The Tang Family Repays Kindness Twofold - 2
“Here, Master Ya. Take this.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol suddenly held something out. Inside the package were a single bead and a letter.
“What’s this?”
“One is a detoxification bead. In the Murim, there are generally three main ways to deal with poison. The first is to bite down on an anti-poison bead so the toxin never enters the body. The second is to take medicine and purge the poison after it has already invaded. The last is to cultivate resistance to poison itself.”
Tang Gwang-ryeol made a show of tucking something into his robes as he continued.
“The detoxification bead you’ve just received sits somewhere between the second and third methods. You don’t need to swallow it. Simply keep it on your person and it will detoxify poisons on its own—though the bead’s medicinal potency will be consumed in the process.”
So it’s a consumable that automatically triggers a detoxification effect the moment you’re poisoned, without any special action on my part. I had just been handed something quite precious.
“Then what about this letter?”
“A petition to the Poison Doctor, Elder Tang Cheo-in, requesting that he examine Master Ya’s body.”
“...Excuse me?”
“One need not be sick to seek a physician. As a martial artist, the Elder will be able to point out whatever problems Master Ya may be carrying.”
I stared at Tang Gwang-ryeol for a moment.
What did it mean that he was suddenly offering an introduction to the Poison Doctor Tang Cheo-in?
Given the pointed remark that I had “problems as a martial artist,” had he already noticed I was stuck at Second-rate and unable to advance?
Even ordinary people hit a wall around First-rate, yet countless martial artists never even reach First-rate and remain Second-rate forever. The fact that I was still Second-rate was neither a secret worth guarding nor particularly valuable information.
I must have gotten too carried away yesterday. I had freely spouted martial principles at a level that would naturally make Tang Gwang-ryeol suspicious.
Well, what choice did I have? My skills were literally built out of martial arts, after all.
I couldn’t hold back.
At first I had been confused, but by the time I came to my senses I was already spitting as I lectured on the very principles of martial study.
I had gone on and on about the essence of martial arts in front of Super-Peak Tang Do-gyeong, the Wind Shadow Pavilion Master who stood at the early Transformation Realm, and three others at the late Transformation Realm—me, a mere Second-rate!
It was a brand-new entry in Ho Cheon-an’s dark history, the classic case of showing off wrinkles in front of a pupa.
Ah, just thinking about yesterday makes my face burn all over again.
Back to the matter at hand: the three people before me were experts among experts when it came to martial arts, so it was entirely plausible they had noticed I had been stuck at the Second-rate realm for a long time.
What truly flustered me was that Tang Gwang-ryeol had shoved the letter at me without a single word of explanation about the circumstances.
“Hmm...”
Among the three—or rather, simply as a matter of general observation—the Wind Shadow Pavilion Master, who was quick on the uptake, realized exactly where my embarrassment was coming from and stepped in to calm Tang Gwang-ryeol.
“Ahem, Family Head, this conversation seems a bit too sudden. Even I find it startling, so how must Master Ya feel? Why don’t we have a cup of tea and discuss this calmly.”
“Ah, yes. My apologies, Master. I let my enthusiasm run ahead of me.”
While the tea steeped, Tang Gwang-ryeol organized his thoughts, then finally spoke.
“First of all, this Family Head feels deep gratitude toward Master Ya. Not merely for completing the commission, but because I know Master has poured considerable effort and genuine care into Do-gyeong, into myself, and into the Tang Family as a whole. Monetary compensation will of course be more than sufficient, yet how can grace and debt between people be measured by gold alone?”
“The Family Head is painting me in far too golden a light.”
Yes, I had poured a great deal into the Tang Family. After a brief exchange of modest denials and polite compliments, Tang Gwang-ryeol returned to the main point.
“This Tang fellow may be worthless at gambling, but when it comes to martial arts there are few under heaven who can stand beside me. Looking at Master, your interest in martial arts seemed extraordinarily high for someone of the Second-rate realm. Though I have never directly witnessed Master’s martial arts, even the fragments this Family Head has experienced secondhand make it clear that Master Ya is not lacking in talent. And yet you remain stagnant at Second-rate—so I could not help but grow suspicious.”
“In this Tang Do-gyeong’s view as well, Brother Ya’s martial arts remaining stuck at Second-rate is not normal. I am no physician myself, so I cannot know the cause. But if you receive a pulse diagnosis from the Poison Doctor, would you not learn both the cause and the solution?”
So that was why they wanted to introduce me to the Poison Doctor.
The Poison Doctor, huh.
In Murim Cheonha there exist the Three Great Physicians: the Demon Doctor Dokgo Ui, the Life-and-Death Doctor Hyeon Gwa-seo, and the Poison Doctor Tang Cheo-in.
An opportunity to receive a pulse diagnosis from the Poison Doctor could, without exaggeration, be called a fortuitous encounter.
Yet meeting the Poison Doctor was not a decision one could make lightly.
As my silence stretched, Tang Gwang-ryeol spoke again.
