Chapter 49
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: An Unwelcome Warning
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Wi Ji-seon and the rest of the Medical Immortal Medical House family gathered in the Medical Immortal Hall to greet a guest.
Yu Hwa, sitting across from them, smiled gently.
Congratulations on the Medical Immortal Medical House's promotion to an Earth-rank medical house.
Ahem, ahem. I'm a bit embarrassed you had to see us in such a state.
The reason for Wi Ji-seon's embarrassment.
-Who are we?!
-An Earth-rank medical house!!
They were in the middle of this when Yu Hwa burst in.
Wi Ji-seon and Wi Ji-mu, in particular, had their arms around each other's shoulders, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Not at all. It's certainly an occasion worth celebrating. It was heartwarming to see the members so cheerful with one another.
Her tone wasn't sarcastic.
Her expression remained gentle.
However, her true intentions were impossible to read.
Ahem, thank you for saying so. Is House Lord Yu Pyeong well? I haven't seen him since the Dan River Medical House meeting several years ago.
My father is doing as well as ever.
I should pay him a visit sometime, ahem, well...
Father, why can't you just ask her what scheme she's here to hatch?
Wi Ji-gang cut into the conversation coldly.
There's no need to beat around the bush, Young Mistress Yu Hwa. If you have something to say, say it.
Haha, it's been several years, Young Master Wi Ji-gang, but your words are as sharp as ever.
As far as I'm aware, the Bronze Goodness Medical House and our Medical Immortal Medical House are not on terms to be having a cheerful chat.
Wi Ji-gang scoffed, and the eyes of the other family members sharpened.
The Medical Immortal Medical House was now, in name and in reality, the second medical house of Nanyang.
This meant their future rival was now the Bronze Goodness Medical House.
Did she come to seize the initiative?
As they all harbored such suspicions, Yu Hwa burst into a hearty laugh again.
What's so funny?
Haha, my apologies. It seems there's been a misunderstanding. Our Bronze Goodness Medical House has no intention of being hostile toward the Medical Immortal Medical House. On the contrary, I came to ask you to take good care of Nanyang's medical community.
What...
Everyone reacted with disbelief.
What was the world of medical houses like?
They trampled the weak, they trampled anyone who tried to climb up, and they trampled others just because they felt like it.
It was a gathering of physicians who saved lives, yet the medical world was more vicious than the world of beasts.
An exaggeration, you ask?
At least, that was the world the Medical Immortal Medical House had experienced so far. Their history was one of being constantly trampled upon.
And yet, she was offering such a warm welcome?
It was impossible to believe.
It was only natural to assume she had some ulterior motive.
Cut the nonsense.
Young Master Wi Ji-gang?
Do you think we are still the insignificant Village-rank medical house we once were? If you mess with our Medical Immortal Medical House, be prepared for the Bronze Goodness Medical House to lose an arm and a leg.
No, our Bronze Goodness Medical House has no such intention
That's right, Ji-gang, well said! We're an Earth-rank medical house now!
We'll slice you up! Just like that!
Uh, no?
Yu Hwa looked flustered, and at that moment, Wi Ji-cheon, who had been quiet, stepped forward.
With a sheepish expression, embarrassed for Yu Hwa to see.
Everyone, please calm down. What Young Mistress Yu Hwa is saying could be true.
Impossible! Ji-cheon, in this medical world, the only ones you can trust are our family. Everyone else is worse than a beast!
Have you ever heard of the Bronze Goodness Medical House doing anything malicious before?
...
The Medical Immortal family was struck speechless.
The medical world is corrupt, it's true, but not every medical house is rotten.
As far as Wi Ji-cheon knew, the Bronze Goodness Medical House was one of those rare, righteous medical houses in the medical world.
The problem is that the Bronze Goodness Medical House will also get swept up in the turmoil and disappear in the not-so-distant future.
The Bronze Goodness Medical House's destruction would actually come even sooner than the Medical Immortal Medical House's.
In any case, that was a story for another time.
I apologize. Our Medical Immortal Medical House has had many enemies up until now.
Haha. It's alright. I understand. There are indeed many beast-like people in the medical world.
Ahem, I apologize for getting worked up. Ji-gang, you apologize as well.
...My apologies.
Yu Hwa smiled gently once more.
I'll be direct. Our Bronze Goodness Medical House hopes that the Medical Immortal Medical House will not only take over the role of the now-fallen Namjung Medical House, but will also become the number one medical house in Nanyang in the future.
!!
What was this all about now?
Encouraging a rival was one thing, but asking them to take over their own position?
You may not know this, but our Bronze Goodness Medical House has never had great ambitions. We ended up in this position due to gaining an unmerited reputation, but it was never what we wanted.
...
If the Medical Immortal Medical House takes responsibility for the patients of Nanyang, our Bronze Goodness Medical House would like to live quietly in the background, as we've always wished.
Faced with this unexpected proposal, no one knew what to say.
Certainly, looking at the Bronze Goodness Medical House's actions so far, it didn't sound like a lie. They had never tried to expand their influence.
However, the reason Wi Ji-seon didn't readily nod was a sense of unease.
Having always been persecuted as the underdog, Wi Ji-seon and the Medical Immortal Medical House had a keen sense for detecting crises.
Just then, Wi Ji-cheon spoke up abruptly.
You're not planning to use our Medical Immortal Medical House as a shield, are you?
!!
For the first time, Yu Hwa's expression stiffened.
