The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 181

The line in front of Divine Healer Shin’s clinic stretched endlessly.

The long queue wrapped around the clinic’s walls and even spilled into the nearby market.

Just then, Adoo, who was guiding the patients, spotted Dan Ahk-seon’s group and approached them.

“What’s all this commotion? Why are there even more patients?”

Adoo sighed at Beom Gye-wi’s question.

“They’re people from other villages. They came after hearing the rumors.”

“Rumors? How long has it been since we opened?”

“Well….”

Adoo replied with a troubled expression.

“Someone seems to be promoting us quite extensively. And that’s combined with the stories from people who have actually received treatment.”

“What? Promotion? Who would do such a pointless thing?”

Sensing a commotion nearby, Beom Gye-wi turned his head in that direction.

“Was it you?”

Nung So-mil flinched as his eyes met Beom Gye-wi’s.

In fact, he had been diligently laying the groundwork using the Shinma Merchant Guild [a powerful merchant organization] even before the Divine Healer Shin’s clinic opened.

The promotion was also part of that groundwork.

He wanted to avoid a situation where Dan Ahk-seon personally opened a clinic but had no patients, which would be embarrassing.

So, he had been actively promoting it through the merchants he had made deals with.

At first, the effect was minimal, so he had forgotten about it.

But belatedly, as the patients’ experiences spread, the power of the promotion snowballed.

That’s why this situation occurred.

Nung So-mil, carefully watching Beom Gye-wi’s reaction, opened his mouth in a barely audible voice.

“I just did my best….”

“Who told you to do your best!”

Beom Gye-wi snapped, causing Nung So-mil to make a face as if he was about to cry.

He felt wronged for being scolded for working hard, but he couldn’t dare to talk back to Beom Gye-wi.

Then, Adoo mentioned another reason why the number of patients had increased.

“It seems patients are flocking here because of the rumor that there are other excellent healers here besides Master Gok.”

“Healers?”

Beom Gye-wi, who had been questioning, flared up.

“Who dares to call themselves healers besides our Dan Doctor?”

Adoo looked up at Beom Gye-wi with a bewildered expression.

“Didn’t you know?”

“Huh? Know what?”

Belatedly, Beom Gye-wi couldn’t hide his embarrassment at Adoo’s gaze, which was fixed on him and Cho Ahk-ryang.

“Don’t tell me it’s not Cho and me?”

Adoo nodded.

“Haven’t you been treating patients with Master Gok lately?”

“Huh? I have.”

Beom Gye-wi muttered with a puzzled look.

“But all I’ve done is cure some minor internal ailments and set bones.”

“According to the patients, they came after hearing rumors that the treatment is faster than any other clinic.”

At Adoo’s explanation, Beom Gye-wi looked at Cho Ahk-ryang with a bewildered expression.

Cho Ahk-ryang felt the same way.

The two people who had greatly contributed to the rumors and caused the current situation were in no position to blame Nung So-mil.

Their attempt to reduce the number of patients for Dan Ahk-seon had instead brought in even more patients.

Han Seol-hwa mocked Beom Gye-wi.

“You could call this karma.”

“What?”

“I told you, who told you to work so hard?”

Beom Gye-wi glared at Han Seol-hwa.

“Are you saying this is none of your business!”

Han Seol-hwa smiled and walked past Beom Gye-wi.

“Work hard. I can’t help because I’ve learned useless martial arts.”

“……!”

Beom Gye-wi was momentarily speechless.

She was still holding a grudge about what he had said last time!

Leaving him behind, Han Seol-hwa took Dan Ahk-seon and went inside the clinic first.

Beom Gye-wi stared blankly at her retreating figure before sighing as he looked at Cho Ahk-ryang.

“Cho, I think we’re doomed.”

Cho Ahk-ryang’s face also darkened as he looked at the ever-increasing line of patients at this moment.

* * *

Lanzhou, Gansu Province.

A man entered the village through a fierce, knife-like wind accompanied by a sandstorm.

He had his face wrapped in several layers of cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed, and he carried a large A-frame carrier [a type of backpack frame] on his back.

The A-frame carrier was also covered with thick cloth to prevent sand from entering.

The man staggered as he walked.

The weight of the A-frame carrier was heavy, but it was also very difficult to walk against the wind because of its size.

At that moment, a faint sigh escaped from the A-frame carrier on his back.

“Father, shouldn’t we stop now?”

