Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The Immortal of Medicine’s eyes were shaking like an earthquake had struck.

But then, regaining his composure, the Immortal executed what Central Plains folks loved most: a duck’s foot defense—a transparent, flailing excuse.

“Y-You clearly said it was a person!”

‘Seriously? Now he’s pulling that on us without even listening to our side first?’

He suddenly started insisting that we had said Geumdo Elder was a person.

But we hadn’t said anything of the sort.

He’d jumped to that conclusion on his own.

“Us? We never said that.”

“That’s right, Elder.”

“You didn’t even listen to me or my brother. You grabbed him by the collar before we could say anything!”

“You only heard that he was big...”

“Isn’t he plenty big? «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Probably the biggest in the Central Plains.”

“Well... that might be true, but... Yes! That’s right! You said he was old!”

“He’s a gu—a turtle—easily over two hundred years old. That certainly qualifies as old, don’t you think?”

“...”

Faced with my calm and pointed explanation, the Immortal closed his flapping mouth.

I tilted my head and asked,

“You’re not saying this just because you can’t treat him... right?”

“W-Why you! I am the Immortal of Medicine!”

He was still puffing himself up with loud words, but sweat was beading on his forehead and temples.

He was clearly thrown off by this one-of-a-kind patient.

His eyes were trembling again—visibly shaken.

Something about it was just too amusing, so I gave him a smile and offered my “thanks.”

Of course, it wasn’t genuine—I was teasing him.

“That’s such a relief then. I can’t tell you how lucky we are to have met the Immortal of Medicine.

I’ve been treating Geumdo Elder myself, but since there’s been no improvement, I was getting worried. It’s a good thing—you’ve saved him.

Ah, Geumdo Elder is the name of this turtle.”

I squatted down, patted the golden shell, and gave a look of pure relief.

The Immortal’s face contorted into something truly bizarre.

A deep sigh spilled from his lips.

“Agh... haah...”

Pfft...

‘Why is this so funny?’

Sister Seol covered her mouth, giggling uncontrollably at the sight. Hwa-eun’s voice echoed in my head.

『So-ryong, that’s enough. The old man’s kind of pitiful.』

『What? I barely even teased him...』

Yeah. I guess we’d poked him enough.

If I went further, he might actually get sulky, and honestly, from the way he was staring at the giant turtle, his mental defenses were probably already shattered.

But once he got a grip, he’d definitely be useful.

That’s why I needed to snap him out of it first.

‘Let’s get him grounded again.’

He was just flustered because this was a type of patient he’d never seen before.

But if he was the greatest physician in the Central Plains, then surely he could become the greatest veterinarian too?

After all, the only difference between human and animal medicine is the kind of patient you treat—both share the same noble goal of preserving life.

Right now, medical concepts were mostly human-centered, but in time, even animal trials would come to play a critical role in medical advancement.

So if I just helped him get his bearings and explained things clearly, he could be a huge help.

That’s when Hwa-eun spoke up.

“By the way... the kids were here to greet the guest. Where did they go?”

“Huh? Come to think of it...”

A few nights ago, we had moved all the children onto Geumdo Elder’s back—but I didn’t see any of them now.

Since we had a guest, they should come out and say hello. I glanced around and called out.

“Kids? Cho-ya, Hyang-ah, Bini? Yeondu?”

“You have kids already?”

The Immortal of Medicine, still looking like the world had just ended, blinked in confusion and started glancing around.

Just then, the earth near me rose up—and Cho popped her head out from the dirt.

-Tsrrrt! 『Surprised you, didn’t I!?』

She sprang up like she was playing peekaboo.

Next to her, Bini emerged from the ground too.

-Tsrut! 『You were surprised, right, Daddy!?』

-Tsrrr. 『I was right here the whole time. Hehe.』

Then came a hissing sound from the ceiling above.

I looked up—and there was Hyang stuck to the ceiling, staring down.

-Shaaa.

And last to rise from the dirt with a reluctant expression—Yeondu.

She clearly hadn’t wanted to play, but the others had dragged her into it.

Seeing their faces made it obvious—they were bored and just wanted to play a prank.

Yeondu definitely didn’t want to, but she gave in to peer pressure.

“You little rascals and your pranks...”

I chuckled, and so did Hwa-eun. The Immortal beside us, though, suddenly gasped.

