The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 62

Divine Physician of the Demonic World (62)

Crunch!

Ak Young-ho gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles straining. He felt like his teeth might shatter.

He finally realized he had been outmaneuvered by that silver tongue.

A lowly wretch who wouldn’t have dared to meet his eyes when the Jangrakbang [a once-powerful martial arts clan] was at its peak, now dared to mock them!

The more he dwelled on it, the more his anger surged.

Ak Young-ho, his eyes bloodshot with rage, glared at Neung So-mil and barked an order at a nearby subordinate.

“Bring me his arm.”

He wanted to tear the man’s throat out right then and there, but he still needed to extract information from him.

“Understood!”

A man clad in black approached Neung So-mil with menacing steps.

Clang.

With each step, the rings of the Golden Ring Sword [a type of sword known for its distinctive sound] emitted a chilling metallic sound.

But Neung So-mil remained unfazed.

“It won’t be easy,” he declared, his expression arrogant.

Then, a strange sensation washed over him.

The distance between him and his opponent was now a mere six steps. Yet, he couldn’t sense Beom Gye-wi anywhere.

Neung So-mil frantically scanned his surroundings.

“Senior?”

Silence. There was no response.

“……!”

Neung So-mil’s heart plummeted.

In that instant, the man in black, who had closed the distance in a flash, swung his sword with lightning speed.

“Senioooor!”

Neung So-mil squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the blow.

At that moment…

Thwack.

Neung So-mil cautiously opened his eyes at the sound he heard right in front of his face.

The first thing he saw was the Golden Ring Sword, halted a little over an inch from his shoulder.

Then, his gaze followed to a large hand gripping the Golden Ring Sword.

It was Beom Gye-wi.

Before he even registered it, the owner of the medicine shop was tucked securely under Beom Gye-wi’s arm.

Neung So-mil finally let out a sigh of relief.

“See? I told you it wouldn’t be easy,” Neung So-mil said, still sneering at Ak Young-ho. Ak Young-ho, on the other hand, was reeling from a shock bordering on horror.

‘When did he…?’

Even with his eyes wide open, he wondered if he was trapped in a nightmare.

The situation defied belief.

Suddenly, a faint afterimage flickered before his eyes, and a gust of wind rushed past. It was only then that he realized the guy who had been lying nearby had vanished. He reappeared in front of his subordinate, the giant’s hand clamped around the subordinate’s sword.

All of this had transpired in the blink of an eye.

“Who the hell are you?” Ak Young-ho asked, unconsciously resorting to polite language. The other man’s presence was that ominous.

But all he received in return was a coldly indifferent gaze. The moment their eyes met, Ak Young-ho found himself momentarily breathless.

The man in black, his sword seized, was beyond words.

He was bearing the full force of the terrifying killing intent emanating from Beom Gye-wi.

“Eek!” He tried to wrench the sword free, but it wouldn’t budge.

The man in black’s face, visible above his mask, was flushed red with embarrassment and shame. But that didn’t last long.

“Gasp!” The man in black, sucking in a breath of hot air, hurriedly released the sword and stumbled backward, his palm red and peeling from the intense heat that had suddenly surged up the blade.

But the truly astonishing thing happened immediately after that.

The middle part of the sword, held in the giant’s hand, turned red-hot, then melted into molten iron, pouring onto the ground.

It was a terrifyingly scalding energy, almost impossible to believe even when witnessed firsthand.

Ak Young-ho’s eyes wavered.

Even though he hadn’t been active in the Jianghu [the martial arts world] for many years, he still heard news and rumors. Among them was the tale of a monster that should be avoided at all costs.

The man with that physique and terrifyingly scalding energy could only be one person in the Murim [another name for the martial arts world].

“Mangshan Choja [a legendary martial artist]?”

The giant suddenly opened his mouth.

“Have we met before?”

“……!”

Ak Young-ho was dumbfounded, his face ashen, a chill running down his spine.

