The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 218

The man in black cried out as if wailing.

“I don’t know! I lost track of him a month ago.”

Cho Ak-ryang noticed something strange in his words – that he was tracking Noh Dan-yang’s whereabouts.

“So, you knew his location a month ago?”

“That, that is…….”

“Where was the first place you monitored Noh Dan-yang?”

The man hesitated for a moment before letting out a tearing scream.

After excruciating pain as his meridian [energy channel in traditional Chinese medicine] broke, the man began to pour out everything he knew, tears streaming down his face.

A few days later.

Cho Ak-ryang entered a cave located below a low cliff.

A cave whose existence could not be known from the outside because of the large rocks crisscrossing the entrance.

As he entered, a spacious area revealed itself.

Judging from the traces left in various places, it was not difficult to guess that someone had been staying here.

This was evident from the Byeokgokdan pills [a type of medicinal pill] contained in jars, as well as the oil lamp and bed.

All of them were items made in the Central Plains style.

In particular, the Byeokgokdan pills were identical to those given to the Murim Alliance [martial arts alliance] members during operations.

Through this, Cho Ak-ryang was able to reach one conclusion.

“Does this mean that the person who has been hiding Noh Dan-yang until now was Je Gal-yeon?”

However, judging from the surveillance, it seemed he didn’t completely trust Noh Dan-yang.

Then, suddenly, Cho Ak-ryang paid attention to the traces left on the cave’s stone wall.

The stone wall was recklessly dug up and crushed.

Confirming the anger and madness felt within, a flash of light flickered in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.

“It’s highly likely that he has escaped Je Gal-yeon’s control.”

It wasn’t certain yet, but it wouldn’t be difficult to find out.

One person knows all the circumstances.

If he questioned Je Gal-yeon, he would be able to grasp the whole situation.

“Is this it for now?”

Cho Ak-ryang sighed softly.

It was impossible to find Noh Dan-yang by searching this vast prairie.

Besides, he had been away from martial arts for far too long.

“Still, it’s not a complete loss.”

He was fortunate that he didn’t return empty-handed without obtaining any information.

* * *

The Seonghwa Inn, located in Muwi Market.

Two people entered the inn, which was crowded with guests for lunch.

Then, the noisy inn suddenly became quiet.

“Damn it.”

“Here too.”

Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo sighed at the gazes flying in and stabbing them from all directions.

They couldn’t understand why the Demonic Path [a martial arts sect often portrayed as evil] bastards were so prickly.

It was the same now.

Instead of finishing their meal, they were glaring at them, clutching their chopsticks like throwing knives.

They wanted to turn around and leave right away.

But it wasn’t easy to turn back.

This was the last inn they had found.

During the few days they spent at the Shinma Physician’s residence, the two were sleepless with a growing sense of futility.

Still, they were among the top ten masters in the Hainan Sword Sect.

But here, they were treated like outcasts wherever they went.

At least until they left Hainan Island and came here with Byeok Hwa-ryeong, they had the title of bodyguard.

But now, Beom Gye-wi was always by Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s side.

As long as he, a master they couldn’t even look at, stayed by Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s side, there was nothing else to do.

To make matters worse, Byeok Hwa-ryeong gave them the cold shoulder every time.

She often scolded them, treating them like troublemakers who interfered with her and Beom Gye-wi, and later even threatened them to disappear where they couldn’t be seen.

Still, weren’t they fellow disciples who had risked their lives together in the past?

They were very upset by her harsh treatment, but there was nothing they could do.

But what was really unbearable was something else.

It was the endless affection between Beom Gye-wi and Byeok Hwa-ryeong.

It was common for them to exchange glances even though they were clearly watching, and it was unbearable to see them whispering something in each other’s ears and giggling, pretending to be having secret conversations, so they couldn’t stay there any longer.

So, they left the Shinma Physician’s residence early.

But it didn’t take long for them to realize how foolish that thought was.

All the Demonic Path bastards in the Central Plains had gathered here, and wherever they went, there were guys glaring at them.

Not to mention the unkind gazes, some guys even cursed at them and picked fights.

