Half the Success (2)
"That is…"
Huang Ying, overwhelmed by Sima Jian's pressure, could not continue speaking. Huang Zheng opened his mouth in her stead.
"To be honest, something even harder to obtain than Azure Pure Stone Oil is the inner core of the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard. If my memory is correct, in the entire history of the main family, there has been only one instance in which treatment was carried out using the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard's inner core."
Huang Zheng turned his gaze to Huang Ying, asking whether his recollection was correct.
When Huang Ying nodded, Cheol-woo—who had been deep in thought, his brow tightly furrowed—asked,
"What about the Bone-Reforming Great Method?"
"…Pardon?"
"I've heard that a master possessing the dual powers of yin and yang once treated a patient with a similar condition using the Bone-Reforming Great Method."
Cheol-woo spoke while glancing sidelong at Sima Jian.
Huang Ying crushed the faint hope that had appeared in Sima Jian's eyes.
"It's impossible."
Her expression and tone were firmer than ever as she continued.
"I don't know what kind of 'similar condition' you're referring to, but Severed Yin Pulse or Heavenly Yin Divine Veins are heavenly punishments bestowed by fate. They cannot possibly be cured by something as simple as the Bone-Reforming Great Method. One would need an extreme yang energy capable of confronting the yin energy lodged within the body, the ability to perfectly control the clash of those two forces, and even the Heavenly Eye (eye of sky), which allows one to perceive not just the Eight Extraordinary Meridians but every single blood vessel in the human body. Do you truly think such a person exists?"
"Then did the physician attempt treatment because she possessed such abilities?"
Cheol-woo asked in a reproachful tone, clearly irritated by the unending stream of negative assertions.
Huang Zheng, who had gone to great lengths to invite Huang Ying, could no longer hold back and raised his voice.
"The power to confront the yin energy was provided by the Azure Pure Stone Oil, and the clash of the two forces was controlled through Golden Needle Acupuncture. The main family has a secret art called Heaven-Piercing Soul-Recovery, which can revive someone so long as less than half a gak has passed since their breath ceased. However, Golden Needle Acupuncture is extremely dangerous, because it does not merely consume mental focus—it requires pouring all of one's internal energy into the needles. Even so, controlling the yin energy embedded in the patient's body was far from easy. Even with myself and Guard Gok lending our internal energy, suppressing those rampaging forces was immensely difficult. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
As Huang Zheng's voice grew increasingly heated, Huang Ying grabbed his sleeve and shook her head. Her face carried a faint bitterness. Seeing her like that, Huang Zheng let out a sigh and forcibly suppressed his rising anger.
Cheol-woo, who had provoked them, was already lying flat under the glare of Sima Jian.
An awkward atmosphere once again settled over the infirmary. When no one quite knew what to say, Sima Ho—who had not dared to interrupt and had only been darting his eyes about—cautiously opened his mouth.
"So… in the end, that means the treatment more or less worked, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Huang Zheng nodded absentmindedly.
"Then even if it's not some legendary elixir like the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard, wouldn't feeding her medicine with strong yang energy be enough to cure her?"
Apparently pleased with his own question, Sima Ho looked around with an animated expression.
Huang Ying smiled faintly and shook her head.
"It's yin energy that couldn't be eradicated even with Azure Pure Stone Oil and the main family's Golden Needle technique. Unless it's an item of extreme yang nature on the level of the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard's inner core, it's useless. Creating a medicine with that level of potency is impossible—"
"There is one, though."
Sima Ho confidently cut her off.
"What do you mean by that?"
Sima Jian asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"Some time ago, my eldest brother once obtained a pill from an elder of the Beggars' Sect. He chased after him for ten days and nights, begging nonstop before he finally got it. It's called the Yellow Dog Pill (Yellow Dog Elixir), a secret medicine of the Beggars' Sect"
Sima Ho continued, gauging Huang Ying's reaction.
