The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 114

Yi Rip frowned.

“That face is familiar… I’ve definitely seen him somewhere, haven’t I?”

Avoiding Yi Rip’s gaze, Ga Dudal vaguely mumbled his response.

“That’s impossible…”

“No, I’ve definitely seen you. But where was it?”

After scrutinizing Ga Dudal’s face for a moment, Yi Rip, who had been pondering with his hand on his chin, shouted like a thunderclap.

“Ghostly Shadow Devil!”

“……!”

Yi Rip’s face contorted like a Yaksha [a fierce, demonic figure in Buddhist mythology] as he glared at Ga Dudal, who was startled and took a step back.

“To think I wouldn’t recognize the worst scoundrel in the world right in front of my eyes!”

Ga Dudal jumped up and down.

“What are you talking about? I admit I’m a bad guy, but I’m not the worst in the world. Just these two here alone…”

Ga Dudal hurriedly trailed off, noticing the chilling glares from Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.

“No, you’re far more wicked than them.”

At those words, Ga Dudal wore an aggrieved expression.

“Still, I don’t kill people. Theft is just child’s play compared to what those guys do.”

“Hmph!”

Yi Rip coldly snorted and pointed a finger at Ga Dudal.

“The worst person in the world is the one who preys on the poor beggars. Is there nothing else to steal? You steal from beggars?”

“Huh? When have I ever stolen from beggars?”

Ga Dudal retorted with a puzzled look.

At that sight, Yi Rip roared in anger.

“Don’t you remember? Fifteen years ago! In Huangshan [a mountain range in China, often featured in wuxia stories]! Back then…”

Hong Jeok-mun was taken aback by those words.

“Haha, Chief. Calm down. Why are you making such a fuss about something so trivial in a public setting like this?”

Hong Jeok-mun quickly stepped in to dissuade him, and Yi Rip, belatedly realizing his outburst, shut his mouth.

He then silently glared at Ga Dudal.

‘Fifteen years ago? Huangshan?’

Ga Dudal tilted his head.

He had stolen so much that he often couldn’t remember, like now.

In any case, it was an awkward situation for Ga Dudal.

The number of people he had to watch had increased.

The existing three were already a burden, but with two more experts from the Beggars’ Union joining the group, his room to maneuver had narrowed even further.

However, he couldn’t express his dissatisfaction.

As he had done so far, the best course of action was to quietly follow along, holding his breath.

He was sitting on pins and needles, rolling his eyes around anxiously, when a group of people came into Ga Dudal’s view.

There were easily over fifty of them.

‘Huh?’

Belatedly realizing that they were wearing the Qingcheng Sect’s attire, Ga Dudal was startled and stepped back.

Someone pointed at Cho Ak-ryang and shouted.

“That’s the Blood Demon Venerable! The villain who murdered the Sect Leader is over there!”

Clang, clang, clang.

As soon as those words were spoken, the Qingcheng disciples simultaneously drew their swords.

At that sight, Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi let out dry laughs.

They had gone to the trouble of saving them, only for them to seek out their own deaths.

However, the two were not ones to refuse an enemy.

“Oh! Who do we have here?”

At that moment, Yi Rip quickly jumped between the two factions.

He then pretended to know the middle-aged Taoist standing at the forefront of the Qingcheng disciples.

“Are you not Real Man Unjeong?”

At Yi Rip’s words, the middle-aged Taoist called Real Man Unjeong reluctantly bowed his head.

As an elder, his seniority was lower than Yi Rip, the Chief of the Beggars’ Union.

“How great must be your grief due to the continuous misfortunes.”

Yi Rip, having started the conversation, approached Real Man Unjeong.

“This beggar still cannot believe the sudden, shocking news.”

At those words, Real Man Unjeong coldly snorted.

“So, you are protecting those villains?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You are a disgrace to the Nine Great Sects! How can you obstruct our revenge for such villains!”

As soon as those words were spoken, the Qingcheng disciples shouted out in anger.

“Traitor!”

“How can the Beggars’ Union betray us!”