Some even revealed their murderous intent and grabbed their weapons.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the reason.

It was because they were Righteous Path people [a martial arts sect often portrayed as good].

Byeok Hwa-ryeong and they were the first Righteous Path people to enter Muwi since it was declared a forbidden area for Righteous Path people.

Fortunately, Beom Gye-wi’s declaration to marry Byeok Hwa-ryeong freed Byeok Hwa-ryeong from that restriction.

On the other hand, the two men’s positions were still ambiguous.

Although they were Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s bodyguards, they had to return to Hainan Island someday.

However, they couldn’t openly fight with them, so they had to consider Beom Gye-wi and Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s positions.

In the end, they couldn’t do anything and wandered aimlessly around Muwi, avoiding their uncomfortable gazes.

“How did we end up like this?”

Jang Cheol-woo burst out in annoyance at Jongri-chu’s sigh.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Jang Cheol-woo strode forward and took a seat at an empty table.

“Order here!”

As the waiter approached hesitantly, Jang Cheol-woo ordered food, ignoring the gazes around him.

Jongri-chu reluctantly sat opposite Jang Cheol-woo.

After a while, when the food came out, Jongri-chu stirred the food with his chopsticks.

“They didn’t put poison in it, did they?”

“No way. Even dogs don’t bother you when you’re eating, so even if they’re uneducated, they won’t go that far.”

As if hearing those words, someone in the inn openly snorted.

“Hmph! Country bumpkins from the backwoods have something they’ve heard somewhere.”

Someone else responded to that.

“Don’t worry. Why would we bother doing such a troublesome thing? If we wanted to, it wouldn’t be hard to take you two down.”

They were Demonic Path people who had been chased by the Righteous Path for a long time, and their resentment and sense of victimhood were deeply ingrained.

As such, there was no way their gazes and tone towards the Hainan Sword Sect warriors would be kind.

The problem was that Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo were also Hainan Sword Sect warriors who had roamed the rough seas.

They wouldn’t be pushed around anywhere with their strong personalities.

“I wonder where the owner of that babbling mouth is a deceased person? Huh? Instead of just talking, give us a chance to see that great divine power?”

“Leave it alone. All those cowards who have been running away their whole lives do is bark like scared dogs.”

The atmosphere immediately turned hostile at Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo’s words.

Creak, creak.

The Demonic Path people rose from their seats, making the sound of chairs scraping in various places in the inn.

The Demonic Path people were pouring out fierce glares.

The murderous intent they emitted swirled inside the inn.

“It’s understandable that Miss Byeok is Senior Beom’s lover, but why are those guys lingering here?”

“I know, right? Why don’t they just stay at the Physician’s residence? Who do they think they are, coming out to the inn to eat so proudly?”

Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo, who had been holding back, exploded with anger at the blatant mockery directed at them.

“Okay, let’s settle this today.”

“Come at me, you bastards! I’ll make you realize why we’re called the Wave-Breaking Two Swords of Hainan!”

As soon as those words were spoken, the commoners in the inn quickly left.

It was then that a middle-aged man with a plump impression, who seemed to be the owner of the inn, shouted.

“Inform the Shinma Physician’s residence! Immediately!”

Everyone in the inn flinched at those words.

Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo were the same.

“Ugh.”

“You guys are lucky today.”

The two men, withdrawing their hands from the swords they had placed on the hilt, sat back down on their chairs.

Someone shouted at them.

“Who are you to say that! We’re only putting up with it because of Miss Byeok’s face.”

Jongri-chu gave a dumbfounded look.

“Why are you looking at our Sect Leader’s face?”

“Do you think we want to be here?”

Jang Cheol-woo shouted with a wronged expression.

“Have you guys ever been next to Mangsan Choja [Beom Gye-wi’s nickname] for more than ten days? Do you know how exhausting that is!”

The Demonic Path people in the inn paused at those words.

“The Sect Leader ordered us to stay by the Deputy Sect Leader’s side at all times! But, huh? The Deputy Sect Leader keeps telling us to go back! On top of that, Mangsan Choja spews out murderous intent from time to time! There are only people giving us the side-eye everywhere, so there’s nowhere to go! So, we’re just trying to get a meal to avoid those people, is that such a big crime? Why are you guys giving us the side-eye too!”

