The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 149

The Divine Doctor of Mount Hua (149)

“Really?”

Dan Ahk-seon blushed slightly, realizing his voice was louder than intended.

However, Sa Mu-sim smiled understandingly and nodded.

“I know. You’ve been holding back a lot.”

Sa Mu-sim spoke again with conviction towards Dan Ahk-seon, who seemed embarrassed.

“If we can secure the sales of Dokgye Mountain, you won’t have to worry about elixirs anymore.”

Dan Ahk-seon’s eyes sparkled.

It was Sa Mu-sim speaking, no less.

He had established the Shinma Merchant Guild in just over a year and built it to this scale, making his words all the more believable.

However, he soon sighed with a look of regret.

There was still a problem to solve in order to make that happen.

“But Dokgye Mountain cannot be mass-produced.”

Sa Mu-sim asked back, as if he had expected it to some extent.

“Is the medicinal herb needed for manufacturing special? Or is the manufacturing process difficult?”

Unexpectedly, Dan Ahk-seon shook his head.

“No. Special ingredients are needed, but not to the extent that they can’t be found. The manufacturing process is also not very difficult compared to other medicines.”

“Then why?”

Dan Ahk-seon continued to explain to the puzzled Sa Mu-sim.

“Like any medicine, Dokgye Mountain has side effects.”

Beom Gye-wi, who was listening from the side, shouted in panic.

“But you said there were no side effects when I asked you before.”

“Did I?”

Beom Gye-wi nodded at Dan Ahk-seon’s question.

“When I asked if Dokgye Mountain would make me bald. You clearly said no.”

“Ah!”

Dan Ahk-seon recalled the conversation he had with Beom Gye-wi in the Emei Sect.

“Of course not.”

“Then?”

“Because it forcibly increases blood circulation, it can put a strain on the heart. Therefore, caution should be taken when prescribing it to patients with high blood pressure or elderly people. So, until now, acupuncture has been used in conjunction with Dokgye Mountain prescriptions for safety.”

Beom Gye-wi grinned.

“Then it’s fine. As long as I don’t lose my hair. I have to put up with that much for a great medicine.”

Han Seol-hwa cast a look of pity at Beom Gye-wi’s beaming face.

On the other hand, Sa Mu-sim couldn’t hide his regret.

“That’s a shame. So many people would have been happy if Dokgye Mountain had been commercialized…”

At those words, Dan Ahk-seon seemed to contemplate for a moment before offering a compromise.

“It’s not entirely impossible. We can lower the potency a little. But it should only be taken once every ten days, and people with pre-existing conditions should not use it.”

Sa Mu-sim’s face brightened at those words.

“Then what if we lower the potency a little more from there?”

“What? Lower the potency one more time? Then the potency will drop to the level of a supplement, not a treatment.”

“But it will still have an effect, right?”

“Of course, it will have an effect, but…”

Dan Ahk-seon, who had a vague expression, quickly continued.

“In that case, the effect will be temporary. About… half an hour to an hour?”

Sa Mu-sim clapped his hands with joy.

“That’s exactly it. That’s just right.”

Only then did Dan Ahk-seon’s expression brighten.

“Okay. Then I need to do some research.”

Pung Jin-seong, who had been standing silently, rubbed his forehead.

It was because he had just finished the research to subdivide the Shinma Group.

Given Dan Ahk-seon’s personality, he would not refuse new research.

Sure enough.

“Then I’ll go back in after I finish eating.”

Pung Jin-seong sighed at Dan Ahk-seon’s words.

Dan Ahk-seon’s obsession with medicine, which meant he had to see the end of it, sometimes felt scary.

“I’ll help too.”

“Are you sure? You must be very tired…”

Pung Jin-seong hid his tired expression at Dan Ahk-seon’s concern and forced a smile.

“That way, we can finish it a little faster.”

“You don’t have to overdo it.”

Pung Jin-seong chuckled.

He wanted to say those words back to him.

