Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Learning
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To put it bluntly.
Wi Sowol's desire to learn sound arts from Ryu Yeonseo for musical therapy had nothing to do with treating syphilis patients.
The essence of Ryu Yeonseo's sound arts lay in calming the mind and body, invigorating vitality, and drawing out the body's natural healing power.
Take a common cold that would take a week to heal on its own, for example.
Even with medicine, the recovery time doesn't shorten dramatically.
It just prevents the cold from worsening and helps you endure the period a bit more comfortably.
Ryu Yeonseo's sound arts therapy was different.
By boosting recovery power itself, it could heal something that would take a week in just a day or two.
And that principle applied to internal injuries as well.
In fact, sound arts therapy maximized its utility in treating internal injuries and the mind over external wounds.
Wi Sowol realized this sound art held infinite value in aiding post-surgical recovery.
That must be why the Weird Physician had sent her here.
Sadly, the Weird Physician probably hadn't mastered it himself.
If he had, he would have taught it to her.
Above all, his talent for martial arts wasn't exactly stellar.
Sound arts followed a different trajectory from other martial arts, so with the Weird Physician's lacking aptitude, he likely couldn't learn them even if he wanted to.
Anyway.
Based on her understanding of sound arts, Wi Sowol made this argument to Ryu Yeonseo.
"Even for treating syphilis patients, sound arts alone won't cut it anyway. I'm poisoned right now, so it's hard to control my qi. Let me learn the sound arts myself to regulate my body first, then I'll properly treat the patients."
So instruments or swords made no difference.
She wasn't playing for the patients; she was using it to heal her own body.
Besides, even if she wanted to see the syphilis patients, her blocked qi left her powerless.
What could she do in this state that would differ much from what Ryu Yeonseo was doing?
Wi Sowol presented a perfectly logical, reasonable, and justified claim.
But Ryu Yeonseo was an iron fortress.
"Which is exactly why you need to handle a proper instrument."
"Why...?"
"You're not talking about tones, are you?"
"Five of them, right?"
The pentatonic scale of gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu.
And this scale system intertwined with the Five Elements philosophy.
Gong linked to the spleen, shang to the lungs, jue to the liver, zhi to the heart, yu to the kidneys. The Five Elements principles embedded in these five tones formed the core foundation of Ryu Yeonseo's sound arts therapy.
Each tone corresponded to different parts of the body.
It determined which pitch focused healing on which area.
"And it's not just the five tones. You have to consider the seven tones, including bianzhi and biangong. Why leave out the twelve lü rates?"
The twelve lü rates—six yang and six yin—produced the standard musical scales.
Even excluding bianzhi and biangong, considering just the five tones and twelve lü rates yielded a staggering sixty modes.
"Do you think you can precisely replicate all that with sword hums? One mistake in that delicate control, and your internal injuries could worsen."
I can.
Wi Sowol nearly said it, but Ryu Yeonseo had no intention of hearing further protests.
For safety's sake, she wouldn't allow sound arts via some half-baked sword substitute, no matter what.
Even as the family head, Ryu Yeonseo lectured with the mindset of a physician treating patients, leaving Wi Sowol speechless.
Only after stashing Wi Sowol's confiscated sword somewhere out of sight did Ryu Yeonseo's expression soften.
Wiping her unwet brow, she turned to Hwangbo Yun.
"Will Lady Hwangbo learn as well?"
"Umm... I'm not particularly gifted with instruments..."
"If your friend Lady Wi handles the ho-geom—which could pass for a qin—then you using a pipa in place of a se would make your bond nobler than that of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi of old, wouldn't it?"
"Yes! I'll learn the pipa!"
Wi Sowol shot a cold glare at Hwangbo Yun, who caved so easily.
Perfect harmony was for husband and wife, not friends.
Still, if she wanted to suffer through it herself, Wi Sowol had no reason to stop her—another comrade in arms.
Conversely, Hwangbo Yun figured it was tolerable as long as she wasn't alone.
Her past attempts at instruments had fizzled quickly partly due to lacking a partner.
With Wi Sowol, it wouldn't end in three days of enthusiasm like before.
"The sound art I'll teach you is called the Melody that Retains Sound and Purifies the Heart."
Her gentle yet crisp tone.
Her pleasant diction reflected her cultivation in poetry, books, painting, and music as a refined lady.
Ryu Yeonseo possessed excellent qualities as an instructor.
"First, I'll demonstrate. Since Lady Wi mentioned poisoning, I'll play a piece to dispel it. You both have keen qi sense, so feel the flow of qi woven into the melody."
Ryu Yeonseo's sound arts lesson ended around noon.
Now it was time for her to tend to the syphilis patients.
The two, who had made the western chamber their residence, fiddled with their respective instruments in review.
"Sowol."
"Yeah?"
"How's your condition? Any improvement?"
Wi Sowol's poisoning was no joke.
