The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 168

신마의선 (168)

He willingly offered his shack to the two who had no experience as beggars, teaching them how to beg and survive.

Not only that, but he also treated them with genuine kindness, cherishing them as if they were his own.

Initially, they were wary and tried to keep their distance, but they eventually opened their hearts to Chumen Gae, touched by the rare warmth they felt in the harsh world of Kangho [martial arts world].

They spent three months together, sharing joys and sorrows, and there were times when they thought that living like this might not be so bad.

Then, Haomunju appeared before their eyes.

“In the end, we killed him and left Gaebang [丐帮, Beggars’ Sect] as it was.”

Cho Ak-ryang gave Chumen Gae a sorry look.

“The reason we didn’t contact you was to avoid causing harm to Gaebang. If it was revealed that we were hiding inside Gaebang, it would bring trouble to you, old man.”

It was obvious that not only Haomun but also the Orthodox Sect would put pressure on Gaebang.

So they disappeared suddenly to eliminate any future troubles.

Beom Gye-wi continued as if making excuses.

“Thanks to that, I made up my mind never to kill a beggar again. I’ve spared at least a hundred beggars who I should have killed, right?”

The beggars gathered in the open space stirred at those words.

“So, you were using us?”

“At least they had some shame. They disappeared to avoid causing harm to the Main Branch.”

“I wondered. It was strange that the infamous Blood Demon Lord and Mangsan Choja didn’t kill beggars… So that was the reason.”

“But it’s still a fact that they mocked the Main Branch, isn’t it?”

Amid the uncontrollably spreading commotion, Lee Rip alone began to shine his eyes.

‘Look at this?’

He judged that he could lead this situation to Gaebang’s advantage.

Lee Rip, who had been organizing his thoughts, suddenly burst into a hearty laugh.

“Euhahaha!”

The gazes of the beggars gathered in the open space were all focused on Lee Rip.

“Finally, the Branch Leader has lost his mind.”

“The shock must be great. To think that Gaebang harbored those two of the Ten Evils.”

At that moment, Lee Rip, who had stopped laughing, shouted at Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.

“Turns out we were one family!”

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi wore bewildered expressions.

The Gaebang members gathered in the open space were the same.

They waited for Lee Rip’s next words, wondering what their Branch Leader was going to say.

“Once Gaebang, always Gaebang! We’ve already cleaned up what happened back then! Do you know how hard my master, who was the Branch Leader at the time, and I worked to negotiate with Haomun… Isn’t that why my hair is falling out like this?”

Lee Rip, who tapped his forehead cheerfully as befitting his nickname Hongdu Taara [Red-Headed Vulture], boasted to the fullest.

“But I solved it until the end. Why? Because it’s our Gaebang’s business!”

Lee Rip subtly steered the atmosphere.

“So, you two also spared the beggars, didn’t you? Why? Because deep down, we already had a sense of kinship—that we were one family!”

Beom Gye-wi frowned.

“Hey, beggar boss. Why are you suddenly acting friendly?”

Lee Rip remained calm even in the face of Beom Gye-wi’s murderous gaze.

“First of all, we need to sort out the current situation, right?”

Beom Gye-wi couldn’t help but feel absurd.

Lee Rip smiled at the sight.

“We’ll have to announce the contents related to the Joint Edict soon, and the people who will spread the news widely in the Jungwon [Central Plains] are none other than the beggars of this Main Branch.”

“And?”

Lee Rip smiled at Beom Gye-wi’s question.

At that moment, Beom Gye-wi felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding rising up.

Cho Ak-ryang also had a feeling that he would be led by the nose.

No, it was different.

“As the saying goes, the arm bends inward [blood is thicker than water]. The people who will not hesitate to do anything if it is the work of the same family are our Gaebang. But what if it’s the opposite?”

“……”

“What if it turns out that the people Gaebang was trying to help were the ones who deceived and mocked Gaebang in the past? Moreover, if they are the Ten Evils?”

“……!”

“Let’s make this clear. No matter how much I am the Branch Leader, it is impossible to persuade those countless beggars one by one.”

Cho Ak-ryang glared at Lee Rip with cold eyes.

“What do you want to say?”

“It’s just to give them a plausible justification. So that they can do their best.”

“Justification?”

Lee Rip, who let out a meaningful laugh, shouted at the Gaebang members.

“These people once ate from the same gourd with us [shared the same fate], and they are respectable Gaebang members! They did not forget this even in the midst of the dangerous Dosan Sword Forest, and they never used their killing moves against the Main Branch! How righteous and faithful is this act!”

Lee Rip continued his words like a typhoon.

“They want to return to Gaebang’s embrace after a difficult and long journey, so I, Gaebang Branch Leader Lee Rip, will give them the position of Cheongui Binnaek (淸衣賓客) [Honored Guests in Plain Clothes] who have kept their loyalty!”

Those who share the same meaning but have a decent status in Gaebang instead of beggars.

They are called Cheongui Binnaek.

“What is this doing?”

Lee Rip smiled slyly at Cho Ak-ryang’s displeased eyes.

“No matter how many Gaebang members there are, it is possible to spread this news quickly to all parts of the Jungwon only if they run around with sweat on their feet. Of course, if it’s the work of the same family.”

“……”

“Or should we postpone the contents related to the Joint Edict a little?”

Beom Gye-wi jumped up.

“What are you talking about! How much trouble did Doctor Dan have because of that!”

Lee Rip nodded.

