Chapter 21
“What’s the problem?”
Tian Ailang’s heart skipped a beat as the Ma physician recoiled in shock. He hadn’t pinned all his hopes on this, but even so, how could anyone stay composed in the face of such surprise?
“Do you have some connection to the Qi clan?”
“What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
Tian Ailang felt a twinge of wariness. Why bring up my family here of all places?
He carefully withdrew his wrist from the physician’s grasp. At that, the Ma physician shook his head gravely.
“No need to be so guarded. I have ties to the Qi clan, and your energy feels just like theirs.”
Tian Ailang eyed him cautiously. “......Could you tell me more about that connection?”
The Ma physician gave a wry smile. “I was close with the head of the Qi clan. He was deeply versed in medicine and formations, so we exchanged a great deal. We even debated elixirs often, but I considered him a true friend.”
Tian Ailang’s eyes widened in surprise. “The head...... You mean, do you know his name?”
A thick wave of nostalgia emanated from the physician. “Tian Danho.”
Tian Ailang’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Grandfather?
Why was his grandfather’s name popping up here, of all places? Caught utterly off guard in this unexpected setting, Tian Ailang floundered for a moment.
He ventured carefully, “......That would make him my grandfather.”
The Ma physician’s eyes ballooned in shock. “Your grandfather? You’re Danho’s grandson? How in the world......?”
He called to the woman standing quietly nearby. “Hwaran, it looks like this chat’s going to drag on. Could you brew us some tea?”
“Yes, Grandfather,” she replied politely.
With graceful poise, she glided out of the room. Tian Ailang met the physician’s gaze with curious eyes.
* * *
The Ma physician’s real name was Ma Chung. About a century ago, during the Song Dynasty, he had been an apprentice imperial physician. After the fall of the dynasty, he wandered the world, devoting himself to medicine. He was commonly called the Ma physician, and at his peak, the Divine Healer Ma.
For a time, alongside the Jin Divine Healer who crafted the Shaolin Great Return Pill, he was hailed as one of the two great divine healers of the martial world. Then, abruptly, he cut himself off from society and founded the Yi Clinic.
The decisive trigger had been the destruction of the Qi clan twenty years prior.
“The shock and sense of loss that day...... I can’t even put it into words. Not only did I lose my lifelong companion, but Sek-san and his family were all dear to me.”
“I see......”
At the time, Ma Chung had been deeply engrossed in research after being stunned by the eternal spirit medicine Tian Danho had created. After years of effort yielding some results, he’d visited the Qi clan for a long-overdue debate and drinks—only to find devastation left by battle and flames.
“To think Danho survived and raised such a fine grandson. Ha ha ha.”
As Ma Chung spoke, Tian Ailang thought of his grandfather. It was one of those days when he missed him fiercely—especially sharing memories with someone who knew him so well.
Through their conversation, Tian Ailang felt both longing for his grandfather and family, mingled with joy. It was almost like sitting on the porch beside Tian Danho, listening raptly to tales of the clan.
Tian Ailang dropped all his initial caution, chatting freely with Ma Chung about every little detail of the Qi clan.
In the midst of their long talk, Tian Ailang asked, “Since you’re Grandfather’s friend, you’re like a grandfather to me too. Would it be all right if I called you that?”
Ma Chung burst into laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! Of course! What a joyous day! Yes, from now on, I’ll speak casually too—so treat me like your own grandpa, Ailang.”
A warm smile bloomed on Tian Ailang’s face. “Yes, Grandfather.”
“And get along well with my granddaughter. You’re about the same age, so you’ll have plenty to talk about.”
Tian Ailang glanced at Hwaran in mild surprise. Grandfather Ma’s granddaughter, around my age......?
At 120 years old, how had Ma Chung managed that? It was astonishing.
“Understood.”
Throughout their extended conversation, Hwaran sat demurely with her face cloth on, just as before. Ma Chung clicked his tongue and chided her gently.
“Tch. Hwaran, you could at least take off that face cloth indoors.”
He didn’t know why she insisted on it, but there was clearly a story behind it.
“No, it’s fine. And if my appearance makes you uncomfortable, please don’t mind it at all—treat me as you would anyone.”
Hwaran hesitated, glancing at Tian Ailang, then let out a soft sigh.
“I apologize for the discourtesy to Grandfather’s dear friend. I hope it doesn’t startle you too much.”
It’s really fine, Tian Ailang thought, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Martial artists seemed awfully polite, in his experience.
