Early morning.
Dan Ak-seon woke up earlier than usual. It was because of a clattering noise coming from somewhere.
“Wow!”
As he stepped outside the pavilion, an exclamation escaped his lips involuntarily.
It was the transformed appearance of Shinmagok that left him speechless.
The previously messy scene was nowhere to be found.
Everywhere he looked was neat and meticulously organized. Furthermore, Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi were bustling around on one side.
Behind them, a new small hut, unlike anything seen before, was being built.
That explained the commotion since dawn.
Dan Ak-seon walked toward the two. Just then, the door of the cottage opened, and a person walked out.
It was Han Seol-hwa.
‘This is her.’
Dan Ak-seon realized that this was the patient Beom Gye-wi had mentioned he would bring.
“Hello.”
Dan Ak-seon bowed politely.
“My name is Dan Ak-seon.”
Han Seol-hwa, who had been observing Dan Ak-seon with an expressionless face, gave a slight nod.
— My name is Han Seol-hwa. You can just call me ‘auntie’ if you’d like.
Dan Ak-seon’s eyes widened.
It was her voice, directly resonating in his mind.
“Was that a voice transmission just now?” he marveled.
“I remember my parents telling me about it—a special skill that martial arts masters use for secret communication. So, Auntie, you must be an incredible master too?”
As soon as Dan Ak-seon finished speaking, Beom Gye-wi’s voice transmission flew in.
— Hah! What’s so impressive about a voice transmission?
Dan Ak-seon looked at Beom Gye-wi with astonished eyes.
“Wow, that’s really amazing.”
Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
“If I just restore my internal energy, then something like voice transmission is...”
As soon as he spoke, Cho Ak-ryang regretted it. This was because Beom Gye-wi was looking at him with a smug expression.
Just then, Dan Ak-seon smiled brightly at Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.
“You were building a hut for auntie to stay in, weren’t you? No wonder you’ve been so busy since yesterday.”
“Huh? Oh...”
“Well, something like that…”
Just as the two exchanged awkward glances and reluctantly nodded, Han Seol-hwa’s voice transmission came in.
— Hurry up. That side of the roof isn’t fully up yet.
At her instruction, Beom Gye-wi’s brow twitched.
— Shall I mention how you two sneaked out last night? I could smell the blood lingering in the air.
At her follow-up transmission, as if it had never happened, the two quickly lifted up a log.
They continued their work in silence.
Watching them, Han Seol-hwa headed toward the cliff.
Whoosh.
With a sweep of her sleeve, a powerful energy surged forth.
A colossal gust in the shape of a dragon swept up in the distance, scraping the cliffside.
All sorts of rags and scraps of cloth lying around near the cliff were swept up into the air by the wind, soaring high. When Han Seol-hwa reached out and clenched her fist, they seemed to be pulled towards her hand like they were being drawn in.
Dan Ak-seon couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration at the sight.
At last, he understood why the valley had become so clean.
Han Seol-hwa had used her martial skills to clean every nook and cranny of the valley for quite a while.
When it seemed that she had wrapped up the cleaning, Dan Ak-seon approached her, recalling the reason she had come here.
“You must be feeling unwell somewhere, right?”
With a gentle smile, Dan Ak-seon looked at Han Seol-hwa’s expressionless face.
“For now, let’s head to my pavilion. I’ll start by taking your pulse.”
Han Seol-hwa nodded and followed Dan Ak-seon.
* * *
Han Seol-hwa sat in a chair, watching Dan Ak-seon intently. Dan Ak-seon sat across from her with his eyes softly closed.
He had his fingers placed on her wrist.
It was only after quite some time that Dan Ak-seon, deep in thought, opened his eyes.
“Haah…”
He let out a deep sigh.
“This is… truly… hard to believe.”
An expression of pity passed over his eyes.
“It’s not that you didn’t want to speak, but that you couldn’t.”
Dan Ak-seon continued.
“Treatment… I don’t even know if we should call it that, but it’s likely going to take some time. Honestly, I can’t guarantee the results. I’ve never encountered a condition like this before.”
With an apologetic look, Dan Ak-seon gazed at Han Seol-hwa.
“I’m sorry.”
Han Seol-hwa nodded silently.
