Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The revelation that Cheolsan knew medicine was quite unexpected. As we followed the village chief to his house, I couldn’t help but ask one of the Tang Clan warriors about it.

From what I had gathered during our time together, the Tang Clan in Sichuan was a martial family renowned for its unique specialization: poison.

In essence, they were a clan that studied and honed methods to kill using poison.

It gave off the vibe of a legendary assassin family.

Because of that, my mental evaluation of them had been steadily declining.

But if the Tang Clan were also proficient in medicine, that could balance things out. After all, instead of just developing ways to kill with poison, they could also channel their knowledge into healing.

Everyone’s path is their own to choose, right?

‘A Tang Clan that specializes in medicine… Now that would be something.’

[But is it true about their medical expertise?]

I glanced at the Tang Clan warrior, silently asking the question, and he smiled as he replied, clearly eager to make a good impression. It was as if he wanted to recruit me into the Tang Clan at all costs.

“The Tang Clan’s martial arts focus on poison techniques, so naturally, we must be well-versed in medicine as well. Medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin.

Furthermore, martial arts begin with understanding the human body, so a certain level of medical knowledge is essential.

If one intends to harm someone else’s body, one must first understand it deeply.

For instance, our clan captures bad people to test how poison reacts in their bodies. Because of that, we naturally have a deeper understanding of medicine compared to other clans.”

“I see… Is that so?”

The warrior even used polite speech as if that would sway me toward joining their clan.

But after hearing his explanation, my mental image of the Tang Clan transformed into something far more sinister—a clan of lunatics conducting human experiments to perfect their poison techniques.

A group of psychopaths who studied the human body just to find better ways to kill, even developing poisons for mass murder.

‘Studying the human body to kill more effectively… Mental interview score: -50. Conducting human experiments: -100. Complete psychopath clan. But I’ll give them +3 for community service.’

In the end, aside from their impressive qinggong and willingness to help the village, the Tang Clan’s mental interview score was steadily plummeting.

As I internally graded the Tang Clan, we arrived at the village chief’s house. Cheolsan placed his hand on the chest of the child lying unconscious and did something. The child’s rapid breathing gradually calmed, and she let out a deep sigh.

Phew…

Whatever Cheolsan had done, it seemed to stabilize her condition.

Wiping his forehead, he turned to the village chief.

“For now, I’ve infused some internal energy into her body to prevent her condition from worsening.”

“Th-thank you! Please… save her. She’s my only remaining granddaughter!”

After examining her for a while longer, Cheolsan frowned in confusion.

“This is strange. She has Bujo Pulse.”

“Bujo Pulse? What does that mean?”

‘Bujo Pulse… That sounds like arrhythmia. Could it be a heart condition?’

While I wasn’t formally trained in medicine, my past life as a poison and venom specialist had given me some familiarity with medical and toxicological terms.

So, I had a vague idea of what Cheolsan meant.

“It means her heart isn’t beating properly. Was the child like this from birth?”

‘Ah, so he’s asking if it’s congenital heart disease.’

“No, no! This started half a year ago. It wasn’t just her—others in the village also fell ill. We’ve called it a plague. That’s why I told you to leave earlier, to avoid getting caught up in it.”

The village chief’s explanation shed light on why the normally hospitable Yuezu had treated us so coldly. It was because of their troubles.

Hearing this, Cheolsan nodded thoughtfully.

“It doesn’t seem to be a contagious disease, so there’s no need to worry. However, to save the child, I’ll need to examine others who might be suffering from the same condition. Can you gather them here?”

“Of course!”

Relieved that it wasn’t likely a contagious disease affecting the heart, I relaxed a little.

At the village chief’s call, the sick villagers began gathering outside his house. Cheolsan took his time examining each patient and jotting down their symptoms.

But after completing his evaluations, he shook his head in puzzlement.

“Fatigue, swollen eyes, irregular pulses, and mild fevers… But the symptoms aren’t consistent. For those with severe cases, it all seems to stem from problems with their hearts. It’s peculiar.”

Some villagers had fatigue and fever, others swollen eyes and arrhythmia, and the most severe cases all seemed to involve heart issues.

The village chief, alarmed, asked nervously, “Does this mean… it can’t be cured?”

“For now, I’ll prescribe medicine that’s good for the heart. Please gather the ingredients as quickly as possible, and we’ll see if it helps.”

As expected of someone trained in medicine, Cheolsan avoided giving a definitive answer, instead focusing on symptomatic treatment.

To the village chief and the villagers, even this brought hope. They immediately scattered to gather the necessary herbs.

“Everyone, gather! The physician has asked for herbs to prepare medicine!”

***

The sight of the sick girl had reminded Cheolsan of Hwa-eun back in Sichuan.

”F-Forgive me, Father... I’ve been unfilial...”

Her face pale and blue from poison after failing to complete her martial training, she had apologized to him with trembling lips.

That memory resurfaced, and he couldn’t bring himself to turn away.

It was with that thought in mind that Cheolsan devoted himself to examining the girl with utmost care.

He understood better than anyone the pain of a parent whose child or grandchild was ill.

Between tending to the child, Cheolsan also prepared medicines: washing the eyes of those with vision issues, applying ointments, and administering fever-reducing powder (Haeyeolsan).

By the time all the patients had been seen to, dusk had settled.

One of the Tang Clan warriors approached, handing him a damp towel.

”Clan Head, please wipe your face. You’ve worked hard.”

”Thank you, Gu Pae.”

”No need for thanks, Clan Head.”

The man offering the towel was Gu Pae, vice-captain of the Poison-Blood Squad (Dokhyeoldae).

