Chapter 8 – Reverse Interview (3)
It was somewhat surprising to learn that Cheol-san Ajusshi knew medical skills, so while following the village chief to his house, I asked the Tang Family’s warrior.
In the time we’ve been living together, I heard that the Sachuan’s Tang Family is a clan in Sachuan that cultivates martial arts.
But their specialty was unusual, specializing in poison, right?
So, it meant they were a family that researched and refined ways to kill people using poison.
Kind of like a legendary family of assassins, maybe?
Therefore, the reverse-interview score had been dropping quite a bit.
But if the Tang Family was also proficient in medicine, it seemed acceptable to learn medicine from them instead of just deadly ways of using poison.
Even if it’s non-mainstream, I could just switch my tech to that.
After all, isn’t choosing one’s tech a matter of personal preference?
‘Sachuan’s Tang Family’s medical specialization. Quite good?’
[But is it really true about the medical skills?]
Therefore, when I looked at the Tang Family’s warrior with a questioning expression, he smiled and answered with enthusiasm and sincerity, as if he really wanted me to join the Sachuan’s Tang Family.
“Our Tang Family’s martial arts specialize in poison skills, so we are proficient in medicine as much as we handle poison. Medicine is essentially linked to poison. And martial arts begin with understanding one’s body, so we naturally know a fair bit about medicine.
To harm another’s body, one must understand the body well.
Well, our Sachuan’s Tang Family needs to understand how poison reacts with the human body, so we capture bad guys and try injecting them with it. So, naturally, we are more knowledgeable about medicine than other families.”
“Aha… Is that so?”
The warriors were using honorifics to me, desperately trying to recruit me into the Sachuan’s Tang Family.
But after hearing his explanation, my image of the Sachuan’s Tang Family was of a crazy family that studied the human body to kill people and even conducted human experiments.
Even a psychopath family aiming for mass murder using poison.
‘Researching the body to kill people efficiently… reverse-interview score -50 points. Crazy human experiment reverse-interview score -100 points. Totally a psychopath family. But civilian support +3 points.’
Aside from flying skills and support for civilians, the reverse-interview score for the Sachuan’s Tang Family was only decreasing.
It was while I was mentally evaluating the Tang Family in my head.
Arriving at the village chief’s house, Cheol-san Ajusshi placed his hand on the child’s chest and seemed to do something, then the child’s rapidly beating heart calmed down, and the child took a deep breath.
-Sigh…
Cheol-san Ajusshi, who had somehow stabilized the child’s breathing.
Ajusshi wiped his forehead and said to the village chief.
“I’ve infused internal energy into the body to prevent the breath from stopping for now.”
“Th-thank you! Sob… She’s my only granddaughter, please save her.”
But then, he looked at the village chief’s granddaughter for a while and seemed puzzled.
“But this is strange. An irregular pulse?”
“What does that mean?”
‘Irregular pulse, as in arrhythmia. A heart condition?’
I hadn’t studied medicine, but in my past life, I specialized in poisons and venomous creatures, which meant I also had some medical knowledge.
So, I kind of got a hint from Cheol-san Ajusshi’s explanation.
“It means the heart is not beating properly. Hasn’t the child been like this since birth?”
‘Ah, so he’s asking if it’s a heart condition.’
“Of course. It’s been half a year already, and people suddenly become sick and end up like this. We call it a strange illness. The reason we told you to turn back at the village entrance was because of this.”
Despite being a relatively kind Lei clan, they had been cold to us, likely due to the village’s plight. After hearing his explanation, Cheol-san Ajusshi nodded and replied.
“It doesn’t seem to be an infectious disease, so it should be alright. But to save the child, we need to examine others as well. Could you gather anyone else suffering from the same strange illness?”
“I understand!”
As Ajusshi said, since I knew of no contagious diseases that harm the heart among the diseases I was aware of, I was slightly relieved.
Following the village chief’s instructions, sick people began gathering in front of his house, and Ajusshi spent a considerable amount of time taking their pulses.
However, after examining all the patients and noting their symptoms on paper, Cheol-san Ajusshi shook his head with an expression that seemed to say he couldn’t understand something.
“Lethargy, swelling in the eyes, irregular pulse, mild fever, but the symptoms aren’t the same for everyone. Those with severe symptoms all seem to have problems with their hearts, which is curious.”
Some people were lethargic and feverish, some had arrhythmia and swollen eyes, and those with severe symptoms all had heart problems.
Hearing this, the village chief asked with a fearful expression.
