Chapter 15
Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Long Needles and the Guanbaifu Root
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A long needle, roughly three times the length of a Fire Needle.
Longer than the span of a man's palm, it was only natural to feel intimidated by the sight of a Long Needle.
In the modern world, that was a given, but even Murim warriors shrink from it like this.
I spoke to Na Ho-pyeong, whose eyes were darting about nervously.
"You took a vicious technique like that to the back, and you're scared of a mere Long Needle?"
"Who said I was scared...? I'm just worried, that's all."
"That's what being scared means."
"..."
Dang Seol-yeong, standing beside us, chimed in.
"Physician Jang, you're incredibly skilled with Long Needles too. A while back, a patient came to our clinic with a busted left leg from Thousand Catties Drop, and you fixed him right up with one."
Na Ho-pyeong nodded.
"Ah, you mean Patient Choi Cheol-bo."
I turned to Na Ho-pyeong, who had let Choi Cheol-bo's name slip so casually.
"You sure know the names of our clinic's patients well."
"Huh? Ah... well, actually, I'm..."
"From the Hao Gate."
Na Ho-pyeong's eyes went wide. He glanced back and forth between Dang Seol-yeong and me.
"Oh, you already knew?"
"I just pieced it together from the circumstances."
In truth, I'd known for sure thanks to my Pulse Eye ability.
Na Ho-pyeong nodded.
"I see. As expected of Physician Jang—your insight is astonishing."
"We'll talk details later. For now..."
I held up the Long Needle.
"Let's start the treatment. Lie straight."
Na Ho-pyeong's eyes began to waver again as I inserted the Long Needle.
To expel the cold qi from his organs, I need to stimulate the meridians linked to them and treat the deep-seated chill directly. First acupoint...
The first was the Middle Epigastrium, midway between the navel and solar plexus.
It reinforced the qi of the five viscera and six entrails while dispelling cold qi.
Next came the Sea of Qi, below the navel—a point known as the ocean of qi that drew up yang energy.
The Sea of Qi needs to go in deep.
When inserting a Long Needle into the abdomen or back, you couldn't go straight down vertically. That risked damaging the organs, so it had to be angled obliquely.
I kept sliding in the 9cm Long Needle. When the needle sensitivity from my Nine Needles mastery kicked in with that instinctive feel, I stopped immediately.
It had gone in nearly 6cm deep.
Dang Seol-yeong gasped in surprise from the side.
"That's two cun deep with a Long Needle!"
Na Ho-pyeong panicked.
"What? Two—two cun?!"
I calmed the startled Na Ho-pyeong.
"It's fine. Angled in like this, it won't touch any organs. In fact, the deeper insertion will amplify the acupoint stimulation."
Trust bloomed across Na Ho-pyeong's face at my words.
"Right, of course. I've benefited from your acupuncture before—foolish of me to fear Physician Jang's Long Needle."
Soon, Na Ho-pyeong's expression relaxed.
I placed more Long Needles.
Below the navel at the Origin Pass, then the Three Yin Intersection and Great Ravine near the fibula on the leg.
All points that bolstered organ qi, banished cold, and invigorated yang energy.
I waited for the needles' effects to circulate.
Na Ho-pyeong's complexion gradually improved as he began to sense it too, shivering less from the cold.
"As expected of Physician Jang's acupuncture. The chill is fading."
I pulled out the Long Needles while speaking.
"But it's not fully cured yet."
No mission completion message had popped up, after all.
"I feel fine now, though? A good night's sleep, and it'll be all better, right?"
I took his wrist again for a pulse diagnosis. Pulse Eye activated, revealing the flow of qi and blood.
"The deep chill hasn't fully dissipated. Your body's yang qi needs to surge on its own, but external stimulation alone has its limits right now."
Dang Seol-yeong nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. The Mysterious Yin Divine Palm forces cold qi deep into the body—that's its hallmark."
What a vicious technique. Even thinking about trying to learn martial arts as an ordinary guy like me here made me glad I'd chosen the physician's path.
Fear gripped Na Ho-pyeong's face.
"Th-then, how can I recover fully?"
"We need a warming decoction to draw up yang qi in the organs."
Several decoctions flashed through my mind.
True Martial Decoction, Six-Taste Rehmannia, Ephedra Decoction, and so on.
Then Dang Seol-yeong spoke up beside me.
"How about Four Agents Decoction?"
Four Agents Decoction.
For severe chills leaving the limbs ice-cold, Four Agents Decoction was prescribed.
The traditional version included the toxic herb aconite. In the modern world, its toxicity led to substitutions.
But here, they'd surely use the classic recipe.
And Dang Seol-yeong's the expert on decoctions anyway.
I nodded to her.
"Perfect idea."
Dang Seol-yeong tapped her chin thoughtfully before speaking.
"But for something like Mysterious Yin Divine Palm, we'll need special ingredients. Guanbaifu root instead of regular aconite."
Guanbaifu root.
A herb similar to aconite. Even in the modern era, true wild guanbaifu was so rare it was hard to obtain, often replaced with substitutes.
Looks like it's rare here too—and probably packs even more unique potency.
I nodded.
"Good call. Guanbaifu root it is, in place of aconite."
"We'll head to the herb market at dawn to get some."
Na Ho-pyeong, listening to our exchange, asked in a trembling voice.
"W-wait, isn't aconite a poison herb?"
Having overcome the Long Needles, Na Ho-pyeong's face paled with fear once more.
That night, we stayed at the Ten Thousand Winds Inn.
The next day, we checked back on Na Ho-pyeong at Seong Chu's house. The intense chills from yesterday had eased, but lingering cold in his lungs still tormented him.
Na Ho-pyeong, bundled in blankets despite the warm weather, asked Seong Chu.
