Jeolmok Jeong's Treatment Method (4)
It's not as if only Physician Seok Mu Wol can treat Jeolmok Jeong. I had expected as much, but to confirm it, we'd need to verify through other patients in practice.
"Alliance Leader. It's the White Tiger Captain. May I enter?"
"Oh, has the investigation already concluded? Sword Saint. Shall we let the White Tiger Captain in?"
"Enter."
"My thanks. White Tiger Captain, come in."
Just then, the very person who could verify this arrived with news.
"Pardon the intrusion."
A figure in white martial robes, wearing a mask evoking the image of a white tiger, stepped inside. Though clad in white, her voice and the slender lines of her body clearly marked her as a woman—the White Tiger Captain.
"The White Tiger Captain greets the seniors of the murim and submits her report."
She drew a neatly folded sheet of paper from her bosom and unfurled it.
"We persuaded two Jeolmok Jeong patients in Yodong Castle and proceeded with treatment."
"And the results?"
"Neither showed any improvement."
"......."
The Alliance Leader squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.
"It wasn't due to differing conditions or anything like that?"
"I'm not entirely sure about the precise condition of 'on the day she turns a certain age'—but it's definitely not something like 'it'll heal if she sleeps'."
"I see."
"Yes."
The Alliance Leader slapped his own mouth with his hand. If 'sleeping' had been the condition, it would have been a tremendous boon to the murim, but the current situation teetered on the brink of utter disaster.
"The sect leader of the Purple Sword Sect, who set out to verify the treatment, is rampaging that he'll bring his daughter here."
"What nonsense is this, White Tiger Captain? Didn't the Purple Sword Sect leader's family have a marriage alliance with the Jinju Eon family?"
"Since that betrothed failed to treat her..."
Before the White Tiger Captain could continue, she stiffened at attention.
"You're not saying he plans to entrust the treatment to my son-in-law, are you?"
The White Tiger Captain said nothing in response to the Sword Saint's words, but the high-quality paper she held was translucent enough for the writing to show through from the back.
"The Purple Sword Sect leader has challenged the Sword Saint to a deathmatch, wagering a night with Physician Seok Mu Wol. If he wins, he demands that Physician Seok Mu Wol share a bed with his daughter."
"That's... well, he's at the Peak realm, isn't he?"
"A father's resolve to save his daughter. He'd stake his life if it meant a cure."
"...This is just the beginning. Out of the 108."
A heavy silence descended on the reception hall.
"...Understood for now. If others elsewhere wish to confirm, leave it to the patients' own will."
"Alliance Leader."
"Sword Saint. It seems we need Physician Seok Mu Wol's organized treatment method."
"That is..."
"B-Brother!"
A man burst into the room, panting heavily.
"What is it, brother?"
"The n-nephew! H-He wants to come here with his nephew-in-law!"
"Calm yourself."
"...Whew."
Moyong Cheon's younger brother, Moyong San, steadied his breathing and spoke slowly.
"Physician Seok Mu Wol wishes to come here himself with Seol to complete the treatment and report the method directly."
[Half a shichen ago.]
They say saliva can heal wounds. I've never experienced it myself, but among the captured orphans, some claimed their mothers' touch eased the pain, calling it a 'magic hand'. As a physician, if asked whether that's true treatment, I'd say half yes, half no. It's the mind tricking the body. Like when a doctor gives a placebo disguised as real medicine, and the patient says, "I feel better." A kind of 'white lie' effect—but saliva alone doesn't heal people.
Yet.
"...Haa."
Moyong Seol tilted her head back. She licked her glistening lips, then touched her flushed ones with her fingers as she gazed at me.
"How is it?"
"...It's confirmed."
I took Moyong Seol's wrist, focused on her pulse, and verified the effect.
"It seems the things flowing through my body are the cure for Jeolmok Jeong."
"Saliva, blood, and j—"
"Let's call it yang qi."
Even I couldn't let such crude words come from Moyong Seol's mouth. And the same went for other places.
"Thanks to you, it seems your chastity won't be trifled with lightly."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Regarding the other women afflicted with Jeolmok Jeong—"
"You're going to... treat them?"
