Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Luoyang
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Dang Mujin and Dan Seolyeong arrived in Luoyang.
"...Just how far does Luoyang stretch?"
"No idea. It's beyond me."
Back when they were traveling on the boat after leaving Chongqing, some merchant had said, "Just touring Chang'an and Luoyang is like seeing half the world."
At the time, Mujin had dismissed it as bluster, but now that he was here in Luoyang, those words didn't seem like exaggeration at all.
Up to now, Dang Mujin had seen quite a few large cities.
Chengdu was the biggest in Sichuan Province, and Chongqing was renowned for its size and beauty.
Yet even combining Chengdu and Chongqing—not to mention all the small villages he'd passed through on his travels—didn't seem to match the scale of Luoyang alone.
'They say Chang'an is even bigger than Luoyang. Is that even possible?'
Dang Mujin and Dan Seolyeong wandered Luoyang feeling like country bumpkins.
They kept craning their necks to gawk around ceaselessly, looking utterly ridiculous, but no one gave them strange looks. There were just too many people like them in Luoyang.
"Where are we headed?"
"First, let's check out the Sima Clan or the Mount Hua Sect's Luoyang branch, like the old man suggested."
"Which one first?"
"The Sima Clan. It'd probably be better to join as a guest retainer there than at a branch."
The two asked directions from passersby as they made their way to the Sima Clan.
As he walked through Luoyang, one thing Dang Mujin noticed was how many people looked like martial artists.
Every time he turned his head, he spotted someone with a sword at their waist, and he saw several carrying strange weapons he'd never even heard of.
He even saw a man with an iron brush. Mujin had heard tales of such weapons but had never laid eyes on one before.
'All sorts of folks here.'
The two arrived in front of the Sima Clan manor.
Two sturdy guards in neat uniforms stood watch at the grand gate.
As Dang Mujin approached the gate, one of the guards—with a thick beard neatly trimmed—asked,
"Young hero, what brings you here?"
"I've come seeking temporary shelter with the Sima Clan."
"Shelter?"
"Yes. As a guest retainer..."
Dang Mujin's voice lacked confidence, and a faint flush of embarrassment colored his face.
The other guard glanced away and let out a stifled snort.
The bearded guard shot his companion a quick glare, then scanned Dang Mujin up and down.
'Looks about twenty. Fair-skinned, hands not very callused. Probably doesn't know the sword or only started recently.'
The guard's eyes moved to Dang Mujin's belongings. The first thing that caught them was the sword hanging at his waist.
Both scabbard and hilt were plain wood, without a single ornament. Not even the usual oxhorn cap at the scabbard tip.
To top it off, he'd brought along a girl about his age.
'Some kid trying to show off in front of a girl he's sweet on.'
The guard didn't find the sight distasteful. Everyone had a phase like that.
But as a guard, he couldn't just let anyone inside. He glanced at Dan Seolyeong, then lowered his voice gravely.
"Young hero. Do you have any special skills?"
"I've studied medicine, know a bit of the sword, and have some smattering of metallurgy and carpentry..."
A classic dabbler who dabbled and quit. The guard pressed further.
"Young hero. Might I ask if you're from a particular family? Or which sect taught you the sword?"
"The Tang Clan of Sichuan. No sect."
"Then, do you know anyone in the Sima Clan?"
"No. But an acquaintance told me to come here..."
"And who might that be?"
"The Strange Physician Yi Chung."
An unexpected famous name popped out. The guard put on a stern expression, like an older brother scolding a child.
"Young hero. I can overlook the rest. But you mustn't casually drop another martial artist's name or title like that."
The Sima Clan guard had seen countless young people get tangled up with martial artists and cause trouble.
The most common case was name-dropping someone they'd never met—or at best had the slightest acquaintance with—to gain some petty advantage, only to get caught.
The Strange Physician had visited the Sima Clan recently, so maybe this youth had brushed past him in passing.
Of course, Dang Mujin felt wronged.
But explaining himself in detail to the guard and rebutting wasn't easy.
The man was clearly speaking out of genuine concern, and Mujin had no ready way to prove his connection to Yi Chung.
'Show him the medical text? No, why would he believe some nameless book?'
Next, he thought of demonstrating his Heart-Piercing Sword mastery. But even assuming the guard recognized it—not to mention he didn't want to draw his sword in front of the countless passersby streaming past the Sima Clan gates.
Drawing a sword in front of a martial clan could lead to disaster if things went wrong, and even if they went right, he'd just become a sideshow spectacle or clown.
As Dang Mujin hesitated for a long moment, the guard gave a magnanimous smile, as if he understood completely. He spoke loudly enough for Dan Seolyeong to hear.
"You may have a useful skill anywhere else, but unfortunately, the timing is poor. The Sima Clan isn't taking on guest retainers right now. Come back another time."
Dang Mujin shuffled backward awkwardly. Dan Seolyeong watched him with a mischievous grin.
*
Instead of heading to the Mount Hua Sect's Luoyang branch, Dang Mujin and Dan Seolyeong found a clean inn and unpacked. Naturally, they took two rooms. Money wasn't a worry.
In fact, there was more than one money pouch in Dang Mujin's luggage. In his haste to leave, Yi Chung had forgotten to take back the one he'd entrusted to Mujin.
Seeing the generous amount of silver inside Yi Chung's pouch lifted Dang Mujin's spirits.
'With this much money, I don't even need to grovel to join as a guest retainer.'
Dan Seolyeong, sitting on a chair, asked,
"What now?"
