The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 18

The Divine Doctor (18)

Early morning.

Dahn Ahk-seon woke up earlier than usual. It was because of the hammering sound coming from somewhere.

“Wow!”

Dahn Ahk-seon, stepping out of the building, involuntarily exclaimed.

It was because the Divine Demonic Valley looked completely different from yesterday.

The messy scenery was nowhere to be found.

Everywhere he looked was clean and tidy. Moreover, Cho Ahk-ryang and Beom Gye-wi were busily moving around on one side.

Behind them, a new hut was being built.

That’s why it had been so noisy since dawn.

Dahn Ahk-seon moved towards the two. Just then, the door of the hut opened and a person walked out.

It was Han Seol-hwa.

‘This must be the one.’

Dahn Ahk-seon realized that she was the patient Beom Gye-wi had said he would bring.

“Hello.”

Dahn Ahk-seon bowed politely.

“My name is Dahn Ahk-seon.”

Han Seol-hwa, who had been staring at Dahn Ahk-seon with an expressionless face, nodded slightly.

—My name is Han Seol-hwa. Just feel free to call me Auntie.

Dahn Ahk-seon’s eyes widened.

It was because her voice was being directly transmitted into his head.

“Is that telepathy?”

Dahn Ahk-seon exclaimed.

“I’ve heard about it from my parents. They said it’s a technique used by martial arts masters to have secret conversations. Auntie, you must have been an incredible master?”

No sooner had Dahn Ahk-seon finished speaking than Beom Gye-wi’s telepathic message flew in.

—Hmph! What’s so great about telepathy?

Dahn Ahk-seon looked at Beom Gye-wi with surprised eyes.

“Wow, that’s really amazing.”

Cho Ahk-ryang frowned.

“If I only recover my inner strength, telepathy is nothing…”

As soon as he said it, Cho Ahk-ryang immediately regretted it. It was because of Beom Gye-wi, who was gloating at him.

At that moment, Dahn Ahk-seon smiled brightly at Cho Ahk-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.

“You were building a house for Auntie to stay in? You’ve been busy since yesterday.”

“Huh? Uh…”

“Well, something like that…”

Towards the two who were reluctantly nodding with awkward expressions, Han Seol-hwa’s telepathic message flew in.

—Hurry up. That side of the roof isn’t up yet.

At Han Seol-hwa’s instruction, Beom Gye-wi’s brow twitched.

—Shall I tell him that you two went out secretly last night? I could smell blood everywhere.

At her subsequent telepathic message, the two of them lifted the logs as if nothing had happened.

The two continued to work in silence.

Han Seol-hwa, who had been watching the two, headed towards the cliff.

Whoosh.

Following the sleeves she stirred, a powerful force arose.

A huge whirlwind arose from a distant space and scraped the cliff.

All sorts of rags and scraps of cloth scattered near the cliff were swept up by the wind and soared high into the sky. As Han Seol-hwa grabbed the air, they were drawn to her hand as if sucked in.

At the sight, Dahn Ahk-seon involuntarily exclaimed.

He finally realized why the valley had become so clean.

Han Seol-hwa cleaned every corner of the valley using her martial arts for a long time.

When the cleaning seemed to be finished to some extent, Dahn Ahk-seon approached Han Seol-hwa.

He remembered the reason why she had come here.

“Auntie, you’re also sick, right?”

Dahn Ahk-seon smiled at Han Seol-hwa, who was staring at him with an expressionless face.

“Let’s go to my building first. I’ll check your pulse.”

Han Seol-hwa nodded and followed Dahn Ahk-seon.

* * *

Han Seol-hwa sat on the chair and watched Dahn Ahk-seon. Dahn Ahk-seon sat opposite her, closing his eyes tightly.

He had his fingers on her wrist.

It was after a long time that Dahn Ahk-seon, who had been deep in thought, opened his eyes.

“Haa…”

Dahn Ahk-seon sighed.

“Really… I can’t believe it.”

A look of pity appeared in Dahn Ahk-seon’s eyes.

“You weren’t not talking, you couldn’t talk.”

Dahn Ahk-seon continued.

“Treatment… I don’t know if I should call it treatment, but it will take some time. And honestly, I can’t guarantee the results. I’ve never seen this kind of condition before.”

Dahn Ahk-seon looked at Han Seol-hwa with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry.”

