Heo Jinbyeok immediately stepped in front of me.
“No, Young Lady.”
“Move.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I said move.”
Heo Jinbyeok looked down at me with a stern expression.
But I didn’t back down and met his eyes head-on.
“That child is going to die if this continues.”
“……”
“I need to examine him.”
A brief silence followed.
Heo Jinbyeok’s gaze deepened.
His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he stepped aside.
I immediately pushed through the crowd and approached the collapsed boy.
“What, what? She’s just a kid!”
“What does a child know about medicine?”
Whispers spread among the people around us.
The martial artist guarding the boy spotted me and shouted in bewilderment.
“Little girl, who are you?! Don’t touch him recklessly!”
“If you want to save him, please move aside.”
“What?”
Without waiting for an answer, I knelt beside the boy.
His condition looked even more serious up close.
His lips had turned blue, and cold sweat drenched the back of his neck.
I took his wrist and checked his pulse. It was thin and irregular, as though it could disappear at any moment.
‘The poison is spreading quickly.’
But it hadn’t been that long since he had been poisoned.
It wasn’t too late yet.
If we delayed even a little longer, there would truly be nothing I could do.
“Ryu Jin.”
Without taking my eyes off the boy, I held out my hand.
“My needles.”
Ryu Jin swallowed hard.
“Young Lady, are you really going to…”
“Quickly.”
At that moment, a sharp voice rang out from behind me.
“What are you doing, Yeon Ryeonghwa!”
It was Yeon Do-pyeong.
When I didn’t answer, Yeon Hwi-cheon’s voice came low as well.
“Ryeonghwa, you aren’t a medical student yet, are you?!”
‘I knew it would come to this.’
I gripped the boy’s wrist even more firmly.
“Ryu Jin.”
This time, I spoke more quietly and firmly.
“…Yes!”
As though she had finally snapped out of it, Ryu Jin hurriedly pulled the needle case from her clothes.
I took it from her and drew out the thinnest needle.
The silver tip glinted coldly in the sunlight.
Heo Jinbyeok moved again as though he intended to stop me, but I briefly raised a hand.
Then I slowly steadied my breathing.
‘First, I need to slow down the spread of the poison.’
The poison was already spreading rapidly through his qi and blood. I needed to open his blocked airways and calm the qi and blood that had surged upward.
I brought the tip of the needle toward the inside of the boy’s wrist.
“…I’ll save you.”
I didn’t know whom I was saying it to.
The boy in front of me.
Myself.
Or perhaps the past that had failed to save me throughout all my lives.
Just then, Ryu Jin hurried over to my side.
“Young Lady, is there anything else you need?”
“Get the people to move back a little. And bring me some clean water, too.”
“Yes, Young Lady!”
Ryu Jin immediately sprang into action.
In my previous life, I had treated patients in place of Yeon Do-pyeong before. But back then, I had been much older than I was now.
Now, I am only seven years old.
The size of my hands, my strength, and even the amount of concentration my body could endure were all different from before.
‘But I still have to do it.’
Without hesitation, I inserted the first needle.
“Gasp!”
“That little girl is really using acupuncture…!”
Surprised voices erupted around me, but I couldn’t hear them.
‘I need to open his airways.’
I immediately drew the second needle.
Hegu on the back of his hand.
Taichong on the top of his foot.
The thin needles pierced the exact acupuncture points without a single error.
“……”
As I summoned every ounce of my concentration, the sounds around me gradually faded away.
The only things I could hear were the boy’s faint breathing and the trembling pulse transmitted through my fingertips.
‘Just a little more.’
The flow of the poison was slowing down ever so slightly. Now I needed to draw down the qi and blood that had surged upward.
I picked up the final needle.
Then I examined the boy’s complexion for a moment. His forehead and crown were drenched in cold sweat.
He looked as though he might breathe his last at any moment.
‘It’s okay.’
I repeated the words to myself.
‘I can do this.’
And without hesitation, I inserted the final needle.
“Cough!”
At that moment, the boy’s body jerked violently. Dark-red blood suddenly gushed from his mouth.
“Young Master!”
Just as the martial artist hurriedly tried to lift him—
“Cough, cough!”
The boy began coughing violently. It was as though all the breath that had been trapped inside him suddenly burst out.
But there was one difference from before.
The blood he had vomited was lighter in color.
‘I did it.’
The martial artist supported the boy’s body with a pale face.
The boy still hadn’t regained consciousness. But I knew.
The faint breathing that had seemed ready to disappear was continuing once more.
The color was also slowly returning to his lips, which had been blue.
“Is he alive?”
“He’s really breathing?”
A hushed murmur of astonishment spread through the crowd.
‘Thank goodness.’
We had made it past the critical point.
Only then did relief wash over me, and I finally released the breath I had been holding.
Just then, Ryu Jin returned with clean water.
I wiped the blood from the boy’s mouth with a damp cloth, then carefully removed the needles one by one while checking his condition.
“Young Master, can you hear me?”
The martial artist desperately called out to the boy.
