Now I understand why those proud elders bow their heads to Yuho's words. 'But I need Yuho.' If there was someone to replace him, I would have done it long ago.
Jin Cheon-hee turned his head to look at the penicillin.
"Please, let it work properly. It has to. If it doesn't work, how much more will he act up with that temper?" Jin Cheon-hee prayed deeply to a god he never believed in.
Syphilis.
There are many causes for its outbreak, but the main factor is infection through sexual contact.
Originally, it was a disease from the West Indies, but after Columbus and his crew got infected, it spread to Europe and then to the entire world.
This was the established theory when Jin Cheon-hee studied, but...
Recently, evidence has been found that it existed in Europe 100 years before Columbus, making it uncertain again. 'Either way, it doesn't matter to me.' The problem is the treatment for syphilis.
In this era, if you get infected with syphilis, you usually die.
Besides the high mortality rate, there are no proper treatments.
Mercury-containing strong drugs were often used as treatments, but they were ineffective and often led to a more painful death from mercury poisoning.
As a result, syphilis became a cursed disease that killed countless infected people until penicillin was developed.
It's the same in this world of the Hua Empire.
Whether it originated from the West Indies like in real history is unknown, but the fact that syphilis exists and is killing many people in the Hua Empire is true.
An incurable disease.
Jin Cheon-hee's request to gather syphilis patients naturally spread throughout the medical sect.
"I trust the young master."
Gung-gwi said with eyes full of trust.
Wang Gak-yeon also clenched her fist.
"I want to help too, Dad!" "You should rest. You're not fully recovered yet."
She was a girl with great execution ability, just like Gung-gwi's personality.
In the past, she had to play the role of a good daughter to protect her precarious father, but now it was different.
With Gung-gwi's life stabilized, it was time to find what she wanted to do.
"But until you're fully recovered, you shouldn't do anything. That's the rule. If you break it, Uncle Gung-gwi will get scolded by the master, asking why he's making an unwell daughter work."
At Jin Cheon-hee's reasonable words, Wang Gak-yeon puffed up her cheeks.
"I can help too..."
Jin Cheon-hee laughed at her words.
"Hahaha, help me when you're fully recovered. By then, you'll cry because there's too much work."
There was another reason why Jin Cheon-hee was so desperate to stop her. 'It seems like many people from the Hao Clan will come...
It's not good for the children's education.
Gak-yeon...' Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease.
Naturally, people from the Hao Clan, who are based around brothels, would gather in large numbers.
Jin Cheon-hee and Gung-gwi exchanged glances.
Hao Clan.
In the martial world, they are a sect that manages brothels and taverns.
There's no place where people live without alcohol.
The Hao Clan always has a base where people gather.
No matter how stoic a person is, once alcohol is involved, their lips become loose.
They make money by selling the information they gather there, and sometimes they plant spies to induce carelessness and expand their power.
The problem is that the human rights sensitivity of this era is very different from that of modern Earth.
Most members of the Hao Clan are children who were sold at a young age.
Some are orphans from birth, but others are sold by their families to put food on the table.
There's not much difference between the two.
They are assessed for their physique and appearance to decide whether to use them as guards for the Hao Clan, as spies, or as disposable pawns.
The chosen children learn the martial arts of the sect and also learn dance and song.
Being a sect, there is no mercy.
Since they can die at any time, the children live lives isolated from the general world.
Once in the Hao Clan, always in the Hao Clan, for this reason.
It's impossible to repay the debt incurred when they were sold, and they have never learned any other means of livelihood besides what they learned in the Hao Clan. 'The best-case scenario is entering as a concubine of a high official.' It's not a place where you can wash away the gold dust.
"Please take care of us, young master."
A man and a woman with heavy makeup entered.
They were all beautiful, but their appearances were greatly damaged by syphilis.
To cover it up, their makeup was even thicker.
Some covered their faces with veils, and many were carried by martial artists because they couldn't move on their own.
However, the unique smell of disease was unmistakable, and all the doctors couldn't help but wrinkle their faces.
Even in the martial world, the Hao Clan always took on the dirtiest jobs.
The treatment of those living in the brothels was obvious.
Only Jin Cheon-hee responded with a calm expression.
"Thank you for coming all this way."
"Our bodies aren't worth a single coin anyway. We're just grateful that you're willing to use us like this. Hahaha."
It wasn't a joke for a child to hear.
But in the world they lived in, it was also a joke.
Jin Cheon-hee replied like this.
"I was thinking of treating you at the medical house at the foot of the mountain, but why did you come up here directly?" "What's scarier than people's eyes? Knowing something is dirty in your head and seeing it directly are different reasons."
