The Yin Dragon Pill

The next day, Ouyang Qiangang made his way to the detached quarters that Ouyang Baek had set aside for Shangguan Wan'er and Yeom Pung.

Unlike their first meeting, Geum Wang had taken an instant liking to Ouyang Cheong-cheong, and the little golden monkey now spent all his time with the girl, hardly sparing Ouyang Qiangang so much as a glance.

As he stepped into the room, he found Yeom Pung standing beside the bed, his face etched with worry. Shangguan Wan'er lay beneath a blanket drawn up to her chest — pale, yes, but noticeably improved from the day before, and thankfully, her eyes were open.

Both she and Yeom Pung still wore their human-skin masks, yet the rare quality of the craft showed itself plainly: there was no difficulty at all in reading the subtle changes in their skin.

Upon seeing Ouyang Qiangang, Shangguan Wan'er tried weakly to raise herself up. He hurriedly lifted a hand to stop her.

"Please, my lady, you are not yet well. Stay where you are. Your gratitude is more than enough."

His voice was gentle as he continued.

"I would like to examine your condition once more. May I take your pulse?"

Without a word, Shangguan Wan'er extended her wrist. Ouyang Qiangang laid his fingers upon it and read her pulse in silence. A moment later, he withdrew his hand with a slight frown.

Yeom Pung, who had been watching anxiously, asked in a taut voice, "Young Master, is her condition grave?"

"Fortunately, the immediate danger has passed. But her internal injuries run deeper than I expected. Ordinary healing elixirs will not bring her a swift recovery."

Ouyang Qiangang looked back and forth between Yeom Pung and the woman on the bed.

"Deep within her heart meridian, a venomous dark qi lies coiled like a serpent. If it is not rooted out entirely, it will one day flare up again — and the consequences could be catastrophic."

At his diagnosis, the color drained from Yeom Pung's face.

"Young Master, can you cure her?"

Ouyang Qiangang nodded. "I can. But to remove it, I must channel my own qi directly into her dantian and draw the dark energy out by force."

Yeom Pung seemed to wrestle with something for a moment, then made up his mind. He bowed in the formal fist salute to Ouyang Qiangang and spoke.

"Before we owe you yet another debt of gratitude, it is only right that we first reveal who we are. This old man is Yeom Pung, an elder of Myriad Gold Mountain Manor, known as the Thunder Iron Palm. And this is Shangguan Wan'er, the youngest daughter of the Manor Lord, Shangguan Tian."

Ouyang Qiangang widened his eyes slightly, playing the part of the surprised.

'So Hwang Nodae was right after all. The daughter of the Myriad Gold Mountain Manor Lord, of all people... Still, even acting surprised is harder work than it looks.'

Clicking his tongue inwardly, he turned back to Shangguan Wan'er and asked, "You've heard the story, so I'll come straight to the point. Will you permit the treatment?"

To anyone of the martial world, the dantian was a part of the body as precious as life itself. Allowing another's qi to pour directly into it was a perilous act — nothing less than entrusting one's entire existence to another's hands.

And Shangguan Wan'er was not a man, but a woman. It was true that women of the martial world enjoyed more freedom than sheltered young ladies of respectable houses. Even so, no woman of the murim would hand her dantian over to a man outside her family without a second thought.

Shangguan Wan'er gazed into Ouyang Qiangang's eyes for a long moment. There was nothing in them — not a trace of any selfish desire.

She nodded calmly. "You are the benefactor who saved my life. If you can heal me, how could I refuse anything less than that? Do as you see fit."

Ouyang Qiangang answered her with a silent nod.

When he laid his hand upon her dantian, a cool, pristine energy flowed gently into her body. The true qi of the Chaoyan Wushang Divine Art traced her meridians upward until it collided head-on with the black, viscous dark qi that lay coiled deep within her heart meridian.

"Hnngh—!"

Shangguan Wan'er's body shuddered delicately. But instead of suppressing or forcing the evil energy out, Ouyang Qiangang began absorbing it through the Devouring Spiral Art. Into the space the dark qi vacated flowed clear, clean energy, gently soothing her wounded meridians as it went.

Half a shichen later, Ouyang Qiangang withdrew his hand, beads of cold sweat glistening on his forehead. Shangguan Wan'er's once-pale cheeks, by contrast, now glowed with a faint, healthy flush.

"I've cleared the energy that was congesting your heart meridian," he told her. "Even so, you must rest in absolute stillness and keep taking your medicine regularly for some time."

Sitting up slowly, Shangguan Wan'er looked him straight in the eye. "I don't know how I could ever repay this debt."

Ouyang Qiangang answered with a faint smile. "For now, think of nothing but your recovery. Once your health is fully restored, it won't be too late to speak of debts and gratitude."

She nodded. "Very well."

Then Ouyang Qiangang asked the question that had been on his mind. "But how did you come to be attacked by masked men in the first place?"

Her expression stiffened. "There is someone I suspect... but I'm afraid I cannot tell you. I'm sorry."

Ouyang Qiangang could sense that she had her reasons — reasons she could not speak of. "It was mere curiosity. There's no need to apologize."

After bidding the two of them farewell, he left the detached quarters.

From that day on, he shut himself away in his father's training hall. Ouyang Baek, for his part, used his son's study of the new medicine he had learned in Nanchang as justification to strictly forbid the household servants from entering.

