The Deception Ritual
"Hmm…." In the end, was it nothing more than a child's delusional fantasy? A shaman and ghosts—how could one dare to insert mere superstition into a discussion of medicine? Then again, what could that young child possibly know about the healing arts…. Yes, this could not possibly be a medical text. Heo Jun sighed softly and turned the page. But speaking of Jinsimtong (heart pain)….
Had it heard his own musings? The content written on the next page was enough to startle Heo Jun, who had been reading the book.
It was the voice of a ghost. When Jin Gwangryeol, bewildered by the voice echoing from the void, looked around in a panic, the ghost whispered into his ear once more.
"Uh…?" How did it know? This was the Nine Needles and Twelve Origins from the Lingshu chapter of the Huangdi Neijing, a sophisticated medical technique that only a physician of the Royal Infirmary should be able to perform. How could it know this?
At the ghost's roar, Jin Gwangryeol snapped to his senses and pulled out a long needle. As he laid the patient down and inserted the needle into the Simsu point, the patient's breath cleared with a sharp gasp.
"What is this…." No, there was no time to be amazed. Had it said moxibustion on the Cheonjung point? Jin Gwangryeol immediately applied moxibustion to the Cheonjung point, and soon, the patient's condition stabilized with a steady, rhythmic breathing.
"It knew the Huangdi Neijing." If that was the case, the situation changed. While he was still suspicious of the ghost's existence, it was at least discussing the illness based on proper medical principles. If so, this was indeed a medical text. Heo Jun hurriedly turned the page.
"His skills are too lacking. Will he really do?"
"What can we do? Wol-ah received help, so we must return the favor. Jin Gwangryeol, was it? We are physicians who have come to teach you at Wol-ah's request. How about it? Will you accept our teachings?"
"... Who on earth are you?" Jin Gwangryeol asked, trembling at the terrifying voices of the ghosts echoing from the sky.
"Such a group exists!" To remain as spirits even after death to study and fight against disease in order to care for the sick—what a holy and sacred image of a physician. Moreover, there wasn't just one or two of them. As the name Geotap implied, experts in every field—acupuncture, decoctions, internal medicine, external forms, and miscellaneous diseases—were gathered there. Furthermore, their medical arts followed the classics, yet were sometimes so unconventional that even Heo Jun, a veteran of medicine, was astonished.
"That's right. The effect of acupuncture is immediate, but it places a heavy burden on the patient's body."
"... Ah, I hadn't thought that far ahead."
"Hah, to have researched not just the handling of medicinal herbs, but even their compatibility with food ingredients."
Heo Jun could not contain his excitement at the feast of wisdom pouring forth. As Jin Gwangryeol traveled the country caring for the sick and receiving the teachings of Geotap, he was growing into a physician that even Heo Jun could no longer ignore. Watching his growth, which made Heo Jun feel both envious and proud as a fellow physician, Heo Jun turned the next page with a warm smile. At the same time, his eyes widened.
"What? Where! How many patients are there?!"
Jin Gwangryeol rushed to Hadong-gol with all his might. It was a horrific scene, just as the messenger had said, with people dying in heaps. Jin Gwangryeol began treating the patients without delay. And then, his hands stopped.
"... Even they have no method? Even Geotap could not overcome the Smallpox?" Heo Jun dropped his head, unable to suppress his despair. He had hoped that if it were them, they would have found a way. Then again, how could a disease that hadn't been conquered for thousands of years be overcome by a medical text written by a child for amusement? As he clicked his tongue and turned the page, something caught his eye.
"Veterinarians…?" How could one equate the diseases of horses with those of humans? The anatomy was different, the internal organs were different, and their lifestyles were different. However…. If there truly was a connection. If that clue could unravel the tangled mess…. Damn it, he had to verify it. Heo Jun slammed the book shut, ran outside, and shouted.
"Is anyone there!! Run to the Saboksi immediately and bring all the veterinarians from there to me!"
"Your Majesty! It is I, Heo Jun!"
"Enter!" At King Seonjo's command, Heo Jun entered the royal quarters with the veterinarians from the Saboksi. The room was filled with shamans from the Hogudang, and they were in the middle of a ritual, dancing with swords and shaking bells. Heo Jun passed them, approached Seonjo, and presented a book.