The boy’s eyelids trembled faintly.
‘He’ll regain consciousness soon.’
This was enough.
I slowly stood up. Then I tucked the needle case back into my clothes.
‘Let’s go.’
I wasn’t even a formally recognized medical student, yet I had treated a patient in front of all these people.
I had already attracted more than enough attention.
There was nothing to gain by staying any longer.
But just as I was about to turn around—
“Don’t let yourselves be deceived!”
A sharp voice cut across the center of the marketplace.
I stopped walking.
It was Yeon Do-pyeong.
He had somehow already stepped in front of the crowd. A twisted smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
No way.
“That child isn’t a medical student.”
The marketplace fell silent in an instant.
“What?”
“She isn’t a medical student?”
“But she just saved that person…”
As though he had been waiting for this, Yeon Do-pyeong pointed at me.
“She’s a child of the Medicine King’s household who hasn’t even undergone the entrance examination. Someone who isn’t even a formal medical student recklessly used acupuncture on a poisoned patient!”
My face stiffened.
Yeon Do-pyeong didn’t stop there.
“She must have been greedy for recognition from the family head and dared to overstep her bounds. If something had gone wrong, who exactly would have taken responsibility?”
Confusion spread across the people’s faces.
“The Medicine King’s household?”
“Is that the child they said was terminally ill?”
“But even so, didn’t she just save the patient?”
“Still, she isn’t even a medical student.”
“Was that treatment really safe?”
“What if something goes wrong…?”
The atmosphere instantly turned against me.
I clenched my teeth.
‘Yeon Do-pyeong.’
I knew he would run to Grandfather and tattle that I had broken the rules.
But I never expected him to drag the Medicine King’s household’s name into this and make such a huge issue out of it in front of everyone.
All just to put me in a difficult position.
He was even tarnishing the family’s reputation in the process.
‘I need to shut that mouth of his right now…’
Just as I turned toward Yeon Do-pyeong—
“Is what you just said true?”
A low, subdued voice rang out.
It was the martial artist who had been beside the boy.
He was now looking directly at me.
His desperate expression from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
His eyes were cold and sharp.
“You aren’t a medical student?”
I remained silent for a moment.
Then, in the end, I nodded.
“…Yes. I haven’t taken the entrance examination yet.”
The martial artist’s expression hardened.
“And yet you used acupuncture on our young master?”
“He would have died if I had left him like that.”
“Can you guarantee that there was nothing wrong with your treatment?”
“He’s past the immediate crisis. But the poison hasn’t been completely removed.”
I looked at the collapsed boy.
“He needs to be properly examined and treated for the remaining poison as soon as possible.”
The martial artist narrowed his eyes.
He didn’t seem to doubt my words. After all, the boy who had been on the verge of death only moments ago was now breathing steadily.
But an unidentified child had treated his master. It seemed he was reluctant to simply let me leave.
“I know that you saved our young master.”
The martial artist spoke in a low voice.
“But in a situation like this, I cannot simply let you go without even confirming your identity.”
“……”
“You said you were from the Medicine King’s household, correct? Stay here until we finish confirming it.”
When the martial artist stepped closer, Ryu Jin became indignant.
“What do you mean by that?!”
“I have no intention of mistreating her.”
“You’re doing exactly that right now! Young Lady saved him!”
When Ryu Jin tried to argue further, I raised my hand to stop her.
Apparently, he had no intention of backing down at all.
I quietly looked around.
By now, Yeon Do-pyeong and Yeon Hwi-cheon had disappeared into the crowd.
The people who had caused this mess had slipped away, while I was the only one being held back.
‘The longer I stay here, the more the rumors will spread.’
I calmly steadied my breathing.
There had been nothing wrong with my treatment.
If the boy’s condition continued to stabilize, there would be no reason for them to come looking for me again.
I subtly glanced at Heo Jinbyeok.
He gave a tiny nod.
Just as I carefully took Ryu Jin’s hand and began stepping backward—
Shing.
The sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath rang out.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Heo Jinbyeok immediately drew his sword and stepped in front of me.
“Step back. Do not touch the Young Lady.”
“I cannot let her go until her identity has been confirmed.”
The martial artist answered coldly.
He tightened his grip around his sword.
The aura emanating from him was anything but ordinary.
Clang!
In an instant, the swords of the two men collided.
“Urgh.”
I had naturally expected Heo Jinbyeok to overwhelm him, but my assumption was spectacularly wrong.
The martial artist’s swordsmanship was formidable.
His sword moved so quickly that it was difficult to follow with my eyes.
Whoosh!
Then, targeting an opening in Heo Jinbyeok’s defense, the martial artist slipped past him in a single motion.
“Got you.”
A rough hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Young Lady!”
Ryu Jin hurriedly drew the dagger from inside her clothes, but it was already too late.
‘What do I do now?’
Just as I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut in fear—
Papapapak!
Suddenly, someone appeared without making a sound and rapidly struck the acupuncture points of the martial artist holding me.
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