Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Promotion Exam
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A snow-white worm the size of a single knuckle on a finger burrowed into the man's flesh, crawling up along his blood vessels into his body. It took root near his dantian. In the man's memories, the worm writhed ceaselessly, gnawing away at his life force bit by bit.
A parasite that fed on true qi. It was likely one of the wicked sorceries I'd seen mentioned a few times in medical texts—gu poison. No ordinary pulse diagnosis could ever detect its presence. It disrupted the flow of qi while disguising itself as if it had always been a part of the body.
Through hypnosis, I synchronized with the patient's senses and felt the worm's existence directly. The thing rooted in his dantian sucked in the heat from his entire body like a lump of ice. Periodically, it shuddered violently, sending out vibrations like waves of pleasure, and each time, I could feel the patient's scant remaining life force being drained away in a rush.
I quietly withdrew my hand and stood up. The diagnosis was complete.
I wrote down the answer on the paper given to me.
Disease: Silkworm Devouring Poison.
Cause: A rare type of gu poison. It parasitizes the patient's dantian and devours his true qi.
Symptoms: Extreme debilitation, true qi depletion, qi and blood circulation disorder.
Prescription: ...This is just the diagnosis exam.
The surrounding disciples whispered as they watched me scribble away without hesitation. So fast? What does he even know to act so confident? I could feel their mocking stares. I didn't even know how I knew this or why I was writing it down. It was definitely a gu poison I'd never seen before, yet I already knew all about it.
Ignoring the looks, I took my answer sheet and walked forward. While waiting my turn, I absentmindedly glanced toward where Soso was.
She stood there with her hands clasped tightly in front of her chest, gazing at me. Her large eyes brimmed not with worry or anxiety, but with complete faith and pride. Her expression screamed, 'As expected of my senior brother!' body and soul. A faint smile tugged at my lips unbidden. Last night's events flashed through my mind—her trembling voice insisting it was fine, that if it was her senior brother, it would be okay.
Thump.
My heart pounded on its own again.
My eyes met those of my master, Im Hyehyang, who watched me from the platform.
Her gaze was like ice. No smile, no emotion at all. It simply dissected me with sharp analysis. She had perfectly seen through how abnormally short my pulse diagnosis had been—just one hour—and that unlike the others, there was no trace of hesitation. Her eyes held clear suspicion.
I forced a calm expression and turned to submit my answer sheet.
Once all the disciples had handed in their papers, the elder overseeing the exam picked up the stack and climbed onto the platform. He began reading through the answers one by one.
"Hmm... Malnutrition and exhaustion leading to physical and mental weakness. Tsk tsk."
"Chronic consumptive disease? Far too vague!"
"Qi and blood depletion of unknown origin... That's not a diagnosis; that's just describing the symptoms!"
The elder clicked his tongue in disappointment, tossing the disciples' answers aside. The faces of those gathered in the training grounds grew stiff one by one.
Finally, my answer sheet reached the elder's hands. He peered at it, then froze mid-motion. His eyes widened.
The elder brought the paper right up to his face and read it over several times. For a moment, he just gaped wordlessly, then hurriedly turned and approached Im Hyehyang, seated at the highest position.
"H-Hyehyang Elder!"
The elder's urgent voice echoed across the training grounds.
"P-Please look at this! This answer sheet!"
He handed the paper to her with trembling hands.
All eyes in the training grounds turned to the platform. Im Hyehyang took the paper with an expressionless face. As her icy eyes scanned down the sheet, they quivered faintly for the first time.
Ignoring her reaction, the elder bellowed out the disease name written on my answer in a voice still thick with shock.
"The disease is... Silkworm Devouring Poison!"
The moment his shout reverberated, the murmurs filling the training grounds ceased as if by magic. A silence like a massive wave frozen solid. To most disciples, Silkworm Devouring Poison was a name they'd never heard in their lives. They could only look back and forth between me and the platform in bewilderment.
But the elders reacted differently. Their faces mixed bewilderment, disbelief, and a thread of astonishment. Silkworm Devouring Poison—a cursed name found only in obscure secret texts or forgotten corners of ancient tomes. A legendary affliction whose very existence was doubted.
The first to break the silence was my master, Im Hyehyang. Her face remained impassive, but deep in those icy eyes, a cold flame flickered fiercely.
She rose slowly from her seat. Every eye focused on her slightest movement. She descended from the platform and walked straight toward me. Click, clack. The sound of her shoes striking the hard ground squeezed my heart.
Before I knew it, she stood right in front of me. A faint herbal scent mingled with her unique icy bodily fragrance.
"Shadowless."
Her voice was frigid.
"How do you know of Silkworm Devouring Poison?"
It was an interrogation. Her piercing gaze stabbed into my face, as if trying to see through everything. Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I couldn't confess to using hypnosis here. It was my sole means of survival, a hidden dagger no one could know about. I racked my brain desperately. I needed an excuse. A plausible one.
Forcing calm into my voice, I replied.
"By chance... I came across it while reading an old medical text. Most of it had rotted away, but the description of the symptoms stuck clearly in my memory."
"An old medical text."
Hyehyang murmured shortly, as if mocking my words. Her eyes all but said, 'You think I'd fall for such a lame lie?' Of course. Even I could barely believe it. There was no such text to begin with. I didn't know how I knew about Silkworm Devouring Poison. It had simply surfaced from my memories moments ago.
"Where is that text?"
"Probably... it doesn't exist anymore. It was too decayed and crumbled to dust..."
"Hmmm."
Hyehyang asked no more. But her gaze grew even colder, sinking deeper. I could feel her suspicion hardening into certainty. At this rate, I might be branded a user of forbidden sorcery and expelled from the Healer Immortal Sect.
I decided I couldn't back down. All or nothing. Time for a gamble.
"Master. Silkworm Devouring Poison can't be removed with ordinary medicine or acupuncture. Infusing true qi would only make it worse, since it feeds on the patient's true qi."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. How dare this young disciple lecture Hyehyang Elder, the next Healer Immortal? Reckless beyond measure.
Hyehyang stared at me wordlessly. I met her gaze without flinching and continued.
"To remove gu poison, an extreme prescription is needed. Decoction of Seven Steps Snake fangs and Fire Jade Herb, fed to the patient. The venom will burn the worm inside to death."
"You're insane!"
Finally, an elder from the corner couldn't hold back and shouted.
"Seven Steps Snake fangs are so virulent they melt flesh on contact! Feeding that to a person? You'll kill the patient twice over!"
The other elders nodded in agreement, looking at me like a madman. The training grounds filled with distrust and contempt aimed at me. Only one person—Soso, stomping her feet anxiously in the distance—still believed in me.
Amid the condemnations, Hyehyang remained silent. She peered deep into my eyes, as if probing to the very bottom of my soul for the truth.
After a long moment, she finally spoke.
"If... your words are wrong, what then?"
"If I'm wrong, the patient dies soon anyway. But if I'm right, he lives."
"You will pay that price."
Chill seeped into Hyehyang's voice.
"If the patient dies from your prescription, you'll be charged with murder, expelled, and pay with your life. Even so... will you proceed?"
A deathly verdict laced with killing intent. The disciples held their breath in fear.
'Pay the price.'
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
She was clearly giving me a chance to back out.
But...
I...
...didn't want to retreat.
"...I'll do it."
A faint smile—icy as ever—curved Hyehyang's lips for the first time. The look of someone who'd found an intriguing toy.
"Very well. I'll provide the necessary herbs. Treat the patient yourself. Right here before my eyes."