Chapter 17
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: A New Family
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You crazy demon bastard!!
Jang Sam inwardly let out a furious scream.
To think he'd annihilate an entire underworld sect just to reel in a few medical students.
That's right.
As everyone might have guessed, the reason the Black Ghost Sect attacked the Three Tigers Sect was because of Wi Ji-cheon.
What was more absurd was that Wi Ji-cheon had truly annihilated the Three Tigers Sect as easily as twisting a child's wrist.
That bastard is a demon. A demon.
Jang Sam shivered, recalling the display Wi Ji-cheon had put on last night.
Wi Ji-cheon had disguised himself and joined the battle as a disciple of the Black Ghost Sect.
Then, he subtly intervened in the fight.
That alone was enough for the Three Tigers Sect to collapse helplessly.
What was more chilling was that no one had noticed the demon's handiwork.
Furthermore, in the midst of the battle, Wi Ji-cheon even managed to secure all the treasures the Three Tigers Sect had hidden away.
Even the master of the Three Tigers Sect didn't realize he'd been done in by that demon bastard. To be honest, he was a cut above me.
He couldn't even begin to fathom the extent of that demon's power.
The peak?
For someone so young to have reached the peak was already unprecedented in the history of the martial world, but Jang Sam sensed that Wi Ji-cheon was more than just a simple peak-level master.
Among all the peak-level masters of the underworld Jang Sam had met in the past, none were like Wi Ji-cheon.
And my foolish subordinates, oblivious to the situation, are celebrating ecstatically.
-We believed in you, Sect Master!
-So when you suddenly started spouting nonsense about turning over a new leaf, it was because you had attained enlightenment!
-All hail Sect Master Jang Sam, the new hegemon of Nanyang's southern streets!
He had even gained a new title.
Hegemon of Southern Nanyang!
It meant the one who had conquered the southern streets of Nanyang.
The Black Ghost Sect was no longer one of countless minor underworld sects, but a respectable mid-tier sect that had carved out a corner of Nanyang as its own territory.
It was something he had only dreamed of, but why? Why did he feel no joy at all?
-Hegemon of Southern Nanyang? Tsk. That's not enough to be a meat shield for our Medical Immortal Medical House. You need to be at least the Hegemon of Nanyang's Underworld, and eventually, the Hegemon of Henan's Underworld.
The words the demon bastard had spoken while clicking his tongue sent a shiver down his spine.
It was a declaration that he would make Jang Sam the hegemon of Nanyang, and eventually, the hegemon of Henan Province, but Jang Sam pretended not to hear.
No matter how much of a demon he was, such an absurd thing was...
Damn it. That demon bastard is more than capable of it. Argh! How long are you going to torment me?!
This was why Jang Sam had appeared before A-seop with a look on his face like he'd chewed on shit.
Still, Jang Sam held no ill will toward A-seop and the other medical student candidates.
My situation, leashed by that demon bastard, isn't so different from these medical students, leashed by their debts.
Creeak.
When he opened the door, Wi Ji-cheon was inside the teahouse.
Every time Jang Sam saw Wi Ji-cheon's bright, innocent-looking, detestable face, a vein throbbed on his forehead.
I've brought A-seop... sir. Grind!
Oops.
He'd failed to control his expression, overcome with indignation.
Fortunately, Wi Ji-cheon didn't seem to mind much.
Welcome. I am Wi Ji-cheon of the Medical Immortal Medical House. You must be Master A-seop?
Y-Yes, I am A-seop. Please, speak comfortably. I-I greet Young Master Wi Ji-cheon. But for what reason have you summoned me?
I asked you here to discuss the debt you owe to the Three Tigers Sect. Do you, by any chance, have a way to repay it?
Why was a young master of the Medical Immortal Medical House asking about that?
In any case, A-seop answered obediently.
...I do not. To be honest, I'm in a situation where even paying the interest is difficult.
Oh, dear.
Wi Ji-cheon wore a look of pity.
It was a face that looked kind to anyone, as if he were genuinely concerned for A-seop.
That... that detestable bastard!
Whether Jang Sam was fuming inwardly or not, Wi Ji-cheon continued speaking with his silver tongue.
At the request of Great Hero Jang Sam here, I've reviewed the contract, and there are many unreasonable terms. However, it's also difficult for the Black Ghost Sect, the new creditor, to simply forgive the debt. They acquired it by paying a price during the process of absorbing the Three Tigers Sect.
...I suppose so.
After a war between sects, when one absorbs the other, they don't just take everything. There are property rights, after all. A transaction takes place. Of course, it's a transaction that is overwhelmingly favorable to the victor.
Instead, how about this? Our Medical Immortal Medical House will take over the debt you owe, Master A-seop.
B-But, wouldn't that be too great a loss for the Medical Immortal Medical House?
It is because I see potential in you, Master A-seop.
!!
I asked around about your reputation, Master A-seop. Everyone spoke highly of you. They said that if only circumstances had allowed, you would become a true physician who cares for his patients.
A-seop's heart was stirred.
That's right.
A physician who cared for his patients.
That was once A-seop's dream.
Wi Ji-cheon took A-seop's hand.
Warmly.
As a child of a medical house, I could not stand by and watch your potential, Master A-seop, fade away like this. However, there is a condition. You must become a disciple of our Medical Immortal Medical House.
Yes, I will become a disciple of the Medical Immortal Medical House! Thank you! Thank you!
A-seop deeply reflected on his past self.
Why had he cared so much about the hollow reputation of a medical house?
A place like the Medical Immortal Medical House was a truly noble medical house!
However.
You just need to stamp the contract with your thumbprint. The ink is here.
Yes, right away....
But before stamping it, A-seop flinched.
...Fifteen years of mandatory service after passing the Medical Examination Ceremony?