Han Seol-hwa nodded silently.

She had hoped against hope, but it was as she expected. Even if the Divine Doctor and the Demonic Doctor were here, the result would have been the same.

She was foolish to have been moved by vain expectations.

“The only thing I can do right now is to restore your voice.”

For the first time, a hint of emotion appeared in Han Seol-hwa’s eyes, which had always been cold.

—Are you saying I can speak again?

Dahn Ahk-seon nodded.

“I can’t fix the whole thing right away, but I can restore it one by one. Of course, this isn’t the ultimate cure.”

Dahn Ahk-seon continued to explain.

“It’s important to block the cold energy flowing from the meridians [energy channels in the body]. Then, I’ll stimulate the nerves and muscles to increase their activity.”

—Is that possible?

Dahn Ahk-seon nodded. Then, he took out the wooden case containing the Sunang needles [acupuncture needles] from his pocket.

“Shall we start?”

When Han Seol-hwa nodded, Dahn Ahk-seon inserted needles into several acupoints [specific points on the body used in acupuncture] on her body.

“Make a long ‘ah’ sound, with the feeling of slowly pulling up the heavy breath inside your lungs and exhaling it.”

Han Seol-hwa hesitated for a moment, but soon followed Dahn Ahk-seon’s instructions.

However, no voice came out.

Only a rough, metallic breathing sound continued.

Dahn Ahk-seon smiled at Han Seol-hwa.

“You’re doing well. Keep doing that.”

From then on, Dahn Ahk-seon continued to insert needles with a serious expression. It was when the treatment exceeded half an hour.

“…Aaaah.”

A clear voice flowed from Han Seol-hwa’s mouth.

Surprised, Han Seol-hwa looked at Dahn Ahk-seon.

“Did I just make a sound…?”

“You’re still doing it now.”

“…!”

Although her expression remained unchanged, Han Seol-hwa was incredibly surprised at this moment.

She didn’t know how long it had been since she had heard her own voice.

They say you only realize what’s truly precious after you lose it, and for her, her voice was one of them.

Cho Ahk-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.

Only now could she understand their infinite trust in this child.

At that moment, Dahn Ahk-seon raised his hand and pointed to the bed.

“Would you like to lie down for a moment?”

Dahn Ahk-seon opened his mouth with a serious look.

“I need to examine your body in more detail.”

Han Seol-hwa paused.

—My body?

She was so flustered that she sent a telepathic message without realizing it. However, Dahn Ahk-seon’s eyes were as clear and calm as tea.

“I’m not as good as Byeonjak’s brothers yet.”

Byeonjak [Bian Que] is a doctor who is called the best doctor along with Hwata [Hua Tuo, another legendary physician].

“They say he had two brothers. They were also doctors.”

—I know that story.

It was such a famous anecdote.

One day, the emperor asked which of Byeonjak’s brothers was the most skilled. Byeonjak replied that his eldest brother was the most skilled, followed by his younger brother.

Then why is Byeonjak’s name the most famous, the emperor asked again. Byeonjak replied that it was because he cured diseases through medicine and surgery.

On the other hand, the second brother treated the patient’s illness in advance while the patient’s condition was still mild, and the eldest brother recognized the patient’s illness just by looking at their face and eliminated the cause, so people did not know.

‘Does that mean?’

Han Seol-hwa was greatly surprised.

If Dahn Ahk-seon’s words were interpreted differently, it meant that he possessed medical skills comparable to Byeonjak.

Han Seol-hwa slowly nodded.

As she lay down on the bed, Dahn Ahk-seon grabbed her pulse and gave her a warning.

“If you feel anything strange, you must not open your mouth or move.”

“Strange feeling?”

“Uncle Beom and Uncle Cho were fine, but some people may feel ticklish.”

Han Seol-hwa was puzzled, but since she had entrusted her body to him, she decided to trust Dahn Ahk-seon.

Han Seol-hwa quietly closed her eyes.

At that moment, a faint energy flowed in through her pulse.

It was such a weak and slender energy that she would have missed it if she hadn’t concentrated.

Warm and soft…

It was an energy that felt like a spring haze.

The energy, which had been slowly moving along the meridians, soon passed through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians [a set of key meridians] and stayed at the Yongcheon acupoint [a specific acupoint on the sole of the foot] near the soles of her feet.

