Chapter 1731. What Is Right? (1)
"Let me change your bandages."
Tang Soso carefully removed Baek Cheon's bandages. Seeing Baek Cheon's thin and fragile arm, Tang Soso's eyes filled with sadness.
She spoke calmly.
"The recovery is quick. The external wounds have almost healed."
"...Really?"
"Yes. Now it depends on how much effort you put in."
"So, do you think I'll get better?"
"Of course. You will get better."
Tang Soso's firm response made Baek Cheon open his eyes in surprise and then give a bitter smile.
"But Gaju-nim said it would be difficult."
"He's a quack."
"What?"
Tang Soso added with determination.
"I'm telling you, he's a quack. He only knows how to handle poisons, not medicine."
Baek Cheon looked at her in surprise and then burst into laughter. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like this.
Tang Soso frowned.
"Do you think it's a joke? My father is the Poison King, not the Medicine King. You don't have to believe everything he says."
Hearing those words, Baek Cheon was even more bewildered. But Tang Soso looked at him with the same determination, as if she hadn't said anything out of place.
"Well, maybe you're right."
"Yes. So please, keep trying. In time, you'll regain the feeling in your fingers."
As she spoke, Tang Soso skillfully wrapped the new bandages.
Although everyone knew that wrapping Baek Cheon's already healed arm was unnecessary, Tang Soso did it with care.
What she was asking of Baek Cheon was no different from this.
"Done."
Baek Cheon nodded as he watched Tang Soso gather the old bandages.
"I'm causing you trouble."
"What? That's absurd. It's what I must do."
Tang Soso quickly arranged the medications she had brought.
"Look, these pills should be taken with each meal, and you must drink all the tonic they bring you. This will speed up your recovery."
"Alright."
Baek Cheon responded calmly, but Tang Soso didn't back down and looked him straight in the eyes.
Curious about her insistence, Baek Cheon was about to ask why she was looking at him like that when she spoke seriously.
"Sasuk."
"Yes?"
"If a doctor believes they can no longer cure a patient, what should they say?"
"That's..."
Baek Cheon couldn't answer immediately.
What should a doctor say to an incurable patient?
"Apologize... maybe?"
"No."
Tang Soso shook her head firmly.
"That's an excuse. A doctor should never say that."
"Then what?"
"Sasuk, if you face an unbeatable enemy, what would you do?"
"Strive."
"Why?"
"Because that's the only way to defeat them. Someday."
"Exactly."
Tang Soso nodded with determination.
"Even if it's difficult now, I'll keep trying until I can cure you. I definitely will."
"..."
"So please, don't give up. Don't make my efforts in vain. Understood?"
Baek Cheon smiled, finally understanding Tang Soso's intention. He couldn't help but smile.
"I'll remember that."
"Good, then I'll take my leave."
She gathered her tools and stood up.
"If you need anything, call me anytime."
"I will."
Although she wanted to stay longer with Baek Cheon, she knew she shouldn't. She knew her presence would be more of a burden than a help to him at this moment.
Tang Soso left the room without looking back.
However, her confident and determined steps slowed down. Closing the door and facing the dark sky, she quickly covered her mouth.
She felt her body collapsing.
'No.'
She must not show weakness. She must not show doubt or sadness in front of Baek Cheon.
The doctor's face is the patient's mirror. If she despaired, the patient would too. A doctor cannot afford to despair.
Images of his thin arm, his trembling shoulders, and his shadowed face trying to appear calm wouldn't fade.
Would it be possible? Could she one day cure Baek Cheon's arm as she had promised?
Tang Soso's large eyes filled with tears.
If she had never started on the path of medicine, she wouldn't feel this pain.
Even if it were possible, she would need a lot of time, and during that time, Baek Cheon would live with deep despair.
Why must it be so cruel?
Looking at the sky and swallowing her tears, she sighed deeply and headed to her room.
After walking for a while, she reached near her room, provided by the Wudang Sect. A familiar voice reached her ears.
"Is it true?"
"I'm telling you, yes!"
"Wait! Tell me again properly. You say Sasuk can be cured?"
Tang Soso turned her head abruptly. There was no time to think. Tang Soso forcefully opened the door.
"Huh?"
"Soso?"
The surprised gazes of the people in the room turned to her, even Baek Sang, who was being grabbed by the collar by Jo Gul, looked at her in astonishment.
Tang Soso, with an expression as if she were in a trance, asked:
"What are you saying?"
Everyone fell silent.
"They say there is an elixir that can cure Sasuk's body."
"...An elixir that can cure Sasuk's body?"
Yoon Jong murmured incredulously. He couldn't believe such a thing existed. Let alone so close.
"Damn those from the Southern Edge Sect! If they had something like that, they should have given it earlier!"
Jo Gul pounded the ground in anger. Yoon Jong calmed him with patience.
"They said it's a treasure of the Southern Edge Sect."
