Half the Success (1)
"Smells like something was burned. What did you do?"
Sima-Jian looked at Cheol-woo, who was walking over while dusting off his hands, with an annoyed expression.
"There was too much blood-soaked bamboo to deal with."
"So you burned it? Don't tell me you burned the entire bamboo grove?"
Sima-Jian asked again, dumbfounded.
"Not that far. I cut down only the bamboo that had blood splattered on it, gathered it up, and burned it. Once I actually started cutting, there wasn't as much as I'd thought."
"And you burned those guys too?"
"No. I buried them deep. That's why it took so long. Damn it—if I'd brought some Bone-Melting Powder ( Bone-Dissolving Powder), it would've been over in no time."
"Talk some sense. No matter how effective Bone-Melting Powder is, how much do you think you'd need to erase that many people?"
"About this much?"
Cheol-woo spread his hands about an arm's length apart, then let out an awkward laugh as if he realized how ridiculous it sounded.
"Heh heh! Yeah, that really doesn't make sense."
Cheol-woo chuckled to himself for a while, then turned his gaze toward the infirmary and wiped the smile from his face.
"But is it still going?"
"Yeah."
"That's taking too long. I thought it would've been finished already. Has it been about an hour?"
"Not quite that long."
Sima-Jian couldn't hide his tension either as the treatment dragged on.
"The illness sounded serious from the start, and it seems it really isn't easy. Even one of the most renowned physicians from the Hwalseon Medical Family went in carrying Azure Stone Oil."
"It'll be fine."
Fixing his gaze on the infirmary, Sima-Jian murmured with earnest hope.
"Of course it will. That kid's got incredible grit. She'll pull through, so don't worry too much, Captain."
"Let's hope so."
Sima-Jian nodded heavily.
"What's with him? Is he still asleep?"
Cheol-woo's eyes turned toward Sama-ho, who was sleeping soundly in the pavilion.
"I didn't wake him on purpose. He'd just worry if he woke up."
"Even so, this much time has passed. Shouldn't he have woken up on his own?"
"Guess he was tired."
"Tired, my ass!"
Snorting lightly, Cheol-woo strode up into the pavilion and kicked Sima-ho, who was curled up sleeping, in the backside.
"Hey, how long are you going to sleep? Get up already."
"Let me sleep a little longer."
Sima-Jian tried to stop him, but Cheol-woo ignored him.
"Our youngest's life is on the line. If you're family, you should worry together. Sleeping alone like this makes no sense."
As the kicks grew stronger, Sima-ho—who had seemed dead asleep—finally opened his eyes with a deep scowl.
"Ah, what's your problem?"
"What's my problem? You can still sleep at a time like this?"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden? I'm dead tired, and you're waking someone who was sleeping just fine—"
While grumbling irritably, Sima-ho suddenly sensed something was off and slowly looked around.
In the next moment, his forced-open eyes widened like lanterns.
Sima-ho sprang to his feet and shouted,
"Cheongsimwon! How is it? What about the treatment for the youngest?!"
"Shh! They're still treating her, so sit down and stop making a fuss."
Shooting Cheol-woo a glare, Sima-Jian spoke quietly.
Sima-ho quickly shut his mouth and sidled up next to Cheol-woo, whispering,
"How long was I asleep?"
"Just under an hour, I think."
"An hour?! That much time passed?"
Sima-ho gaped, then suddenly frowned.
"That's strange. I don't feel particularly sleepy."
As Sima-ho puzzled over it, Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo turned their heads in the same direction.
The infirmary door opened, and Hwang-Zheng stepped out, looking thoroughly exhausted.
"How did it go?"
Sima-Jian rushed over and grabbed Hwang-Zheng's arm as he asked.
"For now, the Golden Needle Technique we performed today was completed successfully. The condition has definitely improved."
"Ah!"
Sima-Jian let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you."