“Can’t, can’t it be cured?”
“I’ll write down a prescription for a medicine that’s good for the heart. Could you gather the ingredients quickly? Let’s try using the medicine.”
But as expected of someone trained in medicine, Ajusshi avoided a direct answer and proposed to try treating them.
Not knowing the cause, it felt like symptomatic treatment, but the village chief, seeing it as hope, called the villagers to gather herbs and ran out.
“Everyone gather! The physician has asked us to find medicine!”
***
The reason I couldn’t just pass by despite it being someone else’s matter.
It was because seeing the sick girl reminded me of Hwa-eun in Sachuan.
‘I’m sorry, Father. I’ve, I’ve failed you.’
My daughter, who had failed in martial arts cultivation and turned pale blue due to poison intoxication, apologizing.
Remembering her face, I couldn’t just leave.
That’s why Tang Cheol-san took great care in treating the child.
Being a parent who has a sick daughter or granddaughter, he understood the pain better than anyone.
While taking care of the child, he also prepared medicines, washing the eyes of those with eye problems and applying medicine.
For those with a fever, he made and administered antipyretic powder to reduce their fever.
After examining all the patients, it started to get dark around.
One of the Tang Family’s warriors approached and offered a wet towel.
“Family Head, please wipe your face at least. You have worked hard.”
“Thank you, Gu Pae.”
“Thankful? Not at all.”
The person handing over the towel was Gu Pae, the deputy head of the Poison Blood Squad.
He was a person of excellent character and respected by the warriors of the clan.
He had stayed here because he got injured while trying to save other warriors from a life-threatening situation during the capture of the Blue-Spotted Centipede.
“And how is the Young Hero?”
“Oh, he was helping with the work and seemed tired, so I laid him down in a room as he was sleeping.”
“I see, it must have been hard for him to keep up with us for several days without knowing martial arts. So, how did you find the Young Hero during these days?”
Tang Cheol-san asked Gu Pae about Wei Xiaolong.
He had asked Gu Pae to observe the Young Hero’s character for a few days, wanting to know his nature, as he might become his son-in-law. After all, apart from talent, character was also important.
“Since the Young Hero isn’t officially a member of our Sachuan’s Tang Family yet, may I speak honestly?”
“Of course.”
Tang Cheol-san nodded, as that was what he wanted to hear, and Gu Pae began to talk about his experiences with the Young Hero.
“First of all, being an orphan living alone in the jungles of Haenam Island, raising venomous creatures, he’s certainly a peculiar person. At his age, it’s natural to long for people.”
“Yes, the Young Hero is certainly peculiar.”
“Yes, but if you ask if his nature is twisted like some peculiar people in the martial world, that’s not the case. He may not be ordinary, but he doesn’t seem to have a cruel or brutal nature.”
“Before coming here, he released some of the venomous creatures he was raising, thinking they might die, which shows he’s not cruel. So, he lacks nothing to be my son-in-law?”
Tang Cheol-san’s question was met with Gu Pae bowing his head.
“Yes, but there’s something I’m concerned about…”
Cheol-san nodded slightly at Gu Pae’s words, indicating that something was bothering him despite saying everything was fine.
“So, what’s the problem? You said everything was fine.”
“It’s about his… qualifications.”
Tang Cheol-san was aware of it too.
The Young Hero was only fourteen or fifteen.
It was a bit late for starting to learn martial arts, and he also knew that the Young Hero’s own qualifications weren’t that great.
However, Hwa-eun was there for martial arts, and the Young Hero’s value wasn’t in martial arts, so he shook his head.
With the Young Hero’s talents, it might be possible to enhance the Tang Family’s martial arts.
No, it was certain to enhance it.
“Don’t worry. The Young Hero’s value isn’t in such things. Haven’t we all seen it? The venomous creatures he raised.”
“Still… as the partner for the young lady, if he were more exceptional in various aspects…”
“Haha, you’re getting greedy. Someone might think you’re Hwa-eun’s father.”
“I apologize, Family Head.”
Gu Pae’s words were all out of concern for the Tang Family and Hwa-eun.
At those words, Tang Cheol-san smiled broadly.
It meant that Gu Pae cared that much for the Sachuan’s Tang Family and Hwa-eun.
And after thinking about Sachuan’s Tang Family and Hwa-eun, his gaze turned towards the girl who was still unconscious.
“This girl is in serious trouble.”
Although he managed to lower her fever with antipyretic powder and raise her depleted energy with another medicine, the root cause remained unidentified.
