The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 239

Sa Mu-sim looked up at the man addressing him.

The man on horseback was tightly gripping a spear, poised to strike.

He looked ready to draw blood at a moment’s notice.

It wasn’t just him exuding a fierce killing intent.

The Blood Cloud Squad nearby were also glaring sharply at him, their eyes gleaming.

Sa Mu-sim put on a deliberately arrogant expression and took out the flag Nerui had given him from his chest.

“I was on my way to deliver a message from Han when my horse collapsed.”

The eyes of the Blood Cloud Squad warrior who had spoken first flashed with disappointment.

It was then that Sa Mu-sim frowned.

“But why are you loitering here? This isn’t Blood Cloud Squad territory, is it?”

In response to Sa Mu-sim’s question, the Blood Cloud Squad warrior turned his horse’s head without answering.

The other Blood Cloud Squad members also quickly lost interest and began chatting among themselves.

Sa Mu-sim, who had braced himself for a battle, sighed in relief and patted his chest.

Sa Mu-sim entered the building.

“Welcome. Did you come to see the horses?”

A man in his forties greeted him with a friendly demeanor, having overheard the conversation outside. Sa Mu-sim handed him a silver coin.

The man was initially startled but quickly snatched the silver coin.

After quickly looking around, he lowered his voice and grinned.

“You’re not looking for a horse, but something else, are you?”

It was then.

Peeep!

With a sharp whistle, the Blood Cloud Squad’s movements became hectic.

They quickly reorganized their formation and rode off somewhere.

Once they had completely disappeared, Sa Mu-sim spoke to the broker.

“How long have they been staying here?”

“It seems like about half a month.”

“Do you know why?”

“I don’t know exactly, but it seems like they’re looking for someone.”

Sa Mu-sim nodded silently.

After a moment.

“I’m looking for someone too.”

At Sa Mu-sim’s words, the man grinned as if he had expected it.

“A Central Plains person like you, sir?”

Surprised by the unexpected remark, Sa Mu-sim asked back.

“How did you know?”

“You speak our language quite fluently, but if you look closely, you can tell.”

The man pointed to Sa Mu-sim’s shoes.

“The shoes of men from the plains are worn out on the instep and toe.”

“Ah!”

Sa Mu-sim soon realized the reason.

It was because of the stirrups.

It was rare to find people traveling on foot here.

Most people used horses, so they spent more time with their feet in the stirrups than standing on the ground.

As a result, the parts of the shoes that touched the stirrups wore out the fastest.

Sa Mu-sim asked casually.

“Are there many Central Plains people who come here?”

The man shook his head.

“Not really. It’s been a bit more frequent recently, but before, we’d only see one or two a year.”

“Recently, you say?”

“Five days ago, someone stopped by briefly. They only bought dry rations and left right away. But the amount was quite large. Enough for at least two people to last more than a month.”

Sa Mu-sim’s eyes sparkled.

“What was his build like?”

“Just average. Except for his slightly long arms, he wasn’t much different from any other Central Plains person.”

A hint of disappointment appeared on Sa Mu-sim’s face.

‘Not the Seven Fiends Demonic Lord.’

Sa Mu-sim organized his thoughts.

‘An assistant? Or someone monitoring him?’

It was more likely to be an assistant.

Currently, the Seven Fiends Demonic Lord’s martial prowess had greatly increased to the point that even Lee Rip, the Beggars’ Union leader, couldn’t handle him.

There was no way a master of that level wouldn’t notice the presence of someone monitoring him.

‘That means…’

As Cho Ak-ryang had confirmed before, it was highly likely to be Zhuge Yeon’s contact.

“Thank you.”

Sa Mu-sim threw another lump of silver to the broker and stepped outside.

It was then that a cloud of dust rising in the distance came into view.

Without hesitation, Sa Mu-sim flew in the direction the Blood Cloud Squad had disappeared.

After running for about an hour.

“… !”

Light flashed in Sa Mu-sim’s eyes.