As Sima-Jian bowed deeply in gratitude, Sima-ho and Cheol-woo, who had rushed over, also bowed without thinking.
"Please come inside first. You'll be able to hear a more detailed explanation."
Hwang-Zheng turned and went back into the infirmary. However, his expression wasn't as bright as expected.
Sima-Jian, who was still bowing deeply, failed to notice, but Cheol-woo did not.
Something feels off.
Cheol-woo sensed an ominous unease from Hwang-Zheng's expression, but he didn't show it. He merely followed silently behind Sima-Jian, who entered the infirmary with an uplifted face.
The first thing the three encountered upon entering was a foul stench.
Gok Ja-yu, Yoo Sa-ha, and the others opened the windows on both sides to air the place out, but the smell didn't fade quickly.
"What is this smell? It's seriously rotten."
Sima-ho covered his nose and grimaced. Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo, however, didn't mind at all. Having experienced Bone Reforging and Rebirth (A Complete Physical Rebirth) in the past, they even wore faint smiles.
"It's a bit unpleasant, isn't it? It's because the impurities in her body are being expelled."
Hwang-young said with a faint smile.
Pale-faced and drenched in sweat as if she'd been caught in the rain, Hwang-young looked several times more exhausted than Hwang-Zheng.
"You should regulate your breathing and energy first, Miss."
Gok Ja-yu said with concern.
"It's not that bad."
Waving him off lightly, Hwang-young continued while looking at Sima-Jian.
"We did everything we could with the Azure Stone Oil and the main family's Golden Needle Technique, but unfortunately, we failed to achieve a complete cure."
"Ah!"
Unable to contain himself, the anxious Sima-Jian let out a despairing cry.
Biting his lip tightly, Sima-Jian turned to Hwang-Zheng.
"You clearly said just a moment ago that it had improved…"
"It has improved. She's far healthier than before—there's no doubt about that."
Sima-Jian looked unable to understand.
"However, it wasn't a complete cure. We did our utmost, but we couldn't fully eliminate the root of the illness. I'm sorry."
As Hwang-young bowed apologetically, Sima-Jian shook his head as if it were unthinkable.
"Please don't say that. I know all too well how much effort you put in. I heard it was an acupuncture technique that could have seriously harmed you as well if anything went wrong. All I can say is that I'm deeply grateful."
"Not at all. As a physician, it's simply my duty and responsibility. Opportunities to treat such rare illnesses don't come easily—especially with Azure Stone Oil involved. I feel sorry and ashamed toward you all, but honestly speaking, from a physician's standpoint, this was a stroke of good fortune."
Sima-Jian showed no particular reaction to her frank words, but Cheol-woo—whose mood had already soured upon hearing that even with Azure Stone Oil the illness couldn't be fully cured—immediately revealed his displeasure at the word fortune.
"I had a bad feeling the moment I heard they'd all failed."
"That's enough."
Sima-Jian hurriedly tried to stop him, but he couldn't shut Cheol-woo up.
"In the end, it was all just fancy talk. A stroke of good fortune? Damn it—must be nice."
"Do you call that something worth saying?!"
"How dare you insult the young lady and the main family!"
Yoo Sa-ha and Gok Ja-yu shouted with faces flushed red. If this weren't a military camp but some other place, they looked ready to draw their weapons on the spot.
But Cheol-woo was not someone to be intimidated by that.
"Am I wrong?"
As Cheol-woo lifted his chin and openly provoked them, Sima-Jian let out a sigh and quietly called to him.
"Hey."
Cheol-woo, who had been locked in a battle of wills with Yoo Sa-ha and Gok Ja-yu, flinched.
Turning his head slightly, Cheol-woo swallowed hard when he met Sima-Jian's eyes, which had sunk into a frightening calm.
"Apologize. Now."
It was an ordinary tone, devoid of emotion or emphasis, but Cheol-woo didn't dare to resist.
