The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 13

The Divine Doctor of Demonic Arts (13)

“Hoo.”

The hazy breath scattered before my eyes.

Beyond it, a dazzling white snowfield unfolded.

Bum Gye-wi wanted to escape this damn cold as soon as possible. But he couldn’t.

The place he was aiming for was right in front of him.

“Why the hell does she live in a place like this?”

Even while grumbling, Bum Gye-wi didn’t stop walking. He continued to push through the bone-chilling cold.

How long had he walked?

The snowfield seemed endless.

At the edge of it, a forest appeared. It was amazing how trees grew in such a place.

Crack.

Bum Gye-wi broke through the frozen branches and entered the forest. Soon, he discovered a small pond.

Next to it was a wooden hut. A sign swaying in the small breeze caught his eye.

‘Ice Palace(修氷宮)?’ [A more literal translation would be “Cultivating Ice Palace”, implying a place for training or meditation focused on ice-related arts.]

Calling a hut that’s barely a shack a palace.

Her actions are insane.

It was the moment he passed the pond and approached the wooden hut.

Whoosh.

A gust of wind blew from somewhere and brushed against Bum Gye-wi’s face. It was then that a blizzard with formidable coldness swept in.

Crackle.

Bum Gye-wi’s beard seemed to freeze, then shattered.

It was a terrible cold that couldn’t be compared to anything before.

Bum Gye-wi quickly gathered his internal energy.

Then the wind grew stronger.

Only then did Bum Gye-wi realize that the wind blowing now was not a natural phenomenon. There was only one person in the entire Jianghu [the martial arts world] who could handle such formidable Yin Cold True Energy(陰寒眞氣) [internal energy based on the principles of Yin and Cold].

“Hey! You crazy bitch!”

Bum Gye-wi, who had shouted out loud, swung the Great Wilderness Halberd(大초자곤) [likely the name of his weapon] towards the direction the wind was blowing from.

Clang!

With the sound of impact, the surrounding scenery distorted for a moment.

This was because the atmosphere was momentarily in a vacuum state due to Bum Gye-wi’s strike.

The center of the blizzard split like the tide.

And at the end of it stood a person. A woman wearing snow-white clothes and scattering jet-black hair. Bum Gye-wi glared openly at her.

“Are you trying to fight me? Is this a fight you want?”

At those words, the woman raised her hand and swept back her hair fluttering in the wind.

Then her appearance became clear.

She was probably in her mid-twenties.

Skin so white it felt transparent.

Black hair and red lips, forming a clear contrast with it, were all the more enchanting.

With deep eyes like clear tea water added to it, all sorts of flowery words such as ‘Sinking Fish, Falling Geese(沈魚落雁)’ [so beautiful that fish would sink and geese would fall from the sky upon seeing her] and ‘Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers(閉月羞花)’ [her beauty puts the moon to shame and makes flowers feel inferior] lost their meaning.

Beauty that could overthrow a nation(傾國之色) [beauty so great it could cause the downfall of a kingdom].

There was no other way to express it.

How many men wouldn’t have their hearts shaken by her beauty?

But Bum Gye-wi was definitely an exception. He knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the only one who had been deceived by that face and boarded the ship to the afterlife.

—Fight?

The woman sent a telepathic message with a nonchalant expression.

—With the likes of you?

Her face was still cold and indifferent, as if carved from ice.

No emotional change could be felt on her face.

Bum Gye-wi felt a surge of annoyance for a moment. The fact that she was conveying her intentions through telepathy clearly meant that she didn’t even want to talk to him.

However, Bum Gye-wi showed extraordinary patience, unlike himself.

‘Let’s be patient. I have to be patient. For Danui!’

Only after repeating it several times in his mind was he able to barely control his rising anger.

Then another telepathic message came to him.

—Why did you come here?

“Ah, that’s right!”

Bum Gye-wi exclaimed and grinned.

“Wait, I brought you a gift.”

Han Seol-hwa flinched at Bum Gye-wi’s actions.

As soon as he finished speaking, Bum Gye-wi put his hand inside his pants. And he took something out from near his groin.

—Such an outrageous person…….

“Huh? What? Why is this outrageous?”

