Great Merchant - Dao Ming (Chapter 12 - Disciple of Parvati, Disciple of Bhaisajyaguru 7)

TL: WhitePanda + Friend
TLC: Sumguy
Edit: Sumguy + Ishman

Sumguy - mainly fixed the TL, note there might be some stylistic differences from before, enjoy.

Previously on Dao Ming…

After staying with the Jade Wing Sect for 4 years, the Jianghu/Martial Arts world happened to hold a fighting exchange for their own disciples to fight against one another to gain some experience. The Jade Wing Sect happens to be the host for this particular tournament. Chunye, the 2nd heir and only son of the Jade Wing Sect, kicked one of the disciples of the Blue Cloud sect in the ass, the Young Master of said sect decided to cause some trouble. Tong, upon arriving from somewhere else verbally laid the smack down on the Blue Cloud sect, before physically doing the same to their Young Master.

After watching the entire Blue Cloud sect leave the arena to lick their wounds, Tong bows formally to the Elders and the Sect Master in salutation. “Greetings to the various Seniors.”

One of the Elders with a head of snow-white hair seems to be in an extremely dapper mood, waving his right hand with a hearty laugh. “Haha! Too polite, too polite, we don’t have the face to accept that greetings.” When their Sect Master finally convinced Tong’s first master, Master Ye, to allow Tong to become a disciple of the Jade Wing sect, he was one of the few Elders that supported the decision - with most of the Elders being against it as it would erode their Department’s influence. As a compromise, he proposed that Tong become the personal disciple of the Sect Master, thus removing him from being able gain any authority in the running of the sect in the future. This indirectly caused the sect to soar to new heights, not to mention greatly increasing the Medicine Department’s influence and standing even outside of the sect.

“It’s only proper, Senior Sima. How is your back doing by the way?” Tong walks forward to the old man, reaching for his wrist, which the old man quickly obliges.

[T/N: For palpitation for those not familiar with traditional chinese medicine]

“I think I’m on course, but it’s always better to have you check it. I don’t want to go back to using that damn cane for another decade if I can help it! Hoho!”

Some of the other elders have their faces twitch ever so slightly, especially the aging ones that insisted on treating Tong as an outsider. In the meantime, a few others Elders look on with smiles on their face. Out of the 13 Elders, 5 were happy to accept him into the sect. Amongst them were the ones who were there when the sect was faced with annihilation, when Physician Li and his small group of brothers came to their rescue years ago.

“Then you better stop eating so many fried and sweet things.”

“Sorry, sorry, it was my granddaughter’s birthday…” The elder looks a little awkward as Tong rebukes him after releasing his wrist. The rest of the Elders and the Sect Master return to their seats, watching over the fight in the arena.

“Don’t worry, just tell the servants to use cane sugar the next time.” Tong smiles understandingly before getting dragged by Chunye towards his seat, while also surrounded by many excited junior disciples. Chunlei is still on the side smugly looking in the direction of the retreating Blue Cloud sect.

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”
“Is it true that you entered closed door training? What secret technique did you learn?”
“What? I heard he had to retrieve some rare herbs in the Jagged Pillar Mountains?”

“Shh! Shh!” Chunye waves his hands to calm them down while Tong can only roll his eyes.

“What nonsense are you guys talking about? I’ve been busy helping out the Medicinal Department!” The tanned youth smiles mysteriously before taking out a pouch. “To make this!”

“““Ohhhh!””” The crowd stares at the pouch in anticipation.

Tong opens the pouch and removes a small, lustrous brown pellet the size of a pebble and tosses it into his mouth.

“What-” Before Chunye can finish asking his question, a pellet is flicked into his mouth.

“Just chew and let it dissolve, don’t swallow.”

The disciples stare at Chunye to see his reaction; a few of them jerk their heads up unexpectedly, sniffing the air. A mild bitterness with a tinge of sweet lingers in the air, a faint cooling sensation tickling their faces.

“Hmm, refreshing!” As soon as Chunye opens his mouth, the subtle scent intensifies with a hint of sourness, allowing even the less sensitive onlookers to notice.

“Make sure everyone gets to try one.” Tong tosses the pouch randomly to one of the nearby disciples before taking a seat. “How are we doing so far?”