The Hao Clan members evaluated themselves without hesitation.
She added a word.
"Young master, you are truly eccentric. Gathering dirty things for the sake of medicine."
Her words were sharp.
Although they were martial artists, it was natural for them to climb the mountain with a patient's body.
But there was self-deprecation about their situation.
It was a strange twist.
Jin Cheon-hee replied calmly.
"You don't have to believe whether I'll succeed in treating you or not. I'll just do everything I can."
The patient's circumstances are the patient's own.
The doctor just does their best to treat.
The Hao Clan members found Jin Cheon-hee's attitude intriguing.
The Hao Clan members exchanged glances with each other. 'I've heard that the disciple of the White Lotus Immortal is eccentric, but it's true.' 'He's not showing sympathy, nor is he ignoring us...' 'Being straightforward makes it harder to understand his intentions.' They were Hao Clan members who had been through all sorts of trials.
Even to them, Jin Cheon-hee was quite an oddity.
It was strange enough that he set out to treat syphilis and gathered patients, but he didn't ignore them as dirty, nor did he sympathize with them as pitiful lives.
"We haven't introduced ourselves. My name is Muhwa. Young master. My younger brother's name is Muwol. We siblings will lead the Hao Clan members who came with us."
Muhwa said sweetly with a red smile.
Jin Cheon-hee asked, "Both of you have symptoms of syphilis, right?" "Yes. Both my brother and I contracted it around the same time, though the severity varies."
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
"Understood. Chief Yuho, please escort everyone to the ward."
With that, Jin Cheon-hee began his work.
"I've lived my whole life in a brothel, but I've never seen a child like that."
"Sister, you were too harsh with your jokes on the young master of the White Lotus Sect."
After being assigned a ward, Muhwa and Muwol stepped outside to talk.
They were siblings sold from a poor family.
Both had outstanding beauty from a young age, so the Hao Clan raised them with great care.
They had talent in dance and song, and were also good at calligraphy and painting.
They once rose to the position of branch leader but were pushed to the back room after contracting syphilis.
"Muwol, why don't you be honest now? You're fine."
"You know what happens to syphilis patients in the Hao Clan. Who will take care of you if I'm not here?" "You're truly foolish, Muwol."
"Sister, you're the foolish one. If you had run away with me when I suggested it, we both would have been fine..."
Muhwa laughed for a long time at those words.
"Didn't our parents tell us? To consider the Hao Clan our home now. They were the ones who handed us back to the Hao Clan when we tried to run away."
"Sister."
"Where would we go if we ran away? And do you think the Hao Clan would just wave us off?" The wind blew.
The sound of bamboo was like the sound of rain.
Under her thick makeup, the blisters, evidence of syphilis, were clearly visible.
"That young master..."
"Don't get your hopes up too soon, Muwol."
"Sister."
She shook her head.
"It's just the bravado of a young master. We just need to offer our bodies and steal information."
The Hao Clan received a request.
To investigate the movements of the White Lotus Sect and the young master.
From the surrounding reputation to medical skills.
Even if they couldn't find a weakness, it was okay.
They were to find out as much as they could, even the smallest details.
It was quite a broad request.
As always, the siblings couldn't know who made the request.
When they were branch leaders, they received a lot, but now they were just disposable pawns.
That's why Muwol was desperate.
"A request is just a request. Sister, why don't you focus on the treatment?" "Do you think an incurable disease is called incurable for no reason, Muwol? You should stop taking care of someone like me and do what you want."
"Taking care of you is more important than selling smiles."
"You're foolish."
With those words, she closed her eyes. 'Even though it's unlikely, if that young master succeeds in the treatment, I...' The thought ended there.
She sneered again. 'I'm still foolish as ever.
Even though I know there's nothing more foolish than dreaming of something that won't come true.' As a child, she dreamed many dreams.
The first dream she had was to eat delicious food until she was full.
But even the most popular courtesans in the brothel couldn't do that.
She couldn't practice swordsmanship every day like other martial artists in the martial world.
Because gaining weight would make her unattractive. 'Then I dreamed of making a lot of money and becoming rich.' But that was also impossible.
It was the Hao Clan that made a lot of money, not the courtesans.
For some reason, the more popular she became, the more her debt piled up.
She realized that no matter how beautiful she became, she could never escape debt.
So she changed the direction of her dreams. 'I also dreamed of escaping this place.' She saw a runaway courtesan's fingers being branded with a hot iron.
She and her siblings had to heat the iron together.
That was the example.
As they heated the iron, she and her siblings cried.
Even now, some children wake up crying.
The iron left scars not only on the runaway courtesan but also on the hearts of those who watched.