The scent of blood, mixed with the wind blowing from afar, brushed past his nose.

The closer he got, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Lowering his stance, Sa Mu-sim carefully moved, concealing his presence as much as possible.

And soon, a horse lying on the ground came into view.

Sa Mu-sim couldn’t help but frown.

He prided himself on having navigated the treacherous Sword Forest of Mount Do for quite some time, but the scene before him was utterly horrific.

Leaving aside the horse’s head, which had been blown apart by a heavy impact, the body lying on the ground was separated from its head.

Moreover, it had been torn off not by a sharp weapon, but by pure brute force.

Furthermore, that hellish scene continued at regular intervals.

Following the bloody path where the smell of death lingered, Sa Mu-sim eventually reached its destination.

The sounds of weapons clashing and shouts filled the air.

A man fighting alone against twenty or so Blood Cloud Squad members who were densely surrounding him came into view.

‘Seven Fiends Demonic Lord!’

The one who exuded a terrifying divine power, wrapped in a blood-red aura that made him feel eerie.

It was Noh Dan-yang.

The place where he stood was inside a gourd-shaped valley.

It was surrounded by cliffs on three sides, and the only entrance was a narrow terrain that only two horses could barely pass through.

In such unfavorable terrain, even while being thoroughly surrounded and attacked, Noh Dan-yang did not back down at all.

Rather, he began to pressure the Blood Cloud Squad as time passed.

Sa Mu-sim, who belatedly confirmed the mountain of corpses and sea of blood spread around him, unknowingly let out a groan.

‘The Seven Fiends Demonic Lord’s martial prowess is this great!’

The Noh Dan-yang he knew in the past was at best in the middle among the Ten Evils. [A group of highly skilled and dangerous martial artists.]

He was far behind Cho Ak-ryang or Beom Gye-wi, and even more than one level behind Evil Tiger Lord.

But looking at his current appearance, it seemed that Evil Tiger Lord couldn’t even compare.

It was then.

Sa Mu-sim suddenly felt a chill down his spine and his hair standing on end.

He was startled to discover Noh Dan-yang’s gaze fixed on him.

‘That bastard found me!’

Just by making eye contact, he immediately understood why a master like Lee Rip had been defeated by him.

Even though they were quite far apart, the gaze that flew at him felt like the skin on his entire body was being cut away.

He had never experienced such an overwhelming presence except for the Three Divine Demons. [Legendary figures known for their immense power.]

A sense of foreboding suddenly struck him.

He had to get out of here quickly.

The only chance was now, while that bastard was surrounded by the Blood Cloud Squad and unable to move.

‘But…’

His cold reason commanded him to run away immediately, but Sa Mu-sim couldn’t help but hesitate.

Even he hadn’t expected to find the Seven Fiends Demonic Lord so easily.

But if he turned away like this, he wouldn’t be able to grasp any clues.

He would be foolishly throwing away a rare opportunity given by heaven.

However, even at this moment, Noh Dan-yang was steadily reducing the number of Blood Cloud Squad members one by one.

‘I have no choice.’

Sa Mu-sim, who had decided to leave this place, shook off his regrets and turned around.

But…

‘That person?’

A different light flashed in Sa Mu-sim’s eyes.

Far away on a rock.

He had discovered someone lying prone, watching the situation in the arena.

‘It’s him!’

It was definitely the Central Plains person the broker at the inn had mentioned.

He hadn’t noticed his presence yet.

He was too focused on watching Noh Dan-yang.

Sa Mu-sim quickly checked the situation on Noh Dan-yang’s side.

Now, there were only about ten Blood Cloud Squad members left.

Some of them tried to escape, but they were stopped by Noh Dan-yang, who was blocking the entrance, and fell while spraying blood.

With no place to run, they were merely easy prey for Noh Dan-yang.

At this rate, it was clear that Noh Dan-yang would win decisively in a few breaths.

It was then that the Central Plains person Sa Mu-sim was observing took something out of his chest.