Gu Pae was a man of outstanding character, highly respected by the clan’s warriors. His presence in Hainan was due to injuries he’d sustained saving his comrades during the capture of the Blue-Spotted Centipede.

”And the young one?”

”Ah, he seemed exhausted after helping, so I laid him down to rest in a room.”

”I see. He’s not trained in martial arts, so traveling with us for days must have been tough. What do you think of him, having observed him these past few days?”

Cheolsan was asking for Gu Pae’s honest impression of Wei Su Long.

Though Su Long’s talents were important, so too was his character. After all, this was someone who might marry into the Tang Clan.

”Since he’s not yet part of our Tang Clan, may I speak freely?”

”Of course.”

Nodding, Cheolsan gestured for Gu Pae to continue.

”First, it’s remarkable that he managed to live alone in Hainan’s jungle, raising venomous creatures. At his age, it’s only natural to long for human companionship.”

”Indeed, Su Long is unique in that regard.”

”Yes, but he doesn’t have the eccentric personality of the other martial world’s so-called ‘oddballs.’ While he isn’t ordinary, he doesn’t seem cruel or malicious either.”

”Before coming here, he even released some of the venomous creatures he had raised, knowing he might not survive the journey. That alone suggests he doesn’t have a cruel nature. So, would you say he’s fit to be my son-in-law?”

Gu Pae lowered his head slightly.

”Yes, but there is one concern...”

Though Cheolsan had been assured moments ago, the mention of a concern made him tilt his head in curiosity.

”And what would that be? You said he was fine.”

”It’s his aptitude…”

Cheolsan was already aware of this.

At fourteen or fifteen, Su Long was a bit late to start martial arts training, and his natural talent wasn’t particularly impressive either.

But Cheolsan shook his head. Martial prowess wasn’t what gave Su Long his value to the Tang Clan.

The young man’s unique abilities had the potential to significantly advance the clan’s poison techniques. In fact, it was almost certain they would.

”Don’t worry about that. Su Long’s value lies elsewhere. We’ve all seen the venomous creatures he raised, haven’t we?”

”Even so… For the young lady’s partner, someone more exceptional might be preferable…”

”Haha, you’re acting like you’re Hwa-eun’s father. Be careful, Gu Pae.”

”Apologies, Clan Head.”

Gu Pae’s concerns stemmed from his care for the Tang Clan and Hwa-eun.

Seeing this, Cheolsan smiled warmly. It was a testament to Gu Pae’s loyalty to the clan.

As the conversation turned to the Tang Clan and Hwa-eun, Cheolsan’s gaze shifted to the unconscious girl.

”This child remains a problem.”

Though he had lowered her fever and prepared restorative medicine, the root cause of her condition remained a mystery.

If the issue with her heart wasn’t resolved, her Bujo Pulse would return. And once Cheolsan left, her survival couldn’t be guaranteed.

”Still no clues about the cause?”

”Not at all. As you know, there are few in the Tang Clan who’ve studied medical texts as much as I have, yet I’ve never seen or heard of a disease like this.”

”If we can’t stay here indefinitely, that’s a problem.”

”Indeed. Would you like to take a look yourself?”

With a faint hope, Cheolsan had Gu Pae examine the girl’s pulse, but he, too, shook his head.

”I don’t know either.”

The two continued to deliberate, but no solution came to mind.

By now, the sky had gone completely dark, and insects were drawn to the lanterns, buzzing incessantly.

”I should check on our young guest. With all these bugs flying around, he might need to be covered. This place is as teeming with insects as the jungles of Yunnan.”

”I’ll escort you. This way, Clan Head. You two, keep an eye on the young lady.”

”Yes, Vice-Captain.”

Leaving the girl in the care of other warriors, Cheolsan and Gu Pae went to check on Su Long.

Inside the room, by the flickering lantern light, Su Long was fast asleep.

Smiling warmly, Cheolsan watched the young man.

Then—

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

A bug flew in and landed on Su Long’s forehead. It slowly crawled down to his cheek and began making its way toward his lips.

‘You insolent creature!’

If Su Long were bitten, it could be catastrophic. Hainan was home to countless poisonous insects, many unknown even to Cheolsan.

Without hesitation, Cheolsan dashed forward and swatted the insect with all his strength.

Smack!

He couldn’t forgive the bug for daring to approach his future son-in-law.

”Argh!”

But in his determination to kill the insect, he had forgotten it was crawling on Su Long’s cheek.

The slap jolted Su Long awake. Holding his reddened cheek, he stared at Cheolsan with a mix of pain and disbelief.

”Wh-what’s going on?! My face hurts!”

Caught off guard, Cheolsan scratched his head awkwardly and explained.

”My apologies… A bug was crawling on your face, and I… acted without thinking.”

”Wait, Elder, did you just swat me instead of the bug? My poor face!”

”I’m truly sorry! But look at this enormous bug I managed to catch—it was on your cheek!”

To defend himself, Cheolsan held up the insect still stuck to his palm.

Su Long’s glare shifted from Cheolsan to the bug.

But then, something odd happened.

Su Long’s bleary eyes widened as he brought his face closer to the insect.

Dragging Cheolsan’s hand closer to the lantern, he examined the bug carefully.

”This… Why is this here?!”

His voice trembled with surprise and unease.

”What kind of bug is it?” Cheolsan asked cautiously.

Looking up, Su Long replied, ”It’s a kissing bug… No, in the Central Plains, it’s called Jeopmunchung. This is a Jeopmunchung, Elder.”

”A… kissing bug?”

The name made Cheolsan’s eyes widen in shock.

Such an obscene-sounding name for an insect—it was scandalous!