Hong Jeok-mun’s gaze turned cold.

The Qingcheng disciples momentarily hesitated at Hong Jeok-mun’s imposing presence as he slowly stepped forward, clenching his fist.

However, Hong Jeok-mun had no intention of using his hands.

How could he not understand their grief at losing their Sect Leader?

Yi Rip, turning his gaze towards the Qingcheng disciples during the lull, opened his mouth.

“Yes, how could I not understand your anger towards the Blood Demon Venerable? But is revenge even possible for you in your current state? More than anything…”

The Qingcheng disciples’ faces contorted. However, they couldn’t help but be taken aback by Yi Rip’s following words.

“Don’t you realize that your actions are further publicizing Qingcheng’s sins?”

“What do you mean? Sins?”

Yi Rip spoke towards Real Man Unjeong.

“The seven experts who once represented Qingcheng, the Qingcheng Seven, so-called renowned figures. The fact that they coveted a martial arts manual and ganged up to kill an innocent martial artist.”

The Qingcheng disciples looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

It was a story they had never heard before.

Only Real Man Unjeong seemed to know the truth, as he was noticeably flustered.

“If you think about it, the Blood Demon Venerable took revenge for his unjustly deceased master. However, the Qingcheng Sect hid that wrongdoing and even sought to kill him by borrowing the hands of the Nine Great Sects.”

Yi Rip pressed on, cornering Real Man Unjeong, who was unable to speak in embarrassment.

“Because of that, a storm of blood swept through the martial world. If the Qingcheng Seven hadn’t been blinded by greed and committed such a disgraceful act from the start… No, if they had at least acknowledged their wrongdoing and atoned for it, the Qingcheng Bloodshed wouldn’t have happened. The current Blood Demon Venerable wouldn’t exist either.”

At some point, Yi Rip’s voice had become calm.

“In that sense, it is the Qingcheng Sect, you, who unleashed the monster called the Blood Demon Venerable upon the martial world.”

Yi Rip cast a cold gaze towards the Qingcheng disciples, where unease was spreading.

“Now, let me ask you this. Which side is it that betrayed the Nine Great Sects?”

“Th-that’s not true!”

Real Man Unjeong belatedly stepped forward.

However, he shut his mouth at Yi Rip’s stern rebuke that followed.

“Your Sect Leader mastered the lost martial arts of the Maoshan Sect [a Taoist sect known for its mystical practices]. You all saw him using it, didn’t you? And he even gifted some of the martial arts to his secular disciples. The Beggars’ Union has already confirmed all the circumstances. Are you still going to try to hide the sky with your palm [a Chinese idiom meaning to attempt to conceal the truth]?”

“……”

Real Man Unjeong had nothing to say.

More than anything, the fact that the Qingcheng Seven had stolen the Maoshan Sect’s manual was undeniable.

Yi Rip sighed as if he was truly saddened.

“How did Qingcheng become like this… This beggar can only feel regret and lament.”

The Qingcheng disciples looked at Real Man Unjeong, who couldn’t say anything, with resentful eyes. They were greatly shocked by the fact that the Qingcheng Sect, to which they had dedicated their lives, had such a sordid past.

Some lowered their heads in shame, while others trembled in betrayal.

There were even those who shed tears of injustice.

It was then that Cho Ak-ryang opened his mouth.

He, the person directly involved in the feud, stepped forward to end the wasteful and meaningless confrontation.

“Even though you have lost your justification, if you still want to take revenge, I am willing to accept it at any time.”

The Qingcheng disciples flinched at Cho Ak-ryang’s chilling gaze.

It would have been different if they were burning with fighting spirit, but now their morale was already shattered. In their shrunken eyes, the resolute will they had at the beginning, when they were prepared to die, could not be found.

Yi Rip’s roar exploded towards them.

“How long are you going to stand there dawdling! Choose! Will you draw your swords to bury the truth like the Qingcheng Seven of the past? Or will you honorably endure the disgrace?”

In the end, the Qingcheng disciples listlessly lowered their swords.

