I Spent One Night with the Terminally Ill Daughter of the World’s Greatest Warrior

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The next morning.

While Mo Yongseol, who had quite a rough night, slept in late, I seriously pondered the correlation between the Sickness of Absolute Meridians and mental illness.

“Could the Sickness of Absolute Meridians induce madness in a person?”

Those afflicted by the sickness have shortened lifespans. Living on borrowed time, the resulting mental anguish is unimaginable, but physical suffering accompanies it as well.

The agony of a body tearing apart.

As long as it’s just the qi meridians being pressed down, it’s manageable enough. But when this Yin energy begins to press on the blood vessels, normal life becomes impossible.

A person can only function if blood circulates throughout the body.

If the blood fails to circulate, it’s not surprising if that area becomes necrotic or the person simply dies.

To put it in terms a regular person might understand, think of the pain of stubbing your little toe against a door frame happening all over your body every fifteen minutes.

That’s the pain at its ‘lowest point.’

In severe cases, it might even feel better to take a hit from someone else.

Chills, vomiting, abdominal pain—Sickness of Absolute Meridians is a crazy disease that leads to all sorts of complications.

If it weren’t for the natural talent of being a reborn martial artist, and even with a healthy body compared to an average person, one might think, “I wish I could just die.”

Knowing the suffering that comes with such pain, it was only natural for me to recognize that the patient was mentally tormented and struggling—

“I’ve been focusing on Mo Yongseol for nearly three years, but I never expected this kind of madness to emerge.”

That mental pain could drive someone to frenzy, just as it did with Yu Giyeon.

“Delusional disorder.”

My knowledge of Sickness of Absolute Meridians increased. It felt as though the common understanding I had before began to crumble.

For instance, Mo Yongseol displayed a rather ‘normal’ reaction.

—”Young lady, you need to eat. Just try this…”

—”I won’t eat!!!”

Back when I first started treating her, a maid once threw the porridge she brought onto the floor, scattering it everywhere.

—”Ugh…!”

—”Ah, goodness…! Young lady…! If you don’t eat even this…”

—”Get this cleaned up and leave. Just the smell of the porridge is enough to make the young lady feel like she’s dying.”

—”As if some rookie doctor just walked in! I’ve served the young lady for over three years!”

—”Shut up.”

Ordinary people might think Mo Yongseol was just being difficult, but knowing her condition, I completely understood.

—”The yang energy from the porridge is reacting negatively with the yin energy within her, damaging her body.”

—”Wh-what does that mean…?”

—”How can someone without a basic understanding of inner energy and martial arts be in charge of her meals?”

She couldn’t even chew her food, and the warm porridge meant to nourish her was intensifying the pain from her own yin energy, leading to a stabbing discomfort in her blood vessels.

In the end, rather than cleaning up the porridge, I moved the patient herself and had her eat cold food instead.

It was a proper treatment, and when I fed her, she remained calm.

Such incidents were not few.

Mo Yongseol tried her best to restrain herself, but who can think of others when they feel as though their body is being torn apart?

Let alone those who brought pain, they would care even less about others.

So, it was a bit confusing.

I thought it was typical for patients suffering from Sickness of Absolute Meridians to react aggressively—breaking things, screaming, or yelling for everything to go away.

But encountering someone like Yu Giyeon was entirely new.

“Still, can’t be helped.”

It was my first trial, but for the sake of the Mo Yong Family, and to maintain my integrity, the ‘first experiment’ had to go well.

With a flourish, I scattered the prepared herbs in a wooden bowl.

Including He Shou Wu among other nurturing herbs, I ground them into powder and sprinkled it with powdered resin for fragrance.

Chomp, chomp.

I chewed rice—not because I aimed to eat it, but to gather saliva by chewing.

Swish.

I spat out the rice, and the next steps needn’t be described.

I collected the powder and moisture to form it into something akin to a medicinal pill.

I rolled the herbal powder into a ball the size of a fingertip and added moisture promptly to ensure it held together.

“Do I just eat this as it is?”