“H-huuuh!? What is this!? A massive O-gong!? A—ah, now that I think of it...”

He stared at the kids, clapped his hands like he’d remembered something, and then nodded with realization.

“I remember hearing that Hwa-eun’s partner travels with enormous O-gong... So you’re Hwa-eun’s partner?”

It seemed someone had already told him about me and Hwa-eun.

Now that he’d calmed down, he was finally putting the pieces together.

If he hadn’t lost his temper earlier, we would’ve gone through proper introductions already.

I gave a formal martial bow and introduced myself.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t done that yet.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Yes, I’m So-ryong, son of the Beast Palace and Hwa-eun’s partner. These are my daughters. Say hello, kids. This is Grandpa Immortal.”

-Tsrrr.

-Tsr.

Cho and Bini politely bowed their heads. Then Hyang leapt from the ceiling onto my body and greeted him too.

-Tsrut.

“Heh... But I heard they were this small. I guess the story got exaggerated. These are definitely spiritual beasts.”

The Immortal gestured with his hands, showing a size much smaller than the kids actually were.

It looked like he’d only heard about them when they were still tiny.

He must’ve assumed they were just big centipedes—not spiritual beasts.

“You must’ve heard about them when they were smaller. They’ve grown a bit since then.”

“I heard about them from my disciple who visited the Martial Alliance a couple of months ago...”

So that’s where he heard our story—apparently from the Martial Alliance.

That must’ve been one of the earliest versions of the story he heard.

“The rumors must’ve taken a while to reach you.”

“Is that so?”

While the Immortal of Medicine watched the children with fascinated eyes, I suggested we sit down for tea and talk things through calmly.

“You look a bit startled, Elder. Would you care for some tea while we talk?”

“Hrm. Yes, alright.”

I guided the Immortal of Medicine to sit on a bamboo mat we had prepared and lit a charcoal brazier over a large wooden tub filled with sand.

It was to boil water for tea.

We’d accumulated a few household comforts over the past few days.

Bubbling...

Soon, the water was ready. I let it cool, then served a cup of tea to the Immortal with a smile, gently opening the conversation.

“I suppose you were a bit taken aback by the size of our patient?”

“Hrghm... sigh...”

He stared off into the distance for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

And then, as if he had surrendered himself to the situation, he finally offered an apology.

“Yes... Among all the patients this Immortal has seen, this one certainly flustered me the most. Good heavens...

And I also apologize for yelling before even hearing you out. I can’t seem to shake this habit of going blind the moment a patient is mentioned.

When I heard that someone’s back had been opened, I just... Even at my age, my cultivation is still lacking.”

“No need to apologize. I heard from Hwa-eun that you’ve dedicated your life to treating the ill. It’s understandable you’d react like that after hearing about someone’s back being cut open. I understand.”

They say that when it comes to a patient, he doesn’t care about water or fire—but beyond that, he seemed like a decent man.

He even apologized to a child like me.

Here in the Central Plains, where pride is everything, apologizing is rare.

So the fact that he would apologize to someone much younger showed a lot about his character.

“Still... is this gu sick?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“It appears to be a spiritual beast... but I fear I may not be of any help...”

He looked at the open wound with a pained expression.

At that, I waved a hand and replied.

“Not at all. You’re just surprised for now, but I’m sure you’ll be of great help.”

The Immortal of Medicine scratched his head and muttered,

“Well, I’ve never treated a patient like this before...”

I calmly explained.

“You just seem taken aback by his appearance. But animals and people aren’t so different. Both have five viscera and six bowels.”

“That may be true... but even among people, we have to change treatments depending on age, sex, and body size...”

Ah, there it was. The sensitivity of a fellow specialist.

Only someone deeply immersed in their craft speaks that way.

This confirmed for me—he’d definitely be helpful.

“Of course. But why not think of him as just a very large person, and approach it that way?”

“A... very large person?”

“Yes. Let’s try talking it through with that in mind.”

Though he still seemed hesitant, I began to explain Geumdo Elder’s condition.

“First of all, Geumdo Elder—that’s the name of this gu.

He developed a wound on his back, and that wound became infected. The shell began to rot, and eventually a hole opened up.

If we were talking about a human, we’d say the infection in the back festered until the flesh was rotting.”

“Hoh... Now that you explain it like that, I think I understand.