“So, now is the only chance. Thanks to Doctor Dan, the atmosphere has heated up, but if we stop here, their hearts will freeze as if they were splashed with cold water.”

The Gaebang members, who did not know the situation on the rock, began to buzz again at Lee Rip’s words.

“Blood Demon Lord and Mangsan Choja will be our friends?”

“Does that mean that there will be more experts to protect the Main Branch?”

“Is that an ordinary expert? It’s one of the Five Greats!”

“Still, the Ten Evils are a bit……”

“What’s the big deal? They are already on the side of the Divine Doctor. The Divine Doctor is on our side.”

Cho Ak-ryang smiled bitterly at the passing atmosphere.

A coincidental coincidence, combined with the cunning Lee Rip’s tricks, was properly intertwined.

Not stopping there, Lee Rip gave Dan Ak-seon a friendly smile.

“What is Doctor Dan’s opinion?”

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi flinched.

‘That damn beggar?’

Dan Ak-seon, who had been pondering, turned his gaze to the two.

“I think the opinions of the two of you are the most important. But I think friends are better than enemies.”

In the end, the atmosphere flowed according to Lee Rip’s will.

The situation where even Dan Ak-seon, who was the only hope, was captured.

At this point, there was no room to escape.

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi, who met their eyes, sighed as if the ground was sinking, and reluctantly nodded their heads.

Lee Rip shouted cheerfully.

“I, Lee Rip, ask Gaebang, do you acknowledge accepting them as Cheongui Binnaek?”

“Yes!”

“Our beggars will follow the Branch Leader’s will!”

“Welcome!”

The Gaebang members acknowledged accepting Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.

Among them, there were occasional dissatisfied voices, but they were buried in the overwhelming voices of approval and could not be heard.

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi, who became formal members of Gaebang in an instant, were just standing there with a bitter expression.

Soon, Lee Rip once again waved his Tague Bong [dog-beating stick, symbol of Gaebang] to focus the attention of the audience.

Then, he received the Joint Edict from Dan Ak-seon.

“Hye-gong Seonsa, the master of the Shaolin Temple! Jin Myeong-jin-in, the contemporary head of the Jeokbyeok Hwasan!”

Lee Rip, who read out the signatures written on the Joint Edict one by one over a long period of time, announced the contents they agreed to.

“They agree to declare Muwi a forbidden area where righteous people cannot enter in the future! However, patients can enter regardless of whether they are righteous or evil! If anyone violates this, it will be regarded as turning the famous people who agreed to the Joint Edict into enemies, and they declare that they are fully responsible for what happens in the future!”

Lee Rip handed the Joint Edict to the elders of Gaebang lined up in the back.

The elders, who received the Joint Edict and checked the authenticity of the signatures written in it, nodded their heads.

Finally, Lee Rip, the Branch Leader, filled in his signature at the end of the Joint Edict.

The completed Joint Edict was handed back to Dan Ak-seon.

Dan Ak-seon looked at Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi with a full face.

Finally, a place where they could stay comfortably was prepared.

All kinds of memories and emotions experienced while traveling flooded in like a flood, and Dan Ak-seon could not speak for a while.

Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi approached Dan Ak-seon, who was like that.

“You worked hard.”

“Thank you, Doctor Dan.”

Dan Ak-seon suddenly burst into tears at the hands of the two who patted her on the shoulder.

“Thank you.”

Dan Ak-seon bowed his head to Lee Rip and other Gaebang members.

“Thank you so much!”

Then Gaebang answered with enthusiastic cheers.

“Just leave the rest to us!”

“Today’s proclamation will be delivered to the entire Jungwon in a few days!”

It was when Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi were looking at Dan Ak-seon, who could not hide his expression of emotion, with a satisfied look.

A sudden cold voice shook the air.

“This Alliance cannot accept it.”

The sharp voice filled with inner strength left a long echo and spread to the surroundings.

The eyes of the crowd all turned to the place where the sound came from.

The crowd parted to both sides like a tide.

A woman with escorts entered through the gap.

“None of the Five Great Families, which are the mainstays of this Murim Alliance [martial arts alliance], and none of the families under them have signed the Joint Edict.”

Lee Rip frowned at the unexpected uninvited guest.

“Now that I see it, you are the leader of the Great Murim Alliance. Although it’s late, congratulations on your inauguration.”

Jegeol-yeon could not have known that Lee Rip was deliberately mocking her.

It subtly implied that the new Murim Alliance, which had grown in size but had less substance than before.

Lee Rip smiled mockingly at Jegeol-yeon, whose unpleasant eyes were clear.

“But here is clearly written the signature of the head of the Namgoong Family?”

“You can’t not know that they have been excluded from the Five Great Families? Only the places recognized by this Alliance are the true Five Great Families.”

Lee Rip snorted coldly and glared at Jegeol-yeon.

“What do you want?”

Jegeol-yeon answered as if she had been waiting.

“This Alliance wants to talk. Depending on the possibility of negotiation, we may be able to find what we want from each other.”

At that time, Dan Ak-seon, who had been watching the situation silently, stepped forward.

“I cannot accept the Alliance Leader’s words.”

“……!”

Displeasure arose on Jegeol-yeon’s face.

She was displeased that a young boy whose fluff had not yet disappeared had intervened in the conversation with the Gaebang Branch Leader.

However, Dan Ak-seon continued to speak confidently without being intimidated by her eyes.

“None of those who signed the Joint Edict offered negotiations or conditions. The Alliance Leader’s proposal is an insult to their pure goodwill.”

“Impudent……”