Episode 14: Jueul Village

The next day, Goeui and Dang Mujin began their day by tending to the villagers.

As expected, the patients’ conditions had worsened slightly since the previous evening.

While administering acupuncture, Dang Mujin pondered, “Acupuncture works quickly but only provides temporary relief. To truly cure the illness, we need to eliminate its source and treat it with medicine.”

It seemed the village doctor in Jueul might know of a remedy, but given that the villagers weren’t recovering, it was clear even he didn’t understand the root cause of the disease.

Not knowing the source of a plague is different from not knowing the source of a common illness. With a common illness, you might recover by chance, but a plague will spread again through contact with others unless its source is eradicated. It’s like trying to clean your face in a mud pit—no matter how careful you are, it gets dirty again in no time.

By midday, Dang Mujin and Goeui had managed to check on more than half of the villagers. With fewer patients left, Dang Mujin approached Goeui.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“I need to take a look around the village.”

Goeui raised an eyebrow and clapped his knee. “You’ve barely been here a day, and you’re already tired of playing doctor?”

“That’s nonsense… We need to find the source of the illness, don’t we?”

“I know, I know. I was just teasing. I’ll take care of the remaining patients. Take the Gaebang disciples with you.”

With a wave of Goeui’s hand, Hong Geolgae and Ma Jeonga joined Dang Mujin.

Though they weren’t dressed in martial attire or carrying gleaming swords, they were martial artists nonetheless. It felt strange, like he was someone important.

“Where to, sir?”

“Let’s start with the livestock pens. Is there a house that keeps a lot of pigs?”

“The largest pig farm is over there,” Hong Geolgae pointed south.

Unlike the cold, chilling energy of a cold plague, a warm plague makes the body burn with fever. One might think the cold plague arises in dark, cold places, while the warm plague comes from hot, dry areas. But in reality, the warm plague often originates in cool, shady, and foul-smelling places. In a typical village, the pig pens are the dampest and most malodorous spots, perfect for breeding harmful energy that makes people sick.

However, after inspecting several pens, they found nothing unusual. Compared to other villages, Jueul’s pig pens were in relatively good condition. The waste was cleaned regularly, and some pens were even situated in sunny areas.

After thoroughly inspecting the village’s pens, Dang Mujin sat down under a tree, joined by Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae.

“We need to find a dark, damp place. Any other ideas?” Dang Mujin asked after some thought.

“The only dark and damp places in the village are the well and the pens…”

“But we found nothing unusual in either. The well was even dry, so it wasn’t damp. Is there nowhere else?”

Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae shook their heads.

After a moment of silence, Ma Jeonga spoke up. “What about visiting Jong’s house?”

“Jong?”

“He was the first to fall ill. He’s passed away now.”

Dang Mujin realized he had overlooked something crucial. There must have been a first person to contract the plague in this village, and retracing their steps might lead to the source.

“Where is Jong’s house?”

“It’s on the west side of the village. Not far.”

“What did Jong do for a living?”

“He did a bit of farming and kept a few chickens.”

Nothing particularly conducive to illness. Dang Mujin asked another question.

“Did the illness spread from Jong’s house to the neighbors in order?”

Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae thought for a moment before shaking their heads.

“In order…? I don’t think so. Jusan, come here.”

“Yes.”

Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae began drawing in the dirt with a stick, discussing among themselves.

“Jong, Bok, and Elder Yoo fell ill first, right?”

“That sounds about right. Then Mr. Jeung got sick shortly after.”

The names were unfamiliar, but that wasn’t important. Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae didn’t bother explaining each person to Dang Mujin.

After organizing their thoughts, they approached Dang Mujin.

“We’re not sure if it was in order. It seems half right and half wrong.”

A puzzling answer. Dang Mujin narrowed his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“People on the west side of the village got sick first, but it wasn’t necessarily the neighbors who fell ill next.”

“Could you explain in more detail?”

The two drew a large circle in the dirt.

“Think of this circle as Jueul Village. We’ll write the names and houses of the sick in the order they fell ill. It might not be exact, but it should be close.”

Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae recalled the names, comparing notes when their memories didn’t match.

Jong, the first to fall ill, lived at the western edge of the village. But the next to fall, Bok and Elder Yoo, lived closer to the center, still on the west side.

“That’s peculiar.”

Dang Mujin focused on the details, asking about each patient.

