Chapter 44
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Nine Yin Severed Meridians
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Chu Miyoung introduced someone to me.
Her name was Seol Yuhee. Twenty-three years old.
She was a woman who had graduated from a nearby vocational college two years ago and obtained her nursing assistant certification.
"Her experience was short, which made me a bit suspicious, but she was a Russian quarter-blood, and she was pretty, so I hired her anyway. Oh, back in the early days, we were focusing on skin treatments, so I did look at faces when hiring."
"I see."
One-quarter Russian? Quite the unique character. Did that mean she just looked like a regular Korean?
"Looking back, she turned out to be the most responsible and diligent among all the employees I've worked with."
Stop beating around the bush and tell me already. So, what's the fatal flaw? Did the salary or working conditions not match?
Chu Miyoung immediately answered my unspoken question.
"If only her health weren't so fragile, I'd have kept her on. It's such a shame."
"...? She's only twenty-three. How weak is 'weak' exactly?"
Was it an illness? Russian brought to mind genetic diseases from European royalty. The Habsburgs had the jutting jaw... the Russian dynasty had hemophilia, right?
But she couldn't be from such a family.
Realistically, it was probably something like a herniated disc that made sitting for long periods tough. If so, she could work while getting treatment.
"She's had it since she was very young, and no one could figure out what it was. But I thought maybe you, as the director, could cure her, so I mentioned it."
"What were the symptoms? Just that Western medicine couldn't diagnose it? You have no idea either, Director?"
Chu Miyoung explained the symptoms to me while messaging Seol Yuhee.
"I could attach a pattern diagnosis. It's close to Yang Collapse Syndrome?"
A term I hadn't even considered popped out.
"She gets extremely sensitive to cold. Pale face, cold limbs, weak breathing. When you check her pulse, it's so faint it feels like it could snap. Sometimes she sweats profusely even when it's not hot."
Not close— it was Yang Collapse Syndrome itself. I could've believed she copied it straight from the classics. Anyone could see it was symptoms of depleted yang energy.
"Not hypothyroidism?"
It was similar except for the profuse sweating. I asked just in case, but Chu Miyoung shook her head.
"Of course they checked that. Blood tests were normal except for anemia."
"Were those symptoms bad enough to interfere with work?"
"Yes. We worked together for about three months, but she had a cold for around seventy days of that. There were times she could barely stand... In spring, she powered through with a constant cough, but when we turned on the AC in summer, she couldn't handle it at all. Oh, she replied."
As Chu Miyoung predicted, Seol Yuhee was currently unemployed.
She could get hired, but combined with those symptoms, she kept collapsing or getting sick for days, so she got fired quickly.
Chu Miyoung had tried to keep her, but she quit on her own because she couldn't endure the summer AC.
A twenty-three-year-old nursing assistant should be welcome anywhere. Now it made sense.
"Have you tried herbal medicine?"
"No..."
I asked on a whim, but realistically, she probably hadn't.
I didn't prescribe beyond protocols even for common cases, let alone confidently recommend herbs for undiagnosed symptoms.
"Let's meet her first. I need to hear it directly and check her pulse."
"Sure. She says she's fine with that too."
A few days later.
Seol Yuhee visited our clinic for the interview.
Seol Yuhee had been frail since childhood.
Catching nasty colds and missing school for days was routine, and she'd even collapsed during exams and been rushed to the ER.
She hoped she'd grow out of it as she aged, but her parents worried about her attendance even through high school graduation.
They visited countless hospitals and ran every possible test, but diagnoses varied wildly.
Chronic bronchitis, orthostatic hypotension, functional dyspepsia, vasovagal syncope, and so on...
No single root cause—just various issues cropping up everywhere.
No fundamental cure either. Just symptomatic treatment whenever something flared up.
She barely graduated college despite academic probation, but society was far harsher.
No job would tolerate a week of sick leave every month.
"Ha..."
Two years since getting her nursing assistant certification. She'd been hired and fired from over ten workplaces.
Maybe there's a job that fits somewhere, maybe a doctor who can cure me—she'd job-hunted enthusiastically and switched hospitals with hope...
But now it was time to accept it.
She was the type who couldn't work, just a drain on food and medical bills.
"Hm? Director Chu Miyoung?"
