Chapter 46

Chapter 46
## Chapter 46: Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Spirit Herb (2)

“Mhm.”

Hwang Jeong had been motionless for a long duration, eyes shut tight as he focused on the pulse of Sima Jin. When he finally looked up, a heavy groan escaped his lips. The characteristic warmth and easy smile that usually defined his features had long since vanished, replaced by a grim, rigid mask.

“What is the verdict?”

Sima Geon blurted out, unable to endure the silence any longer. The physician’s hesitation to speak only amplified the dread pooling in the stomachs of Sima Geon and his kin.

“Dammit! This suspense is killing me! Just speak plainly!”

Cheol Woo, his patience completely evaporated, struck his own chest in frustration and yelled.

Though Sima Geon lacked formal medical training, his mastery over internal energies made him exceptionally perceptive. He had already sensed a chilling shift; the cold yin energy that had been neutralized by the Celestial Pure Jade Milk and the intricate golden needle technique of Hwang Yeong was beginning to stir once more. He had been praying his intuition was flawed, but the physician’s silence suggested otherwise.

“The Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian… has the curse returned?”

“What? Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian? Boss, what in the world are you talking about?”

A shocked Cheol Woo grabbed Sima Geon’s shoulder, seeking an explanation. Sima Geon gently pushed his hand away, his eyes locked on Hwang Jeong, awaiting confirmation.

With a heavy, defeated sigh, Hwang Jeong gave a slow nod.

“It appears to be the case. While it hasn’t reclaimed its full, devastating potency yet, this particular energy is undeniably…”

Hwang Jeong’s voice trailed off, the implication hanging heavy in the air. No one in the room needed him to finish the sentence to understand the gravity of the situation.

“You seemed to have suspected this. Tell me, how could this have happened?”

Hwang Jeong’s expression was one of pure bewilderment. He had only just returned to the Clear Heart Clinic after a two-week journey to Soju. Upon his arrival, he had been whisked away by the frantic Sima Geon and his brothers to see Sima Jin, who had been unconscious for two days following a sudden collapse.

Now, he was staring at the resurgence of the Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian—an affliction he believed had been effectively quelled, perhaps even for a lifetime. Given the intervention of the Celestial Pure Jade Milk and the elite techniques of the Living Immortal Medical House, this development defied all logic.

Sima Geon took a moment to collect his thoughts before shaking his head.

“Nothing out of the ordinary occurred that I can recall.”

“That is truly baffling. Even if we hadn’t achieved a total cure, that yin energy was suppressed perfectly. It shouldn’t have flared up without a catalyst. Search your memory. There had to be a specific trigger.”

Seeing the physician’s intensity, Sima Geon looked toward his brothers. His eyes silently interrogated them, asking if there was any detail he had missed. They only responded with deep frowns and discouraged shakes of their heads.

“Ha! This is madness. It doesn’t add up, Boss!” Cheol Woo shouted, getting worked up again. “Wasn’t that Heavenly Yin curse supposed to be finished? We even made sure she took the thousand-year flower spirit herb!”

Hwang Jeong’s eyes sharpened instantly.

“What did you just say? If my ears didn’t deceive me, you mentioned a thousand-year flower spirit herb?”

“That’s right. The thousand-year flower spirit herb.”

“You are certain she consumed it?”

As Hwang Jeong’s tone turned dangerously solemn, Cheol Woo glanced at Sima Geon for reassurance before nodding.

“Yes, she did. We went through hell to secure that medicine, but it looks like it was all for nothing.”

“No… that doesn’t make sense at all,” Hwang Jeong muttered, his confusion deepening.

“What part of it is confusing?” Sima Geon asked.

Hwang Jeong looked at him with sheer incredulity. “Are you absolutely positive it was the thousand-year flower spirit herb?”

“Without a doubt. I obtained it personally from the Ha Hu Clan. Isn’t that so, Elder?”

Ha Hu Gok, who had been observing the scene from the periphery, nodded quickly at being addressed.

“Indeed. This old man can confirm it.” He nudged Ha Hu Yeon, who was standing nearby.

Ha Hu Yeon was well aware that Sima Geon had emerged victorious in the martial competition and had claimed the thousand-year flower spirit herb as his reward.

