The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 24

The Divine Doctor (24)

“Oh, excuse me.”

Pung Jin-sung apologized with a smile. Then, he reached out and grabbed a needle.

“Let me help too.”

“Stop! What are you doing!”

Bum Gye-wi strongly rejected.

“Why would I trust my body to someone who’s treating the Murim Alliance Leader’s daughter?” [Murim refers to a martial arts world or community, often depicted in Asian fantasy novels.]

“What does politics matter to a patient?”

Dahn Ahk-seon also supported Pung Jin-sung.

“You can trust him. He’s studied much longer than me and has more experience.”

“Well, if Doctor Dahn says so…….”

As the two worked simultaneously, the treatment sped up. In the meantime, Pung Jin-sung cautiously brought up a topic.

“Would you like to take a look, Master Gok?”

Understanding the meaning behind it, a look of embarrassment appeared on Dahn Ahk-seon’s face.

“It’s interesting, but I can’t leave here. I have to treat the uncles and aunts.”

“I see…….”

Pung Jin-sung nodded.

“The Blood Demon Venerable’s condition also seems quite precarious.”

“Yes. He’s improved a lot, but there’s still a long way to go. His meridians [pathways in the body through which vital energy flows] are just starting to settle. If he were to recklessly use his inner energy…….”

“It would lead to irreversible consequences.”

“I wouldn’t be able to do anything then.”

“It’ll be fine. As long as he doesn’t recklessly test his luck.”

Pung Jin-sung joked with a smile.

“He’s probably used up all his luck just by meeting you, Master Gok.”

“Now that you mention it, I was worrying unnecessarily. What reason would there be to use martial arts here? It’s not like there are enemies right in front of us.”

Dahn Ahk-seon and Pung Jin-sung looked at each other and laughed.

However, Bum Gye-wi was the only one who couldn’t laugh.

“Okay, mister. It’s all done. Do a handstand for half an hour and then take your herbal medicine.”

“Thank you, Doctor Dahn.”

The moment Bum Gye-wi got off the bed, a look of bewilderment appeared in Dahn Ahk-seon’s eyes. Bum Gye-wi’s eyes, heading out of the hut, were moist.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Bum Gye-wi blinked a few times to shake off the tears and shook his head weakly.

“No. It’s nothing.”

With those words, Bum Gye-wi headed outside.

Just then, he ran into Cho Ahk-ryang, who was also heading out of the hut.

“Brother Cho, I’m sorry for everything.”

Cho Ahk-ryang’s face filled with suspicion at Bum Gye-wi’s sudden apology.

“What are you up to?”

“It’s not a trick, it’s the truth.”

Cho Ahk-ryang frowned.

“Why are you suddenly acting like this? And what’s with that look in your eyes?”

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

“It’s a look that makes me want to punch you.”

At those words, Bum Gye-wi nodded and patted his chest.

“Alright. Hit me once, nice and hard. They say you should grant a dying man’s wish, so why not grant a soon-to-be-dead man’s wish?”

“Soon to be dead? Who?”

Cho Ahk-ryang’s heart sank at Bum Gye-wi’s gaze, which was fixed on him.

“Did Doctor Dahn say that? That I’m going to die?”

Bum Gye-wi nodded at Cho Ahk-ryang, who was overcome with bewilderment.

“Brother Cho will die if he uses his inner energy. But you used martial arts last time when dealing with those Pasa Group guys.”

Cho Ahk-ryang was barely able to calm his surprised heart.

“I thought it was something else. That’s…….”

At that moment, Dahn Ahk-seon’s voice was heard from behind Bum Gye-wi.

“Was that why you were feeling down?”

Dahn Ahk-seon walked out of the hut.

“Uncle Cho is fine. I checked his pulse last night.”

“Huh? So you’re not going to die?”

“Of course not. By the way, it seems like there’s something I don’t know about?”

Dahn Ahk-seon looked at Cho Ahk-ryang.

“Have you ever used your inner energy without me knowing?”

Cho Ahk-ryang and Bum Gye-wi flinched and froze.

“You…….”

Bum Gye-wi stammered, opening his mouth at Cho Ahk-ryang’s glare.

“No. What inner energy would I use to deal with those punks? Isn’t that right, Brother Cho?”

Bum Gye-wi tried to gloss over it, but it only brought more suspicion.

“Those punks? Who are they?”

“Th, that’s…….”

Bum Gye-wi, unable to do anything, eventually closed his eyes tightly.

“It’s a, a secret!”

“A secret?”

“Yes! Doesn’t everyone have one?”

“I don’t have any secrets from you uncles…….”

Bum Gye-wi was startled by Dahn Ahk-seon’s seemingly dejected voice.

“You had a secret from me, Uncle.”

