The White Qilin Medical Pavilion, which in the original story should have slowly declined and then scattered to the winds upon Zhuge Rin’s death, was beginning to pulse with new life.
Conversely, it was now self-evident that the Hwaju Medical Pavilion would harbor a grudge against them that went far beyond simple rivalry.
But that was a matter of little importance to either Jin Cheon-hee or Zhuge Rin.
***
“Grandmother.”
“Hm… yes, child.”
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Jin Cheon-hee bowed his head in apology to the nameless grandmother with the injured knee. “I promised I would help you down the mountain, but I’ve only just come now.”
He apologized several times, his face filled with genuine regret.
It was always the same, whether you were a modern doctor or a Murim physician. It wasn’t the physician who set the schedule, but the patient. After treating the Prince Consort and then facing a battle of wills with his guardian, Wangya Ju, a great deal of time had passed in a flash.
It couldn’t be helped. Still, there were plenty of people at the Pavilion. Someone else could have helped her in his place. He had asked another attendant to do so and had forgotten all about it. But then he’d learned that the grandmother hadn’t left; she had been waiting for him in the Bamboo Grove Hall.
When he belatedly rushed to the hall, she was there. And next to her, the cloth bundle, in the exact same shape as when she had first arrived.
Seeing that it was untouched, Jin Cheon-hee’s heart grew heavy.
‘Did her grandson… not come? Or did he come, and then leave without even eating?’
In times like these, the kindest thing to do was not to ask.
Jin Cheon-hee composed his features, feigning nonchalance. Just then, the grandmother spoke. “Ya want some?”
“What? Me?”
“Aye. It hasn’t gone bad, so don’t you worry. And go fetch that scoundrel of a master of yours.”
She spoke of him as if she were summoning the lowest cur in the world. Something was a little strange, but Jin Cheon-hee just assumed, ‘Does she think her grandson is struggling because my Master is overworking him?’
He was hesitating, wondering what to do, when the door slid open.
Drrreuk—
Standing there was Zhuge Rin.
Seeing him, the grandmother grinned. “I thought ‘im a dog, but he’s a tiger. Speak of the tiger, and he appears.”
“My apologies for keeping our guest waiting, Honored Elder.”
Huh? The two of them were acting as if they had known each other for a long time. Jin Cheon-hee looked back and forth between them, completely baffled.
Zhuge Rin said, “Please, stop testing my disciple. Have you not observed him enough?”
Test?
“What do you mean, Master?”
In that instant, the old woman cackled. It was not the voice of an elderly crone. It was young, vibrant, and yet held a strange, deep authority.
Clack clack clack—
The sound of bones twisting filled the air. The old woman’s arm bent bizarrely, then rotated a full circle. Her hunched frame began to straighten, and the wrinkles on her skin smoothed out, growing taut. Her snow-white hair receded, replaced by a light brown.
“Yes, child of the White Qilin. Thanks to you, this old monster has seen a fine show.”
She swept her bangs back.
Jin Cheon-hee, startled, scrambled back toward his Master, his body tensing for a fight. “Who are you?”
“Hmph. You were so kind when I was an old woman, and now you look like you’re about to unleash a martial art on me. Have you heard the name ‘Bloodborne Elder Eccentric,’ little boy?”
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric!
She was the Pavilion Master of the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, one of the Three Great Medical Pavilions. She had earned the epithet Monster for her bizarre behavior in the Murim. A master of the Muscle-Shrinking Art, she was always changing her appearance.
The Murim was uncertain whether she was male or female… but Jin Cheon-hee, having read the novel, knew.
‘She’s a woman.’
In combat, she used her art to transform her body into something resembling a giant gorilla, making the epithet “Monster” a perfect fit.
She was obsessed with surgery, believing that it could even raise the dead. She “treated” patients in a way that was similar to Jin Cheon-hee’s, yet entirely different. The problem was that her “treatment” was grotesque.
“So what if you have six fingers? You’ve become stronger, haven’t you? You wished to surpass your limits, and so you have.”
In the novel, she had once “cured” a patient suffering from Qi Deviation. She had even given him an upgrade. The problem was, she had attached an extra finger. And she had done so without the patient’s consent.
“Two eyes weren’t enough, so I gave you three. This body is now optimal for your fist technique. Look! Isn’t that ox’s eye profound?”
He had no idea what method she had used, but she had literally attached an ox’s eye to someone. It had, admittedly, compensated for the weakness in his fist technique. But he was now fated to live the rest of his life being cursed as a monster. Not that she cared.
In the first place, she “treated” her chosen victims by knocking them out, kidnapping them, and… then “curing” them. What that “cure” entailed, only the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric knew.
Even more terrifying was the fact that she was a master who had achieved Reversion to Youth.
When an elder of an Unorthodox Faction had learned this, he had screamed, “That mad monster has achieved Reversion to Youth?! The heavens are truly blind!”
Pabababak!
With those final words, he was knocked unconscious by her kicking technique, dragged off, and “treated.” The Unorthodox Elder no longer suffered from his lung disease. He was, in a sense, perfectly cured. In exchange, he had gained an extra nostril.
She did provide cures. She really did. She even succeeded in treating incurable diseases, not 100% of the time, but at a decent rate. The problem was that her “goodwill” was something no ordinary person could comprehend.
Jin Cheon-hee, recalling the novel’s contents, thought, ‘I’m not sick… surely she didn’t come here to ‘pick’ me?’
