Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian (2)
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"Big brother! Big brother!"
Sima Ho came running up, yelling loud enough to shake the entire marketplace.
Not only did Sima Geon, who had been prepping meat for a customer, stop what he was doing—even Cheol Woo, who had been hanging meat in the slaughterhouse, rushed out at the commotion.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Sima Geon asked with a furrowed brow after seeing off the customer.
"She's here! She came!"
Sima Geon's sigh deepened along with the creases on his forehead at the cryptic words. Just then, Cheol Woo arrived late and grabbed Sima Ho by the ear, yanking it up.
"Ow, that hurts! It hurts!"
Sima Ho whined on his tiptoes, and Cheol Woo scowled as he spoke.
"Then stop spouting nonsense and explain properly. What's got you making all this racket?"
"Let go of that first."
Sima Ho barely pried Cheol Woo's hand off his ear, rubbing the reddened lobe furiously as he shouted.
"Argh, seriously! Why are you so violent?"
"It's a sign of affection. Looks like you haven't seen real violence yet. Want me to show you?"
Cheol Woo cracked his knuckles with a grin, and Sima Ho shook his head vigorously, face paling.
"No thanks. You did the same last time too, and then..."
Sima Ho grumbled nonstop before suddenly going blank-faced and slapping his own forehead.
"What am I thinking? It's all because of you, big brother."
He shot an undeserved glare at Cheol Woo, then grabbed Sima Geon's arm, who was eyeing them both pitifully.
"On my way to the butcher shop, I ran into a guy sent by the physician at Clear Heart Clinic."
At the mention of Clear Heart Clinic, Sima Geon's expression changed dramatically.
"He said the physician who went to Hangzhou is back. He brought a message saying to bring the youngest to the clinic."
Sima Geon was no longer listening. He turned and headed into the back of the shop, but Sima Ho called after him.
"When do we go?"
Sima Geon tossed aside his bloodied apron, tidied up in the blink of an eye, and shut the butcher shop door as he replied.
"Right now."
The one who greeted Sima Geon and his brothers, who had rushed to Clear Heart Clinic the moment they heard the physician had returned from Hangzhou, was Oh Hwan.
Well aware of the brothers' situation, Oh Hwan beamed at the flushed-faced group.
"Come on in. The physician is waiting."
As they followed Oh Hwan inside, Cheol Woo nudged Sima Geon's side.
Sima Geon turned, and Cheol Woo jerked his chin toward the men heading to the left side ward.
"That's them, right?"
Sima Geon nodded, staring at the men in surprise at Cheol Woo's question.
"Yeah."
"Never imagined we'd run into them here."
Unable to contain his curiosity, Sima Ho asked.
"Why? You know them?"
"Yeah. On the way back from Hangzhou..."
"Cut the chit-chat and get inside."
Sima Geon swiftly cut off Cheol Woo, worried Sima Jin might overhear and fret. He then took the tense Sima Jin's hand firmly and led her inside.
As they opened the ward door, the Smiling Hemp Robe Physician Hwang Jeong, who had been chatting with a patient, greeted them warmly.
"Welcome. I've been expecting you."
"We came as soon as we got the message. Hope we didn't rush too much."
"Not at all. The physician from the main house is eager to see the patient as soon as possible too."
Hwang Jeong's gaze naturally turned to the guest before him, Hwang Yeong.
As Hwang Jeong moved to introduce her, Hwang Yeong, who had been startled upon seeing Sima Geon and Cheol Woo, now smiled and spoke first.
"What a fateful connection. Isn't it?"
Just then, Yu Sa Ha and Gok Ja Yu, entering the ward and spotting Cheol Woo, burst into hearty laughter and nodded.
"Sure is."
"Now I get why those Thousand Kill Room bastards came at us so hard. They were after the Celestial Pure Jade Milk."
Hwang Jeong looked puzzled, and Sima Geon chuckled as he explained.
"On our way back from Hangzhou with the Celestial Pure Jade Milk, those guys targeted us. We got help from them then. Never dreamed they'd be from the Living Immortal Medical House."
"Ah! So that's what happened. Haha! Fate works in mysterious ways."
Hwang Jeong laughed heartily, delighted.
"I've always felt bad for leaving in such a hurry without proper thanks. Let me express my gratitude again for your help back then."
Sima Geon bowed to Hwang Yeong.
"No need. Now that I know the circumstances, it makes even more sense. With your sister battling illness, you had to get that incredibly rare Celestial Pure Jade Milk no matter what. How could I not understand as a physician?"
Hwang Yeong smiled faintly. Even that light smile seemed to brighten the room.
"Jin-ah, this is the one who'll examine you. Say hello."
Sima Geon gently pushed forward the hesitant Sima Jin.
"I-I'm Sima Jin. Please take good care of me."
Sima Jin bowed politely.
"Oh my! You're as pretty as a fairy, little Miss Sima."
At Hwang Yeong's praise, Sima Jin ducked her head, face flushing red. Unable to hold back her laughter at the sight, Hwang Yeong took Sima Jin's hand gently.
"I'm the one who should ask that. Illness can't be cured by the physician alone. The patient and physician must fight it together. Understand?"
Sima Jin nodded, her voice a whisper as she kept her head down.
"Yes."
Satisfied with the response, Hwang Yeong looked around.
"Everyone, please step out for a bit."
At her request to clear the room, all present hurried out of the ward.
Even Hwang Jeong, though given permission to stay, quietly left to avoid disturbing her diagnosis.
Hwang Yeong smiled as she took the wrist of Sima Jin, who lay on the bed looking anxious.
