Arc 7: Surgery and Antibiotics (2)
“You wish to take that child?”
Mu Hwa’s eyes widened in surprise. Ever since Jin Cheon-hee had treated her, her symptoms had improved with astonishing speed, something she once thought was impossible. There were already others who had been completely cured, and now she could once again allow herself to dream.
He’s just a child who might as well not exist in the Hao Sect.
He was worthless, with no expectations placed upon him. He had never learned the sect’s martial arts, nor did he know even the smallest piece of internal information. He didn’t even have a name, which said it all.
“If that is what worries you, please don’t be. I will handle everything.”
Jin Cheon-hee’s expression lit up. “Truly?”
“Yes. You have nothing to fear from any consequences.”
There was no need to even file a report. Since he was a child who didn’t exist in the first place, it was a simple matter of him continuing to not exist. It was something she could still manage with her remaining authority. On top of that, her own complete recovery was just around the corner. If she returned like this, she could be reinstated as a Branch Leader.
Jin Cheon-hee, unaware of these internal politics, simply nodded.
‘Well then, all that’s left is to convince my Master.’
This part would be easy. If his Master happened to object, he could just cure the boy and ask Phantom Archer for a favor.
‘He’s smart and exceptionally talented. He’ll be welcomed anywh…’
For a moment, Jin Cheon-hee wondered if there had ever been a nameless master who appeared in Supreme Heavenly Demon. He quickly shook his head.
‘The syphilis would have likely killed him long before. And he was never taught martial arts, so he never would have had the chance to appear in the first place.’
In a way, he was the same type as Wang Gak-yeon—a character meant to disappear from the novel without any real significance.
‘Just like me.’
Jin Cheon-hee still had no idea about this body’s origins. Even though Gongsun Hyeon and Yoo Ho had apparently been investigating secretly, there was no news.
He supposed this, too, was a kind of fate.
Jin Cheon-hee took Mu Hwa’s pulse.
‘Looking at her improvement, it seems it thankfully didn’t spread to her nerves. That’s a relief. Her prognosis will be good.’
It was finally time to speak of a full recovery.
When he finished speaking, tears streamed down Mu Hwa’s face.
“Junior Pavilion Master… Junior Pavilion Master, are you… Mu Wol. Did I hear him correctly?”
“Yes, Sister! You did! Sister!”
Mu Wol threw his arms around Mu Hwa, and they wept together. It was only natural. His sister, whom he had been certain would die, was coming back to life.
Jin Cheon-hee said, “And what should I write down for you, Sir Mu Wol?”
The fact that he had merely pretended to be infected with syphilis to look after his sister had been exposed on the very first day. Jin Cheon-hee had scolded him, saying he would keep it a secret from the other Hao Sect members, but that he must never do such a thing again.
The sight of a large man being lectured by a small child must have been quite a spectacle, as it had caused Mu Hwa to laugh for the first time in a long time.
Perhaps it was from that moment. She had an unfounded premonition that, for some reason, things would turn out well.
Mu Wol now hung on Jin Cheon-hee’s every word. With his sister beginning to heal, it seemed he would genuinely feign death if Jin Cheon-hee ordered him to.
“Please, write down that I have also been cured.”
“Hmm…” Jin Cheon-hee’s brow furrowed slightly. “Don’t lie to a physician next time. We see through it all.”
“You’re the strange one, Junior Pavilion Master. Everyone else was fooled.”
‘Not likely. They probably just pretended not to know.’
Before syphilis was accurately identified, people believed the disease could be transmitted just by being near a patient. That included physicians. It was only because this was the White Qilin Medical Pavilion that they were even able to provide contact treatment; anywhere else, they would have recoiled at the mere mention of the symptoms.
Jin Cheon-hee didn’t think that far. He just thought the other physicians were remarkably kind.
“On that note, I’ve heard reports that it has the effect of increasing internal energy. And after checking their pulses, I’ve confirmed that the internal energy of some patients has increased.”
Was it because they were using the Five-Elemental Cultivation Art as an air pump? He’d heard it had the effect of an elixir. It didn’t seem to apply to every martial artist, but the effect was significant for those who had taken it for a long time.
The interesting part was that the energy didn’t need to be absorbed by reciting oral formulas after taking the medicine; it just naturally attached itself, as if it had been one’s own Qi from the very beginning.
While the amount of Qi wasn’t greater than a specialized elixir, curing an incurable disease and increasing internal energy was a significant boon. Another difference from other elixirs was that it was safe, causing no clashes between different types of true Qi—something that could happen with certain elixirs, depending on the energy type.
Mu Hwa began to circulate her energy.
‘My internal energy… it really increased?!’
The dense weight she felt in her danjeon had grown a little heavier. Perhaps because she had been under treatment for so long due to her illness, the increase for Mu Hwa was particularly pronounced.
The moment she realized this, a single tear streamed down her face.
“Junior Pavilion Master, I will return to the Hao Sect and retake my position as Branch Leader.”
For the first time, she spoke of a future.
Jin Cheon-hee listened to her with a calm expression. “My congratulations in advance.”
“When that time comes, I believe I will be able to lend you my strength, in whatever way you may need.”
She took a pendant from her robes. A unique crest was embedded in the jade, but otherwise, it was a plain design. It would look good attached to one’s clothes, or perhaps decorating a sword.
“This is a token of my heart. It is not even one-ten-thousandth of the grace you have shown me, but I will spend the rest of my life repaying it. If you should ever require information, please, show this pendant at any time, and I will be able to help you. And Mu Wol!”
At his sister’s command, Mu Wol dropped to one knee.
“I am, by nature, a worthless man. I have no loyalty to the Hao Sect. But I know how to repay a debt of gratitude.”
Startled, Jin Cheon-hee said, “That’s quite all right. Please, get up. You don’t need to do this.”