She had hoped, but deep down, she had expected as much. Even if the Divine Doctor or the Demonic Doctor had been here, the outcome would have been the same.
It was foolish of her to let her heart waver with unwarranted hope.
“The best I can do right now is help you recover your voice to some extent.”
For the first time, a flicker of emotion—a spark—appeared in Han Seol-hwa’s usually cold eyes.
— Does that mean I’ll be able to speak again?
Dan Ak-seon nodded.
“I can’t restore everything at once, but I can help you recover, piece by piece. This isn’t an ultimate cure, of course.”
Dan Ak-seon continued his explanation.
“It’s important to block the chill seeping from your meridians. After that, we’ll stimulate the nerves and muscles to increase their responsiveness.”
— Is that even possible?
Dan Ak-seon nodded, then took out a wooden case from his pocket containing his acupuncture needles.
“Shall we begin?”
When Han Seol-hwa nodded, Dan Ak-seon applied needles to several acupoints on her body.
“Try making a long ‘Ah’ sound, as if drawing up the heavy breath from deep in your lungs and releasing it slowly.”
After hesitating for a moment, Han Seol-hwa followed his instructions.
But no voice came out.
Only a harsh, metallic-sounding breath escaped.
Dan Ak-seon smiled warmly at her.
“You’re doing well. Just keep going.”
From that moment on, Dan Ak-seon continued the acupuncture with a serious expression. By the time the treatment had gone on for nearly half an hour...
"…Ah."
A clear, gentle voice escaped from Han Seol-hwa’s lips.
Startled, Han Seol-hwa looked at Dan Ak-seon.
"Did I just… hear my own voice?"
"You’re still speaking now."
"…!"
Her expression remained unchanged, yet Han Seol-hwa was profoundly surprised at this moment.
She couldn't remember the last time she heard her own voice.
It’s often said that one only realized the true value of something once it’s lost, and for her, her voice was one of those things.
Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.
Only now did she understand their boundless trust in this child.
Then, Dan Ak-seon raised his hand and pointed to the bed.
"Would you like to lie down for a moment?"
Dan Ak-seon spoke with a serious look in his eyes.
"I need to examine your body a bit more closely."
Han Seol-hwa hesitated.
— My body?
Caught so off-guard, she unknowingly sent a voice transmission. However, Dan Ak-seon’s eyes remained as clear and serene as a still cup of tea.
"I'm not yet as skilled as the Pyun-jak brothers."
Pyun-jak was considered one of the greatest medical practitioners, alongside Hua Tuo.
"They say he had two older brothers, both of whom were also doctors."
— I know that story, too.
It was a well-known tale, after all.
One day, the Emperor asked Bian Que which of his brothers had the best medical skills. Bian Que answered that his eldest brother was the most skilled, followed by his other older brother.
The Emperor then asked why Bian Que’s name was the most famous. Bian Que replied that it was because he cured illnesses with medicines and surgeries.
In contrast, he explained, his second brother treated illnesses when they were still in their initial, minor stages, and his eldest brother could simply look at a person’s face and determine their ailment, eliminating its cause before it could take hold. This, he explained, was why people didn’t know of their skills.
“Is that so?”
Han Seol-hwa was inwardly surprised.
Interpreting Dan Ak-seon’s words differently, it meant that he possessed medical skills nearly equal to Bian Que’s.
Han Seol-hwa nodded slowly.
As she lay down on the bed, Dan Ak-seon placed his fingers on her pulse and cautioned her.
“If you feel any unusual sensations, don’t open your mouth or move at all.”
“Unusual sensations?”
“Uncle Beom and Uncle Cho were fine, but some people may feel a bit ticklish.”
Han Seol-hwa felt a bit puzzled but decided to trust Dan Ak-seon, having already entrusted herself to him.
Han Seol-hwa quietly closed her eyes.
At that moment, a faint energy began to flow through her pulse point.
It was such a delicate and subtle energy that she might have missed it entirely if she wasn’t focused.
Warm and gentle...
It felt like the shimmer of a spring day.
Gradually, the energy moved along her meridians, eventually reaching the Yongcheon* point on the sole of her foot. (T/N: *An acupuncture spot on the sole of the foot, located just below the ball of the foot.)
