Come, Sweet Death
“Huh?” Seonjo nodded at the shaman’s words. It made sense. He didn’t know much about exorcism rituals or deceptive rites, but hearing that the horse doctors were immune to Mama (smallpox) was certainly compelling. It wasn’t just one or two people; so many horse doctors were saying the same thing that he couldn’t help but believe it. And if the shaman was right—if they were truly deceiving that ruthless god, if they could turn a severe case of smallpox into a mild one, and if that meant the epidemic wouldn’t return—then this was truly a monumental discovery.
Mama. Once it struck, half the victims died and half were left crippled. Once it spread, it didn't just cross villages; it wiped out entire cities. Along with tiger attacks and war, it was a disaster that threatened the very foundation of Joseon. And now, they had found a clue to solving that terrifying scourge.
“...But.” As his thoughts continued, Seonjo suddenly looked at Heo Jun with a somewhat blank expression, as if something had just occurred to him. Let’s assume all of this was true. The horse doctors didn’t get smallpox, they treated horses, they contracted a mild form of the disease, and that was how they deceived the plague god. But what was next? Were they supposed to take all the patients and go treat horses together? More importantly, could patients who were half-dead even take care of horses? No, wait—how could they even acquire sick horses in the first place? If this logic held, it meant they needed at least as many sick horses as there were dying patients. In a time when even healthy horses were rare, where on earth were they supposed to find that many sick ones?
His insides felt itchy. He was certain there was more to it, but he couldn't grasp what it was. Hoping for an answer, Seonjo asked Heo Jun, “Tell me, Heo Chamjeong.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I have heard the shaman’s words, and they hold merit. It is clear that there is a relationship between horses and smallpox, just as written in this book.”
“I believe so as well, Your Majesty.”
“Then, as a physician, have you considered what comes next? No matter how much I think about it, I cannot fathom it.”
“That is... I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“No, it is not a problem with an easy answer.”
Smallpox wasn't called a disaster for nothing. It was a plague that had existed for thousands of years, killing indiscriminately regardless of age, gender, status, or nation. It was a terrifying force that not only Joseon but even the great Ming Dynasty could not handle. For now, finding even this small clue was an achievement worthy of praise.
Seonjo soon shifted his gaze away from Heo Jun and commanded, “The shamans shall continue their work, and all ministers in the royal office are to go to the Gyoseogak and find books related to what we have just discussed. There must be a record somewhere; check every single volume without exception. Do you understand?”
“Yes! Your Majesty!”
“Heo Chamjeong, continue reading this book and ponder it further. I would like to read it myself, but as it is a medical text, I cannot grasp its contents.”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
“Lastly...” That child must know something. He wouldn't have written the book if he didn't know something. Handing the book back to Heo Jun, Seonjo looked outside and shouted, “Send a courier to Heo Yeop’s house immediately and bring Heo Gyun here!”
After leaving the royal office and returning to the Royal Infirmary, Heo Jun opened the book in his hands. The clue discovered by the Geotap (Tower of Truth) was clear. Had Jin Gwangryeol found the answer? Heo Jun flipped through the pages quickly, reading the next section.
- Wouldn't it work to feed the patients the meat and blood of a sick horse?
- Are you attempting to link the plague with food? I have not tried it myself, but it is a possibility. Go and test it quickly.
- Yes, Master.
- Jin Gwangryeol immediately procured several horses infected with smallpox, slaughtered one, and fed it to the patients, but unfortunately, it was not the answer. The patient who ate the horse meat did not survive the day.
- ...This must not have been it. Then, how about forcing the patients to treat the horses?
- Well... I am not sure about that either. Just try it. They are patients who will die if left alone anyway, so we must try something.
- Yes, I understand.
- Jin Gwangryeol selected patients in relatively stable condition, gave them acupuncture needles, and taught them how to needle the horses. However, this was not the answer either; the patients who cared for the horses could not hold on for more than a few days and passed away one by one.
- ...What on earth is the relationship between horses and smallpox? Jin Gwangryeol let out a deep sigh and faced the disease once again.
- I set up a stable for the patients and forced them to sleep with the horses, but that also failed. In a desperate final attempt, I even squeezed the pus from the horse’s sores into the patients' mouths, but that only caused the patients to deteriorate more rapidly.
- After fifteen days, all that remained in Hadong-gol, where the smallpox god had retreated, were the corpses of the patients, the tears of their families, and a sense of utter futility.
“So all those methods failed.” This was a method Heo Jun had also vaguely considered. To connect two unrelated words like "horse" and "smallpox," there was nothing else to think of besides such forced treatments. But to think they all failed? Then perhaps he was mistaken. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that smallpox had bypassed the horse doctors, and he was assigning too much meaning to it.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know now.” Heo Jun shook his head slightly and turned the next page of the book.