"We came to Luoyang to broaden our horizons, so I should find a decent clinic, help out, and hone my medical skills."
Up until now, Dang Mujin had taken pride in the Tang family's medicine.
But arriving in vast Luoyang humbled him naturally. How many illnesses had the people of such a huge city suffered? How many had its physicians treated?
Dan Seolyeong hopped up from her seat.
"Then I need to find somewhere I can work too."
"Doing what?"
"There must be some skilled carpenter around."
Not even a strong man, but a tiny thing like Dan Seolyeong? Mujin nearly said as much but held his tongue. Luoyang was so enormous, a carpenter or two needing her hands wouldn't be odd.
"See you at dinner, then."
"Got it."
The two left the inn.
*
Dang Mujin asked around and found a large clinic.
At least twice the size of the Tang Clinic, with a signboard reading "Guisong Clinic" over the door.
Perhaps because of the thick scent of angelica—the hallmark smell of herbal medicines—wafting from within, Dang Mujin felt at ease even in this unfamiliar place.
It was an awkward hour, so no patients waited for treatment.
Instead, a short, stocky man decocting herbal decoctions in the courtyard approached him.
"What ails you?"
"Nothing's wrong... I came wondering if you needed help."
"Hmm. Follow me."
The man shifted tone abruptly and led Dang Mujin inside to the consultation room.
The physician inside looked about forty. From the air about him, he was clearly in charge, though younger than expected.
The physician asked,
"What ails you?"
Before Dang Mujin could reply, the short man beside him spoke up.
"He's not a patient. Says he's looking for work."
"Hmm."
The physician eyed Dang Mujin's appearance. His face wasn't sunburned black, so he could probably read.
"I'm Son Sungyeom. What's your name?"
"Dang Mujin."
"Read any medical texts?"
"I've read the Inner Canon and Treatise on Cold Damage."
The short man who'd brought him flinched.
His name was Jong Sam. Before joining Guisong Clinic seven years ago, he could read basic writing, but he'd never touched a medical text.
He'd worked as a handyman, studying Treatise on Cold Damage in his spare time, and finishing it recently was his pride and joy.
Seven years wasn't overly long to finish it. Plenty took ten years or more.
Mastering Treatise on Cold Damage was far harder than ordinary books. It brimmed with difficult characters and heavily abbreviated content.
To truly grasp it, one needed several non-medical books first, then to pair it with Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet. In most places, just mastering Treatise on Cold Damage earned one the title of master physician.
And now this young pup suddenly claimed to have read Treatise on Cold Damage and the Inner Canon too.
One slip, and his standing in the clinic could drop.
Son Sungyeom instructed Jong Sam,
"Jong Sam, quiz him on symptoms and prescriptions."
Jong Sam racked his brain for Treatise on Cold Damage content.
"If the pulse is floating, urine scanty, mild fever, thirst unrelieved by drink—what prescription?"
A floating pulse, scanty urine, mild fever and thirst—Wu Ling Powder governs.
A short, simple clause from Treatise on Cold Damage. The textbook answer: prescribe Wu Ling Powder.
But it was too basic; he hesitated to answer rashly.
Treatise on Cold Damage was an excellent text but not perfect. Written ages ago, better prescriptions had emerged since. This clause was a prime example.
His father preferred Cooling the Diaphragm and Dispersing Fire Decoction for such cases; Yi Chung made Six-Ingredient Pills with Rehmannia, then used acupuncture to regulate the interior.
'Wu Ling Powder? Cooling the Diaphragm? Six-Ingredient Pills? Which one?'
Dang Mujin hesitated before asking,
"...Just one?"
"Of course."
Dang Mujin pondered again. First, rule out Wu Ling Powder. Among the hundreds of clauses, asking the most basic one meant intent behind it.
Was it Yi Chung's Six-Ingredient Pills?
No, couldn't be sure. Yi Chung disliked long decoctions, favoring quick pills.
He augmented with acupuncture, of course—but Son Sungyeom or Jong Sam weren't likely using qi-infused needles.
Only one answer left. Dang Mujin replied confidently.
"Cooling the Diaphragm and Dispersing Fire Decoction."
He checked Son Sungyeom and Jong Sam's faces. Not great reactions.
"...Six-Ingredient Pills with Rehmannia work too."
Seemed wrong too. Dang Mujin hurriedly added a third.
"Wu Ling Powder is widely used as well."
Jong Sam smiled contentedly.
'Took three guesses. I'm still better. Even if he joins, I won't lose rank.'
Son Sungyeom thought similarly.
'He's read Treatise on Cold Damage, but not mastered it. Still, that's enough.'
Even Jong Sam—who'd never cracked a medical text—had become serviceable over time. Mujin seemed to have read it incompletely, but his features were neat, his nature diligent-looking.
'He rattles off drug names easily, so no need to start from scratch.'
Such skill was too good to send elsewhere.
Have him do odd jobs first, then decoct decoctions to gain experience—he'd pull more than his weight.
Pair him with Jong Sam to study Treatise meticulously, and even better.
Son Sungyeom nodded with a kind smile.
"Good. Rest today; come to the clinic tomorrow morning."
A ready acceptance, unlike the tepid reactions. Dang Mujin bowed with cupped fists.
"Thank you. See you tomorrow."
"Right."
Son Sungyeom had snagged a useful worker out of nowhere; Jong Sam escaped the bottom rung; Dang Mujin landed a job easier than expected.
All three felt pleased.