Thud—
"Master...?"
It felt heavy, like a sponge soaked with water.
It didn't seem like a joke.
Jin Cheon-hee shook the body pressing down on him.
Yoo-ho spoke.
"Master! Please wake up! Master!"
Zhuge Lin lost consciousness.
It was cold and painful.
It felt as if a blade made of ice was tearing his heart apart.
However, it was a familiar sensation to Zhuge Lin.
- Since living long is out of the question, why not think about how to live?
That was the conclusion the family head reached after checking his pulse.
When he first felt this pain, young Zhuge Lin screamed for his life.
But no one in the Zhuge family could cure that pain.
Sibi handed him a medicine made from poppy with trembling hands.
It was highly addictive but worked better than anything for pain.
Young Zhuge Lin accepted the medicine, which was usually given to terminal patients, with calmness.
His parents did not stop him either.
Zhuge Lin was a child who would soon disappear.
It was meant to make his path a little more comfortable.
However, the medicine did not work at all.
The heart-tearing pain continued.
No matter how much he studied medicine or trained his body, even when he overcame the Absolute Pulse and started accumulating true energy, the pain persisted.
There was only one time when he wasn't in pain.
When the family faced disaster, and all his kin died.
It was only when he swore revenge amidst the ashes.
Ironically, Zhuge Lin, who was expected to die first due to the Nine Yin Absolute Pulse, became the last survivor of the Zhuge family.
The pain never became familiar.
He just learned how to endure it.
The young Zhuge Lin, who used to cry like a beast, had now become a dry old tree preparing for death.
Once twisted emotions were further twisted by his genius.
'Perhaps that's why that child seemed so radiant.
Because he had what I didn't.'
Having never possessed it, there was no room for feelings like jealousy.
He was simply captivated by the light he saw for the first time.
Even so, knowing he couldn't have it, he felt it was closer to admiration.
'Today, it hurts less.'
Perhaps because of that, Zhuge Lin felt the pain easing more than usual in his hazy state.
Zhuge Lin woke up half a day later.
When he opened his eyes, he felt a soft touch in his hand.
Turning his gaze, he saw a child holding his hand tightly with small fern-like hands.
The surroundings were filled with warmth.
It was a sensation he felt when soaking in a hot spring, but it felt even warmer.
"Master, you're awake."
"Yoo-ho?"
"Yes! It's me!"
Zhuge Lin's eyes turned to Jin Cheon-hee.
"Why is Hee here?"
Yoo-ho looked at Jin Cheon-hee lying next to Zhuge Lin with a displeased expression and said,
"He insisted on training the Five Elements Heart Method, using it as an excuse. But Master, this incident is all because of this young master..."
Yoo-ho couldn't continue speaking.
Zhuge Lin raised his hand to stop him and looked down at Jin Cheon-hee.
Zhuge Lin gazed tenderly at Jin Cheon-hee's sleeping face.
It was like pouring water into the sea with a ladle.
Even if he infused a small amount of Five Elements True Energy, it wouldn't have made much difference.
Still, the pain was alleviated, probably because it continuously supported the broken balance of his body.
'This time, I used a lot of Fire, Metal, and Wood energy.'
The Five Elements Divine Art, which Zhuge Lin was mastering, utilized the principles of mutual generation and mutual overcoming, so balance was crucial.
For a typical user of the Five Elements Divine Art, using true energy unbalanced wouldn't cause such a collapse.
If it were such an incomplete martial art, it wouldn't be called a divine art.
It was dangerous because it was Zhuge Lin.
The balance of the Five Elements True Energy was suppressing Zhuge Lin's illness.
Zhuge Lin felt a similar but slightly different energy while circulating his energy.
It was a pure and small energy, just beginning.
He laid his young disciple on his bed.
"Master?"
"Shh. Be quiet."
Then he held Jin Cheon-hee's hand and focused his mind.
Inside Jin Cheon-hee, there wasn't enough internal energy compared to what Zhuge Lin used.
The balance was broken, but it was a pea-sized imbalance.
It couldn't be compared to the master's.
Zhuge Lin infused his true energy into his disciple.
Seeing Jin Cheon-hee's sleeping face relax, he smiled contentedly.
For the first time in a long while, Zhuge Lin thought he wanted to live.
He hoped to see his disciple grow up and make his debut in the martial world.
Jin Cheon-hee opened his eyes to a strange but warm sensation.
His master was stroking the head of his only disciple.
"Did you wake up?"
If he had parents, would it feel like this?
Jin Cheon-hee thought absentmindedly and then shook his head.
The place he was in was an orphanage.
Although it had recently started being called a children's home, back then, the term orphanage was more familiar.
Some children didn't know who their parents were, while others did but still ended up there.
They became friends with each other, but it always felt like there was a hole in their hearts.
It was a strange thirst that couldn't be quenched.
"Master, are you alright?"
"You must have been very surprised when I suddenly collapsed."
It wasn't just surprise.
His mind went blank.
He had watched countless patients' lives and deaths up close.
But nowhere in his life had he experienced the death of a family member.
Zhuge Lin was the first person Jin Cheon-hee felt that way about.