- Jin Gwangryeol could not bring himself to let go of the hand of the last young patient who had died, and soon, he shed tears.
- Stand up. If you are a physician, Jin Gwangryeol, this is a sight you will have to see hundreds, thousands of times in the future.
- You fool, did you think you were some world-renowned physician? This is a disease that even we, who have studied for thousands of years, could not cure. Stop blubbering and go look after the other patients.
- That’s right, Gwangryeol, it is not your fault. You just need to continue your research and save more people in the future.
- ...Thank you. Master.
“That’s right, you must stand up again. Stay strong, Jin Gwangryeol.” Heo Jun, too, was a physician who had sent hundreds of patients to their graves with his own hands, so he understood. Every time a patient was lost, a sense of helplessness that non-physicians could never imagine washed over him. As a fellow physician, Heo Jun sent a small, quiet cheer and turned the page.
- Encouraged by his masters' advice, Jin Gwangryeol stood up again and traveled across the country to care for patients. Then one day, the master from the heavens spoke.
- Physician Jin, you are now doing the work of a full person. You will be fine without us now.
- No. Master, I am still lacking. I must broaden my experience further under your teachings.
- Gwangryeol, are you trying to get a free ride? Have some conscience.
- Jin Gwangryeol, learning and experience are not the only ways to study. Teaching and competing are also study.
- Masters...
- Jin Gwangryeol sensed his farewell to his masters. The talisman he had kept carefully in his bosom began to rustle and tremble, and as he took it out, it soon turned to powder and scattered into the air. And then, the final advice of the Geotap was heard.
- Continue to observe and explore. We are a group of dead physicians who, even in death, endlessly expand our knowledge to explore things that harm life and honor the souls of the patients. We are the Geotap.
- Yes... Master.
- Jin Gwangryeol, who bowed deeply toward the direction where his masters' voices were heard, turned his steps without regret. Yes, I do not know how far the end of medical art is, but I will walk it myself.
- The place Jin Gwangryeol headed to was where the best physicians of Joseon gathered. The Royal Infirmary.
“That’s right. To grow as a physician, there is no place like the Royal Infirmary.” Countless medical books, abundant medicinal herbs, patients and diseases pouring in every day, and competition with talented colleagues from whom one could learn something—it was a place any physician would admire. Heo Jun nodded and turned the page.
- With the knowledge passed down from the Geotap, Jin Gwangryeol easily passed the medical examination, and his life at the Royal Infirmary began.
- Nothing much had changed. It was a daily routine of waking up early, going to the Hyeminseo to suck out the blood and pus from patients, boiling decoctions while rubbing sleepy eyes, and opening medical books to study after the sun went down.
- The only thing that had changed was that he was now studying and competing with people, not alone. Among them, there was a rival who stood out: his name was No Minguk.
- Cham-bong Jin, I have seen one hundred and twenty-one patients with wasting disease using moxibustion, and only two had problems.
- Jubu No, although I have seen fewer patients than you, I have seen ninety-one patients with wasting disease using acupuncture, and only one had a problem. Is this still not enough?
“Indeed, a fierce competition.” No Minguk, a man of principle who studied abroad in Ming and returned to Joseon at the request of the Royal Physician Lee Ju-hwan to enter the Royal Infirmary. Jin Gwangryeol, a practical physician who studied at the Geotap and climbed from the bottom while traveling the country. The medical duel between the two men, who had completely different temperaments, was so intense and thrilling that it made Heo Jun’s palms damp. And the climax of that duel was the Guchimji-hui (The Play of Nine Needles).
- Since the talents of the two cannot be argued as superior or inferior, we shall decide the Royal Physician through the Guchimji-hui.
- Guchimji-hui.
- It is the pinnacle of acupuncture where one must insert nine various needles into the body of a living chicken so that the heads of the needles are not visible, yet the chicken must not feel pain or die.
- Inserting six needles means one can do the work of a physician; seven needles means one is called a professor who can teach; eight needles means one is called a physician of the era; and the final ninth needle is a legendary technique that only Hua Tuo succeeded in.
- And Jin Gwangryeol and No Minguk each inserted eight needles, proving their skills, and had one large needle remaining.
- Thus, the final duel.
- While No Minguk could not bring himself to use the large needle and broke into a cold sweat, Jin Gwangryeol spoke.
- Cham-jeong No. There are parts that cannot be overcome by books. At those times, follow the patient’s heart. There are times when the patient’s voice gives the answer instead of the knowledge in medical books.
- And the place where the patient—the chicken—does not feel pain is right here, the wing. Jin Gwangryeol immediately inserted the large needle and sent the chicken flying into the yard. The chicken flapped its wings vigorously, landed in the yard, and soon began pecking at bugs as if nothing had happened.
- Flap! Flap! Cock-a-doodle-doo!