Mo Yongseol approached from behind and hugged me from the back.

The softness and warmth that touched the back of my neck made me want to tilt my head back and take a nice nap.

“It won’t help you.”

“Why not?”

“You’re already harboring more concentrated yang energy than this pill, and the warmth I feel against my back exceeds this pill’s yang energy.”

“Hmph, is that so…?”

Mo Yongseol rested her chin on my head and looked down at me.

“This pill, um…”

“Delusional disorder.”

My understanding of the Sickness of Absolute Meridians deepened.

“Does it have any effect on that Yu Giyeon woman?”

“Of course… Still, I feel a bit uneasy about it.”

I took out a silver box from the items beside the table.

“What’s that…?”

“My master’s keepsake, the White Silver Needle.”

Just as martial artists should always carry a sword, physicians must carry needles.

And this iron needle was the relic my master, the witch doctor Baek Myeon, left me.

“Ugh.”

Mo Yongseol panicked at the sight of the needle in the box.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, ahaha. It’s nothing…”

“Speaking of which, you once tried to stab me with that, didn’t you?”

“Ugh.”

I pulled out a long needle.

Though thin at the tip like a hair, in the hands of a master, if it were to pierce an eye, it could not only lead to blindness but also instant death.

“I understand. You precisely pierced where the yin energy gathered.”

“That, back then…!”

“You didn’t stab, so it’s fine. Thanks to that, I realized that acupuncture shouldn’t be used carelessly on patients with Sickness of Absolute Meridians.”

I lightly pricked my own thumb with the needle.

“If you had undergone the pain of being stabbed, you might not have been alive right now.”

“…Are you being too overly nice about it?”

“A patient reacting violently to a specific treatment means that the treatment isn’t right. If you don’t tell them that, you risk killing them instead.”

I rubbed the back of my head lightly.

“Thanks to you rushing at me with that needle shouting, ‘It hurts,’ I was able to either not torment or kill you back then, and you’re here now.”

“…Well, it did end up being the correct treatment, didn’t it?”

Mo Yongseol gently stroked my neck with her hand.

“You pierced a girl’s body with the thickest, largest needle, so it certainly would count as an acupuncture treatment, right?”

“And I infused yang energy through that needle?”

“At first, it hurt a little, but after the pain started to diminish, the pleasure became stronger each time I was stabbed, you know?”

“Then let’s just say this White Silver Needle wasn’t appropriate.”

After pulling out the needle that pricked my thumb, I slowly rubbed a drop of blood onto the gathered medicine.

“Won’t they catch onto the blood scent easily?”

“They probably will. But they wouldn’t think it’s human blood, nor that it’s a physician’s blood.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. Fortunately, as a physician at the Medical Hall and your significant other, I have a certain level of influence in the Mo Yong Family and can manage this.”

After shaping the medicine, I reached out with my right hand, moving my fingers as though mimicking an animal’s movement.

“I’ll say it’s blended with the blood of a strong horse.”

“The blood of a horse…?”

“Mahae.”

Not demonic blood.

It would truly be horse blood, and the Mo Yong Family regularly captures horses and draws their blood to disguise the ingredients used in the medicine.

Just like how it’s used for the Extreme Yang Reversal.

“In reality, it’s my bodily fluid that can treat Yu Giyeon’s Sickness of Absolute Meridians. Particularly… this single drop of blood masquerading as horse blood.”

I gingerly placed the blood-stained medicine on a pre-prepared premium storage case using metal tweezers.

“With this, it’s like that renowned Great Revival Pill.”

“It looks more impressive than the Great Revival Pill, honestly.”

“Oh, you mentioned you’ve personally tried the Great Revival Pill.”

Sword Saint Mo Yongcheon went to Shaolin and managed to obtain the Great Revival Pill, which could be taken once every decade, and fed it to Mo Yongseol.

That was about ten years ago.

Before she was even known to the Demon Cult as a patient of Sickness of Absolute Meridians.

“What was it like? Did you feel like you were getting better?”

“Tasted awful, yet they acted like it was a miracle, those monks.”