Whoosh—a chill emanated from Moyong Seol's body. Not from Jeolmok Jeong, but her own inner energy stinging my skin like a blade.
"As the man bound to you, I naturally have no desire to. But as a member of the Moyong family, I have no choice but to choose for Moyong Sega's sake."
I reached out toward Moyong Seol.
"Otherwise, Moyong Sega would become a public enemy of the murim."
"......."
"Even a single treasure map left by an absolute expert in the past stirs a bloodbath in the murim. Imagine what a Jeolmok Jeong cure would do."
I could state it with certainty.
"If not for the Sword Saint, the murim folk would have swarmed this estate by now."
If Moyong Cheon weren't the Sword Saint but a lesser warrior, he couldn't have escaped pressure from Sinseung and the others.
"And as you know..."
"That's not an important issue."
Moyong Seol placed her index finger on my lips.
"It wasn't because you wanted it that way."
Moyong Seol knew. My greatest weakness. That I was an existence the righteous murim could never tolerate.
"No matter what others say, you're still you, Physician. I, Moyong Seol, will repay you as my savior and my family's benefactor."
"My lady."
"So... I'll yield a little."
Moyong Seol let out a deep, resigned sigh.
"Deep down, I'd love to bar anyone from even touching you—but that could put everyone in a bind."
Moyong Seol understood. One misstep, and this could unleash a bloodstorm across the murim.
"...If we weren't murim folk, I could never even imagine you touching another woman."
In the end, something unavoidable because we were murim people.
"Reality is bitter, but at least understand my feelings clearly."
Moyong Seol cupped my face again.
"I have no intention of sharing you with anyone."
"The same goes for me, my lady."
"You must keep that promise. Or else..."
Moyong Seol's thumb brushed lightly under my eye.
"Even if you become a public enemy reviled across the world as a lecher, I'll make you see only me."
A short while later, Moyong Seol and I headed to the reception hall in Moyong Sega's main building.
"Why come in person?"
The Sword Saint eyed us sourly. Not just because we arrived hand in hand.
"You could have simply written it down and sent it."
As the Sword Saint said, I had originally planned to write the 'Jeolmok Jeong treatment method' on paper and relay it to the Alliance Leader and the murim experts.
"I judged that demonstrating it directly would be better than words on paper."
"...What?"
The Sword Saint's hand twitched.
"Hah, hahaha."
Not just the Sword Saint—the Alliance Leader, Sinseung, Geomhu, and even the one I presumed to be from the imperial palace all showed discomfort.
"Hahaha, Physician Seok. Do you want to flaunt your affection for Lady Moyong that badly?"
The Alliance Leader addressed me in a tone chiding youthful folly like a prank.
He was probably thinking, Know the time and place, you young fools.
"It's fine. Nothing to be ashamed of."
"Haha. Well now."
"It's not something unfit for the eyes of the gangho's elders."
I spoke as calmly as possible, laying the groundwork. Those without prejudice would wonder, What on earth is he going to say? In fact, the Sword Saint glanced at Moyong Seol with faint curiosity.
Nod.
Moyong Seol nodded to the Sword Saint, who trembled at the corner of his eye but gave a short nod in return.
Not that we've agreed with the Sword Saint, but he'll play along appropriately.
If I guided the situation right.
"Listen here, young ones."
Sinseung rose from his seat.
"Even so, matters between man and woman—"
"Allow me to clear one misunderstanding first."
I cut in before Sinseung could bellow.
"Hah."
Sinseung shot me a 'how dare you' glare, but I gripped Moyong Seol's hand tighter and pressed on.
"I was confused too. Sleeping one night and it's cured?"
"You—"
"Physician, please continue."
The woman who had been sitting silently—Geomhu—spoke in a low voice.
"Sinseung. Sit."
"......."
On the surface, it looked like a woman in her early twenties scolding a sixty-year-old elder, but Geomhu was—
"Physician Seok Mu Wol."
"Yes, Geomhu."
"Get to the point."
"...Before that, one question."
My answer would depend on this one reply.
"After word spread that Lady Moyong was cured, surely someone tried it. Am I wrong, Alliance Leader?"