- Winner! Jin Gwangryeol! I appoint Jin Gwangryeol as the next Royal Physician.
“Jin Gwangryeol’s level has reached Hua Tuo’s.” Heo Jun looked back at himself for a moment. Although he had received the teachings of the Geotap, Jin Gwangryeol was originally a novice physician who hadn't even read the Huangdi Neijing. That novice had grown through constant study, experience, and competition, and had now placed his name alongside Hua Tuo, the greatest in history, surpassing Joseon. Heo Jun, are you working that hard? Are you losing your original intention just because you are being promoted quickly due to the King’s favor? If he had read one more line of medical text in the time he spent scratching his belly and sleeping, or if he had cared for one more patient in the time he spent drinking with friends, perhaps he would have found the solution to overcome this crisis. Having reflected deeply, Heo Jun turned the page. And the story he had been waiting for began.
- Royal Physician! It is a big problem. A great smallpox is spreading in the capital, and according to the dispatched medical officers, black spots are rising instead of red spots.
- What!
- Everyone in the Six Ministries has scattered into the capital to catch the smallpox, and His Majesty has ordered the Royal Physician to enter the royal office immediately.
- ...I will go at once.
- Jin Gwangryeol ran to the royal office in a hurry. Inside, a ritual to welcome the smallpox god was in full swing, and the shaman leading the ritual at the center smiled as she looked at Jin Gwangryeol.
- Are you Wol-ah...?
- Have you been well? Physician.
- How are you here?
- Through my meeting with you, I have come to serve more gods, and by the grace of heaven, I have become the National Shaman of the Seongsuchung. I am currently the head of the Hogudang, welcoming the plague god.
- Hmm... Is that so? I am truly glad to see you.
- Yes, Physician, I am also very glad to see you, but there is no time to exchange greetings leisurely. There was a message from the Geotap for you, Physician.
- From the masters?
- Yes, listen for yourself.
- With those words, Wol-ah’s eyes rolled back. Revealing her white sclera, she spoke to Jin Gwangryeol.
- Have you been well?
- Master!
- Yes, I have watched well from the heavens as you entered the Royal Infirmary and grew. It is truly commendable, and I would like to stroke your head, but I have no time. Gwangryeol, listen carefully.
- Yes.
- Our Geotap has continued to study smallpox even after parting with you, and we have finally found a possibility.
- A possibility...?
- As you already know, smallpox is a disease that, once contracted, never returns, regardless of whether it is small or large. Borrowing the words of the shamans, the smallpox god does not come twice. Right?
- Yes, that is what I know.
- Then tell me. Should we focus on those who have already contracted smallpox, or those who have not yet?
- ...Uh... Uh? What does that mean?!
- Yes, it is speculated that the horse’s smallpox is effective not for those who have already contracted it, but for those who have not yet. The horse doctors of the Saboksi were able to avoid it because they experienced the horse’s smallpox before experiencing the human’s smallpox.
“Oh, this!” This was it. That’s right. Smallpox only happens once in a lifetime anyway, so treating patients who have already contracted it with horse-related treatments was meaningless. What they truly needed to look at were those who had not yet been infected. Those who were huddled in their homes, holding their breath in terror of being discovered by the smallpox god. Heo Jun immediately turned the page at the eye-opening hypothesis.
- Tell me. Did you bring the horse?
- Yes, Royal Physician. It is tied up outside.
- I see. You may go now. I have work to do from now on.
- Jin Gwangryeol, having dismissed the messenger, picked up his well-worn needle case and walked toward the horse tied in the yard.
- My masters' hypothesis is clearly logical. And I, Jin Gwangryeol, have the responsibility to prove it.
- Taking a deep breath, Jin Gwangryeol took a large needle from his case and pierced the red spot on the horse, which was full of pus.
- “Could it be...”
- Watching the large needle dripping with thick, foul-smelling pus, Jin Gwangryeol’s hand began to tremble.
- It is a disease that has not been overcome for thousands of years. Naturally, my masters' hypothesis could be wrong. And if the hypothesis is wrong, all that remains is death. For the mark of the smallpox god does not discriminate.
- Nevertheless, I must do it. If I am a physician who cares for patients, if I am a doctor who explores disease, this is a moment where I must never stop.
- Jin Gwangryeol, having loosened the ribbons of his chest, gripped the large needle tightly.
- May my death save more patients.
“Is he experimenting on his own body...?”
- The large needle, stained with the foul energy of smallpox, pierced Jin Gwangryeol’s Cheonjung point.
- A truly unpleasant energy bloomed within his body and circulated through his blood vessels. It felt as if the god of death was looking at him and laughing.
- Jin Gwangryeol spoke proudly toward that god.
- Come. Sweet death.
“Jin Gwangryeol!!” Heo Jun shouted.