"Now, I'll check what illness is afflicting your body, little Miss Sima. Relax as much as you can. No need to worry. We're fighting the illness together, right?"
Sima Jin squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. Hwang Yeong's eyes gently closed as she began the pulse diagnosis.
It was exactly half a shichen later when Hwang Yeong, having examined Sima Jin, called in the anxiously waiting Sima Geon and the others from outside.
"How is it?"
Far more time had passed than expected, leaving Sima Geon's expression grim.
A long examination meant a tough case. Dark thoughts crept in that even Hwang Yeong might not identify Sima Jin's illness.
"We seem to have identified the illness."
Hwang Yeong said with a somewhat darkened face. Sima Geon drew a sharp breath and asked.
"What is it?"
"Little Miss Sima was born with the Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian."
"Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian? Not Nine Yin Severed Meridians?"
Hwang Jeong, who had suspected Nine Yin Severed Meridians despite lacking certainty based on all symptoms, couldn't hide his confusion at the unfamiliar name.
"It's natural for brother to suspect Nine Yin Severed Meridians. The symptoms are quite similar."
"So symptoms match Nine Yin Severed Meridians, but it's ultimately a different illness."
Hwang Jeong sighed.
"Yes. Definitely different. Coincidentally, just before I left the main house, a patient with the exact same condition visited. I started treatment assuming Nine Yin Severed Meridians, but something felt off. Subtle differences. No effect from treatment. If I hadn't found records of Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian in the main house library, I never would've diagnosed her."
"What happened to that patient?"
Hwang Yeong hesitated at Sima Geon's question, unable to answer.
"It failed."
"Yes. It did."
Sima Geon clenched his fist without realizing.
"Why?"
Hwang Jeong couldn't comprehend failing to treat a patient despite identifying the illness, given the Living Immortal Medical House's prowess.
"Brother sometimes overestimates the main house's abilities too much. Even we can't cure everything. Far from it."
Hwang Yeong smiled bitterly.
"Nine Yin Severed Meridians is rare, but curable with our arts. You said Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian matches in symptoms and all else. I don't understand the failure."
"Three reasons."
"Three?"
Hwang Jeong swallowed hard.
"First, too late. She was twenty-one when she came. Yin energy had invaded her marrow; all medicines useless. Acupuncture barely extended life a bit."
"Twenty-one..."
A low groan escaped Hwang Jeong. No Nine Yin Severed Meridians patient had passed eighteen untreated—surviving past twenty with similar Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian was miraculous.
"Second, though symptoms similar, Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian's yin energy is stronger than Nine Yin Severed Meridians. Far more severe."
"But she passed twenty, unlike Nine Yin which kills by eighteen untreated."
"That's..."
Hwang Yeong trailed off, glancing at Sima Geon and siblings before sighing.
"There's a reason for that."
"Reason?"
"She took Celestial Pure Jade Milk too. That's how she lasted past twenty."
Everyone in the ward paled at her words.
Like Sima Jin, a Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian patient died despite the Celestial Pure Jade Milk they believed the only cure.
"If we'd used main house acupuncture with Celestial Pure Jade Milk, outcome might've differed. But we didn't. That's the third reason."
Hwang Yeong added hastily, but couldn't lift the disappointment easily.
"So, can it be cured or not?"
Cheol Woo asked gruffly. Yu Sa Ha and Gok Ja Yu's brows twitched at the rudeness.
"What the hell?"
Sima Geon snapped, and Cheol Woo thumped his chest.
"Everyone's dying here, and you're beating around the bush. Past failures aren't the point now."
"Shut it. Be quiet."
Sima Geon glared at Cheol Woo, then bowed politely to Hwang Yeong.
"Sorry. I'll apologize on his behalf."
"It's fine. I understand."
Despite ample reason for anger, Hwang Yeong kept her gentle smile. She turned to Cheol Woo.
"Honestly, I can't give a definite yes. The previous patient was too late for proper treatment. But records state main house acupuncture effective against Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian. So..."
"But."
Cheol Woo interrupted again.
"What about the patient in the records? Did she survive?"
"..."
All eyes turned to Hwang Yeong, but she couldn't answer this time either.
"That's what happened earlier."
Sima Hyeon's face was rigidly tense as he listened after returning from escort duty. Especially shocked by the possibility that even Celestial Pure Jade Milk might not fully cure Sima Jin.
"Don't worry too much. Unlike past patients, Jin-ah's case is better. We know the illness exactly, have the elixir and skilled physician. She'll definitely recover."
Sima Geon patted Sima Hyeon's worried shoulder gently.
"Has treatment started then?"
Sima Hyeon asked, barely holding back tears.
"Yeah. But she's physically very weak. Could collapse anytime. So they're taking it slow."
Sima Hyeon's eyes widened.
"No way. She didn't seem like that at all."
"She held it in for us. We're the fools who didn't notice."
Sima Geon continued bitterly.
"Anyway, they'll use Celestial Pure Jade Milk and Living Immortal Medical House secrets as soon as possible."
Sima Hyeon's face darkened again.
"Why?"
"Escort run tomorrow."
"Busy, huh? Just back and going again?"
"Sanghwa Escort Agency had some trouble lately, so more jobs."
"I see..."
Sima Geon, knowing exactly what happened at Sanghwa Escort Agency, forced an awkward smile and nodded.
"Don't worry, go do it. When you return after the run, you'll see a healthy Jin-ah."
"R-Really?"
Sima Hyeon asked tremulously.
"Of course. It will happen."
Sima Geon nodded confidently. But the anxiety deep in his eyes matched Sima Hyeon's.