Hebei (4)

100. Hebei (4)

"The internal injury's more serious than I thought. No ordinary medicinal pill is going to manage it, from what I can see."

Lee Eun-ha, who had come with me to check on Peng Seok's condition, spoke with a dark face. I was utterly ignorant of medicine and pharmacology, but I'd tagged along so that Medicine Immortal could examine the patient directly and advise her, so I'd been standing behind her like a folding screen.

"Is it even difficult with Medicine Immortal's medicine?"

"His dantian is already shattered. Even if you fill the dantian with an elixir, it'll just leak right through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a cracked jar. In the end, you have to treat the dantian itself. I know the formula for the medicine. The problem is that among the ingredients, it requires Gongcheong Stone Oil."

Gongcheong Stone Oil? The legendary elixir that only shows up in fortuitous encounters? Damn. This was going to be difficult. The odds of obtaining Gongcheong Stone Oil were far slimmer than the odds of cold iron appearing on the black market.

"Must it be that and nothing else?"

"This time, there's no need to increase his internal energy; ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only the dantian must be restored. But nothing except Gongcheong Stone Oil can produce healing power instantly. Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower and Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng act gradually. They are effective for increasing internal energy, but in this case, the shattered dantian must heal before the medicinal effect leaks away. That requires the immediate action of Gongcheong Stone Oil.

"Well, maybe some elixir that exists only in legend, but Master said she'd never seen even that. So apart from Gongcheong Stone Oil, there's nothing."

Lee Eun-ha stated it with finality. For a woman who loved money to speak so decisively when three hundred taels of gold were at stake meant there truly was no other way.

"You need Gongcheong Stone Oil? Then how about Jeong-hyang's milk?"

Jeong-hyang, who had suddenly entered the medicine hall, spoke with a mischievous face.

"Jeong-hyang's milk? What is that?"

"What do you think? Jeong-hyang's breast milk."

"Are you insane?! Senior Sister, don't tell me you're pregnant!"

"So even Junior Sister Lee doesn't know. Once the Yin Blossom Art reaches the Fourth Stage, a special circulation method can produce milk. I don't fully understand it, but whenever Junior Brother drinks my milk, he recovers immediately."

Lee Eun-ha endured a dizzying sensation, pressed one hand to her forehead, and sank onto a stool.

"What in the world is that Yin Blossom Art? What even is it?"

"A Taoist art that makes everyone happy. Want to learn it too, Junior Sister?"

"If I get tangled up in that too, who's going to look after Junior Sister Cho? Stop with the nonsense and just show me this Jeong-hyang's milk, or whatever it is."

At those words, Jeong-hyang laughed softly and closed the medicine hall door. Then she briskly stripped off her upper garments and exposed her white breasts before us. Lee Eun-ha had bathed with Jeong-hyang before and had long known that Jeong-hyang and I were involved, so she merely regarded Jeong-hyang's chest with an indifferent expression.

"What are you doing? You have to latch on."

"What? You want me to suck Senior Sister's breast myself, like a baby?"

"Suit yourself if you don't want to. It looks as though three hundred taels of gold will go up in smoke."

Jeong-hyang was enjoying herself immensely. In truth, her breast milk could easily be squeezed out by hand and collected in a teacup, but Jeong-hyang was thrusting out her chest to tease Lee Eun-ha, who loathed anything resembling lesbian play. Money or revulsion. After agonizing for a long while, Lee Eun-ha finally buried her face in Jeong-hyang's breast. Money really did come first, after all.

Stroking Lee Eun-ha's head like a mother, Jeong-hyang spoke to me.

"Junior Brother. Help me out."

The foundation of the Yin-Yang Art was sexual arousal. To express milk by herself, she'd have to resort to masturbation or something, but no matter who she was, Jeong-hyang doing that in front of Lee Eun-ha was too much, so she was appealing to me. In the end, I stepped behind Jeong-hyang where Lee Eun-ha couldn't see, and lightly stroked her vulva over her martial uniform trousers. Jeong-hyang rubbed her body against me, seductive and satisfied.

"Eut! Senior Sister! This is... genuinely delicious, you know?"

"Master's tastes even better. And I think Junior Sister Lee's milk would be the most delicious of all. Your breasts are bigger than Master's."

"Would you stop saying strange things? It may be nothing to you, Senior Sister, but I'm dying of embarrassment in front of Junior Brother. Still, your breast milk tastes amazing, yet I don't feel any special effect."