Beom Gye-wi clicked his tongue in disappointment, staring at the backs of the Qingcheng disciples as they turned away powerlessly.

He thought he was going to get a chance to stretch his muscles, but that damn beggar king ruined it.

Kwaang!

The massive boulder thirty feet away shattered into pieces.

It was the result of Beom Gye-wi swinging his fist, feeling that the energy he had built up was wasted. Still not relieved, Beom Gye-wi glared at Yi Rip.

“I don’t like you.”

Hong Jeok-mun, sensing the murderous intent, quickly stood between Yi Rip and Beom Gye-wi.

“Why did you interfere and ruin everything?”

Yi Rip chuckled, looking at Beom Gye-wi’s resentful gaze.

“Of course, it’s for Dan’s sake.”

“What?”

“Think about what Dan is trying to achieve by creating the petition. Would it be necessary to shed unnecessary blood and incur bad luck when he should be offering sacrifices?”

At those words, Beom Gye-wi shut his mouth with a sullen face.

“Thanks to our Beggars’ Union informing all the sects of the situation, we should be able to move quietly for the time being.”

That was why the area was quiet despite the existence of Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi being known.

“Hmph! Is that really the only reason?”

Beom Gye-wi let out a derisive laugh.

“They’re not the kind of guys who would stay still for such a reason. They’re not coming because they’re scared. Because they know that Cho Hyung and I are moving together.”

Yi Rip nodded with a bitter smile.

He wasn’t wrong.

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi, and even Han Seol-hwa.

How many sects would be willing to risk annihilation and fight them?

“Anyway, now is the perfect opportunity.”

Namgung Baek had decided to relinquish his position as the Martial Alliance Lord.

The subjugation of the Ten Evils, which he had previously advocated, had also been suspended.

The Martial Alliance was likely in the midst of a fierce power struggle over the next Martial Alliance Lord position, and the Nine Great Sects were also waiting for an opportunity to declare their withdrawal from the Martial Alliance.

‘If he had at least filled the petition with signatures, there would have been hope…’

Yi Rip sighed, looking in the direction where the Qingcheng disciples had disappeared. He was that disappointed in Real Man Unjeong’s actions.

With the death of the Qing character generation Sect Leader, who was the highest in the Qingcheng Sect, the next generation was the Yun character generation, the previous Sect Leader.

He, the martial brother of the former Sect Leader Yun San-ji, was currently the most likely candidate for the next Sect Leader. Of course, he could fully understand his position of having to somehow resolve the situation.

The death of the Sect Leader.

If they did not question the responsibility for this and remained silent, the hearts of the Qingcheng disciples would also turn away.

It was certain that he had come to him to quell their resentment and place the responsibility for this incident on the already dead Qingcheng Seven.

However, this was clearly his mistake.

It was because of the Mount Heng Sect.

They were still pushing out the Qingcheng Sect and conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with numerous sects to take a place among the Nine Great Sects.

If Real Man Unjeong had acknowledged all the wrongdoings in this place and apologized by signing the petition, he could have maintained his position in the Nine Great Sects with this justification.

However, even this did not seem easy at the moment.

He felt truly sorry and pitiful for their situation, as they had once pursued the same path.

Then, something he had been thinking about for a while suddenly came to mind.

“By the way…”

Yi Rip cautiously brought up the topic to Dan Ak-seon.

“After completing the petition and declaring martial arts forbidden, have you thought about what comes next?”

“What do you mean by next?”

Yi Rip gave a worried look at Dan Ak-seon’s question.

“There will probably be quite a few people gathering. And most of them will be those who have been chased around by the orthodox martial world. I’m worried about whether you can handle them all.”

Dan Ak-seon smiled brightly.

“Don’t worry. Auntie and Uncles will help me.”

The three people wore satisfied expressions at Dan Ak-seon’s answer, which had no hint of doubt.

However, Yi Rip shook his head.

“Those people are trustworthy. But what I’m worried about is something else.”

Yi Rip pointed at Ga Dudal.

“I’m wondering if you really need to give even such a despicable human a seat next to you.”