I turned the arrow toward the Alliance Leader.
"What were the results of their treatments?"
"To answer: no improvement."
"No improvement."
Now it was certain.
"Just that one case?"
"In a day or two, we could confirm at least three more, but I doubt treatments elsewhere could cure Jeolmok Jeong."
"Thank you. This solidifies my certainty."
I clasped my hands in a formal bow toward the Alliance Leader.
"The treatment method... is this."
I turned to Moyong Seol at once. She rose on tiptoe and pressed her lips to mine.
Smack.
"!!"
Lips met. The others panicked, but I yielded to Moyong Seol, slowly parting my lips.
Slurp, suck, smack, sluuuurp.
"Hah, hahaha—"
The room's occupants showed varied reactions, but they began to shift.
"!!"
"Yang qi...?"
"Hmmm...."
"Phew."
Moyong Seol pulled back. A glistening thread stretched between us, and as she retreated, she bit her lip lightly.
Slurp.
The thread snapped to her lips. I wiped mine lightly with my hand, then bowed my head.
"As a physician and the direct participant, I felt it—but the foremost experts here can see it with your own eyes. Yang qi has entered Lady Moyong's body, suppressing the yin qi of Jeolmok Jeong."
"......A kiss is the answer?"
"Yes."
In truth, multiple answers. But for them—and the entire murim—only one official solution.
"Spending the night with Lady Moyong, and kissing her, was the decisive trigger."
Multiple, but only one to announce.
"How is that even possible...?"
"Perhaps the herbs I took while researching Jeolmok Jeong with my master caused some reaction in my body."
"Such!!"
Sinseung shot to his feet.
"Is a physician's saliva some panacea?!"
"Not for all ills, but definitely effective for Jeolmok Jeong. Whether it works on others is questionable."
"...I see."
Sinseung sat with a complicated expression, though I clearly saw veins bulging on his forehead.
Shaolin's sensitive about medicines, as expected.
Daehwan-dan. How many merchants donate to Shaolin just for a shot at those? If my saliva were a panacea, they'd mix it into Daehwan-dan—or tie me to Shaolin's peak and extract my fluids daily by force.
"Th—"
"Whew."
As I moved to continue, I heard Geomhu sigh in relief.
"I thought I'd have to witness young love with my own eyes."
"Even I have no desire to bare my beloved's body to others."
"Indeed."
Geomhu turned her head aside.
"Sword Saint?"
"......."
The Sword Saint's lips were clamped shut. Strange. He should have reacted with fury or spat blood as before.
No way.
Did imagining it cause qi deviation—
"Good thing your daughter didn't inherit that side of you, Father. Hehe."
"Silence, Geomhu."
"......?"
I didn't know what was happening, but Geomhu was smiling. The Sword Saint scowled openly.
"A-alright."
The Alliance Leader clapped and stood.
"At least one thing is clear now... A question for Physician Seok."
"Ask away."
"Would you be willing to spit your saliva on other women..."
"Alliance Leader?"
"Ahem. Poor phrasing."
I saw it. The Alliance Leader's gaze flicked to the Sword Saint.
"As Murim Alliance Leader, I formally request of Moyong Sega: share the 'medicinal fluid' that may treat Jeolmok Jeong. Is it... possible?"
Good.
"Some might find it unpleasant... but it's not like they must sleep together for a cure! Hahaha!"
At least they hadn't discovered it was blood or something else.
"If yin-yang union and yang qi infusion are the treatment, then those 108 Jeolmok Jeong patients would take turns spending nights with Physician Seok Mu Wol daily until cured! Hahaha!"
...Safe, right?
"Now we must devise a plan to protect Physician Seok Mu Wol. From the clutches of that vile Magyo."
"......!"
Murim Alliance Leader, no way. My identity—
"Alliance Leader. Physician Seok is—"
"Even Cheonma's daughters alone—Jeolmok Jeong."
"......?"
?
"Ah. You wouldn't know. Of course. It's top-secret, known only in Kunlun."
The Murim Alliance Leader held up three fingers.
"From Cheonma's eldest to youngest—all have Jeolmok Jeong."