But he couldn’t give up.

He had realized anew that there was still much to learn while researching with Dan Ahk-seon.

Above all, he couldn’t just watch the still young Dan Ahk-seon immerse himself in research alone.

At least within this, he was the only one who could help Dan Ahk-seon.

“If it’s helpful to Master Gok, what would I refuse?”

Dan Ahk-seon gave a look of gratitude at Pung Jin-seong’s sincere words.

Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, he turned his head towards Sa Mu-sim.

“But please keep in mind. Even if it’s a supplement, special care is required when taking it. You must never sell it to just anyone.”

Sa Mu-sim smiled and nodded.

From the moment he first heard about Dokgye Mountain from Beom Gye-wi, he had already made a plan.

“Don’t worry. We will put a warning on the medicine itself and sell it only through doctors. We will also record the sales details through a separate ledger to prevent fake medicines from spreading. We will be able to check which doctor sold it to whom.”

Dan Ahk-seon smiled and nodded.

Sa Mu-sim was a master in that field that no one could follow.

Moreover, Sa Mu-sim was drawing an even bigger picture.

“The Western Regions will be in an uproar too.”

Dan Ahk-seon looked surprised.

“Are you going to sell it in the Western Regions too?”

“It will probably become the best *hyoja* [filial piety] product under the name of our Shinma Merchant Guild.”

He was confident that the moment the existence of Dokgye Mountain became known, Western merchants would be eager to trade with the Shinma Merchant Guild.

Sa Mu-sim smiled and looked at Dan Ahk-seon.

“I think we need to expand the medicinal herb warehouse. No, it wouldn’t be bad to increase a separate warehouse and store only elixirs separately.”

At those words, Dan Ahk-seon revealed a firm will.

“I will definitely succeed!”

Dan Ahk-seon hurriedly finished his meal and headed straight to his room.

Sa Mu-sim smiled bitterly at the sight.

“It seems he has been holding back a lot.”

Cho Ak-ryang nodded and echoed those words.

“Come to think of it, the only thing that greedy child was greedy for was elixirs.”

Han Seol-hwa, recalling Dan Ahk-seon visiting herbal medicine shops without fail while traveling around the Central Plains, revealed a pitiful look.

“Then I’ll go in now.”

Pung Jin-seong, who had roughly finished his meal, got up from his seat.

At that moment, a large hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Good luck, Clan Leader Pung.”

“……?”

Pung Jin-seong, who met Beom Gye-wi’s gaze, looked puzzled for a moment before being surprised.

That’s how intense Beom Gye-wi’s eyes were.

Beom Gye-wi gave a satisfied expression at Pung Jin-seong’s bewildered nod. Then he shouted loudly towards Dan Ahk-seon.

“Doctor Dan, I’ll support you! If you ever need an experiment, call me. I’ll run over anytime!”

* * *

It was exactly fifteen days later that Dan Ahk-seon, who had been confined to his room, reappeared.

Sa Mu-sim was startled to see Dan Ahk-seon with dark circles under his eyes.

His haggard face was secondary to the fact that he was staggering as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

Yet Dan Ahk-seon was smiling.

“Hehe. I succeeded.”

Dan Ahk-seon handed Sa Mu-sim a piece of paper with the recipe for the new Dokgye Mountain written on it.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Dan Ahk-seon nodded at Sa Mu-sim’s words and sat down on the chair as if collapsing. Then he rested his arms on the table and buried his face in them.

Sa Mu-sim felt sorry for Dan Ahk-seon, who quickly fell asleep, making snoring sounds.

‘I didn’t want him to overwork himself this much to achieve results…’

Perhaps he had read his eyes.

“Who can stop that stubbornness?”

Pung Jin-seong, who came out late, shook his head.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Pung Jin-seong smiled bitterly at Sa Mu-sim’s words.

“What did I do? Master Gok solved most of the problems.”

“It’s enough that you were by his side.”

That was true.

In fact, Dan Ahk-seon hardly went outside.

