Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: How a Korean Medicine Doctor Becomes the World's Best Physician in the Murim World
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There is a saying: wang, wen, wen, qie.
These are the four methods physicians use to diagnose patients. Among them, wang zhen involves observing the patient's gait, complexion, behavior, and so on with the eyes.
By combining all four, one diagnoses the patient's condition.
This was the foundational diagnostic method of medicine.
But this young physician had diagnosed Bae Seon-u with heart qi deficiency the moment he walked in.
Bae Seon-u, who had unconsciously extended his wrist as if entranced, asked cautiously.
"How did you know I have heart qi deficiency?"
"Your cautious gait and steady but weak breathing. Those are movements you naturally developed since childhood to compensate for a weak heart."
"..."
"You startle easily, and your pupils are restless, but your eyes are clear. Putting it all together, it's clearly a congenital qi deficiency. That's how I diagnosed congenital heart qi deficiency."
Bae Seon-u's mouth fell open at Physician Jang Wol's wang zhen.
For such a young physician, his observational skills were remarkably seasoned. It felt like looking at his own master.
'But wang zhen alone can't reveal a person's medical prowess.'
What mattered was the treatment that followed the diagnosis.
So Bae Seon-u asked cautiously.
"Th-then, can this heart qi deficiency be cured?"
"Congenital heart qi deficiency is innate constitution, so it's not easy to cure outright."
Bae Seon-u nodded, as if to say he'd expected as much.
Right. You couldn't change what you were born with.
Congenital heart qi deficiency wasn't something to cure—it had to be transformed.
If it could be cured, he would have asked his master to do it long ago.
With a mindset of just as I thought, he extended his wrist.
Jang Wol took Bae Seon-u's wrist to check his pulse, then smiled faintly after a moment.
"But while I can't cure it, I can soothe it a bit."
Bae Seon-u doubted his ears. What nonsense. Was this guy a con artist?
Even soothing heart qi deficiency required consistent visits for at least a month to see results.
As the flustered Bae Seon-u lost his words, Jang Wol asked gently.
"What do you say? Shall we try some acupuncture?"
"Y-yes? Uh..."
Bae Seon-u lay on the treatment bed, once again drawn in by the seasoned physician.
Even as he did, he thought to himself.
'Baihui, Shenmen, Neiguan, and then Sanyinjiao—he'll use fire needles on those points.'
It went exactly as Bae Seon-u predicted.
Jang Wol inserted fire needles into the four acupoints, and just as Bae Seon-u thought as expected.
'Treatment is nothing special after... Huh...?'
Suddenly, his tense, trembling mind calmed, and he felt his ever-fluttering heart steady.
Bae Seon-u lay there dazed by the incredible effect of the fire needles.
A moment later, Jang Wol removed the needles and asked.
"By the way, you're an apprentice at the Famous Physician Tower, so why not get treated there and come here instead?"
Bae Seon-u, whose mind had calmed, startled at the mention of Famous Physician Tower. He never dreamed this young physician knew his affiliation.
His heart pounded again, and before he knew it, Bae Seon-u jumped off the bed and fled Clear Seclusion Clinic.
Dang Seol-yeong, assisting from the side, jumped in surprise.
"Ah! Patient! Physician, he left without paying—should I drag him back? His martial arts seem weak."
Jang Wol stopped Dang Seol-yeong, who looked ready to chase him down and haul him back.
"It's fine, let him go."
He hadn't used expensive herbs, and the treatment wasn't taxing.
Incidents like this were minor advertising anyway. Word would spread by mouth, so he could count it as promo instead of payment.
"But how did you know that patient was from the Famous Physician Tower?"
Of course, through Pulse Eye.
Physicians of the Famous Physician Tower's caliber cultivated internal energy and applied it to their arts.
"I must've seen him around the Medical District."
Back at the Famous Physician Tower, Bae Seon-u headed straight to his master, Song Heon-ro.
Song Heon-ro, reading a medical text, looked at his disciple and asked.