"What'd you tell the family?"
"That work kept you from coming home for a few days."
"And our daughter Sang-a's reaction?"
"Her eyes welled up with tears."
"That's my girl."
Wait, this guy was married? With a daughter, no less? News to me.
Na Ho-pyeong, smiling warmly at the thought of his daughter, turned to me.
"By the way, Physician Jang, what about the Clear Seclusion Clinic today?"
"Closed for now. Your treatment comes first, brother."
Gratitude lit up Na Ho-pyeong's face.
"Doing all this for me... I'll repay this favor."
Truth be told, without Na Ho-pyeong, the clinic might still have zero patients. He'd been a huge help.
I smiled faintly.
"We all help each other out, right?"
I sent Chu Man-seok ahead to the Clear Seclusion Clinic first, asking him to post a sign about today's closure.
Then Dang Seol-yeong and I headed to the herb market.
Early as it was, the streets buzzed with activity.
"Let's start with our usual suppliers."
We went to the herb merchant we dealt with for the Clear Seclusion Clinic. Lately, we'd been trading in bulk thanks to Generate Pulse Powder.
The owner recognized us.
"From Clear Seclusion Clinic? What's up? Not due for a reorder yet."
"Looking for something special today. Got any guanbaifu root?"
"Guanbaifu? Sure do."
The owner brought over a basket of trimmed, dried roots.
Dang Seol-yeong's face brightened.
"Great! We found guanbaifu already!"
But I shook my head. A closer look revealed it wasn't.
"This is poison horn lotus."
"Ah! You're right—it is different!"
Guanbaifu root and poison horn lotus.
Both from the same plant family, similar yet distinct.
Even some herbalists treated them interchangeably.
The flustered owner pulled back the basket.
"W-well, Physician Jang has a sharp eye. No intent to deceive—guanbaifu's hard to come by, and poison horn lotus is close enough."
The merchant probably wasn't malicious. They did share similar effects.
But Dang Seol-yeong wanted guanbaifu specifically—not for ordinary chills, but to purge those from Mysterious Yin Divine Palm. Substitutes wouldn't cut it.
Dang Seol-yeong narrowed her eyes.
"That's not okay. We're regulars!"
"Alright, alright. Extra herbs on the next order as a bonus."
"You promised."
The other shops in the herb market were no better.
They pushed poison horn lotus as guanbaifu or claimed they had none.
We scoured the district without luck.
Dang Seol-yeong's expression grew grave.
"What now? Without guanbaifu, switch herbs? Tweak the formula, ratios, prep method..."
"Oh, Physician Jang and apprentice! Out early—what brings you here?"
A tanned, muscular warrior greeted us. It was Choi Cheol-bo, whose leg I'd mended after Thousand Catties Drop.
"Ah, Brother Choi. We're hunting for guanbaifu root."
I skipped the details, just saying a patient needed it and we'd struck out so far.
Choi Cheol-bo nodded gravely.
"Sounds like this guanbaifu's some rare stuff."
"Yeah, not easy to find."
He pondered briefly, then flashed a confident grin.
"Follow me."
Choi Cheol-bo led us to a herb shop we'd already visited.
"Good day. Hope business is well."
"Oh, it's the great hero Choi! Come in."
"Enough with the 'great hero' bit."
"To folks like us, you are one, haha. What brings you?"
"Got any guanbaifu root?"
The merchant glanced at us awkwardly upon Choi Cheol-bo's question.
"Friends of the great hero Choi, eh? Well, we do have some. But it's earmarked for Herb Fragrance Hall."
Herb Fragrance Hall was one of Deokyang Medical District's famed clinics, on par with Famous Physician Tower.
Choi Cheol-bo turned to us.
"How much do you need?"
Two doses of decoction would do—about 30g.
"One tael should suffice."
Choi Cheol-bo eyed the merchant.
"One tael. Can you make it work?"
The merchant hesitated, then nodded.
"That much? Eh, I can say we fell short on the shipment. Gotta repay what I owe the great hero Choi anyway."
Dang Seol-yeong and I exchanged delighted looks.
Connections were key in the jianghu. Solid backing opened doors like this.
As the owner packaged the guanbaifu root, he asked me.
"Where you from, anyway?"
"Clear Seclusion Clinic."
"Ah, Clear Seclusion? Not a bad idea to start trading. Word's getting around. Let's do business next time."
We'd scored guanbaifu root in the unlikeliest way and left the shop.
All thanks to Choi Cheol-bo.
"Thank you. We got the guanbaifu because of you."
Choi Cheol-bo waved it off with a laugh.
"Good deeds come back around. This is just your own karma paying off, Physician Jang. Ah, better head out—I have escort duty."
We parted with Choi Cheol-bo and returned to the Clear Seclusion Clinic.
Dang Seol-yeong would brew the decoction. Guanbaifu was toxic, after all.
"With guanbaifu, Four Agents Decoction's a breeze."
She added guanbaifu root, ginger, licorice, and the rest to boiling water, simmering until we had enough for two doses.
With the Four Agents Decoction in hand, we went back to Seong Chu's house.
"You're back!"
Na Ho-pyeong was still shivering from the residual chill.
"Four Agents Decoction. Drink it slowly."
Na Ho-pyeong took the bowl and sipped as instructed, even in his urgency.
Moments later, as the effects took hold, he sighed in deep relief, his face easing.
"Hoo..."
The guanbaifu Four Agents Decoction worked wonders. The mission completion popped up right away.
"Finish the second dose, and there'll be no lingering effects."
Na Ho-pyeong beamed with emotion.
"Knew calling you was the right move. Oh, but like I said—I'm with the Hao Gate."
First thing he brings up once he's better.
Guilt over deceiving me must have really been eating at him.