CLS-Chapter 481

Chapter 481:

What if a patient dies during treatment?

It was a difficult question to answer.

“It depends on the situation.”

“How does it depend?”

“Hmm…”

The Medicine Hall Master pondered before opening his mouth.

“If a physician accidentally kills a patient who could have been treated, then the physician cannot escape responsibility. However, if a patient dies during treatment when there was nothing the physician could do, then the physician cannot be held responsible.”

The Medicine Hall Master scratched the bridge of his nose.

“Ambiguous patients are the biggest problem. Since I’m also a physician, I think it’s excessive to hold physicians responsible in such situations. After all, physicians are human too.”

“Mm, I see. Then…”

Wei Yan-ho pointed to the patients lying down.

“Which category do these people belong to?”

“…”

The Medicine Hall Master clamped his mouth shut like a clam. The answer was predetermined, but somehow it felt like he shouldn’t give that answer.

“Yes?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s urging, the Medicine Hall Master let out a groan.

What is he asking? It’s obvious even without him saying it.

“If I must classify them…”

“If you must?”

“…They would belong to the first category I mentioned.”

“What was the first thing you said?”

The Medicine Hall Master squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Cunning fellow.’

He could feel the determination to make him say those words. He instinctively knew he shouldn’t get caught up in this, but it was difficult to deflect any further.

“They belong to patients who cannot be treated.”

“Oh?”

“But! No! But!”

The Medicine Hall Master didn’t let go of his last thread.

“There’s no treatment method yet, but I believe I will definitely discover a cure.”

“So you’re saying there isn’t one right now.”

“…Well, that’s true, but!”

What in the world are you trying to do, you bastard!

The Medicine Hall Master trembled with anxiety. And those watching the situation also suffered from inexplicable unease.

“That… My Lord.”

Zhuge Woo-in, who at least spoke properly, was the first to open his mouth.

“Why?”

“This seems to be physicians’ work. Of course, there’s nothing strange about My Lord stepping forward, but wouldn’t it be better to leave it to experts? There’s also the saying about creating trouble where there was none…”

“Experts?”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head to look at the Medicine Hall Master.

The Medicine Hall Master flinched under his gaze.

“Well, that’s right. Such matters should be left to experts. But that expert is completely unable to find a way right now.”

Stab.

The awl of words pierced the Medicine Hall Master’s chest.

“At this rate, we’ll just be clearing corpses.”

Stab.

“Do you think a method that hasn’t emerged until now will appear just by leaving it alone? How is that different from standing under a persimmon tree with your mouth open? You might luckily find a method. But by then, all the other persimmons will have fallen, won’t they?”

Stab, stab!

The Medicine Hall Master’s body trembled as the merciless awl stabbed repeatedly.

“I-I am doing my utmost.”

“Your utmost?”

Wei Yan-ho made a dumbfounded face.

“Where is there ‘utmost’ in matters of life and death? If the Medicine Hall Master falls ill, would you prefer treatment from a quack who does their utmost, or from a renowned physician who acts very annoyed?”

“…The latter, of course.”

“Then are you planning to brush it off later with ‘I did my utmost’ after people die?”

The Medicine Hall Master shut his mouth.

When pressed like this, there was nothing he could say.

“Then… do you have a plan in mind?”

It was his best counterattack.

He said this with confidence that Wei Yan-ho couldn’t possibly find a treatment method that he himself hadn’t discovered. However, the Medicine Hall Master didn’t know. Anyone who knew Wei Yan-ho well would never have said such a thing. It was a blunder made by someone who didn’t know Wei Yan-ho well yet.

“Wait!”

“No!”

Just as everyone tried to prevent such a worst-case scenario, Wei Yan-ho calmly opened his mouth.

“May I try?”

“…Pardon?”

“I have a plan in mind, but it’s somewhat difficult for me to do alone. If you could help me, I’d like to try it once…”

“Pardon?”

The Medicine Hall Master looked around to understand how this situation was unfolding.

‘Why are they all looking at me with such faces!’

Wei Yan-ho’s companions all had faces as if the sky had fallen. Moreover, seeing Mo-san, who looked the most serious, grabbing his bald head and shaking it, made him feel as if something was crumbling from within his heart.

‘Did I make some mistake?’

The Medicine Hall Master met Wei Yan-ho’s gaze with an anxious face. Wei Yan-ho’s face looked somewhat sly. A slyness that made one feel anxious just looking at it.

“At minimum, I should know what method it is to be able to give you an answer.”

“It’s a very rational method. As everyone knows, I’m an extremely rational person.”

“Hardly.“

“As if.“

Some complaints could be heard, but they didn’t seem to reach Wei Yan-ho’s ears. Not ignoring them, but as if he truly couldn’t hear them, Wei Yan-ho paid no attention to what was behind him.

“So that method is…”

Wei Yan-ho grinned.

“This is a method my master taught me.”

“Yes?”

“Hmm, come to think of it, it’s awkward to say my master taught it to me. That master is me. Mm, but I couldn’t have thought of it alone… This is difficult to explain in various ways.”

‘What is this crazy bastard saying?’

His master is himself, but he couldn’t have thought of it alone?