Two patterns emerged: those on the west side fell ill before those on the east, and children got sick before adults.

“Something’s tickling my mind. I feel like I’m onto something…”

Dang Mujin asked Ma Jeonga, “Is there any difference between the west and east sides of the village? There must be a reason why those on the west fell ill first.”

“Hmm, let me think.”

Ma Jeonga pondered but couldn’t come up with an answer. Hong Geolgae spoke up hesitantly.

“I heard once that the east, where the sun rises, has more yang energy, and the west, where it sets, has more yin energy. Could the yin energy be making people sick?”

Dang Mujin shook his head.

“If that were the case, the plague would be spreading from the west. But the elder and I didn’t see any plague-stricken people on our way from the west to Jueul.”

“I see.”

“Besides, Jueul isn’t that large. Even if there were an imbalance of yin and yang, it wouldn’t be severe enough to cause this.”

The yin-yang imbalance theory was dismissed. No other reasons came to mind.

Dang Mujin shifted his focus to the second clue.

“Why did the children fall ill first?”

This was an even tougher question. If adults fell ill, one might suspect their work, but children only did small chores for their parents. They ate the same food and slept in the same places, so there was no reason for them to fall ill first.

“I really don’t know. All kids do is run around and play together.”

Something felt amiss. West side, children. Dang Mujin combined the two clues and asked again.

“Is there a place on the west side where children often gather?”

“Yes, there’s a stream on the west side. Kids love playing in the water when they have nothing else to do.”

Water? Could there be something wrong with the water? Could the plague be spreading through it?

But that seemed odd. People on the east side drank from the stream too, didn’t they?

Wait. Something came to mind. The dried-up well on the east side.

“Ma Jeonga, about that well we saw earlier.”

“Yes?”

“Is it always dry like that?”

“No, it’s only dry now because it’s spring and there’s a drought. Normally, it’s full, especially in summer when it’s cool and abundant.”

”…Did the well dry up after the plague started spreading?”

“Yes, around that time.”

The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

There was an issue with the western stream, and those who used it most, the western villagers, fell ill. Meanwhile, the eastern well dried up, forcing eastern villagers to use the stream, leading to their illness.

All that remained was confirmation.

“Let’s head to the stream.”

“Do you have a lead?”

“Not yet.”

The three hurried to the western stream.

Even if there was an issue with the stream, there wasn’t much they could do. In a remote mountain village, there weren’t many alternative water sources.

The only solution would be to fetch water from far away, but given the villagers’ condition, that seemed unlikely.

“Still, we need to identify the cause.”

Dang Mujin arrived at the stream. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss.

If there had been something obviously wrong, he would have noticed it on his way into the village with Hong Geolgae.

Dang Mujin examined the stream closely. The water wasn’t murky, there was no strange smell, and there were no tiny worms.

Yet the circumstances suggested something was wrong with the stream.

“Is there a more precise way to assess the stream’s condition?”

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

It might be risky, but this wasn’t the time for hesitation. People’s lives were at stake.

Dang Mujin took a deep drink from the stream, then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

He took deep breaths in and short breaths out, calming his breathing and slowly circulating his inner energy.

With heightened sensitivity, he delved inward, attuning himself to the energy coursing through his body.

While circulating his internal power, his focus zeroed in on the acupoint beside his stomach.

How much time had passed? Dang Mujin detected a faint, malevolent energy emanating from his stomach. The source was the Jangmun point, located near his side.

It was a murky, sluggish sensation, reminiscent of the feeling he got when he placed needles in patients’ heads.

Concluding his energy circulation, Dang Mujin opened his eyes. Ma Jeonga looked at him with an expression of awe, as if witnessing something extraordinary.

“Aren’t you a physician?” Ma Jeonga asked.

“Indeed, I am,” Dang Mujin replied.

“Then how is it that a physician possesses such internal power and practices energy circulation?”

“I learned it from an old master. He said it would aid me in my medical practice.”

“Fascinating.”

Dang Mujin unfolded his legs and stood up.

“I’ve discovered the source of the illness,” he announced.

“What do you mean?” Ma Jeonga asked, puzzled.

“There’s a foul energy swirling in the stream. It must be coming from upstream. Let’s head up there and investigate.”

With that, Dang Mujin began walking toward the source, with Ma Jeonga and Hong Geolgae following closely behind.