Isn't the term a bit... long?
You don't need to worry about that. I only set the term that long because I wish to maintain a good relationship with you for a long time. Once the debt is fully paid off, we can mutually agree to end the service.
...I see.
You also don't need to worry about your salary. It will be paid normally once the debt is cleared.
A-seop nodded dazedly.
...Is this okay? Still, it's the Medical Immortal Medical House; they wouldn't scam me, right?
It might take fifteen years, but the conditions themselves were good.
The loan interest had also been changed dramatically.
It had been twenty percent compound annual interest, but now, it was interest-free!
He thought he had misread it, but he hadn't.
It was truly interest-free.
Even if I'm paying it back through deductions from my salary, isn't this too much of a loss for the Medical Immortal Medical House?
Just then, Wi Ji-cheon took A-seop's hand again.
I went to these lengths because I truly want to be with you, Master A-seop. I want to realize the dream of the Medical Immortal Medical House alongside you.
!!
At those heartfelt(?) words, tears welled up in A-seop's eyes.
I understand. From now on, I will pledge my loyalty to the Medical Immortal Medical House!
From now on, Master A-seop, you are family to our Medical Immortal Medical House.
Yes. I am family to the Medical Immortal Medical House!
Let us be together forever!
We will be together!!
...What a farce.
Watching the crude skit, Jang Sam wore a sour expression.
He took on the debt for practically nothing in the first place. And now he's making a big deal about it being interest-free.
In reality, he's using a debt he got for free to work someone without pay!
Even after the debt is paid off, there's no way that demon bastard will pay a proper salary. Poor guy. He doesn't even know he's just stamped his own contract to hell.
However, Jang Sam was mistaken.
Wi Ji-cheon had no intention of exploiting the new medical students.
On the contrary, he planned to show them the taste of gold.
Once the Medical Immortal Medical House is established, it'll be raking in money.
Why the fifteen-year mandatory service period, you ask?
So they can't run away when it gets too hard.
The Medical Immortal Medical House was going to prosper immensely.
What did that mean?
It meant they would have to see patients until they dropped dead.
They would surely be wailing, so he had shackled them in advance.
I'll just have to soothe them with gold from time to time. Hehehe.
At Wi Ji-cheon's evil(?) plan, A-seop felt an unidentifiable chill.
And a few days later.
Who are we?
We are family to the Medical Immortal Medical House!!
We pledge our loyalty!!
Wi Ji-cheon had reeled in a large number of new disciples.
Like A-seop, they were people who had accrued massive debts while preparing to be medical students and were living difficult lives.
Having received his grace, they were overflowing with a loyalty unimaginable for brand-new disciples.
The new disciples had a particular strength.
Their will.
Having failed the Medical Examination Ceremony once and suffered all sorts of hardships, they were overflowing with desperate determination.
Their aptitude is also much better than the original disciples. I hit the jackpot thanks to the Namjung Medical House.
While most medical houses engaged in the business of charging tuition to medical students, only scoundrels like the Namjung Medical House would go so far as to collude with loan sharks and viciously play with debt.
From now on, you will call me Senior Brother.
Understood, Senior Brother!!
Wi Ji-cheon was the youngest one here, but everyone accepted it without protest.
In terms of seniority by entry, Wi Ji-cheon was the first, and since they had all escaped the shackles of debt thanks to him, they were filled with gratitude.
But then, an unexpected voice was heard.
I cannot acknowledge you as our Senior Brother!!
...And you are?
I am Dan Yeo, a new disciple!
Oh?
A peculiar light glinted in Wi Ji-cheon's eyes.
While the other new disciples were long-term repeaters of the Medical Examination Ceremony and thus mostly over the age of twenty, Dan Yeo was a girl around Wi Ji-cheon's age.
Dan Yeo's background was different.
A former inner disciple of the Hwajung Medical House.
For some reason, she had left the Hwajung Medical House, and with no other medical house willing to take her, she had ended up drifting to the Medical Immortal Medical House.
Within a medical house, seniority is not determined by the order of entry, but by the order of passing the Medical Examination Ceremony! If you have not passed the examination, Young Master, then you are not qualified to be our Senior Brother!
The room buzzed with murmurs.
All the other disciples stared at Dan Yeo as if she were insane.
How can someone be so clueless?
If I stick around someone like that, I'll just get caught in the crossfire. I should stay away from her.
Wi Ji-cheon crossed his arms.
Just as the rumors said.
Dan Yeo was rather famous among the medical houses here in Nanyang.
In the opposite sense that Wi Ji-cheon was.
She was considered a prodigy with a promising future.
The reason such a prodigy left the Hwajung Medical House was that she had been expelled.
Expel a prodigy?
There was a reason.
Dan Yeo, to put it bluntly, had no manners.
It was said she got into a huge fight with a senior brother in her sect for some reason. A hair-pulling, fist-throwing brawl, apparently?
Something unimaginable by common sense.
But Wi Ji-cheon didn't care.
I can just fix her.
He needed to establish discipline among the new disciples anyway, so this was perfect.
Wi Ji-cheon decided to use Dan Yeo as an example to establish discipline.
However, his plan was one that others in the Medical Immortal Medical House would find puzzling.
How could Wi Ji-cheon possibly discipline Dan Yeo, a former inner disciple of another medical house?
In a martial sect, a senior brother's authority comes from his martial skill, but in a medical house, it comes from medical skill.
There's always a way.
I wonder if you're the one qualified to say such things. Tell me about Qi Rising, Qi Slowing, Qi Dispersing, and Qi Descending.
It was something he had read in a medical text just this morning.
Hmph, are you asking me about such basic concepts?!
Dan Yeo scoffed and began to recite the contents of the medical text verbatim.