"Your Majesty, please take a look at this book."
"What is this?"
"It is a medical text written by Heo Gyun, the youngest son of Heo Yeop. As a physician treating the Great Smallpox, I found some truly interesting content, so I have come to see you."
"Heo Gyun? That child again? Tell him to write three volumes in the time he spends on this!"
"Your Majesty, it is this part here."
Seonjo took the book and began to read the section Heo Jun pointed to. Veterinarians? Veterinarians don't catch Smallpox? Why?
"Is this true?"
"Yes. I have brought all the veterinarians from the Saboksi. Upon my verification, not a single one of them has ever contracted Smallpox. Not only them, but their predecessors and their predecessors' predecessors have never caught it either."
"What does that mean? Is that truly the case!?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The veterinarians knelt and bowed deeply. Seonjo, who had paused the ritual to look at the veterinarians, asked Heo Jun.
"Tell me in more detail. What on earth is the relationship between veterinarians and Smallpox?"
"I have not yet discovered that myself. However, according to them, veterinarians who treat horses suffering from Smallpox only suffer from a mild cold for a few days instead of the plague."
"Instead of Smallpox, a cold…. What a bizarre thing."
Seonjo and the ministers could not understand Heo Jun's words. Does that mean if one becomes a veterinarian, they experience a cold instead of Smallpox? If patients currently dying of Smallpox were to suddenly change their profession to veterinarians, would their illness turn into a cold? What kind of nonsense was this? And yet, the veterinarians hadn't caught it? There had to be something there.
As Seonjo and the ministers looked at each other with puzzled expressions, a woman's voice rang out.
"It is a Daesal (Substitution Ritual)."
"What did you say?"
"Shut your mouth! How dare a lowly shaman speak so freely before His Majesty!"
"Be quiet. You are performing rituals by borrowing the power of that shaman, yet you dare to criticize her? You, do not worry and tell us everything you know."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A head shaman wearing a five-colored jacket stepped forward and opened her fan. She knelt as if appealing to the spirits in heaven and continued the conversation.
"Daesal is a type of deception ritual. We offer an animal of the same zodiac sign as the person afflicted by the curse as a sacrifice to deceive the ghost and pass the curse onto the animal."
"Did such a thing exist?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will ask the veterinarian there. I heard that horses also suffer from Smallpox; is that true?"
"... That is true. At the shortest, once a year, or at the latest, once every three years, the horses at Saboksi suffer from Smallpox. However, they rarely die like humans, and if treated in time, most survive."
"And you who treated them would lie down with a cold every time?"
"... That is not so. The first one or two times? No, I lay down once, and after that, I was fine even after treating the horses."
"Really? Is that true? You deceived the Smallpox God?"
Hearing the veterinarian's words, the head shaman jumped up. The shamans standing around her, as if on cue, shook their fans and bells and shouted.
"Listen!! The Smallpox God has been deceived!!"
"The Smallpox God has been deceived!"
"The Smallpox God has been deceived!"
"The Smallpox God has been deceived!"
"Hah! Beat the drums!!"
Boom! Clang-clang-clang! Boom! Clang-clang-clang!
It was madness. Every one of them, showing the whites of their eyes, began to perform the Cheoyongmu dance, bending their necks and staring at the ceiling. Makeup ran down their faces in streams of sweat, creating the illusion of bloody tears. As they lost their minds and shrieked, the large royal quarters began to vibrate as if reproducing a thunderstorm. It was a spirit so intense that even the ministers who had ignored the shamans as lowly beings could not utter a word.
After the commotion subsided, the head shaman knelt before Seonjo as if collapsing.
"Your Majesty, the Smallpox God has been deceived."
"... What on earth does that mean?"
"Perhaps the veterinarian was contaminated by the malignant energy of the Smallpox God while treating the horses. However, because he was not the person directly targeted by the curse, he suffered a small cold instead of Smallpox, and thanks to that, he deceived the god and passed through."
"Deceived the god?"
"Your Majesty, reflect on their words. They do not contract Smallpox. They only suffered a small cold. The cold only occurred once."
"... That is so."
The head shaman raised her head.
"And the Smallpox God does not come twice."
"... The Smallpox God coming once and them suffering a cold once instead of Smallpox…." Seonjo tilted his head. "Oh?"