Why was Mangshan Choja appearing here?

Their target was Bingok Seonja [a renowned healer], not a fiend in human form.

Ak Young-ho struggled to compose his wavering expression and calmly asked, “Why are you here……?”

“Why are you asking me that? You’re the ones who came looking.”

That answer made everything clear.

Dan Ak-seon, the physician, wasn’t just with Han Seol-hwa.

Only then did Ak Young-ho realize they had stumbled into an impossible situation. But it was too late to turn back.

They were already on the tiger’s back [a metaphor for being in a dangerous situation with no easy way out].

The blatant hostility in Beom Gye-wi’s eyes!

Facing the eyes of a predator with prey in sight, there was only one choice.

‘If we’re prepared for mutual destruction, we can at least inflict a fatal wound.’

From the start, defeating him single-handedly was out of the question.

He was the worst possible opponent.

Unless the former leader came back to life, no one here could stand up to the monster before them.

Fortunately, however, they possessed a secret art passed down through generations.

Ak Young-ho, struggling to shake off the fear that was welling up from the depths of his heart, shouted, “Deploy the Golden Sound Lightning Net Formation!”

No sooner had those words been uttered than ten Jangrakbang members, including Ak Young-ho, surrounded Beom Gye-wi.

The Golden Ring Swords in their hands vibrated in unison.

At that moment, a bizarre sound, enough to make one’s mind go blank, enveloped the entire temple.

“Kugh!” Neung So-mil groaned involuntarily.

The excruciating sound, as if gnawing at his eardrums, began to shake his insides.

The Jangrakbang members were also visibly strained, the amount of energy they were pouring into their swords seeming considerable.

On the other hand, Beom Gye-wi frowned as if nothing was wrong and asked, “What are you doing, making such a racket?”

Beom Gye-wi threw the object in his hand.

Screeeech!

A chilling sound tore through the air.

Thwack.

Ak Young-ho, who was facing Beom Gye-wi, clutched his chest and slumped down powerlessly.

In an instant, a cloud of blood sprayed out from behind his back. The hidden weapon that had left Beom Gye-wi’s hand broke through his breastbone and pierced straight through.

Even after that, the force did not diminish, and the hidden weapon flew for a long time before collapsing a heavy stone tower and rolling on the floor.

“……!”

Even as his life ebbed away, Ak Young-ho was dumbfounded.

He was simply stunned by the terrifying divine power that he couldn’t believe even when he saw it with his own eyes.

The identity of the hidden weapon that had pierced his chest: the blunt handle part of the Dopa [a type of sword], not a sharp blade.

Even Neung So-mil was speechless.

Beom Gye-wi had transformed into a being on a different level from when he was bickering with Cho Ak-ryang or Han Seol-hwa.

Thud.

Beom Gye-wi handed the owner of the medicine shop, who he had been holding under his arm, to Neung So-mil.

“Take this man and go back.”

“Yes? Yes…….”

It was clear at a glance how terrible the owner of the medicine shop’s condition was, judging by how severe the torture had been.

As soon as the cumbersome patient disappeared, Beom Gye-wi immediately darted forward. Then, he began to grab and kill the Jangrakbang warriors who were floundering, having lost their leader.

There was no need to move twice.

Heads were smashed and breastbones were shattered by Beom Gye-wi’s unrestrained hands.

‘Golden Sound Lightning Net Formation, my ass…….’

Neung So-mil couldn’t close his gaping mouth at Beom Gye-wi’s martial arts, which he had only heard rumors about.

From the beginning, there was a clear gap in martial prowess between them and Beom Gye-wi that could not be bridged by anything.

Neung So-mil had seen Cho Ak-ryang’s martial arts several times. But Beom Gye-wi’s martial arts had a completely different atmosphere from Cho Ak-ryang’s.

In contrast to Cho Ak-ryang’s controlled and refined martial arts, it was destructive and ominous.