It was pure toxin qi accumulated by a transcendent expert in poison arts.
Even Gun Wan-geuk, a realm or two above the toxin’s original owner Gong Ya-taek, had to sacrifice an arm to assimilate it into his body.
Moreover, the severed arm of Gun Wan-geuk, who had perfected his dark roots, had turned fully toxic and required strict containment.
Luckily, Gong Ya-taek was dead.
If his will still controlled the toxin qi, even Gun Wan-geuk would have died instantly upon that much poison entering his body.
Of course, he wouldn't have attempted the mad feat of assimilating it in that case.
Hwangbo Yun well understood just how vicious the poison was.
Its fatality rate likely dwarfed syphilis.
Being first refined pure toxin qi, it could be suppressed with internal energy, but ingesting the original poisons or diseased qi it derived from would leave even the Weird Physician helpless.
Wi Sowol answered breezily.
"Surprisingly so."
"That good?"
"I thought it'd take three years to fully assimilate it all at first. With daily help from the Melody that Retains Sound and Purifies the Heart, it'll be under a year."
"So, beyond dispersing it—you're absorbing it?"
If Wi Sowol had simply planned to expel the toxin qi via her deathly yin energy.
She could've cleared it from her body far quicker than three years.
But she chose otherwise.
Why discard it when there was no rush?
Discarding the dross and taking the essence from this toxin qi offered massive gains.
Since she'd only absorbed the yin poison aspect, extracting the yin qi to convert into internal energy would yield a substantial amount.
And internal energy wasn't all.
She could gain resistance to poisons too.
In her past life, poison had been no concern.
Her body, which had overcome the rampage of the Nine Yang Absolute Meridian, burned any toxin with its endless heat, reaching the state of immunity to all poisons.
But the current Wi Sowol couldn't.
Building poison resistance was ideal preparation for emergencies.
"I already feel some leeway to extract internal energy."
"...Hmm, that's too soon."
Hwangbo Yun muttered with unease.
"What?"
"No, nothing. Shall we play again?"
"Let's wrap up review. The sound therapy should be done by now. Want to check on the patients while watching medicine prep?"
She lacked extensive clinical experience, and syphilis was a first for her.
She planned to observe closely and devise treatments.
"What about me?"
"Play the pipa."
"Boring alone."
Hwangbo Yun set the pipa down like a child losing interest in a toy.
Gently, of course, since it belonged to Ryu Yeonseo.
"Then watch. Might not be fun, though."
With Hwangbo Yun tagging along eagerly, Wi Sowol headed to the rear garden.
Ryu Yeonseo emerged from the rear treatment room, just finishing sound therapy.
"What medicine are you making?"
"Cow Gallstone Chan Su Pills."
"I'll help."
"You know the ingredients?"
"Yes."
"Help grind them. I'll prepare the chan su."
Wi Sowol knew the recipe for Cow Gallstone Chan Su Pills.
She began finely grinding western bezoar, musk, cinnabar, realgar, and frankincense.
And her eyes narrowed.
Not a detox broth or pill... but Cow Gallstone Chan Su Pills...
Two things were clear.
First, the patients' conditions were critically severe.
Hence the potent medicine.
Second, Ryu Yeonseo's wealth was considerable.
All ingredients were exorbitantly expensive.
Wonder where she sources them.
She considered asking but focused on the task.
After forming the mixture into firm mung-bean-sized pills, Wi Sowol carried them with Ryu Yeonseo into the rear treatment room.
As patients swallowed theirs, Wi Sowol examined their bodies thoroughly.
They were shy or embarrassed at first, but upon seeing her Medical Ancestor badge, they complied meekly.
All but one.
"That patient?"
"Ah... I'll handle that child separately."
Even yesterday during sound therapy, that one had burrowed under the covers.
Wi Sowol tilted her head, recalling.
Forcing a reluctant patient wasn't proper physician conduct.
If she were alone, maybe—but with Ryu Yeonseo watching, Wi Sowol stepped back.
Using her slightly unblocked internal energy from the Melody that Retains Sound and Purifies the Heart, she cautiously probed their qi flows.
Is this syphilis toxin qi.
Toxin qi invading meridians, toxins corrupting pulses.
After checks, she withdrew her Great White Light True Qi.
Gently siphoning a trace of the faint syphilis toxin qi.
This'll do for experiments.
How to eliminate it.
Absorbing all the toxin qi wouldn't cure the disease, as it wasn't the root cause.
Possible for mild ailments like goiters, but not syphilis.
Still, grasping its nature was feasible.
Should I... skip tomorrow?
Of course not.
The next day.
Dragged by Hwangbo Yun since morning and forcibly changed into fresh clothes, Wi Sowol trudged the streets like a convict to the gallows.
Hwangbo Yun, meanwhile, practically skipped with buoyant steps.
"Finally, off to Dengwang Pavilion!"
A promise was a promise...
"Yeah. Let's go..."