Han Seol-hwa, who had been turning away from Bum Gye-wi, turned her head again. When their eyes met, Bum Gye-wi smiled slyly.

“You liked seafood dumplings.”

—…….

“Okay, I’m throwing it? Catch it well.”

Bum Gye-wi threw the dumplings wrapped in paper at her. But Han Seol-hwa actually took a step back.

Thud.

The paper wrapping tore, and the dumplings rolled around on the snow.

Bum Gye-wi’s eyebrows twitched.

“What are you doing? If someone shows sincerity, you should at least pretend to receive it, right?”

—Disgusting.

“What?”

—Why are you taking it out from there?

“Because it’s the warmest here! If I had just carried it, it would have frozen solid in this cold, right?”

—Are you daring to mock me?

“Of all the things I’ve heard in my life…….”

Bum Gye-wi chuckled, seemingly dumbfounded.

“Am I crazy? Why would I mock an old woman whose age I can’t even guess? I have my preferences, too.”

—I’ll kill you!

Thump.

Han Seol-hwa stomped her foot.

At the same time, the snow piled on the roof of the hut and the icicles hanging from the eaves poured down. The icicles didn’t fall to the ground but floated in the air, held by an unseen force.

Blatant hostility.

Bum Gye-wi distorted his expression as he faced the clear murderous intent.

“Are you confident?”

Han Seol-hwa responded by raising her hand and pointing at Bum Gye-wi.

Shriek!

Bum Gye-wi’s upper garment tore open, and blood splattered.

“…….”

Bum Gye-wi lowered his head and looked at his shoulder.

A streak of blood left on his skin caught his eye. It was the mark left by the icicle that had flown like an arrow. There was no preliminary movement, not even a hint of warning.

Over fifty feet away.

The distance had been erased in an instant.

Bum Gye-wi had only seen a flash of light before his eyes.

Only after feeling the sharp force digging into his shoulder did he realize the existence of the hidden weapon.

If he hadn’t instinctively dodged, he wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.

Bum Gye-wi’s patience reached its limit.

“You crazy bitch!”

Bum Gye-wi dashed forward, kicking off the snow, almost simultaneously with Han Seol-hwa reaching out and tapping a point in the air.

Flash.

Bum Gye-wi instinctively tilted his head back.

Feeling a burning sensation, Bum Gye-wi raised his hand and wiped his cheek.

Thick blood oozed from the long gash on his cheek. A fierce glint flashed in Bum Gye-wi’s eyes.

‘This crazy bastard!’

Han Seol-hwa was inwardly dumbfounded by Bum Gye-wi’s continued approach, closing the distance even in this situation.

She had known from the start that Bum Gye-wi wasn’t in his right mind.

However, there was a limit to recklessness.

A master who has reached the pinnacle can perfectly control the space within a certain distance. It is an absolute space that determines all rights of life and death, without any conditions or restrictions.

She herself was like that, and so were the Supreme Five, the best masters of this era.

It was a realm that was difficult to reach.

Of course, Bum Gye-wi was also a considerable master.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to survive until now while being included among the Ten Evils.

He also possessed his own absolute space, and within it, he was a ruler who presided over the life and death of his opponent.

‘But…….’

Han Seol-hwa was confident that she had the upper hand.

Even now, that was the case.

The space within ten feet of her was already like a giant barrier.

Yet he was rushing in so recklessly.

It was like carrying firewood into a fire.

—Hmph!

The power subtly laid beneath her feet surged like blades all at once.

At that moment.

The Daechojagon [likely a powerful weapon or technique] in Bum Gye-wi’s hand writhed as if it were alive. At the same time, a hazy shadow filled the area between the two.

Clang!

A massive shockwave engulfed the arena.

Time stopped, and space cracked in an instant.

—You……?

A strange light appeared in Han Seol-hwa’s eyes.

Bum Gye-wi, who had closed the distance, suddenly reached out.

He forced his way through the waves of multiple layers of strict power and finally forced his attack.

This was not the Bum Gye-wi she had known until now.

‘He’s fine even after seeing blood?’

It was then that Han Seol-hwa’s eyes met Bum Gye-wi’s.

