Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: The Blank Prescription
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As the commotion erupted, the Young Manor Lord finally made his appearance.
He scanned the faces in the crowd, his expression one of sudden understanding.
"I knew it would come to this. Quite the entertaining situation, wouldn't you say?"
From the Young Manor Lord's perspective, he had no choice but to see it that way.
Two people claiming to be disciples of the world's greatest Divine Physician had stepped forward to treat his fallen father.
"Young Manor Lord! With this woman right here, what possessed you to let that fraud in?!"
The little physician's family name must be Yeo.
From the looks of it, he was impersonating the son or grandson of the Divine Physician Ye Mi-seong.
There was no need to entertain thoughts of him being the real deal or some hidden secret from his past life.
'If that were the case, there wouldn't have been someone claiming to inherit the Divine Physician's secrets ten years later.'
The Divine Physician Ye Mi-seong had died alone, without anyone to care for him.
Had it been otherwise, no stranger would have picked up his manual.
In other words, even if this guy truly was his son or grandson, he hadn't inherited any medical arts.
No question about it.
'But damn, the kid's got some nerve pointing fingers.'
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. He countered with his own finger-pointing.
"Young Manor Lord! Chase out this con artist at once! How dare he impersonate a disciple of the world's greatest Divine Physician!"
-Brother, please!
-I've done wrong. Whatever it is, I've done wrong, so can't you just back off?
Sheesh, my ears hurt. Why's he whining like that?
Well, to the kid and Chui-dal, it probably just looked like empty bravado.
'Listen up, you have to bluff hard before showing your cards.'
Let's think of the current situation as a gambling den.
Yang-hui and his opponent were both insisting they held a strong pair.
Chui-dal and the kid knew Yang-hui's hand was trash, so they were anxious.
But in truth, their hand was trash too.
'If it's trash versus trash instead of trash versus a winner, our odds are better.'
The reason was simple. Force them to fold before they show their cards.
"Young Manor Lord, as you know, this Little Physician comes with Jeomchang's guarantee. He's the true successor who inherited everything from Hero Ye, the Divine Physician. But this young hero...?"
He kept noticing it, but this Neung-o guy had a knack for phrasing things annoyingly.
His words made him sound less like a martial artist and more like some silver-tongued beggar.
Right now, instead of saying anything outright negative, he trailed off to amplify doubts and dark imaginations.
This guy was properly trained in rhetoric.
"To reiterate, this young master is a disciple of the Divine Physician Ye."
"Can't you at least share your name?"
Thinking ahead, it was better not to reveal it.
And conveniently, he had a perfect excuse now.
"With someone guaranteed by the Nine Great Sects standing against me, how could I reveal my name? I have no desire to invite future trouble."
The Nine Great Sects' guarantee. That alone could paint him as a liar.
On the flip side, it lent perfect legitimacy to hiding his identity.
"If you have nothing to hide, you'd state your name boldly, wouldn't you?"
Good. That was exactly the response he'd expected.
He'd have been disappointed otherwise.
"We're witnessing you vouch for a con artist right before our eyes. What?"
He snorted disdainfully, as if he couldn't trust them, then turned to the Young Manor Lord.
"Young Manor Lord! I tell you plainly, that man's a fraud! I can prove myself anytime!"
"...And how exactly will you do that?"
"There's only one way to prove I'm a disciple of the Divine Physician: medicine itself! Allow me to take the pulse, and I'll treat the Manor Lord right away!"
The Little Physician shouted as if he couldn't lose.
"Same here! I'll demonstrate my skills and shut you down!"
'The mood's set. Now it's the Young Manor Lord's call.'
Logically, he'd trust the Nine Great Sects-backed Little Physician and kick him out.
'But three of the Nine Great Sects sent people. He can't possibly miss what that means.'
Damn Nine Great Sects folks really weren't manly about anything.
They always rounded up friends for everything, like they couldn't handle it alone.
Politely put, they were good at alliances; bluntly, it was the powerful ganging up to bully.
'Worse still, unlike the Five Great Clans, they don't even realize it.'
From the looks, Jeomchang was leading.
Ami and Cheongseong probably sent people out of pure concern for Jin Yeong-gil.
They tagged along when Jeomchang suggested helping fellow Sichuan folk.
Never considering that sending people pressured Jin Manor.
'Living in the mountains makes them naive, clueless about the ways of the world.'
Anyway, the Nine Great Sects always believed themselves righteous and just.
And most times, they were.
But when they weren't, the victims suffered even more unjustly.
The Young Manor Lord surely knew this.
"..."
After a moment of silence, the Young Manor Lord spoke.
"I fully trust the Little Physician endorsed by Jeomchang as a disciple of the Divine Physician. However, since things have come to this, why not make use of that one a bit?"
Neung-o stared at the Young Manor Lord impassively beside the frowning Little Physician.
The Young Manor Lord continued.
"The Little Physician is already scheduled to bestow great favor on our manor in a few days. In return, we'd like to repay some of that grace by creating an opportunity for him to shine. A medical duel between a true disciple of the Divine Physician and an imposter. Wouldn't the world watch with great interest?"
Aha. He'd always thought the Young Manor Lord was sharp.
'Can't outright say he doesn't trust the Nine Great Sects' endorsement, so he's setting up a unique stage.'
This way, even the Nine Great Sects couldn't complain about trusting their word.
After all, it was framed as an event to boost their reputation—take full advantage.
"How about this format? One incense stick's time. Each takes the pulse and writes a prescription, then shows them to a hundred physicians gathered from across Sichuan."
He struck first.
"Excellent! This will proclaim Baek Mo's innocence to the world! And boost our fame to boot, hahaha!"
A roundabout way of saying there was no reason to refuse if one was truly innocent.
"...I'll accept as well."