“Haha, there is no need to feel so burdened. It may be an unfamiliar concept to a Nangin, but in the great families, receiving pulse diagnoses or prescriptions from physicians for the sake of martial advancement is an everyday matter.”
Tang Do-gyeong added his voice.
“That’s right. Martial artists train their bodies to maintain health, yet that does not mean abnormalities never arise. Above all, Elder Poison Doctor is someone who could be called the foremost under heaven when it comes to managing the physiques of Murim people.”
In general, martial artists are extremely wary of their learned techniques leaking out. As a result, most come to regard physicians with caution.
Could he have seen through my martial arts while taking my pulse? That sort of paranoid suspicion is typical of Murim folk. It is not that they dislike physicians; they simply dislike exposing their bodies and thereby giving any opening for their martial arts to be read.
When injured they have no choice but to seek treatment, yet they try to keep contact to the absolute minimum—that is the physiology of a martial artist.
To uncover the cause of a blocked realm, one had no choice but to open both body and martial arts to the physician. For any ordinary Murim person, this would have been a proposal they rejected on the spot.
But I was no ordinary Murim person. In the first place, how precious could Second-rate martial arts possibly be that I needed to wrap them up tight? Even if my techniques and body were completely laid bare, as long as I could get a handle on the Mixed Blood, it would still be a profitable deal.
The two of them assumed I was reluctant because of the risk of martial arts leaking and were trying to persuade me, but my real concern lay elsewhere.
In truth, there was not a single reason to refuse the proposal. It was the conclusion Tang Gwang-ryeol and Tang Do-gyeong had reached after careful thought, it was exactly what I needed, and its objective value as compensation was high.
It was a proposal that truly lived up to the words “repaying kindness twofold.”
The only problem was the time I would have to invest simply to meet the man known as the Poison Doctor.
Tang Cheo-in was a living embodiment of wanderlust, roaming the mountains and rivers of the Nine Provinces collecting poisons and medicinal herbs. With a letter of introduction I could certainly receive a pulse diagnosis and, depending on the results, treatment or a prescription... but
If he happened to be holed up somewhere like the northern reaches of Heilongjiang Province, the journey could stretch into months—that was the real issue.
“The Family Head’s proposal is truly gracious, yet... I have heard that the Poison Doctor roams the Nine Provinces as if they were his own home.”
Understanding lit Tang Gwang-ryeol’s eyes.
“Ah, yes. However, from time to time the Poison Doctor sends a carrier pigeon with his destination written upon it. At present we are in the fortunate position of knowing exactly where he is headed.”
Is this that situation? To confirm, I spoke carefully.
“Haha, I see. For someone who possesses medical arts that reach the heavens like the Poison Doctor, those who wish to borrow those arts must be as numerous as clouds.”
“Even our own family finds it difficult to grasp the Poison Doctor’s whereabouts, so we have no choice but to turn away those who come seeking help.”
Though he spoke in roundabout fashion, the real meaning was clear: they always knew his location but pretended otherwise to the outside world.
Then the circumstances were different.
The Poison Doctor was almost certainly in Sichuan or somewhere close to it. That was why Tang Gwang-ryeol was pressing so hard—urging me to seize a rare opportunity while it lasted.
“Haha, I see. I fretted needlessly over something the Family Head had already taken into account. We will depart after returning to Sichuan Province—will we still make the timing?”
“Of course. He will likely remain there for some time. Still, there is nothing to gain by delay, so how about setting out tomorrow morning?”
“...Is that so.”
In truth, from Tang Gwang-ryeol’s perspective it would have been better to keep me at the Tang Family even one more day. Only yesterday the Dark Dragon Throwing Method had seen considerable progress. He ought to have held me as long as possible and squeezed every last drop of value out of me.
The sight of Tang Gwang-ryeol urging me to leave the moment dawn broke was an action that set his own interests aside and looked after mine instead.
It was proof that Tang Gwang-ryeol sincerely wished to repay the kindness I had shown, and so I could not help but feel grateful in turn.
“Thank you, Family Head.”
“Hahaha, it is still early to receive thanks. The gesture only gains meaning once Master Ya’s problem is resolved, no?”
“I can hardly call it a substitute, but I suppose I’ll have to work hard today.”
“Hahaha! Master Ya has already done more than enough.”
Departure was set for tomorrow morning, so everything I could finish at the Tang Family had to be wrapped up today.
Since Tang Gwang-ryeol was looking out for me, I wanted to do whatever I could for them before I left.
I would organize my thoughts on the Dark Dragon Throwing Method as thoroughly as possible, and leave the magic tricks I had promised to teach Ryeo-ah in the form of a book. The title could be something like Ho Cheon’s Magic Arts (—Master just this and you too can become the idol of the academy—).
As I sorted through my plans, I realized I still had not been told where the Poison Doctor actually was.
“So where exactly must I go to meet the Poison Doctor?”
Tang Gwang-ryeol answered with a smile.
“A place called Hyeongwi Mountain in Yunnan.”