Then, it started to rise along her ankle, calf, and after examining her body for a long time, it slowly dissipated.

“Haa…”

Dahn Ahk-seon pondered with a complicated expression.

But at some point, his eyes began to shine.

“Refining the Spirit to Return to Emptiness…”

The one word Dahn Ahk-seon muttered.

That was the decisive clue to guess Han Seol-hwa’s current state.

A different light flashed in Han Seol-hwa’s eyes.

“How did you know that? I heard you didn’t learn martial arts?”

“Medicine is also traced back to martial arts in the end. Just like Hwata created the Five Animal Frolics [a set of Qigong exercises].”

Dahn Ahk-seon continued to explain.

“Just as there are various internal energy cultivation methods in the Jianghu [martial arts world], the training methods also vary widely. But the core secrets contained within have many similar parts.”

To summarize, it can be divided into roughly three stages.

Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness.

Refining Essence into Qi is the process of cultivating essence (精), that is, innate vitality, to accumulate Qi [vital energy], and Refining Qi into Spirit is the process of cultivating Spirit (神) based on the Qi accumulated in that process.

Then, beyond the existing restrictions, a superhuman spirit and body, a state in which they are perfectly harmonized, is Spirit (神), and Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness refers to the realm of refining the Spirit to reach the ultimate.

A stage of leaping beyond the limitations of the flesh and into a realm of transcendence.

Since they are not trapped in the limitations of the body, they do not age or die. It is a transformation into a literally immortal being.

“Taoism has a huge number of factions…”

Han Seol-hwa looked at Dahn Ahk-seon with puzzled eyes.

However, she could guess why Dahn Ahk-seon brought up the story of Taoism from his subsequent words.

“But the core ideology that runs through them all is one.”

Dahn Ahk-seon smiled.

“Immortality and Ascension to Immortality.”

To this end, each sect trained in its own way. Although there are slight differences, the central methods are largely four.

The Elixir Faction (煉丹派), which aimed to manufacture elixirs of immortality. The Talisman Faction (附錄派), which worshiped ghosts and mountain spirits and used spells and talismans to control evil spirits. The Longevity Faction (長生派), which dreamed of longevity and immortality by using yin-yang harmony or bedroom arts. The Qi Refining Faction (煉氣派), which practiced Dantian breathing [abdominal breathing] and Taoist gymnastics.

“Most of the existing Taoist sects belong to the Qi Refining Faction. The elixirs they manufacture are influenced by the Elixir Faction.”

This can be seen even in the Hwasan Sect, the leading Taoist sect of today.

“I guess Auntie probably entered the stage of Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness a long time ago.”

It was just an assumption, and Dahn Ahk-seon wasn’t sure either.

Because he had never directly experienced any similar cases.

But other than that, Han Seol-hwa’s condition was impossible to explain.

The cold energy that filled her entire body, including her limbs and hundreds of bones. If she were an ordinary person, she would have died long ago.

It was because she had transcended the limitations of the flesh that she was still alive.

“The problem is that it’s unstable. It seems that you rushed to the next stage without perfectly completing the Spirit.”

The reason why she has no expression, cannot taste, and the muscles and nerves are fixed together in the stopped time of her body.

Han Seol-hwa’s eyes trembled slightly.

After listening to Dahn Ahk-seon’s words, she had a guess among her old memories of the past.

“Can you fix it?”

At Han Seol-hwa’s question, Dahn Ahk-seon nodded.

“I need some research… but I don’t think it’s impossible. As I said at the beginning, it will take some time.”

“Time doesn’t matter.”

“Besides, there are also concerns.”

Dahn Ahk-seon hesitated with a troubled face.

“It’s okay, tell me.”

At Han Seol-hwa’s words, Dahn Ahk-seon quietly sighed.

“The stopped aging will proceed. The time of the body will start flowing again.”

Han Seol-hwa nodded for a long time and said.

“That is truly what I desire. To grow old normally like others.”

“Really? Don’t most women want their beauty to stop in their twenties? That’s what my mom wanted too.”

“My life is not a blessing.”

Staring at Dahn Ahk-seon, Han Seol-hwa continued.

“If you can free me from this prison of eternal time…”

Han Seol-hwa’s eyes became mournful.

“I will consider you my lifelong benefactor.”