"But even so, is an object more important than a person?"
Yoon Jong sighed deeply.
It wasn't the time to argue. The important thing was the veracity of the news Baek Sang had brought.
"Soso."
"Yes, senior brother."
"What do you think? Is it possible?"
Tang Soso frowned, deep in thought. After a while, she nodded slowly.
"...It's possible."
"Really?"
Jo Gul asked excitedly, and Tang Soso nodded again.
"If everything the Southern Edge Sect Leader said is true... there's a good chance."
"Amitabha. How is it possible? Gaju-nim said there was no hope..."
"Medicine in the past was superior to today."
Hye Yeon looked at Tang Soso, waiting for an explanation.
"I'm not saying medicine has regressed. Of course, the medicine passed down among people has improved. But..."
"The best are different, right?"
"Yes, Sahyung. That's right."
"Is it possible?"
Jo Gul still seemed doubtful. Yoon Jong shrugged.
"It's not that strange. Even here in Wudang, no one has reached the level of Sam Bong Jo Sa since its founding, right?"
"Ah... that's true. And the same goes for Shaolin."
"Amitabha... it's the truth, though it shames me to admit it."
With that, the explanation seemed clearer.
"So, is that medicine from the Southern Edge Sect at that level?"
"Yes. The medicine from the Holy Medical Family is still considered legendary. If that medicine is truly from the Holy Medical Family..."
Everyone looked at Tang Soso expectantly.
"That medicine or elixir could cure Sasuk's body."
A long silence fell over them.
It could cure Baek Cheon's body.
That phrase resonated like thunder in their minds.
Suddenly, Jo Gul jumped up. Yoon Jong was alarmed.
"What are you doing, Gul? Where are you going?"
"What good is talking among ourselves? We should go see him!"
"Who?"
"Who else! The Southern Edge Sect Leader!"
"Sit down, you fool! Don't act rashly!"
"Rashly? We've found a medicine that can cure Sasuk! We should kneel, beg, steal if necessary. We have to get it somehow!"
"Stop, idiot!"
Yoon Jong finally ran and grabbed Jo Gul by the sleeve. Jo Gul looked at him defiantly.
Yoon Jong shouted.
"This is something we heard from a private conversation of the Great Sect Leader! If we act on our own..."
"Then what do you suggest? Wait and do nothing?"
"That's not it! My point is..."
"I know! But damn it! Will leaving it like this solve anything?"
Jo Gul's eyes were bloodshot.
"Didn't you hear the conditions they set?"
Yoon Jong closed his mouth.
That condition was the reason that, despite the good news, they couldn't speak freely.
"Become a disciple of the Southern Edge Sect? What nonsense!"
Jo Gul's eyes burned with fury.
"They can't do that! After everything we've done for them!"
"It's not something incomprehensible."
"What?"
"It's not just any medicine. It's a treasure of the Southern Edge Sect. They can't just give it away. It makes sense that it can only be used by their disciples."
"..."
"If the ancestors decided it that way, not even the Southern Edge Sect Leader can change it."
"Then they should have kept quiet! Saying that is useless!"
"Isn't it better to know?"
Yoon Jong's sigh made Jo Gul even angrier.
"Sahyung, what are you thinking?"
"...What do you mean?"
"Are you considering sending Sasuk to the Southern Edge Sect?"
"Don't talk nonsense! How could Sasuk go there?"
"Then why are you so calm! Tell me! Those bastards are playing us, and you..."
"Think before you speak!"
Jo Gul and Yoon Jong faced each other with fury.
Despite the tense discussion, the others couldn't intervene or say anything.
Finding a way to cure Baek Cheon was a great achievement, even if the possibility wasn't complete.
But the conditions were too cruel.
"Getting the medicine is important. After that, we'll see. So first..."
"Didn't you hear?"
Since he had transmitted the news, Baek Sang had been silent. Now he spoke.
"Sasuk rejected it."
"..."
"Even if we get the medicine, do you think Sasuk will take it? Never! He would rather die than accept it!"
"By force..."
Jo Gul muttered, but soon stopped and shook his head. He knew it was useless.
"Then what do we do?"
"That's what I don't know, that's why I'm here, trying to find a solution."
Jo Gul, frustrated, rubbed his face with his hands. They had found a solution, but now they felt even more desperate.
"Is there no other way? Offer something in return?"
"It won't work. If it's a sect rule, not even the leader can change it. It's not a matter of value, it's of principles."
Jo Gul was about to sigh deeply when...
"...Can't he just leave?"
"What?"
"What did you say?"
Everyone looked at Tang Soso.
She looked at them firmly and repeated.
"If Sasuk becomes a disciple of the Southern Edge Sect, it would be resolved, right?"
"..."
"Then Sasuk could be cured..."
"You!"
Jo Gul suddenly shouted. His face was full of fury.
"What did you just say?"
He had never shown such anger towards her.