The cart of medicinal herbs dispatched from Bamboo Forest Manor had arrived on schedule, two days after his return — though not at the manor's main gate. The delivery point was a secluded, abandoned house a dozen li away, a site Ouyang Baek had quietly secured through Hwang Nodae. The people of Bamboo Forest Manor simply set the herbs down and departed, and under cover of night, Hwang Nodae ferried the enormous quantity of supplies into the training hall over the course of several trips.

The training hall housed a secret passage built by the clan's past patriarchs for emergencies. Thanks to it, Hwang Nodae could slip past the watchers' eyes with considerably greater ease.

Several days had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠passed since Ouyang Qiangang took up residence in Ouyang Baek's old training hall, now converted into a new alchemy chamber. He was reviewing the efficacy data of the Yang Dragon Elixir with Akasha.

'A hypothesis?'

'Hmm... go on.'

'So you want to make an elixir for women?'

'That's right. We can name it the Yin Dragon Elixir.'

Across Ouyang Qiangang's mind flashed the face of Dong Yeon-hwa — his stepmother, ever composed and dignified, yet always carrying a quiet sorrow in the depths of her eyes.

She was, without question, Dong Hyeon-do's woman. She had married into this family for the purpose of uncovering its secrets. But over the past decade and more, Ouyang Qiangang knew full well what sacrifices she had made to protect this crumbling clan.

To the young Cheon-gi and Cheong-cheong, she was a mother of boundless tenderness. And even to himself, wasting away in his sickbed, she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never once been able to hide her pity and worry.

'The Yin Dragon Elixir will be a gift that comforts her heart.'

Ouyang Qiangang spoke. "All right, Akasha. Let's make the Yin Dragon Elixir too."

A little over ten days later, Ouyang Qiangang stood before Ouyang Baek and Dong Yeon-hwa, the completed Yang and Yin Dragon Elixirs in hand.

To convince them of the effects, the surest way was to let each of them experience it firsthand — and besides, Akasha had already confirmed that the elixirs carried no side effects upon consumption.

Ouyang Qiangang handed the Yang Dragon Elixir to his father and the Yin Dragon Elixir to Dong Yeon-hwa. Without hesitation, both took the elixirs.

The next morning, Ouyang Qiangang was summoned to his father's study. Ouyang Baek and Dong Yeon-hwa were already there, waiting for him.

Joy and vitality radiated from Ouyang Baek's face. He rose from his seat and grasped his son's hand.

"Gang-ah, that elixir you gave me — the fatigue that weighed on me for the past several decades vanished as if it had been a lie. Hot vitality surges through my whole body, and even the flow of my inner energy feels clearer than it has in years."

He was beside himself with delight — but the reaction of Dong Yeon-hwa, seated beside him, was far more complicated. Her skin, too, had become noticeably clearer and more radiant overnight. Yet alongside her joy, a deep shadow lay across her face.

The sensation of the Yin Dragon Elixir spreading through her body was nothing like the explosive force of its yang counterpart. It was like sinking into a warm spring — a gentle, mild energy flowing along every meridian, loosening blocked circulation and awakening each cell as if rousing it from a long sleep.

She looked down at the back of her hand. The coarse texture of her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skin had grown visibly smooth, and a healthy glow had returned to it.

But the elixir's miraculous effect brought her pride and towering fear in equal measure. She shuddered as she pictured the cold face of her father — the confrontation she knew she could not avoid forever.

Ouyang Baek noticed his wife's pallor and asked, puzzled, "Wife, your expression is poor. What's wrong?"

Dong Yeon-hwa forced a smile. "I'm simply overcome with joy. That Gang-ah could create something so extraordinary — it's almost beyond belief."

"Haha, I feel exactly the same."

Watching the delight light up her husband's face as he gazed at their son, Dong Yeon-hwa could neither laugh nor weep, and managed only a complicated smile. This miraculous elixir was, for her, hope and despair all at once.

From that day on, a strange new routine took root in the Ouyang Clan Manor.

Every night, Ouyang Baek would visit his son's secret alchemy chamber and study the secret manual containing the Five Elements Severing Meridian Art until dawn. And every morning, he would teach its principles to Ouyang Qiangang, who came to the study to pay his respects. Within those brief encounters unfolded a secret tutoring session that no one could ever have imagined between father and son.

Ouyang Baek's martial arts advanced by leaps and bounds, but his hardened meridians and aging body were not quite sufficient to fully contain the new techniques. After much deliberation, Ouyang Qiangang quietly summoned his father to the inner chamber of the alchemy room.

"Father, please take this."

What he held out was a luminous, golden, supreme-grade Yang Dragon Elixir — crafted from the Supreme Blood Fetus and Dragon-Brain Jade Fungus obtained on Dayangsan Island. Having taken the elixir, Ouyang Baek began circulating the Mugnigwiyon Heart Art he had only recently resumed practicing.

Before long, a massive storm of energy raged through his body. The lava-like potency of the medicine surged along every meridian, burning away the impurities within him. When he opened his eyes one shichen later, his body carried an additional ten years' worth of pure inner power.

There was no need to describe how overjoyed Ouyang Baek was.

Even in the midst of all this frantic activity, Ouyang Qiangang never neglected Shangguan Wan'er's treatment. Every five days, without fail, he visited the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠detached quarters where she stayed — and each time, he found himself playing the role of a physician he'd never asked to be.

Meanwhile, the Cheon-gi Refining Furnace was completed, and mass production of the Yang and Yin Dragon Elixirs began at the Ouyang Clan Manor.