The Medicine Hall Master seriously wondered if he should examine this fellow’s head before treating those patients.

“Please explain more comprehensibly.”

“Ah, I understand. So, these people’s problem is that they lack energy, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“They could recover if they had energy, but they can’t recover because they lack energy… so we just need to boost their energy, right? Isn’t that so?”

“…That is true, but.”

The Medicine Hall Master tilted his head.

Not because he didn’t understand Wei Yan-ho’s words. He understood Wei Yan-ho’s words well enough. The problem was that what he said was too obvious.

‘Who doesn’t know that and is unable to treat them?’

The Medicine Hall Master frowned.

If someone else had said this, he would have immediately retorted, but the Wei Yan-ho he had observed had reckless aspects but was certainly not stupid.

There must be an intention behind saying such things.

“But you know that injecting energy is impossible. These are people whose qi and blood are damaged. If we carelessly inject energy, their damaged qi and blood won’t be able to handle the energy and will all burst out. Then at minimum, they’ll suffer qi deviation, and if unlucky, their entire bodies might explode.”

“That’s right.”

“You wouldn’t be unaware of that.”

“Yes, that’s correct. But I heard something. If there’s no path, make one.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Wei Yan-ho grinned.

“Energy doesn’t only flow through qi and blood. Even without qi and blood, we can channel energy through.”

“Of course. The human body has subtle meridians. If we send energy along the subtle meridians, we could channel energy through. But Young Hero.”

The Medicine Hall Master spoke firmly.

“Subtle meridians are originally blocked by impure energy. Do you know what the process of breaking through that blocked impure energy to make energy flow is called?”

“Uh… I knew it.”

“It’s called Opening the Subtle Meridians.”

The Medicine Hall Master’s face was utterly resolute.

“It requires numerous spiritual medicines and the help of masters. Moreover, if one ages beyond a certain point and the subtle meridians completely harden, Opening the Subtle Meridians becomes impossible. Are you saying you’ll perform that on these people now?”

Before Wei Yan-ho could even answer, the Medicine Hall Master quickly continued.

“It’s impossible. First, we cannot gather enough spiritual medicines. Even if we manage the masters somehow, it’s impossible even with the Tang Family’s wealth. If we receive help from other places, we might somehow raise the money. But even if we gather all the spiritual medicines circulating in the market, we cannot secure enough quantity to create fundamental treatment.”

“Uh…”

“And second, these people’s bodies cannot endure Opening the Subtle Meridians. This is a process that must be done carefully over time by masters who can perfectly control energy. If we rush hastily, it will instead shorten their lifespan, and if we drag it out, they’ll die before then. So that method cannot be used.”

Wei Yan-ho answered with a dumbfounded face.

“I have no intention of using such a method.”

“…Pardon?”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“I said I have no intention of using it. Even if those two conditions were met, I wouldn’t consider it. This isn’t a problem that ends with solving just here. If incidents break out elsewhere, we’d have to solve those too, so it’s not something that ends with treating a few people before our eyes. We need to find a fundamental treatment method.”

“Then why?”

“I’ve been thinking, and regardless of whether qi and blood collapse or subtle meridians are blocked, there exists in this world a spiritual medicine that will dig in and push energy through no matter what.”

“Su-such a thing exists?”

The Medicine Hall Master’s eyes widened.

If that were true, this would be groundbreaking. If there existed a spiritual medicine that could boost energy even when qi and blood were destroyed, these people could be treated.

“Are there no side effects?”

“There are minor side effects. But it’s better than dying, right?”

“That’s absolutely correct.”

All treatments in the world have their own side effects. But if the benefits outweigh those side effects, treatment should be administered. The Medicine Hall Master asked with eyes full of expectation.

“But does such a spiritual medicine exist? I’ve never heard or seen of it.”

“You’ve heard of it many times and seen it many times.”

“…Pardon?”

Wei Yan-ho grinned.

“That’s why I asked for the Medicine Hall Master’s help.”

“…”

Anxiety bloomed on the Medicine Hall Master’s face.

Something about this… the story is taking a strange turn?

“I’m sorry, but may I hear what that spiritual medicine you mentioned is? You say it’s a spiritual medicine I know well, but I have no idea what it could be.”

“It’s somewhat ambiguous to call it a spiritual medicine in general terms. Mm, so…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously and said.

“It’s not difficult to obtain either. It’s just somewhat difficult to use. Moreover, this place has the most of that medicine in the world. Hehe.”

“…”

The most in the world?

Where?

At the Tang Family?

Su-surely not…

“The me-medicine you mentioned, surely not…”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho grinned and said.

“The Tang Family specializes in poison manipulation. Whether blood vessels burst, qi meridians burst, or subtle meridians are blocked, poison digs into those minute gaps that spiritual medicines cannot penetrate. We should be grateful for that broad action that doesn’t discriminate between ordinary people and martial artists. So I was wondering if we could think together about what poison to use…”

“…”

A smile bloomed on the Medicine Hall Master’s lips.

So he’s saying let’s try using poison.

Poison.

On those patients.

So…

Pure admiration for this brilliant idea slowly boiled up from within him and finally exploded at his lips.

“Get out of here right now, you crazy bastard!”

The roof tiles of the pavilion shook.