The Eldest Daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan Protects the Family

Part 1

Chapter 4. The Divine Physician Yeonju

Tang Min asked with a shocked expression.

"You, you... Could it be that you've even learned to make the Yeonju pills?"

The Yeonju pill referred to the elixir of the Yeonju Group. So-hwa looked at Tang Min with a slightly displeased gaze and spoke.

"... How could that be?"

The method of making it wasn't even in the Tang Clan, and she didn't even know what materials were used.

No matter how keen her sense for poisons and medicinal herbs was, she couldn't create an elixir she had neither tasted nor even seen.

Tang Min didn't know such an obvious thing.

Embarrassed by So-hwa's confused gaze, Tang Min cleared his throat awkwardly.

"By the way, why are you suddenly asking about that?"

"If I knew where the Yeonju Group is, would you believe me?"

Tang Min was the kind of person who would gulp down whatever So-hwa said, even if she was just rolling some mud in the front yard and calling it an elixir.

Even if he later realized he had been tricked, he would pull out Tang Ji-ha's beard for raising a daughter wrong, but he wouldn't get angry at So-hwa. After all, he couldn't secretly steal ingredients and make salves for her to work on.

Moreover, So-hwa didn't lie, nor did she say anything far-fetched. She was so quiet that Tang Min, whenever he heard her speak, would always accept her words without a second thought.

So, Tang Min remained silent.

As if giving permission to continue speaking.

The quick-witted child continued in a calm voice.

"You know that not long ago, Hak-ah brought home a hawk, right?"

"Of course, I know. What in the world is that rascal doing?"

Tang Min frowned and grumbled.

So-hwa smiled.

"Do you know that the hawk is a spirit creature?"

"I know. That bastard, Ji-ha, always subtly brags about how his son picks up spirit creatures even from the streets. It pisses me off. I shouldn't say this as a Tang Clan member, but Ji-ha is naturally suited to be the Clan Head of the Tang Clan. He's full of venom. He pretends to be worried about Tang Hak being young, but if you listen carefully, this bastard is just bragging about his own son. That damn man, always trying to show off like he's so cautious..."

"The hawk seems to have an owner."

Seeing signs that her father's insults would go on, So-hwa quickly cut in.

"Really? A crazy person taming a spirit creature, huh."

To Tang Min, calling someone a crazy person was a compliment.

He emptied his cup with an intrigued look on his face as he glanced at So-hwa.

So-hwa, quickly catching on, pushed a plate of braised pork in front of Tang Min and continued.

"I didn't tell the Hak-ah, but there was a small tube made of bamboo inside its wing joint."

Suddenly, the sound of a flowing stream could be heard clearly.

Tang Min had stopped breathing.

So-hwa took a note from her sleeve and politely handed it to Tang Min.

"At the time, I thought it was nothing special and threw it away, but after thinking about it, I found it strange, so I wrote it down again."

Tang Min raised an eyebrow as he received the note. The small paper only had eight characters written on it.

『煙霞痼疾蛾眉細腰』

A beautiful person who loves nature ( 煙霞痼疾), with delicate eyebrows and a slender waist ( 蛾眉細腰).

It was a peculiar sentence. Perhaps the characters were simply written out because they sounded nice.

If anyone else had brought something like this, Tang Min would have overturned the table in a fit of annoyance, but because it was So-hwa, he had no choice but to think it over.

A long silence followed.

It seemed Tang Min needed time to gather his thoughts, as he emptied his cup three times.

So-hwa, noticing this, filled his fourth cup. As he watched the cup being filled, Tang Min, still unable to find meaning, finally asked.

"Why do you think this is where the Yeonju pill is buried?"

Tang So-hwa, as if waiting for the question, smiled slightly and answered.

"'煙霞痼疾' refers to the longing for nature. '蛾眉細腰' refers to a beautiful woman with delicate eyebrows and a slender waist. But the idea that a beautiful woman is sickly in her love for nature felt odd to me."

"Well, since the crazy person tamed a spirit creature, he might have just drunkenly scribbled something. Maybe he wrote it because he likes nature and women."

At those words, So-hwa smiled gently.

"I think differently."

"Oh? How?"

"Fog 煙. Sunset glow 霞. Beautiful eyebrows 蛾眉. Slender waist 細腰."

Tang So-hwa explained the meaning behind the characters written on the paper.

"It expresses the beauty of both nature and humans visually. As if painting a picture with words."

So-hwa's gaze lifted to meet Tang Min's.

"I think it was a picture drawn with words."

"A picture?"

"Yes. The sunset settling over the fog on the mountain's slopes. A beautiful landscape viewed from the mountaintop."

"... Emei Mountain."

Tang Min muttered to himself and then let out a soft laugh.

Emei Mountain was one of the most famous mountains in the Central Plains. The two mountain peaks facing each other were said to resemble delicate eyebrows, hence the name Emei Mountain (蛾眉山).

"Are you saying it refers to the magnificent view seen from Emei Mountain?"

So-hwa nodded quietly and continued.

