Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 8 - Land of Heavenly Abundance

Chapter 8 – Land of Heavenly Abundance

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Though the acrobatic troupe wandered the land, they did not truly travel to every corner of it.

The Blue Flower Acrobatic Troupe that Ju-seong belonged to mainly traveled around the provinces of southern China, namely Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi.

The Central Plains were vast. Just traveling that much was enough to say one had wandered the land.

But Sichuan was attached to the western edge of the Central Plains, so naturally Ju-seong had never been there.

“I have only heard stories about Sichuan. Are you going to that distant place?”

Though united under one empire, a place that far was practically a foreign country.

The Divine Physician smirked and said.

“My, what is so far about Sichuan? There is a vast world beyond the Central Plains, so traveling within it is like stepping into the front yard.”

He was talking about going from Fujian Province to Sichuan Province as if it were a walk around the neighborhood. Ju-seong narrowed his eyes.

‘Could it be that with age, his sense of distance is…’

Just as he was thinking that, the Divine Physician glared at him with glinting eyes as if he had telepathy.

“I hear an impious thought.”

“You misunderstand, Elder.”

‘Damn, how did he know?’

Did masters also learn mind-reading?

Anyway, he understood that their destination was Sichuan, but Ju-seong could not fathom the reason.

“Why do you want to go to Sichuan?”

The Divine Physician stroked his beard and answered.

“My residence is there, and the disciple I taught medicine to is there too. I will entrust your sisters to him to be trained as medical women, and I will take you under my wing separately.”

With the acrobatic troupe gone, Ju-seong’s sisters had nowhere to go. Joining a new troupe was not easy either.

The hazing would be exhausting, and in the worst case, they could suffer terrible treatment from the existing troupe members.

The Blue Flower Acrobatic Troupe members did not forsake humanity. The troupe leader Old Master Hwang and vice-leader Du-hwa had led the members that way.

They chose to skip a meal rather than oppress others for an extra bowl of rice. They were people whose bellies might be empty but whose hearts were at ease.

But he could not assume others would be the same.

The weak, street-level people, were not necessarily good. Ju-seong knew that well. Often, the uneducated and poor were more tenacious and vile.

In that sense, the Divine Physician’s offer was an excellent alternative.

‘Being a medical woman at a clinic is much better for marriage prospects than being a troupe dancer.’

But then something in the Divine Physician’s latter words caught his attention. The Divine Physician had clearly said he would take Ju-seong under his wing.

‘Take me under his wing?’

“What do you mean by taking me under your wing?”

“I must teach you.”

“Martial arts, you mean?”

When he asked, the Divine Physician nodded and answered.

“Not just martial arts. I will also teach you medicine and the way of being human.”

Having said that, the Divine Physician thought for a moment and corrected himself.

“Those who raised you had virtue, so you seem to have already learned the way of being human. But your innate killing intent is too thick, so you need to learn self-control and composure.”

“Killing intent, you say?”

The Divine Physician nodded.

“You were born with talent for harming people. Also, the killing intent harbored in your heart and spirit is far too great. This is killing intent that far exceeds your level as a commoner. If not properly guided and controlled, you will become a legendary murderer.”

‘A murderer. What scary words.’

Was that not a title reserved for the worst killers in the martial world? As Ju-seong was confused, the Divine Physician continued.

“Since I have already tied your lifeline back together, that was my choice. So making sure you do not become a murderer is also my responsibility. I will teach you internal energy and train your body. So that you can control your killing intent yourself.”

“So you are going to teach me martial arts. Sounds good.”

At Ju-seong’s answer, the Divine Physician snorted.

“It is not for you to like or dislike. Even if you did not want to, you would have to follow me anyway.”

The Divine Physician seemed to feel some kind of responsibility toward Ju-seong. From what he said, Ju-seong could guess the situation.

If you heal an injured tiger and release it, is it not right to take measures so it does not harm people?

What the Divine Physician felt seemed to be that kind of responsibility.

Ordinary martial artists learn martial arts to harm others.