"So, what judgment did you form about that physician?"
"His wang zhen was exceptional, and his acupuncture superb."
Bae Seon-u recounted what happened at Clear Seclusion Clinic.
How he'd spotted his congenital heart qi deficiency at a glance, and how the acupuncture soothed it immediately.
Song Heon-ro gazed long at his youngest disciple.
"But you don't look soothed."
"It was soothed at first, but something startled me and the symptoms flared up again."
"Something startling?"
"Yes. He knew I was from the Famous Physician Tower."
Unlike the young Bae Seon-u, Song Heon-ro was seasoned through every trial life offered. He wasn't surprised at all.
"We're in the same Deokyang Medical District. He might've seen you at the apothecary or something. No big deal. More importantly, what needles did that young physician use?"
"Fire needles."
"I see. So he's a young physician skilled with fire needles."
Song Heon-ro's eyes returned to his book.
Bae Seon-u asked cautiously.
"Is that all your impression of him?"
Song Heon-ro nodded.
"I can't save the whole world alone. If a talented young physician has appeared, it's a boon to all under heaven."
As long as Choi Cheol-bo got proper treatment and recovered fully, that was enough.
That was his honest sentiment.
After Bae Seon-u left, I strolled the courtyard of Clear Seclusion Clinic, organizing my thoughts.
'Now's the time for a full-scale promo event.'
Bae Seon-u was from the Famous Physician Tower. He practiced their internal art.
'In the murim world, they use internal energy for treatment too, so plenty of physicians train in martial arts.'
Judging by his age and speech, probably an apprentice disciple.
'They sent him to check out the physician who treated Choi Cheol-bo.'
Either way, the Famous Physician Tower now knew of Clear Seclusion Clinic.
And word would spread through Choi Cheol-bo, whose legs were healed.
'Perfect timing for a promo event.'
With my thoughts sorted, I headed back inside.
Dang Seol-yeong was working diligently as always.
She was organizing the medicine cabinet, muttering to herself in total focus, oblivious to my entrance.
"Astragalus, angelica, prepared rehmannia... Stronger-scented astragalus is better. Hmm, this one's good."
Dang Seol-yeong sniffed the herbs lightly, holding them to her nose.
"But this angelica's scent is a bit weak. Oh, it's the batch you brought before, Physician. Next time, I'll go get it myself."
"..."
Not gossip, but watching my skills critiqued in real time felt oddly amusing.
I approached Dang Seol-yeong and said.
"That was the best they had at the apothecary then."
"I figured. You wouldn't bring subpar herbs."
She opened a ledger listing the herbs and compared it to the cabinet, continuing her explanation.
"Look here. This bitter orange last time was a bit dry, right? I picked fresher ones from the apothecary. And for ligusticum, I swapped the weak-scented ones for stronger."
Just as Dang Seol-yeong said.
The herb quality was vastly improved. While assisting at Clear Seclusion Clinic, she'd been making trips to the herb district to stock up.
I'd taken it as part of her job, but seeing it now, I realized how hardworking she was.
Then I noticed all the herbs in the cabinet were stocked to precise levels.
"Wow, perfectly filled—not overflowing, not short."
Dang Seol-yeong's shoulders straightened proudly.
"I've memorized every herb we use here. I checked everything that's low. For example, there were two bundles of cinnamon left, and tangerine peel was almost gone. So I bought extras at the market today."
Dang Seol-yeong pulled out a small sack from under the cabinet and spread it open, continuing.
"Here, the fresh batch. See how the prepared rehmannia has a nice sheen? And the atractylodes feels heavy? These'll keep well."
I inspected the herbs and was impressed.
"Whoa, this quality is rare. You really scored top stuff."
A proud smile lit Dang Seol-yeong's face.
"Right? If I hadn't moved fast, we wouldn't have gotten them."
She neatly repacked the sack and added.
"And saposhnikovia, pubescent angelica, and angelica are all premium now. We've got everything we need for treatments for a while."
High-class talent indeed. With this, I could ignore herbs entirely and focus on patients.