He was so engrossed in research that he even forgot to eat, so Pung Jin-seong had to bring him food.

“It’s a relief that there are no other people in this place.”

Pung Jin-seong nodded slightly as if agreeing with Sa Mu-sim’s words.

Not to mention Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa, and Beom Gye-wi, who was eagerly awaiting the research results, was also the same.

Above all, they cherished Dan Ahk-seon so much that they would not have been able to avoid their sharp glares.

“Ah, A-du and his siblings are adapting well.”

Pung Jin-seong let out a sigh of relief at the news Sa Mu-sim gave him.

He was wondering about it.

“Because he is a smart child. His heart is also upright.”

A-du, who had not been tainted by the hardships of the world despite living on the streets for a long time.

Pung Jin-seong smiled at the thought of his clear eyes.

Sa Mu-sim spoke to him with concern.

“Clan Leader, please go in and rest. Your face is really… not good.”

Pung Jin-seong’s complexion was not much different from Dan Ahk-seon’s.

His haggard and pale face looked as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

It was then.

“Heh…….”

Dan Ahk-seon, who was lying down and sleeping, smiled and made a happier expression.

“It seems like he’s having a good dream.”

Pung Jin-seong burst into a hearty laugh at Sa Mu-sim’s words.

“I can guess what kind of dream it is.”

Perhaps it was a dream of looking around a warehouse full of elixirs.

“Or a dream of swimming in a sea of elixirs.”

The two people who met eyes laughed quietly.

* * *

Ten days later.

Dan Ahk-seon, who had been staying at the inn for a while to relieve his fatigue, headed to Mount Kongtong with his party.

“So this is where Gwangseongja trained.”

Dan Ahk-seon exclaimed, taking in the layered peaks and dizzying cliffs.

Gwangseongja was a Taoist immortal from ancient times in Chinese legends, and was famous enough to be mentioned in the Jae Yu chapter of Zhuangzi and at the beginning of the first volume of Shinseonjeon [Biographies of Immortals].

The place where he stayed, who was said to have taught the Yellow Emperor, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, was a mountain with a long history.

There was a reason why it was called the First Mountain of Taoism.

As they climbed the rough road and entered a flat area, the scenery changed in an instant.

The surrounding lush vegetation and the bizarre rocks around it created a cozy landscape.

Dan Ahk-seon had already toured various famous mountains in the Central Plains.

However, Mount Kongtong had a unique charm that was different from other mountains.

The mountain range itself had a special feeling, with the grandeur of a northern mountain above and the beauty of a southern mountain below.

“From here, you and the witch go together.”

Beom Gye-wi made an embarrassed expression towards Dan Ahk-seon, who looked puzzled.

“Cho and I have quite a deep grudge against those guys.”

“Ah!”

Dan Ahk-seon immediately guessed the reason.

The martial art that symbolizes the Kongtong Sect was the Subduing Demon Sword Technique.

As the name suggests, which means to subdue demons, the Kongtong Sect was at the forefront of eradicating unorthodox martial artists more than any other sect.

Of course, Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi were beings they rejected, and there were many grudges accumulated over the years.

The number of Kongtong Sect disciples who died or were injured by the two was also not small.

They were not shameless enough to enter their sect as if nothing had happened.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just get the signatures on the list and come back right away.”

“Okay. We’ll be waiting at the tea house in the village below.”

Dan Ahk-seon smiled and nodded at Beom Gye-wi’s words.

In the end, only Dan Ahk-seon and Han Seol-hwa headed to the Kongtong Sect, and after walking for a while, they saw the mountain gate.

After a while, when they arrived in front of the mountain gate, they were able to face the person waiting for them.

He was probably in his mid-fifties.

He was a middle-aged Taoist who seemed to have a high position.

At first, they naturally thought that he had come out to greet them.

This was because they had heard from the Beggars’ Sect that the sect leader, Lee Rip, had informed the Kongtong Sect in advance.