Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Visitor
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Loyalty? But, thats
Wi Ji-gangs voice trailed off.
Meaning, it was difficult.
Wi Ji-cheon nodded as if in agreement.
Finding disciples like that isn't easy. To begin with, our Medical Immortal Medical House doesn't have any inner court disciples.
Inner court disciples, outer court disciples.
In medical houses, this terminology was used similarly to martial arts sects, but with a slight difference.
Outer court disciples were those who entered after coming of age, and in return for their teachings, they would practice and treat patients for a few years before becoming independent.
All the disciples of the Medical Immortal Medical House were such outer court disciples.
Similar to receiving instruction at a martial arts dojo, they naturally didn't pledge loyalty to the medical house.
Inner court disciples were those who had lived, eaten, and slept within the medical house since childhood, raised like family.
These individuals pledged lifelong loyalty to the medical house, much like the disciples of a martial arts sect.
To start accepting inner court disciples now
We're in a hurry, so we don't have time for that. We don't have the money, either.
So?
Why do you think inner court disciples pledge their loyalty to the medical house?
Isn't it obviously because of the grace they've received since they were young?
Exactly. So, if we want to find loyal disciples, we just need to bestow a favor upon them.
Wi Ji-gang tilted his head, a puzzled expression on his face.
It sounded simple, but who, and where, would they find to bestow this favor upon?
Wi Ji-cheon simply grinned.
I have a plan. I'll find people who already have a foundation in medical arts, so you, brother, should prepare to train the new disciples. I'm counting on your hellish training.
Wi Ji-gang was an expert at quickly teaching the riffraff who often flocked to them.
His method was dubbed hellish training because he could supposedly drag even the most untalented individuals out of hell by the scruff of their necks.
Alright, leave the disciples' training to me. But I have one question.
What is it?
You rascal, how are your studies for the Medical Examination Ceremony coming along? Are you even studying?
Wi Ji-cheon began to slowly back away.
Don't you worry. First place in this year's ceremony belongs to none other than me.
What?
Now, listen to this! You'll be amazed by my medical knowledge. Qi deficiency causes a lack of propulsion, which in turn creates problems in transformation and generation, thus requiring treatment to move the qi! How about that?
But, that's
I'm short on time, so I'm off to kidnapno, I mean, reel in some new disciples!
Swoosh.
Watching Wi Ji-cheon vanish like the wind, Wi Ji-gang wore a look of utter exasperation.
Reciting content from a mere introductory text and talking about first place. You're the one who needs a taste of my hellish training first.
But, for some reason
Instead of bursting with anger like before, a faint smile graced his lips.
Watching his youngest brother, he felt a spark of hope that the Medical Immortal Medical House really would be transformed.
I'd better prepare thoroughly, too. With a special hellish training that's incomparable to anything I've done before.
Ill teach them in a way that shakes them to the very depths of their souls.
And so, the disciple candidates who would soon be joining the Medical Immortal Medical House felt an inexplicable chill.
What a crappy life.
Ah-seop, the young waiter at the Clear Sky Restaurant, sighed heavily.
Unlike the restaurant's name, which meant 'clear sky', Ah-seop's face was clouded with gloom.
What's the point of working like this? It'll all be taken to pay off my debt anyway.
Was it because he had a moment of respite?
Regrets about his past life surfaced.
I shouldn't have been so full of myself, trying to become a physician. A lowly guy like me, trying to be a physician who saves people.
For a poor commoner, the easiest path to raising one's status was to enter a martial arts sect and become a master.
The martial world didn't care about your birth status, as long as you were strong.
However, even in the martial world, only a few could become truly prominent masters.
To rise from the bottom and become a master, one needed outstanding martial talent.
That wasn't the case for the vast majority.
Those without martial talent turned to medical houses as their second option.
With the dawn of the era of great medical houses, the standing and treatment of physicians had skyrocketed.
The good thing about being a physician was that anyone could aspire to it, as long as they had a decent head for studying, even without special talent.
That's why countless people seeking to raise their status knocked on the doors of medical houses, only to end up broke.
I failed the Medical Examination Ceremony and ended up with a huge debt because of the tuition fees. Damn those medical houses.
Every year, numerous people knocked on the doors of medical houses to become physicians, and the medical houses earned enormous tuition fees from them.
This business of lecturing medical students was a lucrative source of income for the medical houses.
If one came from a well-off family, it was fine, but if not, failing the exam for a few years and becoming a long-term student meant falling into a mountain of debt in no time.
I should have just entered a place like the Medical Immortal Medical House as a disciple.
The Medical Immortal Medical House had incredibly cheap tuition, and they even said they gave a small stipend to apprentice medical students.
Despite that, not many medical students chose the Medical Immortal Medical House.
It was because of their future career paths.
