femoral artery, right?”
Usually, carotid artery stenting began from the femoral artery—the large artery in the thigh—where a tube would be inserted and guided up. However, in the current situation, the patient’s Qi and blood were twisted violently, making the femoral route difficult to navigate.
Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.
“Originally, that was the standard until now, but… in this situation, we enter through the left radial artery.”
The artery extending straight from the arm to the wrist.
Usually, if the femoral artery was compromised, the procedure was sometimes performed directly via the neck. But observing the patient’s condition closely, Jin Cheon-hee judged that approaching from the left radial artery in the wrist was advantageous.
“Let’s inject through the left radial artery and navigate past the subclavian artery.”
The procedure began.
***
Han-bing was dreaming.
It was a nightmare of crossing a sea of boiling lava made of blood. Even as his whole body boiled and melted, there was nothing he could do.
My body feels like it is cooking…
Surprisingly, the sensation of boiling blood was familiar. The blood wasn’t actually boiling, but the dizzyingly hot sensation was so intense it couldn’t be masked by mere pain.
Had he not lived like this continuously since childhood?
Am I dying?
He intuitively judged that if he crossed this river, he could never return. However, he also knew that if he crossed this river, this excruciating pain would finally end.
There is no need for me to live shouldering everything.
A life spent moving his body slowly, ever so slowly, just to reduce the heat by a fraction. It was like living with heavy lead weights attached to his entire being. Even stepping outside was a monumental task. Was this truly a life fit for a human?
The moment he decided it wasn’t, he moved further forward into the lava.
There was no reason to live. The fact that his two younger brothers were trash remained unchanged, but what did it matter now?
If only I could escape this bondage…
It was then.
A noose snatched his neck, seizing him like a beast, and began dragging him back toward the land of the living.
“Kueuk?!”
The blue noose continued to pull him, relentless, without slowing down or showing the slightest hint of laziness.
I don’t want to go back.
Wouldn’t it be peaceful if he just died? A life lived solely to fulfill the duty of the eldest son… did it even have value?
The noose didn’t answer.
It just pulled again.
The moment he was dragged onto the shore, the lava made of blood surged all at once, sweeping down with a fierce current. Then, a voice cut through the chaos.
“Patient-nim, didn’t you agree to fight with me until the end?”
With those words, consciousness began to return.
Strangely, his body was no longer burning.
Is this what life without pain feels like?
He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Jin Cheon-hee’s brazen face.
“Wow, I am glad you are alive. Our Patient-nim.”
Han-bing realized instantly what that blue noose was—the force that had grabbed and pulled his neck from the abyss.
“…I gave up on life, so why?”
“What kind of talk is that? Do you know how much I suffered to save Patient-nim? I even stuck a masterpiece ground from my very soul properly into your neck.”
Wondering what that meant, Han-bing tried to move but felt a slight sting. His wrist was wrapped in bandages.
“Surely not surgery…?”
“Not surgery, but a procedure. A procedure. Well, even that is fine now.”
Saying that, Jin Cheon-hee cut off the bandages with a mere wave of his sleeve.
Slash!
The wrist was clean.
“Artificial Metamorphosis succeeded. Thanks to that, all scars have disappeared.”
“Did you have this in mind from the beginning?”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee shook his head. “I used the Opening Golden Needle Great Method my master used, but naturally, there is always a probability of failure. I worried a bit about what to do if heavenly luck didn’t follow us at the end.”
“Did you intend to perform surgery then?”
“Hmm… well. If the heavens don’t help, people should help. And didn’t you say it? That you aren’t alone.”
Jin Cheon-hee sighed lightly. Only he knew the future that would have unfolded after this person died.
“Thank you for living. Patient-nim.”
Jin Cheon-hee squeezed the man’s hand tight.
“Then my body…?”
“I will explain everything exactly the same way when your Royal Father arrives. But know this first.”
“Hmm.”
“Although Metamorphosis occurred, it stopped in the middle. Since we artificially induced the state in a mind lacking realization, it seems to have ended incompletely. My master could probably explain this better, though.”
After all, the person who researched Metamorphosis deeper than anyone else was his master.
Jin Cheon-hee continued.