Then, contact came from the head of Haneul Clinic, where she'd worked the longest. Was it a short-term gig? She replied politely...
[Yuhee, how have you been? Sorry to contact you out of the blue. A good director is hiring. If you're not working, can I recommend you?]
An unexpected job offer.
Seol Yuhee replied immediately.
[Of course! Thank you so much for looking out for me. I won't let you down!]
Though she'd resigned herself, she still wanted to contribute to society.
"Hello. I'm Seol Yuhee. Thank you for calling me in."
Her first impression was striking in every way. Was it the jade-like skin and long straight hair down to her waist, the epitome of beauty? Even her simple polite greeting exuded elegance.
"Whoa, I thought you were the saintess of the North Sea Ice Palace."
'Director Chu told me a lot about you. I'm the one grateful you came all this way.'
I tried not to show my surprise and offered Seol Yuhee a seat.
"Pardon? North Sea... what?"
"Oh, did I say that out loud?"
"Yes. Something about the North Sea Ice Palace."
"Aaaah! Forget you heard that!"
Ugh, I blew my first impression. Muttering about North Sea Ice Palace saintess right in front of her! And I've never even been there!
I scrambled to change the subject.
"That... might be rude, but have you considered being an actress or model?"
"Haha, Director Chu suggested influencer too. But I'm scared of having my face known. I just want a normal job."
"I see."
I gulped down the water I'd set out unnecessarily.
What to talk about? I had standard questions prepped. Motivation for applying... but she was recommended. Expectations from the workplace? Maybe that.
"Um, Director. How much did Director Chu tell you about me?"
Reading my mind, Seol Yuhee asked first.
"She mentioned your health issues and rough symptoms. Must be tough day-to-day."
"Yes... Even at Haneul Clinic, chills made me a burden sometimes. May I ask why you called me despite knowing all that?"
An interviewee asking about her own fit. I loved it.
"Sorry if that's rude. I was worried about sudden absences causing issues."
Rude? She wasn't being curt; it was a fair question. The only rude one today was me from the start.
"Sudden no-shows would be very problematic, of course."
"I thought so."
"But Director Chu vouched that you wouldn't do it intentionally unless your condition suddenly worsened. That's why I wanted to meet you."
"...Naturally. I've always given my all within my limits, and I will going forward."
"Then that's enough. I can help with your health."
Seol Yuhee's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't expected that.
Chu Miyoung had explained everything to me but hadn't tipped her off.
"I invited you planning to treat you while you work."
"Ah...?"
"Is that okay? Have you tried herbal medicine?"
"Once in elementary school. It wasn't bad, just okay. If it works, I'd be so grateful! Oh, Director Chu said she'd ask her mentor. Are you that person?"
Seol Yuhee's eyes sparkled with hope. Unsure of herself, she'd planned to consult Haneul Clinic's director.
"Not exactly, but I'm no less skilled."
"Yes, yes. If you treat me and let me work, I'll do my absolute best."
Seol Yuhee nodded eagerly.
Most who'd failed repeated treatments got defensive, like Yu Minha or Jeong Inseong's mom. But her youth or sincerity let her trust me outright.
I extended my hand to Seol Yuhee.
"I have a guess, but need to confirm. Let me check your pulse."
Seol Yuhee willingly offered her hand.
"..."
I placed my index, middle, and ring fingers on her cun, guan, and chi positions at the wrist.
The standard three points for pulse reading.
But the usual method meant little here.
All meridians linked to the organs were powerless, making organ pattern diagnosis pointless.
Sensitive to cold yet sweating profusely meant the body's defensive qi—weiji, or yang qi—had worn away to nothing.
In modern terms, her immune system was wrecked.
Without modern antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, those frequent colds would've turned to pneumonia and killed her young.
'Chu Miyoung said Yang Collapse Syndrome.'
The classic texts describe it arising after major illness, from expending yang qi fighting it.
But there's a congenital constitution that depletes yang qi from birth without illness.
Endless yin qi generated inside devours the yang, eventually blocking her own blood vessels unto death. An absurd constitution.
The one that appears in every wuxia novel.
In the vast Central Plains, maybe one per generation survives past ten.
"As expected. Your yin-yang balance is severely disrupted."
Nine Yin Severed Meridians.