He was frozen like a stone, unable to do anything.
All the medical knowledge he had was useless.
Nothing came to mind.
The Zhuge Lin he had seen was always strong, calm, and dignified, the epitome of a martial artist.
He hadn't realized that he was also a person who could be in pain.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke honestly.
"I was very surprised. Master, I was really worried about you."
Zhuge Lin smiled faintly.
"The human heart is truly fickle. I'm sorry for worrying you, but seeing you worry for me makes me happy..."
He seemed to understand why sometimes the elders of the sect would feign illness in front of their disciples.
When they reached eighty or ninety, they would complain about aches, loss of appetite, and how it wouldn't be long before they met their departed senior brothers, causing their disciples to fret.
Then they would secretly ask for a meal at Baeklin's Pavilion.
And when the disciples weren't around, they would practice their swordsmanship with vigorous energy.
He thought he couldn't grow old like that, so he resolved to reach a higher realm and achieve eternal youth somehow.
Yoo-ho used to grumble about how people became foolish when they got old, and now Zhuge Lin understood that sentiment.
This is what it means to have a disciple, he thought quietly.
At that moment, Zhuge Lin started coughing.
The cough grew louder.
When he removed his hand from his mouth, dark red blood stained it.
Jin Cheon-hee, startled, called out to Yoo-ho.
"Yoo-ho! Master is...!"
Before he could finish speaking, Yoo-ho opened the door.
Then he took out a miraculous medicine from the drawer by the bedside.
"It seemed like he was getting better for a while... Oh dear."
Yoo-ho sighed and handed over the medicine.
Seeing this, Jin Cheon-hee realized this wasn't a rare occurrence.
'It's more serious than what was shown in the novel.'
He had been complacent.
Master was a supporting character who disappeared early on.
Cheonma Yeo Ha-ryun only met him when he was in a state where he could meet people.
'The novel... isn't an encyclopedia.'
Readers ultimately follow the protagonist's perspective.
No matter how great Master was, he was still a supporting character.
There wouldn't be many pages dedicated to him.
"I'm... I'm fine."
Master swallowed the miraculous medicine and slowly circulated his energy.
His rough breathing gradually returned to normal.
"Whew."
Yoo-ho sighed and patted his chest.
Jin Cheon-hee asked.
"How is his condition?"
"I'm fine."
"You said that before being your disciple, I'm also a doctor. There's nothing more foolish than hiding an illness, and everyone in this medical pavilion knows that."
"..."
Zhuge Lin let out a small sigh.
'Even those elders who feigned illness would hide their real illnesses.
I didn't want to understand that feeling...'
But eventually, it would be revealed.
There were many cases where an illness that could have been treated if spoken of early was hidden until it couldn't be cured.
Humans are truly bundles of contradictions.
Zhuge Lin extended his wrist.
"Let's take this opportunity to learn how to check the pulse."
"You taught me the theory."
"This is your first time doing it directly, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Since you and I use the same type of energy, even if you make a mistake, it won't cause a big accident. There's no better practice partner."
Jin Cheon-hee grasped his master's wrist.
It was the strong and firm arm of a martial artist.
It was unusually cold, which was strange.
"Close your eyes and circulate your energy according to the formula I give you. Never open your eyes or speak in the middle."
Master slowly recited the formula.
Jin Cheon-hee circulated his energy according to the Five Elements Heart Method.
'Ultrasound...?'
He could feel inside his master.
It was like a poorly functioning ultrasound.
Jin Cheon-hee's energy moved along his master's meridians.
As his understanding deepened, this feeling seemed to become clearer.
'So this is checking the pulse through energy.
This is what it means to develop energy sensitivity.'
And he reached the end.
'It's really serious.
Even I can feel how bad it is.'
Jin Cheon-hee followed his master's formula and gathered his energy.
The energy that had circulated returned to Jin Cheon-hee.
After finishing the pulse check, Jin Cheon-hee slowly opened his eyes.
Master smiled bitterly.
"How is it?"
"It's worse than I thought."
"Yes. You saw it accurately."
Jin Cheon-hee clenched his fist.
"I will definitely cure it."
"I thought you'd be scared, but instead, your resolve has strengthened."
"I will definitely cure it."
The disciple's voice resonated in his cold heart.
Feeling that warmth, Master nodded.
"Yes. Let's work together."
005. Breaking Evil, and Troubles
A day later.
Zhuge Lin and Jin Cheon-hee visited the patient's room.
On the bed lay Wang Gak-yeon, the daughter of the Palace Ghost, resting and being cared for by the Palace Ghost.
"Thank you! Baeklin's Immortal! Jin Young Hero!"
The Palace Ghost bowed deeply to them.
Behind him, the patient, Wang Gak-yeon, sighed.
The first thing she saw when she regained consciousness was her father's face, half of his hair turned white.
He was hugging her tightly, crying and apologizing profusely, and she couldn't understand what was happening.
When she said it hurt because he was hugging her too tightly, the Palace Ghost was startled and let go, retreating to a corner.
But he continued to cry.
Wang Gak-yeon slowly circulated her energy within her body.