Then, it began ascending from her ankle, traveling up her calf, and finally, after examining her body for a while, it dispersed slowly.
“Sigh…”
Dan Ak-seon pondered deeply, a complex expression on his face.
But at some point, his eyes began to gleam.
"Yeonsinhwanheo*...." (T/N: roughly translates to "refining the spirit and returning to the void".)
A single word murmured by Dan Ak-seon.
This was a crucial clue to understanding Han Seol-hwa's current state.
A glimmer appeared in Han Seol-hwa's eyes.
"How do you know that? I heard you hadn’t studied martial arts."
"Medicine, too, when traced back far enough, ultimately connects to martial arts. Just like how Hua Tuo created the Five Animal Play."
Dan Ak-seon continued his explanation.
"Just as there are various inner energy cultivation methods in the martial world, the paths of training differ widely. Yet, the core principles within them often share similarities."
In summary, this could be broken down into roughly three stages:
Yeonjeonghwagi, Yeongihwaseon, and Yeonsinhwanheo.
Yeonjeonghwagi was the process of cultivating essence — that was, refining the innate energy of one’s constitution to accumulate internal energy. Building upon this accumulated internal energy, Yeongihwaseon was the stage of nurturing one’s spirit.
Next, transcending existing limits to reach a state where mind and body were in perfect harmony, one attains spirit — a supernatural state. Yeonsinhwanheo referred to the ultimate level, where the spirit was cultivated to reach an ultimate state.
This was the stage of transcending the limits of the physical body, leaping into a realm of transcendence.
No longer confined by the body's limitations, one neither ages nor dies, essentially transforming into an immortal being.
"Though Taoism has countless schools*..." (T/N: Like school of thoughts.)
Han Seol-hwa looked at Dan Ak-seon with a curious gaze.
However, as Dan Ak-seon continued, she began to understand why he brought up Taoism.
"All of them, however, share a single core ideology."
Dan Ak-seon smiled gently.
"Immortality and ascension to sainthood."
To achieve these, each school pursued its own methods of cultivation. Although there were slight differences, the core methods fell into four main categories.
The Yeondan school focused on creating elixirs for immortality. The Buryeok school, which honored spirits and deities of mountains and rivers, used sorcery and talismans to control evil forces. The Jangsaeng school sought eternal life through the harmony of yin and yang and methods of sexual cultivation. Finally, the Yeongi school practiced breathing techniques and physical disciplines.
"Most of the Taoist sects that exist today fall under the Yeongi school. The elixirs they produce are influenced by the Yeondan school."
This was evident even in the Huashan Sect, a prominent Taoist sect of the present day.
"I suspect that Aunt entered the stage of Yeonshinhwanheo long ago."
This was merely a hypothesis; Dan Ak-seon wasn't entirely certain.
He had never encountered a case quite like this before.
But nothing else could explain Han Seol-hwa’s condition.
The cold that permeated her entire body, including her bones and organs—if she were an ordinary person, she would have long since succumbed.
Only because she had transcended the limitations of the human body was she still alive.
The problem was that it’s unstable. It seemed she hastily moved to the next stage without fully perfecting her spirit.
This explained her lack of expression, her inability to taste, and the way her muscles and nerves had frozen in time, trapped in her halted body.
Han Seol-hwa’s gaze wavered slightly.
Listening to Dan Ak-seon’s words stirred an old memory that offered a possible explanation.
"Can it be fixed?"
At her question, Dan Ak-seon nodded.
"It will require some research… but I don’t think it’s impossible. As I said before, it may take some time."
"Time doesn’t matter."
"Besides, there’s something I'm concerned about."
Dan Ak-seon hesitated with a troubled look on his face.
"Go ahead, it's okay. Tell me."
At Han Seol-hwa's words, Dan Ak-seon let out a quiet sigh.
"The aging process will resume. The flow of time on your body will start again."
Han Seol-hwa nodded for a while and then spoke.
"That's exactly what I desire. To age like everyone else, naturally."
"Really? Don’t most women wish their beauty would stay frozen in their twenties? My mother did too."
"My life is not a blessing."
Staring at Dan Ak-seon, Han Seol-hwa continued.
"If it means freeing me from this prison of endless time... "
Her gaze turned sorrowful.
"I would consider you my savior for life."