Mo Yongseol was openly repulsed by the monks of Shaolin.

“When I confidently presented the Great Revival Pill to my father, it turned out to be of no help, and after he scolded me greatly, I couldn’t lift my head for a while. New Ascendant.”

“The New Ascendant, huh.”

I had heard stories.

He’s the person I worry about the most.

“Is Yu Giyeon perhaps connected to Shaolin?”

“Excuse me?”

“Those who most fiercely deny the existence of Extreme Yang Reversal would surely be from Shaolin.”

In the Martial World, the status of the Great Revival Pill was as high as the heavens.

A cure-all.

Except for Sickness of Absolute Meridians.

“But this pill can only cure Sickness of Absolute Meridians.”

“That’s right.”

Only Sickness of Absolute Meridians.

“…If it can treat the delusional disorder caused by the Sickness of Absolute Meridians, that would be a different story.”

***

Afternoon.

I arrived at the Medical Hall, and behind me, Mo Yongseol shot icy glares at others to prevent anyone from approaching.

“I’m sorry, Physician Seok.”

Yu Gwain, head of the Purple Sword Gate, bowed.

“As you can see, my daughter is like this, so she can’t cause any commotion.”

“Uh, um.”

The first thing I saw upon entering the sickroom was Yu Giyeon, entirely melded with the sickbed.

She merely stared blankly at the ceiling, her entire body bound by black ropes.

“Did you use bloodletting?”

“How could I carelessly perform bloodletting on a patient with Sickness of Absolute Meridians? I told you that if I see one more act of madness, I’ll treat my daughter like any dead girl, so don’t dare speak crazy words in front of you!”

“…Um.”

Yu Gwain’s words reflected how severe things had been yesterday in various ways.

“I’ll prescribe the Extreme Yang Reversal.”

“Oh, ohh…! That is…!”

“We can’t be sure if it will be effective. This was meticulously concocted with herbs tailored for Lady Mo Yong. The martial arts you’ve practiced are different, and your quality of energy is different as well…”

“I just sincerely hope that Physician Seok’s skills can heal all the women in the world. I implore you.”

“If that’s the case.”

As Yu Gwain stepped aside, I positioned myself directly in front of Yu Giyeon and took out the Extreme Yang Reversal.

“…….”

Whatever warning she had received, Yu Giyeon opened her mouth without a word, and I extended the pill towards her.

Slurp.

Yu Giyeon took the pill into her mouth, and I immediately poured water in to help her swallow it.

“…….”

I merely had to wait quietly—

She twitched.

At that moment, Yu Giyeon’s fingers trembled ever so slowly.

“Physician!!”

“……?!!”

Yu Giyeon’s eyes and mouth opened wide, and a chill erupted from her entire body.

Mo Yongseol pulled me forward, reaching out, and I barely managed to open my eyes and assess the patient’s condition.

Squish, crack.

“…Huh?”

It was as if her skin was splitting apart.

Like a pupa undergoing metamorphosis.

Crumple, crumble.

Yu Giyeon’s body seemed to crack as her skin split, revealing something white and pure underneath.

“What, what is….”

Yu Gwain muttered with a trembling voice.

“W-what exactly is the Extreme Yang Reversal…?”

To me, with a voice filled with fear and formalities.

“This incredible power of background… Could it possibly be the Reversal of Aging…? No, what is this…!”

“…….”

I don’t know.

What the hell is this?

“Not quite the Reversal of Aging…”

Just by looking at her skin.

“It looks like it might be something like… a Reversal of Aging Maiden.”

Yu Giyeon appeared to have regressed to roughly the age of 20.

“…….”

I looked at Mo Yongseol.

“…….”

Ah.

I realized.

A sparrow can become a stork, but a woman who has always been a phoenix can never undergo a transformation.

An ugly woman can become beautiful, but a beautiful woman, having always been so, would see little change.

“Ha.”

I messed up.

“A Reversal of Aging Maiden, huh.”

The Sickness of Absolute Meridians was cured.

With a slight, not exactly a side effect, a side effect nonetheless.