"It's made by collecting, uh… the thing from yellow dogs and boiling it together with all sorts of medicinal ingredients for three whole days. I heard this from my brother who brewed it himself. That Beggars' Sect elder swore there was no better medicine for boosting yang energy. What was it—he even said it put Shaolin's Great Rejuvenation Pill to shame—ack!"
Mid-sentence, Sima Ho let out a yelp as he was dragged away.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
He shouted while batting away Cheol-woo's arm, which was twisting his ear.
"You idiot! How dare you spout some tale about getting scammed by a fraud?!"
"It's real! After taking the Yellow Dog Pill, my big brother was so—"
"Shut up! Keep your mouth closed before I turn you into a yellow dog's thing yourself."
Cheol-woo turned his flushed face away from Huang Ying.
Cheol-woo, who was so thick-skinned that few in the world could rival him, felt too ashamed to even lift his head at Sima Ho's words.
"I apologize. He may be big, but my younger brother is still immature."
Sima Geon bowed apologetically to Huang Ying and Huang Zheng.
"It's all right. 'Yellow Dog Pill'—that's quite an amusing name."
Huang Ying laughed behind her hand, then suddenly stopped.
"Ah! There is one, actually. A supreme yang elixir that surpasses even the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard."
"…What?"
Sima Jian lifted his bowed head.
"But it's even harder to obtain than the Snow Mountain Fire Lizard."
"What is it?"
Without realizing it, Sima Jian grabbed both of Huang Ying's arms as he asked.
Meeting the desperate, pleading light in his eyes, Huang Ying murmured,
"Shaolin's Great Rejuvenation Pill."
On a hot afternoon bathed in blazing sunlight, Sima Jian—having set aside his work for a brief rest—watched Sima Jin diligently cleaning around the butcher shop.
Moving back and forth between the shop and the slaughterhouse, handling all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, Sima Jin's movements were livelier than ever.
The frail figure who used to grow breathless with the slightest exertion was nowhere to be seen.
Despite Huang Ying's words that the condition had not been completely cured, Sima Jin looked as though she had fully regained her health.
Well, she did say daily life wouldn't be a problem at all—so long as it doesn't relapse.
Recalling Huang Ying's words, a sigh escaped Sima Jian's lips.
"The ground's going to cave in. What's with the sighing, boss?"
Cheol-woo plopped down beside him after finishing the task of hanging up a pig they had just slaughtered and draining its blood.
Sima Jian took the wine flask Cheol-woo offered and gestured toward Sima Jin, who was humming as she worked.
"Ah, worried about the kid?"
"Kid again? Didn't we agree last night you'd never call her that again?"
At Sima Jian's words, Cheol-woo made an "oh crap" face and craned his neck, checking to see if Sima Jin had heard.
"Yikes! I don't know why someone so small is that fierce. At first she really seemed gentle."
Still traumatized from being harassed all night after using the word "kid" the previous evening, Cheol-woo snatched the wine flask from Sima Jian and shuddered.
"That's what you get. Who told you to call her that? She's not the youngest from a few days ago anymore."
Although they had failed to completely cure her condition, the process of treating the Heavenly Yin Divine Veins had brought about a transformation in Sima Jin akin to rebirth.
Her frame had not immediately grown larger, but the gauntness caused by illness had vanished entirely, and the beauty once hidden by her sickly pallor now burst forth in full bloom.
Rumors claiming that Xi Shi had been reborn spread throughout Shaoxing and even neighboring regions in just a few days.
And it wasn't only her beauty that stood out.
Though the root had not been fully eradicated and the risk of relapse remained, now that the condition had been partially treated, the prodigious talent hidden behind the so-called heavenly punishment of the Heavenly Yin Divine Veins was gradually revealing itself in Sima Jin.
Calling someone who was changing so dramatically "kid" day after day was simply asking for trouble.
"Heh heh. It just rolls right off the tongue."
Snickering while still keeping an eye on Sima Jin, Cheol-woo drained the last drop of wine from the flask, then smacked his lips regretfully and asked casually,
"Going to go rob them?"
"Rob who?"