The Little Physician glanced subtly at Neung-o and nodded.
With that, he and the Young Manor Lord were allies.
To be precise, the Young Manor Lord was using the obvious fraud—that is, him—as a pawn to check the Nine Great Sects, but so what?
There. He'd brilliantly turned crisis into opportunity.
As a result, he could now take the pulse immediately.
-See? Crisis is just opportunity in disguise.
-How is this an opportunity?!
-Brother... even I can't side with you this time...
Sigh, fools. Time to show results at their level.
"Then, when should we prepare by, Young Manor Lord?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
That meant gathering physicians from across Sichuan.
In just one day?
'Aha, the Young Manor Lord's growing on me.'
He'd been gathering them from the start.
"No real prep needed, so today works too!"
He finished with a grin at the Little Physician.
Neung-o beside him maintained the same expression throughout.
Not blank, but... starting to feel off.
'That guy's got strategist material.'
Something about his subtle irksomeness screamed potential.
He'd make it big in the future, this Neung-o.
Why no memory of him, though?
Well, same with A-du—he'd never heard of her either.
Probably got broken midway or had circumstances.
Besides, in his past life, he'd never tangled with Jeomchang even once.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The illness afflicting Jin Yeong-gil, one of the Three Great Tycoons of the World, was commonly known as Myeonggeum Syndrome.
True to its name, it only struck those worth ten thousand gold—the rich.
No one cherished their bodies more than the wealthy.
Thus, it was well-known among physicians, yet Jin Yeong-gil died without a cure.
The reason was simple: his case didn't respond to the standard treatment.
'Essentially, it wasn't a disease but a strange affliction.'
What's the difference? Simple.
A disease is the body hurting; a strange affliction is evil qi invading the body.
Hence "strange affliction"—to ordinary physicians ignorant of qi arts, it seemed an inexplicable illness.
'Treating Myeonggeum Syndrome turned strange affliction requires spirit medicines of extreme yin and extreme yang.'
Nothing extravagant; for extreme yang, a century-old wild ginseng suffices.
The key is a martial artist using Taoist methods to burn out the evil qi with extreme yin and yang energies.
In other words, a cheap fix for the rich, who died unjustly from ignorance.
'Once the truth spread, no one could hold back a scoff.'
They'd spent fortunes on medicines to cure it, only to learn pocket change sufficed.
How could anyone stomach that?
Indeed.
Myeonggeum Syndrome was such a disease, and even as a strange affliction, not hard to cure.
He'd treated a rich client's case in his past life out of boredom—definitely curable.
But...
'Myeonggeum Syndrome. Not just a simple strange affliction.'
He looked down at the emaciated middle-aged man's body.
Without revealing his identity, Jin Manor's numerous guards glared with sword-like killing intent; some even held blades to his throat.
Ignoring it all, he gripped the wrist and began taking the pulse.
'Felt it with qi sense, but touching confirms it. Ha, haha.'
He laughed in disbelief.
Past physicians treating Myeonggeum Syndrome always had one question.
It was a disease only about twenty years old.
So how did it originate?
What caused it to strike only the rich?
'No wonder they couldn't find the cause. It wasn't a disease—it was sabotage from the start.'
"Young Master Baek, time's up for the pulse. Now write your prescription."
Instead of taking brush and ink, he crossed his arms and pondered.
From outside, whispers of the gathered physicians reached him.
Not just them—spectators packed the place, turning Jin Manor's outer grounds into a marketplace.
'What to do?'
As he didn't write, mocking vibes crept in.
The imposter Little Physician smirked smugly. Disappointment clouded the faces of Ami’s nun and Cheongseong’s Taoist.
Amid it, Neung-o remained utterly expressionless.
"Time's up."
The Young Manor Lord slammed the blank paper before him.
The Little Physician had pulsed first, so now compare the two prescriptions to decide the winner.
"One blank means the result's obvious."
That was the moment.
Yang-hui shot to his feet, shouting to the crowd.
"This young master's name is Baek Yang-hui!"
-Brother?! Why reveal your name?!
-No, in this humiliating mess, what are you thinking?!
Ignoring Chui-dal and Baek Heon-so, he continued.
"Eldest young master of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan of Gangseo, who by chance encountered the Divine Physician in youth and dared request discipleship!"
Neung-o, still wearing his usual face, stepped forward.
"So we finally learn the savior's identity. But why submit a blank prescription and step forward like this?"
"The reason for the blank prescription! Manor Lord Jin Yeong-gil's illness isn't something medicines can handle!"
The reaction was lukewarm. Naturally—anything from a blank submitter sounded like excuses.
Then, his trump card.
'Trash or pair, our hand's stronger. Time to raise the stakes max.'
"My words hold not a shred of falsehood—it's the truth! The Tang Clan will vouch for it!"
"Tang Clan?"
"Why the Tang Clan out of nowhere...?"
"The Tang Clan, masters of Sichuan's finest medical poison arts."
The Tang Clan's medical-poison skills were top-tier worldwide.
One might wonder why Jin Manor hadn't called them yet.
Probably political reasons preventing it.
'Jin Manor's politics aren't my concern.'
They might even be thrilled.
"Send for someone from the Tang Clan! Relay my name, and the Young Clan Leader will come personally. Then I'll speak further."
The Young Manor Lord dispatched a man at once.
Tang Gun arrived at Jin Manor in just one hour, apparently rushing like mad.
-Hui, my brother. Were you really connected to the Divine Physician?
He asked via transmission with an urgent expression, so he replied.
-Nope. It was a lie.
"..."
Tang Gun muttered unwittingly.
"We're screwed."
Tang bro, you know words like that too?
Hey now, language from a Young Clan Leader.
Looks like he'd have to teach Tang bro as well.
How to turn crisis into opportunity.