Realizing that it was a letter and a fire starter, Sa Mu-sim immediately flew towards him.

The man, who was tilting the fire starter to burn the letter, belatedly felt the presence rushing towards him and turned around in surprise.

But by then, Sa Mu-sim was already reaching out his hand towards the back of his neck.

Thud.

The man’s body stiffened as his blood point [A vital point in martial arts that can cause paralysis or death when struck.] behind his neck was pressed.

Then, he fell stiffly like a log.

Sa Mu-sim hurriedly snatched the letter, which was more than half burned.

After quickly extinguishing the fire, Sa Mu-sim tucked the letter into his chest and slung the man over his shoulder.

Even at this moment, Sa Mu-sim was anxious.

Glancing at Noh Dan-yang’s side, he saw that there were only three Blood Cloud Squad members left.

Sa Mu-sim hurriedly left the arena.

Shortly after.

A figure dropped down to the spot where Sa Mu-sim had been standing.

Noh Dan-yang, who was pouring out thick blood from his eyes, slightly raised the corners of his lips.

“Heh…”

A more cruel sneer flowed from Noh Dan-yang’s mouth, covered in hot blood.

Noh Dan-yang’s figure disappeared from that spot as if it had been extinguished.

He flew after the sound of hooves coming from not far away. But soon, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.

The horse, which had already gone quite a distance, came into view.

But there was not just one.

The bastard had cleverly sent other horses in the opposite direction of his own to induce confusion.

Noh Dan-yang’s eyes flashed with a chilling light as he examined the traces of the hooves engraved on the ground.

The hoof marks of a horse carrying a person were bound to show a difference.

Noh Dan-yang’s figure became a streak of light and began to chase the horse carrying the person.

For him, whose martial arts had improved to the point where they could no longer be compared to the past, catching up with a running horse was not a difficult task.

He saw a figure running close to the horse to reduce air resistance.

Noh Dan-yang narrowed the distance further and reached out his hand.

A frosty aura began to flow from his entire body.

As if following the fingertips he held out, a clear blood-colored haze wriggled, gradually gathering towards one point in the air.

Then, at one moment.

Neigh!

The blood-colored energy that left his hand was shot forward like a streak of light.

Boom!

Beyond the scattering and shattering blood light.

Thud.

A thick fog of blood filled the area, and shattered pieces of flesh scattered haphazardly.

Noh Dan-yang, who had minced a horse and rider into pieces of meat with a single strike, smiled contentedly.

Noh Dan-yang descended onto the ground, which had turned red with blood.

Then, he reached out his hand towards the head lying on the ground.

Thud.

Noh Dan-yang, who had taken the head of the fleeing bastard through psychokinesis, paused for a moment.

The face of the dead man in his hand was familiar to him.

It was the one who was in charge of communication and reporting between Zhuge Yeon and himself.

“Damn it!”

Noh Dan-yang hurriedly flew back to the original place.

“Ha…”

A sense of helplessness appeared on Noh Dan-yang’s face as he looked around.

The first thing that caught his eye was a sunken pit.

Cunningly, the bastard had used Zhuge Yeon’s contact as bait to lure him out.

And the real one was hiding here.

After using the Turtle Breathing Technique [A technique to slow down breathing and heart rate to become undetectable.] to conceal his presence, he had been hiding underground with the Earth Evasion Technique [A technique to move underground.].

The horses running in the distance, raising clouds of dust, came into view.

The number of horses running in different directions was as many as eight.

They were clearly the Blood Cloud Squad’s horses that had lost their owners and were wandering around.

Just in case, he checked the hoof marks left on the ground, but the depths were all similar.

Come to think of it, the seven Blood Cloud Squad corpses lying around were also gone.

Fearing that his actions might be exposed, the bastard had loaded the corpses onto the horses and sent them away.

He had been beautifully tricked by someone, whoever it was.

“Damn it!”

Noh Dan-yang gritted his teeth.