Jang Cheol-woo, who had vented his pent-up resentment, suddenly felt strange.

A somewhat solemn atmosphere.

Jang Cheol-woo, realizing that the Demonic Path people’s gazes towards them had changed, shouted with a flushed face.

“Don’t pity us!”

Jongri-chu sighed and got up from his seat.

His appetite had disappeared long ago.

The gazes of the Demonic Path bastards pitying them made him feel even more miserable.

The two men, who had left the inn again, began to walk slowly.

Eventually, they arrived at the Shinma Physician’s residence.

This was because there was no place where they could be comfortable with the uncomfortable gazes pouring out at them wherever they went.

As they were sighing deeply while looking at the walls of the Shinma Physician’s residence.

“Kyaak!”

A shrill scream was heard.

Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo’s faces hardened.

“……!”

“Is that the Deputy Sect Leader’s?”

Realizing that the scream was Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s voice, the two men jumped over the wall without either of them saying anything first.

They used all their strength to perform their lightness skill [a martial art technique that allows one to move quickly and lightly], and the place they arrived at was a secluded garden in the backyard.

But…….

A sight that was hard to watch was unfolding before their eyes.

“Oh, Gaga. It tickles.”

Byeok Hwa-ryeong giggled and pushed away Beom Gye-wi’s face.

“Hehe. It seems like my lips miss my woman’s beautiful cheeks.”

The two men momentarily wore blank expressions at the sight of Beom Gye-wi hugging Byeok Hwa-ryeong and sticking out his lips.

Byeok Hwa-ryeong, who was in Beom Gye-wi’s arms and giving off a coquettish look, belatedly discovered the two men.

“Why are you here already?”

“Yes?”

Byeok Hwa-ryeong waved her hand at Jongri-chu, who was looking bewildered, as if she was annoyed.

Then, she wrapped her arms around Beom Gye-wi’s waist and made a nasal sound.

“Don’t worry about them, Gaga. Let’s finish what we were doing.”

“After they leave.”

“It’s okay. Just think of them as air. Anyway, they won’t be able to tell anyone where they go.”

“Then shall we?”

Jongri-chu shuddered at the sight of the two people continuing their love affair as if they didn’t care about them.

“……What do you call that?”

“What?”

Jongri-chu said to Jang Cheol-woo, who was asking back with a puzzled face.

“When a subordinate overthrows a superior.”

“Hageuk-sang(下剋上) [Japanese term for overthrowing a superior]?”

“Ah, that’s the word.”

“Why suddenly?”

“Because I’m going to do it today. That Hageuk-sang thing.”

Jang Cheol-woo wore a dumbfounded expression.

“You can’t beat the Deputy Sect Leader.”

But Jang Cheol-woo’s eyes widened when he discovered the thunderclap bomb that Jongri-chu had taken out of his pocket.

“Hey, are you crazy? Why are you doing this suddenly? Get a grip.”

“Let go of this. I’m going to blow it up and not see that sight.”

That’s when the two men were bickering.

“It’s noisy!”

Byeok Hwa-ryeong screamed and approached the two men with her eyes wide open.

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

Jongri-chu and Jang Cheol-woo, looking at each other with wronged eyes, began to complain about their situation.

“So what do you want me to do?”

Jang Cheol-woo sighed as if the ground was sinking at Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s question.

“The Sect Leader ordered us to stay by the Deputy Sect Leader’s side, and the Deputy Sect Leader keeps telling us to go back, so I don’t know which one to follow.”

It was then.

“What? That was the problem?”

Beom Gye-wi suddenly intervened between them.

“I’ll solve that problem.”

Beom Gye-wi smiled at the three people who were looking puzzled.

“You can do both, right?”

“Yes? How do you mean?”

Beom Gye-wi shouted into the air at Jongri-chu’s question.

“Nung Danju!”

Before Beom Gye-wi’s resounding voice could dissipate, a person ran to the backyard as if flying.

It was Neung So-mil.

“Did you call me?”