"Huh? That can't be right. When we were dragged to the Heavenly Wolf Sect, Master and I drank each other's milk, and we recovered immediately."

Jeong-hyang tilted her head as she spoke.

"Senior Sister, that only has a recovery effect on Yin-Yang Art practitioners. And only at the Third Stage or higher."

Worried that if I kept touching Jeong-hyang's vulva, her white martial uniform would end up damp, I withdrew my hand as I explained. Lee Eun-ha let out her irritation.

"No, then you should have told me that from the start. What is this, at my age?"

"The Yin-Yang Art itself is such a riddle that even the founder couldn't fully grasp it. It's a bizarre internal art. According to Grandmaster Hwangseong, the founder probably only ever reached the Fourth Stage at most."

Countless effects that never actually appeared in any book. The founder had likely completed the Yin-Yang Art, but I suspected he'd never been able to hold two women at once and violate their mouths and anuses. Because that wasn't a matter of the Yin-Yang Art or anything else—unless you were a man with money or charm, attempting it was flat-out impossible. Still, just reaching the Second Stage let you brim with virility, so he probably lived happily and died without regrets.

"But still. Absorbing the effectiveness of this breast milk definitely seems to be a power of the Yin-Yang Art, but if the breast milk itself has a recovery property, wouldn't that recovery happen one way or another?"

When I voiced a question that had been bothering me, Lee Eun-ha's eyes lit with realization. She gripped the Medicine Immortal's rice paddle and began discussing it with her master.

"That's right. Great Hero Peng doesn't possess the Yin-Yang Art, but if I imitate the properties of the Yang Blossom Art and infuse them into a medicinal pill, he should be able to receive the full effect of Senior Sister Jeong's breast milk."

"Yang Blossom Art? Not Yin Blossom Art?"

"Shennong Art is a yang-energy martial art. It's a furnace martial art, so naturally it is.

"Junior Brother, teach me the oral formula for the Yang Blossom Art. It may be a treasured secret of our sect, but I can't cultivate it myself, so there should be no problem."

The Yin-Yang Art that you cultivate by having sex, and the bizarre Shennong Art that builds internal power in front of a furnace. These two martial arts that shattered the common sense of the martial world met, and in Lee Eun-ha's medicine cauldron, a single medicinal pill was formed. Basically, herbal medicines are mostly black, but perhaps thanks to Jeong-hyang's breast milk, a pill as white as marble was completed, emitting a lustrous radiance.

"A-Amazing. We have created a tremendous medicinal pill that even Master has never seen. Senior Sister, once we return to the Yeongsan Sect, I will need to make many more of these. Please express your milk every day and bring it to me."

"I'm not a cow or a goat. Asking me to express milk every day is too much. Junior Sister Lee has large breasts, so she'll produce plenty. Use her milk instead."

Jeong-hyang playfully hid her chest as she spoke to Lee Eun-ha. But on her face was a look of pride, the feeling that she'd finally been of help to the sect as its head disciple.

"If I weren't your junior sister, I'd demand that you produce milk every day—not only for pills, but for cooking too."

"I'll give you some now and then, so make me lots of delicious things."

Food made with breast milk. Somehow, the idea grew horrifying. Cheese would be one thing, but before long I might be drinking Jeong-hyang milk wine, brewed from her breast milk the way mare's-milk liquor was made.

Cough.

Old Man Peng Seok, who had barely swallowed the medicinal pill and, with Peng Mu's help, circulated one microcosmic orbit, vomited black blood. Clear eyes. Steady breathing. Peng Seok finally rose from his sickbed, moved his body lightly, and soon bowed his head politely toward us.

"Thank you. I thought it was the end. I had already given up on living as a martial artist, but I am glad I struggled to the last because I wanted to hold my granddaughter one more time."

"Old man. I told you, didn't I? That there are miracles? The heavens have sent down these beautiful fairy maidens for you, so stop hurting now and live in gratitude."

The grandmother clasped the old man's hands, tears quietly trickling down. It was a truly good sight. In my past life, my existence had been erased, and I hadn't been able to watch over my parents' old age. My father in this life and Lady Tang weren't on bad terms, but they weren't deeply affectionate either. Whether a martial reputation in the world or anything else, when I reached the twilight of my own life, would we be able to share gazes so thick with love, like that?

"Unni! Unni! Pick me up!"

Once Peng Seok rose in good health, Peng So tugged urgently at Cho-ryeong. She wanted to be lifted into Peng Seok's arms. Cho-ryeong was a child too, so it should have been difficult, but the strongest child alive hoisted Peng So effortlessly and placed her against Peng Seok's chest.