If a person had a festering wound deep enough to leave a hole in their back, they’d be feverish and in grave danger. But since this gu has a hard shell, I suppose it doesn’t affect him the same way.”

As expected, once I framed it comparatively, he understood right away.

That gave me confidence, so I continued.

“Yes. However, the rot and pus have spread from the back into the lungs. A part of his lungs is now infected with the same rot and pus.”

“There’s rot and pus in the lungs?”

“Yes. Would you like to take a look?”

“Hmm, I suppose I should. When would I get a chance to see something like this again?”

I received the Night Pearl from Hwa-eun and showed the Immortal the inside of the wound.

“This is the lung area. All of this part here is infected with rot and pus. That part over there is still healthy.”

“Oho. I see. That definitely looks like the kind of inflammation and pus you’d find in a human lung.”

He nodded seriously at my explanation.

Then, pulling his head back out of Geumdo Elder’s shell, he said,

“Yes, I see. So you were washing the lungs with decoctions made from herbs known to reduce pus and inflammation. But since there was no sign of improvement, you were looking for another medicine or method.”

“Exactly.”

“Now I understand the conversation you were having earlier.”

He nodded again, and then his face finally brightened.

It looked like my explanation had cleared up the confusion caused by Geumdo Elder’s massive form.

“And I think I now understand why there’s been no improvement. If we think of this gu as just a very large person...”

Just as I’d hoped—he’d identified the cause.

My eyes lit up and I asked eagerly,

“Ooh! Really?”

“Yes. The treatment was incorrect.”

“Incorrect?”

But I’d been using a decoction of antibacterial herbs to clean the infected area—how could that be wrong?

Puzzled, I asked for clarification. The Immortal nodded and explained.

“You thought the rot and pus had spread from the back to the lungs, and so you tried to treat it with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial herbs, yes?”

“Yes, Elder. That’s right.”

“If the injury were a cut or laceration on the surface of the skin, then your method would be appropriate. But the rot and pus are in the lungs.

There’s a condition known as hannaengjeok—in modern terms, a cold or flu—that begins with a runny nose, fever, and coughing...”

“Yes, Elder.”

‘Ah... so he’s talking about a cold?’

Hannaengjeok, gammo—they seemed to be traditional names for the common cold.

I nodded, and he continued.

“For the elderly, when this cold becomes severe, it can lead to rot and pus forming in the lungs. And from that point on... it becomes a different disease entirely.”

“A different disease?”

“Yes. Most physicians wouldn’t realize it, but I refer to it as pneumonia, because the pus and inflammation have gathered in the lungs.”

His words struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I hadn’t considered it at all.

Like the Immortal said, I had simply assumed the infection had spread into the lungs from the wound, and so I kept applying medicine directly.

But as he explained—it was a different illness.

It was pneumonia.

An inflammation of lung tissue caused by bacteria or viruses.

‘Damn...! I’ve been smearing disinfectant on the lungs of a pneumonia patient!’

I wasn’t some army doctor on the internet from my past life—and yet I’d done something that stupid.

Ashamed of my ignorance, I asked the Immortal,

“Then... is there no way to treat it?”

He smiled and replied,

“Of course there is.”

“What is it!?”

My hopes surged as I asked.

“Most people don’t know this, but I inherited the medical teachings of Hua Tuo. I use Mabisan to put patients under, and then either remove the afflicted area or treat it with moxibustion or acupuncture.”

‘Ah, a surgery expert? So you’re saying we should operate?’

But I was pretty sure pneumonia couldn’t be treated with surgery, so I tilted my head, confused.

The Immortal looked out the window and said,

“However... when it comes to pneumonia, you can’t exactly cut out the afflicted area, and it’s hard to apply moxa or acupuncture.

So to treat it properly, we need someone who’s better suited to this kind of illness than I am.”

“Someone else? But considering the patient’s condition and size, we don’t have much time or freedom to search for someone else...”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be here soon. We agreed to meet here.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s my sworn brother. If I inherited Hua Tuo’s surgery and external treatments, then he inherited Bian Que’s internal medicine.

When it comes to decoctions and herbal formulas, he’s the greatest in the Central Plains. He is the Immortal of Medicine’s Elixirs—the Yak Seon.”

A renowned external physician had just introduced the most famous internal medicine specialist in all of the Central Plains.