This was a Reversion to Youth Mad Scientist.
His mind raced. ‘At this point in the novel, it’s the period where she’s mostly stopped kidnapping and ‘treating’ martial artists…’
The Gangho had thought her “aggressive treatments” had lessened. They’d assumed that, having grown old, she was preparing for ascension like other Reversion to Youth masters, enjoying a life of leisure.
But Jin Cheon-hee, having read the novel, knew the truth.
‘This is the time she’s completely obsessed with making jiangshi.’
In the past, she had been a public enemy of the Murim. The ‘past tense’ was key, as the situation had changed over time. An order for her execution had been issued, but after she had repeatedly defeated the martial artists sent after her and “force-cured” their injuries, 50 years had passed, and the grudges had faded.
Now, she was the founder of the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion and did business with the Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox Factions. The Dark Palace’s treatments were fast and cheap, but their drawback was… side effects. However, their great advantage was that they could procure various materials used in demonic illusions, arts, and evil techniques that no ordinary clinic would ever touch, and they could even assist in those rituals.
And furthermore, the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion could cure things that the other two great medical factions could not. One might die in the process, or end up worse than dead, but at least there was a sliver of hope.
Why a being like her had appeared as a grandmother to test him was a mystery.
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric said, “Rest easy. I have made a pact with that White Qilin child.”
“A pact?”
“I agreed not to raise a disturbance within this Pavilion.”
Jin Cheon-hee looked at his Master. Zhuge Rin sighed.
“A long time ago, Bloodborne took a great interest in my illness. She wished to ‘treat’ me by force, but I resisted. We fought for 50 exchanges. The agreement was that if I was defeated, I would willingly become her patient. If I won, she would no longer cause trouble in this Pavilion.”
To last 50 exchanges against a Reversion to Youth master… it was an impossible feat.
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric cackled. “That child… he endured it so easily. To think, a man with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, the most vicious of all severed meridians, could face a Reversion to Youth master and end it with only a bit of his hair cut off.”
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, his Master said to Jin Cheon-hee, “Listen well, Hee-ya. When our sect’s martial arts reach their peak, one can become the strongest under heaven.”
“Still so diligent about teaching your disciple, even now. White Qilin.”
“One must, whenever there is a gap, Bloodborne.”
The two of them called each other by their titles, not their names.
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric unwrapped the cloth bundle. “‘Beginning of Spring’ is the turning of yin and yang, the season when fates connect. I wonder if you have the courage to eat the food this old monster has made, White Qilin.”
At those words, Zhuge Rin sighed. “Bloodborne, you are one who, once a promise is made, keeps it as you would your own life.”
“Indeed. You know me well.”
***
The food the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric had made was, shockingly, normal ‘Beginning of Spring’ holiday food.
And it was incredibly delicious. It was even still warm, as if she had used her internal energy to keep it heated. Jin Cheon-hee moved his chopsticks, took a bite, and then just kept eating.
She watched him, a pleased look on her face.
“I heard the White Qilin Medical Pavilion was using a surgical art never seen before. How could this old monster pass that up? I came at once. Your skill in treating my knee was quite excellent.”
“I see.” His Master, looking at Jin Cheon-hee with a satisfied expression, replied.
“Even in our Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, it is rare to find one whose hands are as fast and precise as that child’s. And on top of that, he has ideas others could never imagine.” She studied Jin Cheon-hee’s face intently.
Jin Cheon-hee, afraid to even make eye contact, kept his gaze fixed on the food.
“And then Wangya Ju arrived.”
“Yes. It was a good thing she was distracted by her consort. If it had been the ‘wartime’ Wangya Ju, she would have surely caught me.”
“I see. Did you observe the treatment?”
“I used an art to borrow the eyes of one of your physicians. Thanks to him, I had a fine view. Hmm… he treats patients with an approach this old monster had never considered. To cut away the damaged parts first, in order to restore the flesh…”
She must be talking about debridement. It was one of the most basic emergency surgical procedures on Earth.
Jin Cheon-hee replied, “If you cut away the contaminated areas, the recovery is faster.”
If the muscle became a breeding ground for bacteria, recovery would only slow. The inflammation would worsen, and it would only invite complications like sepsis or embolism. That was why you cut it away.
“I see. You encourage healing by cutting. What an interesting concept.” She laughed for a long time, intrigued. Then she said, “I find I like you more and more, child. At the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, my…”
In that instant, his Master’s hand clamped down on her shoulder. He then smiled, a dazzling, radiant smile.
“You cannot.”
“What?”
“You cannot.”
He was refusing her before she had even stated her purpose.
“I haven’t even finished my sentence, and you’re already doing this?”
“Hahaha. You absolutely cannot.”
But the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric was not one to be stopped by that. She said immediately, “Aish! Will you be my disciple? If you become my disciple, the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion will one day be yours, and you will be able to hold the darkness of the world in your hand and shake it.”
“…”
Jin Cheon-hee dropped the fried lotus root he was holding.
Tuk.
“What?”
“Become my disciple. I can give you far more than that White Qilin bastard ever could.”
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric was desperate. Jin Cheon-hee was a prodigy who could not only fully inherit her advancements but also develop them even further.
“Your field is surgery, is it not? The Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, which focuses on surgery, is a much better fit for you than the White Qilin Medical Pavilion, which focuses on acupuncture.”