Without waiting for a reply, Hwaran gently removed her face cloth. What it revealed explained her insistence on wearing it even indoors.
One side of Hwaran’s face was covered in deep wrinkles from burn-contracted skin. The fact that the eye on that side was unscathed felt like a stroke of heaven’s mercy amid the scars.
Tian Ailang regarded her calmly. Hwaran looked at him with a glint of surprise.
“You’re not shocked?”
He shook his head with a smile. “It’s not shock—it’s pity. That wound must have hurt terribly. Grandfather, was this injury impossible to heal?”
Ma Chung beamed broadly at the earnest question. “Ha ha ha! Just as I’d expect from the Qi clan. They always saw through to the heart and essence, beyond mere appearances. That trait probably fueled their extraordinary martial achievements too.”
He was referring to how Hwaran had been unaffected by the formation at the mountain’s base.
“Sadly, this is the best we could do. It was far worse at first—we healed what we could, and this is what remained.”
“Ah......”
Tian Ailang sighed with genuine sympathy. Hwaran offered him a small smile in return.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
The smile was awkward due to the scarring, but it carried a gentle warmth.
Suddenly, Tian Ailang closed his eyes, sinking deep into thought. Even as Ma Chung spoke a few more words, he didn’t hear them, lost in concentration.
Ma Chung and Hwaran found his abrupt shift odd but waited quietly.
After a short while, Tian Ailang slowly spoke. “How about exchanging bones and washing marrow?”
Ma Chung chuckled indulgently at the suggestion born of deep thought. “Ha ha ha! Ailang, you’re talking about a legendary feat from myths. Creative, but impossible.”
The “treatment” Tian Ailang proposed was something Ma Chung had never witnessed in over a century as a healer—a realm of pure legend.
He found Tian Ailang’s concern for his granddaughter endearing and impressive, sipping his tea contentedly.
Tian Ailang replied matter-of-factly to the dismissive response. “I’ve done it myself. It’s not impossible. Difficult, maybe, but doable.”
“Pfft!”
Ma Chung spat out his tea. Hwaran stared in shock, her own cup overflowing unnoticed as she poured.
Tian Ailang wrinkled his nose at them. He understood the surprise, but was it that shocking?
“Once you build up your inner energy through training and forge a vessel for the great nature’s qi, the body transforms naturally. Grandfather even congratulated me on it.”
Silence blanketed the small thatched hut.
Drip, drip, drip.
Tian Ailang gently took the teapot from Hwaran’s hand as her cup kept overflowing. Their fingers brushed lightly, startling her back to awareness.
Ma Chung asked gravely, “You underwent exchanging bones and washing marrow? Do you remember the process?”
Tian Ailang pondered his memory. “It felt so natural to me that I didn’t note it specially, but it seems to happen with over sixty years’ worth of inner energy and smooth communion with the great nature’s qi.”
“Sixty years...... great nature’s qi......”
Ma Chung muttered repeatedly, lost in his own thoughts. Tian Ailang knew better than to interrupt and sipped his tea quietly. Hwaran stole occasional glances at him.
After a moment, Ma Chung’s eyes sharpened. “Ailang. Could you possibly heal our Hwaran?”
Tian Ailang blinked in confusion. Aren’t you the healers here? “Grandfather, I’m no physician. I was just sharing an example of what’s possible.”
Ma Chung bit his wrinkled lips and spoke with effort. “If Hwaran learned the Qi clan’s core method that you practice...... might it work?”
Tian Ailang understood now why Ma Chung had agonized so. He’d only shared bone transformation as a clinical outcome, leaving the solution to healers.
But Ma Chung was asking him to take charge—and cautiously, because it meant sharing the Qi clan’s secret arts for his granddaughter’s sake.
Secret manuals of renowned martial arts could spark rivers of blood. The Qi clan’s supreme qi arts, unrivaled even by the world’s greatest, were priceless.
Beyond that, Tian Ailang had his own reasons not to grant the request lightly.
He gazed at Hwaran’s scarred face, weighing his decision. “There’s a condition.”
“Name it. If it’s within my power, I’ll grant anything.”
Ma Chung was prepared to pay any personal price to heal his granddaughter’s face. He knew the mental torment she’d endured for over twenty years because of it.
He longed for her scars to fade, for her to cast off that stifling face cloth, marry well, and live freely. He’d lived his life fully, with no regrets upon death—save for failing to secure her happy future.
Tian Ailang met Ma Chung’s resolute gaze with his own earnest one. “Join the Qi clan. Then I’ll help however I can.”