What do you mean by that?
Isn't that right? You're trying to hide behind our Medical Immortal Medical House because you expect the atmosphere in the nearby Dan River medical circle to become turbulent, aren't you?
Yu Hwa looked troubled.
Haha, you truly are the Medical Immortal Sword of Nanyang. The news hasn't spread through the Nanyang medical community yet, but you are correct, Young Master. The Dan River medical circle is indeed set to become noisy.
The territory of a medical house depends on its power and influence.
Heaven-rank covers the entire Central Plains.
Star-rank covers an entire province.
Earth-rank holds territory in the city where it is located.
However, this is just a general classification, and the actual size of each medical house's territory differs.
Some Star-rank medical houses extend their influence beyond their own province into neighboring ones, and some Earth-rank medical houses cast their domain over surrounding cities.
The Namjung Medical House was an Earth-rank medical house whose influence was limited to Nanyang, while the Bronze Goodness Medical House's influence extends beyond Nanyang to other cities.
The Bronze Goodness Medical House wasn't the only such Earth-rank house.
Any medical house that was the best in its city was bound to exert influence over neighboring cities as well.
The group of such medical houses in the area around Nanyang was called the 'Dan River medical circle.'
The name came from the nearby Dan River.
Ranking medical houses is a ridiculous affair, but our Bronze Goodness Medical House and the other Earth-rank houses near the Dan River are all on a similar level.
Something has changed.
Yes, the Waxing Moon Medical House, the number one medical house in Xiangyang, has formed a marriage alliance with the White Immortal Medical House.
!!
Wi Ji-cheon, as well as Wi Ji-seon and the others, flinched.
The White Immortal Medical House.
Because it was the most colossal existence in the current medical world.
Young Mistress Yu Hwa, what does that mean?
Yes, the White Immortal Medical House intends to use the Waxing Moon Medical House as its vanguard to claim this Dan River area as its own territory. With such a prime piece of land vacant, it's no wonder they're salivating.
The Dan River area.
It refers to Nanyang, Xixia, Dengzhou, Xiangyang, and so on.
It was a transportation hub.
In the very center of the Central Plains, with Shaanxi Province to the side and Hubei Province below it.
Anhui, Shandong, and Hebei were relatively close, and it was also on the path to Sichuan.
It was also at the center of the Murim Alliance in Shanxi, the Great Families Alliance in Anhui, and the Heretic Alliance in Hunan.
Also, from the White Immortal Medical House's perspective, another tempting point was that there were no Star-rank medical houses in the Dan River area to get in their way.
So the White Immortal Medical House intends to make the Waxing Moon Medical House into a Star-rank medical house.
That's right. The Dan River medical circle will be swept up in the birth of a new star.
According to astronomy, when a new star is born, it has a massive impact on its surroundings.
A similar thing happens in the medical world.
When a new Star-rank medical house is born, the surrounding Earth-rank medical houses suffer enormous damage.
They must choose one of two paths: submission or ruin.
In his previous life, the Bronze Goodness Medical House did not submit, and in the end, they were destroyed.
And it wasn't just ruin.
It was the annihilation of their house.
The image of Yu Hwa's head displayed on Nanyang's central thoroughfare flashed through Wi Ji-cheon's mind.
A sword fight between martial artists would be better. The struggles between medical houses are utterly vile.
Martial artists settle things cleanly with the superiority of their martial arts, but physicians cannot determine a winner in such a way.
They can't divide the high and low of medical skill with something visible like a duel.
Instead, they resort to all sorts of dirty fights, just as he had seen so far.
Military force using martial arts factions, political power through collusion with the government, trickery, false accusations, malicious rumors, and so on.
They use every imaginable method to bring down their opponents.
In that respect, the White Immortal Medical House is the strongest of them all. Not only have they seized control of the Medical Alliance, but they also have the imperial family backing them.
Yu Hwa sighed.
I know the Medical Immortal Medical House is excellent. However, it would be wise to lay low. One wrong move, and you could be made an example of.
After Yu Hwa left, a heavy silence fell.
An unexpected obstacle had appeared.
The White Immortal Medical House.
For the Medical Immortal Medical House, which had only just become an Earth-rank medical house, it was too colossal an obstacle.
...Should we return the Earth-rank medical house nameplate to the Medical Alliance?
I'll go return it right now, Brother.
How about we just sell the Earth-rank qualification to the Hwajung Medical House? That greedy bastard Danga would probably fall for it.
Didn't we promise to repay House Lord Dan So-cheon for his help in saving Ji-cheon a while ago?
Repaying kindness with enmity is a common occurrence in the heartless medical world. Sigh. Who am I?
You are the house lord of a Village-rank medical house.
It was nice while it lasted, being an Earth-rank medical house.
They were all so disheartened that they were making such nonsensical jokes to each other.
At that moment, Wi Ji-cheon spoke.
I think this is actually a good thing.
Ji-cheon?
This is an opportunity. A chance for our Medical Immortal Medical House to grow immensely. If we use this crisis well, we can save a great deal of time in our house's development.
At this point in time, the White Immortal Medical House's scheme isn't so bad.
And.
Wi Ji-cheon said nonchalantly.
Isn't everyone angry?
...About what?
That we, the main family, have to walk on eggshells around the likes of the White Immortal Medical House, which was merely a branch family.
!!
You all know, don't you? That the White Immortal Medical House's machinations are the reason our Medical Immortal Medical House has fallen this far.