But Ju-seong had to learn martial arts so as not to kill others. This was quite an odd thing.

In essence, the Divine Physician was teaching Ju-seong for the sake of those he might kill in the future.

He was truly a man walking the path of saving lives.

Suddenly curious, Ju-seong asked.

“Then what martial arts will I learn?”

The Divine Physician glanced at him indifferently and said.

“Obviously martial arts I learned, what else? It is called Flame Crow Six Stage Art.”

“Flaming crow, what an amusing name.”

The Divine Physician smiled slightly and shook his head.

“If you hear how I came to learn this martial art, you would not say that.”

“How did you learn martial arts, Elder?”

The Divine Physician thought for a moment and said.

“Originally, my sect was a small medicine clan in Yunnan. We had achieved mastery in pharmacy and medicine, but our martial arts were barely at the level of health cultivation.”

“So you learned something like the Seated Deep Breathing Method I studied.”

“Yes. We only did basic internal energy work to sense the flow of energy for preparing medicines. It was just slightly better than the Three Talents Heart Method floating around the martial world or your basic breathing method.”

“So this art was not something your sect originally possessed.”

The Divine Physician nodded and continued.

“I happened to meet a master of the previous generation, treated his injuries, and learned this art from him.”

“That is quite a fortunate encounter.”

“Indeed.”

“Who was that master?”

“He was the Right Envoy of Light from the White Lotus Cult.”

White Lotus Cult.

An unfamiliar yet familiar name. A name most knew but whispered about.

“…You mean the Demon Cult?”

“Well, yes. It is known as the Demon Cult in the world. But White Lotus Cult, or Ming Cult, is the correct name.”

“Is it not a heretical group that worships some strange old hag called the Eternal Mother? They say human sacrifice is common, and they commit massacres to please their god…”

“Those are false rumors spread by the current imperial court. Anyway, that is not what matters. The White Lotus Cult has already declined and all but disappeared.”

“Hmm…”

The Divine Physician was in the middle of explaining when he suddenly looked up at the darkening sky and murmured.

“If only I had met him a little earlier and become stronger a little sooner…”

Since it was a murmur not seeking an answer, Ju-seong just stayed silent.

Come to think of it, the Divine Physician’s sect was in Yunnan, but he said his residence was in Sichuan.

What had happened to his sect? Somehow, Ju-seong felt he could guess.

He glanced at the Divine Physician’s profile.

The old man’s sunken eyes seemed to be flipping through pages from the distant past. In each of his deeply carved wrinkles, old emotions had pooled.

Ju-seong decided it was best not to ask about this matter right now.

It seemed the Divine Physician also had quite a story.

And he, who had become the man’s disciple, would probably walk a similar path, Ju-seong guessed.

A man with many stories and a man who would have many stories rode toward the horizon where dawn was breaking.

Westward, toward Sichuan.

* * *

The three-month journey was exhausting.

Though Ju-seong and his sisters were wanderers who traveled the land, crossing the country without a single rest was a different matter.

And so they finally reached Sichuan, Chengdu.

While southern China was generally hot and dry, Sichuan was hot and humid on top of that.

Thanks to this warm and humid climate, all kinds of ingredients could be grown, and it was called the Land of Heavenly Abundance, as if heaven had granted a granary.

But Sichuan’s ingredients were not martial arts masters impervious to heat and cold. In hot and humid weather, they spoiled easily.

So what developed to mask the smell of spoilage were spices. Spicy and pungent spices were a signature characteristic of this region’s food.

It was the reason three out of ten Sichuanese suffered from digestive problems.

With their insides burning every day, their tempers got irritable. When everyone’s temper was irritable, fights broke out daily.

“You son of a bitch!”

“What? Son of a bitch?”

“You hit me? You hit me?! Today you are going to smell some incense!”

“Oh yeah, let me help you rest in the shade behind a screen forever!”

Along the way to Chengdu after entering Sichuan Province, their party observed about forty brawls between Sichuanese.

Not the strong oppressing the weak, just people whose blood had rushed to their heads fighting each other.