“Doctor Dahn, are you perhaps sulking?”

“It’s a secret.”

Dahn Ahk-seon turned away, pouting. It was clear to anyone that she was thoroughly upset.

“D, Doctor Dahn. That’s not what I meant…….”

Bum Gye-wi panicked and asked Cho Ahk-ryang for help. He was at least better at using his head than Bum Gye-wi was.

“Brother Cho! Say something…….”

Bum Gye-wi couldn’t finish his sentence.

Cho Ahk-ryang, who had been standing right in front of him, had disappeared.

“How underhanded!”

Bum Gye-wi was furious at the sight of Cho Ahk-ryang standing far away, but only for a moment.

Bum Gye-wi hurriedly followed Dahn Ahk-seon.

“Doctor Dahn, please listen to me. Huh?”

However, Dahn Ahk-seon disappeared into the building, keeping her mouth tightly shut.

“What should I do?”

Bum Gye-wi paced back and forth outside the building, restless.

Pung Jin-sung, who was watching this from afar, simply found the situation amusing.

* * *

That evening.

The savory smell of meat permeated the Divine Demon Valley.

A bonfire was lit in the center of the valley. It was because of the delicious meat roasting golden brown over it. The enchanting smell drew people to the bonfire as if they were possessed.

“What’s with the meat? We’re only supposed to eat what Doctor Dahn allows.”

Bum Gye-wi, who was carefully grilling the meat, retorted to Cho Ahk-ryang’s question.

“I’m not eating it. I’m giving it to Doctor Dahn.”

“Do you think that will ease her anger?”

“Does Doctor Dahn only want to eat grass all day? She’s enduring it because of us. Besides, smell this. Who in the world would refuse this?”

Indeed, the meat that Bum Gye-wi grilled smelled heavenly.

Cho Ahk-ryang, swallowing the saliva that had gathered in his mouth without him realizing it, retorted.

“Why didn’t you catch a bigger one if you were going to? Like a wild boar.”

Bum Gye-wi scoffed.

“You don’t know anything. Look at this tender meat. This time of year is when rabbits are the most delicious.”

“Really? Then should I help out a bit?”

Cho Ahk-ryang naturally took a seat by the bonfire.

Then, he subtly picked up a skewer with rabbit meat on it and started grilling it, turning it this way and that.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to freeload now?”

Bum Gye-wi’s brow furrowed.

Before those words were even finished, Han Seol-hwa appeared from somewhere and started grilling meat.

“You guys! Don’t touch it! That’s all for our Doctor Dahn!”

Dahn Ahk-seon’s voice was heard at that moment.

“Instead of that, let’s all eat together. We need to consume meat occasionally for our health.”

Dahn Ahk-seon, who had walked side by side with Pung Jin-sung, arrived at the bonfire.

Bum Gye-wi quickly grabbed a skewer and handed it to Dahn Ahk-seon.

Dahn Ahk-seon took a bite of the meat and exclaimed.

“Wow! It’s really delicious!”

“Right?”

Bum Gye-wi carefully asked, watching Dahn Ahk-seon’s expression.

“Are you not angry anymore?”

“Huh? I wasn’t angry?”

Bum Gye-wi’s face brightened instantly. It was worth the effort of hunting.

“Can we eat now too?”

Bum Gye-wi, in a good mood, waved his hand at Cho Ahk-ryang as if to say, “Do as you please.”

Cho Ahk-ryang, Han Seol-hwa, and even Pung Jin-sung.

Each of them held a skewer of meat.

As they were enjoying their meal, Cho Ahk-ryang noticed something.

It was a rabbit skin that was spread out to dry.

“What are you going to do with this?”

Bum Gye-wi answered Cho Ahk-ryang’s question.

“I’m going to tan it well and make gloves for Doctor Dahn.”

“Do you even know how to make them?”

“You have to do it, Brother Cho. You’re good with your hands.”

Cho Ahk-ryang nodded.

“Alright. Let’s call it payment for the rabbit meat I ate today.”

It was then.

“Rabbit?”

Dahn Ahk-seon asked back in a trembling voice.

“The meat we’re eating right now…… was rabbit?”

Dahn Ahk-seon walked towards the rabbit skin spread out on one side. Dahn Ahk-seon, staring at the skin with a blank face, looked at Bum Gye-wi with trembling eyes.

“By any chance, did this rabbit…… have one ear that was half cut off?”

“Huh? How did Doctor Dahn know that?”

Thud.

Dahn Ahk-seon dropped the meat skewer she was holding. Then, she hugged the rabbit skin tightly.

“Waaah! Aso!”

Everyone was bewildered by Dahn Ahk-seon’s sudden outburst of tears.

“Aso? Who’s Aso?”

Dahn Ahk-seon answered, sobbing.