"Yes. To be exact, I think it's the view seen from the peak of Sam-a (Third Peak) of Emei Mountain."

Emei Mountain encompasses the four peaks: Da-a (First Peak), I-a (Second Peak), sam-a (Third Peak), and Sa-a (Fourth Peak).

"Emei Mountain is named after the two peaks, da-a and I-a, which resemble a woman's eyebrows, so perhaps it's describing the moment when the view of Da-a and I-a is seen from the peak of Sam-a."

Since Emei Mountain was so high, it was often shrouded in fog, and the sunset could not be seen well from the mountainside because it was hidden by clouds. To capture the sunset, one would have to reach the summit.

The summit where Da-a and I-a could be seen.

That would likely refer to the peak of Sam-a.

So-hwa continued in a calm voice.

"They call the ridge of the mountain the mountain waist. The place where the waist narrows and sharply drops is called a gorge."

"So?"

"I think the note might be a sentence describing one of the gorges of Sam-a Mountain, like a map."

There was a brief silence.

Soon, Tang Min let out a short laugh and raised his cup.

"Do you know how vast Emei Mountain is? Are there not numerous gorges within it? Even if you look for a gorge, do you think you can just dig everywhere to find where it is buried?"

Tang Min clicked his tongue and shook his head. He shifted his focus and reached for the wine bottle again.

So-hwa, instead, took the wine bottle and tilted her lips slightly.

"If it's not the place where the Yeonju pill is buried, but rather the place where the Yeonju Group resides, there may be traces nearby. It's not impossible to track down."

Clink.

Tang Min, who had been toying with his cup, placed it down and no longer accepted any more wine.

The Divine Physician Yeonju was a renowned physician. She treated people without regard to their status and accepted disciples unconditionally, believing that she could save more lives that way. As a result, the Yeonju Group, where her disciples lived, grew large enough to form a village.

However, there was no trace left now.

The Yeonju pill's creator had gained fame for her miraculous healing techniques, capable of fusing broken bones and severed organs. But she was said to have taught her disciples by acquiring various corpses, from children to the elderly, in the name of thoroughly studying her patients.

Once this fact became known, angry people stormed the Yeonju Group's residence and uncovered hundreds of white bones in the yard. The Divine Physician explained that the bodies were those of the dead, but no one believed her. Eventually, unable to withstand the public outcry, she disappeared with his disciples.

Ironically, while people had harshly criticized her, they now searched for the vanished Divine Physician.

Despite the many years of effort, no one ever found the Yeonju Group.

Of course, since this was a group that disappeared half a century ago, it's likely that the medical skills of the group and the effects of their Yeonju pill had been exaggerated. People tend to embellish stories when they tell them.

But it was also true that those who had taken the Yeonju pill gained fame as skilled and powerful individuals, making it difficult to dismiss their reputation.

Even the Heavenly Ten Swords, as Tang So-hwa knew, had once been a child taken in by the Yeonju Group.

- If I die, please deliver this to the Clan Head.

The martial artist left a note as she departed for Sichuan.

At that time, So-hwa had asked about the reason.

She didn't understand what those eight characters meant back then.

- What is this?

Instead of explaining, she simply gave a brief response, her lips slightly curving.

- This is where I'll be buried.

When they recovered the martial artist's body in Sichuan, Namgung Hyun personally transported the body to Emei Mountain.

After returning to Anhui, he became enraged, blaming So-hwa for Yeon-ah's death. Drunk, he spewed strange words. If the Yeonju Group had been alive, then Yeon-ah would have lived. He muttered that he would go to them to search for Yeon-ah.

At the time, they thought he was just lost in despair, his mind slipping away.

However, now that she thought about it, she wondered if the Yeonju Group had truly existed.

She had heard something like that in Anhui. When Namgung Hyun was young, he had brought a girl of his age and personally given her a name. That girl had been Yeon-ah. Perhaps her name, Yeon-ah, was because she was a child of the Yeonju Group.

As she pondered, fragments of memories began to fit together.

She should have taken Yeon-ah away before Namgung Hyun did. It wasn't simply to clip Namgung Hyun's wings.

So-hwa had asked her father to look for the Yeonju Group first, but he had flatly refused.

He didn't believe in the existence of the Yeonju Group and told her that she was not allowed to leave the house yet.

It was impossible to persuade her skeptical father with words.

So-hwa briefly regretted not having kept the small bamboo tube and note, wondering if she should have made a proper record. But soon, she dismissed the thought. Even if she presented fake evidence, her father wouldn't be swayed. In fact, he would probably notice the handwriting and realize her lie.

Rather than giving up, So-hwa decided to change her approach.

If persuasion were impossible, she could just ask for a favor. Wouldn't it work if someone hard to refuse made the request?

So, So-hwa visited Tang Min.

"I asked my father for permission, but he said no. However, if it's a request from the Grand Elder, things might be different."

The Mad Green Hound, who defied the rules of the Tang Clan—he was the only Elder who could change the Clan Head's mind.

So-hwa poured wine into the cup Tang Min had set down and asked.

 "Would the Grand Elder take me to Emei Mountain?"