“It must be the genuine article. I heard the announcement with my own ears. The prize the Ha Hu Clan put forward for the victor was definitely the thousand-year flower spirit herb.”

At the mention of the “prize for the winner,” Sima Geon and Cheol Woo felt a pang of unease, and Ha Hu Gok’s expression shifted slightly, though the others didn’t seem to notice the tension.

“This is highly irregular.”

With the confirmation from Ha Hu Gok and Ha Hu Yeon, Hwang Jeong looked deeply troubled. The Ha Hu Clan was too prominent and wealthy to deal in counterfeit goods; the herb had to be real. That made the outcome even more nonsensical.

In the past, Sima Jin had been treated with flower spirit herb. It hadn’t been a miracle cure, but it had provided visible relief. The thousand-year flower spirit herb was a legendary rarity compared to the common variety. Given that Sima Jin’s condition was already stabilized by the Celestial Pure Jade Milk, that herb should have been the final step toward a recovery. Instead, it seemed to have acted as a catalyst for the relapse.

*The yin energy, which was nearly extinguished by our clan’s techniques and the Jade Milk, has been reignited. For that to occur, she would have had to ingest something of extreme yin essence. But the thousand-year flower spirit herb is a potent yang ingredient. It doesn’t add up. There must be another variable—something that defies medical common sense…*

Hwang Jeong’s brow furrowed as he worked through the puzzle internally. Sima Geon, watching him like a hawk, sensed a shift.

“Have you realized something?”

“That herb… the one you believe was the thousand-year flower spirit herb. Can you describe its appearance in exact detail?”

“Pardon?”

As Sima Geon hesitated, Sima Ho—who had been the one to actually give the medicine to her—stepped forward eagerly.

“The root was a golden-brown hue, roughly the length of a palm, and covered in fine, hair-like fibers. The stalk was a vibrant green, though it turned significantly darker where it met the root. And…”

Sima Ho launched into a surprisingly meticulous description, speaking with such clarity that the herb seemed to materialize in the air before them. It was a rare display of focus from him, far removed from his usual flighty behavior. As Hwang Jeong listened, his face grew increasingly stone-like.

“I must return to the Clear Heart Clinic immediately.”

Without waiting for a response, Hwang Jeong bolted out of the room. The others could only stand there in a stunned silence, waiting for the minutes to tick by.

After about half an hour, Hwang Jeong returned, carrying a small bundle.

“This is a standard flower spirit herb.”

He placed the herb, wrapped in cloth, onto the table. While Sima Geon and Cheol Woo were unfamiliar with its specifics, Sima Hyeon and Sima Ho recognized it instantly. It had been the staple of Sima Jin’s treatment for years.

“The thousand-year flower spirit herb and the common flower spirit herb are nearly identical to the untrained eye. The primary distinction is the scale of the root. A normal root is barely the size of a finger, but one that has aged for a millennium is significantly more substantial.”

Sima Ho gestured with his hand. “The one she took was definitely that large.”

“Yes, the size aligns with a thousand-year flower spirit herb. However, your description mentioned something that contradicts what I know.”

“What was it?”

“The color of the blossom. You claimed the petals were a vivid crimson, correct?”

“Yes, they were.”

“Seven petals, nine stamens, and two pistils at the core?”

“I didn’t exactly count them,” Sima Ho admitted, scratching his head.

“It is likely you are correct about the count. But in a thousand-year flower spirit herb—and even the common variety—there are six stamens, not nine. While the two pistils are a shared trait, the most telling sign is the color. A thousand-year flower spirit herb does not produce crimson petals.”

“It’s not red?”

“No. The ancient variety does not bloom in crimson.”

“Are you saying… what Jin’er took wasn’t the thousand-year flower spirit herb?” Sima Geon asked, his voice shaking.

“The evidence suggests so.”

“That’s impossible!” Sima Ho argued, pointing at the herb Hwang Jeong had brought. “Flower spirit herb blossoms are definitely red. I’ve seen them a hundred times. You saw them too, brother!” He grabbed Sima Hyeon’s sleeve and then pointed back at the table. “Look! Even this one you brought is red!”

