Arc 16: Welcoming Guests (2)

As Jin Cheon-hee waited for his guests at the entrance to the tea room, he saw the Namgung siblings approaching, accompanied by a girl who must have been from the Tang Clan. She was dressed in a black martial uniform embroidered with red thread, making her stand out even from a distance.

‘So, Tang Clan teenagers wear stealth uniforms even in broad daylight. But… wouldn’t that make them more conspicuous, not less? Oh, well.’

The Sichuan Tang Clan. The red characters on her uniform were striking. This was the traditional outfit worn by Tang Clan youths when they were… eaten by the darkness… during their tumultuous teenage years. Most of them wore it by choice. A Tang Clan ancestor, during his own adolescence, had personally commissioned it from the clan’s tailors. A few of these uniforms had been passed down through generations, given to children of that age who exhibited the same… symptoms.

The children of that age, mesmerized by the “dark power” of the black-as-night, red-as-blood robes, would wear them voluntarily. This, in turn, signaled to the elders of other martial families to treat them with a certain… understanding. It was, in its own way, a uniform rich with tradition.

The girl stared intently up at Jin Cheon-hee. Her dark black eyes were like those of a small animal. If Namgung Woon was a large dog and Namgung Yeon a cat, then Tang Ah resembled a small, white puppy.

‘Ah, what was it called? That dog I saw on Earth… a Pomeranian!’

Yes, she looked just like a Pomeranian. A black-furred one, with sharp, spirited eyes that were, in their own way, boldly adorable.

‘I wonder if she likes candy. What do kids this age like? Sticky rice cakes? Pumpkin yeot? Would she like dried persimmons?’

The old man instinct deep inside Jin Cheon-hee was screaming at him to feed these children, and feed them well. ‘I’d love to have a daughter like that.’ It was an old, abandoned dream, quietly rearing its head. Jin Cheon-hee began to rummage through his sleeves, searching for snacks. He just wanted to give them something delicious.

Just then, she spoke, her voice surprisingly powerful. “Are you the Little White Dragon?!”

“Yes, I am,” Jin Cheon-hee replied.

“I am Tang Ah of the Sichuan Tang Clan! I request a duel!”

‘Whoa… a duel the second our eyes meet. I’ve heard rumors about wandering martial artists who do this, but…’

He had, of course, adjusted the bones of those who had come after his bounty, but a formal duel was different. He’d never been challenged to one before.

‘This is… new.’

Is this the scent of the Murim? Have I finally reached a position where people challenge me? Jin Cheon-hee felt a spark of that old, hidden fantasy.

“A duel of pharmacology!” Tang Ah declared. “We will poison each other, and the first to administer the antidote wins!”

At that, Jin Cheon-hee’s brow furrowed. ‘That’s… not the kind of duel I was thinking of.’

It was a poison arts duel, a challenge practiced by those who trained in poison arts. But he had never studied poison; his specialty was surgery, not toxicology.

“No, thanks.”

His voice must have come out sharper than he intended. Tang Ah, clearly not expecting to be rejected so flatly, flushed bright red. “Why, you…!”

Jin Cheon-hee ignored her and turned to Namgung Woon. “Please, come in.”

He led the group into the reception room. After they had settled, Jin Cheon-hee said to Namgung Woon, “Young Hero Namgung, your wrist, please.”

Namgung Woon obediently extended his arm. As Jin Cheon-hee’s fingers settled on his pulse, Tang Ah’s eyes went wide.

“What! To let a stranger take your Pulse Meridian so easily! Woon-hyung, does this mean you trust this man that much?!”

At her dramatic declaration, both Jin Cheon-hee and Namgung Woon felt an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh.

“Ahem, hem. You mustn’t laugh, sir. It makes it difficult to read your pulse.”

“K-kheum! Right. I will be still.”

Namgung Yeon simply wrapped her arms around Tang Ah’s neck from behind and hugged her. “You’re heavy, Sister Yeon! Heavy!”

Laughter kept bubbling up, and Jin Cheon-hee had to forcibly suppress it. Namgung Woon was in the same boat; his pulse was fluttering between chaos and calm.

After finishing the diagnosis, Jin Cheon-hee’s expression turned serious. “You didn’t follow my advice, did you?”

“…You mean about drinking lots of water and avoiding salty and greasy foods?”

“Yes.”

Namgung Woon avoided his gaze. “Er… well, the elders and my friends keep inviting me to drinking parties. It’s been difficult to refuse.”

“The stone has gotten bigger. Its position is fine for now, but if it had been left just a little longer, it would have started.”

“What would have started?”

“The agony of hell.”

Namgung Woon’s eyes widened. Just then, Tang Ah interjected, “I don’t understand. Are you saying you can tell he has a stone just by reading his pulse?”

She was right. Kidney stones are incredibly difficult to diagnose by pulse alone. Internal injuries or trauma, sure—he could trace the flow of qi to find the broken points and form a picture. But a small stone, especially one that hadn’t caused a blockage yet, was a different story. Most physicians wouldn’t know until the stone grew large enough to damage the kidney or ureter.

‘Should I tell her it’s easy because I have modern surgical knowledge of urolithiasis? No, that would just raise more questions.’

When Jin Cheon-hee didn’t answer, Tang Ah declared confidently, “I have never heard of a physician who could ‘predict’ a kidney stone with just a pulse reading! This must be a scam!”

‘Well… if you’re only considering the medicine of this era, she’s not wrong.’