"Who else—Shaolin Temple."
"..."
When Sima Jian didn't answer, Cheol-woo asked again with an incredulous look.
"You're not going?"
"I'm going to think it over for a while."
Cheol-woo let out a snort at Sima Jian's reply.
"Then you'll be going soon."
"No."
"Seriously?"
Knowing Sima Jian's personality, Cheol-woo pressed him again.
"Yeah. Miss Huang is confident there won't be any major issues for the time being, so there's no need to rush. And we haven't been back home for long. For now, I want to stay with my siblings and enjoy some peaceful, ordinary days. Besides, it'll be a long journey. Even if I do go, I should prepare properly. I also need to make sure the butcher shop runs stably."
"Ah, right—the butcher shop. True. If the two of us head to Shaolin, there'd be no one left to run the business."
Cheol-woo nodded as if he understood, then Sima Jian asked with a surprised expression,
"You're planning to go too?"
Cheol-woo's eyes went wide.
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me you were planning to go alone and leave me out?"
When Sima Jian failed to reply, Cheol-woo shook his head vigorously.
"Wow! This is unbelievable. I feel completely betrayed."
"No, it's not like that. We still have to run the butcher shop, and someone needs to look after the kids, so—"
"Enough."
Sima Jian tried to offer his own excuses, but they did nothing to ease Cheol-woo's feelings.
He tried speaking to him and persuading him again and again, but when Cheol-woo's hurt expression refused to soften, Sima Jian finally gave up and raised his hands.
"Alright. Let's go together. Happy now?"
"Of course we should. I was really hurt, boss."
Cheol-woo grinned as if he had never been angry in the first place.
"Anyway, if we're going to leave and still keep the butcher shop running, we'll have to teach them properly."
"Teach? Teach whom?"
"Hyeon and Ho. Those two. Ho's practically got one foot in already, and weren't you planning to make Hyeon quit his work as a farmhand?"
"That's right. That was the plan."
"Hehehe! If we drill them to death for about half a year, they should at least pass for decent human beings."
At Cheol-woo's smug demeanor, Sima Jian scoffed at him with a look of disbelief.
"Anyone listening would think you've worked in a butcher shop your whole life. You barely learned the job yourself for a few days."
"Hey now! Comparing me to those guys is unfair. Even before I learned, I was already prepared. The old man acknowledged that too, didn't he?"
Cheol-woo threw a punch into the air, making a noisy show of it.
"In any case, going to Shaolin will have to wait until at least those two can properly run the butcher shop."
"Yeah."
"Hyeon's diligent by nature, so he'll be fine, but Ho—that brat is… well I'll be damned! Speak of the devil, and he appears right on cue."
Cheol-woo made a fuss when he spotted Sima Ho running toward them from afar.
"The sun hasn't even set yet. What's he doing out at this hour?"
Sima Jin, who had been cleaning, leaned her broom against the butcher shop wall and walked over.
"Tsk, tsk. Well done. What kind of disgraceful stunt is that, embarrassing the whole neighborhood?"
She frowned when she saw Sima Ho trip over a stone and pitch forward.
"Hmm. As I always feel, teaching him properly is going to be a lot of hard work."
Cheol-woo pressed a hand to his forehead, already acting like a weary instructor.
Sima Jin and Cheol-woo clicked their tongues at Sima Ho's reckless behavior, but Sma Geon alone stiffened as he watched Sima Ho sprint toward them in a panic, not even thinking of putting his shoe back on.
"B-Big brother!"
Sima Ho, calling out to Sima Jian with one shoe missing, looked deathly pale.
Only then did Sima Jin and Cheol-woo sense that something was wrong with Sima Ho's behavior, and they exchanged worried looks.
"Calm down. What happened?"
Sima Jian had already stepped up to him, gripping his shoulders firmly as he asked.
"Young brother…!"
Sima Ho couldn't finish his sentence, his entire body trembling.
That alone was enough.
As Sima Jian let his hands fall limply, his expression had already hardened completely.