Everyone leaned in. The petals on the table, though slightly dry, were undeniably a shade of red.

“You are correct. The common flower spirit herb is crimson. But the thousand-year flower spirit herb is the exception. It doesn’t bloom red; it has a subtle, pale purple hue.”

The Sima brothers stood frozen, their minds reeling from the revelation.

“Then what exactly did that child swallow?” Ha Hu Gok asked, his face pale. As a representative of the clan that provided the herb, the implication that it was a fake—and a harmful one at that—put his clan’s reputation and his own safety in extreme peril, especially with Sima Geon nearby.

“I cannot be certain without a physical sample, but I have a strong suspicion,” Hwang Jeong said. He reached into his kit and produced a second specimen.

“This is called cold immortal herb. It is even rarer than the flower spirit herb. You can think of its nature as the polar opposite of the flower spirit herb.”

“I’ve heard that name before,” Ha Hu Gok muttered, comparing the two plants. “They look somewhat alike, but the leaves are different enough that a person could tell them apart.”

“At a young age, yes. But just as the flower spirit herb evolves into the thousand-year version, the cold immortal herb can age into a legendary plant rarely seen by mortal eyes. It is known as the ten-thousand-year ice spirit herb.”

The name carried an ominous weight.

“Ten thousand years? It grows for that long?”

Hwang Jeong offered a bitter smile. “Likely not literally, but it is so rare that the name stuck. I’ve never seen a live specimen myself, but the medical texts are very specific. Unlike its younger form, the ten-thousand-year ice spirit herb looks almost exactly like a flower spirit herb in every way—the leaves, the stem, the root, and even the petal color. The only way to tell? The ten-thousand-year ice spirit herb has nine stamens and two pistils.”

“So it’s a near-perfect mimic. Only the center of the flower reveals the truth.”

“Precisely. It is an easy mistake to make, especially if one doesn’t know that the true thousand-year flower spirit herb should be purple.”

“Good heavens… so without knowing the exact traits of all four plants, it’s impossible to distinguish them,” Ha Hu Gok said, shaking his head in dismay.

“I don’t care about all this technical talk!” Cheol Woo roared, his temper finally snapping. “Forget the stamens and the colors! You’re saying the herb Jin’er took wasn’t the prize we thought it was, but this ten-thousand-year ice thing instead?”

“Yes.”

“And that thing is what brought her sickness back?”

“It didn’t bring it back from nothing; it was always there, just buried deep…”

“I don’t care about the semantics! If she hadn’t taken it, she’d be fine right now, wouldn’t she?” Cheol Woo’s aura became increasingly volatile. Ha Hu Gok and Ha Hu Yeon felt the temperature in the room drop as the brothers’ anger flared.

“Its power was enough to override the Celestial Pure Jade Milk and my own family’s medical arts… just the thought is terrifying,” Hwang Jeong whispered.

Sima Geon exhaled a long, shaky breath. “The ten-thousand-year ice spirit herb is rarer than the thousand-year flower spirit herb. On its own, it might not have been enough to break through the Jade Milk’s protection. But the problem is the specific nature of Lady Sima’s condition. The yin energy in her body was on the verge of being erased. To that fading energy, the ten-thousand-year ice spirit herb wasn’t just medicine—it was an entire army of reinforcements.”

“So the clock that had stopped is ticking again?”

“It is…”

“Please, be honest with us.”

After a heavy pause, Hwang Jeong spoke with a somber tone. “The energy is moving. It isn’t as fast as it once was, but the flow has resumed.”

Sima Geon closed his eyes, the weight of the world on his shoulders. A collective sigh of despair echoed through the room.

“However, we still have a window of time. I will do everything in my power to keep her stable. I will contact the Living Immortal Medical House, explain the situation, and demand their full assistance.”

Hwang Jeong looked at the sleeping Sima Jin. He had seen her growing interest in medicine lately and refused to let this crisis be the end. The Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian was a cruel sentence from the heavens, but if one could survive it, it became an unparalleled gift. Having seen the potential she possessed even while suppressed, he was determined not to lose her. He remembered the instructions from Hwang Yeong to bring her into their fold, and his resolve hardened.