“Ha! Do you have to ask? We are winning of course!” Chunlai finally has enough of staring at the losers and decides to switch her victim— to switch her attention. “And make me more of these when we get back, it’s so nice and cool, especially on hot days like today.”

“How did you…” Tong stares at the handful of pellets she’s holding while shaking his head.

Chunye in the meantime turns his head back to the junior disciples, noticing the one that was holding the pouch is currently being helped up from the ground.

“Chunye, feel free to go all out today.”

A sharp glint flashed across the youth’s eyes, a mix of anxiety, expectation and an underlying glee.

“Don’t look at me like that, I wasn’t kidding, you should be cured now. This is the final test, if nothing pops up, you should be able to learn everything your dad teaches you in the future.”

“Thank you, Mister Li. I will definitely do my best not to lose the face of you and Physician Li.” The youth clasps his hands and bow respectfully.

[T/N: Reminder, “Mister” is being used the original way, the origin of “sensei” - literally the same hanji, roughly meaning “born before”]

“Cut it out damn it, we aren’t that far apart in age.” Tong replies bashfully, his voice nearly breaking from embarrassment. This, of course, didn’t escape the nearby eyes and ears.

The fights carry on non-stop throughout the afternoon, cheer of victories and groans of defeat resounded in the mountains. The different sects win some, lose some, with the exception of two.

In between Chunye’s matches, Tong busies himself with checking his condition, giving him water and snacks accordingly, with the occasional pellet from before to help with the heat. About 7 rounds in, one of the participants calls for the attention of the referees, accusing Chunye of cheating. This temporarily caught the attention of the crowd due to the loud and confrontational way of the short youth shouting and pointing directly at Tong.

The people that were present when the Blue Cloud Sect made a fool of themselves just chuckle a bit before turning back to cheering for their fighters. The rest of the spectators that were not present for the incident simply asked around a bit before ignoring the accuser as well, causing him to look around dejectedly.

“They might be doping!” The accusing youth look at the three middle-aged judges that are standing in front of him, brushing off his manservant that’s trying to stop him.

“Little friend, if they are doping, would they do it so openly.” One of the judges replies with a chuckle.

“Then they could be using some fiendish qi art.” The youth is unrelenting.

“Pffft!” One judge that was drinking tea sprays out a mouthful before descending into a coughing fit, his colleague gently patting him on the back to help soothe his breathing.

“That’s even more impossible, that boy was born a cripple. Those fiendish qi arts would wreck him.” The first judge shakes his head.

At this point, Tong shows up while fanning himself, saluting the judges.

“What kind of moron is causing trouble now?” The youth asks impatiently.

“Mister Li, this youth here has some concerns.” The judge patting the other offers diplomatically.

“You! You are cheating, right?!”

“You… You are just filled with muscles, aren’t you?” Tong comments with a deadpan expression.

“Huh?”

“Haii… Okay, how are we cheating?”

“You are feeding him something!”

“Maintaining his peak condition is wrong, how?”

“Aren’t you feeding him some medicine?”

“You mean these?” Tong grabs the pouch and offers the contents to the judges, who in turn calls for an off-duty physician to come and inspect it.

The aging physician couldn’t recognize the pellets, and thus takes out a small silver blade to cut out a sliver for sampling. Rolling his eyes, Tong just reaches over and grabs one before tossing it into his mouth before visibly chewing it. The physician makes a complex face while identifying the ingredients, since it doesn’t seem to be poisonous. After a while, he too tosses one into his mouth to chew on it, before smiling slightly.

“This is fine. Little Mister, might I inquire where you learned this recipe from?” There are prideful doctors like those from the courts, there are upfront doctors like those from the military, there are those eloquent doctors, like scholars. And then there are the doctors that only care about treating illness and saving lives; respecting those that have the knowledge to do the same.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand, I just think this would be helpful in treating fevers and heat strokes.” He adds quickly.

[T/N: the word doctor “醫生” are used in the words after, “醫病” treat illness, “救生” save lives, don’t think it’s all that important though]

Tong loses his impatient air and smiles amicably. “I made them myself, Senior Practitioner, if you are going to use it for treatment, I can give you the prescription and production methods as long as you promise not to disclose it to others without my permission.”