The weather was hot and humid, the food was terribly spicy, the stomach was burning and the rear end was stinging.

Ju-seong fanned himself with a makeshift fan and thought.

‘Anyone who can laugh off getting provoked in these conditions is truly worthy of being called a gentleman.’

Sichuan was the Land of Heavenly Abundance, but unfortunately not a Land of Gentlemen. Thus, in Sichuan, fights never ceased.

At the same time, there was also leisure.

“Ho ho, the vigor of young folks is a fine sight.”

“Back in my younger days, I was not right unless I had at least two fistfights a day.”

The land itself was bountiful, and being a safe rear area from various wars, those not fighting strolled by with laid-back expressions.

“Indeed… So this is Sichuan Province.”

Yi-hwa poked her head out of a hole in the carriage and said. Over the three months, she had become quite friendly with the Divine Physician.

The main method was for the two of them to badmouth Ju-seong together. It seemed they both agreed on his damnable temper.

Yi-hwa watched a brawl between commoners happening down the street and said.

“No wonder there are two major sects in Sichuan.”

The Divine Physician chuckled and answered.

“Is that not so? Sichuan is where only the strong survive.”

Indeed.

There were two great sects in Sichuan: Qingcheng and Emei. They were a Daoist sect and a Buddhist sect respectively.

By now, the fighting men had exchanged handshakes, their faces like pounded eggplants.

“Huff… Let us stop, you bastard. I went too far.”

“I know. Do it again and you are dead.”

“What? I am apologizing here!”

The fight started again.

To manage those fierce Sichuanese, the authorities practically had to borrow help from anyone.

The local authorities even tolerated the two major sects setting up shop openly.

This was why dark path forces could not run rampant here. Setting aside the existence of two major righteous sects, just looking at the Sichuanese temperament told you.

If you looked down on common households and tried to extort their property, those hot-tempered Sichuanese would foam at the mouth and rise up.

“Die together” was the basic attitude toward life here.

Ju-seong slightly raised the corner of his mouth and said.

“I think this is a lively place. I also happen to like warm weather.”

The Divine Physician glanced at him and snorted.

“It is not because there are many people like you in Sichuan?”

Feeling a prick of guilt, Ju-seong hid his feelings and thought.

‘Indeed, masters must have some skill in mind-reading.’

Ju-seong avoided eye contact and looked up at the sky.

They say dogs in Shu bark at the sun?

That meant clear days were rare. True to the saying, today was also cloudy.

At least without blazing sun, the heat felt less intense.

The clinic run by the Divine Physician’s disciple was on the outskirts of Chengdu, and its name was All-Living Clinic.

It was quite large in scale with many people coming and going, and despite the crowds, the atmosphere was peaceful with a faint medicinal fragrance.

The Divine Physician opened the door and stepped in, then called out loudly.

“Disciple-!”

Even without internal energy, his voice rang throughout the hall. Before long, a middle-aged man with a refined appearance came hurrying out.

“Oh my, Master! This is a clinic, a clinic! What if patients get a shock and drop dead!”

“If a little shouting is enough to kill them, they were going to die anyway. Anyway, I came to see your face after a long time.”

“Really, for a physician, the things you say…”

The man who was supposedly the Divine Physician’s disciple rolled his eyes, yet a smile played on his lips from happiness.

He led the party to his office and left to prepare tea.

Ju-seong looked around and murmured.

“With the medicinal fragrance all around, it is truly a clinic.”

In the physician’s office were various books, a small pill furnace, and numerous herb drawers built into the walls.

He noticed there were no martial arts manuals among them and asked the Divine Physician.

“That disciple of yours did not learn martial arts?”

The answer came from the Divine Physician’s disciple, who had just returned.

“I only learned medicine from my Master. I had no desire to learn techniques for harming people, and my Master did not particularly try to teach me either.”

Ju-seong studied the man with the black beard grown down to his chest. Though clearly a commoner who had not learned a lick of martial arts, there was something extraordinary about his aura.