The man, thinking of the child riding in the A-frame carrier, gritted his teeth.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

Winter in Lanzhou was windy and cold, but it rarely snowed.

So, he was able to move around like this.

If he had been stranded by the snow, he would have been burning inside.

As the wind subsided for a moment, the man took off the cloth covering his face and took a breather.

He was probably in his mid-forties.

The man had a stubborn look in his eyes and a firm jawline, giving him a strong impression.

However, his face was full of worry, and he looked exhausted from the arduous journey.

The man brushed the sand off the cloth covering the A-frame carrier and began to walk again.

“In treatment, what’s as important as the doctor’s skill is the patient’s will to live. I said that a few days ago, but you haven’t forgotten it already, have you?”

A sobbing voice escaped from the A-frame carrier.

“But because of me, Father….”

“It’s not your problem. It’s a father’s duty.”

The man quickened his pace and continued.

“What father in the world would refuse a difficult path for his sick child? Rather, I’m just sorry to you. This father is not good enough and is making you suffer like this.”

“What are you talking about? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be alive now.”

“If you know that, why are you saying such things?”

“I’m sorry….”

The man sighed softly and opened his mouth in a gentler voice.

“For this father’s sake, please hang in there a little longer.”

The man’s gaze turned to the entrance of the village.

“Surely there must be a doctor in this vast Central Plains [historical region of China] who can cure you? It just so happens that there’s a famous doctor here, so let’s go see him.”

He had heard about the Jinseong Clinic in Lanzhou for a long time and knew it well.

“I heard that even the imperial physicians of the imperial palace seek advice from him, so I hope this time it won’t be a wasted trip.”

The child on the A-frame carrier tried to say something but stopped.

It had been several years since they had wandered around the Central Plains with similar expectations.

Each time they visited famous clinics, they returned disappointed, but his father simply couldn’t give up.

That evening.

The man’s face was particularly dark as he walked out of the gate of the Jinseong Clinic.

The child sitting on the A-frame carrier was the same.

They had hurried a long way to get here, but they had not been able to meet the head of the Jinseong Clinic.

He was away on urgent business.

Still, hoping for the best, he asked the doctors who were acting on behalf of the head of the Jinseong Clinic to examine his child.

However, the answer he received was disappointing.

—How is this child still alive?

Seeing the doctors asking that question, Joo Cho-woon sensed that this was another wasted trip.

—I’m sorry. If the head of the clinic were here, he would surely find a way… I’m afraid we are not up to the task.

He had no choice but to leave the Jinseong Clinic, leaving behind those who were sincerely sorry.

“Hoo….”

Joo Cho-woon sighed and crumpled the prescription he was holding, throwing it on the ground.

“It’s no different here.”

The decoction combining Poria cocos [a type of fungus used in traditional medicine], dried lacquer, and aconite [a poisonous plant] could temporarily suppress tachycardia [rapid heart rate], but it also had severe side effects.

No matter how much processing it underwent, the toxicity that accumulated in the body could not be ignored.

The doctors at the Jinseong Clinic were not wrong, but the problem was that the child’s condition could not withstand the effects of the medicine.

It was like burning down the house to catch a flea.

Joo Jang-myeong, sitting on the A-frame carrier, opened his mouth at his father’s disappointed voice.

“Father, please put me down for a moment.”

Joo Jang-myeong got off the A-frame carrier and gave his father a pitiful look.

“Father. Please stop now.”

“This kid?”

Joo Cho-woon glared fiercely. But as he looked at his son’s face, which was particularly pale due to cyanosis [bluish discoloration of the skin], he was filled with pity.

Looking at his father, Joo Jang-myeong smiled sadly.

“It’s been three years already. We’ve traveled all over the Central Plains, but there are almost no clinics left. You know better than anyone that there’s nothing more we can do.”

“…….”

“There are no doctors who can cure my illness. So, let’s just give up now.”

“No. There must be one.”

Joo Jang-myeong shook his head at his father’s unwavering gaze.

“There’s no doctor in the world better than you, Father.”

“No, there is. There must be.”

Joo Cho-woon shouted with a look close to madness.

“There are two doctors who are spoken of like legends among martial artists.”

“Are you talking about Holy Healer Shin and Deathly Devil Doctor? But I heard that they have long since gone into seclusion and cut off contact with the world.”

“Still, I won’t give up. They say, ‘If you earnestly desire and desperately wish, your wish will come true.’”