“He’s a friend I met while gathering herbs. I became friends with him because I treated him when he was hurt before. He even understood what I was saying…….”

Dahn Ahk-seon shed tears like beads.

“I’m sorry, Aso. I ate you!”

“……!”

Bum Gye-wi couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

At that moment, Cho Ahk-ryang, who had subtly put down the skewer he had put in his mouth, stood up. Han Seol-hwa was also trying to avoid attention, moving away from the bonfire.

* * *

Dahn Ahk-seon, lying on the bed, couldn’t fall asleep.

All day long, something vague had been lingering in her mind, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. So, as she slowly retraced her day, Dahn Ahk-seon suddenly jumped up at one thought that came to mind.

It was because her conversation with Pung Jin-sung flashed through her mind.

“Cause and symptoms……!”

Dahn Ahk-seon quickly turned on the light and unfolded the paper on the table.

It was the paper on which the inner energy cultivation incantations [formulas or chants used to guide the flow of inner energy] of Cho Ahk-ryang, Bum Gye-wi, and Han Seol-hwa were written.

“That’s right! This was it!”

Dahn Ahk-seon’s eyes sparkled as she carefully examined the contents.

Finally, the thoughts in her head became clear, and the identity of the lingering question was realized.

The clue to solving the problem was surprisingly close.

“Uncle! Auntie!”

Dahn Ahk-seon ran out of the building.

At Dahn Ahk-seon’s sudden shout, the three people simultaneously stepped out of the hut.

“What’s wrong?”

At Cho Ahk-ryang’s question, Dahn Ahk-seon shook the paper with the incantations written on it.

“I was trapped in the pitfall of the incantations.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden? The pitfall of the incantations?”

Dahn Ahk-seon calmed her excitement with a few deep breaths.

“If you draw a diagram of the flow of true energy according to the three of your cultivation incantations, it looks like this.”

Dahn Ahk-seon picked up a charcoal from the bonfire and drew a picture on the paper.

“Just as everyone has different constitutions, the same goes for the meridians in the human body. The major meridians are not very different, but the locations of the minor meridians vary slightly.”

Dahn Ahk-seon continued her explanation.

“Of course, the person who first created the inner energy cultivation method and you are different, right? But as you forcibly circulate true energy according to the incantations, a small discrepancy occurs between theory and actual operation. The deeper your inner energy becomes, the greater the difference gradually becomes. In the end, that brings an imbalance of balance, leading to side effects.”

Bum Gye-wi, who was listening to Dahn Ahk-seon’s explanation, tilted his head.

“But why did only I have such side effects? Our master was fine?”

“That’s probably…… because he didn’t reach Uncle Bum’s level?”

“Huh? Now that I think about it…….”

As Bum Gye-wi agreed, Han Seol-hwa also nodded silently.

Dahn Ahk-seon pointed to each place on the picture.

“Auntie, this place, and Uncle Bum, this part of the minor meridians are closed. Thanks to that, the true energy that should have returned to the dantian [energy center in the body] along the original minor meridians lost its direction and scattered, leading to the wrong place. That’s what ultimately caused the side effects.”

At this time, Pung Jin-sung appeared late.

“I was making the same mistake I told you about, Uncle.”

“What mistake?”

“To cure a disease, you have to find the cause and fix it, but I was only trying to treat the symptoms. But that can’t be a fundamental cure. The real cause is the cultivation incantations that don’t match the actual minor meridians and are playing separately.”

Cho Ahk-ryang, who had been listening to Dahn Ahk-seon’s explanation without a word, nodded.

“Now that I think about it, it roughly fits.”

Cho Ahk-ryang looked at Han Seol-hwa and Bum Gye-wi.

“The origins of the two people’s inner energy cultivation methods can be traced back to such ancient times that it’s hard to even guess their beginnings. Even if they have the same blood, a father and son’s constitutions are different. Not to mention strangers. The people who inherit the martial arts keep changing, but the incantations themselves haven’t changed, so there’s plenty of room for problems to arise.”

“But Brother Cho was fine without any side effects?”

At Bum Gye-wi’s question, Cho Ahk-ryang smiled.

“The two people’s inner energy cultivation methods can be said to be close to the earliest primitive inner energy cultivation methods. On the other hand, the Chaotic Infinity True Energy was created in later generations. It’s the result of researching countless inner energy cultivation methods and applying the trial and error gained from them, so there’s no choice but to have fewer side effects.”

“Hmph! Showing off as if he made it himself.”

“What, you little rascal? Who said I made it!”
Han Seol-hwa, ignoring the two who were quickly getting heated, asked.

“If you know the cause, is treatment possible?”

“Let’s check first.”

Dahn Ahk-seon placed her finger on Han Seol-hwa’s wrist.