[T/N: Senior Practioner was Senior Mister, but yeah, this is just to make it easier for you guys, tempted to use Sensei since most readers would understand it, but using stolen japanese term in english to translate the proper chinese term is just… argh… T.T]

“Certainly, certainly. Then I won’t be impeding anymore.” The physician bows his head slightly as he hands the pouch back, then he turns to the judges. “There’s nothing wrong with these pellets, you should try them though should the Little Mister let you, ho ho ho.”

Tong shrugs and gives one each to the judges, even offering to the accuser and his manservant, who makes a loose face upon chewing it.

“Then, then, you must be exciting his qi points or something.” The stubborn youth hesitates before resuming his accusation, chewing on the pellet all the while.

Tong looks at the youth with a questioning gaze, then looks at the silent judges who seem to be relaxing. “Can I borrow one of you Seniors for a moment?”

One of the judges nods absentmindedly, standing next to Tong. Without warning, he grabs the judge by the wrist and brings it to his back. The judge, reacting instinctively, twists and grapples back. Already expecting this, Tong drags his hand down and, stepping backwards, forces the judge into an awkward joint-locked position with an extended arm. Before the judge can execute the escape sequence to this particular lock, Tong is already sliding his free hand up the judge’s locked forearm with mild pressure before pinching the elbows. From there, he starts kneading the upper arm all the way to the shoulders, then digging his hand into the shoulder blade and strongly squeezing, causing the already confused judge to release a sensual moan. Tong then rotates his palm above the shoulder blade with some pressure and uses some quick knifehand strikes on the trapezius muscle (muscle between neck and shoulder) before finally releasing him.

The freed judge rotates his neck with a slight blush, a weight seeming to have been lifted from his shoulders.

“Well?” Tong asks, causing the remaining four pairs of eyes to look at the overly relaxed judge.

“Huh?”

“Hai, did I do anything to your qi points?” An exasperated sigh is followed by an equally exasperated question.

“Oh! No… But that boy is damned lucky to have you. You think I can convince your Master to lend you to us after this is over? I think some of our Elders could really, really use your help.” The judge’s remark causes his colleague to look at him with raised eyebrows, before looking at the ‘Little Mister’, subtlety asking the same question.

“There you have it, do you have anymore questions?” Tong looks at his accuser with a bored expression.

The accusing youth tilts his head, before shaking it. “Nope! My apologies, it seems to be my misunderstanding!” The youth walks back to his sect’s portion of the arena as though nothing has happened, causing Tong to have a baffled look.

…
…
“Um… Young Master Lamzo, you do know that he has been calling you stupid right?!”
“He did what?! Since when?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?” The short youth jumps up to give his manservant a light smack at the back of his head.
…
…

The remaining four people stand stunned for a moment before shrugging and going back to where they are supposed to be. The spectators that kept an eye on them look a little disappointed after the Blue Cloud incident, but go back to watching the fights without much thought.

As the sun sets, the meet is declared over. The upper echelon of the various sects enjoys a small banquet amongst themselves, boasting of their wave of the future. All the various sects won some and lost some, but there were two notable rising stars that went undefeated, bringing prestige to their respective groups. Chunye, the Young Master representing the host, Jade Wing sect, having 11 wins and 1 draw (due to the stage accidentally breaking and the judge declaring it too dangerous to continue) and Sima Lamzo, the Young Prodigy representing Ten Thousand Star Pavilion, having 9 wins. Of course, there was also Li Hou Tong, but his was only 1 win so it didn’t really count.

The young participants didn’t have a banquet, rather, they were forced to stay in their dormitory to rest up for their trip home. Unexpectedly, a tanned youth is also packing his bags.

“Brother Tong, must you leave so quickly?”

“I’m slightly worried about the two Masters, I haven’t received the scheduled correspondence, it’s late by almost a week. Plus, you are cured now, so I’m not needed.”

“Ah, don’t say that.” Chunye kneels onto the floor, with his forehead touching the floor. “This body is cured by both you and Master Li, for this, I’m eternally grateful. It’s not a matter of needing or not needing, you will be my benefactor for as long as I live.”

Tong scratches his head vigorously in frustration before pleading slightly. “Look, just, er, treat me like a fellow disciple, okay? We are about the same rank, if you want to treat Master Li like that, then that’s his business, alright?”

“Hahaha, certainly, ‘Little Mister’ Big Brother Tong.” Chunye gets off the floor laughingly, teasing him as he helps him pack his bags.