Neung So-mil suddenly felt like laughing.

What was the point of distinguishing between the two? In any case, they were both monsters who brought blood, and disasters comparable to natural disasters.

‘Ah!’

Neung So-mil, belatedly realizing something, hurriedly left the scene of the horrific slaughter.

That was how serious the condition of the owner of the medicine shop was.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if he stopped breathing at any moment.

With the screams and terrible killing intent coming from behind him, Neung So-mil hurriedly began to run.

Arriving at the Divine Demon Valley in a race against time, Neung So-mil called out to Dan Ak-seon in a loud voice.

“Valley Lord!”

Before that voice could even dissipate, Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa were standing before Neung So-mil’s eyes.

Beyond the shoulders of those two, he could see Dan Ak-seon rushing over.

Neung So-mil laid the owner of the medicine shop he was holding onto the floor.

“Huh?”

Dan Ak-seon couldn’t hide his surprise when he checked the face of the owner of the medicine shop.

“Uncle!”

Even as he let out a scream-like cry, his hands did not remain still.

After quickly checking the medicine shop owner’s breathing, he grabbed his right wrist and rummaged through his pockets with his other hand, taking out a wooden case containing needles.

Dan Ak-seon, confirming the faint pulse that seemed about to break at any moment, hurriedly called out to Cho Ak-ryang.

“Please help me!”

Cho Ak-ryang, realizing Dan Ak-seon’s intention, placed his palm on the chest of the owner of the medicine shop.

Then, he began to pour his own energy into him.

“Ugh…….”

The owner of the medicine shop groaned and opened his eyes.

His eyes, looking up at Dan Ak-seon, shook violently. Then, he muttered something powerlessly.

“Huh?”

Dan Ak-seon couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Even in the midst of his hazy mind, the owner of the medicine shop was repeating the word “sorry” several times.

Perhaps because his emotions were running high.

The owner of the medicine shop trembled and coughed violently, blood mixed in with the cough. Dan Ak-seon hurriedly used needles to stab his pressure points to suppress it.

Right now, he was barely clinging to life.

He had to hurry with the treatment.

While Cho Ak-ryang was preventing his internal injuries from worsening by injecting energy into him, Dan Ak-seon quickly moved his hands and began to place needles on key acupoints.

How much time had passed?

His breathing stabilized, and the complexion that had been as pale as a blank sheet of paper gradually began to regain its color.

Taking a breath, Dan Ak-seon continued the treatment while Cho Ak-ryang asked Neung So-mil.

“What the hell happened?”

“That’s…….”

Neung So-mil began to explain.

From the messenger bird that flew in from the Righteous Brotherhood to the encounter with the Jangrakbang members along with Beom Gye-wi.

In particular, when he mentioned that their goal was Dan Ak-seon, Dan Ak-seon’s expression rapidly darkened.

‘Jangrakbang…….’

Dan Ak-seon also knew about the Sanseo Bloodshed [a past conflict], which had resulted in the death of the leader, Ak Young-san, because his father had mentioned it several times. But he never expected that the old grudges of the past would come looking for him even after so many years.

Moreover, even his father was not the person who was the target of the grudge.

“I’m sorry. Because of me…….”

Even though he had already lost consciousness and couldn’t hear him, Dan Ak-seon offered an apology to the owner of the medicine shop. Cho Ak-ryang, who was looking at him with pity, suddenly noticed something strange.

“You said there were about thirty guys who sneaked in with martial arts, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

But the Jangrakbang members who were waiting for Neung So-mil at the temple were only ten.

“That means there are other guys.”

“I will locate them and report back soon.”

Cho Ak-ryang shook his head at Neung So-mil’s answer.

“No. There’s no need to do that.”

“Yes? Why…….”

Neung So-mil, who was questioning him, trailed off.

Following Cho Ak-ryang’s gaze, Neung So-mil turned his head and could see the men in black gathering at the entrance to the valley.