"Grandfather! Are you okay now?"

"Of course. Our So has met a pretty unni, hasn't she?"

Peng Seok held Peng So tenderly, his eyes reddening.

"Ryeong unni, you know, she's really cute and pretty and strong. She used the Heaven-Churning Flash Strike with a wooden sword, and the wooden sword went bang and broke."

At Peng So's words, her mother turned pale with shock.

"It seems so. She will surely become a great martial artist."

Peng Seok, who had been stroking Peng So for a moment, looked at Master and spoke slowly.

"A disciple so young, yet already possessing a magnificent Indestructible Vajra Body; a benefactor who reminded me, Peng Seok, of the legendary Medicine Immortal. And that young martial artist, not yet thirty, who defeated my son. Yeongsan Sect Leader, looking at you has taught me once again that only a person of your character could raise such excellent disciples."

"You flatter me."

"Father. We must quickly inform the Clan Head that your internal injury has been healed."

"Indeed. I already heard from my sickbed. This Seungdeok Estate is now the land of Yeongsan Sect, not the Peng Clan, so let us exchange ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formal greetings next time, and now quickly vacate so the owners may rest comfortably."

"A complete cure in a single day. The Clan Head will be shocked too."

The grandmother spoke with warm eyes. Honestly, we were pretty shocked too.

"Now, So. Let's go back to the main house too."

Peng Mu and Peng So were father and daughter with a wide age gap. At Peng Mu's words, Peng So was already putting on a crying face.

"Can't I play with unni more?"

Peng So climbed down from Peng Seok, clutched Cho-ryeong's collar, and pleaded. Cho-ryeong hadn't expected to part so soon from the younger girl she'd just met. She held Peng So's hand tightly and looked silently toward Master.

"Uncle, this place no longer has a single servant. To ensure that the people of the Yeongsan Sect are not inconvenienced, I have decided to remain for a while. My wife and I will look after So."

At those words, Peng So beamed broadly and looked up at Peng Gang with sparkling eyes.

"This place no longer belongs to the Peng Clan. You must not inconvenience our benefactors from the Yeongsan Sect."

This time, at her father's refusal, Peng So put on a crying face again.

Those rich expressions, they really were adorable.

"However, Uncle, Peng So is already a member of the Peng Clan. Though she is young, the main family does not distinguish between children and adults when duty is involved. As you know, So has had no girls her age around her and has been very lonely. Miss Cho-ryeong must feel much the same. While she is in Hebei, So should remain at her side and help her enjoy herself. This is an official duty of the main family, so please trust So and leave her with us."

Would you look at this fellow? I had underestimated him as a direct scion of a prestigious family, but his service mentality surpassed even mine at the Baek Clan Estate. He wasn't simply a kind older male cousin indulging his younger female second cousin's whims. He was designing the finest possible hospitality, even using Peng So herself to please Cho-ryeong. The two little girls were so delighted by his words that Peng Mu finally entrusted his daughter to Peng Gang, then departed Seungdeok Estate with his parents and wife.

Though separated from her parents and grandparents, Peng So showed not a hint of regret. She simply clung to Cho-ryeong with childlike, excited eyes. Looking closely, her face really was cute. The grandmother from earlier, and the middle-aged wife of Peng Mu—since they were all women of considerable beauty, the kind who could marry into a distinguished house like the Peng Clan, Peng So, a concentration of those genes, already showed the signs of a beauty. Big eyes. Thick eyebrows. A shapely nose. And, fitting for a child to my taste, plump cheeks that twitched.

Huh? Come to think of it, Peng So and Cho-ryeong were both chewing something in their mouths, like candy.

"Hehe. It's really yummy."

"Mm. Unni."

"Senior Sister Lee always makes wonderful snacks. Thank you, Senior Sister."

"What's there to thank. I'm heading to the kitchen now, so don't pester Master and your senior sisters, and play nicely with your little sister."

Lee Eun-ha spoke kindly. She'd apparently given the children ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some kind of snack, but she'd gone straight into the medicine hall as soon as we'd arrived and had been making medicinal pills—had she had time to make snacks?

"Senior Sister Lee, my mouth smells like Senior Sister Jeong. It reminded me of when I was little."

"You're still little."

Lee Eun-ha ruffled Cho-ryeong's hair and walked toward the kitchen.

No way. Those little brats weren't sitting there sucking on that peerless elixir like candy, were they?