In this world, where surgical medicine was undeveloped, the clear cause of kidney stones was unknown. They didn’t know why the ‘stones’ formed, only that one’s lower abdomen would suddenly erupt in unimaginable pain. By the time it was diagnosable, it was often too late, and the only option was to cut the patient open and pray. It was an extremely dangerous, often fatal, disease. In an era with no knowledge of infection and no antibiotics, surgery was a high-risk gamble.

“Actually, in your current state, proving you have a kidney stone is quite simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“Young Hero Namgung, can you withstand a little pain?”

“Fellow brother Jin, I’d rather you just treat it. Let’s not do… whatever that is.”

But Tang Ah had other ideas. “If you are a physician, prove it now!”

“Ugh… at least tell me what you’re planning to do. It’s my body,” Namgung Woon sighed.

“It’s nothing, really,” Jin Cheon-hee said calmly. “I’ll just find the stone, and then press down on it with a bit of internal energy to move it. It’s small, but the edges are as sharp as a blade, so even a small nudge will be… quite painful. Then you’ll know.”

“Woon-hyung! That is an excellent method! Otherwise, you might be swindled!”

“It’s my body, you two! Yeon-ah, you too…?”

Namgung Yeon’s eyes were sparkling. “O-Oppa. Confirming the stone’s existence is… is a very important matter. This is in no way revenge for you teasing me all the time.”

Jin Cheon-hee grinned. “That’s two against one. In that case, I’ll just press—”

“…W-Wait!”

Jin Cheon-hee pressed his fingers firmly into Namgung Woon’s lower back, right over the kidney. Infusing his fingertips with internal energy, he felt around… and there it was.

“Heo… Heok!”

Kidney stones. The patients who came into his emergency room used to say it felt like being shot. Or stabbed. Or having an awl driven into their back and then twisted. Jin Cheon-hee had never had one, but he knew exactly how excruciating it was.

Namgung Woon couldn’t even scream; he just choked, gasping for air. After three seconds, Jin Cheon-hee quickly removed his hand.

Tang Ah observed, “He’s not… acting. That’s a look of true agony. I felt… I felt Woon-hyung‘s soul scream.”

“Tang Ah. And Yeon-ah,” Namgung Woon ground out, “both of you… can forget about snacks for the next three days.” His hands were slick with cold sweat from that brief, intense flare of pain. “Do you see this, Fellow brother Jin? I don’t know if I’m raising two young ladies or two demons.”

Namgung Yeon just stared off at a distant mountain, whistling innocently.

‘This…’ Jin Cheon-hee thought, ‘this is a true sibling relationship.’ They’d probably mourn him if he died, but they wouldn’t miss a chance to stick it to each other. It was exactly the same as on Earth.

‘People are the same everywhere.’

“Young Hero Namgung, you should really be nicer. You tease your sister so much, of course she’s going to get you back when she has the chance.”

“Keuk… But teasing my sister is my life’s joy. It’s not for an outsider to meddle in.”

At that, Jin Cheon-hee asked, “Lady Namgung, should I press it one more time? It’s hard to be sure with just one try, right?”

“Save me! Save me, Fellow brother Jin!”

***

Namgung Woon agreed to be admitted to the pavilion for the lithotripsy procedure. During his stay, Namgung Yeon and Tang Ah would also be lodging there. The two were clearly best friends, inseparable for even a moment. Namgung Yeon, who was usually shy and stammered, would laugh brightly whenever she was with Tang Ah.

And Tang Ah, despite her adolescent… quirks… was actually quite kind-hearted and was well-received by the pavilion staff. Her “rebellious” behavior was limited to “practicing new techniques” by taking pavilion bandages and wrapping them around her perfectly uninjured arm. When a pavilion member showed her the correct way to apply a bandage, her eyes lit up as she learned.

During this time, Jin Cheon-hee meticulously examined Namgung Woon.

‘Natural passage is absolutely not an option.’

This was a man who lived on alcohol and meat. It was a mystery how this black sheep would ever become the leader of the Martial Righteous Alliance and be called the Number One Sword Under the Heavens. Fortunately, as long as he was an inpatient, Jin Cheon-hee could forbid all alcohol, greasy food, and salty food.

‘According to the original story, the kidney stone grew, but he resolved it somehow…’

Jin Cheon-hee rubbed his chin.

‘There’s no way… He didn’t just endure it and power through with his internal energy like my Master, did he?’

Setting aside the risk of infection or obstruction, the pain itself was not something a human could just “endure.”

Then again, Jin Cheon-hee corrected his thought. ‘This is the Murim. These people will do literally anything.’ Hadn’t Marquis Yu-rang tried to commit suicide by pulling the external fixation pins out of his own leg to stab Wangya Ju? These were people who would bite their tongues and endure flesh-ripping torture to protect a secret.

‘This place… this is a surgeon’s hell.’

If a patient’s ‘conviction’ was involved, they wouldn’t even tell you all their symptoms. They were always running off to risk their lives for some belief, or to face death over some grudges and favor.

‘How Namgung Woon solved his kidney stone problem was never mentioned in the novel. From the protagonist Yeo Ha-ryoon’s perspective, Namgung Woon was just an incredibly strong rival.’

Jin Cheon-hee came to a clean conclusion. ‘I am a doctor. I will do a doctor’s job. Focus on the patient in front of me.’

He continued his pulse diagnosis, then opened his eyes.

“Why has the stone gotten bigger… and how on earth did you drink? Don’t tell me you drank the medical-grade distilled alcohol?”

“You can tell that from my pulse, too?”