'The Sichuan Tang Family excels in poisons, so naturally experts in herbs too.'
Who else gets to have a Sichuan Tang apprentice?
"Now we just need patients to show up, but they just aren't coming."
If only she didn't hit the nail on the head like that sometimes.
'But thanks to her, I had a realization.'
Seeing the cabinet stocked with top-quality herbs sparked a great idea for the promo event.
I lightly patted Dang Seol-yeong's shoulder.
"Apprentice Dang, thanks from the heart."
"Huh?"
Dang Seol-yeong blinked her big, round eyes in confusion.
Today, I closed Clear Seclusion Clinic for the day.
To discuss the promo event at Ten Thousand Winds Inn.
'Na Ho-pyeong and I have some rapport, so better here than elsewhere.'
Na Ho-pyeong's other identity was with the Hao Gate.
It was bound to help promote Clear Seclusion Clinic.
I locked up and headed out with Dang Seol-yeong.
She's my only staff. She needed to know about the event for it to succeed.
"No customers means we can close like this easily."
"True enough."
Though it stung inside.
"Where are we headed, anyway?"
"Ten Thousand Winds Inn."
Her steps, which had been following fine, suddenly halted.
"Ten Thousand Winds Inn?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"N-no, nothing."
Dang Seol-yeong's big eyes darted around. She was bad at lying. She must have some connection to the inn.
But no need for me to pry. No reason to invade an employee's privacy.
We arrived at Ten Thousand Winds Inn shortly after.
Na Ho-pyeong, handling customers at the counter, spotted us. He glanced at me and Dang Seol-yeong, then approached with a friendly smile.
"Well, if it isn't our Jang Physician. And the new apprentice beside you."
After greetings, I asked Na Ho-pyeong.
"But Brother, how'd you know she's an apprentice from the Dang Family?"
Na Ho-pyeong didn't flinch.
"Haha, rumors about Clear Seclusion Clinic are spreading a bit. Why wouldn't I know?"
Then a plain-looking but familiar man entered Ten Thousand Winds Inn.
It was Seong Chu, whose blackened right arm I'd treated.
"Oh, aren't you the patient whose right arm was bitten by a venomous bug?"
"Ah, uh... You're that physician. Th-thanks."
Seong Chu glanced between me and Na Ho-pyeong in embarrassment, then left the inn.
Soon, another familiar face entered.
"How's the lower back pain?"
It was Chu Man-seok, whose back I'd fixed.
"Wh-what? Oh, f-fine. Thanks to you, Jang Physician, I move well now. Haha. Ah, looks like I came to the wrong inn."
Chu Man-seok turned and left too.
"Brother, what do we do? Two customers who came for the inn just left."
Na Ho-pyeong laughed it off.
"Haha, no biggie. They must've remembered other business."
More like, as Hao Gate informants reporting in, they got flustered seeing me and bailed.
"So what brings you two here? For a meal?"
"We're planning a full promo for Clear Seclusion Clinic."
Na Ho-pyeong's eyes lit up.
"Oh, promo for Clear Seclusion Clinic? Smart. Gotta do that to draw crowds. Got a good plan?"
"Hand out our clinic's decoctions here at the inn for promo."
One effective event from my modern clinic days was free decoction giveaways.
Great on streets or to patients.
Of course, veteran competitors kept it to a temporary bump.
'But here, it'll be different. With my skills and Dang Seol-yeong's.'
Na Ho-pyeong stroked his goatee.
"Hmm, Clear Seclusion Clinic decoctions. Give 'em to murim folk passing through—if effective, they'll come straight back. Creates a good cycle. Solid idea."
Then Na Ho-pyeong added with his friendly smile.
"But you know it ain't free, right?"
Not full rental, but using space cost money.
"Of course. We'll pay plenty."
"Good to hear. Money makes the world go round—use it as you like."
Done.
Now, what decoction to make?
"I'll make that decoction!"
As I pondered, Dang Seol-yeong stepped up from beside me.