If the heart’s problem wasn’t resolved, the irregular pulse would return.
If he left, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee the girl’s life.
“Haven’t you found the cause?”
“Not at all. As you know, there are few in the Tang Clan who have read as many medical texts as I have. But I have never seen or heard of such a disease.”
“We can’t stay here forever, can we? It’s a serious issue.”
“Yes, it is. Would you like to check once?”
Hoping for a miracle, Cheol-san asked Gu Pae to check the girl’s pulse, but Gu Pae shook his head after examining her.
“I don’t know either.”
In the end, both were at a loss for a solution, and as the night completely fell, insects started flying around the lanterns outside.
“Ah, I should check if our son-in-law is sleeping well. The insects are swarming in. It’s hot here, almost as many insects as in the jungles of Yunnan.”
“I’ll escort you. This way, please. You guys take care of this young lady.”
“Understood, Deputy Head.”
Leaving the young lady in the care of other warriors, Cheol-san went to check on the son-in-law who was sleeping.
In the flickering lantern light, the face of the young son-in-law asleep.
He was looking fondly at the sleeping figure of his future son-in-law when…
-Padadadak.
Suddenly, the sound of an insect flying could be heard, and one landed on the son-in-law’s forehead. The insect slowly crawled across his cheek, heading towards his lips.
‘No, not that insect!’
It would be a big problem if the son-in-law got bitten by an insect.
There were many venomous insects in Haenam that he was unaware of.
So, Tang Cheol-san quickly rushed towards the son-in-law and swatted the insect with all his might.
-Zzzap!
He couldn’t forgive it for trying to bite his son-in-law.
“Aaah!”
However, in his determination to catch the reckless insect, Cheol-san had forgotten that it was crawling on his son-in-law’s cheek.
As a result, the son-in-law woke up from his sleep, clutching his now red-swollen cheek, and looked resentfully at Tang Cheol-san.
“What is this all about!? Ouch, it hurts!”
It must have been both baffling and resentful to be hit on the cheek out of nowhere in the middle of the night.
Scratching his head, Tang Cheol-san replied awkwardly.
“So-sorry. There was an insect crawling on your cheek, and I tried to hit it. It was thoughtless of me.”
“No, Elder. In trying to catch the insect, you ended up hitting me first. Oh, my cheek.”
“I’m really sorry. Truly. I saw this huge insect crawling on your cheek and my hand just reacted without thinking. Look at this, isn’t it a big insect?”
Trying to justify his actions as being for his son-in-law’s sake, Tang Cheol-san held out the insect he had caught, which was still sticking to his palm.
Fortunately, the son-in-law’s resentful gaze shifted from Tang Cheol-san to the insect.
But then something strange happened.
Upon examining the insect, the son-in-law suddenly widened his groggy eyes, brought his face close to the insect still in its form on Cheol-san’s palm.
Then, he abruptly pulled Tang Cheol-san’s hand towards the lantern, and an expression of surprise appeared on the son-in-law’s face.
“What, what is this? Why are these things here!?”
It seemed like it was a kind of insect that shouldn’t be there, yet it was.
Tang Cheol-san cautiously asked.
“What kind of insect is this that you react so?”
The son-in-law looked up at Tang Cheol-san and answered.
“Kiss, no… Since this is the Central Plains… What should we call it? Ah! Yes! Kissing Bug! This is a Kissing Bug, Elder.”
“Kissing Bug?”
A bug that kisses.
Tang Cheol-san’s eyes widened at the name of the insect, which sounded quite lewd.
The name of the insect was indeed somewhat scandalous.
***
If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.
Thank you for reading!
[Author – 에르훗]
[Translator – Roshi, bjgoofy]
([postCard][label:_random][title:You Might Like]) ([fullHeader][background:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNww31LmT9MEFS1TRan6U029JYS5TUIFFDG1bfc0h8hQsIPn2714hXiIOwm2b_CYbUciEiAKbK35RlX3Wgp7Qw5qW2tOLY8JSl3iWfdyKJO0YhO0o3Mb95YAxZUJtrZ7svGOTCMC3eofdj2MTDoHNHHzgiyo08KpJxrdOmQe1ElHIXUC-I4J4z1k1W8PY/s1600/wp11397860.jpg][subtitle:Entomologist In Sichuan Tang Clan, Fabre in Sichuan’s Tang Family, The Poison Master of Sacheondang Clan, 파브르 in 사천당가, Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang, FST])