Camellia 29

The mad bride had returned, and with his danjeon shattered. It was a horrific sight, difficult to witness with eyes wide open. With the bleeding barely controlled, the bride’s face had turned deathly pale.

Laid on a bed in the medical hall, Yuwon stared down at him in disbelief. She was so dumbfounded she couldn’t speak. Si Pungjae, who had carried the bride, bowed his head as if ashamed. When Cheonsin had thrown him down in front of her, Si Pungjae had responded much like she did, speechless.

Yuwon placed one hand on her waist and pressed her forehead with the other. A throbbing headache made her irritable.

Medicine may exist to save the dying and the sick, but this… this was too much. Yuwon, who had given up her life as a wandering physician to remain on Yeonhu, felt something had gone terribly wrong.

She muttered bitterly.

“If someone storms in demanding I save them, am I just supposed to shut up and treat them?”

Medicine is a skill for life. It is something cultivated to protect a patient’s future and survival. That’s why it must be rooted in love for the patient. If one could look at a person on the verge of death and feel no anger, reduced to a mere plaything, they were no longer qualified to be a healer.

“Tell the Supreme One this: unless he plans to come here himself and restore the patient’s Qi, don’t leave his bride with me. He can deal with it himself.”

Yuwon felt that if she saved the mad bride now, countless similar situations would follow. That’s why she maintained a pained silence as she watched the bride’s face gradually fade toward death. Her fingers and toes twitched, aching to treat him immediately, but she closed her eyes and endured it.

After a long hesitation, Si Pungjae finally spoke.

“If you refuse treatment… he ordered us to leave him be.”

“…What?”

Yuwon let out a hollow laugh and opened her eyes.

The moment her tear-glazed eyes met his, Si Pungjae felt a sting in his gut.

When he didn’t answer, Yuwon snapped.

“He said to leave him? His own bride?”

“The Lord trusts you, Miss Yuwon. He knows how responsible you are as a physician…”

“Sir!”

“……”

“That’s not trust, it’s condescension! Do you really think that’s trust in me? If you’re going to keep defending him with that nonsense, get out of my sight. I don’t want to see your face!”

Her fists trembled. Yuwon was overwhelmed with fury, she didn’t know what to do. Even now, the bride was dying. He’d lasted this long only because he was a blood fiend, if he were human, he would already be dead.

Time passed. Si Pungjae didn’t move. Exhausted by his stubborn stance, Yuwon finally ran to the patient.

Yuwon bit her lip as she saw his crushed danjeon. He could be saved. But he’d never wield a sword again.

Yuwon vividly remembered the martial artists she had seen during her wandering days with her teacher, those who had damaged their danjeon and come to wish for death instead. Some were forced to survive by their families’ pleas, only to take their own lives. When one such warrior was found dead at the bottom of a mountain ravine, Yuwon had thought, If it were me, I wouldn’t have forced the patient to live. I’d have respected their choice.

Even if they were unconscious, it was obvious what a martial artist would have wanted, to beg for the treatment to stop. That’s why Yuwon had thought it better not to treat them at all. If they killed themselves afterward, it would be as if she had killed them herself.

But when the moment actually came, she couldn’t turn away. As she staunched the bleeding from the shredded abdomen, she muttered,

“You’re a martial artist too. So you understand what I’m doing to him.”

While Yuwon began treatment, Si Pungjae quietly set down a jade box containing elixirs next to her and left the medical hall.

She had been right. They were saving him, and killing him at the same time. Si Pungjae knew the despair the bride would face after losing his martial power, but he desperately pretended not to. All he could do was bring fresh elixirs to refill the box whenever it emptied.

As she treated him, Yuwon ground the elixirs into powder and gently fed them to Seol Yeong. The only thought in her head was that she had to save him. But once he recovered, who would he resent most, Cheonsin, who had nearly killed him, or herself, who had tried to save him?

*

Five days passed. Cheonsin had not visited the medical hall even once.

In truth, Si Pungjae had been right.

He trusted Tang Yuwon. She had been chosen as heir by the Divine Healer believed to be the reincarnation of the Great Immortal. Beyond being his blood relative, her medical skill was unmatched. So he assumed she would save him.

As usual, he finished a sparring match with his disciple and left the training grounds. The sword technique of the Murong clan, Flash Severing Cloud Sword, which he had originally intended to use to mock the bride, had instead been passed on to Yang Seogyeong.

It was a swift sword technique that scattered from all sides with flashes of sword energy, said to disrupt even the clouds in the sky. Even if he couldn’t master it immediately, he should be able to perform it to a decent level. If not, he wasn’t worth teaching.

With only a few steps, Tang Yujae arrived at Gwanju Hall. Though he appeared to walk slowly, he was naturally using gyeonggong.

“Out for a stroll, Yujae?”

A visitor had arrived at the hall. It was Yuwon, dressed simply and plainly. Yujae shrugged and tossed his sword to the left.

Si Pungjae, who dropped down from the ceiling like a shot, caught the sword and put it away.

“You look tired.”

Glancing at her face, Yujae clicked his tongue. As he approached and swept a hand along her sunken cheek, a hint of gentleness showed.

“You’ve got a slight fever too.”

“Your bride finally regained consciousness.”

“Did he?”

Yujae shrugged again. His expression seemed like he’d known it would happen, and that made Yuwon’s blood boil.

She grabbed him roughly as he walked past and spun him around. Yujae obediently faced his sister.

“Why? Why did you destroy his danjeon?”

She asked it as a formality, to see whether the bride had truly done something to provoke the Supreme One. When he didn’t answer, she pressed on.

“Even the energy channels were severed. His Qi fully reversed. If he didn’t have such mental strength, he would’ve gone berserk. Didn’t you take him to extend your own life? Then the least you could do is not harm him.”

“I hate schemers.”

Destroying the bride’s martial arts had been a spur-of-the-moment act.

“He seemed foolish at first, but turns out he’s sly in his own way.”

He acted out of line, so he disciplined him.

Yujae recalled the bride’s face, glowing with interest at the mention of the Tang family. His red eyes were resolute, and his voice had been full of conviction. That righteous demeanor typical of orthodox sects had provoked Yujae to act. Before he knew it, the dagger had already been used.

“He’s a blood fiend. His yang energy won’t run out.”

“…Tang Yujae.”

“And even if it does, well… I’ll just go pick another flower.”

All the Qi flowing through their meridians was yang energy. As long as their blood and spirit circulated, the energy wouldn’t disappear.

Besides, Seolyeonh wasn’t the only blood fiend. Yujae’s implication that he would simply bring his sister if Seolyeonh became useless made Yuwon slap him with all her strength.

Smack! The sharp crack of flesh striking flesh echoed. Alarmed, Si Pungjae moved to intervene, but the Supreme One stopped him first. His cold gaze froze Si Pungjae in place.

Pale with fury, Yuwon spat out each word.

“What you broke wasn’t a flower, it was a martial artist’s life.”

Yujae responded as if puzzled.

“It’s not the first time, is it?”