“In the middle of Metamorphosis, the carotid artery was blocked, almost leading to a cerebral infarction. This was a vascular problem, and regarding Qi and blood, there was a precursor to Qi Deviation as well. For the blood vessel, I inserted an artificial replacement made by extracting Ice Crystal and an elixir I personally possessed. The precursor to Qi Deviation caused by the Yang energy running wild was calmed as that artificial blood vessel made of Ice Crystal cooled it down.”
“It seems Yin and Yang didn’t meet and explode.”
“If you hadn’t learned both the Solar Divine Art and the Ice Soul Divine Art, Water Overcoming Fire would have occurred. Wangya Ju taught you well. Or perhaps Patient-nim’s understanding was simply that outstanding. Originally, learning both is dangerous. It might be an adventure like Wudang’s Yin-Yang Divine Art, but it seems a commensurate reward descends if a suitable person learns it.”
Perhaps feeling good that the patient had awakened, Jin Cheon-hee spoke faster than usual.
“Although the Metamorphosis actually stopped, the body itself was reconstructed well.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Later, the artificial blood vessel also couldn’t withstand the Yang energy and melted together with the tissue, but even if it was half-baked, the blood vessels were fixed properly during the Metamorphosis process. With this, not a single trace of evidence regarding surgery remains. The perfect crime!”
“So, my constitution?”
“You went from Nine Yang Severed Meridians to a Nine Yang Physique. Although not the Solar Physique which was the initial goal, this is also a considerably decent constitution. It is good for learning martial arts.”
Han-bing swept a hand across his forehead.
“My body is already cured; would I dare complain about that?”
“Your body temperature will continue to be high, but at this level, you’ll be able to wander around sufficiently even in the summer of the Ayesha Kingdom.”
Muttering to himself that he didn’t know how people with peculiar constitutions in martial arts novels lived, and questioning if this was biologically possible, Jin Cheon-hee grumbled quietly.
“I can’t understand it, but your body will endure even if your temperature rises. Ah, but the brain won’t endure. You must keep your head cool at all times with the energy of the Ice Soul Divine Art. Since you have plenty of internal energy, you will be able to manage it sufficiently.”
“Then…”
“Yes. Daily life is entirely possible.”
“……!!”
At those words, His Highness’s eyes widened.
He looked down at his arms. A body with no more pain.
“Is moving fast also possible?” he asked.
“Yes.”
At that moment, the man’s sleeve swelled up.
Boom!
The wall caved in deeply.
Surprisingly, even Jin Cheon-hee couldn’t see the fist itself. He could only chase the afterimage lingering just before the strike connected.
“…Wow?”
“Hmm, certainly good. I wanted to throw a punch like this at least once.”
“Patient-nim… You are really fast?”
“Learning the Ice Soul Divine Art with Nine Yang Severed Meridians and repeating the same movement slowly leads to this. If I strike properly, the fist becomes faster than the intent.”
…Crazy.
Just then, the door burst open.
“What on earth was that sound! Ah, Prince! Did you unleash that strike just now?”
“Ah, seems like I was caught by the servants.”
Han-bing laughed heartily.
***
A banquet was held.
Needless to say, the King was delighted.
Thanks to staying for a long time, Jin Cheon-hee had started to roughly understand the language of the Ayesha Kingdom. However, he pretended not to understand.
“Young Pavilion Master. You’re acting coy because you think they’ll make you do something troublesome, right?”
“Obvious. For a physician of the Young Pavilion Master’s level, they would try anything to make you stay even a day longer.”
“But we’ve seen you pretending not to know the Ayesha language since earlier. Burp.”
These damn ‘five pebbles’ stuck close to Jin Cheon-hee’s side, pouring and receiving alcohol repeatedly.
“You guys are really climbing all over me now that you’ve left my nest.”
“Hehehe. We missed you, Young Pavilion Master.”
“Funny thing is, we cursed you so much when we were by your side, but when absent, you kept stepping on our eyes.”
“Just saying openly that you cursed behind my back. These people. What do you think of the Young Pavilion Master?”
Jin Cheon-hee sighed, suffering from the pestering of disciples who had grown far too well.