"I'm sorry. I spoke out of frustration and made a serious mistake."
Cheol-woo's enormous body bent almost in half.
His manner of speech was exceedingly respectful.
The sudden change in attitude left not only Yoo Sa-ha and Gok Ja-yu, who had been furious just moments ago, but even Hwang-young looking bewildered.
"Please forgive my younger brother's mistake. I, too, offer my apologies."
Sima-Jian bowed his head once more.
"No, you don't need to do that."
Hwang-young waved her hands with an awkward expression.
After a brief, uncomfortable silence, Sima-Jian looked at Sima-jin, who lay as if dead, with pity and spoke.
"How much has he improved?"
"He'll have no difficulty at all in daily life. However…"
"He hasn't fully recovered, so there's always a risk of relapse."
After hesitating, Hwang-young nodded.
"We expect there won't be any major problems, and we hope that's the case, but we can't completely rule out the possibility of a relapse. I'm sorry."
At Hwang-young's apology, Hwang-Zheng stiffened and spoke in her defense.
"What are you talking about? Anyone could see it was a perfect golden-needle technique. It couldn't have been done any better."
Hwang-Zheng turned to Sima-Jian.
"The unfortunate thing is that this condition was far more severe than the Gongcheongseoyeo—much more than we anticipated. And there was also a miscalculation."
"A miscalculation…?"
"We placed too much faith in the efficacy of the Gongcheongseoyeo."
Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo looked at Hwang-Zheng with expressions of disbelief.
"Of course, I don't deny that Gongcheongseoyeo is an extraordinary elixir, so rare it's hard to find its equal. The main family has even treated Gongcheongseoyeo using it before. That's why we believed it could easily withstand the yin energy of the Cheon-eum Divine Vessel. However, Gongcheongseoyeo alone was not enough to handle the overwhelming yin energy of the Cheon-eum Divine Vessel."
Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo were left speechless at the words not enough even with Gongcheongseoyeo.
In the past, Sima-Jian had obtained Gongcheongseoyeo from the Gwimun family and personally consumed it. Because of that, both of them had firsthand experience of just how potent this legendary elixir truly was.
Having undergone a complete rebirth, Sima-Jian gained a body and immense internal power so perfect it couldn't even be compared to when he first emerged from Black Dragon Valley, and Cheol-woo reached the realm of the Indestructible Vajra Body.
Of course, it was true that the amount of Gongcheongseoyeo they had consumed back then was far greater than the amount used to treat Sima-jin, but having personally felt its effects, Hwang-Zheng's words were hard for them to accept.
"Damn it—if even Gongcheongseoyeo isn't enough, then just how powerful does an elixir have to be to withstand the yin energy of that Cheon-eum thing or whatever it's called?"
Cheol-woo asked in frustration.
"Rather than saying it was insufficient, it's more accurate to say it wasn't suited for this purpose."
Hwang-young glanced briefly at Sima-jin, who was still sleeping deeply, and continued.
"As far as I know, there are very few elixirs that surpass Gongcheong Seokyu. Perhaps the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King spoken of only in legends might qualify. However, unlike Gongcheong Seokyu, whose balance of yin and yang is nearly perfect, there are elixirs that surpass it when specialized in extreme yang or extreme yin—that is, when they focus on a single aspect of energy. Representative examples would be the inner core of the Snow-Mountain Fire Fox, or Ice Crystal (Frozen Crystal), said to be obtainable only from eternal snow."
Sima-Jian immediately understood what Hwang-young was getting at.
"So for Jin-ah's illness, what he needed wasn't Gongcheongseok, but the inner core of the Snow-Mountain Fire Fox."
"It's a conclusion drawn in hindsight, but yes."
Hwang-young nodded weakly.
"The Snow-Mountain Fire Fox's inner core—how can it be obtained? Does it truly exist?"
Sima-Jian asked with blazing eyes, looking as though he would scour the entire world to find it.