Mu Wol did not budge.
“If you ever need me, please call for me at any time. If you seek ‘the one without a moon’ at any Hao Sect branch, I will find my way to you.”
Mu Hwa and Mu Wol.
The two siblings pledged their loyalty to Jin Cheon-hee.
***
After all the patients were discharged, the White Qilin Medical Pavilion held a small banquet. It was a celebration of Jin Cheon-hee’s success.
“Junior Pavilion Master! Congratulations!”
But even as he celebrated, Jin Cheon-hee’s expression was tinged with a slight disappointment.
Of the thirty syphilis patients, one had been faking, and three had a different disease with symptoms similar to syphilis.
That disease, he could not cure.
Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
The people of this region called it ‘Leprosy’. It was often mistaken for syphilis, as it looked similar at a glance, but it was an entirely different illness.
It was impossible to treat Hansen’s disease with penicillin. Penicillin-based antibiotics worked by attacking the cell walls of bacteria, destroying them. But unlike ordinary bacteria, this one protected itself with a waxy coating that blocked the penicillin.
To kill this one, he needed rifampicin, an antibiotic that interfered with RNA synthesis.
‘On top of that, I can’t use it alone. The bacteria develop resistance during treatment, so it has to be used in a cocktail with other antibiotics.’
Rifampicin was one of the antibiotics that could be extracted from soil. It was the next one Jin Cheon-hee was targeting. If he could successfully isolate and cultivate streptomycin, the tuberculosis drug, then rifampicin should also be possible.
But for now, Jin Cheon-hee was only just at the stage of completing penicillin.
Still, the mere fact that he had cured syphilis, an incurable disease, was enough to put the entire Pavilion in a festive mood.
‘Right. One step at a time.’
“Junior Pavilion Master, congratulations! No, this is a blessing for the entire Central Plains!”
“The patients all had looks of disbelief.”
“To cure syphilis… who would have ever thought such a day would come!”
His Master, too, was so pleased that he couldn’t stop stroking Jin Cheon-hee’s head every time he saw him.
“Wherever did such a bundle of fortune come from? You are greater than I.”
“No, Master. This medicine couldn’t have been made without you. Besides, I am still lacking in every way—in acupuncture, in therapeutical massage, and in pharmacology.”
‘And I’m lacking in martial arts, too.’
To become the greatest physician and the greatest martial artist in the world, his Master was an absolutely essential existence. But it was more than mere necessity; his Master was the only family Jin Cheon-hee had found in his two lifetimes. After all this time, he had finally found a place to belong.
‘I will not let him die. No matter what.’
With the completion of penicillin, he could now prevent a significant portion of post-operative infections. People could die with absurd ease, but sometimes, their lifelines could also cling on with agonizing persistence. Jin Cheon-hee had seen those who, with one organ failing after another, wasted away for long periods in intensive care units.
‘Huuu…’
Buy time. Reduce the variables. If it doesn’t exist, make it.
“Hee-ya. For some reason, you don’t look very happy.”
At his Master’s words, Jin Cheon-hee forced a smile. “Because the road ahead is long.”
“I wish you would not be in such a hurry.”
His Master spoke as if discussing the life of a stranger.
Jin Cheon-hee looked at him and thought, ‘As expected. The Master is already transcendent, beyond life and death. Truly a Murim warrior. But this won’t do. I have to be the one to save him!’
He clenched his fists, renewing his resolve.
“Ah, Hee-ya. About that child, Cheon-woo.”
“Yes! Yes!”
It was the child whose syphilis Jin Cheon-hee had cured, the one he had even named. When he had asked his Master, he had only said he would “think about it,” and had given no answer since.
“As you said, his talent is remarkable, but his constitution is not a good fit for our Zhuge Clan. So, I was thinking of sending him to a more suitable sect.”
“A more suitable sect…?”
“The Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect owes me a debt from the past, so I doubt he would refuse. And what’s more, with such a talented child now available, I’m sure he would be even less likely to refuse. What do you think?”
Wudang? That was in Hubei.
‘If he goes, I’ll barely ever see him…’
As if reading his mind, his Master said, “If the Sect Leader himself is taking him in, could there be a greater opportunity? It’s a rare talent, so I took the liberty of pulling some strings.”
“Yes. That’s wonderful. You’re right.” Jin Cheon-hee forced a smile.
His Master replied, “It will be difficult to see him for a while, but once his training has progressed to a certain point, you will be able to.”
Every word was correct. Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
‘I’ve really grown attached to Cheon-woo. It’s a shame, but it can’t be… Wait. Wudang?’
The Wudang Sect was a place that appeared frequently in the novel. Jin Cheon-hee began to recall, one by one, what happened to the Wudang Sect in Supreme Heavenly Demon.
‘Wasn’t there a secret manual hidden in the back of the head of the statue of the Primeval Lord of Heaven?’
A perfect excuse for a house call to Wudang had just appeared.
“Master! Let’s send Cheon-woo at once!”
In Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes, the two words “SECRET” and “MANUAL” were gleaming.
***
The day of Cheon-woo’s departure.
“Hyung. You have to come visit me at Wudang. You have to!”
The two boys embraced, sharing a heartfelt farewell.
Since Jin Cheon-hee’s own name was “Cheon-hee,” the name “Cheon-woo” felt like that of a real younger brother. When he had named him, he had just put together something that came to mind, but it felt like this, too, was fate.
“I won’t be ‘visiting,’ I’ll be making a ‘house call.’ I must check on your recovery. So you be good over there. Be respectful to the Wudang masters. And recite the formula for clearing your scars every day!”
It wasn’t some grand technique. It was one of the miscellaneous arts passed down in the Zhuge Clan, a formula that erased skin scars and increased regenerative power.