Which medical house one 'graduated' from had a massive impact on their career path after actually becoming a physician.
Not all physicians were the same, even after becoming one.
To live a respectable life as a physician, one needed, at the very least, a nameplate stating they were a former student of an Earth-grade medical house.
I didn't realize that to an Earth-grade medical house, someone like me was just a source of money, and that they wouldn't teach me proper medical arts.
A few taels of silver for admission!
A few taels of silver for the Huangdi Neijing!
A few taels of silver for Materia Medica!
To learn anything, one had to continuously pay extra money like this.
At the same time, they would drag their feet and refuse to teach the truly important content needed to pass the exam, calling it the medical house's secret technique, all to squeeze out even more tuition fees.
To learn those secret techniques, one either needed a significant background from the start or had to pay a back-breaking amount in tuition fees.
Ah-seop, what are you doing?! A bowl of noodles over here!
Ye-yes!
Getting busy again, Ah-seop hurried around the inn.
Even working his fingers to the bone, it was hard to pay the interest, but he absolutely could not fall behind on the payments.
If I fall behind on the interest, they're the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to sell me as a slave to the mines.
Thinking of his 'creditors', Ah-seop shuddered.
But, it was at that moment.
Did you hear about the Three Tigers Sect?
!!
Ah-seop's eyes widened at the customers' conversation.
They were his 'creditors'.
Why those devils?
Medical students had to take out loans to afford the high tuition fees.
Fortunately, there was a 'scholarship loan' system, so Ah-seop took out a loan from the medical house where he was studying.
The interest rate was exorbitant, but since the loan was from the medical house, he trusted them and accepted it.
However, after he repeatedly failed the exam and gave up on taking more classes, the medical house suddenly sold his debt to an unorthodox sect.
The unorthodox sect, the Three Tigers Sect, became his creditors.
The loan terms were subtly changed in the process, but to whom could he complain about the injustice?
Ah-seop realized too late that he had been swindled, but by then, it was far too late.
Ah, I heard. They say the Black Ghost Sect attacked the Three Tigers Sect last night.
Why all of a sudden? Weren't their powers evenly matched, keeping each other in check?
They were, but surprisingly, the Black Ghost Sect is said to have won.
Huh?
Yes, and not just a simple victory, but an overwhelming one. They say the Three Tigers Sect has been completely scattered.
Was Sect Leader Jang Sam's martial arts that superior? Then the southern road is completely under the Black Ghost Sect's control now.
The Three Tigers Sect is finished?
For a moment, Ah-seop's chest filled with hope. But he soon shook his head.
The fall of the Three Tigers Sect wouldn't change his situation.
The Black Ghost Sect, or whatever they were called, would just become his new creditors.
Still, I hope they're at least less beastly than the Three Tigers Sect.
As Ah-seop prayed earnestly, he overheard a curious conversation.
By the way, do you know why the Black Ghost Sect attacked the Three Tigers Sect?
Well... I heard something, but I'm not sure if it's true. Have you heard the rumor that Sect Leader Jang Sam has gone strange?
Of course, I have. Didn't he declare he would live a new life, moved by the good deeds of the Medical Immortal Medical House?
Didn't everyone hear that rumor and wonder if Sect Leader Jang Sam had gone mad? But I heard this attack on the Three Tigers Sect is related to his turning over a new leaf. They say he attacked to punish them for committing a sin so unforgivable it cried out to the heavens.
What kind of unforgivable act?
Who knows. It's not like unorthodox sects commit just one or two wrongdoings.
But the Black Ghost Sect isn't exactly a righteous sect either, is it? Sect Leader Jang Sam turning over a new leaf? A leopard can't change its spots. Unless Sect Leader Jang Sam has completely lost his mind...
Hush! Keep it down!
Clang!
The inn's door swung open, and a man with a menacing face entered.
It was Jang Sam, the new hegemon of Nanyang's southern road!
The faces of the gossiping men turned pale.
D-don't tell me he heard us badmouthing him?
Grind.
Jang Sam gritted his teeth.
Just as the gossiping men's hearts were about to sink in fear
Jang Sam whipped his head around.
Who is Master Ah-seop?
I-I am Ah-seop?
Terrified, Ah-seop raised his hand.
Is he here to collect the debt? But why call me Master? Is he mocking me by calling me that?
Thud.
Jang Sam stood before Ah-seop, looking down at him intimidatingly.
The murderous aura of a true hegemon who had conquered Nanyang's southern road!
For some reason, his face was also terribly scrunched up, multiplying the feeling of intimidation several times over.
Just as Ah-seop, trembling in fear, was about to fall to his knees, he heard something that made him doubt his ears.
Grind!
Jang Sam gritted his teeth once more.
And then, in a tone completely at odds with his menacing expression, he said.
I this one, Jang has come to escort Master Ah-seop. Grind!