His eyes were still bloodshot. But the look in his eyes was clearly different from before.

Clear reason was replacing madness.

‘What on earth happened?’

There was only a moment of doubt.

—Hmph!

Han Seol-hwa also swung her hand to deflect Bum Gye-wi’s attack.

Clang!

A roar that was hard to believe came from the collision of hands filled the sky and the earth. At the same time, the shockwave created by the clash of the two engulfed the surroundings.

“Damn it!”

Bum Gye-wi, pushed back, screamed in frustration.

At that moment, Han Seol-hwa’s eyes flickered slightly.

It was because of Bum Gye-wi.

Han Seol-hwa retreated, holding out her palm.

“Why now? Are you trying to surrender?”

A telepathic message flew towards the growling Bum Gye-wi.

—Isn’t it?

“What is?”

—The hand we just bumped.

“……?”

—Isn’t that the hand that touched my crotch earlier!

“Oh? I wonder?”

Bum Gye-wi raised his hand to his nose and sniffed.

“It seems right?”

—You…….

Han Seol-hwa couldn’t continue her telepathic message, overwhelmed with absurdity and anger.

Han Seol-hwa took out a handkerchief from her pocket and began to wipe her hand.

Bum Gye-wi was dumbfounded.

“What are you doing instead of fighting?”

—Disgusting.

Han Seol-hwa shuddered as if something terrible was on her hand.

Unable to bear it any longer, Bum Gye-wi launched his movement technique first. However, Han Seol-hwa had already retreated far away.

“Huh?”

Bum Gye-wi was momentarily flustered because he hadn’t expected her to evade.

But soon, he started chasing Han Seol-hwa again.

Han Seol-hwa didn’t allow him to close the distance.

She retreated exactly as much as Bum Gye-wi narrowed the gap.

“Stay there!”

—Where do you think you’re going with that dirty hand!

Thus, a game of tag continued for quite a while with the pond in between.

Eventually, Bum Gye-wi was the first to tire.

He could try to compete in other areas, but he was no match for her in lightness skill [Qinggong, a technique for moving swiftly and lightly].

“Be honest. Aren’t you scared of me?”

Bum Gye-wi tried to provoke Han Seol-hwa, but it didn’t work at all.

—I’m not avoiding you because I’m scared. I’m avoiding you because you’re dirty.

“That’s poop!”

—You know it well?

Han Seol-hwa’s telepathic reply was so calm.

It turned Bum Gye-wi inside out.

“What kind of crazy person washes their hands before a fight?”

—Then you should have kept yourself clean normally.

“That germophobia!”

—Shut up and get lost. Or go wash up and come back. I feel like this place will be contaminated if I kill you as you are.

“Damn it!”

Thump.

Bum Gye-wi stomped his foot with all his might.

The pile of snow on the ground scattered into the air from the impact. Then, following Bum Gye-wi’s hand as he grabbed the air, it flew over his head.

In that state, Bum Gye-wi once again drew up his inner energy.

Sizzle.

The pile of snow gathered in the air melted instantly, forming a puddle of water.

Splash.

Bum Gye-wi, soaked in the poured water, shouted confidently.

“Is this good enough now?”

Han Seol-hwa watched the scene with disdain.

To use the divine skill of manipulating objects from a distance followed by Samadhi Fire [a powerful fire-based martial art] like that.

—You’re still an idiot.

Han Seol-hwa raised her hand and pointed at Bum Gye-wi.

Whoosh!

At the same time, an immense chill rushed towards Bum Gye-wi.

“Huh?”

Bewilderment burst from Bum Gye-wi’s mouth. His wet body began to freeze instantly.

“Kugh!”

Belatedly, Bum Gye-wi drew up his internal energy, but his response was somewhat late.

Crack.

He barely managed to stop his body from freezing completely.

But he couldn’t continue the fight in that state. Even a slight movement would disperse the internal energy resisting the cold.

“You cheap bitch!”

—Better than being an idiot.

“Why am I an idiot!”

Han Seol-hwa gave him a look of pity.

—You’ve already forgotten the reason you came to find me in the first place.

“Oh? Now that you mention it…….”